Author: G Rajaraman

An early decision by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on the Oversight Committee’s report on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) would have helped the key Olympic sport avoid some of the dirt that continues to sully its image, with leading wrestlers resuming their agitation against the WFI President and coaches. For instance, it could have decided to issue an order rendering the Wrestling Federation of India’s election notice null and void, rather than wait for a week after the WFI emergent Executive Committee meeting in Gonda on April 16. Since the Oversight Committee recommended that the WFI…

Gujarat Titans wore the majestic look worthy of the defending champions while securing a 55-run victory over the Mumbai Indians in the Tata Indian Premier League at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera on Tuesday. It was a command performance, but when rivals consider that Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat team has room for improvement in their batting, the formidable nature of the side becomes apparent. Gujarat Start in Cruise Control There was no evidence of such a one-sided contest when Hardik (13), a free-stroking Shubman Gill (56, 34 balls, seven fours, one six) and Vijay Shankar (19) fell to catches in…

Some leadership decisions in the Indian Premier League 2023 have been baffling. It is almost like captains have sometimes attempted to put together a jigsaw puzzle, but with one piece missing. On a few occasions, it is like they have forgotten where they themselves misplaced such pieces while attempting to solve the jigsaw. Just as football and hockey see some teams manage late winners and others simply unable to win penalty shootouts, the IPL has produced some outcomes that are the result of twists in the tale. It suggests that teams must come to terms with the fact that they…

Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube played at different tempos, but created a symphony as Chennai Super Kings paraded their batting might on Sunday night in a 49-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, awash with yellow shirts to support MS Dhoni’s team. The result pitchforked Chennai Super Kings to the top of the league table with 10 points from seven games. It was their fourth away win this season, to go with one victory at home. Kolkata Knight Riders remained in eighth spot, and would hope for better results in the second half of…

Punjab Kings needed a little more than the ability to hold their nerves at the tail-end of either innings to beat Mumbai Indians by 13 runs in the Tata Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. The magical moments from Jitesh Sharma with the bat, and Arshdeep Singh with the ball were backed by Atharva Taide’s reflex catch to derail Mumbai Indians’ gallant bid. With runs flowing from the blades of Mumbai’s leading batters – Rohit Sharma, Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav – there was no hint of stress when they set about chasing 215. That changed…

Abdul Azeem Khan. Or just Abdul Azeem. He was much more than just an erstwhile school mate, one-time rival captain, feared opening bat and mercurial fielder. He was a humble and wonderful human – and for the life of me, I cannot imagine having to write in the past tense about a man a few months my senior. Perhaps, I should have mentally prepared myself to write his obituary once it became known that the doctors had all but thrown their hands up and asked his family to take him home on Tuesday afternoon, indicating that he could pass inside…

Mumbai Indians found the nuts and bolts to design a third successive victory – and a good one at that – to climb closer to the top half of the table after a 14-run conquest of hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday night. There was little that the visiting side did wrong. Indeed, Mumbai Indians ticked a lot of boxes. Cameron Green (64, 40 balls) and Tilak Varma (37) made the most of the blazing start given by skipper Rohit Sharma (28) and Ishan Kishan (38) to ensure that the side scored…

It makes for great watching, the image of Shaili Singh coming face to face with the Shaili Singh she can be – a girl with the courage to perform, who takes responsibility for her actions, who is high on motivation without needing external trinkets, and who manages her emotions. And we saw these come together as she nailed the second-longest leap by an Indian woman athlete. Her 6.76m effort on Saturday ranks 157th in the world in the women’s Long Jump list since the dawn of the new millennium in 2001. To get some perspective, her mentor Anju Bobby George’s…

G Rajaraman Sunrisers Hyderabad’s hunger to pinch its second successive victory in four starts in the Indian Premier League 2023 was greater than that of Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in the eastern megapolis on Friday night. Harry Brook’s maiden IPL century was the cherry on top in a splendid team performance as Hyderabad won by a big margin of 23 runs. Well as Sunrisers Hyderabad defended later in the night, they were aided by the enormous pressure that the scoreboard exerted on the Kolkata top order. Left-handers Nitish Rana and Rinku ‘Sixer’ Singh entertained…

G Rajaraman Mumbai Indians flirted with another Indian Premier League defeat before a jailbreak saw them escape with a six-wicket win off the last delivery in a thriller on the Delhi Capitals’s home ground at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday night. In the end, it was David Warner’s squad that ended up with a fourth successive loss as a result of some poor batting. Thrilling final over Many fingernails would have been nibbled out of shape in the two dugouts and beyond. For, the drama in the final over was worthy of a T20 classic.…