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.
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.
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.
For New Zealand, the tournament is still a great success. They had never played in a World Cup final before, reaching the semi-finals six times but losing on each occasion, and were unbeaten going into the final.
New Zealand and South Africa played their hearts out in the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup at the Eden Park in Auckland on Tuesday, but it was the Black Caps who emerged triumphant by four wickets.
The International Cricket Council has backed match officials criticised by the governing body's own president over a controversial no-ball decision in Thursday's World Cup quarter-final between India and Bangladesh.
Alastair Cook believes England were wrong to sack him as their one-day captain.
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.
The hits and misses of the week.
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.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
What does Gideon Haigh, widely considered the finest cricket writer of our time, think of the man currently acclaimed as the finest cricketer on the planet?
Michael Clarke signed off from One-day cricket on a high on Sunday after his team beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the World Cup final at the MCG and fittingly dedicated the triumph to Philip Hughes, who tragically lost his life in a freak on-field accident.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
India's captain feels the roller-coaster ride he witnessed all these years makes cricket a "great leveller".
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
The hits and misses of the week.
Australia's players said they had saved their best performance until the end of the tournament.
Outraged by the quality of umpiring in Bangladesh's World Cup quarter-final loss to India in Melbourne, the country's Cricket Board is all set to lodge a protest in the ICC and has got the backing of the governing body's President AHM Mustafa Kamal, who said the on-field officiating was "very poor".
Hundreds of Bangladesh cricket supporters burnt an effigy of Pakistani cricket umpire Aleem Dar and marched in the capital, Dhaka, after the country was knocked out of the World Cup
Australia will continue to experiment with their batting line-up against Scotland on Saturday as they attempt to give players some time in the middle before the knockout phase, captain Michael Clarke said.
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.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made no excuses for India's 95-run loss to Australia in the World Cup semi-finals but said the fast bowlers could have done "slightly better" and Shikhar Dhawan should not have attempted a big shot when they were going smoothly.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly opined that he was confident of an Indian victory after the team crossed the 250-run barrier.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers will turn to his senior players to help lift the team out of the doldrums after they suffered a 'big knock' to their confidence.
Some New Zealand players may have decided to call time on their One-day or international careers but there will be no immediate announcements to allow Australia to bask in their World Cup triumph, skipper Brendon McCullum said on Sunday.
ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said the issue over the number of teams for the next World Cup is not set in stone and would be reviewed later this year but he does not expect any changes.
The calm, assured manner in which New Zealand chased down South Africa's imposing total on Tuesday to advance to their first cricket World Cup final is a hallmark of a team that has developed into a cohesive unit over the last two years.
'Even when I made 264, I was told I should have made 300. People's expectations are high. Even if you make 300, they expect 350,' said the India opener ahead of Thursday's World Cup semi-final against Australia in Sydney.
While three of their neighbours -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- crashed out in the quarter-finals, India remain the only team from the sub-continent to make the last four, and make it in style.
South Africa's bowlers backed up a solid batting performance led by captain AB de Villiers' 99 to ensure they qualified for the knockout phase of the World Cup with a 146-run victory over United Arab Emirates.
I remain the teller of the story, not the story itself, says Harsha Bhogle.
I would like current playing conditions to change, says Dhoni.
Australia opener Aaron Finch said he never feared for his place in the side during his lean spell at the World Cup and having found some runs will be raring to go in Sunday's final at his home ground.
'You have got to allow yourself the opportunity to stop and smell the roses. Today is about enjoying that. Tomorrow we will turn our attention to the final' 'You have got a group of guys that did everything for each other'
Australia coach Darren Lehmann believes the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch will produce a high-scoring World Cup semi-final against India on Thursday.
