India Insight

By Adveith Nair and Krishna N. Das

Having dominated international cricket for over 21 years, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar sets a world record practically every time he steps out on a cricket pitch.

The second India-Australia test that begins on Saturday will be no different. Fans will be counting down the 27 runs the little master needs to become the first ever player to chalk up 14,000 test runs. Given his recent prolific form, it is more than likely the little master will reach that milestone in the southern Indian city of Bangalore with ease.

But in a cricket-mad nation of over a billion people, the expectations don’t end there.

Fans will hope their hero will take them to victory with an innings along the lines of VVS Laxman’s match-winning knock in the first test in Mohali.

Despite his batting prowess, detractors say he has often disappointed when it comes to pressure situations - whether in the World Cup final India lost to Australia in 2003 or the second innings of the previous test, when an upper cut attempt led to his downfall.

In India, a thin line separates bravado from infamy. In a country that swears by its Bollywood potboilers, it does not take long to turn a one-time hero into a villain.

And the perfect example is Lalit Modi — once head of India’s $4 billion cricket premier league, he was first removed from his post after a tax scandal and later booted out of the cash-rich Indian cricket board.

Media reports on Thursday say the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a ‘blue alert’ against Modi, after he failed to make himself available for interrogation in the corruption allegations.

It’s widely acknowledged that cricket is something of a religion in India but could it be a market-mover too?

According to research by two Australian economists, India’s performance in one-day cricket matches can have a significant impact on the fortunes of the country’s stock market, the Indian Express reports.

Moreover, the researchers concluded that a win — expected by the millions of die-hard fans — has no impact on market returns but a loss “generates a significant downward movement in the stock market.”

India outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments of the game on Thursday to win the Asia Cup cricket final by 81 runs and record a fourth win in seven tournament finals under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

India compiled an impressive 268 for six with opener and man-of-the-match Dinesh Karthik striking 66 from 86 balls after Dhoni had won the toss and decided to bat first in Dambulla.

Their pace attack then dismissed Sri Lanka for 187 from 44.4 overs.

Join us in congratulating Dhoni and his men. For slideshow, click here 

(Afghanistan's cricketers after they qualified for the World Cup. Reuters/Nikhil Monteiro)

Afghanistan’s cricketers are playing heavyweights India in their opening match in the 20-over World Cup on Saturday, capping an extraordinary journey from refugee camps to the game's top table.

It couldn't be a more unlikely pair walking out to the green in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia than captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India and Nowroze Mangal of Afghanistan to toss the coin at the start of the match.

It started with a Twitter post and promptly snowballed into accusations of funding irregularities, corruption and misuse of power. Almost hard to believe it’s cricket that is being discussed here.

Cricket has always attracted controversy because of the large amount of money and sponsorships it involves unlike any other game.

As the game changed its format over the years, the scale and proportion of the scandals grew accordingly.

The Maharashtra government is going to recommend Sachin Tendulkar for the country’s highest recognition — Bharat Ratna.

Not only politicians of various hues but former cricketers have also rooted for Tendulkar.

Calls for the award have become louder after Tendulkar achieved the rare feat of a double century in the one-day format.

Tendulkar’s batting magnificence has been chronicled so much over the years that anything written about him generates as much passion as he does on any cricket field.

His 200-run spectacle against South Africa was another opportunity for his fans to erupt, cheer, sing and write praises.

But with such performances come expectations. So much that almost every time this champion comes in to bat, high expectations generate a sort of fear — in the stadium, homes, TV stations, internet and wherever he is revered.

(The Pakistani cricket team)

Pakistani cricketers, the press and ordinary people are livid about their players' exclusion from India's Premier League , the game's most lucrative tournament played out before a vast television audience. Eight Indian teams that take part in the tournament bid for players  from around the world, doling out large sums of money.  But nobody bid for the 11 Pakistani players on the list, includng some who were part of the Pakistani squad that won last year's  World Cup Twenty20 tournament, the three-hour version of the game that the IPL is also played in.

It's not that they were not good enough. They are some of the best the game has to offer. It's that the people who own the teams fear the Pakistani players may face dificulties getting visas or that tensions between the two countries, already rising, could make things dificult  for them  So why put money on them ?

But then, as former Pakistani skipper Ramiz Raja writes in The Indian Express why were the Pakistani players invited to play  in India in the first place,and indeed put on the list of players to be auctioned. They had even been given cricket visas, he says , adding these men are much like their counterparts in India, heroes of the nation. And so it's not just the players who have been snubbed,  a whole nation feels insulted.

India's crushing 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka to become the number one ranked test team for the first time has triggered huge celebrations across the cricket-crazy nation.

The hosts, ranked number three, leapfrogged leaders South Africa and the second-ranked Sri Lanka to become the first team other than Australia or the Proteas to head the list.

In an ideal world, the development in the game's global commercial hub should work wonders for the classical format, overshadowed by both the limited-over formats, especially after the rise of Twenty20. India owes its current commercial clout to the shock World Cup win in 1983 which particularly turned the 50-over game into a cash cow.