The Spectator

The end of the current financial year marks a very resourceful point to assess an eventful year that has gone by. Such has been the turn of fortunes in the last 12 months that even an ardent fan would find it hard to rationalize. The IPL is round the corner and (sadly) all this would be forgotten under the pretence of short public memory. If India has to remain a strong force at the helm of international cricket, it has to address it weaknesses, rectify wherever necessary and not dismiss these performances as merely an aberration. 196 runs, 319 runs, innings & 242 runs, innings & 8 runs, 122 runs, innings & 68 runs, innings & 37 runs, 298 runs are the margins of the team’s infamous 8 consecutive ‘away’ losses. It is not a happy proposition to recollect these numbers but an imperative exercise if India has to identify and correct its weak links. India is not the only side who is losing away tests, but the magnitude of these losses should worry the team management....

It is that time of the year when you have a ‘Live’ cricket match everyday; it is that time of the year when popular VJs discuss and analyze cricket rather than the familiar cricket hosts; it is that time of the year when you and your friend don’t necessarily cheer for the same side! The IPL is round the corner; promising to be back to its usual self - extravagant and glamorous. Along with the cricket the big focus would be on whether the brand IPL can revive itself after a below-par performance last season. With a poor international season (for India) preceding and no home matches for the last 4 & half months, the levels of interest and following should be expected to rise; at least better the abysmal stats for last year. The availability of majority of India’s international players should not only encourage the respective sides but also the competition itself.

A batsman scores his maiden T20 hundred and his side looses. Nothing drastic about the result or the performance, but if the batsman happens to be Sachin Tendulkar, the hundred has to be scrutinised microscopically. Cynics initiate the good old debated 'myth' of a Tendulkar hundred not ending up on the winning side, statisticians open their laptops to pop up a few numbers suggesting the statistical evidence of those claims and the media has a popular topic to cover their sports slots. Can cricketing logic and common sense prevail, please? Sachin Tendulkar's cricketing legendary is too vast to sit down and analyse. We often tend to pass judgements on the basis of stats, numbers & results and not on the basis of abstract things associated with a particular performance or over a period of time. To quantify Tendulkar's genius, we often hail his tally of tons, total runs scored in the three formats and other monumental records but in the process we tend to overloo...

Sports careers can be long, they can be illustrious, they can be popular and they can be successful; but if you wish to have all these facets rolled into one - don’t look too far beyond Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar’s cricketing career! He is every budding cricketer’s ideal, a treat for every spectator, a reliable team-player, a senior statesman in the (Indian) cricketing set-up, a dream for every statistician and yet a humble individual who has mastered one dimension of the gentlemen’s game viz. batting like no other. Nobody doubted Tendulkar’s talent during his early days; they only doubted his temperament & endurance. 22 years down the line, you wouldn’t find many people wanting to ask questions of him (“ He has been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive” - Daniel Vettori. “If I had to last 20 years, I would probably be batting in a wheelchair”, Ricky Ponting). Very often we limit the legend of Tendulkar to merely his astounding stats, overlooking the abstract th...

It could have been timed better, it could have come a little later, it could have been better celebrated but the retirement was always going to come some day. It is easier said than fathomed - the Indian test side without Dravid! The news on first instance was a moment of disbelief, followed by a moment of daze before logic struck saying that it had to come and the moment had indeed arrived. Dravid was never a glamorous character on or off the field, more of a thorough gentleman commanding respect from all quarters. His announcement was synonymous with his usual self - calm, composed, dignified and non-fussy. Dravid was, is and will always be remembered as a role model for his conduct, dignity, selflessness  on the cricket field & off it  along-with his technically impeccable batting. On the global scene the game has lost one of its modern-day great and an all-time legend. The clock was ticking for Dravid much before, but an exceptional tour of England postpone...

The easiest thing to do is probably indulging in the act of criticism; even more easier if you aren’t exactly associated with the event/proceeding! Sachin Tendulkar has been at the receiving end of such an act over the last couple of months; primarily pushing for his exit from the coloured clothes. There are Tendulkar ‘devotees’ on the other side, who seem to think in only one way, defending their ‘god’ with all the possible arguments which one could think of. In sport or in life most decisions are pretty subjective, with either way being the right way in some cases or the other. When it comes to Tendulkar, we invariably weigh thoughts on the side of emotions. That is natural, that is justified for Sachin Tendulkar is not just another person playing the gentlemen’s game! A generation has grown alongwith Tendulkar’s international career and it is hard to believe that the sun will have to set. So is it really the time to pull down the curtains on Tendulkar’s career (ODI cricket fo...

In sport if winning is a habit, losing too can be one! Don’t think need to elaborate what that statement has relevance to the Indian cricket team. World Cup winners, number one ranked test side were attributes you associated with the men in blue not too long ago and you don’t need any experts to say that things are drastically different now. 8 away consecutive test losses, just 6 wins in the last 18 away ODI’s is a record that speaks volumes about the sudden slide the Indian team has experienced. India won the inaugural T20 World Cup, hosts the glamorous IPL and yet the team hasn’t put up a strong T20 performance post the 2007 championship. Bottomline - the team has a lot on its plate with the problems covering the entire spectrum! It is easy to be astonished the way the team has performed post the grand win in Mumbai; it is imperative we start drawing reasons for such a slide and propose ways to rectify the issues. It is a clichéd argument if you are an avid cricket follower - ...