Retirement from captaincy, not a piece of cake

After the disastrous series against New Zealand where India failed to register a single win, there is wide-spread speculation about complacency among the players and the defensiveness of Captain M.S Dhoni. S. Dinakar in a very strong analysis of the series in The Hindu said that when Dhoni did not send out a strong message to the team, he was spreading complacency. Along with this, former Australian skipper Ian Chappell in an article in ESPNCricinfo wrote that he wanted ‘defensive Dhoni to be replaced by aggressive Kohli.’

All said and done, it is really easy for people to say ‘change the captain,’ or ‘Dhoni’s fire is gone.’ It is not as simple as deciding on which vegetable to cook for the day. It is a decision which will change the entire future of team India. It is not a decision that is taken based on the results of a series.

When it was clear that Rahul Dravid was going to retire in a year’s time, the gradual change started and Dhoni was made to captain all the matches in which Dravid did not play. He slowly got into the groove and learnt the complex art of captaincy. And when the time was right and Dravid announced his ODI retirement, Dhoni took over. There was no confusion or criticism. He had learnt the tricks of the trade and was ready to replace The Wall of Indian cricket in terms of captaincy.

With reference to tests, Dhoni took in the reigns much later when Anil Kumble decided it was time for him to step down. This came almost a year after he had been captaining the ODI side and it came naturally to him. Though it is two different formats, the change and the acclimatization were very gradual.

For all the people out there who want to see a drastic change, pause and think. Dhoni is the man who brought consistency in the team. He is the man who stayed cool and taught the boys the small things. If it is time for him to step down, I think the person who is going to take over needs to learn the art of captaincy from him, slowly, over a period of time. When this huge lesson is over and when Dhoni thinks it is the right time, that is when there should happen the change.

No matter what is said and done, this is the man who brought home innumerable number of cups including the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the T20 World Cup in 2007.

The Border-Gavaskar trophy, a cherished series for India

It’s been exactly a year since India played Australia in the Border Gavaskar test series at home. The first match, which was held here in Chennai was a monumental one for us, having defeated the Aussies by a comfortable 8 wicket margin. As a huge cricket fan, I was waiting for the test match as it would be my first one.

The tickets were bought and the day arrived. I still remember having painted my face with the tri colour of the Indian flag, holding the national flag in one hand. I remember having stood in the sun the whole day, at the end of which I wanted to go back yet again, the next day. That was the effect the game had on me. I was lucky enough to witness few great performances and I got to witness Sachin Tendulkar up close. It was a surreal feeling.

After five days of cheering madly and getting sun-burnt, it was all over. The feeling of emptiness hovered over me and I tried my best to let it to. It took some time for me to get back to reality. Those five days made me realize what it feels like to love and live the one sport which has made me who I am today. It made me realize the importance of supporting a team, irrespective of their failures or successes.

I knew after those five days that life was not going to be easy. Getting sun-burnt, going without food, going without sleep were things which we were bound to go through in the long haul of life. Somewhere down the line, this match would be remembered.

After a year, I still can’t believe the effect it had on me. I got to meet a few members of the team, sit along with them for a picture. For those few days, I felt alive. I felt like I belonged. I knew that sports would be a part of my life forever, an important part.

A surprise package at the U-19 World Cup

When the Under-19 World Cup started and all the major teams lined up to give their best, never did we realize that this world cup is going to see some of the greatest teams being beaten and the under dogs clinching victories. What started as a mediocre tournament for the Afghan boys after their loss to the Bangladesh side, turned out to be something extra-ordinary, as they beat Australia and Namibia to make it to the quarter-finals.

Their first victory came in the form of a brilliant counter-attack by these young boys against a strong Australian attack. The Mohammad Mujtaba led batting order performed consistently and put up a mammoth score of 253 with solid help from both Ihsanullah and Hashmatullah Shaidi who scored half centuries. The bowling attack was also brilliant with Abdullah Adil and Sharafuddin Ashraf scalping four and three wickets respectively. The Australian batting order crumbled under the disciplined bowling and scored 217.

In the match against Naminia, Afghanistan had an easy outing, winning the match easily and with confidence, thereby making it to the quarter-finals.

Mohammad Mujtaba won the Man of the Match in both the successful outings. It was very heartening to watch the young boys perform with so much of elegance, professionalism and confidence. The under dogs are now on their way to make glory. Will they make history this time around?

Indian Olympic Association’s ban, a wake-up call for India:

It was quite a depressing sight to watch the three Indian athletes walk without a flag to represent them in the Sochi Olympics that started on February 7^th of this year. To see the Indian Olympic Association letting this happen was an even sadder sight. The Indian Olympics Association was quite cheeky to not follow the rules of the International Olympic Committee charter with regard to the elections that were held in December 2012. They being banned by the IOC, is a good move, a move which will wake them from the stupor of power and give them a reality check, a check that told them not everything they do will go unnoticed or be accepted.

The International Olympic Committee was quite right in not accepting the elections that were conducted by the IOA. Lalith Bahnot who was elected the president according to the IOA elections had criminal charges of corruption against him in the Commonwealth Games Scam and the IOC was right in its decision to not acknowledge the decision taken by the IOA.

The IOA and the Indian Sports Ministry have always been at logger heads and there has always been a love-hate relationship between the two of them. The IOA, in the 2012 elections, chose to go with the mandate of the sports ministry, clearly indicating that it would follow the rules which will favour them.

In the end, we were finally able to see some consensus between the IOA and IOC with re-elections being held in the IOA according to the charter of the IOC. Their ban was lifted after the IOC was satisfied with their election procedure and the results.

The President of the IOA now is N.Ramachandran, brother of N.Srinivasan. The thought of Srinivasan’s power extending to his brother and they ruling the sports fraternity not only in India but all over the world is a scary thought..

While the scams continue, the game goes on..

On one side, the team owners are in a frenzy to pick the best of the players in the auctions and the players keen on getting the best offer while on the other side there is report after report coming out on the spot fixing and betting scandal which rocked the cricketing world last year.

The Mugdal committee report on the match/spot fixing and betting scandal during last’s year’s IPL clearly shows one thing- that there is involvement from every important component of the cricketing community, from the players to the owners to the team principals. The recently released report by the committee indicted Gurunath Meyyappan, former Principal of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the son-in-law of the Chairman of International Cricket Council for betting and leaking information on the team’s strategy and players. It also mentioned that six CSK players were involved in the cover up after the betting scandal released. Though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to name the six players without evidence, one thing is evident. There is all round involvement in the scam, be it betting, giving out information or covering it all up.

At almost the same time, former chairman of Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi use social media and interviews to state that the CSK team has breached the rules of the league and should therefore be terminated with immediate effect.

After these recent updates, few CSK fans have lashed out at the media and fellow friends about the unfairness of the report. They wanted an answer about the Rajastan Royals team and how the owner, Raj Kundra accepted to having placed bets during the matches. The magnitude of When the owner’s surrender and the prosecution of three players from the team for spot fixing did not result in the termination of the team, why should the CSK team be terminated for their “Principal’s” mistake is their argument.

There is no question that the Rajastan Royals (RR) are at fault here. But that does not make the crime of the CSK principal or the players or the middlemen involved any less harsh. The purity of the game was compromised long ago when the scam broke out. Now it is foolish to ague about who committed the lesser crime and concentrate on how to take this further and put an end to corruption in cricket.

Auctioning off like there is no tomorrow

There is always a time of the year when the cricketing world is made to literally jump up and down, waiting to see which player gets auctioned off where. Yes, I am talking about the IPL auctions.

The IPL Auctions for the 2014 edition has only grown in terms of popularity and celebrity presence. Little did we know that after the spot fixing and betting scams that broke out IPL 2013, there would be so much of hype for this edition’s auction.

The frenzy over this time’s selection was profound what with the social media networks, the newspapers and the TV Channels going abuzz with news only about the auctions. With the updates happening at an average of 20 seconds, the virtual world was going insane.

As one by one, some players got auctioned off and some remained unsold, my mind was filled with thoughts about the team composition and the amount left in the kitty of the team owners. While all this formed the integral part of my brain, there was also a small portion which ridiculed my enthusiasm and wondered why this was so important. Human beings were being auctioned off like things, players were being fixed a price and their fate was being decided by people who never played the game or understood about it fully.

Slowly, as the day wore on, this thought dominated all the others and I felt a deep sense of sadness for the way the Gentleman’s game is played now. There is league matches, there is players auctions, there are scandals, there are betting allegations. This is not the game that we started out watching. This is not the game we loved and enjoyed. This is not the game we lost our sleep to.

I agree that this tournament produces some fine players and conducts some scintillating matches, but the humanity and the gentleness of the game should never be compromised, no matter how dominant a role money plays. 

Tennis is in safe hands

The ATP challengers which took place in Chennai saw some competitive performance by top players from all over the world. I watched two matches live on day two and it was quite an experience. The energy and the vibe in the tennis courts were highly competitive and exhilarating. Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, Somdev Devvarman, Alexander Kudryavtsev, Michael Venus, Ruben Gonzales are few players who were seen competing fiercely as the days progressed.

One thing that was obvious out of watching these matches were the fact that these players gave a lot of importance to Challengers. Ramkumar Ramanathan said, “I feel that the ATP challengers are much more competitive than the ATP. The players give a lot of importance to this tournament and travel from all across the globe to participate in them.”

One disheartening fact was that there was hardly any audience for the initial stage of the tournament. A few enthusiastic tennis fans were seen sitting, watching their favourite players battle it out, but on the whole, it was a pretty sad sight. But as the tournament progressed, the crowd improved and there were many people seen cheering for the players.

Watching a challengers match live was a fulfilling experience, as some of the top players from all over the world participated. The tournament was highly competitive and the caliber of the players was brilliant to watch.

By the looks of the dedication and the level of success, tennis is undoubtedly in safe hands.