Sir, - It was yet another humiliating defeat in Harare and a drawn series abroad for the Indians. After their wonderful performance against the mighty Australians, the Indians were expected to win the series in Zimbabwe but the 'formidable' batting line-up faltered once again. Ganguly's form is pathetic and I think it's time for him to sort out his batting problems. There was some solace for the Indians in S. S. Das and Ashish Nehra. Das is an ideal opening batsman in the mould of Gavaskar and in Nehra, India has found an able partner to support Srinath. If the Indians couldn't beat a side like Zimbabwe then how are they going to beat much better sides like South Africa and Sri Lanka? The Indians seem to lack in application and self-belief when they play on foreign soil. Unless they overcome these problems they cannot achieve success outside the sub-continent.
S. ASOKAN,FRANCEWake up, boysSir, - I am a regular reader of your magazine. Our cricket team has once again failed to win a Test series abroad. They have missed a golden chance after winning the first Test against Zimbabwe. Seeing our batsmen perform, except of course Das and Tendulkar, it is hard to imagine that it was the same team which defeated the mighty Australians. It was yet another failure for skipper Ganguly as a player. What will the Indians do in the coming tours? I only hope Ganguly and his men will resuscitate in time.
On the other hand I wish to congratulate Nehra and Das for their good performances in the series.
UTPOLA SAIKIA, MAJULI, ASSAMPillars of Zimbabwe cricketSir, - The Cover Story on Flower brothers in The Sportstar issue dated June 30 was very good. Over the years the Flower brothers have established themselves as the leading batsmen in Zimbabwe cricket. Andy Flower has such a good record against India and it was rather unfortunate that he had to miss the triangular series owing to injury. Without him the Zimbabwe batting looks brittle. They have lost Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin and since then the burden has been borne by Andy and Grant. Andy is one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen in the world and has always played a good knock whenever his team needed him. How I wish the Indians too had a set of talented brothers in their team.
RAVI BHATIA, UDAIPURSituation not that seriousSir, - With reference to the article by Ranjit Fernando, 'Serious thought needed' (The Sportstar, July 7), I feel there is no need to make the game of cricket more complicated. The author's suggestion of having the third umpire on the field is not proper. Two umpires on the field and the third umpire monitoring the proceedings on TV are enough to handle the situation. The two field umpires are at liberty to take the help of the third umpire. Definitely the terms of reference which the field umpire can make to the third umpire should be extended. Whenever in doubt the umpires should not hesitate to take the help of TV replays.
No doubt, the mistakes are increasing but in keeping with the spirit of the game it would be better if the players accept the verdict of the umpire on the field rather than forcing him to use technology.
SHIRISH J. BUCH, RAJKOTCurb violenceSir, - With reference to your perspective column headlined 'The virus spreads to the home of cricket' (The Sportstar, June 30), I welcome your views on keeping the sanctity of the cricket ground and of the game. In England, which is the home of cricket, this type of rowdyism was never seen in the past. The Pakistani supporters, in the name of enjoying the game, have only brought disgrace to the sport. We must condemn this attitude and see to it that proper preventive measures are taken so that such acts do not happen again in the future.
NIRMALENDU CHAKRABORTY, COOCH-BEHARVery informativeSir, - I am a regular reader of The Sportstar. Your magazine provides a lot of information about the sports around the world. The quality of the magazine is superb and the best part is the Star Poster.
I am a big fan of Italian football. I was impressed by Alessandro Nesta, in particular, after his performance in the Euro 2000 as a deep defender. It would be nice if you publish some information about him and provide his Poster. I wish The Sportstar a bright future.
POONAM RAI, KATHMANDUKudos to AnandSir, - By beating Kramnik in the Mainz Chess Classic, Anand had proved that the Braingames champion could be beaten in the battle of "brains" by the official world champion. The Cover Story (The Sportstar, July 14) made good reading and indeed the second best set of Indian sportsmen are not good enough to be world-beaters. It is sad that a nation of over one billion has won just three individual medals in Olympics in 50 years.
VIMAL KUMAR, THIRUVANANTHAPURAMA disappointmentSir, - It is very sad that you did not give much coverage on the feat of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in the 2001 French Open tennis championship. There was no detailed report or article about their performance.
AUBTHESH KUMAR BANGAL, SAHARANPUR (U.P.)
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