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Tag: suresh menon cricket

Sports

Cricket shouldn’t float on barrels of oil at a time of climate crisis

Image for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images In the recent issue of Wisden, the 160th, there is a plea for giving Test cricket the ‘kiss of life’. The editor wasn’t exaggerating. In fact, if anything he might have actually understated the problem. Perhaps it is cricket itself, in all its forms and formats that is in need of the kiss of life. The Almanack says: “The national boards have handed the keys to the self-interested few, and lost control of players they nurtured. The Indian franchises have been allowed to take over the house… private money calls the shots.” Man-made perilsInternal threats leading to an implosion is one thing, and worrying enough, but the game faces two external perils, both man-made, and not coincidentally, connected. The first is climate...
Sports

In defence of defence — played right, it can be a sexy shot too

Representational image of batsman Virat Singh playing a forward defence during a Duleep Trophy | Photo Credit: S.S. Kumar One of the finest shots I saw on a cricket field came off the bat of Sunil Gavaskar. The bowler was Imran Khan who was fast and had been troubling Indian batsmen series after series. The venue was Chennai where that India-Pakistan Test was played. Imran’s delivery rose sharply, and so too in a sense did the batsman who moved beautifully into line back and across, stood tiptoe, met the ball in the top half of the bat and dropped it at his feet. I can’t remember if Imran applauded, but from outside the boundary, a handful of spectators did. I was in the media box where we didn’t do such things, but in my mind I saluted Gavaskar. That backfoot defence was comparable to...
Sports

On the Indore pitch | Desperation can be inspiring — but it can be embarrassing, too

India’s captain Rohit Sharma leaves the pitch after Australia won the third cricket Test match against India in Indore, on March 3, 2023 | Photo Credit: AP When a team loses, it is a cliché to say the players didn’t want to win desperately enough. For the losers, that is both comfort and justification.Desperation might be a strange quality to seek in sport. It can be inspirational, as when an Anil Kumble, broken jaw wired up, bowls in a Test match (and claims the wicket of Brian Lara). It can be disheartening as when players alter the condition of the ball with sandpaper in a win-at-all-costs approach. India are beginning to show some desperation too. Skipper Rohit Sharma said at the end of the Indore Test which they lost on a turner that these were the kind of wickets India would ...
Sports

Cricket selection | Putting the human back in the machine

India’s K.L. Rahul and Shubman Gill at a practice session for Team India during the Test series against Australia. Selectors are wondering what to do with the talented and in-form Gill or the talented and out-of-form Rahul | Photo Credit: AFP Selectors have been in the news of late, which may not be ideal. Actually, they should neither be seen nor heard; or perhaps just seen at matches so we know they are doing their job. Australia came to India for the current series carrying injured players who were unlikely to play the first couple of Tests, and India have already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India, meanwhile, are wondering what to do with the talented and in-form Shubman Gill or indeed the talented and out-of-form K.L. Rahul. And then there is the Chetan Sharma fiasco. The ...