Watching with interest the debate on T20s and Tests, I wonder if there is any right side at all.
Its all perspective - …
Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital.
One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom [...]
Running a race is the closest a human being can come to feel and express one’s natural abilities. It’s a pure show of physical strength and stamina sans any artificial extensions like a tennis racket or a cricket bat. The 1500m or a 10km race is not only about speed. Its about tactics, its about [...]
Its not just a game, they say. Its an artefact which we must preserve. And they’re right, of course. Cricket is a game of immense skill and strategy. Of ebbs and flows. The essential cricket battle is not just about which side scores more runs - but the manner in which innings are constructed and [...]
If you’d been trapped in a time warp for a while now and haven’t noticed Asia’s growing influence in sport - virtually all sport ; well, its happening.
Rohit Brijnath, himself a symptom of this growing ascendancy, and writing now for, among others, the Hindu, the BBC and here in Singapore for the Straits Times, [...]
Given all the media hype about the upcoming Olympics - the security surrounding the torch, Bhaichung Bhutia, Aamir Khan and Tibet; and the Indian hockey team - one question that always begs to be answered is - How many gold medals can India win at the Beijing Olympics. This is as standard a topic one [...]
This is an excerpt from Geet Sethi’s wonderful book Success vs Joy. An unassuming book with lots of depth - much like the man.
On being highly strung.
There are certain sportspersons who hype themselves up with gestures, punching the air with fists and other such gesticulations, which they think will induce a rush of adrenaline. This [...]
JP Morgan Chase have bought Bear Sterns for a price less than what LA Galaxy paid for David Beckham …
Childhood was a wide eyed concept of reality. Every thing was 70 mm. Every thing was magic, everything was fantasy.
By the time one entered ones teens, one was still starry eyed about love, longing and life in general. Being a 17 year old was a challenge in itself. Being realistic [...]
October 14, 2007 - About 4 months ago - This was Andrew Symonds.
The feeling has come from the carry-on that surrounded India’s Twenty20 World Cup win. When we got here, it was just everywhere.
Our blokes thought it was over the top. Some of the things their players have been given and the way they are [...]
At the Hopman Cup , Sania Mirza ran into more trouble. This time it was a lawsuit trigger-happy gent who thought that a 2D photo was reason enough to question her commitment to the nation - this while she was playing for the country just ahead of the Australian Open.
And then, a 3rd-Round-exit-in-straight-sets at the Aussie Open [...]
The Million Dollar Question - Is it just me getting old fashioned or is sports really changing too fast ?
Is the modern day sportsperson chasing that dream so hard that its becoming difficult to make him the role model ? At some stage we are inherently uncomfortable with the concept of watching a sportsperson competing [...]
When in 1991 Vishy Anand played his first Linares event he met a Spanish couple Maurice and Nieves. They were the reason Anand moved to Collado Mediano. They travelled with Vishy to many events over the years. Still when Vishy wins, Maurice is the first person he thinks of. He is by far Anand’s biggest [...]
They say that pictures are worth a thousand words. When one looks back at these, one wonders what the doubt was all about.
This is Marion Jones. And yes, the photograph is the end of the 100m finals at the Sydney Olympics.
And this, ahead of the haze (and Carl Lewis) is Ben Johnson at the [...]
I happened to be a proud recipient of a complimentary pass to the Kingfisher open Men’s singles final match conducted in Mumbai last Sunday. Now, I have always been a Tennis fan but never had the opportunity to watch a ‘live’ tennis match. Oliver Rochus v/s Richard Gasquet (I hope I got the spellings right), [...]
A few weeks ago, Shane Warne writing a column for The Times in the UK, started unleashing a list of 50 greatest cricketers he had played with or against. As with all things Warne, it was not without its share of the controversial.
The list opened and in its first ten i.e. 50-41 itself there were [...]
So today I have a scary question like that one above.
If Tests are the real thing, (and the Ashes will be the only 5 Test series ),
and
there is just too much one day cricket already
and
Twenty20 is Barbie Doll And Bobby Deol and yet there is so much of it mushrooming all over [...]
Two weeks ago, it was supposed to be the big showdown at Osaka.
Tyson Gay vs Asaka Powell at the 100m sprint.
As it turned out, though - despite having run a world record 9.77 secs thrice, Powell had never won a world title and he didn’t then.
“When I saw I wasn’t in gold medal contention, I [...]
Ok, I’ll be the first to admit it. I struggled with the hangover all weekend. And tried to regain the positive frame of mind and all that. But nope. I didn’t manage it. I could not identify with everyone else’s “the better side won” and “our weaknesses finally showed up” bit. I can’t understand the [...]
Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of [...]
Most traders have (and live) a “losing positions” nightmare. This is roughly how mine goes.
old jeans - hole in pocket(s) - i don’t realize - i put sand in a pocket- it goes down my leg to my ankles - what do i do ? - i put more sand - its now up to [...]
Its not a prompt start to the Trent Bridge Test and sure enough the discussions wander off to the topic thats always kept on simmer these days. The fab four.
Ten days ago, just ahead of the Lords Test they were singing praises of Sachin Tendulkar again, for instance. ‘The Second Bradman says Tony Greig’ kind [...]
Everyone knows what this photograph is about. Whats less commonly known, perhaps, is that coming into the “final frontier” series, Michael Slater was grappling with a bipolar disorder. That bit is true. Its also true that he was also going through trouble (and ultimate breakup) in his marriage. There was also a bunch of tripe [...]
“To me, Curtly Ambrose was the supreme fast-bowling machine. He moved, with the ease and grace of a champion athlete across the ground, was beautifully balanced and coordinated, and could blast you out with pace if needed or revert to strategic assault. As well, he owned the trait everyone wants but few possess : the [...]
Call it the love of the underdog if you will. Or the sheer amazement that the superpower is the underdog. But I love it when the BCCI wins little battles. Even more when nobody acknowledges the victories.
Make no mistake about it. Its not like the BCCI is above reproach. I just think we sometimes rap [...]
January, 1998.
SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL; Serena Williams Stuns Davenport
… (Serena) Williams, only 16 and ranked No. 96, trailed 1-6, 2-5 and faced two match points at 15-40 when she grabbed control with a combination of wily play and youthful athleticism.
Limping on her bandaged right knee after taking an injury timeout at 1-3 in the second set, [...]
This day in 1983.
Indian Cricket changed forever.
And I know what you’re thinking. There are better photographs that capture the moment. Here’s the thing though. There are a few guys missing from this picture.
One of them - Kapil Dev - was the captain of the team. Another - Sandeep Patil, played an important role right through. This week, [...]
Its not that we won easily.
To me, the importance of yesterday, was Sachin and Dada as India’s one-two. Its immaterial that it failed.
Sachin Tendulkar back at the top of the order - a desire he’s expressed a few times - is important. In the past, when he said that, it was explained to him that [...]
We’ve got a Board that justifiably claims to have a monopoly over the receipts of the game. The BCCI realises that Indian eyes on tv sets are what make Ricky Ponting’s Australia Yellow or Rahul Dravid’s India Blue. Without us, they’d all be (if at all) in white.
We are the colour of money.
Sometimes tho, one [...]
We (as in India) are said to be long struggling with an opening combination. And if most people say so, its probably right. And I don’t delve into statistics too deeply but a lot of people do.
So here’s a quiz question. (I know the answer incidentally. Ha !).
Sunil Gavaskar. 125 Tests. 10,122 runs. 34 centuries [...]
In the big picture, history will judge every captain by what his team achieved. Thats all it comes down to. Results . Wins. Losses. Stats. And how the players under him progressed.
In terms of pure results, Steve Waugh’s numbers are pretty straightforward.
Captained Australia in 57 Tests. Won 41. Lost 10. Drew 6. Thats a 71.92 [...]
I’ve often wondered if a sportsperson going out to perform at the big arena is actually just treating it like another day at work. Surely they are not. Surely the pressure is immense. Surely the chances of success are more limited. Surely the price of failure is higher.
So, if it isn’t a day at work, [...]
A few days ago , I wrote here of John Buchanan’s wonderful plans of having ambidextrous cricketers. Somewhere in there was a Roebuck article that spoke similar.
Cricket’s changing. And its changing fast.
Maybe, sometimes too fast.
Take a look at this post by Karthikeya.
Its a brilliant example of a sharp observation by a keen student of the game. [...]
For everybody with reshaping domestic league and academy ideas ….
If the English Premiership with its fantastic viewership worldwide and the Spanish La Liga are amongst the two best in the world, attracting and showcasing the best soccer and inspiring generation after generation of talent, then why are England and Spain ranked 8th and 9th worldwide [...]
