Ajith Nair

Didn’t take much to get him to do his swansong, did it? A few dropped chances, self appointed critics calling for his head and out walked the man who could have easily blazed victories for Australia for at least two more seasons. That act pretty much sums up a simple family man who loved to give the ball a resounding thump and had gloves that could grab passing thoughts, not to say the red cherry, with alacrity. In the team of seasoned street gangsters that he was part of, he had a cardinal like presence. Not one to claim a wrong dismissal and not one to let go off a right one. He embarrassed his rather greedy team mates on more than one occasion by not lending vociferous support to their dubious appeals for that all important wicket. He wore his conscience on his glove and however hard something thudded into it, the glove would remain unmoved. So when he did appeal, and was he loud, the umpires could trust him with the judgment and not just the appeal (a certain Mr Dravid might veheme...

Both parts of the term SENSEX defy logic. There doesn’t seem to be too much sense in what’s happening at the market, neither is there too much pleasure as connoted by the latter half of the term. Some souls who’ve lost most earnings and their bearings are blaming the Bull installed outside the BSE. That’s quite a U turn for a country reveres its consort the cow and worships Nandi, the Bull, the animal that the Destroyer rides. Of course, off late Nandi-gram has been in the news for all the wrong reasons so when this Nandi sees red either in terms of the Communists in Bengal or the stock exchange crash we seem to have a problem, a big one at that. The bull run is something that I’ve never understood except the Jallikattu kind during Pongal in Tamilnadu, which the Supreme Court recently tried to put a ban on, in vain. During Jallikattu insane young men try to tame an inebraited bull usually causing much damage to men and property. Maybe the apex court should try putting a similar ban on ...

If you thought Ponting was Bhajji’s bunny, think again. Bhajji has competition from a lanky North Indian named Ishant Sharma. If David had the sling against Goliath, Ishant had the swing against Punter. In an hour of relentless interrogation, there were more questions asked than answers given. There were other legends of the bat standing at slips and watching as a rookie from their team undid a legendary opponent. The fielders were incidental, there were hardly any runs coming. Most of them were enjoying the undoing of the most competitive street fighter in modern day cricket. Ponting fumbling against spin is something that even the school kids of Tasmania would tell you about but this fresh script is a promising one. For a man who more often that not has a boundary as his first scoring shot and pulls fast bowlers for six over deep square as if that is where they were always meant to be, being undone by an Indian rookie is unfathomable. A six foot plus, wiry young lad with a bunch of ...