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Good news for footwear enthusiasts in Chennai. The city will host the first Kickers store. Following a 30-year licensing deal with Royer Group of France, Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd (KICL) is gearing up to set up its maiden Kickers store in Chennai tomorrow. The timing could not have been better for KICL, which has come under a new owner in Rafiq Ahmed and got relisted on the bourses. The opening of the Kickers store in Chennai comes within days of a significant development in the annals of KICL. A Qatar company belonging to the Royal family has just been cleared by the board of KICL to pick up a 10% stake in the Chennai company. Qatar-based F J Global Investment is owned by Falah Jassim J.M.AL-Thani, who is a director of Doha Bank and was also the founder of Qatar Airways. He was also a minister in the Qatar Government. This is a significant boost to KICL under Rafiq Ahmend, who has gone on a mission to revive the KICL and bring the iconic Kothari brand back to yester-year glory. The investment from a company owned by Qatar Royal family is seen positively by industry circles in Tamil Nadu, which is going the extra mile to woo foreign investment into the state. Significantly enough, KICL has also embarked on a consolidation move with the board approving a proposal to buy 30% stake held by Rafiq Ahmed in Phoenix Kothari Footwear Ltd, a joint venture that is setting up a non-leather footwear park in backward Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu. Well, things appear to fall in place for KICL as it seeks to make a strong comeback and regain its past glory.
It was something that the Congress couldn’t stomach easily. Perhaps the party was surprised that the Raj Kapoor family had chosen to interact with PM Modi. A day after the social media and TV channels were awash with PM Modi’s interaction with members of the Kapoor family, a very senior Congress leader ventured to put out a snarky social media post questioning the meeting. For some odd reason he completely chose to ignore the context of the meeting. “We have been asking PM Modi to visit Manipur. But he has instead found time to meet with Kareena Kapoor.” Soon good sense prevailed and he deleted his crude post. Guess he must have realised that his post was outright offensive. The Kapoor family had called on PM Modi on December 10 to invite him to the legendary actor-filmmaker’s Film Festival. The festival is to commemorate Raj Kapoor’s 100th birth anniversary, an iconic figure in Indian cinema who passed away in 1988. Ten Raj Kapoor films are going to be showcased across 40 cities in 135 cinemas .The Kapoor family, including actors Ranbir Kapoor, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, Neetu Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhat and Saif Ali Khan met the PM. “This is a special day for us. We enjoyed the conversation. He spoke to us in a friendly manner. He made all of us feel very comfortable,” said actor Ranbir Kapoor. His cousin actor Kareena Kapoor Khan said that it was her dream to sit next to PM Modi and talk to him. “His energy is so positive and he is truly a global leader.” PM Modi inquired about the third generation of Kapoors — and autographed for Kareena’s children Tim and Jeh. December 14 marks the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor.
It couldn’t have come at a more inappropriate time than this. The day when the entire national media was riveted on the Parliament debates commemorating 75 years of Constitution of India and newly-elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Vadra Gandhi was making her debut speech in the House. For some odd reason the Telangana Police chose to arrest Telugu star Allu Arjun, protagonist in the Rs 1000-crore plus grosser Pushpa 2: The Rule. He was arrested in connection with the stampede incident at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre, which resulted in the death of a woman. On December 4, a massive crowd gathered at Sandhya Theatre to see Allu Arjun, resulting in a tragic stampede. Revathi, a 39-year-old woman, died due to asphyxiation, and her 8-year-old son was hospitalised. While granting interim bail to Allu Arjun, the Telangana High Court affirmed Arjun’s right to life and liberty, stating that he cannot be deprived of these fundamental rights. While leaders cutting across the political spectrum came out in support of the actor, Telangana BJP leader and Union Minister Bandi Sanjay described the arrest of a National Award-winning actor as having been done to steal the spotlight. “Drama over delivery, diversion over governance — that’s the Telangana Congress government for you!” Arjun’s uncle and Andhra deputy CM Pawan Kalyan rushed to rally support for him. In the meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Priyanka Vadra herself responds to the ham-handed manner CM Revanth Reddy handled the situation. He had after all managed to divert attention from her debut performance in the Lok Sabha to an avoidable law & order incident in Hyderabad.
To ensure the social welfare schemes reach the intended target group, West Bengal chief West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has rolled out a robust mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of socio-welfare schemes. This initiative aims to hold government officials accountable for supervising these projects and addressing inefficiencies that have marred progress in recent years. The state finance ministry has issued a notification, followed by the establishment of a dedicated help desk at Navanna to oversee information flow from block and sub-division levels. This initiative, aimed at curbing inefficiency and fraud, will require officials to physically visit project sites instead of submitting progress reports from office desks. The app will feature automatic geo-tagging, ensuring accurate location tracking of officials during field visits. During multiple administrative meetings chaired by CM, officials repeatedly failed to provide accurate updates on the status of ongoing schemes. This incomplete information has not only slowed down critical projects but also caused dissatisfaction among citizens. Officials, from BDOs to District Magistrates, must register using their mobile numbers. Reports will require OTP authentication and must include photographs of on-ground work. The app mandates regular updates, such as reporting issues in road construction, cleanliness, drinking water, and electricity services, along with distinguishing between simple and complex problems. The model draws inspiration from private sector practices, where geo-tagging apps track employee performance. The state’s new app is expected to enforce accountability among officials, address bureaucratic delays, and improve public service delivery.
In a move that may have surprised the Opposition BJP, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appointed Radharamn Das, vice president of ISKCON Kolkata,to a 13-member board of trustees for the upcoming Jagannath Dham project in Digha. The temple, set to be a cultural and religious landmark on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, will be inaugurated on Akshay Tritiya on April 30, 2025. The Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra, spanning 20 acres, is being developed under the supervision of HIDCO, an urban planning body under the state government. With an investment of Rs 250 crore, the project aims to replicate the grandeur of the Puri Jagannath Temple and serve as a significant pilgrimage and tourist attraction. This development comes amid ongoing political friction between Didi and BJP’s Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari. It may be recalled that Nandigram where the temple is being built was the place where he had defeated Didi in the 2021 Assembly elections. Adhikari who is opposing the project on the ground that using public funds to construct religious structures is unconstitutional. He accused Mamata of attempting to win the Hindu vote bank as her minority appeasement has alienated Hindus. Mamata’s decision to include an ISKCON leader is seen as a strategic move, in light of recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and the arrest of an ISKCON monk. Political analysts believe Didi is sending a message of solidarity to the Hindu community while subtly addressing concerns raised by the BJP over her government’s alleged minority appeasement policies.
Devajit Saikia is the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) representative in the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its Director. Saikia, who is the question that is being asked by those not acquainted with the BCCI’s governance structure, especially after the Justice Lodha Committee’s Reforms in Cricket report was accepted by the Supreme Court in 2016 and its Constitution was rewritten thereafter. The ICC Board is the all-powerful body in its Governance structure, and as a convention, the 12 full members of the ICC nominate its Presidents as Directors. Many stalwarts of the BCCI, like Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar were on the ICC Board, and after the 2019 election, post the reforms, former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was on the ICC Board. Ganguly was succeeded by the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah with the BCCI President Roger Binny as the alternate director in 2022, the same year when the former Assam Ranji Trophy cricketer and legal practitioner Saikia was elected as Jt. Secretary of the BCCI. People in the know attribute Saikia’s rise on the administration side of the game to his association and rapport with Assam’s BJP chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Once it was announced that Jay Shah would take charge as Chair (Independent Director) of the ICC from December 1, 2024, quite a handful of names like Arun Singh Dhumal (former BCCI Treasurer and currently chairman, IPL) and Ashish Shelar (BJP President, Mumbai and BCCI Treasurer) emerged as a potential successor to Shah as BCCI Secretary. Saikia, will remain the BCCI Joint Secretary and perform the duties of the Secretary. But his nomination to the ICC Board has surprised many people.
Veteran leader Sharad Pawar has once again monopolised the centre stage following reports that a top leader of his party has held talks with a prominent BJP Union minister in Delhi. The political grapevine is buzzing with different versions since the meeting is believed to have occurred at industrialist Gautam Adani’s Delhi residence. In fact, Pawar started hitting the headlines on Thursday (Dec 12) morning as the news that his nephew Ajit Pawar and a couple of other NCP (Ajit) leaders had reached the patriarch’s residence. Ajit later said that being a family member, he had greeted his uncle on his birthday and nothing unusual should be read in the visit. Ajit was accompanied by Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, both very close to Sharad Pawar till the recent split in the NCP. The name of Adani added grist to the gossip since the industrialist had visited Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis just a couple of days ago in Mumbai. The Adani group continues to BE target of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray. In the past too, Adani has been meeting Pawar off and on. The presence of Fadnavis in Delhi on Thursday proved to be another trigger to speculate that the political scene of Maharashtra was likely to undergo another overhaul. Pawar’s hot and cold relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always remained an intrigue. Hence, his followers are unable to predict which way he can turn.
The Raj Kapoor family has finally come out together to celebrate the centenary year — 1924-2024 — of the showman of the film industry. Forty two year old Ranbir Kapoor who has been in the film industry for nearly two decades has taken the lead along with his cousin Kunal Kapoor to celebrate Raj Kapoor through his cinema. But was it too late to celebrate RK? Is the newer generation enthusiastic to watch his films? Ranbir Kapoor said, like his wife Alia, the young generation needs to know about the cinema of Raj Kapoor and one hopes he is successful through his stardom and initiative to keep RK’s legacy alive. But, is the film industry or the government really care about saving our heritage or culture, considering the government is calling the film industry as soft power? The hard truth is: why are our studios and banners not surviving be it Filmalaya Studio, Kamalistan Studio and Raj Kamal Studio which has limited work space. Raj Kapoor’s RK Studio, a famous landmark in Chembur along with his bungalow has been sold to Godrej Properties for constructing residential properties. It may be recalled that RK Studio was working on the rentals till the fire destroyed the entire heritage. Luckily film lovers are lucky his films were in the safe custody of NFAI. It is learnt that Ranbir Kapoor who is already a producer wants to turn director. So will he revive the RK Banner? As a part of the centenary celebration the entire RK clan met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conspicuous by his absence was Randhir Kapoor as he was not keeping well. In the end one only hopes that Ranbir Kapoor carries the great showman’s legacy forward.
This maverick and marauding scam tainted politician was once the acolyte of Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan. Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has burnt many bridges in his meteoric rise in politics. A stormy petrel, indicted for five scams, served jail term and is now out on a bail. He is once again in the news for his below-the-belt remark against his bete noire, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who recently announced a Mahila Samvad Yatra to interact directly with women and evaluate the impact of his government’s programme targeted for women. When the media quizzed the RJD supremo Lalu about Nitish Kumar’s Mahila Yatra and his goal of winning all 225 seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections, the unstoppable motor mouth said, “Pahle unko aankh sekhne do” (let them get an eyeful of the women). Lalu is famous for double entendres and pithy talk. This chintzy, low end hit at both Nitish’s party and the women electorate set off a storm. Bihar deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, “It seems Lalu Prasad has lost his ability to comprehend, doesn’t know what he is saying “. JDU MP from Munger, Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, “Lalu is master of buffoonery”. Public discourse is an amalgam of many such talents. But certainly hitting below the belt and indulging in such loose talk shows the lack of grace and polish.
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s plans to attend the Winter Session of the Maharashtra legislature beginning from December 16 at Nagpur will prove to be a game changer, his followers feel. Thackeray’s continued distance from the state legislative council proceedings over the past year are discussed by his party members in hushed tones since the aggressive direction needed to corner the BJP-led three-party government somehow lacks as far as his Sena is concerned. Council’s leader of the Opposition Ambadas Danve (of the Sena UBT) lacks the image and articulation which are vital for any LoP to humble the ruling side. Now that the new government led by Devendra Fadnavis has decided to appoint former CM Eknath Shinde as leader of the upper house, Danve’s limitations will be felt more vividly. Thackeray’s intermittent presence in the council ever since he resigned as chief minister in 2022 has been noted more due to his statements outside the house. He has hardly made any worthwhile speech on the floor. Therefore, his plans to remain present for the Winter Session have revived the hopes of his followers, who wish to witness his attacks against the BJP and the Sena led by Shinde. It is being recalled that Thackeray did not attend the recent three-day session of the legislature in Mumbai, held after the assembly elections. According to present indications, Thackeray will reach Nagpur well in time for the week-long session, which will be a stormy affair, focussing on settling political scores.
Stylish opener KL Rahul has been playing like a true professional in the Tata IPl-15. Rahul and Rohit Sharma were the victims of Pakistan left arm seamer Shaheen Afridi in the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 last year in Dubai. Six months later both are using the IPL with 14 league matches to fine tune their game — facing the new ball at the start — for the next edition of the World Twenty20 in the Australian summer. While Sharma has come a cropper, unable to steer his team Mumbai Indians to a single win in eight matches, Rahul has scored two methodical centuries — 103 each — both against Sharma’s team. Former India Head Coach Ravi Shastri had predicted that Rahul could be in the running for the Orange Cup given to the highest aggregate scorer in the league. Shastri told Star Sports: “He’s got a solid all-round game, the technique is good, he’s got all the shots, great temperament, and good presence of mind. The responsibility of leading a new franchise (Lucknow Super Giants) is getting the best out of him.” Rahul is a rock solid opener who understands the importance of his contribution to the team that has been weighty. His three figure knocks have helped his team, Sanjiv Goenka’s LSG win and put it on the road to a playoffs berth.
After an initial high in the home internationals against West Indies and Sri Lanka — 11 wins — Rohit Sharma experienced the painful disappointment of being beaten in every game Mumbai Indians (MI) has played in the Tata IPL-15 so far. He now joins the notorious group of captains who have lost seven matches in a row in the high-profile Twenty20 competition. The India captain, across all formats and, who has won five IPL titles for MI has lost seven straight matches in IPL-15. Sharma though finds company in the same league with Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers, 2008), Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2018-19), George Bailey (Kings XI Punjab/Punjab Kings, 2015), Yuvraj Singh (Pune Warriors, 2011) and Mahela Jayawardena (Delhi Capitals, 2013-14). But there are captains who have lost eight, nine and eleven matches in a row. Sourav Ganguly (Pune Warriors, 2012-13) and Kevin Pietersen (Delhi Capitals, 2014-15) tops the list with eleven defeats in a row. Brendan McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders, 2009) and Angelo Mathews (Pune Warriors, 2013) have lost nine in a row and Virender Sehwag (Delhi Capitals, 2012-13) has lost eight in row. With seven more to go MI will win a match or two on the way, but it looks like it’s curtains for MI in so far as the play-off qualification is concerned.
Leg spin is the most difficult art of bowling — being unorthodox in style when juxtaposed with the conventional finger spinner — but they are wicket takers and match winners in the most difficult circumstances. India’s premiere leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal saw lady luck smile on him while plotting Rajasthan Royals’ victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders much against the run of play. He became the fifth leg spinner in the Twenty20 league after Amit Mishra (a phenomenal three times; for Hyderabad v Pune, DD v Deccan Chargers and for Deccan Chargers v Mohali), Shreyas Gopal (for RR v RCB), Samuel Badree (for RCB v MI) and Pravin Tambe (for RR v KKR) to perform the magic feat. Chahal got rid of Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins to provide the 21st instance of a hat trick in the TATA IPL-15. This feat had eluded him at the start of the tournament when he flummoxed Mumbai Indian’s Tim David and Daniel Sams after which substitute Karun Nair dropped Murugan Ashwin at slip. With his first 5 wicket haul against KKR, he is all set to go past the fourth placed Piyush Chawla’s 157 victims in the competition. The leg spinner did the trick for Chahal not the googly! ‘I had to take wickets”, the RR hero said of his 17th over tour de force!
Hardik Pandya has won more admirers in the last three weeks. The reason is his overall commitment to batting, bowling, fielding and leadership of Gujarat Titans in the Tata IPL-15. The new team has surprised the discerning, winning four of its five league matches to be placed on the pedestal. After its win against the Rajasthan Royals on Thursday (April 14), the Titans have eight points, thanks to Hardik’s brilliant unbeaten 87 off only 52 balls. He dropped anchor and also sprayed shots at the DY Patil Stadium as the Titans reached a match winning score of 192 for four. Hardik has been in such a good nick with the bat that he is only second (with 228 runs) behind Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler (272 runs). Captaincy has indeed brought about a transformation in his overall game. He was declared the man of the match after leading his team to a 37-run win. Hardik is plain lucky that the BCCI added two more franchises and one of these turned out to be from Gujarat which retained him and made him the captain. And the team anthem, “Aava De“, seems to be gelling well with his character. Not very long-ago Hardik saw his fan base eroding but, he has used the Gujarat Titans and IPL to regain ground simply, leading by example.
The recent fuss around the independent chair position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) fizzled out into non-event at the quarterly ICC Board meeting in Dubai. Rumours were rife that a couple of BCCI officials were in the race for the top ICC position. But the news came from the ICC HQ that the incumbent independent chairman Greg Barclay who took charge in November 2020 will continue to complete his first two year term; that’s till the Men’s World Twenty20 in Australia this October- November. With him set to carry on, a peculiar process overseen by the chair of the ICC’s independent audit committee to identify the new chair has been put off by seven months. Normally the ICC election takes place at its annual conference in July, but after Shashank Manohar chose not to go for the third two-year term and stepped down from office on July 1, 2020, the lack of a unanimous choice immediately thereafter resulted in Barclay being elected. And that’s presumably the reason the New Zealander has been asked to stay till this November. Or is it because clarity will emerge in September when the BCCI, post the election of its office bearers, will be able to pitchfork its candidate! There were good tidings at the Dubai meeting for Jay Shah, the BCCI Secretary was made the Full Member representative in the prestigious ICC Men’s Cricket Committee.
The build up to the Tata IPL-15 had positive vibes. For the first time since 2020, the BCCI’s prestigious and cash cow Twenty20 tournament is being held in India and in a single State (Maharashtra). It was an excellent decision on the part of the BCCI to engage the Maharashtra government to schedule the 70 match league at four venues taking into account the pandemic situation. But after 15 matches it has been observed that interest among the cricket fans has not met with expectations. The league started on March 26 with permission for 25% capacity attendance and from April 6 the BCCI allowed 50% attendance. But the surfeit of matches in Mumbai (at the Wankhede, Brabourne and at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil) has not enthused the IPL faithful. Matches featuring Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings have appealed to the cricket fanatics, but the turnstiles have not seen expected footfalls for other matches. Pune appears to be an exception though, with 18084 turning up for the MI versus KKR match on April 6 and when Pat Cummins went berserk with the bat. With another 55 league matches to be played before the four-team play offs from May 24/25 to May 29 people are keeping their fingers crossed. An official of the Mumbai Cricket Association said: “Hopefully the cricket fans would begin to throng the IPL venues soon”.
No wonder, football — the game once played and advertised by the likes of the greats Pele and Maradona and these days by Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to provide plenty of entertainment and thrill– is called the “Beautiful Game” on the planet. And no wonder that over 800,000 tickets were sold online for the FIFA World Cup to be held in Doha, Qatar in November-December. As the FIFA chief, the Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino said before the draw recently, the World Cup at Doha would be unique because all eight venues will be within a 50 km distance. Football crazy fans living in Qatar, USA, England, Mexico and the UAE have picked up the majority of the 800,000 tickets. The second online sale of tickets (after the draw) opened on April 5. India’s football fans have been match specific and have bought tickets because Doha is only three and a half hours by plane. For the first time FIFA’s premier competition is going to be held in the Arab world and Qatar has spent billions of dollars to make it the most memorable event. The football World Cup will follow the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 to be held in October-November in Australia and these two events are going to keep the sports fans across the World glued to the small screens at home. Football though will win the fan following hands down.
Chennai Super Kings is feeling the pinch without seamer Deepak Chahar. Last year CSK thrived on the wicket taking habit of Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Australian Josh Hazelwood. The threesome accounted for 46 scalps in IPL-14 on the pitches of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. But Chahar is injured and Thakur and Hazelwood are with other franchises. As a consequence of their absence, the four time winner of the league has been beaten in its first two outings of the Tata IPL-15 played in Mumbai. The Chennai team retained Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali and went all out to stop Chahar’s bidding at Rs 14 crore, and it also bought Dwayne Bravo at the auction. Unfortunately Chahar damaged his right quadricep and went into rehab for eight weeks. At the auction, the Parth Jindal owned Delhi Capitals bought Thakur and the United Spirits (of the Diageo Group) owned Royal Challengers Bangalore took Hazelwood. On Thursday (March 31) night against the new IPL team Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne, CSK which made 210, was hit for nine 6s and eighteen 4s, and it lost its second match. West Indian Evin Lewis hammered the CSK bowlers for a 23-ball unbeaten 55. Not a good start for new captain Jadeja, but CSK has the wherewithal to advance to the play-offs.
Gautam Gambhir, BJP MP from East Delhi was at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday (March 28) night watching the TATA IPL-15 debutants’ match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) with a keen eye. After winning the ownership of the team last October paying Rs 7090 crore, Lucknow got the first chance after five months to step on the field with KL Rahul as captain. In a sort of dire straits at 29 for 4, a grim LSG dug out looked upon the tyro from Delhi Ayush Badoni to perform the double act of rescuing it first and then enable it to post a decent total. Some 11 years ago Gambhir had played a similar role in the ICC World Cup final against Sri Lanka making a gritty 97 off 122 balls after which India went on to win the title. Gambhir is the mentor of the team and Badoni delivered some deadly punches to make a 41-ball 54 with four 4s and three 6s. The young right-hander reached 50 with a six after hitting out at rival captain Hardik Pandya. Gambhir was pleased with Badoni’s fine debut, but his team lost to GT, a good start for first time IPL captain Hardik, who did better with the bat than with the ball; the national selectors though wanted him to excel with the ball.
Star Sports’ five-season all-encompassing global television media and digital rights over the glamorous Indian Premier League (IPL) will end at the conclusion of the Tata IPL Season-15 starting on March 26 at the Wankhede Stadium. There is no denying the fact that the IPL has become the money making machine for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the Rs 93 lakh deficit it posted in mid-nineties. From a whopping Rs 8200 crore that SONY Pictures Network paid for the first 10 years from 2008 to 2017, Star India almost doubled it — Rs 16,347.50 crore — for TV (Star Sports) and digital (Hotstar) platforms for five seasons (2018-22). The mastermind, the then Chairman and CEO of Star India, Uday Shankar, averred that the price his company successfully bid was “not outrageous” and that the per match fee of Rs 54 crore was “not exorbitant” reasoning that after 10 years, the IPL had become a tried and tested and a premium product. SONY itself had put in a sum of Rs 11050 crore. Experts reckon that the IPL media rights (TV and Digital) for 2023-2027 will definitely touch Rs 35000 crore plus for five seasons and the e-auction could make the desperate, more desperate to own IPL, the most sought after hot property in the world of cricket. Five years ago there were 13 bidders, including five for digital.
Come Saturday, the Tata IPL-15 will get off the ground at the Wankhede Stadium with a lung opener between four-time winner Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). CSK is owned by India Cements, led by the irrepressible Mahendra Singh Dhoni, aka Thala and, coached by the suave Kiwi Stephen Fleming. KKR is owned by Red Chillies Entertainment, Jay Mehta Group of course the Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan and actor Juhi Chawla. The two-time winner has a new captain in Shreyas Iyer whose was with Delhi Capitals in the last edition. KKR has the nonpareil record of winning 14 matches in a row in the league founded in 2008 and, whose Head Coach Brendon McCullum gave a roaring start to KKR’s campaign in the inaugural year with a breath-taking 158 against Royal Challengers, Bangalore. The stage is set for an electrifying start to the IPL 15 that returns to four Indian venues in Maharashtra. The government has allowed 25% attendance at each venue but, the BCCI is hopeful more paying spectators will be allowed as the league enters April and May, before the play-offs begin. So happy days are back again for the IPL fans because Season 14 in full and more than half of Season 13 were held in the United Arab Emirates.
Vivek Kumar, Founder & Director of the Padukone-Dravid Centre For Sports Excellence (PDCSE) near Bengaluru city is the go-to man for the Central, State governments and Corporates to create and finance sports infrastructure without much capital expenditure. Four years into existence, the institution for training elite sports persons and budding talent has already created a buzz around the development of Lakshya Sen at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, and Olympic swimmer Srihari Nataraj at its Olympic size pool, which operate within the facility named after two legends, Prakash Padukone and Rahul Dravid. Vivek Kumar, a former India junior badminton player, has invested around Rs 100 crore which includes 17-acre land. The PDCSE has facilities for athletics, badminton, swimming, 10 m shooting, football, squash, table tennis, volleyball, basketball and cricket. “The 10 m shooting range was created in the storage area for cricket. It cost about Rs15 lakh. Abhinav Bindra wanted a shooting range for the refugee shooters preparing for the Olympics. We spent more money to get the latest technology based swimming pool in order to reduce maintenance cost,” revealed Vivek, related to the Kirloskar family. Former India player, Vimal Kumar, who trained Sen to become a world-class player says: “Full credit to Vivek for creating the facility for India’s sports persons. The PDCSE is a boon for all sports.”
Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath, aka GRV, or affectionately Vishy, and if you want the celebrated catchline the ‘Little Master’ found time with a seasoned and studious cricket writer, R Kaushik, to tell his cricket story to his legion of followers who were attracted towards the great noble game only because of his and his brother-in-law Sunil Manohar Gavaskar’s classic stroke play from the 1970s onwards and well into the 1980s and also the subsequent generations. A genial to the core, Vishy became a darling of the purists and others alike after he cut to size Australia’s Graham McKenzie, Allan Connolly, Johnny Gleeson and Ashley Mallett while carving a breathtaking 137 in the second innings of his debut Test at the Green Park, Kanpur, in the winter of 1969. Introduced to Indian cricket’s highest level by Chairman of the selection committee Vijay Merchant and captain, Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi, Vishy went on to charm the cricket world with strokes he executed with elan. Almost four decades after he bid adieu to the game in 1983 — the year India won the World Cup — Vishy has decided to recall his cricket and life story with Kaushik, who has over 100 Tests under his belt and knowledge to get the best out of a great. The book, to be published by Rupa & Co. is titled: Wrist Assured.
Shane Warne’s ‘Rockstar’ cricketer Ravindra Jadeja has developed the good habit of playing the game with gusto with bat, ball, as fielder at point or even countryside positions in the field. It took a flaxen haired Australian superstar in Shane Warne to spot the terrific talent in the skinny lad from Jamnagar after observing his energy and enthusiasm while training at Jaipur. Jadeja justified the prediction of the Australian who excelled in the bossie (named after Bosanquet, the inventor of the back of the hand googly that turns from off to leg in leg spin action) variety and fooled many a batter in the World. After nearly 10 years of international cricket and across all three formats, Jadeja, after a long period of rehabilitation to recover from upper and lower limb injuries, made a match winning 175 not out and captured nine wickets against Sri Lanka in the Mohali Test that hastened to a finish inside stumps on the third day. Jadeja’s all-round display coincided with Warne’s premature death, but the Saurashtra cricketer will never ever forget the time he spent with Warne in the Jaipur dug out. And his unconquered 175 has made skipper Rohit Sharma to look at promoting him in the batting order. “I am looking at ways to use him more in the batting role,” said Sharma after the Mohali Test.
Of late, politicians have become proactive at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), an institution known for producing World class cricketers and winning the prestigious Ranji Trophy. People who have been in the news this month, for either visiting the Wankhede Stadium in some connection or the other are: Aaditya Thackeray, a State Cabinet Minister and son of CM Uddhav Thackeray, CM’s Man Friday Milind Narvekar, who even tossed the coin at the interschool Harris Shield final, and State Congress Chief Nana Patole. Wonder what Sharad Pawar, the go-to-man for MCA matters for over two decades must be making of all the hubbub around it. MCA’s AGM is around, and elections are not far away and, its 330 plus voting members drawn from the maidan clubs, schools, colleges, corporate, State and Central government offices are already mulling over the people they should align with. No one knows which way the wind is blowing for the President’s position — Dr Vijay Patil or Narvekar. Elections are scheduled in October. Pawar who has done the most for MCA, especially on the infrastructure front for the game and other benefits for the members, may, even at the ripe age of 81, have a big say on the MCA election matter. Surely, BJP’s Ashish Shelar, a former MCA vice-president close to Home Minister Amit Shah must be giving him ball by ball commentary.
Shreyas Iyer carved a niche for himself in the three match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka. Without his individual stroke making ability, India may not have found it easy against the Emerald nation that flew from Australia where it lost a series 1-4. Sri Lanka has been trying to rebuild its team after the retirement of its top guns Muthiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vasa, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara. So it was no surprise that it was beaten hollow in the Twenty20 internationals, with Shreyas knocking off 204 runs off 117 balls with unconquered scores of 57, 74 and 73 and scoring at 10.46 an over. An impressive batter raised in the tough environs of Mumbai’s highly competitive maidan cricket, Iyer has positioned himself for a middle order slot in the Indian team in all formats. Recently he made a Test century on debut against New Zealand at Kanpur and followed it up with a half century in the second innings. Injuries have kept him out of a few series, but he has been the bright spark whenever he has returned. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant were absent from the series against Sri Lanka and Iyer grabbed his chances with both hands and demanded a place in the playing XI in the future series.
Dilip ‘Colonel’ Vengsarkar has worn many hats in his distinguished career. He was raised in the maidans of Mumbai at Matunga Gymkhana, Shivaji Park, Azad, Cross, the Oval and many more, and he played for the interschool powerhouse King George, for RA Podar College and Bombay University before cutting his teeth in the domestic and international cricket and earning the sobriquet “Lord of the Lord’s” for scoring three Test centuries at the famous London venue. He excelled as Chairman of the BCCI Selection Committee and as Head at the National Cricket Academy. He was also a vice-president of Mumbai Cricket Association for four terms. The Lodha Cricket Reforms has stalled a significant role for him at the MCA and the BCCI, but a person who has the eye to spot talent recently appealed to the MCA to run the city’s intercollegiate cricket. And according to Jagdish Achrekar, Treasurer, MCA’s Apex Council has acceded to Vengsarkar’s request. The former India captain’s plea to MCA came at the Nadeem Memon organised 125th anniversary inauguration of the MSSA Harris Shield at the Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club of India. More than half a dozen former Test cricketers graced the occasion where the CCI President Premal Udani extended support to school sports and the Dubai-based Shyam Bhatia’s Cricket For Care Foundation presented kits to 40 needy schools. It was in this gathering that Vengsarkar highlighted the importance of intercollegiate and University cricket.
L’ affaire Wriddhiman has been rather unkind to the sports journalists’ fraternity in India, in particular with the former India stumper refusing to name the alleged sports journalist who sent him intimidating messages. Wriddhiman Saha, who has been brutally told the truth that he is on the way out of the India scheme of things because he is considered to be too old to be a No 2 man with the big gloves, has brought into the public domain the conversation India Head Coach Rahul Dravid had with him about the improbability of his future roles in India cap and red ball cricket during the recent tour of South Africa and a text from the BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly, assuring to protect his place in the India team. But the Bengal-based stumper has still not revealed the name of the sports journalist who has behaved like a loon to say the least. No professional sports newsperson would resort to such unethical means to extract news from a sportsperson. Saha, a long time understudy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played 40 Tests that mirrors the permanency he enjoyed in the Test team, but of late the dashing Rishabh Pant has been anointed as the No 1 stumper across all formats and Kona Srikar Bharat, 28, being looked at as the immediate standby. But the big question now is, will Saha name the uncouth media person?
Attention is riveted these days on the Indian women team’s preparatory white-ball series against New Zealand (Silver Ferns) at Queenstown, before the ICC Women’s World Cup in March-April. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the famous Punjabi lass, India lost the one-off Twenty20. Thereafter, India led by Mithali Raj, posted good scores batting first in the 50 over ODIs, but it has not been able to defend it in two consecutive matches. In the second ODI, India made 270 and in the third, 279 and lost them by three wickets each. India had lost the first match by 65 runs. The team played the three ODIs without Smriti Mandhana. Apart from the dismal defeats, the poor form of Harmanpreet has hurt the team from racing to formidable match-winning totals. Known for her big hitting prowess, Harmanpreet has been out for cheap scores of 10, 10 and 13 in the three matches and former India captain and a former member of the Committee of Administrators that ran the BCCI for four years, Diana Edulji told this writer: “Now that India has lost the series, Harmanpreet should be promoted to No 3 (if in the playing XI). And some tough calls have to be taken if India has to make a serious bid for the World Cup. The players who are performing should be in the playing XI. Some players need to be pushed to perform.”
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), with a record 41 Ranji Trophy wins, is loath to give a fitting tribute to one of its most outstanding cricketers Ajit Wadekar and, It is puzzling. Belonging to the pantheon of Mumbai cricketers, Wadekar sported MCA’s lion crest from 1958-59 till the 1974-75 Ranji Trophy seasons, was part of the winning team 11 times, four times as captain and, led India to its maiden Test series win in the West Indies and England in 1971. Wadekar’s missing name is the notable one at MCA’s home ground on D Road in Churchgate. As one enters the Wankhede Stadium through the gates named after Polly Umrigar and Vinoo Mankad, cricket fans have the option to watch a match from the stands named after illustrious cricketers — Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar and a stand named after a former president Vithal Divecha. The home and visiting teams occupy the Vijay Manjrekar Dressing Rooms. A long time MCA and BCCI official Prof Ratnakar Shetty has suggested to an MCA official that the Grand Stand above the pavilion be named after Ajit Wadekar. “His name should be visible to the public,” Shetty tells this writer. An icon like Wadekar should be honoured, remembered properly adds Shetty, whose book My Years in BCCI: ON BOARD Test. Trial. Triumph. will be released soon.
Captain of the Indian men in blue (50 over cricket), Rohit Sharma has started with a bang winning the first two matches and the series against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera, Ahmedabad. While his team won by six wickets and 44 runs, he had to deal with a tricky situation after the Covid-19 infection hit Shikhar Dhawan. Sharma and Dhawan are the second-highest run getting pair (4978 runs till the third ODI on Friday) for India after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. The Delhi left-hander is close to 38 but Sharma believes Dhawan has a lot more steam left to carry on and deliver for India even in the 2023 World Cup to be hosted by India. Sharma revealed after the second match that he was asked (ostensibly by the national selection committee) to try out different things. As a result, mercurial batter Rishabh Pant was asked to open. In the first match another lefty, Ishan Kishan filled up the void caused by Dhawan’s absence. Pant was not allowed to throw his wrists at everything that the West Indies speedsters sent down but, it was a worthwhile experiment. Sharma is keen on a lefty partner right at the top of the order.
The next blockbuster that will dominate the Indian cricket scene is the mega players’ auction for the Indian Premier League, the undisputed World No 1 Twenty20 league. This year’s IPL is set to start March 27 with 10 teams in all; the two additions being Lucknow Supergiants, for which the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) will pay Rs 7090 crore for 10 years and, the Ahmedabad team for which Singapore-based private equity firm Irelia Company Capital Private Ltd (whose parent company is CVC Capital Partners) has committed Rs 5625 crore. While the BCCI will be richer by Rs 12,715 crore, it is yet to announce the venue where IPL15 will be held. IPL’s Governing Council Chairman, Brijesh Patel wants the tourney held again in the Gulf nations of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Muscat as these venues successfully managed IPL-13, second half of the IPL-14 and the ICC World Twenty20. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has said he will try his utmost to bring the league back to India. Now, with Covid-19 numbers dropping by the day, Maharashtra is touted as the single State venue for all the league games. The players’ auction is scheduled at Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday (February 12-13) and franchises will be told about the venue, hopefully well in time, so they can plan and form their team selection strategy.
Hardik Pandya’s international career is at the crossroads. He has not turned out in a single match, in blue or whites, after the country’s dismal performance against Pakistan and New Zealand in the World Twenty20 in the UAE, after which India played against New Zealand and South Africa. Hardik is not in the ODI or Twenty20 team for the forthcoming series against the West Indies. The BCCI’s national selection committee has every reason to feel they were taken for a ride about his fitness for the World Twenty20. Chairman Chetan Sharma at a press conference had said that Hardik will bowl his quota of four overs in every Super 12 match in the UAE. Hardik did not send down a ball against Pakistan, Scotland and Namibia and bowled two overs each against New Zealand and Afghanistan, conceding 40 runs without a wicket. Recently he said he was “not supposed to bowl” when he bowled against New Zealand at the World Twenty20. Fast tracked into international cricket because of the hitting ability he demonstrated to the then India ‘A’ coach Rahul Dravid in Australia a few years ago, Hardik is unlikely to get the nod from the selectors at any time soon. He has shown the stomach for a fight in the past, but can his weak back mend itself fully? Hardik has to really bend his back to bowl at full tilt?
After India’s one-day international (ODI) fortunes took a hit in the Krugerrand country recently, ‘Chinaman’ practitioner (left-arm leg spin and googly bowler) Kuldeep Yadav got a call up, to swing matches back in its favour, for the three-match home series against the West Indies in early February. Under skipper KL Rahul, India lost 0-3 to South Africa at Paarl and in Cape Town but, under fit-again captain Rohit Sharma, it will look to put it across the West Indies on the slow turners of the Motera venue in Ahmedabad, renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium. The unorthodox Yadav — who earned the sobriquet, Kulcha, bowling in tandem with right-hand leg spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal — was soundly thrashed by England batters in March 2021 on the flat tracks of Gahunje (Pune) off the Expressway. He went for 0/68 and 0/84 against England and when recalled for the series in Sri Lanka, he returned 2/48 and 0/55 at Colombo in July last. Yadav, after three very successful years in 2017 (22 wkts at 24.77), 2018 (45 at 17.78) and 2019 (32 at 34.69) has been on a downhill in the pandemic years. Now the selectors expect the Uttar Pradesh tweaker to tease and torment the carefree West Indian batters. He has taken 24 wickets at 24.92 in 15 ODIs against the West Indies from 2017 to 2019.
India will play its 1000th ODI when It takes on the West Indies in a match up on February 6. It will be the first among 25 International Cricket Council accredited countries to reach this significant milestone. India played its 997th match against South Africa at Paarl and will play the 998th and 999th in the rainbow nation as well. India played its first ODI against England at Headingley back in 1974 and, over the last 51 years has become a force to reckon with, winning two World Cups under Kapil Dev (1983) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2011) as captains respectively. India also won the World Championship of Cricket under Sunil Gavaskar’s captaincy in Australia in 1985. Up till its 998th match, India has won 518, lost 429, tied 9 and was involved in 41 abandoned matches. Australia has played 958 and Pakistan 936. Fifty-one years ago on January 5, 1971, Australian cricket officials set up the first ODI between Australia and England after the first three days of the Ashes Test was rained off. ODI cricket has evolved rapidly since then. When coloured clothing was introduced in the 1990s, the purists’ frowned and dubbed it as pajama cricket, but the short format of the game enjoys a humongous following in the Commonwealth. Now it has found an even more popular cousin in Twenty20!
If I can be vice-captain, why not be the captain? This line of thought could weigh in the mind of Jasprit Bumrah, a top-notch fast bowler who has captured 109 of his 113 Test wickets overseas. Bumrah, deputy to KL Rahul for the three match ODI series in South Africa averred at a media interaction that he is indeed game for India’s Test captaincy. Bumrah has been India’s linchpin bowler for four years and called upon for select white ball cricket matches. India’s selection committees have been generally conservative and are not inclined to name a specialist bowler as captain. Left-hand spinner Bishan Singh Bedi led India in 22 Tests and off spinner S Venkataraghavan in five Tests. Kapil Dev excelled at his primary work as a fast medium bowler, but he could have walked into the national team as a batter too! Anil Kumble got a late call in his career and he led the country in 14 Tests. As highlighted in these columns recently, India’s captaincy puzzle has taken an unknown contour now with Virat Kohli relinquishing captaincy for good. So who will it be next, the 35th Test captain; fast bowler Pat Cummins led Australia to a resounding 4-0 in the Ashes. Will the BCCI’s selection committee take the cue from Cricket Australia’s move, or will it plump for a batter? Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul are in the short queue!
South Africa had the last laugh at Cape Town and outwitted India 2-1 to win the Freedom Trophy. Had India put it across the home team on the auspicious day of Makar Sankaranti, it would have become the first Asian team to win a Test match at a city that visitors visualise as “God’s Own”. So hitherto India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka have not won a Test match at a fascinating venue that’s beneath the Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak. India has now played six matches at Newlands and lost four, Pakistan and Sri Lanka four each and lost all. Bangladesh has not played a Test at this venue. The successful touring teams have been Australia which has played 14 and won 10, England has played 21 and won 10, and New Zealand has played three and won one. The West Indies has played four and lost three and Zimbabwe has played one and lost it. India created an opportunity to sort of buck the trend that has occurred over the last three decades because Asian teams have been playing in South Africa only after the apartheid policy was dismantled in the country. The sage of South African cricket, Dr. Aron ‘Ali’ Bacher said thus some hours before the start of the fourth day’s play: “Great Test series and a great Newlands Test match.”
Mithali Raj has been the ubiquitous face of Indian women’s cricket for near about two and half decades. She made her one-day international debut against England in Milton Keynes in 1999 and became captain against the West Indies at Lucknow in March 2004. And into her 40th year, she is the captain, although her success rate in 143 matches (as captain) is 59.44. She has led India in 21 matches in three World Cups (2005, 2013 and 2017) won 13 for a success percentage of 61.90. These numbers indicate that women’s cricket in the context of leadership has not advanced, owing to, as the discerning believe, the selectors being bereft of dynamic thinking. The present selection committee has also refused to look at Harmanpreet Kaur (playing for India since March 2009) or Smriti Mandhana (playing for India since April 2013). Indian cricket ought to have gone for Harmanpreet after her splendid unbeaten 171 against Australia in the World Cup semis of 2017. Smriti is the fourth-highest run getter post the 2017 World Cup in England after England’s Tamsin Beaumont, Australia’s Alyssa Healy and South Africa’s Lizelle Lee. But the Mithali Raj rule continues; hopefully she will be lucky the fourth time as captain in the quadrennial event. Incidentally, Jhulan Goswami led India in the 2009 World Cup in Australia and won five matches!
Dean Elgar, the mean opening batter may not fit into the “elegant left-hander” category. But, yet again, on the rain-marred fourth day of the second Test at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, the South African led the national team for the 12th time in four-and-a-half years and delivered the southpaw punch to the Indians; in cricketing parlance, a typical captain’s knock of an unconquered 96. Into his 10th year of international cricket, Elgar showed his body to defend and a lot of pluck while facing up to the Indian fast bowlers for five hours and nine minutes helping his team to level the three-Test match Freedom series 1-1 and, go to Newlands, Cape Town with their heads held high. The stodgy-looking batter has scored 4559 runs in 71 Tests — 4323 as an opener with 12 centuries and 19 half-centuries, almost 50% aiding in his team’s winning cause. Applauding Elgar’s unyielding undertaking, former captain and the man who worked hard for South Africa’s acceptance into the international fraternity in the early 1990s, Dr. Ali Bacher texted this correspondent saying: “Elgar showed what can be achieved by guts and determination. His performance is particularly praiseworthy because the pitch favoured the Indian fast bowlers.” Elgar is all set to become South Africa’s third left-hander opener to score 5000 runs after Graeme Smith, 9018 runs, and Gary Kirsten, 5726.
There is no way the zoom media interaction at god’s own and sparkling wine country, Cape Town, can become “Dhoom, dham”; that’s the way Head Coach Rahul Dravid, uttering a line or two with gusto before the second Test, wanted Virat Kohli’s chat about with the media to be before his 100th Test at Newlands on January 11. Kohli, who has missed 13 Tests so far after his debut, because of injuries and personal, complained of a flare up of his upper back and is not playing the second Test at The New Wanderers in Johannesburg, and so the third Test at Cape Town, should he be declared fit, will be his 99th. This eventuality will make the first Test (from February 25) against Sri Lanka at Bengaluru his 100th. Kohli’s injury and absence from the second Test, enabled the selectors to name KL Rahul as India’s 19th captain in Test cricket and Jasprit Bumrah as vice-captain. It would be interesting to see the way the selectors go about looking at Rohit Sharma’s fitness. With two World Cups of the Twenty20 and 50 over variety to happen from October- November this year, the selectors would want a captain without injury baggage or concern. By close of the tour in South Africa, Rahul would have led India in two formats. All said and done a terrific jigsaw puzzle taking shape in Indian cricket!
South Africa was far from hostile on the first day of the first Test against India at the Centurion, a venue where the home team has gone down only twice in 26 matches; in fact South Africa has won 21 Tests. But the inability of fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder and debutant Marco Jansen ought not to take away anything from KL Rahul’s superb century. It can be said that the doughty and elegant opener has made it a habit of achieving the magic three figure on foreign soil, six times so far; 110 against Australia at Sydney in 2015, 108 against Sri Lanka at Colombo in August 2015, 158 against the West Indies at Kingston in July 2016, 149 against England at The Oval in September 2018, 129 against England at Lord’s in August 2021 and 123 against South Africa at the Centurion in December 2021. His only home century in 81 Test match innings is the 199 against England at the Chepauk in December 2016. His seven centuries, including the overseas have all been as an opener. The trick of the trade, as exhibited by Rahul, is to demonstrate judgment to know where his off stump is, leave the ball and see it go to the wicket keeper. As an opener Rahul who plays with calm demeanour, has been par excellence.
The Indian cricket team is just two days away from sending its legion of followers in a tizzy as it girds up its loins for another brush with the South Africans at the Valhalla based venues, Centurion and The Wanderers, Johannesburg, both falling in the Omicron hit province of Gauteng. Come Boxing Day (December 26), when the Yuletide mood is at its zenith, Virat Kohli’s team, will come out of its bio-secured life at a resort to engage in a Test series that will be India ‘s eighth in South Africa since 1992, when blessed by Madiba Nelson Mandela, the two countries founded cricketing ties. The time is also upon Kohli, in the radar now following his disagreement with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the India Twenty20 captaincy matter, to focus on cricket for the first time under Head Coach Rahul Dravid. India has played 20 Tests in South Africa and lost 10 and so it will try to unleash Jasprit Bumrah and company to win a first Test series there for the first time. Kohli would be the fulcrum around whom India will strive to put match winning totals on the board; should he not, it would be interesting to see the response from the Chetan Sharma led Selection Committee, nay, BCCI. The third Test at Cape Town will be his 100th. Remarkable feat indeed!
Huelva, in southwest Spain, delivered good tidings for men’s badminton in India and, particularly for the Bengaluru-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA). Huelva was the venue for the season ending 2021 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Championship held last week, and the budding star from the PPBA, Lakshya Sen, reached the semi-finals before losing to countryman Kidambi Srikanth in a 69-minute three-setter. Sen won the bronze medal, but more significantly he has signalled his arrival into the big league. The world men’s singles field is replete with champion performers from Asia and Europe. Sen had lost to Denmark’s World No 1 Viktor Axelsen twice in Round Robin (second round) and the semi-finals of the previous week’s HSBC BWF World Tour Finals at Bali, Indonesia. He got a walkover from top gun Japanese Kento Momota due to injury and also from Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke but, he made the most of the following week’s World Championship upper half draw that was also weakened by injury related walkovers by Momota , Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, France’s Toma Popov. Sen himself got a R32 walkover from German Max Weisskirchen. Sen needed all the luck, but he ran out of it against Srikant. The professional shuttler of four-plus years, Sen gives Indian Badminton plenty of hope.
Paris, the fashion city of France and Europe is on an overdrive to get ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The organising committee on Monday (Dec 13) announced that the 777 km long river Seine will be the iconic place where the Opening Ceremony will be held with athletes to take a 6 km boat ride as part of a spectacular show. Paris 2024 took the International Olympic Committee into confidence before making the news public. The Paris 2024 Chief, a three-time Olympian Tony Estanguet feels that there will be 10 times more spectators at an open setting than a stadium setting. The organizing committee expects over 600,000 people to watch the Ceremony in the capital city. Athletes will travel in 170 boats starting from the Pont d’Austerlitz, to the bridge located close to the French national library. The Eiffel Tower is close by Estanguet said: The 6 km route would allow for full immersion into Paris, with landmarks including the Notre-Dame Cathedral. He also revealed that Paris 2024 would look to implement ideas used during their previous Olympic Day celebrations, where sporting events have been held within the French capital. It has been reported that no security obstacles have been identified so far and that the Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place on July 26 in 2024.
Ajinkya Rahane seems to be the biggest loser in the churning carried out by the selection committee in a ruthless manner. He has been removed as vice-captain of the Test team that he actually led in the Kanpur Test against New Zealand. The roll of the dice finally did not favour him after an ordinary effort with bat at the Green Park. He is already out of the white-ball cricket for India and his inability to get the big knocks after a Test match winning century at Melbourne last year has cost him dear. He cannot afford another poor show in the first Test against South Africa at Centurion from December 26. Both Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have won the vote of confidence from the selection committee, coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Virat Kohli. Both have a lot to vindicate in the three Test series in South Africa. Once Kohli made way for Sharma to take control of the reins of the Twenty20 team, the selection committee in Chetan Sharma, Chairman and his colleagues, Sunil Joshi, Abey Kuruvilla, Debashish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh have now completed the process of a single captain for white-ball cricket. This has been the biggest move after they revived the white-ball career of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, sent to the doghouse by the team management after the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final.
On Wednesday, December 8, the cricket world will rise to the sights and sounds of the iconic Ashes series, played between the oldest foes in the game, Australia and England. In olden days, the teams sailed by big boats to Australia and England; these days it’s all flying visits. After 144 years of daggers-drawn like contests — the first Test was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Bowl in March 1877 and Australia won it by 45 runs after the home team’s Charles Bannerman scored the first century with a 330-ball 165 with 18 fours — Australia lead with 146 wins (95 at home) from 351 Tests. England has won 110 and 95 have ended in a draw. The last Test was played at The Oval in London in September 2019 and hence after two years and more, Australia with fast bowler captain in Pat Cummins and England with champion batter in Joe Root will lock horns at Brisbane’s Gabba in a bio-bubble secured environment. The two captains pressed a red button around a replica of the Ashes Urn to launch the Vodafone Ashes Series at the Gabba, the 81st in 144 years. The Ashes fever will grip the cricket aficionados for 41 days till the fifth Test that’s scheduled to end on January 18, 2022. Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie has predicted a 3-0 win for Australia.
Chennai’s popular boys, Woorkeri Raman and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan aka ‘Siva’ who have played cricket with distinction are set to regale a big cricket audience in the Tamil speaking/ listening world on Sports Channel SONY Ten 4 during the iconic Ashes Test series between Australia and England to get off the ground at the Woollloongabba, Brisbane from December 8. After the opening skirmish at the Gabba that will pitch Pat Cummins’ Aussies against Joe Root’s Englishmen, the series will travel to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The Ashes has always generated interest among a wider spectrum of the cricket world, and India’s TV channels like Star Sports and SONY pictures are going out of the way to engage former cricketers to bring live action of the game apart from English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Raman was a left-hand bat and slow left-arm spinner and Siva chose the notorious Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet art of leg-spin-googly. After bidding adieu from the game, Raman made his mark in coaching and print-media, and Siva became a spin coach, even as he articulated the nuances of the game in a number of cable television channels in domestic and international cricket. So happy listening to them on SONY Ten 4 from December 8.
Ravichandran Ashwin was in the news right through the course of the last English summer; for the notorious reason of not getting a chance to send down a single ball in the five-Test series against Joe Root’s home team. Blame it on the local conditions, weather and the pitch, Captain Virat Kohli and the think tank did not feel it necessary to think beyond left-arm spinner all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the only slow spin bowler’s position for four Tests. Ashwin did not figure in the supposedly spin-friendly Oval Test that India won to take 2-1 lead. Ditto with left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who and Ashwin together delivered a two-in-one Test in five days against England at the Motera in February last. Ashwin took 32 and Axar, 27. But they were deemed to be useless in England. Ashwin and Axar were again in the centre stage and even Jadeja, on a pitch at the Green Park, Kanpur that was used well by the New Zealand fast bowlers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson. Ashwin and Axar took six each in the Test and Jadeja, five for spin tally of 17 wickets. Ashwin (419) also went past Harbhajan Singh’s aggregate of 417 Test scalps. Ashwin now needs eight more wickets to touch the 300-wicket mark at home. Leg spinner Anil Kumble has a high of 350 Test wickets at home.
It must be hurting him, but a hyperactive Virat Kohli is unlikely to lose sleep over not having converted much of his seven half centuries in the last 24 months into magical three figure knocks. Often, he has talked about contributing to the team through partnerships. Kohli’s last century (136) was against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in November 2019; the preceding one was a massive unbeaten 254 against South Africa at Gahunje, Pune in October 2019. These two big knocks took his 2019 average to 68 from eight Tests and 11 innings. But Kohli’s average dropped to a career low of 19.33 from three Tests and six innings in 2020, and it is 29.80 so far from nine Tests and 15 innings in 2021. These are the lowest numbers in 10 calendar years. He has averaged 40 plus three times, 50 plus twice, 60 plus once and 75 plus twice. He averaged 22.44 in his first year of Test cricket in 2011. The pundits had predicted that Kohli would break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs). Until now, Kohli has 27 Test and 43 ODI centuries, which makes his task cut out to surpass Tendulkar’s hundred centuries. His fans would be hoping he gets his 71st century — for himself and India – at the Wankhede on December 3.
The faithful in Mumbai always look forward to an international cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium. Some IPL matches of Season 14 were held at the ‘D’ Road venue at Churchgate closed-doors last April before a few cases of the Coronavirus-19 bug struck a few players necessitating the unfinished part of the tournament to be held in the United Arab Emirates. With the pandemic easing out a bit, the BCCI which is set to make substantial money — around Rs 500 crore from the five-match home series against New Zealand, awarded the second Test to the Mumbai Cricket Association from December 3 to 7. The MCA President Dr Vijay Patil has asked the Government of Maharashtra to allow for full capacity attendance for the match. The MCA is yet to receive a response from the Uddhav Thackeray led Government, but it is readying itself for 50% or 70% capacity. The MCA can seat around 32,000 from which 8,000 odd are given to the 330 odd clubs and 4,800 to the Garware Club House at reduced rates. But while the white ball internationals and IPL matches receive a full house response, Test matches played over five days don’t appeal to even the public with immense interest in cricket. The MCA which will get a decent sum from in-stadia advertising is expecting a good turnout, with Virat Kohli returning to the ranks, but without homegrown boy Rohit Sharma.
All action in the cricket field moves from the Persian Gulf to Rajasthan’s pink city of Jaipur. The New Zealand team that was drubbed by Aaron Finch’s Australia in the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 final at the Dubai International Stadium on November 14 take India which was eliminated from the knock-out after being brought down to earth by Pakistan and New Zealand. It will be a different ball game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium (SMS) — overlooked by Rajput palaces — which will host its first Twenty20 international. The Rajasthan Cricket Association, once the turf of former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi, appears to have come out of court matters and sorted out administrative issues and the BCCI has announced a Rs 100 crore as financial assistance. It was in 2013 that the last BCCI ODI match was played at the SMS; and a Test match in 1987 (attended by Pakistan President Zia-Ul-Haq): when India played Pakistan Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed in the first ball by Imran Khan, the current Pakistan Prime Minister. With winter setting in, the locals are looking forward to a match with Rohit Sharma as captain and Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach.
The bio-bubble life for cricketers caused by the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and the workload management policy has compelled the BCCI senior national selection committee to rest players for the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand in Jaipur on Nov 17, Ranchi on Nov 19 and Kolkata on Nov 21. Virat Kohli who stepped down from Twenty20 internationals, will not figure in the Twenty20 series and also in the first Test to be played at Kanpur, but he will be available for the second Test in Mumbai. The players rested for the Twenty20 series are Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami and Shardul Thakur. Rohit Sharma has pulled out of the Test series, and so the spectators in Kanpur and Mumbai will not get a chance to see him in action. Early this year Chennai and Ahmedabad played host to England in two Tests each and the local associations opened the gates on a restricted basis. Collection at the gates would suffer if the top stars pull out, but with an all-format series scheduled in South Africa from mid-December, the BCCI and the national selectors believed that the “Rest” option has to be applied to the senior players. The print media which was given access against England will not be given access to the press box at Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata.
All hopes of India featuring in the business end of the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 here in the UAE went kaput after the first champion of the tournament in 2007, played poor cricket and was shown its place by Pakistan on October 24 and by New Zealand on October 31. On November 8, India completed the formality of finishing its Super 12 game against Namibia and prepared for its departure for home from Dubai. It would have been wishful thinking to have expected Afghanistan to outwit New Zealand and thereby for India to improve its standing in the point table. India, which surprised the cricket world by winning the first World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007 and then lost in the final of the 2014 competition, were not up to the mark in the UAE. Loss of the toss, dew fall in the second session and absence of a long gap between the IPL and the World Twenty20 have been trotted out as the reasons for India’s average performance, but the fact is that India was thoroughly outwitted by Pakistan and New Zealand on the cricketing count. Virat Kohli’s team may not have won the Trophy in the Arabian Gulf, but the BCCI will rake in a sum of near about Rs 500 crore from the three white ball and two Test series against New Zealand
Virat Kohli and the Indian team have been under the cosh for their dismal performances in the two opening matches of the ICC Men’s World Cup Twenty20 against Pakistan and New Zealand. Both the matches were played on Sundays and at Dubai, and Kohli appeared quite fed up with the long gap between the two matches. The outcome against New Zealand, to which Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team had lost in South Africa at The Wanderers, Johannesburg in 2007 at Nagpur in 2016, was even more deflating. In Dubai, Kohli’s run down team had no answers to a professional work in the field by a low profile side. Reactions from former players across nations have been assorted, and those regularly active on the social media have been quick to put out their own reasons, but it is former India batting maestro, Sunil Gavaskar who has hit the nail on its head by making an observation that may not go down well with Kohli or the decision makers in the Indian team. And Dhoni is the mentor of the team. Gavaskar has said that Ishan Kishan is a hit-and-miss player and by asking him to open the innings with KL Rahul the team was only suggesting that it doesn’t trust him against left arm seamer Trent Boult. Clearly Kohli’s team is down and out before the match against Afghanistan at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) will honour Sunil Gavaskar by presenting him a separate viewing box at the Wankhede stadium on Friday (October 29). This is the little master’s golden jubilee year of playing Test cricket, having been capped for the first time in the 1971 series in the West Indies that he made memorable by amassing 774 runs in four Tests. “The MCA has allotted a 10-seater box to Mr Gavaskar,” said the MCA Secretary Sanjay Naik. Gavaskar turned out for India in 125 Tests and became the first batsman in the annals of the game to cross the 10,000-run milestone and finished at 10,122 runs with 34 centuries. He was also part of the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup, but more significantly he showed tremendous commitment sporting the Bombay cap, playing 77 matches, scoring 5898 runs including a high of 340 in the 1980-81 season against Bengal. Gavaskar’s arrival in 1971 triggered a tremendous interest among the youth to pursue the sport. After bidding adieu, he has touched virtually every aspect of cricket from coaching to administration to expert commentary. Present at the Wankhede would be his brother-in-law, Gundappa Viswanath, another giant of Indian cricket, Dilip Vengsarkar who will be honoured by naming of a stand in his name and also Sachin Tendulkar, a jewel of Mumbai and Indian cricket.
In less than 24 hours Indian cricket took the rough with the smooth in Dubai: the UAE emirate became the first venue in the world where the national team bit the dust in an ICC World Cup match against Pakistan, and the very next day the BCCI got two franchisees to bare their heart and soul for the popular Twenty20 tournament which goes by the acronym, IPL. While Virat Kohli’s team was battered and bruised by left-arm seamer Shaheen Afridi’s telling blows and Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s daredevil batting, the BCCI leadership under Jay Shah (son of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah) saw thin paper envelopes delivering a heavy Rs 12,715 crore from the two newly minted franchises and making it further cash-rich. Somewhere in the UK, Lalit Modi, the brains behind the IPL arithmetic, must be delighted to see a probably desperate Sanjiv Goenka of the RP-SG Group shelling out Rs 7,090 crore and choosing Lucknow, not far from PM Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi; and PE player CVC Capital winning Ahmedabad for Rs 5,625 crore. Now the starting valuation for any of the IPL franchises is Rs 7,090 crore, which means, any among the first franchises, can reap a windfall should they wish to place 20 plus stake for sale and wipe out the losses.
The million-dollar question, as a legion of excited Indian fans await coming Sunday’s (October 24) ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup match against Pakistan at the Dubai international stadium is: whether off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will make the playing XI cut. The injury to off-spinner all-rounder Washington Sundar may have paved the way for Ashwin’s recall for white ball internationals after a little over four years, but his place in the playing XI is not guaranteed. India captain Virat Kohli has given sufficient hints of fielding Ashwin in the crucial match against Pakistan that always raises the noise levels in the two countries across the Wagah and among the diaspora in the UK, USA, the antipodes and generally across the world. Going by his past record between 2012 and 2016, Ashwin has played five Twenty20 matches against the archrival, bowled reasonably well and won all five. Of these five, three were in Twenty20 World cup matches in 2012 in Colombo, 2014 in Mirpur and 2016 in Kolkata. The talk of the town here in Dubai is that Kohli has the mystery spinner in Varun Chakravarthy and left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja to look at, before he mulls over Ashwin who played in the warm-up matches against England and Australia. Recently, Kohli also gave a thumbs up to the sidelined spinner in white ball cricket for five years.
From the noble cause for which the Sheikh Abdul Rahman promoted Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), (founded in the 1980s, to honour and present a handsome purse ranging from $15,000 to $50000 to the present and past icons of the game, mostly from India and Pakistan), cricket has travelled a long way in the last 40 years from Sharjah to the nearby outposts of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now recognised as a popular and profitable destination to conduct major competitions like the IPL and an ICC signature event and the people who have taken these two high profile tournaments are the BCCI which has been averse to playing Pakistan in a bilateral series at the neutral venues in the petro-dollar region. The game thrived there in the 1980s and 90s as the expats from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh saw much entertainment value in the thrilling matches played by the arch-rivals of Asia, and also were excited to see the legends in action. The BCCI, which is the host of the ongoing ICC Men’s World Twenty20, has scheduled a few matches in the Sultanate of Oman, but it’s the likes of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah that deserve a shabhash for making it happen — two big events in two months
While the BCCI is dilly-dallying with the idea of founding the Women’s IPL Twenty20 competition, Cricket Australia has not lost the opportunity to draft in eight Indian players for the ever so popular Women’s Big Bash League. The most exciting batter of recent times, India opener Shafali Verma and left arm spinner Radha Yadav will feature in the Sydney Sixers on Thursday, October 14. The Indians — apart from Shafali and Radha, the magnificent stroke player Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemima Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma — will earn decent Australian dollars, but what’s of importance is the players will get some experience of competitive cricket before the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand in March-April 2022. There have been conflicting views on the need to start the IPL for women; some among the discerning believe India doesn’t have the talent pool to start one but is it not a good thought to start one when women’s cricket has a successful face in Smriti, who was in rollicking form in the pink ball Test against Australia at the Gold Coast. The BCCI should cash in on the opportunity that has presented itself now with a handful of young players showing the desire to embrace the sport.
Come Sunday (October 10), the deadline day for the teams taking part in the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup to effect changes in the squad. The teams that have qualified for the global slang-bang event under the aegis of the ICC went through the process of announcing the 15-member team by September 10. The ICC has allowed the Cricket Boards to carry out changes in the squad till October 10. The immediate question is whether the Indian Cricket Board will ask its selection committee to make changes in the team, either due to injury, lack of form in the IPL or otherwise. In normal circumstances the selection committee sticks to its original choice of players because that’s done in consultation with the captain. There is speculation though that Hardik Pandya, with a vulnerable lower back, has given an opportunity for the selectors to review his selection because he has not sent down a single ball in the ongoing IPL-14 in the UAE and everybody finds this confounding. One month ago the chairman of the selection committee Chetan Sharma said that Hardik will be fit to bowl four overs in every match in the World Cup. By now the BCCI must have obtained the fitness status of the players selected for the multi-nation bash in the UAE. Hardik’s fate will depend on his medical report and also Kohli’s opinion.
There are like-minded people in the cricketing fraternity who believe that the top leadership role for Smriti Mandhana is not far away. This line of thought is for both white-ball, which is leveraged to promote women’s cricket worldwide, and red-ball cricket, which the national team has got the taste twice in the last five months. Smriti, through her stylish strokes, brings large doses of cricketing oomph that is compelling to watch. Not knowing when the next multi-day Test match will be scheduled, because the immediate focus will be on the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand next March, the elegant left-hander showed a terrific mindset to uncork a century (127, 22x 4s and 1×6) that rattled the well grizzled Australian team in the one-off pink ball Test at Gold Coast’s Carrara Oval recently. Smriti at 25 already exemplifies as a fine role model for the even younger talent to follow. The Sangli lass has chosen to play a brand of cricket that the present-day fans and stakeholders lap it up. She has already made a big impact on Shafali Verma who goes after the bowling from the word go. A splendid striker of the ball, Harmanpreet Kaur, the present Twenty20 captain, appears to have lost way. But India’s women cricket will be in good hands in the future, with Smriti showing the way.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack
It is the Third Anniversary of Short Post and as a news media startup launched during the Covid-19 pandemic it certainly feels better than good to find ourselves where we are today. Here, I must cite the unstinted support of our seasoned contributors, all senior editors in the country, who brought a great degree of maturity and sagacity to the Short Post newsroom. But for them, our tagline “Authentic Gossip”, an Oxymoron, would not have matured viably. Our user numbers may be small but our stories have created the desired impact among people who matter — decision makers and influencers. We offer a big punch in a small pack and Short Post with its 225-word stories has been punching above its weight category. Having posted close to 3,000 stories in the last 36 months, Short Post, I feel, is an idea whose time has come.
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If you look at the media landscape – print, TV and digital — it is a mixed bag. There are job losses as some outfits have closed down while a lucky few were bailed out by large corporate houses. Yes, there is a lot of action in the digital space. However, the entry of corporate houses has raised the question of independence of news media outfits. Sadly, there are just a handful of independent media outfits in the country that are highly respected for their neutrality. At Short Post, our credo is not to take sides, prejudge issues or be biased but, informing readers of behind-the-scenes happenings. In essence, Short Post strives to be a neutral editorial platform — neither anti-establishment nor pro-establishment.
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