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 [...]
Every once in a while, one comes across pieces of sports writing that defy time & remain with you. Strong stories of champions like the one below. Will try and bring some of those here in a random series.
This one is by S L Price and was first published in the Sports Illustrated [...]
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 [...]
When you join the growing list of Novak Jokovic’s fans and search Youtube for his many videos, you will find that he does a few brilliantly funny ones of Maria Sharapova (”just friends”), Andy Roddick, Goran Ivanisevic, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal. They’re complete with mannerisms and all. He does not even stop at Rafa’s [...]
Growing up, all kinds of things shape you. In different doses. People do it without realizing the impact.
Sportswriters were obviously an important part of the ones that shaped me and I consider myself fortunate that a large period of when I was most impressionable coincided with when Indian sports writers were at their most celebratory.
This [...]
The thing about Jim Murray is that he lived “happily” but somebody ran off with his “ever after.” It’s like the guy who’s ahead all night at the poker and then ends up bumming cab money home. Or the champ who’s untouched for 14 rounds and then gets KO’d by a pool-hall left you could [...]
For many in my generation, Sharjah was long synonymous with a cricketing nightmare that started and ended with a Chetan Sharma full toss. Then, one evening, in April 1998, a desert storm blew across Sharjah and changed the landscape forever. The following is an article (from the archives) which captured the essence of that innings by a [...]
