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Lead realtor executing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), the Gautam Adani group will extend its footprint in Mumbai city with several more slum clusters actively taken up for redevelopment. Well-placed sources say projects in line include Goregaon located Motilal Nagar in the western suburbs, to be followed by the Bharat Nagar slum cluster in the BKC business district. Thereafter, the Kurar slums will be taken up followed by the ghettos in Malwani region in the western suburb of the Mumbai metropolis. “The DRP special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up for the Dharavi recast entails a contractual clause allowing lead developer (Adani) first right of refusal for any slum cluster redevelopment in Mumbai, going ahead. Naturally, even CMs of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh evinced interest in replicating the model for slum redevelopment for their respective political domains, the roadmap to make Mumbai slum-free is on accelerated mode with CM Devendra Fadnavis mandating an eight-year timeline for make the city totally free of slums,” according to a source. Notwithstanding the eight-year deadline to transform 45% of Mumbai’s land mass housing 50% of its population in slum clusters may probably need a couple of years of extension for the target human rehabilitation within a decade. Considering the fact that the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) was able to provide only 2.5 lakh free homes to slum dwellers over 28 years, the emphasis on real time redevelopment of all slums in the next decade is certainly an ambitious plan but, not undoable.
There is a new player in the eternal Indian cycle in which the cricketers want to be actors on screen and actors want to play cricketers on screen. He is Suresh Raina who will be making his debut as the hero in a Tamil film that has just been announced. Considering the former Test, ODI and IPL batsman has had offers from Bollywood that he turned down in life after cricket, his choice of medium is piquant. But then Raina may have found an easy choice in his favourite city Chennai to take a serious offer to don the greasepaint, that too as the protagonist. And he will be playing a role that may come naturally to him as he is a cricketer in the film. No, it is not a biopic, just a story woven around cricket and politics. A close lieutenant of Dhoni who was ‘Thala’ (boss or chief), Raina was known as ‘Chinna Thala’ in his CSK playing days when he was as much a batting super star as his boss. Raina may feel at home in Kollywood where he will take on this new role. The film is being directed by Logan for the Dream Knight Stories banner and will be a medium budget release with big ambitions. There have been movies in which cricketers like Bravo, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh have also starred. Where Raina and his film may end up is anybody’s guess. But this won’t be the last story you will read on cricketers chasing films and film stars chasing cricketers to play them on screen. This cycle began early with Salim Durrani one of the first to try a hand at becoming a matinee star while others like Sandeep Patil also fell for it.
The Calcutta High Court directed the Union government to resume implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in West Bengal from August 1. The scheme, which provides 100 days of wage employment to rural households, had remained suspended in the State since March 2022. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee noted that the Ministry of Rural Development had invoked Clause 27 of the MGNREGA Act to withhold funds to the State, a provision that permits stoppage of fund flow for a reasonable period of time. Though the court pointed out that the Union government was within its rights to impose special conditions for implementation to avoid irregularities, Justice Sivagnanam stated that the Act “does not envisage a situation where the scheme would be put to cold storage for eternity.” The Bench also took note of irregularities in wage disbursement flagged by Central teams. Responding to the HC order the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in an interview to The Business Line, pointed out that there should be some rationale with which money is to be distributed. “It’s also a question of how based on the BE (Budget Estimates), within the first half year itself, everything gets exhausted. If it is a demand-driven scheme, a certain BE is announced so that money can be apportioned. How does the BE get exhausted every year in every state much before the first half of the year? This is a scheme which has got to be in force when it is the non-agricultural season. So, come the rains, you shouldn’t have demand coming. But the demand is still in place even during the rain.” Pointing out how there are states where senior citizens taking money out of MGNREGA–it is a C&AG’s observation–she wanted to know if they are productive enough to be employed and given payment?
Vivek Oberoi may have been crucified by Bollywood because of his fallout with Salman Khan but the same actor today is a successful entrepreneur and real estate baron in Dubai. The actor’s company has a turnover of Rs 1200cr and many Bollywood stars have bought apartments in Dubai through him. Oberoi’s second act or changing career track has impressed one and all. The 49-year old Vivek, son of actor Suresh Oberoi, made his debut as a gangster in Ram Gopal Varma’s Company which was a runaway hit. More success followed. But his relationship with Aishwaraya Rai seemed to have upset Salman Khan. This rivalry saw him losing out as most producers decided to back Salman and sidelined him. With not many offers coming his way, it is learnt that for a fleeting moment he contemplated what Sushant Singh Rajput did. Then he picked up the gauntlet, moved to Dubai and plunged headlong into the real estate business. He was successful. There is a lesson here for lakhs of people; Vivek did not allow lobbies in Bollywood to decide his future and is now doing films on his terms. He was recently seen in Kesari Veer and will be seen playing vidyutjeeva in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan. The actor now lives in Dubai and shuttles between Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai. Not many are aware of his philanthropic activities in the areas of education (he does not like to talk about it) and healthcare. He helps the underprivileged children of Vrindavan and also cancer patients. Vivek had a reason to change his track and fortunately he was successful. Others have tried but in vain. Rajesh Khanna plunged into politics full time while people like Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, Ravi Kishan managed both the world. Amitabh Bachchan’s eternal regret is his political odyssey.
BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL), which was losing importance following the setting up of a new unit at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, is getting a fresh lease of life. The unit, which is owned by BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL), a joint venture between India and Russia, is expected to be taken over by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). BAPL, headquartered in New Delhi has an integration complex in Hyderabad and production unit in Thiruvananthapuram. According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, former IT Minister and BJP Kerala president, he has been assured that DRDO will take over BATL. This will bring BATL employees directly under the Central government structure and align the unit with the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, which would not have been possible if it was functioning as a JV with a foreign entity. BATL was set up in 2007, with the Kerala government transferring Kerala Hi-Tech Industries (KELTEC), sitting on 15.8 acres of land near Thiruvananthapuram airport to the JV. The land had recently become a contentious issue following the expansion of the International airport. The Kerala government has now offered BATL 186 acres of land at Nettukalters near Neyyar Dam in Thiruvananthapuram, to relocate the unit. The defence ministry is believed to be evaluating the proposal. BATL, is a jewel in Kerala’s industrialisation plan and the first defence unit in the state. BAPL took over KELTEC and converted it into a world class missile making unit in India. BAPL was set up in 1998 as a JV between DRDO (50.5%) and Mashinostroyenia (49.4%) Russia.
The number of IPOs on SME Platforms of Exchanges have been declining for some time now. Investors are not showing much of the interest especially in QIB categories. Ditto: HNIs and Retail category investors. Merchant Bankers even after getting the approval want to be fully sure about the success of the public issue and therefore there is delay in opening the issue. It has been also observed that on the day of listing there is huge selling happening which is creating downward pressure on the price of the stocks. Recently few companies got listed at discount to the IPO price and this is further keeping the investors away from the primary market. According to Ajay Thakur, the brain behind BSE SME Exchange, who has now set up his own outfit TGI SME Capital Advisors, “In the first six months of the current calendar year SME Platforms have observed lacklustre performance as response from all categories of investors were lukewarm. However, from last week of June things have started looking up. Most of the SME companies are getting listed at a premium and naturally there is heavy selling on the day of listing. But, the good development is that one is not seeing the euphoria like we saw in 2024. This indicates that Investors are maturing and the expectations are reasonable. Greed is the biggest killer for everyone whether investors or intermediaries or anyone. Intermediaries also need to do proper due diligence before SME companies can tap the capital market.
About 767 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra between January and May 2025. These include about 229 farmer suicides in the month of April,2025. Of these, the families of only 373 farmers were found eligible to receive compensation of Rs 1 lakh from the state. Out of these, 327 families have received compensation, the balance 46 families’ paperwork are being processed. Claims for compensation of about 200 families were rejected as ineligible. These figures were provided by minister for relief and rehabilitation Makarand Jadhav Patil, in a written reply in the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The state has witnessed crop losses across 36 million hectares worth Rs 7000 crore in damages over the last five years. Maharashtra being highly vulnerable to climate change with the state witnessing 142 extreme weather events in 2024, only adds to the conundrum. The Opposition have been contending that the farmer suicides have been on the rise due to failure of the State to protect farmers from crops loss impacted by climate change, failure to provide fair support price, ensure crop insurance and failure to provide loan waivers to farmers. The state has recently scrapped crop insurance for farmers with a premium of Re 1. Maharashtra has the highest number of farmers suicides in the country with the parched regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada registering the highest numbers. Over 250 farmers committed suicide in March alone this year in these regions. The Opposition has been demanding that a higher compensation be awarded to farmer suicides on the lines of compensation provided to those who die due to wild animal attacks.
Popular south star Priya Mani Raj, known as Priyamani has many comfort zones as a superb actor (she won the National Award for Paruthiveeran in which she played a rape victim), the OTT series The Family Man was as much about her as the Sri Lankan Terrorist Samantha, ‘1234 get on the dance floor where she sizzled in a racy fun number with Shah Rukh Khan in Chennai Express and many a role as cop or CBI officer. She laughs as she says “I have done so many CBI /cop roles that I may be given a citation”. But even as she indirectly does not want typecast roles, she is grateful that she has gained this recognition…her pleasant looks, versatile performance in all language formats and impact filled roles make her an apt choice for all reasons. So, when Revathy directed Good Wife started filming, Priya was the obvious choice. She plays the role of a lawyer who has hung up her robe, but when her husband is charged in a scandal, she dons her lawyer robe once again. This 6-episode is based on the American OTT series. Forty-one year old Priyamani is also starring in Vijay’s last film (he claims) Jana Nayakan to be released in January, and in a third season of The Family Man on Amazon Prime. This unassuming lady from a middle class South Indian family has truly come a long way.
As tensions escalate between a section of Tollywood’s directors and the Federation of Technicians, a pertinent question looms large over the Bengali film industry—can it afford to lose celebrated talents like Parambrata Chatterjee, Anirban Bhattacharya, Aritra Sen, Subrata Sen, Sudeshna Roy or heavyweight producers like SVF if this deadlock continues? Anirban, one of the industry’s most respected actor-directors, who also worked opposite Rani Mukherjee in her Chatterjee Vs Norway has openly expressed his frustration over the prevailing impasse. Despite recently wrapping up the shoot of Raghu Dakat, the actor revealed that he hasn’t received any new work offers in weeks. He was unable to shoot for the second part of the song Hooliganism for his band. He pointed out that while there are rumours of a boycott, there has been no official written or verbal statement. He now wonders if continued silence over the next few months might signal the end of his screen career altogether. This unofficial ban is not unique to Anirban. Thirteen directors who had moved court against the Federation are being blocked from work. So too their close collaborators. Director Aritra Sen, an associate of Parambrata Chatterjee, has seen his projects stalled, while Souvik Mondal’s TV serial was halted due to his association with one of the 13 filmmakers. Although the Calcutta High Court has clearly stated that the Federation cannot interfere with the directors’ work or autonomy, filmmakers claim the reality defies the ruling.
The Odisha government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi has chalked up big plans to transform Puri, which houses the famous Lord Jagannath Temple, into a world class tourism hub so that tourists spend more days at Puri. For starters, it is planning to upgrade Puri from municipality to a municipal corporation. A municipal corporation is a larger, more autonomous body than a municipality, typically governing big cities while municipality governs smaller towns. Puri’s envisaged municipal corporation status will now include around 10 adjacent Gram Panchayats, expanding the city’s size and providing enhanced facilities for residents and tourists. Other plans include: a world class museum and library complex showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Lord Jagannath and an auditorium for daily light and sound shows in multiple languages plus an open-air theatre. This decision by the Majhi government to enhance Puri’s appeal comes at the back of a large influx of devotees – both from India and overseas. With this upgrade proposal, Puri now joins Odisha government’s plan to establish a metropolitan development region of 7,000 sq km encompassing Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Jatni, Cuttack, Paradeep and Puri making an integrated economic corridor. For now, CM Majhi’s focus is clear, he wants to make Puri one of the liveable cities of the country.
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
India’s sports capital Bhubaneswar is all ready to welcome 16 countries for the 2021 Men’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup to be played between November 24 and December 5 at its world class Kalinga Stadium. India is the defending champion, having won the Junior World Cup title in 2016 at Lucknow. It is learnt that in view of Covid-19 precautions there will be no spectators, but the matches will be telecast live. Sports promotion seems to be on the radar of every chief minister in the country. Uttar Pradesh was keen to host FIH Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup for the second time but backed out as the upcoming Assembly elections are a top priority. For Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who has been betting big on sports this was a god-sent opportunity and he quickly moved to host the event. Till the Indian hockey team won the bronze at Tokyo Olympics not many people knew that it was Patnaik who was supporting the hockey players to the hilt for so many years now. In fact, the Parliamentary Committee has recommended other states to emulate the Odisha model for sports development through public sector and private sector participation. No one understands better than Patnaik. He has done this successfully, roping in participative contributions from PSUs and Private Sector enterprises to support sports.
Virat Kohli and the Indian team have been under the cosh for their dismal performances in the two opening matches of the ICC Men’s World Cup Twenty20 against Pakistan and New Zealand. Both the matches were played on Sundays and at Dubai, and Kohli appeared quite fed up with the long gap between the two matches. The outcome against New Zealand, to which Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team had lost in South Africa at The Wanderers, Johannesburg in 2007 at Nagpur in 2016, was even more deflating. In Dubai, Kohli’s run down team had no answers to a professional work in the field by a low profile side. Reactions from former players across nations have been assorted, and those regularly active on the social media have been quick to put out their own reasons, but it is former India batting maestro, Sunil Gavaskar who has hit the nail on its head by making an observation that may not go down well with Kohli or the decision makers in the Indian team. And Dhoni is the mentor of the team. Gavaskar has said that Ishan Kishan is a hit-and-miss player and by asking him to open the innings with KL Rahul the team was only suggesting that it doesn’t trust him against left arm seamer Trent Boult. Clearly Kohli’s team is down and out before the match against Afghanistan at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Team India is facing the classic do-or-die situation in the T20 World Cup. Failure to beat New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday (October 31) would mean elimination as other results are expected to go by the form book. A couple of changes in the playing XI are bound to be there for the key game. India is grappling with two major problems in its bowling. The woes go beyond how flat the bowling looked against Pakistan because of the heavy dew factor. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was seen to be too ineffective, so too the mystery finger spinner Varun Chakravorty. An interesting thing to look out for would be whether the team would be wise enough to accept its bowling failures and reinforce the attack with Shardul Thakur coming in for Bhuvi and Ravi Ashwin for Varun. It may be time for skipper Virat Kohli to keep aside any prejudices against Ashwin and play him in the hope that his cleverness can help get over the conditions if Team India are forced to defend a total again at night. And then the question of bringing in in-form batsman Ishan Kishan remains but will the team dump Surya Kumar Yadav and play Kishan? Hardik Pandya’s place can’t be assured if he can’t turn his arm over.
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) will honour Sunil Gavaskar by presenting him a separate viewing box at the Wankhede stadium on Friday (October 29). This is the little master’s golden jubilee year of playing Test cricket, having been capped for the first time in the 1971 series in the West Indies that he made memorable by amassing 774 runs in four Tests. “The MCA has allotted a 10-seater box to Mr Gavaskar,” said the MCA Secretary Sanjay Naik. Gavaskar turned out for India in 125 Tests and became the first batsman in the annals of the game to cross the 10,000-run milestone and finished at 10,122 runs with 34 centuries. He was also part of the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup, but more significantly he showed tremendous commitment sporting the Bombay cap, playing 77 matches, scoring 5898 runs including a high of 340 in the 1980-81 season against Bengal. Gavaskar’s arrival in 1971 triggered a tremendous interest among the youth to pursue the sport. After bidding adieu, he has touched virtually every aspect of cricket from coaching to administration to expert commentary. Present at the Wankhede would be his brother-in-law, Gundappa Viswanath, another giant of Indian cricket, Dilip Vengsarkar who will be honoured by naming of a stand in his name and also Sachin Tendulkar, a jewel of Mumbai and Indian cricket.
When India plays Pakistan in a World Cup, sparks are expected to fly – but not of the kind that followed Pakistan’s victory over India in the 13th attempt. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed hailed the moment as “victory of the Islamic world (awaam-e-Islam ki fateh),” pointing out: “The Pakistani team had the emotional support of all Muslims of the world, Including Muslims of India.” Pakistan’s legends too didn’t hold back: In the company of Sohaib Akhtar and ARY News moderator, Waqar Younis gushed in: “The best thing, what Rizwan did, Mashalla, he offered the Namaz on the ground surrounded by Hindus. That was really something very special for me.” His expert comments also focused on how Shaheen and Babur – also the name of Pakistan’s missiles aimed at India – will be remembered for a long time. (Pakistan’s missiles Ghaznavi, Ghauri, Babur etc are named after some of history’s most barbaric conquerors who invaded the Indian Subcontinent). This sight of a civil society boasting like Islamic Supremacists has sent a wave of revulsion in India. “I really hope that a lot of genuine sports lovers in Pakistan are able to see the dangerous side to this statement and join in my disappointment. It makes it very difficult for sports lovers like us to try and tell people it is just sport, just a cricket match,” said cricket commentator Harsh Bhogle.
“Takes jihadi mindset of another level to say this in a sport,” tweeted an anguished Venkatesh Prasad on Waqar Younis comment (“Hinduon ke beech me khade hoke namaaz padi, that was very very special for me”). A quarter century ago, it took “something special,” out of this world heroics from the Men in Blue to knock out Pakistan, the defending champions, at the Quarter Final of Wills World Cup 1996 in Bengaluru. The high-intensity match is remembered for Prasad sending Aamer Sohail off (after his arrogant taunt) and ripping the heart out of Pakistan’s batting by removing three wickets in 18 balls (including Inzamam-ul-Haq); Man of the Match Navjot Sidhu missing century (93 runs) — and Ajay Jadeja’s brutal clubbing of Waqar Younis (who conceded 22 runs in the 48th over and 18 in the 50th versus 27 in his first eight overs). “Cricket matches between India and Pakistan are “less cricket and more gladiatorial contests,” remarked the then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh in mid-2001 during the NDA Government, which discontinued cricket bilaterals “given the atmosphere prevailing.” Situation has only worsened in the past 20 years with Pakistan emerging as a home to the world’s largest pool of UN designated terrorists – and India being the No 1 victim of the terror attacks like 26/11, Pulwama and a series of bomb blasts across cities, massacring and maiming thousands of Indians.
In less than 24 hours Indian cricket took the rough with the smooth in Dubai: the UAE emirate became the first venue in the world where the national team bit the dust in an ICC World Cup match against Pakistan, and the very next day the BCCI got two franchisees to bare their heart and soul for the popular Twenty20 tournament which goes by the acronym, IPL. While Virat Kohli’s team was battered and bruised by left-arm seamer Shaheen Afridi’s telling blows and Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s daredevil batting, the BCCI leadership under Jay Shah (son of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah) saw thin paper envelopes delivering a heavy Rs 12,715 crore from the two newly minted franchises and making it further cash-rich. Somewhere in the UK, Lalit Modi, the brains behind the IPL arithmetic, must be delighted to see a probably desperate Sanjiv Goenka of the RP-SG Group shelling out Rs 7,090 crore and choosing Lucknow, not far from PM Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi; and PE player CVC Capital winning Ahmedabad for Rs 5,625 crore. Now the starting valuation for any of the IPL franchises is Rs 7,090 crore, which means, any among the first franchises, can reap a windfall should they wish to place 20 plus stake for sale and wipe out the losses.
The million-dollar question, as a legion of excited Indian fans await coming Sunday’s (October 24) ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup match against Pakistan at the Dubai international stadium is: whether off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will make the playing XI cut. The injury to off-spinner all-rounder Washington Sundar may have paved the way for Ashwin’s recall for white ball internationals after a little over four years, but his place in the playing XI is not guaranteed. India captain Virat Kohli has given sufficient hints of fielding Ashwin in the crucial match against Pakistan that always raises the noise levels in the two countries across the Wagah and among the diaspora in the UK, USA, the antipodes and generally across the world. Going by his past record between 2012 and 2016, Ashwin has played five Twenty20 matches against the archrival, bowled reasonably well and won all five. Of these five, three were in Twenty20 World cup matches in 2012 in Colombo, 2014 in Mirpur and 2016 in Kolkata. The talk of the town here in Dubai is that Kohli has the mystery spinner in Varun Chakravarthy and left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja to look at, before he mulls over Ashwin who played in the warm-up matches against England and Australia. Recently, Kohli also gave a thumbs up to the sidelined spinner in white ball cricket for five years.
The de facto head honcho of Chennai Super Kings summed it up all by saying “Dhoni is CSK and CSK is Dhoni.” That is how much Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain with the magic touch, has captivated the IPL franchise as well as its host city. Dhoni might appear to be well over the hill but T20’s short duration gives him a chance to keep himself in the thick of action as wicket-keeper and a batsman who can finish a game with just his experience and the awesome power of his willow when he connects. Dhoni would love to have an emotional farewell season at CSK as a player and the team is willing to use its first available retention card to keep him out of the general auction pool. It’s only the lack of clarity on player retention for IPL-15 that keeps the guessing games going. In his 12 seasons with CSK in which time he led them into nine finals winning four, Dhoni has become a fixture of the franchise and the host city where his once famous night rides on super bikes kept cops on tenterhooks. Chennai’s favourite son will be seen in canary yellow as a player again and we have the word of vice chairman & MD of India Cements, N Srinivasan, for it.
From the noble cause for which the Sheikh Abdul Rahman promoted Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), (founded in the 1980s, to honour and present a handsome purse ranging from $15,000 to $50000 to the present and past icons of the game, mostly from India and Pakistan), cricket has travelled a long way in the last 40 years from Sharjah to the nearby outposts of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now recognised as a popular and profitable destination to conduct major competitions like the IPL and an ICC signature event and the people who have taken these two high profile tournaments are the BCCI which has been averse to playing Pakistan in a bilateral series at the neutral venues in the petro-dollar region. The game thrived there in the 1980s and 90s as the expats from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh saw much entertainment value in the thrilling matches played by the arch-rivals of Asia, and also were excited to see the legends in action. The BCCI, which is the host of the ongoing ICC Men’s World Twenty20, has scheduled a few matches in the Sultanate of Oman, but it’s the likes of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah that deserve a shabhash for making it happen — two big events in two months
Not for nothing is he known as Captain Cool. CSK coach Stephen Fleming said that Dhoni had that look in his eye which said: “I will take this on.” In the match against Delhi Capitals on October 10, Dhoni went out to bat with that intent when 24 were needed off the last two overs even if he wasn’t in the best of nick. That didn’t mean anything though as Dhoni dispatched the ball to the fence whenever it was within his sight and reach. That sight and reach may have dimmed or shortened but it didn’t matter as Dhoni made 18 off six balls and miraculously led his CSK into a ninth final in just 12 seasons — Remember his team was banned for two years. Dhoni never explains what he does at the batting crease. There were several revelations: “I wasn’t thinking too much. If you think too much while batting then you mess your plans up.” Also, Dhoni revealed a Sehwag-like code to batting, “My plan was simple, see the ball, hit the ball.” Dhoni can make that Sehwag plan seem even simpler while captaining too as he backed his bowlers even on a hard day when the ball was flying all around like when Hetmeyer and Pant were batting. But nothing is beyond Dhoni, the magician, not when it comes to the finish.
While the BCCI is dilly-dallying with the idea of founding the Women’s IPL Twenty20 competition, Cricket Australia has not lost the opportunity to draft in eight Indian players for the ever so popular Women’s Big Bash League. The most exciting batter of recent times, India opener Shafali Verma and left arm spinner Radha Yadav will feature in the Sydney Sixers on Thursday, October 14. The Indians — apart from Shafali and Radha, the magnificent stroke player Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemima Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma — will earn decent Australian dollars, but what’s of importance is the players will get some experience of competitive cricket before the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand in March-April 2022. There have been conflicting views on the need to start the IPL for women; some among the discerning believe India doesn’t have the talent pool to start one but is it not a good thought to start one when women’s cricket has a successful face in Smriti, who was in rollicking form in the pink ball Test against Australia at the Gold Coast. The BCCI should cash in on the opportunity that has presented itself now with a handful of young players showing the desire to embrace the sport.
Come Sunday (October 10), the deadline day for the teams taking part in the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup to effect changes in the squad. The teams that have qualified for the global slang-bang event under the aegis of the ICC went through the process of announcing the 15-member team by September 10. The ICC has allowed the Cricket Boards to carry out changes in the squad till October 10. The immediate question is whether the Indian Cricket Board will ask its selection committee to make changes in the team, either due to injury, lack of form in the IPL or otherwise. In normal circumstances the selection committee sticks to its original choice of players because that’s done in consultation with the captain. There is speculation though that Hardik Pandya, with a vulnerable lower back, has given an opportunity for the selectors to review his selection because he has not sent down a single ball in the ongoing IPL-14 in the UAE and everybody finds this confounding. One month ago the chairman of the selection committee Chetan Sharma said that Hardik will be fit to bowl four overs in every match in the World Cup. By now the BCCI must have obtained the fitness status of the players selected for the multi-nation bash in the UAE. Hardik’s fate will depend on his medical report and also Kohli’s opinion.
There are like-minded people in the cricketing fraternity who believe that the top leadership role for Smriti Mandhana is not far away. This line of thought is for both white-ball, which is leveraged to promote women’s cricket worldwide, and red-ball cricket, which the national team has got the taste twice in the last five months. Smriti, through her stylish strokes, brings large doses of cricketing oomph that is compelling to watch. Not knowing when the next multi-day Test match will be scheduled, because the immediate focus will be on the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand next March, the elegant left-hander showed a terrific mindset to uncork a century (127, 22x 4s and 1×6) that rattled the well grizzled Australian team in the one-off pink ball Test at Gold Coast’s Carrara Oval recently. Smriti at 25 already exemplifies as a fine role model for the even younger talent to follow. The Sangli lass has chosen to play a brand of cricket that the present-day fans and stakeholders lap it up. She has already made a big impact on Shafali Verma who goes after the bowling from the word go. A splendid striker of the ball, Harmanpreet Kaur, the present Twenty20 captain, appears to have lost way. But India’s women cricket will be in good hands in the future, with Smriti showing the way.
Wild speculation from entertainment and media honchos abound about the ballpark sum the third cycle of Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights (Global TV and Digital) would rake in for the five-season span of 2023-2027. One cannot fault them for projecting fancy and freak numbers — from Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore — for such has been the success of the League, founded by BCCI’s Lalit Modi in 2007-08. BCCI officials who did not understand the dynamics of media rights were stumped by the bids made by TV broadcasters for the BCCI media rights. There were companies which faxed their bids in excess of Rs 400 crore, but the wise Marwari from Kolkata, Jagmohan Dalmiya, gave it to Prasar Bharati for Rs 230 crore for the 1999-2004 cycle featuring 135 days of international cricket at home. The new baby, IPL which arrived in 2008, changed the numbers game dramatically. And Star India is quite determined to win the IPL from SONY for the 2019-2022 cycle put in a sum of Rs 16,347 crore. With two additional teams from Season 15, at least half a dozen sports broadcasters are likely to show interest by picking the Invitation to Tender in end October. So far, the tussle has been between SONY and Star Sports, but will a Reliance Group company get into the fray this time.
It may be easy to understand what Ravichandran Ashwin is saying but it is not easy to appreciate him. He thinks differently, speaks his mind and is not afraid to face the consequences. They wouldn’t give him leadership roles in teams he plays in and the few who have tried have backed away quickly because he can say truths in everyone’s face. When the issue cropped up over a run stolen off a deflection from batsman Rishabh Pant’s pad in IPL, Ashwin was bound to take a stand. What he said also makes sense because the laws of cricket support him. But sportsmanship dictates have largely been followed – like warning a non-striker when he is attempting to steal ground by leaving his crease before the ball is bowled and in declining overthrows when the throw hits a batsman and deflects. Ashwin would rather go by the rule book and there is nothing in them that prohibits ‘Mankad’ run outs and overthrows off deflections. In fact, as pointed out, England won the 2019 World Cup because of the ball deflecting off the stumps to the boundary. Ashwin believes it is unfair to point to him as the rebel who ratted on Virat Kohli’s leadership style to BCCI bigwigs. Many have apparently done it as well, but none has the guts to stand up for their views like Ashwin.
Ravi Bishnoi’s first-ball googly bluff that spelt doom for Surya Yadav at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (Sept 28) has become a hot topic among the cricketing faithful. Still a tyro in the electrifying world of the IPL, Punjab Kings Bishnoi tricked the Mumbai Indians right- hander, who staged a lonely walk back to the dugout, embarrassed. The Jodhpur-born tweaker, Bishnoi has not been a regular in the playing XI this season and hence is behind the likes of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Rashid Khan, MI’s Rahul Chahar and even Stevens with Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Yuzvendra Chahal with nine wickets. The leggie began phase 2 of the league with a 3/ 24 against Sunrisers and dismissed MI captain Rohit Sharma and Yadav of successive balls. Bishnoi should play the remaining matches now. Commenting on Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet, the England bowler who created the googly with a tennis ball first, Australian commentator AG Moyes said: “He (Bosanquet) perfected it or rather developed it, amid laughs, jeers and even ridicule. He had been a fastish bowler before he sired the illegitimate member of the leg-break family and the child was just as uncontrollable as most delinquents.” The googly in leg-break action did not receive a wholehearted welcome, but over a period of hundred years, leg-spin-googly has become a weapon, as Bishnoi demonstrated it against Yadav.
Without giving a smidgeon of trumpeting his decision to promote Venketesh Iyer from lower order to opener, Chandrakant Pandit said: “Aisa he bhej Diya, upar batting kar ne ke liye,” (just like that, I sent him to open the innings). Pandit was known as a smart cookie, as a player and captain. And as coach of Madhya Pradesh last year Pandit did not want to see talent go waste. After seeing Iyer — the latest IPL sensation with the bat — perish under pressure in the death overs of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20, he liberated the left-hander by asking him to blast for runs in the first power play of six overs when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner 30 yard ring. Getting the big break in Kolkata Knight Riders’ first outing at Abu Dhabi, Iyer pummelled all comers against RCB and repeated the show against Mumbai Indians. His 41* against RCB came at a strike rate of 151.85 and 53 against MI at a strike rate of 176.67. And KKR cantered to easy wins and position itself in the top four of the points table. So far, he has repelled the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Trent Boult, Adam Milne and Jasprit Bumrah. And the former India stumper, Pandit is mightily pleased with Iyer’s pyrotechnical display at the top.
Virat Kohli has set himself one goal and that is to become the world’s No. 1 batsman in all formats. He has another long-term aim and that is to crack Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 100 international centuries, but he has to make another 30 centuries just to catch up with the Master. Towards meeting his goals, he has taken decisions like quitting T20 captaincy. The crown is not sitting squarely on his head and the intense focus on the Indian cricket captain hasn’t helped though it must be said the debate is running at a time of grand success for Team India in Australia and then in England. The loss in the WCT final was the only sore point, which also led to personality clashes within the team. As Test captain since 2015 and ODI skipper since 2017, Kohli averages 56.1 in Tests, 72.7 in ODIs and 48.5 in T20s. But the hundreds have dried up, his last coming in November 2019 since when he has been averaging just 26.8 in Tests and 46.7 in ODIs. He would love to let his bat do the talking again. Since most of the cricket will be on pitches more amenable to his style of batting, Kohli will be among the runs again and the noises around captaincy may just stop.
Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan was not spotted at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, September 20 when his Red Chillies Entertainment-owned Kolkata Knight Riders sprang a big surprise on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore. According to Venky Mysore, CEO & MD of the two-time title winner (2012 and 2014), SRK who has 26.1 million followers on Instagram, and 42 million on Twitter, was busy shooting somewhere else in the world. Anyway, one of the most popular thespians of the Indian cinema of modern times would have been delighted with the fact of the Eoin Morgan led KKR reflecting the essence of team’s theme song “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (we will act, fight and win!)” as it scored a facile win against RCB in the second match of the League-14 that resumed after five months. The League had come to a standstill after 29 matches were played in India from April 9 to May 2 this year, because a few players and coaches were struck by Covid-19. Virtually not running for the play-offs berth after five losses in the first phase, KKR gathered its wits to outplay RCB, looking to win its first IPL title. After a terrific KKR win against RCB, SRK and the other co-owners Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, would have more reasons to cheer their team.
Sunil Gavaskar missed a mere four Tests and 20 ODIs in a memorable career of 16 years. The legendary opener played 125 Tests and 108 ODIs. India’s premier spinner Anil Kumble and seamer Kapil Dev believed that doing the hard yards without a break enabled them to pick up the tricks of the trade and become better. They did not hear the fancy and much bandied about words “workload management” when they carried out their work with zeal. Kumble sent down 40,852 balls in 132 Tests, and 14,376 balls in 269 ODIs, and Kapil Dev sent down 27,740 balls in 131 Test matches and 11,202 balls in 225 ODIs. In all, Kumble bowled 66,941 balls in first class competitions and 20,247 balls in limited over matches while Kapil, 48,851 balls and 14,947 in the two formats. They must have been very tired when they bid adieu. Kapil missed just one Test in his career and Kumble, 27 mainly because of injury. Kumble even played 54 Twenty20 matches. Virat Kohli who has announced that he will step down from Twenty20 captaincy of the Indian team post the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 has touched upon the workload factor in his note. He has said it is important to understand workload. Opinions are divided on the workload rationale. Well, it will take a lot more time to understand when it’s applied to a batsman. Is it not!
It is far from polemic in nature, but the palaver about Virat Kohli to be eased out of white-ball captaincy after the Twenty20 World Cup has got the thinking caps to mull over. The BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal has denounced the news as rubbish, and the Secretary Jay Shah has been circumspect telling “The Indian Express” that the issue of captaincy doesn’t arise as long as the team is performing. But is India ready for a separate red and white-ball captain? As of now, Kohli is the undisputed leader in World Twenty20 with a phenomenal average of 52.65. His average as captain (45 matches) is an impressive 48.45. And in three Twenty20 World Cups, he has been out of the world, with a stupendous average of 86.33. He has not led India in ICC World Twenty20. Kohli is a white-ball King. He has led India only in nine ICC World Cup matches and won seven. It’s a matter of conjecture if Rohit Sharma will lead India in the white-ball series at home against New Zealand after the show in the UAE. Kohli needs to lead in five matches each to complete a century in ODIs and a half century in Twenty20. Will he make way for Sharma, who proved his mettle in Australia and England and has led India in 19 Twenty20 matches and 10 ODIs?
Cricket may make a comeback into the Olympics by 2028 in Los Angeles and not in 2024 in Brisbane which, however, has great infrastructure for the game. But long before cricket gets Olympic recognition again after figuring in the Paris Games in 1900, it may be born in the USA in an international avatar as the Second Season of IPL. Plans are afoot to build infra in the West Coast of USA for cricket not only with an eye on the Olympics but also to get into the lucrative IPL market by offering great venues for the game in Los Angeles and the Bay Area around San Francisco. In fact, these venues may be up and running in a couple of years so that the IPL Second Season can take off in the US summer of 2024. Those planning the IPL Second Season in the USA are perfectly aware that there is no dearth of CEOs of billion-dollar IT companies whose czars are all PIOs and so the game won’t be lacking in sponsors. A Second Season of IPL every year might leave little space for traditional Test cricket but the administration is unlikely to be bothered too much about it as the IPL is the game’s biggest money spinner that leaves BCCI with more money than all other cricket boards put together.
The cricketing grapevine is rife with whispers of a conflict between the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and President Sourav Ganguly. The decibel-level has probably increased by a notch, with Shah calling out, at his debut press conference, the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the mentor of the Indian team for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in the Persian Gulf soon. Jay, the son of the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, is virtually the Chief Executive of the BCCI, running its daily affairs. Post the Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators’ governance, Shah is said to have restructured the administration at the Cricket Centre at ‘D’ Road, Churchgate, and he is largely credited for taking the IPL to the UAE and keeping the revenue flow of Rs 4,000 crore plus intact, and also relocating the Twenty20 World Cup (the BCCI is the host country) to Oman, and the UAE. Clearly Shah (33) is calling the shots during these unprecedented Covid-19 times. Ganguly, who was part of the illustrious middle order phalanx that had Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman, and has the bragging rights for a Lord’s century, was recently seen hobnobbing at the MCC Members’ during the Lord’s Test. Not all it seems is hunky-dory in the BCCI; come the AGM in September 2022, and we all will know if Shah will go along with Ganguly!
Selection is a matter of judgement and not about rendering justice. The Team India tour selection committee dominated by skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri took this to extremes with the studied exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin. The picture of Ashwin sitting alone during India’s victory march was a poignant image from the series. To be in the playing XI regardless of the vicissitudes of form is about chemistry more than competence. In Ashwin’s case, that chemistry was missing during Dhoni’s regime itself when his debut was delayed even as Harbhajan Singh’s career was fading. Despite his rating as the world’s top spinner and a batsman with five Test centuries he was benched for four England Tests after playing in the WTC final and performing well enough, that too in June when English conditions were skewed in favour of seam bowlers. “Horses for courses” is the dictum that Kohli-Shastri enforced and proved their point with even Shardul Thakur, the fourth seamer for the Oval Test, exceeding expectations with ball and bat too. The two men in charge of Team India chose stubbornness over received wisdom and stuck to Ravi Jadeja as batting all-rounder who bowls spin. It was upto the selectors to render justice by picking Ashwin for the T20 World Cup, which perhaps least suits him at this stage of his career.
Two reverse swinging yorkers settled the issue as they crashed into the stumps behind Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow. Both yorkers flowed from the bowling arm of India’s smiling assassin who keeps his emotions well in check. As Jasprit Bumrah literally waddles in off a deceptively lazy run-up, the batsmen can be forgiven for mistaking him for a bowler of military medium pace. But a ramrod straight bowling arm can deliver reverse swinging yorkers at 90 mph, scattering stumps and breaking reputations. Reverse swing had been missing for days at The Oval as the sun smiled on late English summer days. But a 70-overs old ball roughed up by Jadeja pithing in the bowlers’ dusty footmarks was weaponised by Bumrah who opened up the England batting for fellow pace bowler Umesh Yadav to mop up. England, after a century opening stand, had been fancying themselves to chase down a fourth innings target. It was a team effort that saw India come from the depths of 127-7 and then a 99-run deficit to win, almost 50 years to the day since a famous victory at The Oval in 1971. Rohit Sharma, at the age of 34, got his first century away from home and Shardul Thakur shone with bat and ball, but it was Bumrah with his thunderbolts who stole the show.
Avani Lekhara has mirrored a braveheart, sending good tidings from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics shooting events. Just 19, the law student won the gold and bronze medals in Tokyo. When 12, she suffered a spinal cord injury following a car accident in the Pink City of Jaipur, and since has been wheelchair-bound. Her indomitable spirit came to the fore when she pursued the sport of shooting, competed with the world’s best in her disability categories and won laurels. All this happened after she joined Suma Shirur’s Lakshya Shooting Club at Panvel (outskirts of Mumbai) in 2018 and trained to become a champion. A medallist in the Asian and Commonwealth meets, an Arjuna Awardee and currently the High-Performance Coach of the Indian Jr. Rifle Shooting Team, a delighted Suma said: “I have been seeing Avani since she was 16, when she started coming to my Lakshya Shooting Club. What sets her apart is her willingness to prepare minutely and give her best every single time. She’s a perfectionist and never satisfied with anything, but the best. Having gone through so much in life, Avani has shown tremendous inner strength in coming out trumps. For me as coach, her unique ability stands out in verbalising every thought, emotion and even technical finer points. Despite the pressure, Avani’s never-say-die approach gives her the edge over the others.”
Shardul Thakur’s sparkling knock in the fourth Test at South London’s “The Oval” on Thursday caught England’s fast men bowling with their tails up, off guard. India’s first innings was in disarray, vindicating Joe Root’s decision — weighing up the pros of grey overhead conditions —- to insert the visitor in. The home team’s seamers used the darker Dukes ball with finesse to cause the downfall of India’s top guns who defended with angled and closed bats, as well as followed the ball outside the off stump. Much against the run of play, the Palghar boy, Thakur who likes to swing the ball, scattered it, striking big blows in front of the wicket. After a pyrotechnical display that resulted in a fastest Test half century at The Oval, Thakur, who was told many years ago by Sachin Tendulkar to shed weight in order to be more efficient and effective, stated that there is greater security playing with a straight bat against the ball that in English conditions moves in the air and of the surface and that he has been practising in a similar fashion since arriving in England. It was a tough ask on even the most accomplished Indian batsmen to defeat the England seamers’ ploy; except for Virat Kohli who carved a lovely half century. But Thakur threw his wrists at everything leaving England flummoxed.
Virat Kohli has been under greater pressure in his career as captain and batsman than in the ongoing England series. But his tactical errors are coming to haunt him more often. He chose to bat at Headingley where in the last 20 years no Test captain has done so. The high-water table has a way of allowing the new ball to swing like crazy and Team Indian were down and out in the first three overs from the sultan of swing – James Anderson. Kohli may have been blindsided by the Lord’s experience as his team batted first on being inserted. Having picked four seamers, perhaps correctly for Leeds, he may have predetermined the course of batting first. There is time yet for course correction and if Kohli gives up his seamer obsession at least for The Oval, a famous hunting ground for spinners, he might even pick the world’s best contemporary spinner – Ravi Ashwin. In an era of poor technique against the moving or spinning ball, batting collapses are dime a dozen and affect all teams. But England may have tactically put one over Indian batsmen by picking bowlers for their height and hence higher ball release points as they did with Overton in the third Test. India can regroup if the captain and coach can set their thinking straight.
Vasudeo Paranjape — the suave cricketing soul of the good old Bombay and modern Mumbai — got along wonderfully well to the pleasant greetings of “Kasa hai, eppadi irukkai and khem cho” in Matunga. Vasu (also Vasoo)— who took leave of our world on Janmashtami Day — was the pride and joy of Matunga, the area’s social fabric representing a beautiful blend of Marathi, Tamil and Gujarati-speaking people who mingled well at the inviting Udipi Restaurants with a good fill of upma- idli-dosa washed down with assorted peaberry concoctions at a dozen outlets, at the old Gulshan for the superb Burun-Maska and chai, or at the Rama Nayak on Sundays and holidays for hearty meal. When Vasu was around, cricket had to be the powwow, and much of it in a lighter vein. Of the old school, having raised at the famous King George (now Raja Shivaji), Vasu helped the careers of Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar to blossom, showing them the way at Dadar Union, Matunga’s all-time favourite sporting club built by a disciplinarian Madhav Mantri. According to Vengsarkar, it was mostly fun and laughter even while playing the game the hard way for Dadar Union with Vasu at the helm. Over time, Vasu became a cult figure. With his passing, the world of cricket has lost a treasure house.
Jimmy Anderson has been a magnificent manipulator of the cricket ball and a true-blue shot in the arm for England Test cricket. Not just because he has plied his trade with skill for 18 summers with the home-made Dukes, the Australian Kookaburra and the Indian SG Test, but also for the fact of hoodwinking batsmen without showing a trace of hostility. One of the finest practitioners of the red cherry is poised to reach a unique world record that would be nonpareil in the annals of Test cricket. He is a handful away from accounting for 100 Indian victims at home. In the ongoing Test at the white rose county (Yorkshire) ground at Headingley, Leeds, the red rose county (Lancashire) and England seamer caused the downfall of Rahul, Pujara and Kohli with in-swing and out-swing to take his tally to 96. With the second innings remaining and two more Tests at The Oval, and Old Trafford, the most successful operator of the shining and worn-out ball is all set to complete a terrific record. So far 193 bowlers — 121 fast bowlers and 72 spinners — have found their way into the Elite 100 Test Wickets Club, but Anderson would be an outlier in this crowd. After 15 years, James Michael Anderson, 39 is in pursuit of a century he will be proud of to have founded.
Sport Climbing is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors fixed to the rock for protection. Meet Franco Linhares – a retired microbiologist, Abhijit Burman – a robotic technician, Aniruddha Biswas – a senior scientist and Anushka Kalbag – an architect, all avid climbers with big dreams to host the Sport Climbing World Cup for the first time in India. It was a difficult proposition without financial resources. Luckily, the Tata Trusts agreed to chip in. It all began with Burman organising several international climbing events in India. He then frequented Europe to convince the International Federation for the Sports (IFSC) to allow India to host the Sport Climbing World Cup. Then in 2016, India got lucky. The 2016 World Cup held in Mumbai was one of the best ever. Burman was offered the 2017 World Cup as well. Parallely, IFSC, was making a pitch for inclusion of the sports in the Tokyo Games, and one of the key criteria was that sports needed to have a global appeal, and Tokyo saw Sport Climbing making its debut. Now the foursome is looking at an Olympics medal for India in 2032, and have launched the Basalt Project, to train Indian climbers. More power to the Gang of Four.
The fault finding chatter about the snail-pace run-scoring of Cheteshwar Pujara has not stopped even after his bulwark-like 206-ball 45 in the second innings of the Lord’s Test that India won following unbelievable team heroics. The thickset looking one-drop in 132 innings so far of his 88 Test matches, has come under flak for his barn door defence at the crease ever since India’s campaign in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that the Ajinkya Rahane-led team transformed itself from a down-and-out side in Adelaide into a gargantuan at the Gabba. The fact though is that right from the legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar to the captain Kohli, vice-captain Rahane and the batsman in form KL Rahul have backed Pujara to the hilt. For long Pujara has been the fulcrum around whom Kohli has accumulated runs and has given substance to the third wicket stand (2,567 runs in 46 matches/56 innings). Rahane under the cosh has joined forces with Kohli, and amassed 2,933 runs in 38 matches/ 46 innings for the fourth wicket. Pujara and Rahane have made 1135 runs for the fourth wicket for a healthy average of 45.40. The numbers speak a lot, and the negative noise following the 100 run undertaking by the ‘targeted’ Pujara and Rahane at Lord’s, may have temporarily ceased. The Pujara-Kohli-Rahane combine has delivered aplenty for Indian cricket, including some splendid wins.
The son of an auto-rickshaw driver did not get his name on to the honours board at Lord’s but he led his fellow quicks to make that famous victory possible with eight wickets in the Test. Mohammed Siraj’s intensity has undone England’s Test batsmen as much as Jasprit Bumrah’s pace. His steep angles into the right handers, but more importantly away from the left handers have had a consistently unsettling effect as they are not able to pick him. Siraj, a champion bowler in tennis ball street cricket around Hyderabad, started bowling with a hard ball only after he was 20 when in 2015 he joined Charminar Cricket Club. And when the IPL bidding stopped at Rs 2.6 crores from Sunrisers, Siraj’s first instinct was to tell his father to stop driving his 3-wheeler for a living. Siraj will be one of the charged-up skipper Virat Kohli’s main weapons as Team India goes into the Headingley Test convinced that they are the better side and must press on to win the 5-Test series. A fuller length that suits English conditions best, a deadly yorker developed from bowling the tennis ball, stamina and persistence are Siraj’s plus points. As the 5-day format gives him time to work on the batsmen, his only regret is that his dad passed on before his Test debut.
Fast bowlers go after wickets straight away once they get hold of the new ball. There is no better sight and thrill than seeing fast bowlers bounding in of a long run up on a first morning of a match, and as one of England’s greatest express-fast bowlers, Frank “Typhoon” Tyson, believed, challenge the opening batsmen to cut. The ball either races to the point fence, or is nicked to the wicket-keeper or the slip-cordon. The present crop of Indian fast bowlers — Bumrah, Shami, Ishant and Siraj — who have blown away England at Trent Bridge and Lord’s, not only follow the Tyson template, but have also made Joe Root’s batsmen quiver in their boots, peppering them with bouncers and sand shoe crushers (ball pitched at a batsman’s feet). This fearsome foursome, and Shardul Thakur who played the first Test, have caused the downfall of 39 of the 40 England batsmen. Former England opener Michael Carberry, who scored a century for England Lions against Central Zone in a Duleep Trophy match in 2008 summed by an Indian new ball operator’s approach saying he doesn’t believe in “setting-up”, but goes for wickets straight away. At Lord’s, Bumrah & Co, have gone to the extent of, as a handful of tabloids headlined, bullying England. Just for the record, Sharma has taken 51 wickets in England, Shami 32, Bumrah 26 and Siraj 11.
Two men with Test batting averages of 11 and 3.6 helped themselves to an unbroken 89-run partnership to first take the Lord’s Test away from England and then conspired with their fellow fast bowlers to carve out a famous victory. Mohamed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah were the unlikeliest batting heroes on the final day even as England failed tactically by bowling bouncers at the tail, hitting them on the body and helmet, but not getting them out. An ill-tempered Test match saw England play like 15-year-olds, as Michael Vaughan said, in bouncing at the tailed batters, all because Bumrah had bounced James Anderson often in a 10-ball over. The same men who showed such great heart at the crease then bowled England out in under two sessions for only India’s third triumph at Lord’s. India’s pace bowlers have taken 39 of 40 England wickets in two Tests even as their captain Joe Root scored more runs than the rest of his batsmen put together. England were trapped in a scrap with Virat Kohli, a captain who revels in cricket as war. There is nothing wrong with emotion and passion on the field even if he tends to overdo it. Kohli joins Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as the only Indian captains to win a test at Lord’s.
Parth Jindal is pleased as punch after Tokyo 2020 Olympics returned seven medals, including the first Track and Field gold, thanks to the tall and strapping Neeraj Chopra directing the World Athletics approved Javelin made of steel/aluminum or aluminum alloy to a distance of 87.58 metres, that usually the 100m sprinters on track run in probably under a flat nine seconds. Parth is the Founder of Inspire Institute of Sport and JSW Sports, but most importantly a sports lover keen to create a good space for non-cricket sports persons ambitious of wanting to excel in running, throwing, jumping in addition to team sports. He owns the IPL franchise, Delhi Capitals. The medal winners have been hailed as the new stars on the Indian sports horizon and awarded money which they deserve. If money can act as an incentive to motivate and perform, why not? Parth’s JSW Group has announced Rs 25 million (Rs 2.5 crore) to the medal winners and their coaches. Chopra will receive Rs 1 crore, wrestlers Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia, Rs 20 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, Badminton ace PV Sindhu and boxer Lovlina Borgohain Rs 15 lakh each, Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, Rs 20 lakh, and each member of the men’s hockey team, Rs 2 lakh. The coaches and support staff have been handsomely rewarded. Hopefully many more corporates would follow suit.
India’s unlikely opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, eternally on Test comeback trails, have forged into a fine combination to be the bedrock of India’s campaign. They have added 257 runs so far in five innings in the English summer, including the WTC final. While Rahul put his name on the coveted honours board at hallowed Lord’s, Rohit is yet to make his first century away from home even as he improves his away average that is at least 50 runs worse than his imposing 79.50 at home. Standing a foot outside his crease is Rohit’s adaptation of the Virat Kohli technical template for English conditions while Rahul stays crease-bound and yet masterful in his ability to drive the ball through the offside and in the classical V. Dark skies with hints of moisture to aid swing and seam of a virtually black Test Dukes ball and pitches that are spicier than ever before and offering variable bounce are the challenge India’s openers are facing up to with elan. India’s batting dominance thus far has also been helped along by the presence of Ravindra Jadeja as the batting all-rounder, which comes at the expense of the controversial omission of Ravichandran Ashwin. Crucially, India have been on top of England after the disappointment of the WCT final.
The pioneering way of fast-tracking the high performance of India’s money-starved sportspersons, through the Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS), has begun to yield dividends. Noticing the sorry plight of India’s talented sportspersons, the Modi government put in place the TOPS in September 2014, and without exception, the project implemented through the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs (MSYA), has been acknowledged by the country’s Elite sportspersons. The TOPS in conjunction with the Annual Calendar of Training & Competition brought succour to the National Sports Federations and the Elite sportspersons, and after 125 years of the celebration of Olympic Sports, India won seven medals, with the Panipat-born javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra winning the first ever track and field gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The Sports Authority of India/ MSYA spent nearly Rs 1.9 crore to meet some of Chopra’s post Rio 2016 Olympics related expenditure. The SAI/ MSYA shelled out Rs 2.06 crore for the Sonipat-based Bajrang Punia who won the Bronze medal. The TOPS provided Rs 83 crore for the men and women hockey teams for 55 international tournaments in India and abroad (29 for men and 26 for women), 393 days of foreign exposure, including 106 for men and 287 for women, for seven foreign coaches and for National camps in Bengaluru. The TOPS is a real boon for India’s top-notch sportspersons.
Every stakeholder in India’s burgeoning hockey community — from the fans, players, the Indian men and women teams, and Hockey India — must doff its hat to the State of Odisha, and its five-time elected Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik. One of the very few tallest politicians in the country, an outlier if it can be said, Patnaik and his government have committed to spend Rs 150 crore on Indian Hockey from 2018 to 2023, which includes the two national teams. All the more, Patnaik is celebrating the men’s team’s bronze medal win at Tokyo, breaking the 41-year jinx, and the women’s team reaching the semi-finals. Odisha had four players in Tokyo, thanks to a plethora of academies in the State. Odisha staged the World Cup Hockey 2018, and it will do so in 2023 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and the Birsa Munda International Stadium in Rourkela. With the Covid-19 affecting normal life, Patnaik may not have been able to stir out of his Naveen Niwas residence often, but over the past fortnight he would have seen India in action in Tokyo. Others like the Sahara Group and a handful of Public Sector Units have supported Indian Hockey, but for demonstrating focused commitment for the development of Indian Hockey, Patnaik stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Not long ago the badminton grapevine was replete with talk of the impending break up between PV Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand, and when it happened a few months before Tokyo 2020, none was surprised. On their part, the celebrated All-England champion and coach, Gopichand, and his illustrious protege-turned-champion, Sindhu, have not thrown the slightest hints of having quarrelled over some sensitive issues or the other. The two have maintained dignity and have not allowed their differences, as professionals, to become grist to the rumour mill. A jewel in India’s badminton scene, Sindhu has become a true champion, winning the Silver Medal at Rio 2016 with Gopichand as coach; the World Championship title at Basel, Switzerland in 2019 with South Korean coach Kim Ji Hyun; and most recently the Bronze Medal at Tokyo with another South Korean court-side coach in Park Tae Sang. Sindhu, at the peak of her career at 26, and daughter of former India volleyball internationals, Ramana and Vijaya, and younger sibling to Divya, who is a practicing doctor, was the 13th highest female athlete in the Forbes World list 2019 with prize money and endorsements earnings of $5.5 million. Already a darling of the badminton world and India’s sports loving public, Sindhu could easily double her big-event medal collection in the next few years, and also see more endorsements chasing her.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
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