India vs West Indies, 3rd ODI: Can Windies pull off an upset?

Team India came back strongly in the second ODI in Visakhapatanam with a 107-run win against West Indies. Skipper Virat Kohli will be hoping to continue the good performance in Cuttack on a Super Sunday afternoon in the series decider.

After being the ‘Man of the Series’ in T20s, Kohli has not had a great time in the ODI series and has scored single digit scores in the first 2 matches and so, he will be looking to end this year on a high. In fact, Kohli has scored 1292 runs from 25 ODIs this year and is locked in a contest with his vice-captain Rohit Sharma and Shai Hope in the list of top ODI run-getters in 2019.

At Vizag, K L Rahul let the bat do the talking, and along with Rohit Sharma’s hundred, set up the perfect platform for Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to mount a match-winning total. Good bowling performances by Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav propelled India to a win.

Cricket, Sports

By Johns Benny

December 17, 2019

India vs West Indies, 2nd ODI: Can India level the series in Vizag?

Hundreds from Shai Hope and Shimron Hetymer propelled West Indies to a 1-0 lead in the three-match One Day International (ODI) series, with the second game set to be played on Wednesday (December 18). India will look to stay alive in the series and end its losing streak in ODIs at home. After winning the second ODI against Australia in March, India has now lost four consecutive ODI matches on home soil.

Virat Kohli went with just 3 frontline bowlers in the first ODI and got Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube and Kedar Jadhav to bowl 20 overs against a destructive West Indies batting unit—the three combining to give away 137 runs in 18.5 overs without taking a single wicket.

The slowness of the pitch and some good bowling from West Indies didn’t allow India to get to a flying start but runs from the middle-order will make the management happy while moving forward in limited-overs. Shreyas Iyer continued his good run in ODIs as he scored his third consecutive fifty and Rishabh Pant was finally among runs with a fine 71.

Cricket, Sports

By Johns Benny

December 16, 2019

Ranji Trophy: Kerala looks for full points against Bengal

After playing out a disappointing draw against Delhi, Kerala will play Bengal in their second match in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Kerala were well and truly on top against Delhi but everything changed on day four as Delhi batsman started to counter attack on the slow Thumba pitch against a spin attack consisting of left-arm spinners Karaparambil Monish, Sijomon Joseph and off-spinner Jalaj Saxena.

The team will be happy with the return of Sanju Samson after the national duties and, he will be looking to score big runs to get his confidence going after warming the benches in the dugout of Team India for 6 T20I matches without playing a game.

Saxena continued his good form in Thumba, where he has taken 49 wickets including four five-wicket hauls, and he will be looking to continue this performance against the strong Bengal batting line-up. Sandeep Warrier once again did a fine job with the new ball as did K M Asif from the other end on his first class debut. But Sijomon Joseph and Monish had a bad outing in the second innings when the Delhi batsman decided to counter-attack them. Akshay Chandran could replace either of them against Bengal.

Cricket, Sports

By Johns Benny

December 15, 2019

India vs West Indies, 1st ODI: Can India continue to dominate the West Indies?

The T20I series was done and dusted in Mumbai with India’s top three firing on all cylinders, helping the team score 240 in their quota of overs to win the series 2-1. Both teams will be moving to the southern part of India to kick-start the ODI series. During the 2018 tour, West Indies had given India a run for their money in the 50-over format. The Caribbean side will be looking to go one step further in this series under the new coach and captain. Both teams will be looking to build a side for the next ODI World Cup due in four years’ time in India, though these are early days.

India

India has been hit by injury with Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ruled out of the series. Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal have been named as replacements. Add to this the absence of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah and it proves to be a big opportunity for players like Shivam Dube, Deepak Chahar and K L Rahul to prove their utility in this format after impressive outings in T20Is.

Cricket, Sports

By Johns Benny

December 9, 2019

‘Pongala’ over Sanju Samson’s omission casts the Mallu ‘trollan’ in bad light

The atmosphere in the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram was electrifying as India and West Indies did their pre-game warm-ups on Sunday. That camaraderie the crowd shared with the players, however, took a distinct U-turn soon after the game began when Rishabh Pant let go of a catch behind the stumps to give the West Indian opener a life.

The angry crowd chanted “Sanju, Sanju” to mock at Pant, who has, of late, invited wrath from Indian fans for his inconsistency. Before the start of the series, Captain Virat Kohli had made it a point to appeal to the crowd to not “shout” and “isolate” Pant and to “respect” him as a player. This time, a clearly miffed Indian skipper, questioned the crowd with a show of his hands after they brought out Samson’s name to jeer at Pant.

Earlier at the toss, when Kohli announced that they were fielding the “same team”, the whole stadium went into limbo and a hushed silence followed as they expected Samson, who was seen practicing wicket-keeping ahead of the toss, to play. His omission from the T20I squad at the beginning of the series had not sat well with the Keralites either, who expected him to be given a game during the Bangladesh series before he was dumped.

Cricket, Sports

By Rohit Sankar

December 8, 2019

Ranji Trophy: Kerala looks for an encore against Delhi in the season opener

As Ranji Trophy gets underway from December 9, many big names are expected to be available for the better part of the season with India playing no Test matches in the months of December and January. Ajinkya Rahane for Mumbai, Cheteshwar Pujara for Saurashtra and Mayank Agarwal for Karnataka are some of the big names playing in the first two rounds of India’s premier domestic tournament.

The 38 teams in the fray will be divided into four groups similar to last season with Elite Group A and B consisting of 18 teams, and Elite Group C and Plate group with 10 teams each.

Kerala is placed in the Elite Group A and B alongside Delhi, Bengal, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andrha, and defending champions Vidarbha. They will start the season against Delhi on Monday at St Xavier’s ground, Thumba.

Cricket, Sports

By Johns Benny

December 8, 2019

Cricket takes center stage in the football-crazy state once again

Ask someone in Kerala about the Santosh Trophy or I M Vijayan and the odds are that you would get an eloquent speech that would also include the epic 1973 Santosh Trophy final win at the Maharaja’s College ground in Kochi, the 1992 comeback in Coimbatore and the most recent triumph at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata where they grabbed their sixth title win.

Football is a sport etched into the heart and soul of this state. Fans throng the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in yellow–the much adored ‘Manjappada’—to watch the Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League year after year, despite their team’s underwhelming performances.

Cricket in Kerala

Cricket, Sports

By Rohit Sankar

December 8, 2019

India v Windies, 2nd T20I Preview: India eyes series win

After pulling off a successful chase in the first match, India will look to seal the three-match T20I series with a victory in the second game. India will clash for the 2nd time in 3 days against West Indies in the 2nd T20I of the 3-match series at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Sunday.

At Hyderabad, Captain Virat Kohli led by example and scored an unbeaten knock of 94 runs to help India chase down a mammoth target of 208 with eight balls to spare. But Team India will look for better bowling performances, massive improvement in their fielding and their middle order to step up.

Rohit Sharma is due a big innings—his last six T20I innings read 12, 9, 9, 85, 2, 8, and he has scored just 310 runs in 12 matches this year at an average of 25.83. The under-pressure Rishabh Pant hit a first-ball six in the chase but flattered to deceive as he threw his wicket away for 18 off 9 balls. All-rounder Shivam Dube, who conceded 13 runs in the only over he bowled, failed to make an impact.

Cricket, Sports

By Narayan Mahasuar

December 6, 2019

India v Windies T20 series Preview: India aims to plug loopholes

India has had lots of success in ODIs and Tests of late but they are ranked number 5 in the shortest format of the game. During their recent home outings, they drew the series against South Africa and lost the first T20I against Bangladesh. Moving into the West Indies series, there are lots of worrying signs for India, prominently in the form of Rishabh Pant, wickets in the middle overs, back-up options in the fast bowling department and most importantly, finding a settled batting unit.

The squad composition means that K L Rahul will most likely be opening the innings with Rohit Sharma followed by Virat Kohli, who didn’t play in the last T20I series, and Shreyas Iyer. Rishabh Pant should slot in behind Iyer. Shivam Dube, who will be looking to make most out of the opportunities before the return of Hardik Pandya, will also add a touch of panache to the final flourish India seeks in this format.

The most important news is the return of Kuldeep Yadav in the shortest format. He and Chahal resume their much-successful partnership while the likes of Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja will be itching to perform with bat and ball in this series. With the return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Indian fast bowling unit will be more potent. The in-form Deepak Chahar will look to continue his good performances.

Cricket, Sports

By Johns Benny

December 5, 2019

Bob Willis, Hero of Headingly 1981, passes away

Former England captain and fast-bowling great Bob Willis has died aged 70, after a short illness, his family announced on Wednesday. His 325 wickets from 90 matches place him at number four in the list of all-time English wicket-takers in Test cricket, only behind James Anderson (575), Stuart Broad (471) and Ian Botham (383).

Bob Willis made his debut as a gawky 21-year-old, pitchforked into the Test team in Sydney under Ray Illingworth on the 1970-71 Ashes tour. Willis captained England in 18 Tests and 29 one-day internationals before his retirement from all cricket in 1984. He was appointed captain for the 1982 India tour of England after Keith Fletcher was sacked.

Unforgettably, Willis took eight wickets for 43 runs to fire England to an 18-run victory in the third Ashes test against Australia at Headingley in 1981 after Ian Botham’s iconic innings had dragged the hosts back into a game they looked certain to lose. Bob Willis took 80 wickets in 64 One Day Internationals before retiring from all formats of the game in 1984.

Cricket, Sports

By Narayan Mahasuar

December 4, 2019

The Golden Girls of Kerala

God’s own country: Kerala. The state owes this title to several reasons, the primary one being its timeless traditions. People like Meenakshi Amma have been the torchbearers for keeping the ancient tradition of Kalaripayattu, an Indian version of the martial arts, alive. There have been many Meenakshi Ammas across generations who have played a pivotal role in keeping dance forms, sports, ayurveda, herbal spas and many more timeless traditions alive. Gradually, one more tradition with huge potential has started building up—a pantheon of athletics goddesses in God’s own country. Angel Mary John won the silver for India at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1978. Subsequently, M D Valsamma, P T Usha, Shiny Wilson, Mercy Kuttan, Rosa Kutty, Padmini Thomas, Philomina Thomas, Saramma, Tessymol, K M Beenamol, Anju Bobby George, Chitra Soman, Sinimol Paulose and Preeja Sreedharan came one after another, further strengthening and enriching the tradition. This low-cost assembly-line of raw talent has saved the face of the country many a time at the highest of the global sporting platforms. If we see the list of Arjuna awardees from the state, this becomes all the more striking.

M D Valsamma came into the spotlight after the inter-state meet at Bangalore in 1981 by winning five gold medals. This catapulted her into the railway and national teams. In the year 1982, she became the national champion in the 400 m hurdles, with a new record. This record of hers was considered better than the Asian record. In the same year, she won the gold medal in the 400 m hurdles in what was a record time in both Indian and Asian hurdles—58.47 sec in front of a home crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the Asian Games. Two years later, for the first time in history, the Indian women’s team entered the finals in the Los Angeles Olympics and finished in the seventh position. The moment and its significance in the given circumstances could best be understood by the article published in the name of M D Valsamma in The Hindu. The article reads:

I was not in the best frame of mind when I went to Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympics. I was the Asian Games champion in the 400 m hurdles which came with an Asian record in 1982 but I did not get any international exposure before the Olympics.

Book Extract, Books, Sports

By Abhishek Dubey and Sanjeeb Mukherjea