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.
On a roll after three successive wins in the ongoing cricket World Cup following today's nine-wicket spanking of minnows UAE, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his "complete unit" has been doing well with consistent performances in all departments of the game.
At this point it is still anyone's game, with a draw also an option, says Prem Panicker in his analysis of Day 4.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
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.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Statistical highlights of the pool B match between India and UAE.
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.
'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.
The four wickets that India prised out in the third session, on balance, swung the game back in their favour, says Prem Panicker .
'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.
A survivalist's mindset sees Indian batsmen fail again on the first day of the SCG Test.
Check out on-field umpires for the ICC Cricket World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand on Sunday in Melbourne.
Australia skipper Michael Clarke was stumped by a question which appeared to be about his sex life.
MS Dhoni or Sachin A Billion Dreams? Dangal or Mary Kom?
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Irish captain William Porterfield not getting pressured by the daring batting of De Villiers
After criticising Misbah-ul-haq severely in the recent past, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar took a U-turn.
Left-handers Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne struck fluent centuries to help Sri Lanka outplay a hapless England by nine wickets in a Pool A match of the ICC World Cup.
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.
Farhan and Javed Akhtar discuss the new and the classic Don.
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?
Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin has been slammed on social media for sledging a couple of New Zealand batsmen while sending them back to the pavilion following their dismissal during their World Cup win over Brendon McCullum's men on Sunday.
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.
The best they can do, in the event they defeat Australia and line up for the semi-final in Sydney, is summon spinner Saeed Ajmal.
As the tournament gets to the business end here's a chance to predict the winner. Listed below are the eight quarter-finalists. Pick four who you think will make the semi-finals.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza expressed displeasure at a few decisions going against his side in their 109 runs' thrashing by India in the cricket World Cup quarter-finals at the MCG on Thursday though he did not say it in so many words.
As if not enough with their embarrassing 130-run loss to India, South Africa were fined for maintaining a slow over-rate.
Pakistan look to get their so far lacklustre World Cup campaign going with a win over Zimbabwe.
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.
Dhoni praised every aspect of Ashwin's performance.
'Are we so ready to believe that in this country whose virtues we constantly shout from the rooftops, there is no single person -- other than Modi -- in a minimum of 272 elected MPs with the talent and ability to lead this country?' asks Prem Panicker.
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.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
Former Australia skipper Kim Hughes is not a great fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership style and feels that Virat Kohli's elevation to captaincy should not only be in Tests but also across all formats to bring in more purpose to the top job.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
To understand Modi, listen to what he does not say -- vide NRC, suggests Prem Panicker.
In Phase 6, indications are that the BJP, which is defending 40 seats, will lose in double digits and gain in single digits. Not good, if you are the ruling party scrambling to earn a working majority, with just one phase left to go, argues Prem Panicker.
crowd of 80,000 flocked to the MCG for Thursday's sudden-death encounter.
There's wisdom to be found in an unfairly treated man's short and sweet concluding words -- a nation is only as great as our appreciation of the people who make it great, notes Sukanya Verma.
