The Surfer
R Ashwin: happy to wait his turn
Harbhajan Singh is a great, while he's just stepping on to cricket's ladder, R Ashwin tells Sanjjeev K Samyal in an interview in the Hindustan Times
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Harbhajan Singh is a great, while he's just stepping on to cricket's ladder, R Ashwin tells Sanjjeev K Samyal in an interview in the Hindustan Times. So, the offspinner is willing to wait his turn and is just concentrating on making good use of the opportunity whenever it presents itself.
"I don't go on the field telling myself 'I have to win against this guy'. I play this game only for fun and if there wasn't fun in it, I wouldn't be playing ... Playing together against West Indies and Australia [with Harbhajan in the World Cup] was brilliant. Every time I had something to say, I would go and tell him. It was easy for him to shut out a youngster, but he didn't and we always had a good chat."
'Sachin Tendulkar is my hero' - Mahesh Bhupathi
India's tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, writing in DNA , says despite being fully aware of the fact that athletes cannot perform daily, he selfishly expects Sachin Tendulkar to score every time he bats for India
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
India's tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, writing in DNA, says despite being fully aware of the fact that athletes cannot perform daily, he selfishly expects Sachin Tendulkar to score every time he bats for India. And time and again, Tendulkar delivers. That, says Bhupathi, is what sporting geniuses do.
We [Indians] are fanatical about our cricket, and I remember after the team came back to outrage from an early exit at the World Cup in the West Indies, I said playing cricket for India is possibly the highest pressure job out there across all industries.
For Sachin, I am thinking it’s triple the pressure. Not only do all of us expect him to score, all his teammates expect him to, and he has his own internal expectations. But time and again, he delivers. That’s what sporting geniuses do. They are big stage players and they thrive on delivering under pressure. Roger will never play a bad Grand Slam final, Tiger will never miss the cut at the PGA Championships, Sachin will always deliver in a big tournament.
The rise of Wahab Riaz
Over the past year, Wahab Riaz has become one of the brightest prospects in Pakistan cricket
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Over the past year, Wahab Riaz has become one of the brightest prospects in Pakistan cricket. The Dawn speaks to him about his five-for in the much-hyped India-Pakistan semi-final at the World Cup, and his struggle to break into the national team.
Full postWhen reminded of the selection drama, Wahab said he got relaxed after Shoaib`s magnanimous gesture in the nets prior to the semi-final. “Shoaib Akhtar came up to me during the pre-match nets session and said `It`s not about you and me, it`s about Pakistan! Do your best!` What a fine gesture on his part,” narrated Wahab.
'Dhoni's like my brother'
S Sreesanth talks to Prasanth Menon in the Times of India on his performance in the World Cup, why he considers India captain MS Dhoni his brother, and his goals for the future.
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
S Sreesanth talks to Prasanth Menon in the Times of India on his performance in the World Cup, why he considers India captain MS Dhoni his brother, and his goals for the future.
If Dhoni had any problems with my attitude, he wouldn't have picked me for a game as big as the World Cup final. I have not played under too many captains. But for me, he is the best captain I have played under. He is street smart.
I want to spearhead the Indian bowling attack in years to come. I think Zaheer bhai has still got a few more years left in him. He has done a terrific job leading the Indian pace attack for years. So when he decides to hang his boots, I would like to step into his shoes.
ECB need to nurture Flower
England's team director Andy Flower is unlikely to be tempted by any offer to replace Gary Kirsten as the India coach, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian but the ECB would do well to make sure their diamond is not purloined by a third party, be
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
England's team director Andy Flower is unlikely to be tempted by any offer to replace Gary Kirsten as the India coach, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian but the ECB would do well to make sure their diamond is not purloined by a third party, be it India or anyone else.
Flower's relationship with the ECB is as a staff employee, with all the contingent protective rights that this brings. It is unlikely that this locks him into a fixed term. The board may well be looking to change that, tying him into a fixed-term deal with an option for extension.
Of most concern, however – and this is something I've written about before in this column – ought to be the prospect that the intensity of the scheduling could prove too debilitating for him to last the course unless he can be protected from himself. He was an angry man, with no small justification, when confronted with the itinerary between the end of the Ashes and the World Cup. Now he will insist on having some input into scheduling.
Wilf Wooller v Gloucestershire
In the Guardian , Frank Keating looks back at the rivalry between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, and the role played by the combative allrounder Wilf Woolley in fostering it
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In the Guardian, Frank Keating looks back at the rivalry between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, and the role played by the combative allrounder Wilf Woolley in fostering it.
Full postOur Boy Scout niceties were appalled, for instance, when our upright young champion Tom Graveney's 200 out of 298 all out against Glamorgan in 1956 was publicly and sneeringly dismissed by Wooller as "quite the worst double-century that can ever have been scored".
Change in editors at Wisden
In the Daily Telegraph Scyld Berry looks back at his four years as editor of Wisden, and makes it clear he is unhappy at losing the job after a relatively short stint
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In the Daily Telegraph Scyld Berry looks back at his four years as editor of Wisden, and makes it clear he is unhappy at losing the job after a relatively short stint.
Full postThe Guardian commented last week that the change in editorship had been made in ‘ill-explained circumstances’ — and I can only agree. When I was called into the Soho office last October, the then chief executive explained that I had been “a very good editor” but that after four years, my year-by-year consultancy agreement would not be renewed because another editor was wanted to run a new website; then added, “it might be the wrong decision”.
Flower won't be tempted by Indian money
If the England and Wales Cricket Board was worried about Andy Flower being lured away by Indian cricket’s largesse, it clearly does not know its man, says Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
If the England and Wales Cricket Board was worried about Andy Flower being lured away by Indian cricket’s largesse, it clearly does not know its man, says Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph.
Full postLoyalty and integrity could be his life’s guiding principles and while money most certainly talks in modern sport, Flower would be deafer than most to its siren call.
Loyalty and integrity have contributed to his success as England’s team director, too, and explain why he is respected alike by friend and foe, but they are just two of the ingredients.
Return of the prodigal
Tillakaratne Dilshan's appointment as Sri Lanka captain is justified, writes Rex Clementine in the Island because there is no doubting that he has been the best Sri Lankan batsman across all three forms of the game over the last couple of years
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
Tillakaratne Dilshan's appointment as Sri Lanka captain is justified, writes Rex Clementine in the Island because there is no doubting that he has been the best Sri Lankan batsman across all three forms of the game over the last couple of years. In recent times, he has had this ability to turn whatever he touches into gold.
He’s not only been the best batsman of the side, but the best fielder too and has always come up with something remarkable when the ball was thrown at him. He would have finished with a hat-trick in Sri Lanka’s World Cup game against Zimbabwe in Kandy, had Mahela Jayawardene not dropped a chance.
Dilshan certainly has proved himself as a cricketer and now is the time to show what he’s got to offer as captain.
A stadium gone to seed
Bihar's Moin-ul-Haq stadium last hosted an international match in 1996 when Zimbabwe played Kenya in the World Cup
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
Bihar's Moin-ul-Haq stadium last hosted an international match in 1996 when Zimbabwe played Kenya in the World Cup. Fifteen years on, the stadium is in a shambles, writes Roshan Kumar in the Telegraph. The pathetic condition of the stadium in a sense reflects the cricket scenario in the state.
The same stadium now greets cricket aficionados with a cracked pitch, untrimmed grass and encroachments. Kadamkuan police station operates from a portion of the stadium. It houses Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalion 131 too.
Most Read
Writers