Guts and Glory
Subroto Sirkar recaptures some moods and milestones of Lala Amarnath on the eve of his birth centenary

HE was India’s first century-maker in Test cricket, that, too, in his first Test, in December 1933. In 1936, he had the dubious distinction of being sent back home from his first tour before the Test series began. In 1947, he was independent India’s first captain on our first tour of Australia. Four years later, he was in the team when India first won a Test match against England at Madras. And, eight years after that, when India first beat Australia in a Test, at Kanpur, he was chairman of the selectors.

Lala Amarnath was quite the most colourful character Indian cricket has produced. He was, as Berry Sarbadhikary put it, "Always ‘news’." But perhaps the comment the Lala himself would have liked to be best remembered by came not from any journalist, or even a fellow Indian.

In the match against Victoria on the Australian tour, Amarnath scored 228 not out. Neil Harvey, the left-hander who became one of Australia’s greatest batsmen, a teenager then, has recorded: "His innings that day was one of the finest I have ever seen from my vantage point in the covers `85 his cover-driving was amazing and he never looked like getting out."

It was in keeping with Amarnath’s character that he himself did not consider this innings, or his Test debut hundred, his finest knock — but a century he made at Madras in 1945 for the Ceylon-bound Indian team.

And his best bowling effort? Taking six wickets for 29 with his medium-pace in-swingers versus Middlesex at Lord’s, on the 1936 tour.

It is history, of course, that Amarnath was dispatched home from that tour for "disciplinary reasons", though an inquiry fully exonerated him later. It remained "the most disappointing event" of his long playing career: "`85 that was my prime year, and I know I’d have been a great success, both in batting and in bowling." Just for the record, at that stage he was the Indians’ top run-getter, with 613 runs, and had taken 32 wickets at 20.87 apiece.

Always outspoken, he was never the one to say things behind another’s back. When he agreed to my interviewing him for Wisden Cricket Monthly in mid-1994 , we talked for over 90 minutes — he kept mocking me whenever a question did not challenge his cricketing brain.

"How does it matter?" he’d said when asked to confirm his date of birth, "The quicker I can reach my centenary, the sooner I can be felicitated!"

Born in Kapurthala, Amarnath learnt his cricket in Lahore. He was the cricketer of Punjab — the undivided Punjab as it was in his best playing days. When Indo-Pak cricket resumed in 1978, and the Indians arrived for the tour, a stately limousine met the plane at the tarmac. As the Indians’ manager, the former maharaja of Baroda, unhesitatingly strode towards it, the chauffeur shooed him off: "Yeh sirf Lala saab ke liye !"

John Arlott best summed him up as "a man of exceptional strength of character, it was impossible to remain indifferent to him."

Love Actually
Shane Warne says he owes his new look not to surgery but to love

Cricket ace Shane Warne says his new look is simply due to the glow of being in love with model-actress Liz Hurley. Warne, 41, who started dating 46-year-old Hurley last December, says he is lucky to have her in his life, Daily Express reported. "I think that gives off a radiant glow, too, you know. Being in love with someone is a wonderful feeling and I am at the moment.

"I was lucky to meet Elizabeth, we're having a great time and I am in love with her. We're going really well, it's easy with each other. It's a bit interesting," he said. Warne, who has three children with former wife Simone, says his fitness is also also due to leading a healthier lifestyle. "Together we make a pretty good partnership. She's a lovely lady and the kids are accepting her," he added. Speculation that he had undergone botox injections was rife after he began to lose weight last October and dress more stylishly.

"I've got some wrinkles. I have never even had a consultation with a plastic surgeon. I don't think it is right or fair to the public to portray me as a person with no wrinkles. I haven't changed one bit. "I actually wanted to get fit. I got into it and I really started to enjoy it so I have kept going," Warne said. — PTI

Fit like Fauja
The first person to sign up for the 2012 Edinburgh race at the age of 100, Fauja Singh attributes his fitness to chai and curry

The world’s oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh, who at the age of 100 has become the first person to sign up for the 2012 Edinburgh race, has revealed that the secrets to his fitness lie in ginger curry, and plenty of tea. The Indian-origin sprinter, who has completed seven marathons since turning 89, admitted to having plenty of ginger curry and copious amounts of tea in order to stay fit for his daily 10-mile training regime.

"I am not a learned person in any shape or form. To me, the secret is being happy, doing charity work, staying healthy and being positive," the Daily Mail quoted the Sardar as saying.
"If someone says I must stop running, I ignore them — invariably they're younger than me. The secret to a long and healthy life is to be stress-free.

"If there's something you can't change then why worry about it? Be grateful for everything you have, stay away from people who are negative, stay smiling and keep running," he added. — ANI

Slim as SWANNS

After trying their hands at a slew of slimming-down methods, women have decided to turn into SWANNS – ‘slim women who absorb no nutrients’, in their latest bid to stay slim. A new study has suggested that majority of women are avoiding vitamins and minerals as a part of their low-calorie, low-fat diet chart in a bid to stay trim.

Nutritionists, who have named such females as ‘Slim Women Absorbing No Nutrients’ or SWANNS, believe that many are seduced by products marketed as having low fat or sugar, but which often lack nutrients such as iron, Vitamin D and calcium.

Researchers at Spatone, which produces liquid iron supplements, found many women resort to lettuce salad lunches, which are low in calories and not high in nutrients, with some even skipping meals.

"It is possible to look super slim but if you’re not eating the right foods, you’re causing damage on the inside," the Daily Mail quoted nutritional therapist Fleur Borrelli as saying.

"For maximum mental performance your need to keep you blood sugar levels on an even keel throughout the day by eating a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables regularly.

"By skipping meals we also tend to make up for the meals we skip later on in the day by eating empty calorie foods such as crisps and chocolate, which have little nutritional value.

"How many times have you thought "I’ll have this muffin now but I’ll skip dinner to make up for it"? "This use of mental justification for poor diet is a classic example of empty calories being eaten instead of nutritionally balanced meals," he added. — ANI

Calorie check
McDonald's begins showing calories on menus

More than 1,000 McDonald's restaurants in Britain will begin displaying the calorie count of each fast food item on their menus, as part of a government-led programme to fight obesity. McDonald's says the calorie counts will be displayed on wall-mounted menu boards from now on in all of its 1,200 UK restaurants. The chain is one of several food companies partnering with the Department of Health to encourage customers to adopt a healthier diet. It has also promised to remove artificial trans fats from its products, although it did not sign up to a salt reduction pledge. McDonald's is already displaying calorie menu boards in New York City.Other chains that have signed up to the British calorie display programme include KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks. — AP