MSD needs to be fearless

MAHENDRA Singh Dhoni’s magic wand that snatched victories from hopeless situations unfortunately has stopped functioning. This resulted in the Twenty20 series defeat to South Africa before India lost the opening one- day international at Kanpur. Dhoni loved to blast deliveries out of the park, shattering the bowler’s confidence in the slog overs, but is now finding ...

Ishant should have stepped into Zaheer’s shoes by now

  A FAST bowler must have the heart of a champion, a strong body to take the workload, a decent action that keeps him injury- free, mental toughness to compete harder when the chips are down and most importantly, enjoy bowling quick. A well- directed quick delivery into the ribs of a batsman can cause more harm ...

Winning Inspires New Generation

In my opinion, the Board of Control for Cricket in India made the right move in appointing Ravi Shastri as Team Director in England. Ravi will be assertive in decision-making and will be stern with players not pulling their weight. He will mince no words. Head coach Duncan Fletcher allowed things to drift too far ...

Put the skates on!

The spot fixing case needs to move at a fair clip to bring back the credibility factor in Indian cricket IT’S been exactly one year since the spot fixing and betting scandal broke out in Indian Premier League-6. And the developments, without doubt, caught the Indian cricketing establishment off-guard. They were rather caught napping, oblivious ...

Good, bad and ugly side of T20 cricket

Good, bad and ugly side of T20 cricket I enjoyed watching the 10th DY Patil T20 cricket tournament at the DY Patil Stadium in Nerul over the last few days. Along with the facilities provided, the running of the tournament has been excellent - so smooth as if it’s on auto pilot! All credit to the ...

Wake up call to Mumbai

THE Mumbai-Maharashtra rivalry goes back a long way and on most occasions, Mumbai came out on top - many a time from behind with that khadoos attitude. Having taken a handsome first innings lead of 122 runs, only bad, irresponsible batting could have put Mumbai in trouble and that’s what the hosts did at the ...

Staying Power Needed

Staying Power needed HAVING thrived on flat or turning pitches at home, India’s batsmen were clearly finding it difficult to negotiate the bounce and seam movement in the first two one-day internationals against South Africa at Johannesburg and Durban. Adaptability is the key to performing consistently in international cricket. Batsmen or bowlers who adjust ...

Resign to protect the game, Sir!

MOST cricket administrators of the past were humble and had great regard for former cricketers, unlike today. Few have become too powerful and that power has gone to their heads thus breeding ultimate arrogance to push the noble game of cricket into quick sand. Now is the time for good administrators alongwith former Test cricketers ...

Shikhar Dhawan on debut ‘Shikhar’

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 ...