Game on...

In some sense, this blog is a little bit like a rap.  It is written in anger. While many of us are saying goodbye to Sachin Tendulkar after enjoying his cricket for 24 years, there are a few who are saying things like “I don’t understand the obsession with one game”, “why do you glorify a man so much”, “he was just another cricketer”, etc.    What ticks me off most is when people ask me “why do you call him God”?   ( We recently came out with a TShirt Celebrating "God's 200th Test Match" - http://shop.fantain.com ). I am actually angry at these people.  When they ask that question, they immediately put themselves on a pedestal - they KNOW Sachin is not God while, poor me, I am still under the mistaken belief that he is actually God.  In their mind, they are saying “This is what is wrong with this country…. now I know why we are not prospering as a nation…..”.    Let me answer - on behalf of a million people who refer to Sachin as ‘God’.   WE KNOW HE IS ACTUALLY NOT

A question has been nagging me for a while now.  Do great batsmen make ordinary balls look extra special, especially when they get out.         In the last test match, Sachin Tendulkar got out LBW to Shane Shilingford of the West Indies.  You probably saw how Sachin got out - he was stretching forward, took his right hand off the bat, and gave the impression that Shane was hurling a missile.  I wonder how a tailender would have played the same ball.   Chances are they would have gotten beaten, like Sachin was.  And they would have gotten out, like Sachin was.  But I doubt if they would have fallen over the ball and acted like it was a spitting cobra (thanks to Ravi Shastri, we have a great cricket vocabulary now :-)).  Even if they got out, it would appear that they played a bad shot.  But you would never get the impression that it was a great ball.       So the question is this - why is it that the same ball look like a beauty when bowled to a top batsman and look pretty ordinary w

This article is written by Rajnikanth - a sports fan and a tennis fanatic.  He is on a personal mission to watch ATP events in every place possible :-)   No points in guessing who his favourite player is.  Rajni is a banker and is based in the middle east.  You can reach Rajni on his email - rajnikanth_r@yahoo.com 1st Nov 2013, Bercy, France.  Roger Federer, arguably the Greatest Tennis Player Of All Time was facing off against Juan Martin Del Potro in a crucial match – for the second time in 5 days. Leading up to the match, Del Potro is in red hot form and for the sixth time in succession, since the French Open QF 2012, their on-court battle would go the distance! All these matches have been closely fought and filled with plenty of drama - including come from behind wins for Roger at Roland Garros (from 0-2) and at the Olympics, where Del Potro won the first set, lost the second in a tie break and was broken late in the third set (19-17) playing a three-setter over four and h

This India-Australia series somehow manages to stay alive for the decider, though clearly the fare up to now has been mind-numbingly one-sided in favour of the batsman, from both sides. With the smallish ground and traditionally high scoring Bangalore hosting the decider, the best way to win would be to just win the toss, put the opposition in, don’t worry about any mauling your bowlers get and chase down anything!  Even as a fanatic cricket fan, I don’t look forward to 100 overs of flogging of the bowlers. We have talked a lot about this topic in any case, so I want to dwell on something else. Cricket scorecards had been static for quite a while, but recently got some impetus with the help of digital technology, so we get wagon wheels, pitch maps, and so on. But how much of these are really useful, actionable pieces of information that gives insight into a game, or can be used to make a player or team better? I argue that it is precious little. Take this series, for example. 350