Go Sports Foundation’s Handbook for young Indian athletes is a must go-to

In one of my posts on the Lodha Commission recommendations to the BCCI, a reference was made to Go Sports Foundation’s handbook for young Indian athletes and how a similar publication could be off immense help to aspiring cricketers.

Go Sports Foundation is a non-profit trust established in September 2008.

Their mission is to empower India’s future Olympians.

Their board of advisors consists of Abhinav Bindra, Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand.

Their programmes are broken up into two kinds:

• Athlete Development Programmes that include Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme,Badminton Development Programme, Para-Champions Programme, Abhinav Bindra Shooting Development Programme and Athletes’ Education Programme.
• Ecosystem Projects such as Athletes’ Conclave and Beyond the Finish Line.

The Athletes Handbook 2013: FAQs for the Young Indian Athlete is co-authored by some of the top names connected to Indian sport.

Bhishmaraj Purushottam Bam, a sports psychologist, a former Inspector General of police and qualified coach in pistol and rifle shooting answers questions pertaining to Mental Conditioning.

Sharda Ugra, a sportswriter and currently with ESPN Cricinfo, advises the young athlete how to interact with the media.

Deckline Leitao, a Sports Performance Specialist, replies to question on Fitness Training.

Dr. Korulamani Santosh Jacob, an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in arthroscopy and sports medicine and once team doctor to the Indian men’s hockey side, is all about Sports Medicine.

Nandan Kamath, a boutique sports and intellectual property lawyer and a graduate of Harvard Law School, the University of Oxford (on a Rhodes scholarship) and
the National Law School of India talks about legal and commercial issues. He’s also a former junior cricketer and Managing Trustee of the Go Sports Foundation.

Finally, Ryan Fernando, a certified Performance Nutrition Expert, dwells on Sports Nutrition in the final section.

The booklet’s foreword states:

“Professional help is not always easily accessible to the community of aspiring athletes. This Handbook of FAQs is an attempt to start bridging that gap.”

Some gems from this guide are as follows:

Bhishmaraj Purushottam Bam:

“Dwelling on past mistakes builds a wrong response and the errors creep into your system. This damages your confidence. Focusing on the result of the match makes it difficult for you to handle the challenges at hand well.”

“You need not waste unnecessary efforts in staying focused before the competition. It is your focus during the competition that matters. The pressure that builds up before the match, causing butterflies in your stomach, is actually a good thing as it indicates your keen interest to perform well. Do not link it with failure. Tell yourself that you are going to do very well since you are getting the jitters. Not feeling the pressure before a match is a bad sign, as it could mean that you are either bored with your game or are underestimating your opponents.”

“…form is very elusive and fickle. It can come in one match and disappear in the other. Learn to take every match very seriously. As the saying goes, ‘The better player does not win; the player who plays better wins’. It is your responsibility to play better.”

“If you have lost to a particular player a number of times previously, that is all the more reason for you to play better than him/her and win. Do not take others’ (or even your own) game for granted. Just keep trying to win the point being played and keep your focus on the ball or the shuttle. Look for a chance to meet that player again and again for playing him/her is a test of your mental toughness. Visualise your correct movements and not the mistakes made in the previous matches.”

“Do not be afraid of negative thoughts or doubts. They can cause damage to you only if you focus on them. Keep some positive thoughts ready for introduction and focus on them. If these thoughts are coming from your own positive experience they help a lot. Write a diary of excellence and enter in it only your positive experiences. This will help you build up a positive self-talk for occasions when the negative thoughts attack you.”

Sharda Ugra:

“What the outside world particularly also likes, which you must not forget, is humility. Talking down someone or something else may sound ‘confident’ but as you hope you will have a long career, remember there will come a time when someone may talk your hard work down in the same tone and you will not like it. You don’t need to be awed by your competitors but neither must you look down on them. Be respectful. At least in the media!”

“The first step to gauging trust is to see if the journalist passes the OTR (Off the Record) test: If in the course of a conversation you let slip a comment that you do not want quoted with your name in it, and say, ‘This is off the record.’ If the journalist uses it in their article quoting you and offers an apology like, ‘I was forced to’, ‘my boss demanded it’, or, ‘it was inserted by someone else’, it is necessary to be a little wary in the course of future conversations with them.”

“How do I avoid answering a question that I am not comfortable answering?
Ans: Say exactly – and always with a smile – any of the following:
’That’s not something I want to talk about.’ ‘That’s something I would rather not speak about.’
’I have no comment to make about that.’
’I have nothing to offer on that subject, thanks.’
If they ask the same question over and over again, you should say, ‘I’ve already
indicated that this is something I am not going to be talking about, so let’s move on.’”

“Ideally the media should pursue you, not the other way around and that happens through performance.”

Deckline Leitao:

“One should never go completely off fitness training even in the off season. It is always good to maintain 50% fitness during this period as it will help you get back in shape more quickly when the competitive season starts.”

“Remember the saying – Anybody can train when he/she feels like doing it, but a champion trains even when he/she doesn’t feel like doing it!”

Dr. Santosh Jacob:

“The primary role of the physiotherapist is to prevent injuries, and he/she should be able to identify problems in posture/technique and remedy them before a serious injury is sustained. When an athlete is injured, the physiotherapist plays a key role in aiding rehabilitation, helping the athlete regain peak fitness and return to the competitive arena at the earliest; and also prevent re-injury.”

“P.R.I.C.E.S. is the acronym for best practice in first aid that is internationally accepted. It stands for:
Prevention
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Splinting (to provide an external support to an injured portion of the body usually by the use of a brace or a well wrapped bandage strapping. The aim is to immobilize, to reduce pain caused by movement or muscle contraction).”

“A healthy athlete should be able to recover completely from donating blood in eight weeks, but he/she may lose some of the ability to train for the first few days.
Following a donation of one pint, blood volume is reduced by about ten percent and returns to normal in 48 hours. For two days after donating, you should drink lots of fluids and probably exercise at a reduced intensity or not at all. There is a definite reduction in peak (maximal) performance but it does not appear to affect training (submaximal) performance after 48 hours. So, the take home message is: if you are an endurance athlete or are about to enter an elite competition, do not donate blood. However, if it is off-season or an event is not lined up for roughly 3 months, it should be perfectly safe to do your social duty.”

Nandan Kamath:

“Early on in your career, you will be tempted to take every commercial offer that you receive. This approach may not always be in your long term commercial  interest. At the beginning of a career, it is best to focus on a small number of high quality sponsorships and endorsements. These do not come knocking often and one must often wait with some patience for them. The ability to refuse the wrong relationships early on increases your long term brand value and makes you far more attractive once you are an established international athlete.”

“…contracts are not “take it or leave it”. A contract presented to you by someone else will be drafted in a manner most favourable to that person and the first draft offered to you should act as a starting point and not the last and final offer. There is (almost) always room to negotiate the terms and conditions of such a contract and it is very important that you make sure all of your interests are protected and documented in the contract. It is customary to provide your comments and feedback on a contract and to attempt to have the contract reflect the positions you want through a negotiation process. A failure to negotiate means that you are likely to leave a lot on the table and lose out value that you might have otherwise been offered were you just willing to ask. An athlete who is aware of his/her rights and is willing to stand up for his/her own interests is always likely to be taken more seriously and, in the long run, will always get a better deal.”

Ryan Fernando:

“If the duration of the activity for an individual athlete is fairly continuous for 1 hour or longer, a sports drink is the better replacement fluid. However, if the activity lasts less than 1 hour, water is the best option. In either case, an athlete should have about 6-8 ounces of fluid replacement every 30 minutes during strenuous, continuous activity.”

“Unless a particular athlete has an allergy to milk or is lactose intolerant, there is no reason to avoid 1% or skim milk. These are an excellent source of both carbohydrate and protein with very little or no fat. Having 250 ml of skim or 1% milk or yogurt up to 2 hours before a competitive event can even help boost blood sugar (forms of carbohydrate) for the early minutes of the competition. The protein will kick in with additional fuel a little later.”

Federica Pellegrini: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

The Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Federica Pellegrini changes her telephone number.

What she said:

“Good. I have done it..thank-you for your messages of encouragement and congratulations. But obviously I have now changed my number.”

Italian swimmer and former Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini was forced to change her telephone number when she inadvertently revealed her contact details while publishing the results of a random doping test on social networking site Twitter.

Pellegrini was immediately deluged with tweets requesting her to hide her number while others wished to add her to their WhatsApp list of contacts.

After a few hours, Pellegrini responded as above.

What she really meant:

“Changing phone numbers was really easy, folks. The phone company is obviously first on my list of new contacts.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“What’s up with WhatsApp? What’s that, really?”

Shakira: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Shakira soldiers on alone travelling the world.

What she said:

“It’s like being married to a soldier, except that he doesn’t die in battle.”

Colombian pop star Shakira is frustrated that she can’t holiday and travel that often with her soccer superstar husband Gerard Pique of Barcelona.

She explained:

“Gerard is anchored to Barcelona and can’t travel – they get a few days off a month, but otherwise he has to be there for his team every day pretty much, training and playing matches.

This has been a learning curve for me, because I like to travel a lot and I’m like, ‘What do you mean, you can’t go? Let’s go!’”

She added that she considers sports to be a good way to teach her sons, Milan and Sasha, the right values.

“But it’s interesting too, because I have been playing solo for all of my life and it’s very different to live with a person who has to think about his team and be mindful of them as well as of himself.

That’s why I want my kids to learn all about sports even if they don’t end up doing it professionally – the way it shapes the personality of children is just fantastic.”

Hips Don’t Lie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Speaking to Britain’s Hello! magazine, the ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer said of her husband:

“Since the kids were born, a tender side of him has come out.

He is the one who changes the diapers and he is there for them as he is here for me – we had a conversation recently where I said that I was missing my career and he said, ‘You do your thing girl, and start making music again – I am going to be there for the kids.’

He is the rock of the family and he might be 10 years younger than me but he is also 10 years wiser.

One of the things that I constantly dream about for them (sons) and pray for, is for them to grow up really close to each other and be loving brothers, because my dream is for a united family.

I also want them to inherit a passion for what they do that Gerard and I have – whatever their path in life is, I want them to love it and to have commitment to their own ideals in life.

That’s not a bad dream, is it?”

Shakira is 39.

Pique, for his part in this tender love story, says:

“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens in the future. I’d like to sample another league when I’m nearing retirement; I don’t know if that might be in the US or South America. It’d be nice for it to be Colombia for ‘Shaki’, but no one can tell what will happen in the future.”

What she really meant:

“Being a soccer player nowadays requires not just skill but discipline as well. It’s a regimented lifestyle and Gerard simply can’t give in to my travel whims.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“When an irresistible force such as me, meets an immoveable object such as you, you can bet as sure as you live, Something’s gotta give, babe, something’s gotta give.”

BMC’s open spaces policy is controversial—to say the least

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recovered 34 of 36 open spaces by January 28 on the basis of a notice issued on the 18th of that month.

But the battle for Mumbai’s green lungs is far from over.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered the taking back of 200-plus open spaces—maintained by private organizations. He also asked that the new open spaces policy be reviewed.

The BMC intends to outsource maintenance of these playgrounds and recreation areas to private organizations and corporate entities.

This has been opposed by activists who believe that it is the BMC’s responsibility to support these open spaces. They are of the opinion that parcelling out upkeep of these facilities leaves the door open to misuse of these open spaces as in the past when they were used to generate income via commercial activities.

The municipal body, however, claims that maintaining open spaces is not an obligatory function.

The BMC’s new open spaces bill tabled and passed in its assembly hopes to improve on the previous caretaker policy.

Seema Kamdar of First Post writes:

“After all, as the corporation says, taking care of the open spaces does not fall under its obligatory roster. Rather, it’s a discretionary activity, and clearly not important. All that it expects from its lessees for such spaces – also called RGPG for recreation grounds, gardens, parks and playgrounds – is a perimeter fence, a security guard and a toilet; the rest was up to its imagination.”

On the caretaker policy, Kamdar writes:

“The caretaker policy, developed in 1991, permitted construction on 15 percent of the area, such as club, gymnasia, etc. The history of the adoption and caretaker policy of Mumbai of public open spaces is criss-crossed with stories of rampant misuse, illegal construction, controlling public access or restricting their hours of free access, exploitation for commercial benefit, neglect of maintenance, poor or no security leading to encroachment and such brazen flouting of the rules.”

Sayli Udas-Mankikar writing for DNA India terms the new policy ‘draconian’.

She says:

“A draconian policy, it puts out over 1068 spaces, including parks, playgrounds and gardens spanning over 1200 acres, roughly the size of 588 international football pitches, up for adoption. Some of these are sadly fated to become ‘clubs’ under a special clause.”

She adds:

“There is no explanation to why the BMC, the richest corporation in the country, which has set aside Rs200-crore for maintaining open spaces — calculations show it comes to Rs36 lakh per plot — cannot maintain these little patches of green.

What is disheartening is the cavalier attitude of public representatives, who will be knocking on our doors for votes during the 2017 BMC elections exactly a year later. The Shiv Sena, which is putting up a fight to open up the Mahalaxmi race course as a public park, has been at the forefront of clearing this policy. The BJP sold a pup to the citizens by first agreeing to rework the policy, and then did a volte face to back the Sena. The opposition merely took to photo-ops a day later as a mark of protest.

The BMC gives feeble arguments to justify the policy. Without any defined objective, it favours private entities to qualify as adopters over the more desirable local community organisations. The selection committee itself has no citizen-representative or an expert to veto the administrative proposals. Issues like greening missions, sport, women’s safety, heritage, local culture and multi-use of spaces do not even find a mention. This does not behove a city with global aspirations.”

The new open spaces policy envisages placing the caretaker bodies under the Right To Information (RTI) act thus making them accountable to the general public.

Right to Information (RTI) expert Shailesh Gandhi  said, “This is not an open space policy, but kidnapping policy.”

Shailesh Gaekwad writes for Hindustan Times:

“It would make more sense for the citizen groups to now demand that the maintenance of open spaces be included among the obligatory duties of the BMC and of course a policy which favours the citizens, not politicians and moneybags.”

Mohammad Amir is the lone hit-man for Pakistan

Team India may have won their Asia Cup T20 encounter—not quite in a canter—but for a while, Indian fans could have believed that there was to be a reprisal of those Sharjah days when their arch-rivals Pakistan beat them more often than not.

It was not to be.

Mohammad Amir pulling on his jumper in the outfield. Taken during Pakistan’s third Test against England in August 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mohammad Amir had a point to prove and he did leaving India tottering at 8-3.

But he lacked support.

The knocking over of the top order brought back memories of India touring South Africa when Dale Steyn and his cohorts gave Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan a torrid time in the opening overs.

It just goes to show that even the best batsmen struggle against top-class pace bowling.

And it also reminded us why Pakistan were so quick to reinstall Amir as their main hit man.

Virat Kohli showed why he’s the most reliable bat in the side.

Yuvraj Singh struggled abjectly but stuck around till the end to see India through.

The next game in the T20 World Cup is eagerly anticipated.

Commentary on Lodha Commission recommendations to BCCI – V

Chapter Six: Conflict of Interest

The sixth chapter of the Lodha Commission recommendations to the BCCI and its constituents deals with the kicker that began the reforms ball rolling within the cricketing body.

Yes, conflict of interest is the title of chapter six; Shashank Manohar, a lawyer by profession, tackled the matter as soon as he took over as the latest BCCI president.

His predecessor, N Srinivasan, was forced to quit as President as his position as both owner of an IPL team and administrator was considered untenable by the Supreme Court.

The Lodha Commission considers resolution of conflict of interest the “underpinning of all governance in the civilized world.”

The commission further remarks the BCCI had “an extremely casual understanding of the concept of Conflict of Interest.”

The members of the panel recognise that there is a lack of understanding in players and officials about the very concept unlike legal professionals who are “attuned to conflict mechanisms and their avoidance on a daily basis.”

Conflict of interest and overlapping interests were treated very subjectively by administrators and players and there was a lack of voluntary disclosure in many an instance.

The commission further damns the BCCI that the advent of the IPL only meant that the BCCI accommodated these ‘inherent’ conflicts.

Conflict of interest issues are central to ethical conduct.

The BCCI’s newly spelt out guidelines on this issue should apply to all individuals connected or employed with the BCCI i.e. every Office Bearer, Player, Councillor, Employee, Administrator, Team Official, Umpire or other person connected to the BCCI, its Members or the IPL and its Franchisees. These include both acts of commission and omission.

Conflicts are broadly classified as tractable and intractable.

An Ethics Officer is to apply the policy for the BCCI.

Novak Djokovic: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Novak Djokovic wolves down Grand Slam titles.

What he said:

“It’s much easier for the wolf that is going uphill and running up the mountain—not easier, but he was hungrier than the wolf standing on the hill.”

Novak Djokovic savoured his 11th major and sixth Australian Open overall with a meaty metaphor.

Comparing himself to a wild canine on top of the mountain, he said that he could not relax as his competitors were wolves too and hungrier.

He added:

“You can observe it from different sides, but, I believe that all the guys that are out there fighting each week to get to No. 1 are very hungry to get to No. 1, and I know that. I can’t allow myself to relax and enjoy. Of course I want to enjoy, and I will, but it’s not going to go more than few days. After that I’m already thinking about how can I continue on playing well throughout the rest of the season each tournament.

Kind of a mindset that one needs to have if one wants to stay up there. Because I think you need to work double as hard when you’re up there.

I believe that I can win every match I play (and) I’m playing the tennis of my life in the last 15 months. The results are showing that.

But you can get a very big slap from karma. I don’t want that.”

The Djoker rounded off his reverie by assuring his listeners that he was ravenous to clinch his first French Open.

He said:

“Very hungry. But the wolf needs to eat a lot of different meals to get to Paris. Paris is a dessert.”

What he really meant:

“It takes more to stay at the top than to get there.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“What a wolf-pack we male tennis players are. Woo-hoo, Woo-hoo! Ready or not, here we come! Call me Wolverine!”

Sunny Gavaskar: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Sunil Gavaskar lights up the Melbourne night with his remarks.

What he said:

“He (Virat Kohli) can even bat at midnight without light and still bat well.  …

Rohit kills you with tickle and Kohli can punch you to death. Either way you are going to die.”

The original Little Master switched on his eulogistic side when Team India clinched the T20 series against Australia at Melbourne on Friday evening.

He said:

“He is setting the bar higher for the future players. He is in fantastic form… form which the players dream about. he can even bat at midnight without light and still bat well. The Australians cant get him out. They will have to wait for him to commit a mistake.

I would not bowl to both of them. Rohit kills you with tickle and Kohli can punch you to death. Either way you are going to die.

I want to see India win the series 3-0. Kohli should continue to bat at number three. Never ever flirt with form, it’s so fickle, don’t flirt with it. Yuvraj can bat during the Asia Cup, World Twenty20. Let India make a clean sweep.

He (Dhoni) has got now Yuvraj, Ashish Nehra, Hardik Pandya in the side. He has plenty of bowling and batting options. It has eased off the pressure on him. Bhajji (Harbhajan Sigh) is sitting on the bench which means it is a very good selection. The balance is terrific. Pandya can bat at number seven and can bowl. Even if a bowler is hammered around, Dhoni can go to the other bowler.

The Aussies were under pressure and it was a good omen for the Indians for the World Twenty20.”

What he really meant:

“Kohli’s batting like a dream. If you’re a day-dreaming bowler, dreaming of bagging either or both , Rohit will tickle you out of any such fancy ideas while Kohli will match you, blow for blow. Either way, it’s death by panache.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Tickle me pink, I wonder if these two guys would love day-night Test cricket!”

India’s scores not par for the course says Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin’s revealing statement that his side underestimated par scores in the early part of the ODI series leading to their comeuppance against a marauding Australian batting line-up is right on the money.

The ace spinner said:

“In the past 300 or 260s have been winning scores when we came and played an ODI series here. I think we played in that mindset coming into the series, trying to post a score rather than trying to overachieving and falling short. I thought we did pretty well to post 310s and 320s, just that the par scores were 330s.”

It was only in the fourth and fifth ODIs that the Indians were a match for their opponents.

The lessons had been learned but it was too little, too late.

The ODI series was lost without a semblance of a whimper or a whisper.

Ashwin added:

“As you saw in the last game, even at Canberra and Sydney, I think we would have achieved 350s. Maybe that’s the reason. Obviously the wickets have gone flatter. So I think it was just a question of not calculating the par scores properly.”

Ashwin’s statements highlight the need to aim higher to get what you want.

If you aim for 300, you’re unlikely to get more than that. Less probably, but very rarely more.

The Indian team’s think-tank were definitely out of sync with the changing reality of Australian pitches outlandish batting skills in their young stars and the effect the ever changing ODI rules have had on team totals.

The irony is that this is the same kind of thinking that pervaded visiting teams’ thinking patterns when they assumed a score of 260-280 was good enough to clinch victory on sub-continental wickets a few seasons ago.

Indian batters proved them wrong easily overhauling these totals and posting 300+ totals when batting first.

It certainly has been an Indian summer Down Under this series.

‘Chatter-box’ Steve Smith finds Virat Kohli ‘too emotional’ to handle (Updated)

Does using an on-field microphone to interact and engage with the telecasters make you a chatterbox?

Virat Kohli certainly thought so when he gave Steven Smith a fiery send-off in the first T20 against Australia.

The Test skipper—relieved of captaincy duties—was back to being the animated fury on the ground he usually is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpbERRbobzs

The Delhi cricketer is all aggro as a player and mouths expletives at the drop of a hat.

Kohli saw red when his opposing Test counterpart lost his wicket cheaply while commentating live for Channel 9.

Australian viewers were not amused with the manner of Smith’s dismissal blaming the broadcasters for disturbing his concentration.

They took in hordes to Twitter to deplore the broadcaster’s unwelcome intrusion.

What’s really going on?

Do fans really need insights from batters about what’s happening on the field?

This kind of circus is part and parcel of the Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League.

The purported purpose is to make the the viewers and the expert commentators feel part of the action.

It would be better if mic’ing up players was restricted to fielders and umpires. Bowlers and batters need to be able to focus and concentrate on how they’re to be delivering or playing the next ball. Fielding is a much more instinctive chore consisting of reacting to on-field events as they occur. Similarly, umpiring.

Batters and bowlers, however, need to plan and pace their innings and overs.

But what was the actual reason for Kohli’s acrid mouthing off and signing?

Could it be that the Indian was not pleased that Smith was shielded from the banter fielders engage in when rival batters are at the crease?

Kohli has mentioned that he sees nothing wrong with sledging the opposition.

His young Indian side is not known to hold back unlike previous Indian sides.

He said:

“The opposition has every right to sledge as long as it doesn’t not cross the line and you have every right to reply as long as it is doesn’t cross the line. There have been lot of smart comments of late and mine turned out to be a perfectly timed one.

I did not intend to do that. I just said what came to mind. It was actually not far from the truth. That banter is enjoyable but at the same time, you need to focus on the game.”

Sledgers wouldn’t enjoy their choicest jibes drowned out by commentary from the press box.  Why would they? Additionally , they would have to be careful around the boffin with the microphone lest their tomfoolery be caught by the sensitive microphones.

Not much fun for the fielders. The boot would be on the other foot with them forced to be silent around a jabbering Steve Smith.

Can you see the irony in the situation?

And assuming that what the fielders said did carry to Steve Smith, how would he be able to focus with three or more sets of sounds in his eardrums?

Fielders’ banter, experts’ questions, noise from the crowd and finally the sound of his own voice.

That sounds like a lot to take in—even for a man who has scored a mountain of runs in every format over the past two years.

Kohli was the man who had a hand (and mouth) in Smith’s dismissal. Steven Smith was out for 21 off 14 balls caught by Kohli bowled Ravindra Jadeja.

Smith immediately shut up giving no further feedback to the Wide World of Sports commentary team.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had earlier criticised Spider Cam and intrusion from TV gimmicks.

Spider Cam obstructed Virat Kohli’s first scoring shot in the final ODI preventing a sure boundary. The ball was declared dead.

The operators of this novelty are known to thrust the lens right under the face of departing batsmen hoping to capture their visible disappointment for television viewers. Aussie players are accustomed to such paparazzi-like behaviour from cameramen but Indian players are disturbed and irate.

Dhoni said:

“I am quite a traditional guy. I have always felt that… anything that disturbs the game of cricket I don’t like it. It all started right from the T20 where people would be like, ‘Why don’t you wear a mic?’, ‘Why don’t you wear a camera?’

I have always felt there is a need for balance. At the end of the day it is a spectator sport, people watching on television, but at the same time four runs can matter, especially when it is a close game. Those four runs can be crucial. Everyone gets penalised, why not have the same system for the spidercam? Say, ‘Okay if you get hit, 2000 dollars per hit.’ Let’s make it interesting.

People [broadcasters] are striving for more. When you have got out and walking off, the cameraman goes right under your face. The same way the spidercam is right next to you. You have seen players, they are like, ‘What is happening?’ It makes a lot of noise. At the end of the day it is also about the spectators. If spectators are not there, cricket won’t be played. It is a mix and match; 2000 dollars per hit is a good option.”

Steve Smith called the Spider Cam “his best fielder.”

Smith was unrepentant about his mode of dismissal in the first T20 denying that his on-field commenting had anything to do with his early exit.

He said:

“It [the commentary] was on at the time, but for me it was just a bad shot.

I tried to chip one over the top for two rather than trying to hit him for four or six.

It was my fault and I got to do better next time.”

Of Kohli’s send-off, he added:

“He gets pretty emotional out there, doesn’t he?

I don’t think you need to do that kind of thing when someone gets out.

It’s fine to have a little bit of banter when you’re out in the field, but when someone’s out I don’t really think that’s on.”

https://twitter.com/_hafees/status/691970480123678721

Virat Kohli finally disclosed the reason for his heated reaction at Steve Smith’s dismissal.

It had nothing to do with Smith’s on-field commentating but his verbal targeting of young Indian pacers after hitting a boundary.

Kohli felt it added  to the pressure on them and was simply not on. He felt that he had to step in and make his displeasure known.

Hence, the expressive ‘farewell‘.