'I don't think you can fault us for not trying. We kept giving our best shot because we know how special a relationship it is for not just us but the country as well'
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off on Saturday with two reinstated teams and a new broadcaster in a fresh testament to its undiminished appeal to India's incurably cricket-obsessed masses.
Gopichand also wondered to why the legendary Padukone, India's first badminton superstar 'never had anything positive to say about him'.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India will have to come under the ambit of Right to Information Act if it wants to use 'India' as its national team's name, Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the committee constituted to draft the Sports Development Bill 2013, said on Monday.
International cricket will gingerly ease out of a 117-day shutdown in Southampton next week but the scars of the COVID-19 pandemic will be clearly evident at the Ageas Bowl. An encounter between the fourth and eighth ranked teams in Test cricket is hardly a pinnacle but England's series against West Indies could offer a glimpse into a future where the game plods on under the shadow of the new coronavirus.
Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's demand is for a tournament involving the 'Big Three' of India, Australia and England plus another country to be slotted into an already bursting schedule, putting it on course for a clash with the ICC, which has enjoyed a period of calm in recent years at its Dubai headquarters. India's 'Super Series' proposal is a concern to many in the game, including the executive chairman of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), Tony Irish.
Bindra, who won a gold medal in 10m Air Rifle event in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was speaking at a session at the India Today Conclave 2017 in Mumbai.
When defending champions Australia compete in the Women's Twenty20 World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday, they will earn the same as their male counterparts would - in stark contrast to their rivals, India. In cricket-mad India, male players are revered as gods, paid handsomely and showered with lucrative endorsement deals, from watches and shoes to snacks, headphones and even toothbrushes. The women barely get a look-in.
For the world's women cricketers, financial parity with their male counterparts remains a distant dream but India's decision to boost the pay packets of its top female players is further evidence that the winds of change are blowing through the game.
India is to tour England, from late June, for a full tour comprising T20s, ODIs and then Tests.
Dropping a bombshell, Sachin Tendulkar has disclosed that the then India coach Greg Chappell had made a "shocking" suggestion to him to take over India's captaincy from Rahul Dravid months before the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.
The Master recalls it was his match-winning century on his 25th birthday.
Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke on Tuesday lauded Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket Australia for their handling of the recent DRS controversy but feels the infamous 'Monkeygate' episode of 2007-08 series dragged on far too long.
Anjali helped Sachin Tendulkar deal with the debacles during his reign as captain and carry on.
'This little incident might seem trivial to most people. But when such things happen in the BCCI's own backyard...'
His cricketing brain, always sharp, was blessed with exceptional speed of information absorption and processing. He could quickly zero in on what needed to be done and use the element of surprise to overpower the opposition, observes Shreekant Sambrani.