The Buzz
MS Dhoni to share his fitness secrets
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the India captain, will soon be launching a chain of gymnasiums across the country
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the India captain, will soon be launching a chain of gymnasiums across the country. According to the Economic Times, Dhoni has started a company called SportsFit World Pvt Ltd, which has plans to open 200 gyms over the next five years. Arun Pandey, Dhoni's manager, said the first four of these gyms, to be called SportsFit, should open within the next eight weeks. Pankaj Guliani, the company's chief executive, said the gyms will focus on performance-based fitness. "As wicketkeeper and batsman, Dhoni does a minimum of 540 squats in one day of a Test match. So our entire objective is to set new standards of fitness among Indians." The first SportsFit gym will open in Gurgaon, spread across 25,000 sq ft. It will be followed by gyms in Delhi, Chandigarh and Faridabad. Guliani said SportsFit intends to be "the country's most ambitious fitness brand".
Full postFrom baggy green to putting green
The list of Australian cricketers who have succeeded in other sports is small but select. Greg Blewett might be the next somewhat surprising name on the list
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
The list of Australian cricketers who have succeeded in other sports is small but select. Victor Richardson (baseball), Keith Miller (Australian rules football), Brian Booth (hockey) and Dirk Nannes (skiing) are just a few of the men who have dabbled in other fields. Greg Blewett might be the next somewhat surprising name on the list.
Blewett has been selected to represent South Australia at an interstate teams golf tournament in May. And while it's an amateur competition and Blewett has no immediate plans to take his golfing skills on the professional tour, he hasn't ruled out the possibility of taking the sport further, particularly in ten years' time when he would qualify for the seniors tour.
"Being around some of the pros and some of the top amateurs, I'm a fair way off," Blewett told the Australian Cricketers' Association. "I'm fairly realistic - I'm 40 years of age and am really happy with my employment at the moment, so I just can't give all that up and have a crack. If you'd really want to do it you'd have to sink a lot of time into it. That's just not an option at the moment. I'm going to keep trying to get into some amateur events, keep practising and then see what happens after that.
"Maybe more realistically, I can join the seniors' tour, which you can compete in once you reach 50. Try and get my experience up until then, but in the meantime I don't have any real ambitions of hitting the pro circuit."
Full postHollioake trades batting gloves for boxing gloves
Former England ODI captain Adam Hollioake, who played his last first-class match in 2004, is now getting ready for another fight
Devashish Fuloria
25-Feb-2013
Former England ODI captain Adam Hollioake, who played his last first-class match in 2004, is now getting ready for another fight. In fact, he is embarking on a new career in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). His opening fight takes place in Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Queensland, Australia on May 5.
"I think a lot of people are wondering why I'm doing it. It's something I've loved from a young age. It's a strange thing to actually like, (but) I've always had a love for fighting, not in a thug kind of way, but more in the arts and skills and all the other mental aspects that are involved. It seems a strange thing to go from cricket to fighting, but it's something that I actually enjoy," he told The Mirror.
Hollioake has been working on his skills in boxing, muay thai, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Even though he is trading his cricket bat for a pair of 4 oz gloves, he might surprise his opponents with his footwork, hooks and uppercuts.
Full postSehwag, Irfan and the Delhi Metro
What happens when recognisable faces like Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav decide to go for a ride on the Delhi Metro
Abhishek Purohit
25-Feb-2013
What happens when recognisable faces like Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav decide to go for a ride on the Delhi Metro? Chaos. The cricketers had been invited for a short ride by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as part of a tie-up with IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils to raise awareness among commuters about making proper use of the public transport system. But a sighting of international cricketers in public generally descends into confusion and disorder in India. So it did at the INA metro station, as people pushed around for a closer view of the players, who made a quick exit a couple of stops later at the Udyog Bhawan station.
"The idea was to raise awareness about keeping the trains and platforms clean, not obstructing train doors and standing behind the yellow line [on platforms]. But there was utter chaos," a metro official told DNA.
As part of the tie-up with Delhi Metro, Sehwag and other Daredevils players will also feature in audio and video awareness messages to be played at stations. One wonders if that would lead to better commuting habits among metro users. At least there won't be any chaos.
Full postToilet humour at Kensington Oval
Ryan Harris had to be summoned from the toilet in order to help complete a dramatic victory for Australia over West Indies in Bridgetown
Daniel Brettig
25-Feb-2013
Ryan Harris had to be summoned from the toilet in order to help complete a dramatic victory for Australia over West Indies in Bridgetown. Harris' captain Michael Clarke had chosen to make a shuffle to the lower order batting, promoting both he and Ben Hilfenhaus above Peter Siddle after they made significant contributions in the first innings. Now slated to bat at No. 8 at the fall of the sixth wicket, Harris required a comfort break as Australia drew nearer to the target. But the loss of Matthew Wade's wicket forced a brief moment of panic when Harris wasn't visible on the balcony. Team-mates rushed in to get him, and he was soon trudging out to help collect the remaining runs. After the match, Clarke explained his decision while Harris chuckled about his toilet break timing.
"The way Ryano and Hilf batted in the first innings, they were full of confidence and that was my reason for it," Clarke said. "I think the time they had in the middle, they had seen the conditions in the first innings and were used to that batting and were confident. They'd both scored runs against that opposition in the first innings so whatever we needed I thought those two guys could do it."
Full postIPL dealt dirty blow in Bangalore
So you've booked your tickets, dug out your Royal Challengers Bangalore flag and plan to head out to the next IPL game at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
So you've booked your tickets, dug out your Royal Challengers Bangalore flag and plan to head out to the next IPL game at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium? Be warned, things could get a little messy. Bangalore's municipal corporators are miffed with the Karnataka State Cricket Association for turning down their request for 450 free passes - for self + spouse - for the IPL games in the city and have said the corporation will not be clearing out the garbage after each match. The KSCA is reported to have offered 250 passes, but the offer was chucked in the bin.
Deputy mayor S Harish, newspapers reported, instructed the corporators to return the passes to the KSCA. Without mucking around, he said: "If they do not give 450 passes to the BBMP [the corporation], it's fine, we will not go and beg for that. We will take a proper resolution in the coming council meeting and teach the KSCA a lesson."
Reports of the IPL's diminishing appeal are, clearly, rubbish.
Full postWhat's in a Suriname? George Bailey's visa
No cricketer can have gone to more extraordinary lengths to secure an India visa for the IPL than Chennai's George Bailey
Daniel Brettig
25-Feb-2013
No cricketer can have gone to more extraordinary lengths to secure an India visa for the IPL than Chennai's George Bailey. Following the end of Australia's Twenty20 series against the West Indies, Bailey flew all the way from Barbados to the South American nation of Suriname in search of his travel documents - having been given some odd advice that it could not be obtained in the nearby Caribbean island of Trinidad as expected.
Having picked up his visa in the capital, Paramaribo, Bailey and his driver set off for the airport to fly back to Barbados. It soon became clear they were no chance of making the flight time, at which point Bailey's driver announced that he knew the pilot and would call him. Asked to delay the flight until the car arrived, the pilot happily obliged, but when Bailey reached the plane, some time after it was due to depart, the pilot insisted on having his photo taken with Bailey before departing. Bailey then turned up on day two of Australia's tour match against the WICB President's XI at the Three Ws Oval to relay his traveller's tale.
Full postTamim's four-hand shot
A Bangladesh newspaper, the Daily Star, on Saturday, held a ceremony honouring students who'd done well in their A and O level exams
Jayaditya Gupta
25-Feb-2013
A Bangladesh newspaper, the Daily Star, on Saturday, held a ceremony honouring students who'd done well in their A and O level exams. The guest speaker was to be a Bangladesh cricketer, whose identity was kept a surprise. He was eventually introduced by the MC with a raised hand and a gesture counting off one to four on her fingers. The students immediately cottoned on - the surprise was Tamim Iqbal. The clue? Two days earlier, Tamim had celebrated his half-century in the Asia Cup final with the same gesture, signifying his fourth successive half-century; it was then believed to be his retort to those who'd dropped him from the squad before the tournament began. Two more on the trot and he'll need a new celebration style - though by then the story may well have moved on!
Full postCollingwood to carry Olympics torch
Paul Collingwood's been in Australia, he's now in South Africa, and he'll soon be in India. But when he finally returns home to Durham, a huge honour awaits him
Abhishek Purohit
25-Feb-2013
Paul Collingwood's been in Australia, he's now in South Africa, and he'll soon be in India. But when he finally returns home to Durham, a huge honour awaits him. Collingwood, still the only man to captain England to victory in a global cricket tournament, has been chosen as a torchbearer for the London Olympics. Though cricket is not an Olympic sport, several cricketers have carried the torch before, and Collingwood is glad to join the list.
"The Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event to take place in this country in my lifetime, and to be associated with it in this way is an honour and a privilege, not only for me but for my family too," Collingwood told the Sunderland Echo. "Sadly, since cricket is not an Olympic sport, I won't ever get the chance to represent Great Britain at The Games, but this is the next best thing."
Collingwood has been jet-setting around the world to play Twenty20 tournaments in the hope of making it back to the England limited-overs squad, a hope that despite evidence to the contrary he maintains is a very real one. Perhaps a little Olympics inspiration is what he needs. Faster, higher, stronger Paul.
Full postWhiskey, from one Jacques to another
One good turn deserves another, and Jacques Rudolph knows it
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
One good turn deserves another, and Jacques Rudolph knows it. Rudolph, who's still looking to re-establish himself in South Africa's first XI, scored an unbeaten ton in the second innings against New Zealand in Dunedin. He says he has Jacques Kallis to thank for that in a big way.
When Rudolph came out to bat, Kallis was batting at the other end, already well-set. After Rudolph got to 12, there was a big shout for lbw against him from Doug Bracewell. The appeal was upheld, and Rudolph was ready to walk off. "I thought I was stone dead," Rudolph told Sports 24. "You know when you're out and I thought I was gone. I told Jacques that I wasn't going to ask for the referral and started to walk off, but he said 'hang on, maybe it was pitching outside leg stump'."
"But I was sure and said it would be a waste of a referral. But Jacques insisted, so I asked for it. I was very, very pleasantly surprised when the decision came back."
Yes, the decision was overturned, Rudolph went on to score a hundred and now he's willing to give Kallis what he wants and more. After Kallis was dismissed, he stated his preference: "If you [Rudolph] get a hundred, then I want a double [Johnnie Walker] Blue Label."
Full post