Opinion

How Australia denied a home triumph for India in Cricket World Cup

Winning is a habit. Australia’s sixth World Cup win reaffirms the adage. Even the loss of the first two matches didn’t frazzle them. The Pat Cummins-led side gained in strength with eight straight wins to play their best cricket in the final and hand India the first defeat of the tournam...

Opinion

Is cricket still a gentleman’s game?

The spirit of cricket is back to haunt us again. The timed-out dismissal of Angelo Mathews resurrected it from the preamble of the Laws of Cricket. It happens whenever there’s an unusual dismissal. Not long ago it was Jonny Bairstow’s stumping in the Ashes series. Before that it was Deep...

Opinion

What’s Sania Mirza’s legacy for Indian women’s tennis?

Fairytale endings are found only in fiction. Sania Mirza would agree wholeheartedly. There was no perfect ending to her glorious international tennis career. Not that she expected it. After 20 years on the professional circuit, the 36-year-old Indian star would be fully aware that not all matches go...

Opinion

Why do pedestrians cross the road in slow motion?

As a motorist, I always give way to pedestrians. But the tardy response from pedestrians infuriates me since they stroll across the road. As a pedestrian, I always cross the road in a hurry because I know that the motorist is polite enough to give way.Why do people cross the road in slow motion? I&r...

Opinion

Qatar World Cup: Why I’ve been cheering for Brazil

Whom are you backing at the World Cup? I’m rooting for Brazil, as always. They are my favourite football team. Moreover, India won’t be there in Qatar; they have never been at a World Cup although they did qualify in 1950.Why Brazil? Why not back Germany, England, Spain or any other nati...

Opinion

Have the days of Calypso cricket come to an end for West Indies?

The West Indies had another mighty fall. It wasn’t a surprise since the team didn’t have the quality to progress in the Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Yet, the first-round exit was totally unexpected.Two wins were enough to make the Super 12s, and they couldn’t muster it. The earl...

Opinion

Cricket, football and a tale of two World Cups

Back-to-back World Cups. That too in two different sports. How often does that happen? It doesn’t matter. Let’s sit back and enjoy the high-octane clashes of the best exponents of cricket and football.Cricket comes up first with the T20 World Cup in Australia. The qualifiers begin on Oct...

Opinion

A perfect farewell for tennis great Roger Federer

Farewells are never perfect. Emotions trump everything. That’s the beauty. When tears flow, leaving the rest of us with lumps in our throats and struggling to hold back our tears, we know that it has been a befitting farewell.Roger Federer received a grand farewell on Friday (September 23). A ...

Opinion

How Roger Federer enthralled us for 20 years

Roger Federer and me, we never met. Our paths never crossed. But he’s been part of my life for around 20 years. I celebrated his triumphs and brooded over his losses. Even justified his losses with my friends and colleagues.I started playing tennis quite late; cricket was my obsession. But whe...

Opinion

Why Virat Kohli will rediscover his form in Dubai

Will Virat Kohli regain his run-scoring touch at the Asia Cup 2022? That’s the question on every cricket fan’s lips. More so since the former Indian captain has suffered an extended run drought.Every time a tournament comes around, the question pops up. It never seems to go away, even th...

Opinion

How the new normal reunites parents and children

Are we back to normality after waves of COVID 19? Looks like it. Cast your eyes around and you won’t see many masked people outdoors. That’s because masks are mandatory only indoors since the risk is high in closed areas.It’s been an absolute pleasure to walk outdoors without masks...

Opinion

Two years of living in a pandemic world

COVID-19 the pandemic is two years old. A month after the World Health Organisation designated the disease a pandemic on March 11, 2020, I was sickened by the new coronavirus. Over the next 24 months, at least three of my close friends died of COVID-related complications, while many others grappled ...

Opinion

Why we should not ignore the Omicron threat

A woman gets tested for COVID-19 as Peru raised its pandemic alert level in various cities and tightened some restrictions due to a third wave of infections caused by the spread of the Omicron variant, in Lima on January 6, 2022.Image Credit: ReutersOmicron spreads very fast but is not dangerous. It...

Opinion

Why England want India’s Test to be a forfeit

The Manchester Test has been postponed indefinitely, but the accusations and counter-accusations rumble on. On the outside, the cricket boards of India and England are on the same page, making the right noises. But there seems to be plenty of discordant notes.One of the main sticking points is the s...