INDIAN TEAM SHOULD HAVE WATCHED THE DJOKOVIC - NADAL FINAL

That's just 7 minutes short of a normal day of Test cricket!

World No. 1 and Defending Champion Novak Djokovic from Serbia and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal from Spain fought an epic 5 hour and 53 minutes long battle for the title of Australian Open Men's Singles title. It was the Serb who triumphed with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win against the Spaniard, in what turned out to be their first ever 5-setter in their 30th match against each other.

The first Men's Singles semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer had been a brilliant one to watch over four sets... the second semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray went longer and was an exhilarating five-setter. Expectations were high from the finals, and though the quality of the tennis was not great in the first two sets with plenty of errors committed by both men, the finish more than made up for it... and elevated this match to the status of a true 'epic'.

The end of the fourth set and the fifth set were amazing rides - a great spectacle for every viewer who had the privilege of watching it unfold! Novak Djokovic was on cruise control mode, and soon he had three break points on Rafael Nadal's serve at 3-4 in the 4th set. Djokovic would have served for the Championship, had he been able to seal the break there. He did not... and Rafael Nadal played some wonderful points, and there seemed a palpable shift in momentum, aided by the chants from the crowd of 'Rafa! Rafa!' and some adrenaline-inspired fist-pumping from Nadal himself.

In a frenzy of the next few games and the tie breaker to follow, wherein the play was even halted once to close the roof due to rain, Rafael Nadal elevated his game and broke Djokovic's serve once, got broken back, allowed Djokovic to gather a good lead in the tie-break, before fighting back and sealing the win when Djokovic hit wide a backhand down the line on his own serve.

The fifth set saw some stunning rallies from the two men. They were exhausted, no doubt - with Djokovic showing his exhaustion more than Nadal - but when they committed to those rallies, there were no half-measures. Nadal broke Djokovic, Djokovic broke him back immediately, and then made another crucial break at 5-5, before serving out for a win (not without defending a break point of his own)!

There was a point in the 5th set where they had a 31-shot rally, which was a spectacular display of baseline tennis. But what made that point even more incredible was the fact that it came just 5 minutes after they had played a 25-shot rally, at about the 5 hour, 15 minutes mark on the clock! They might have just been athletes competing on the Rod Laver Arena... but for a good 6 hours, they elevated themselves to the status of superhumans.

But now, why do I say that the Indian cricket team should have watched this match? What lesson could have been learnt from watching this match that could be applied to cricket, or any other sport for that matter? It's a simple answer - the FIGHT!

The two men fought like gladiators, and in the last two sets in particular, virtually every point was a FIGHT or a FIGHTBACK! Both men, and Nadal in particular, chased down every shot hit by the opponent, defended what would have been sure winners, stayed in the point when the opponent was dominating the rallies, and did it again even if the previous time that they had done it had not resulted in a point for them!

Over the two tours of England and Australia, a lot of people have commented about the lack of FIGHT in the Indian cricket team. I do not know how to define this term FIGHT, but somehow, I do know that what I saw in the tennis match earlier today was definitely a FIGHT! The Indian team could do well to look at the determination of Djokovic and Nadal - to keep on carrying themselves for all of those 6 hours. After the end of the match, their legs refused to support them, and they had to be seated on chairs when the organisers were giving their speeches. But when they were in the game, and especially in a rally, their bodies did not dictate to them - they dictated to their bodies!

And there's another aspect to the story of Rafael Nadal in this match to be considered - an aspect which should interest the Indian cricket team! Nadal came into this match with a 0-6 record against Djokovic since the start of 2011. Over 2011, Nadal lost to Djokovic thrice of hard courts, twice on his favourite clay courts (both times in straight sets) and once on a grass court. Two of those losses relinquished his hold on Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US Open) and two other losses ended his reign as a Masters Champion in those tournaments (Rome and Madrid). The remaining two losses were also in the finals... and what could have been an incredible season for Rafael Nadal turned out to be just a 'good' one because of the unstoppable Serb.

Most people are of the opinion, I amongst them, that Djokovic's brilliant run of 2011, and his record against Nadal over the year in particular, has put some kind of a mental block in Nadal's head. He came into this match fighting not just his talented opponent, but also the demons in his own mind. When Nadal was looking down and out in the fourth set, I tweeted forlornly that the prospect of 0-7 against Djokovic in their last 7 meetings has a feeling as hollow as India's consecutive away Test losses in England and Australia.

But by the time they were finished with each other, the Djokovic-Nadal rivalry had been elevated to another level, and Nadal had not lost the smallest ion of respect for the 0-7 run! Despite the 0-6 and the mental block coming into the match, he gave it his everything and fought till the very last point. India had been in a 0-6 position going into Perth... desperate for positives and inspiration! What followed was a loss in 3 days, with India being bowled out for 161 and 171 in their two innings. Where Nadal fought with the inner demons and a champion opponent, the Indian cricket team did not fight! They capitulated!

Eventually Nadal did lose and the run now stands at 0-7... but one can rest assured that the next time he faces Djokovic, he will continue to fight for every point. Even if it does become a 0-8 then, that 0-8 will have a much better feel to it than the 0-8 of the Indian cricket team.

Djokovic and Nadal were an inspiration to me today... and I am sure they were a similar inspiration to many more viewers around the world! The Indian cricket team could do well with such an inspiration... and a lesson!

BEATING YOUR OPPONENT BEFORE BEATING YOUR OPPONENT

That is what the 11th seed Belgian Kim Clijsters did today in her 4th Round Women's Singles match against 5th seed Chinese Na Li at the Australian Open today - beating her before she'd actually beaten her! I had expected it to be a good match, a replay of the title clash of last year... but it was much better than what I had bargained for!

I did not see the entire match... missed the first set completely! But as it so transpired, that is when the real beauty of the match unfolded! Na Li had won the first set 6-4, and Kim Clijsters had apparently injured her ankle, and had needed attention to it. The Chinese then broke early in the second set, and looked set for a revenge win.

But then a fightback ensued... Clijsters broke back, and they went along till the tie break. That second set tie-break was truly epic - a brilliant battle of wills! Na Li took an early lead in the tie break, and at the change of sides, she led 4-2.

Then she took a couple of more points - one of each woman's serve - to have four match points at 6-2. Her destiny was in her hands, and 2 of those 4 match points were to be on her own serve! But then madness ensued... two errors from Na Li and a forehand winner from Kim Clijsters slashed it down to just 1 match point.

And that was followed by a brilliant exchange of strokes dominated by Kim Clijsters. She made Na Li move from side to side, then drew her to the net, and finished it off with a stunning lob that the Chinese did not even make an attempt to retrieve.

The Chinese camp was suddenly silent... stunned into silence would be more like it! A change of sides must have raised some hope since it gave Na Li some time to gather back her wits and have a sip of her drink. It was to prove to be in no avail... as Clijsters calmly won the next 2 points, and this 4th Round match seemed to be headed the same way as last year's finals!

Eventually, Clijsters took advantage of the momentum to race ahead to 5-1 in the deciding set, and then following a brief fightback from Na Li, sealed it at 6-4. She will now meet the current world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the Quarterfinals.

The Belgian mother won that match with that stunning lob. All through the remaining part of the match, Na Li wore a beaten expression on her face... and the desperation of her efforts showed that she knew she was far away from victory. She virtually tried to hit a winner on every ball, especially if it was on her forehand, in the third set. And except for a brief period where she rallied to win 3 games including a break of serve, most of those attempted-winners did not connect to her liking. Clijsters had well and truly gotten into her head!

It must have been a difficult experience for the Chinese, who had lost the finals here last year in a very similar manner - taking the first set, before losing the next two. But what a tremendous effort by the Belgian! To keep your head while facing 4 match points against you, as a defending champion participating in your last ever Australian Open event in front of a crowd that has loved her and supported her as half-an-Aussie, and then complete that turnaround was an effort that cannot be described in words!

What a match! Hope there are some more of these in this business end of the Australian Open 2012!

SPORTS MEMORIES OF 2011

It was a mixed year - 2011. There were some incredible highs as well as some bitter lows for the teams and players that I like and support. It was definitely NOT as good as 2010 had been... from the perspective of the teams I follow.

Here are my top-10 sports memories (the pleasant as well as the unpleasant ones) from the year 2011 (sorted chronologically):

1. Cricket: England Win The Ashes 3-1 (7th January)

The Ashes had been retained already, but Australia had a chance to regain some pride after two innings losses. The redemption did not come, as England got their third innings win of the series as they sealed the Ashes win 3-1. It was a masterclass performance from the English side, bowling out Australia for 280 and 281, and scoring 644 themselves. Alastair Cook continued his golden run with 189 runs and the Man of the Match award. Playing without Ricky Ponting, who had injured himself at the Boxing Day Test of 2010-11, the Michael Clarke - led Australian team lost the Ashes at home for the first time in 24 years.

2. Cricket: ICC World Cup (2nd April)

I have far too many memories from this event. That is why I have already compiled a separate post of my World Cup Memories. But there is hardly any doubt that this was one of the highlights of the year in the game of cricket... and an event worth remembering! India became the World Champions for the first time in 28 years, becoming the first team to win the finals at home.

3. Tennis: Djokovic Rules At Wimbledon (3rd July)

It was the top-seed defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain against the form player of the year and usurper of the No. 1 rank Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the Gentlemen's Singles Final at the 125th edition of the Wimbledon Championships. Djokovic won in 4 sets, and plucked out a few strands of the Wimbledon grass to put in his mouth. He was savouring the taste of his victory... quite literally! It was a difficult match to watch for a Nadal fan like me... mainly because he had been outplayed completely by the Serbian. Djokovic broke the Federer-Nadal duopoly for the No. 1 rank that lasted almost 7 and a half years.

4. Football: Japanese Women Triumph In Germany (17th July)

Ordinarily, this event would not have made my top-10 list. But this was not an ordinary year for Japan. The great earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 had left almost 16000 people dead, 6000 injured and 3500 missing. The aftershocks of the earthquake continued till June 2011, when the Japanese women began their FIFA Women's World Cup campaign in Germany. In this backdrop, they won the finals on penalties against one of the two favourites - United States of America, having already beaten the other favourite - hosts and defending champions Germany - in the Quarterfinals. It was an emotional moment for Japan, watched by huge crowds in Germany and a fitting end to an immensely successful World Cup!

5. Cricket: England Complete Whitewash (22nd August)

The No. 1 spot in Test cricket had already been sealed with a win in the third Test. But that was never going to stop England, as they emphatically completed a whitewash over India to stamp their status as the top team in Tests. It was extremely difficult to watch that performance from England as an Indian fan... the only solace being the realisation that the English squad was far superior. The wounds of this drubbing will take a long very long time to disappear... and even then, they may never disappear completely.

6. Rugby: All Blacks Win At Home (23rd October)

The hosts won the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 16 years (after the Springboks 1995) in a closely fought finale at Eden Park, Auckland. Like the Japanese women's FIFA World Cup win, this win for the All Blacks too came in a year where Christchurch had been affected by a big earthquake... so much so that some matches (including a quarterfinal) had to be moved out of that city due to the destruction caused. The All Blacks have always been an exciting team to watch... and there is no denying that they were the best team of the tournament, winning every single match they played.

7. Formula One: Inaugural Indian Grand Prix (30th October)

A few years ago, I would have said it's unfathomable so early! But in 2011, it actually happened. Buddh International Circuit hosted the inaugural Indian Grand Prix Formula One race weekend from 28th October to 30th October 2011... and apart from a small interruption due to a stray dog during the first practice session on Friday, it was a smooth affair. Karun Chandok set the first ever flying lap time on the circuit during the first practice session on Friday. Sebastian Vettel won the with his Red Bull car, both the Force India cars (Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta) managed to score points and Narain Karthikeyan finished at 17th position - equaling his season best with the Hispania Racing Team. Formula One had come to India!

8. Cricket: South Africa 96, Australia 47 (10th November)

What a day of cricket! If I tell you that the day started with visitors adding 70 runs for the last 2 wickets and ended with the hosts scoring 81 runs for the loss of just 1 wicket, then you might be forgiven for thinking that a lot of the day's play might have been washed out. It is scarcely conceivable that in between these 151 runs for 3 wickets, Cape Town witnessed the fall of 20 wickets for 143 runs! So the final equation - 23 wickets, 294 runs, 79.3 overs and a part of all four innings played out in one day! I watched Australia slump to 21 for 9, and then had to miss out on the rest of their innings as I was to go out. Their 10th wicket pair's 26 run partnership saved them the embarrassment of recording the lowest ever total in a Test innings, and ended up being greater than the sum of all their other 9 partnerships!

9. Cricket: Sehwag Also Crosses The 200 Barrier (8th December)

A lot of people believed that he would be the first man to do so. He wasn't... his idol was! But 652 days after Tendulkar had done so, Sehwag too breached the 200-run barrier in Men's ODI cricket and relegated that 200* (147b, 25 x 4s, 3 x 6s) to the second spot amongst the highest runs scored by a batsman in an ODI innings. The top spot is now occupied by a 219 (149b, 25 x 4s, 7 x 6s)... a phenomenal knock that could even have been a 250! Like it happened with the Tendulkar 200, I missed this occasion too. Atleast in case of the 200*, I had seen Tendulkar bat till he was about 130-odd... but this time, I was reduced to just following the scores on my cell phone. But the highlights were good enough to make you realise what a special knock that was!

10. Cricket: Sri Lanka Move On From Murali (29th December)

South Africa humiliated them in the 1st Test. There was hardly anyone predicting a win for the Sri Lankans before the 2nd Test began. But the Durban jinx struck again. Sri Lanka put up a stupendous performance to beat South Africa in the 2nd Test and level the series at 1-1, subjecting the hosts to their 4th consecutive loss at Kingsmead, Durban. The most important thing was that this was Sri Lanka's first Test win in almost a year and a half since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan. I was wondering when Sri Lanka would start winning again... for their year had gone nowhere but down after they had been beaten in the World Cup finals in Mumbai. This match ensured that they finished it on the right note!


There were many other moments worth remembering in 2011 - Sri Lanka's capitulation against England at Cardiff, Zimbabwe's brilliant comeback to Test cricket, Na Li becoming the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal's 6th French Open win, Jo Wilfried Tsonga's win over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinal coming from 2 sets down, Novak Djokovic out-Rafa-ing Rafael Nadal to win his first US Open title, Manchester United losing the derby to Manchester City at home 1-6, numerous clashes between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa during the Formula One season, and many more! Looking forward to another exciting year full of great sporting action... Happy 2012 to everyone!

WHY I DO NOT AGREE WITH ANDREW MILLER

On reading this piece by Andrew Miller on Cricinfo (How good are this England side?), I was left with quite a few questions in my head. There are a couple of points in that piece that immediately left me shaking my head in disagreement. Here is the first bit:

"It is said that the acid test for this England team will come when they are faced with Asian pitches in the UAE and Sri Lanka this winter, though it's hard to believe that's really the case. If any side has the ingredients to triumph in such conditions, it is England - the fittest squad of international cricketers on the planet, whose batsmen have demonstrated the dedication required to grind out big scores in attritional passages of play, whose bowlers build pressure by strangling runs, and whose spinner, Swann - for all that he falls short of true greatness - is indisputably the best in the game at present."

I do not quite understand why is it so hard to believe that the acid test for England will come on Asian pitches. The current England squad is undoubtedly brilliant, and arguably at the peak of its powers at the moment. They managed to earn a hard-fought draw away in South Africa, flattened Australia in Australia, and demolished India at home. Like the great teams of the past, the only ground that remains to be conquered is the sub-continent (or broadly Asia, since they will be playing Pakistan in UAE).

He reasons that England is the fittest squad currently (though I think that the South Africans might want to challenge him on that), their batsmen have the capability to be attritional and score big, bowlers can strangle runs when needed, and they have the best spinner in the world. Fine reasons those!

But each of those reasons applied even to Steve Waugh's men who conquered everything in their path... or rather, almost everything! They were the fittest squad of their time, some of the batsmen and bowlers on their payroll are acknowledged today as all-time greats, and they definitely featured the best spinner of their time - one who even managed to make it to Cricinfo's All-Time Test XI as a unanimous choice!

Yet, on either side of their run of 16 consecutive Test wins through 1999, 2000 and 2001, Steve Waugh's Australia failed in its acid test on Asian wickets. The Kolkata and Chennai defeats to India in 2001 are famously remembered, but what is not remembered is that just before the start of their 16-match winning streak, they had recorded a series loss in Sri Lanka (September 1999).

So hard as it may be for Mr. Miller to believe that Asian pitches shall be their acid test, they would really still need to pass it to be able to make a further claim. Just having ingredients of success is not enough, as we Indians learnt it the hard way this English summer! We may not have had all the ingredients of success in our Indian squad, but we had managed to hold on to the No. 1 ranking with whatever ingredients we possessed for 20 months. It all came down spectacularly in 1 month! While I don't think it will be quite as dramatic for England, they still do have a task on hand to consolidate their top-of-the-table ranking.

Now, coming to the second excerpt from Mr. Miller's piece that I actually managed to frown upon:

"Passages of play such as Mishra's stand with Sachin Tendulkar prove that England are not unstoppable, but given that no team in the world can replicate their current levels of desire, it's going to take something extra to derail their ambitions."

Just one question here - just how does one claim that a certain person or a certain team's level of desire is the greatest or the least? I am really not a fan of blanket statements such as these where desires, ambitions, courage, spirit, and other such immeasurable aspects of a sportsman or sportsmen are judged.

I was not the only one who did not quite agree with this statement. There were others too, like @thecricketcouch and @grangergabblog. In reply to @thecricketcouch's question as to how could he make such a statement of England team's desire, this is what Mr. Miller (@miller_cricket) replied: 

Honestly, I believe this is as wrong an argument as any I have seen. I don't think that desire is always directly proportional to your on-field performance. Does that mean that every time a team loses a match, they did not desire to win it? It's a very rhetorical question... so lets just explore this with a few examples.

India lost 7 for 33 vs. England at Bangalore, 4 for 30 during the middle overs vs. the Netherlands at New Delhi, a mammoth collapse of 9 for 29 vs. South Africa at Nagpur, and even a 7 for 50 vs. West Indies at Chennai during the league stages of the World Cup 2011. Does this mean that they had no desire to win it? Going by @miller_cricket's response to @thecricketcouch on Twitter, it would tantamount to lack of desire.

Lets use an English example. England lost 6 for 63 in the first innings of the 1st Ashes Test match at Brisbane last year. Does that mean that the Australians had more desire to win that Ashes Test match than England? Does Rafael Nadal's loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon finals this year (2011), or his loss to Robin Soderling in the 4th round of French Open 2009 or Federer's loss to Nadal in the finals of Wimbledon 2008 imply that the victors were the ones who desired those wins more?

That, in my opinion, would be an insult to the vanquished - be it India this summer, Australia last winter, or Nadal and Federer over those (and other) matches. Every sportsman in every sport (be it a team game or an individual sport) takes the field of play with the sole desire to win. That is my opinion at least, for that is how even I used to play during my school days even against an XI comprising of seniors! These men are professional, and to compare and judge their levels of desire, in my opinion, is quite like insulting them!

THE 125TH CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Wimbledon Championships will begin in a few hours from now - the 125th edition! The oldest tennis tournament in the world began way back in 1877, incidentally the same year when Test cricket was born. A quick look at the Wikipedia article on the 1st edition of the Championships reveals a curious connection with cricket.

"The tournament began on July 9, 1877, but due to the scheduling after the Semifinals had concluded on July 12 play was to be suspended until July 16 due to the Eton and Harrow cricket match at Lord's. The final was further postponed from Monday July 16 at 4 p.m. to Thursday July 19 at 3:30 p.m. because of rain. It was still showery, so the final began an hour late, at 4:30 p.m."

A lot has changed over the first 124 editions... but a lot has remained the same as well! A beautiful piece of writing on the traditions of the Wimbledon Championships by the unmatchable Rohit Brijnath (pointed out by Sidvee) is a must read for those who have ever followed the Wimbledon Championships.

As the 125th edition is set to begin with the Gentlemen's Singles defending champion Rafael Nadal starting the Centre Court proceedings, the focus will be on a lot of players across various disciplines.

Gentlemen's Singles

1st seed - Rafael Nadal (Spain)
2nd seed - Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
3rd seed - Roger Federer (Switzerland)
4th seed - Andy Murray (Great Britain)

The top-4 seeds are undoubtedly the best 4 players in Men's Singles tennis today. 3 of them played in the semi-finals of the last edition of the Wimbledon Championships. The one who did not feature in those semi-finals is the one whose name is etched on the glittering golden Cup no less than 6 times.

In the last Grand Slam played, on the red dirt of Paris just a month back, all four of them featured in the semi-finals. They have been consistently the best performers in the ATP tour, and there is no reason why we cannot have a repeat of the semi-finals line-up of Roland Garros 2011. In fact, there is no reason why we cannot have a repeat of the results of the last 3 matches of Roland Garros 2011, since the draws permit it to happen!

From the article by Rohit Brijnath that I have mentioned above, I'll quote this: "Federer will see the champions’ board and convince himself he owns this turf, Rafael Nadal will know he owns Federer, Novak Djokovic will believe he owns the tour." He makes no mention of Andy Murray, despite his win in the Aegon Championships, and it's not difficult to see why. His tendency to lose the nerve in big matches is always counted against him!

While the focus will undoubtedly be on the top-4, the others in the draw who will be worth keeping an eye on, in my opinion, are the 5th seed Robin Soderling (Sweden), 8th seed Andy Roddick (USA), 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 31st seed Milos Raonic (Canada). The focus will also be on the first round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut because of their record-breaking, energy-sapping 11 hour 5 minute encounter at the same stage last year.

Ladies' Singles

1st seed - Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
2nd seed - Vera Zvonareva (Russia)
3rd seed - Li Na (China)
4th seed - Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)

In complete contrast to the Men's singles draw, I do not expect great performances by any of the Women's top-4 seeds. Maybe Zvonareva and Azarenka might make it to the last-4, but I do not expect either of them to win the Championships.

Caroline Wozniacki's game still does not look like a Grand Slam-winning one to me, and Li Na should be mindful of the fact that the French Open champion in 2010, Italian Francesca Schiavone (7th seed here), made a first round exit in the Wimbledon Championships of 2010. Schiavone, the French Open runner-up this year, should herself be mindful of the fact that last year's French Open runner-up, Australian Samantha Stosur (10th seed here), also bowed out in the 1st round last year.

The focus in Ladies' Singles will undoubtedly be on the defending champion Serena Williams, seeded 7th, and making a comeback after not just a career-threatening, but a life-threatening health scare. Venus Williams, seeded 23rd, will also be keenly watched... the two sisters have won 9 of the last 11 Ladies' Singles titles, and there is a good chance that it becomes 10 of 12 this year.

Apart from the Williams sisters, the only other Wimbledon Ladies' Singles champion in the current draw is the 5th-seed Russian Maria Sharapova. She has had a decent 2011 thus far, and a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros should give the 2004 Champion the confidence to put up a good challenge at SW19 this year.

Gentlemen's Doubles

1st seed - Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA)
2nd seed - Max Mirnyi (Belarus) and Daniel Nestor (Canada)
3rd seed - Mahesh Bhupathi (India) and Leander Paes (India)
4th seed - Rohan Bopanna (India) and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan)

While the Bryan brothers may be the best team in Men's Doubles tennis in the world by a long margin, their record on the Wimbledon's grass is less impressive as compared to their records elsewhere. They have been the Champions just once here (2006), though they have also been runners-up thrice here.

Nestor won the title here with Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in 2009 and 2008, whereas his partner Max Mirnyi has just the runners-up performance of 2003 to boast of. Incidentally, that 2003 run to the finals was in partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi, who will be looking for his 2nd Wimbledon Men's Doubles title after his 1999 title, also win in the company of Leander Paes.

For the Ind-Pak Express of Bopanna and Qureshi, a 4th-seed here just shows how far they have come together in this journey by playing Men's Doubles tennis together. While most people will remember their run to the US Open finals last year, most forget that it all kind-of started here for them last year, when they reached the Quarter-finals (their first Grand Slam Quarter-finals) and lost to the eventual Champions Jurgen Melzer (Austria) and Philipp Petzschner (Germany), who have continued their pairing and are seeded 5th here.

Ladies' Doubles

1st seed - Vania King (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan)
2nd seed - Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) and Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia)
3rd seed - Liezel Huber (USA) and Lisa Raymond (USA)
4th seed - Sania Mirza (India) and Elena Vesnina (Russia)

The defending champions and top-seeded pair of King and Shvedova will be confident, particularly in the absence of the Williams sisters from the draw, who have won 4 Ladies' Doubles titles here. Huber (2 titles here) and Raymond (1 title here) will also be fancy their chances.

Srebotnik has the experience of making it to the finals in 2007, while her partner Peschke has only ever reached a Grand Slam finals once in Women's Doubles - the US Open last year. Similarly, Vesnina has the experience of a finals appearance last year, while Mirza has only ever reached a Grand Slam finals once in Women's Doubles - the recently concluded French Open.

The 14th seed pair of Cara Black (Zimbabwe) and Shahar Peer (Israel) will also be strong... given the record of Cara Black on these lawns - 3 Ladies' Doubles titles (2 of them with Huber).

The Indian Challenge

The Indian contingent in the Championships this year is strong. While not much is expected of Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza in Singles, there is quite some expectation from the Indian Express and Indo-Pak Express in the Gentlemen's Doubles. Even the 4th-seed Ladies' Doubles pairing of Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina has had a good season together thus far, though I do not expect a lot out of them.

The Mixed Doubles seeds and draws have not yet been released, but the defending champions last year were Cara Black and Leander Paes. Paes and Bhupathi combined have 5 Mixed Doubles titles here and 2 Runners-up titles. So expect a good Indian challenge in the Mixed Doubles as well.

Last Word

The 125th edition of the Wimbledon Championships promise to be every bit as special as all the other editions have been. While we had the epic 11 hour 5 minute match last year, the Men's Singles finals of the 2 years preceding it were also epics, the 2008 one being more than just epic!

RETURNING AHEAD OF A HECTIC SEASON

It's been a long time since I wrote here... more than 2 months. The break was partly forced and partly self-imposed. But now that I get back to this blog, I realise how much I missed it... the blogging, commenting, tweeting, the entire package!

Since I last posted, a lot has happened in the world of cricket and other sports. In India, the IPL started, dragged along, and then finished, taking up almost 2 months of the calender. Yet, the champions remain unchanged as do the teams that qualify for the Champions League. After that, a youthful Indian side went to a Gayle-less West Indies, and won the Twenty20 and ODI series. On the administrative front, the BCCI v. DRS standoff continues. I will be writing a detailed post combining all my previous opinions on DRS soon.

The Sri Lankan cricket team is in England, fighting hard to gain something out of the Test series, while their Board is trying to convince the BCCI to send the Indian players to the SLPL. The English cricket team is, in the meanwhile, looking well-oiled and ominous for Indian fans. But there are certain chinks, as are bound to be in the best of teams!

The West Indies Cricket Board and Cricket Australia are involved in two different, yet similar standoffs. Chris Gayle and Simon Katich. "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" - that's the case in Cricket Australia. "If you have monkeys, you cannot expect much wisdom" - that's the case with the West Indies Cricket Board.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board continues to head the peanuts-monkeys scenario, with Ijaz Butt clearly the leader. The removal of Shahid Afridi and his temporary retirement, before fighting for his right to play cricket elsewhere in the Twenty20 format also made big news.

In South Africa, Gary Kirsten is the new coach and AB de Villiers the limited-overs captain. In New Zealand, cost-cutting is the word! The only Test-playing nation that has been relatively quiet with their cricket news over the last two months is Bangladesh... but then, that is how they have always been!

In football, the Champions League finals were played at the New Wembley, with Barcelona prevailing convincingly over the English champions, Manchester United. Though a Man-U follower myself, there is no denying that Barcelona is currently the best club in Europe, and it will take a super-human effort to beat them in their current form in a big match.

The Formula One news is all Sebastian Vettel! In 7 races, that boy has 5 wins and 2 second-place finishes! To think that it could have been 6-1 had it not been a final lap error at Montreal is just amazing! But Montreal did show that he does feel the pressure. And he is prone to making mistakes too. As the bandwagon moves to the European continent, McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari will take heart from that Jenson Button victory in their efforts to fight back and close in the gap!

In Tennis, the Djoko-streak was broken by Federer, who was in turn broken by Nadal, who clinched his 6th French Open title. As the Wimbledon kicks off today with Rafael Nadal opening the proceedings on the Centre Court, the Gentlemen's Singles offers the most mouth-watering prospect of quality tennis, as the top-4 seeds look in great touch. The Indian presence too is quite strong in the Men's Doubles and to an extent, in the Women's Doubles.

Back to Cricket...

As the England - Sri Lanka Test series comes to an end today with England trying hard to press for a 2-0 win, the West Indies - India Tests will begin on the other side of the Atlantic. India's next 7 international matches will be Tests... and that is partly why I chose precisely this moment to get back to the blogosphere.

Though a Zaheer-less India may struggle a bit against West Indies, my mind goes back to a similar Zaheer-less India that won the Third Test in Sri Lanka not too long ago. I wonder if Praveen Kumar will get a chance to make his Test debut... it would be nice if that happens! And even though Virat Kohli is more or less certain to make his debut, which is a very promising development in India, my heart also goes out to Cheteshwar Pujara, who misses this tour because of an injury suffered during the IPL.

A hectic sporting season awaits... and I am delighted to be back!

BRYAN - BRYAN BEAT LEE - HESH

Top seeds Bryan Brothers have beaten the Indian Express pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes to win their 5th Australian Open Men's Doubles Grand Slam title and their 10th overall... just 1 away from the world record (in the Open Era) of 11 Grand Slams as a team held by the Woodies.

Lee - Hesh were searching for their first Australian Open win in Men's Doubles to complete their respective Career Grand Slams in Men's Doubles... but sadly, it was not to be! The American pairing of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won the finals comfortably 6-3 6-4, breaking Leander's serve in the 1st set and Mahesh's serve in the 2nd.

The match started on a very surprising note. In the first game of the match on Bob Bryan's serve, the Indian Express raced ahead to a 0-40 lead. They had 3 break points on the better server between the Bryan Brothers... and I am sure even they wouldn't have expected something like this so early in the match. But then Bob and Mike won their next 5 points to hold service... and the Indian Express must have realised (just as their fans did) that they had missed an opportunity that was unlikely to present itself again all through the match.

Sure enough, the Bryan twins faced just 1 more break point again in the match (I think it was on Mike Bryan's serve in the 2nd set), which they duly saved. The key, eventually was that they were able to convert 2 of the 4 break point chances that they were presented with... 1 in each set.

In that very first game of the match on Bob Bryan's serve, on the second point, he committed a Double Fault. That remained their only Double Fault for the entire match (the Indians had 4). But that is not the point I am trying to make! They were obviously the better servers... and everyone knew that even before the match began! The point is... after that particular Double Fault, Bob Bryan's services in the deuce court were absolutely brilliant. Some of them were down the line, some viciously wide and spinning wider... and most of them unreturnable! Mahesh Bhupathi faced the brunt of them in the 1st set and Leander Paes in the 2nd.

I am not very sure, but I think that all of Bob's aces were in the deuce court and all of Mike's were in the ad court (Bob definitely had more). The Indian pair could manage a total of just 1 ace between them. And the biggest point of difference between them tonight was a point acknowledged by Mahesh Bhupathi in the post-match presentation ceremony was the first serve percentage.

83%. That was the 1st serve percentage of the Bryan Brothers. 86% in the 1st set and 81% in the 2nd set. Lee - Hesh could manage just 64%. The match was won on the weight of this statistic alone!

Overall though, while watching the match, I had a feeling that Lee - Hesh were not very authoritative on their net points and volleys. I know that Bryan brothers don't allow to many free balls at the net, but even when they did have the chance, they could not hit booming winners. Most of their volleys were intercepted by the Bryans and even though the Indian pair did win a lot of their net points, it was mainly because the returns from the Bryan twins ended up being long. The winners were missing from the game of the Indian Express tonight... just 17 against the 26 by the American duo.

However, despite their loss tonight, I was very happy with the performance of Lee - Hesh over this fortnight. Their first Grand Slam together in 9 years... and they reached the finals! That is commendable stuff! As Hesh said at the end, it took the best team on the planet to pull the chain of the Indian Express train.

I was particularly happy when Hesh thanked his partner Lee and said that he looked forward to playing with Lee ahead in the season. This was their first public admission (sort of) that they will play together ahead for the rest of the season. Till now, all they had said officially was that they will play the Australian Open, and then think ahead. It would be a great pleasure to see them return together in May to the place where they have won 2 Grand Slam titles together (more than the Bryan twins, who have only 1 there)! Looking ahead to the Roland Garros...

LEE-HESH IN THE FINALS, BUT...

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have won their semi-finals match at the Australian Open 2011... and will be up against the World No. 1 pair of the Bryan brothers on Saturday in the finals.

The Australian Open Men's Doubles title is the only one eluding both Lee and Hesh... and the expression on Hesh's face after the win in the semis and the hug that he received from Lee after that went quite an extent in showing how much both these men want this particular title.

However, I have spotted a little something and I don't know whether I am reading too much into it. A sequence of events occurred... and as a result, here I am writing this blog.

Event 1: While watching the replay of their semis encounter against the 2nd-seeded pair of Mirnyi - Nestor, I noticed Bhupathi reaching down towards one of his legs (I think it could have been the hamstring) as if trying to stretch it a little bit. This occurred towards the end of the match... when Lee-Hesh were close to wrapping up a win. During his last service game when Bhupathi served out for the match, I felt that he did a few extra hops and skips before unleashing his serves.

Event 2: After watching the replay of the match, I was flipping the news channels on the television. One of the channels had their reporter talking over the telephone to the father of Mahesh Bhupathi. He mentioned that Bhupathi felt a bit of an injury strain during the semi-finals match and hoped that he would recover and be fine for the finals against Mike Bryan - Bob Bryan. He even went on to predict that if Bhupathi could recover fully before the finals, they would go on to beat the American duo and win the Australian Open 2011.

Event 3: Next, I went online and was checking the official website of Australian Open to see the other results of the day. I wanted to see, in particular, the result of the Mixed Doubles Quarter Final match that Bhupathi was supposed to be a part of (after his Men's Doubles semi-finals) - Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) and Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) v. 2nd-seeds Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) and Daniel Nestor (Can). And what I saw there worried me. The 2nd-seeded pair had won the match courtesy of a 'Walkover'.

Now even though I have not read or heard any news in this regard, I think I would be right in assuming that Bhupathi had decided to forfeit this match because of his injury and give himself the best chance of recovery for the Men's Doubles finals against the best team in the business.

Luckily for Lee-Hesh, they are scheduled to play their finals late on Saturday night after the Women's Singles finals between Chinese Li Na and Belgian Kim Clijsters is contested. So, Bhupathi has the maximum amount of time he could have hoped for in order to facilitate his recovery. And I do hope that he recovers well enough and Lee-Hesh go on to win the title, the Australian Open 2011, and complete their Career Grand Slams in Men's Doubles! I do have more hopes from this duo, but that is for later...

THREE YEARS LATER... WILL IT BE DJOKOVIC ONCE MORE?

3rd seed Serbian Novak Djokovic has won his semi-final match against the defending champion and 2nd-seeded Swiss Roger Federer 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-4 to book his place in the finals of the Australian Open 2011 Tennis Grand Slam Event.

The last time (and the only time) that Djokovic had beaten Federer in straight sets was the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2008... the Grand Slam that Djokovic went on to win! He will be desperately hoping to repeat that performance this time and win his 2nd Grand Slam title at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park.

This defeat for Federer, coupled with Nadal's injury-ridden loss to compatriot David Ferrer in the Quarter-finals yesterday, means that this Grand Slam final will not feature either Federer or Nadal. The last time a Men's Singles Grand Slam final was contested without these two champions was also the Australian Open 2008 (Djokovic will be delighted with the good omen)... and before that such a final was held during the Australian Open 2005. So after, 2005, 2008 and now 2011, I guess Djokovic, Murray, Del Potro, Soderling and others will be hoping that they don't have to wait till the Australian Open 2014 for another such final!

Djokovic's opponent for Sunday's final match will be decided tomorrow in the match between 5th seed Britain's Andy Murray and 7th seed Spaniard David Ferrer. Though Murray will be the clear favourite to win this semi-final and pose a stiff challenge to Djokovic in the finals, it must not be forgotten that David Ferrer is so far undefeated in 2011... having already won a title at the Auckland Open.

But if Djokovic can play tennis as good as he did today on Sunday as well, then it would take something out-of-the-world from whoever his opponent may be to stop him!

THE INDIAN EXPRESS - WHAT THEY COULD HAVE BEEN, WHAT THEY ARE!

I have been prompted into writing this by watching Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi team up together once again in Men's Doubles Tennis and recreate a bit of their old magic on the courts of Melbourne in the Australian Open Grand Slam event after winning their year-opener at the Chennai Open.

First, lets have a look at a few numbers...

Leander Paes has won 12 Grand Slam titles - 6 Men's Doubles and 6 Mixed Doubles.
Mahesh Bhupathi has won 11 Grand Slam titles - 4 Men's Doubles and 7 Mixed Doubles.

In the Open Era, Leander's 6 titles ties him with 4 others at the 11th place for the maximum number of Grand Slam Men's Doubles titles. In the Open Era, Bhupathi is tied at the 20th place with 8 others for the same.

As for Mixed Doubles, Mahesh's 7 titles is the joint highest number won by any male player in the Open Era, while only the American legend Martina Navratilova's 10 titles exceed his achievements in this field. Interestingly, all of Mahesh's 7 Mixed Doubles Grand Slam titles have come with different partners! Leander's 6 Mixed Doubles titles ties him to 4th place amongst male players in the Open Era and 6th place if the female players are included. Additionally, Mahesh also has completed a Career Grand Slam in Mixed Doubles tennis... a feat achieved only by 4 other male and 4 other female players in the history of this sport.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have played together a lot of times. Their first Doubles title win came in an ATP 250 Series event at the Chennai Open in 1997. Following that, they went on to win 3 Grand Slam titles together (2 in France and 1 at Wimbledon). In 1999, this pair featured in the finals of all 4 Grand Slam events... winning the 2 at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. By the end of the decade, Paes and Bhupathi had won 15 Men's Doubles titles together, including the 2 Grand Slams in 1999 and 3 ATP 1000 Masters titles. For most part of 1999, this pair was ranked the World No. 1 in Men's Doubles tennis.

So dominant and aggressive were they in their game together that it prompted the legendary pair of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (together known as the Woodies) to remark that this pair will take over their place in Men's Doubles tennis after their retirement. To put their prediction into context, Todd Woodbridge has 16 Men's Doubles Grand Slam titles and 6 Mixed Doubles Grand Slam titles, whereas Mark Woodforde has 12 and 5 respectively. Both of them have achieved a Career Grand Slam in Men's Doubles as well as Mixed Doubles events.

Over the decade of 2000s, personal differences and rifts kept Paes and Bhupathi from playing together except for the Indian cause at events like Davis Cup, Asian Games, Olympics, Commonwealth Games and for tournaments in preparation of such events. The Lee-Hesh pair, fondly known as the Indian Express, derailed more often than it was on track during this decade.

However, when they did get down to play together, they somehow always managed to get impressive results. Be it winning the Canada Masters in 2004 or being the runners-up at Ordina Open in 2008 as also the twin Gold Medals in Asian Games of Busan 2002 and Doha 2006.

Recently while watching their 2nd Round win at the Australian Open, I felt strangely nostalgic when I saw their performances... especially in the 2nd set when they played some stunning points and recreated that old magic of chest-thumping... a celebration that captured India in late 1990s and early 2000s like nothing ever seen before outside of cricket! I had almost forgotten how brilliant they could be as a pair while both of them are attacking from the net... and how fulfilling it is as their fan to see their helpless opposition looking bemused!

Watching them play today leaves a bit of a mourning inside of people who have followed their careers closely. The Woodies weren't far off the mark in their remarks and their predictions might well have been true today had the Indian Express continued playing together. When I watch the rivalry between Federer and Nadal in Men's Singles tennis, I cannot help wondering what this decade of 2000s could have been like if we would have had another similarly brilliant rivalry between the Bryan brothers and the Indian Express simmering along simultaneously!

When I watch them play together now, it feels like I am ruining the lost opportunities just as much as I am celebrating the new ones. It feels like I am despairing over the past just as much as I am anxiously waiting for the future. They may or may not eventually win this Australian Open (though I really wish that they do for it will complete the Career Grand Slam in Men's Doubles tennis for both of them)... but one thing's for sure, they will always be remembered fondly in India for bringing a non-cricket sport to the front page of newspapers and achieving feats that no other Indian ever has!

300*

It's coming a couple of weeks later than I had originally intended... but here it is. This is my 300th blog post on CRIC - SIS, and on this special occasion, I have decided to select my 10 favourite sporting moments of 2010. The 10 below are listed chronologically... because try as hard as I might, I just couldn't rank them in an order of preference.

1. MICHAEL HUSSEY STEALS IT FROM PAKISTAN AT SYDNEY

6th January 2010

There may have been lots of questions asked about this match later... but when it happened, it was incredible. I was certain of a Pakistani win for most part of the match, but one of my friends was certain that if there is any team in the world that can throw away a match from such a position of strength, it is Pakistan. And throw away they did, as Michael Hussey scripted a century for himself and a win for his team that really couldn't be deemed possible.




2. 200* (147)

24th February 2010

This one had to be there! How could it not be there! 147 balls, 25 fours, 3 sixes... and 200 runs! Sachin Tendulkar created history (once again!) at Gwalior and accomplished a feat that no man had ever done before him... and Double Century in ODIs. Like it's said, many have scaled the peak of Mt. Everest... but no one looks beyond Sir Edmund Hillary!




3. INIESTA PAINTS THE RAINBOW NATION RED

11th July 2010

It happened late in the second half of extra time when Andres Iniesta finally helped Spain breach the defense of the Dutch team. And as soon as it happened, we knew it! Spain had become the Football World Champions (in addition to being the reigning European Champions) in South Africa. Spain was one of the three teams I had backed right from the start to win the tournament... and they did!




4. PAKISTAN ERASE THE SYDNEY NIGHTMARES AT LEEDS

24th July 2010

Usually, when a team is bundled out for 88 on the first day of a Test match, there can be only one result possible. But with this match, no one could be quite certain. Eventually though, Pakistan managed to beat Australia at the end. This match comes in my list because of events that preceded it. Pakistan was thrashed at Lord's by Australia and Shahid Afridi resigned from captaincy. Salman Butt took over and had this amazing result straightaway. Whatever may have conspired behind the scenes, there is no doubt that at that moment, Salman Butt had won a lot of credibility for Pakistan cricket (unlike another Butt).




5. WE ARE NOT TERRORISTS: AISAM-UL-HAQ QURESHI

10th September 2010

It was written somewhere up there... this entire journey! The unheralded 16th seed pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (alias the Indo-Pak Express) reached the finals of the last Grand Slam of the year... the US Open at Flushing Meadows. Though the scoreline might not suggest it, it was a very hard fought match with both teams throwing everything they had at each other before the better and the more experience team prevailed. The match in itself was brilliant, but what Aisam said after the match was even better. It was heart-warming to see the standing ovation that Aisam got when he finished his speech that told the world that Pakistanis are not terrorists! What a way for Aisam and Rohan to finish their campaign!




6. RAFA!

12th September 2010

Rafael Nadal became just the 7th man in history to complete a Career Grand Slam (and the youngest to get there as well) by winning the US Open at Flushing Meadows. A tremendous final, a brilliant opponent in the form of Serbian Novak Djokovic... and Rafa capped a brilliant year for himself and his country Spain!




7. LAXMAN = HOUDINI

13th October 2010

Even Houdini wouldn't have managed the escape that VVS Laxman engineered for India in the company of first Ishant Sharma and then Pragyan Ojha (and of course, Suresh Raina all the while). It was the closest Test match in India after the tied Test of 1986 between the same teams - India and Australia! There is no way this list could have been completed without this event. And yes, CRIC - SIS had it highest ever number of hits after this match... so that's another reason for the match to be there in the list.




8. CHE ARRIVES AT THE BIG STAGE

13th October 2010

I had waited for young Cheteshwar Pujara's chance for a long time. When he did get his chance, he also got a wretched shooter third ball from Mitchell Johnson. His Test career couldn't have started with much worse luck. But he came back... given a chance to bat at No. 3 in what could have been a tricky run chase, Che impressed everyone by taking the attack to Australia and when he reached his half-century in the illustrious company of Sachin Tendulkar, we all knew that Che had arrived!




9. VETTEL PULLS OFF THE UNEXPECTED

14th November 2010

The day dawned at Abu Dhabi with anticipation high in the Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber camps. Though Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were also in the race, nobody gave them much of a chance. At the end of that race, it was Vettel who sported the biggest smile as he realised that he was the World Champion... the only German other than Michael Schumacher to lay his hands on the sport's biggest prize.




10. THE URN IN THE BAG, THE SPRINKLER ON THE FIELD

29th December 2010

England managed to retain the Ashes away from home for the first time in almost a quarter of a century... so the celebration was bound to be different! And different it was... the Sprinkler dance! What a way to finish a brilliant year for England... a year where they also won their first ICC Trophy - the Twenty20 World Championship.




I do know that there are a few moments that were very close to making it to my list... but have missed out! There was Razzaq's monstrous hitting to steal a game for Pakistan, there was Afridi's monstrous hitting to almost steal a game for Pakistan... there was Chris Gayle's triple hundred, there was India's win at Durban... there was Barcelona's 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid, and there were a lot of others.

But the list endshere... and I do hope that my readers have enjoyed my journey of 300 blogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Now for the next target: Brian Lara's 400!

A NEW IDEA FOR UDRS

There has been a bit of debate going on in the blogosphere about the way UDRS is being implemented. Kartikeya makes a few very valid points here about the flawed execution of this Decision Improvement mechanism.

So, thinking about UDRS, I came up with an idea... it is not the perfect solution, but just an idea that can be looked at. Kartikeya has summarised UDRS as: "Umpires can make mistakes, and since this is so, we will allow players to make at most two mistakes in an effort to correct the umpires' mistakes."

The Michael Hussey plumb-LBW-that-was-given-not-out also pointed out the fact that howlers have not been eradicated as of yet. I had mentioned once a few months back that howlers from a match where UDRS is implemented leaves a lot more bitter taste in the mouth than howlers from match where the umpiring is left to human beings. The on-field umpires can walk up to the players at the end of the day and apologise... but Hot Spot and Snicko cannot do so.

Some bloggers suggest that it should be left to the umpires as to when to use the help of technology in decision-making and that players should not be allowed to challenge the umpires and in effect, undermine their authority. But then just 2 unsuccessful reviews in one innings is a bit of a farce. In tennis, each player is allowed 3 unsuccessful challenges in a set that barely lasts over an hour at max. If they enter a tie-breaker, they receive an additional challenge each. If the tie-breaker reaches 6-6 or 12-12 or such further scores, they again receive an additional challenge each. Where there is no tie-breaker (in the deciding sets), the challenges are reset to 3 apiece every time the set score reads 6 games each or 12 games each or such further scores. So to allow only 2 unsuccessful reviews in an innings that usually lasts for more than a day (about 10 hours usually on flat pitches) is a pity.

So I thought of a way to counter this problem. Here's my line of thought... allow unlimited reviews. But there is obviously a catch. Every time a fielding team makes an unsuccessful review, 5 penalty runs shall be awarded as extras to the batting side.

This may become unfair sometimes when the calls are very close and the final decision is the original umpire's decision... for example, when the ball is just clipping the stumps or has just pitched in line of the leg stump. In such cases, where the reviews can be justified as genuine, the penalty can be waived... but where the technology shows that it was a clear not out decision, the call for review should be considered a time-wasting strategy that shall be punished with 5 penalty runs to the opposition.

But what about when a batting team gets a review wrong? I first thought of deducting 5 runs as penalty. But we cannot have a situation where a team is minus 5 for 1. That wouldn't do! So I thought of this... when a batting team gets it wrong, do nothing. I will explain why.

When a batting team makes an unsuccessful review, it means that they have just lost a wicket. Why punish them further in such a scenario? There can at max be only 10 unsuccessful reviews by a batting team in every innings... and it is a very unlikely situation where there will actually be 10. Not all the wickets to fall are going to be LBWs or close caught-behinds. There will be some other obvious dismissals. So even if we say that a batting team makes 5 unsuccessful reviews in an innings, I really wouldn't mind the interruptions if the flip side is that the howlers in every game are being reduced to zero.

In this idea, it is still left upto the players to decide when to use UDRS, so the method of questioning the umpire's decision continues, but it at least ensures that a Michael Hussey-like situation is avoided. There may be some loopholes in my idea (there are bound to be as I am half asleep as I think of it and type it)... but I am sure you guys can come up with your own ideas to fill the cracks of replace my idea completely.


P.S.: One of the reason why I continued with the methodology of players calling for the Review (and not umpires using it on their own initiative) is that we all saw what happened in the 2005 ICC Super Series in Australia when the umpires used technology for decision-making. In my opinion, it was a flawed system... and that's why I prefer this system where the players can decide when to use the technology.

A MATCH WORTHY OF THE FINALS - THE US OPEN 2010 MEN'S DOUBLES

I have often heard this phrase: "This was a match worthy of the finals" by many commentators who always fall short of words to describe any moment on the sports field. Its very rare when a match worthy of a finals does actually take place in the finals of a big tournament. There are, in fact, only two occasions that come to my mind - 2007 World Twenty20 Championship Finals and 2008 Wimbledon Finals. You can forgive me for having excluded many other good matches from the list... but then I have high expectations from the finals of any big tournament.

But now, I can add another one to that list. The 2010 US Open Men's Doubles final match contested by the top seed American pair of twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan against the unlikely pair of and Indian Rohan Bopanna with a Pakistani Aisam ul Haq Qureshi... the 16th seeded pair in the draw.

Bopanna and Qureshi have been playing together for quite a while now... and for the past few months, they have the results to show the effectiveness of their chemistry. Their finals match against the best Men's Doubles team of our era (and arguably, all time) was a match to savour. The Indo-Pak Express, as they have come to be known, threw everything they had in them at the Bryans... and the champion pair had to dig really very deep to be able to beat them. The scoreline is the end [7-6 (5), 7-6 (4)] only suggests how competitive the match was... but I am glad that for once in my life, I let go the opportunity to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat against the Highveld Lions in making a masterful 69. I am glad that for once when I voluntarily switched channels to watch some other live sporting event when Sachin was batting, it was totally worth it.

This match had it all... big serves on big points, some amazing rallies, players digging deep into their reserves to eek out a point for their team, booming forehands and smashing backhands (particularly from Bopanna), tremendous net play by all four and above all, there was that adrenaline pump... which excited everyone who had come to witness the match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. To see diplomats to the UN from India and Pakistan sitting together and cheering for the same team, to see the flags of the two countries together at the end during the presentation and to see the wonderful chemistry between these two men as they played high class tennis against a high class team were delights that are unmatched.

At the end, it was even more warming to hear the words of Aisam ul Haq Qureshi, as he put across a very well-said message to the world on behalf of Pakistan. His country is in strife... the extremist forces trying to invade, the corruption and the flood crisis are making lives of people there extremely difficult. In such a situation, the country needed a few men who could portray them in good light to the world. I thought that they had found a few such men in Salman Butt and Mohammed Aamer and the new, young and energetic Pakistan team that had won Tests against Australia and England in alien conditions. But then, the cricket crisis hit them and the credibility of the people of the country plunged even lower on the eyes of the rest of the world.

So Aisam ul Haq Qureshi comes across as a wonderful ambassador for his country... spreading a message of peace. The standing ovation that he received at the end was to see a reason why I love sport so much. So little needs to be said at the end to spread so big a message.

It was a pleasure to have seen that match live. At the end, as the players met around the net and during the ceremony, it was easily visible that after throwing everything they had at each other... they had come out of it with just one thing - tremendous respect for one another!

US OPEN QUARTERFINALS

US Open Tennis is into its second week... and I am absolutely ready and waiting to see who reaches the Men's Singles finals. All the eight quarter-finalists are seeded men... the lowest being the 25th seed Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. Here is the quarter finals draw for the last Grand Slam of the year:

1. Rafael Nadal (Spain 1st seed) v Fernando Verdasco (Spain - 8th seed)
2. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland - 25th seed) v Mikhail Youzhny (Russia - 12th seed)
3. Gael Monfils (France - 17th seed) v Novak Djokovic (Serbia - 3rd seed)
4. Robin Soderling (Sweden - 5th seed) v Roger Federer (Switzerland - 2nd seed)

There is no doubt that given the recent history, the last of the quarterfinals listed above... Soderling v Federer... should be the one to watch out for. But then history also suggests that we can expect fireworks from the all-Spanish Nadal v Verdasco quarterfinal... and if it is anything like the semi-final of Australian Open 2009, it will be worth every penny for the spectators that witness it at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Nadal's form has been wonderful in this Grand Slam event. Most tennis followers know that both Nadal and Federer are yet to drop a set in their four matches thus far at New York. But here's the clincher: Nadal is yet to drop his serve at US Open this year.

A couple of years ago, I always thought that if Nadal could strengthen his serve a little bit and stay fit, he will be a bigger force to reckon with. And he's showing it now. Despite those biceps, aces at 130+ mph were unthinkable from Nadal a few years ago. Now, they are coming down at alarming frequency.

Nadal has faced 13 break points in his four round matches thus far, and saved each one of them. Federer also has been very good... facing only 19 break points in his four matches and saving 16 of them. But then, Federer knows that if he meets Nadal in the finals, those 3 break points that he is unable to save may well be the game, set and match to the Spaniard!

Nadal has shown consistent improvement and learning in his game ever since he turned pro and then won his first major at French Open 2005. His big serves, his runs to the net for volleys, his fast flat forehands with more power and less top spin are aspects of his game that did not exist in 2005. Not for nothing is he the World No. 1, you know!

If he overcomes Verdasco, he will face an easier semi-final than he would have anticipated at the start of the tournament... for Andy Murray did seem in good form then. But then Murray, like English cricket and soccer teams (Paul Collingwood's victorious men at the Caribbean islands excluded), faltered and fell by the wayside yet again.

Like I wrote on my blog a few days ago, I would really wish to see a Nadal v Federer finals at the US Open this year. And yes, for Nadal to come out triumphant...

WISH TO SEE THE FEDERER - NADAL RIVALRY AGAIN

Away from the depressing topic of corruption in cricket, I am today turning my attention to the US Open Grand Slam... the last tennis Grand Slam of the year.

Of the four Grand Slams played in tennis every year, US Open is my least favourite... simply because I live in a time zone that is not ideal if you want to follow every match at this big event! The live coverage of US Open begins at 8:30 pm each evening... and goes through the night to end at about 9:00 am the next morning. Since the best matches are played under lights during the second half of the day, they usually begin after 4:00 am in India.

But this has never stopped me from following the draws and the results at this Grand Slam. Being a Rafa fan, I am desperately hoping that he wins this title to complete his career Grand Slam. But if there's one thing that I want to see even more desperately, it is a Nadal v Federer final. These men have played in 7 Grand Slam finals... competing 30 sets with Nadal holding a 5-2 advantage over Federer.

Their Grand Slam finals showdowns are stuff of legends. Who can forget the brilliant 2008 Wimbledon finals that lasted four and three quarters of an hour interrupted by two rain delays! And then who can forget the 2009 Australian Open finals... just a few months later when Nadal consoled a sobbing Federer after defeating him in another 5-set marathon! Stuff of legends, indeed!

That Australian Open was their last meeting in a Grand Slam Final. Since then, they have met only twice... both times in the finals of Madrid Masters - Federer winning in 2009 and Nadal in 2010. The winner of Madrid Masters in both these years went on to sweep the French Open and Wimbledon titles in that year.

Their dominance in tennis Grand Slams can be ascertained by the fact that after the Australian Open 2005 (won by Marat Safin), only 2 Grand Slams out of 22 have been won by men other than these two - Novak Djokovic of Serbia took the Australian Open 2008 title and Juan Martin Del Potro won the US Open 2009. Add the fact that Del Potro defeated Federer in the finals last year, this means that over the last 5 and a half years, there has been just one Grand Slam final (Australian Open 2008) where both Federer and Nadal have been missing... Djokovic defeated Jo Wilfried Tsonga to win his lone Grand Slam title!

With due respect to the emerging young talents in the world of men's tennis like Djokovic, Andy Murray, Del Potro, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych and many others, there still has been no one to match the greatness of these two champions! Federer obviously has more laurels attached to his name with 16 Grand Slam titles as compared to Nadal's 8, but the Spaniard still enjoys a 14-7 record over the Swiss champion! And there is no doubt in my mind that Federer's tally of 16 would have been smaller had Nadal not been 4 years and 10 months younger to him.

As it stands today, I doubt Federer is going to add many more to his tally of 16... but as far as Nadal is concerned, I am really hopeful. Though I don't think it would be realistically possible for him to reach Federer's 16 titles, I hope he comes as close to it as possible. Nadal's game is physically a lot more exhausting than Federer's and that will give him a career shorter than that of Federer, but he's already shown that he can achieve a lot in these short periods!

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 ENDS

SPAIN ARE THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 CHAMPIONS!

As two hours of a physically as well as mentally exhausting game were coming to an end and the players were getting tired, it took one defensive error in the Dutch penalty area that was scooped up by Spain... and Iniesta, with the composure of a surgeon, turned that moment into one that will be etched in Spain's history and ensured that his name will be counted amongst the legends of Spanish football.

My heart goes out to the Dutch. Netherlands were by far the most enterprising team through the tournament... and had a 100% record right from the qualifying stages to the World Cup Finals. They just did not have the energy in the end to land their foot across the finish line.

The game itself, was a curious mix of unconverted opportunities and a lot of yellow cards (as well as a red at the end). The referee used his yellow card 14 times in 2 hours, once along with a red. Both the sides, surprisingly, were rather unconvincing in their opponent's penalty area. The referee too did not have an easy match... and at the end of it all, the Dutch fans let their frustration be known by booing the Englishman Howard Webb when he went on stage to collect his medallion.

Not only the Dutch crowd, but even the Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk and their midfielder Arjen Robben lashed out. Both were specifically upset that Webb has failed to book Carlos Puyol for the second time when he had his arm around Arjen Robben as he looked to get one-on-one with the Spanish keeper Iker Casillas. Van Marwijk was simple in his assessment: "I don't think the referee controlled the match well." And Robben was not too discreet when he said: "When you play in a World Cup final, you also need a world-class referee."

But, there was no doubt at the end (the Dutch coach agreed as much) that the better and the more deserving team was crowned the World Champion. The top goal-scorer David Villa, the finals goal-scorer and man-of-the-match Andres Iniesta and the ever-reliable workhorse Xavi set the foundation on which Spain built its success. Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique and Iker Casillas were fantastic at the back. And Sergio Ramos was brilliant at the back as well as wide on the right while attacking.

This year is turning out to be even more beautiful than 2008 for the Spanish sports fans. In 2008, Rafael Nadal won the French Open, the Wimbledon and the gold in Beijing Olympics, Spain were ranked 14th in that Olympics with 5 Golds, 10 Silver and 3 Bronze, they won the Davis Cup and of course, the football team won the European Championships... their first major international football title.

In 2010, Nadal has managed to duplicate his 2008 feat (minus the Olympic medal, of course) and Spain has already been crowned the Champions of the World in football... a glory that they have never seen before.

The World Cup has drawn to a close now... and South Africa must be congratulated on hosting a brilliant event. Just 12 months backs, there were fears that it might not be a success, there were security issues just a few months back and there must have been myriad other obstacles, but just as the Rainbow Nation's history suggests, they overcame everything. CONGRATULATIONS TO SPAIN AND CONGRATULATIONS TO SOUTH AFRICA!

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS - NETHERLANDS V SPAIN

Last time when Rafael Nadal won the Wimbledon, it was 2008. It was also the same year in which his country Spain won their first major international football title... the Euro 2008!

Now in 2010, Nadal has regained his Wimbledon title... and a week later, few thousand miles down south... Spain will compete against the Netherlands in the finals of the FIFA World Cup 2010 at the Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg. So is the history about to repeat itself?

Right from the start of the tournament, there were three teams that I was supporting: Argentina, Netherlands and Spain. I am glad that two of them are in the finals and all of them are in the top-5. So I am lost as to whom should I be supporting! May be, I'll just sit and enjoy as a neutral... hoping for some quality football.

The semi-final clash against Germany was a hard-fought win. Yes, Spain did dominate possession and had more chances... but then Germany has been the best team on the counter-attack in this World Cup. Even during the loss, it could be seen that the chances created by Germany were really good ones. Iker Casillas was forced into making some fine saves. In fact, when Spain had not opened their account after 30-35 minutes, when Spain did not open the scoring despite really good chances, I thought that it will be Germany's day. They will remain solid at the back and one of their counter attacks is bound to succeed.

But Carlos Puyol's head had some other ideas. He had had another opportunity earlier when he headed over the bar. That one, I felt, should have gone in. But he compensated later by scoring the winner.

Germany, as I had predicted in a comment on some other blog (can't remember which one), missed Thomas Muller. He has been exceptional for them, and in his absence, their brilliant left-footer Mesut Ozil was not able to combine well with anyone else.

In the finals, I would like to see Fernando Torres start in the First XI... something he didn't do in the semis. I know he's been off-colour in the Rainbow Nation thus far... but he had been off colour even in Euro 2008. That didn't stop him from scoring the winner in the finals!

Whatever the First XIs, I am just hoping for an exciting game of football... a fitting finale to a wonderful event! So will this be a Spanish season once again or will Jo'burg be painted Orange on Sunday? It will be worth watching!