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Caught in a spin Sponsors chip in
Jeev Milkha Singh has been ranked amongst the top 50 golfers in the world for the third year in a row. Sastre reigns
in France
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The way India’s famed batting folded against the Sri Lankan spinners in the first Test at Colombo reeks of a stagnating process that has engulfed our cricket over the past one decade.
Abhijit Chatterjee looks at some of the reasons behind the failure of the ‘best players of spin’
There simply is no answer. Why should the famed Indian batting line-up with the first six batsmen sharing 40,000 Test runs between them fold up in just 45 overs in the second innings of the just-concluded first Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo? Do the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis have so much guile that the top order Indian batsmen were hopping around like a cat on a hot tin roof with simply no idea which way each delivery would go? Or is there something more to it and the Indians have slowly forgotten the art of playing quality spin bowling which these Lankan duo displayed in abundant quality? If at one time there were quality spinners like Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and Venkataraghvan in the Indian line-up, there were spinners of the likes of Haryana’s Rajinder Goel, Uday Joshi of Gujarat and Padmakar Shilvalkar of Mumbai (who probably were as good as those doing national duty) bowling away, match after match in the domestic circuit knowing fully well that the chance of a Test call-up was absolutely thin. Goel’s 700-plus Ranji Trophy wickets are a mark, which no modern-day cricketer is likely to reach given the fact that even half-baked spinners get a call-up to don Indian colours as the national selectors grapple with the question: after Anil Kumble who? The presence of quality spinners in India was the reason why traditionally Indian cricketers were good players of spin at all levels of the game since every team had one good finger spinner in the line-up. In fact, the batsmen who have been part of the national side since 2002 have been better players of fast bowling than their counterparts of the 80s and 90s. This was one reason why India struggled against fast bowlers while touring abroad but made amends by winning matches at home. Now the problem of playing quality spin is there for all to see, a situation, which was wonderfully exploited by the Sri Lankans. The reasons why India is not producing quality spinners are many. One would tend to lay the blame on the way cricket is now played in the country with the stress being given more and more on one-day cricket and now on T20 games. Also, the BCCI’s insistence on green-top wickets could well signal the doom of the home-grown spinner. Now, there are very few groundsmen in the country who can prepare the flat, perfect wicket that was the hallmark of Indian cricket for so many years. On such perfect wickets, finger spinners had to develop the guile, accuracy and patience to gather their rewards, a system used so perfectly by the likes of Chandrasekhar, Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghvan in the not so distant past. These days young cricketers are playing so much of ‘bang-bang’ cricket that they hardly get the time to perfect the art of spin bowling and are happy by taking the odd wicket here and there and restricting the scoring rate, letting the fast bowlers have the major share in the task of wicket-taking. The coaches are to also to blame for the lack of quality spinners. Most coaches want their trainees to bowl flatter and look for bat-pad catches as their way to get a batsmen out. The art of buying a wicket is a dying art since no bowler would like to give away runs, especially in the shorter versions of the game. The art of flight, an important aspect in any spinner’s armoury, has gone totally out of fashion. The Indian squad in Sri Lanka does not have enough talent on the bench to give practice in nets and therefore the Indian batsmen may have to make-do with just net bowlers as they prepare for remaining Tests. In any case, when it comes to spin bowling, India’s best bet even today is the aging Anil Kumble. He has been unimpressive in the past two series but has the capacity to bounce back anytime. His 20 wickets in Australia clearly tired him but then he had the support of Harbhajan Singh from the other end. Harbhajan took eight wickets at 61.25 and struck once every 18 overs, hardly a match winning performance. Harbhajan has been around for over a decade but then he is simply not improving and his temper may well be his undoing. Both Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha may be the best bet but then they have a very long way to go before they can be put under fire in Test cricket. And strangely enough the only other spin bowler’s name which comes to mind quickly is that of Amit Mishra. The cupboard is indeed bare when at one time India had a quality spinner in nearly every corner. And as the national struggle for spinners continues, the batsmen are likely to find the going tough! |
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Sponsors chip in Korean electronics giant Samsung is the official sponsor of the Indian contingent, with various minor sponsors as add-ons. But IOA secretary-general Raja Randhir Singh, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said the 57-member contingent of sportspersons, along with coaches and officials would get free board and lodging at Beijing, courtesy IOC. But the bulk of the money for all the myriad expenses of the Indian contingent would be borne by the Union Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports, though the amount would be reimbursed only after the IOA foots the bill, on return of
the contingent. Randhir Singh said sponsors, per se, were not a problem with the Indian contingent, now that India stood a bright chance to strike medals in shooting, archery and boxing. He said the shooters, archers and boxers had been scoring some big wins of late, to make their cases strong. Some shooters, athletes, boxers and tennis players have managed individual sponsors like the Mithal Champions Trust and JCT, and various other companies, due to their standing. Shiv Naresh, the biggest sports apparel manufacturing company in the country, would be providing kit bags to all the members of the Indian contingent. “We will be providing international quality kits to the Indian Olympic contingent”, stated managing director of the company Shiv Prakash. Shiv Naresh has also been sponsoring many sportspersons and teams, individually and collectively, and its help and support has been a great boost for needy sportspersons. The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) has been getting help and support from Universal, specialising in boxing equipment, and the boxers have been mostly using Universial gear in the coaching camps, which are at par with the best in the world. Tennis players like Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have some well-known brands backing them, while long-jumper Anju Bobby George has been getting financial support from the Bangalore-based construction company Sobha infrastructure, till she realises her dream of winning an Olympic medal. The Mithal Trust has been taking care of the boxers while JCT has been backing some of the shooters. Overall, even without sponsorship, India’s Olympic hopefuls are not short of funds. The Sports Ministry, the Sports Authority of India, the IOA and the IOC have all pitched in to ensure that fund crunch would not hamper India’s chase for an Olympic medal/medals. |
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Rafalicious Just a month ago the sobriquet ‘King of Clay’ was synonymous with Rafael Nadal. But no longer does it justify his all round game. Reason: The man best known for his brilliant defensive skills and success on the slow red clay has conquered other surfaces too — grass and hard-court. Playing with a strong two-handed backhand, precisely-angled topspin, heavy strokes, fast mobility on the court, consistency and accuracy and a preference to play deep from the court, he has developed into one of the best players in the history of the game. After wearing the French Open crown for the fourth consecutive time this year, he outplayed World No. 1 Roger Federer at Wimbledon and then overpowered Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer on hard-court, winning the Toronto Masters, one of the nine Tennis Masters Series events ranking just below the four Grand Slams. His fifth consecutive title since mid-May and seventh in 2008 has taken his total tally to 30 making him third youngest player behind Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Conners to accumulate 30 titles. Nadal, ranked No. 2 for a record 157 weeks, is now within the reaching limit of top spot. The Spaniard, arrived in Toronto 770 points behind Federer, but trimmed the lead to 300. And this chance of wearing the crown is not too far. Nadal can annex Federer’s kingdom at Cincinnati Masters this Sunday, where World No.1 will be looking to defend his title. Nadal will become the new No. 1, ending Federer’s 234-week run, if he wins the title in Cincinnati and Federer loses before the semifinals. |
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The
(w)hole world rises to Jeev From Jeev in Japan, in 2006, to Jeev again in Hokkaido (Japan) on July 27, 2008, he continues to rock. And so do the Indian golf fanatics. It’s golf all-over. At the golf-courses, clubs, pubs, bars-and now, on the college steps; guys and girls are playing or talking about it. It is the ‘in thing’ these days. The craze was always there, but it was the 37-year-old Jeev Milkha Singh, who sparked it again, with almost back-to-back victories in Austria and Japan. Golf Mania is back and has the clubs, corporates and even the media swinging at it. The Indian golfing sensation, Jeev, son of the Flying-Sikh, Milkha Singh, is on a roll; and the golfers around the globe are taking note of him. Ranked amongst the top 50 golfers in the world for the 3rd year in a row, he was the highest paid Indian sports-person in 2006. Infact, with Jyothi Randhawa and Shiv Kapur doing well in patches, Indian golf has never had it so good. Not to forget Bhullar and Co, for the silver they won at the Doha-Asiad. Jeev’s first International tournament win was way back in 1994, in Korea. Since then, he has won 11 major international titles. But 2006 was the year of his crowning glory, when he won four internationals — China Open; Volvo Masters of Europe(Spain); Casio Japan Open and ended his golfing year, with the title win of Nippon Series-JT Cup, at Tokyo. He won four titles and a total of 19 top-10 finishes in 2006; which helped him with the biggest jump in the world rankings, with a climb to 37 from 376. He also won the UBS Asian Order of Merit for 2006. Today, he reflects the hopes and aspirations of millions of Indian golf lovers, as he heads for the remaining Majors and the European and Asian tours in the second half of 2008. Golf in India is not as young as some would like us to believe. Infact, Royal Calcutta Golf Club, was founded way back in 1829. Yes, the recent achievements are just the beginning of a new era. Once the game of the rich and famous, and patronized by royalty; golf has undergone a worldwide boom and popularity, in recent times. It is fast losing its’ exclusivity and becoming the game of the masses. Known as a gentlemen’s game, for its’ observance of rules of social behavior and etiquette, golf still has the reputation for being a sport where sportsmanship and honour survive the changing
times. — The writer is a former CEO and member of the Academic Council of Bangalore University
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Sastre reigns in France
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Rafalicious
Olympic sports disciplines in India rarely attract big-time sponsorship deals, but the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is not complaining, and funds are the least of the worries of the Indian contingent as they embark on yet another Olympic odyssey in pursuit of medals at the Beijing Games.