His fingers strike gold; Maria Irudayam-India’s first Carrom World Champion
A favourite pastime for many of us, Carrom is one of the few sports where India enjoys supremacy. Although its precise origin is unknown, it is widely believed that the game originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Henceforth, this very original game has been carried forward by some masters who have embedded India’s name in this...
6th Day of February
1931 Frederick Trueman, regarded as the greatest fast bowler of England, was born on this day. Fred was the first man from any country to take 300 Test wickets with a fiery average of 21.57, a landmark he reached at The Oval in 1964. His debut series was against India and at Headingley Fred’s 3 for 0 in eight balls...
5th Day of February
1970 Darren Lehmann, a free-scoring left-hander batsman for Australia, was born on this day. He could have played more cricket for the national side, but due to abundance of talent in the Aussie team during his time, Darren’s career was subdued. He scored three centuries in the space of five Tests in 2003. He hit the winning runs in the...
Government released 3.14 crore rupees for TOP scheme
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore declared that the government has released Rs 3.14 crore as out of pocket allowance of 175 sportspersons under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme in the last quarter of 2017. “The rate of Out of Pocket Allowance (OPA) from NSDF is Rs 50,000 per month and it is admissible with effect from September 2017 or...
3rd Day of February
1936 Bob Simpson, the celebrated Australian allrounder, was born on this day. Simpson was a master strokemaker, cunning leg spinner and a brilliant fielder. Gradually Simpson became a first-rated opening batsman. He posted his first hundred in 1964, much later than his debut, but converted it into a breakthrough 311. Simpson ended with 46.81 average after 62 Tests. He has...
2nd Day of February
1968 Aminul Islam, the Bangladeshi cricketer who made a century in his country's inaugural Test, was born on this day. He achieved this feat against India in Dhaka in November 2000. He made 145 and became the third person to do so, after Australia's Charles Bannerman and Zimbabwe's Dave Houghton. 1973 Sir Richard Hadlee, one of the greatest allrounders of all times,...
31st Day of January
1988 Mohammad Shahzad, wicketkeeper-batsman of Afghanistan, was born on this day. In his first 11 ODI innings, Shahzad made three hundreds and three fifties. He hit a 67-ball 118 - then the highest T20I score by an Associate batsman - against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in 2016. 1999 A classic Test match between India and Pakistan ended with Pakistan winning by 12 runs....
“Becoming world champion again is the most amazing feeling….” Vishwanathan Anand
Yes he is the World Champion again. Might be, for a man who has won five World championships in the classical format, this victory may not rank at the very top. But he must be very happy indeed with this win. India’s master chess man, Vishwanathan Anand, was not at his best form this year. With minimal win, it was...
30th Day of January
1883 England recovered their series against Austalia in the form of a burnt bail in an urn. On August 29 1882, England not only were beaten by Australia for the first time in their own country but also lost their first Test Match in England. After the result, journalist Reginald Shirley wrote a mock obituary about the death of English...
29th Day of January
1951 Andy Roberts, the great fast bowler for West Indies, was born on this day. Roberts was famous for his deadly bouncers and his pace came from timing. There was very little emotion in his face. In 47 Test matches, Roberts took 202 wickets. He famously blew India away in Jamaica in 1982-83 with three wickets in an over to...