From the bottom of the table to champions in the course of four weeks. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com looks back at Mumbai Indians's astonishing turnaround in IPL 8.
His heavy bat was a major talking point whenever Sachin Tendulkar battled injuries in his over-two-decade-long career but the iconic cricketer said he was never convinced about giving it up for a lighter one as his timing got affected every time he tried the change.
'Whichever team starts well, they will have always the advantage because it will be tough for the other team to bounce back in a three-match series.'
'My simple thinking about bowling in the death: Number one is that mentally you have to be very strong,' Ashish Nehra tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian.
'What is the use of conducting an inquiry?' 'The BCCI will ask them about leaving out Mithali, but they can get away saying it was the team management's decision.' 'I can tell you nothing will come out of this,' former Indian women's team coach Tushar Arothe tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian.
Karnataka's record-breaking triple centurion Karun Nair says he just applied himself and played to the merit of the ball during his unbeaten 310 against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy final.
'Shooting is number one.' 'Archery, wrestling, badminton and boxing.' 'These are the five where we stand the best chance of winning a medal.'
'Playing with international stalwarts in the IPL makes a big, positive, difference.'
Even as Sri Lanka sweats over pacer Lasith Malinga's injury, skipper Angelo Mathews hopes to inspire his young team to defend its WT20 title.
In opting for an extra spinner, says Harish Kotian/Rediff.com, India have picked a batsman less.
Ameesha Joshi tells Harish Kotian/Rediff.com what made her and Anna Sarkissian devote much of the last 10 years on a movie on women's boxing in India.
'Make sure when we go there we also have 8 days gap after the 3 Tests and a 25-day gap between ODIs and Tests.'
'Sachin Tendulkar got out early, we lost a few more wickets and everyone lost hope.' 'As I was walking out to bat after Tendulkar's wicket I could see people leaving the stands.' 'From that situation to win the game, it was something I will cherish forever.'
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com explains why skipper Virat Kohli is backing his opening batsman to carry on the good form in the next two Tests of the series.
'Sachin Paaji told me to enjoy the situation because this is a reward for all the hard work I have put in for so many years in domestic cricket. He told me not to take any pressure on myself, but to enjoy the moment because this will stay with me forever.' Ajinkya Rahane relives his Test debut and how he has become the Indian team's new Mr Dependable in this exclusive interview with Harish Kotian/Rediff.com
'You should keep your ego aside, whether you are coach or a player.'
'Boxing is a sport and sometimes one punch can make a difference.'
'They are all worried about one thing -- what about tomorrow?'
The two areas where India's team management and selectors need to do a lot of brainstorming are the No 4 slot and an extra fast bowler.
For captain Rohit Sharma, leading Mumbai Indians to the IPL title for a record third time ranks as one of the biggest achievements of his career so far.
IPL Season 10 saw the likes of Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana and Rashid Khan grab the spotlight. Let us check out what they did.
Hockey greats Vasudevan Baskaran, M M Somaya and Mervyn Fernandis relive India's gold medal-winning campaign at the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
'I have boxed at the amateur level for 15, 16 years and won every medal possible at the world level. I represented India in three Olympics, for 12 years, and that is not an easy thing. I am hoping to replicate my success in pro boxing.'
IPL-11 was a smashing success. Superstars like Kane Williamson, M S Dhoni, Rashid Khan shone. New stars like Rishabh Pant, Andrew Tye were born. Rediff.com/Harish Kotian draws up his dream team.
'Jammu and Kashmir is a huge state, so to get the players together and put them on the right path, it is not easy, but I hope they will reap the benefits in the years to come.'
'A few months ago, everybody was saying, "Why isn't Vijender taking part in the Olympics?"' 'This is not like going to Haryana or Delhi that you just take a ticket and reach there.' 'Going to the Olympics is not easy'
'The main reason for having neutral venues for the Ranji Trophy is to make it more competitive and less affected by doctoring of wickets.' 'There is no reason why people shouldn't be able to see Virat Kohli playing a Ranji Trophy match at any location.'
Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman pointed out that Ishant's no-ball problem is one of the reasons for his exclusion from the side.
'He has shown how consistent he is.'
Suburban services were disrupted with trains on all the three lines -- western, central and harbour -- running late.
'If you bowl a no ball and get a wicket off that no ball, then there is no one else to blame.'
Conceding that South Africa's teams haven't really fulfilled their potential in World Cups, captain Faf du Plessis said the Proteas need to win the upcoming ICC World T20 to shed the tag of 'chokers' which is haunting them for quite a while now.
'He is one of the premier off-spinners in the world, but at the end of the day he is another bowler.'
'Dhoni has got his own ways of captaining the Indian team. He might not give out details or might not explain, but in his mind he knows very well how to captain the side, which players to pick and the right combination for a particular condition.'
'The fitness parameters of the current Indian team are the best that it has ever been,' says the coach.
'No one can be as destructive like him. His hundreds are BIG!, 150, 170, double hundreds,' Dinesh Lad, Rohit's childhood coach, tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian. 'If he stays at the wicket long enough, then anything is possible.'
Vijender Singh will defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title against Francis Cheka in New Delhi on December 17.
Despite a poor run in domestic cricket the dashing opener believes he is in contention for a place among India's 30 probables for next year's World Cup.
Former India pacer Irfan Pathan says the death of Australian batsman Phil Hughes may have come as a big shock, but fast bowlers never use bouncers to deliberately hurt anyone.
Dr KN Lokesh basks in the joy of his son Lokesh being named in India's Test squad for the tour of Australia in conversation with Rediff.com's Harish Kotian.
