Sreesanth’s second coming
M.S.Unnikrishnan

S. Sreesanth has returned to the Indian team with a thud, and treats his 19-month-long sabbatical from international cricket as a bad dream. A series of injuries and on-field antics, which led to disciplinary action, had kept Sreesanth out of the Indian team all these months. His support base was wearing thin, and even his home state of Kerala contemplated stripping him of the Ranji Trophy captaincy.

But the young pacer battled his demons, trained hard at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, had a stint at the English county of Warwickshire, under the dynamic guidance of pace ace Allan Donald, which did him a world of good, and kept alive his aspirations to return to the national team.

And he seized the chance, the last perhaps, of playing for the country with both the hands by scalping five wickets in the first innings and one more in the second essay of Sri Lanka in the later Test at Kanpur.

Sreesanth was elated at his magnificent second coming, with the mind totally focussed on his searing bowling spells, to pick wickets that mattered.

He put the thrust on basics like line and length, swing and seam, to rattle the Sri Lankan batsmen, who collapsed like a pack of cards to help India set up a much-needed, yet facile, victory. Nineteen months ago, in April, 2008, Sreesanth had last played a Test cricket at Kanpur, againt South Africa, before falling a victim to injuries and his on-field antics.

All these months, his return to the Indian team had looked difficult, but this time, the national selection committee, headed by K.Srikanth, took a gamble to give Sreesanth a last chance, ahead of the claims of Ashish Nehra, who had done well in the ODIs, and Sudeeep Tyagi, whose wicket-taking ability had been fully exploited in the domestic circuit and the Challenger Trophy.

And Sreesanth fully justified the faith reposed in him by the selectors to come up with a dream wicket-taking spell.

"It was beyond my expectation. This was a dream come true," said Sreesanth after India posted a crushing victory against the Islanders. The talented boy should have been a regular in the Indian team, but the 19-month break was of his own making. He had many well-wishers who wanted him to come back to the Indian team at the earliest, amongst them former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and South African pacer Allan Donald.

But what surprised Sreesanth was that he had an admirer in the great Amitabh Bachchan himself, and no less. When Sreesanth came out of the tarmac of the Mumbai airport, along with Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan at 11 pm, en route from Kanpur to Cochin for a day's break, a security guard came up to him and whispered that Amitabh wanted to see him. When Sreesanth rushed out to meet Big B, sitting in a limousine along with wife Jaya outside the airport gate, he could not believe his eyes. Amitabh drove down to the airport just to compliment him on his return to wicket-taking form, and his clean-shaven visage.

He also asked him to stick to his on-field aggression, without flouting the decorum. Amitabh had also spoken encouraging words to Sreesanth when he was recalled into the team, and picked for the playing eleven in the second Test. This was a humbling experience for the emotional bowler, who has now vowed to keep a clean image, with the focus solely on his bowling, after rising like a phoenix from the ashes, as it were.

The entire Indian team, particularly Sachin Tendulkar, captain M. S. Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh, went out of their way to boost the morale of Sreesanth, which went a long way in helping him regain confidence and form.

"This success is the result of my hard work and prayers. My success is the achievement of the team," Sreesanth noted. Dhoni was personally happy at Sreesanth's return to form and to the team, and at his bowling with "controlled aggression."

"He bowled with aggression and purpose. It really is good to have Sreesanth back in the team for the right reasons," observed former Indian captain Anil Kumble, though during his captaincy Sreesanth had been cooling his heels in the wilderness.

Sreesath's seam bowling at Kanpur was an act of class triumphing over adversity as the wicket was not helping the seamers on the third and fourth day, when the player struck with deadly accuracy with full-length balls, and a mesmerising swing either way. Sreesanth was calm and collected after the fall of every wicket. There was no song and dance, no taunting the batsmen, no glaring eyes. He has indeed learnt valuable lessons from his past misdemeanours, which had put his career on the line.

"God has given me a big chance, this is a new beginning for me," said Sreesanth, who thought he would never ever play for the country till the call for the Test series against Lanka came. And it was just as well that he played a vital role in India's 100th Test victory, and bagged his second man of the match award in Test cricket.

The first was in the opening Test against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2006, when he bowled India to their first-ever victory on South African soil as he took four wickets each in either innings. Sreesath made his India debut in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2005, after his impressive outing in the domestic circuit, especially in the Challenger Trophy. He made his Test debut against England at Kanpur in March, 2006, and made a great impact with a 4 for 95 spell. After missing the next Test at Mohali due to injury, he returned to the Mumbai Test with a roar, bagging five wickets, and bowled remarkably well during the tour of the West Indies, with 5 for 72 in the fourth Test at Kingston as his best. He also did well against England in an ODI match at Indore, claiming 6 for 55, though erratic form eventually did him in.

But after the tour of England in 2007 immediately following the World Cup, Sreesanth's career went downhill, and he was eased out of the ODI team first, then the T20 and the Test team as well. He also missed the entire IPL II for King XI Punjab in South Africa. But now, he's determined to put the past behind, and look ahead to a promising future.

Tribal archers aim at the Commonwealth Games
Team target
Madhusree Chatterjee

The dusky girl with a fetching dimple from Ratu village, near Ranchi, is barely 16 and an ace archer. Meet Deepika Kumari, who won the gold medal in the cadet (junior) category at the World Archery Youth Championships at Ogden in the USA in 2009. She is a product of the Tata Archery Academy that has produced many champions over the years.

Deepika trains for more than nine hours a day. She is preparing for the Commonwealth Games 2010 and the Asian Games thereafter at the sprawling Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur.

The academy's alumnus boasts of names like Dola Banerjee, the 2007 World Cup gold winner, Rahul Banerjee, the 2008 World Cup gold winner, and Jayanta Talukdar, the 2006 World Cup gold winner. Its archers have won 753 national medals and 169 international medals.

"I was a little scared while competing in the USA, but my coach Purnima Mahto gave me the courage. I am confident of making it to the Indian team at the Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian Games, which is scheduled soon after the former," Deepika Kumari told IANS in between her morning practice session.

Deepika's inspiration is Arjuna awardee Jayanta Talukdar, another Tata Academy fellow, who ranked world number one in July, 2009.

The academy has put together a team of four men and four women archers for selection to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games contingents.

The Tata Archery Academy, an integral part of the Tata Steel's sports department—one of the company's primary Corporate Social Responsibility component—was set up in 1996 to train and promote local archers from villages in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, where the company has its mines and industries. It later spread its wings countrywide to handpick tribal talent for its four-year residential course.

Tata Steel was conferred the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar by the President of India in 2009 for its contribution to sports.

The archery academy currently has 21 cadets between 13 and 18 years,12 girls and nine boys, who stay at the academy, train and study in the local school. Most of them are from poor families in the villages, the cost of their training, stay, education, equipment and exposure at different tournaments around the world is borne by the company.

"It took us a decade to hone our archers to win laurels at the international level. This region is a treasure house of archery talent because the local ethnic people have been using bow and arrow for centuries," coach Purnima Mahto said.

Located on a landscaped stretch at the mammoth GRD Tata Sports Complex in the city, the academy comprises a huge training range that offers "targets" between the 30 m to 90 m distance, which is the Federation of International Archers' (FITA) distance stipulation.

"Archers have to prove their aim in four distance categories: 30 m, 50 m, 60-70 m and 90 m. While for girls, the distance cap is 70 m, for boys, it's 90 m," coach Dharmendra Tiwari said.

The academy also has a hostel for cadets, two state-of-the-art gyms, swimming pool, meditation and yoga centre and a stadium (40,000 seats) with a synthetic track where the archers train.

"Besides, we also conduct regular counselling and motivation sessions, draw up special diet charts, hire foreign coaches (mostly from South Korea) and send our cadets abroad for training. The performance of each cadet is reviewed. We even weed out cadets if they fail to perform," Captain Amitabh, head of the Tata Steel sports department, said.

Foreign training helps, says national champion Atanu Das from Kolkata, "who went to South Korea for training from the TAA."

The academy has four feeder centres in the Tata Steel mines located in the tribal interiors, from where it sources local talent.

"Besides, we also pick up talent from the SAIL Archery Academy in Kiriburu, the Ekalavya Academy (run by the state government at Kharsawan in East Singhbhum) and from around the states. We also have a former archery champion V.V.S.N. Rao, who advises us on strategies," Amitabh said.

The training is gruelling. "Archers begin their day with a four-hour morning training at 8.30 am followed by an afternoon session at 3 pm. Night training begins at 6 pm. They practice with imported bows and the standard set of 144 arrows. It is interspersed with strength and mind training and regular studies. Education is important to help the archers communicate and improve IQ," Purnima Mahto said.

Coach Rupesh Singh monitors the practice sessions with a laptop. He records the speed and target range of the cadets every day and maintains "flow charts of their progress".

The academy also sets target scores for probable champions that can fetch them medals. Rimil Biruly, a local archer who won a bronze in the 2009 World Cup in Turkey, said: "I will make it to both the Commonwealth and the Asian Games squads. I did not know anything about archery till 2004, when I joined the Jharkhand Academy Association. I was later picked by the Tata Archery Academy, which has given me the edge and confidence." — IANS

Fit Zone
Mother figure
Bharat Thakur

The joy of motherhood is like no other. You get to feel the beauty of creation of life as you witness how the little life in you continues to grow with proper nourishment. The joy is more because the little baby is a part of you. The ones near and dear to the mother also experience the joy and happiness. For the pregnant mother, it is as if there’s a new meaning to life and a new phase of life has begun.

During this time, as is known, it is essential that expecting mothers be very careful about their health. This is true not just so that the baby gets enough nutrition and is able to grow and develop properly, but also because the mother needs to be healthy and should not become weak because of the pregnancy. The family members and friends should also ensure that the mother takes good care of herself, both during and after the pregnancy. It is a difficult yet enjoyable phase of life, where the mother should get enough good nutrition and exercise.

Yoga is very good for pregnant women as well as for postnatal recovery. Particular asanas should be practised at proper times during the pregnancy and also to assist in postnatal recovery. Yoga ensures that the mother remains in good health, both mentally and physically. Naukasana is useful for women preparing for childbearing and can be practised during the second trimester of pregnancy. Chakki Chalanasana can be practised during the first three months of pregnancy and also for postnatal recovery. Vyaghrasana is helpful for women after childbirth.