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Upon the official announcement of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the Congress’s candidate from Wayanad, Kerala for Lok Sabha by-election, Congress workers have started putting up her posters in the constituency. The posters featured the greeting “Wayanadinte Priyankari” (Wayanad beloved). The question is with the Lok Sabha bypoll for Wayanad on November 13, how much time will siblings Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi give for polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra on November 13 and 20? Since it will be Priyanka’s first electoral foray, it is quite likely that Rahul is likely to do much of the heavy lifting for her. The seat fell vacant as Rahul who had contested from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad, decided to represent the UP seat and wanted Priyanka to contest from Wayanad in a by-election. However, the ruling Left Front has made it clear that it would not be a cake walk for Priyanka. Kerala Minister MB Rajesh sought to remind how Rahul Gandhi has deserted Wayanad. “In August, when the state was reeling under floods, we had expected Rahul to deliver special help from the Centre. Wayanad is a constituency that gave RaGa refuge when he lost Amethi, but in the very next opportunity, Rahul Gandhi abandoned Wayanad, and now people of Wayanad will give him a befitting reply.”
Normally, questions about EVMs (electronic voting machines) and the Election Commission are raised after elections. However, the question of EVM was raised again soon after the EC declared the poll schedules for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Sanjay Raut said opposition parties do not trust the working of EVMs, and what happened in Haryana can be repeated in Maharashtra too. Congress leader Rashid Alvi alleged that EVMs could be manipulated just like Hezbollah pagers, which Israel hacked to carry out blasts in Lebanon. Rubbishing doubts, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, “Our EVMs are more robust than Hezbollah’s pagers, and they are 100% foolproof. EVMs cannot be hacked. Pagers are connected devices, but EVMs are not. “Those who are again questioning EVMs will have to answer many questions. Were EVMs working perfectly during the Lok Sabha polls but were hacked during the Haryana polls? Did EVMs work perfectly in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh but were tampered with in MP and Chhattisgarh? Who will believe such allegations? An electronic voting machine is just like a calculator, and it has no connection to the Internet via Bluetooth or any remote device. The battery usage of an EVM is written on the form when the EVM is packed and sealed. Candidates or their agents countersign it. Secondly, in a big country like India, where thousands of EVMs are used, and lakhs of government employees are involved in the electoral process, how can EVMs be hacked? And if some people tamper with the EVMs, how can the matter remain a secret? Victories and defeats occur during elections, but blaming the defeat on the EC or raising questions about EVM tampering is childish.
The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has been pounding Tamil Nadu with massive rainfall and flooding. Schools, Colleges and all public institutions are to remain closed with dire warnings of every hue…red, orange alerts to stay indoors and stay safe. But the government in its wisdom is keeping the state-run TASMAC outlets open for thirsty denizens. PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramdoss has lashed out at the TN government over this move. “Is it life-saving medicine or an essential that the public can’t live without? Is it an intrinsic part of the Dravida model to keep liquor sales open”? asked Anbumani in X. Significantly, Deputy CM, Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed the media even as the MET office warned about the heavy rain conditions to hit and assured that the DMK government was fully prepared to take on the threat of flooding. Having suffered severe losses in the past two cyclone hits with cars inundated, the public quickly resorted to parking cars on the flyover bridges….The Velachery flyover overnight turned into a parking lot. It’s another outrage that the police warned about big fines for such “parking”, adding insult to injury. YouTube podcasts on the rain caused flooding in Poes Garden, the hallowed precinct of power, politics and prestige turned smirk worthy. Ramadoss and his take on keeping TASMAC sales open as part of Dravida governance is seen as justified. Strange are the ways of “ideology” when it is business as usual.
Even as the Election Commission finalised polling date for Maharashtra as November 20, the Congress took a lesson from the BJP playbook and appointed senior leaders from other states to manage the polls in Maharashtra as observers. The high-profile team includes former CMs like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Channi. Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara, former deputy CMs TR Singhdeo and Sachin Pilot. The team also includes two Telangana ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Anasuya Seethakka. Deployment of a super team comes right after Congress’ debacle in Haryana elections where BJP won for the third time, securing 48 seats despite exit polls predicting a definite win for the Congress, which was able to secure only 37 seats. One of the reasons that was attributed to the party’s loss is leaving it all to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara have been assigned Mumbai and Konkan region while Vidarbha region will be handled by former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Madhya Pradesh MLA and former minister Umang Singhar. Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot and senior Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been deputed to Marathwada region while former Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo and senior Karnataka minister MB Patil have been assigned Western Maharashtra. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasser Hussain and senior Telangana minister D Anasuya Seethakka have been asked to look after North Maharashtra. For Jharkhand, the party has appointed a 3-member team headed by Tariq Anwar and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary. Meanwhile, the party has declared Priyanka Gandhi as Wayanad Lok Sabha candidate.
The Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra held over five cabinet meetings in the span of the first fortnight of October and took over 200 decisions. This was the sprint before the code of conduct got enforced on October 15, 2024. In fact, even the death of Ratan Tata, that had the state observe a day of mourning, did not dissuade Shinde from not holding a cabinet. There was rapid fire decision-making with two cabinet meetings witnessing almost 71 decisions and even 80 decisions each. The chief minister has been over-generous and liberal in doling out freebies, sops and financial allocations in a bid to earn brownie points in the forthcoming elections forcing the opposition to claim that the state treasury was being emptied to woo voters by Shinde. Maharashtra already has debts of over Rs 7 lakh crore and the Ladki Bahin Yojana is expected to bleed it further. Concerns are already being raised about the feasibility of Shinde’s schemes be it the launching of multiple corporations considering that CAG report had claimed that most corporations were not functioning well. In fact, Shinde’s generosity in financial disbursements goes beyond the confines of the state. Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP has got Shinde to fund elections in other states like that of Haryana and that each of the probable candidates were being doled out Rs 20 crore by Shinde. The average Mumbaikar is happy that the toll fee at the five entry points has stopped for now. Whether this will convert into votes for Shinde remains to be seen.
The BJP has finalized its polls strategy for the Maharashtra state assemblies for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will be the star campaigners. The troika will address 18, 26 and 26 public rallies respectively across Maharashtra in a blitzkrieg of public rallies. This carpet-bombing political strategy seeks to exploit the party’s recent success in the Haryana assembly elections where the BJP returned to power for a record third time and improved performance in the Jammu region of J&K where this troika delivered the goods so-to-speak in good measure. International political developments particularly, in neighbouring Bangladesh played a crucial role in consolidating the Indian voter base of the BJP. Additionally, the RSS had organized 16,000 public meetings in Haryana over the last four months encompassing 6,000 villages in the state through a targeted door-to-door campaign by deploying its Karyakartas in the run up to the state assembly elections with a message of Hindu unity that worked like a charm for the BJP. The RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat publicly announced that his cadre of Pracharaks has laser focussed its attention to the forthcoming state assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand just like it did for Haryana and the general elections of India prior to that through a micro-outreach program. “Our culture, country and (Hindu) religion must not only survive but thrive,” Bhagwat has stated in obvious reference to consistent international (deep state) efforts to undermine India’s growing economy and its cultural identity that has been re-established over the last decade.
Could Baba Siddique who was shot dead while he was bursting crackers outside his MLA son Zeeshan’s office on Vijaya Dashami lived if he had moved out of Maharashtra politics just as he had wished? The former Congress leader, who hailed from Bihar, was apparently wanting to return to his roots and had even met with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seeking a Rajya Sabha berth before making the switch to the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. It seemed he had enough of Mumbai politics and deals. Responding to Siddique’s tragic news, Tejashwi Yadav merely acknowledged how he had interacted with Siddique and his family during his recent visit to Mumbai. Siddique hailed from Gopalganj district. For some reason, Siddique was uncomfortable with the Congress and Shiv Sena(UBT) alliance, and had decided to opt out of the party in March this year. A three-time MLA from Bandra West assembly constituency, Siddique had served as a minister in the Congress-undivided NCP government in the early 2000.While his exit would be a big loss to Ajit Pawar ahead of the assembly polls, Sharad Pawar too hailed him as a leader who fought for the “minority community and championed secularism”. A close associate of actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who helped him secure his first Congress ticket in 1999. Siddique is credited for bringing to end frosty ties between actors Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan in 2013
India’s Twenty20 team — a new look team — after the Twenty20 World Cup win has been going full throttle, starting with the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Zimbabwe made India — led by Shubman Gill — trip in the first outing, but since facing that one-off reverse by 13 runs, the men in blue have won in a canter, almost every match. After the World Cup win — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the short format to make way for youngsters. The selectors made the biggest change, appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Twenty20 team, not Hardik Pandya. Yadav was rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but the ball-basher from Mumbai has been going great guns from the three-match series against Sri Lanka. The best though, India reserved it against Bangladesh, smashing them out of sight in the three matches that ended with the home team posting a mammoth 297 in Hyderabad. The team was without Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Out of 11 matches, India won nine of 10 matches with ease. The third and final match against Sri Lanka ended in a super over finish. Yadav, it appears has taken a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s Kanpur book — going after the bowling and taking the game forward. In all India struck 57x 4s and 44 x 6s in three Twenty20s accounting for 492 runs. Such was the annihilation of the Bangladesh attack, a significant pointer to hit sixes as a strategy to mount pressure and bring down the opponent.
Sixty-year old popular star Jayaram Subramaniam has created a soft and stylish spot for himself in Kerala films despite Mammootty and Mohanlal’s reigning supreme as evergreens. His performance in the hit period drama Ponniyin Selvan (as Alwar Kadian Nambi, the articulate comic Brahmin) was as much the highlight of this epic drama as the pivotal characters of Ponni and Karikala Chozhan. His 26-year old son Kalidas Jayaram has created a niche for himself in the film industry. Recently he was cast in the Dhanush film Raayan, and showed his mettle in the Tamil OTT anthology Pava Kadaigal in which he played a transgender. Kalidas is all set to marry Tarini Kalingarayan, a former Miss Tamil Nadu 2019, well known model and alumnus of MOP Vaishnav College. Jayaram and wife Parvathy had just celebrated daughter Malavika’s wedding in grand style , and it came as no surprise that they announced Kalidas ‘ wedding too in quick succession. The only surprise was that Jayaram, Parvathy and Kalidas honoured MK Stalin, TN CM with the first invite. Not surprising it created a buzz as why had he not given the first invitation to the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan? In the world of politics and cinema events occur not according to the logic of mundane society. Celebrities have their own exalted status or political predilections. Superstar Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salmaan’s was an arranged marriage in 2011 to Amal Sufiya whose family is from North India. Mohan Lal’s son, Pranav Mohanlal’ marriage with Kalyani Priyadarshan has remained an enigmatic topic.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Dussehra address in Nagpur is seen as an endorsement of the BJP’s policy of Hindu consolidation. It is like a green signal for the party to proceed with its agenda, the insiders feel. Bhagwat’s remarks will be helpful in boosting the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election since there is no ambiguity in his message. The tone of the address, delivered at the beginning of the centenary year of the RSS, will be interpreted severally but the RSS will continue its work undaunted, its veteran members say. The BJP had suffered in the Lok Sabha election since the RSS had not immersed itself fully in the contest. The BJP took due note of its displeasure and took corrective steps. The result was that it bagged Haryana, though with a nominal margin. The same formula will now be emulated in Maharashtra where the BJP lost 16 Lok Sabha seats due to minority collective vote in favour of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates. Learning a lesson from the debacle, the ruling Mahayuti partners have been implementing their strategy in an organized manner. Still, there was uneasiness in the saffron camp given the clout of NCP founder Sharad Pawar. The announcement of the election dates and the candidates of respective parties is expected to occur at any moment now. Hence, Bhagwat’s clear call has come as a welcome breather for the Mahayuti.
Arshdeep Singh has come a long way in a short span of time and proved his mettle in the big league of international cricket. He was sounded out at the back-end of the IPL Season 15 by the selectors that they are looking at him as a contender for the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup. And that’s because he is a left-hand seamer, and potentially long term prospect — a rare talent among the fast and seam bowling variety in India’s domestic circuit. Last Sunday (Oct 23), the young kid on the block silenced the Pakistan supporters among the 90,000 odd who had come to watch the India-Pakistan skirmish at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium. Making his debut in an ICC event for the first time, Arshdeep manipulated the ball into the right hander bowling from over the wicket and the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was trapped in front first ball. It was the fifth time that Azam was dispatched for a first ball duck. Azam has scored 3231 runs coming into the match; he had baulked India in the last year’s World Cup opener in the UAE. Arshdeep went on to dismiss Mohammed Rizwan and Asif Ali in his second spell and now has a tally of 22 wickets in 14 matches. The Sardar is turning out to be a real find!
India captain Rohit Sharma was a cool captain, deftly fielding questions on the eve of India’s opening ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup match against Pakistan at the majestic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. He readily acknowledged that Pakistan has always been a competitive side ever since he played against them in 2007 for the first time and that the supporters would hope to see a good match. Sharma has been the full time captain of the Indian team across all formats since October 2021. At the outset he pointed out that giving security (of their position in the team) has been the biggest change in the last 12 months. The highest run getter in the Twenty20 format – the second being Virat Kohli — Sharma confessed that the team knows that India has not won an ICC event since 2013, but is not burdened by such thoughts. India and Pakistan have played three matches in the last 12 months, one in the last year’s World Twenty20 and twice in the Asia Cup. Well into his 30s, Sharma will not have the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja and so he will have to depend on the exploits of Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh to deliver the goods with ball, and also hope the spinners rise to the occasion.
Politicians, who take pot shots at each other in the Legislative Assembly, and at the hustings in the lead up to the elections day, have in the last three decades, virtually taken ownership of the top post in the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). And, Sharad Pawar has always been the playmaker when not occupying the MCA President’s post. He held the coveted post for 13 years with a resolution passed at a general body to extend his term beyond eight years. But it was the most affable personality in SK Wankhede, the assembly speaker who held the top post for 23 years — from 1963-64 to 1986-87. A former MCA official described Wankhede’s time as the most defining one in the history of the Association when it broke the umbilical cord with the Cricket Club of India and built its headquarters at D Road, Churchgate. Former officials also described Pawar’s contribution as significant because the Wankhede was refurbished for the 2011 World Cup and a new facility worth over many hundred crore now came into existence at the Bandra Kurla Complex. Manohar Joshi was MCA President for eight years and Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashish Shelar for around one year each. Vijay Patil hails from a family entrenched in politics and now Amol Kale, who is pitted against a cricketing hero Sandeep Patil is said to have good equations with Devendra Fadnavis. Truly, the politicians love the MCA.
The West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee came out strongly in support of hometown boy and displaced BCCI President Sourav Ganguly. She wants the BJP government at the Centre to back Dada for the ICC president’s post. But it may be too late already as only a couple of days are left for filing a nomination for President ahead of the ICC meet in November. Didi made it clear that she was only batting for youngsters as she also supported Jay Shah continuing for a second term as BCCI Secretary. Ganguly got ejected from the ticket thanks to N Srinivasan, the former CSK owner and de facto boss, shooting down Dada when the cricket group met at Amit Shah’s house where Roger Binny’s candidature to replace Dada was worked out. The sitting ICC President Greg Barclay is seeking a second term and the BCCI may not like to rock the boat there. All Didi got in response to her backing for Dada is a snarky comment from BJP brass asking her why she cannot replace Shah Rukh Khan as Brand Ambassador for Bengal and give Ganguly the endorsement package. Dada lost out because he chose commerce over leadership role in BCCI by signing on with companies competing with the Board’s official sponsors in such fields as betting and gaming.
Sandeep Patil, Shivaji Park and Mumbai cricket’s“ladke’’, has taken a shot at the president’s post of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that’s going to take place on October 20. Patil who became a darling of the Mumbai maidans clouting 6s in the 1970s and 1980s, went on to become the “Adelaide Hero’’ when he slammed a breathtaking 174 against the hostile bowling attack in Dennis Lillee, Rodney Hogg and Len Pascoe unleashed by the Australian captain Greg Chappell. This grand knock came on the heels of his 62 against Pakistan’s Imran Khan & Co, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Raised at the Balmohan Vidya Mandir under the famous coach Anna Vaidya, Patil became a World Cup hero in 1983 hammering a 32-ball unbeaten 51 in the semi-final against England at Old Trafford. One of India’s brightest stars in the 1980s, Patil made a swashbuckling 129 in the Old Trafford Test of 1982, hitting six 4s in a single over from fast bowler Bob Willis. Patil played 46 matches for Mumbai, scoring 3144 runs with 9 x 100s and 18 x 50s. Patil was a great entertainer and brought joy to the spectators. Will the representatives of the 213 maidan clubs, 69 office clubs, 36 school and colleges and 51 former international cricketers throw their weight behind Patil or his opponent Amol Kale, who was the vice-president in the preceding three years?
After many twists and turns, the name of BJP sympathiser Amol Kale has been finalised by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and BJP leader Ashish Shelar for presidentship of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). Kale will be fighting against cricketer Sandip Patil. The election has been full of continuous suspense since several bigwigs are involved in the MCA which controls huge finances. The election will take place on 20 October. Initially, Pawar was said to be supporting Patil. However, following meetings between him and Shelar, the last day of filing of nominations witnessed a totally changed picture. Pawar and Shelar were together, isolating Patil. It appeared that Shelar and Patil will face each other. But even that scene changed. Shelar had filed nomination for the post of treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). As his is the sole candidature, he has been considered elected unopposed. Shelar persuaded Pawar to support Amol Kale, who has been vice president of MCA. Kale is said to be close to deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Another prominent name is that of Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s trusted associate Milind Narvekar, who is with the Pawar-Shelar group. MCA elections have always been laced with political manoeuvrings. Party differences are obliterated to help each other. It has happened again.
Who will question the wisdom of those calling the shots in the BCCI, especially in the choice of its president, in the run up to the elections of a sports organisation that showed a red of Rs 95 lakh in the mid-1990s, but in close to three decades has assets worth several thousand crore. The 1983 World Cup fame Roger Michael Binny who was a vital cog in the wheels of Kapil’s Devils, accounting for 18 scalps, has been handpicked to lead the BCCI for the 2022-2025 period. Three years ago the BCCI, after a senior politician’s intervention, sided with Sourav Ganguly, when juxtaposed against Brijesh Patel. Three years later, the same people have wrong footed Babumoshai Ganguly and gone for Binny, who has excellent credentials as a former cricketer and individual; he is also the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Binny hails from Karnataka, sort of a BJP bastion. The Lotus blooming in the BCCI is evident with BJP MLA Ashish Shelar (close confidant of Home Minister Shah, and who will be in the vanguard to deliver the BMC to the party) being chosen for the Treasurer’s post. Jay Shah who strove for the Secretary ‘s powers to be restored in the Supreme Court for three years and who made sure of the IPL money coming into the BCCI coffers during the pandemic will be the Secretary for another three year term.
There was an intriguing sample of the kind of bizarre events likely to crop up during the T20 World Cup. The warm-up games, while providing plenty of action, are also a teaser to how players may react to Mankading and even “obstructing the field” incidents. Jos Buttler, the England captain who was once the victim of a controversial Mankad run out by Ravi Ashwin in the IPL, was at the centre of the storm as Team England was subject to a clear case of obstruction when the bowler Mark Wood was prevented from going for a return catch by Matthew Wade putting a hand on his chest. Wicket-keeper Buttler saw the event differently. He said his team were just setting out on a very long tour of Australia that includes The Ashes and he didn’t want to have an early brush with the notorious Australian crowds with a fair quota of yobos, hecklers and downright racist punters. “They asked if I wanted to appeal and I said ‘no’. I’ve only just got to Australia so I thought just carry on with the game,” Buttler said. He took the diplomatic route out, but his example is unlikely to be followed by players in the T20 World Cup who will exploit every opportunity to win matches. After all, the debate over Mankading is yet to settle after the Deepti-Charlie event in the women’s T20 in England.
In recent times India captain Rohit Sharma has been put through the wringer to learn quick lessons on the art of jugglery and find balance to the team in the Twenty20 format. A business-like captain, Sharma has had to mull over a lot with Head Coach Rahul Dravid to consult and pick playing XIs in the absence of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja during the Asia Cup Twenty20 in Dubai, and also during the home international Twenty20 Series against Australia and South Africa. He has also been compelled to choose playing XIs without Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh. And yet he has led India to series wins against Australia and South Africa. But the high scoring match in Guwahati when India made 236 and South Africa replied with 221in a way exposed India’s shortcomings in the bowling department. India’s pace pack found it tough going with Arshdeep and Harshal Patel taken to the cleaners along with left arm spinner Axar Patel. Sharma has voiced concerns about bowling in the back end of the innings. Without Jadeja who is down with a dodgy left knee and Bumrah who is suffering from a back ailment, and as a consequence ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup, Sharma would have to resort to some jugglery act again to find the balance in Australia. A tough ask on him, indeed!
Team India’s Ferrari of a fast bowler has broken down and needs repairs. Only a lengthy time out can come to the aid of Jasprit Bumrah, the quick with a quirky action. A stress fracture of the lower back is about the worst injury that any fast bowler has to endure because rest and rehab rather than a quick-fix surgery is the only way out. Any expectation that Bumrah will be available for the T20 World Cup is overly optimistic. Ask Dennis Lillee, the guru among modern fast bowlers, and he will tell you all about lower back injuries and how painful fixing them can be. Neither front-on or square-on delivery style is to be blamed for fast bowlers tend to break down regardless of what is done. And modern fast bowlers have the additional burden of hard workouts at the gym every day, besides bowling. The BCCI and its IPL franchises may claim to have the best medical support teams at hand but there is no remedy for the stress, strain and the pivotal tensions that fast bowlers have to suffer. And Bumrah’s action is so unusual in the sense that it depends on his back strength more than momentum built up in the run-up. The Ferrari needs to go to the “garage” before hitting the road again. And that is a pity as it affects Team India’s chances in the T20 World Cup.
India’s Twenty20 World Cup plans are going off kilter. First, the competitive all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was not picked in the squad because of a knee surgery and thereafter Deepak Hooda and Jasprit Bumrah complained of back pain and have been rendered hors de combat in the ongoing series against South Africa. Should Bumrah be declared unfit to travel to Australia for the much awaited showpiece event in Down Under, it will be the biggest setback for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid’s plan of action to make amends for last year’s dismal showing in the UAE when Virat Kohli’s team was eliminated before the semi-finals. With a peculiar action Bumrah has been the linchpin of India’s bowling department for six years. He has been wrapped in cotton wool though for meaningful deployment in the shortest format of the game; Bumrah has not featured in 65 Twenty20 matches after his debut. He has played in 60 matches for India and achieved a 74.58% success rate. He has taken 70 wickets in the first 6-over powerplay and in the back-end death overs. Bumrah was thrashed for 50 runs in 24 balls by the Australian batsmen in his recent Twenty20 at Hyderabad. An official statement from the BCCI said he has been ruled out by the medical team for the first match against South Africa at Thiruvananthapuram. More news is awaited!
Little Master and legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar and Champion of Champions of the 1985 World Championship of cricket in Australia, Ravi Shastri applauded the role played by the print media during their time. The two stalwarts of Indian cricket and now media personalities were feted by the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India at a function in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on the eve of the first Twenty20 international between India and South Africa. Gavaskar received an 18-carat gold medal and the Honorary Life Membership and Shastri, the Honorary Life Membership. “In those days, there was considerable interaction between the media and the players. There was a trust factor. You could talk and you could sense that they wanted you to do well, they wished you well and that they wanted you to go forward in your career and that they would help you with their articles. That was such a big thing for a budding cricketer,” said Gavaskar. On his part Shastri said: “You don’t know how thankful we are for that period of time because print media was king. If there is a recall factor of some of the games we played in the decades gone by, it is because of your articles.” Both Gavaskar and Shastri switched to media roles after retiring from all competitive cricket, the former though started writing even when he was playing for India.
Ahead of the 15th edition of the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup to be played in Odisha from 13 to 29 January 2023, the newly elected Hockey India President, Dilip Tirkey who was India’s erstwhile hockey captain, seems confident of Odisha’s preparedness. According to Tirkey “Within three months India will be able to correct its identified weaknesses “. Tirkey is also bullish about India improving its competitive positioning during the tournament. This observation comes from the fact that the Odisha government headed by Naveen Patnaik is obsessed and committed to restore back India’s lost pride of place. India has had no win since 1975 and Patnaik is keen that India reclaim its lost position. This is why his government has invested heavily in creating the world class infrastructure for nursing hockey players and eventually bagging the world cup right to host it in Odisha. Odisha is building India’s largest hockey stadium with 20,000-spectator capacity in Rourkela. According to Tirkey, proven coach and high-performance directors like John David, Edgar Maskar and BJ Kariappa have been roped in to spruce up training and fitness level of players. These three eminent hockey personalities are expected to play a major role in developing the hockey programme of Odisha state making it not just as the primary sponsor of world cup but a major nursery for grooming hockey talents in the country so as to win the World Cup.
Harmanpreer Kaur who cracked a sparkling unconquered 143 against England in the garden city of Canterbury in Kent on Thursday (September 23) has not wasted time to show to the cricket world that captaincy does not affect her batting. Named captain of the Indian team after Mithali Raj bid adieu post India’s failed campaign in the World Cup in New Zealand, Harmanpreet has been in good nick starting from the ODI series against Sri Lanka in July this year. She made 44 and 75 at Pallekele, and has entertained the spectators at Hove and Canterbury. She has been criticised for not delivering consistent scores after a majestic 171 not out in the World Cup semi-final against England at Derby in July 2017. She averaged 21.67 in 2018, 38 in 2019 and 32.67 in 2021, but her average has shot up to 62.50 this calendar. She made a 109 in the World Cup match against the West Indies in Hamilton in March this year, but clearly the leadership role which was denied to her after the 2017 World Cup, has ignited the spark again. Harmanpreet has now scored five centuries in 123 matches/104 innings. She is the second highest run getter this year with 750 runs in women’s cricket in ODIs. No one knows what tormented her in the previous three years; maybe she was not made the captain!
The men in blue team’s build up to the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in October-November would have truly begun with the first skirmish against the Aaron Finch-led Australian team at Mohali on Tuesday (Sep 20). The two teams will lock horns three times in all, and this Twenty20 series will be followed by a three match Twenty20 series against South Africa before the Rohit Sharma led team fly to the Southern Hemisphere for the global tournament. The focus will be on Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, both of whom were absent in India’s pace pack for the recent Asia Cup Twenty 20 in Dubai because of injuries. Bumrah and Patel will feature in both the home series, but the team management will have the option of resting them for a match or two. The selection committee has decided to rest Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (for the series against South Africa) and left arm seamer Arshdeep Singh for the series against Australia. These five will form the fulcrum of India’s fast bowling attack for campaigns in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. The slow bowlers in the World Cup squad are off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left arm spinner Axar Patel. The focus though will be on Bumrah and Harshal; their fitness is of paramount importance.
They give him caffeine shots, which is perfectly legal, of course. And then they sometimes have to give him mild sleeping medication so he can rest properly, that is after hot and cold contrast baths. Every bit of his recovery from time on the court in competition is monitored by his team, which is why Carlos Alcaraz, the tennis player with a comet-like trail in becoming the youngest ever World No 1 at 19 and a Grand Slam winner as a teenager, is considered the Real McCoy of tennis. He was marked out for greatness some years ago but it took him a while to win a tour title. Once he did so last season, he broke through with four titles in the USA and Europe, beating Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the Madrid Open, before going on to win the U.S. Open title. He is no cyborg, but every inch the modern tennis player with a scientific training programme and on-court coaching with a former world No. 1 in Juan Carlos Ferrero. His trainer says he has a good genetic predisposition towards hard work. Alcaraz himself says, not immodestly, that he deserves respect – “I am 19 years old and I have worked a lot in a very hard way.” He is not going to fade out like other young winners of Grand Slams who broke the monopoly of the trio of all-time greats.
There is happiness among the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) members with the outcome of its petition to the Supreme Court seeking amendments to six rules of the Justice Lodha Committee rewritten Constitution (Rules & Regulations and Memorandum of Association). It took the BCCI some six years to convince the Apex Court that the structure of the cooling off period was flawed (it did not say so in its petition, but simply proposed a new structure). That Senior Counsel Maninder Singh was named the Amicus Curiae helped matters. The mandatory cooling off period has now been amended twice — in 2018 by the Justice Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud led bench and again on September 14, 2022 by Justices Chandrachud and Hima Kohli. The cooling off period mandated the BCCI and State’s administrators to take a three year break after a first term of three years; it was amended to two consecutive terms of three years at the BCCI and State level or a combined period of three years each at the BCCI and State. Now the cooling off period kicks in after two consecutive terms of three years each at the BCCI and State. The BCCI is okay with the cooling off period, but after six years in a row, at the BCCI and State level, separately! The 70-plus members will have to go though!
If in Dubai the cricketing faithful must visit Shyam Bhatia”s Cricket Museum. Dubai along with the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah is becoming a favourite neutral venue for tournaments like the ICC Men’s World Twenty 20 held here last year and the recent DP World Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament. But the Emirate is also famous for the cricket museum that Bhatia, now 80, has put in place in his Villa. Bhatia’s family relocated to Ajmer in Rajasthan after partition, and it did not take much time for the young Bhatia to develop interest in the game. He played for Rajasthan and Saurashtra. He was transferred to Dubai by the New India Assurance Company in 1965, but he set up his own business in 1979 in building materials. He could not be far away from the thick of action in cricket though and he chose to found a magnificent Cricket Museum that many of the top cricketers have appreciated, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Bhatia has an affinity for Test cricket and all his memorabilia collection and own creative ideas reflect this facet in his museum in Jumeirah. He met Gavaskar in 1971 when he was having dinner with Salim Durani and Ajit Wadekar at the Taj, Mumbai and since then they have been thick friends.
The Twenty20 World Cup is upon the strong contenders, challengers and the no-hopers, and all are getting ready for the big bash in Australia. India, was the winner of the inaugural event in South Africa in 2007 under the first time captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Thereafter India lost to Sri Lanka in the 2014 final and to the West Indies in the 2016 semi-final. In the last year’s competition in the UAE India was given knock out blows by Pakistan and New Zealand. India will always be regarded as a strong contender because of the talent it showcases in major ICC events. But it needs to troubleshoot specific areas of the game in order to get its act going for Australia. The Asia Cup Twenty20 has exposed weaknesses. The issues on the face of it surrounds team selection. If Dinesh Karthik is considered a finisher, he should have been fielded in all matches to get him game time. He did not play against Hong Kong, and Pakistan/ Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage. Sharma said that the team was able to get some answers from players – on their ability to execute roles — in the last few months. Virat Kohli had a good run, closing out with a first international Twenty20 century. But there are question marks against the team that is considered a strong contender.
The arrival of Virat Kohli for the customary press conference after the loss against Pakistan in the Super 4 match of the Asia Cup Twenty20 created a terrific buzz. India had sent its vice-captain KL Rahul, Captain Rohit Sharma before the first match against Pakistan, and thereafter Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Head Coach Rahul Dravid on two match days and one before the last Sunday’s (Sep 4) match against the arch rival Pakistan. But Kohli was seen as sort of a maverick, especially when he was at the helm of Indian cricket until last October with Ravi Shastri as Head Coach. That view may not have changed yet after Rohit Sharma was made captain. Kohli was business like responding to questions from the Indian and Pakistani media. But his answer to a question that only Mahendra Singh Dhoni touched base and sympathized with him when a lot more had his mobile number (in the months he had ceased to be India captain and not getting the big scores and generally going through a rough patch) has made his own well-wishers wonder if the former India captain was grousing about some cricketers not calling him up during his difficult times. Some of them who have played with him are: Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and the legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Suryakumar Yadav, aka by his popular moniker “SKY’’ is gaining reputation as a crack Twenty20 batsman. With every bright knock in the course of his 25 appearances for India since he made his debut against England at Ahmedabad in March 2021, the Mumbai right-hander has turned out to be a disruptor of rivals’ attacks and scored at rattling pace. He is the highest run getter for India in the shortest form of the game ever since he sported the men in blues colours for the first time. His swashbuckling 68 off 28 balls with half a dozen 4s and 6s each against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup Twenty20 match at the Dubai International Stadium evoked commendation from one of the greatest competitors in cricket and former India captain, Virat Kohli, who saw Yadav from close quarters lash four 6s of fast bowler Arshad Haroon in the last over of the India innings against Hong Kong. Yadav’s grand knock against an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) took him past Rohit Sharma’s 747 runs (figures after Yadav’s debut). Yadav has made 758 runs off 427 balls at a scoring rate of 10.65 with one century and six half centuries. With his brilliant knocks, Yadav appears to have made the number 4 spot his own for the World Twenty20 in Australia.
Hardik Pandya has his own ways of tackling a crisis like situation that India was facing against an upbeat Pakistan in the Asia Cup Twenty20 opener in Dubai. And indeed his captain Rohit Sharma and former India captain, and now the head coach Rahul Dravid are mightily pleased. His smart spell of four overs got him three wickets, and with the bat he delivered a 17-ball 33 runs. In short, he excelled in the two vital departments of the game and won the match for his side which may have been desperate to put it across a super charged opponent. Pandya has been in focus for the good and not so good ever since he burst into the national scene; in particular, he endured a rough time around the last year’s ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup and after India’s exit from the competition before the semi-finals stage. He was dropped like a hot potato from the home series against New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka before he applied himself to the task for Gujarat Titans in the IPL Season-15 and returned to the Indian team for the home Twenty20 series against South Africa. Since fortunes have swung in his favour; he led India in the three match series against Ireland in Dublin and now this superb show with the ball and bat against Pakistan.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), an IPL franchise, is going global with the landing of a licence to participate in the CSA (Cricket South Africa) league in the city of Johannesburg. The 1st edition of the CSA tournament is likely to take place in January and February 2023. As it spreads its wings, CSK also appears to be conscious of the need to beef up its backend infrastructure. It is in the process of creating a high-performance centre on its land at Navalur near Chennai for providing state-of-the-art training facilities to cricketers and sports persons. The training facility will also have a sports complex and a cricket ground for Chennai Super Kings to have their pre-match practice sessions. The company has initiated steps to create the infrastructure towards this initiative. CSK has, in fact, floated a fully-owned subsidiary Superking Ventures Private Limited (SVPL). Incorporated on February 2, 2022, it is headed by KS Viswanathan (Kasi). Significantly enough, this new subsidiary has already provided a loan of Rs 190.70 lakhs to contractors. CSK has launched a Super Kings Academy to nurse young talents. It has a tournament for corporations. It also has gotten into other franchise sports. Well, the newly-formed subsidiary could well be the fulcrum for all its new initiatives. CSK smells opportunities aplenty, it appears.
While the cricket world is vertically split on whether the much celebrated Virat Kohli should figure in India’s Twenty20 international campaigns, the former India captain is happily preparing for a significant milestone in the shortest format of the game. Kohli who made his Twenty20 debut against Zimbabwe at Harare on June 12, 2010 will play his 100th match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup opener at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, August 28. Kohli, a fabulous batter across all formats is the third highest run getter with 3308 runs in 99 matches. The first two are New Zealand’s Martin Guptill (121 matches, 3497 runs) and India captain Rohit Sharma (132 matches, 3487 runs). Kohli has featured in 62 India wins. His highest is an unbeaten 94 against the West Indies at Hyderabad in December 2019. He has been most productive at No 3, making 2469 runs. He has accumulated most of his runs against Australia (718) and England (589 runs), but has been successful against Pakistan against which his scores are 78 not out, 9, 27, 36 not out, 49, 55 not out and 57. Not exactly in great touch in recent times, Kohli will be India’s choice at No 3 in the Asia Cup and the World Cup in Australia. He will be the second Indian after Sharma and the 14th in Twenty20 to touch the magic 100 match mark.
Come January 2023 the entire world’s gaze will be on Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Reason: The Odisha Government will be hosting the Men’s Hockey World Cup tournament. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already unveiled the official logo for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. FIH and CoA members have planned to visit Rourkela on September 7 which will be followed by the official draw for the tournament on September 8. Both the Odisha Government and FIH members confirmed that Odisha is well prepared to host the upcoming Men’s Hockey World Cup tournament in January 2023.The international hockey matches will be spread between Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium and Rourkela’s Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium which is nearing completion. Both cities will be beautified to welcome national and international players and visitors. The new Astro Turf stadium at Rourkela with a seating capacity of 20,000 and allied facilities is set to become the benchmark for global standard. Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra said, “We are eagerly looking forward to welcoming the top teams of the world.” VK Pandian, 5T Secretary said the Chief Minister has directed the state government to use this forthcoming World Cup as an opportunity to showcase not only Odisha’s capability as a remarkable host but also promote the art, culture and heritage of the state”. Incidentally, the 5T governance model adopted by the Patnaik government stands for transparency, teamwork, technology and timeliness — leading to transformation.
After taking over the reins of India’s captaincy in Twenty20, one-day internationals and Test cricket and from a beleaguered Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma is set for challenges in the form of the Asia Cup Twenty20 in the UAE from August 28 and the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. Sharma’s stock will rise should he show the way for the men in blues team for trophy triumphs. A great entertainer in white-ball cricket, Sharma has demonstrated that he is his own man in terms of leadership. In the many months of the post Kohli phase, after the last year’s World Twenty20, Sharma has led India in 16 Twenty20 internationals and won 14 recording 88% success rate. He has scored 449 runs too. But for the first time Sharma will lead in a multi-team tournament that has a champion team like Pakistan and equally quality outfits like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Sharma will have Rahul Dravid by his side to give valuable suggestions on the playing XI and tactics, but the most successful captain in the IPL with five silverware wins for the Mumbai Indians would like to leave his mark in the Arabian Peninsula first, and then in Australia though he will be handicapped without the ace up his sleeve, Jasprit Bumrah in the Asian competition.
In less than 10 days’ time, India will lock horns with Pakistan in its Asia Cup Twenty20 lung-opener in Dubai on August 28. Flashes of last October’s deadly exploits by left arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi against the arch-rival in the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup come to mind; on that occasion the crafty Afridi outwitted India’s openers Rohit Sharma, trapped leg before and KL Rahul, clean bowled. The two peach of deliveries from Afridi sounded the death knell for India in the global event. Virat Kohli dug in his heels to make a stoical 57 in 97 minutes, but Pakistan made short work of India’s 151, winning by 10 wickets. India and Pakistan have not clashed again for 10 months, but Afridi, the master of swing and cut from bowling over the wicket, would like to hoodwink Sharma and Co. India would need a bit of luck to see through the new ball menace. Sharma has taken over from Kohli as captain, and it has to be seen whether a left-right combination will be tried to neutralise the probing opening burst by Afridi. Pant has opened in Twenty20 internationals just twice and hence it’s unlikely his batting order would be relocated to the top. He made a useful 39 at No 5 against Pakistan in the ICC event last year. But after a long gap, the Afridi threat looms large!
The FIFA decision to debar the All India Football Federation (AIFF) from its primary membership has apparently not gone down well with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was in the vanguard of promoting the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai in July-August and he doesn’t want anything in the way to impede India from taking the centre stage by hosting FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup from October 11. Ever since he became the PM in 2014, the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has been on an overdrive providing all facilities for the sports persons to excel at the Olympics, Asian Games, World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. The AIFF being run by the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) has been described by the World’s governing body as a “third party interference” and hence it wants the COA to clear the decks for an elected body in line with the FIFA charter. The FIFA has been having a dialogue with the Sports Ministry officials and top officials were told in no uncertain terms that the AIFF will be suspended from its primary membership. The FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup is in jeopardy now, but one can hope for a favourite outcome from a SC hearing on August 17. The FIFA also wants the AIFF to run the sport in India, not people without any obligation.
Cricket is broken, they said when Ben Stokes gave up ODIs to concentrate on his Test career. But even as the death of the 50-overs format was being freely predicted, ICC’s future tours programme is dotted with cricket in all three formats, as busy as ever. It’s not cricket that is broken but the bodies of star cricketers who are playing too much. The greatest danger ahead even as Trent Boult quits the New Zealand contract and predicates his playing future around various T20 leagues is that T20 franchises will soon be ruling world cricket. Indian IPL owners have bought into the Caribbean, South African and UAE leagues and soon the stars may be forced to make a difficult choice between club and country. Cricket Australia is prepared to spend a hefty packet to keep David Warner interested in the Big Bash rather than travel to UAE as expanding T20 leagues start cutting into the southern summer cricket scheduling in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Spectators used to own the game until the TV stations came along with their multi-million-dollar rights bids. And now it appears the T20 franchise owners, like the club-owning oligarchs of English football, are set to dominate world cricket.
For his ready wit, Eknath Shinde got a 100/100 at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2023 launch event held at the packed Regal Room at South Mumbai’s Trident Hotel on Wednesday (Aug 10). Dressed in his signature long-sleeve white shirt, trouser and the prominent round tilak on his forehead, Shinde created an electrifying atmosphere at the event saying: “What about our marathon; Mumbai to Surat and from there to Guwahati and to Goa. We did not know if we would be successful. But we won it eventually. But we have won only the half marathon now, we will win the full marathon in 2024.” The Maharashtra Chief Minister took a quick recall of the dramatic incidents that his supporters in the Shiv Sena were part of before taking control of Mantralaya. The Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was scheduled to share the stage at the unveiling of TMM 2023, but instead came the towering and erudite Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar. Also present at the high profile registration launch of the street race were the BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and the Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan. As a parting shot Shinde said amidst a guffaw: “We not only run our marathons, but also make others run the marathon.” So many political connotations at a sports event, but Shinde won a lot of admirers!
Avinash Sable is the new poster boy of athletics sports in India. The Beed-born track star from Maharashtra has outwitted a few champion runners in the 3000 metres steeplechase, an obstacle race run over seven and a half laps of 400m each. At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, he startled a couple of Kenyans to win the silver medal in a new national record time of 8:11:2 seconds. A former Olympian who ran the quarter and metric mile, 5000 m race and the 3000m steeplechase, Eddie Sequeira (82) said: “Sable has the physique and he is good. If he can improve the speed between the hurdles, he has a good chance at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Steeplechase is not easy, I used to run it in the All India Steel Games. It’s tough. I am sure the coaches are working on his speed.” Sable prevented a Kenyan 1-2-3 sweep that had begun in Melbourne in 1998. Sable is a special track athlete: apart from creating a new national record in 2019, he won the silver in the Asian Athletics Championship. He became the first Indian steeplechaser to run at an Olympics in Tokyo 2020 and to reach the final of the World Athletics Championships at Oregon22 last month. “He has been remarkable so far”, said Sequeira.
Impressive as the medal tally and a fourth place among countries, India’s performance at the Commonwealth Games is not to be judged only on the strength of the medal haul of 61. The intensity to push oneself to perform better and win medals on the strength of best personal effort marked India’s presence in Birmingham. Eight medals from Track & Field, traditionally India’s weakest area, included one from steeplechase with Avinash Sable, the first non-Kenyan to win a medal (silver) since 1994. A number of medals from India’s base strengths like in wrestling and boxing, besides badminton, helped boost the tally to a healthy level. The sweep in badminton in the men’s and women’s singles and men’s doubles was a triple delight but nothing may have warmed the cockles more than Sharath Kamal’s feat in winning four medals in table tennis at the ripe age of 40. Not only has he slayed the hackneyed phrase – age is just a number – but also proved that such a winner were he to be a country, he would have finished 16th in the medals tally. The women cricketers fluffed a great chance to down the Australians, failing to finish a chase they were handling so well so long as the skipper Kaur was in. India’s sporting enterprise is all set to conquer more frontiers in the forthcoming Asian Games and the Olympics.
If Aditya Verma of Bihar was responsible for shaking veteran cricket administrators like a leaf through his famous Public Interest Litigation (PIL) of 2013 in the Bombay High Court which subsequently led to the downfall of a few mandarins of the BCCI and forced new governance/ accountability rules on the establishment following a Supreme Court order, Indore-based Sanjeev Gupta has been demonstrating the bulldog spirit to protect an Apex Court order that pertains to Reforms in Cricket. Always referring to Diary Number 24114 of 2013 and case number CA/4235/2014 in the Supreme Court, the indefatigable Gupta with the objective of seeking justice for the game and the institution, has written around one thousand letters to the BCCI’s Ombudsman and Ethics Officer (O&EO) pointing out violations that has occurred in the last three years. Recently he urged the BCCI’s new O&EO Justice Vineet Saran to resolve 26 pending cases in a time span of 24 months to 10 days. The pending cases relate among others to former India captain Virat Kohli, BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla, BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal and Nita Ambani of the Reliance Industries. Following his previous complaints a few heads have rolled. He even gave up life membership of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association presumably to avoid a conflict of interest situation.
Ultimately wiser counsel prevailed with a handful of past administrators of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) like Prof Ratnakar Shetty, Shripad Halbe, Ravi Mandrekar, Ravi Savant and Advocate Nilesh Khandre driving home the futility of a discussion on the proposed amendments to the Association’s Constitution. The MCA President, Vijay Patil too played his part by expressing his indignation at the proposal to cancel the voting rights of Mumbai’s 71 international cricketers. As per the Supreme Court order of August 2018, the MCA became a compliant body with the Bombay High Court appointed Committee of Administrators in Justices (Retd) H L Gokhale and V M Kanade registering the Constitution with the Charity Commissioner on September 12, 2018. The new constitution was in line with the BCCI’s and the former CJI RM Lodha authored Reforms in Cricket report, but MCA’s 330 plus clubs were not given the opportunity to consider it at a special general meeting. A senior member described the entire activity as fraudulent and amendment papers as “raddhi“. “There are anomalies between the MCA’s interlocutory application in the SC and the amendments unethically circulated to the members,” said a peeved member. Generally the MCA members feel that the Constitution in its entirety has to be considered at an AGM, rule by rule. “The primacy of the MCA cannot be diluted. I am glad it fizzled out,” quipped a veteran administrator.
Come the Commonwealth Games and the medals rush of all hues begin for India’s sports persons not accustomed to shine at the Olympics; to an extent even in the Asian Games. The CWG took its new avatar as Commonwealth Games in 1978 at Edmonton, Canada, from being known as the British CWG at Christchurch in New Zealand in 1974. But imagine a sports reporter being chiefly instrumental in founding the British Empire Games in 1930! Canadian Melville Marks Robinson, Editor, Hamilton Spectator has been credited as the father of the games. At the age of 13, he was an office boy with Toronto Star. Apparently he dubbed the American team’s behaviour at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics as arrogant and obnoxious. “The Games should be merrier and less stern, and will substitute the stimulus of a novel adventure for the pressure of international rivalry”, he said soon after sowing the seeds for the CWG in the Land of the Tulips in 1928. There are 72 countries taking part in the Birmingham 2022 CWG. India has won 503 medals (181 gold) from the 1934 event in London. India’s strength was in shooting sports with 63 gold medals, overall 135. Birmingham put shooting on the hit list leaving India at a war of words with the organisers and the shooters’ dreams shattered.
The release of the book ‘Maverick Commissioner’ by Boria Mazumdar, which could also be the basis for a movie on the cricket admin hotshot who invented the IPL, created waves among cricket circles. Laudatory in many parts of the man who dreamed up a professional cricket league that subsequently became such a success as to attract more than a billion dollars a year in TV and digital rights, the book does not however bring out the details of why Lalit Modi remains a fugitive residing in the UK. It is no secret that Modi, the scion of an industrial family with a history pockmarked with eventful incidents in his student life in the USA, will be arrested by the Chennai Police the moment he sets foot in India. There is an embezzlement charge against him pertaining to alleged pocketing of $80 million facilitation fee from a labyrinth of payments of TV rights. A court in Mumbai is said to have ruled very recently in his favour while stating the principle that facilitation fees are part of legitimate deal making. Whether that extends to an individual allegedly taking it at the expense of the game is another matter. There is no denying that Lalit Modi marketed a fantastic product melding cricket, glitz, glamour and big biz that has become a global super hit in 15 years. However, he remains a fugitive.
“We have to nip it in the bud,” quipped a member of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) about the proposed amendments to the Association’s Constitution at a special general meeting on July 29. “The Apex Council of the MCA has not proposed a single amendment. The members have asked the MCA to place their suggestions at an SGM. I will say again that the Apex Council has not moved the proposals,” clarified Vijay Patil, president, MCA. The suggestions — placed before the AGM two years ago — relates to denying voting rights to international cricketers who were made members following a Supreme Court order, removing the age bar on officials over 70 from contesting elections and giving full powers to the elected Secretary. An MCA member and a Constitutional matter firebrand at MCA AGMs is not sure if due diligence has been followed to convene the SGM. A few signatories to the proposed amendments have withdrawn. On December 20, 2020 the Shivaji Park Gymkhana informed the MCA that it is withdrawing support for the amendment to deny voting rights to international cricketers. The BCCI’s petition seeking six amendments is pending in the Supreme Court for 32 months. “I am not ruling out a mischievous game being played by a former BCCI functionary from South India who is well past the age of 70,” said a sharp mind in the MCA.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is going all out to make the 44th Chess Olympiad an outstanding success. This mega event is to be hosted at the heritage town of Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram), between July 28 and August 10. A stylised mascot Thambi has sprung up at many vantage points in Chennai. The historic Napier Bridge has been painted like a chess board and a teaser ad featuring Stalin and AR Rahman shot on it was released by the superstar Rajinikant. But, while doing all these publicity gigs the Stalin government seems to have conveniently forgotten to focus on their very own home grown heroes Viswanathan Anand, India’s greatest chess Grandmaster and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, the new Grandmaster. Except for a “blink and you miss glimpse “, both were not highlighted in the publicity drive. Critics allege it was an intended snub for Brahmins. Stalin moved his pawn like a grandmaster when an opening presented. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him up to wish him speedy recovery when he was admitted to Kauvery Hospital for Covid treatment. Stalin quickly latched on to this bonanza door opener and requested Modi to inaugurate the Chess Olympiad, adding he would depute MP K Kanimozhi and TR Baalu to personally invite him. Perhaps, Stalin was trying to mend fences after DMK leader A Raja publicly threatened Modi that TN would secede if not granted more autonomy. But, will Modi inaugurate the Chess Olympiad? Wait and watch.
Will ODI cricket go to the chopping block? Played over 60 overs a side, initially the 1970s’ new hit and style of play was frowned upon by the purists. Once the flannels gave way to coloured clothing at the 1992 World Cup in Australia, ODI cricket was given the notorious tagline ‘Pyjama cricket”. The new brand of cricket made Clive Lloyd’s West Indies “Kings of ODI cricket” after it won the 1975 and 1979 finals at Lord’s, and enabled Kapil’s Devils turn the cricket world upside down in 1983, but after 50 years ODI cricket that filled the coffers of the Cricket Boards with millions of dollars appears to have become a veritable humdrum. Rahul Dravid was the first to sound the alarm bells six years ago at the Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture. “I think ODI cricket without context will struggle. All other ODI cricket should be geared towards preparing for the World Cup and Champions Trophy. People can play lesser ODI cricket and focus more (other formats),” voiced Dravid that was more of a whimper at the packed CK Nayudu Hall, Cricket Club of India, Mumbai. In the last few days Dravid’s thoughts have been echoed by Ben Stokes who has retired from ODI cricket. All said and done ODI cricket gets the crowd going and brings a lot of money to the ICC, BCCI and other cricket boards.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik seems to be taking a leaf out of Tamil Nadu which has emerged as the chess hub. It took a long while but it is yielding dividends to TN as it is hosting the International Chess Olympiad, for the first time, between July 28 and August 10 at Mamallapuram. This event will attract 2,000 participants from 187 countries. Naveen knows this is an incredible opportunity for Tamil Nadu and India to get recognition for hosting these international chess events across the globe and showcasing not only its economy but also augment tourism, cultural understanding just as Odisha did by hosting the Hockey World cup recently. Keeping long term aspirations in mind, Naveen Babu has taken the first baby steps in scripting government’s investment support to popularise, promote and nurture chess games in schools and colleges in a planned manner. It is understood that Patnaik’s interest in promoting chess culture in Odisha is only the starting point. It will require a lot of planning, training, patience, infrastructure support for tournaments and feliciting chess players with monetary prizes just as Tamil Nadu did. Going by Patnaik’s track record this task too will be accomplished in double quick time.
Cooling-off period is an issue that has been bugging the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a long time; it’s a significant governance rule incorporated in the Reforms in Cricket Report authored by the Supreme Court appointed Justice Lodha Committee. It was six years ago, on July 18, 2016, that the Court accepted the Lodha Report. But in spite of the review and curative appeals going against it, the BCCI has been petitioning the Court to allow it to amend its bylaws. After accepting a few modifications recommended by the Vinod Rai chaired Committee of Administrators (COA) the Court asked the Registrar of Societies, Tamil Nadu to validate the BCCI’s new constitution on August 9, 2018. The Court-approved Constitution prevents the BCCI to carry out amendments without its permission. One of the six rules the BCCI has sought relief from the Court is to modify the combined (BCCI and State Association) consecutive term of three years each rule for the cooling-off period to come into effect. The BCCI wants two consecutive terms independently at the BCCI and State. The BCCI also wants relief from certain disqualification rules for contesting elections, nomination of a person to the ICC and full powers of the Apex Council and Secretary to be restored. The Supreme Court is likely to hear the BCCI’s point of view soon.
Neeraj Chopra is girding up his loins in Oregon, USA, in order to rule the roost in javelin throw event of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.The 24-year-old from Panipat shot into global fame making short work of a world-class field in the Tokyo Olympics last August, became India’s first sportsperson to win a track and field gold medal at an Olympics and became the darling of Indian Athletics. After the Tokyo glory, Chopra, a junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army, is looking to surpass his best and throw the spear beyond the 90-metre mark and become a top contender for the gold in less than 10 days. The javelin qualifications are slated for July 21 and the final on July 23. Chopra began his preparations for the worlds with a throw of 89.94 metres, a national record created at the Diamond League at Stockholm on June 30. “I am close to 90 metres. I know I can throw it this year. A lot of guys now are capable of throwing over 90 metres. I think it will take 89 metres plus to win in Eugene (Oregon).’ Grenadian Anderson Peters and Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch have touched 93.07 m and 90.88 m this season, just the motivation for Chopra to go for 90 m plus at Oregon.
Thanks to the power-hitting displays by Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav, it is turning out to be an Indian summer in the British Isles, with last year’s fifth Test being the showpiece event in Birmingham. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) relocated the Test from Old Trafford to Birmingham which is home for thousands of ethnic Indians. At stake for the ECB was a revenue of £ 20 mn from SKY sports from the one off Test. The Indians thronged the venue and saw Pant and Ravindra Jadeja score centuries before Jonny Bairstow’s centuries in each innings and Joe Root’s century in the second brought down the visiting team at Edgbaston. It has been a full house, and the moolah reeling in for Cricket Ireland and the ECB ever since the Hardik Pandya-led Indian team provided the fireworks in the Twenty20 bash at Dublin and thereafter Rohit Sharma took charge for three more at Southampton, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge where the Mumbaikar Suryakumar Yadav pummelled the England bowling for 14 fours and six 6s to give joy to the paying spectators. Sharma’s team is all set to play three 50 over matches against the home team at London’s ‘The Oval’ and Lord’s and Old Trafford to complete the Indian Summer before the team’s eight-match engagement at the Caribbean.
Novak Djokovic had the last laugh in his bromance with Nick Kyrgios as he kept his date with destiny in his 21st Grand Slam win. But just about. For a major part of the first set and in many parts thereafter, the explosive Aussie seemed the better player, serving solidly and dominating the exchanges as the Serb struggled to read his serve. It was his temperament that kept letting Kyrgios down as he muttered to himself, chattered to people in his box and imploded in the fourth set tiebreaker. The statistics are awesome – Djokovic is unbeaten at Wimbledon since 2013 across 39 matches but they don’t tell the real tale. Grass is not Djoker’s best surface though he has won seven Wimbledon titles, same as Pete Sampras and one behind Roger Federer. He has equalled Borg, Sampras and Federer in winning four Wimbledon titles on the trot. The grace of a multiple times champion, who has the albatross of being an anti-vaxxer on his shoulders, Djokovic came through in a difficult year in which he was hounded out of Australia and was underdone when Rafael Nadal outplayed him in a quarter-final at Roland Garros. It was poetic justice as a player a Covid-struck world loved to hate raised his game to beat Kyrgios and keep the long running race for Grand Slams with Nadal and Federer alive.
After a sort of Hitchcockian suspense, Justice (Retd) Dilip Bhosale has taken charge as Ombudsman & Ethics Officer of the Mumbai Cricket Association. According to people in the know of the intriguing outcome related to the nomination proposal by the MCA President Vijay Patil, the former CJ of Allahabad High Court received a wafer-thin 8-7 vote from the Apex Council, the decision-making body of the Association. Initially the numbers were stacked against the legal personality: it was purportedly 7-8 among the 15-member Apex Council of the Association. A preferred choice of Sharad Pawar, the kingmaker at the MCA for well over a decade, the 65-year-old Bhosale’s appointment will be validated at the Association’s AGM on September 28. The other development at the MCA, with the sudden change at the Maharashtra Government is of whispers being heard in the corridors of power about Amol Kale likely to be elected as President of the association. Reportedly a friend of the man in the news, former Chief Minister and the present Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, Kale was elected Vice-president unopposed three years ago. The MCA needs to thrash out a few issues with the government, and the prevailing sentiment among a large group of MCA with his chummy relationship with Fadnavis, can quickly fix nagging matters with the authorities.
In the middle of a net session before the second Test in Galle, Australian batsman Steve Smith suddenly shouted “Bazball”. He was mocking the new buzzword to enter the cricket dictionary. But the English are mighty proud of having invented it to name it after their revolutionary new coach Brendon McCullum. He has taught them this method of a fearless approach to Test cricket in which they go after the bowling regardless of how tough or challenging the conditions or the state of the match were. Smith believes Bazball may not work when there is green in the pitch or the ball is turning square. But, in four remarkable fourth innings chases, England have rewritten the rules of batting and it has made cricket entertaining to watch. Bazball may not apply to all conditions but it is one hell of a way to play modern Test cricket, which would otherwise descend to chore-ridden cricket that even less people would watch than now. Many of the modern batsmen do play their own versions of the Bazball – like Pantball that Rishabh Pant plays. Team India may have been at the receiving end of Bazball but it was exhilarating to watch and they could adapt it too provided they can get over the superstardom of some of their greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and play more like a team with a positive approach.
The Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri deduction in the English summer last year that Ravichandran Ashwin does not fit into the scheme of things for the Tests at Trent Bridge, Lord’s, Headingley and The Oval was assumed to be based on the conditions — weather and pitch. A like call was taken by the new combo in Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul Dravid for the newly time-tabled fifth Test at Edgbaston. They had no qualms to keep India’s most successful off-spinner on the fringes. It’s anybody’s guess as to what Rohit Sharma would have done had he not been struck by the Covid-19 bug and rendered hors de combat. On his part, Shastri, in front of the microphone at Edgbaston, explained the difficulties of leaving Ashwin out of the playing XI; he touched upon cloud cover etc. It was a fait accompli plight for Ashwin though, once his name was not inked in the first eleven at Edgbaston. “Field the best XI” has been the refrain from experts, including the SONY Sports commentator, Graeme Swann, England’s most successful off spinner. Point blank he said, it will be crazy to leave out Ashwin from any Test India plays. Ashwin has played a Test at Edgbaston and the numbers he delivered in 2018 were: 4/62 and 3/59! His victims were Cook, Buttler, Stokes and Broad and Cook, Root and Jennings.
It’s been 35 years since a fast bowler led India. Not since Kapil Dev was dethroned after the home World Cup of 1987 – due to issues involving commercial stickers on bats by Chancellor cigarettes rather than for losing to England in the semi-finals – has Team India even thought of a bowler as captain in Test cricket. While there is no taking away credit from Jasprit Bumrah for having risen to the Test captaincy, the BCCI must accept that it has created this captaincy muddle with so many bewildering changes. All of them were thrust on the team thanks to Rohit Sharma, elevated as triple format captain, running into all kinds of fitness problems before being infected with Covid in England. An ego clash between Virat Kohli and BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly had led to all the dramas we are witnessing today. By making a big issue out of Kohli’s desire to drop the T20i captaincy only to lessen the burdens of triple format captaincy, Ganguly had created the conditions for a peeved Kohli to quit captaincy altogether. Since then, we have had KL Rahul leading the Test side to cover for injury to Kohli and then Rishabh Pant leading in white ball cricket. Old timers might believe they have not seen two players more unsuited to leading Team India.
Jasprit Bumrah has averred that he will be his own man, not a copycat, while leading India in the deferred fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. Bumrah is a man of action in the fast lane, and his rise as captain of the Test team has happened because of the sorry plight of Rohit Sharma, who is stricken with Covid-19. Whatever it may be, will it be a case that fits into the adage “Too many cooks spoil the broth”? The head honcho of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid, is quite emphatic, nay dismissive, about the hazards of having to work with different captains. Dravid was matter of fact saying that “It is what it is. Even I would not have predicted that there would be so many captains when I became the coach some months ago. We are not fazed by such situations. You have to react and deal with situations.” Dravid has been coach for Indian teams led by Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, across the three formats. And now, Bumrah, who will be the 36th captain to lead India in a Test match, his 30th in which he has taken 123 wickets. Taking centre stage is routine to him because he usually starts with the shining red cherry, but captaincy, after all, is another cuppa!
Almost six years ago the Supreme Court of India found a way to set things right at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Following alleged malpractices in the IPL, the Apex Court appointed a Committee of Administrators (COA) to run the BCCI’s day-to-day affairs. The BCCI is still not convinced with certain reforms in cricket as recommended by former CJI RM Lodha; but in recent times the Courts — the Apex Court and the Delhi High Court have probably taken the cue from the BCCI case to sort out administrative and other matters at the All India Football Federation, Hockey India, and the National Federations of Table Tennis and Judo. In the year of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England, the Courts have appointed COAs to make the federations compliant with the National Sports Code and “clean the administration” as described by a senior sports administrator. A couple of big guns — Praful Patel of the AIFF and Narendra Batra of the Indian Olympic Association — were unseated following the Court orders. Amidst all the hullabaloo around the maladministration of the sports bodies, a former table tennis player of repute, wondered whether the COA is the right way and solution to bring integrity in the functioning of the national sports federations. Well, as of now, it’s like telling us: Like it or lump it!
Tennis’ great rivalry is set to resume at Wimbledon with Rafael Nadal, the champion with 22 Grand Slams, and Novak Djokovic seeded at the top to meet only in the final. Their quarter final at the French Open was a match for the ages in which Djokovic bowed to Nadal’s supremacy on clay. On grass, it will be a different Djokovic who could deny Nadal the greatest quest of his career of a calendar Grand Slam as the Australian and French Open winner of 2022 sniffs at a chance he has rarely had in his career. His 22 Grand Slams are weighted in favour of clay at 14 but he has two Wimbledon titles suggesting he can master the fastest of the four different surfaces too. Of course, Djokovic, the last player to come within a title of the calendar Grand Slam but was to be denied by Medvedev in 2021 when he was beaten in the U.S. Open, boasts of seven Wimbledon titles in his collection of 20. Nadal said after his French Open win that tennis was a passionate pursuit at which he also won titles but Djokovic is known to chase the record of Grand Slams. It will be 2022’s greatest match if the two gladiators get to the final.
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.