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• WORLD CUP TAKEAWAY: GREAT TEAM, BAD LOSERS

  Broadcast On November 26, 2023

  ... desire and seemed poised to win slips out of your grasp, leaving you a shattered loser, reveals the quality of your character.   That was the test our cricket team faced last sunday and stumbled. This ...

• Why Twitter isn't quite my character at all

  Broadcast On October 1, 2017

  ... of the matter as I am. So why should I feel a need to broadcast these uninformed, even impetuous, views? Nor do I wish to greet film stars or ministers or cricket players on their birthdays. They mean ...

• Who’s to blame?

  Broadcast On June 9, 2013

  If you’re a lover of cricket don’t read this article. It will infuriate you. It might even bring on a conniption. On the other hand, if you’re brave and reckless, good luck! First, however, an admission. ...

• When the elderly are, in fact, the young ones

  Broadcast On April 3, 2000

  ... that he was giving up cricket for acting set me thinking. An April fool’s joke is when you make someone believe the essentially unbelievable. In other words you have fooled them into accepting as ...

• WHEN A SIMPLE CALL LED TO AN UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH

  Broadcast On November 6, 2022

  It was 7.00 in the evening and the end of a tiring day when she rang. “What do you think of cricket?”.  From her voice I could guess she was one of those pretty young things who masquerade as journalists. ...

• What an idea, Sirjee!

  Broadcast On July 30, 2008

  ... and ‘Dadji’ I would laugh. It seemed such a strange combination of Brit affection and desi respect. Little did I realize Satish was way ahead of his time. Today, young cricketers call Tendulkar ...

• We need cricketers like Sachin but definitely not MPs!

  Broadcast On August 17, 2014

  ... had heart surgery and he needed to be close by. That would be perfectly understandable but for the fact the Times of India (9/8) says Sachin found time to visit England, watch cricket and holiday with ...

• TRACING THE LONG ARC OF TENNIS BROADCASTS

  Broadcast On June 18, 2023

  I’m not a sportsman and, frankly, other than squash I’ve never played any game. I find cricket tedious and needlessly long drawn-out. Football is better but only because it’s shorter. Except out of politeness, ...

• To our politicians – please stop!

  Broadcast On April 26, 2008

  ... right. Until they were imported they were not known of by the vast majority of our countrymen. But that’s also true of cricket. (Incidentally, I hope you don’t think the game was handed down ...

• THREE LESSONS FROM AN UNFORGETTABLE TEACHER

  Broadcast On June 25, 2023

  ...    In the 1960s, Doon valued its sportsmen far more than scholars. This meant that a child who had never swung a cricket bat nor kicked a football was at a significant disadvantage. My talents lay in ...

• They won too and convincingly

  Broadcast On March 26, 2004

  India won the cricket series but Pakistan, I think, has won our hearts. You only have to skim the reports from Karachi, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore to realise I’m not exaggerating. No doubt we ...

• The price of justice

  Broadcast On June 2, 2013

  ... have made millions weep was ignored by TV because they were obsessed with cricket. I caught the story on the BBC. My colleague, Arvind Kumar, found The Times (London) had also reported it. Astonished ...

• The Ladies of Lahore

  Broadcast On February 22, 1999

  ...  Both of us were watching cricket when I phoned to say hello. “Welcome back to civilization”, I teased. She laughed good naturedly but just then, as if God was determined to show me up, the spectators ...

• The King and I

  Broadcast On November 17, 2003

  ... fine figure in cricket whites, blazer and breeches or a shervani and pugree. Whilst Bhupinder Singh of Patiala looks quite the stud he was supposed to be. He has the martial bearing of a smart ADC – ...

• The Dalai Lama and the cricket captain

  Broadcast On March 13, 2000

  ... athletic. The elder is wise and noble, the younger enthusiastic and striving. Well, after those broad hints, I guess you can tell which was the Dalai Lama and which the cricket captain. Yet in one very ...

• The case for wit

  Broadcast On September 2, 2002

  ... witty. Going over his cricket career I asked him about his alleged rivalry with Sunil Gavaskar. “The press used to speculate about your relationship with him” I said. “You were said to be rivals, ...

• Sometimes the unlikeliest of people can open your eyes

  Broadcast On July 2, 2001

  ... have chosen to make into films.  Set in the Raj of the 1880s, Lagaan is based on a ridiculous cricket match which is the outcome of a challenge thrown by a racist British captain to the hapless ...

• Singapore sojourn

  Broadcast On December 9, 2002

  ... mouth were first doused in vodka. Oh, to be his chamcha! I dined at the Singapore Cricket Club. The establishment dates back to 1852 but is maintained with 21st century efficiency. Our Gymkhana ...

• Shoot the media

  Broadcast On November 6, 2011

  ... in the Pakistani Cricketers’ case in London, maintains that just because something is published in a newspaper doesn’t mean it’s true. Justice Katju’s views are similar. First, however, Justice Katju’s ...

• Sachin is special because he’s a good man

  Broadcast On November 24, 2013

  I don’t understand cricket and, to be honest, I don’t really like it either. Consequently, I don’t know very much about Sachin Tendulkar. However, I’ve always sensed there’s something special about him. ...