Respect our players

Legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone had told HT a few months back that India sport will have no future till we learn to respect our sportspersons.

The officialdom was never expected to be considerate towards our players but when a former international great does the same to another, Padukone's words come back to haunt.

Dilip Vengsarkar and his selection committee definitely have the right to drop a player, including Rahul Dravid. But can't one at least expect that the committee, that has three former internationals in the rank, have the courtesy to treat the player of his quality with dignity?

Deepika fan club increasing

When Abhijeet approached Suresh Raina for a chat during the recently concluded Challenger Trophy, the batsman tried to recollect whether he had met him before. A fellow journalist told him that Abhijeet normally covers badminton.

And pat came the question, "Do you know Deepika Padukone? How is she?"

It seems Deepika has quite a fan club in the Indian cricket fraternity. But Mr Raina, Deepika does not play badminton. You need to knock on another door.

What if Sunny had been a fisherman?

What if Gavaskar's uncle Madhav Mantri had not been able to rescue him from the fisherwoman, who had mistaken Gasvarkar to be her own child.

Aren't we racist too?

Still smarting from the colonial hangover, we as a race have for long been in awe of the white skin but in the same breath have been dismissive of the colour black. Or how would we explain the disdain and indifference with which we treat the numerous African students who land on our shores in search of a better tomorrow. [...]

Jingoistic fans

Ouch. I had meant this to be a very different post. But then I woke up this morning to find that someone had taken the trouble to read something I had attempted to write on Indian spectators. And then decided to get his morning off by calling me a "stupid *#$@" [...].

A positive turn? Or a passing phase?

Thanks to Joaquim Carvalho's timely outburst against 'discrimination', many organisations and the centre have woken up to acknowledge the Asia Cup hockey win.

Film star MP Raj Babbar is going to felicitate the players in Agra on on October 31. The team will then travel to New Delhi to meet the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 1. Then, they will be felicitated by the Bombay Hockey Association two days later. Then, they will be honoured by the State Bank of India and be awarded a cash prize of Rs 5 Lac each.

Celebrating the hockey team's achievement is a welcome move. But they must soon get down to business — the Olympic qualifiers in March.

Counterpoint
Every once in a while, there are murmurs and reminders that hockey is India's national sport — an honour bestowed for the sole reason that, when a young, independent India had to pick something for sporting glory, hockey was the only game visible. Since then, except for the occasional upset victory, the national sport has been slipping in the national consciousness.

The question is: would even a world title in the sport spark off the kind of craze that the T20 title did in India? Or have things gone beyond salvage?

On Racism

Why does the Indian crowd these days behave as if winning is all that matters and enjoying the various skills for which any sport is watched irrelevant? Otherwise why should the abuse of a Sreesanth be admired and not that of a Symonds'? And why should the rare athletic skills of Symonds be booed but a Harbhajan's verbal aggression be appreciated. The full piece.

What if Jose Mourinho's was India's coach?

What if Jose Mourinho was India coach, could we finally realistically dream of reaching the World Cup? Could the AIFF handle the charismatic Mourinho? Would Dasmunsi be able to forge a cordial relationship with the Portuguese, or would the AIFF be too small for two of them?

Youth cricket in neglect

Amol Karhadkar, writing in Maidaan Talk, deplores the neglect in Mumbai’s youth cricket.

It seems Vengsarkar's men were busy with the India-Australia One-dayer and chopping and changing Mumbai's Under-22 squad till every selector was satisfied to see "his" players featuring in the team list.

On those faltering sports federations

Why aren't Indian stars from other sports than cricket getting what they deserve? Ajai Masand writes about one such bright star from shooting, telling HT how he was let down by his promoters.

When quizzed that he had a couple of offers from some sports management companies after his Melbourne Commonwealth Games performances, he only said: "They promised the moon but gave nothing. In fact they exploited me. It is pertinent to note here that while small sports management companies want to bask in the success of the athletes, more often than not, they dump them after their purpose is met.">

An age-old problem

Abhijeet Kulkarni writes in Maidaan Talk about corrupt practices and age-fudging in Indian badminton:

Fed up with growing menace, parents of badminton and squash players last week decided to catch the bull by its horn. The mini badminton nationals in Dehradun and junior national squash in Ajmer witness some heated arguments between players and the associations and even some organised protests.

Meanwhile, Anupma Tripathi tells us of a similar experience in Delhi while covering Subroto Cup football – on how her pursuit of truth cost her a contact.

A boon for Mumbai hoopsters

B Shrikant appreciates the efforts of Maharashtra Basketball Association for starting it's own league.

Dravid's journey of life

Pradeep Magazine writes:

Rahul Dravid's much admired communication skills meant nothing when it came to dealing with his own players. Much as he would like not to believe it, he had failed in the real test of communicating with the disparate egos of his own team members. He may have gone by the book, but the book in the end is a piece of paper unlike people made of flesh and emotions.

Meet The Writers

Pradeep Magazine
Please don't take him seriously. He may offend, provoke and make you angry but he does not mean to do that. All he wants is to share his opinions, which like anyone else's, have been conditioned by the environment he has lived in. He has challenged, questioned, rejected and accepted a number of opinions but in the end wants the world to share all its wealth, its idiosyncrasies, its do's and dont's. He does not want anyone to share his hatred and bitterness. All he wants is to clear his immediate doubts so that there is enough space created in his mind for more doubts to creep in.


Kadambari Murali
She grew up like any regular Indian girl; collecting Commando comics and World War II trivia, walking away with the only bat in play after being given out and refusing to believe that size did matter. So perhaps finding a calling in the big, bad world of cricket hacks and other strange creatures was a natural progression of sorts. Definite skeleton in the family closet, having shown no inclination for acadaemia, is currently still trying to figure out why HT put her in the hot spot. Life, for her, can be divided into two phases: Pre and post 1983. Don't ask why.


Akshay Sawai
Growing up in Mumbai in the ’80s, Akshay played competitive tennis and badminton. Recreationally, he played everything and devoured sports magazines. He got into sports journalism because sport was the only thing he knew and English the only subject he scored well, and post-graduated, in. Starting with Mid Day, he went to CricketTalk, then to Times of India, and then to HT, where his colleagues are often seen shaking their heads in disbelief at Akshay’s headline suggestions. But more than any story or page he’s done, Akshay is prouder of his two successive titles at ESPN quizzes for journalists. His favourite athletes are Roger Federer, Boris Becker, Diego Maradona, Imran Khan and Viv Richards. Interests have changed a bit with age. They now include creative writing, humour, food and playing sport.


Ajai Masand
Even his words are chicken-flavoured. This, perhaps, can be traced back to his university days, when he pursued Zoology dreaming to become an ornithologist. Suddenly, smitten by love, he started writing love letters, and thus discovered his other talent — writing. Little did he know that those drafts would one day turn him into a serious reporter who would, day in day out, haunt sports officials – those at SAI, or at the wrestling federation or even the shooting association — they were all targetted so often, sometimes they didn't even know why they were been targetted. After breaking hundreds of stories, what still remains from his younger days is his love for chicken. If there's a change of heart, you will know it in this space. Till then, read about what he has to say on all the behind-the-scene dramas in Indian sport.


Indraneel Das
The first step he took landed him on the moon. He is still in space, longing to escape. Surreal at times, his world is always a beautiful globe of blue and black. And when he learnt to write, the pen slipped. And it still slips. Thank god some creep created the computer! At times he is deaf, dumb and visually impaired. That’s not his fault. That's lack of oxygen, they say. Somehow, god knows how, he landed up with a profession that needs to write and rewrite and think (without O2 of course). Rewrite? What's that! Write? Well, try, try and try. A diehard existentialist, he never walks in space fearing loss of memory. Then some creep created the memory chip. It’s still embedded in his shoulder, which somebody someday will definitely see and acknowledge. You will know it here. God knows when. Till then bear with his blog.


Robin Bose
Can be described as a dreamer. Grew up believing he was destined for greater things. School was spent dreaming he would be India’s envoy to the United States. College and the popular TV soap ‘Udaan’ shifted his focus to the Indian Police Service. When it came down to brass tacks, realized he lacked the perseverance to crack the mother of all exams. After a two-year pursuit of the ‘national past time’ and a reality check, settled for a modest pursuit — as a copy-editor with Tata McGraw Hill. Seven months down, the ‘destined for bigger tasks’ bug bit him again and brought about a switch to journalism. Has since persevered in the profession for 13 years with previous stints with The Statesman and Outlook, where he also blogged on cricket.


Subhash Rajta
He earnestly believes India would have had lesser problems finding fast bowlers had he been a couple of inches taller. With his promising career meeting a premature end at the university level, he did not choose the second best thing: watching and writing about the sport. It happened by pure chance. One fine day he found himself out of the university, editing and making pages at Hindustan Times. And after contributing richly to several corrections and corrigendum for the next one year, he was dumped to the sports desk. And since then, no one else has taken note of him. So, here he is...


Abhijeet Kulkarni
His uncanny knack of asking the right questions (many would like to debate this) at the wrong time meant that he spent more time outside the classroom than inside, attracting him to the playground more with every passing day. Despite learning various subjects and even covering a few, sports continues to top his priority list. Today he lives both his passions – enjoying quality sports and asking questions – and what's more, getting paid for it.


G Krishnan
Gikku was an aspiring umpire before the writing bug bit him. Whether umpiring's loss is cricket writing's gain, only time will tell. For now, though, no one is complaining. Gikku has stats at the tips of his stubby fingers, and reels off most of them accurately. His passion for cricket is only matched by his love for good food, which really isn’t a crime. There is more to Gikku than just cricket — and when you meet him, you will agree — but if you throw cold water on him in the middle of a freezing winter's night, there is a good chance he will scream 'Sachin' rather than 'Amma'.


Uthra Ganesan
She started off being the only girl in her extended family to run, jump, shout and race — and win at it all, getting past the 'boys'. It became worse over the years, with her exasperated parents realising the only thing that could keep her still — and keep her from whiling away her time on the sport ground — were novels and a desire to write. No wonder, a major error was set right when she finally failed to make the grade as a science student and settled to do what she wanted to do anyway — read novels and write (what else?). The twain finally met when she became a journalist. Her tryst with sports and writing continues, as she continues to dream — about the ultimate sporting glory (yes, she still thinks herself more as a sportsperson that a writer).


Amol Karhadkar
His uncle used to tell him to play cricket and not table tennis. But Amol didn't listen. However, after being a decent paddler for more than a decade, when he decided to be a journalist, he realised he just couldn't ignore cricket. So to make way for cricket, TT, his first love, had to be dumped – as is always the case with first love. People don't always like what he writes, but Amol isn't bothered. He loves what he's doing.


Paresh Mokani
At fourteen, Paresh found heroes in Azharuddin and Sampras. But while he failed to make the Colony XI, he remained awestruck by Sampras’ dominance. Then, his love for tennis saw Paresh become a chair umpire — his dodgy line calls famously got Sania’s goat in an ITF match once. Soon, umpiring gave way to journalism. Drawing inspiration from Sampras’ heroics he’s been, day in day out, battling his vicious rival — edition deadline.


Deepika Sharma
There’s a small thing on her face that never deserts her – they say it’s the smile. That smile never deserted her when she thought it would be more fun to join a profession than to attend classes (well her view have altered a little, but not the smile). And when she took off as a reporter, the world took notice and said well done. Women play less cricket than what she reports. The lawns of the DLTA have a parting in the middle — that’s where she has been walking for the last three years — unearthing stories she says. The path is infinite, but her steps are measured. She knows the racquet is to hit the ball, and if needed she would willingly use it on a man (if impolite). Her hair colour has been changing each passing year so is her love for ‘gossip’ each passing ear. Someday she says she’ll get married (to Nadal). Keep waiting.


Anupma Tripathi
The name's Anupma, not Anupama. And the second name is Tripathi, not Tripathy. At 22, she's the baby of the lot — just three months old in journalism, taking her steps in this new world one byline at a time. She is soft-spoken and pretty but beneath her girl-next-door exterior lies an aggressive interior that may scare the hell out of you. It would be a folly if one ever tries to get on to her nerves.