'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
'I saw him quite emotional on the field yesterday.' 'That's unusual for us to see Rohit like that.'
'Who'll tell him that the bigger problems lie elsewhere?'
Prem Panicker previews the day-night Test at Adelaide.
Here's Prem Panicker's unique take on all the action from the second day of the 2024-2025 Border Gavaskar series.
Kohli could manage only 190 runs in his nine innings in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, repeatedly offering edges to the slip cordon or keeper.
Here's Prem Panicker's unique take on all the action from the third day of the 2024-2025 Border Gavaskar series.
Here's Prem Panicker's unique take on all the action from the fourth day of the 2024-2025 Border Gavaskar series.
The good news is the team management has enough time on hand to think through the defeat and to find answers to the questions Adelaide has thrown up, around both its batting and bowling before the next test begins.
'It's not really up to Rohit Sharma.' 'The chairman of selectors has the power to do what's best for Indian cricket, so it's not so much about Rohit himself deciding what should be the future.'
Images from Day 1 of the fifth Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
India did not respect the match situation, the playing conditions, and the bowlers, and they've paid a price for it.
At the end of the first day of play, it is the home side that is firmly in control, and India that is now reduced to chasing the game.
'The man who never knows when he is beaten deserved, on the day he played what will be his last World Cup game, mates who were not beaten in the mind before they were beaten on the field.' Prem Panicker salutes 'India's best one day captain by a long margin who led superbly throughout the tournament.'
Indian batters, with the exception of Yashasvi Jaiswal (84), faltered yet again to lose the match by 184 runs and trail 1-2 in the five-match series.
'Probably because he was aware that this was his 100th ODI. Or probably because, in the first of its knock-out games, his team had produced the sort of all-round display that induces smiles.'
Harsha Bhogle, whom cricket lovers worldwide last year voted as their 'most favorite commentator', discusses the state of the game with Prem Panicker.
It was a proper Test innings, it was of the highest class, and given the circumstances it came in, it was one of the best innings by an Indian batsman in recent memory, applauds Prem Panicker.
Those three wickets for six runs, in a manic final 15 minutes of the day's play, undid all the good work that had gone before, asserts Prem Panicker.
When you are defending to save a game, a loose delivery comes along and you suddenly opt to play an attacking shot, you are unlikely to hit as well as if you were playing your naturally aggressive game all along. First Pant, then Jaiswal, found that out the costly way, observes Prem Panicker.
At this point it is still anyone's game, with a draw also an option, says Prem Panicker in his analysis of Day 4.
'When Dhoni walked in, India needed 105 to win with 32 overs to play. The situation called for calm, nerveless, ice-cold execution without necessitating any adrenalin-fueled impestuosities -- the sort of situation that is the Indian captain's spiritual home.'
The seeds of India's defeat were sown in Melbourne, where Bumrah had to bowl 53.2 overs -- 24.4 in the second innings on the back of 28.4 in the first innings. With just three days to recover, that was an inhuman burden on a bowler who had bowled 151 overs in this series.
I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, I am heartily sick of the amount of discussion and debate that currently centers around "mind games", writes Prem Panicker.
The four wickets that India prised out in the third session, on balance, swung the game back in their favour, says Prem Panicker .
A survivalist's mindset sees Indian batsmen fail again on the first day of the SCG Test.
Two teams with fault lines in their batting, up against two of the best bowling sides in the game today -- the question that determines the outcome is, is your weakness greater than mine?
'There will be a lot of spice to the contest -- there is a reason India is the only team other than England against whom Australia is keen to play a five Test series.' 'I'll watch, as I suspect most fans will -- but this one time, I'll watch with considerable trepidation and, from a fan's point of view, with the hope that the team finds its feet and that right quick,' notes the distinguished cricket commentator Prem Panicker.
'That was the key to a game where, on paper, there is nothing to separate the two sides: Intensity. From the first ball of the innings to the run out of Southee, the Australian bowlers and fielders buzzed around like predatory yellow-jacketed wasps.' 'Adding teeth to the bowling and relentless fielding is the captaincy of Michael Clarke, leading in his last one day international. His body may require an entire college of medical specialists to maintain, but his mind is scalpel-sharp, cutting through the complexities of the game to hit on simple solutions.'
Did Jeff Bezos decide against endorsing Harris because it would hurt his business interests? Only God and Bezos know, and neither of them are talking, notes Prem Panicker.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
'On Sunday against South Africa, Shikhar Dhawan took the spotlight and eventually, the Man of the Match award, with a century, but it was Ajinkya Rahane's innings that held the key to India topping the 300 mark.' Prem Panicker's match report card, for Rediff.com.
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
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