Ian Botham tells Brian Viner, in the Independent that his proudest moment as a sportsman came in 2007, why the greatest cricketer of all time was not Don Bradman, and what he thinks of sports psychology .

"India have been assigned the task of rejuvenating an alarmingly forgettable cricket season

"Those who take Daniel Vettori at face value have him all wrong," writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald

My right ankle has clearly responded well to treatment and I’m slowly but surely getting back in the mix

Dilip Vengsarkar, India's chairman of selectors, seems right now to be the Abhimanyu of Indian cricket, finding himself in the chakravyuha with no way to leave unscathed, writes Makarand Waingankar in the Mumbai Mirror .

"It doesn’t matter whether or not the chairman of selectors writes a column

Sharda Ugra writes in India Today that it's time that India got over the diaries Gary Kirsten wrote on South Africa's visit in 1996.

India's fielding coach Robin Singh has sent a report to the BCCI assessing the players' fielding skills after the five one-day internationals against Pakistan

"One of the key requests, conditions if you please, of former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten has been the appointment of a "mental conditioning coach" for the Indian team," writes Chandresh Narayanan in the Times of India .

"Sachin Tendulkar’s refusal to take on the responsibility of captaining India has left me shocked and disappointed," writes Gundappa Viswanath in the Hindu .

"Reading Behind the Shades from cover to cover - rather than just the serialised, juicy bits - one cannot help but have sympathy for [Duncan] Fletcher's frustration over his captain's [Andrew Flintoff] show of irresponsibility at a time when the

Former England coach Duncan Fletcher is sensitive to criticism of his candour and fears it might overshadow his record, writes Donald McRae in the Guardian .

"I have honestly not thought about playing only one version of the game to play the other longer," Sachin Tendulkar tells Bobilli Vijay Kumar in the Times of India

"It will be encouraging to see the Pakistanis walk on to the field in some of the great cities of India

"Far from smoking the peace pipe with Australian crowds, Muttiah Muralitharan ought to go on the offensive," writes Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald .