Archive | The Hindu

10 June 2011. Kieron Pollard is at once a struggling cricketer and hot property. It is a curious dichotomy born of T20. Suddenly money can be made not from the most demanding part of the game but from an amusing sideshow. In golfing terms the imposing West Indian is making his living not from the […]

15 May 2011. India and Australia have been especially lucky in their senior players. Never has the importance of senior players been more apparent. Teams can be undermined as much by jealousy and laziness as by incompetence. Captains are responsible for the performance of cricket teams but without proper backing from influential players, they walk […]

2002. In his most candid interview ever, ‘Ice Man’ Steve Waugh talks to Peter Roebuck about everything from backyard cricket and his parents to car-jacking. Steve, I first saw you play in Sydney for CHS… in ’83, I reckon. What type of person were you? Actually, you’d met me before that. You coached me during […]

23 April 2011. IPL’s fourth edition has been going along at a rollicking pace. Packed grounds, excited spectators, new teams and vibrant contests have been its hallmarks. The sight of Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the scoring list, too, confirms that truly great cricketers can meet all challenges. Suffice it to say that IPL […]

16 April 2011. Never underestimate sport’s ability to inspire. Certainly it also provides opportunity and entertainment. It is, too, an outlet for youthful energies that might otherwise be directed into less savoury activities. Now and then a noted sportsman stoops but it’s a small price to pay. Overwhelmingly sport takes the sting out of young […]

2 April 2011. 1. The Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan shaking hands. Sport cannot cure all the ailments of the world but it can open minds. Tensions had been high since the Mumbai bombings in 2008. Then India and Pakistan were drawn to meet in the semifinals of the World Cup. All sorts of […]

02 April 2011.  After long weeks of slow progress, India and Sri Lanka arrive weary and footsore in Mumbai with a single aim in mind – capturing the World Cup and so securing glory for their country and cricketing immortality for themselves. These entertaining and skilful sides have much in common, a reliance on spin, […]

16 March 2011. Between them the Associate teams scored 523 runs on Sunday. Unused to facing top class bowling or playing in front of large crowds they still managed to give an excellent account of themselves. Nor were they playing the weaker sides. Canada reached 261 against the Kiwis. Kenya attained 262 against mighty Australia. […]

5 March 2011. The crushing defeats suffered by Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the latest round of matches confirm that the line drawn between Test and the rest is artificial and requires review. Certainly, it ought to revive debate about dividing the top 12 nations into leagues with promotion and relegation permitted. Granting Test status is […]

19 February 2011. The decision to sack the Associates from the 2015 tournament counts amongst the worst taken by any sport. Forty years ago George Harrison organised a concert for Bangladesh. Bob Dylan and Ravi Shankar played, and the Indian maestro teased his American audience by saying that since they liked his tuning up so […]

12 February 2011. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has an immense task on his hands. Of course it is only a sporting task and not to be compared to clearing up Brazil after floods or Queensland after a cyclone. However, the challenge is not to be underestimated. Emotions are going to be pitched high. On paper India’s […]

29th January 2011. Eden Gardens is one of the game’s best loved grounds. In terms of fame and atmosphere Lord’s and the MCG stand as its only rivals. Every cricket player in every touring team yearns for the opportunity to play in that teaming amphitheatre with 100,000 Indians intently following every ball. To walk along […]

21 January 2011. Dhoni’s side has acquired the ability to will itself to victory, writes Peter Roebuck India’s fighting spirit bodes well for its prospects in the coming World Cup. Twice Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team has managed to scrape across the line in South Africa and on each occasion the players have celebrated exuberantly. Both […]

15 January 2011. India’s hopes of winning the forthcoming World Cup have been badly damaged by the latest IPL auction. Of course the two are connected. Morale is critical in any team. Moreover a community with a compromised culture cannot expect to conquer. The sight of respected men huddled alongside fripperies and jewels whilst bidding […]

08 January 2011. India’s feat in securing a drawn series in South Africa counts amongst the most outstanding in its history. It is an indication of the team’s maturity and high expectations that the response was slightly muted. Admittedly a draw is not to be mistaken for a victory but all things considered it was […]

1st January 2011. Decades ago it was said of Neville Cardus that he “changed the course of the writing of cricket. He showed what could be done. He dignified and illuminated the task.” Cardus’s ability to combine music and cricket, his insights into character, his images and asides, the sheer quality of his prose, altered […]

18 December 2010. India’s preparations for the match underway at Centurion were threadbare. No sooner had a one-day and Test series against New Zealand been completed than the players were packed onto a plane and sent to a distant continent full of hostile creatures, some of them able to aim cricket balls at their bodies […]

10 December 2010. Ponting’s dreams of recapturing the Ashes sit on the brink of ruin. India and South Africa will be playing for first place in the rankings when their series begins, but they need to listen for footsteps because England is on its way! Andrew Strauss and pals have the ability and ambition to […]

2 October 2010. As part of the deal whereby they secured an interest in the Champions League, the Australians promised to visit these shores once a year. Accordingly, Ricky Ponting has brought his team along for this curious little series. India and Australia need to take care not to turn an epic into a soap […]

11 September 2010. Thankfully cricket is back. Everyone has had enough of the scandals. Cricket is at the mercy of its players and administrators. It is a glorious game that can be spoilt only by its supposed stewards. Selfishness is the enemy. Cricket’s creed includes the notion that team and game come before the individual. […]

28 August 2010. Cricket is a game of skill. Observers can talk all they like about how the game has changed but in the end it all comes back to technique and temperament. Every generation thinks it has invented the wheel. Newspapers, films, telephones have been consigned to the rubbish dump but all remain intact. iPods […]

7 August 2010. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and comrades deserve commendation for their fightback in Colombo. It was a rotten toss to lose and the Indians might easily have dropped their heads. Instead they worked hard and looked sharper and it took a splendidly defiant ninth-wicket partnership to stop them romping to victory with a day […]