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Mahendra Singh Dhoni going the Kapil way?

Kapil Dev Nikhanj. Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Two charismatic skippers with winning ways.

The former led Team India to an epochal triumph in the 1983 World Cup, a victory which led to a radical power shift within the ICC. The Reliance World Cup followed in 1987. The circle was complete. The colonised were now king-makers.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was fortunate to be selected skipper for the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup. He  thrust a young, inexperienced team to the pinnacle in a format ignored by the bigger guns—Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Saurav Ganguly.

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Royal Stag versus United Breweries: Harbhajan Singh versus MS Dhoni?

Can Harbhajan Singh not take a joke?

This is the question raised by Vijay Mallya of United Breweries(UB).

The liquor magnate was slapped with a legal notice by Avtar Kaul, the Singh family  matriarch.

The distressed mother has gone on to charge the UB Group with offending the Sikh community and fostering disunity within the Indian cricket team.

The cause for offense is a UB commercial parodying Bhajji’s appearance for the Royal Stag brand from the Pernod Ricard stable.

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Saina Nehwal, Somdev Devvarman,Sania Mirza and Yuki Bhambri celebrate Indian sport

There was much to celebrate this weekend for Indian sport.

Cricket

The Indian team ensured that they finished their group matches on a high relegating the Windies to fourth place in Group B.

Team India now face Australia in the quarter-finals at Motera, Ahmedabad.

The bowling has regained some of its zing with R Ashwin’s entry. Question marks remain especially about the lower order. Home advantage should count for something specially against a no-longer-mighty Australia.

English press: Reactions from the other side

“The tables have turned from four years ago when we were in disarray and our selections were poor. Now it is the Australians’ turn to take some pain and grief, because they have got some big question marks about a few of their players and whether they should be picked for the third Test in Perth.

Remember, they gave us plenty of stick four years ago, so don’t shed any tears for them.”

Geoffrey Boycott in The Telegraph

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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?