On Sunday, after a five-hour-and-29-minute epic at Roland-Garros, the Carlos Alcaraz era in tennis began in earnest. Jannik Sinner, too, played his part to make the French Open final an all-time classic. It was the first men’s championship match in a Grand Slam between two players born in the 2000s — 21 months apart. In terms of legendary title showdowns, it also offered a throwback to the 2008 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Federer and Nadal have hung up their racquets. Novak Djokovic’s glorious career has entered the twilight zone. The ‘Big 3’ are now the past, while Alcaraz and Sinner are the present and the future. Klaus Meine of the Scorpions fame must be humming again in solitude: “The future’s in the air/Can feel it everywhere/Blowing in the wind of change…”
Just minutes after the French Open final was over in Paris, the Uefa Nations League final started in Munich, where a 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo and a 17-year-old Lamine Yamal were the cynosures of all eyes. The old master scored Portugal’s equaliser and eventually had the last laugh, but he, and Lionel Messi, must be happy to know that the young Spanish sensation oozes enough potential to be their heir apparent.
In sport, as in life, change is the only constant and the standards at the very highest level never fall. The sooner Indian cricket fans realise this, the better.
A couple of days ago, the Indian cricket team under Shubman Gill landed in the Blighty without any fanfare. After Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Test retirements, the side is shorn of stardust and the fans’ reluctance to turn up at the airport or practice venues is understandable. The cult culture is one of the downsides in Indian cricket and the transition that the team has been going through presents an opportunity to get out of it.
Kohli and Rohit have been great servants of Indian cricket but it’s time to move on and embrace the change. Grumbling over Gill’s Test average on the road, which is below 30 at the moment, reeks of a shallow mindset. He has been given the job to lead India in a new cycle and deserves backing from the fans.
Ricky Pointing said as much, as he predicted a bright future for Indian cricket. “It’s always very difficult to replace players like that who have been around for so long and have played so much Test cricket,” the legendary former Australia captain said on The ICC Review. “But if any country can do it quickly, it’s India because of the young talent they have. I have seen it first-hand over the last 10 years in the IPL, and we have witnessed the emergence of players like (Yashasvi) Jaiswal…”
Gill himself was pretty matter of fact at the pre-departure press conference, saying: “This situation does not add extra pressure because our team is always ready to handle stress and knows how to win in such circumstances.”
The new captain rightly kept sentiments at arm’s length at a time when cutting through emotions has become the need of the hour.