Sambit Bal

Virender Sehwag's Brave New World

Virender Sehwag's Brave New World

You look at Virender Sehwag's Test record and stagger at the sheer impudence of it

25-Nov-2004•Sambit Bal

Decision time for Anil Kumble

Decision time for Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble has become a better Test bowler but is clearly a lesser bowler in one-day cricket than before

18-Nov-2004•Sambit Bal

The Maximiser

The Maximiser

Whenever I heard former Indian players talk on television about Wright's lack of fire, I have had a quiet chuckle

22-Apr-2004•Sambit Bal

The capricious world of Test cricket

The capricious world of Test cricket

Of all the reasons why we love Test cricket, the most compelling one is the way it reveals itself and yet holds back so much

08-Apr-2004•Sambit Bal

Save the doosra

Save the doosra

As might have been expected, an entire nation has been roused to indignation over Chris Broad's decision to report Muthiah Muralitharan's doosra as suspect

01-Apr-2004•Sambit Bal

The beauty of toil

The beauty of toil

A tape of his batting wouldn't enliven a rainy evening, but if your team had to save its skin on a dodgy pitch, Gary Kirsten's name would among the first on the sheet

25-Mar-2004•Sambit Bal

Two for the ages

Two for the ages

For those of us bemused by the orchestrated hype around Steve Waugh's retirement, the coverage of India's tour to Pakistan has been benumbing, but fears that the good game will be buried in the cacophonic lust of marketing czars have been happily

18-Mar-2004•Sambit Bal

Don't burden cricket with significances it cannot carry

Don't burden cricket with significances it cannot carry

Given the bitter history that India and Pakistan share, every little thing that promotes goodwill is worth clutching at, but there is a danger here of overestimating the power of cricket

11-Mar-2004•Sambit Bal

The power of nostalgia

The power of nostalgia

Nostalgia can be the enemy of reason, for it imbues the past with such marvelous colours and scents that reason cannot cut through fortifications

19-Feb-2004•Sambit Bal

To go or not to go

To go or not to go

Safety is a matter of personal concern and players should be allowed to make the choice without the fear of recrimination

12-Feb-2004•Sambit Bal

Bring on the fliers

Bring on the fliers

The essence of sport lies in contest and cricket is in danger of limiting itself to the contest of bat against bat

05-Feb-2004•Sambit Bal

Yes to passion, no to hysteria

Yes to passion, no to hysteria

Watching Ravi Shastri and Wasim Akram do their stuff in Australia is a demonstration of what India-Pakistan cricket relations really are

29-Jan-2004•Sambit Bal

Dude, where's my country?

Dude, where's my country?

How far is nationalism taken in journalism?

22-Jan-2004•Sambit Bal

Spare the umpire

Spare the umpire

If Steve Bucknor is looking for some R & R, he should strike India off his list of possible destinations

15-Jan-2004•Sambit Bal

Tackle the disease, not the symptom

Tackle the disease, not the symptom

The Kale case, irrespective of the truth, is only a manifestation of a serious and deep-rooted malaise

04-Dec-2003•Sambit Bal

An unhappy compromise

An unhappy compromise

Sambit Bal speaks out against the two-Test series in this week's Thursday column

20-Nov-2003•Sambit Bal

The case for Ramesh

The case for Ramesh

Sambit Bal builds a case for S Ramesh in this week's Tuesday column

11-Nov-2003•Sambit Bal

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How many times have the top three scored hundreds in an ODI like Australia's did in Mackay?

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