Signs of feet of clay!

In a sport as global and as competitive as tennis, it is tough for players to create fiefdoms. The ones who did succeed can be counted on our finger tips. Bjorn Borg did it in the late 1970s, winning a hat-trick of the Wimbledon-French double; Pete Sampras did it in the 1990s at Wimbledon and so did Roger Federer in the 2000s.

Yet, has any male athlete, in any sport, owned a surface, anywhere in the world, like Rafael Nadal has at the 21-acre Le Stade Roland Garros in Paris? Though the players mentioned above dominated, they did suffer the odd crushing defeat in their prime — Borg in 1981, Sampras in 1997 and Federer in 2008. But not Nadal.

Ever since the day he made his debut as a 19-year-old in 2005, the clay has been his real home. It seemed that all he had to do every year was to navigate through a field of tall weeds. Even amidst a crowd which has always been quite reluctant to support an ‘unsophisticated Spaniard’ like him, he felt safe doing it. In the process, he created history but was never burdened by the weight of it. He lost there only once in a full decade — to Robin Soderling in 2009 when both his mind and body were fragile — and pocketed nine titles.

So, it’s intriguing what has happened this year to a man as confident in his abilities as Nadal. He has stumbled from one failure to another since his comeback from injury at the start of the season. He looks so far removed from the universe he once ruled and instead seems to be inhabiting one which is full of contradictions. His body was all along tipped to break down sooner than his mind, but as ironic as it sounds now, he spends most of his time explaining away his mental issues.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen (at the French Open),” he said after his defeat at the Rome Masters, but hastened to add, “I feel great. No, I’m not tired. I’m fine.”

These days, the 28-year-old’s routine forehands either end up hitting the bottom of the net or are shanked into the audience. As a consequence, his losses no longer come only against tennis kings like Novak Djokovic. This year, the rank and file have beaten him. Fabio Fognini twice, Andy Murray, who had only one clay court title till then, once and Stan Wawrinka, who hadn’t won a set in his five matches on clay against Nadal, once.

In some ways, the situation seems a tad similar to the one that prevailed in 2011. Djokovic was on a bull run then. Djokovic is on a bull run now. The Serb had beaten him on clay both times they had met that year — the finals in Madrid and Rome which were straight set-affairs. This time he beat Nadal in straight sets in the Monte Carlo semifinals.

He entered the French Open then on the back of a 39-match winning streak, with four Masters’ titles and 13-0 against the top-10. In 2015, he is on a 22-match winning streak, with four Masters’ titles, including Monte Carlo and Rome, and 14-1 against the top-10.

Even as all these point to a title-challenge from Djokovic, it didn’t really happen then. But it looks likely to happen now. Nadal, then, and in the subsequent years, found ways to arrest slides of varying proportions, dust off the rust after injury layoffs and present a fully polished texture in time for Paris. But now, for the first time in 11 years, he will go to Paris having not won a clay title in the lead-up and with a ranking prefix of No.7.

Djokovic’s transformation from a genuine threat on clay to a top contender is almost complete and has, crucially, coincided with Nadal’s regression.

Ever since the shattering loss in the 2014 Open final to Nadal, Djokovic has gone from strength to strength. With every match he has bred belief. He seldom breaks in tight situations, has learnt to win ugly if need be and he traces the home stretches almost always in a canter.

“The only thing that I am sure of is I’m going to try,” said Nadal. “The goal in Paris will always be the same one. I feel I’m playing well. I didn’t play with nerves most of the time the last three weeks, and that’s the most important thing for me. If I am able to control that, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to fight for it.”

In effect, the 2015 French Open will be a battle between form and history. Can Nadal, who is 90-1 in best-of-five-set matches on clay, retrace his victorious step on the red dirt or will a new champion in Djokovic occupy the turf for his maiden title?

“Regardless of what anyone says to me he’s the favourite,” said Federer “The guy’s only lost (at Roland Garros) once in 10 years. There’s no way past that guy being the absolute favourite for that tournament.

“Novak at this point probably has to win, with the results he’s shown this year. Maybe Rafa isn’t having the same success as before but nevertheless that remains the situation for me. But it’s all talk because in the end his racquet’s going to do the talking.”

Interestingly the 33-year-old Swiss, after a runner-up finish in Rome, doesn’t want to count himself out too.

“I don’t want to get myself too down because it was a good tournament for me...I really hope it’s not just the two of them. I hope there’s going to be some other guys who will be a part of that group and I hope in particular myself.”

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20150530501100500.htm

The Barca supremacy

FC Barcelona, the Catalonian club in Spain, is widely followed and its present generation of footballers revered for their style of football instilled and honed by Dutch footballing legend Johan Cruyff. The club’s heyday under former coach Josep “Pep” Guardiola is understood to be over following his departure and the inevitable aging of some key players such as Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. Others such as goalkeeper Victor Valdes and defender Carles Puyol have left the club. When Luis Enrique took over as manager at Barcelona from Gerardo Martino in May 2014, the club was said to be facing a mini-crisis. It had failed to win any major honour in 2013-14 — for the first time in six years. This was a far cry from the period of 2008-12 when it won 14 of the possible 19 trophies. When in January, midway through the season, the club trailed its bitter rival Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga standings, there were questions galore for Enrique to answer. Four months on, the coach stands vindicated for his unrelenting optimism. Barcelona was crowned the league champion last weekend after winning 18 of its last 20 games. It is now on the cusp of a possible triple win as it is in the finals of the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. The performance of arguably the world’s most devastating front trio, of Neymar, Luis Suarez and lynchpin Lionel Messi, is evidence that Enrique’s approach of man-management rather than total reliance on tactical know-how has worked. The three have had a combined tally of 79 goals and 28 assists in La Liga this season.

While the win will soothe the nerves of Barcelona and its fans, the symbolism outside Spain is not to be lost. Till 2012 the apex of world football was in Spain, built on a style that made absolute control of the ball paramount. In the seasons since then, that emphasis shifted when clubs, especially in Germany, took the style to a new level by adding ruthless efficiency and rapid transition from defence to offence. The high point of this was the combined 7-0 thrashing of Barcelona by Bayern Munich in the 2012-13 Champions League semi-final legs, and the 2014 World Cup win for Germany. Barcelona this season has added these elements to its game. Barcelona no longer just attacks; it counter-attacks too, as was seen in its 5-3 defeat of Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals. The club’s front line, representing the best of the waltz and tango that South American football is known for, has been instrumental in this. Whether this would kick-start another era of dominance by Barcelona and whether with that a shift of the apex back to Spain would happen is too early to say. But victory in Berlin over Juventus in the Champions League final could sow the seeds for such a turn.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-barca-supremacy/article7232194.ece

Mumbai breaches Fort Chennai

Mumbai Indians (MI) rose, yet again, from the dead to hand Chennai Super Kings (CSK) its first defeat in 11 matches at the Chepauk — stretching back to 2013 — with a six-wicket win here on Friday.

The victory was MI’s fifth on-the-trot, sending it to fourth place, and keeps CSK waiting for one more game to seal its playoff spot.

It seemed a lost cause for MI, with 30 needed from 12 balls. But Hardik Pandya smashed three sixes off Pawan Negi in the penultimate over to turn it around completely. The effort, along with three catches and a solitary over conceding four runs, earned him the man-of-the-match award.

Chasing 159, Mumbai coasted along in the first ten overs, with openers Lendl Simmons’s and Parthiv Patel’s batting a far cry from the home batsmen’s travails. But R. Ashwin, who recovered sufficiently to play the game, brought CSK back into it.

In his final two overs, he gave away only three runs and dismissed both Parthiv and Simmons, who had an opening partnership of 84 runs from 10 overs, in the space of three deliveries.

It was soon three wickets for three runs as Dwayne Bravo ran out Kieron Pollard when a single was attempted after Suresh Raina couldn’t hold on to a tough Rohit Sharma catch at slip. With the score at 105 for three, du Plessis dropped Rohit at long off. Thankfully it didn’t prove costly.

But Ambati Rayudu stepped up and reduced the equation from 51 runs off 24 balls to 34 off 18. Nehra had a bruising time, getting hammered for 45 runs in his three overs. 

A brilliant 18th over by Bravo — four runs and a wicket — seemed to signal another shift, but Pandya’s brilliance sealed it for MI. What was until then an excellent evening for Negi, whose innings (36, 17b, 4x4, 1x6) gave CSK a chance, had turned sour.

Earlier, CSK got off to a fine start, scoring 44 runs in five overs, quite in line with the recent pattern. But the loss of Brendon McCullum, at the fag end of that period seemed to put the brakes completely.

In the next three overs only 15 runs came. It also saw Marchant de Lange (4-1-30-0), who replaced Lasith Malinga in the playing eleven, bowl a maiden. Suresh Raina tried to force the issue but ended up holing out to Pandya at deep mid-wicket off J. Suchith (4-0-21-1). 

From there the home side’s journey seemed even more laborious. While coach Stephen Fleming had said that much depended on how the side could marry style with substance, the batsmen, in their quest for the latter, drilled themselves into a hole.

A meagre 25 runs were scored from overs nine to 13 for the loss of two wickets. Only Negi’s entry, after du Plessis was caught out by a fine Simmons catch at short fine leg, brought a semblance of excitement. Three fours off de Lange in the 17th over set the tone for a late blitz. 

Dhoni, admirably, realised it and gave Negi the strike right at the start of the 18th over and latter, off the very next ball, moved his front leg out of the way and belted a six over long on. In all, 50 runs came in the last four overs.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/mumbai-breaches-fort-chennai/article7186749.ece

Super Kings’ home might vs Mumbai’s momentum

Blowing hot and cold seems to have become a habit for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the past two seasons. It lost the first five matches in 2014 and sneaked into the playoffs with a run of four wins in its last four. 

This year, after being winless in the first four games, it has now won five of the last six, including four on the trot. A victory against Chennai Super Kings here on Friday will propel it into the top-four with three matches to go.

Big blow

For Mumbai, the stuttering start has largely been overcome, thanks to its bowling unit successfully defending totals four times. Lasith Malinga’s 15 wickets have contributed immensely to the cause and the Sri Lankan’s non-availability will be a big blow. 

In the chase against Delhi Daredevils the batting came good too, with the triumvirate of Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard finishing the game. But constant shuffling to shore up the middle order — Kiwi Corey Anderson is still not fit — has led to the three batting a rung lower than their usual slots and that has been a bit of a talking point.

“Everyone has a certain role and they are aware of it and they are doing the job,” said Parthiv Patel. “That is why we have won five games. (Ambati) Rayudu has finished games for MI in the last few years. So, I don’t see any chance of the order changing.”

For CSK, in spite of having almost sealed a top-four slot, much will ride on the game. While a victory here can confirm it — keeping its perfect home record in tact — the match represents an important step in occupying one of the much-coveted top two slots.

The need will also be to strengthen a brittle middle-order, which, after being completely exposed for three games, fared only a tad better thanks to Suresh Raina’s solid half-century against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Question marks over R. Ashwin’s fitness and Ravindra Jadeja’s form still persist.

While coach Stephen Fleming said that Ashwin’s match-fitness was yet to be assessed, he did hint at Jadeja being given a longer rope, even in the light of the “healthy competition” from Pawan Negi.

“We want more from Jadeja,” he said. “But his skill set is something we value. He has been instrumental in the field and has effected a couple of crucial run outs. That can’t be faulted. The fact that Negi has come into the equation has given us depth. But at this point we will closely work with the players than chopping and changing.”

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/ipl/super-kings-home-mightvs-mumbais-momentum/article7182434.ece

Private investments augur well for the game

For some time now, India has been looking at a private-investment led sporting scenario as the way forward. The resource crunch the teams sponsored by government often face, and the need to ensure long-term sustainability by turning them into commercial ventures have led to the mushrooming of professional leagues like the Indian Super League (ISL) and a glut of private clubs.

In Chennai, the trickle-down is now visible in the senior division football league. After Netaji SC (now Chennai City FC) won the league in 2008-09, two of the last three seasons have seen private clubs triumph. Arrows FC won the 2013 league and Hindustan Eagles was crowned the 2015 champion last week.

“Around the world professionalism is the way forward,” says A. Robin Charles Raja, the Eagles coach. “Slowly we are also getting into it. Youngsters are willing to take risks. They are being paid more. So they see it as a productive alternative. We are able to provide good facilities; like taking them for a swimming session, have dedicated physios and so on. Not many institutional teams will have these. Young players see all that and if they feel like they have the talent they would want to play for a private club.”

In the year after Arrows won the title, i.e. in 2014, the private clubs numbered two. In the just concluded league there were four, including both the promoted teams — Viva Chennai and Chennai FC.

In fact, the top three positions in the table were occupied by private clubs — Eagles, Chennai FC and Arrows — and the 2016 season will see a minimum of five in the 12-team top division, with Chennai City FC, the first division champion, the new entrant. Madras Sporting Union, another non-institutional team, can also get in if it wins its impending playoff against Income Tax.

“Training programmes are better for players,” says Raman Vijayan, a yesteryear India international and current coach of Chennai FC.

“We have pre-season camps, residential camps and players spend more time with each other which is extremely important in modern-day football. There is money. With the ISL, market value for Indian footballers has also gone up. Even coaches would want to get ahead. They would want to get their coaching licenses and private clubs provide such opportunities.”

One view as to why institutional teams are finding it tough is that a certain amount of lethargy sets in once the players secure permanent employment.

“There are pros and cons here,” says Sabir Pasha, former India footballer and current Indian Bank coach. “It might lead to complacency but on the other hand, it allows the side to stay together. Without permanent players it is tough to build. We have those who sign for six months and one year.”

It is now widely accepted that sports quota appointments are at their lowest. P. Stephen Balasamy, Sports Secretary and Manager, Indian Bank, says that in the banking sector, recruitments are almost nil.

“For example, in Indian Bank we have given jobs to nearly 250 people in the country across nine disciplines in the last two and half decades. Now we have hardly 50.”

Robin Charles, who once played for Customs, weighs in here: “Since staff recruitment, in general, is low, these players have to go for normal work too. So they slog more than ever before which is very tough.”

Sabir offers a way out of all this. “Even institutions can have good teams without appointments,” he says. “We can have two or three-year contracts. It’s a question of livelihood and security of the players after all. The game has developed so much that the odd injury is inevitable. So a three-year contract gives them some security and also the time for us to build.”

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/article7178095.ece

Super Kings smother Sunrisers

Over the years, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team has given the impression of a well-oiled machine that clicks into gear at precisely the right moments. Saturday’s ruthless 45-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Chepauk added further credence to that.

It followed a set template: a belligerent innings from Brendon McCullum (100 n.o., 56b, 7x4, 9x6), a late explosion by M.S. Dhoni (53, 29b, 4x4, 4x6), some miserly bowling by R. Ashwin (4-0-22-1) and well-backed up by the pace trio. But for another Suresh Raina failure, it had everything.

Set a mammoth 210 for victory, following the home team’s decision to bat first, Sunrisers was off to a decent start.

Skipper David Warner was his subdued self, but carried his team to 80 for two at the end of the 10th over. But, it lost its bearings in the next four overs, scoring just 22 runs, as Ashwin got into a strangulating rhythm.

In the 15th over, when Ishwar Pandey got Warner, caught by Dwayne Smith at deep mid-wicket following some persistent short-pitched bowling, the chase was off. Promoting Ravi Bopara ahead of Kane Williamson didn’t do the trick too. 

Steyn left out

Earlier, Sunrisers left Steyn out of the attack which included four Indians, Trent Boult and all-rounder Bopara. The initial ploy was to cramp the batsmen by bowling close to the stumps and just short of a length. But, on those occasions when Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar erred, the batsmen were quick to latch on, like the six over midwicket by McCullum after dancing down the track to Bhuvneshwar.

The acceleration really began when Ishant Sharma was introduced. The lanky paceman was often too full.

And, he added to his and his team’s misery by overstepping regularly. His first spell read 2-0-23-0, and he was duly taken off.

Bopara, brought in to stifle the opposition, bowled an excellent first over conceding just three runs. It also brought the wicket of Smith, who was run out off a direct hit from Boult. But curiously, Warner took him out of the attack.

From overs 10 to 13, four different bowlers were tried and CSK plundered 55 runs — 43 of those by McCullum alone.

The 12th over was supposed to be Ishant’s attempt at seeking redemption, but instead he bled 23 runs. The most outrageous of shots came when McCullum crouched and lapped Ishant up and over the ’keeper’s head for a six.

What it did was to lay a perfect foundation for Dhoni in the final overs. The skipper, who came after Suresh Raina fell, stitched together a 63-run partnership with McCullum in just 35 balls.

The New Zealand skipper made just nine of those runs, but got to his hundred taking 11 of the last three balls of the innings. His first fifty had come in 38 balls; the next took only 18. It wasn’t a chanceless innings though; he survived a dropped catch by Williamson.

But, it was more than enough to take the wind out of the Sunrisers’ sails.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/super-kings-smother-sunrisers/article7094053.ece

Super Kings up against a formidable force in SRH

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fan is said to be compulsively superstitious. He or she is always on the look out for hints to be interpreted as harbingers of good fortune. The cheeky Dwayne Bravo dance gig, a typical M.S. Dhoni heist in the death overs and the customary nail-biting win, all form a part of this.

On Thursday, the last two arrived in good measure against the Delhi Daredevils. The nervy one-run win suggested that, after a one-year gap, the good old tense IPL nights were well and truly back. For the side and the fans who have endured much off the field in the recent past, it was a timely balm.

However, nothing is more reassuring than a confident start. The Kings, in spite of the victory, did find the ground below their feet a bit shaky. Brendon McCullum’s habitual setting-the-tone innings didn’t materialise; Suresh Raina didn’t fire and a middle-overs slump almost cost it the match.

When it takes on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), in the latter’s first match of the season, here on Saturday, it will seek a more authoritative performance, something which will calm the nerves as well as serve as a launch-pad for its three-game away run which follows.

The SRH squad, however, is a formidable force on paper. Its foreign contingent — Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, David Warner, Eoin Morgan, Moises Henriques and Ravi Bopara — is as good as it gets. Each one is a match-winner on his day.

But, what it also does is pose a selection headache.

Selection headache

“You want headaches,” said head coach Tom Moody. “You want not only your overseas players, but also the local players performing to a point where selection is difficult.

The one luxury we do have this year against the previous seasons is a very diverse and flexible overseas squad. We have seven players here available for selection.

We can go with many different combinations — from four fast bowlers to all-rounders. But, there is no set four. We are just going to pick the best combination for the given day.”

Also of significance will be how fresh these players are, for, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Steyn, Williamson, Warner and Boult have had long seasons, playing deep into the recently concluded World Cup, and Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar lacking match practice.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/ipl/ipl8-chennai-super-kings-versus-sunrisers-hyderabad-match/article7090056.ece

Sketches through anecdotes

Ours is a world of endless technological advances. And the accompanying innovations have given rise to multiple storytelling ways. Stories are told through numbers. Stories are told through charts. There are even stories told in as low as 140 characters, popularly called Twitter fiction, which even eminent authors such as Geoff Dyer and Jeffrey Archer tried their hand at.

So, in such a rapidly changing landscape and ever-decreasing attention spans, intelligent storytelling becomes all the more important. As much as numbers, charts and little nuggets help tell a story effectively, the ones that stay in the mind are often the ones rich in anecdote and involving great personal detail.

This is what author Makarand Waingankar sets out to do in his book Guts & Glory which sketches the lives and journeys of 26 Indian cricketers starting from Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi to Ravindra Jadeja.

And thus we learn that Ajit Wadekar was initially studying to become an engineer, but the promise of a sum of Rs. 3 as pocket money for being the 12th man of a college match made him a cricketer.

Of how Dilip Sardesai, who “didn’t like cricketers having girlfriends”, fell in love and exchanged 90 letters with his fiancée when he was away in the West Indies for three months in 1962.

‘Colonel’

Of how Lala Amarnath nicknamed Dilip Vengsarkar ‘Colonel’ because he reminded Amarnath of C.K. Nayudu. And of how a statement to the tune “There are no fast bowlers in India,” by the then Cricket Club of India secretary Keki Tarapore in reply to a young Kapil Dev who asked for better food since he was a “fast bowler” drove the latter to become the best in the business.

The narrative isn’t usual. Rather than writing straight profiles, cricketers are grouped into chapters based on the qualities they embody. Then the story goes seamlessly back and forth between the players.

For example, Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar are pooled together courtesy their tough persona, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman for being men of stability and so on.

Though the clubbing together of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, who still have a lot to prove, on the grounds that they “reiterate the fact that the good days of Indian cricket are here to stay,” seems a tad premature.The author’s strongly held opinions — acknowledged by those who read his columns in leading dailies including The Hindu — is visible through the book. At one stage he writes, “When in the mood, and form, he [Yuvraj Singh] can match every Sir Garfield Sobers shot for shot.”

He goes onto to try and substantiate this by eliciting a quote from the great man himself. “I tend to agree,” was the response after Yuvraj had clobbered six sixes off Broad at the T20 World Cup in 2007.

But the author fails to do that at a few other places. One such instance is while he talks about M.S Dhoni’s initial selection to the national cricket team. “The East Zone representative in the national selection committee was more concerned about a wicketkeeper from the powerful state of Bengal,” he writes; something that was avoidable or best expressed with an element of doubt.

Sans technicalities

While the portraits of yesteryear cricketers are etched sans the technicalities of the game — though it would have been greatly enriching to know the variations a Bishen Singh Bedi employed in “buying” wickets — the stories on present-day cricketers have former India coach Greg Chappell’s expert views as embellishments. In addition, caricatures by Austin Coutinho of all the 26 cricketers add a nice touch. Particularly the ones depicting Sunil Gavaskar rolling up the pitch into a mat and saying “I am staying for the night”, Dilip Vengsarkar with the Lord’s balcony in the backdrop, Dravid like a literal wall and Laxman getting his wrists examined by an Australian cricketer.

A readable book, which could however have done with some tighter editing.

http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/guts-glory-sketches-through-anecdotes/article7019018.ece