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By K.R. Nayar It’s time Virat Kohli was officially designated as the "Angry Man" of Indian cricket. In Bollywood, we had Amitabh Bachchan, who was once called the "Angry Young Man," but now, at the age of 82, is affectionately known as "Big B." As Kohli approaches the twilight of his cricketing career, if he decides to follow his wife, Anushka Sharma, into Bollywood, he can adopt Bachchan’s shelved nickname. Virat Kohli's shoulder bump act  During the first day of the ongoing Melbourne Test, Kohli indulged in a shoulder bump and gave a menacing stare to Australian debutant and 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas, adding another feather to his "angry man" cap.  Kohli can claim that he was only helping the young debutant to progress into a good player as Konstas can tell others he has literally rubbed shoulders with a legend. However, from now on, Konstas might think twice before getting too close to any legend to avoid a similar encounter. ...

By K.R. Nayar   Over the years, the term "neutral venue" has gained prominence in cricketing terminology. Many of the upcoming Champions Trophy matches will be held in the UAE, where the concept of a neutral venue will once again take center stage. Having reported on neutral venue matches from the UAE for over two decades, I have often wondered what truly makes a venue "neutral." Cricket is played the same way, and the result is never neutral either. Essentially, a neutral venue is one chosen by countries that are politically at odds but still wish to compete on the field.   I was not too sure how things would pan out when neutral umpires were first introduced. These umpires, who are experts in the laws of the game and have cleared rigorous assessments to qualify at the international level, were no different in their expertise from other international umpires. Both neutral and non-neutral umpires have erred in their decisions sometimes. The primary purpose of ...

By K.R. Nayar Ravichandran Ashwin, who could be considered more knowledgeable on cricket than most international cricketers, has announced his retirement from Test cricket. His ability to grasp the various nuances of the game was unparalleled, allowing him to experiment extensively with his art of spin bowling. The result? A staggering tally of 537 Test wickets—part of a total of 765 wickets across all formats of the game. Ravichandran Ashwin with yours sincerely  Ironically, at times, being more knowledgeable than others can work against you. I always believed Ashwin should have been given the opportunity to captain Team India,  as his intelligence would have made him exceptional. Ashwin always enjoyed imparting his knowledge to youngsters  Before any interview, Ashwin often had one request: “Please don’t ask about my selection.” Although I always respected that, I often wondered if there was ever a cricketer, who despite having such an enormous tally of ...

By K.R. Nayar A cricket organisation to boost the game in Europe was launched in Paris today. Six cricketing nations joined hands and formed the European Cricket Association. The inaugural meeting of the association held at Pullman Effiel was attended by representatives of six cricket playing nations  - France, Italy, Jersey, Malta, Austria and Romania. France was the host of the meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Gurumurthy Palani, the Board Advisor to the France Cricket Association, till the president of the body is chosen. European Cricket Association officials at their launch meeting  Gabriel Marin of Romania was elected as the first President of the European Cricket Association, while Fabio Marabini of Italy will be the First Vice President. Three vice presidents were elected, which included Indika Perera (Malta), Sarah Gomersall (Jersey) and Gurumurthy Palani (France). Bilal Zal Mai of Austria will be the Executive Committee Member. Speaking about the...

By K.R. Nayar From Mumbai  It was interesting to read the headlines in the different Indian newspapers after D. Gukesh was crowned as the youngest World Chess Champion on December 12, 2024, at just 18 years. It seemed as if each of the leading dailies were competing with each other to proudly display Gukesh’s historic feat.  "Gukesh, King at 18"  said Hindustan Times on the front page.  "History at 18" declared the Indian Express. The Hindu, the newspaper from Gukesh’s city Chenai, gave the headline:  "Gukesh—From Crown Prince to King" . The Times of India simply said:  "Chakde India" , while the Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi called it  "Ashwamedham" .   D Gukesh creates history at 18. Photos  FIDE While everyone highlighted the fact that Gukesh had won the covered crown at just 18 years, what amazed everyone was his extraordinary mental strength. Two individuals who   have played a significant role in shaping this mental strength...

By K.R. Nayar It was during my stint as a sports reporter in Mumbai years ago that I met coach Ramakant Achrekar. His    protégé, Sachin Tendulkar, had still not become a superstar. At the time, Achrekar was better known as the coach of Lalchand Rajput, now the coach of the UAE team, and wicketkeeper-batsman Chandrakant Pandit. When Rajput and Pandit, both of whom hailed from Mumbai, played for India during 1985–86, Achrekar was mentioned as their coach.   Ramakant Achrekar Back then, since I wanted to write a feature on Achrekar, I had visited Shivaji Park—the same venue where, on December 3, 2024, a memorial in his honor was unveiled. All his students who went on to become outstanding cricketers, including Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Paras Mhambrey, Sanjay Bangar, and Sameer Dighe, attended the unveiling event.   UAE coach Lalchand Rajput whom Ramakant Achrekar groomed into a Test player  Besides teaching techniques ...