sports

Adios, Murali: The Final Musketeer

Suddenly there were none!

The Galle test this week brought down the curtain on the career of the last of the three spinning maestros of this generation.

Much has already been written about Muttiah Muralitharan’s exit from the cricketing stage, and many more reams of paper will be consumed describing his exploits in his swan song test at Galle. Murali ended his Test career on a high against his Indian opponents claiming the requisite eight wickets to perch himself atop the summit of 800 wickets – master of all he surveys – in the process ensuring victory for his Sri Lankan teammates.

Murali , Shane Warne and Anil Kumble were the foremost exponents of spin bowling of this generation. Each alike the other but yet very dissimilar. Will there be any more  like them?

They were the three Musketeers of spin bowling; their sovereign – the Art Of Spin Bowling. Come flat tracks, come bouncy ones, come true ones, come lousy ones, come under-prepared ones, come turners,come rain, come shine, they were forever on call to serve their master, to do him proud. All-weather heroes, I term them!

Corporate Governance

Corporate governance has been in the Indian news headlines quite recently in connection with the scam perpetrated by Raju on Satyam shareholders and employees. Interestingly,  Satyam was the recipient of numerous corporate governance awards. Just goes to prove that just because processes are in place, does not imply that the processes are being followed. The spirit of the law  is more important than the letter of the law. But then India is a nation that loves it’s forms, it’s idiosyncratic processes and customs,it’s  bureaucratic ways and any change is greeted with derision, disdain and shock. Processes are meant to be traditionalized, embedded into the culture of the company and not uprooted without a by your leave! Who minds it’s clutter?

For more laid-back news followers, Satyam was just another scandal in just another family-run business.Satyam despite all its protestations , was just that – a family-run business though it’s shares were listed on the Indian stock exchange and available via ADRs.The more engrossing and entertaining corporate scandal has been the IPL imbroglio and it’s many running installments in the Indian media rumor mill.

Now, the IPL has a governing council which is equivalent to a corporate board of directors. In theory, a board of directors is an independent body that oversees the management of the corporate body or entity. It is there to make sure that the right processes are adhered to, that due diligence is carried out while executing strategy and no hanky-panky or unethical acts are carried out by any of the top management honchos.

But in practice, this is easier said than done. Most corporate boards are appointed with inputs from the incumbent management and thus cronyism is the name of the game. The typical board is populated with members who thus tend to be hand-in-glove with top  management. This seems to have been the case with the IPL governing council. Despite the presence of luminaries such as Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and M A K Pataudi on the governing council, the BCCI finds itself facing a scandal of gargantuan proportions with conflict of interest and high-handedness tarnishing the fabric of IPL governance.

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Uruguay: Tainted? Yes. Defeated? Yes. Disgraced? No.

What if?

We could debate for hours, days, months, years , perhaps until the next World Cup in Brazil, but there can never be a definite answer to our perambulations, our speculations on what could have been. England fans will berate Sepp Blatter and other FIFA officials for not bowing to demands for the introduction of  Hawk-eye technology: Frank Lampard’s goal would have been allowed and a recharged, rejuvenated England side would surely have thumped Germany into submission. Or so they would have us believe.

Image via Wikipedia

What if Luis Suarez had not succumbed to his heart-felt instincts to prevent the Ghanaian goal, throwing his hands at the ball, to stop it from crossing the goal-line. I wonder if Suarez is a betting man. If so, he surely knew that the odds of saving a penalty kick were much better than expecting a magical tailwind to swerve the Jabulani ball away from the goal line and towards safety. Did that thought cross his mind?

His words describing the incident were something on the lines of Maradona’s Hand Of God. Funny how Maradona gets quoted by all the cheats. Perhaps, they hope that his cheeky greatness will gloss over the heinousness of their folly.

But this article is not going to dwell on the Uruguayan fortune in entering the semis on the back of a piece of impudence by a suave Suarez , a hero to his countrymen , who has been termed – tongue-in-cheek – the best goalkeeper of the tournament. His save on the line was ,arguably, the most significant save of the tournament.

Our hearts and minds went out to that man from Ghana- Gyan – who had till then not missed a single penalty. And in that instant of despair, his stricken face told the story. In that moment , all our hearts cried for Africa, for Ghana, for Gyan. We were one in solidarity with the Ghanaian team. But those are the rules of the game: a handball deserves a penalty and a red card. And that is how it is. To twist a cliché: Abide By The Rules, Die By The Rules.

Outplayed, Outmaneuvered, Outwitted

Germany was outplayed, outmaneuvered and outwitted by a Spanish side that believed that slow is good, slow is nice, and that slow can win. The battle between the two teams was less about attractive football and more a war of attrition, of nerves, and mostly, of patience. The Germans were unable to play the free-flowing, counter-attacking style of football that brought them this far to the semifinals.

The Spaniards on the other hand, stuck to their strengths, backing up their defense with tie-clinching goals at crucial junctures. On the eve of the match, I felt  that if both teams played attacking football, Germany stood a better chance. The Spanish however, were resolute in defense and stuck to their game plan of making their midfield superiority pave the way to victory.

Quote of the day:
"There are 350 varieties of shark, not counting loan and pool." – L. M. Boyd

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Wimbledon 2010: Post-mortem

Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Or woman!

And may it never be said that Serena and Rafael don’t know how to party!

They came to the Wimbledon party and how!

Nadal, as though his year-long hiatus from the sport was a mere blip in the chasm of tennis time!

And Serena, who perhaps believes that it’s  now time to just buckle down to it and claim her space in among the greats! Not that she does not belong there already but who’s to say that she might not have been the greatest?

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Venus Quote

"Some people say I have attitude – maybe I do…but
I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself
when no one else does – that makes you a winner
right there." — Venus Williams

Wimbledon Finals: A Preview

So, it’s final!

The last men and women standing at Wimbledon are Serena & Vera, Tomas & Rafael.

11 days of tennis and the draw has whittled down to these 4 contenders for the throne at the green lawns at SW18.

Could it have gotten any better than this?

Of course, we will miss Federer and his balletic grace on the tennis court. We have grown so used to having his majestic presence adorn Wimbledon that his absence seems like blasphemy. But if it is blasphemy, then what do we make of the stronger, fitter and wiser Nadal whose game, presence and speed makes us forget , at least for a while, that Federer was God?

Saina, Video Technology and Ultra Marathons

Playing ball with numbers

Saina Nehwal completed a treble of wins last Sunday at the Indonesian Open. It was her 3rd consecutive tournament triumph ,an unbroken streak of 15 games without a loss. Saina is in the best form of her life and her ranking is now a stratospheric No. 3. The Indonesian Open ,though, lacked serious competition from the Chinese who preferred to compete in their local league. The Chinese are notorious for lying low  before any major tournaments such as the World championship that is scheduled in the near future. They prefer to scout their opponents and exploit any detected weaknesses and in the meanwhile identify , groom and train their  future stars. The Chinese depth in badminton and table-tennis is to be envied and emulated. Will Saina be able to carry her form into the world championship? Will the Chinese spring a surprise package , as they have been known to do before, and unveil a new star on the badminton horizon? Who knows? Only time will tell! But congratulations to Saina and good luck to her! Her star still shines bright in the barren sky of Indian sport.

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Quote of the day:
You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun. – Al Capone

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Saina Nehwal: Shining Light,Shining Bright

After  a famous victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup, Indian sport has another reason to celebrate with Saina Nehwal crowning herself with back-to-back victories at the Grand Prix India Open and the Super-Series  Singapore Open. The Singapore Open is her second Super Series win following her victory at the Indonesian Open last year.

This is just the latest in a string of achievements by this young shuttler in a sport in which India is not renowned to be a powerhouse. Nonetheless, Indian badminton can boast of some noteworthy successes namely Prakash Padukone, the tragic Syed Modi and more recently Pulella Gopichand ,who also happens to be Nehwal’s coach.

This young 20 year old is the latest star in the firmament of Indian badminton and more importantly Indian sport. And that is something to celebrate because for a nation of over a billion people, we have far too few sport stars our youngsters can model themselves on.

Quote of the day:
I like life. It’s something to do. – Ronnie Shakes

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A marketer’s dream, tennis nightmare?

Image via Wikipedia

She was the young nymphet, the minx on court who seduced the spectators with her dazzling  blonde beauty.

She was the Lolita, the male spectator’s fantasy, who seemed to sound the siren call , the ‘come hither’ every time she stepped on court.

She was the young upstart, the agent provocateur, who stirred up a storm of protests when she was rewarded with center court at Wimbledon  ahead of her fellow – much higher ranked – players on the  WTA tour.Wimbledon broke tradition for her justifying their decision saying that they were giving the paying public what they wanted.

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