XYZ Newswire: May XX 20xx
Doctor Vijay Mallya hit the nail on its head, pierced the bull’s eye and put his finger on the problem all at once when he commented, “At the end of the day people need to understand that the IPL has a corporate side to it, and a very definitive corporate side [...]
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 [...]
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 the best of times. That was the worst of times.
Indian cricket had let the nerves get the better of them. Pragmatically, winning the World Cup had been a fanciful dream - but a shock first round exit was an unjust blow. As those seniors sat looking into the distance, disconsolate and depressed, tied [...]
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 [...]
With all the IPL auction dust settling down, the per ball income for Ishant Sharma calculated, the anguished cries of non Indian socialists the world over (How can a nation with so much poverty, display such obscene wealth) heard politely, reasons for the success / failure of the league analysed to bare bones, Ricky Ponting’s [...]
The finals of the CB series had to be between these two teams. There was a fatalistic predictability that it would be. Anything else would have been inadequate. Thats where the predictability ended.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side is the new India. When they were chosen and others sidestepped, the justifiable feeling among many was that the [...]
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 [...]
The day one had spent weeks and months waiting for finally arrived this morning.
Boxing Day at the MCG. You can click on the link to study its rich history but the more obvious parts are that the first ever Test match was held here in 1877 when Australia beat England by 45 runs. And then [...]
The good news is that we have some cricket again ! And by that I mean international cricket - the kind that seems to keep our hyperactive minds occupied. Because no matter how much domestic cricket we play (and there has been and continues to be a fair share), it does not seem to stop conspiracy [...]
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 [...]
Lets get this off to the realistic start it deserves. 4 matches into this series, we’re 1-2 behind and although we’ve won 1, it was our first win since 2004. Of the last 25 matches that we’ve played Australia, we’ve lost 17 (3 were No Results). Yesterday’s loss was Australia’s first in 15 games.
Now for [...]
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), [...]
Knock Knock
Who’s There ?
Misba
Misba Who ?
Misba 5 runs .
Just for a brief while yesterday, surely, an old nightmare came back to haunt a few people. A young man named Sharma ran in to bowl to a determined, possessed Pakistan batsman . Thats when the comparisons ended. That was 21 years ago. I was older [...]
Six months ago - to the day - India, played its last game at the World Cup. Two days before that and a few hours after finding out about the death of their coach, Pakistan had played its last match at the World cup as well. Two great cricket superpowers brought to [...]
Last night, fast asleep at 0130, I got a phone call.
It had been a stressful couple of days at work. Sleep was desirable if not essential. There was no way it would be anything but toss and turn though. The caller knew it.
But I wish you could have heard the excitement in the voice. [...]
Today Rahul Dravid resigned as captain of Team India. Or offered to.
Typically I’d wait till the dust settled and things got clarified about what that means before I wrote a post on something like this but I feel strongly about Rahul Dravid. I even thought he was deserving of the highest compliment at the recent [...]
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 [...]
There was a particular beauty to yesterday’s contest which underscores the times we live in. Everything is lightning quick. Everything is under the scanner and must be right. Every mistake is analysed. The run fest at the Oval showed that not all of that is bad.
A number of mistakes were made by a host of [...]
“At a dinner in Leeds on Friday night, Sachin Tendulkar talked about playing under pressure. Nobody is better qualified to do so. He said the only way to cope with the extraordinary expectation that has followed his career was to see pressure as [...]
Sometimes it isn’t meant to be. The eventual winners just find that something special that nothing you can do is good enough. Last night, Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara got England from 114-7 to their 213 target in difficult conditions. They have a combined age of 43.
We’ve had similar moments. Yuvraj and Kaif getting India [...]
Walking into the third ODI at Edgbaston of what was effectively now a best of 5 ODI series, India should really have had the upper hand psychologically. As it turns out, England have won what ultimately seemed like such an easy victory that India seem one batsman, a couple of bowlers and a team of [...]
So One All with 5 to play in the one day circus.
One suspects though that even if its coloured by hindsight, the Bristol game was decided as much at the team compositions stage as by the fantastic batting displays that were put on later.
India chose to drop Gambhir. His performances at this stage [...]
9.30 pm to 5 am.
Those are the timings of the day night games in Singapore. So yes - with a 5 am start to work everyday, I was dozing off just as Matt Prior was walking back to the pavilion. I woke up to India 8 for- and that was pretty much that. The markets [...]
Well done India. For all the BCCI baiters and slow-on-the-coach-bandwagon red rag wavers, this was a truly independent Indian performance. It does not matter that it was 1-0 and could have been 2-0 and it does not matter either that we got out of jail at Lords. All that matters is that we won. Fair [...]
This Oval Test first innings performance is a classic example of what one would like in a batting card. Not just in terms of the consistency, but more importantly because its done exactly what was required. From pace of innings, contributions of all batters, partnerships and contribution to the team cause for the series (and [...]
Even though I’ll say that I could see the Dhoni appointment coming a while ago, and I’ll even give the selectors a bit of credit for it, I’ll admit that the rest of the selections are beyond me.
For the record, this is our squad. MS Dhoni leads and Yuvraj Singh is his deputy. The rest [...]
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 [...]
Luck with the toss and day one conditions notwithstanding (England had the same advantage at Lords), India were comprehensively the better side at Trent Bridge.
Whats worrisome for England is that the weak links from Lords - Bell, Prior and the lower batting order - have stayed weak and a few others have been exposed. The [...]
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 [...]
The Lords Test is over. Let there be light !
In my opinion, neither side quite knows what to take away from the sun and rain of London. If the English believe that the bowling was on par with what they had dished during the Ashes of 2005, I strongly suggest they look again (At the [...]
Just about the start of day 3 of the first Test.
A nervous start to the game - not that its acceptable by virtue of the fact that its been the norm - with the bowlers being guilty of a poor first day. Then a great comeback. So 268/4 at the end of day 1 becomes [...]
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 [...]
Am not sure why one reads of this little tour being a waste of time. And that too by some pretty astute thinkers of the game whose thought process one imagines reflects that of the team. Or is it the BCCI ? Aren’t they supposed to be the same ? I digress …
I thought the whole [...]
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, [...]
… as a reference to the “Sheikh of Tweak” for Shane Warne
or
The Montster
or
The Beard to be Feared
or
Parmesan Tony
or
The Python
or
The Spin Doctor
It does not matter what name you choose, Mudhsuden Singh Panesar is the flavour of the season. He’s Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2007. If you don’t believe me, check out his profile on his website. [...]
Graham Ford’s Runaway Bride act (for thats the politest one can be) has done this. Its turned the focus solely on Rahul Dravid. This is going to be his summer. It will have to be. It had to be that way the day he reconciled it all by saying “Coming to a place like India, [...]
I’m beginning to lose count and will admit that I’m confusing ODIs and Tests - but lets see now … India’s list of vice captains in the not so recent past - Sachin, VVS, Sehwag, Yuvraj and in the Bangladesh series - Nobody. Somewhere Kumble and Ganguly felt good about it for a session or [...]
Model T’s broken down !! Graham Ford’s turned down the BCCI offer ….
This is what the Kent website carried yesterday …
FORD RETURNS TO THE NEVILL
Following reports suggesting that Kent Director of Cricket Graham Ford has been offered and has accepted the role of coach to the Indian National side, Kent County Cricket Club can confirm [...]
Ford. Graham Ford.
So long as everyone - BCCI, media, fans, bloggers and most importantly Team India - get it clear that Graham Ford is here in the most basic form of the coach (the Model T Ford, if you will), and his role is the quintessence of “help-me-help-you” and nothing more and nothing less, everything [...]
After my last I-wish-I-wasn’t-so-clever post about the BCCI choosing coaches, I’ll limit this one to someone else’s silly points …
This is from the Telegraph in India and its Pat Symcox on Graham Ford - who, says Pat, doesn’t believe in frills.
On the other side, in a number of ways, is a small excerpt [...]
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 [...]
In all the debates about the roles about a coach in a cricket team, Shane Warne is associated with the prosecution’s opening remarks.
Do we need a coach at all.
Shane Warne - always good with the wrong ‘un - said this. “I’m a big believer that a coach is something you travel in to get to [...]
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 [...]
If anyone hasn’t read John Wright’s indian summers, please get it NOW. Its got sincerity in every word.
Anyway, here’s a passage from the book. This is just after his appointment and ahead of his first Test for India.
I made a point of talking to the former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri, who was part of the [...]
Lets just get this out of the way.
We went there with our cricket at a pretty low point. Knocked out of the World Cup before the Super 8s, talk of rifts within the team , a coach who we could find nothing right with and Sachin and Saurav “rested” for the ODIs meant we were left to [...]
So here’s a case of a gamble paying off. Handsomely. Had spoken in this post about how India’s team selection for the second Test was a huge vote of confidence and hence, a part of the battle won before a shot was fired - or a coin tossed.
India have now gone on to [...]
326-0 after being put in on day one.
There’s Dravid on an “effortlessly brilliant” (Cricinfo’s words) 88 and Sachin at the crease. And yes, thats 3 and 4 batting with the team at “no loss” cos the openers retired hurt from heat exhaustion basically.
The weather forecast (at least at the moment of writing is [...]
In a move which oozes confidence and sneers at short sighted doubters like this one here, Rahul Dravid has announced the 12 for the game starting tomorrow morning at Mirpur.
And no, there is no sign of any pressure of having missed chances or the risk of going home 0-0. What there is , is a [...]
India’s looking for a coach. They say Dav Whatmore’s a frontrunner and I have thoughts on that. I like Sandeep Patil too. And I have thoughts on why he could be the one as well. But thats not what this post is about. Hopefully its not even about an Indian coach.
A few days ago, I [...]
Sun Tzu said ………………..that if you see ground or position to be gained but do not act, you are weak.
I’m a huge Dravid fan. But no matter how I cut it, Day 4 and 5 of the Chittagong Test were not the perfect antidote to a skipper doubtless on the low end of [...]
End of day 2 and we’re 384-6 - its been 97 overs of play when there should have been about twice as many. We’ve got them at about 4 an over. The “rest” seems to have done Sachin and Ganguly some good with both getting centuries. One gets 100, the other gets 101. And they [...]
Yeah yeah .. One shouldn’t cry over spilt milk.
But as we sealed the series with a win in the second game today, one was still left wondering about wtf ( I still love “whiskey tango foxtrot” - and thats basically cos I cant dance to save my life) we were going through mentally with [...]
When you think about it, its just like it is for most of us. Its a day at the office. But it isn’t really, is it ?
First game today between India and Bangladesh kicks off in about a half hour’s time. (They’re not showing it here in Singapore say the looters at Starhub.)
There’s the background [...]
And so there we have it .
Another sting operation on TV by Aaj Tak And Headlines Today. As of the moment of this post, the only reports I can find are the ones on Cricinfo and Indiatimes .
The “revelations” spoke to four national selectors - Ranjib Biswal, Bhupinder Singh Sr, Venkatapathy Raju and Sanjay Jagdale, [...]
I mean seriously ! Don’t numbers count for anything anymore?
So I went to the Cricket Australia site this morning. And somewhere in the middle of the homepage is this User Poll.
“Which Team are you most looking forward to seeing in Australia next summer”
Sri Lanka
India
New Zealand
And I’m thinking, these Aussies love their cricket. And [...]
I know I shouldn’t go there again. But its a perspective I want to share.
For those that haven’t read Steve Waugh’s 800 odd page opus “Out of My Comfort Zone”, please do. Its an amazing study into the mind of a cricketer and human being that stretches his boundaries to optimise his potential and live [...]
This is going to be a long post. With lots of stories and lots of links. And thats basically because it confounds me that people doubt the integrity of the guy. I can understand that they sometimes consider him baggage in the fast evolving version of the one day game. But a saboteur? Rahul Dravid [...]
Or Mr Murthy … Or whoever..
And sorry but this isn’t cricket either - but am a huge fan of the sport and even if this is a figment of someone’s imagination, its good enough for me .. a F1 race on Rajpath !.
Flag it off !!
I was kinda hoping that Ravi Shastri would stay on as coach or manager or whatever nomenclature they chose. Considering that the BCCI has appointed yet another committee, this time with 7 members and it has that pundit of the game, Niranjan Shah as convenor, and Shastri as a member, its unlikely that he’ll vote [...]
In a foreword to the eminently readable Coach, Bill Bradley (among other things a Rhodes Scholar, Olympic Gold Medallist, ten year professional with the New York Knicks, US Senator for 22 years and a candidate for Democratic Nomination for President), says ..
Leadership means getting people to think, believe, see, and do what they might not have without [...]
Last night, the BCCI working committee selection committee, announced the team for the Bangladesh tour. Three ODIs and two Tests.
Here it is.
ODI Team : Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthapa, Virendra Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwari, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh.
Test Team [...]
Sometime tomorrow, India will chose a team for Bangladesh. Chances are Sachin Tendulkar will keep his place. However, for a diehard fan like myself, its distressing that a debate for his place should even be considered.
- Rohit Brijnath’s piece on his fading…
Update
- Sir Richard Hadlee in his column in Midday talks about the same issue.
He doesn’t quite say that but in a piece called Two Wrongs, One Wright, Geoffrey Boycott opines on the foreign v Indian coach debate.
These are confusing times for the Indian cricket fan, and indeed, for the rest of us who have been watching developments in India post the team’s exit from the World Cup. In [...]
The way we see it, its half full.
There is a lot that ails Indian cricket but there is also a lot that it has going for it. And it bothers us when things get either all rosy (”so-and-so is the right person”, “such-and-such is the right way” 
or all bleak (”we’re barking up the [...]
Tiger Pataudi on Karan Thapar’s Devil’s Advocate..
Tiger’s always been a say-it-like-it-is commentator on the game. And Karan Thapar’s interview style of trying to put words into his guests’ mouth (as opposed to listening and trying to veer an interview), would have met a formidable match.
A bit of that on video here
With BCCI doing what they do best (ok, second best after packaging and selling Indian cricket) - buying time by deferring selection of the team for Bangladesh to the 20th of April, with the cricketers lying low as they too wait for the thunderstorms to pass, and with world cricket heading towards the [...]
Speaking at a function to announce the dates of the Afro Asian Cup (Cricket for Unity, if you please), the very honourable BCCI Vice President Mr Rajiv Shukla says that no directive has been issued to the National Selectors about team composition for the tour to Bangladesh.
Indeed.
And this was the BCCI press release after their [...]
Its a point of view. Bob Woolmer thought guess who has (had?) fantastic technique and was comparable to Bradman. And renowned sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster who has worked on the mental skills with such athletes as Greg Norman , Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Gary Sobers and was to work with the Indian Team [...]
Ok - this was in 2005 and ____ was in the form of his life - But guess who Bob Woolmer wrote about when he said this.
- Has Bradman’s genius.
- I would often sit in front of the computer, with _____’s innings on the biomechanics screen, searching for the weakness; looking for [...]
- and diplomatic comparisons of John Wright and Greg Chappell, On Greg and the media (If I get a turning wicket , I will go and exploit it)
The second Part of Kumble’s Walk-The Talk.
More than anything else though , its team before self.
First part of the interview here .
(after the Bangladesh defeat), says Anil Kumble in the first part of his Walk-The-Talk interview.
Did you know that in its last 60 ODI games , India’s conceded 300 just once? …
The big weekend is out of the way and what do we have ? More questions than answers really.
This whole seniors issue which is as much media created as it is real though promises to be the biggest firecracker this coming week. On the 11th, the selectors will come up with the team for Bangladesh. [...]
So the BCCI meet is over .. and this is what we have as a statement from them. A lot of it is the blueprint they look for which one can revisit as the days go by.
Important near term features tho..
Dravid is skipper for the tours of Bangladesh, Ireland and England.
The BCCI working committee have [...]
Day one of the BCCI review committee is out of the way. This is what it seems like for now.
Dravid to continue as Skipper.
Greg Chappell took no names in his report. (hmmm). Oh, and “he has a lot to contribute yet”(hmmm), so he’ll probably stay on with the NCA. In any case, he isnt [...]
Ok, This is going to be my last Rohit Brijnath post. (for the day!)
And this time I’m not just going to link it. (In case at some stage in the future the link’s lost, I’m gonna cut and paste the whole thing.)
This was somewhat of an Open Letter to Greg Chappell. The circumstances are self [...]
Rohit Brijnath , whose writings have always tried to capture the best that sports has to offer and the best that offer to sport, wrote this piece a few years ago. Just around the time India was setting out with a Vision 2007 plan.
In another piece dated September 2005, Brijnath looks at the questions which [...]