They are back, finally. At a heartening period in Indian tennis as the game gathers momentum on the upswing, the once undisputed champions on the doubles scene have decided to give their egos a rest and patch together yet another eventful journey. Who would have thought that breakfast in Paris would be motivation enough to break the ice?
Doubles tennis is an Euclidean art. The formations are dense with angles, trajectories and axes that captivate and thrill. It is an acquired taste, seldom attracting more than the quintessential tennis lover. It is a cerebral form of play, a process that emphasises the need for synchrony. The great doubles pairings are always remembered, be it Roche-Newcombe, McEnroe-Fleming, Woodforde-Woodbridge or Lee-Hesh, all of whom pushed the sublime form of serve and volley to poetic peaks.
India’s contribution to this vertical in tennis is unquestionable. The power backed singles baseline play of today or the gruelling physical strains of the wooden era caused heartburn in many a Indian tennis fan. Singles is an extinct form in Indian tennis. It was a congenital malady that could only be rectified with an additional input, a cavalry in the form of another individual just to compensate for the deficiency of physical strength. Doubles was and remains perfect for the upkeep of this game in the Sub-continent where gentle ground strokes have always outpaced brawns.
Indians work well in groups, a probable extension of the way we usually function in close knit cliques. The Amritrajs’ are a depiction of the realism of human bonds off court and its reflection on it. Lee-Hesh too had that innate sense of mutual comprehension before they gave all that up. As singles players, they hardly rattled any top ranked player. Together they are a different entity. Paes ofcourse has some stupendous singles victories in the Davis Cup. Who could forget Paes rejoicing over a defeated and miffed Ivanisevic in 1995 at New Delhi playing in front of a boisterous audience? But life demands consistency and this is where the Indian duo score brownie points in doubles and therefore their reunion is celebratory moment.
Their split was an affront to the game’s progress in India, but unfortunately there are no liabilities for bad decisions. Coaxing and cajoling evidently did not work. Doubles cannot be played without the consent of the volleyer and the server, surely not when both seem to be serving to the wrong side of the court while playing as team.
Bhupathi can hold his serve as well as any in the business and Paes needs no course in reflexology at the nets. They belittled sides with unmatched ease and the rare lose slipped past because victory was always around the next bend. Their energy, fusion and poise remain unmatched. Chest pumps replete, their matches together are all out entertainers gripping the sensibility of an amateur watcher. Such was their impact in the years preceding their split.
They have announced their commitment to play at the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia, beyond which their intention to continue the annealed relationship is subject to interest and passive ego hassles.
The upcoming tennis calendar has the potential to provide ‘breaking news’ scrolls of tournament victories on news channels with over-enthusiastic anchors going nasal with joy and occasionally also ultrasonic-sonic, mildly confusing foraging bats.
Couple of months back, Qureshi and Boppana were touted as the future at the Slams for the Sub-continent, but at their advanced age (28 is rather old in tennis) hope and fitness have become telling-factors in their metamorphosis from runners-up to champions. At 35, Lee and Hesh have done it all. They have won Grand Slams, lost a few, slammed doors on each other, been promiscuous with tennis partners, and now have come a full circle for that final ascent to underscore their insurmountable status in doubles.
They are like an aging couple trying to re-kindle their lost passion for each other, attempting to move ahead reminiscing the good times. Peas and Bhupathi are like misplaced halves that have finally managed to off set the pettiness of their immature years. Somewhere they know that their individual style of play improves their combined game. This reconciliation is certainly their swansong.
Their return should pose a severe strain on few of the top ranked pairs, hopefully. Bryans beware.
Joyless Cricket
In that all too familiar manner, the Pakistani cricketers have once again managed to find themselves in a deep hole that they have dug for close to a decade and a half through match fixing. How does a team manage to find itself in the spotlight so often for sport unworthy reasons?
In a country where many things are going horribly wrong beginning with the impotent governance and the now added burden of the floods on its cities that have already been ravaged by terror attacks, cricket was among the few things that gave them some respite. But now with the match-fixing allegations ably supported by relatively conclusive assortment of evidences, the gashes on a recuperating Pakistani side have once again opened.
Where do the youth go wrong? Most certainly the lack of role-models in the side has had an adverse effect on potential bowling power houses like Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif. The senior players or lack of those so to say, are themselves kindred spirits in the art of ‘figure it out yourself’. Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf who are constantly at loggerheads with the PCB have not the slightest chance of steering the ship to safety, unless they get their acts right. Shahid Afridi, the rebel, is perennially in a state of war with the one-day and Test cricketer within him. So who gives time to these boys who are at an impressionable age, where money can outstretch their knees just enough to earn them a thousand pound no-ball? The first look says, the bookies are nurturing them young and profiting well.
The feudal setup of Pakistani cricket is an extrapolation of the how things are in the country. Imran Khan dominated and reigned in some of the most explosive talents in world cricket. His presence, without an inkling of doubt, had a direct influence on Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aquib Javed. In the two decades since Khan’s retirement there has not been a single influential leader in the side who could take the team with him. No wonder then that there has been no one to pay it forward.
Atleast in the present scenario Salman Butt has refused to step down from captaincy, which otherwise was the standard response at the first sign of trouble.
Wisdom comes through experience alone. An individual’s lessons come through observation, and in the bad world of international cricket, if that gaze is set upon the wrong imagery then he better buckle up for a hard fall.
If the allegations are conclusively proven to be true, then the guilty players will be punished severely. The great shame for the game would be the possible loss of a talent like Aamer, who at 17 has already seen the rise and the fall of speckled career. The youngest to take fifty wickets in Test cricket, a boy who out-classed Tendulkar in his first match against India. He was yet another great Pakistani pacer in the making.
Often the cricket set-up in Pakistan leaves a lot to be desired, especially when a young career terminates itself owing to the negligence of senior members of an establishment. Let us hope that the game survives yet another scare and the gentleman’s game stays true to its name.
In a country where many things are going horribly wrong beginning with the impotent governance and the now added burden of the floods on its cities that have already been ravaged by terror attacks, cricket was among the few things that gave them some respite. But now with the match-fixing allegations ably supported by relatively conclusive assortment of evidences, the gashes on a recuperating Pakistani side have once again opened.
Where do the youth go wrong? Most certainly the lack of role-models in the side has had an adverse effect on potential bowling power houses like Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif. The senior players or lack of those so to say, are themselves kindred spirits in the art of ‘figure it out yourself’. Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf who are constantly at loggerheads with the PCB have not the slightest chance of steering the ship to safety, unless they get their acts right. Shahid Afridi, the rebel, is perennially in a state of war with the one-day and Test cricketer within him. So who gives time to these boys who are at an impressionable age, where money can outstretch their knees just enough to earn them a thousand pound no-ball? The first look says, the bookies are nurturing them young and profiting well.
The feudal setup of Pakistani cricket is an extrapolation of the how things are in the country. Imran Khan dominated and reigned in some of the most explosive talents in world cricket. His presence, without an inkling of doubt, had a direct influence on Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aquib Javed. In the two decades since Khan’s retirement there has not been a single influential leader in the side who could take the team with him. No wonder then that there has been no one to pay it forward.
Atleast in the present scenario Salman Butt has refused to step down from captaincy, which otherwise was the standard response at the first sign of trouble.
Wisdom comes through experience alone. An individual’s lessons come through observation, and in the bad world of international cricket, if that gaze is set upon the wrong imagery then he better buckle up for a hard fall.
If the allegations are conclusively proven to be true, then the guilty players will be punished severely. The great shame for the game would be the possible loss of a talent like Aamer, who at 17 has already seen the rise and the fall of speckled career. The youngest to take fifty wickets in Test cricket, a boy who out-classed Tendulkar in his first match against India. He was yet another great Pakistani pacer in the making.
Often the cricket set-up in Pakistan leaves a lot to be desired, especially when a young career terminates itself owing to the negligence of senior members of an establishment. Let us hope that the game survives yet another scare and the gentleman’s game stays true to its name.
cricket,loss and its aftermath
The biggest trouble with Indian cricket is the space it has allowed the media to create for ex-cricketers to announce their expertise on the cricket team’s loss and reasons behind this departure to national shame. Isn’t it always the case that when the Indian cricket team embarks on a huge tournament like the World Cup (so what if it’s a T-20 tournament that is most often repeated in a calendar year), the same commentators on cricket put the team on a pedestal of absolution, forgetting their previous follies?
The team in Caribbean for the T-20 Cup is nowhere close to being the best by even Indian standards, forget world standards. It was prophesised well in time by the majority of cricket comprehending population that a disaster was waiting to happen and the “I told u so” saga was to continue. West Indies played their cards right and unleashed the style of cricket they were always famous for; short deliveries and cold looks. India too did what it was always incapable of; playing those short deliveries. No special report or an investigative team needed to reveal blatant inconsistencies in the batting armoury in countering top class fast bowling. More than half a century of test cricket has proven to be insufficient practise for Indian batsmen in playing rib cracking pace bowling, so why blame team composition and M.S.Dhoni for yet another early exit (unless the usual pre-tournaments yagnas and pujas have a say) from a tournament fast losing its value.
Barbadian pitch is suited for quick, short skull shattering bowling. It was one intended to allow the batsmen to feel the heat. India should have gone in with at least three fast bowlers. But, wait. Does India even have three genuinely fast bowlers who could make a dent in the opposition? Vinay Kumar could be medium fast occasionally if the wind on the day could be of assistance. He won’t have much luck at this time of the year with that kind of gale force wind. In that case Dhoni’s choice of going in with Nehra and Zaheer, his best available opening options was justified. As to why he picked Jadeja, for Pete’s sake the boy is as talented as any out there. Sure he had a bad time, maybe if Chairman ‘Mao’ Modi could accommodate Jadeja in one of the franchisees rather than banning him, the lad would have salvaged some valuable moments of match practise. The elite club of ex-players believe that team composition as usual was flawed. ‘After a flogging from the Australians why would Dhoni go in within the same team’ is the post-mortem conclusion. But who can Dhoni bring in without breaking the balance of the side that is already being held up on crutches.
Each loss reveals the panic everywhere around the team especially in the studio of a news channel, where great predictions and elaborate analytical features torch themselves in a self-preserving ritual, saving them for the next big tournament. For once leave team India alone, leave IPL alone, and stop blaming the coach. All that requires to be done is to put an end to five-point formulae to set things right, that a so-called cricket expert has constantly been preaching to unsatisfied cricket lovers. For once relax the shrill tone and just watch some good, old-fashioned slam-bang cricket!
What the IPL is worth
So, what is the big deal with making money? India in its entirety strives to push up its economy to sustain a 9 percent growth, just to break the shackles that bind a third world country to perpetual poverty. Somehow reason melts away when it comes to making money in sports especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The vulgarity of money in sport is often cited to reverse the trend of the money spinning IPL. In this country, aspiring MBA graduates slog for years to get into some of the top B-schools to secure their future with some mind-boggling figures on their pay-packets. Why is the grotesque nature of education not highlighted which now has become a money spinning option for savvy and opportunistic business minds.IPL is after all a game of cricket that has taken a nation’s fancy, and the game’s success was already written with fluorescent paint on the walls for years, much before IPL was even conceived.
Through IPL, BCCI made Rs 182 crore in broadcast rights, Rs 350 crores a franchise fees, Rs 122 crore through sponsors in 2009 alone and whopping Rs 8,200 crore 10 year deal with SETMAX, the official broadcasters. The new entrants, Pune and Kochi, had to dish out close to Rs 1500 crore to pocket a team. The figures are jaw-dropping no doubt, but is it sensible to blame a business idea just because it is generating revenue. Purists believe that money would stain the game and that it has already set forth the process of degeneration.
It is vital to understand that capital is needed to strengthen the game from its foundation up. With millions of starry-eyed youngsters taking to the game in the smaller pockets of the nation it has become all the more important to accommodate their needs. BCCI surely has to put all this dough to good use. Before the popular rising of cricket, the second tier towns and cities had provided Indian cricket with few cricketers. This ceased to be the case in the years succeeding World Cup victory in 1983. Mumbai, Karnataka and Hyderabad were the centres for the game before, now a Jharkhand lad captain’s team India.
It is important to ensure that the money is used properly and intelligently. There surely is a need and space for transparency in the bidding process, but it is the post-bidding actions that really matter. None of the money involved is illegal, at least not to anyone’s knowledge. Again, why so much commotion for money? There was a time when exhibition matches were a regular feature on the cricket calendar which were stitched in just to lend support to a cricketer who had hit a rough patch financially. The game supplied precious little for the greatest stars of a bygone era. A test match game earned them Rs 300 or maybe Rs 500 at most, not much even if one played for the love of the game. Now, with the huge sponsorship and broadcasting deals and sponsors to support the game there is enough and more to provide a pension and certain benefits to all retired Ranji and international players.
Beyond the financial aspect, the opportunities that IPL has thrown up are innumerable. Would we have discovered a Ravindra Jadeja or a Sourabh Tiwary if it wasn’t for the IPL? IPL has plucked players from obscurity and placed them in the lion’s den, where if one does survive, he becomes a hero else, at least he is remembered for a momentary passage of time. For many aspiring cricketers this is as big as it can get. For a young cricketer in Kerala for example, the news of an IPL franchise must be a step closer to a national cap. It, for many players will be the closest they might ever come to playing international cricket. But it is a great opportunity to show-case skills and be in the reckoning for a brighter future.
The next argument would be the influence of money on young minds and the detour they might take from their present pious existence. If all these apprehensions were viable then this world would be unbelievably sinful to live in and Tendulkar would not be half the cricketer he is recognised to be. He exemplifies what passion for the game requires a young mind to do and thereby allow finances to take care of itself. In anycase why this circumspective notion that money will in some way become a vice for the upcoming players. In that case there are enough spoilt kids around who manage to do reasonably well.
In a recent inaugural Annual Review of Global Sports Salaries by sportingintelligence.com the IPL stood second only to the NBA. Now isn’t that a success story for a six week event. There is a market for the game when a national sport like hockey is marred by controversy every other day and all corporate attempts to resuscitate the game have failed miserably. There is a transitory awkwardness in accepting this format of the game. But IPL’s permanency is inevitable unless something dramatic happens. All the money the in world can only enrich the game not countdown its demise.
Playing like champions
It’s not easy for a home team to bounce back after receiving a drubbing from the visiting side, especially when the losing side is ranked number one in the Test arena. M.S.Dhoni for the first time in the tenure of his captaincy featured on the lost to column of the scorecard.
The second Test in Kolkata is baptism by fire for Team
The South Africans started off valiantly after the loss of their captain Graeme Smith to his nemesis, Zaheer Khan. Smith has become Khan’s bunny. His inability to cope with the incoming delivery is a chink in his armour, and Khan has inevitably gnawed at this open wound.
Hashim Amla is possibly among the most under-rated players in international cricket today. His no-fuss cricket attracts very little attention, but his scores are antithetical to his method of play. He along with debutant Alviro Petersen steadied the innings, both going on to score centuries.
The beauty of Test cricket was laid bare on the first day of the Test match here in Kolkata. The game changed hands in a matter of 30 minutes.
What God giveth,
The fall of Sehwag’s and Tendulkar’s wickets within an over of each other must have set the cat among the pigeons in the Indian side. But there is something special about Laxman at
The Indian team is fortunate to have a good leader in Dhoni during tough situations and his century is the perfect way to lead by example.
The Indian team has once before famously won a match at the same venue against an invincible Aussie side. Now there is an encore.
India treads a new path
India’s path to the top of the ICC points tally has brought joy to a land teeming with cricket fanatics. This journey has not been a cake walk. It has been a cumulative effort that began two years ago, post Guru Greg.
| | ||||
| Period | Tests | Won | Lost | W-L ratio |
| 1960s | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0.23 |
| 1970s | 30 | 6 | 12 | 0.50 |
| 1980s | 39 | 3 | 12 | 0.25 |
| 1990s | 39 | 1 | 15 | 0.06 |
| 2000s | 56 | 19 | 19 | 1.0 |
| | ||||
| Period | Tests | Won | Loss | W-L ratio |
| 1960s | 36 | 6 | 8 | 0.75 |
| 1970s | 34 | 11 | 7 | 1.57 |
| 1980s | 42 | 8 | 9 | 0.88 |
| 1990s | 30 | 17 | 5 | 3.40 |
| 2000s | 47 | 21 | 8 | 2.6 |
statistics: cricinfo.com
The era of McGraths, Warnes and Gilchrists saw the Aussies rising and cementing their position at the top. This decade saw Steve Waugh’s bunch contributing to the cause of Aussie supremacy. The reasons behind their success were manifold and not superstar individuals. On the contrary,
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