My guest today is called shy with a timid demeanour. But underneath all of that, is an aggressive sports girl which we will unearth as we move forward into our conversations with her. She’s internationally recognized as having played and represented India at the prestigious Olympics, the Asian and Commonwealth games. She’s the 9 times consecutive winner, of the senior national championships in India, a feat achieved earlier only by her coach and mentor Mr. Prakash Padukone. It is my honour and my pleasure to have with us, Aparna Popat. Aparna began playing badminton at the age of 8 under the guidance of her first coach, also a National Champion, Anil Pradhan.
Q. Aparna, as a student, how was the feeling to equal the achievements of your own coach and what was your learning to having moved to that level?
A. Well, I think, you know, first of all, when I shifted to Bangalore from Mumbai…that was after my 10th standard, to train under Mr Prakash Padukone. For me, it was just a big opportunity. He has always been my idol. Not only because of the accolades, and because he was world number one or All India champion, but also just because of the way he conducted himself. But training under him and actually watching him play day-on-day, actually made me want to emulate him even more.
Q. So, which is where, as a student, even if we reach the level that our coach has been, somewhere we still remain the students under them.
A. Exactly, that’s exactly what it is. Though still, a lot more learning to gain from him and yeah…I think, I’ve just been very fortunate to have trained under him.
Q. How did you push your physical and mental limits, to go beyond the sport that you had chosen to be in?
A. I think when you’re trying to achieve excellence and try to get to a certain level, in any field, for that matter. you know, you said it right, you really need to push yourselves beyond what is required and it’s not only in certain times of your career, but it’s almost each and every day. And that really comes with an intensive motivation to be better each day. Because sometimes, as human beings we all have emotions and we feel, but you’re trying to achieve something consistently, those emotions can’t affect your place. you almost become very stoic in a way. So there’s a lot of control need to be on that front as well. So yeah, I think, it’s just the motivation and for the love for the game or whatever you’re doing that actually gets to push yourselves to that limit.
Q. So, which is where this question…there are a lot of children begin playing pro-sports. But the difference, with a lot of them falling out of the circuit is when they’re unable to balance between this growing up and wanting to have fun and the friends and the family and the celebrations, the festivals and to be able to commit yourself so much passionately to the sport that you have to kind-off completely change your life palette. How easier, how difficult is it to actually do that?
A.umm…so, for me, it came very naturally because…I love the sport more than anything else. So nothing else mattered for me. It was just badminton as a young, tried to play seven days a week, which left little time for anything else if you consider school and the sport. But yes, it’s a choice that a few youngsters have to make. It’s really your priority, it’s how you look at it and whatever you do should be done happily. So, I don’t like to use the word ‘sacrifice’ because you’re not sacrificing something to do something, it’s just that you’ve chosen to play a sport or have chosen to pursue something over something else and that’s a choice you have to make.
Q. What is the difference between playing on a National circuit, where it is your home turf, it is
your comfort zone and then having to go beyond, to make that little shift, to move to an international platform and go for higher rankings and ratings, what is that thinking that is required to make that bridge ?
A. When you’re aiming to play at an international level that aim and preparation has started at much before. you get your opportunity as you get them. I played my first world junior championship when I was 14. At that point, we were at a stage in Indian badminton where we didn’t really have too much international exposure. So, when I went out it was almost like, awestruck like, where am I? What happened? But, a lot of things have changed since then where today a child in an academy, in a pro-academy and ask what do you want to achieve, what’s your aim? And they’ll start olympic medals downwards. So, that’s a huge mental shift. And now, that is happening in Indian badminton and, you know, the results are there for all of us to see.
Q. What is it that helps to make that transition?
A. I think just the maturity to see it before it comes and not see it when it actually happens, because as I said the preparation is completely different. So, in my case after I won the silver medal and being junior world number 2, to them suddenly realise there’s a senior circuit and now I have to do things differently, by which time, you’ve probably gone three steps behind in terms of the senior circuit. umm…but today, it’s not like that. Today I think, the kids at the age of 15-16 are already looking at senior badminton and then playing and preparing accordingly. So, that’s just the difference.
Q. How stressful is it, mentally, to make these transitions and what helps beyond the physical play…like beyond bettering your game, and technically getting more and more, you know, able to make the difference in the physical aspect of the pain? How much this mental, and like you had mentioned, emotional, how much does that play a role and how do you say coach for it?
A. I believe really, from my experiences through the last 20 years, you know that I played competitive badminton was really sport is really emotion and motion. you feel a lot of things as you’re going along. There’s a lot of anxiety, there’s nervousness, there’s elation, there’s disappointment, there’s frustration, there’s pain, there’s a lot of emotions that go along. And as a sportsperson over the years, we’ve learned to handle them. We’ve not stopped feeling, but it’s just you learn to handle it and for me, the mind is really what dictates your body, the mind tells your body what to do. So, it’s just a HuGE part of sport. And today we have sports psychologists, to actually look into this aspect it wasn’t that many years ago, but it is the VERy, very significant part of the process. And that’s when you come into, you know, things like killer-instinct, like you know, bouncing back from disappoint, and all these things have to be handled and if they’re handled professionally and if they’re handled quickly, it’s just more helpful.
Q. right. So, I have a question. They say ‘bad carpenter only blames his tools’. But, how important are these little aspects like the right racket, or the grip or the kind of shuttles or the kind of coat that you’re wearing and all your gear, how much does it actually also affect some of these games? How important is it?
A. yes, it is very important, because eventually the quality of your equipment will, to a certain extent, affect the output, what you’re putting out. But it’s not the only thing. It depends on which stage of your career you’re in. I think for a beginner, it doesn’t matter. It’s about how you use the racket as opposed to which racket you’re holding, or you know, how much of physical training are you doing as opposed to which shoes you’re wearing, different stages require different sort of equipments and if we, if you could just keep that sacrosanct, again each individual requires different things. So, that just has to be identified. And there’s a lot of technical stuff in the sport today. If we can use technology to help your performance, of course take it. That’s a no-brainer. But, it’s not the only thing.
Q. How much of that belief, the inherent belief in yourself, and the key to what makes you a sportsperson?
A- You know, eventually you’ve got to realise that you’re accountable for your performance. you know, that is the bottom line. As I do a bit of coaching, you see kids coming and saying, you know I hit the shuttle out, I say where was the racket? They say, in my hand. And I say, exactly. And it is IN YOUR HAND. So eventually, you need to take the youness and you need to take the accountability for the outcome. So, if you can be responsible for your own performance, in a very mature and a balanced way, like you don’t have to beat yourself down for every disappointment because we know sport, we can’t win everything. But, if you can be balanced about it, but be responsible about it and very importantly be happy about it, yeah… I think, you should be alright.
Q. Is there a hack that you could share for those down moments? Like you said you don’t beat yourself about it. But, there are times when most of us get there, be it we’re a sport person or anywhere we’re in the life. What is it that you use to get yourself out of these situations? Or especially when you’re on court, when you’ve lost a shot or lost a point…how you kind-off change, in that split second?
A. I think the key is, for me, at least, to find a solution, as to find a reason as to why happened, happened. And if you can identify the reason, you can identify solution. And if you identity the solution, your mind sort-off goes away from the outcome, which is what you want, because you don’t want to be thinking, oh I lost, oh I lost, I lost the point, oh I lost, you know this rally of, you know whatever it be, I’m supposed to be thinking, oh…even if I’ve made this mistake what could it have been due to? So then it takes my mind off the actual outcome and the result of what happened. And that sort-off help me going forward in the match or in the future, as well, as opposed to just looking at the outcome.
Q. How has being a sports-person shaped you as an individual? What aspects of sports have actually been an intensive part of you as a person now?
A. I think a lot of things. So I might say sports, came very naturally to me. I love sports more than anything else and I still do, started off like that and still very much like that, which I’m very thankful for. But, as a person I think, the biggest learning for me is just to be patient, to take success and failures in your stride and I say, success is harder to handle than failures. I’ve seen that. And the third thing is,just as a person, to make me much more confident, because I was a very shy and reserved person. If you ask me to stand and speak to even 3 people, I would probably say I won’t and I run away. And that’s how I was, as a child. But I think sports has put me in a position a lot of times where I had to stand up and speak and today I feel like I finally found my voice somewhere. And I’m still shy. I don’t like too much social interaction. But at the same time, I feel I have a responsibility and that I can contribute back, you know, considering my experience, and I would love to do that when I get the chance.
Q. Aparna, I wanted to talk to you about how women in India, most girls are playing sports as girls and they’re doing professional, they’re doing non-professional, whereas they grow more into their lives and further and they, most of them, sports takes a backseat. Like most guys would have a Sunday out, or a week where today, I’m going out and playing sports, but the women still don’t choose sports as an active part of their lives. So what is that could be a message for a lot of them to be able to see what ‘sports’ actually does for you in your life, to be able to take it forward?
A- Well, the first thing is that, yes, you’re right. I mean, not as many come up. But as we’re seeing the change over the years, where a lot more women are coming out and taking part in various physical activities, which is great to see. But, for me, Sport is really; physically it does great things for you. There’s no question about that. But for me, especially, you know, at a later stage, you know when you finish with school and college and you still want o pursue sports, it’s more about what it makes you feel. Because it does eventually do very good for your confidence, you sort-off along with your physical fitness, you occupy yourself with your friends, you’re networking and having fun, and you build those social circles and I think, it’s more about that. Though, a lot of women go into the competition as well which is absolutely brilliant…
Q. One last question, Aparna. What makes Aparna the woman that she is?
A- Ah…! I think, for me it’s still very much trying to be better each and every day and trying to learn. I’ve always had, you know this motto sort to say, you cannot be the best at everything, you need to go out to learn from other people and other situations and whatever your surroundings are. So, I just love to explore new things, learn, you know from different people, love watching talk-shows, love watching, you know, going to these forums, love watching documentaries… so, a lot of learning. And yeah, as much as I can keep in touch with sports, because that’s what I love. So I do sit as the executive director at the Olympian association of India. I do a bit of coaching in badminton, some mentoring; I do a bit of TV commentary. So, it’s just being involved in sport that makes me really happy. So yeah, leaning and sport, I think. That’s it. Thank you so much being with us: beyond sports and all the best that you’re doing, for us, as a country, to take sports forward.
Thank you so much!
Article & Interview conducted by Sonalli Gupta: She is an acclaimed writer and corporate
In modern times, no man or woman has made a major sporting title their own as much as Rafael Nadal
The man from Majorca has won the French Open 12 times, which is unprecedented. Napoleon might have conquered Spain, but there is no doubt that Nadal has conquered Paris. It appears that Nadal, and his great rival Swiss player Roger Federer are showing no sign of growing old. The relative ease with which Nadal swatted aside all his rivals at the tennis courts this past fortnight belied the fact that Nadal (33) is not the vibrant young player he was at 19, when he won his first title. Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic would have in a previous era been past their
sell-by dates, yet they have dominated men’s tennis for over a decade and a half. This is the era of the veteran sportsperson, in women’s tennis for example, Serena Williams continues to swat aside younger players half her age. In cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni cannot hide his grey hair but can you imagine India playing at the World Cup without him? While Indians may not watch American football, the greatest player in that sport, the quarterback Tom Brady, is playing as well at the age of 40 as he did 20 years back and his team the New England Patriots are reigning champions.
It isn’t as if old players haven’t played sports at the highest level in the past, but in today’s high intensity game, one wonders out aloud how players who would have been considered past their prime and in Nadal’s case, one with a busted knee, can keep winning. One reason is that sports injury treatment and physiotherapy has improved dramatically. Exercise and diet routines are keeping people fitter for longer. It is for that reason that the saying ‘40 is the new 30’ is a truism. Of course, an old dog like this writer can also draw a conclusion that the younger generation, the so-called millennials have been so pampered that they cannot put up with the tougher, more competitive nature of their predecessors. But even players like Nadal and Federer cannot keep defeating Father Time and must one day succumb. The time of the next generation will come, but as long as Djokovic, Federer and Nadal keep playing, men’s tennis is still an old mans game although you wouldn’t say that if you watched these champions. And if you haven’t watched them play live, do know that there is only a few more years to do just that.
Writer: Pioneer
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Symbols that have inherent messages are prohibited at Global sporting events . Is Dhoni a candidate so such sanctions? A huge and frankly unnecessary conflict has erupted over a symbol on the wicket-keeping gloves of Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the ongoing Cricket World Cup taking place in England. The symbol is adapted from that of the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army where Dhoni is an Honorary Colonel. The former Indian Captain, who had lifted the World Cup when it took place in India and Sri Lanka back in 2011, is a bonafide legend of the sport and talks fondly of his association with the Territorial Army, who are the reserves for the armed forces. The logo on his gloves, that of a “winged dagger”, is possibly meant to signify his appreciation of the forces although it omits the ‘Balidaan’ (sacrifice) logo. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has deemed this logo as inappropriate and has asked Dhoni to remove it.
Almost every major global sporting event prevents the display of messages that have a political, religious or racist connotation on them. Several footballers have fallen foul of this ruling. Previously, English spinner Moeen Ali had been reprimanded for wearing a pro-Palestinian logo. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made it very clear that it will support Dhoni, claiming that the logo is not a complete replica of the Regimental logo. In these hyper-nationalistic times, this is really not a battle the ICC wants to take on, given that an overwhelming bulk of its revenue comes from India.
And for athletes to honour their armed forces is nothing new, most American sporting events have strong identification with their military but playing the Devil’s Advocate, the ICC has a point. Where can such logos stop? What if during the India-Pakistan match both sides go overboard? Maybe the ICC and BCCI can reach a happy compromise. Going forward, all Indian cricketers and athletes should take permission before they display any symbols on their uniforms or bodies to prevent such furores.
Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer
Even as other sports disciplines gain popularity in India, the supremacy of cricket as a brand is expected to stay unchallenged. It has become a perfect combination of popularity, money, value-making and branding decisions
As underdogs of world cricket, Kapil Dev’s men had surprised the cricketing world and fans at home by registering a historic first victory in the 1983 World Cup. Such was the state of financial affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) back then that a ‘Lata Mangeshkar’ concert had to be organised to raise funds for the winning team. Each team member ended up receiving Rs 1 lakh. Ironically, BCCI’s hockey counterpart — the Indian Hockey Federation — was much richer at the time with the game and its players better entrenched in public imagination.
The year 1983 was the beginning of a turnaround nobody would have anticipated in that cricketing era of whites. As the victory at the Benson & Hedges Cup 1985 cemented Indian cricket’s position and underlined that 1983 was no fluke, the era laid the foundation of the emergence of Indian sports most powerful brand — cricket!
While 1983 made cricket catch Indian public’s attention, what later transformed the sport into the most dominating one in this country was a combination of factors, including corporate involvement, live streaming and an explosion of endorsement culture that brought big money into the sport. Make no mistake — India has had its fair share of sporting icons — from the iconic Major Dhyan Chand to the inimitable Viswanathan Anand to the inspirational Sania Mirza. Yet, none can match the dominance our cricketing icons enjoy.
1990s, The defining decade: The real shift in Indian cricket came in the 1990s. With the Indian economy being liberalised, greater access to television and improved quality of live coverage made the sport enter every Indian household. The 1990s also saw corporates and brands making a beeline to sponsor cricket events even as endorsements started pouring in for top cricketers. With India’s dismal Olympic performances accompanied by the decline of Indian hockey, Indians perhaps found the only team sport where the country was excelling globally.
The era also saw the emergence of influential sports management firms that started representing commercial interests of top athletes. In 2001, Sachin Tendulkar struck a dizzying Rs 100 crore deal with sports management firm WorldTel and became the face of uncountable brands and campaigns.
As big money poured in, not only did it change the fortunes of cricket players and the BCCI, but also gradually eclipsed all other sports in India.
Building of brand cricket: With the Indian subcontinent emerging as the new “Mecca” of world cricket, India became a cricketing superpower. The cash-rich BCCI now held the strings of world cricket, surpassing in power the hitherto highly influential Australian and English cricket boards. While cricket had become a brand to reckon with, infusing value in this brand to make it bigger became the motto of the BCCI.
In 2008, the BCCI laid the foundation for Indian cricket’s biggest money-spinner in Indian Premier League (IPL) in response to the private endeavour Indian Cricket League (ICL) that threatened its supremacy. With the involvement of India’s and the world’s biggest cricketing superstars, IPL grew stupendously to become the most sought after cricketing event in the world.
When the Indian cricket team clinched its second World Cup victory in front of the home crowd at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, India had come a full circle from its 1983 victory — from the minnows to the giants of world cricket!
In recent years, things have improved for athletes playing sports other than cricket with cash prizes going up and brand endorsements starting to flow in for non-cricketing sports icons such as PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom. As Indian shuttlers, wrestlers, boxers and shooters make Indian proud on the world stage, Indians are starting to look at new sporting icons. The emergence of a series of sports leagues in hockey, football and kabaddi among others has further contributed to the shifting focus. Yet, our cricketing icons continue to enjoy unparalleled brand value.
The fourth edition of India’s Most Powerful Celebrity Brands report by Duff & Phelps recently put Virat Kohli’s estimated brand worth at a mammoth $170 million. PV Sindhu, the most valued shuttler brand, was placed at a distant $21.6 million. Indian cricket’s is a story of the coming together of a perfect combination of popularity, money, value- making and branding decisions. Even as several sports gain popularity in India, the supremacy of cricket as a brand is expected to stay unchallenged.
(The writer is director and creative strategist of an advertising and consulting agency)
Writer: Kewal Kapoor
Dutee Chand has declared that she is in a same-sex relationship; she should be applauded for her bravery
Same-sex relationships in India have only recently become legal after the Supreme Court read down the infamous Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code last year. That was a long time coming and it finally allowed those with alternative sexual choices, rather non-heterosexual ones, to come out in the open without fear of harassment by the authorities. However, many people who have such sexual orientation still do not step out of the closet because of fear of ridicule, a loss of prestige and in many cases a genuine fear for their physical safety. For public personalities it is even tougher; coming out might mean abuse from co-workers (teammates in the case of athletes), fans, sponsors and being boxed in an image trap. And while we would like to believe that attitudes have moved on, the fact is that they have not. Not even in the developed world where same-sex marriage is a right enshrined by law. Therefore, ace sprinter Dutee Chand’s decision to declare her sexuality and say that she has been in a long-term gay relationship should be welcomed. This will give hope and courage to others who are scared and not as privileged. Dutee herself risked ostracisation, coming as she does from the conservative interiors. While her family has threatened to disown her, fans and sponsors must stand by her and become her new family. That she chose to make the revelation during training for the World Athletics championship proves that sexuality is her private right and freedom and has nothing to do with her unwavering focus on sports. She was as committed to chasing excellence in a discipline that shaped her identity.
We have always believed what consenting adults do is their business and old social mores have to change in the modern world. India always seems like a country which has one foot stuck in the past and one in the future, but we cannot let our social values continue to be determined by laws from Victorian times. Therefore, not only should people like Dutee be allowed to love anyone they want to, going forward, India should look at modifying its marriage laws to allow for gay unions as well, just like Taiwan did recently. India can surprise people at times. It has, for example, accepted a one-time adult pornstar as a genuine Bollywood star today. So why can’t we now move forward on this front as well? Sexuality has to be normalised in discourse. Social progress cannot be determined by those who claim to stick to “Indian cultural values” because these have mutated and Dutee is a shining example.
Writer: Pioneer
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The men in blue selected for the Cricket World Cup seem to form a good and balanced team, but still India isn’t a favourite
June 25, 1983 is the moment cricket in India changed forever. One can even argue it is the day that India changed forever and much more than the economic reforms ushered in the early-1990s. That was the victory of Kapil Dev’s men at Lord’s, in the heart of the capital of India’s colonial oppressors just 35 years after independence, a win that nobody expected in a sport still fighting for top billing in India. Thirty-six years later, can a team of men, none of whom were born before that fateful summer’s day in Lord’s, win India another trophy at the same cricket ground? On the face of it, the squad that was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not generate the controversy that team announcements usually have. Partially that was because of the ongoing elections and the associated controversy that our politicians manage with their mouths, but also the overwhelming sense that this is possibly the best squad of players that India has at its disposal right now. While many expressed disappointment on social media that Delhi lad Rishabh Pant did not make the final cut, the selection of Dinesh Karthik to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s understudy is a sensible one, although nobody expects the master strategist Dhoni to not play.
That said, this appears to be the most open World Cup in years. While India has selected a strong squad, it is not among the favourites. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has England on the top of the One-Day International rankings just above India and it has a very strong team, with several of its players performing well in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In fact, the IPL has also given Australia a taste of what its team was missing as Steve Smith and David Warner make their comebacks and have been selected. After a few years of turmoil, Australia seems to have gotten its mojo back. The other subcontinental teams are in the fray and every cricket fan is happy to see the return of a competitive West Indian team, but can its power hitters, specialised in modern-day T20 cricket, manage to adapt? And there is that India-Pakistan clash at the Old Trafford ground on June 16, which in the aftermath of the recent ‘events’ on the Line of Control, should make for must-watch TV across the world, even for those who don’t follow cricket. Of course, that depends on both sides going ahead with the match, which is still a doubt. All said and done, India has a strong squad for the World Cup and while world cricket is more competitive than ever, our boys might just repeat the fantastic achievement of Kapil Dev and his men and carve their own niche in history.
Writer: Pioneer
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Do the action of Ashwin in an IPL game make him a pantomime villain or just a highly motivated competitor? Poor Vinoo Mankad. The former Indian cricketing legend had in India’s first post-independence cricket series in December 1947 ‘run out’ Australian batsman Bill Brown for ‘backing up’ at the runner’s crease. His actions were condemned by cricket authorities, sports journalists and at that time, the extremely racist sports fans in Australia. Notably though, Australian batsman and legend of the game Don Bradman never did call out Mankad’s actions. And over seven decades later, the ‘spirit’ of cricket, that forms a preamble to the rules of the game, still has no mention of this particular action. So as such, what Ravichandran Ashwin did to English batsman Jos Buttler during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game this past Monday is not officially or even spiritually a wrong thing to do. Buttler should have known better since the same thing happened to him in a One-Day International against Sri Lanka in 2014.
Keep in mind that Ashwin is no run-of-the-mill squad cricketer, making a living from the IPL. He is India’s best spin bowler of his generation and the spearhead of a bowling attack, both in India and abroad, besides being an extremely intelligent cricketer. In addition, Ashwin is a ferocious competitor and we have to keep that in mind before condemning him. What if Buttler took a sharp single and missed being run out by a fraction of an inch? Would the half-a-yard he stepped out of his crease not helped him then? While Buttler is not unique among players to do this — although falling victim to the same thing twice does mark him out as a particularly egregious batsman taking advantage — in an era where the game is so heavily biased towards batsmen, this is taking advantage of bowlers trying to play within the spirit of the game.
Cricket today, both international games and in domestic tournaments, particularly in extremely lucrative T20 tournaments like the IPL, is hyper-competitive. Making the playoffs in the IPL can add significant bonus to the salaries of players. And Ashwin’s actions have shown how far the IPL has progressed from a fun-filled drug and sex-fuelled entertainment show to a league that is competitive and serious. So yes, while Ashwin could have given Buttler a warning, this is a not a five-day test match — this was a rapid T20 game — every inch counts. Ashwin knows that the game is biased against those of his ilk and he has rightly taken a stand for his fellow bowlers. And so had Mankad. Therefore, it is wrong to criticise the bowlers for their actions here. They are following rules. The negative connotations of this action have to go as should the term ‘Mankaded.’ It is unfair on Mankad and has negative and racist implications. It should highlight the actions of batsmen taking advantage instead.
Courtesy and Writer: Pioneer
Is bringing geopolitics into sport an apt response to Pulwama attack? And is it worth boycotting in the World Cup?
Post Pulwama attack, there has been a lot of talks that have morphed into anger about what would be an apt response. The hyper-nationalists behind TV cameras would want us to go to war, in fact they would be the happiest if it started yesterday. However, as inevitable as a war with Pakistan might seem in the coming decade, the desperate bloodlust advocated by television anchors and some columnists would be a disaster. So more moderate voices have simply argued that India should punish Pakistan through economic means and a sporting boycott. And talk has started about India boycotting playing with Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup in England this summer.
This is patently a stupid idea according to some, including cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, but his former teammates, including Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly, have advocated that India boycott the match. Others have said that India should use its influence in the International Cricket Council (ICC) to enforce a global cricketing ban on Pakistan. Suggestions have also abounded that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tell foreign players, who play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), their domestic T20 tournament, and the Indian Premier League (IPL), to choose one of the two, with the money of the IPL almost ensuring that it will win out. As it is, Pakistani players are still banned from the IPL and India-Pakistan cricket ties are moribund other than the occasional game during an ICC tournament.
This paper feels that while intensifying an economic boycott of Pakistan through some actions — including asking foreign players to leave the PSL as well as reducing cultural ties between the two nations like preventing Pakistani artistes from plying their trade in Bollywood — are warranted, they will just intensify pressure on a country whose economy survives on Chinese and Saudi benevolence. This should be the way forward. Boycotting a match at the World Cup would, however, be a self-defeating move by the BCCI because India remains one of the favourites for the tournament and pulling out sends a pointless message. The boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Olympics by American and Soviet bloc athletes respectively devalued those games, including India’s Gold in the Moscow Games, simply because we did not play with Pakistan.
India should continue to weaken Pakistan economically and socially. The fact is that Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product, which once stood equal to India’s, is less than half as that of India. In fact, Pakistan has been overtaken by Bangladesh economically. And while China has thrown money into Pakistan, it is becoming apparent that the Pakistani people will see little or no economic benefit. The Dragon will almost certainly decimate Pakistan’s balance of payments and likely gain a subservient economic colony. So yes, we should play Pakistan in the World Cup because in a few years time, they will be known as Pakistan, colony of China. And what will be the fun then?
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Writer: Pioneer
The world cup is around the corner and, in the next few weeks, a billion people in India will experience supreme excitement watching the World Cup to be held in England and Wales. Cricket is like a religion in India and even in other parts of South Asia, cricket has now reached every village and every street corner. Geoff Marsh, former Australian cricketer, who a decade ago visited the TERI cricket grounds (where several international matches have been played), was overwhelmed by the amount of cricket that is played in India, on the basis of which he predicted that India would certainly soon become the dominant force in this game. His prediction appears to have come true, given the serious competition among Indian cricketers now playing first class cricket and adapting to the variations of the game right from the five-day tests to the shortest T20 format.
Those who witnessed the third T20 game between India and New Zealand, must have been disappointed with the outcome, while India lost the game by four runs. But as a famous football coach in the US stated, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” On balance, India had a far better team in that game but it appears that the hunger to win was missing, which is the hallmark of teams excelling consistently. In some respects, much depends on the captain of the team and his ability to lift the players he commands to a level which takes them to the limits of their capabilities. India has had outstanding captains, not just in cricket but in other games as well. Who could have doubted the genius of Dhyan Chand in the heyday of India’s complete dominance of hockey, where as a captain, he led by example?
Our first win in the 1983 World Cup was crafted by none other than Kapil Dev, who as a captain, always led by example. As India’s best all-rounder, excelling in bowling, batting and fielding, Kapil Dev hardly ever had any fitness problem. This not only helped him perform beyond the call of duty but also set an example through his infectious enthusiasm.
Way back during India’s tour of Australia in 1947-48, Lala Amarnath was India’s captain, leading a severely depleted team in the wake of the Partition of India and other factors. Yet, in an unprecedented move, it was Lala Amarnath’s courageous approach to the game that allowed him declare in the third test, even though India was 103 runs behind after it rained overnight. Of course, Don Bradman was equal to the challenge, sending in his tail enders, but he must have been worried when SG Barnes, the fourth Australian wicket, fell at the score on 32. But then, the Australians recovered and beat India by an innings and 16 runs. The major discovery of the tour for India was Vinoo Mankad and Dattu Phadkar (who scored 51 in the second test, getting Bradman’s wicket in the third and then hitting a century in the fourth). It was this writer’s privilege to be coached by the great Dattu Phadkar after his retirement several decades ago.
In the past, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, or ‘Captain Cool’, has shown remarkable abilities not only to inspire and motivate his team but also to perform both as an outstanding wicket-keeper and consistently aggressive batsman. Even today, he is regarded as the best finisher of the game and his presence in the World Cup would be an inspiration to the entire Indian team with his insights, which he is never reluctant to share with his captain, the bowlers as well as the batsmen with whom he is in the middle.
Virat Kohli is another leader, who is likely to take the Indian team to greater heights, even though he may not as yet possess the confidence and ability to perform on the field when it matters the most. That is where Dhoni’s advice would be crucial in supplementing the skills of these two outstanding cricketers.
The third T20 in Hamilton at New Zealand came as a disappointment, because this match could have proved to be the climax after India’s progress during the ODIs and the second T20. Rohit Sharma is such a gifted player with a remarkable cricketing brain and as a captain gets the best out of his team. That day, unfortunately, he appeared to have been out of sorts. Perhaps, there was inadequate consultation between Rohit Sharma and the team management, because given the excellent batting conditions and short boundaries at Hamilton, India should justifiably have batted first.
It was entirely within their reach to set up a mammoth total against the black caps and set them a daunting target. What was even more disappointing was the slow rate at which Rohit Sharma played for the period that he was there, scoring barely 38 runs in 32 balls. If only he had scored another 10 runs in those 32 balls he faced,
victory would not have eluded India!
This was an aberration, given Rohit Sharna’s ability to send the ball sailing into the crowds with his sixers hit all over the park. His emphasis on taking singles and having Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant do all the slogging placed undue pressure on these talented but inexperienced batsmen.
The essence of the match in Hamilton lies in the positive frame of mind that the captain must carry constantly redefining strategy, a quality which Rohit Sharma has displayed on so many occasions. Perhaps, on that occasion, there was a level of complacency, a decline in courage and a loss of his usual consistency which came in the way. The score of 212 by the black caps was never such a daunting total, given the fact that every observer regarded 220 and 225 as a challenging total to reach on that ground.
Once the World Cup comes around, Virat Kohli will certainly feel equal to the task and will no doubt lead by example but it would be important for him to maintain a level of confidence, unfailing courage and consistency as captain. Most importantly, he must have faith in the ability of every member of his team. In this, he may turn to others but certainly maintain his active rapport with MS Dhoni, ‘Captain Cool’.
(The writer is former chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2002-15)
Courtesy: Pioneer
Writer: R. K Pachauri
With demands for the BCCI to not play Pak at World Cup, does that mean we should simply give a walkover?
As tempers continue to flare over the Pulwama attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad under the protectorate of Pakistan, discussion boards are abuzz with opinions on how to punish the perpetrator, diplomatically, economically and culturally. Now the strategy to isolate Pakistan has spilt over into sports and the only discipline which is religion on both sides and has been used to settle many sub-continental duels — cricket. Especially after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a cricketing legend himself, forgot the values of the game and is yet to comment on the latest Pulwama attack. Now the Cricket Club of India (CCI), an affiliate of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), has demanded that India not play Pakistan at the ICC World Cup this summer. It even blacked out pictures of Pakistani cricketers from its premises in Mohali. Fans too are demanding that we not play Pakistan and in fact, cede two points to that team, as a walkover. While the fragility of Indo-Pak relations is being tested on a taut and thin thread that cannot be elasticised any further, the larger theory of sports being an apolitical space which must actually transcend borders is not holding. Rather, the larger sports economy, in this case the cricket economy, is being used as a coercive tool to isolate Pakistan and bring it down to its knees on supporting Jaish and its chief Masood Azhar. As it is, IMG-Reliance almost overnight pulled out of broadcast contracts to provide satellite feed of Pakistan Cricket League (PCL) matches. The logic being applied here too is much the same. With India a big booming market for spectatorship, which holds the barometer of the much-loved TRPs, and us owning much of the rights of the distribution feed, ICC sure cannot afford to alienate India. But can it stop it from keeping Pakistan in the championship? Unlikely. Though it makes for good optics internationally, fact is nobody else will be invested as deeply in India’s hurt or a bilateral issue in a multilateral championship. Besides, we have stopped playing Pakistan since 26/11 except at multi-nation championships. And this is the World Cup, so we would want our boys to win on their talent and steam and crush the Pakistanis instead of giving them a walkover.
A far more effective way of choking a financially-strapped Pakistan now would be to appeal to the global finance task force and build a case for World Bank and IMF to not grant loans. And now that Imran Khan is crowing how Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad-bin Salman cannot let down Pakistan and will fund it generously, we need to tell the prince when he visits here that investments can’t be easy without mutual gains and concessions. Besides, as we have mentioned before, we need to make this point with China too, which values our market more than anything else. Meanwhile, cricket itself can become one of the soft tools of outreach to the Valley, where youth engagement and their participation in local matters have been completely sidelined with the obviously prioritised security imperatives. But if Pulwama has shown anything, it is that it is time to arrest the drift and mount a social reconnect programme to counter the Jaish propaganda, especially in the time of fake news and the high consumption of digital platforms in the Valley. Parvez Rasool has made it to the national side while Qamran Iqbal (17) has made it to the under-19 national side. More stars are shining through in the IPL. In the end, this will be the greatest game that we will win against Pakistan.
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Writer: Editor – The Pioneer
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell feels the Virat Kohli-led side is India’s best in pace bowling and fielding but it is nowhere close to being the best in batting. India defeated Australia 2-1 for their maiden Test series triumph Down Under, ending a 71year wait.
The historic victory has garnered widespread praise for Kohli’s men with several former players lauding the gritty performance. Asked if this was the best Indian team of all time on ‘eSPNCricinfo’, Chappell said, “This Indian side is the best fast bowling contingent I have seen from India and the best fielding side that I have seen from India.”
“But it’s not the best batting side. I have seen better batting combinations from India than this team,” he added, but did not dwell on which batting line-up he considered the best. Although Cheteshwar Pujara was adjudged man of the series for being the series’ top-scorer, India’s traditionally much-vaunted batting was, for once, overshadowed by the team’s pacers. The Indian pacers accounted for 50 of the 70 Australian wickets during the engagement.
The visiting pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami combined for an average of 21.62 in the four-match series, while Australia’s pace battery, comprising Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, averaged over 30. Chappell said the Indian bowlers did well to exploit the conditions. “I thought the Indian bowlers did really well and overall they out-bowled the Australians. They got more swing than the Australian bowlers. “I think the seam position of the Indian fast bowlers was very good. They kept it up the whole time and perhaps that’s why they swung the ball more than the Australians,” he explained.
India’s top run accumulator Cheteshwar Pujara Monday described the current team which clinched the country’s maiden Test series win in Australia as the best he has been a part of with lethal bowling attack complementing the batting. Pujara, who scored 521 runs at an average of 74 with the help of three hundreds, was named Player of the Series in the historic series win.
“It’s a great feeling for all of us. We’ve been working hard to win a series overseas, and winning in Australia has never been easy. This is the best Indian side I have been part of. I would like to congratulate the team,” he said after India clinched the four-match series 2-1.
The fourth and final Test at the SCG ended in a draw after the fifth day’s play was abandoned due to persistent rain. India clinched the series 2-1, ending a 71-year-old long wait of winning a Test series on Australian soil. The 30-yearold Pujara was all praise for the bowling attack. “We’ve had four bowlers, and it’s not easy taking 20 wickets, so credit goes to all our fast bowlers and spinners…It is remarkable,” he said.
Asked about his tremendous form in the Test series, Pujara said, “I am really pleased with my contribution. As a batsman, I was just getting used to the pace and bounce. “Apart from that, playing in South Africa and england has helped me improve my technique. For me, it’s all about preparation and I was very well prepared.”
He said his first hundred of the series in Adelaide was special. “Scoring a ton at Adelaide and going 1-0 up is what we were aiming for.” On his future plans, he said, “I’ll be playing some first-class cricket back home, and I’ll play some county cricket during the IPL. “The next Test series is some 6-7 months away, it’ll give me some time to prepare. I would like to play white-ball cricket, but Test cricket is my priority, and it always be so.”
Australian captain Tim Paine admitted his side was outplayed by a superior team and India deserved to win the series. “Have to tip our hat to India, we know how tough it is to win in India so congrats to Virat and Ravi because it’s a huge achievement. They deserve to win the series. “We are disappointed, definitely over the last two Tests. We had our chances in Adelaide, in Perth I thought we played some good cricket, but in Melbourne and Sydney, we’ve been outplayed,” the home team captain said.
(With inputs from The Pioneer)
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