The Surfer

Time is slipping away, therefore, and with it Pietersen’s self-belief. He could still have a great winter, and add the Ashes and the World Cup to England’s World Twenty20 crown. But with every month that passes, and with every team that he represents in his search for form, it becomes slightly less likely that he will meet his appointment with greatness - to become the first indisputably great England cricketer since Ian Botham - which seemed to be his destiny when he first dazzled with his derring-do, his flamingo shots and his switch-hits.

Unlike old times, it wasn’t just his father Arvind waiting for him at the airport in the family Maruti [in Rajkot]. He couldn’t just drive off home while narrating to his father — his one and only batting coach since he was four — his cricketing exploits from tours in distant lands. A crowd, a roofless jeep and car cavalcade waited for the 22-year-old at the arrival terminal. After waving to the fans on the street, he rushed off to spend time with friends, family and well-wishers — a bunch that has gradually multiplied since Bangalore. Media requests constantly poured in as Pujara’s home on the city’s outskirts wasn’t out of way anymore.

Air-cricket is instinctive: I have a friend who finds himself automatically playing a perfect, straight-bat air-defensive on entering any crowded room. Plus, you can only ever really play air-cricket shots that have "belonged" to cricketers you have loved. I still have a pirouetting Alec Stewart air-pull. Plus, brilliantly, I now have an air Tendulkar. It's a signature shot too, the wristy flick to leg for a strike-rotating single. Hand me an umbrella. Give me a wooden spoon. This is what you'll get. I have no higher form of praise.

At the crease he displayed skill as well as grit. In the first innings he sat with his pads on for hours only to be beaten by a grubber. Significantly he did not let his bad luck prey on his mind. Instead he seized the chance so thoughtfully provided by his captain to give India's tricky chase exactly the start it needed.

Clearly it can be done. Certainly it was only one innings. Pujara might not play even in the next match. Certainly it is not wise to proclaim the arrival of a new champion. But the youngster has shown that modern boys can be as single-minded as previous generations. No more excuses can be made.

Tendulkar's most ardent fans - and no sportsman in the world is worshipped by more people - are now starting to give voice to the ultimate sacrilege by suggesting Sir Donald Bradman is not necessarily out on his own any more. That debate has been revived again this week as Tendulkar put Australia to the sword, yet again, relentlessly moving further and further past all of the The Don's numbers except the one that stands as the noble old game's greatest icon - his batting average, 99.94.

The performance of Mr Butt is nothing short of a national disgrace. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the allegations against players, his conduct throughout the tour was boorish and reprehensible, worthy of nothing but contempt. He is powerfully connected and has 'protection' at the highest level, but enough is enough Mr Butt, time to go.

Chintu, as Cheteshwar is known to his friends and family, had made a name for himself on the biggest stage in cricket. At a time when most young cricketers worship fast cars, multi-crore contracts and the assorted trappings of fame, an unassuming young man from a cricketing backwater made the grade.

Not since the late 1980s, when West Indies could still field an attack made up of four fabulous fast bowlers, have Australia been beaten in three consecutive Tests. And, having led the Test rankings for so long that no one bothered looking at them for several years, Ponting's team are down to fifth place – one spot below England. No wonder we can hear the knives being sharpened, and there are likely to be some wounding comments over the next few days.

When you come home from the subcontinent and play in familiar surroundings again, you feel like a million dollars, because the cricket out there is so tough.

Vijay does not have Dravid's technique, but seems to have his temperament which might pay more. There is a tendency to commit to the front foot which might see him in trouble on quicker tracks or when the ball is swinging. There is an unfortunate preference to playing across the line even in defence - probably a legacy of limited-overs cricket. But there is too a wonderfully wristy on-drive, and a joy at lofting the ball over the fence that will ensure there are no long periods of scorelessness. Some of these innovations one hears were the result of a chat with a former player who gave him the practical advice that strike-rates are important in modern Test cricket.

Already various sponsors affiliated to the two teams, the Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, will have to rethink their participation in the lucrative league, given the fact that the two teams’ celebrity connections made them that much more visible among others, bar the Kolkata Knight Riders.