The first among firstsTuesday, December 04, 2012,08:57:33 AM
For the more even-tempered among us, who look at brashness as a regrettable but customary accompaniment of youth, Ricky Ponting was someone who seemed reluctant to grow up. ....
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Turn, turn, turnTuesday, November 27, 2012,08:55:35 AM
Three years ago, in a column for another newspaper, I had written that if pitchgazing was an official hobby — like star-gazing or bird-watching — those associated with Indian cricket would be its foremost connoisseurs. ....
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Yes, Sports MinisterTuesday, October 30, 2012,09:34:52 AM
It was a cold January day in New Delhi, and a senior sports writer who shall go unnamed was returning home from a round of early morning tennis when he received an unexpected phone call. Ajay Maken, India’s new Youth Affairs & Sports minister was at the other end, asking if they could meet. When ....
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Lights, camera, inactionTuesday, October 16, 2012,09:13:58 AM
Six international cricket umpires in three different countries sat in front of the computers and switched on their web cameras. They had a Skype appointment with a reporter from a news channel who had identified himself as a sponsor’s agent. ....
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Not quite a redemption songTuesday, October 09, 2012,09:16:16 AM
All great events in the Caribbean, writes former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in A History of West Indies Cricket, are heralded in song. In 1950, Lord Kitchener led a jubilant band of West Indies supporters on a march around Lord’s. ....
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Ryder on the stormTuesday, September 25, 2012,09:16:55 AM
“In all games you pit yourself against a mortal foe; in golf it is yourself against the world. You are alone, and no human being stays your progress as you drive your ball over the face of the globe.” —Arnold Haultain, Mystery of Golf(1908) ....
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Indian non-Profitable LeagueTuesday, September 18, 2012,10:24:56 AM
The most fascinating aspects of Lalit Modi’s occasional television appearances are, one, he always gets into a heated argument. Two, he believes he wins every debate, even those he loses. Three, he contends the IPL management went to the dogs the day he was ousted. ....
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Why London 2012 is differentSunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:42 AM
It was sometime in the 1910s that Frenchman Pierre de Coubertain, desperately seeking an emblem that would faithfully represent his Olympic ideal, did a little conjuring trick. Coubertain, an aristocrat by birth and historian by profession, took ....
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Tour de LanceSunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:32 AM
In his seminal book, Every Second Counts, Lance Armstrong says a race is very much like living, “except that its consequences are less dire and there’s a prize at the end”. Life, he writes, is not so neat. It’s hard to think about the sport of cycling, and not think of Lance Armstrong. It’s fairly easy, on the other hand, to think about ....
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VVX, we were not worthySunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:32 AM
It was the glorious Caribbean summer of 2002. India had managed to win their first Test in the West Indies in two decades, before promptly losing the next. Searching for room and board in St John’s, the venue of the fourth match of the ....
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It’s not just the medalsSunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:32 AM
Four years ago, when television crews and dictaphone-toting print journalists were at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi, pumping Sushil Kumar’s coaches and colleagues for sound-bytes following his bronze in Beijing, one of the wrestlers made a cutting observation about India’s sudden euphoria. ....
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How Lendl is changing MurraySunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:22 AM
In the early 80s, as the No 1 and No 2 players in the world, McEnroe and Lendl featured in a home video in which they offered tennis tips to youngsters. Set on a beautiful, neonblue indoor court, the video had both players explaining the intricacies ....
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Cheteshwar Pujara the firstSunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:22 AM
The phone rings, as usual, at 7:30 pm. The conversation isn’t your usual father-son chat: there is no indulgent enquiry about whether the hotel is comfortable, or if there were green vegetables for lunch. ....
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Spain, as an art formSunday, September 16, 2012,10:44:22 AM
The great George Orwell disliked sport. He considered it a fruitless pursuit that festered hostility, rather than friendliness, between nations. In his “seminal” (if you agree) or “jaundiced” (if you disagree) essay, The Sporting Spirit, Orwell wrote: ....
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Akid sneaks into the kitchen while his mom is taking a nap, spots a glass of milk lying on the counter, drops it on the floor, and then, because he doesn’t know how else to deal with his misdemeanor, starts crying that the milk has been spilled. Indian cricket, over the last five years, fits this analogy perfectly. The....
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