Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from India Insight:
Defying Hitler and jostling for Goering’s autograph
- The Dutch broke his stick hoping to find a hidden magnet
- The Japanese suspected his stick was coated with glue
- Cricket legend Don Bradman gushed -- "He scores goals like runs in cricket"
- Adolf Hitler was so impressed with him that he offered him German citizenship and a post in the army
If an athlete's greatness is measured by the number of apocryphal stories about him or her, hockey wizard Dhyan Chand is in a league of his own.
Before every Olympic Games, India indulges in nostalgia about its hockey heyday and revisits the folklore around arguably the greatest hockey player ever.
One such story is about the controversy Dhyan Chand and the entire Indian contingent created by refusing to salute Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
In their book "Olympics: The India Story" (Harper Sports), authors Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta shed some light on the episode.
"The Indians were the only contingent, apart from the Americans, to not perform the raised-arm salute as a mark of respect for the German chancellor," they wrote in what is considered the first comprehensive book on India's Olympic history.
"... it was a political act, breathtaking in its audacity, in direct opposition to most other contingents at the Games, including the British," they wrote in the revised edition of the book which was released recently.
Force India’s Hulkenberg drives me crazy
“So help me God”.
Four innocuous words but it nearly unnerved me enough to back out of the whole business. I somehow scribbled my name in the indemnity form below those four words and the face of my three-month son instantly flashed before my eyes.
By the time my head was squeezed into what looked more like an astronaut’s headgear than a helmet, I was a bundle of nerves, kicking myself for agreeing to do something as silly as this.
But then it is not every day that you get a Formula One driver, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in this case, driving you around New Delhi’s Buddh International Circuit in a 450HP Mercedes C63 AMG.
I feebly waved at my photographer colleague and crawled into the car, thinking I might not return again.
“It was good knowing you,” said one of the organisers, an ex-colleague of mine with a singularly wicked sense of humour, could not help pulling my leg.
Dravid hit the high notes despite playing second fiddle
Rahul Dravid will go down in the annals of Indian cricket as a champion batsman who had no qualms about playing second fiddle during an illustrious 15-year career built upon the soundest of techniques.
A purist’s delight, Dravid will be fondly remembered as someone whose batting was as perfect as a coaching manual and the numerous rescue acts he performed would secure him a place on the wish-list of any international captain.
Nicknamed “The Wall” for his impeccable defence, the 39-year-old announced his retirement from test cricket on Friday after a disappointing tour of Australia, where he was bowled out in six out of his eight innings.
Probably the nature of his dismissals in Australia where the ball found it much easier to breach his previously watertight defences, convinced Dravid to call time on his career despite being the highest test run-scorer in the 2011 calendar year.
A test career that began at the Lord’s with a solid 95 in 1996 ended with a total of 13,288 runs in 164 matches, second only to team mate Sachin Tendulkar on the test history scoring list.
In that Lord’s test, fellow debutant and future captain Sourav Ganguly hit a century to outshine Dravid – a trend that would recur in the next one-and-half decades when Vangipurappu Laxman or Tendulkar would hog the limelight.
DRS in cricket…to use or not to use?
By Sudipto Ganguly, India sports correspondent
The inconsistent use of the Decision Review System (DRS) has put the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the firing line once again, strengthening the already popular notion that the governing body is helpless against the wishes of its most influential member board – India.
As the rest of the cricketing world went up in unison in a huge appeal, like a stern umpire, India once again shook its head and refused to budge on the use of technology in the game.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) remains sceptical about DRS, basing their objection on the ball-tracking technology which is not fool-proof and vetoed its mandatory use.
BCCI convinced ICC to leave it to the participating boards in a bilateral cricket series, thus ensuring DRS, which allows teams to challenge umpires’ decisions, does not feature in any series involving India.
Initially there were concerns about the cost of the technology and whether smaller boards can afford it but BCCI insisted cricket does not require any technology which is not fool-proof.
ICC claimed DRS had improved correct decisions by more than seven percent in the World Cup but BCCI was not convinced.
…In other words, DRS’s improved decision accuracy must mean improved Fairness, so why not?
Wanderers test will not match Newlands. But for better or worse?
Last week’s crazy Cape Town test match between South Africa and Australia, where 23 wickets fell in a day and the visitors narrowly avoided the lowest ever test score, will go down in cricket’s esteemed annals.
They meet again at the Wanderers from Thursday. But would test cricket fans want to see a repeat?
The Newlands match was over in three days and despite all the drama, purists were left wondering whether the flurry of wickets was due to bad batting and a lack of application in the test arena rather than wonderful bowling in conducive conditions.
Australia captain Michael Clarke described his team’s batting as “disgraceful and unacceptable” after they were bowled out for 47.
Players preferring the big-money and rapid nature of limited overs cricket to the concentration-heavy longer format has worried test fanatics for several years, and the five-day game is definitely suffering.
The fact powerhouses South Africa and Australia are only playing two tests in this series adds weight to the argument, as did India’s lack of preparation ahead of touring Engliand earlier this year as the hosts won 4-0 to overtake the Indians as the world’s best test side.
England, who have struggled in 50-over cricket for years, appear to value tests more than some other sides these days as the jailing of three Pakistan players for deliberately bowling no balls for money in a test in England last year shows.
Since writing this the ICC chief Haroon Lorgat has announced the world test championship is indeed off until at least 2017.
More weight to the argument…
How long can England dominate test cricket?
England have destroyed India to go 3-0 up in their test series and officially become the world’s best test nation having also humbled Australia Down Under just a few months ago.
It’s a new position for England to find themselves in after batting collapse after batting collapse undermined their sides in the 1980/90s and sporadically in recent years.
The great Australian teams of the last two decades managed to keep at the very top for years and their dominance only fell apart because of a lack of talent waiting in the wings once their big guns retired.
England have the advantage that only captain Andrew Strauss (34) is anywhere near retirement and given he has given up on one-dayers, he can carry on his excellent captaincy for some time yet. Spinner Graeme Swann is 32 but his second wind as an international cricketer came late so he is unlikely to bow out soon.
They have a vast array of seam bowlers with Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett not even playing at Edgbaston and others knocking on the door.
Their batting perhaps does not have the same depth with Ravi Bopara failing again with Jonathan Trott injured but if Alistair Cook can continue scoring double tons for fun, it doesn’t much matter. In any case there are some decent youngsters coming through.
Hunger should not be a problem either given England have craved this sort of stature for so many years.
ICC name best test team of all time. Right or wrong?
The ICC has unveiled the best test team of all time as voted for by fans on the governing body’s website. The ICC offered a shortlist to choose from.
Here it is:
Virender Sehwag
Sunil Gavaskar
Donald Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
As per my knowledge some legends are missing named as:
1) Gary sobbers
2) Richard Headly
3) Mutthiah Murlidharan
4) Kumar Sangakara(Best test wicket keeper batsman instead of Adam Gilchrist)
Sir Don Bradman should be the captain.
from India Insight:
An Indian cricket coach for team India?
The Indian cricket team has not had a full-time local coach in over a decade since John Wright took over possibly the second most challenging job in world cricket in 2000. Barring the Greg Chappell debacle, the two other foreign coaches the team has employed have delivered.
India made the finals of the 2003 World Cup under Wright, and Gary Kirsten signed off after the team were crowned world champions in 2011. Interestingly, both Kirsten and Wright had inherited a team full of superstars low on confidence.
Wright took over the reins in the aftermath of the match- fixing crisis of 1999, and Kirsten after the 2007 World Cup disaster (though a victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup under an interim coach, Indian Lalchand Rajput, somewhat satiated fans).
Chappell, though, had a team that could potentially be world beaters -- eerily like the batch of 2011 -- but his tenure was hardly the golden age of Indian cricket.
That's why it’s important to not miss a step here. In the world of Indian cricket, dreams can easily turn into nightmares.
And now with the euphoria of the World Cup victory over, a country of a billion armchair critics awaits the next appointee. Chances are it might be another foreign assignee. But for a reasonably settled team, that needs tips to handle pressure more than batting advice, the question begs to be answered -- why not an Indian coach?
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Congratulation to all Indians! We have won the World Cup! I am overwhelmed by the outstanding performance of our team where Dhoni acted as an ideal captain and a true leader.But I am thoroughly disappointed by the decision made by the governing bodies where MS Dhoni was recognized as Man of the Match and Gautam Gambhir was completel…y ignored by everyone out there.He did not get individual recognition for a single moment.Where as the fact is if India won today,she won because of the outstanding and consistent performance of Gautam Gambhir.He was the one who layed the foundation on which India could make a history again.MS Dhoni could not have achieved it all alone.He made the strongest partnership with Dhoni and Virat.He was the one who held on the wickets and stuck on to the ground.When 2 giant and most reliable players got out unexpectedly, we all lost hopes and that time the team needed will power, motivation,Gambhir stepped in the groung in that tensed situation where he kept his cool, calmly but steadily performing and leading India closer to its goal.He took some calculated risk and gave some wonderful shots.I am highly disappointed with such an a decision.Dhoni was undoubtedly brilliant today but the recognition should have been shared between the two champions!
Ticket fiasco is not unique to India
By Rajiv Gupta
First it was the Commonwealth Games (CWG) and now it’s the Cricket World Cup (CWC) – two events that should have enhanced India’s image as the host of global sporting events but has instead hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
While the chaotic preparations and organisational blunders surrounding the CWG is well documented, events at the CWC need to be put into perspective.
This CWC is one of the most viewed sporting spectacles in the world. India, the second highest populated country, is one of its co-hosts.
Money is clearly not an issue as the Indian board is the richest in the sport. But then money cannot buy everything, as some credit card adverts will have you believe.
Take for instance the issue of the official ticket agency Kyazoonga website going into meltdown after registering 10 million hits within 20 minutes. In a country where cricket is a religion, the website could have predicted the crash especially with only 1000 tickets up for sale. But how could it have been prevented?
Those with technical knowhow observed it “needed a server farm the size of a football ground” to cope with the huge surge.
