Good show

INDIANS, WITH THEIR medals, celebrate in Melbourne.-AP

India's performance in the Commonwealth Games is quite commendable. No doubt, cricket is the most popular sport in our country. But good performances, especially in international multi-sport events like the Commonwealth Games, make people take notice.

India is still way behind when it comes to Olympic standards, but I feel our shooters can challenge the best in the world.

Suresh Manoharan, HyderabadCaptain courageous

It was a sensational victory for England in the Mumbai Test and skipper Flintoff deserves every bit of praise. England's last Test victory in India was under David Gower, when it won the Chennai Test by nine wickets in 1985. The captaincy was thrust on Flintoff, with Vaughan leaving for home due to injury. He did not let down his country or coach Duncan Fletcher.

Freddie led his inexperienced team with aplomb. This series-levelling win is a clear indication that he has come of age as a leader. The efforts of Hoggard, Cook, Anderson and Udal, too, deserve special mention.

D. Giridhar, ChennaiDifferent yardsticks

The present selection committee, headed by Kiran More, is biased. It has different yardsticks for Ganguly and Tendulkar. The previous committee, under Brijesh Patel, did a good job. But More and his panel are not fair in their selection.

The selection panel, based on zones, must go. We should have eminent players as National Selection Committee Members, such as Pataudi, Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, K. Srikkanth, Bishan Bedi and Kapil Dev. These men have played cricket at the highest level, have been captains, have an analytical brain and understand the pitch conditions.

M. Fazal, ChennaiA meek surrender

It was quite shocking to see India losing the third and final Test in Mumbai. Our team, which boasts of mega-stars such as Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag, caved in meekly. Even with many newcomers in its ranks, England was able to level the series. This shows how badly our team has fared in Mumbai.

Sehwag has failed miserably with the bat in the Test series. Probably he is spending more time for commercials than concentrating on cricket.

A. Prakash Gupta, Varanasi