It's all about the grind and the guts

There are cricketers who go through the grind of playing local leagues, moving on to the national scene, then play the ODIs followed by Test cricket (which is still regarded as the ultimate destination for any cricketer). And they end their careers playing T20 leagues.

And then there's Ryan Harris, who goes through the initial grind, starts playing T20 cricket by becoming a journeyman (plying his trade across the world in various T20 leagues), moves onto playing ODIs and then Test cricket.
Called in to cover for the injured Peter Siddle he took 5/43 in an ODI game and then took 6 wickets in his first Test.
Given the kind of ruthless and fierce competition that Australian cricket has, at 35, he has still managed to maintain his place in the playing eleven.

Ryan Harris - It's all about the grind and the guts!!!

The New and Improved Indian Express

An absolute gorgeous display of patient and quality squash lands Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal a gold medal in the doubles event. 
A scoreline of 11-6 & 11-8 (straight games win) does reflect their total dominance in the finals.

This is India's first ever medal in Squash at the Commonwealth Games.

Joshna has been on the squash scene since 2003, it's her consistency levels that has bought laurels to the country and the sport. Currently ranked 19th in the world, she has 7 titles and 14 tour finals to her credit.
She is the first beneficiary of the Mittal Champions Trust. Mittal Champions Trust (2005 to 2014) was a trust which supported Indian athletes with world-beating potential. It was funded by Lakshmi Mittal and founded by Mahesh Bhupati.

Dipika, turned pro in 2006, achieved the best performance for any Indian Squash player when she reached the semifinals of the Australian open in 2012. Dipika has won the German Open, Dutch Open, French Open, Australian Open, Scottish Open on the European Junior Squash Circuit.
She became the first Indian to break into the top 10 of the Women’s Squash World or WSA rankings. She was also the first Indian women to break into the top 20 in the WSA rankings. She is a 6 time WSA tournament winner.

Not sure if this win will spur more youngsters to take up squash but this has surely made people take notice of the game. It can be a great sport to keep fit as well.

With their age, drop dead looks and talent, these ladies are a marketer's delight. Only hope that Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood and all other woods don't lure them away from the game. 

There's more to come from the new pin up girls of racquet sports in India.

No Gold For Boxers

The Indian boxing contingent, which won 3 gold at the CWG in 2010 and one gold in 2006, returns without any yellow metal in this edition.

Not just that but the manner in which all the four finalists lost should make the Boxing Federation sit up and take notice that competition is catching up.
If corrective measures aren't taken at the earliest, there would come a time, when the team would return without any metal.
Just sending delegations to Cuba is not helping.

Redemption is not far away though, with the Asian Games, at Incheon, round the corner. Hopefully, the boxing contingent will renew it's love affair with the yellow metal.

Roger Federer - Lost the match but won hearts ...

I must admit, being a long time ardent supporter of Novak Djokovic, in some corner of my heart, I wanted Federer to win this title. 

He fought like how champions do. He fought like how fighters do.
But, he fought not because he wanted to win this championship (he has quite a few in his trophy cupboard).
He was fighting because he wanted to prove a point. 
A point that he's not a spent force, a point that he has more slams left in him. And boy, did he make it!!!!
At his age, tennis players ponder over retirement, while he's still playing Grand Slam finals.

Given his passion to succeed, won't be surprised to see him back next year, fighting, as always.

World Cup title contenders - Some advance, some falter ...

By now, all teams have played atleast one match. While it does take some time to adjust to conditions certain matches stood out for their quality (some good and some not so good).

The Dutch massacred the Spanish armada, while Germany gave a footballing lesson to Portugal. The Belgians announced their arrival while France overcame their own demons.

Switzerland vs Ecuador

For me, the stand out match was Switzerland vs Ecuador, where the Swiss snatched an injury time victory after being behind for most of the match. 

And Costa Rica's 3-1 drubbing of Uruguay would surely count as the upset amongst the first round of group matches.

Costa Rica vs Uruguay

The most boring match must surely be the goal less Iran vs Nigeria one, which the media truly judged as a 'battle of misfits'.

Iran vs Nigeria

The Dutch are on the prowl ....

They say, revenge is a dish best served cold. And boy, did they serve it ...

The Dutch went about doing their business in a clinical manner and drove 5 nails into Spain's coffin. Unfortunately, the match ended as they were serving for the first set.
The Flying Dutchman - Robin Van Persie, started it all with a goal that would've made Denis Bergkamp proud.

But then anything Robin can do, Robben can do better. Both scored 2 goals each and it was heartening to see Robin help Robben wear his captain's armband. A team known for it's self-destructing abilities, the Dutch team of 2014 looks to be a tight knit unit.

They are on the prowl and history shows that they've made it all the way to the semis whenever they've scored 4 goals in a group match.

All the fake diving started by Real Madrid then Barcelona and now followed by Atletico is not helping Spain.

Starting with Casillas and Costa instead of De Gea and Villa proved to be costly to Vincent Del Bosque. Dread to even think what Spain will do to Australia and Chile, next.

Forbes Top Ranked Paid Athletes

Floyd Mayweather banked $105 million last year to top the Forbes Annual Highest Paid Athletes list.
The first sportsman since Tiger Woods to crack the $100 million mark.

India too has one representative in the Top 100. Our very own 'Captain Marvel' - Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The only cricketer in the list dominated by Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, Golf, Football, Boxing and F1 racers.
Usain Bolt being the only exception along with MSD.

Maria Sharapova, Li Na and Serena Williams are the top paid women athletes to make the cut.

Click here to view the entire list: http://www.forbes.com/athletes/#tab:overall_page:9

World Cup 2014 - Time to pick favorites ...

Can't wait for the World Cup to start!!!!!

As usual my whole hearted support would be for the Oranje (The Netherlands or Holland). 

While Spain has managed to shrug off the eternal bridesmaid tag when it comes to World Cup Football, the same now rests squarely on Holland's shoulders.

Before 2010, they had a better record than Spain at the World Cup finals. Now, they're in a very unenviable position of having lost the finals three times (more than any other team).

He was nowhere to be seen in 2010, but now Robin Van Persie will be the lynchpin of the Dutch attack, supported by Robben and Sneijder. Van Der Vaart's absence, will be felt, however.

The head says Spain (they've retained the core that won them the cup in 2010, although Puyol's absence will be felt). For a team that could afford to leave out players like Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo, Dani Carvahal and Fernando Llorente, the squad is embarrassingly rich and the resources are mouth watering. 

It's still Spain's World Cup to lose. Their match against The Netherlands would, probably, capture the most eyeballs in the group stages.

With the likes of Thibaut Courtouis, Simon Mignolet, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Marouen Fellaini, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard, Belgium would be the dark horses for this World cup.

One can expect them to top their group, that includes Russia, South Korea and Algeria. Would not be surprised if they reach the semis. After that, it's anybody's game.

Would stick my neck out for the most mercurial and free flowing team, Uruguay. With Diego Forlan still around and with the like of Luiz Suarez, Diego Godin and Edison Cavani, they can cause an upset or two. While the finished 4th in the last edition, the South Americans will be keen to make an impact and go a step ahead, this time around.

Clubbed with Italy, England and Costa Rica, Uruguay will find it a challenge to be in the top 2.

While the usual suspects Brazil, Argentina, West Germany and France will still fancy their chances, my vote goes for these four above mentioned teams to win

This event will also offer new comers a chance to get noticed and play for bigger leagues. Can only imagine the number of new stars this tournament will throw up ...

Maria Sharapova - A true tennis great ...

Getting past a dogged Simona Halep, she won her 5th Grand Slam title. Her 2nd French Open in the last 3 years.

For a player, who's been around since 2003, 5 Grand Slams may not be a good measure for success. One does have to bear in mind that she's been in an era of the all conquering William sisters, the Belgian superstars (Henin & Clijsters), Li Na and scores of other upcoming players from Eastern Europe.

While she may not get her due as far as the number of Grand Slams are concerned, would give her full marks for her consistency, fitness and her ability to last for over a decade. Not to mention her off the court business ventures.
Am sure there's more to come .

Maria Sharapova - A true tennis great and a superstar!!!

The Clay Master

Novak Djokovic just beat Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. This is his 3rd Masters title for this year.

Which brings us to an interesting question. How many players have beaten Rafa on clay after being a set down?
Thanks to Google, figured out that only 6 players have been able to do so since Rafa started playing.

Some amazing stats for Rafa on clay:

1) Since his debut in 2002, Rafa's lost only 21 matches on clay and won 300 of them.
2) Has 43 titles, next to only Guillermo Vilas' 46.
3) Since 2005, he's not lost more than 2 matches on clay, in an entire season.
4) Won the French Open 8 times
5) Has 19 Masters Titles on clay since 2005
6) Has a 93% win-loss record on clay which makes him the best ever on a particular surface
7) His 81 clay court win streak (2005-07) is the longest ever in the Open era in mens singles
8) Has more than 50% win-loss record against most Top 10 players since he started

And he's only 27, with atleast 2-3 years of top flight tennis left in him.

Difficult to imagine how many more records would he create, should he remain injury free.

Atletico Madrid - The Third Eye

For the last decade the La Liga has always been a 2 horse race with Barcelona and Real Madrid sharing the spoils amongst themselves.

Out of nowhere comes this fiesty Argentinian, in 2011, who transformed a set of wannabies to champions. Under Diego Simeone's leadership, Atletico won 3 trophies in a year. The Europa League, the UEFA Super Cup & the Copa Del Rey in 2012.

Today they are at the cusp of ultimate glory. Atletico won the La Liga last night and now face Real Madrid for the UEFA Cup.

Captain Centurion ...

The news on his retirement is indeed shocking given the fact that South African cricket's most treasured asset (read: Jacques Kallis) retired just a couple of months ago and the team is yet to recover from it.

He will be remembered as a captain who took over the reins of a team which was in dire straits and that too at a very young age.
He will also be remembered for his numerous run-in's with the selectors over team composition.

Didn't win any ICC tournaments but he's achieved what no other cricketer has or is bound to achieve over the forseeable future.
He's captained his Test team for over a 100 matches (109) and has won 53 out of them which is the maximum for any Test captain.

In 2008, he became the first South African and one of the very few captains to win a Test series in Australia, breaking their unbeaten run for 16 years.

Graeme Smith - A dogged toughnut with nerves of steel who has played some very remarkable innings in the fourth innings of a Test match.

India's number one football player ...

When he scored India's first goal, yesterday, against Nepal, he went past Baichung Bhutia's tally of 42 goals for India.
For what seemed like eternity, India's finally found an able replacement for Bhutia.

Still just 29, he still has 3-4 years to play at the top level. One expects India to play more football matches and he will be there to score goals for the country.

Sunil Chhetri - Indian football's captain and top goalscorer, on his way to achieve legendary status.

The Fastest And The Strongest ...

They won everything that is to be won at the recently concluded World Athletic Championships at Moscow.

The Jamaican duo of Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce have lit up the sprint competition wherever they've participated.
They're the fastest in the world and no one has come closer to them, so far.

Worthy winners of the Male and Female Athletes of the World respectively, Bolt has won this award 5 times in the last 6 years, this is the first such award for Fraser-Pryce.

Sachin - Beyond the cricket pitch

It's indeed true, isn't it!!

Since the time Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement, every single discussion, be it in an office or in public transport or at a street corner has people talking about him. Everyone recalls their favorite Sachin innings and a few lucky ones recall how and when they met and clicked a picture with him.

Very rarely has anybody commanded such attention from not just a billion Indians but people around the globe.

What makes Sachin what he is today?

A precocious little boy, all of 16, burst onto the national scene when when the Mandal Commission had the entire country divided. 

Insurgency in Kashmir, trouble in Punjab and India's failed initiative in the Sri Lankan crisis only added onto the troubles. Frequent problems and riots relating to religion and caste were the order of the day.

Incidents like the Babri Masjid demolition only sparked further divide between religions

The economy was going nowhere and the country had to suffer the ignominy of pledging it's gold with the Bank of England to ward off a serious payment crisis. 

Opening up of the economy to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had all worker union up in arms against foreign brands entering the country.

The politicians were hell bent on dividing and ruling, the businessmen were serving their own needs and Bollywood, the other religion in the country, wasn't coming up with any quality.

Around the time when all of these incidents were wrecking the nation, this little boy, with his exploits was unknowingly bringing the country together.

Everyone watched cricket together, whenever he batted, be it Hindus and Muslims or Brahmins and the Dalits or the workers and management. Everybody cheered for this boy and whenever he scored a century, the celebrations involved people of every religion, caste and all walks of life.

A writer then insisted that we don't need no politicans, no dictators or rulers. We need more and more Sachin Tendulkars who can unite all religions, all castes and dissolve the boundaries between North, South, East or the West.

Through his sheer ability, this young boy managed to bridge the yawning gap in a nation that was threatened by a social divide and political instability. He gave the much needed consolation to a country which was hurtling towards self destruction.

Around the time he started the lonely eyes of our self destructing country didn't know where to turn to. 

He gave his countrymen the hope that other leaders couldn't provide. He gave his countrymen the much needed confidence that we could succeed even when everything's falling around us.

He proved to his countrymen that we can stand against opposition that is more stronger than us. He showed his countrymen that you need not have strong body but strong will power.

As someone remarked, when Sachin walked out to bat, it was not just him but a billion oppressed and angry Indians walked out with him to bat. Each run, each boundary, each sixer was our way to give it back. Take the fight to the opposition, tell them that we'll get hit no more. 

Thanks to the advent of satellite television, not just the city folks but even followers from the hinterland got introduced and inducted to the Tendulkar style of batting. And the fact that India was playing more and more cricket also made Sachin, a cricketing icon and the face of a new and resurgent India.

Today, as the 'Great One' hangs his boots, the country is no more disoriented, the social divide is much lesser than before, we have more confidence in our abilities and finally the game is in the able hands of a generation that will make sure that this decade belongs to India.