Apocryphal Stories !!!

At 5-4, 15-love in the fourth set against del Potro yesterday, after Nadal had won the point, a man in blue sitting in his box let out a knowing smile. It tells us a lot about Nadal. It tells us a lot about the confidence of the man in Nadal. The knowing smile came about because Nadal and del Potro were trading punches like prize fighters. With this passing shot, Nadal was getting ready to trade the knock-out punches Not only is Nadal a champion at the game but he is also a champion at heart. After the foot injury , it might have been humanely impossible for him to continue the match. With the first few points in the tie-breaker  going del Potro’s way, it was thought that Nadal would be a sitting duck. People were thinking that Nadal’s unbeaten streak at Wimbledon, which dates to 2008 would finally be snapped. What is a champion without actually, pushing the limits? Nadal did exactly that as he came back to wrap up the tie-breaker. Not for the first time it was, that he displayed...

Few weeks ago in an interview to Lakshmi Prasanna, Prakash Raj let out an inforgettable gem. He said that “Pain is something that is internally centralized. Nobody can feel it for you” While watching the movie this is the statement that comes back to haunt the mind. Everything about the movie is well-planned and sequentially arranged. From the day, the trailers were released on air, it was apparent that Mr. Balasubramaniem’s work would come in for lot of kudos. And it does All the people involved with the movie have been saying that ‘180’ has got something to do with theme of the story and they were right. It in fact is apparent from the first dialogue of the movie. The kid in the first scene runs away with a lot of honours in that scene That the movie is personal, is beyond doubt. It is presented with even more clarity in the long drawn-out list of thanks in the titles. What moves you is the fact that he credited Lahari Audio for using a track from a popular film Since this is ...

Alex Wharf, the England bowler was robotic when he attended the press meet after snaffling up Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman in his first ODI. In the World Cup match against England, Bishoo too displayed similar attitude when he replied in mono-syllables. Bishoo made headway into the middle order of the much vaunted middle-order of India. His fielding also had the forcefulness about it as Harbhajan’s wicket was more about him than Edwards’ bowling Bishoo created an impact on the match when he claimed a wicket of the very first ball that he bowled in the match. He got Laxman to misjudge a tossed up ball and forced him into driving early. When he got Dravid dismissed in a similar manner, it showed that he is man who holds a lot of promise With the pitch aiding some bounce, he also   got Dhoni to edge one to first slip. With the combination of Raina and Harbhajan coming together, his methods became a little unsettled as he started to bowl flat Harbhajan played him well and his metho...

There was a time when the crowd at Sabina Park, Kingston used to bay for blood and they were pretty open in their hostility to the opposition batsmen and love for the bowlers. Now the pitch has cracks that would support the spinners as the match wears on. Though the pitch had cracks from the ODI’s, the groundsmen did a good job in covering them up and making it a pitch that can help the seamers upfront. The support received though would be minimal and India had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss The team selection of West Indies was a little weird considering they went into the match with four bowlers. An off-day for any one of the bowlers would prove fatal India handed debuts to Abhinav Mukund, Virat Kohli and Praveen Kumar in the match- first time since 2001 that three players were handed out the Test caps in the same match. It was perhaps a mighty co-incidence that all three of them got off the mark with a boundary, though in contrasting styles Abhinav Mukun...

If Lawrence Booth did not grow up loving cricket and writing about it, he would in all certainty been an expert tight-rope walker or a sharp-shooter. The deduction has been drawn from the sense of balance that he lends to the book ‘Cricket, Lovely cricket” He shifts seamlessly from being a romantic in the introduction to straight talking in the chapters that follow. He cleverly demarcates the things that run in an average fans mind into chapters Being as far away from the fan as he is from players, he is at a perfect position to explain the intricacies to both the parties. It’s as much a players handbook as it is of help to the fans Perhaps the best part of the book comes when he describes the discussion with Jeremy Snape and concludes that “ Instincts can be honed with regularised practice” Another chapter that holds your attention is the part where he is talking about the teams and how the reputation precedes them. For example, England is always pessimistic and self-deprecatory....