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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.
MS Dhoni wins hearts: Team India fail second Test
Of the two sides fighting for the No.1 Test spot, only one stepped up to the plate; that side was not India.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni won hearts with his sporting act on the third day of the second nPower Test series.
His team’s performance, however, raised a lot more questions.
Cricket:Mamparas,”hee for chasey” and natural replacements
Cricket lovers have Graeme Smith to thank for enriching their vocabulary last weekend.
The South African Test skipper was “Mampara Of the Week”—selected by the nation’s leading daily, The Sunday Times. It is a moniker reserved for politicians and businessmen but ‘Biff’ trumped all contenders last week with his “wishy-washy apology” to the South African public for his side’s early exit at this year’s ODI World Cup in India.
Mamapara roughly translates to “idiot”. I must admit—“You b****y Mampara” has a nice ring to it.
Sachin Tendulkar—in the sunset of his career—is an inspiration to older cricketers. Simon Katich is the latest to pay obeisance. The West Australian cricketer—in his press conference—slammed Greg Chappell ,rightly questioning his credentials as a selector as he pointed out his inability to predict the master bat’s recent heights.
“Elder cricketers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but bad selectors.”
Rushing to Katich’s defence was minister of defence for the realm, Stephen Smith. Australian politicians love their cricket and their cricketers.
“If he’s not in the top 25 Australian cricketers – and I can’t find one better opener than him on that list, let alone two – then I’ll go hee for chasey.” said the minister. An Aussie phrase learned here—take note,English language lovers.
The West Indians have been shafted once more. Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth have opted out of the India-WI Test series citing injuries. Indian fans don’t seem to care. The boys in blue have ratcheted up wins—rising to the occasion. Who’s to say that Praveen Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun won’t?
The trio of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli seem natural replacements for RahulDravid,Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
There’s oft a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip, though.
Remember the dynamic duo of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif?
Kaif languishes in the minor leagues of domestic cricket whereas Yuvraj "blundered" from strength to strength.
ODI success does not instinctively translate to Test level. Yuvraj Singh will testify.
Quote of the day:
Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it. – Elias Schwartz
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Yuvraj Singh: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
“…he was a ‘bomb about to explode’”
Yuvraj Singh writing in the BCCI quarterly newsletter describes his impression of MS Dhoni prior to his World Cup final assault on Sri Lankan bowlers.
What he really meant:
“Dhoni was as wound up as a compressed spring.Once the pressure peaked, he would burst.”
“Dhoni needed a mere trigger to go off—he was primed—and the World Cup final was it.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Dhoni’s a human bomb.”
“Dhoni’s a bombshell.”
Club Over Country:Insular Indians wake up to dangers of IPL
Let’s go ahead and admit it.
India, as a cricketing nation, is insular.
In the great ‘club versus country’ debate, Indian fans did not blink an eye when Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard figuratively gave the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) the finger and plonked themselves at the IPL in the furnace-like heat of an Indian summer.
Surprises in Indian Test team for WI tour in notable absentees, not selections
The Indian Test team for the West Indies tour has been announced.
In a surprise move, Indian selectors rested Sachin Tendulkar. The master batsman will not feature on the entire West Indies tour. West Indian cricket fans are denied an opportunity to catch one last glimpse of Tendulkar before he bids farewell to the game.
The controversial shoulder injury to Gautam Gambhir and the sudden illness of Yuvraj Singh mean that this is one of the weakest batting sides to tour abroad in recent times.
Team India for West Indies ODIs announced: Gambhir leads
A point of similarity between Gabriela Pasqualotto and Mahendra Singh Dhoni:
Until today, the two were content playing the game “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t”.
Pasquallotto, of course, was referring to whether she’d make her story public to the tabloids.
She will—if she’s paid and if she’s allowed to write it herself. Fair enough.
IPL, more random thoughts: Virender Sehwag, Lasith Malinga and Sreesanth
More random thoughts on the IPL:
The debate of ‘club over country’ should be put to rest , at least when it comes to Indian players.
Virender Sehwag will miss the rest of the IPL due to a shoulder injury he has been carrying for the past one year. He should have been allowed to take a break after the World Cup but his IPL masters would have been displeased. So Viru hoists the Delhi Daredevils until he can carry them no more.
Delhi Daredevils are no longer in the reckoning for a playoff spot.
No ‘butcher’ for the West Indies tour and perhaps half the English tour.
Muralidharan substantiates Hashan Tillekaratne’s allegations of match-fixing (Satire)
Muttiah Muralidharan admitted that there exists more than a modicum of ‘truth’ in Hashan Tillekaratne’s allegations of match-fixing in Sri Lanka.
The legendary off-spinner stated that he ,too ,indulged in match-fixing.
“My wife and I were fixed up. It was an arranged match and I don’t see anything wrong with it. It is a Indo-Sri Lanka collaboration that has worked to our mutual benefit.” said the Tamil , with a toothy grin.
Preity Zinta, Vijay Mallya,Shilpa Shetty and SRK Take on The BCCI (Satire)
In a fresh twist to the IPL saga, Vijay Mallya, Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan have all decided to stand for BCCI elections.
The four owners of IPL franchises feel that it is in their best interests to serve as board members while at the same time retaining a fiscal interest in the IPL.
“If Srinivasan can hold office and have a team, why can’t we own a team and be office-bearers? It’s only fair.” said Vijay Mallya.
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Make Time For Sports. 