Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Will India as No.1 team prove the tonic for test cricket?
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.
The influential Indian board also successfully launched the franchise Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament in 2008.
from Photographers Blog:
Straight off the bat
It certainly is the best seat in the house, but sitting close to the boundary of a cricket field does not necessarily ensure you would have a good time watching the match. Cricket is like a religion in India. An unusual game, that goes on all day even through lunch and tea. Naturally then, covering this game in India is like covering it nowhere else in the world.
At least four hours before a match, photographers start out for the stadium, winding through noisy, mile-long lines. The lines of spectators are so long that one wonders if the last man actually gets to see the full match.
India caught short by England in Twenty20 World Cup
In the end, few would have missed the irony. England, their feeble limited overs credentials torn apart after their opening defeat against Netherlands, knocking out holders India from the World Twenty20 with a brilliant execution of strategy.
India were pipped by three runs as England handed them their second defeat in the Super Eights on Sunday, eliminating them from the race for a semi-final berth.
Sehwag injury drama distracts India World Twenty20 defence
Now that India’s explosive batsman Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the World Twenty20 with a shoulder injury, at least the media have one less thing to obsess about.
The journalists travelling with the team in England had been trying to find out why Sehwag did not play, and more importantly did not open the batting, in the warm-up games or the first group fixture against Bangladesh.
India fears Davis Cup decision may spark other no shows
Indian officials will be keeping their fingers crossed that Australia’s decision to boycott next month’s zonal Davis Cup tie in Chennai over security fears will turn out to be an isolated case and not one which will set a precedent for other sporting events.
India has ambitions of becoming a global sporting destination and over the next two years, the Commonwealth Games, cricket World Cup, a Formula One race, hockey World Cup and badminton world championships are all scheduled to take place in the country. However, the ambush of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore last month triggered fears that sport could become a target for more attacks in South Asia.
Indian cricket fans are surely the world’s most demanding
India have just won their first test series on New Zealand soil in 41 years after rain spoilt their chances of winning the third and final test at the Basin Reserve.
The victory was their third successive test series win since defeating top-ranked Australia in November.
Is Sehwag the world’s most destructive batsman?
India’s explosive opener Virender Sehwag is probably the best batsman in the world at present.
The 30-year-old has been amassing runs with ridiculous ease since his comeback in January last year, setting up several wins.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Pakistan under siege: cricket becomes a target
"Everything is officially going to hell." The verdict of a reader quoted by All Things Pakistan said perhaps better than anyone else why the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore marked a defining moment in Pakistan's agonising descent into chaos.
Six Sri Lankan cricketers and their British assistant coach were wounded when gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Five policemen were killed.
