IT'S all about money in sports, as in other walks of life. Money can help make friends and it has the power to break even the strongest of bonds. Indian sports fans just found that out in the case of alleged comments of former India Test player Vinod Kambli on his long-time friend Sachin Tendulkar and what former Test fast bowler Yograj Singh, also father of Yuvraj…
IT was akin to a headbanger's ball. While the first Ashes Test in its 2009 avatar had to live up to the billing and hype of the gladiatorial 2005 joust, England seemed to have called it right by playing two spinners - Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann. Simply because the two of them saved England the blushes. Not with the ball, but with the bat. It was ironical that in a battle…
IN what has turned out to be a pivotal month for global football, with virtually every powerhouse European professional club making multi-year, multiple million dollar/euro plays for star performers, and perennial underperformers like the United States shocking the world, and especially Spain in the Confederation Cup, Indian Football was in the news for very different reasons.…
IMAGINE a one day Indian team with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman being bounced out by the opposition. Not possible would be your immediate reaction. They have been known to fail collectively in the face of quick bowling in Test matches, the most recent and notable instance was when Dale Steyn and Co skittled them out in India. But in a Test match,…
IMAGINE a one day Indian team with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman being bounced out by the opposition. Not possible would be your immediate reaction. They have been known to fail collectively in the face of quick bowling in Test matches, the most recent and notable instance was when Dale Steyn and Co skittled them out in India. But in a Test match,…
A FEW days ago I received a rare press release from Cricket South Africa (CSA) in these times of tightly packed international schedule and players’ muted protests over alarming increase in getting burn out. The release said: “CSA’s nationally contracted players are now on a well deserved holiday break and will not be required to do media work for a reasonable period of…
COMMENTARY is an art form. Radio commentary more so. I remember with great fondness the mellifluous voiced Henry Blofeld and Chris Martin Jenkins. But that was a different age and era. Now we are slapbang in the middle of the visual revolution, the telly beams images from across the world. What the hell, video streaming makes it possible to view cricket on one's hand held device.…
THE past two weeks have been sweet and sour for Indian women's sport. The high point was, of course, the rapidly-improving shuttler Saina Nehwal’s remarkable Indonesian Open Super Series triumph and the weekend was made perfect when the hockey team won the Champions Challenge II in Kazan, Russia, on Sunday.
In between the good news, Saina Mirza disappointed…
HOW does one future proof Indian hockey? A truly Sisyphian task. For as long as rent seekers dominate Indian hockey, the players on the field will continue to suffer. India finished ninth in the recently concluded Junior World Cup hockey tourney defeating Poland 4-0. So, what are we talking about? Is there any tangible improvement in Indian hockey? More importantly, can there be…
THE disclosure that top members of the national team carried injuries to the Twenty20 World Cup should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with the approach of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) towards controversial issues.
So it was only to be expected that the board mandarins pretended that they were blissfully unaware of this…