With a Pinch of Salt

Showmanship ends with KP ‘s exit -Agransh Anand Ian Botham, the legendary all-rounder, retired from international cricket in 1992. With him, he took away whatever flamboyance, charisma, a flair for dominance and stardom that the English side ever possessed. They did produce a lot of ‘competent’ cricketers thereafter, but none who could match the aura of Botham. Most of them were ‘wooden’, far too deep-rooted in the snobbish culture which has gripped England and the England Cricket Board (ECB) for years now. Too afraid to think out-of-the box, to adapt with the changing times, too much bound by the code of conduct and punishing those who didn’t toe the line. In the summer of 2005, during one of the most historic test series ever played, against their arch rivals Australia, the home team was joined by a cricketer named Kevin Pietersen (KP). A tall, lanky cricketer, with golden streaks of hair, charging down at Shane Warne at the Mecca of Cricket, Lord’s, didn’t really

Happy Birthday Sachin!! “ It’s his birthday today and he has not let his fans down ”, said Ravi Shastri. On 24 th April 1998. Sharjah. But when did he ever let his fans down. Not many cricketers have the privilege of people remembering their birthdays. Sachin’s birthday too would have been like any other day, had India not been playing against Australia that night. He had just turned 25. An age when a whole lot of people are not able to figure out where they are heading in their lives, Tendulkar was carrying the burden of the nation on his shoulders. The Desert-Storm had come and gone two nights before, 143, against the same opposition. There were murmurs in the Australian dressing room that Tendulkar had played the best innings of the tournament and a repeat of such a knock is of a low possibility. Not knowing that Sachin had other plans for them. One of the most iconic images of the birthday match was Shane Warne swatting away mosquitoes, just after and just like h

When Oldies Took The Centrestage… Width offered outside the off-stump. The bat comes down like a Magic Wand, slashes the ball over Point region. No foot movement. Simply Stand and Deliver. Third Man doesn't get a chance to move. The ball wins the race, as it always has since 2001. That's Virender Sehwag for you.   A left-arm Off Spinner flights the ball . The bat comes down in an arc. A full-swing. It’s a perfect connection with the white leather. By the time heads turn, the ball is soaring high into the night skies for a maximum. Umpire raises his hands, crowd loves it, opposition admires it. That's Yuvraj Singh for you.  Last night’s match between Delhi and Punjab in the on-going IPL was one which gave us the sheer pleasure of watching two greats of the game coming together and construct match winning innings for their respective teams. Alas, there could be only one winner. But not often these days you find matches when Viru and Yuvi come together to

Indian Premier League - To See or Not to See…That’s the question . It’s been more than a week now that the World Cup got over, with a finale that promised us the moon but left us high and dry. I won’t say that it was the most exciting end to the grand tournament but certainly was played by the two teams which deserved to be there for that momentous occasion. In the end, Australians showed that while the rest of the cricketing world struggles to find their foot in ICC events, for them it’s far too easy to produce champions generation after generation. If McGrath will win for them in 2007, then Starc will do the honours in 2015. Having said that, we are once again, in that period of the year when the biggest cricket carnival arrives to keep the public engaged for a good measure of two months. In due course, the debates between the purists of the game and the modern administrators will spark up again, whether IPL is good or bad for the game. Some will crib about flat track

An Open Letter to Times Now Dear Arnab, You and your channel people must have been the only one rejoicing yesterday when Dhoni & Co. were shown the exit door at SCG last night. There anyway was not much happening on the political front these days. At least not big enough for your channel to garner the TRPs, especially with the World cup going on. So what better than wait for an opportunity for the Indian team to faulter once and just pounce on that opportunity to feed the viewers with your channel's hallmark - Sensationalism .  How I wish that sometimes you were on the other side of the camera. I would be surprised if you would last the entire length of NEWSHOUR (read Noise Hour). To make things worse, other journalists of your channel ( Siddharth Vaidyanathan ) have started following your suit. I don't blame them. Since they must have seen that the only way to put across your point in front of the audience and become famous, to hell with for right or for wro

How will we remember this World Cup? We are through with the league stage. Entering now in the business end of the tournament. Fate of 8 teams has been decided, and by the next fortnight, rest shall follow suit. One will emerge as a champion. Rest will ponder on intangibles of the game. Some spells shall change the course of the match, some knocks will define careers, a few will call curtains on their glorious journey over the last two decades. Every four years, the cricket world cup becomes a spectacle for millions, raises hopes for a nation, brings people together and leaves with memories for ages. Memories, I believe, whether pleasant or unpleasant ones have always inspired individuals and teams. And no wonder, each edition of a World Cup comes back with inspired cricketers, some who try to emulate success and some who try to turn new corners in the books of history. Each of the previous editions lived up to the expectation. Countless heroics have come together t