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Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi kicked off a political storm by claiming that the Opposition was fighting not just against the BJP and the RSS but the Indian state itself. “Do not think that we are fighting a fair fight. There is no fairness in this. If you believe that we are fighting a political organisation called the BJP or RSS, you have not understood what is going on. The BJP and the RSS have captured every single institution of our country. We are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian State itself”. The Congress MP’s claims to fight against the Indian State in the backdrop of rout in Haryana and Maharashtra unleashed a war of words with the BJP. Union Minister and BJP chief JP Nadda alleged that Rahul Gandhi and his ecosystem have ‘close links with Urban Naxals and the Deep State’ who want to defame, demean and discredit India. FM Nirmala Sitharaman wondered how the LoP, who was sworn in by taking oath on the Constitution, was now speaking against the Indian State itself. She wanted to know why Congress men and Rahul Gandhi were carrying a copy of the Constitution in their hand! Main thrust of Rahul’s attack on the RSS made at the launch of the new AICC office was reserved for RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who had described Ram Mandir’s “pran prathishtha” as true Independence of India. Bhagwat said that the date of Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi”. Rahul called Bhagwat’s comments as an act of treason as it disregarded India’s freedom struggle. None of the Opposition parties have visited Ram Mandir out of fear of losing Muslim votes.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath’s biggest political test started this week. Over 40 crore people are expected to gather in the city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh Mela and take a holy dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers — the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati. A sacred event for Hindus, the Maha Kumbh started from January 13 and will end on February 26. During the six weeks pilgrims will take part in elaborate rituals, prayers and religious processions. Yogi has personally supervised all arrangements to ensure that his management of the Kumbh will be remembered for a long time. A sprawling 4,000 hectares of open land along the river banks has been converted into a temporary city to house visitors in 150,000 tents, equipped with 3,000 kitchens, 145,000 toilets and 99 parking lots. PM Modi has given such importance to the Kumbh, that he even took the unprecedented step of effecting a bureaucratic reshuffle in the Finance Ministry in midst of budget making. A day after the Tirupati stampede, revenue secretary Arunish Chawla was moved out and replaced by Tuhin Kanta Pandey. As culture secretary, Chawla was in charge of Maha Kumbh and Republic Day. The Centre is spending Rs 5,000 crore for the Kumbh and expecting to generate revenue of Rs 2 lakh crore for UP. The Centre is taking all kinds of precautions as it does not wish for any repetition of the 1954 Kumbh stampede at Prayagraj, in which 800 people died. It happened under Nehru’s watch and Modi had referred to it in one of his speeches. People may credit Yogi if everything goes well. Yogi was praised last time for the arrangements made for Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya in January 2024.
The Congress will finally have its own premises in New Delhi. Never mind that it is coming 15 years too late. At least it has come up in the midst of Delhi Assembly elections which the party is fighting with renewed vigour. The foundation stone of Indira Bhawan (IB) was laid by Sonia Gandhi, as Congress President, on the party’s 125th anniversary in December 2009. On the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti, January 15, she will be launching IB as CPP chairperson. Party sources said MCD clearance had delayed IB’s opening by four months. The Congress led by Indira Gandhi had moved into 24 Akbar Road office — a Type VII Lutyens bungalow — in 1978 when the party was out of power for the first time since Independence. It was offered by a Lok Sabha Dalit MP from Telangana. Ironically, when it is moving out of the bungalow, the party is also out of power. Nevertheless, there is a lot of confidence among Congress leaders that the party could see a comeback. Much hope is riding on Priyanka Gandhi, as she is a MP now. Meanwhile, to avoid having the BJP icon in its address, the Congress chose to have its front gate on Kotla Marg, which is essentially the rear of the plot. As a result, 9A Kotla Marg will become its new address. This has of course got many Cong men wondering if the vaastu for the hi-tech building is perfect. This is the fourth time Congress will be moving its party’s office since independence. From 7 Jantar Mantar Road to 5 Rajendra Prasad Road in 1971 and then to 24 Akbar Road in 1978. In 2015, the Centre cancelled the allotment of 4 bungalows given to the Congress — including 24 Akbar Road. In contrast, the BJP built its headquarters in 6A Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in a record time of 18 months in Feb 2018.
Sunil Gavaskar dressed in a pistachio China collar gave a pleasant surprise to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ajinkya Naik and its Apex Council by gracing the Wankhede Stadium Golden Jubilee inauguration on January 12. The MCA had invited the batting maestro and legend for the big celebration on January 19 when the association will felicitate the India captains from Mumbai. Upon being called to the stage after the MCA Apex Council match against the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai on Sunday — a 10-over thrash — Gavaskar said: “I got myself invited for today’s function because I was captain of Bombay (Mumbai) first before leading India. So I decided to invite myself.” The MCA was naturally excited at its illustrious son of the soil cricketer turning up at the Wankhede where he has scored 1122 runs in 11 Tests at 56.10 with five centuries including a high of 205 against the West Indies in the 1978-79 series. He had missed a century in the first Test at the Wankhede against the West Indies in January 1975. He scored 86 in the first innings. Gavaskar led India for the first time in January 1976 against New Zealand in Auckland, several months after he led Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy season of 1975-76. Gavaskar led Mumbai to three Ranji Trophy title wins; in April 1977 against Delhi at the Kotla, in April 1984 against Delhi at the Wankhede when he scored an unbeaten 206 and in April 1985 against Delhi at the Wankhede. No wonder he arrived at the historic venue on Sunday, January 12, to the delight of one and all!
What’s in a name? Who cares for longevity? Time just sweeps everything aside. Well, the year just went by was significant for this iconic name in the city of Chennai. N Srinivasan-owned The India Cements Ltd (ICL) has changed hands. And, the Birlas have become the new owner of the company. No doubt, change is the only constant in this world. But this change was totally unanticipated. At the employee-level, this change has come as a bolt from the ICL blue. Srinivasan has always been known to be a caring and employee-friendly owner. To be sure, the entire ICL team rallied around him through thick and thin. That bonding with his employees stood Srinivasan out in this highly competitive cement business. But he had little choice but to ship out. It was a bold call from an aging owner. To quit or hold on. That was a tough decision to make. In the end, Srinivasan chose to go out. It requires an extraordinary courage to give up something you were passionate about and something you nurtured all along with sweat and toil. In the end, he chose to call time so that the organisation could continue and become robust. One can debate until the cows come home as to what caused this change. As the new owners – UltraTech Cement — take charge at ICL, speculations are rife. Will the new owner keep the identity of ICL? Will ICL remain a Chennai company? Well, imaginations are running amok at the moment. One thing is sure, however. For Chenniates, it is hard to see ICL slipping into a new hand.
Come to think of it, one does not really see yesteryear popular stars like Reena Roy or Jaya Prada getting publicity…save for some guest appearances on reality shows. The same cannot be said of the 70-year old husky sexy popular star Rekha. From time to time she is visible in the social media space and makes dramatic appearances at the big event. The paparazzi loves her because she has struck a good chemistry with them…goes that extra mile to pose for them. But ironically, she is not friendly with any journalists. That’s why you only see her…don’t read her interview. An insider said, “She is a costly affair when she agrees to participate in an event or award function and goes into details like Amitabh Bachchan.” Rekha who has acted in more than 180 films is nostalgic, mystical and continues to have a big draw wherever she goes. Just recently she was spotted at Raj Kapoor’s 100th birthday celebration. Here too the actress pleased all the paps… even gave a photo of Raj Kapoor sweet kiss. Sources say she is keen to get back to acting. Any Bollywood producers listening?
The situation in Bangladesh has become a matter of grave concern, particularly for the Hindu community, which is reportedly facing severe persecution with alleged administrative complicity. In light of these developments, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat along with nine senior leaders, is scheduled to visit Bengal for 10 days from February 7 to 16. This visit is being viewed as unprecedented, with no recent parallel in the state, according to sources inside the RSS headquarters. The RSS is celebrating its centenary this year, and officials have stated that the visit is primarily for organizational meetings and discussions on the various events organized across the country for the occasion. Bhagwat and other leaders will be in Kolkata for three days of closed-door meetings, followed by a visit to Bardhaman, where they will engage with regional leaders about the RSS’s activities in central Bengal, particularly in tribal and Kurmi-dominated areas. The visit has attracted significant attention from political analysts and international relations experts, especially given the current geopolitical dynamics. In neighboring Bangladesh, the Hindu community continues to face increasing violence, and the political instability has ramifications for India. Additionally, the presence of radical Islamic groups in eastern India has heightened concerns over internal security, leading to increased vigilance from central agencies. Inside RSS circles, however, some see this trip as addressing deeper concerns about the organization’s presence and influence in Bengal. A senior RSS member noted that while Hindu assertiveness has grown significantly in northern and central India, Bengal has lagged behind, prompting the leadership to focus on the state’s socio-political landscape.
Old timers may still reminisce about that 1964 runaway Tamil comedy hit, Kadhalikka Neramillai. Tamil audience is in for yet another namesake of this film, Kadhalikka Neramillai, directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, wife of Tamil Nadu deputy CM, to be distributed by husband’s Red Giant Movies. So when the film’s cute heroine Nithya Menen said in the music promo and trailer event, “I just don’t like the filmi world I am in. Just when I decided to quit and look for another career (pilot), destiny dropped the National Award for best female lead in Thiruchitrambalam, in my lap”. An award she richly deserves. Even as she goes from strength to strength as a bankable actress, she wonders why she continues … .no freedom to move, an image to be kept up. How many aspiring leading ladies would happily exchange places with her! Nithya comes from an agnostic family based in Bengaluru. But now she strongly believes that there is a “supreme power and destiny that presides over our lives”. She admits that she has turned into a believer. Is she practising the essence of Gita philosophy? Do your duty to the best of your ability, be detached and don’t depend on outcomes. She is sought after in all South Indian languages, delivers the best that a character demands. Her all-time favourite is the 2023 Kolaambi. O Kadhal Kanmani brought her many accolades. This sparkling lady is sure to find “kadhalikka neram” soon.
Not surprisingly, the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas organised in Bhubaneswar, Odisha between January 9 and 11 did not get that kind of national media coverage across the country as it normally does. Going by the local media, the event organised for the first time in Odisha and inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be badly executed with too many obvious misses. To start with, the name and picture of Mahatma Gandhi was conspicuous by its absence. It may be mentioned that the event was organised from 2003 on January 9 was to commemorate the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa. Organised at the cost of Rs 125 crore the turnout was poor and reportedly there were hundreds of empty chairs. Different people threw different numbers on NRI turnouts; Odisha chief secretary said 3,000 NRI’s attended, while BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said there were 5,000 delegates, a TV channel said 7,000. Other misses were the State song Bande Utkal Janani not being played at the event and local Odia cuisines not served. Net, net the event reflected poor organising skill of the Majhi government. But, the chief minister on his part was happy as his State has received Rs 2.5 lakh crore investment commitment by the Indian diaspora.
PV Sindhu has been in the news in recent times for all happy reasons; first and foremost, she chose to settle down in life, marrying Venkata Datta Sai in Udaipur, and now comes another pleasant news that she has been chosen as the Brand Ambassador by the top German footwear, apparel and accessories company PUMA which has been associated with such illustrious sportspersons like the World’s all-time great athlete Usain Bolt, Brazil’s top-notch football player Neymar Jr and Indian sportspersons like Harmanpreet Kaur (cricket), Mohammed Shami (cricket), Olympian Sarabjot Singh (shooting), and Paralympian Avani Lekhara (shooting). With a market cap of Rs 562.26 billion, the company has entered a big way in Indian badminton by zeroing in on a champion player who won the silver medal in the women’s singles at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Sindhu did not have a particularly memorable time at the Paris Olympics, but she has won medals — gold to bronze in almost every competitive regional and global tournament. She will target the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya (Japan) and perhaps the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. PUMA, in the business of sports brands for more than seven and half decades, has announced a multi-year arrangement with the star Indian badminton player who is 29 and has been a splendid achiever, bestowed the Khel Ratna, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Arjuna Awards. Sindhu will be seen in PUMA colours from the India Open in New Delhi on Tuesday, January 14. Last November, she announced plans to start the PV Sindhu Center for Badminton and Sports Excellence in Visakhapatnam.
The name of Col. C.K. Nayudu conjures up when cricketers in whites representing India and England gird up their loins for another Test skirmish. According to the famous ‘cricketwallah ‘ of Indian cricket, the late Rajsingh Dungarpur, it was the lanky Nayudu’s ransacking knock of 152 for the Hindus against RC Chichester-Constable Marylebone Cricket Club at the Bombay Gymkhana on December 1, 1926 that set into motion India’s recognition as a Test playing nation at London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground (June 1932). Nayudu was a giant, admired by many and not so by a minuscule, did the palm tree hitting act for 100 mts. He smashed the MCC bowlers for 13 x 6s and 11 x 4. India’s Test story began here with this knock that impressed none other than Arthur Gilligan — he did not play the match against the Hindus — who recommended to the MCC that India is ready for Test cricket. Since India’s first Test, the nation has played 64 Tests at home, won 22, lost 14 and drawn 28. India won the last Test series 3-1 in 2021, but three years later England appeared prepared to repel India’s spin tricks, with the master plan being drawn by Head Coach Brendon McCullum and Captain Ben Stokes who will only bat and not bowl because of a left knee surgery he underwent last November. England has not won a series in India since 2012 when it beat the home team 2-1. So some tussle on the cards from January 25 at the Charminar City with Rohit Sharma at the helm.
Shivam Dube has struck the iron when it’s hot by knocking over the Afghanistan bowlers in the Twenty20 series outings in Mohali and Indore. It’s the time of the year when the locals in the northern plains and central India would devour the hot lip-snacking chole bhature, but those who thronged the stadium at Mohali and at the Holkar Stadium got a taste of the elegant and fluent left-hander’s stroke play and hitting. In the absence of the injury-stricken Hardik Pandya, the selectors in Ajit Agarkar, S Sharath, Shiv Sundar Das, Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee looked at Dube and the latter has not let them down. Dube is 30 plus and his style of going after the ball makes him a perfect fit for the 120-ball stuff of cricket. In his first 18 turnouts for the men in blue, he did not bat on seven occasions and was not out five times, but he had the talent which the selectors have recognised. Two unbeaten knocks of 60 and 63 against the fierce competitors from Kabul have almost confirmed his berth in the Indian team for the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 under the Manhattan and Caribbean skyline. His average is 45.83 after 20 matches at five positions in the batting order, but it is at No 4 now that he has staked a strong claim. Once Suryakumar Yadav returns to the fold, India can make the most of the “SuryaShivam” show! Why fret over Hardik Pandya?
Dhruv Jurel has played a dozen Ranji Trophy matches for Uttar Pradesh, two for India ‘A‘ recently in South Africa and one for Central Zone, and the BCCI’s national selection committee has told the cricket fraternity in India — in the circumstances caused by a petulant Ishan Kishan’s non-availability — that the soon to be 24-year old from Agra is the best stumper after KS Bharat. Jurel is selected in the India team for the first two Tests against England to be played in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. He has scored 790 runs with 249 against Nagaland as his highest. After the ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa four years ago, the grapevine has been rife with his exceptional talent and it was not a surprise when Rajasthan Royals chose him for IPL 2023. The selectors are impressed with Jurel’s work as a ‘keeper, but his selection for the longer version of the game in the third season of his first-class career has still puzzled a lot of people. The serious injury to Rishabh Pant opened an opportunity for Bharat who has done duty in five Tests. Then Kishan got two chances against the West Indies last July before KL Rahul donned the big gloves in the two-Test series in South Africa, which may have got Kishan’s goat! He created a vacuum by choosing to break from the ranks in South Africa, citing mental fatigue and at the first opportunity, the selectors, chose to come down hard on the erring cricketer’s attitude from Jharkhand. Has Kishan paid the price for erring?
The five-Test home series against England will begin at Uppal in Hyderabad on January 25. Ever since the former swashbuckling New Zealand batter Brendon McCullum took charge as Head Coach from Chris Silverwood, and Ben Stokes took over from Joe Root, the Three Lions team has been playing the game in an aggressive and entertaining brand that’s come to be known as ‘Bazball’ style. The pitches curated by the associations in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamshala are most likely to be on the slower allied with variable bounce, but this sluggish nature of the pitch may not deter England from adhering to the ‘Bazball’ that sustained interest in the ‘Ashes’ series in the English Summer of 2023. The full Test series at home is part of the third cycle of the ICC World Test Championship and hence big points will be at stake for each Test match. In the previous four Test home series against Australia, India won 2-1 and qualified for the final. Anticipating slow pitches that will afford a turn from the first session of the first day, England has packed its side with four spinners and has scheduled a training camp in Abu Dhabi before arriving in Hyderabad only three days before the first Test. After outplaying South Africa in the Cape Town Test, India skipper Rohit Sharma hinted at the ball turning from day one of a Test match. What has to be seen is whether England will stick to the ‘Bazball’ style right through the series and mount pressure on the smart spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
The selection of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the three-match Twenty20 series against Afghanistan is akin to Kafkaesque because these two much-celebrated batters have been overlooked by the selection committee since the ICC World Men’s Twenty20 semi-final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 10, 2022. It appears now that the leading lights of this format are certainties for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held this June in the USA and Caribbean. India has played 25 internationals of the shortest version after the last World Cup in Australia, without these two, won 16, lost seven, and tied one match and the match against Afghanistan in the Asian Games final in Hangzhou was called off due to rain. Kohli has played 27 Twenty20 matches across five World Cups and Sharma 39 across eight World Cups. Sharma was part of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup that India won under the helmsmanship of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Over the last 14 months, the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya have been close to the spectacular. This is apart from Suryakumar Yadav who has led the second brigade well; leading by example he has amassed 857 runs. When the selection for the World Cup arrives, will the above-mentioned get their due or be dumped? India’s Twenty20 team post the last World Cup semi-final when it was thrashed out of sight by England, has to advance and not look back.
Rohit Sharma used the words “shut up”, strong language from the captain of a team which had stunned South Africa by seven wickets in a game of cricket that turned out to be the sensationally shortest in Test match history. Rohit was an angry man, and he blew his top firing salvos at people griping at pitches that often afford copious turn from the first day of a Test match in India. It’s all the same he meant, excessive sideways movement of the surface (abroad) or a big turn from day one in India. He pointed at big cracks on the pitch at Newlands, a pretty venue because of nature’s gift in the form of Table Mountain. Rohit was in the ‘mood’ even to point fingers at the authorities for their prejudice while evaluating pitches. To sum up, Rohit voiced his opinion most directly. The spicy pitch that was exploited by the Bumrahs, Sirajs and the South African speed merchants resulted in the conclusion of the Test in 642 balls. There have been timeless Tests of eight balls an over, but a conventional game at the highest level — allotted 450 overs (90 overs a day) — is supposed to end on the fifth day. But the Newlands pitch for the second Test was full of life and it presented a series-levelling win for India. All in a jiffy! South Africa’s head coach and selector, Shukri Conrad dubbed the Test as a slugfest.
The dream of outsmarting South Africa in the two-Test rubber and winning a series for the first time in 31 years in South Africa — India played its first Test in the Kruggerand country in November 1992 — came down in a thud at the Super Sport Park in Centurion last week. The Rohit Sharma-led visitor came a cropper inside three days going down by an inning and 32 runs. KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and to an extent Shreyas Iyer (in the first inning) offered glimpses of the ability to foil a well-oiled bowling unit spearheaded by Kagiso Rabada; Rahul in fact constructed a classic century that lifted his reputation by a few notches. The short series of two Tests will be over by January 8 and Sharma will return home empty-handed because his team cannot win the series, but can only draw level. Newlands with its imposing Table-Top mountain has not once favoured India in six previous Tests and the odds look against it to cause an upset. This brings the million-dollar question of whether India’s bowling combination will have the strength to bundle out its rival for small totals. They will go after Dean Elgar, who made 185 in the first Test and will lead the home team in his last appearance in International cricket. India’s best chance will be its new ball operators Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. They have to do most of the damage; of course with substantial help from their batter teammates.
From the high hopes of winning the first-ever Test series in South Africa to finding ways to level the series is a massive change in perception of the team that was beaten hollow in the first Test of the Freedom Series at the lovely Centurion venue. Even after 30 years of coming here Indian batters are groping in the dark, clueless as to what’s coming at them from a champion operator Kagiso Rabada with the new ball and tyros trying to make their mark in their first Test. Rohit Sharma did not find the elevation of a pull shot in the first hour of the first morning when the home team challenged his team to face its pace battery. And in the second innings was hoodwinked off the surface, and became a sort of bunny to the slenderly built practitioner of fast bowling Rabada — drawing comparisons with the likes of Allan Donald and Dale Steyn. Sharma who has carved a niche for himself in white-ball formats doesn’t have anything to show for in Test appearances in these parts. Cape Town in a few days, will give him two more chances, but more importantly, the team has to redeem itself against a team that has the power to do an encore. South Africa is keen and eager to hold on to the undefeated record. Its coach Shukri Conrad said it aloud at the press conference.
The captaincy duty will come calling to Rohit Sharma as the Indian team celebrates Christmas and gets into the Test match mode straight away. India begins its ninth tour of South Africa with the opening Test match scheduled at the Centurion on Boxing Day, December 26. First and foremost, Sharma will have to take a call on the choice of the third seamer. Jasprit Bumrah will return to the Test ranks after a hiatus of 18 months and Mohammed Siraj will be his new ball operator partner. The million-dollar question is who will replace Mohammed Shami, ruled out of the series because of a serious ankle injury. The name that crops up is the tall and gangling Prasidh Krishna who too has come back after a lower back injury. And will Sharma pick both left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin? The scales could tilt in favour of the speedster Krishna. The other options are Shardul Thakur and rookie Mukesh Kumar. With 90 overs to be bowled in three sessions of two hours each in a day, the captain could be in a fix. Moreover, Sharma will have to deal with Bumrah’s spells judiciously as a flare-up could whittle down India’s pace strength. Bumrah is a wicket-taker and he will start anxiously because he has not played the multi-day Test for a long time. A breakthrough or two from him will go a long way in hurting the South African batting lineup.
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When the groundswell began to drift against Sanju Samson that he was wasting his talent, he chose the wine countryside of Paarl to notch his first significant knock in coloured clothing for India. The big hitter from Kerala shunned reckless shots and emerged with a three-figure knock in the third and final one-day international against the Proteas and won the man of the match award. Endowed with the ability to lift the ball for straight sixes, Samson was given the No 5 spot in the first two matches. He did not get to bat in the first match at the ‘Bullring! In Johannesburg, and scored only 12 off 23 balls in the second ODI that India lost. But on Thursday (Dec 21) skipper KL Rahul sent him at No 3 and this move appears to have played in the trick to make him responsible. Samson flexed his muscles from the fifth over of the match and after debutant Rajat Patidar was dismissed. He faced 114 balls, struck 6 x 4s and 3 x 6s to make 108 and left the scene of action only in the 46th over. Samson was not part of the World Cup squad with the selection committee going with Rahul and Ishan Kishan. Captain of the Jaipur franchise, Rajasthan Royals, Samson was high in Rohit Sharma’s estimation some six months before the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia last year. But it was Dinesh Karthik who took his place and Samson missed the bus. Samson has proved that he is worthy of a place in the national team.
These are good times for India’s women cricketers. Not just because of the packed international schedule against their counterparts from England and Australia, but also because of the monetary rewards that come with it. A large group of players who will play across formats (one Test each against England and Australia, three one-day internationals against Australia and six Twenty20 internationals together against England and Australia) will earn Rs 66 lakh! Thanks to Jay Shah, the BCCI Secretary who is in the vanguard of giving a fillip to women’s cricket, a pay parity for representing India across all formats was announced two months ago. The women players will receive Rs 15 lakh for a Test match, Rs 6 lakh for an ODI and Rs 3 lakh for a Twenty20 international. Two back-to-back Tests will amount to Rs 30 lakh, the three ODIs Rs 18 lakh and six Twenty20 internationals Rs 18 lakh. The women also get the same daily allowance as men. A few years ago the BCCI introduced the annual retainership cover and recently improved the monthly gratis for past cricketers who had played ODIs. The founding of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) last year turned out to be a big breakthrough that will fast-track the welfare of the distaff — game-wise, money-wise. In all a fantastic space to be in for the present generation and for the youngsters to take up the game as a recreation and thereafter as a career. But there is a lot more to be done at the grassroots and perhaps a revision of the annual retainers too!
Suryakumar Yadav is turning out to be unstoppable in the Twenty20 brand of cricket at the elite level. On Thursday (Dec 14) at the ‘The Wanderers’ in Johannesburg, also known as the ‘Bull Ring’, the flamboyant Mumbaikar and India middle order, and captain, smashed a 56-ball 100 with 7 x 4s and 8 x6s to give thousands of tricolour waving supporters a cheerful time. Yadav scored almost 50% of India’s score of 201 which the Proteas found an uphill task and lost by 105 runs. It was Yadav’s fourth century in a format of the game only two other distinguished batters — India’s Rohit Sharma and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell — have notched as many as four each. A remarkable feat in a format that gives an opportunity of 120 balls to a team to put a total on the board wherein 160 is a norm, but Yadav’s style of conversion rate of his copybook and innovative strokes into maximums (6s) propelled the score over 200 in the third and final match of the short series. The first match was washed out, South Africa won the second match on a revised score, but Yadav’s drive paved the way for a clear-cut Indian win. Yadav scored 117 against England at Trent Bridge and India lost the match, but his subsequent centuries of 111 not out against New Zealand at Mt Maunganui, 112 not out against Sri Lanka at Rajkot and 100 against South Africa at Johannesburg have come for a winning cause.
India’s women in blue team lost the fifth straight Twenty20 international to England on home soil and thereby gave an immediate headache to its new Head Coach Amol Muzumdar. The first three happened in Guwahati four years ago, and the fourth and fifth at the Wankhede Stadium last week. Irrespective of the outcome of the third and final match on December 10 it has to be stated that the Indian batters’ display was very disappointing. A total of 80 was what it could muster in the second match; it was the lowest against England in 29 matches. With the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 scheduled for less than 12 months in Bangladesh, the signs are alarming. The team’s fortunes largely depend on the wherewithal of Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur to chip in heavily. All three fell cheaply in the series-on-the-line match and India caved in. The girls are raring to go, said Muzumdar in his first press conference after making a point that he will focus on fitness and fielding. It looks as though he will have to work overtime to set right the batting department too. The three medium pacers Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Titas Sadhu will learn a lot from Australian bowling coach Troy Cooley, but somehow Muzumdar has to get the most experienced — Harmanpreet (14 years in international cricket) and Smriti (10 years) to click.
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The debate continues about the future of limited cricket (50-over format). The ICC has advertised the viewership numbers of the recent World Cup in India, surpassing the previous tournaments in England, Australia and New Zealand. There was a strong appetite to see the one-day variety, but one of the modern batsmen — a master of all he purveyed – AB de Villiers feels that the first innings played mostly in daylight and the second innings under the lights are two entirely different games, akin to chalk and cheese. The South African who lit the flame of electrifying batting across all formats and has played a massive role in the success of the IPL believes that the future of ODI cricket could be in the form of two Twenty20 format segments, with the team batting first for 20 overs, batting in the fourth and last set of 20 overs. All this means the ODI being reduced to 40 overs. A crowd puller, de Villiers believes that the toss should not become the game-changing factor. He has expressed his forthright views to the latest WISDEN Cricket monthly for a serious conversation among the cricket fraternity and the powers that be to take note of. The BCCI secretary Jay Shah has gone on record saying that the future of ODI cricket is secured after the response for the greatest show on earth in India.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have not found a place in India’s Test team for the two-Test series in South Africa, the first of the new World Test Championship Cycle to start from Boxing Day (December 26) at the Centurion. Without a doubt, both are past their best and the selection committee with Ajit Agarkar in the chair believe that the time has arrived for Indian cricket to move on with alternative players like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer who have proved their mettle. Recalled for the WTC final against Australia that India lost at London’s Oval last June, Rahane made 89 and 46, but only 3 and 8 in two Tests against the West Indies in the West Indies. His Test career appears to have come to a grinding halt at No 85 in which he scored 5077 runs. Pujara, another stalwart of the last 13 years, made 14 and 27 in the WTC final. The steadfast right-hander from Rajkot; Pujara has played 103 Tests and played the four-Test series against Australia at home and the WTC final. He has scored 7195 runs. With KL Rahul and Iyer taking the middle order spots, it appears it is curtains for these two solid batsmen; the five Test home series against England will confirm the inevitable for them. There could be quite a few more like Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan who could be competing for the middle order slots in the future engagements of the WTC cycle.
With 44 players being picked for the India ‘A’ team and the Senior team’s tour of South Africa, It will be truly an Indian Summer in the Rainbow Nation from December 10. Once South Africa moved away from the apartheid days and returned to the mainstream of international cricket some three decades ago, India has been a popular visiting team there. Dr Ali Bacher, a very influential administrator in the United Cricket South Africa was instrumental in his country’s first tour for an ODI series in the very early 1990s. The sad part after 31 years is that India will play only two Tests as part of the third ICC World Test Championship cycle at the Centurion from December 26 and at the Newlands ground at Cape Town from January 3. The selection committee has chosen 16 players for the Test matches and another 28 for the six white-ball series matches, for two four-day matches featuring the India ‘A’ team against South African sides and for a three-day intra-squad match between the India players. It will be a terrific exposure for the fringe players of the India ‘A’ team to make the most of the opportunity. With the Indian team on the cusp of a transitional phase, a bright performance with the bat or ball would indeed open the doors for successful players to be considered for the national team.
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The street-smart cricketer, as Ravi Shastri put it, finally has received a big boost to showcase his talent in a national-level tennis ball competition. Shastri, a right-hand bat who bowled left-arm spin and a winner of the 1983 Prudential World Cup, was on most occasions stoical and unyielding. He attributed his learnings during his fledgling days of playing tennis ball cricket at Mahim’s Navjivan Society, especially essaying inside-out shots over cover and extra cover (off-side field positions) as one of the reasons for him to tame leg spin wizard Shane Warne in the latter’s debut Test in Sydney in 1992. Shastri made 206. After being in the game for over four decades — as a player, coach and media personality, Shastri believes that a cricketer learns to be street smart in building compounds, leafy streets, and maidans in the Indian subcontinent and also parts of the Middle East. This particular Mumbai and Indian characteristic is the reason for the founding of the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL). The promoters are Ashish Shelar, a BJP bigwig in Mumbai and Maharashtra and BCCI Treasurer and Amol Kale, president, Mumbai Cricket Association. To start with six teams from Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Srinagar will play 19 matches from March 2 to 9 inside a stadium. A lot many things are not known, though; most importantly the player fee and prize money and plenty more!
For small mercies, there is not even a whispering campaign to sack Rohit Sharma as captain of the Indian team following the men in blue’s disappointing show and defeat to Australia in the World Cup. In fact, the “cricket diwane” have been quite sympathetic towards him because of the blistering and engaging ways of his batting, and leadership right through the quadrennial event campaign. But news in the grapevine is rife about the BCCI looking out for captains for white ball cricket. Still in the rehabilitation process after a left leg impairment that happened in the match against Bangladesh, Hardik Pandya has been replaced by Suryakumar Yadav for the five-match Twenty20 series against Australia. The selectors have also named Shreyas Iyer vice-captain for the last two matches at Raipur and.Bengaluru. It is not known if Pandya would be fit for the white ball (3 T20s and as many ODIs) series in South Africa to be played before Christmas: in his absence will the selection committee split the captaincy and give it to Yadav and KL Rahul? The two-Test series will be played from December 26 at the Centurion and Cape Town from January 3, 2024. And Rohit is certain to lead the team in these two matches. He had missed the previous series in South Africa that India lost 1-2 because of a hamstring niggle. India’s new WTC cycle starts with this two-Test series followed by the five-Test home series against England. India has captaincy options for the white ball format, but just Sharma for the Test rubbers.
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The numbers are out and the International Cricket Council (ICC) has shouted from the rooftop saying around 1,250,307 spectators kept the turnstiles busy in the course of the 45 round-robin league matches and three knockout matches (2 semifinals and a final). The numbers have proved that there are takers for the ICC’s signature events, most notably the men’s 50-over format World Cup. The number would be many times more if one took into account the tickets given to stakeholders other than the faithful. The ICC was lucky that the BCCI and thereby India, which was the only host, had the ready numbers willing to scrape the bottom of their pocket to get hold of the tickets made available online. One would be still disappointed by the turnout for the India-Australia final at the 132000 capacity Narendra Modi Stadium. The ICC said that 92000 plus turned up, less than the number announced for the India-Pakistan Twenty20 World Cup match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in October 2022. According to the ICC, 1,016,420 spectators passed through the turnstiles at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and 752,000 at the 2019 event in England and Wales. A delighted ICC said: “We would like to thank all the fans who contributed to making the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 such a resounding success, and look forward to sharing more thrilling experiences for everyone in future ICC events.” Truly India has kept the ICC event and the format alive and kicking!
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Should not have Rohit Sharma looked at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final as a completely different ball game! Applauded for his brutal hitting to maximise the potential to gather runs in the first 10 over power play up to the semi-finals, Sharma had an opportunity to rise to the occasion and show a ruthless approach that would have taken Australia and its captain Pat Cummins by surprise. Having been invited to bat, Sharma, according to the discerning, should have accepted the challenge by choosing defence as an option to blend it with his aggression and bat deep. Probably close to 40 overs. “Australia and Cummins should have seen his face for many, many overs. This unyielding attitude and approach would have taken his game tactically to the next level,” felt a handful of former first-class cricketers. Sharma’s leather hunting methods brought him 597 runs off 474 balls, but the blind shot he attempted of the off-spinner Glenn Maxwell resulted only in a slice and once the ball was skied, Travis Head pounced on it to give the marching orders to Sharma. A chance to become a World Cup legend was lost: 1575 runs in three World Cups would not make him one. His 47 off 31 and 44 minutes was good, but not as good as Marnus Labuchagne’s 58 not out off 110 balls and 133 minutes which has to be seen as the greatest support cast role played to the grand knock of an unbeaten 137 off 120 balls and in 166 minutes by Head.
What did Kapil Dev say to two journalists soon after India had won the World Cup in 1983? In his earthy style, the winning captain told two journalists at Lord’s in London – “Ghoron ka aur Kaliyon ka, dhononka !@#4 paad diya”, translating to – “The whites and the blacks, we screwed them both”. This well-kept secret was revealed by one of the two journalists with whom Kapil Dev interacted after the final in the sponsor Prudential Insurance Company’s hospitality tent. He told me that 40 years on there was no harm in revealing what was an emotion that the captain felt in his heart after having achieved what was the greatest triumph of the underdog in the world of sport in one of its biggest stages, which was the ODI World Cup. Had these words been spoken in this ‘woke’ era it might have stirred up a real storm and Kapil Dev pilloried as a racist. But in those times, four decades ago, celebrities spoke what they felt, at least in asides to scribes in the confidence that it would not be blown out of proportion. There was no social media either in those times to exaggerate each word and troll the speaker in myriad posts.
Virender Sehwag has been a smashing hit — in the traditional multi-day Test cricket and one-day internationals. Quick to earn the “Prince of Najafgarh” sobriquet because of his fearless and entertaining style of wielding the willow, the Delhi dasher thumped a 70-ball 100 against New Zealand at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in August 2001. It was his maiden ODI century (15th match and 13th innings). In the next 12 years, he blitzed 14 more centuries in the 50-over format, including a double and scored 8273 runs. He was a trailblazer in many ways, changing the grammar of batting, “My philosophy was ” see the ball, hit the ball, not watch the ball and play the ball” the charismatic Sehwag told Ian Bishop at the ICC Hall of Fame, The Class of 2023 celebrity event at the Taj Lands End. Sehwag played 374 matches for India across formats and scored 17253 runs in a glittering career spanning one and a half decades. Having played in 251 ODIs and won a World Cup in the 50-over format, he believes there is no need to tinker with it anymore. “Why” he quipped when prodded to respond to the prevailing refrain that the ODI format needs to be reviewed for bilateral series between ICC member countries. The ICC should be pleased with Sehwag’s perception at its event. He also feels that all Test-playing countries should adopt the ‘Bazball” way of playing the game over five days — with emphasis on entertainment.
Is it ‘bat first’ time from here onwards in the World Cup? Putting a total on the board and challenging the opponents to meet the target used to be a regular tactic in World Cups, the first five of which were won by teams batting first. Being played in the modern era after the advent of T-20, the 2023 World Cup has been bucking the trend with great chases, none more excellent than the one staged by Glenn Maxwell for Australia against Afghanistan with New Zealand getting close to 400 and coming within a six hit against the Oz. But the obvious things on the minds of captains at the toss will be India’s virtual invincibility batting first, enhanced by the new balls zipping around under lights for Bumrah, Shami and Siraj. The only way to play them would be to take them on in the afternoon when there may not be that much swing and seam. But the challenge is that India’s spin twins may then throttle those aiming to put a large total on the board. Considering South Africa are lions when batting first and lambs when chasing may mean that we know what would happen at the toss if India and Australia win theirs in the semi-finals. Can New Zealand beat India even if the toss goes in their favour? Can South Africa shake off the choker’s tag if they are chasing?
Arjuna Ranatunga, the maverick World Cup-winning Sri Lanka captain and politician has accused the BCCI Secretary and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah of influencing the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend the full membership of Sri Lanka Cricket. The ICC Board consists of representatives of 12 full member countries, three associate member countries, the Independent Chairman from New Zealand, Greg Barclay, the Independent female director, Indra Nooyi and the Chief Executive Geoff Allardice. It’s virtually impossible for a single entity, in this case, Jay Shah — set to helm the ICC from the annual conference in 2024 — to influence the course of action the Board should take. In September and during the Asia Cup, Ranatunga had cast aspersions on the ICC and the ACC. And recently the Sri Lanka sports minister citing a Law removed the SLC Board after the national team’s poor showing in the ongoing World Cup, especially after being shot out for 55 by India, and appointed Ranatunga as head of an ad hoc committee. This was good enough for the ICC to convene a Board meeting and suspend the SLC. An ICC statement said that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka. All said and done Sri Lanka’s cricket appears to be down in the dumps.
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is about nine days away from a glorious finish, but concerns remain about the sustainability of the format on a bilateral basis. The ICC’s global media rights — digital and television for 2024-2027 — have been won by Disney Star for around $ 3 billion for all signature events. The ongoing 50-over format World Cup has been far from a resounding success, save for a handful of matches in which teams competed to take the match to the wire. India’s men in blue have met with unprecedented success which will trigger a fresh wave of interest among the boys and girls across the country. Experts from England have suggested that the defending champion’s preparation was far from satisfactory after it won the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia last year. India played a maximum of 30 ODIs from October 1 last year, followed by New Zealand 25, and Sri Lanka 25. Australia played only 18 and South Africa 15. The numbers reflect dwindling interest for bilateral ODI series which India incorporates in good numbers to get a better deal from the broadcasters. The players may not be keen to get on with the 50-over format in the future as much as they would like to look at the Twenty20 franchise leagues. What will be interesting is to see what Saudi Arabia does after this World Cup. The Arab nation has expressed interest in investing about $ 5 billion in the IPL.
Fourteen days after he suffered an ankle-related injury taking a hard blow of a Liton Das straight hit in the World Cup match against Bangladesh, and walked off the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) international stadium alongside the Expressway between Pune and Mumbai, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that its event technical committee has approved fast bowler Prasidh Krishna as the replacement for the India all-rounder. On the eve of the India-Sri Lanka World Cup match, skipper Rohit Sharma elaborated on Pandya’s plight and the medical attention given to him at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. That he will not be part of the Men in Blue team for the ongoing World Cup must have been a piece of brutal news for the all-rounder. A livewire in the field with the ability to turn a match on its head with big hits with the bat in the lower order, strike with the ball and excel as a fielder, Sharma believed that for India to run a successful campaign in the World Cup, Pandya would have to perform with the bat and ball. Laid low by a lower back ailment Pandya was out of action for many months from November 2021, but he made a strong back and was all set to make the big splash in the World Cup, but misfortune struck him and India with the ankle injury throwing him out of the tournament. Fate can be so cruel! Hardik Pandya has been plain unlucky.
Post-match press conferences featuring an India Men in Blue player are the most looked forward to event and it has been no different during the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. Skipper Rohit Sharma has already made a few appearances, and has gone out of his way to give a detailed response to questions without losing his cool. On Thursday (Nov 2) the team nominated Shreyas Iyer to do the needful after his team had scored an emphatic 302-run win against Sri Lanka and qualified for the competition’s semi-finals. Iyer became a petulant child when asked about his problems and troubles against short balls and getting bounced out. Quite angry, Iyer, looking straight at the reporter asked: What do you mean by problems against the short ball? You guys have created this ‘mahol’ (environment). I know to tackle them (short balls), but batsmen can get out playing the pull shot.” Iyer made the most of the opportunity against Sri Lanka by collaring their attack — hitting 4s and 6s — and making a swashbuckling 56-ball 82, an aggressive undertaking that ensured India’s seventh win in a row in the competition. Iyer though left a bad taste in the mouth, by going after the reporter in a way he did — losing his composure. Iyer was in a completely jubilant mood though when Sachin Tendulkar named him as the best fielder in a sort of competition run by the team for every match to get the best out of a player in the field.
Water has always been a hot topic during an international cricket match in India with spectators not allowed to carry it to the stadium because of security reasons, mainly to act as a deterrent on the rowdy from throwing bottles in the stands and on the ground which can hurt spectators and players. Vendors pay a high sum to do business for profit at the venue making water and eatables a premium product for the spectator who has already shelled out good money for the match ticket. In these circumstances, the BCCI and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) have done their bit to alleviate the cricket faithful’s distress by providing water for gratis at all World Cup venues. Jay Shah, secretary, BCCI used social media on October 5 to say: ” I am proud to announce that we’re providing free mineral and packaged drinking water for spectators at stadiums across India. Stay hydrated and enjoy the games!” After two World Cup matches the MCA secretary Ajinkya Naik made an announcement saying “MCA President Shri @Amolkk1976 the apex council members have decided to provide complimentary one-time servings of popcorn and a cold beverage to all fans attending World Cup matches at Wankhede.” In one stroke the BCCI made water easily available at the venues benefitting lakhs of spectators and the MCA added a cold beverage and the energy boosting popcorn for three matches at the Wankhede. Hope both extend the good practice during the bilateral series internationals for men and women!
Dharamsala as an ICC Men’s World Cup venue has squealed for the right and notorious reasons. The average quality outfield at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Stadium has been rightly criticised, but the hillside venue — placed beneath the Himalayan slopes — has given all enjoyment to the teams that have played a match there so far. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, Netherlands, New Zealand and India have had their share of good times there and soon Australia and its Tasman rival New Zealand will have brush there. While the players of teams may not have opted for trekking trails that enable one to admire the lovely sights of the Himalayan region, the support staff of the Indian team led by Head Coach Rahul Dravid went on a trek after the team’s emphatic win against New Zealand. Writing for The Times, London, former England captain Michael Atherton (he is the Chief Cricket Correspondent of the paper) described his 2700 metre Triund Trek as memorable and that that the HPCA stadium was a stunning sight in comparison with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. A happy-looking Dravid — in a clip posted on the BCCI website — hoped that his sons could experience the richness of nature one day and that it was unfortunate the team could not partake in the trek because of the risks involved amid the World Cup. Why Dharamsala was chosen as a World Cup venue, everyone knows it now!
It was a contentious allotment of tickets issue that compelled the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to break the umbilical cord with the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and become independent building its ground on D Road, Churchgate in the early 1970s. The stadium was named Wankhede Stadium and the first Test match was played against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in January 1975. In two years the MCA should celebrate the golden jubilee of the Wankhede Stadium — a venue that’s the pride of Mumbai cricket. On Saturday (Oct 21) a goodly crowd turned up to appreciate and applaud England and South Africa’s national teams that locked horns in a first World Cup 2023 match at the venue which is a stone’s throw from the Arabian Sea and the Marine Drive. The stadium has two gates named after renowned cricketers Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar and stands named after Vijay Merchant, GS Divecha, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar — all reflecting the thought process of the MCA administration over many decades, giving primacy to its cricketers. What’s missing is the proper acknowledgement of Ajit Wadekar as a Mumbai legend. The MCA and its 330-odd clubs should be happy that the locals bought tickets ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 10,000 for the hospitality kind to get a feel of the World Cup that MS Dhoni’s India won at the venue 12 years ago. It was a lovely sight with spectators filling up the Wankhede stands for a non-India World Cup match. Super show, Mumbaikars!
While most staging associations of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup — all members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — have gone out of the way to embrace the media by enhancing the get-up of the press enclosure and elevating the other services, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) has adopted an indifferent attitude towards the media that has been accredited by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The decision to award five World Cup matches, including the high premium India-Bangladesh match to the Pune-based MCA at the expense of Nagpur and Indore stumped many observers of the game who have been on the administration side of the sport. The previous dispensation in Pune had taken the initiative to alleviate the concerns of the local and national media to an extent by providing easy access to the venue at Gahunje by putting in place a transport network (for two days, pre-match and match day) connecting a 20 km distance from the city centre to the match venue. When the stadium was constructed in 2012, those who ran the association did not even consider making a provision for a washroom for the media. An event like the World Cup should have driven sense in the present administration to create necessities for the media. Those who covered the first match between India and Bangladesh had to take up the matter with the BCCI representative who assured that the media’s concerns would be addressed. Only time will tell!
These are feel-good times for the noble game of cricket, notably for Indian cricket. The faithful in India could not have hoped for a better and brighter start to the Men in Blue’s campaign in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup: after a shaky start against Australia — 2 for 3 while chasing 200 — India scored thumping wins against the five-time winner Australia, Afghanistan and bitter rival Pakistan in front of a mammoth crowd over 100,000 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Three wins in as many matches — with six to go in the qualification process — has revealed the ambition of Rohit Sharma’s team to make a strong bid for a third World Cup win. If the news from the cricket fields of Chennai, New Delhi and Ahmedabad was most satisfying, then the news of the game being included as a medal sport at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 from the International Olympic Committee‘s 141st Session in Mumbai will give fresh impetus to the sport across the world, make it more vibrant in India which will target a medal at LA28. After the inception of Major League Cricket Twenty20 this year and followed by next year’s ICC Men’s World Twenty20 to be held in the USA, cricket is all set to go places in the USA and become an annual pit stop for the sport’s administrators to look at the country as the El Dorado to widen the interest for the sport among the native Americans.
The famous English television presenter Michael Parkinson asked the famous Australian all-rounder of the 1947 Bradman’s Invincibles about pressure in the game of cricket. Keith Miller was a wartime pilot during World War II and his response was as pithy as it can be. “Pressure is a Messerschmitt (German Fighter Aircraft) up your arse, playing cricketer is not”, Miller replied. The Australian was considered the second-best all-rounder only to the West Indian Sir Garry Sobers. On Friday afternoon (Oct 13) Pakistan skipper Babar Azam — at a pre-match press conference — was grilled about the pressure his team will have to face while facing India in the ICC World Cup match against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Saturday (Oct 14). Azam who has led Pakistan in 36 one-day internationals and won two, but lost one match to India in the recent Asia Cup in Sri Lanka said: “We learn to handle pressure through experience. The more you go through it the better you know how to handle it. As a youngster, you feel that when I played for the first time, there was a lot of pressure.” Azam remained unruffled when asked a barrage of questions on pressure. He deflected each one of them like a seasoned campaigner. Whatever may have been the outcome of the clash between the arch-rivals, pressure will build on the teams to qualify for the semi-finals.
Where and when did Shubman Gill catch the dengue bug? That’s the question that has not been made public. Gill is the new kid on the block who has shown his class across formats and is destined to become India’s captain. By the sheer weight of the runs he had amassed the Punjabi Putra had sealed the opening slot with Rohit Sharma for the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The right hander who brings in high style at the top of the order to add to the wide repertoire of strokes, scored 74 and 104 in the first two ODIs in Mohali and Indore, but was rested for the third ODI in Rajkot. Soon after the conclusion of the preparatory series against Australia, the Indian team took a charter to Guwahati for the World Cup warm-up and thereafter to Thiruvananthapuram. Gill did not practice in Chennai before the World Cup opener against Australia and it was revealed that he was hit by dengue. But was Gill sick before the Rajkot ODI? Rohit Sharma attributed the wholesale changes for the match to many reasons and he used the word sick. Averaging 70 plus in 2022 and 2023 Gill had teamed up with the India captain aggregating 1048 runs. Overall he has played 35 ODIs and scored 1917 runs. It’s unlikely that he will be seen in action anytime soon. It’s a big blow for India’s Men in Blue that’s targeting the holy grail of international cricket.
In returning to peak form and playing crucial innings in the World Cup opener for Team India against Australia, and before that figuring in a long stand with Virat Kohli against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, KL Rahul has bowled his critics over. They had railed against the selectors and Rahul Dravid for reposing blind faith in the batter and part-time white ball wicketkeeper, but he repaid them in spades. His delicate late cutting of balls from the stump line to various parts of point and third man was outstanding just after Team India was down in the dumps having lost three batters for ducks with less runs on the board than wickets. But then critics had leapt into the lead 1-0 by proving right on Ravi Ashwin. They had been blasting the BCCI, selectors, team coach and captain for openly showing their bias against the off spinner for nearly two years since 2021 when they played him in only one Test, which was the first WTC final against New Zealand. Critics certainly scored as the team left out Ashwin from the World Cup squad and sheepishly brought him back only by posturing that Axar Patel was so badly injured as to be out of the World Cup. And they even picked Ashwin for the opening game at Chepauk and he shone with the ball to prove how wrong they have been in discriminating against him.
In a short span of a little over two and a half years, the Narendra Modi (NaMo) Stadium has become most relevant to Indian cricket. Willy-nilly, the member units of the BCCI have accepted the change in power centre in the last four years and thereby Ahmedabad has been favoured for many international matches. Renamed in February 2021 as Narendra Modi Stadium inside the Sardar Patel Sports Complex, with the third Test match against Joe Root’s England, the most talked about venue with a capacity to seat exceeding one lakh spectators will stage the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on November 19. The NaMo Stadium will also stage four round-robin league matches including the inaugural one between the 2019 winner England and runner-up, New Zealand coming Thursday (Oct 5). The NaMo will also be the venue for the marquee ‘Ashes’ Derby between England and Australia, but NaMo’s biggest match of Titanic proportions will be India-Pakistan on October 14 when the State will be in the midst of Navratri festivities. India would have played against Australia in Chennai and Afghanistan in New Delhi before arriving in Ahmedabad for the third of the nine league matches. The news heard on the grapevine is that the fanatics supporting the men in blue are ready to shell out a couple of lakhs of rupees for a single day’s spectacle; all at the NaMo stadium.
One can only pity Axar Patel for missing his first World Cup bus because of a left quadriceps tear he suffered during the Super 4 round-robin league of the Asia Cup in Colombo. The left-hander was in the thick of action against Bangladesh with his thigh strapped. He was hit a couple of times in his left and right hand which necessitated treatment on the ground. As a result Washington Sundar made it to the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. On Thursday (Sep 28), the deadline day to effect changes to the 15-member team for the World Cup announced before, the BCCI got to know from Nitin Patel — the physiotherapist attached to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru — that Axar cannot be in action for three weeks at least and so the selectors chose off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the official squad for the World Cup. Ashwin was always the front-runner, but once he took three wickets against Australia in Indore his selection became inevitable. The reason is that he is more experienced than Sundar who flew to China for the Asian Games and Ashwin flew to Guwahati for the warm-up games. Axar because of his all-round skills was in the original squad announced at Pallekele on September 5. Three weeks later Axar’s World Cup dreams lay shattered. He had played 54 ODIs, scored 481 runs, taken 59 wickets and was viewed as a solid utility player.
The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) has created infrastructure in Rajkot that could be incomparable in India. Perhaps in the world too. The SCA has reason to be a little upset about not being given an ICC Cricket World Cup match — just like the Vidarbha Cricket Association and MPCA — and the cricket fan may wonder why Lucknow and Dharamsala are given preference by the BCCI. But what other centres cannot boast about with pride is the practice facilities created at the SCA Stadium at Khanderi on the Rajkot-Jamnagar Highway. The SCA secretary, Himanshu Shah revealed that apart from 26 practice pitches an additional 12 have been created behind the East Stand. The SCA president and former Ranji Trophy captain Jaydev Shah said with pride about a second full-fledged venue 10 km from the Khanderi venue at Sanosaraa and also at Porbandar. The new venue has two grounds and a clubhouse. The SCA will now be the proud owner of five grounds within 10 km of Rajkot and close to 50 practice pitches. All thanks to the senior most Shah, Niranjan who has shown the foresight to create a massive infrastructure for the local talent to use, and venues that can be hired by other countries and clubs to prepare teams. The SCA can look at improving things at the media centre though!
The ICC Cricket World is just a fortnight away and most of the teams are girding up its loins to compete hard in conditions that are most likely to show bias to the spinners. Surprisingly though India will be going into the multi-nation event with two finger spinners of the left arm variety and one of the Chinaman — leg spin and googly. A left quadriceps tear to the conventional left-arm spinner, Axar Patel may appear to have kept the door ajar for a right-hand finger spinner to find his way into the team that will be confirmed on September 28, a day after India plays its third and last one day international against Australia. The two contenders are Ravichandran Ashwin who has entered his 38th year but brings in a 113-match experience with 151 wickets at an economy rate of 4.94 an over. He played two matches of the 2011 World Cup that India won and eight matches of the 2015 World Cup. The veteran offy has played only two ODIs in the last six years, missing 122 matches. The second option is Washington Sundar who will be 24 in 13 days; he has played 17 ODIs and has taken 16 wickets. The final call may be taken by skipper Rohit Sharma. The three-match series against Australia will guide Sharma to make a choice should Patel be declared not fit for a competition that will be tough as it comes.
In a leafy Colombo suburb on Friday morning an animated Arjuna Ranatunga dressed in a Sri Lankan-style sarong and Deklo Technology T-shirt talked about Sri Lankan cricket with zeal. The captain of the 1996 World Cup-winning Sri Lankan team — a courageous individual who backed Muthiah Muralitharan to the hilt and who never pulled his punches back on matters — did not have anything tolerable to say about the way the game is administered in his country, and by the International Cricket Council. “I have raised questions on sports, in particular about cricket, a hundred times in the parliament,” says Ranatunga, the 59-year-old who underwent corrective surgery to treat a troubling hernia and shed his heavyweight status. Ranatunga was a member of the parliament and a minister till 2019 and as he says at present he is in the vanguard of a national movement. The daredevil captain who named Aravinda de Silva as the all-time best cricketer, says he does not like the idea of consultants and advisors because they do not have any responsibility. He is startled by the decision of the Asian Cricket Council to provide a reserve day for the India-Pakistan match and surprised by the silence of the other cricket boards in the ACC. He says it’s the responsibility of the ICC to protect cricket and that more cricketers should be involved in the governance of the sport.
There was so much joy in the end after the rock and roll display by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and thereafter by the Chinaman practitioner Kuldeep Yadav with the ball that cut Pakistan to size in the Asia Cup match at Colombo on Monday (Sept 11). India trounced Pakistan by 228 runs. India’s 27th win against Pakistan by runs. It was also India’s fourth win against Pakistan starting from the Asia Cup in Dubai five years ago. The big win at the rain-hit Premadasa Stadium helped Rohit Sharma to maintain a clean slate against Pakistan: 3 wins out of 3. It was not merely the emphatic victory, it was the way India’s batters went about repelling the rival team’s pace pack that had troubled India in Twenty20 internationals in recent times. Left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi had become sort of a bête noire, but for two days in a row, India’s top 4 sent him packing with Sharma flicking him for a first over 6. Aspersions were cast on Rahul’s selection of Rahul for the Asia Cup and the ICC Cricket World Cup after he had gone down in an IPL match on May 1 and his thigh needed to be set right. An eleventh-hour inclusion after Shreyas Iyer complained of a back spasm, Rahul deployed his multi-faceted skills with the bat to stage a comeback with a bang, as they say; with a score of 111 not out!
With every passing day, the debate continues around KL Rahul’s selection for the Asia Cup and ICC Cricket World Cup. The Indian team, especially its main players believe that a player like Rahul cannot be dispensed with easily with the World Cup on home soil scheduled from October 5. Rahul who is accustomed to facing the shining hard ball will bear the burden at No5 with skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill set to open the innings. With Rahul being given extra time to recover from the thigh-related injury, and set to walk into the team, the question that begs to be asked is: Will Ishan Kishan be given the short shrift? The flashy and flamboyant lefty hammered a double century against Bangladesh a few months ago, and recently he batted his way to a rousing 82 off 81 balls at No 5. Sharma hinted that there is a possibility of both getting the nod to be picked in the eleven. Kishan has been groomed to fill the vacancy caused by the absence of Rishabh Pant and everything pointed to the young fellow getting a chance to display his talent on the big stage. Rahul has been out of action since May 1 and he is being prepared for the India-Pakistan Super 4 round-robin league match on Sunday. He will be anxious on two counts — one is to be fit right through the match, and the second is to get runs!
Even as six teams are competing for the Asia Cup a forerunner to the ICC Cricket World Cup, Najam Sethi, a journalist who has donned the chairman’s hat of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) a number of times and who has served under Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif used his X handle to take pot shots at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for mishandling the tournament. He vented his agony soon after the second half of the India-Pakistan match was washed off in Pallekele, Sri Lanka. The sauve Sethi slammed the ACC for not showing any interest in scheduling the matches in Pakistan or the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan was the only host of the Asia Cup, but became the co-host with Sri Lanka once BCCI decided that it will not send its team to Pakistan. What perhaps got Sethi’s goat was the Pakistan batsmen not getting a chance to chase India’s total of 266. Then after almost two hours of play, it was lost due to rain. Sethi went on an overdrive giving full details of the dialogue between the ACC president Jay Shah and himself. The matter has turned into a full blown tiff with Shah issuing a rejoinder explaining why the Asia Cup could not be fully played in Pakistan or the UAE. The Super 4 matches will be played at the rain-ravaged Colombo as scheduled, And Sethi has asked “Is India afraid of losing to Pakistan?’’
The BCCI global media rights for television and digital streaming rights have fetched Rs 5963 crore for the five-year cycle — September 2023 to March 2028. The new entrant in cricket broadcasting, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, has left others by the wayside and it will deploy its television channel Sports18 and digital platform Jio Cinema to broadcast the bilateral series home internationals. The Reliance Industries backed Viacom18 and made a big splash when it acquired the digital rights of the 2023-2027 IPL cycle and the full media rights of the Women’s Premier League. However, it has demonstrated a commitment to be the sole owner of the BCCI’s domestic bilateral series rights. There is a lot of glamour around the IPL, but the BCCI media rights represent the essence of cricket where the International Cricket Council’s full members play Test matches that are part of the World Test Championship and also the one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals. These matches are the pith of the home international season and they attract millions of eyeballs Viacom18 has gone out of the way to acquire the rights for a sum that has given immense satisfaction to the BCCI. Viacom18 has made the commitment knowing that the home internationals will have value across all formats, in particular the multi-day Tests and Twenty20, but the BCCI media rights have proved that the game’s future is drifting towards digital viewership.
Neeraj Chopra has showcased his talent with a spear-like object, won gold medals in international competitions and proved to a nation starved of sports icons that nothing is impossible to achieve. The 25-year-old javelin thrower’s feats have to be described as phenomenal; one that has lifted the aspirations of the young talent across all sports. Hailing from Panipat, Chopra — who took an interest in a not-so-popular discipline of the mother of all sport, athletics — has, in the last seven years, demonstrated that individual drive and ambition in pursuit of excellence will be rewarded. Ever since he won the World Under20 Championship title in Poland in 2016, he has only improved and remained on the World stage. It was an extraordinary display by two more javelin throwers at the World Championships in Budapest — Kishore Jena and DP Manu — who finished 5th and 6th respectively. Chopra has all the titles with him — Asian, Commonwealth, Diamond League, Olympics and the World’s. Chopra will be one of the star attractions in the forthcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China and at the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024. Training abroad has helped him to maintain fitness and sustain his form in the context of achieving consistency; what has eluded him though is the 90m mark which he was hopeful of touching at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest where he won the gold with a distance of 88.17m.
The BCCI’s selection committee, captain Rohit Sharma and Head Coach Rahul Dravid are looking in the same direction in so far as the choice of Kuldeep Yadav for the Asia Cup juxtaposed against Yuzvendra Chahal. Wrist spinners are unique; they practice a difficult art. Many find it difficult to maintain a high degree of consistency blending with a variety of skill sets. Yadav tweaks with his left hand thus changing the angle of the delivery, bowling over and around the wicket. In a little over six years, Yadav has featured in 59 wins taking 110 scalps at 23.45, conceding 4.88 runs an over. In all, he has played 84 matches and taken 141 wickets at 26.55, conceding 5.17 runs an over. Chahal tweaks with his right hand and in seven years has featured in 49 wins taking 102 wickets at 20.76, conceding 4.82 runs an over. In all, he has played 72 matches, taken 121 wickets at 27.13, conceding 5.27 runs an over. India with Chahal has won 65.52 % of the matches, while with Yadav, India has won 70.24 %. Looking at the batting numbers, Yadav has an average of 11.71 with an aggregate of 112 at No 9 (scored 164 runs in all) and Chahal has an average of 8.56 with an aggregate of 49 at No 10 (scored in all 77 runs). Yadav brings in a 7-match 2019 World Cup experience and a 6-match 2018 Asia Cup experience. That’s that!
Captain Rohit Sharma and Head Coach Rahul Dravid will be watched and commented upon once the Asia Cup starts against arch-rivals Pakistan at Pallekele on September 2. It has already begun with former India captains Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan not agreeing with the non-selection of the orthodox leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for the Continental tournament. Chahal (33) has been competing with another wrist spinner but of the Chinaman (left arm unorthodox) variety in Kuldeep Yadav. The selection committee could have us all believe that Yadav is a better option with the bat after No 7 or 8 and that he is also a better fielder. Yadav has 141 wickets in 84 ODIs and he has been consistent this year taking 22 wickets in 11 matches at 17.18. He took 10 wickets in six matches of the 2018 Asia Cup (50 overs a side) in Dubai. The selection committee appears to have given the leeway to the captain and coach to pick the squad and for the first time Sharma will have a near full-strength team for a tournament. The only batsman who could not make the Asia Cup cut is left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal, but he could be in the probables for the ICC Cricket World Cup in India in October- November. The Sharma- Dravid team has won 12 out of 17 ODIs. It could be a make or mar case for them over the next three months.
Chennai has set an example by hosting the Hero Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) and enabling local fans to look at modern Indian hockey athletes in action. International hockey in India — and this includes two World Cups — was confined to Odisha, whose Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has walked the extra mile to embrace the sport by resolving to support hockey till 2033. But the sport demanded it to be advertised across the country. India’s men and women’s teams achieved a lot at the Tokyo Olympics, but the men’s and women’s team has to win the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China to seal the berth for the Summer Olympics in Paris next year. Chennai, which has given a lot to Indian men’s hockey has taken the lead to promote the game in a big way and encourage other States to deploy money for a sport that India dominated playing on grass. The locals in the Southern city ought to have been thrilled at the home team winning the title after trailing 1-3 against Malaysia. India did not lose a single match in the six-team tournament but must have got a fair idea of how to go about winning the Asian Games gold. It’s time now for Maharashtra — which has excelled in the National Games and two Khelo India Youth Games — to host a big event to revive hockey in Mumbai, home to many Olympians.
Rohit Sharma has hit the nail on its head by revealing that the No 4 spot in the batting order of the Indian team for the ICC World Cup is yet to be firmed up. The crucial position that is a fulcrum in the team’s batting order was virtually going Shreyas Iyer’s way, but a vulnerable back that has rendered him out of action for a few months, since the third Test against Australia in Indore, has upset the apple cart and made him a doubtful starter for the World Cup. Iyer, a busy bee in the middle, has scored 805 runs at No 4 (average 47.35) and 534 at No 3 (average 59.33), and the faithful can understand Sharma and the national selection committee’s worry. Iyer’s ODI scoring rate average is 5.79 — ranging from 5.73 at No 3, 5.66 at No 4 and 6.30 at No 5. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been named captain for the short Twenty20 series in Ireland, but KL Rahul and Iyer are still in the process of fixing their respective body parts. Yuvraj Singh, as pointed out by Sharma made 3384 runs at No 4 with 6 x 100s and 17 x 50s. Suryakumar Yadav, a blockbuster batsman in Twenty20, has been found short in the longer white-ball format. The host nation is on the horns of a dilemma about the No4 position. Will India go for Yashasvi Jaiswal?
Rahul Dravid is facing flak for India’s dismal results across all formats. Rohit Sharma is the captain of the team and he too was at the butt of criticism for poor decisions in the WTC final against Australia. Not only on the count of results but also on their choice of playing XIs and tactics, the captain and coach are praised or pilloried. Both assumed long-term roles after India’s disappointing work in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the winter of 2021. Dravid’s report card is: Tests played 17, won 9, lost 5, drawn 3 for a 54% success rate. In ODIs, the numbers are: played 36, won 23, lost 11, NR 2 for a 63.89% success rate and in the Twenty20s it is: played 50, won 35, lost 13, NR and Tied one each for a 70% success rate. Dravid was not the coach in a few odd white ball matches. India flopped in three major events — the Asia Cup in the UAE, Twenty20 World Cup in Australia and the ICC WTC final at The Oval. Usually, the buck stops with the captain, but Dravid is seen as a party to the collateral damage caused; in this case, he could not win the blue riband ICC events. Both Sharma and Dravid will look forward to a happier end in the home World Cup, come October-November.
The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is in the news again! No need to guess; for notorious reasons alone. A most respected judge has pointed out how over one-fourth of the HCA Membership has destroyed the edifice of the Association because of rampant instances of conflict of Interest. The judge has debarred 57 clubs of the 208 or thereabout from taking part in the next election of the HCA, pointing out flaws in the ownership of the clubs and how people have abused their position. The conflict of interest malaise that was (and is) palpable in cricket administration across the country was so eloquently presented by Justice RN Lodha (former Chief Justice of India) Committee seven years ago in the “Reforms in Cricket” report. And on this occasion, the 46-page final order by Justice L Nageswara Rao (former judge, Supreme Court and Single Member Committee appointed by the Apex Court to ensure free and proper election of the Apex Council of the HCA) has named virtually who’s who of HCA and debarred their clubs for three years. People say that more skeletons in the cupboard will fall should a report presented by a Committee of Administrators to the High Court in a sealed cover is made public. It’s been an unending saga of the alleged maladministration in the HCA that gave India such splendid cricketers as Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, ML Jaisimha, Abbas Ali Baig and VVS Laxman.
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.
As I said last year, disruptions in the media world are moving at a fast and furious pace. Technology is playing a very big role in how content is generated and consumed. But, we are neither alarmed nor perturbed as it is all a part of the evolution process. What gives us comfort is that AI is unable to create original gossipy content. And that is the news arena where we have achieved a distinction.