Unique cricketing personality
By K. R. Wadhwaney
Malcolm Marshall was a unique cricketing personality. He was ruthless on the ground, but extremely friendly off it. While being a devastating pace bowler, he seldom adopted any questionable tactic during his illustrious career, which brought him 376 Test Wickets (average 20.94) and 1651 first class wickets (average 19.10).

Indian boxing looking up
By Arvind Katyal
Indian boxing has now started looking up , ever since Manipur’s Dingko Singh bagged a gold medal at the last Asian Games. In the recently concluded 46th Senior National Boxing Championships, held at the historic Ridge in Shimla and organised by the Himachal Pradesh Amateur Boxing Association, quality boxers have heralded a bright hope for Indian boxing.

Real heroes of modern sport
By Ravi Dhaliwal
Sport is not staid, it is class conscious. Over the years, as modern sport has evolved, it has segregated sportsmen into two categories. In one category, fall those sportsmen who have exceptional and enormous talent, recognise the initial spark and stoke it to a fire, which rapidly engulfs them and the people around them. The halo and aura surrounding them is simply awesome. They are famous, rake in millions and barring a few, all have inflated egos. In the second category fall those sportsmen whose egos are seldom bruised (In fact, they never have one). Fame simply refuses to embrace them.

Triple century makers in Ranji
By S. Pervez Qaiser
PANKAJ DHARMANI became the 16th batsman in the history of Ranji Trophy to score a triple century. He achieved this feat when he scored an unbeaten 305 in Punjab’s only innings against Jammu and Kashmir in the North Zone Ranji Trophy league match at Ludhiana.

Sport Mail

AIFF needs to do a rethink
By Ramu Sharma

WHATEVER is happening in Indian football these days? The winter season is already well into its early months but there appears to very little action. By now, in normal days, this time of the season, the stadiums would be overcrowded with screaming hordes but the signs this year are rather different. Agreed, the Rovers Cup has been held, an anaemic one though, and the manner of its conduct raises a number of questions. Why had the All-India Football Federation placed such severe restrictions on it schedule?

One remembers the Rovers Cup Tournament as something which never really ended, or something that continued for weeks and weeks, with the quarter-final stage reached from one group and the first round matches of another making a beginning. It was often a joke, this extended drama. But then the organisers were always obliging to participating teams, helping them to finish their engagements elsewhere before being able to go down to Bombay to start their campaign, no matter the advanced stage reached in one quarter.

The Rovers this time started and finished within a very short time, a capsuled version with restricted teams. Imagine a Rovers Cup tournament without any teams from Calcutta! That is the fate of the tournament this year. It is a bigger irony that the organisers invited a team from Bangladesh instead.

The All-India Football Federation must realise that the organisers need money to run tournaments. And money is something that cannot be made if a tournament’s duration is reduced to say ten or twelve days and with limited number of teams. The longer the period, the more the gate money and of course the income from the hoarding. The organisers of the Rovers this years can hardly make any money. And that means less incentive for them to continue with the exercise next year and the next.

The Rovers tournament is but an example. The forthcoming shows like the Durand and the IFA Shield have all been given clipped duration in which to complete their tournaments. The Durand is one of the oldest tournaments in the country and needs to maintain its status. The same is the case with the IFA Shield. What does the All-India Federation hope to achieve by virtually “killing” these tournaments? Running tournaments for such shorts stretches is totally meaningless and goes against the very grain of the AIFF’s policy of encouraging the game.

There was some reason initially behind restricting the number of days of a tournament. The federation was expanding its own schedules and had introduced the National League to add to the Scissors Trophy. The organisers took recourse to having qualifying rounds and then having just the quarter-final league in the tournament proper Even that meant a lot of pressure on the organisers. But to further reduce the number of days for the main tournament is a bit thick.

One of the ambitions of all clubs is to be able to take part in major tournaments. It is an exposure for both the clubs and the players. And in the early days or even till six years ago, the organisers would invite up to 30 odd teams to take part in the competition. It was a really wonderful experience for those who went to see the matches. And what about the returns. One can speak with some authority on the number of players of national calibre discovered through the DCM (a tournament now virtually defunct) and the Durand in Delhi. Imagine an India team without Inder Singh. He was discovered in the DCM. So was Guriqbal and a host of brilliant players. Also along with these players were discovered clubs like Leaders which later metamorphosed to JCT. And Indian football without JCT is unthinkable. The same applies to combinations like the M.R.C. Wellington, E.M.E. Centre, Secunderabad, and other army units including the Sikh Regimental Centre.

The lack of understanding and the general confusion which appears to be prevailing in the rank and file of the All-India Football Federation is perhaps the main reason for the current state of affairs in Indian football. There is no other excuse for the degeneration which has set in. The country’s most important tournaments and in fact the life-line of the game in India have been devalued and rendered something negligible. The Federation is also unable to run its own tournaments, like the Nehru and Indira Gandhi in a proper manner. And this year the AIFF has not yet finalised the dates for the prestigious Federation Cup. The year is all but over and there is no way the National League can be postponed.

The AIFF delayed the Federation Cup, giving the general elections as the reason. How and why a football tournament should be postponed for the parliamentary elections is something not very clear? Only the President of the AIFF, Mr Priyaranjan Das Munshi is affected. He is the only man fighting elections. But the federation schedule should not be allowed to suffer because of the President’s preoccupation.

It is time the federation put its house in order and restore the confidence of the football players and fans. The standard of football in India may not be much to shout about but there is no reason to allow it degenerate further. The federation should do a rethink on the entire calendar and encourage the organisers of the major tournaments to conduct their show in a proper manner. It is the tournaments like Durand, IFA Shield, Rovers and DCM that has kept football in India alive and kicking.

Unique cricketing personality
By K. R. Wadhwaney

Malcolm Marshall was a unique cricketing personality. He was ruthless on the ground, but extremely friendly off it. While being a devastating pace bowler, he seldom adopted any questionable tactic during his illustrious career, which brought him 376 Test Wickets (average 20.94) and 1651 first class wickets (average 19.10).

Marshall was quicker than most of his colleagues, who were much taller than him. He had gone on record as saying that he had muscle, strength and ability to out-pace others. He was merely 5 feet 10 inches tall while his contemporaries were much more than six feet.

Pacy indeed Marshall was. His run up, longish of course, was not very easy. But he gained in his momentum as he approached the stumps. He was well prized at the time of his delivery. What, however, brought him sizable number of wickets was his ability to let one stand up dangerously without varying his action.

Marshall had good control over his line and he could swing the ball both ways. He had to devote a lot of time (he was helped in this regard by Dennis Lillee) in developing the art of deviating the ball outward after pitching.

A good team-man and a hard trier, Marshall was respected and he respected umpires. He knew that umpire’s job was a ‘thankless task’. He did not have grudge against most of the umpires when they negatived his appeals which, according to him, should have fetched wickets.

Marshall, however, did not much care for some of the Indian umpires. He felt that he was denied quite a number wickets that should have legitimately fallen in his lap. In his book ‘Marshall Art’s,’, which is as racy as his bowling was penetrative, he said that it was easier for him to get “Taj Mahal’ than Sunil Gavaskar at leg before in India.

A virtuous man, Marshall had often said that he liked money but did not love it. No wonder, he refused to play in South Africa (apartheid days) when he had been offered one million dollars for a three-month assignment. It was a huge purse but he told South Africa’s supremo Ali Bacher: I thank you for the offer, but I am sorry to reject it”. To the decline of the offer, Bacher reportedly told him that he was a ‘foolish young man’.

Marshall had his values. He loved cricket intensely. He did not want to do anything that could make him feel regretted subsequently. He felt that he should not play to gain riches in the country where apartheid was being practised. As apartheid was removed, he gladly played there.

There is a similar kind of instance in the history of cricket. When Sir Donald Bradman’s Australia ran over England in the first series after World War II in 1948 , he was offered fabulous money by an English newspaper to write five articles assigning reasons for his team’s fabulous win. He refused saying that he did not write to earn money. He released five articles free to the Times of India (Bombay).

Marshall loved Barbados where he learnt his bowling. He was in peace with Barbados and its people. He was ever ready to say that he owed everything to St Michael’s parsh (Barbados). His sense of loyalty for his country (Barbados) was more than many other contemporary players.

When Sir Frank Worrell died, there was sadness in cricketing world. He was a player who uplifted traditions of the game to the fullest. Similar were the feelings when Marshall passed away from bowel cancer. His death was mourned. His coffin carried a cricket ball.

With Marshall’s death, another gentleman-bowler has passed away at a comparatively young age.

Indian boxing looking up
By Arvind Katyal

Indian boxing has now started looking up , ever since Manipur’s Dingko Singh bagged a gold medal at the last Asian Games.

In the recently concluded 46th Senior National Boxing Championships, held at the historic Ridge in Shimla and organised by the Himachal Pradesh Amateur Boxing Association, quality boxers have heralded a bright hope for Indian boxing.

Boxers from two of the biggest employees — the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) and the Railway Sports Control Board, jointly — became winners in the team championship in the meet.

The senior coach of SSCB, Subedar-Major Jay Ram, an Arjuna Awardee, revealed that 22-year-old Dingko Singh, who is working as Senior Petty Officer in the Navy, would add another ship on his shoulder on his promotion.

The boxers who might one day surpass Dingko include 20-year-old Ramanand, posted as Havildar who bagged the featherweight title at Shimla and also the SAF Games gold medal, is a force to reckon with. Recently at the Asian Boxing Meet held at Tashkent which was a Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament Ramanand went down fighting in the quarter-finals to Bekzat Sattarkhanov of Kazakhistan.

Earlier, Ramanand had shown good performance in the Senior World Boxing Championships and also secured a gold at the Manipur National Games. Another coach of SSCB, Mukund Kilekar disclosed that their star boxer, 23-year-old Gurcharan Singh, who is a Subedar in the Army, had taken part in heavyweight in this nationals due to overweight, otherwise in his own weight category — light heavy weight — he twice claimed gold medal at the SAF Games and bronze medals at the 98 Asiad. Another boxer from SSCB who excelled was Narinder Rana in the lightweight category.

When Dingko Singh was asked about his future plans, he reaffirmed that unless politics played any role, he would qualify for the Olympics. Though there are two more qualifying tournaments left, it remain to be seen whether Dingko satisfy Indians hopes or not.

Players from the Railway Sports Control Board, who won were Bhushan Saini, (lightwelter), Lalita Prasad (light middleweight) and Jitender Kumar (middleweight).

The lone Himachal pugilist who enthralled the packed audience at Ridge was Shiv Choudhry, who clinched the light heavyweight title. He later got a reward from the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, who witnessed his final match, and a few days later he was promoted in the Police Department to the rank of Inspector.

The notable upset in this meet was of Mohd Ali Qamar (RSPB) who lost to Suresh Singh of Central Industrial Security Force in the light flyweight bout.

The 21-year-old Harpreet Singh Aulakh of SD College, Sector 32, Chandigarh was praised by all as he bowed out the final of the light welterweight category to Bhushan Saini (RSPB). Tall and Lanky Harpreet needs specialised coaching to further hone his skills, felt one of the senior coaches present at the nationals.

Real heroes of modern sport
By Ravi Dhaliwal

Sport is not staid, it is class conscious. Over the years, as modern sport has evolved, it has segregated sportsmen into two categories. In one category, fall those sportsmen who have exceptional and enormous talent, recognise the initial spark and stoke it to a fire, which rapidly engulfs them and the people around them. The halo and aura surrounding them is simply awesome. They are famous, rake in millions and barring a few, all have inflated egos. But, even in jest, one dare not step on their egos. For these men, winning is to draw breath, the very oxygen of their existence. Losing is a phenomenon alien to them. And modern sport has affixed the label of ‘celebrities’ on such sportspersons.

In the second category fall those sportsmen whose egos are seldom bruised (In fact, they never have one). Fame simply refuses to embrace them. Their faces are buried in anonymity. They rise from poverty and live with poverty for being rich remains a distant dream, an illusion. And most of them might not even have had a hand shake with a ‘celebrity’ sportsman. Yet with their incredible feats and deeds in the world of sport, sometimes bordering on the sublime and sometimes on the ridiculous, they have showed that they are no ordinary mortals, having nerves of steel and iron pumped into their souls. And a common trait running in their pysche is that all have pure grit, a determination as hard as a granite rock, a desire to overcome all odds and above all they possess a flat refusal to give up, come what may. They may not choose perfection as a password to success as celebrities often do, yet make no allowance for mercy, when it comes to achieving their mission, which they pursue with the devotion of a Bhuddist monk.

Meet mountaineer Baba Manindera Paul, The man has climbed an incredible 22,500 feet to the top of Mount Kamet, the third highest peak in the Himalayas. Nothing sensational, except for the fact that Baba Paul is 58 years old and, above all, is a disabled man, what with his right leg amputated from the knee downwards. yet Baba Paul and the will and sagacity to climb, despite a major physical handicap, the third highest Himalayan peak. And he did this without an oxygen tank, with his only allies being Sherpa Thapa Sangma and adversity. Having conquered 22,500 feet meant, that for the Baba, every feet meant deliberately enduring pain. The good news is that the mountaineering federation has recognised his feat.

Once in the prime of his youth, at the ripe young age of 22, did Baba Manindera Paul try to conquer the same peak. But as misfortune would have it, he was caught in a high velocity blizzard and remained buried under heaps of snow for 19 hours before a rescue team reached him. Gangrene had set in and doctors had to amputate his right leg.

It is said that misfortune of the soul cultivates strength. And even decades after that devastating incident, the fire in the belly had not extinguished. In between his first and second attempts. Baba Paul was content on using his cerebral cells, writing poems, putting the best of words in the best of places. His poetry would mirror the richness of nature, would reflect God’s gifts endowed upon humanity by nature.

When Baba Paul started his second attempt to conquer Mount Kamet, people said the Baba was mad. That insanity had got the better of his senses. The man, with the mind of a poet and the hardness of a rock, may never win the Arjuna, may never win the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, may never by granted any financial benefits by the government, yet the man has truely and perfectly captured the essence and the spirit of the soul of sport.

The 100-metre hurdles beckons only the brave. Meet Ludmilla Endquist, a former Olympic champion, who in the midst of debilitating chemotherapy sessions trained through sunshine and sleet to capture the 100 metre hurdles title at the Seville World Athletic Championships in September this year. Still, in the midst of being treated for brain cancer, Endquist came to Seville and conquered. Endquist (35) found self-belief and showed the world that she was an athlete with an inner turmoil that had inhibited the expression of an exceptional gift.

Sport is not sustained by a single moment of winning or losing. It is all about the personal battles sportspersons like Baba Manindera Paul and Ludmilla Endquist undertake. Sport is also about the ability to sustain such a drive not only amidst hardship, but also amidst the grim reality that you will not always win. Wrote celebrated sports writer, Marcel Proust: You cannot possess, if you do not desire. This is, in fact, a sporting essential. And it is in this ‘non-celebrity’ tribe of sportsmen, do we find a real desire to excel, to conquer amidst the harsh realities of life.

Baba Paul is a hero. And in a nation starved of heroes he comes like a whiff of fresh air blowing somewhere from the Himalayas. And for a nation which does not respect its heroes, it will have none.

Triple century makers in Ranji
By S. Pervez Qaiser

PANKAJ DHARMANI became the 16th batsman in the history of Ranji Trophy to score a triple century. He achieved this feat when he scored an unbeaten 305 in Punjab’s only innings against Jammu and Kashmir in the North Zone Ranji Trophy league match at Ludhiana.

Dharmani batted for 601 minutes, faced 479 balls, hit two sixes and 30 boundaries. It was the first triple century by a Punjab batsman in the National Championship.

The first batsman to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy was Vijay Hazare. He scored an unbeaten 316 for Maharashtra against Baroda at Poona in 1939-40. Hazare batted for 387 minutes and hit 37 fours.

Vijay Merchant was the second batsman to score a triple century when he made a chanceless unbeaten 395 for Bombay against Maharashtra at Bombay in 1943-44. He was at the crease for 640 minutes and hit 31 fours.

In the final of the 1947-48 Ranji Trophy against Holkar, Baroda’s Gul Mohammed scored the third triple century. He made 319 in 628 minutes in his team’s only innings of the match at Baroda.

Babusaheb Nimbalkar who holds the record of the highest individual score in Ranji Trophy was the fourth player to enter the triple century-maker club in Ranji Trophy. Nimbalkar scored an unbeaten 443 for Maharashtra against Kathiawar at Poona in the 1948-49 season. He batted for 494 minutes and hit 49 fours through drives, cuts and pulls.

Bombay’s Ajit Wadekar was the fifth batsman to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy. He achieved this feat when he scored 323 against Mysore at Bombay in the 1966-67 season. Wadekar hit 40 fours in a stay of 484 minutes.

Sunil Gavaskar became the sixth batsman to enter this elite club of triple century-makers. He scored 340 for Bombay against Bengal at Bombay in the 1981-82 season. Gavaskar batted for about eight hours and hit 46 fours and two sixes.

In the 1986-87 season, Abdul Azeem became the first Hyderabadi batsman to score over 300 runs. He batted for almost 10 hours to score 303 against Tamil Nadu at Hyderabad.

In the match against Goa in the 1988-89 season at Panjim, Woorkeri Raman and Arjan Kripal Singh made triple centuries in the same match. It was a world record with two batsmen of the same side recording triple centuries in the same match. Raman made the first triple century for Tamil Nadu by scoring 313 which contained 31 fours in a stay of 575 minutes at the wicket. Later in the innings Arjan Kripal became the ninth triple centurion of the championship. Kripal’s unbeaten 302 came off 400 balls with 20 fours in 560 minutes.

Sanjay Manjrekar was the 10th batsman to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy. He achieved this feat when he scored 377 for Bombay against Hyderabad at Bombay in 1990-91 season. Manjrekar batted over 11 hours for his 377 runs, the highest individual score for Bombay and the second highest in Ranji Trophy after Nimbalkar’s 443 not out.

The 11th member of the elite club of triple century makers in Ranji Trophy was Hyderabad’s Maruti Venkat Sridhar, who scored 366 against Andhra Pradesh at Secunderabad in 1993-94. He batted for 699 minutes, faced 523 balls and hit 37 fours and five sixes.

Delhi’s Raman Lamba became the 12th batsman to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy. He achieved this feat when he scored 312 against Himachal Pradesh at Delhi in 1994-95. Lamba batted 567 minutes, faced 392 balls and hit 25 fours and two sixes in his knock.

Bombay’s Wasim Jaffer was the 13th batsman to score a triple century. Jaffer achieved this feat when he scored an unbeaten 314 against Saurashtra at Rajkot in the 1996-97 season. He batted 680 minutes, faced 501 balls and hit 47 fours. He now holds the record of scoring a triple century in first class cricket in least matches from debut. Wasim made this triple century in his only second first class match. The previous record holder, Bill Ponsford, had scored 429 for Victoria against Tasmania at Melbourne in 1922-23 in his third first class match. At 18 years and 266 days, Jaffer was the youngest Indian batsman to score a triple century.

Vangipuruapu Venkat Sai Laxman became the 14th batsman in the history of Ranji Trophy to score a triple century. He achieved this feat when he scored an unbeaten 301 in Hyderabad’s only innings against Bihar at Jamshedpur in 1997-98. Laxman’s superlative knock came after 10 hours and 15 minutes vigil at the wicket. He faced 434 balls and hit 28 fours.

The 15th batsman to enter the elite club to triple century makers was Devang Gandhi of Bengal. He achieved this feat by scoring 323 runs against Assam at Guwahati in the 1998-99 season.

Sport Mail
Kudos to Lewis for historic win

My compliments to Britain’s Lennox Lewis for registering a 12-round unanimous decision over American Evander Holyfield at Las Vegas. He thus became the world’s undisputed heavyweight boxer. It is interesting to note that Lewis has risen to become the first undisputed heavyweight world champion from Britain since Bob Simmons’ feat century ago. Both Lewis and Holyfield received $15 million each for the fight.

Sunder Singh
Dialpura

Indian victory

Congratulations to the Indian cricket team for their win against New Zealand in the second one-dayer Rahul Dravid and Sachin should have been collectively declared ‘men of the match’ as Rahul was involved in a record partnership of 331 runs out of total score of 376. I hope such contributions are not ignored.

Harmel Singh
Sundernagar

Rajeev Nayyar

Hats off to Rajeev Nayyar of Himachal Pradesh! He smashed the world record of staying the longest at the wicket in first class cricket. It was Hanif Mohammad of Pakistan who had set the record 40 years ago by staying at the crease for 970 minutes while playing in the first Test against West Indies and scoring 337 runs at Bridgetown in 1958. Rajeev eclipsed Hanif’s record by staying at the wicket for 1015 minutes in a Ranji match against J&K when he scored 271 runs. The innings demonstrated Rajeev’s tenacity, patience, courage, forbearance, strength, stamina and deep concentration. His accomplishment is remarkable indeed. In achieving his feat Rajeev also became the first Himachal batsman to hit a double ton.

Tarsem S. Bumrah
Batala

Azhar’s omission

It is a matter of disappointment that the former Indian captain and middle order batsman Mohammad Azharuddin has been kept out for the forthcoming tour of Australia. Perhaps it could be the end of the Azhar’s career, because in the present situation it is difficult for Azhar to make a comeback. The former Indian captain has been left out after the World Cup in England. In fact, it is also true that in the present situation, it is difficult to give him a chance when all players are in form. But in reality, it is also not appropriate to give such treatment to an eminent batsman like Azhar, who served Indian cricket for 17 years.

Ajay Bansal
Una

Saurav’s knock

Saurav Ganguly deserves heartiest congratulations for his well-made century in Gwalior against the Kiwis. In the last 13 overs he, along with Robin Singh, made 119 runs. In fact that was a hurricane knock and all cricket fans enjoyed the batting. His 153 runs contained three sixers and 18 fours.

Subhas C Taneja
Rohtak