Cricket Score

60 YEARS AGO!!!!

July 31, 1948. 3 pm. First Round of football match at the London Olympics. 11 Indian men led by Sailen Manna were ready to create history. These men playing barefoot (except Balaram Parab, the inside right) kicked off the first ever international football match played by the Independent Indian team. India gained independence in 1947 and a year later the AIFF got affiliation from FIFA following which India got their chance to showcase their football skills in the London Olympics and here they were up against France. Though the Indian team had players like Sailen Manna, Sahu Mewalal, T Ao and Sarangapani Raman, France always had the upper edge even before the kick off as Indian were playing barefoot. Well this was one of the reasons due to which India failed to play in the world cup two years later, something that every Indian football lover regrets till date. Well coming back to the match despite playing barefoot the Indians put up a spirited show. Despite being a goal down in the 30th minutes, the Indians came back to level the score through Raman in 70th minute. However at last India couldn’t keep the pace as the French scored a goal in 89th minute to seal India’s fate. Well this is from where the Journey of Indian Team began after independence. In the coming years Indians really made a mark for themselves on the international arena winning the Asian Games Gold in 1951 and 1962 and also finishing 4th in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. But 70’s saw a decline in Indian soccer and today as I write this blog we are ranked 153rd in the world.
However while I write this blog and try to peep into our football history, I am really surprised that those running the show have completely forgotten to even recognize this historic day. Only yesterday as India were playing Afghanistan in the AFC challenge Cup, it was commentator Novy Kapadia who informed the viewers about this historic day. Unable to resist myself from knowing more about this match, I visited the All India Football federation website thinking that I would get more information about this historic day. But to my utter surprise there is no mention about this day which saw the beginning of Indian football on the international arena. However the website was very informative atleast when it came to informing about the heroics of its office bearer- none of them on field. Information like which office bearer became match commissioner how many times in the World cup were easily available, but what was not available was the names of those barefooted players who took the field on July 31, 1948. Well now one can’t even blame why we are 153rd in the World ranking. They say in Hindi- “ Manushya apne ateet se seekh leta hain” meaning Man learns from his past. But here we have forgotten our past.
But before I end this I would like to salute these men- K.V. VARADARAJ (GK), TAJ MOHAMMED, SAILENDRA MANNA (CAPT),A.S. BASHEER ,TALIMERAN AO , MAHABIR PRASAD, ROBI DAS ,BALARAM PARAB RAMACHANDRA ,SAHU MEWELAL ,AHMED MOHAMMAD KHAN SARANGAPANI RAMAN Substitute(s) S.M. KAISER, SANJEEVA UCHIL ,S. NANDY , ANIL NANDY ,PAPEN, B.N VAJRAVELU and K.P. DHANRAJ

DOWN BUT NOT OUT!!!!

She may not be a medal prospect in Beijing Olympics, but couldn’t resist myself from writing about her in this blog because of just one reason- her grit and determination of not giving up. Pramila Aiyappa (G G Aiyappa as she was known then) was the first Indian Heptathlete to have participated in the Olympics at Sydney where she finished 24th. On 15th August when India will be celebrating its Independence Day, Pramila will start her Olympic campaign in the Heptathlon event at the National Stadium in Beijing. But four years back, Pramila had almost given up hope of participating in the World's biggest sporting extravaganza. In 2000 Pramila had become the first Indian to participate in the Heptathlon event in Olympics. After finishing 24th in Sydney, she missed the ticket to Athens by just 3 points. She was so disappointed that she almost gave up the sport forever. She gave birth to a child, which kept her busy. However her husband Aiyappa, who also coaches her, knew that Pramila still had it in her to make it to Beijing. It was his motivation that made Pramila once again get back on to the tracks. Getting back into shape was not at all easy. Pramila's progress was steady but time was running out for her. She once again missed the qualifying mark for Beijing by a whisker at the Interstate Senior Athletics meet in Madurai in June this year. This left Pramila with just the National Jumps and Combined events in Bangalore in July, the last event for Olympics qualification. Knowing that it was her last chance Pramila gave it her best and defied all odds to qualify for her second Olympics. With her dream fulfilled Pramila has set a realistic target for herself in Beijing, where she wants to break the National Record, which will also help her surpass her own personal best of 6105 points. Pramila will not only face stiff challenge from the World's best, she will also have two more Indian's JJ Shobha and Susmita Singha Roy competing with her in the same event. But like Sydney where she edged out Soma Biswas in the same event, in Beijing too she wants to be the top Indian and make a mark for herself. But whatever may be the outcome in Beijing, Pramila has proved that if there is a will there is a way….All the best Pramila!!!!

Pic: Chinmaye A Bhave

KUMBLE JEE!!!!!!

You have heard people calling him Anil, Mr. Kumble or for that matter Jumbo. But now he has a new name for himself given by none other than his close pal and teammate Rahul Dravid aka The Wall aka Jammy. Led by Test captain Kumble himself, the Test specialists of Indian cricket are presently undergoing a conditioning camp at the Chinnaswamy stadium. The camp has been conceived by Kumble himself who wanted players who didn't make it to the One-day side and at the same time, are Test specialists, get back into shape for the Sri Lanka Test series which begins in July. A very noble idea and on the first day of the camp, all except Sourav Ganguly (becuase of his father's ill-health) were present at the camp. At the end of the first day's session, as the players walked back to the pavillion…with all the mediapersons, their cameras and booms mikes stood in attendance at the boundary, hoping to get a sound byte. The first person to walk back was none other than Dravid, a favourite of all the mediapersons in Bangalore and as he came close, one of the reporters called out " Dravid ji". All present there expected a 'no comments' or a silent walk back to the pavillion, but instead Dravid, with his trademark Hindi accent replied "Kumble jee, Kumble jee bolenge" and had a hearty laugh himself as he walked up to the pavillion, leaving all the reporters and camerapersons laughing their heart out on Jumbo's new name " Kumble Jeeeeeeeeeee"

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!!!!

Have you ever imagined that after winning an important tournament the Indian cricket team goes to bed empty stomached? Sounds weird, but nevertheless, its true. The most glorious moment of Indian cricket history was actually followed by a dinner less night. It was 25th June 1983, the historic day when Kapil's Devils had done the impossible. Even after scoring a mere 183, they managed to defeat the mighty West Indies and lift the World Cup, the only time that India manged to achieve this feat. We all saw the frenzied celebrations in the balcony of Lord's while Chika (Krish Srikkanth) enjoyed his puff from the cigarette. But what happened off the screen is completely unbelievable.
The Indian team was staying at the St.James Hotel in London. On a normal day, it takes about five minutes to reach the hotel from Lords. But after that historic win, the Indian team was busy celebrating in the dressing room. Little did they know that they were heading for a major surprise when they left Lords. A huge Indian crowd had gathered on the streets, cheering India's biggest victory and it took the team not five minutes but three long hours to reach their hotel.
By the time the World Champs had finally managed to reach the hotel, to their utter surprise, there was no dinner left for the team. The team slept empty stomached, but the feeling of being 'on top of the world' was so overwhelming that little did they realise the hunger pangs. It was only after they woke up next morning, that they rushed for a heavy breakfast.
Now this too is one of the facets of Indian cricket. Today, Indian players have the luxury of single occupancy in a five-star hotel with 24 hours room service. But when India lifted the World Cup, the players were used to sharing rooms and as mentioned above, sleep hungry, at times too.

However Kapil's Devils had the opportunity to make up for that night. This year, as we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of India's World Cup victory, all the players of the then team will reassemble in London to commemorate that historic day, which will be followed by a gala dinner. Cheers to the victorious dinner, just 25 years late……

Pic Courtesy:Chinmaye A Bhave

HOWZZAT!!

We still have pictures of an elated Mohinder Amarnath going for the stumps after India's historic World Cup victory at Lords on June 25th,1983. But has anyone ever wondered as to where lies that historic ball, which got Michael Holding - the last West Indian batsman - out. It has taken 25 long years to crack this trivia and now it's fnally out. Just recently, I was a part of an event that was organised to kick start the silver jubilee celebrations of India's historic World Cup victory and the dais being shared by two greats, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, both recalling those moments of glory. And just when we thought we knew everything, Gavaskar startled all by revealing a fact that the world was yet to know.
Well it was the last ball of the 52nd over. West Indies were reeling at 140 for the loss of nine wickets. They needed another 44 runs for their third straight World Cup win but had their backs to the wall as the last wicket took centrestage. Mohinder Amarnath started his run up to bowl to Michael Holding. The spectators were all sitting on the edge as everyone at Lords knew that it was just a matter of one ball and India was on its way to creating history. Sunil Gavaskar was fielding at backward point. As Amarnath bowled, the ball hit Holding's pad and the rest is history. Over the years, Indians have watched over and over again on TV Amarnath appealing and Umpire Dickie Bird raising his fingers to signal that India was the new World Champion. Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma and Madan Lal each managed to get a stump for themselves respectively from the batting end, as the jubilant crowd engulfed them on the field.
But what none of us had seen is what Gavaskar revealed. As has been written before, Sunny was fielding at backward point. As the ball hit Holding's pads, it went straight to backward point and completely unaware of the fact that Dickie Bird had already raised his finger signalling an out, Sunny like a committed fielder grabbed the ball to ensure that an extra run was saved. But as he looked up, he saw a mad rush of spectators who on to the field. Realising that they had won the match and the World Cup, he ran towards the dressing room with the ball in hand, the fastest ever sprint that he could ever think of.
So for all those who were guessing about the whereabouts of that historic ball, Sunny still has it with him.

REMEMBERING THE LEGEND- KARI !!!!!

It’s a story of a life cut short. But even after his death this man leaves behind a legacy that every racing driver of the country looks upto. Last weekend as I visited the Kari Motor speedway in Coimbatore a sparkling image struck my eyes. As I entered the speedway I saw a memorial with a image of a man on it. I guessed that a memorial at this speedway must be of a motorsport legend and it was important for me to know who that person was if I really wanted to cover motorsports in depth. The man whose memorial I had seen was Sundaram Karivardhan or Kari as he is fondly known. He was a legendary figure of Indian motorsports. Apart from being a successful formula car racer, he was also a designer and constructor of several formula cars, his most famous design being the Formula Maruti open wheeled race car. His low cost cars helped other racers, notably Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandok and Armaan Ebrahim , to their entry into motorsports.
Quiet and shy in nature from a very young age, he showed a keen interest in bikes and cars. In the UK he attended the Jim Russel racing school. Later, when he returned to India in the mid-70's, he started participating in the Chennai's Sholavaram. His first race was 1973 Sholavaram Grand Prix meet, later he appeared every year in newly constructed formula cars from his own garage. He raced until 1995, the year of his demise. .
But more than racing Kari is credited with building the FISSME (Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine) widely known as formula Maruti which was launched in 1988 Notable drivers who took part in the inaugural race in this class were J Anand, Akbar and R Gopinath , all of them would later become national champions in Formula 3.
Later years saw drivers like Narain, Karun, Armaan and other future national champions making their debut races in a Formula Maruti series.
But Kari had another passion- Aviation as his family owned a Cessna airplane. In 1989 he started a small manufacturing plant near Coimbatore to manufacture Power Gliders.
However this legends life was cut short by one of his passion. He died on 24th of August 1995 while flying a Puspak trainers aircraft. The purpose of flying was to log some additional flying time as required to retain his flying license. The accident was widely mourned by the racing scene.
His demise almost created a vacuum in Indian Motorsports with dwindling crowds in the Chennai track and after the 1997 season made the MMSC scrap the All India Grand Prix Meet altogether. In 2002 his long-time friend and co-racer B. Vijaykumar stepped in to build and launch Formula LGB and Formula Rolon race cars and also constructed a race track in his hometown- The Kari Motor speedway, which is a major motorsports hub.
Widely known as a gentleman racer, his unselfish ways and dedication to the development of Indian motorsports attracted many new talents into Motorsports. Kari also earned admiration from several quarters more for his character than his racing talents. Though born in one of Coimbatore's wealthiest families, Kari was easily approachable by several people irrespective of social barriers. Kari was nevertheless considered a unique man with his soft-spoken nature and publicity shy nature. He was good in spotting new talents and training them to become professionals like Akbar Ibhrahim and five time national Rallying Champion Hari Singh.
Today India may have many drivers on the international driver, but whenever one has to speak about Indian Motorsports, you can’t forget the Legenday Kari.

ON THE FAST LANE!!!!

Whether it’s Micheal Schumacher or our very own Narain Karthikeyan, all of them started their motorsports career as Kart drivers. With the growing popularity of the sports last weekend even I thought of trying what it takes to be on the fast lane as I reached the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. And it was time for me to take part in the two day pro karting training run by Former Formula 3 driver Akbar Ebrahim and rub shoulders with the professional Kart drivers.
The training started with Akbar first taking me through a theory session to make me understand the basics of karting. Once we were through with that, then came the most important bit - the seating. It's very important for one to what is the perfect way to get in and out of the kart as a small mistake can cause damage to the kart as well as the body. However, after a couple of attempts, I finally managed to get in alright. And then as the engines warmed up, it was time for me to ride a machine, which neither offered me the cushion comfort of my car nor had the power steering to ease off the pressure of maneuvering. To start with, Akbar had given me the task of driving on the straight line to get into the hang of the throttle and the brakes. As I slowly picked up on my pace and confidence, a satisfied Akbar gave me the green signal to get onto the practice tracks before the day came to an end.
The second day was the D-Day as I had to hit the race track. This was my opportunity I realised as I followed the two young Kart drivers onto the track. Once on the track, I got the real feel of what it takes to drive on the fast lane. It was a back-breaking experience and with the two stroke karts going upto a speed of 109 km/ hour, it was getting difficult for me to get a hold while at the curves and secondly, with my body close to the ground and no sort of protection available, it was as if I was always on the edge. However, with every completed lap I started gaining on confidence. And as I ended my first outing, I was quite familiar with the track. My timing was a 1 min 5 sec, way below Akbar's expectations. But the real test was yet to come. In order to get the perfect maneuvering line, Akbar had now put cones on the curves and here I was, out on my second and final session. 1 min 3 sec, 1 min 1 sec, 58 secs….. I had finally done it. A lap in the fifties…Wow. I was more than relieved. But when I saw the timing of the other drivers on the track, I knew I had a long way to go as drivers were doing rounds of forties and fifties on the same track.
Suddenly I realized that Sitting in the gallery, it's always exciting to see karts speed by at over 100 kmph and drivers maneuvering the curves of the high-speed racing tracks. But one you are in that kart how difficult it is to maneuver that small but powerful machine…Hats off to all the racers for the grit.

DIL(HARA)JEETA RE!!!!!!!

What might have been going in Dilhara Fernando's mind when he came to ball against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the last match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) , Dilhara last over not only cost Mumbai Indians (MI) the match, but also knocked out his team's chances of making to the semi finals of the inaugural IPL. But in the very first over he showed his character and gave RCB a double blow including getting the wicket of Birthday boy and dangerous Pakistani Batsmen Misbah Ul Haq. RCB never really recovered from this blow and ended up scoring just 122 runs in 18 overs. Fernando ended with his best figures of 4/18, his best ever in T20 format.
A target of 123 in 18 overs never looked difficult with the batting line up of MI which includes Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasurya, Robin Utthapa. And the way Sachin and Sanath started the innings, at one point it seemed that MI would cruise to a 10 wicket victory. Sanath was at his best sending the RCB players on a leather hunt. Well not really as he hit four huge sixes and four dashing boundaries leaving the RCB players standing on their spot. However he got after scoring his 50 but Sachin and local lad Robin Utthapa ensured that MI cruise to victory.
Well the match was an inconsequential one as both the teams were already out of reckoning for semis, but match for pride for the skippers of both teams-Sachin(MI) and Rahul Dravid (RCB) who wanted to end their IPL campaign on a winning note.
Dravid couldn't but later he admitted that he has learnt a lot from this tournament and that he is here to stay despite his team finishing second from bottom this year.
But undoubtedly this match belonged to Dilhara who despite being the culprit just two days ago, proved his mattle to give MI a deserving victory.

2008: Year of Indian Badminton?

Well the IPL fever is undoubtedly caught the imagination of the entire country. But just thought of thinking beyond cricket and who know that 2008 may just go on to become the year of Indian Badminton. The dream seems to be realistic specially after meeting India's all time great Badminton player Prakash Padukone, who believes that this year in the Bejing Olympics, India might spring a surprise in form Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal. Well speaking about Prakash Padukone, he could well be regarded as the most unlucky Indian sportsperson. In Badminton he has won all, whether its the World Cup or the All England Championship and in the early eighties he was the man to beat in the badminton world. However he could not participate in the Olympics as Badminton became an Olympic sports only in 1992 at Barcelona. Who knows Prakash would have won the gold at Moscow (1980) or LA (1984). But he doesn't regret, but he feels that he would loved representing the country in the Worlds biggest Sporting extravaganza. But since 1992, India has represented in every Olympics, however the best ever result came only in 2000 when Pullela Gopichand reached the Round of 16. But no one ever came close to winning a medal. However this year could be different, both Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal are known to be world beaters and both of them have defeated top ranked players on their given day. So all eyes including that on Prakash Padukone will be on them and who know that they may turn 2008 as the year of Indian badminton.

Royal Challengers Bangalore V/S Mumbai Indians in 2 days

Well my first day of blogging and just two days left for the Mumbai Indians (MI) to take on rejuvinated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their last match of IPL in Bangalore. Well for RCB captain Rahul Dravid, he would obviously want to end a disappointing IPL season with a win just like Dada did for Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) last night, but for Sachin's MI it will be crutial match if they want to reach the semis. (Provided they win tonight against Rajasthan Royals). An exciting match on the cards. Infact RCB are already in town, but are resting today (A much needed one after their back to back victories against Chennai and Hyderabad).
As its my first day of blogging, I would like to introduce myself. I am a Sr. Sports Correspondent of NewsX, India first HDTV news Channel am based out of Bangalore. I will be covering sports in the South, so to catch up all the action of sports activities in the region, one could visit this site.