R
    Rajan Bala

    Rajan Bala

  • Fleming was an ideal captain

    Stephen Fleming has bid adieu as a New Zealand cricketer and captain, when he could have played - always a tricky choice - and when old enough to decide he had had enough. He would have had a major role in enabling his successor, left-arm spinner, Daniel <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/06/17/fleming-was-an-ideal-captain/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Kumble is India’s first statesman captain

    By all accounts that one has heard emanating from Australia and more recently from V.V.S. Laxman, Anil Kumble has qualified to be India's first statesman captain. It has been someone that Indian cricket has been looking for more than seven decades and whe <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/06/06/kumble-is-indias-first-statesman-captain/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • In practice home advantage can backfire

    Over the last few days, it has been amusing to read so much written about the so-called home advantage that enabled India to win the third Test in Kanpur and square the three Test rubber against South Africa. That too, after having been mauled in the prev <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/04/21/in-practice-home-advantage-can-backfire/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Saying it was one bad day will not do

    It is no surprise that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has had no questions to ask of the Indian team and its management about the recent debacle in the second Test in Ahmedabad. There has not even been the sort of reaction which is to be only e <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/04/17/saying-it-was-one-bad-day-will-not-do/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Few young off-spinners? Tell us why Greg

    The Chappell brothers, Ian and Greg, have always impressed me as serious students of the game.Hence, when there is a tricky question or an intriguing situation in the game, they would be the first to apply their minds. This is one of the reasons why I adm <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/04/04/few-young-off-spinners-tell-us-why-greg/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • To win, one cannot always play safe

    If India are to win more home Test matches - which they must, as they have begun winning overseas - then the team needs to have the right balance according to the prevailing pitch and weather conditions. And, this implies that the team has to do away with <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/04/04/to-win-one-cannot-always-play-safe/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Chennai history must not escape SA openers

    My preoccupation with history is at times looked upon as unnecessary and, probably, even a measure of one-upmanship. Not that it has ever concerned me in the least. One of cricket's premier historians, H.S. Altham, did ask, "Can they do without us?&q <a href="http://healthout-dr.bagmane.corp.yahoo.com/yahoocricketcolumns/2008/04/04/chennai-history-must-not-escape-sa-openers/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>