Rising star
Published : Apr 15, 2006 00:00 IST
It was a heroic knock from Suresh Raina, who guided India to victory in the second one-day international against England in Faridabad. The immensely talented Raina, just into his first international season, revealed a cricketing brain far beyond his experience. He displayed high levels of concentration.
Now the Indian team can confidently say that it has identified another match-winner. The one aspect of his batting that stood out was the manner in which he played over the top early in his innings. Those bold shots underlined his class and temperament. He was a batsman who refused to get bogged down, but at the same time did not allow the situation to get the better of him.
Raina is truly the emerging star of Indian cricket.
The interview with S. Sreesanth (`Pace from God's Own Country') was interesting. `Sree' is indeed a good replacement for Javagal Srinath, who retired a few years ago.
With a lively pace and a good line and length, he would be an asset to the Indian team in the 2007 World Cup.
India appears to be having a good time now with youngsters such as Sreesanth, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and M. S. Dhoni performing well.
R. Jishi, Thumba (Kerala)Horrendous decisionRahul Dravid, no doubt, is a great batsman, but he did not do justice to his captaincy, as he handed the Mumbai Test to England by sending them to bat after winning the toss. The Indian `Think Tank' too should be blamed for this awful decision.
In cricket, a captain plays a pivotal role in changing the course of the game by making intelligent moves and changes in the field. Depriving the two seasoned campaigners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, of making use of the Wankhede pitch on the fifth day of the match was horrendous. A captain is born to rule, not to surrender meekly.
S.K. Ghose, KolkataGreat showKudos to the Indian athletes and the film stars who exhibited their talent and the nation's rich culture and heritage at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Though the performance by the Indian film stars such as Rani Mukherjee, Saif Ali Khan, Aishwarya Rai and others was brief, it vividly presented India's rich culture.
Sportstar deserves praise for presenting the golden moments of the Commonwealth Games in the `Photoline' section.
That India is going to host the next edition of the Games in 2010 is a great honour for us. It also brings with it great responsibility.
Md. Khalid Ahmed, Jagtial (A.P.)