Blog Posts by Jharna Kukreja Chauhan

What is your favourite movie based on a sport? Is it Lagaan, Chak De India or Iqbal? Maybe it’s Karate Kid, Rocky or Remember the Titans.  Whatever your pick may be, there’s a good chance that the theme underlying it is a common one – the triumph of the underdog.

Popular culture is full of examples of David overcoming Goliath but the difference between reel and real-life is that support for the underdog isn’t necessarily conditional on victory. Provided they have given their all and haven’t surrendered, the underdogs are considered a success, even when they don’t end up on the podium.

When Bangladesh surpassed heavyweights India and Sri Lanka to make the finals of the Asia Cup last month, the cricket world was full of praise for their coming of age. They lost the final by the narrowest of margins to Pakistan but in the process won most hearts. Many Pakistanis on Twitter were actually rooting for the opposition and like one of them mentioned – “How can you not be cheering for

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Why is cricket referred to as a gentleman’s game?  When you think of the phrase so often used to describe the sport, the image that crops up is of mild-mannered men in white flannels with their shirts tucked in and their hair parted neatly. Maybe a pat on the back, a gentle handshake or  a shared joke while walking back to the pavilion with opponents at the end of a session. A game that supposedly segregates the classy from the crude, the boorish from the benign.
 
Cricket is often regarded as unique compared to other sports because aside from the laws of the game, players are expected to abide by the ‘spirit of the game’. So what constitutes this intangible spirit?

Walking when you know you’ve knicked a delivery even if the umpire hasn’t pronounced you out, not claiming a catch that was grassed, abstaining from an lbw appeal when you know there was an inside edge, refraining from abuse of an opponent are just some of actions used to describe cricket’s indefinable attribute.

Common Read More »

Picture this: You’re a parent to a child who once yielded ‘straight As’ but has since flunked eight algebra papers in a row. Moreover, the child has also been bickering with his/her siblings and peers. How would you react? Would you feign ignorance and gloat about your child’s once-upon-a-time achievements or would you try getting to the root cause of the matter and help your kid overcome the demons that have set in?
 
Likewise, after a year in which the then No 1 Test team and 50 over World Cup champions plummeted to eight consecutive away losses in Tests and couldn’t go beyond the league stage in two successive ODI tournaments, what should the management of the team in question do?

Neither shaken, nor stirred

As guardians of the Indian national cricket team, you would expect BCCI’s head honchos to be concerned about the drastic decline of the goose that lays the golden egg. However, as it transpires, that’s clearly expecting too much. BCCI’s office bearers seem to have taken an oath Read More »

Today in 30 Days, 30 Questions:

Question: Pick the one innings by an Indian batsman that had the most indelible impact on how we play our cricket today.

Yahoo! Cricket's answer: Indians have always been known for their love for batting and there have been a few knocks that have influenced the way the average Indian cricketer bats today. Innings like Kapil Dev's 175 in the 1983 World Cup that signalled India's arrival on the limited overs stage and VVS Laxman's epic 281 that turned around India's fortunes have helped instill a fearless, never-say-die attitude in every Indian batsman.

But our pick for the innings that had the most indelible impact goes to Sachin Tendulkar's 143 in Sharjah against Australia in the middle of a desert sandstorm. On the 22nd of April 1998, India needed 285 to win or more importantly 254 to qualify for the Coca-Cola Cup Final on net run-rate. The targets were revised to 276 and 237 after India lost 4 overs due to the sandstorm.

The master blaster took matters Read More »

Today in 30 Days, 30 Questions:

Question: Looking back at Rahul Dravid's entire career, what would you consider to be his best innings across formats?


Yahoo! Cricket's response: Though there are so many to choose from like the 180 in that memorable Dravid in Adelaide, 2003turnaround with Laxman in Kolkata, the century on a green-top in Leeds in 2002, his highest Test score of 270 that helped India to a historic series win in Pakistan and maybe even an ODI innings like the one he played against Sri Lanka  during the 1999 World Cup, but looking at occassion, circumstance and impact our vote goes to his 233 against Australia in Adelaide, 2003.
 
Rahul entered with India on 66-1 and he left the field only left when India's innings wrapped up at 523. He was circumspect early on his innings after India lost Chopra, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Ganguly in quick sucession, which left them reeling on 85-4.

He then went on to once again stitch together a spectacular partnership with Laxman, but this time managed to go way ahead

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It seemed like any other day in Bangalore. Traffic moved at a snail’s pace. FM stations were still playing ‘Chamak Chalo’ and the locals continued to crib about how the temperature was a couple of notches higher than usual.

But there was one thing different. Bangalore’s favourite son was calling curtains on a huge chapter of his life.  A chapter that not only rewrote records of the nation’s favourite pastime but also brought back words like determination, integrity and dignity to the gentleman’s game

The media room at the Chinnaswamy stadium (venue of Dravid’s exit press conference) had the national press trickling in much before the scheduled start.  The mood was already nostalgic and the Karnataka State Cricket Association contributed by greeting everyone with despondent instrumental music from ‘Veer Zaara’ (Tere liye, hum hain jiye, honton ko siye…Dil mein magar, jalte rahe, chaahat ke diye).

Shortly after, in walked the man of the moment - Rahul Sharad Dravid with his father, wife Read More »

First things first, I’m a diehard Dravid devotee. I’ve done it all. Made the scrap books, sent him letters, camped at the Wankhede to watch nets sessions, gone and watched Tests alone in the stadium, woken up at 2 am to get a glimpse of him batting on foreign shores, cut class to cheer him on and I once even managed to flag down the car of a CCI member, make him take me back in and get me onto the guest list so I could watch a training camp from close quarters.

Why do I do all this? Why do I love Rahul Dravid so much? Here goes:

My initiation to the game of cricket was as a gawky, troubled 14-year-old back during the 1996 World Cup. I switched on the TV mainly to try and spot my cousins at the Wankhede who were there to watch the India-Australia tie. While that attempt proved futile, the buzz at the ground, the contests, the atmosphere and the revelry all caught my attention. I was hooked for life.

Little did I know that my newfound craze would soon coincide with the arrival of a young Read More »

(During the course of the third Test between India and the West Indies at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai we’ll post live updates, analysis, reader comments and reactions. Please hit F5 periodically for new posts.)

4:45 pm: West Indies 575/9 at the End of Day 2

India have made a late comeback into the game, picking up the last five wickets in just over 11 overs for under 50 runs. This was not before the first six West Indian batsmen made half centuries including the massive ton from Bravo.

4:00 pm: 'Better late than never' - That's what you can say about this spell from debutant pace bowler Varun Aaron. He's picked up three wickets starting with centurion Darren Bravo who chased a wide delivery. Next to go was Carlton Baugh who was done in by speed - a 144.3 km delivery knocking off his stumps. The final wicket to fall was that of captain Sammy who edged a ball pitched outside the off stump to his opposite number.

2:30 pm:

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