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Good news for footwear enthusiasts in Chennai. The city will host the first Kickers store. Following a 30-year licensing deal with Royer Group of France, Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd (KICL) is gearing up to set up its maiden Kickers store in Chennai tomorrow. The timing could not have been better for KICL, which has come under a new owner in Rafiq Ahmed and got relisted on the bourses. The opening of the Kickers store in Chennai comes within days of a significant development in the annals of KICL. A Qatar company belonging to the Royal family has just been cleared by the board of KICL to pick up a 10% stake in the Chennai company. Qatar-based F J Global Investment is owned by Falah Jassim J.M.AL-Thani, who is a director of Doha Bank and was also the founder of Qatar Airways. He was also a minister in the Qatar Government. This is a significant boost to KICL under Rafiq Ahmend, who has gone on a mission to revive the KICL and bring the iconic Kothari brand back to yester-year glory. The investment from a company owned by Qatar Royal family is seen positively by industry circles in Tamil Nadu, which is going the extra mile to woo foreign investment into the state. Significantly enough, KICL has also embarked on a consolidation move with the board approving a proposal to buy 30% stake held by Rafiq Ahmed in Phoenix Kothari Footwear Ltd, a joint venture that is setting up a non-leather footwear park in backward Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu. Well, things appear to fall in place for KICL as it seeks to make a strong comeback and regain its past glory.
It was something that the Congress couldn’t stomach easily. Perhaps the party was surprised that the Raj Kapoor family had chosen to interact with PM Modi. A day after the social media and TV channels were awash with PM Modi’s interaction with members of the Kapoor family, a very senior Congress leader ventured to put out a snarky social media post questioning the meeting. For some odd reason he completely chose to ignore the context of the meeting. “We have been asking PM Modi to visit Manipur. But he has instead found time to meet with Kareena Kapoor.” Soon good sense prevailed and he deleted his crude post. Guess he must have realised that his post was outright offensive. The Kapoor family had called on PM Modi on December 10 to invite him to the legendary actor-filmmaker’s Film Festival. The festival is to commemorate Raj Kapoor’s 100th birth anniversary, an iconic figure in Indian cinema who passed away in 1988. Ten Raj Kapoor films are going to be showcased across 40 cities in 135 cinemas .The Kapoor family, including actors Ranbir Kapoor, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, Neetu Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhat and Saif Ali Khan met the PM. “This is a special day for us. We enjoyed the conversation. He spoke to us in a friendly manner. He made all of us feel very comfortable,” said actor Ranbir Kapoor. His cousin actor Kareena Kapoor Khan said that it was her dream to sit next to PM Modi and talk to him. “His energy is so positive and he is truly a global leader.” PM Modi inquired about the third generation of Kapoors — and autographed for Kareena’s children Tim and Jeh. December 14 marks the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor.
It couldn’t have come at a more inappropriate time than this. The day when the entire national media was riveted on the Parliament debates commemorating 75 years of Constitution of India and newly-elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Vadra Gandhi was making her debut speech in the House. For some odd reason the Telangana Police chose to arrest Telugu star Allu Arjun, protagonist in the Rs 1000-crore plus grosser Pushpa 2: The Rule. He was arrested in connection with the stampede incident at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre, which resulted in the death of a woman. On December 4, a massive crowd gathered at Sandhya Theatre to see Allu Arjun, resulting in a tragic stampede. Revathi, a 39-year-old woman, died due to asphyxiation, and her 8-year-old son was hospitalised. While granting interim bail to Allu Arjun, the Telangana High Court affirmed Arjun’s right to life and liberty, stating that he cannot be deprived of these fundamental rights. While leaders cutting across the political spectrum came out in support of the actor, Telangana BJP leader and Union Minister Bandi Sanjay described the arrest of a National Award-winning actor as having been done to steal the spotlight. “Drama over delivery, diversion over governance — that’s the Telangana Congress government for you!” Arjun’s uncle and Andhra deputy CM Pawan Kalyan rushed to rally support for him. In the meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Priyanka Vadra herself responds to the ham-handed manner CM Revanth Reddy handled the situation. He had after all managed to divert attention from her debut performance in the Lok Sabha to an avoidable law & order incident in Hyderabad.
To ensure the social welfare schemes reach the intended target group, West Bengal chief West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has rolled out a robust mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of socio-welfare schemes. This initiative aims to hold government officials accountable for supervising these projects and addressing inefficiencies that have marred progress in recent years. The state finance ministry has issued a notification, followed by the establishment of a dedicated help desk at Navanna to oversee information flow from block and sub-division levels. This initiative, aimed at curbing inefficiency and fraud, will require officials to physically visit project sites instead of submitting progress reports from office desks. The app will feature automatic geo-tagging, ensuring accurate location tracking of officials during field visits. During multiple administrative meetings chaired by CM, officials repeatedly failed to provide accurate updates on the status of ongoing schemes. This incomplete information has not only slowed down critical projects but also caused dissatisfaction among citizens. Officials, from BDOs to District Magistrates, must register using their mobile numbers. Reports will require OTP authentication and must include photographs of on-ground work. The app mandates regular updates, such as reporting issues in road construction, cleanliness, drinking water, and electricity services, along with distinguishing between simple and complex problems. The model draws inspiration from private sector practices, where geo-tagging apps track employee performance. The state’s new app is expected to enforce accountability among officials, address bureaucratic delays, and improve public service delivery.
In a move that may have surprised the Opposition BJP, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appointed Radharamn Das, vice president of ISKCON Kolkata,to a 13-member board of trustees for the upcoming Jagannath Dham project in Digha. The temple, set to be a cultural and religious landmark on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, will be inaugurated on Akshay Tritiya on April 30, 2025. The Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra, spanning 20 acres, is being developed under the supervision of HIDCO, an urban planning body under the state government. With an investment of Rs 250 crore, the project aims to replicate the grandeur of the Puri Jagannath Temple and serve as a significant pilgrimage and tourist attraction. This development comes amid ongoing political friction between Didi and BJP’s Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari. It may be recalled that Nandigram where the temple is being built was the place where he had defeated Didi in the 2021 Assembly elections. Adhikari who is opposing the project on the ground that using public funds to construct religious structures is unconstitutional. He accused Mamata of attempting to win the Hindu vote bank as her minority appeasement has alienated Hindus. Mamata’s decision to include an ISKCON leader is seen as a strategic move, in light of recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and the arrest of an ISKCON monk. Political analysts believe Didi is sending a message of solidarity to the Hindu community while subtly addressing concerns raised by the BJP over her government’s alleged minority appeasement policies.
Devajit Saikia is the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) representative in the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its Director. Saikia, who is the question that is being asked by those not acquainted with the BCCI’s governance structure, especially after the Justice Lodha Committee’s Reforms in Cricket report was accepted by the Supreme Court in 2016 and its Constitution was rewritten thereafter. The ICC Board is the all-powerful body in its Governance structure, and as a convention, the 12 full members of the ICC nominate its Presidents as Directors. Many stalwarts of the BCCI, like Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar were on the ICC Board, and after the 2019 election, post the reforms, former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was on the ICC Board. Ganguly was succeeded by the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah with the BCCI President Roger Binny as the alternate director in 2022, the same year when the former Assam Ranji Trophy cricketer and legal practitioner Saikia was elected as Jt. Secretary of the BCCI. People in the know attribute Saikia’s rise on the administration side of the game to his association and rapport with Assam’s BJP chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Once it was announced that Jay Shah would take charge as Chair (Independent Director) of the ICC from December 1, 2024, quite a handful of names like Arun Singh Dhumal (former BCCI Treasurer and currently chairman, IPL) and Ashish Shelar (BJP President, Mumbai and BCCI Treasurer) emerged as a potential successor to Shah as BCCI Secretary. Saikia, will remain the BCCI Joint Secretary and perform the duties of the Secretary. But his nomination to the ICC Board has surprised many people.
Veteran leader Sharad Pawar has once again monopolised the centre stage following reports that a top leader of his party has held talks with a prominent BJP Union minister in Delhi. The political grapevine is buzzing with different versions since the meeting is believed to have occurred at industrialist Gautam Adani’s Delhi residence. In fact, Pawar started hitting the headlines on Thursday (Dec 12) morning as the news that his nephew Ajit Pawar and a couple of other NCP (Ajit) leaders had reached the patriarch’s residence. Ajit later said that being a family member, he had greeted his uncle on his birthday and nothing unusual should be read in the visit. Ajit was accompanied by Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, both very close to Sharad Pawar till the recent split in the NCP. The name of Adani added grist to the gossip since the industrialist had visited Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis just a couple of days ago in Mumbai. The Adani group continues to BE target of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray. In the past too, Adani has been meeting Pawar off and on. The presence of Fadnavis in Delhi on Thursday proved to be another trigger to speculate that the political scene of Maharashtra was likely to undergo another overhaul. Pawar’s hot and cold relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always remained an intrigue. Hence, his followers are unable to predict which way he can turn.
The Raj Kapoor family has finally come out together to celebrate the centenary year — 1924-2024 — of the showman of the film industry. Forty two year old Ranbir Kapoor who has been in the film industry for nearly two decades has taken the lead along with his cousin Kunal Kapoor to celebrate Raj Kapoor through his cinema. But was it too late to celebrate RK? Is the newer generation enthusiastic to watch his films? Ranbir Kapoor said, like his wife Alia, the young generation needs to know about the cinema of Raj Kapoor and one hopes he is successful through his stardom and initiative to keep RK’s legacy alive. But, is the film industry or the government really care about saving our heritage or culture, considering the government is calling the film industry as soft power? The hard truth is: why are our studios and banners not surviving be it Filmalaya Studio, Kamalistan Studio and Raj Kamal Studio which has limited work space. Raj Kapoor’s RK Studio, a famous landmark in Chembur along with his bungalow has been sold to Godrej Properties for constructing residential properties. It may be recalled that RK Studio was working on the rentals till the fire destroyed the entire heritage. Luckily film lovers are lucky his films were in the safe custody of NFAI. It is learnt that Ranbir Kapoor who is already a producer wants to turn director. So will he revive the RK Banner? As a part of the centenary celebration the entire RK clan met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conspicuous by his absence was Randhir Kapoor as he was not keeping well. In the end one only hopes that Ranbir Kapoor carries the great showman’s legacy forward.
This maverick and marauding scam tainted politician was once the acolyte of Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan. Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has burnt many bridges in his meteoric rise in politics. A stormy petrel, indicted for five scams, served jail term and is now out on a bail. He is once again in the news for his below-the-belt remark against his bete noire, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who recently announced a Mahila Samvad Yatra to interact directly with women and evaluate the impact of his government’s programme targeted for women. When the media quizzed the RJD supremo Lalu about Nitish Kumar’s Mahila Yatra and his goal of winning all 225 seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections, the unstoppable motor mouth said, “Pahle unko aankh sekhne do” (let them get an eyeful of the women). Lalu is famous for double entendres and pithy talk. This chintzy, low end hit at both Nitish’s party and the women electorate set off a storm. Bihar deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, “It seems Lalu Prasad has lost his ability to comprehend, doesn’t know what he is saying “. JDU MP from Munger, Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, “Lalu is master of buffoonery”. Public discourse is an amalgam of many such talents. But certainly hitting below the belt and indulging in such loose talk shows the lack of grace and polish.
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s plans to attend the Winter Session of the Maharashtra legislature beginning from December 16 at Nagpur will prove to be a game changer, his followers feel. Thackeray’s continued distance from the state legislative council proceedings over the past year are discussed by his party members in hushed tones since the aggressive direction needed to corner the BJP-led three-party government somehow lacks as far as his Sena is concerned. Council’s leader of the Opposition Ambadas Danve (of the Sena UBT) lacks the image and articulation which are vital for any LoP to humble the ruling side. Now that the new government led by Devendra Fadnavis has decided to appoint former CM Eknath Shinde as leader of the upper house, Danve’s limitations will be felt more vividly. Thackeray’s intermittent presence in the council ever since he resigned as chief minister in 2022 has been noted more due to his statements outside the house. He has hardly made any worthwhile speech on the floor. Therefore, his plans to remain present for the Winter Session have revived the hopes of his followers, who wish to witness his attacks against the BJP and the Sena led by Shinde. It is being recalled that Thackeray did not attend the recent three-day session of the legislature in Mumbai, held after the assembly elections. According to present indications, Thackeray will reach Nagpur well in time for the week-long session, which will be a stormy affair, focussing on settling political scores.
Shane Warne’s ‘Rockstar’ cricketer Ravindra Jadeja has developed the good habit of playing the game with gusto with bat, ball, as fielder at point or even countryside positions in the field. It took a flaxen haired Australian superstar in Shane Warne to spot the terrific talent in the skinny lad from Jamnagar after observing his energy and enthusiasm while training at Jaipur. Jadeja justified the prediction of the Australian who excelled in the bossie (named after Bosanquet, the inventor of the back of the hand googly that turns from off to leg in leg spin action) variety and fooled many a batter in the World. After nearly 10 years of international cricket and across all three formats, Jadeja, after a long period of rehabilitation to recover from upper and lower limb injuries, made a match winning 175 not out and captured nine wickets against Sri Lanka in the Mohali Test that hastened to a finish inside stumps on the third day. Jadeja’s all-round display coincided with Warne’s premature death, but the Saurashtra cricketer will never ever forget the time he spent with Warne in the Jaipur dug out. And his unconquered 175 has made skipper Rohit Sharma to look at promoting him in the batting order. “I am looking at ways to use him more in the batting role,” said Sharma after the Mohali Test.
Of late, politicians have become proactive at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), an institution known for producing World class cricketers and winning the prestigious Ranji Trophy. People who have been in the news this month, for either visiting the Wankhede Stadium in some connection or the other are: Aaditya Thackeray, a State Cabinet Minister and son of CM Uddhav Thackeray, CM’s Man Friday Milind Narvekar, who even tossed the coin at the interschool Harris Shield final, and State Congress Chief Nana Patole. Wonder what Sharad Pawar, the go-to-man for MCA matters for over two decades must be making of all the hubbub around it. MCA’s AGM is around, and elections are not far away and, its 330 plus voting members drawn from the maidan clubs, schools, colleges, corporate, State and Central government offices are already mulling over the people they should align with. No one knows which way the wind is blowing for the President’s position — Dr Vijay Patil or Narvekar. Elections are scheduled in October. Pawar who has done the most for MCA, especially on the infrastructure front for the game and other benefits for the members, may, even at the ripe age of 81, have a big say on the MCA election matter. Surely, BJP’s Ashish Shelar, a former MCA vice-president close to Home Minister Amit Shah must be giving him ball by ball commentary.
Madras Race Club To Make Invitation Cup A Festival Of Revival For Racing In Its Diamond Jubilee Year
The Madras Race Club, oldest in the country, started in 1777 by the Brits has been a pulse pounding draw for the glitterati and moneyed of Chennai for years. Invitation Cup and Derby’s drew legendary thoroughbreds and even more iconic breeder owners from across the country, to mix and mingle, bet and brag over chilled beer and gimlets, events that bring in money on weekends for the race course. Late MAM Ramaswamy, that enfant terrible corporate King, breeder and racing aficionado ruled the roost and the racing scene as well. Then, one fine day, three decades ago, Kalaignar Karunanidhi halted horse racing in its tracks, citing a vague rationale. The Race club had to eschew its marquee event, like an emperor without clothes back then. MAM was a super legend, having won 9/Invitation cups. Race enthusiasts still talk about one exciting race when MAM‘s horse, Star Haven was pitted against actor Sanjay Khan’s Khartoum. Most unexpectedly, Khartoum won and the crowd roared its delight. MAM’s son MAMR Muthiah is now preparing for this weekend’s Invitation Cup, in which Forest Flame and Star is Born, Juliet and Own Opinion are being touted as probable winners. So what about the ban? The DMK has just lifted the ban. The public is mulling over this change without any rhyme or reasons provided.
A fake Instagram post, its origins possibly in India, threatened Australian cricketer Ashton Agar with a message to his partner. It is believed the post was aimed at scaring the Australian cricket team that is touring Pakistan after 24 years and which is scheduled to hold its first practice session on Wednesday (March 2). The social media message was assessed as not credible. The post – “Your children will miss their Father if he comes to Pakistan. Our snipers will blow his head” — was clearly wrong as Agar and his partner have no children. Security agencies analysed it and assured the Aussies that there was nothing to fear. Having lost the New Zealand tourists on the day of their first scheduled international match last year, the Pakistan security establishment will put in place a 4,000 strong police cordon around the Aussies for the 3-Test, 3-ODIs and one T20I series. Pakistan-born Australian Test batsman Usman Khwaja brings a unique flavour to the tour as he visits his country of birth and where he has relatives. But the tour bio-bubble rules are so strict that he may not get to meet them. A successful tour for Australia, known to be very fussy about security in Asia, may generate hope in Pakistan that Team India also travel there soon.
Shreyas Iyer carved a niche for himself in the three match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka. Without his individual stroke making ability, India may not have found it easy against the Emerald nation that flew from Australia where it lost a series 1-4. Sri Lanka has been trying to rebuild its team after the retirement of its top guns Muthiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vasa, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara. So it was no surprise that it was beaten hollow in the Twenty20 internationals, with Shreyas knocking off 204 runs off 117 balls with unconquered scores of 57, 74 and 73 and scoring at 10.46 an over. An impressive batter raised in the tough environs of Mumbai’s highly competitive maidan cricket, Iyer has positioned himself for a middle order slot in the Indian team in all formats. Recently he made a Test century on debut against New Zealand at Kanpur and followed it up with a half century in the second innings. Injuries have kept him out of a few series, but he has been the bright spark whenever he has returned. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant were absent from the series against Sri Lanka and Iyer grabbed his chances with both hands and demanded a place in the playing XI in the future series.
Dilip ‘Colonel’ Vengsarkar has worn many hats in his distinguished career. He was raised in the maidans of Mumbai at Matunga Gymkhana, Shivaji Park, Azad, Cross, the Oval and many more, and he played for the interschool powerhouse King George, for RA Podar College and Bombay University before cutting his teeth in the domestic and international cricket and earning the sobriquet “Lord of the Lord’s” for scoring three Test centuries at the famous London venue. He excelled as Chairman of the BCCI Selection Committee and as Head at the National Cricket Academy. He was also a vice-president of Mumbai Cricket Association for four terms. The Lodha Cricket Reforms has stalled a significant role for him at the MCA and the BCCI, but a person who has the eye to spot talent recently appealed to the MCA to run the city’s intercollegiate cricket. And according to Jagdish Achrekar, Treasurer, MCA’s Apex Council has acceded to Vengsarkar’s request. The former India captain’s plea to MCA came at the Nadeem Memon organised 125th anniversary inauguration of the MSSA Harris Shield at the Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club of India. More than half a dozen former Test cricketers graced the occasion where the CCI President Premal Udani extended support to school sports and the Dubai-based Shyam Bhatia’s Cricket For Care Foundation presented kits to 40 needy schools. It was in this gathering that Vengsarkar highlighted the importance of intercollegiate and University cricket.
L’ affaire Wriddhiman has been rather unkind to the sports journalists’ fraternity in India, in particular with the former India stumper refusing to name the alleged sports journalist who sent him intimidating messages. Wriddhiman Saha, who has been brutally told the truth that he is on the way out of the India scheme of things because he is considered to be too old to be a No 2 man with the big gloves, has brought into the public domain the conversation India Head Coach Rahul Dravid had with him about the improbability of his future roles in India cap and red ball cricket during the recent tour of South Africa and a text from the BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly, assuring to protect his place in the India team. But the Bengal-based stumper has still not revealed the name of the sports journalist who has behaved like a loon to say the least. No professional sports newsperson would resort to such unethical means to extract news from a sportsperson. Saha, a long time understudy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played 40 Tests that mirrors the permanency he enjoyed in the Test team, but of late the dashing Rishabh Pant has been anointed as the No 1 stumper across all formats and Kona Srikar Bharat, 28, being looked at as the immediate standby. But the big question now is, will Saha name the uncouth media person?
Attention is riveted these days on the Indian women team’s preparatory white-ball series against New Zealand (Silver Ferns) at Queenstown, before the ICC Women’s World Cup in March-April. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the famous Punjabi lass, India lost the one-off Twenty20. Thereafter, India led by Mithali Raj, posted good scores batting first in the 50 over ODIs, but it has not been able to defend it in two consecutive matches. In the second ODI, India made 270 and in the third, 279 and lost them by three wickets each. India had lost the first match by 65 runs. The team played the three ODIs without Smriti Mandhana. Apart from the dismal defeats, the poor form of Harmanpreet has hurt the team from racing to formidable match-winning totals. Known for her big hitting prowess, Harmanpreet has been out for cheap scores of 10, 10 and 13 in the three matches and former India captain and a former member of the Committee of Administrators that ran the BCCI for four years, Diana Edulji told this writer: “Now that India has lost the series, Harmanpreet should be promoted to No 3 (if in the playing XI). And some tough calls have to be taken if India has to make a serious bid for the World Cup. The players who are performing should be in the playing XI. Some players need to be pushed to perform.”
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), with a record 41 Ranji Trophy wins, is loath to give a fitting tribute to one of its most outstanding cricketers Ajit Wadekar and, It is puzzling. Belonging to the pantheon of Mumbai cricketers, Wadekar sported MCA’s lion crest from 1958-59 till the 1974-75 Ranji Trophy seasons, was part of the winning team 11 times, four times as captain and, led India to its maiden Test series win in the West Indies and England in 1971. Wadekar’s missing name is the notable one at MCA’s home ground on D Road in Churchgate. As one enters the Wankhede Stadium through the gates named after Polly Umrigar and Vinoo Mankad, cricket fans have the option to watch a match from the stands named after illustrious cricketers — Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar and a stand named after a former president Vithal Divecha. The home and visiting teams occupy the Vijay Manjrekar Dressing Rooms. A long time MCA and BCCI official Prof Ratnakar Shetty has suggested to an MCA official that the Grand Stand above the pavilion be named after Ajit Wadekar. “His name should be visible to the public,” Shetty tells this writer. An icon like Wadekar should be honoured, remembered properly adds Shetty, whose book My Years in BCCI: ON BOARD Test. Trial. Triumph. will be released soon.
Captain of the Indian men in blue (50 over cricket), Rohit Sharma has started with a bang winning the first two matches and the series against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera, Ahmedabad. While his team won by six wickets and 44 runs, he had to deal with a tricky situation after the Covid-19 infection hit Shikhar Dhawan. Sharma and Dhawan are the second-highest run getting pair (4978 runs till the third ODI on Friday) for India after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. The Delhi left-hander is close to 38 but Sharma believes Dhawan has a lot more steam left to carry on and deliver for India even in the 2023 World Cup to be hosted by India. Sharma revealed after the second match that he was asked (ostensibly by the national selection committee) to try out different things. As a result, mercurial batter Rishabh Pant was asked to open. In the first match another lefty, Ishan Kishan filled up the void caused by Dhawan’s absence. Pant was not allowed to throw his wrists at everything that the West Indies speedsters sent down but, it was a worthwhile experiment. Sharma is keen on a lefty partner right at the top of the order.
Rohit Sharma delved deep into his own mind and said, “(I) don’t believe in a perfect game. You can’t be perfect,” after India won its 1,000th ODI. Then, he repeated his team’s winning streak in the 1001st ODI against the West Indies cricket team. With the ODI series won, Sharma’s debut as full time ODI captain now offers him more space to play a few variations. “I have been asked to do different things,” he said after his bowlers defended the under-par score of 237 runs in the second ODI. “We want(ed) to try a few things, with the long term in mind,” he added. All IPL heroes will get a chance now, as will battle-hardened veterans. The new Indian cricket mantra: Play with maturity, bat and bowl as the team need demands not, as you desire. India prepares for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup it will host, come October 2023. Virat’s coming back to form is long pending. His ICC knockout scores: 1 (SF WC2019); 5 (Champions Trophy Final 2017); 1 and 3 (SF and QF WC2015); and 9 (SF WC2011) will surely buck up based on the law of averages. Team India requires the high-performance fix that defined the WC 2011 win, when its batting centurions played like gladiators digging deep into positions and, canny wicket takers complemented by scrappy all-rounders.
The next blockbuster that will dominate the Indian cricket scene is the mega players’ auction for the Indian Premier League, the undisputed World No 1 Twenty20 league. This year’s IPL is set to start March 27 with 10 teams in all; the two additions being Lucknow Supergiants, for which the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) will pay Rs 7090 crore for 10 years and, the Ahmedabad team for which Singapore-based private equity firm Irelia Company Capital Private Ltd (whose parent company is CVC Capital Partners) has committed Rs 5625 crore. While the BCCI will be richer by Rs 12,715 crore, it is yet to announce the venue where IPL15 will be held. IPL’s Governing Council Chairman, Brijesh Patel wants the tourney held again in the Gulf nations of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Muscat as these venues successfully managed IPL-13, second half of the IPL-14 and the ICC World Twenty20. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has said he will try his utmost to bring the league back to India. Now, with Covid-19 numbers dropping by the day, Maharashtra is touted as the single State venue for all the league games. The players’ auction is scheduled at Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday (February 12-13) and franchises will be told about the venue, hopefully well in time, so they can plan and form their team selection strategy.
The power of the player lords over cricket. It destroyed the coaching career of Justin Langer right after the team, under his charge, had won the T20 World Cup as well as the Ashes. Pat Cummins’ team won in double quick time and in the third Test, were only a wicket away from imposing another whitewash over England. Cricket Australia was bowing down to player power when it virtually forced Langer to resign. In England, Captain Joe Root kept his job despite the poor Test record but head coach Chris Silverwood, who held sway in all selection matters, got the sack. So too did the director of England men’s cricket, Ashley Giles. The opposite may hold true in Indian cricket when Virat Kohli was forced to throw in the captaincy but, then again, the force behind his ouster was former player Sourav Ganguly, now the influential head of the all too powerful BCCI administration. It may be recalled that Anil Kumble was sacked, on the wishes of the captain and players (just like Langer was), for being too intense with his coaching style. Player power is at an apogee in modern day cricket and signals the complete shift from the old days, when the administration could sack anyone at will. Whether that is good or bad, only time will tell.
Some fresh, fascinating insights into the mind and heart of BCCI’s Selection Think Tank have been laid bare by Harbhajan Singh, the legendary offspinner with 417 Test wickets – and a proud member of the World Cup winning Indian team. “If we were good enough to win the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, why didn’t we play even a single match together after that? Was that team good enough just to win the World Cup and became kharaab after that?” he questioned in a YouTube show Backstage with Boria. “Were 31-year-old Harbhajan Singh, 30-year-old Yuvraj Singh, 32-year-old Virender Sehwag, 29-year-old Gautam Gambhir who played in 2011, not good enough to play in the World Cup team of 2015? Why were we removed from the team one by one? Why were we treated like a kind of Use and Throw?” There are no easy answers to the Turbanator’s probing questions. So staggering is India’s bench strength that it’s equally tough for the bowlers and batters to be counted in. Take the case of Karun Nair (KL Rahul’s teenage cricketing buddy), the only Indian with a triple ton other than Sehwag. Nair’s unbeaten 303 helped India score a record 759 against touring England in Chennai Test in 2016 and wrap up an innings win to take the series 4-0. He has turned 30 now, not recalled since 2017.
Hardik Pandya’s international career is at the crossroads. He has not turned out in a single match, in blue or whites, after the country’s dismal performance against Pakistan and New Zealand in the World Twenty20 in the UAE, after which India played against New Zealand and South Africa. Hardik is not in the ODI or Twenty20 team for the forthcoming series against the West Indies. The BCCI’s national selection committee has every reason to feel they were taken for a ride about his fitness for the World Twenty20. Chairman Chetan Sharma at a press conference had said that Hardik will bowl his quota of four overs in every Super 12 match in the UAE. Hardik did not send down a ball against Pakistan, Scotland and Namibia and bowled two overs each against New Zealand and Afghanistan, conceding 40 runs without a wicket. Recently he said he was “not supposed to bowl” when he bowled against New Zealand at the World Twenty20. Fast tracked into international cricket because of the hitting ability he demonstrated to the then India ‘A’ coach Rahul Dravid in Australia a few years ago, Hardik is unlikely to get the nod from the selectors at any time soon. He has shown the stomach for a fight in the past, but can his weak back mend itself fully? Hardik has to really bend his back to bowl at full tilt?
In the course of a momentous year we broke the story that the former cricket head honcho N Srinivasan was prepared to give up control over Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) as he had other battles to fight. Soon, his daughter resigned as President citing other commitments and it confirmed our story that Srinivasan had given the TNCA reins to DMK for a quid pro quo. In what is a done deal, it is up to TN Chief Minister MK Stalin to decide who will head TNCA – his son-in-law Sabareesh or the young gun in his party who is already in TNCA. In a battle with the corporate raider Radhakishan Damani, Srinivasan would need the help of the ruling party to ensure it is not a hostile takeover of India Cements. What he needs most is the Chennai Super Kings, the billion-dollar baby he always knew would bring him plenty of trouble in cricket because of a conflict of interests and he would like his daughter Rupa to be the honcho there. What makes India Cements ripe for a corporate raid is the cross-ownership of CSK through a shareholders’ trust. There are complications like some residences of top honchos or parts of them in the Tony Boat Club area in Chennai being in ICL’s name. Will the raider not be interested in the exposure CSK would bring him than cement factories? There are interesting times ahead when this story unravels.
After India’s one-day international (ODI) fortunes took a hit in the Krugerrand country recently, ‘Chinaman’ practitioner (left-arm leg spin and googly bowler) Kuldeep Yadav got a call up, to swing matches back in its favour, for the three-match home series against the West Indies in early February. Under skipper KL Rahul, India lost 0-3 to South Africa at Paarl and in Cape Town but, under fit-again captain Rohit Sharma, it will look to put it across the West Indies on the slow turners of the Motera venue in Ahmedabad, renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium. The unorthodox Yadav — who earned the sobriquet, Kulcha, bowling in tandem with right-hand leg spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal — was soundly thrashed by England batters in March 2021 on the flat tracks of Gahunje (Pune) off the Expressway. He went for 0/68 and 0/84 against England and when recalled for the series in Sri Lanka, he returned 2/48 and 0/55 at Colombo in July last. Yadav, after three very successful years in 2017 (22 wkts at 24.77), 2018 (45 at 17.78) and 2019 (32 at 34.69) has been on a downhill in the pandemic years. Now the selectors expect the Uttar Pradesh tweaker to tease and torment the carefree West Indian batters. He has taken 24 wickets at 24.92 in 15 ODIs against the West Indies from 2017 to 2019.
Age is just a number. But only for the fortunate few in cricket who continue to defy age – like 40-year-old MS Dhoni’s Dad’s Army winning IPL 2021 or Sachin Tendulkar’s masterclass in World Cup 2011 at the age of 38. For most, Age is the moment of Truth that could end their illustrious career. Sunil Gavaskar’s recent suggestion to make 24-year-old Rishabh Pant India’s Test captain; and earlier Virat Kohli’s wish (after the T20WC 2021) to have KL Rahul as vice-captain in ODIs while Rishabh Pant in T20Is have clear bias against the undisputed contender: Rohit Sharma, on account of his age. While the suspense over who will succeed Kohli as India’s Test captain continues, Sharma, 34, has started building the ODI team for World Cup 2023 – beginning with the home series against West Indies on February 6. Shikhar Dhawan, 36, is there too, bringing his heroics of three centuries in World Cup ODIs to complement Hitman’s six centuries, including five in WC2019. What Team India – with eight players aged above or around 30 — may now need are batters to cross the finish line: like in WC2011, Suresh Raina scoring 34 (28 b) with Yuvraj Singh 57 (65 b) to take match away from Australia in the QF. More than age talk, what’s needed is Fitness & Form – and a clear ability to perform in knockout matches.
India will play its 1000th ODI when It takes on the West Indies in a match up on February 6. It will be the first among 25 International Cricket Council accredited countries to reach this significant milestone. India played its 997th match against South Africa at Paarl and will play the 998th and 999th in the rainbow nation as well. India played its first ODI against England at Headingley back in 1974 and, over the last 51 years has become a force to reckon with, winning two World Cups under Kapil Dev (1983) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2011) as captains respectively. India also won the World Championship of Cricket under Sunil Gavaskar’s captaincy in Australia in 1985. Up till its 998th match, India has won 518, lost 429, tied 9 and was involved in 41 abandoned matches. Australia has played 958 and Pakistan 936. Fifty-one years ago on January 5, 1971, Australian cricket officials set up the first ODI between Australia and England after the first three days of the Ashes Test was rained off. ODI cricket has evolved rapidly since then. When coloured clothing was introduced in the 1990s, the purists’ frowned and dubbed it as pajama cricket, but the short format of the game enjoys a humongous following in the Commonwealth. Now it has found an even more popular cousin in Twenty20!
The Rahuls are the ones in charge of transition as Team India moves on from the Virat Kohli era. KL, the opener-captain of the ODI team, and Dravid, the coach, will be ushering in the fresh start. The alarm bells must be ringing in those who were given a long rope when Shastri-Kohli were in charge. Work ethic will have a very high value. There will be no more pampering of seniors and whenever Test matches come along both Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara can expect no more favours. Rishabh Pant may have got a renewed lease of life with his classy century marked by great discipline at the crease but he too can expect none of the old licence with Dravid in charge. Total commitment to the team cause would be the new mantra and anyone fed a false sense of confidence will know that everyone will be on trial from here on. Dravid will be the toughest task master because he was a cricketer who drove himself on in his career and his Karnataka mate Lokesh would know that very well. Committed cricketers will have a better chance as performance will count for more than players strutting about on their assumed potential. A new Team India is in the making.
If I can be vice-captain, why not be the captain? This line of thought could weigh in the mind of Jasprit Bumrah, a top-notch fast bowler who has captured 109 of his 113 Test wickets overseas. Bumrah, deputy to KL Rahul for the three match ODI series in South Africa averred at a media interaction that he is indeed game for India’s Test captaincy. Bumrah has been India’s linchpin bowler for four years and called upon for select white ball cricket matches. India’s selection committees have been generally conservative and are not inclined to name a specialist bowler as captain. Left-hand spinner Bishan Singh Bedi led India in 22 Tests and off spinner S Venkataraghavan in five Tests. Kapil Dev excelled at his primary work as a fast medium bowler, but he could have walked into the national team as a batter too! Anil Kumble got a late call in his career and he led the country in 14 Tests. As highlighted in these columns recently, India’s captaincy puzzle has taken an unknown contour now with Virat Kohli relinquishing captaincy for good. So who will it be next, the 35th Test captain; fast bowler Pat Cummins led Australia to a resounding 4-0 in the Ashes. Will the BCCI’s selection committee take the cue from Cricket Australia’s move, or will it plump for a batter? Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul are in the short queue!
South Africa had the last laugh at Cape Town and outwitted India 2-1 to win the Freedom Trophy. Had India put it across the home team on the auspicious day of Makar Sankaranti, it would have become the first Asian team to win a Test match at a city that visitors visualise as “God’s Own”. So hitherto India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka have not won a Test match at a fascinating venue that’s beneath the Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak. India has now played six matches at Newlands and lost four, Pakistan and Sri Lanka four each and lost all. Bangladesh has not played a Test at this venue. The successful touring teams have been Australia which has played 14 and won 10, England has played 21 and won 10, and New Zealand has played three and won one. The West Indies has played four and lost three and Zimbabwe has played one and lost it. India created an opportunity to sort of buck the trend that has occurred over the last three decades because Asian teams have been playing in South Africa only after the apartheid policy was dismantled in the country. The sage of South African cricket, Dr. Aron ‘Ali’ Bacher said thus some hours before the start of the fourth day’s play: “Great Test series and a great Newlands Test match.”
The sports broadcaster SuperSport of South Africa is in the crosshairs after an “impossible” replay reprieved skipper Dean Elgar when he seemed plumb in front to off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the Cape Town Test. Visiting teams are accustomed to facing hostility from various quarters but a telecaster is an additional one on tours of South Africa. Known for commentators who are cheerleaders for the home team, SuperSport is, however, not in charge of the technology of replays that is outsourced to a technical company and whose feed is made available to the match referee and TV. On an early tour of South Africa, Kepler Wessels shocked the cricket world by swiping his bat across Kapil Dev’s shins after taking his first run. There was a huge brouhaha about it and conveniently, the host broadcaster said it had no replays to show because the cameras had been on the blink. As excuses went, that was the weakest one but the South Africans, rabid supporters of their own, were quite smug about it. It is moot whether the host broadcaster can influence the replays which have predictive elements to them but the Indians let the world know what they thought of it by using the stump microphones strategically. And KL Rahul went the farthest with his cutting comment – “Whole country is playing against 11 guys.” The occasion probably deserved it.
Mithali Raj has been the ubiquitous face of Indian women’s cricket for near about two and half decades. She made her one-day international debut against England in Milton Keynes in 1999 and became captain against the West Indies at Lucknow in March 2004. And into her 40th year, she is the captain, although her success rate in 143 matches (as captain) is 59.44. She has led India in 21 matches in three World Cups (2005, 2013 and 2017) won 13 for a success percentage of 61.90. These numbers indicate that women’s cricket in the context of leadership has not advanced, owing to, as the discerning believe, the selectors being bereft of dynamic thinking. The present selection committee has also refused to look at Harmanpreet Kaur (playing for India since March 2009) or Smriti Mandhana (playing for India since April 2013). Indian cricket ought to have gone for Harmanpreet after her splendid unbeaten 171 against Australia in the World Cup semis of 2017. Smriti is the fourth-highest run getter post the 2017 World Cup in England after England’s Tamsin Beaumont, Australia’s Alyssa Healy and South Africa’s Lizelle Lee. But the Mithali Raj rule continues; hopefully she will be lucky the fourth time as captain in the quadrennial event. Incidentally, Jhulan Goswami led India in the 2009 World Cup in Australia and won five matches!
The England Test cricket captain Joe Root has decided to stay in the job beyond the Ashes series till he can groom a successor, it is learnt. His resignation was thought likely after his team lost the Ashes 3-0 in double quick time halfway during the third Test. But he has thought it through and believes he has to put up his hand to ensure he passes on the baton to the right player. Ben Stokes, who was being groomed for the captaincy, does not want the burden. He is a multi-format cricketer who is in great demand in IPL. He is also just back from a break to tend to his mental stress problems and would much rather be the star all-rounder contributing to the team cause rather than bearing the additional responsibility of leading the team. Root, like Virat Kohli, is a committed Test cricketer who had an extraordinary year of success in 2021 when he became Test cricket’s third highest scorer in a calendar year after Mohammad Yousuff (1,788) and Viv Richards (1,710) with 1,708 runs. He also had reason to somewhat celebrate his team’s escape in Sydney when they were nine down while managing to draw. He has declared his intention to keep facing the challenge of Test captaincy after the final Ashes Test in Hobart this week.
The world’s greatest tennis player Novak Djokovic is holed up in an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne that is famous for serving maggot-infested food and mouldy bread. The experience of being hauled through the coals for his beliefs may not, however, knock any sense into the Serbian who has been susceptible to all kinds of quackery in his life. He believes that his breathing trouble from gluten intolerance was solved by a quack who held slices of bread on his stomach and used kinesiological arm testing as a diagnostic tool. A great believer in alternative medicine, he once copied a page from Chinese traditional medicine that said – “Each organ in our bodies is undergoing repair in roughly this order: Lungs 3-5 am, Large intestine 5-7 am, Stomach 7-9 am…” The lover of nature and seeker after truth considers a Brazilian fig tree in the Fitzroy Park near Tennis Australia as his best friend in Australia. He once supported a quack on his Instagram Live Channel selling bottles of Advanced Brain Nutrients for $50 a bottle. It is curious that a professional athlete of his standing would believe in such mumbo-jumbo but not trust science enough to take a Covid vaccine that is doing so much for public health around a world beset by a coronavirus pandemic for more than two years now. “No vax, no entry” might be the verdict in his case.
Dean Elgar, the mean opening batter may not fit into the “elegant left-hander” category. But, yet again, on the rain-marred fourth day of the second Test at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, the South African led the national team for the 12th time in four-and-a-half years and delivered the southpaw punch to the Indians; in cricketing parlance, a typical captain’s knock of an unconquered 96. Into his 10th year of international cricket, Elgar showed his body to defend and a lot of pluck while facing up to the Indian fast bowlers for five hours and nine minutes helping his team to level the three-Test match Freedom series 1-1 and, go to Newlands, Cape Town with their heads held high. The stodgy-looking batter has scored 4559 runs in 71 Tests — 4323 as an opener with 12 centuries and 19 half-centuries, almost 50% aiding in his team’s winning cause. Applauding Elgar’s unyielding undertaking, former captain and the man who worked hard for South Africa’s acceptance into the international fraternity in the early 1990s, Dr. Ali Bacher texted this correspondent saying: “Elgar showed what can be achieved by guts and determination. His performance is particularly praiseworthy because the pitch favoured the Indian fast bowlers.” Elgar is all set to become South Africa’s third left-hander opener to score 5000 runs after Graeme Smith, 9018 runs, and Gary Kirsten, 5726.
The reasons for Rupa Gurunath’s resignation as President of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) run deeper than the BCCI resolution citing a conflict of interest. This is one of the battles former BCCI and ICC chief honcho N Srinivasan is fighting to retain control over his billion-dollar brand — CSK. Earlier, Radhakishan Damania of DMart fame picked up a nearly 20% stake in India Cements. Was it to wrest control? Currently held by Indian Cements Shareholders Group Trust, CSK would become vulnerable if Srini is unable to ward off raids on India Cements. His plan is to move daughter Rupa to a key post in CSK after restructuring its ownership so that the IPL franchise stays in the family, regardless of developments in India Cements’ shareholding pattern. There is still a lot of fight left in the old cricket lover and corporate czar who once fought a pitched battle to wrest back control of the cement company with the help of Murasoli Maran. But if the tide turns against him, Srini would rather keep CSK in the family and leave the TNCA presidency to the DMK first family. V Sabareesan, the son-in-law of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, is one of the frontrunners for the post after it was found that son Udhayanidhi was ineligible as he holds public office as an MLA.
There is no way the zoom media interaction at god’s own and sparkling wine country, Cape Town, can become “Dhoom, dham”; that’s the way Head Coach Rahul Dravid, uttering a line or two with gusto before the second Test, wanted Virat Kohli’s chat about with the media to be before his 100th Test at Newlands on January 11. Kohli, who has missed 13 Tests so far after his debut, because of injuries and personal, complained of a flare up of his upper back and is not playing the second Test at The New Wanderers in Johannesburg, and so the third Test at Cape Town, should he be declared fit, will be his 99th. This eventuality will make the first Test (from February 25) against Sri Lanka at Bengaluru his 100th. Kohli’s injury and absence from the second Test, enabled the selectors to name KL Rahul as India’s 19th captain in Test cricket and Jasprit Bumrah as vice-captain. It would be interesting to see the way the selectors go about looking at Rohit Sharma’s fitness. With two World Cups of the Twenty20 and 50 over variety to happen from October- November this year, the selectors would want a captain without injury baggage or concern. By close of the tour in South Africa, Rahul would have led India in two formats. All said and done a terrific jigsaw puzzle taking shape in Indian cricket!
South Africa was far from hostile on the first day of the first Test against India at the Centurion, a venue where the home team has gone down only twice in 26 matches; in fact South Africa has won 21 Tests. But the inability of fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder and debutant Marco Jansen ought not to take away anything from KL Rahul’s superb century. It can be said that the doughty and elegant opener has made it a habit of achieving the magic three figure on foreign soil, six times so far; 110 against Australia at Sydney in 2015, 108 against Sri Lanka at Colombo in August 2015, 158 against the West Indies at Kingston in July 2016, 149 against England at The Oval in September 2018, 129 against England at Lord’s in August 2021 and 123 against South Africa at the Centurion in December 2021. His only home century in 81 Test match innings is the 199 against England at the Chepauk in December 2016. His seven centuries, including the overseas have all been as an opener. The trick of the trade, as exhibited by Rahul, is to demonstrate judgment to know where his off stump is, leave the ball and see it go to the wicket keeper. As an opener Rahul who plays with calm demeanour, has been par excellence.
The Indian cricket team is just two days away from sending its legion of followers in a tizzy as it girds up its loins for another brush with the South Africans at the Valhalla based venues, Centurion and The Wanderers, Johannesburg, both falling in the Omicron hit province of Gauteng. Come Boxing Day (December 26), when the Yuletide mood is at its zenith, Virat Kohli’s team, will come out of its bio-secured life at a resort to engage in a Test series that will be India ‘s eighth in South Africa since 1992, when blessed by Madiba Nelson Mandela, the two countries founded cricketing ties. The time is also upon Kohli, in the radar now following his disagreement with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the India Twenty20 captaincy matter, to focus on cricket for the first time under Head Coach Rahul Dravid. India has played 20 Tests in South Africa and lost 10 and so it will try to unleash Jasprit Bumrah and company to win a first Test series there for the first time. Kohli would be the fulcrum around whom India will strive to put match winning totals on the board; should he not, it would be interesting to see the response from the Chetan Sharma led Selection Committee, nay, BCCI. The third Test at Cape Town will be his 100th. Remarkable feat indeed!
It’s nostalgia time as the splendidly made movie 83 starring Ranveer Singh recaptures the spirit of India’s greatest cricketing achievement, which was to dethrone the two-time World Cup winners West Indies at Lord’s. The 83 World Cup team members, with only the departed Yashpal Sharma absent, gathered to celebrate the great moment again ahead of the film’s release on December 24. The one unanswered question that remains about the morning of the match against Zimbabwe in Tunbridge Wells is about why Kapil Dev chose to bat. Recalling the day, journalist R Mohan who was the only reporter from India who watched all the India matches in that World Cup, said he was the most nervous person at the picturesque Tunbridge Wells ground in Kent because he had spoken to Kapil before the toss and may have unwittingly prompted the decision to bat by speaking of how the Net Run Rate might improve if India got in and put up a 300-run total. Kapil, who said the wicket was wet – “thoda geela hai” – still chose to bat and soon was in with the scoreboard reading 9-4. It was soon 17-5 and he went on to craft one of the greatest fightback innings in limited-overs cricket history with his 175*, India’s first ever ODI century. That innings transformed the team into believing it could achieve anything and it went on to beat the world champs within a week beating Australia, England and the mighty West Indies.
Huelva, in southwest Spain, delivered good tidings for men’s badminton in India and, particularly for the Bengaluru-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA). Huelva was the venue for the season ending 2021 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Championship held last week, and the budding star from the PPBA, Lakshya Sen, reached the semi-finals before losing to countryman Kidambi Srikanth in a 69-minute three-setter. Sen won the bronze medal, but more significantly he has signalled his arrival into the big league. The world men’s singles field is replete with champion performers from Asia and Europe. Sen had lost to Denmark’s World No 1 Viktor Axelsen twice in Round Robin (second round) and the semi-finals of the previous week’s HSBC BWF World Tour Finals at Bali, Indonesia. He got a walkover from top gun Japanese Kento Momota due to injury and also from Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke but, he made the most of the following week’s World Championship upper half draw that was also weakened by injury related walkovers by Momota , Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, France’s Toma Popov. Sen himself got a R32 walkover from German Max Weisskirchen. Sen needed all the luck, but he ran out of it against Srikant. The professional shuttler of four-plus years, Sen gives Indian Badminton plenty of hope.
Virat Kohli has put the cat among the pigeons by his unambiguous utterances at the customary pre-departure (to South Africa) interaction with the media that there has been no communication from the BCCI that he should not step down from the India Twenty20 captaincy. More than a decade into international cricket and for a good eight years as captain, Kohli has phenomenal numbers across all formats playing 446 matches in Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 and scored 23197 runs, all that has made him the superstar of Indian and World cricket. He has achieved almost everything in his long career and at 33 is a family man. He appeared not to be talking through his hat or making off the cuff statements, while directing an oblique reference to the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly who had gone public saying that he had told Kohli not to give up the Twenty20 captaincy. Kohli dubbed such reports has inaccurate, not credible, and another report about him asking the BCCI to rest him for the ODI series in South Africa, a lie. Kohli has thus ensured that the ball is in the BCCI court. The question is whether the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah was in the know of any conversation between Ganguly and Kohli. The BCCI has to make a clean breast of the L’affaire Kohli T20 captaincy issue.
Paris, the fashion city of France and Europe is on an overdrive to get ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The organising committee on Monday (Dec 13) announced that the 777 km long river Seine will be the iconic place where the Opening Ceremony will be held with athletes to take a 6 km boat ride as part of a spectacular show. Paris 2024 took the International Olympic Committee into confidence before making the news public. The Paris 2024 Chief, a three-time Olympian Tony Estanguet feels that there will be 10 times more spectators at an open setting than a stadium setting. The organizing committee expects over 600,000 people to watch the Ceremony in the capital city. Athletes will travel in 170 boats starting from the Pont d’Austerlitz, to the bridge located close to the French national library. The Eiffel Tower is close by Estanguet said: The 6 km route would allow for full immersion into Paris, with landmarks including the Notre-Dame Cathedral. He also revealed that Paris 2024 would look to implement ideas used during their previous Olympic Day celebrations, where sporting events have been held within the French capital. It has been reported that no security obstacles have been identified so far and that the Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place on July 26 in 2024.
Word is out already that Virat Kohli is ready to step down as Test captain at the end of the tour of South Africa. He is disappointed at the way things have turned out as he was stripped of the ODI captaincy, which he wished to retain. He had given up the T20 captaincy of his own volition but without realising that was signal enough for the selectors to split the captaincy and empower Rohit Sharma with the white ball captaincy. The aura around Kohli was lost after India was wiped out of the T20 World Cup after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand. He was no more the Kohli who was in command along with Ravi Shastri when taking India into the World Test championship. Losing that was bad enough and the abandoning of the England Test series meant he could not even claim victory there though India was leading 2-1. This is a judgment call by the selectors. Kohli just can’t read the white ball game quickly enough to make a difference in fast-paced games when mental agility is called for. The laidback Test match format might be more his cup of tea but in a world moving on to the instant delights of T20 there is no patience left. Kohli’s reign was great in some ways, but it has ended with no ICC trophies in the bag.
Ajinkya Rahane seems to be the biggest loser in the churning carried out by the selection committee in a ruthless manner. He has been removed as vice-captain of the Test team that he actually led in the Kanpur Test against New Zealand. The roll of the dice finally did not favour him after an ordinary effort with bat at the Green Park. He is already out of the white-ball cricket for India and his inability to get the big knocks after a Test match winning century at Melbourne last year has cost him dear. He cannot afford another poor show in the first Test against South Africa at Centurion from December 26. Both Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have won the vote of confidence from the selection committee, coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Virat Kohli. Both have a lot to vindicate in the three Test series in South Africa. Once Kohli made way for Sharma to take control of the reins of the Twenty20 team, the selection committee in Chetan Sharma, Chairman and his colleagues, Sunil Joshi, Abey Kuruvilla, Debashish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh have now completed the process of a single captain for white-ball cricket. This has been the biggest move after they revived the white-ball career of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, sent to the doghouse by the team management after the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final.
At Bhubaneswar, Odisha, the venue for the 2021 Men’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup played between 16 countries, the expectations were high that the defending champion India would once again walk away with the Cup. After all, it had won the Junior World Cup title in 2016 in Lucknow. But, the winner was Argentina. It displayed maturity, strategy and patience to beat the six-time champion Germany 4-2 to lift the cup after a gap of 16 years. Argentinians, who were shorter in height vis-a-vis German players, overcame that shortcoming by focusing on timely tackles, dodge and block, dribble, and in the process displayed exemplary teamwork. India on the other hand lacked all these qualities from Day One. It lost miserably to France and Germany. In fact, experts point out that India’s conversion ratio, coordination and consistent precision needs great improvement. The blame game is on with fingers pointing towards Hockey India. Not many know that Odisha was chosen as a venue at the last moment in September when two other Indian states declined to host the event. The Naveen Patnaik government pulled all stops out to ensure the event went off smoothly. Even the international coach Graham Reed was brought in just three months before the event. Hope Hockey India is well prepared for the next big event in 2024.
On Wednesday, December 8, the cricket world will rise to the sights and sounds of the iconic Ashes series, played between the oldest foes in the game, Australia and England. In olden days, the teams sailed by big boats to Australia and England; these days it’s all flying visits. After 144 years of daggers-drawn like contests — the first Test was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Bowl in March 1877 and Australia won it by 45 runs after the home team’s Charles Bannerman scored the first century with a 330-ball 165 with 18 fours — Australia lead with 146 wins (95 at home) from 351 Tests. England has won 110 and 95 have ended in a draw. The last Test was played at The Oval in London in September 2019 and hence after two years and more, Australia with fast bowler captain in Pat Cummins and England with champion batter in Joe Root will lock horns at Brisbane’s Gabba in a bio-bubble secured environment. The two captains pressed a red button around a replica of the Ashes Urn to launch the Vodafone Ashes Series at the Gabba, the 81st in 144 years. The Ashes fever will grip the cricket aficionados for 41 days till the fifth Test that’s scheduled to end on January 18, 2022. Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie has predicted a 3-0 win for Australia.
Rumours are flying thick and fast that Udhayanidhi Stalin might be in the running to head the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). It might be a long term plan as elections are only in the 2022 summer but heading a cricket body is a route that many young politicians have been known to take to gain popularity and a bit of national prominence. Remember both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were presidents of the Gujarat Cricket Association and Shah’s son has gone further to become the all-powerful BCCI secretary. N Srinivasan is not one to give away such a prized post that remains now in his family with his daughter Rupa heading the TNCA. He is very close to the DMK top brass after years-long association with ‘Murasoli’ Maran. But, after years of fighting a losing battle with the Supreme Court, NS had to give up the BCCI presidency, formal ownership of Chennai Super Kings as well as step down from TNCA. To cement his position as South India’s leading cement manufacturer, NS might loosen his grip on TNCA to allow the CM’s son an entry into the glamorous world of cricket with its Bollywood and corporate links. After all, Udhayanidhi’s grandfather M Karunanidhi was a keen cricket fan who never missed a Pongal Test at Chepauk in the old days.
Chennai’s popular boys, Woorkeri Raman and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan aka ‘Siva’ who have played cricket with distinction are set to regale a big cricket audience in the Tamil speaking/ listening world on Sports Channel SONY Ten 4 during the iconic Ashes Test series between Australia and England to get off the ground at the Woollloongabba, Brisbane from December 8. After the opening skirmish at the Gabba that will pitch Pat Cummins’ Aussies against Joe Root’s Englishmen, the series will travel to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The Ashes has always generated interest among a wider spectrum of the cricket world, and India’s TV channels like Star Sports and SONY pictures are going out of the way to engage former cricketers to bring live action of the game apart from English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Raman was a left-hand bat and slow left-arm spinner and Siva chose the notorious Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet art of leg-spin-googly. After bidding adieu from the game, Raman made his mark in coaching and print-media, and Siva became a spin coach, even as he articulated the nuances of the game in a number of cable television channels in domestic and international cricket. So happy listening to them on SONY Ten 4 from December 8.
Lionel Messi won a record seventh Ballon d’Or to add to further his reputation as one of the world’s greatest footballers ever and young German Robert Lewandowski was runner-up. The highly regarded Oscar of football was a prize Messi thoroughly deserved this year after having led Argentina to the Copa America title. Having believed the 2019 prize could be his last, Messi said he was, however, not surprised after Argentina’s victory over Brazil in the final. Messi’s contemporary, long term rival and five-time winner, Cristiano Ronaldo was also the centre of attention. He made public his feud with Pascal Ferre, the editor-in-chief of France Football whose organisation oversees the star-studded ceremony. Ferre had told the New York Times in an interview that Ronaldo’s only remaining ambition was to win more Ballon D’Ors than Messi. Ronaldo contested the claim that he had told Ferre so. He reiterated that his only goals are to do with his country and club and to be a good example for all those who are or want to be professional footballers. Ronaldo signed off saying he likes to win for himself and his teams and not win against anyone. He also resented Ferre’s suggestion that Ronaldo did not attend the event because of quarantine rules. He conveyed sportingly his best wishes to the winner.
Ravichandran Ashwin was in the news right through the course of the last English summer; for the notorious reason of not getting a chance to send down a single ball in the five-Test series against Joe Root’s home team. Blame it on the local conditions, weather and the pitch, Captain Virat Kohli and the think tank did not feel it necessary to think beyond left-arm spinner all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the only slow spin bowler’s position for four Tests. Ashwin did not figure in the supposedly spin-friendly Oval Test that India won to take 2-1 lead. Ditto with left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who and Ashwin together delivered a two-in-one Test in five days against England at the Motera in February last. Ashwin took 32 and Axar, 27. But they were deemed to be useless in England. Ashwin and Axar were again in the centre stage and even Jadeja, on a pitch at the Green Park, Kanpur that was used well by the New Zealand fast bowlers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson. Ashwin and Axar took six each in the Test and Jadeja, five for spin tally of 17 wickets. Ashwin (419) also went past Harbhajan Singh’s aggregate of 417 Test scalps. Ashwin now needs eight more wickets to touch the 300-wicket mark at home. Leg spinner Anil Kumble has a high of 350 Test wickets at home.
It must be hurting him, but a hyperactive Virat Kohli is unlikely to lose sleep over not having converted much of his seven half centuries in the last 24 months into magical three figure knocks. Often, he has talked about contributing to the team through partnerships. Kohli’s last century (136) was against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in November 2019; the preceding one was a massive unbeaten 254 against South Africa at Gahunje, Pune in October 2019. These two big knocks took his 2019 average to 68 from eight Tests and 11 innings. But Kohli’s average dropped to a career low of 19.33 from three Tests and six innings in 2020, and it is 29.80 so far from nine Tests and 15 innings in 2021. These are the lowest numbers in 10 calendar years. He has averaged 40 plus three times, 50 plus twice, 60 plus once and 75 plus twice. He averaged 22.44 in his first year of Test cricket in 2011. The pundits had predicted that Kohli would break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs). Until now, Kohli has 27 Test and 43 ODI centuries, which makes his task cut out to surpass Tendulkar’s hundred centuries. His fans would be hoping he gets his 71st century — for himself and India – at the Wankhede on December 3.
Tamil Nadu would like to believe it is the home of white ball cricket. Ever since MS Dhoni took up residence here in 2008 with the advent of IPL, the State has picked up the glamour formats as its favourites, with T20 taking the pride of place. But when chasing 152 to keep the title, the defending champions had fallen behind in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. That was when they found a hero in Sharukh Khan, not of silver screen fame but of the ‘last ball six’ club. Needing five, the 26-year old batter moved his front foot out and made room to clear square leg and Tamil Nadu became the first team to win the T20 trophy thrice. Another chapter in the reputed Karnataka-Tamil Nadu rivalry had ended on a dramatic note in New Delhi but it appeared Karnataka had the upper hand when 16 were required off the last over bowled by seamer Prateek. It was up to another “finisher” in Dhoni fashion to settle the issue and bring another trophy home to TNCA which had just finished celebrating Chennai Super Kings’ victory in IPL 2021 with a grand public show at its Chepauk Stadium and the CM MK Stalin in attendance as well as Kapil Dev, Krish Srikkanth and Ravi Shastri from the World Cup winning team of 1983.
Ravichandran Ashwin has a lot to say within his circle. He can be vociferous at team meetings because he loves to discuss things and dissect ideas. But he is best when he lets the cricket ball do the talking. Which is what he did in the first T20i when he starred with the white ball in a match-changing over taking out New Zealander’s Mark Chapman and getting the dangerous Glenn Philips to scotch the visitors’ hopes of a 170-plus total that could have challenged Team India. What Ashwin’s deeds with the ball have done since he was reluctantly brought into the side as an afterthought in the T20 World Cup after India had been virtually eliminated was to expose the prejudiced view of Virat Kohli towards off spin in general and against its leading proponent Ashwin in particular. Having decided that wrist spin was the answer to counter the big hitters in T20 cricket, the Kohli-Shastri duo had dumped Ashwin four years ago from white ball cricket and then simply refused to admit they could have been wrong even after the novelty of wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav had worn off. It is a tribute to Ashwin that he never gave up on honing his white ball skills. It is his good fortune that Team India is making a fresh start with a new captain and coach.
The faithful in Mumbai always look forward to an international cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium. Some IPL matches of Season 14 were held at the ‘D’ Road venue at Churchgate closed-doors last April before a few cases of the Coronavirus-19 bug struck a few players necessitating the unfinished part of the tournament to be held in the United Arab Emirates. With the pandemic easing out a bit, the BCCI which is set to make substantial money — around Rs 500 crore from the five-match home series against New Zealand, awarded the second Test to the Mumbai Cricket Association from December 3 to 7. The MCA President Dr Vijay Patil has asked the Government of Maharashtra to allow for full capacity attendance for the match. The MCA is yet to receive a response from the Uddhav Thackeray led Government, but it is readying itself for 50% or 70% capacity. The MCA can seat around 32,000 from which 8,000 odd are given to the 330 odd clubs and 4,800 to the Garware Club House at reduced rates. But while the white ball internationals and IPL matches receive a full house response, Test matches played over five days don’t appeal to even the public with immense interest in cricket. The MCA which will get a decent sum from in-stadia advertising is expecting a good turnout, with Virat Kohli returning to the ranks, but without homegrown boy Rohit Sharma.
All action in the cricket field moves from the Persian Gulf to Rajasthan’s pink city of Jaipur. The New Zealand team that was drubbed by Aaron Finch’s Australia in the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 final at the Dubai International Stadium on November 14 take India which was eliminated from the knock-out after being brought down to earth by Pakistan and New Zealand. It will be a different ball game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium (SMS) — overlooked by Rajput palaces — which will host its first Twenty20 international. The Rajasthan Cricket Association, once the turf of former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi, appears to have come out of court matters and sorted out administrative issues and the BCCI has announced a Rs 100 crore as financial assistance. It was in 2013 that the last BCCI ODI match was played at the SMS; and a Test match in 1987 (attended by Pakistan President Zia-Ul-Haq): when India played Pakistan Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed in the first ball by Imran Khan, the current Pakistan Prime Minister. With winter setting in, the locals are looking forward to a match with Rohit Sharma as captain and Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach.
Virat Kohli leaves behind a stirring record as captain in international T20 matches but without a single IPL win with Royal Challengers, Bangalore. His record in bilateral series is quite phenomenal and he won away T20i series in New Zealand (5-0), Australia (2-1), England (2-1) and South Africa (2-1), besides countless series at home and in Sri Lanka. The blot on his record book is to do with there being no ICC event victories under him. This may denote not only Team India’s failures in these high-profile events but also Kohli’s inability to inspire his team in high-pressure situations when the bowling intensity of opposing teams is far higher. Kohli’s prejudices as captain in selection situations abroad when his sway in picking the playing XI is highest tended to tell but more relevant was his tactical failures in tricky match situations in which MS Dhoni excelled with his instinctive decisions. For instance, in his first big final in the Champions Trophy of 2017 his bowlers lost control to Pakistan batsmen in the early overs and fell to heavy defeat. The story was to repeat in the chase in the 50-overs World Cup of 2019 and the World Test Championship final in both of which India lost to New Zealand. Best to say, critics won’t be sorry to see him relinquish the white ball captaincy.
The bio-bubble life for cricketers caused by the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and the workload management policy has compelled the BCCI senior national selection committee to rest players for the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand in Jaipur on Nov 17, Ranchi on Nov 19 and Kolkata on Nov 21. Virat Kohli who stepped down from Twenty20 internationals, will not figure in the Twenty20 series and also in the first Test to be played at Kanpur, but he will be available for the second Test in Mumbai. The players rested for the Twenty20 series are Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami and Shardul Thakur. Rohit Sharma has pulled out of the Test series, and so the spectators in Kanpur and Mumbai will not get a chance to see him in action. Early this year Chennai and Ahmedabad played host to England in two Tests each and the local associations opened the gates on a restricted basis. Collection at the gates would suffer if the top stars pull out, but with an all-format series scheduled in South Africa from mid-December, the BCCI and the national selectors believed that the “Rest” option has to be applied to the senior players. The print media which was given access against England will not be given access to the press box at Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata.
All hopes of India featuring in the business end of the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 here in the UAE went kaput after the first champion of the tournament in 2007, played poor cricket and was shown its place by Pakistan on October 24 and by New Zealand on October 31. On November 8, India completed the formality of finishing its Super 12 game against Namibia and prepared for its departure for home from Dubai. It would have been wishful thinking to have expected Afghanistan to outwit New Zealand and thereby for India to improve its standing in the point table. India, which surprised the cricket world by winning the first World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007 and then lost in the final of the 2014 competition, were not up to the mark in the UAE. Loss of the toss, dew fall in the second session and absence of a long gap between the IPL and the World Twenty20 have been trotted out as the reasons for India’s average performance, but the fact is that India was thoroughly outwitted by Pakistan and New Zealand on the cricketing count. Virat Kohli’s team may not have won the Trophy in the Arabian Gulf, but the BCCI will rake in a sum of near about Rs 500 crore from the three white ball and two Test series against New Zealand
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.
And this is vindicated by our two marquee advertisers – IDFC FIRST Bank and ICICI Lombard. Both believed in our story and have supported us from Day one. A big thank you to both.
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.