Blog Posts by Bikash Singh

It is a big moment. We are playing for the last time as a unit. We know some players will no longer be with us after the IPL auction. It is an emotional moment - MS Dhoni

Indian Premier League champions - the deserving Chennai Super Kings lifted the Champions League Twenty20 trophy in Johannesburg. They clearly saved their best for the semi-finals and the finals to show who the 'King' is. Among the three IPL teams at the Champions League, Chennai with help from seniors like Fleming, Hayden, Muralitharan and Hussey continued their winning spree with Dhoni's luck getting along.

Youngsters in the company of men grabbed almost all the prizes to be taken. Vijay took the Golden Bat for scoring most number of runs. Ashwin got the Golden Wickets for the most number of scalps and was also adjudged Man of the Series.

I would also like to congratulate Warriors for making it to the finals and especially their skipper Davy Jacobs for his spirited leadership. The man of few and straight words went

In my own honest personal view, yes, I think age would come into account in these matters - Haroon Lorgat

The above mentioned quote comes from ICC's CEO Haroon Lorgat - echoing the voice of former England captain Michael Atherton - that the 18-year-old Pakistan pacer Mohammad Aamer was too young to be banned for life, if found guilty in the 'spot-fixing' scam.

One of the brightest talents to emerge from Pakistan in the last few years, Aamer may have the case for leniency with 'tender' age on his side - but it is not the young pacer that worries cricket lovers but the tragic problem that has hit cricket.

Cricket has been plagued by another 'fixing' controversy since South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life 10 years ago and International Cricket Council has done little, almost nothing, actually, to clean the mess.

The ICC anti-corruption unit is not really working, that's totally to do with the ICC, so they really need to step in and really get to the bottom of it,

ALERT: “We’re in the process of migrating our comments system to another platform to better engage with you; comments will be disabled during the migration process, estimated to take up to 24 hours. We’ll alert you soon as commenting is enabled – stay tuned to Fit to Post for updates. Happy reading – you can connect with us on Twitter in the meanwhile @YahooINNews!”

India must also be concerned by the inconsistency of the younger players. Across professions, consistency is a direct product of work ethic. The greats were defined by their consistency because they were wedded to work ethic. No oddball gambler ever achieved greatness - Harsha Bhogle

The just concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka seriously exposed our so-called 'Youngistan's' arrogance. Apart from Virender Sehwag, no one even bothered/was able to join the fight, forget the party. In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan - the World Cup expectants were supposed to find their feet but sadly didn't

All right, the International Cricket Council has given us the opportunity, for the first time, to vote for our favourite players. India's Sachin Tendulkar, Australia's Michael Hussey, Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, England's Andrew Strauss and South African AB de Villiers are five players selected on the basis of some innovative parameters for this year's ICC People's Choice Award.

The parameters by which a five-member ICC selection panel included these cricketing greats for the new award included innovation, dynamism, strength in decision-making, performing well under pressure and also executing a plan to distinction.

Sachin Tendulkar: After serving India for more than 21 years, the Master Blaster is playing some of his finest knocks to the surprise of many. Sachin Tendulkar holds almost every batting record in cricket and still is hungry for more. The Little Master, in 169 Tests, has managed 13,837 runs with 48 centuries and 56 half-centuries. In 442 One-Day Internationals, Sachin

Injury is not an Indian phenomena, it is a world-wide thing. Yes, Indian players are over-worked as they don't get rest at all but some of them who play non-stop will need to take time off regularly to prolong their careers - Sanjay Manjrekar

Did anybody say anything about burnout, overworked players or cramped schedules? Well, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is neither listening nor bothered until the money is coming and the sponsors remain happy. After the unwelcome result against New Zealand in the opening match of the tri-series, a concerned Indian team management decided to raise the issue to their masters on reducing the burden. With the World Cup not so far away and Champions League, Australia in India, New Zealand in India and India in South Africa in the middle, the workload issue needs to be carefully deliberated.

One may argue about these chosen ones being professionals and all that, but you cannot discount that fact that they are only human beings and need

Initially, it was tough to play with that feeling of insecurity. It's unfortunate. Sometimes, I think of how many runs I would probably have scored if had been given a free hand. But after 4-5 years of international cricket, I started dealing with it much better and now these things don't bother me - VVS Laxman

Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman has been the main pillar of Indian cricket's 'fab four'. Doesn't it feel hard to imagine an Indian camp without Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS? We are still searching for 'the one' to fill in Sourav Ganguly's shoes since his retirement in October 2008.

Last week my colleague Anirban Choudhury in his piece, For the Love of Dravid, poured his love about a few men in Indian team we hate to see fall. I could not agree to the fact less. VVS is one name frequently undermined and constantly under unsuitable pressure of proving himself over and over again. But you know what, he loves being in those situation - more importantly excels and forces

I think everyone should just stop talking about the age factor - Sachin Tendulkar

Going by the above quote, maestro Sachin Tendulkar seems to be clearly agitated by the questions thrown at him every time he is out for sessions with media. I just fail to understand the importance of such questions, linking age with performance, each time Sachin comes up with a special knock. With 48 centuries and 55 half-centuries in Tests and 46 tons and 93 fifties in One-Day Internationals, I don't think the term 'to prove' should be used with him.

At 37, the veteran right-hander looks miles fitter than the Yuvraj Singhs and the others around him. You can count the amount of seriousness that goes in for such athleticism and hunger for more. Just be happy for the proud moments Tendlya has gifted us and leave alone the 300 wish. It will come when it will come.

Say what you like, none of the world's sportsmen of the modern era face the same pressures of life in the fishbowl than does Tendulkar. Idol to a

It's just not sports, sexual harassment is a harsh everyday reality for any woman in India -  Mary Kom

Sports film-maker Sunil Yash Kalra is coming up with a documentary film based on the struggle and hard work by Indian women cricketers Anjum Chopra, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. The short film will focus on their determination to glory with the limited space that they have.

This is my tribute to Indian women cricketers. I just wanted to show an aspect of the cricketers which has never been shown before. The documentary shows that these girls, despite the omnipresent disparity in the team, play for pride not for plight, asserted Sunil Yash Kalra.

Until someone like Shah Rukh Khan comes up with a 'Chak De India'-like blockbuster, Indian women athletes are restricted to struggle in a male monopoly, playing second fiddle. We woke up to the existence of the 'Indian women's hockey team' (after Chak de) only after the high-profile sex scandal. One major factor for such treatment meted out