Individual athletes have pushed themselves to the limit in order to bring glory for India, although the support from officialdom is still insufficient Even as the entire India was celebrating Sathish Kumar Sivalingam’s gold medal victory in the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, his parents back here in his home-town, Sathuvachari, were relieved and thanking […]

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The return of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals’ splurge at the auction and Shami’s personal problems will make the IPL all the more entertaining Love me or hate me, but I’m here to entertain you. That’s what Mahendra Singh Dhoni is for his fans. The big boys in Indian Premier League are back after a […]

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The ball tampering episode in full view of high definition cameras makes one wonder where the game is going – and what cheating methods will be tried next  Now that Cricket Australia (CA) has announced a one-year ban on skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has jumped to ban the duo from the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) to showcase their high moral values in dealing with cheats. The ongoing Test series in South Africa has been marked by controversy and drama in full view of the cricket fans all around the world. Australian rookie, Cameron Bancroft, was caught ball tampering. Team skipper Smith admitted his role by calling it “entire leadership call”. Going by the confession of the player in question here, Cameron Bancroft, it was a piece of tape (yellow object), though others thought it was sandpaper to deteriorate the condition of the red cherry. The claims of Smith and Co has even opened up debate whether this tactic was the main reason for sweeping high-profile Ashes series just before the ongoing tour. Brain fade Not so long ago, Team India skipper Virat Kohli created a controversy by calling the actions of Smith & CO “a systemic cheating” while the Aussie team was touring India last year. The incident that time involved Smith and Peter Handscomb looking at the dressing room for assistance while deciding whether to ask for a decision review. After that famous “DRSGate” episode played out in full public view, Kohli come out in the open to accuse Australian cricketers of repeatedly taking the help of dressing room to decide on reviews. And the reply from Smith then was hilarious! “It was a one-time brain fade,” was how Smith described his act. But what followed then was not an act of regret from the Kangaroos. Rather, Cricket Australia’s chief went  to the extent of saying that the Indian skipper “doesn’t know the spelling for sorry” after several of his outbursts against the visitors. Unfortunately, the incident was never properly investigated and buried like many others in the past. “There are lines you don’t cross on the cricket field,” Kohli then had said. Now, going back to what happened on March 24, 2018 in Newlands, Smith and his entire senior pros were forced to admit in the press conference following the television footage that “yes, we did break the rules of the game to win a Test”. Thankfully, he stopped short of using the word “brain fade” for the second time in his career. According to Smith’s own words, “his leadership group decided to take matters into their own hands to get the ball to reverse”. And the player he chose to carry out his plans was none other but Bancroft, the junior-most member of the team. Thanks to Smith and his so-called seniors, Bancroft is now part of cricketing history (even if the ugliest one) for carrying out the most ill-fated operation on a cricket field in recent times. He was seen with a piece of sticky yellow tape that he tried to hide, once caught, in his underpants. Keeping everything aside for a minute, the sheer thought that their team could mastermind a win over the hosts by altering the condition of the ball with so many cameras trained on them is incredible. It’s amazing that Smith, Bancroft and Australia’s “leadership group” thought they could get away with it. History of cheats […]

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After his wife’s sensational allegations, Modh Shami faces a probe by BCCi’s anti-corruption unit. But does it have any teeth? The Indian cricket board has to be complimented for maintaining a very straightforward stance when it comes to dealing with allegations of wrongdoing by any particular player. Be it the crisis of 1999 that erupted […]

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Selectors are making a grave mistake when they pick talent from the same pool of players, whether it is Test, ODI or T20 Mayank Agarwal has scored more than 2,200-plus runs in an Indian domestic season, the highest by anyone in a single season. While the right-handed batsman was busy breaking records and helping his team win the […]

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