It was very heartening to see Shikhar Dhawan score a magnificent hundred on Test debut with near-perfect shot selection, decisive footwork and strokes that had both authority and grace. He has proved my faith again, ‘that if one has the talent and work ethics of a professional, one will get at least one opportunity to ...
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Mentally-fatigued Dhoni needs to be unburdened; selectors should divide his captaincy workload
Swords maybe out and heads could roll as Indian cricket’s decline and fall is complete with a rare home series defeat. It surprises me to see people in India offer water to the rising sun and pray. And there are many among the masses who take perverse pleasure when the same sun sets over the horizon. We ...
BCCI needs to rap on the knuckles of those not falling in line
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the selection committee needs to be complimented for backing captain MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher despite losing eight overseas Test matches in a row in England and Australia. Dhoni led India to victory in the home series against New Zealand and averted threat to ...
‘Man was making plans and God laughed’
The Mumbai Test showed that when a team is highly motivated, determined and focused on the job at hand, crisis can be turned into opportunity. It’s characteristics of a team that is hungry for victory. And England has shown that they are hungrier than Team India. Man proposes, God disposes The plans of depriving the England batsmen ...
‘Accept The Responsibility’
'Accept The Responsibility’ Most sportsmen want to perform at the best and desire to win the game. Most top performers advocate to win the mind game first and this is reinforced by choosing to accept the responsibility. Standing up and be counted will go a long way to get the best out of you. Since, what ...
England-back to basics
England must go back to the basics England batsmen except for Alastair Cook, who looked relaxed mentally and physically, had the right anxiety level and that reflected in his early judgment of the line and length of the delivery, which helped him in decisive footwork and decision making. He was sure of his defence and the close-in ...
Big test for Duncan Fletcher
Big test for Duncan Fletcher and Team India It’s not easy to fill in the crater created by the retirements of two greats, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. But it’s extremely important that Team India’s Generation Next quickly establish themselves in the Test arena. In that respect, the India-England Test series starting on Thursday is critical ...
Harbhajan’s – Up’s and Down,
Harbhajan’s – Up’s and Down, Time to go up again!!! India captain MS Dhoni is making the right noises. He said that there is hardly any off-spinner who could hit the rib-cage area of the batsmen. Harbhajan Singh responded to that statement: “Even I have not seen anyone hitting the rib cage. But I would like to ...
Biography
Balwinder Singh Sandhu, born August 3, 1956, son of Punjabi poets and short story writer Harnam Singh Naz, is a former Indian Test cricketer. He represented India in eight Test matches as a medium pace bowler who could swing the ball and was a useful batsman. A late starter in cricket, Sandhu's break came when he ...
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements My grateful thanks to Sachin Tendulkar for taking out time from his hectic schedule in South Africa to write the foreword for this book; that too at short notice. Thanks also to Austin Coutinho for agreeing to collaborate with me in writing this book and embellishing it with his caricatures. My wife Ravinder, and my ...