Ganguly Era comes to an end....

One side there was a little snap of GM bankruptcy news on most news channels but along that yesterday there was another breaking news for Indian cricket lovers, India's most successful captain says good bye to his cricket carrier at Nagpur after winning the Test series against Australia. Even i saw yesterday that he throws his t-shirt from balcony to fans like one we remember he did in Lords ground. So here i tried to look into Sourav's cricket carrier in my style and on my research work.

Sourav Ganguly on Monday bid farewell to international cricket amid emotional scenes with more than 18,000 runs under his belt and leaving a rich legacy for the posterity at the end of a 16-year controversy-marred tumultuous career.

In between his century in the debut Test in 1992 and the Bradmanesque exit for a duck in the final innings against Australia in Nagpur, Ganguly's has been an unputdownable story with umpteen twists and turns and in the end of it all, the 'God on the off-side' walked out with his head held high.

Whether the controversial soccer-style shirt waving from the Lord's balcony or the easy-going manner that got him a sobriquet 'Lord Snooty', Ganguly had his own style that also often him in controversies. His brush with new coach Greg Chappell got him out of the team and he also picked up a fight with his mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya only to make up with him later. He staged a come back into the national team after cooling his heels for nine months.

In an era dominated by Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Ganguly was also one of the best batsman around, both statistically and aesthetically. Each of the 18,000-plus runs he scored, mostly piercing the off-side, showed he knew how to put the bat to the ball.However his weakness was against the short-pitched stuff.

Quitting with a 40-plus average in both forms of the game and 38 centuries against his name, Ganguly surely carved a niche for himself as one of the greatest ODI batsmen ever. While fans will fondly remember his silky cover-drives and soaring sixes, in my opinion Ganguly the skipper is likely to overshadow Ganguly the batsman in the history of the game.

Because Ganguly was the person as a skipper who inherited the team at a time when Indian cricket was struggling to shed the match-fixing slur and by the time he was through with it, Ganguly had established himself as country's most successful captain, courtesy those 21 wins that came under his stewardship spanning 49 Test matches. Once his highly successful partnership with coach John Wright came to an end with the affable Kiwi returning home, Ganguly's subsequent career was marked by umpteen intrigues and irony and the left-hander, credit to his resilience, survived it all. He become only the skipper who has lead India to won both test matches series and ODI Series in Pakistan.Ganguly played a key role to get Greg Chappell as the new India coach but soon sparks flew as two men of equally strong personalities found it difficult to go together.

Subsequently, Ganguly first lost captaincy and then his place in the side to vanish into the wilderness and few believed him whenever he talked about the possibility of a comeback. But for someone who always derived some pleasure out of proving people wrong, Ganguly kept his word and clawed his way back into the side and with a new-found consistency and ironically it was Chappell who eventually had to quit after a tumultuous stint.

He returned with an altered batting philosophy which put industry before incendiary and application before aggression. Those lofted sixes or uppish cuts were less frequent as Ganguly saw the virtue in patience.In IPL we saw him doing his skipper job after a long gap for " Knight Riders", the team which has Ricky Pointing also.

Ganguly never hide his disappointment after getting axed from the ODI squad and once he was ignored for the Irani Cup, the left-hander probably saw the writing on the wall.

For someone who dictated terms all along, Ganguly wanted to go on his own terms. Although talks about cricket's version of Voluntary Retirement Scheme did the rounds, Ganguly insisted he was going on his own.

A charismatic leader who had a wholesome hatred for Australia's hegemony in world cricket, India shed their 'poor traveller' tag under him and learnt to win Tests abroad.

Turning up late for toss, figuring in many an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontations, doing something as outrageous as taking off his shirt and swirling it at the hallowed balcony of Lord's - Ganguly evoked both admiration and irritation but never boredom.

The English press dubbed him 'Lord Snooty' while Australia fumed at his 'delaying tactics'. But for his legions of admirers, Ganguly was the captain courageous, who backed his teammates to the hilt and never indulged in regionalism that plagued Indian cricket for long.

In short and brief it was Ganguly, known as "Dada" among team mates and as " Royal Bengal Tiger" in Indian Media.

Sony back in cricket telecast game....

Set India CEO Kunal Dasgupta is back to doing what he loves even more than the movies – playing the cricket broadcast game. The man who blindsided ESS in 2002 with an audacious $ 208 million sweep on seven-year ICC rights for the Indian subcontinent, that too when News Corp owned the global rights, has made a fresh cricket play.

Set India has secured New Zealand cricket telecast rights for the next four years. Sony’s winning bid: $ 50 million.

That makes three boards – England, Australia (both with ESPN Star Sports) and New Zealand – where telecast rights have been secured for the next four-five years. Which leaves Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe that remain to be locked into long term deals.

Queried as to whether Sony would be bidding for any of these boards as and when they opened up, Dasgupta replied in the affirmative. That’s not all. The way the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup has caught the fancy of viewers has got the portly Set India CEO more than interested. “We will also be bidding for the BCCI’s Indian Premier League and the Champions Twenty20 League,” Dasgupta asserts.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), structured as a franchisee-based Twenty20 Series, is scheduled to kick off in April 2008. The final leg of the competition, which will be run by the four cricket boards of India, England, Australia and South Africa, is called ‘Champions Twenty20 League’ and will be held in October 2008.

Sony’s acquisition of the New Zealand cricket rights harks back to what the broadcaster did in the late ’90s, wherein it had the rights to Sri Lanka cricket. It may also be recalled that when Max launched as a cricket and movies channel in 1999, it had the Sharjah rights as its key cricketing property.

Source: Indianpad.com
Compiled by:Saurav Chakraborty

Advertisement Space:

India Wins the "ONGC Nehru Cup 2007"...

A packed house cheered India to a rare international football title here on Wednesday,29th August, night with the home team taming Syria by a lone first-half goal in the ONGC Nehru Cup tournament.

Baichung Bhutia did not score, but paved the way for a priceless strike by N. P. Pradeep in the 44th minute. It should, however, be recorded that India owed the triumph immensely to an impeccable performance under the bar by Subrata Paul. His anticipation in cutting off Syria’s aerial forays was the most striking feature of the contest.

The Indians matched the Syrians in every aspect of the game — speed, control, aggression and tactics. Pace was furious but the match suffered in quality once the Syrians adopted needless rough tactics, especially to unsettle Bhutia and Sunil Chettri.

The goal by Pradeep was just the tonic Indian football needed. Chettri initiated the move, found Bhutia, who could not finish the job but an overlapping Pradeep slotted the loose ball in with a flourish that epitomized the team’s regal march to the title.

Syria, ranked 39 places above India,had one last chance in injury time but Jenyat shot wide. India should have been up by another goal but Dias made a hash of a spectacular square pass by Bhutia. In the end, the misses did not count.


Before the tournament, there were two teams ranked higher than India on the FIFA charts, but the team was never short of confidence and skipper Bhaichung Bhutia had declared that "there was a very realistic chance of India winning the title."

However, not many gave the hosts much of a chance against the pedigree of the West Asians and the superior physique of the men from Kyrgyzstan. But they wanted the trophy the most.

India received the winners` prize of USD 40,000 while the Syrians had to settle for half that amount.

There was further windfall for the Indians as ONGC announced a 100 per cent bonus for them. Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit chipped in with Rs five lakh while All India Football Federation announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh.

The Indians reserved their best performance for the final and prevailed in a contest that often reached boiling point. The match featured several yellow cards and the Syrians had to play the entire second half with 10 men.

The Indians reserved their best performance for the final and prevailed in a contest that often reached boiling point. The match featured several yellow cards and the Syrians had to play the entire second half with 10 men.

There was no space left inside the floodlit Ambedkar Stadium with the 16,000 Indian supporters and a handful of Syrians making for a spectacular setting. Apart from the odd incident of bottle-throwing, there was no unsavoury scenes.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somanth Chaterjee later called up Bhutia to congratulate the team for the triumph. President Pratibha Patil also congratulated the Indian team for its outstanding performance.

Compiled By:
Saurav Chakraboty

Advertisement Space:

Hutch Delhi Half Marathon 2007

The Hutch Delhi half marathon will be held here on October 28, two weeks later than the last two editions.An increase of $10,000 in prize money was announced for the Hutch Delhi half marathon to be held here on October 28, 2007.

The countdown for the Delhi half marathon began with Reebok signing as the sportswear and training partner for the run.

Besides being the official sportswear supplier, Reebok will be actively involved in imparting training to the desirous runners in all aspects of marathon running.

Under the programme Reebok Instructor Alliance, which has over 900 certified trainer across the country, a three-day workshop was organised to educate the trainers about distance running and related aspects such as endurance and cross training, diet and nutrition, injury prevention and treatment, running kit and health issues.

Distance running expert Ian Ladbrooke and two elite Kenyan athletes, Catherine Mutwa and Zak Kihara, conducted the workshop for 50 certified trainers that ended on Monday.

These trainers in turn will train interested people in becoming more accomplished distance runners.

The prize money for this year now stands at $1,60,000. The organisers also announced that they would attempt to double the amount to be raised for charities on the occasion of the half marathon.

The Hutch half marathon, in its third edition, has now become a popular event in the Capital. More than 30,000 people are expected to participate in the event, including the Great Delhi run and the senior citizens run. The age limit for the open category will be 18 years and above while that for the veterans category it will be 45 years and above. The senior veterans category will be for men of 55 years and above and women of 50 years and above. A wheelchair event over 4.3km will also be held.

The entry fee for Indians will be Rs. 200 for the half marathon and Great Delhi run, and Rs. 100 for senior citizens. Overseas participants will be expected to pay $30 for the half marathon and $20 for the senior citizens run.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Suresh Kalmadi, said that the half marathon was a perfect build-up for the multi-discipline games Delhi was gearing up to host in the near future.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Secretary, Lalit Bhanot, will be the race director.

Register Yourself For Hutch Delhi Half Marathon at below given link:
http://hdhm.indiatimes.com

Compiled by:
Saurav Chakraborty

Bye Arsenal, hello Barcelona

Thierry Henry confirmed on Saturday he is leaving Arsenal to join Barcelona. "I still must pass a medical on Monday but yes, I have chosen Barcelona," the France striker told French sports daily L'Equipe on Saturday. "I will sign there for the next four seasons."

The 29-year-old, who also spoke to British newspaper The Sun , will sign a four-year contract with Barca for an estimated transfer fee of $32 million (Rs 131 crores), sources closes to the Primera Liga said on Friday.

"Nothing has been signed yet but both sides reached an agreement on Friday," Henry told L'Equipe . "I have chosen Barcelona for the football they play, for their history and their stadium. I am sad to leave Arsenal. I would have stayed there for life. I didn't want things to happen that way but I'm also ready for a new challenge."

Henry said the fact that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, his mentor, would not extend his contract with the London club, running until 2008, had influenced his decision. "The fact that Arsene Wenger has decided not to extend his contract was another very important factor," he said.

Henry pointed to his age, the Wenger factor and the departure of director David Dein in April as his reasons in an open letter to readers of The Sun. "It's now or never for me — sadly it has to be now," Henry was quoted as saying.

Arsene Wenger has said that at this moment he will not commit to the club past the expiration of his current deal, which finishes at the end of this coming season. "I respect his decision and honesty but I will be 31 at the end of next season and I cannot take the chance to be there without Arsene Wenger and David Dein. Dein is no longer there, and there is no denying the fact this has destabilised the team and the manager," said Henry.

The prolific forward has been sidelined by a groin injury but said he would soon be back in action. "I will be back in training in 15 days," he told. "Barcelona resume around July 20. That leaves me with three weeks to prepare myself well."

Wenger's future in the balance

London: Thierry Henry has delivered a devastating double blow to Arsenal by choosing to join Barcelona and indicating that manager Arsene Wenger could also follow him out of the club next year.

Henry made it clear his exit was only the latest repercussion of a boardroom row which led to the departure of director David Dein in April.

More than just a skilled operator in the football business, Dein was close to the players and to Wenger, with whom he had transformed the club since the Frenchman arrived in 1996. The prospect of losing Wenger is one to chill Arsenal fans to the bone.

Source:The Times Of India
Advertisement Space:

Your Ad Here

F1 Race in Delhi by 2009

India has won the right to host its first Formula One race in 2009, officials announced Thursday.

The deal was struck to hold the event in the capital New Delhi, said Suresh Kalmadi, president of the Indian Olympic Association, which will promote the race.

"We have received a letter in this regard from Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One," Kalmadi told reporters.

Funds will be raised from the government and the private sector to build a new F1 track and stadium for the race, said Kalmadi.

"We are looking to identify suitable land for a world-class track," he said.

New Delhi is already preparing to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The city, however, lost its bid to organise the 2014 Asian Games and opted out of the race for the 2016 Olympics.

Kalmadi said he was confident the IOA will meet the financial and infrastructure proposals laid down by Ecclestone before the final contract is signed by the September 30 deadline.

"We are capable enough to raise the money. We have done it in the past. We will do it again," he said.

Asked why New Delhi was chosen as the venue, Kalmadi said: "The Commonwealth Games are coming up. So we will have the international airport, hotels and other infrastructure ready for this."

Formula One supremo Ecclestone has recently promoted India as one of the future markets for motor sport after home-grown Narain Karthikeyan drove for Jordan in the 2005 season.

"India is a country that is probably going to grow quicker than China," Ecclestone said in November.

There has been heightened interest in F1 racing in India after Karthikeyan hit the tracks on the back of Indian sponsorship reportedly worth 10 million dollars.

The 29-year-old did not race in 2006 but is signed up with Williams as a test driver.

Millions of Indians watch Formula One on television, often with the same passion they reserve for the country's most popular sport -- cricket.

There was no immediate reaction to the announcement from federal sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has opposed the holding of expensive international sporting events in the country.

Aiyer, a former diplomat and ex-foreign ministry spokesman, had described the Asian Games bid as nothing more than a misguided attempt to improve the global image of the country.

The Indian media were sceptical about the prospect of holding a race in New Delhi.

"The capital is no place to have a F1 race because it does not have a culture for motor sports," said Sharda Ugra, sports editor of the respected India Today weekly.

"Places in south India like Bangalore or Chennai, where Karthikeyan and other drivers hail from, would have been better venues.

"It's more a business decision than a sporting one. The construction lobby will have a good time."

Source: Yahoo News
Sponsored by:

Your Ad Here

Go Pro,FIFA tells India

The fact that the Indian team languishes in the neither regions of World footballgives fans reasons to hope that any movement could be only in one direction---UP.Yet another step towards that end was hopefully taken on 16.feb.2007 when a FIFA team set the ball rolling for the eventual setting up of a proffesional football league in the country.

A FIFA project,"Win in Africa with Africa"----which was aimed to develop African Football ahead of the 2010 World Cup---might well see it branch out to Asia,and particular,India.According to Jean Michael Benezat,a technical advisor at FIFA nad incharge of the Africa project,the first step towards helping India qualify for the World Cup was to set up a "Professional National League".

"It is possible to organise professional competition in India,"Benezet said.Benezat,however, agreed that,aftr meeting officials from the clubs and taking into consideration the current situation of the infrastructure of clubs in the country,it would"take atleast five years before a complete functional professional league would be in place".

"For a professional league,in the real sense of the world,to be operational,every club must have,among other things, a ground of its own,training grounds,youth teams and academies.Therefore we are looking at a strong and stable league by 2012", Benezat ,a former player with French club toulouse,added.The first step towards that end would be to start a professional league as soon as October this year.

"Our intitial aim is to start a league with as many clubs as possible in October and see how it goes from there,"Benezat added.Benezat also seemed pretty satisfied with the level of the game in India.

Benezat said,"Give it time" on asking whether this idea would actually help INDIA to become a force to be reckoned with.

Citing example of the French Football Federation's roadmap to success,Benezat said,"Things do not change overnight.When started in 1970 finally bore fruit for France when they won the 1998 World Cup.I am sure INDIA too can move in the right direction,but only with time."