All posts tagged: The Sports Column by Sandeep Dwivedi

Everybody loves Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: From Bihar to Rajasthan Royals to the fans of his daringly blissful batting | Cricket News

Everybody loves Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: From Bihar to Rajasthan Royals to the fans of his daringly blissful batting | Cricket News

This was to be a season about the born-again Virat Kohli’s title defense and fit-again Rohit Sharma’s revival. How quickly the script changed. India has now fallen in love with the cuteness and daring of a chubby 15-year-old – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. “Never work with children or animals” – they say in showbiz. Cricket and cricketers too will vouch – these ‘li’l ones’ are show-stealers. Sooryavanshi is the face of the world’s jazziest sporting league. He has also forced a state to increase its investment in the sport, a franchise to baby-sit him while presenting the world the spectacular sight of a 15-year-old batting without a care in the world. After a couple of sixes against Bumrah, the other night he hit Aussie Josh Hazlewood 4, 4, 4 and 6 in his opening over. Everyone wants a piece of him but Bihar believes he belongs to them. Before this IPL, at India’s u-19 World Cup victory celebrations, the tournament’s hero Sooryavanshi, would shout across to the team DJ – “Bahut Punjabi ho gaya, ab Bhojpuri bajega”. …

Saim Ayub lbw Jasprit Bumrah: The India-Pak short story with a twist that will worry South Africa | Cricket News

Saim Ayub lbw Jasprit Bumrah: The India-Pak short story with a twist that will worry South Africa | Cricket News

Not just his batsmanship, even the primal human instinct to dodge sudden danger failed Saim Ayub. If cricket, like gymnastics, had judges, they would be flashing 10s at Jasprit Bumrah’s perfect yorker to Saim. That dismissal from the India-Pakistan game in Colombo would soon become the most-watched, most-memed and most-layered clip of the World T20 so far. Such was the speed and precision of the Bumrah missile that it didn’t give the left-handed Pakistan opener time to even pull out his front-leg from harm’s way. As for Saim’s bat, it had barely reached his knees in its journey from shoulder-level to the feet. Saim lbw Bumrah – wasn’t just another wicket on the scoreboard, it was more. It was a short story with a past, subplots, intrigue, consequences and a twist at the end. There was something in it for everyone. For Pakistan, the Bumrah yorker was a brutal reminder to the widening gap in the cricket quality of the two nations that were once equals. Saim, 24, is the highest paid Pakistan T20 league …

There’s more to Samay Raina – his glorious chess jester days | Chess News

There’s more to Samay Raina – his glorious chess jester days | Chess News

There came a point in Samay Raina’s life when one of his primary talents turned latent. And, unfortunately, it is this switch that has shaped the public perception about him. A moment of infamy has airbrushed the past of a stand-up comic well-known for his irreverent and dark humour but not for his contribution to Indian chess. If it was Queen’s Gambit on Netflix that saw millions of chess boards flying off the shelves around the world, in India it was a Clown’s Opening that turned many bored souls during pandemic into online chess-addicts. Viswanathan Anand is fond of him, Magnus Carlsen has his number saved and he is credited with sparking businessman Anand Mahindra’s interest in starting chess’s IPL. Scan the internet and you will have testimonials of a generation of amateurs and pros acknowledging Samay’s role in making them realise that chess can be fun. Story continues below this ad There is more to Samay than the funny man in that viral ‘India has got Latent’ video seen in the company of those …

Saliva or not, IPL will remain ‘six fest’ if ground realities don’t change | Ipl News

Saliva or not, IPL will remain ‘six fest’ if ground realities don’t change | Ipl News

It is that time of the year when bowlers have second thoughts about their career choice. If IPL can give false confidence to batsmen about their abilities, it can also shatter the conviction of bowlers, get them social media abuse and give lifelong trauma. This season the BCCI has allowed bowlers, cricket’s marginalized lot, to use saliva to shine the ball and in case of heavy dew in the second innings provide them a dry old ball. Thanks but no thanks, that’s too little, too late. This can’t be the antidote to cure the bat-ball imbalance in white-ball cricket. Last season, IPL saw an unprecedented 1260 sixes hit by batsmen with varying skill sets. There was one every 13 balls. The season before that, pacer Yash Dayal, on a lifeless Ahmedabad track, was hit for five sixes in an over by Rinku Singh. Dayal became the butt of jokes, subject of memes. Kids would shout ‘Rinku, Rinku, paanch chhakka’ outside his home and run away. He couldn’t sleep, he had nightmares. The pacer on the …

Inside story: How and why Rohit Sharma got the extension to lead India in England | Cricket News

Inside story: How and why Rohit Sharma got the extension to lead India in England | Cricket News

Not too long after India had scored the winning runs in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai, Rohit Sharma was assured that he would remain the Test captain for the June-August England tour. It is learnt that the sweaty T-shirts were still to dry and emotions of a second ICC Cup in a matter of months still to sink in, when Rohit got the all-important vote-of-confidence. And thus ended Indian cricket’s latest leadership speculation that had peaked during the Border Gavaskar Trophy a month back. It also guaranteed a relatively peaceful IPL without the regular intrigue of the succession drama for those who consider Tests and ODIs to be on par with the franchise T20 cricket. So when exactly did the decision-makers make up their mind over Rohit’s future as Indian captain? Was it when he was dancing down the track hitting the Kiwi bowlers out of the ground like Rohit of old and giving India the flying like he did during the last two ICC events? Or was it when he was being the …

Rohit & Co’s toughest challenge: How to hate the nice guys from New Zealand | Cricket News

Rohit & Co’s toughest challenge: How to hate the nice guys from New Zealand | Cricket News

This was a shattered senior India player asking a rhetorical question to a friend just a few hours after suffering that unprecedented 3-0 Test series whitewash at home late last year. “It is tough to hate them, be angry at them. Imagine, this was their historic win but the celebrations were so mild. No shouting or sledging, no fuss. They shook hands with us and just moved to their dressing room. Had it been Australia or England …”, the frustrated voice would trail and fade. Story continues below this ad If killing with kindness was an art, the congenial cricketers from the earth’s extreme outpost have mastered it. Of late, India has gotten defanged by these silent, disarming, almost self-deprecating, opponents at important events – most painfully the ICC World Test Championship final in 2021 and the 50-over World Cup semi-final in 2019. On Sunday, they meet again in the ICC Champions Trophy final in Dubai. As conceded by the dejected India player, India would hope to get angry. Not that easy, as they need …

Why Dhoni quit his Railway ticket collector job and Gopi wants respect for sports quota players | Cricket News

Why Dhoni quit his Railway ticket collector job and Gopi wants respect for sports quota players | Cricket News

Next time you travel by train and spot a fit-looking Ticket Collector (TC) seemingly bored with his job, try remembering the face. The person in the black coat and tie with a reservation chart in hand could be a future sporting star biding his time, tolerating life’s struggles to pursue his grand secret dream. Try taking a picture, you never know, it could be the next MS Dhoni. National badminton coach and a formidable voice in Indian sport, P Gopichand put that nondescript railway employee under the spotlight when this last week, he articulated the pain and dilemma of those getting sarkari jobs under the sports quota. Story continues below this ad With the disclaimer that no employment is lower or higher, he said sportspeople “struggle to find excitement in anything” beyond the sporting arena. Not the least, working as a TC or the president of a sports body. “TC is very tough and others don’t understand the motivation struggle and having to say ‘Yes sir, yes sir’ to IAS officers even when we talk …

Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel – never club them together, never write them off | Cricket News

Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel – never club them together, never write them off | Cricket News

Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel possess cricket skills that get labelled similarly. But that’s like confusing tomato sauce for ketchup. Or a crow for a raven. It needs an expert eye and nose for nuance to appreciate the difference between the all-format multi-skilled cricketers. They have the same font but Jadeja is italicized. To bracket them as a fastish spinner is to dovetail Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami as identical 140 plus quicks. The taller Axar banks on bounce and drift. Jadeja, easily the better-skilled tweaker, also has the drift but possesses a bigger break, deadlier skidder and a more surprising armer. Of the two, the older and far more experienced Jadeja is the more classical red-ball run-getter. As for Axar, captains these days play him as a white-ball pinch-hitter, a role that fits his style perfectly. This doesn’t mean Jadeja, the present day trusted rear-guard, isn’t equipped to jump up the order for any urgent kamikaze operation. They seem like peas from the same pod but they aren’t. Both are incredible catchers, swift and …

MI Finders & Keepers: Spotting Allah Ghazanfar, Robin Minz; retaining scouts Sourabh Tiwary, Robin Singh | Cricket News

MI Finders & Keepers: Spotting Allah Ghazanfar, Robin Minz; retaining scouts Sourabh Tiwary, Robin Singh | Cricket News

* Allah Ghazanfar is from Paktia, a Pashtun province with a violent history on Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. He is a 19-year-old mystery spinner, a lower-order six-hitter and is being compared to the greatest cricketer his country has produced – Rashid Khan. * Robin Minz grew up in Telgaon, the tribal belt in Jharkhand’s Gumla district that’s mostly in news for insurgency. He is a 22-year-old wicketkeeper, has earned a MS Dhoni recco and is also being called ‘Jharkhand ka Chris Gayle.’ * Bevon Jacobs was born in Pretoria, South Africa, now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Those who have seen the 22-year-old play see shades of living legends from his country of birth – AB de Villiers and Faf du Plesis – in his batting. At this week’s mega Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, Mumbai Indians signed these youngsters who were unknown to those outside cricket’s inner circle but are central to their plans going ahead. Ghazanfar and Minz, those in the know say, will start in all games. As for Jacobs, he is …

How Donald Trump is Making America Golf Again but a book titled ‘Commander in Cheat’ raises red flags | Golf News

How Donald Trump is Making America Golf Again but a book titled ‘Commander in Cheat’ raises red flags | Golf News

Donald Trump is Making America Golf Again and the greens around the world are buzzing. Politicians are dusting off their clubs to bond with the golfer president-elect and the pros are desperate to play a round or two with him. The office of South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol recently confirmed that the premier has taken up golf. Yoon is said to be inspired by the late Japan PM Shinzo Abe’s successful golf-diplomacy during Trump’s last presidential stint. But it is the serious golfers who are seeking the urgent intervention of Trump, and his virtual running-mate Elon Musk. They want the two to end the long-standing stand-off that threatens to divide the global golfing landscape. Power and money – Trump and Musk – can strike a deal between the Professional Golf Association and the rebel breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Among his many pre-election boasts, the man who prides himself on his negotiation skills had said that he could broker a deal between the PGA and LIV Golf in “15 minutes”. And within days of Trump’s re-entry …