Are big corporate going to line up for IPL team auction?

BEHIND THE NEWS

Big corporates may buy franchises

With the January 19 player auction on the anvil, the IPLcommissioner Lalit Modi is busy sorting out last minute glitches.Talking to sportzpower, Modi revealed that the next item on theGoverning Council's agenda is the two fresh team auction process forwhich the base price is $225 million, "We are working on the date andshould be able to announce this very soon." Once the player auction iscomplete, all eyes will be on the two new franchise tender process. Itis believed that several big names have sounded out Modi, but he isnot revealing or confirming anything yet. While Anil Ambani owned ADAGis interested in the Ahmedabad franchise and Sahara boss Subroto Royis keen on the Kanpur team, Hero Honda MD and CEO Pawan Munjal in hispersonal capacity is also eyeing a franchise.
Since foreigners and MNCs are also allowed to purchase franchises,sources close to developments have told sportzpower that some bignames may test the waters. Sportzpower learns that diversified majorITC is a dead ringer for a franchise. ITC which is trying to move awayfrom its tobacco centric image by diversifying aggressively into FMCG,apparel and hotels is keen on picking up a team. The 1996 World Cupstaged in the sub continent had ITC sponsoring the tournament. It hadforked out Rs 42 crore for the branding of the tournament which wascalled Wills World Cup. While Wills is a tobacco brand, ITC hassmartly repositioned the brand with an apparel play - Wills Lifestyle.lately ITC has branched out aggressively into FMCG with the Fiama deWills branding, another play on the mother Wills brand. Further ITC isalso a big player in the food products market with edible oil, attaand the like. ITC has the cash to bankroll a franchise, as also themanagerial bandwidth to run a team. Last quarter alone, ITC delivereda net profit of Rs 1000 crore plus. Another key determinant for allseeking a franchise is the city that they will get. There has to besome sort of affinity or association with the city.
For instance, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani has Mumbai, Indiacements boss N Srinivasan has Chenna, Deccan Chronicle's Ram Reddy hasHyderabad, even GMR which owns Delhi Daredevils is building theinternational and domestic airport terminus in the capital as part ofthe airport modernisation programme. So, the question is which citywill ITC bid for. Kolkata where its headquarters Virginia House islocated is out since Shahrukh Khan owns KKR, that leaves Vizag andCuttack. Vizag appears to be a sure shot, for ITC has large businessoperations in the state including its tobacco and papewrboardsbusinesses. For Anil Ambani and Subroto Roy; Ahmedabad and Kanpur arepart of their spheres of influence, More importantly both players havemajor affiliations in these cities. Ahmedabad is where Anil Ambanitrained in the Reliance textile factories on his return from Whartonwhile Subroto Roy has his very base in Uttar Pradesh. Pawan Munjalwould have preferred Delhi because that is where Hero Honda isheadquartered, but he might have to settle for Gwalior or Dharamsalafor which franchises might be availabe.
It is also being speculated that the only other Indian player whocould be interested in a franchise is Bharti Airtel which has thecash, the management bandwidth and the branding power to establishitself as a team owner. Similarly, there is talk of a very largeforeign telecoms where a big Indian industrial house is a partnercould also be examining the franchise acquisition. Since the telecomsis Mumbai headquartered, it will have to look at Nagpur as afranchise. The Indian industrial behemoth may be keen to become acricketing A lister. The other possibility is of a fragmentedownership on the lines of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab wherethere are multiple owners. RR for instance has NRI owners - ManojBadale, Suresh Chellaram, Lachlan Murdoch and Raj Kundra. Sources alsosaid that given the popul;arity of the event, some foreigners/MNCs maywell be keen to enter the fray, making it a first. Right now there areindividual owners and that may well change soon.
What is critical for the new team owners is the city or town that theywill be allotted. These centres like Vizag, Cuttack, Nagpur,Dharamsala, Gwalior, Kanpur need to have the infrastructurewherewithal and support system to qualify as a franchise. Airconnections, quality hotel accommodation, stadium lighting, state ofthe art stadia, logistical backing et al are key determinants. All theeight venues qualify on these parameters - Delhi, Mohali, Kolkata,Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Jaipur. The price of $225million for 10 years subsidised by broadcast revenues remains thebiggest deterrant. Remember that the most expensive franchise in 2007- Mumbai Indians paid half ($111 million) of the new reserve price.

Bankruptcy of all kinds in Indian hockey

BEHIND THE NEWS

Ashok Mattoo, the president of the nominated Hockey Indiabody does not have the financial resources at his beck and call. Thenewly constructed Hockey India to which elections are supposed to beheld shortly, though there is no clarity as to when the D Day is,doesn't know where to raise the money from to pay the hockey players.There are promises that he has made including a Rs 1 crore prize ifthe players manage a podium finish in the impending World Cup. WhenHockey India was formed after much acrimony, Mattoo is reported tohave gone to Andhra Bank seeking a loan of Rs 1 crore. He managed tosecure this just as he got another Rs 25 lakh as loan from IOBreportedly. The sponsorship deal with Sahara Group was embroiled in alegal tussle and for this Mattoo flew to Lucknow to seek Subroto Roy'spersonal intervention. The existing contract with IHF for Rs 2. 5crore per annum was jacked up to Rs 3 crore each for three years aftermuch persuasion. This Rs 3 crore is the gross amount that accrues toHI after agency commission and tax deduction at source. With thesemeagre resources, India's national sport is trying to keep the flagflying. It is a pitiable condition and one is not surprised that theplayers are agitating. For it is not just the match fees, butsponsorship money, prize money and performance incentives that havenot been paid to the players. This includes the bronze medal winningperformance at Salta during the recent Champions Challenge. That hasbecome the biggest sticking point. The quality of food at the balewadicamp is another important issue. Coach Jose Brasa has given a detaileddiet chart, but the poor players are only getting skinny chickens fortheir meals.
The payment row has escalated in a manner that is truly shocking. Withdays to go for the World Cup in Delhi which returns to Indian shoresafter 29 years, India's players are striking. A helpless Mattoobelieves that the option of suspending the revolting players remainsopen if the payment row is not resolved. On Monday, a meeting tookplace between the striking players and HI's Ikram Khan to break theimpasse. HI is upset because the players have gone back on their wordwhich they gave Mattoo on Saturday.
On Sunday night, HI accused the players of blackmailing the federationand holding the nation to ransom but Khan hoped a compromise would bereached. Khan told media in Pune, "I think there will be a compromisesoon. They will listen to us and Iam 100 per cent sure that the matter will be sorted out. I am going tomeet the players right now."
"I interacted with them yesterday. They are not satisfied with theincentives and the grade system that we are planning and all this willbe worked out soon. The players are very clear about what they wantand that is fair enough. The only thing is the timing and how theyhave gone about it," Khan added.
Are the players acting on their own, is it a unilateral decision toboycott the training camp? This question needs to be answered. Forlong Indian players have been treated like dirt and many ex playerstoo who have been wanting to be part of the administrative processhave been junked by the present dispensation. Their anger againstIndian Olympic Association satraps who have taken over Indian hockeyis well known. The fact that Punjab deputy chief minister SukhbirSingh Badal is one of the key players in the Hockey India pollssuggests that there are moves being made at a subterranean level.Hockey India officials believe that Hockey Punjab has been architectedby getting fraudulent signatures of various groups and that is why itis refusing to give affiliation to the body.
The overt battle may be over the non-payment of dues and incentivesfor their 2009performances, but the covert moves are unmistakable. Suddenly formerIHF strongman KPS Gill has resurfaced and has something to say aboutthe players plight. There are enough pressure groups in Indian hockeywhich want to get rid of the IOA, read Suresh Kalmadi yoke. For a bodywhioch doesn't have the financial bandwidth to deal with the players'demands, the best thing is to conduct the elections in a fair andtransparent manner. Sahara the main sponsor itself is a player in thisrigmarole, what with Sahara deputy boss J B Roy wanting to head thedemocratically elected HI.
Imagine with hardly 45 days to go for the hockey World Cup, we arestill to conduct elections and we don't have a team to represent us inthe tournament. The errant players refuse to play ball with thenominated federation. Overt and covert moves are out to destabiliseIndian hockey in the year of reckoning. World Cup followed byCommonwealth Games and the Asian Games and what are we doingagitating, fighting and arguing? Mr Minister M S Gill, please put yourhand up and restore order before we make a mockery of this goldenopportunity to resuurect Indian hockey.

A new threat on B Town's door

GROUND ZERO

NEW VISTAS IN PHANTASMAGORIA

Knock, knock, who is there? Pralay...eh, sorry, who? Pralay KiShuruaat. Woh kaun hai? Commonly and popularly known as the Hollywoodgangbuster hit film 2012. The English, Hindi, Tamil and Teluguversions of Pralay garnered an astounding Rs 26 crore and changeduring its run on the Indian boxoffice. And if you thought that was a staggering number, Avatar came ablew the B.O right out of the water. Avatar in its first two weeks hasclocked Rs 56 crore and counting. So, while we are jumping with joythat 3 Idiots is blazing new trails (Rs 250 crore) in B.O history, BTown should beworried with what three Holywood movies have managed to achieve in2009. In fact, Avatar continues to make money hand over fist and isarguably the biggest Hollywood box office busting film ever in India.The new entertainment moguls who have a garrotte like grip on B Townthese days - Reliance Big Entertainment, UTV and Eros Internationalalong with new players like Fox Star Studios and existing badshahsYashRaj Films, Karan Johar's Dharma Production need to examine thisnew threat perpcept which is practically creeping in from theirblindside. In many ways, if this trend continues, then thetrapdoor will fall open under them. So, content will remain thedifferentiator and I guess maybe that is why Hindi cinema chappieshave understood that they need to evolve with the changing times. Themultiplex is by far the biggest game changer as far as revenuecollections go. If Hindi flicks now have opening weekends, then it isprimarily due to the emergence of the multiplex.
The stupendous success of The Hangover, 2012 and Avatar is aneye opener for Hindi cinema wallahs. If Avatar has box officecollections of Rs 56 crore and counting , then that is Rs 56 crorefrom the same single screen and multiplex gene pool that Hindi filmsused to own once. The pool though growing now has new participants.And if Hollywood continues to delivers these kind of kicka*** moviesreplete with state of the art FX which connect with the neo Indianpalate, then Bollywood better improve itself. Cameron's Avatar wasreleased by Fox Star Studios in India andit is ironical that it has surpassed the biggest Hollywood grosser inIndia - Titanic's - success in India. A bigger irony is that the sameman Cameron helmed Titanic as well. Till date, trade data shows thatAvatar has grossed Rs 56 crore in India in less than two weeks, andhas thereby broken Titanic's record as the highest grosser for 20thCentury Fox in India. With an opening weekend collection of Rs 22crore, Avatar roared past Wake Up Sid, Paa, All The Best, Kaminey,Rocket Singh and other Hindi films. The sci fi optical candy has seenthe hoi polloi land up at the multiplexes and single screens indroves. The phenomenon has spread far and wide to smaller towns wherethe Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions have been lapped up. And unlikeits sibling Pralay, Avatar didn't even need to be renamed for itsoriginal English name was an 'Indian' one. Whoa, confused?
Generally speaking it was a good year for Hollywood in India. Other thanthe three smash hits; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, HarryPotter and the Half Blood Prince, Angels & Demons, Twilight whichopened in the same week as Shimit Amin's much hyped Rocket Singh andgot a much better opening, Star Trek, Inglourious Basterds andPixair's Up all did well in India in 2009. The Hangover was a smash hitin multiplexes in urban agglomerates in Delhi and Mumbai. But torewind a bit, Titanic released in India in 1997 and did business tothe tune of Rs 55 crore.Alongwith Spiderman 3 and 2009 blockbuster 2012, Titanic was one ofthe three biggest films of all time in India. Fox Star Studios, IndiaCEO Vijay Singh said, "Avatar has broken all major records in Indiaand across the globe and is now the biggest film ever for TwentiethCentury Fox in India. Despite being in the second week, thecollections are only getting stronger and the numberof prints is actually increasing in several parts of the country. Weare thankful to the audiences and our partners for their support &enthusiasm towards Avatar."
The movie earned Rs 1 crore through its paid previews across India;the highest for any Hollywood film in India. It grossed Rs 6.7 croreson the opening day itself making it the biggest ever Friday openingfor any Hollywood film in India. In its opening week, Avatar did aphenomenal Rs 40 crore. And Hollywood is sweeping all before it. Iread somewhere that a publicist says the Hollywood disaster movie“2012″ has become China’s best-selling movie in history. A spokesmanfor state-owned film importer China Film Group told The AssociatedPress that “2012″ has made 460 million Chinese yuan ($67.3 million) asof Dec. 23, eclipsing the previous mark of 450 million yuan set byanother Hollywood blockbuster, “Transformers: Revenge ofthe Fallen.” Weng Li also said in third place is the Chinesepropaganda movie, “TheFounding of a Republic,” also released earlier this year.
Avatar was Cameron all the way and backed by the phantasmagoric visualeffects, it had to deliver. And it did, big time. 2012 or Pralay KiShuruaat (dubbed from the English film 2012) though was the sleeper, asurprise package. Again something that I picked up on the net...Forthe price at which its distribution rights were sold to distributors,it yielded revenues which doubled their investments and, in somecases, gave even more profits. Slumdog Crorepati, the dubbed Hindiversion of the Hollywood film, Slumdog Millionaire, released in thefirst month of 2009, also made money but the profits in 2012… were fargreater. Another Hollywood movie, Avatar (dubbed from the English filmof the same name), came in the last month of the year but its businesswas also not as en­couraging Just too see how well 2012 performedcheck out some of the numbers from the English and Hindi (dubbed)versions. 2012 in English collected Rs 3.25 crore from Bombay, Rs 80lakh from Pune, Rs 1.25 crore from Delhi city, Rs 45 lakh from Noidaand Rs 50 lakh fromKolkata. The Hindi version PRALAY KI SHURUAAT collected Rs 1.40 crorefrom Bombay, Rs 1.15 crore from Ahmedabad, Rs 71 lakh from Pune, Rs 90 lakhfrom Delhi city, Rs 70 lakh from Kolkata and Rs 40 lakh from Nagpur. Inits opening week 2012 had already been declared a super-hit nettingaround Rs 25 crore from India (English plus dubbed). All told itcollected in excess of Rs 26,87,00,000. Yes, those numbers denote acrore.
To try and understand the phenomenon of Avatar, I trawled the internetand finally stopped at this story on rediff.com. A wire feedsaid that James Cameron, the man behind the unstoppable sci-fi hit Avatar, andSandra Bullock, the co-producer and star of The Blind Sidemade history on Sunday evening. While Avatar flew beyond expectationsand reached the $1 billion milestone worldwide, the feel-good Bullockfilm -- which cost one tenth of the $300 million producing cost ofAvatar -- passed the $200 million mark in North America. This is thefirst such milestone for the actress. It is headed for a $230 milliontotal gross in NorthAmerica. The football-themed drama is about a white family whichencourages a young black man to get out of the harm's way and realisehis potential.
Movie experts expected Avatar to reach the $1 billion mark butcertainly not in just three weeks. Even hugely successful films likeThe Dark Knight, which cost over $200 million, took overthree months to recover the basic production cost.Avatar has rushed past the biggest hit of 2009, Harry Potter andHalf-Blood Prince, which grossed a formidable $930 millionworldwide.
Repeat business for Avatar is so strong that distributor 20th CenturyFox believes that many are seeing it for the third or fourth time.A Fox spokesperson declared the film is like an unstoppable 'freighttrain.' Except that the film is not creating any wreckage. It made $68million over the weekend in North America and a mammoth $132 millionabroad. Avatar is expected to get major Oscar nominations, as well asin the the technical departments.
Its total gross reached to $352 million in North America, and $670million in foreign territories by Sunday evening, according to Fox.The film opened on Friday in China, which is emerging as a majorterritory for Hollywood blockbusters like 2012.
Avatar ranks number four among the top global grossers of all time,behind Cameron's Titanic ($1.84 billion), Peter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12 billion) and GoreVerbinski's The Pirates of the Caribbean [ Images ]: Dead Man's Chest($1.07 billion). By next weekend, it would be at second spot. Thefifth film to gross $1 billion is Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
When the ancillary income -- Blu-ray Discs and DVD, TV and Cable TV -- is factored it, Avatar could make more than $600 million in profit.Sandra Bullock, who had remained luckless for several years, suddenlybounced back last year. Three of her 2009 releases grossed over $500million in America. Of these, The Proposal grossed about $164 millionin North America (and over $140 million abroad) but her other film,All About Steve, was a flop, earning less than $70 million worldwide.But it will recover its investment. Like in the case of the otherdurable actor Clint Eastwood, Bullock's movies are alsomade in the moderate range of $35-$50 million.
Sherlock Holmes and Squeakquel are both heading for a $200 milliongross, with much more to come from the international markets.It's Complicated has been appealing to older women, and is holdingsteady. It is expected to end its American run with $100 million. Thecomedy, starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and AlecBaldwin, is about a divorced couple finding romance onceagain.
So, while we celebrate the success of 3 Idiots and its fantastic sliceof life homily, let us understand that B Town doesn't hold a candle toH Town. There is helluva lot to do for our cinema to get to the nextlevel of competence. Meanwhile, H Town is making deep and rapidinroads into our box office ticket counters. Yes, beware the predator,sorry avatar is at our door. Actually he already has a toe in ourdoor. Good solid scripts, better screenplays will become the norm in BTown with this new threat percept's emergence. Budgets too will haveto be ramped up. At the very kernel will have to be better packaging,special effects and technology inputs; if we are to deal with this newmeance. B Town needs to take this new threat seriously for if theaudineces in urban centres flock to watch the English versions, thesheer scale of grandeur that a movie like Avatar's visuals providewill rope in the masses in tier 2 and teir 3 towns. Surprisingly,Tamil and Telegu and Hindi are the most popular dubbed versions inIndia. Perhaps that is why SRK is investing in his version of a sci fithriller Ra 1 while Tips has Vivek Oberoi donning a Matrix like avatarin Prince It's Showtime. B Town needs to leverage its intellectualsoft power to create cinema which is watched if it is to combat theunceasing waves of avatars.

Inverted snobbery, Aussie ishstyle

NAKED EYE

The Aussie way... Blow hot, hot, hot

While watching Mohd Asif and Mohd Sami destroy Australia on theopening day of the Sydney Test match, I said to myself - wow - these guyshave the Aussies on the rack. By bowling out the Aussies for a 127, itwas more or less certain that Pakistan would win the game. Think ofwhat it would do for the morale of the strife torn nation. Beating Australia inAustralia would be better and bigger than even winning the T 20 WorldCup in England last year. The swing and pace that the duo generatedset me thinking. It was like the old style demolition Derby by Pakistan pacebowlers. And then I saw Waqar Younis, the newly installed bowlingcoach sitting in the pavilion, obviously enjoying the predicament hisbowlers had put the Aussies in. I am sure Younis, one of the finestproponents of reverse swing must have had something to do with theperformance levels of the bowling combine. But Pakistan is notPakistan, but Panickistan on the cricket field these days. If there isone side which is more mercurial than South Africa, then it has to bePakistan. You never know what to expect from them. The next couple ofdays saw the script go according to the side's maverick andunpredictable nature. They simply self destructed. First they allowedPeter Siddle and Mike Hussey to build a huge partnership through acombination of dropped catches and perplexing field placements.Skipper Mohd Yousuf had eight boundary riders in an unexplicable fieldsetting which allowed Hussey to do pretty much as he pleased.
The momentum that Pakistan built up the previous day evaporated in notime. Okay, Yousuf is a novice, he doesn't comprehend the nuances ofcaptaincy, but coach Intikhab Alam and Waqar Younis also must have hadsome role to play in this shocking surrender. The Pakistan battersled by Salman Butt and Imran Farhat came out guns blazing wanting towrap up the game in next to no time. Aussies masters of the mentaldisintegration game exerted enough pressure to land the kayo punch onwhat was truly a Pakistani glass chin. Believe me, if the Aussies hadlost this Test match after Ricky Ponting opted to bat on a greensurface in the first essay, Ponting would have lost his captaincy. Twosuccessive Ashes losses in England, vanquishings against India, thetri series lost to England and India, a home series loss to SouthAfrica; Ponting is definitely under thecosh. Somehow or the other he manages to do a Houdini and escapesevery time. Look at England, no great shakes as a Test side, they havepulled off three great escapes in the last few games. Men like PaulCollingwood and Graham Onions have displayed hitherto unknown steelyresolve to stave off defeat. All Pakistan had needed to do was play thewaiting game, the runs would have come and the target of 176 wouldhave been surmounted.
Against that, they batted as if they had a deathwish. That Pakistanloss is unforgiveable, but that Pakistan lost an opportunity to knockthe arrogant Aussies off their lofty perch in their own backyard issingularly criminal. Not after gaining a handsome first innings lead.Australians practice a strange kind of inverse snobbery when it comesto cricket. That they have been so successful ever since the demise ofWest Indian cricket doesn't help one bit. You have to listen to theAussie commentators to understand how this inverse snobbery ispractised. Men like Mark Taylor, Michael Slater, Bill Lawry, IanHealy, Ian Chappell, Richie Benaud and the South African born, playedfor England,Australian resident Tony Grieg and Shane Warne to a much lesser extentbelieve that the Aussies just cannot lose. When Pakistan plays substandard cricket, it is pardonable, but the way the Aussies(commentators and writers) go about describing their opponents isshameful. That is why it is important for an India or South Africa or even anEngland to stand up every once in a while and show them their place.Agreed that Aussies play a brand of brash, tough and unyieldingvariety of cricket and they manage to play like that consistently, butin the recent past, they have shown that they are fallible.
South Africa thrashed them in Australia, as did England in Englandwhile we beat the pants off them the last time they were here to playa Test series. By using a strategy of reverse mental disintegration,India for one seems to succeed against Australia. One cannot back downagainst Australia, fire has to be met with fire. That is why it wasimportant to have Sunny Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri in the commentator'sbox along with the Aussies who I named earlier in this piece. Aussieshave to be shown their place on the cricket field. And off it. Yes, they have asystem which continues to throw up outstanding talent. Yes, they havea vast gene pool of cricketers as they have shown in the last couple ofyears, but like I said they can be defeated. Sides have to dominatethem not just in one series, but consistently over a couple ofseasons. India is the only side which has managed to do that over thelast decade or so. The gladiatorial contests have reached epicproportions, generating heat, dust and controversy. Indians certainlydon't lack self belief when they play the Aussies.
But back to poor, hapless Pakistan. It was at the same SCG many yearsago that Pakistan, always a side brimming with fine players first gavenotice that it could be a world beater. Imran Khan simply scythedthough the Aussies here in 1976/77 with a wonderful exhibition ofhostile bowling. Imran took 6 for 102 in the first innings to bowl outGreg Chappell'sAussies for 211. He was ably supported by Sarfaraz Nawaz. Just asAsif and Sami demolished the Aussies at Sydney last week. Pakistanthen went on to score 360 with Asif Iqbal playing the innings of hislife scoring 120 of those against Lillee, Walker and Gilmour. Butunlike the latest fiasco, Pakistan had Australia on the ropes in thesecond essay as well, Imran blowing them out of the water with 6-63.The Aussies could manage only180. Pakistan got the jitters then too, losing two wickets, but thetarget was a paltry 32 and they got home safely. I thought Pkaistan misseda golden opportunity to revitalise its cricket. Many moons ago,Pakistan and Imran had seeded their vaulting ambitions at the sameground. Imran became a deadly dangerous quick only after he discoveredhimself at Sydney in that famous Test match. Dissension is the biggestdowner for Pakistan cricket, everybody wants to be captain. Imran hadmanaged quell all rebellions, douse all the mutinous fires and build ateam of cricketers. That team was the dominant force of its time. Not that thisteam didn't have its problems, Javed Miandad for one was an enfantterrible, but Imran through sheer force of his personality and playingskills became the tallest leader in Pakistan cricket.
Now there will be inquisitions and recriminations all over again inPakistan cricket. After Yousuf's captaincy disaster, maybe even thecaptain will be changed. Off with the head is a call that you hearevery once in a while in Panickistan cricket. The call may emanatefrom within or it could come from the establishment that governs thegame, but the call will come. Make no mistake. Not after Yousuf'sbizarre field placings. Kamran Akmal is already facing the chop chopwith Sarfaraz having been airlifted from Pakistan. With Younis Khanhibernating, Shahid Afridinot playing Test cricket, Shoaib Malik ousted from the side; wonderwho will lead Pakistan next. They have a formidable pace attack inAsif, Sami, Umar Gul and Mohd Aamer, their batting of course is incomplete disarray, a leader may be able to lift them from this morass.It is important that Pakistan cricket revives itself, for Test cricketneeds another strong side. The inverted snobs in the Australiancricket team and the Channel Nine commentary team need to be taught aharsh lesson or two. For them it is not about a higher social class,it is about every other cricketing nation which appears to be inferiorto them. Actually when the West indies were the dominant force,cricket was bipolar to a great extent with the Aussies also having agreat side. But since the decline of West Indies, the Aussies havebeen trapezing around freely. However, ever since the Aussies havedominated, this snobbery is back and how. I remember when theAustralians beat India in 1969, they toured South Africa thinking theywere the strongest team on the planet. Bill Lawry's side got thehiding of its life.
It was billed as the clash of the titans. The verdict was 4-0 infavour of SA. The margin of victory was 170 runs, innings and 129runs, 307 runs and 323 runs. It was a shocking denouement ofAustralian supremacy. Ironically Ali Bacher's all conqueringSpringboks never played Test cricket after that. That was the lastofficials series before the wilderness. This was actually thestrongest team on the planet, but due to SA's apartheid policy, noneof them ever played Test cricket again. Imagine Barry Richards, GraemePollock, Mike Procter, Eddie Barlow, Lee Irvine, Peter Pollock, DennisLindsay and Tiger Lance in one team. All led astutely by Bacher. IfAustralian arrogance was ever punctured, it was in 1970.

When Mr Interruptus was interrupted

RETROFIT

Comeuppance or just deserts, call it what you will...

Despite his piercing gaze and discomfiting style of questioning, Iquite like Karan Thapar as an interviewer. Many consider himoverbearing and even obnoxious as he doesn't often allow the man inthe hot seat even the liberty of getting a word in edgeways. Known asKaran Interruptus Thapar, his worst habit is to cut the guest off inmid sentence. ButThapar is extremely professional in everything that he does. I guesshe can't do much about a style which has been carefully cultivatedover time. Rarely have I seen Thapar squirming as he did the othernight when put in the dock by Mani Shankar Aiyar. The only other time,if my memory serves me right was when Pranab babu lost his shirt athim - let me complete what I want to say - he shouted practicallyfoaming at the mouth. But Thapar being interviewedby Mani was a novel experience. I am sure it was novel for Thapar aswell, for Mani was in splendid form and seemed to be enjoying himselfthoroughly.To be honest, most of the interview was up and down stuff till Manidecided to pin Thapar down on who was the stupidest person he had ever interviewed. Boy did that get Thapar's goat. This is when Aiyar hadThapar under the cosh. Now, Mani has the gift of the gab. Moreover, heis extremely well read and erudite. He can be accused of talking toomuch at times, putting his shoes andsocks into his mouth, but then that is Mani. That has also got himinto trouble with his own party satraps. But he carries on regardless,sallying forth, giving vent to his displeasure at just abouteverything and anything. His most recent fulminations were againstSuresh Kalmadi over the time and costoverruns for the Commonwealth Games. And rightly so, for no one wasasking questions of Mr Super Organiser Kalmadi. Not one to shy awayfrom a verbaljoust, only the more gregarious Amar Singh got the better of him in thephysical version.
When he was India's oil minister, his bytes were legendary. Once whenasked whether oil would touch $100 during the super spike, Mani calmlyresponded that he was an Aiyar and not an astrologer. On anotheroccasion, when he was being constantly harassed on the price hikeissue, he answered cryptically - I am neither ruling it in, nor rulingit out. Quotable quotes were the order of the day if Mani was holdinga presser or a briefing. On stillanother occasion when the Cairn's oil find in Barmer was being dedicatedto the nation, witty as ever, Mani quipped that the Cairn Energy guyshad asked him his mother's name in order to name one of the fields and since itwasn't a national secret, he had decided to give it to them. Therewere many such gems from Mani when he was oil minister,. He bought acertain pizazz to the dank corridors of Shastri Bhawan and mostimportantly kept a lot of journos is good humour. In fact the oilministry those days was gushing with stories. There was the ministerMani, his secretary Sushil Tripathi, the DGH VK Sibal and of courseONGC chairman Subir Raha. They were the dramatis personae who kept ourkeyboards clicking. Oil and gas stories abounded, politicking betweenthese players helped and then Mani and his foot in mouth ensured that therewas never any dearth of good stories to recount back in office. ButMani using the instrument of oil diplomacy was extremely successful,unfortunately he got tripped due to a business-politics nexus and wasturfed out to become the sports minister where he was never at ease.As he told me recently, he loathed being the sports minister and wasin a way thankful when the job was taken away from him.
Now Mani as an interviewer was splendid the other day. I was remindedof the barrell full of laughs that Hindustan Times's then oilcorrespondent Deepak Joshi would induce from the bureau, every time hereturned from Shastri Bhawan. Aanyway, Mani was in form going for Karan'sjugular repeatedly. The fact that both of them went to the same almamaters twice over - Doon School and Cambridge - provided theconversation with an extra edge. Of course as Mani reminded Karan andthe viewers ceaselessly with the fact that Mani was much senior to himin both institutions and by the time Mani left them, they weren't thesame. But that was good banter. Karan Thapar was sporting enough to dothe interview on the occasion of the release of his new book - Salt &Pepper. This helped me press the rewind switch and reminded me of thetime when Khalid Mohommed the then resident film critic of Times ofIndia debuted with his first directorial venture. Now my old friendKhalid was caustic and even stinging in his film reviews. So, theapocryphal story told is that when Fiza starring Hrithik Roshan,Karisma Kapoor and Jaya Bachchan was to be released, Bennett ownerSamir Jain got Subhash Ghai to review the film in ToI. Now that was amoment frozen in time for Ghai's review was given prominence and spacein ToI. It was also a scathing indictment of Khalid's work and a caseof tit for tat. All the hapless film producers, directors and actorswho make up the filmi frat appluaded the hit job. They saw Samir Jainas a fair and honourable man. Similarly, Thapar allowed himself to becross examined by Mani Shankar Aiyar. But by his own voilition, Iguess and not at the behest of any promoter, I dare say.
Thapar's in your face style has very few admirers. Sadly, seldom has heallowed his guest to speak freely. And this can be extremely annoying.Not just to the guest, but to the viewers as well. Mani claimed thatthis obnoxious style was his stock in trade. He wanted the programmeDevil's Advocate rechristened 'Screw The Other Guy Show.' Now that wasfunny because it summed up the plight of the person being interviewed.If I remember right, Narender Modi got so uptight that he got up andwalked out from a Thapar interview because he didn't like the tack ofquestioning. Yet Thapar has survived all these years. And he has donewell for himself, the son of a former Army chief as Mani Aiyarreminded him, "you are nothing but a dishonest questioner. Over theyears he has remained one of the most prominent talk show hostsdespite his abrasive and stylised style. There were other moments thatmade the programme. Mani reminded Thapar of how he was once brought tothe studio under the guise of a programme and then cheated assomething totally different was discussed. At the end of it, Maniscreamed, "I felt I had been raped." Thapar has survived Home TV,Eyewitness to become a name to reckon with in news telly journalism.In the past he has allowed himself to be interviewed by Karan Joharand Arun Jaitley, but neither programme was as engaging as the onewith Mani. Finally Thapar had met an intellectual equal.
Aiyar used a simple technique to get under Thapar's skin. Like anunceasing wave, he kept coming at him. He wanted a simple answer to asimple question - who is the worst interviewee that Thapar has beenfaced with? Thapar was flummoxed for some reason and refused to playball. Suddenly he got all coy and self effacing. Which was unlike him.And Aiyar waded in. Sample this - you are nothing but a guttersnipefrom Jaipur House who got lucky to become the Cambridge Unionpresident. Wow. No counter punch from Thapar as the cat had got histongue. After much persuasion because Aiyar by now was punching abovehis weight and enjoying every blow that he was landing, Thapar openedup to give some clues about an entertainer. Thapar gave a long windedand convoluted explanation about his guest without actually naminghim. Aiyar, smart as always quickly caught on and answered that Thaparwas referring to A R Rahman. Somewhere, Aiyar was upset at beingclubbed with Advani, it was all very good fun. Done in zest surely,but a bit cumbersome for Thapar towards the end.
Comeuppance, just desserts, call it what you will. A sporting Thaparhad by the end of the programme become a snorting Thapar for he musthave been fuming at the damage that the astrologer, sorry Aiyar hadended up doing. Verdict 1-0 for Aiyar. The man famed for conductingverbal assaults on his guests had been finally been found tongue tied,diffident and hapless. Aiyar had all the questions this time andThapar was clueless with his pedestrian answers.
(exchange4media)

Sportz Power A Listers

CIRCA 2009 was a tumultuous year for Indian sport. Many power equations changed, many new faces assumed greater importance, some lost their sheen, while others grew ‘powerful’. Still others carved larger swathes and enjoyed influence and clout. Power could have flowed from Virender ‘Viru’s’ bat or exerted quiet influence in the BCCI board room like Sharad Pawar or wielded enormous clout in the vast sporting apparatus being rolled for the Commonwealth Games, like a Suresh Kalmadi or Randhir Singh or like Subroto Roy Sahara who has decided to pump prime Indian Olympians in their quest for medals.
The year was different. It was, as they say in the wine industry, a mature year. So, many new faces, some old ones and still others who dominated their trade in a professional and accomplished manner like Sachin Tendulkar, the grand daddy of Indian cricket. Most importantly, all these A listers played a dominant role in their own way. Of course, some more than the others…

1.SURESH KALMADI
Is Kalmadi the most powerful man in Indian sport at the moment? Well, given that he is in charge of the multi-billion dollar delivery mechanism called the Commonwealth Games organising committee, it would appear so. And even more importantly despite all the attempts to unseat him and all the controversies over the slow pace of work, he remains firmly ensconced as the boss of the OC.
Furthermore, he is still president of IOA and lifetime president of the Athletics Federation of India. He is now attempting to ensure that his writ runs large on hockey administration as well. That is if election observer for the Hockey India polls – S K Mendiratta – allows him any leeway. He has planned his ascension to the apex of the newly constructed Hockey India.
His financial and administrative authority over the OC may well have been curbed by the PMO by bringing in bureaucrats, his running battles with CGF president Mike Fennell and CEO Mike Hooper may well be part of Commonwealth folklore, but yet he survives to deliver India's biggest ever sporting spectacle - the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Repeated time and cost escalations have seen the infrastructure programme in disarray, but Kalmadi continues to sing the new anthem - All Izz Well - with great aplomb. Every new controversy dies down abruptly as Kalmadi using his famed networking skills across party lines, manages to quell every attempt to unseat him.
Now the only proof of the pudding will be in tasting what he has been cooking for the last six years - 3 October next year when the Games begin. Hope it doesn't end up like the DDCA pitch fiasco where the Kotla pitch was found unsuitable and the game had to be abandoned.

2.SHARAD PAWAR
No longer president of the BCCI, Pawar's shadow is too large for anyone in the cricket board politics to ignore. In fact, it has been proven that if you ignore Pawar in board realpolitik, you do so at your own peril. As N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar discovered to their discomfiture recently. Truly sugar daddy to Lalit Modi, Pawar has intervened on his behalf repeatedly this year. When IMG was being kayoed by board secretary Srinivasan who has designs to become BCCI president in 2010, it was Pawar who stepped up to the plate and cooled down frayed tempers. When talk began doing the rounds that a beleaguered Modi, who has lost the Rajasthan Cricket Association presidentship twice this year, was to be turfed out by the Shashank Manohar-Srinivasan combine, it was Pawar who stepped into the breach, dispelling all notions that sections of the board had. Modi survived yet again and this time clarity was offered that Modi's term as chairman and commissioner remains intact till 2012.
Pawar, who will take over as the ICC supremo, is also heading the 2011 World Cup organising committee. Using his enormous clout in the cricket world, Pawar even managed to dismantle the rebel Indian Cricket League apparatus by offering amnesty to all players. That put paid to cash strapped Subhash Chandra's plans of carrying on with his league. However, Pawar was careful to be covert in his machinations in 2009, making himself available to mediate as and when required. With Pawar set to become ICC president after David Morgan in mid 2010, expect Pawar and India's role in cricket management to gain further currency. Already there is talk swirling around that the ICC headquarters will be shifted to Mumbai, from Dubai.

3.SUBROTO ROY SAHARA
The grand pappy of sports sponsorship - Subroto Roy - now sponsors practically every discipline. While the Indian cricket Team jersey stayed with him till 30 June after the BCCI failed to secure a fresh sponsor, Saharashree, as he is popularly known, remains firmly behind hockey.
But he has enlarged his scope and size of operations by sponsoring 13 boxers and 17 wrestlers for the next four years, besides upgrading Bhiwani Boxing Club and Guru Hanuman Akhara right upto the 2012 London Olympics.
He also took a big leap of faith by launching a glittering Sahara India Sports Awards. There was even talk of grabbing the Manchester United shirt sponsoring deal, but this was not to be.
In October, Sahara also became the sponsor for the UP cricket team. So, it carried on with the National Rifle Association of India selecting 15 shooters who will be provided a graded system of sponsorship for the 2012 Olympics. This is part of Sahara's commitment to breed Olympic champions. Similarly, he has a sponsorship tie up with archers for the Olympics. All told he is supporting 56 such sportpersons. While Abhinav Bindra may be missing from the shooters list due to 'high expectations', what Sahara is trying to do is most commendable. Though the amounts of these deals are not known, Subroto Roy has taken the lead in promoting non-cricket sporting disciplines.

4.MANOHAR SINGH GILL
India’s Sports Minister who was upgraded to full Cabinet rank in UPA 2 remains a player in India’s fractured sporting frat. He had his usual run ins with BCCI, first on the controversial Predikter game which he ensured was pulled out of the system during IPL 2.0 in South Africa. Then he refused to back down on the issue of cricketers being WADA whereabouts clause compliant. Though the BCCI refuses to play ball and manages to garrotte ICC in its typical browbeating style, Gill manages to queer the pitch for several of our sports associations.
Suresh Kalmadi has constantly been shown his place by the minister, more so when he tried controversially to rush through the Hockey India elections in Srinagar on 18 November. Even with the Formula One clearance, Gill played hardball knowing fully well that Kalmadi's kin were part of the operation. He even told the Aussies where they could get off the bus when they refused to play Davis Cup in Chennai. He has been tough, but sometimes one feels he hasn’t been tough enough with the CWG OC which till recently was having its own way.
In fact when things got really out of hand, it was Gill who effected a rapprochement between warring Kalmadi and Fennel in London during the Queen’s Baton Relay. But as with Kalmadi, his real litmus test will be the Games and how well they go in 2010.

5. LALIT MODI
Last year's most powerful man thus has been relegated to the number five position. But it doesn't mean that his luminescence has diminished even though one might argue that his go getting style and power may have been curbed. Modi remains an ambitious man not fazed by any obstacles in his path. Just when it appeared that the second season of the IPL was going to become a non-starter because it could not be held in India due to the general elections, Modi played a masterstroke by taking the show - lock, stock and barrel - to South Africa. The costs involved were high but the show was a success once again and went off without a hitch.
The inaugural Champions League T20 was also conducted with a lot of fanfare. Though less of a success than the IPL, another big event was conjured out of thin air and added to the international calendar. Modi continues to wring in the changes and the innovations albeit having detractors within the Board. Two new teams will be added to the existing eight from the fourth season of the IPL as it continues to become bigger and stronger with a lot of international players even stating their desire to become freelancers and playing in such leagues alone. Thus cricket has been taken to the next level.

6. VIJAY MALLYA:
Has been desperately trying to be a power player in Indian sport. While Royal Challengers managed to turn around its fortunes by reaching the final of IPL 2.0, his Force India outfit in the F1 whirligig has not really gone according to plan. Though one must confess it is doing much better than the washout in the inaugural season. Just when one thought he had it fixed, he was dealt a bodyblow with his main driver defecting. Force India with chassis number VJM02 saw Giancarlo Fischella go over to Ferrari after delivering a kiloton performance. Further the late switch from Ferrari to Mercedes power caused the team significant headaches when developing the VJM02, meaning that the design of the tub had to be altered. The rear end is very similar mechanically to the McLaren MP4/24 as the two cars share engine, hydraulics and gearbox. Despite all this a cash strapped VJM is manfully backing his F1 dream.
The VJM02 is regularly the fastest car through the speed traps on a race weekend but struggled early in the season to convert that into laptime. By the time the cars reached the high speed tracks of Spa and Monza it was one of the best suited on the grid. The VJM02's incredible top speed saw it set pole position at Spa and challenge for a race win - only the Ferrari KERS prevented it from passing. Many rival drivers commented on just how fast the Force India was in a straight line. Its aerodynamic programme went outside the box and created a low drag car for the fastest tracks on the calendar. It worked and all of the teams points came from these two races. With Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi, he now hopes to get better in 2010 with a new chassis VJM03 and be a global power player, rather than merely one with a pan Indian presence.

7. MS DHONI
Dhoni’s Midas touch still seems to be intact and there can be no denying the fact that he still continues to be the face of Indian cricket - be it on the field or in TV commercials. Under his captaincy India have attained the number one rank in Test cricket - the first time in 77 years. He has captained India in ten Tests so far and under his captaincy India have never lost a test match.
While Dhoni has inherited a legacy started by Sourav Ganguly and taken forward by Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, the accolade has ultimately come under his leadership. After being catapulted into the T20 cauldron, the Ranchi boy has turned into a poster child for young India. His deeds on the field earning him high praise from the pundits.
His winning streak in all forms keeping him ahead of the pack for performance and consistency are the only factors that pay with the public at large. He was even ranked number one in the Forbes Rich (sporting) list with an annual income of $ 10 million.

8.SACHIN TENDULKAR
India's most revered cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar broke onto the world stage at 16 and since then has become the highest scorer ever in both forms of the game. Picked as the second-best batsman in history by Wisden, the renowned cricketing almanac, Tendulkar often walks out to the batting pitch to the roaring expectations of hundreds of millions of Indian cricket fans.
But off the field, he has become the largest sports brand in India, signing promotion deals that are reported to be close to $ 45 million over his lifetime. Absorbing criticism and displaying hitherto unknown reserves of self belief, Tendulkar hit back once again with a masterly ODI innings of 175 against Australia this year to show that the fire still burns inside him and refuses to abate.

9.VIRENDER SEHWAG
The run machine from Najafgarh continues to confound and bewilder the cricketing world with runs flowing thick and fast from his willow. The Delhi Dasher was on the cusp of putting the likes of Sir Don Bradman and Brian Lara to shade by scoring a third triple ton in Test cricket but fell tantalizingly close to the feat. He is the only Indian batsman to score a Test triple hundred (in fact, he has got two triple centuries). Even in one-dayers, the world record of highest individual score of Saeed Anwar was in danger with Sehwag going great guns against Sri Lanka but he again fell short of the target. At the rate he is going at the moment, no individual record seems to be safe.
Former England all rounder Derek Pringle has called him the cricketer of the decade just gone by. His sheer domineering presence at the top of the Indian batting machine gives him an aura that puts the opposition on the defensive immediately. Another cricket writer and former Somerset player Peter Roebuck likens him to being impudent but rarely imprudent and among the most devastating openers the game has ever seen. Pringle adds, "Sehwag is a bogeyman who brings nightmares."

10. RANDHIR SINGH
Former shooter and now able administrator, Randhir Singh is one of the cornerstones of the Commonwealth Games organising committee. While reportedly at odds with chairman Suresh Kalmadi over the way the OC functions, Randhir Singh brings tremendous experience to bear. After repeated criticism of the OC's functioning by CGF, it is Randhir Singh who has been tasked with the major committees and other functional areas of the Games organisation.
Not known to make too much song and dance, Randhir allows his competence to do all the talking on his behalf. The first Indian shooter to ever win a gold in the Asian Games, Singh from the royal house of Patiala, knows the vagaries of sporting life well and truly. As secretary general of the IOA, Singh brings great experience to the table.
As he told SportzPower recently, "I took part in the 1982 Asian Games as an athlete. I know how an event of this magnitude is run and I also know where we stand now. Sub-committees are being headed by people who are competent to take decisions and deliver. We have to stage the Games in a manner befitting the country’s stature and image and for that we have to raise the bar organizationally. When we hosted the Asian Games (in 1982), we went all out to make it an event to remember and we should make the CWG as spectacular. Infrastructure would definitely be ready before the Games. Lot of people and heads of these committees have the experience of being associated with the (1982) Asian Games. They have the knowledge and know-how. And wherever we need foreign experts we have them."

11. N SRINIVASAN
The very ambitious cricket board secretary, also owner of the Chennai Super Kings outift in the IPL. First treasurer of the board, now its secretary, Srinivasan as industrialist and promoter of India Cements is readying his assault on the BCCI presidentship in September 2010.
Srinivasan has been running interference in Lalit Modi's large swathe in the board politics. Modi now weakened because he doesn't bring a vote to the table has been grappling with the rising influence of Srinivasan in the board.
Be it IMG or the issue of franchise owners ganging up behind Modi or team owners trying to form an association, Srinivasan has been at loggerheads with Modi. But never publicly as he conducts his business in a very covert manner.
The man to watch in the BCCI without a doubt, unhappy with Modi's largesse to his circle of friends.

12. PRAFUL PATEL
The man has become king to use a Kiplingesque analogy. Patel finally became All India Football Federation boss. His hands were strengthened when he managed to secure a large sum of Rs 100 million as a grant using his political benefactor Sharad Pawar's help in the BCCI.
Patel has many plans for Indian football, including developing a league styled on the IPL for Indian teams. He wants to bring sponsors and advertisers to the game and turn it into a BCCI type of body.
As civil aviation minister in UPA 2 and a big businessman, he wants to leverage his connections in the political and business world to lift Indian soccer from the doldrums. An IPL league for football is a great concept, but suffers from inherent execution risk. The idea may well be right, but rolling it out is difficult.
However soccer in India remains extremely popular in certain pockets and Patel wants to develop this gene pool.

13. PAWAN MUNJAL / GAUTAM THAPAR
Put your money where your mouth is the simple credo that these two industrialists work with. Both are equally passionate about golf. Munjal as CEO and MD has been a big supporter of Indian and ICC cricket for ever so long, but in 2009, he took another big decision – that of sponsoring the hockey World Cup to be played in the capital in February.
A long time backer of golf, the Indian Open has a purse of $1.25 million. Hero Honda is also betting big on the Commonwealth Games, sponsoring the Queen’s Baton relay when it arrives in India and its journey inside. Hero Honda has for long been a votary of cricket both on the field and on air as it reckons that it gives the best return on investment per rating point.
Thapar has unobtrusively become a vital cog in Indian sport. As one of the architects of the Professional Golf Tour of India, his Avantha Group is enlarging the gene pool of Indian golfing talent. The latest names being C Muniyappa and Anirban Lahiri. In 2010, Avantha Group will pump prime Thapar’s aspirations to a new high by sponsoring the $ 2.1 million Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf Club in February. This tournament will be held under the aegis of the Eurasian tour. A three-year agreement with the Avantha Group, one of India’s most prominent business conglomerates, signals India’s strong intent to become a leading golfing destination through what will be the first event in a new joint venture between the Asian Tour and The European Tour – to be known as EurAsia Golf Ltd - with the PGTI as the other partner in the tri-sanctioned tournament.
Thapar has tirelessly created a thriving domestic circuit, deepening and widening the game with various pit stops, bringing in corporate sponsors like SAIL, DLF, Citibank et al and investing through Group companies BILT and Crompton Greaves.

14. HARISH THAWANI
Brodacaster Nimbus' boss emerged as one of the most powerful men in Indian cricket. Not only did he get to renew his four-year contract with the BCCI for all international and domestic cricket at home, he was paid in spades for the slew of bilateral series - Australia, Sri Lanka and now South Africa; not just in terms of ratings, but in terms of revenues. Close contests and run feats have obviously helped.
Four years ago, Thawani took a punt and it has worked. Now he, with the right of first refusal resting with him, continues to retain the contractual rights for another four years. While he has to fork out a bank guarantee of Rs 20 billion by 15 January, Thawani is combative.
Meanwhile, his power and clout is growing. This year he got Deodhar Trophy scrapped and replaced by something called Corporate Trophy, an inter office tourney with Sahara as the title sponsor.
In his new contract, he will be paying Rs 312.5 million per match.

15. SAINA NEHWAL
Currently ranked number 6 in the world by Badminton World Federation, Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the world junior badminton championship.
Saina scripted history on 21 June 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after clinching the Indonesian Open with a stunning victory over higher-ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta .
Her highest career ranking is 6. She is first Indian woman to win the Indonesian Open Super Series. Saina Nehwal was rewarded with Arjuna award in August 2009 and her coach Shri Gopichand was also rewarded with Dronacharya award at the same time.

16.GAGANJEET BHULLAR and JEEV MILKHA SINGH
2009 has been Bhullar's most successful year on tour but he has played in fewer tournaments due to his concentration on the Asian Tour. Bhullar has won three of the four tournaments he has played in. Bhullar's 2009 season started out slow but eventually picked up.
Between March and July, Bhullar made four of six cuts, finishing in the top-10 four times. He recorded a runner up finish at the SAIL Open and recorded his first victory on the Asian Tour in July at the Indonesian President’s Invitation. The victory catapulted him into 10th on the Order of Merit and he jumped from 417 to 255 in the official world golf ranking. Right now Bhullar is ranked 168 in the world. The victory also makes Bhullar the youngest Indian to win on the Asian Tour and gives him exempt status on the Asian Tour until 2011.
The week before his win in Indonesia, Bhullar played in his first major at the 2009 Open Championship. He qualified for the Open by winning the Asian International Final Qualifying in April. Bhullar is the youngest Indian to play in a major.
Jeev Milkha Singh meanwhile, continues to be the top-ranked Indian golfer in the world with a world ranking of 59.

17. GARY KIRSTEN
When the team attains the number one Test slot in the world the coach necessarily deserves some credit. Some pundits feel that it was Greg Chappel who put the team on the path to glory, but the Australian was criticised for being arrogant.
Kirsten, on the contrary, has the backing of the players and is in many ways an unobtrusive coach and helps bring out the best in the players. Kirsten dispensed with the services of Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad this year and the team now has a new fielding consultant in Australia’s Mike Young.
The team still needs to be consistent but under Kirsten they are progressing in the right direction. Kirsten and mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton’s manual on sex and its effects on sportsmen created quite a furore when it was leaked to the media and for creating controversy that easily was the biggest story in Indian sport this year

18. SOMDEV DEVVARMAN
The 24-year-old, who was talked of as the next big thing ever since his debut in the Davis Cup match against Japan last year, created history in January by becoming the first Indian to reach the final of the ATP Chennai Open. The University of Virginia graduate beat the likes of former World No.1 Carlos Moya and Croat Ivo Karlovic en route to the final.
Somdev spearheaded the Indian challenge in their Davis Cup second round win against Chinese Taipei and later along with Rohan Bopanna took India into the World Group finals after 11 years, beating South Africa at Johannsesburg in the play-off.
Somdev also became the first Indian men’s player to qualify for the singles main draw of a Grand Slam event in seven years in the US Open.

19. GAUTAM GAMBHIR
The year has been outstanding for Indian opener Gautam Gambhir. He won the International Cricket Council’s Test Player of the Year award in October. In July, he held the number one Test ranking, though for only 10 days. He scored two centuries in New Zealand that included a match saving 137 at Napier where he batted close to 11 hours.
Gambhir carried his form in the home Test series against Sri Lanka, hitting back-to-back tons at Ahmedabad and Kanpur. Four centuries in successive Tests gave him a place in the elite circle as the third Indian batsmen after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid to achieved the feat.
Undoubtedly the man around whom Indian batting will revolve in this decade once the big guns retire.

20. C MUNIYAPPA
For a man who caddied for one rupee during his childhood, winning the Hero Honda Indian Open in October was a life-transforming moment.
The win fetched Muniyappa the Rookie of the Year title after the 32-year-old finished his season in 10th place on the Order of Merit with $ 223,269 through one win and three other top-25 finishes. The caddie-turned-pro was the lone Indian in Asian Tour’s annual roll of honour.

21. LEANDER PAES
Age only seems to bring the best out of Leander Paes. The 35-year-old Indian with Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy won the French Open title, beating Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium’s Dick Norman. After a first round exit from the Wimbledon, Paes and Dlouhy joined forces to claim the US Open against Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. It was Paes’ 10th Grand Slam title. He also finished runners-up in mixed doubles with partner Cara Black in the Wimbledon and the US Open. One of the most indestructible Indian sportspersons, Lee is going for a double in 2010 - Commonwealth and Asian Games medals. His main aim is to carry on till the 2012 Olympics so that he can win another Olympic medal, this time in doubles. A crafty and canny player, Paes uses brain rather than brawn to get the better of his opponents. Tough and unyielding, he has learnt to play within himself as he showed in the doubles final against former partner Mahesh playing as he did with an injured shoulder. Akhtar Ali used to say Lee plays with 'chalaki'. That chalaki has stood him in good stead over the years. And he is not done yet. No, Sir, not by a long shot.

22. VIJENDER SINGH
After last year’s Olympic bronze, boxer Vijender Singh proved he was not a flash in the pan. Vijender silenced his critics when he won a bronze medal in the World Championships in September, the first-ever medal for India in the Championships. Later in the month, the Bhiwani boxer added yet another feat becoming the world’s number one boxer in the middle weight (75kg) category, the first Indian ever to do so. He was awarded the Khel Ratna along with Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and women’s four-time world champion boxer Mary Kom.

23. SURANJOY SINGH
The gritty boxer from Manipur gave India its first Asian Championship gold in 15 years. A Mike Tyson fan, the 22-year-old flyweight pugilist, however, could not repeat his success in the World Championships at Milan, where he made a first round exit. Suranjoy worked on his game and returned to win gold at the prestigious AIBA President’s Cup in December. The win has only added to his hunger to win medals for India.

24. V DIJU and JWALA GUTTA
India’s top mixed doubles pair has been making waves on the international scene since renewing their partnership in early 2008, after a year’s break. Riding on their performance, they entered the top-10 in world rankings and made the cut for the World Championships in Hyderabad where they became the first Indian pair to reach the quarterfinals. They won the Chinese Taipei Open in August and finished the year on a high, reaching the final of the World Super Series Masters Finals in Malaysia earlier this year.25. PANKAJ ADVANI
It is hard to neglect Pankaj Advani when one talks of distinct achievements in Indian sports. The 24-year-old, who is the only player to have achieved the ‘grand double’ of winning both the points and time formats at the IBSF World Billiards Championships, winning it in 2005 and the 2008 Championships held in Bangalore, carried his form this year. Advani won the 2009 World Professional Billiards Championship in Leeds, his first World Professional Billiards Championship title, beating defending champion Mike Russell in the final. The World Championships last month however turned out to be a dampener for him.

ZAFAR IQBAL INTERVIEW

Zafar Iqbal is a name that conjures up imagery of a zippy left outmaking dazzling runs to score goals for India. His famed pairing withthe deadly Mohommad Shahid was known for its potency in front of thegoal mouth. Now ensconced as the sports ministry appointed governmentnominated observer along with another former captain Ajit Pal Singh overseeingselection process and coaching for Indian hockey, Zafar Iqbal has a ringside view to the fast moving developments in Indian hockey. With Hockey India having announcedearlier that it would give a notice for the elections 21 days prior tothe polls, time is running out. More so because the wrangling andharanguing over affiliations continues to over shadow the moreimportant issue of staging the Hero Honda hockey World Cup fromFebruary 28. It is ironical that in a land where theWorld Cup is returning after 29 years, the issue of Hockey India pollsare dominating the event itself. There is no hype, no hoopla over thestaging of an event of such magnitude. Nor any mention of our playersand their training regimen. As Iqbal says, this is theOlympic Games of hockey and it is being held in your own backyard andwhat are we doing about promoting it - nothing! That tells you thestory of Indian hockey as it lurches from crisis to another. In anextensive conversation with Sandeep Bamzai, the former Indian hockeycaptain Zafar Iqbal bares his heart. Excerpts:
*We only hear about Hockey India elections, not about the World Cupwhich returns to India for the first time since 1981, what explainsthis shocking apathy towards such a big event?
We are very close to the World Cup, hardly a month and more remainsfor the event to start in Delhi. I agree that nobody seems to beconcerned or is giving adequate importance to the event per se, or theMajor Dhyan Chand stadium which hosts the tournament. Just think ofthe backdrop against which India is getting to host the event. We areranked number 11 by the FIH, we failed to qualify for the BeijingOlympics, we are not a hockey superpower anymore; and yet we aregetting an opportunity to redeem ourselves. But what are we doing? Weare making mockery of staging the event by writing endlessly about theelections. Have you read or seen one story on India's preparations forthe World Cup. The answer is no. Whatever position we will get at thetournament is still in realm of conjecture and hope. This is hockey'sOlympics and it is in our backyard, but we are only consumed by thenegative aspects of Hockey India polls. Newspapers are full of HockeyIndia and its elections.
*We have this terrific opportunity in 2010 to put our best footforward in hockey. Three big events, two of them - World Cup andCommonwealth Games - in our very own country, but what are we doingabout it?
Yes, elections are important, but can the World Cup be subsumed by it?We need to give hockey the necessary support, the right kind of pushand impetus. We managed to get a bronze medal in the recentlyconcluded Salta Champions Challenge. We need to take this forward.Hockey is not cricket. It is not played by a handful of Commonwealthnations. Hockey in many ways is a global game, there are as many as140 nations affiliated to the FIH. Europe, Asia, Anzac countries,South Africa, Argentina - everyone is proficient in hockey. We beatArgentina recently in Salta, they have made rapid strides. But peopleforget that even in the 1975 World Cup that we won, we lost toArgentina in the first match. New Zealand is a solid outfit, they wongold at Salta; they were Olympic champions in 1976 Montreal. No sideis a pushover anymore. That is why it is even more vital to supportIndian hockey in a big way.
*What is the way forward then? The players are being kept out ofadministration...
We need to encourage the game, popularise it, take it deeper into thecountry. It is dying and we should try and revive it before it is toolate. Hockey means everything to people like me. We have to save it.Media needs to take an active part in its revival. Write about thegame, its players, not Hockey India and its elections only. Yes, manyof our players are upset with the system, they are so angry that theydon't want to have anything to do with hockey. I also satyed out ofhockey administration. We also need to understand that hockeyadministration is not easy, it comes with its owns set of problems andimponderables. There are times when even I find it difficult. More sobecause in these competitive climes, it is very difficult to do anhonorary job.
Somewhere, we are missing the woods for the trees. IHF or Hockey Indiaare not important. What is important is that Indian hockey needs to begiven a leg up. It needs to be brought up to speed with the bestpractices, systems and processes being followed around the world. Youhave to revitalise Indian hockey.
*How does one go about doing this?
Coaching methods have to be reoriented, a system of accountability hasto be inculcated, India has close to 600 districts; are you telling methat we cannot find good hockey players in this country. IHF or HockeyIndia's job is not to merely send Indian hockey teams abroad to playin tourneys. It has to attack the very basis with which Indian hockeyplayers are being spotted, coached and trained, fitness levels andtechniques, new drills, umpiring, laying of turfs - everything that isconnected to lifting Indian hockey from the mess thsat it finds itselfin. The old apparatus has to be dismantled completely and a newbooster injection has to be given to it.
*You were one of the few to advocate a foreign coach and trainer forthe Indian team so it could bridge the widening chasm that existedbetween it and other superior hockey playing nations...
Of course, you have to make a fresh start. You cannot rest on yourlaurels in professional sport. We have bought in a new foreign coachand trainer, but we also need quality players. Players with verve andflair. Who then form part of a cohesive whole; a unit which functionsas a team. You cannot hope to bring a Pele or a Maradona and create anIndian football team around them and hope to win the World Cup.Firstly you need star players, but equally you need them to blend withthe rest of team so that they play as a unit. Moreover, sport has maderapid strides as has hockey. Science is an integral part of modernhockey. Holistically, we are not spending enough time, effort, energyor money on the game. We have to raise the bar for ourselves.
*Recently, we had a situation where Jose Brasa was saying that ourhockey players in Balewadi were not being given the diet that he hadprescribed and instead were being fed thinly fleshed chickens day inand day out...
Exactly, it is an attitudinal thing. As long as contractors are toldthat they have to give the players a diet within Rs 300 per player,this practice will continue. That is why I am saying that the efficacyof sports science and physical training has to be brought into play.Hamare zamane mein coaching meant six rounds laga do, all that haschanged. Sophisticated systems and processes are being brought tobear, that is the only way forward. Again media has to play a part, ithas to highlight the need for such changes. They should be fasttracking the importance of the World Cup, I guess they have their ownproblems and compulsions... items are sponsored, cricket sells anddominates the pages. Elections are scheduled for January 29 and theWorld Cup starts on February 28...
*You are one of the government observers, what was the tamasha thattook place at the pre Salta camp where a rebellion of senior playerswas talked about? What about your role in the up coming elections?
It was nothing, Sandeep Singh was injured and so couldn't go to Salta.This rebellion was all bakwas, you know how it is with media, paanchki pachas kar dete hain. Media survives on controversies, let us putall this behind us, be positive and think 2010 World Cup.
As part of the process of elections, as government observers we are onthe panel. We have to go beyond affiliation ki ladai. I remember theBhopal IHF elections in 1993 when KPS Gill was the DGP, a cavalcade of80 cars landed at the venue, all the voters were forced to vote infavour of Gill, yeh toh achcha hai ki goli nahin chali. Unfortunately,this tussle over affiliation is part of the same process that has tobe removed completely from Indian hockey. Politicking and politics hasno place in sport.
Hockey Punjab has been formed with the merger of Pepsu and the men'sand women's bodies. Sukhbir Singh Badal is the president and PargatSingh is the secretary. Affiliation is under a cloud because some ofthe votes as part of the merger are suspect. Hockey India has beenratified by the FIH, but it has the mandate to convene ademocratically held election where one body one state one vote is thenorm and this has to be completed before the World Cup on February 28.So, Hockey India and its elections unfortunately have become thebigger news and not the World Cup and its preparations.