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  By K.R. Nayar Some people are known for giving excuses all the time. For some, it is a habit that is hard to overcome. They go to any extent to create excuses and save their skin....but after a point, people will start to lose trust in that person. A close examination of such people reveals that in most cases such people have rarely gone on to be successful in their lives. There have been quite a few people that I have met who cannot help giving excuses. They come with wild explanations for not making it to a meeting or not doing what was expected of them. In fact, they sound so sincere that one could actually fall for their reasons and believe in them. And then they come up with some more reasons the next day to justify their inaction the earlier day.  In due course of time, he starts believing that others have come to the conclusion that his promises are not to be taken seriously. During my growing up days, I knew someone who belonged to this category.  My friends gave him the ni

 By K.R. Nayar Dubai-based cricket enthusiast Shyam Bhatia makes it a point to meet the great cricketing heroes of yesteryears during the various cricket series' he attends around the world. Over the years he has developed a friendship with them and enjoys going down memory lane with them during his meetings. Most of them have presented Bhatia with an autographed copy of their book whenever they have written one.   Shyam Bhatia with Graham Gooch (left) and Allan Lamb at the Lord's  Very few cricket fans can imagine spending time with legendary cricketers and enjoying friendly conversations with them for hours. UAE’s cricket enthusiast Shyam Bhatia has been fortunate enough to do that often. He has developed close friendships with some of the greats of the game, and hence can often be found seated alongside these legends in almost every cricket-playing country when he goes there to watch a series.    During the ICC World Cups, I have very often met him with some of the fines

  By K.R. Nayar South Africa’s Faf du Plessis who has captained World XI and South Africa together in 115 matches and recorded 70 victories for a win ratio of 60.86 will captain Bangla Tigers in the oncoming Abu Dhabi T10 set to commence from November 19, 2021. Faf Du Plessis  Bangla Tigers were on the lookout for a captain whose on-field exploits would speak loudly of his brilliance. The team has picked former South African skipper Faf du Plessis who fits in perfectly into that mould. While deciding on Faf to lead his team, Bangla Tigers owner Mohammad Yasin Chowdhury, who is a passionate lover of the game and takes keen interest in the formation of the squad, said: “We all know what he (Faf) has achieved both on and off the field. His deeds speak for his brilliance.” This franchise is owned by FMC Group of Companies, a shipbuilding & ship-repairing company based in Chattogram, Bangladesh. The nearly 160 million cricket loving fans in Bangladesh as well as the over 1.6millio

  By K.R. Nayar Mubashshir Usmani, Secretary General of Emirates Cricket, has been hoping to stage a D50 tournament ever since the board had launched shorter version events like Twenty20 and T10 tournaments. This 50-over tournament is set to boost UAE coach Robin Singh’s vision to organise more 50 over tournaments and then go on to two-day events. Mubashshir Usmani With a vision  to shape domestic cricketers for the longer 50 over cricket format, the Emirat es Cricket Board (ECB) has recently launched the  Wolf 777 News Emirates D50 tournament in Dubai. Mubashshir Usmani, Secretary General of Emirates Cricket, announced: “The addition of the Wolf 777 News Emirates D50 to our calendar is an important strategic milestone for us, as we develop and deepen our player pool in 50 over cricket.” The mission to strengthen players through ECB’s own tournaments began a few years ago with tournaments for even shorter version such as T20 and even T10. I was delighted to be a commentator for t

  By K.R. Nayar Since none of us can know what our future will be, it is best not to get anxious about things to come. It could very well be that our future turns out to be happy and exciting, and hence it would be a massive waste fearing about the future now. So why not enjoy the present, do everything we need for a better tomorrow, and embrace the future with joy? Many of us are always worried and scared about what would happen to us in the future, especially with events like the Covid19 pandemic affecting almost everyone in one way or the other. What happens in situations like this is that we forget to live in the present since our focus is constantly hooked on the future. But if we give it a little thought we will realise that it can only be a massive waste of our energies worrying about something that we have no control.  Imagine if we all knew what our future would look like? I doubt if there would be any sparkle left in our lives then. Assume you already know who will be the

  By  K.R. Nayar Another Onam has passed with most of us unable to celebrate it with family or friends due to   COVID restrictions and other reasons.  Since social media is now the most preferred and easiest mode of communication, we connect and wish our near and dear ones through these popular apps. I enjoy reading all messages even though some of them are mere online forwards only because some of them seem very motivational to me. It could be an image of the traditional flower decoration or the boat race or a lighted lamp or the sumptuous Onam feast on a banana leaf. To me, all of these are meant to get us to sail happily towards our goals with renewed vigour. Being a Keralite, Onam is special to me. It was then normal for families and/or friends to get together on this special day and enjoy the traditional meal called sadhya. Since that's not possible today, most of our gatherings are through social media apps. Hence it's no surprise that storage space in our mobiles is

  By K.R. Nayar T10 is a format that took everyone by surprise but has now turned out to be a successful and popular one. Today it is being talked about as the ideal format for the Olympics too. The fifth edition of Abu Dhabi T10 has joined hands with Viacom18, one of India’s leading media & entertainment networks to reach out to a wider audience. Unlike other leagues, this event has cricketers from India and Pakistan playing together with the best limited over specialists from around the world When it comes to innovation to make a cricket format more attractive, Abu Dhabi T10 has been at the forefront.  This format which was born in UAE, a non-Test playing country, has won the hearts of cricket lovers around the world. The oncoming edition, starting on November 19, 2021, will reach out to cricket fans around the world in a big way with Viacom18, one of India’s leading media & entertainment networks, bagging exclusive TV and digital rights for the Abu Dhabi T10 series. The seri

By K.R. Nayar   While almost everyone would have watched the match or read about it, what excited me most is this aspect of how a team can go on to win a contest and the contribution by players from both teams to make it an intense contest and thus glorify the game. India's winning moment. Pictures ICC and Lord's  Twitter  Almost all cricket fans would have surely watched, read, and/or heard in detail about India’s victory at the Lord’s cricket ground yesterday. So my intention is not to dissect how India won or where England went wrong. There are certain things we get to know from a well-fought cricket contest. Historic victories do not happen without giving out a few messages for cricketers and cricket lovers. As a cricket writer, I have never favoured a particular team. What I enjoy is an intense contest, and whenever that happens, it gives me immense pleasure. So as the match progressed on the final day, it hardly mattered to me whether India would bowl out England with

  By K.R. Nayar Never shy away from interacting with people. We can always learn something from everyone if we genuinely show interest in that person. In fact, we should be excited to interact with people from different fields. It expands our horizons and also makes us more tolerant individuals.   I've been fortunate to get the opportunity to meet someone interesting almost every day. Being a sportswriter, most people I interact with are those interested in sports. And being a cricket writer for nearly three decades, most people are keen on discussing the game and the many tales associated with it. I too derive great joy talking about the various other sports personalities I've met and interacted with over these years.     I've always wondered why is it that I feel so happy meeting people. Firstly, when we discuss it helps me recall those exciting moments I've witnessed or reported. Talking about the legends whom I've met and recalling their stories motivates me

By K.R. Nayar There is more to it than Neeraj Chopra’s feat of winning the gold at the Tokyo Olympics. His accomplishment will pave the way for many sportsmen to attempt the impossible. Like the former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar who became the first to reach the 10,000 run mark and prove to Indians that they can break records, Chopra has set the trend in athletics for many to follow. Javelin throw will no longer be an ordinary athletic field event.   Neeraj Chopra celebrates the moment. Photo: Twitter  Open any social media app today, be it Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, it’s all about Neeraj Chopra and his feat. His gold at the Tokyo Olympics will glitter forever as a huge landmark in Indian sports. With so much already written and spoken about how Chopra won the gold and his path to creating history, it will be interesting to look into the impact of his feat on athletics in India in the future. While his javelin travelled a distance of 87.58m in Tokyo, the impa