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scrapesaladofficial · 5 months ago

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Ten big moments of the 2024 Olympics

End of the road: Cuba's Mijain Lopez removes his shoes as a signal that he is retiring from wrestling (Punit PARANJPE) From a colorful, sometimes controversial opening ceremony to boxers caught up in a gender row to respectful bows on the gymnastics podium, the 2024 Olympics served up many memorable moments. AFP Sport looks at 10 of the best: Rain on opening ceremony parade -- Organizers promised a spectacular opening ceremony and the rain-soaked boat parade on the River Seine ended up making global headlines, but not for the expected reasons. Church leaders, conservatives and even US presidential candidate Donald Trump were left outraged by a scene involving drag queens and lesbian DJ Barbara Butch that appeared to parody Jesus's Last Supper. Artistic director Thomas Jolly denied any such intention. He and others involved ended up facing vicious online harassment that led to police complaints. Djokovic's roar of approval -- Novak Djokovic stunned Carlos Alcaraz in a memorable men's final to clinch tennis gold and become only the fifth player to complete the Golden Slam of all four majors plus Olympic gold. The 37-year-old celebrated with a roar which echoed around Roland Garros before the tearful Serb clambered into the player's box to embrace his wife Jelena and two children. "There is no greater inspiration than representing your country," said the 24-time Grand Slam title winner. Alcaraz was also in tears, claiming he "had let Spain down". Biles bows to 'queen' Andrade -- Simone Biles may have been the star of the show but she was widely praised for bowing to her arch-rival Rebeca Andrade on the podium. Biles said it was "just the right thing to do" after she and team-mate Jordan Chiles finished in silver and bronze medal position respectively behind the Brazilian in the floor final. "Rebeca's so amazing, she's queen," said Biles. Romanian Ana Barbosu was later awarded the bronze medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Chiles should not have been upgraded from her initial fifth-place finish. Lyles just in time -- World champion Noah Lyles roared to victory in 9.79sec to claim gold in a dramatic men's Olympic 100m final in the closest finish in modern history -- just five thousandths of a second separated him from Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. "I'm the man amongst all of them. I'm the wolf amongst wolves," said Lyles whose victory was only confirmed after a photo-finish. Not cricket as Pakistan top India at javelin -- Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the men's javelin title, his country's first individual gold at an Olympics, with a Games record of 92.97m. In second place was India's defending champion Neeraj Chopra. "Rivalry is there when it comes to cricket matches, other sports, the two countries have a rivalry, but it's a good thing for the young people in both countries to watch our sport and follow us. It's a positive thing for both countries," said Nadeem. North-South Korea podium selfie goes viral -- Images of Olympic table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium went viral in South Korea, hailed as a rare show of cross-border unity. After South Korea won bronze and North Korea silver in the mixed doubles behind China, South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony. North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, the South's Shin Yu-bin and the victorious Chinese team Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha all beamed into Lim's phone, a South Korean-made Samsung. "A selfie with both Koreas' national flags and a Samsung phone," said the widely read daily JongAng Ilbo. Dreams come Trew -- Australian skateboarding sensation Arisa Trew, just 14, won the women's park event to become her country's youngest ever gold medallist. Trew nailed a high-risk and high-speed final round in her trademark pink helmet, bringing the crowd to their feet at a sun-drenched Place de la Concorde. The event also featured 11-year-old Zheng Haohao, the youngest athlete ever to represent China at the Olympics. "Skateboarding in the Olympic Games isn't much different from skateboarding in my neighbourhood. It's just more spectators," she told reporters. Gender-row boxer beats 'bullying' -- On a raucous night at Roland Garros, the storied home of the French Open, Algerian gender-row boxer Imane Khelif claimed gold and used her platform to hit back at "attacks" and "bullying" before defiantly declaring "I am a woman like any other." Together with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, who also fought in Paris, Khelif was disqualified from last year's world championships after they failed gender eligibility tests. However they were cleared to compete in Paris, setting the stage for one of the biggest controversies of the Games. "I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman," said the 25-year-old. High five for Cuban wrestler -- Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez made Olympic history when he became the first athlete to win five consecutive individual golds in the same event, bettering the records of Games icons such as Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps. The soon-to-be 42-year-old then placed his shoes in the centre of the mat to signify his intention to retire. "Wrestling has been the love of my life, for all of my life," he said. Cool hand Yusuf -- Turkish Olympic shooting silver medallist Yusuf Dikec became an overnight sensation for his casual style during competition. His eye-catching posture saw the marksman wearing standard glasses, a team T-shirt and with his left hand casually tucked in his pocket. Other than his pistol, he notably had none of the specialised equipment used by athletes in the hyper-precise event, like headphones, special lenses or a hat. "The name's Dikec. Yusuf Dikec," said a social media post in reference to cinema icon James Bond. Read the full article

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mariacallous · 10 months ago

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MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan—Mohsin Dawar’s campaign for re-election to Pakistan’s parliament was almost cut short before it began in early January when his convoy was ambushed in a village just a few minutes’ drive from his home in Miran Shah in Pakistan’s North Waziristan district, near the lawless borderlands with Afghanistan. As his car came under attack from militants armed with automatic weapons, sniper rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades, he and his team were lured into a compound by residents who promised them safety.

It was a trap. Once the gates closed behind Dawar, the attack intensified. For almost an hour, he said, they were pinned down. Police and Pakistan Army backup finally arrived but not before two of Dawar’s team had been shot and injured. The vehicle took more than 80 bullets, and the windows show just how accurate the attackers’ aim was: Either one of the shots to the windshield or passenger window would have struck and likely killed him if he hadn’t been protected by bulletproof glass.

The Jan. 3 attack on a popular, outspoken, liberal leader in one of the most vulnerable regions of a country fighting a growing insurgency by extremist militants hardly registered in Pakistan, where most believe the military attempted—and failed—to manipulate the Feb. 8 election in an effort to install Nawaz Sharif as prime minister for a fourth time and where media operate under tight government control.

The election wasn’t quite the foregone conclusion that had been expected, with candidates aligned with the jailed cricket star-turned-populist leader Imran Khan winning more votes than each of the major parties—the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party—forcing them into a coalition to get the majority needed to form a government. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif nominated his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, to become prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz as chief minister of Punjab province, ensuring the dynastic line continues.

Candidates across the country, not only those loyal to Khan, alleged that the results had been rigged against them and in favor of military-backed candidates. Two days after the election, with his seat still undeclared amid growing concerns nationwide about vote rigging, Dawar and about a dozen of his supporters were injured when security forces opened fire on them as they gathered outside the official counting room.

At least three people died of their injuries; What Dawar had believed was an unassailable lead, according to polling by his secular National Democratic Movement party, had disappeared. In the count that was listed as final by Pakistan’s Election Commission, the seat went to Misbah Uddin of the Taliban-aligned Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl party. Dawar is still recovering from a serious leg wound.

Dawar’s hometown is, once again, the battleground of what he calls “Project Taliban”—a war against the Pakistani state.

The Taliban’s transnational ambitions are threatening security beyond the borders of Afghanistan, and nowhere is this more evident than in Pakistan’s northwest, where the militant presence has been growing since the terrorist-led group came back to power in August 2021. Attacks on civilians, soldiers, and police have soared. The region bristles with checkpoints and hilltop outposts and is heavily patrolled on the ground and in the air by the Pakistan Army and armed border police. That’s during daylight hours, Dawar told Foreign Policy. Once night falls, it’s a different story.

“The Army checkposts you will only see during the daytime. Before sunset, they go to their barracks, and the people of Waziristan are at the disposal of the militants. Everyone has to secure himself or herself for their own protection,” he said. “It is militarized, and I believe it is a continuation of a proxy war that was started long ago. ‘Project Taliban’ is still continuing.”

The roots of militancy and terrorism in Waziristan go back to colonial times, when the mostly Pashtun people here were characterized as fearless fighters and pressed into service for the British. The stereotype stuck; the region became a center of recruitment and training for young men to fight the Soviets after Moscow’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

After the United States led an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks, leaders of the Taliban and al Qaeda moved over the border and for the following 20 years enjoyed the protection of the Pakistani military’s intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

The ISI wanted a tame Taliban-led Afghanistan to thwart the ambitions of archrival India to become the dominant regional power. The Taliban had different ideas. The group’s return to power has inspired affiliated and like-minded groups worldwide, as the extremist regime provides safe haven for dozens of militant groups, according to the U.N. Security Council. They now openly use Afghanistan as a base to train fighters seeking to overthrow governments from China and Tajikistan to Iran and Israel. Among them is Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which, Afrasiab Khattak, a former Pakistani lawmaker and now a political analyst, said, is “just Taliban, there is no difference.”

Earlier this month, the Taliban reiterated the group’s stance on the international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan when the acting foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, said the government doesn’t recognize the Durand Line that has delineated the two countries since 1893. The line runs through the tribal regions, dividing ethnic Pashtun and Baloch tribespeople. Recent bilateral tensions have often focused on the border, with tit-for-tat closures impacting cross-border trade.

In comments that Pakistan’s foreign ministry later called “fanciful” and “self-serving”—and which underlined the simmering hostility between Pakistan and the Taliban it helped put in power—Stanikzai said: “We have never recognized Durand and will never recognize it; today half of Afghanistan is separated and is on the other side of the Durand Line. Durand is the line which was drawn by the English on the heart of Afghans.”

The Security Council said in 2022 that the TTP had up to 5,500 fighters in Afghanistan. That number has likely risen, Dawar said, as neither country, mired in economic mismanagement and crisis, can offer its youthful population an alternative livelihood. Victory brought strength, Dawar said, and the Taliban “can attract the youth because money and power is what attracts youth the most.”

The simmering conflict threatens to return Pakistan’s northwest to the wasteland of less than decade ago, when the TTP controlled the region: Dissenters were routinely killed. Terrorists turned the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after an administrative merger in 2018, into a death zone. Millions of people were displaced as those who could leave fled to peace and safety.

Those who stayed lived in fear and poverty until the Army finally took action in 2016 and ended the TTP’s 10-year reign by simply killing them, often in attacks that also killed civilians, or pushing them over the porous border into Afghanistan, where they joined Taliban forces fighting the U.S.-supported republic until it collapsed in 2021.

The TTP wants an independent state in these border regions. It broke a cease-fire with the government in November 2022 and has demanded that the merger of the FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be reversed. Attacks on the military and police have escalated alarmingly, presenting what a senior government official, who spoke anonymously, called “not only an existential threat to the state but also to the common man”—a recognition that what Dawar calls “Project Taliban” not only threatens to engulf the northwest but, if not contained, poses a potential threat to a fragile and barely stable state.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar disagreed, telling reporters before the Feb. 8 vote that the military had the upper hand in the region, by virtue of numbers alone. “I don’t see that they pose an existential threat to the state of Pakistan,” he said, while nevertheless conceding it was a “big challenge” that could take years to dislodge.

He could be right. After the failure of peace talks, ironically brokered by the Taliban’s acting interior minister, U.N.-listed terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, Pakistan stepped up pressure on the TTP. Asfandyar Mir, an expert on South Asian political and security issues, said this appeared to have made a “marginal” difference.

“For instance, we haven’t seen a complex or suicide bombing attack by the TTP or one of its fronts for a couple of months now,” he said. “In that sense, it appears the Taliban is sensitive to pressure,” though “smaller-scale attacks and the erosion of Pakistani state authority in parts of the northwest continue.” Things could change, he said, once a new government is installed and, perhaps, brings some stability to the political landscape.

For the people of Waziristan, struggling to survive unemployment, a lack of development, and government neglect of basic services such as roads, electricity, clean water, and education—coupled with a downturn in vital cross-border trade with Afghanistan—priorities have again switched to peace. “The local people have learned through their own bitter experience of devastating war” what a Taliban resurgence means, said Khattak, the political analyst. The security establishment is playing a dangerous game, indulging the TTP so that “local people become so desperate they want the military to come in and help them,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have marched through the streets and bazaars of North and South Waziristan over the past year, demanding action against terrorism and an end to state violence. Yet it continues. “No one is safe. Everyone is a target,” said a man in his 30s as he rolled off a list of potential victims: politicians, business people, teachers, doctors, journalists, civic activists, women’s rights advocates, anyone deemed “un-Islamic.” Even barbers are not immune from extremists who ban men from shaving: The day before the Jan. 3 attack on Dawar’s convoy, the bodies of six young hairdressers were found in the nearby town of Mir Ali.

Another local resident pointed to a “Taliban checkpoint” on the road between Miran Shah and the bustling town of Bannu. The long-haired, kohl-eyed, gun-toting youths in sequined caps stand outside their roadside hut in the shadow of an Army post on the hill above. Around the clock, the resident said, they randomly stop vehicles to shake down the drivers. “It’s just for money,” he said. “Money and power.”

But it’s killing, too, “on a daily basis,” said a government worker who left Miran Shah with his family at the height of the TTP terror and visited in early February from Peshawar so he and his wife could vote for Dawar. The aim, he said, is “to create an atmosphere of fear so that people leave and what is here is theirs.”

Dawar said the turning of the Taliban tables on Pakistan “was predictable.” The Taliban “are now a threat to Central Asia. They are now a threat to Iran, to Pakistan, and to even China. All of them thought we will control the Taliban after the takeover. The problem is it didn’t happen,” he said.

In 2011, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Pakistan’s leaders that they couldn’t keep “snakes,” as she called the Taliban, in their own backyard and “expect them only to bite your neighbors.”

“There used to be a time when people were sent from here to Afghanistan. Now they are coming around, they are biting,” Dawar said.

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burningfudge · 7 months ago

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LOLLL it’s wild that an indian man who moved to the US to attend cornell and works at oracle as a software engineer is on america’s cricket team as a part time hobby and then defeated the pakistan national cricket team 😂😂😂 this man’s parents must be so proud. perfect example of sharma ji ka beta

but wtf pakistan, get it together. beating y’all on june 9th isn’t going to be fun otherwise. kinda embarrassing that the US has beaten both pakistan and bangladesh now

#cricket #t20 #t20worldcup #desiblr #india #pakistan

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latestnewsbysportstiger · 1 year ago

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Why did Babar Azam leave captaincy?

In the 2-minute, 15-second-long video, Zaka Ashraf revealed the reason behind Babar Azam’s removal from captaincy. He said that the then-skipper had formed a group with eight players, and he was asked to continue as Test captain. When asked by the woman who can be heard in the audio questioning on captain supporting his friends as players like Shadab have no place in the team, the Chairman replied, "Pakistan cricket is deteriorating because of this."

Here is Zaka Ashraf Leak Audio Babar Azam

“He has controlled eight players of the national team; he has signed a contract with the players. He is such a smart guy that he has built a lot of relationships with the players’ families by going to players’ houses, and the players can’t move without him, Talha Osmani, I think,” said PCB Head.

#Cricket News #Pakistan Cricket News #Pakistan News #Pak Cricket #Pakistan Cricket Team #Pakistan Team #Babar Azam

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vedansh23 · 1 year ago

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The Allure of Cricket: A Worldwide Sporting Phenomenon

Introduction

Cricket is a team sport that originated in England and has gained immense global popularity. It involves two teams, each consisting of eleven players, taking turns to bat and field. The team batting tries to score runs by hitting the ball and running between wickets, while the team fielding aims to dismiss the batsmen and limit their runs.

The game is typically played between two teams, each consisting of 11 players. The objective is for one team to score more runs than the other. Runs are earned by the batsmen, who try to hit the ball bowled by the opposing team's bowler and run between wickets. The fielding team's goal is to dismiss the batsmen by getting them out in various ways, such as catching the ball or hitting the stumps with the ball. Cricket matches can last from a few hours to five days, depending on the format.

Cricket is played in various formats, including Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and Twenty20 (T20) matches. Test matches are played over several days, emphasizing endurance and strategy. ODIs are limited to 50 overs per side, and T20 matches are even shorter, with each team facing just 20 overs.

Cricket's popularity spans across continents, with strong followings in countries like India, Australia, England, Pakistan, South Africa, and the West Indies, among others. Major tournaments like the Cricket World Cup, held for both ODIs and T20s, capture global attention. The sport has a massive fan base, and international matches draw large audiences both at stadiums and through broadcasting. Cricket players become iconic figures, and the sport holds a significant place in the cultural fabric of many nations.

#cricket #india #blog #blogger #vcblogs #toastmasters #L4P2 #part 1

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crickblast · 1 year ago

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Biography of Sachin Tendulkar's, career and achievements (Indian Cricketer)

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, had a remarkable childhood that laid the foundation for his legendary cricketing career. Here's a brief biography of his childhood:

Full Name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Date of Birth: April 24, 1973

Place of Birth: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Family Background:

Sachin Tendulkar was born into a middle-class Marathi family in Mumbai. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a Marathi novelist, and his mother, Rajni Tendulkar, worked in the insurance industry. Sachin has two half-brothers, Ajit and Nitin, and a half-sister, Savita.

Early Interest in Cricket:

Sachin's interest in cricket began at a very young age. His elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar, recognized his talent and encouraged him to play the sport. Ajit even took him to the Ramakant Achrekar, a renowned cricket coach in Mumbai, to get formal training. Sachin trained under Achrekar during his formative years.

School Days and Early Achievements:

Sachin Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir School in Mumbai, where he started to make a name for himself in school cricket. His performances at the school level were exceptional, and he soon progressed to represent Mumbai in domestic cricket.

First-Class Debut:

Sachin made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy at the age of 15 in 1988. He was essential to Mumbai winning the competition.

Youngest Indian to Debut for the National Team: a

Sachin Tendulkar made his debut for the Indian national cricket team on November 15, 1989, against Pakistan in Karachi. At just 16 years of age, he became the youngest Indian to play for the national team.

Rapid Rise to Stardom:

Sachin's talent was evident from the start of his international career. He quickly established himself as one of the finest batsmen in the world and became a cricketing sensation in India and around the globe.

Sachin Tendulkar's childhood and early years were marked by his incredible dedication, hard work, and passion for the game. His journey from a young boy with a dream to one of the greatest cricketers in history is an inspiring story of perseverance and talent.

Sachin Tendulkar, often referred to as the "Little Master" or the "Master Blaster," is one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the sport. An overview of his early life is provided here.

Childhood and Early Life:

1. Sachin Tendulkar was born into a middle-class family in Mumbai, India. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a professor, and his mother, Rajni Tendulkar, worked in the insurance industry.

2. Sachin displayed an early interest in cricket and began playing the sport at a very young age. He was just 11 years old when he made his debut in school cricket.

3. His talent was evident from an early age, and he quickly rose through the ranks of school and club cricket in Mumbai. He played for Shardashram Vidyamandir School, where he was coached by Ramakant Achrekar, a highly respected cricket coach.

4. Under the guidance of Coach Achrekar, Sachin developed his skills and started to make a name for himself in Mumbai's junior cricket circuit.

Early Cricket Career:

1. Sachin made his debut for the Indian national cricket team at the age of 16 in a Test match against Pakistan in 1989. He was the youngest cricketer to represent India at the time.

2. In 1990, he scored his first century in international cricket, becoming the youngest Indian to achieve this feat in Test cricket.

3. Over the years, Sachin Tendulkar went on to become one of the most prolific run-scorers in the history of cricket, setting numerous records and achieving many milestones during his illustrious career.

Childhood Achievements:

1. At the age of 14, Sachin Tendulkar scored a century partnership with his childhood friend Vinod Kambli in a school cricket match, which gained significant attention and marked him as a rising star.

2. He also scored a historic unbeaten century at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in 1990, becoming the youngest cricketer to do so at the age of 17.

Sachin Tendulkar's childhood was characterized by a deep passion for cricket and a strong work ethic, which laid the foundation for his remarkable career in the sport. His dedication and talent eventually made him a cricketing legend and an icon in India and around the world.

Under-19 Career

Sachin Tendulkar's Under-19 cricket career was the early stage of his illustrious cricketing journey. Here is a brief biography of Sachin Tendulkar during his Under-19 cricket days:

Early Life:

Sachin Tendulkar was born in Mumbai, India. He displayed an early affinity for cricket and started playing the sport at a very young age. His talent was recognized early, and he was coached by Ramakant Achrekar, a renowned cricket coach in Mumbai.

Under-19 Career:

Sachin Tendulkar's talent in cricket became evident when he was just a teenager. He made his debut for the Indian Under-19 cricket team at the age of 16 during the 1988-89 season. His performances in youth cricket were exceptional, and he quickly became a standout player in the team.

In 1989, Sachin played in the Under-19 World Cup, which was the inaugural edition of the tournament. He performed impressively, scoring a century in the semi-final against Pakistan. Unfortunately, India did not win the tournament, but Sachin's talent was there for all to see.

*Early Milestones:

Sachin Tendulkar's success in Under-19 cricket paved the way for his rapid ascent to the senior Indian cricket team. He made his debut for the senior Indian cricket team on November 15, 1989, at the age of 16, becoming the youngest Indian cricketer to play in a Test match. He went on to have a legendary career, becoming one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.

Legacy:

Sachin Tendulkar's Under-19 cricket days were just the beginning of a career that spanned 24 years. He holds numerous records in international cricket, including being the highest run-scorer in both Test and One-Day International (ODI) formats at the time of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic and accomplished cricketers of all time and is often referred to as the "Little Master" or "Master Blaster."

Sachin Tendulkar's impact on cricket is immeasurable, and his under-19 days were the first stepping stones in his remarkable journey to cricketing greatness.

Sachin Tendulkar's journey in Under-19 cricket marked the early stages of his illustrious cricketing career. Here is a brief biography of Sachin Tendulkar's Under-19 cricket career:

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redeyedroid · 2 years ago

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Scots generally don't go much for cricket. Which I find odd, considering how consistently terrible England have been for most of my life. If there's one thing that brings the people of Scotland together, it's England losing at sport.

Cricket's eccentric as hell; the objectives often incomprehensible and bizarre, even to people who follow the game; it's impenetrable terminology has multiple ways of labeling the same things; the simple idea of who is winning and who is losing may be undiscernable for days; it can go on for five days and still end in a draw and they only decided to end matches like that because once, decades ago, a test match went on so long one team risked missing their boat back home; a series of five or more matches can go on for months; people are forced to keep playing long after the result has been decided; bowling and batting require completely different skills and techniques, yet some players master both; it's greatest trophy, The Ashes, is only contested by two nations and is, essentially, a self-deprecating shitpost; and one of the greatest memes of all time originates from a dropped catch in 2019.

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But, because the people of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka love it like nothing else, it is the second most popular sport in the world. And I love it, too. Be it Mitchell Starc clean bowling Rory Burns with the first ball of the 2021/22 Ashes, beginning a series of quite staggering English ineptitude; or Virat Kohli, the greatest batter of this generation, hitting back-to-back sixes off Haris Rauf in front of 95,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground while leading India to an extraordinary win against Pakistan at the 2022 T20 World Cup, cricket offers dramatic moments of brilliance with a regularity other sports struggle to match.

If you want an idea of exactly how popular cricket is in India, Kohli has 60 million more instagram followers than Brady, Serena and LeBron combined. His is the 16th most followed account in the world. The only sports stars with larger followings are Messi and Ronaldo. Like the greatest players in any sport, time appears to slow down around him when he's at his best, his balance and timing perfect as he makes an almost impossible task look like the easiest thing in the world (batters have a fraction of a second to react to a ball being bowled at them. Against the fastest bowlers, they might not even be able to see the ball at all, instead relying on triggers and clues and experience to hit it.)

I picked up a love for cricket from my dad, who himself picked it up one rainy summer afternoon (what do you think happens in summer in Scotland?) when he was young and there were only two TV channels. He loves the great West Indian team of the 1970s and 80s like no other. They're probably his favourite thing in sporting history. A found love, rather than the familial support for Hibs he inherited from his father.

(For that, I'd recommend the excellent documentary, Fire In Babylon. No knowledge is needed, beyond that in cricket, unlike baseball, there is no restriction against a bowler aiming at the batter's body. And the West Indian team had a succession of players who bowled at the speed of light and terrorised batters across the world. They also had, in Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards, the two great batters of the - possibly any - era).

I missed much of their quarter century of dominance, being too young or not actually alive, but I do remember their last great bowlers, Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose, while the great Trinidadian, Brian Lara, twice set records for the highest individual score in test cricket, first scoring 375, then an unbeaten 400, a record that still stands today and which may now never be bettered. Of course, both those scores came against England.

There was a lot of listening to cricket on the radio, driving places when we were on holiday in the summer. It was a summer sport then, coverage only following teams when they came to England. In the winter, when England went away, we got little, for this was the age before wall-to-wall sports TV.

For instance, I remember bits of Australia's 1993 Ashes rampage coinciding with daytrips along Hadrian's Wall, among other places, but I have no memory of the following, equally one-sided series in Australia in 1994/95.

Not that test cricket is at all rampageous, containing, as it does, breaks for lunch and tea, and even at it's most fast paced only has a ball bowled every 45 seconds or so, this being repeated about 500 times a day, with maybe 1 in 4 actually being scored from. You can miss great chunks of matches only to find nothing has fundamentally changed when you return. One man dressed in white hurls a small red ball at another, who most often declines the opportunity to hit it as it whizzes past. It is often as close to being a day-long nap as any sport can be.

Today, like football, the sport is played everywhere, all the time. The South Asian nations have spread it across the world, far beyond the borders of the British imperial possessions where the colonial administrators introduced it. Wherever there is a strong community of people from the subcontinent, cricket will be found and while there are less than a dozen full members of the ICC, there are now lots of associate members all competing against each other (the USA is the 18th-ranked men's ODI team, for example). There's almost always something to watch somewhere.

Powered by TV money (rights for the Indian Premier league are, on a per-game basis, now the second most expensive sporting event in the world, after the NFL) the compressed, high-scoring excitement of T20 has become the most popular format of cricket, which is bad for me. Because my preference is for the full-fat, slow-motion weirdness of a test match. It's what I grew up with and in my mind, the game is not for the swift. There's a reason they're called tests. The game should be an examination of technique and concentration and endurance that lasts for ages and ends with two poor bastards trying to scratch out a draw by batting for a day and a half because their side trails by 450 runs and the other 9 players on their team are idiots who got out in ridiculous ways. And then, after they inevitably fail, they do it again a week later. And maybe they lose horribly two more times and their team finds itself 3-0 down with two matches to play, but those matches still get played, even though they won't change the result of the series, because that's also part of the test. Or maybe it rains all summer and no matches are played, because the English, with maniac optimism, like to invent games that cannot be played if it's raining (see also: tennis).

I recognise that this is churlish of me. The women's game, like in so many other sports a niche afterthought, is being supercharged by an influx of cash from India, as the men's IPL has this year expanded into a women's tournament. The TV rights for this sold for £95m, the 5 franchises sold for half a billion. The top players - most players, probably - will make more from it than they do for the rest of the year. T20 is an extraordinary boost for the women's game, where tests are rarely played.

This is A Very Good Thing, but I'll always prefer tests.

Only three nations now have the economic power and talent pool to devote equal attention to all three formats of the game. Only England, India and Australia still play full test series against each other. The rest now play two- or maybe three-match series and only occasionally. The form the future of the game will take is in doubt. The West Indies might fracture amidst a proliferation of T20 franchise leagues, their players - naturally and understandably - touring the world and playing in half-a-dozen dozen leagues, their talents auctioned and drafted and paid far more than they get from tests.

But today I'm going to ignore the question marks about cricket's future and the maybe slow death of anything other than T20. Because today, one of the last remaining marquee matchups begins. Tomorrow, the women's T20 World Cup starts in South Africa. In a couple of months I will consume as much of the two IPLs as I can. In the summer, England will host Ashes series for both men and women that promise much. Australia's men currently holds the ridiculous little urn and are the top ranked side. England's men are actually very good right now and have many fine and likeable players, and a part of me finds that very irritating. Either or neither could win. For the other, England's women are also good, but Australia's are much gooder (for real. Ellyse Perry should be counted among the greatest female sports stars of all time. A world class bowler and batter, she has represented Australia at World Cups in both cricket and football).

All that is for tomorrow and beyond. Today, Australia's men begin a 4-match test series in India. India will probably win. It is incredibly hard to win anywhere as a touring team because weather and pitches vary a great deal from country to country and strongly favour the home team, no matter how lowly they are ranked. The West Indies comfortably beat England last year, and Australia struggled to a draw in Sri Lanka. And of all the places to tour, India is the hardest place to win of all. A series win in India is a rare and treasured thing.

The problem with touring India are the pitches. They are slow and dusty and - like most subcontinental tracks - favour the arcane arts of spin bowling, where a bowler uses his fingers or wrist to put spin on the ball in the hope that when it hits the pitch it grips and it's trajectory changes, deceiving the batter. Pitches are prepared to take advantage of this and push India's home field advantage as much as possible. Teams who play warm-up matches before tests in the hope of acclimatising will find placid, grassy pitches that offer not a hint of the demonic conditions the test series will likely bring. Cricket has never been a gentleman's game.

Australia have one, very very good spin bowler in Nathan Lyon and a number who are either untested or not good. They are likely to suffer against Indian batters who have known how to play spin since picking up a bat. India have Ravichandran Ashwin, also a very very good spinner, but in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav they have several who are merely very good and likely to prosper against Australian batters who are less good away from Australia (Jadeja, injured for most of the last 6 months is arguably the best all-rounder in men's cricket today. A prodigiously talented bowler and batter, he is also among the best fielders in the men's game).

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Australia have barely toured anywhere since the pandemic began, but their team has played very well at home and their glitchy batting goblins Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are incredibly good. I have hope they make the series competitive (though for me, their approaches to batting are too angularly idiosyncratic compared to the gloriously pure techniques of Kohli and Babar Azam of Pakistan). But I also hope that Kohli finds form and has a series for the ages.

The man's due.

PS Old Deadspin did a decent primer on cricket years ago and you can still read it, if you don't mind giving the site clicks...

#cricket #virat kohli #India v Australia #Youtube #Pez #border gavaskar trophy #Andy and Cricket

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