Karun Nair Saves The Day: Why Indian Batter Topped Trends During 1st Day Of The Oval Test
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Hindustan Times
16 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Oval win heralds new era for Indian cricket
As this Indian team got ready to embark on a five-Test series in England, the fear was they'd get caught out by the conditions, by Bazball, by their inexperience. They were missing Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma, all retired. They had a new captain in Shubman Gill, a struggling coach in Gautam Gambhir and their best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, was going to play just three matches. An England tour would have been tough for the best of teams, but for a young squad, with such constraints, the difficulty level was a few notches higher. Sometimes, though, a crisis can bring the best in a team. Throughout the series, that is what India discovered, and as an HT analysis pointed out, while the outcome read 2-2 in terms of matches, it was 37-29 in favour of India in terms of sessions. In sports, teams are often judged from a historical perspective — can they repeat Wadekar & Co's heroics from 1971 or do what Kapil's devils did in 1986? Are they as good as Ganguly's boys or Dravid's series-winning team from 2007? It is a measure of this team's success that they are now part of that lore. In sports, teams are often judged from a historical perspective — can they repeat Wadekar & Co's heroics from 1971 or do what Kapil's devils did in 1986? Are they as good as Dravid's series-winning team from 2007? It is a measure of this team's success that they are now part of that lore. (@BCCI X/ANI Photo)
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Sachin Tendulkar gives verdict on Shubman Gill's captaincy on epic England tour: ‘2-2, things could've been different but…'
Shubman Gill's first-ever Test series as India's captain in the longest format was a gruelling five-match series in England but the legendary Sachin Tendulkar feels that the 25-year-old fared well in that role. The series, which was the first to have a trophy partially named after Tendulkar – the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, is now being widely rated as among the greatest of the century. Every match went the full five days and with most going well into the last sessions, and the series ended 2-2. 'All in all, a fantastic result. 2-2, things could've been different but there are no ifs and buts in cricket,' said Tendulkar in a video on Reddit in which he analysed the series. Tendulkar said that Gill seemed to be searching for ideas a bit whenever England had compiled a good partnership but also stated that it is only natural for a captain to have that approach in such a situation. 'Captaincy has a lot to do with how the bowlers are bowling, how disciplined they are and how long they can persist with their plans,' said Tendulkar. 'Sometimes what happens is that if things are not going the bowlers' way, they start experimenting. That is when the captain feels that the fielders he has on the ground is not enough, he needs more, because runs will be coming from everywhere. 'He still looked calm and composed but when partnershops happen, it becomes difficult for any captain and the priority becomes to dry their runs.' Tendulkar said that overall, Gill seemed to be controlling his team and the game pretty well. 'Overall I felt he controlled the team well. There were areas things could've been different but, everyone has their opinion. This was his first series and possibly against the most attacking side in Test cricket. I don't think any other team bats the way this England side does,' he said. Tendulkar was gushing with praise for Gill as far as the Indian captain's own performance with the bat went. The 25-year-old broke a plethora of records as he smashed as many as 754 runs in the series. This included the second Test in which he scored 269 in the first innings and 161 in the second. 'Shubman batted brilliantly throughout the series, he looked calm and composed, organised,' said Tendulkar. 'When it comes to quality batting, you've got to have a clear head and a game plan. And he was extemely consistent as far as his thought process is concerned because it reflects on your footwork. If you are not clear in your head, your body doesn't respond accordingly. His body responded brilliantly, he looked so much control he had so much time to play the ball. 'There was precision in his footwork. The most important thing that I noticed was the respect to a good ball. Where the tendency sometimes is to push the ball on your front foot even if the ball is not near your foot, he was able to defend there. And consistently defend well on front foot. His ability to leave was very good. Overall, shot selection was very, very good and precise.'
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Chennai Grand Masters, the final piece of Chennai's chess legacy, hopes to build long-lasting heritage
As the end of 2023 approached, two of India's top prodigies, Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi, were getting increasingly despondent. Their chance of qualifying for the Candidates tournament — an event where eight players fight it out for the right to challenge the world champion — were starting to seem impossible with the calendar running out of tournaments. The third member of India's golden generation — Praggnanandhaa — had already secured his place as had Vidit Gujrathi. And then, the Chennai Grand Masters event made an appearance almost out of thin air, offering not just Gukesh and Arjun, but other players like Parham Maghsoodloo too, a chance to qualify for the Candidates. It was a chance that Gukesh seized, booking a spot in the Candidates and then winning the World Championship barely a year later in Singapore. The Chennai Grand Masters tournament has since then become a permanent fixture of the Indian chess scene which until 2023 only had one showpiece annual event that attracted top names: the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz Kolkata. The event is fittingly held in the spiritual home of Indian chess, Chennai, which has given the sport two world champions in the form of Viswanathan Anand and Gukesh. Many strong players like Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali besides stellar coaches like RB Ramesh, Vishnu Prasanna and Srinath Narayanan also call the city home. Despite the stockpile of chess talent in Chennai, the city has not hosted too many elite chess tournaments barring the Anand vs Magnus Carlsen World Chess Championship battle in 2013 and the prestigious Chess Olympiad in 2022 which saw participants from 200 countries. Chennai Grand Masters, in only its third year, has ambitious plans in a sport where a few decades ago many chess events with long traditions downed shutters. 'We hope the Chennai tournament will become a permanent fixture in the calendar, but we are still figuring that part out,' says grandmaster Srinath Narayanan, who has transitioned to tournament director for the event. 'It's moving strongly towards being a permanent fixture in the calendar and a traditional annual tournament. Like a Wijk aan Zee (the Tata Steel Chess tournament held in the Dutch village of Wijk aan Zee). Wijk Aan Zee has a very robust history. It has been around for almost a hundred years, having survived two World Wars, the COVID-19 pandemic. In chess, we have seen many tournaments come and go. Linares, Dortmund are among many traditional tournaments which couldn't sustain over the years. But we certainly do hope that this will be a Tata Steel-like tournament, a Wijk Aan Zee of sorts.' This year, the Chennai event will see 20 players competing. While the main field will see the likes of GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Anish Giri, GM Vincent Keymer, GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Nihal Sarin, GM Karthikeyan Murali, GM Jorden van Foreest, GM Awonder Liang, GM Ray Robson and GM Pranav Venkatesh competing, the Challengers event will see players like GM Abhimanyu Puranik, GM Adhiban Baskaran, GM Harika Dronavalli, GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, GM Pranesh M, GM Leon Luke Mendonca, GM Aryan Chopra, GM Diptayan Ghosh, GM Iniyan P and IM Harshavardhan GB in the fray. This year, the Chennai Grand Masters has been brought forward to August rather than its usual window at the end of the year. Srinath points at the upcoming FIDE World Cup in India later this year as a reason the event was brought forward. Srinath expressed hope that in coming editions, the event could feature the two world-beaters from Chennai: Gukesh and Pragg. But Gukesh, the reigning world champion, will turn out at the St Louis Rapid and Blitz Tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour, from August 10 to 15. 'Ideally, we would have loved to have Gukesh and Pragg playing. But this year, we had to clash our event with the Grand Chess Tour because the calendar was insanely full. And we simply didn't get any free dates. But in the future, whenever they are available, we would certainly love to have them. And hopefully, we can schedule it at a time when it doesn't clash with another major event in the future years,' said Srinath. Srinath points at just how packed the chess calendar is this year, with new events like Checkmate: USA vs India, Esports World Cup and Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour events jostling for a window with annual fixtures like Norway Chess, Tata Steel, GCT events, St Louis Rapid and Blitz, Sinquefield Cup and popular leagues like the Spanish League and the Turkish League. Adding to this condensed mix are FIDE events like the World Cup, to be hosted by India, and the Grand Swiss, both of which offer Candidates spots. 'This year in particular, it was very challenging (to find a window to hold the event in). You will see events happening parallelly or right one after another,' he says. Srinath does add that for the organisers, the biggest pleasure is giving the next in line players from India — names like Pranav Venkatesh, Pranesh M and Iniyan P — a platform to compete in. 'Over the last two years, we have already seen a tradition where a young talented player goes on to get world-class recognition after winning here. Happened with Gukesh in 2023, happened with Aravindh Chithambaram also. Although Aravindh was improving substantially even before winning the Chennai event, the title helped him get so many invitations across the world. Similarly, we hope to keep unearthing more talents,' says Srinath.
