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Victory Indian opener Virender Sehwag with his hard-hitting, scattered the fielders and lambasted the Pakistani attack scoring 119 off 95 balls (9*4,5*6) as India marched to the semifinal league high on confidence. Suresh Raina followed his hundred against Hong Kong with a 69-ball 84 that was laden with shots of the highest quality. Sehwag and Raina added 198 runs for the 2^nd wicket that paved the way for India’s victory over Pakistan. They both played with aggression and squeezed the confidence and hope out of the Pakistani bowlers.

 
Sehwag Sehwag’s ton overshadowed Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik’s knock of 125 runs. Malik had opened with Salman Butt retired hurt with cramps in the 40^th over. Pakistani team had posted a strong total of 299 for four to win the match and India replied in a befitting manner by strong opening. Gambhir fell early for 9 when Misbah-ul-Haq pulled off an athletic catch at gully before Pakistani bowlers faced the onslaught of Sehwag and in-form Suresh Raina. None of the Pakistani bowlers could stop the flurry of boundaries. It was all Indian flags all over.

 
Raina It was a marvelous cricket by Sehwag and Raina that created the ground for crushing defeat for Pakistan. Playing under lights Sehwag savaged the attack scoring his ninth hundred. It was his first one-day hundred for India since the 2007 world cup match against Bermuda. Since then he could not retain his form and had to go through the agony of getting omitted from the team. Sehwag was slow to begin with, allowing Raina to take the driving seat. Raina picked the line and length early and with his perfect timing played some breathtaking strokes. The control and disdain in some of his shots angered Iftikhar who let loose a volley of words. He was declared man of the match.

Record Indians took the sweet revenge for the defeat in the hands of Pakistan in the Kitply tri-series final in Dhaka. Sehwag and Raina prepared the ground for win and rest of the formalities was completed by Yuvraj and skipper Dhoni.

Awards Former Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Sourav Ganguly was adjudged the Asian Cricketer and Asian Batsman of the Year for his fighting comeback into the Indian team, at the Castrol Asian Cricket Awards at a function held in Karachi on June 27. Ganguly has had a series of successful innings during his memorable comeback to the Indian Cricket Team during the South African tour of 2006-07.For his overall battling performances during the year, he also received the overall Castrol Asian Batsman of the Year Award. This aggressive Indian batsman had given outstanding battling performances after his memorable comeback to the Indian Team.

Other Indian Players Besides Ganguly, the other three Indians who were also awarded in the function were Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. Sachin was adjudged the best ODI Batsman while Gautam Gambhir grabbed the honor in Twenty20. Yuvraj Singh was given a special award for hitting six sixes off a Stuart Broad over in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup.

Career Ganguly played his first international one day cricket match against West Indians at Brisbane in 1992 and then was forgotten for four years. It was only in1996 that luck surprised him when he played in the first international test match of his career because the some of the players had got injured. In the second match at Lord’s he blasted a superb century. In the same year he was promoted to the top of the order on the OdIs, along with Sachin Tendulkar, thus forming one of the most destructive opening pairs in the world Cricket history.

Captain After the match-fixing exposed in 2000, he was named captain of the Indian Cricket team. Under his captaincy India own in 21 of the 49 test matches. He is considered to be the most successful captain of Indian. He was captain of Indian Cricket Team from 2000-05. Ganguly is the second among Indiana after Sachin Tendulkar who has in terms of overall runs scored. He has scored 15 centuries in test matches and 22 in ODIs. Under his captaincy Indian cricket team had reached the final of the 2003 World Cup. His score of 183 runs against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup is a, second highest in world cup history and the highest by an Indian.

Ganguly’s one of the most important contributions to the Indian cricket is that he made the team more aggressive and put them to the winning habit.

Victory Indian opener Virender Sehwag with his hard-hitting, scattered the fielders and lambasted the Pakistani attack scoring 119 off 95 balls (9*4,5*6) as India marched to the semifinal league high on confidence. Suresh Raina followed his hundred against

Victory Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reached the finals of the Ordina Open tennis tournament being played in s’Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands)   on Friday. They defeated Argentineans Guillermo Canas and Juan-Martin Del Porto in a hard fought match to enter the final .Paes and Bhupathi beat the Argentinean due in a marathon battle that lasted more than one and a half hour.

Tough Match In the enthralling contest, the unseeded Argentinean pair of Canas and Porto gave Paes Bhupathi tense moments from the very first start that they missed the first set narrowly losing to the Argentinean duo 6-8 in the tie-breaker after squandering two set points, one of which came in the tie-break After losing the first set narrowly the Indian due stormed back into match in the second set and broke their rivals in the opening fame itself. Canes and Porto saved the third game though Indians had got another chance to break their rivals. It was an enthralling and tough contest the result of which could be decided only in the super tie-breaker.

Super Tie-Breaker It was only their experience that paved the way for the Indian due to their victory. The super tie-breaker turned out to be a see-saw battle but the experienced Indians held their nerves to earn two match points and the wrapped up the match to win that was also a toughest match of the tournament so far.

Olympic Preparation The Indian due was playing together on the ATP circuit after the gap of four years. They had gone into the tournament under-prepared and also after a long gap. They had won three Grand Slam Titles playing together and an Olympic medal. Recently Paes and Bhupathi had decided to play together for India at Olympics. This tournament is the part of their preparation for the Olympics. Ace tennis player had pleaded to Mahesh Bhupathi to put aside all the differences and play together for the country in the Olympic but Bhupathi had showed his resentment in playing with Paes. It was only on the initiative of the AITA that both the player got united and decided to play together in the Olympic Games. Paes and Bhupathi are the best options for India for the Olympics. They have played together in many tournaments and know each other’s playing style very well. With them, India has hoped to win a medal in the Olympics.        

Entertainment With the evolution of science and technology the entertainment sources have changed. New entertainment sources like TV, Cinema has almost put other entertainment sources very behind of it. In the older times people used to entertain them selves in the various ways. It included games, hunting, wrestling, folk songs dances etc. Most of the games, people have forgotten about as they are not in fashion now and very few of them have survived. Some of the games are being played at the International level  in their changed style and are very popular.

Dangals People used to play the rural games that suited almost every age group. Rural games were the sheer necessity of rural people as they did not had any other alternative source of entertainment. As main occupation of the people used to be the agriculture so all the games also used to be related to agriculture. It included from the wrestling , running, and such other performing arts that used to measure the strength of the individual or the team. Almost in every village dangals( wrestling matches) used to be organized. It is the tradition that is still being followed in most of the parts of India. This Dangal used to be the games time of the village. Though dangal is mainly related to wrestling but other games are also played during it . Players from the adjoining areas participate in the village dangals.

Hockey Before independence Kabbaddi and wrestling used to be the main game of the rural folk. Except it another game called “Khido Khoondi”, that was mainly the game of  children and that resembled hockey, was replaced by the modern hockey in which players from villages without proper facilities began to dominate in the game. Most of the Indian hockey players come out of villages even today

Other activities After the bad times of militancy most of the rural sports fare have been revived and people not only from adjoining areas but also from other states took part in some of the famous sport fairs. Kila Raipur Rural Sports meet has become so famous at International level that people have started to call it Rural Olympic .During the fair other games like Bullock cart race and horse races are also played,Every rural sports fare ends with the cultural programs that involve folk singing, dancing etc

These rural games really represent the fighting spirit of the Punjabi people against odds.

Punjab defended its championship by defeating the favorites Services by a solitary goal and thus lifted the 62nd Santosh Trophy national football championship title at the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar on Sunday. Services were the favorites as they had defeated the Punjab in the quarter final stages of the tournament. But Punjab took the revenge displaying an all-round performance in the match.

Both of the teams were almost equals to each other but it was Punjab players who performed better than their adversaries when the situation was demanding. Punjab proved to be the better side on display and their striking trio of Amandeep Singh, Balraj and Balwant Singh kept on attacking in a well mannered and planned way posing serious threats to the Services goal. They got many chances to increase the winning goal margin but could not convert them in reality and it was also the Services skipper and custodian who did not allow them to increase the winning margin and thus keeping his team in the hunt till the end.

Services had qualified for the Santosh Trophy final after the gap of 39 years and were favorite side to win the final. They also paid the price for highly relying on their star striker who was rendered ineffective by the Punjab defenders as they did not gave him little opportunity to break free. Though he could not watch the trophy as he would have preferred was gifted away to his adversaries but he was awarded Player of the Tournament. It was only in the ninth minute of the match he could attack the Punjab goal that was collected by Punjab keeper Karanjit Singh. Though the Serviced players attacked the Punjab goal many times it was Karanjit Singh who thwarted all their attempts to neutralize the score.

Though Punjab dominated the match most of the time but they could not increase the winning margin and even missed some golden chances. Punjab though kept the opposite side pressure, pouring forward it was only in the 54^th minute of the match that the combined attack by Balraj and Satkar Singh brought the opposition keeper Robikanta Singh out of his box and this moment turned out to be the beginning of the ending of the Services’ dream. And this single shot was enough to declare Punjab the winner of the Santosh Trophy.

India Wins India scored an emphatic win over its arch rival Pakistan in the second one-day cricket match of the ongoing tri-series at Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka Bangladesh on June 10.With their crushing victory over the Pakistan they also snapped their winning streak .India defeated them with the huge margin of 140 runs and thus ended their march towards their 13^th consecutive victory.

Bating It was India’s first international one day cricket match after the sensational IPL and they played it in the same fashion as if they were playing in the 20T match. India won the toss and elected to bat first. Indian inning was opened by the openers’ due of Sehwag-Gambhir, forming a left-right combination. Their different style of playing and the scoring areas is enough that can put any fielding side into tremendous pressure. It was very difficult for the bowlers of the opposite side to make adjustment to both of the batsmen. They gave no chance to the bowlers of the opposite side to settle down and played the shots in their styles for which they are famous for. Their running between the wickets was amazing. They both gave a solid start to the Indian inning and both of them completed their half centuries very quickly and added 155 runs to the total of 330.

Bowling Pakistan while chasing the victory target of 331 could not coupe with the pressure and bowling of Praveen Kumar increased the difficulties and rests of the formalities were completed by the young spinner Piyush Chawla. Praveen’s deceptive bowling cut through the Pakistani top order dismissing its first three batsmen and then ‘adventurous’ Kamran Akmal.

Ordinary Performance Pakistan’s fielding was also the tormentor for them. They could not convert the chances into reality that they had got .Younis Khan dropped Gambhir twice when he was on 4 and 29.Sehwag was also dropped by the stumper when he was on 43. Pakistani bowling attack was lacking the sharpness for which they are famous for. Their fielding too was ordinary one.

Diplomacy Cricket is the most important fact in the Indian sub-continent that affects the daily schedule of the people. Some people call it religion and some call it a source of entertainment but for India and Pakistan it has another part to play that is called “cricket diplomacy’. It has brought the two countries that at some time were on the verge of a nuclear war so close that they are now talking about the possibilities of free trade and many more. For world it is a game but for the people of Indian sub continent it has a deep meaning no matter who wins or who looses it is the victory of cricket.

IPL Final Rajasthan Royals, by securing four runs on the last ball, defeated Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in the DLF-IPL final at the D Y Patil stadium in Mumbai. With it ended

the month long war of cricket that was being fought between different team having national and international players. In the final, waited by everyone enthusiastically Rajasthan Royals

proved their might and also kept their winning spree on.

Winning Target Winning Target Rajasthan Royals were given a target of 164 for victory but they began on a
disastrous note. Their first wicket, opener Niraj Patel could not coup with the pressure and as clean bowled for 2 by Manpreet Goni. The other opener continued to impress but got out n Albie Morkel’s first ball for 28 of 20 balls. Kamran Akmal followed him when he got run out hile stealing a run that was never there. It was then, Yousaf Pathan who took the reins into is hands and showed the way of victory to the Rajasthan Royals.

Run Chase   Run Chase Though the winning shot was played by Sohail Tanvir it was Yousaf Pathan who aved the way to victory. Pahang once again proved his worth by performing well in both of he departments of the game bowling and batting. He profited from the glaring lapses made
by the opposition players on field. It was his performance that forced the course of the game to change according to his own way. In his knock he made 56 runs from 39 balls including 3 ours and 4 mighty sixes. His partnership with Shane Watson fetched 65 runs to their team.

Bowling Earlier, batting first Chennai Super Kings scored 163 runs for 4.This part of the game was also dominated by Yousaf Pathan .He grabbed three for 22 in two spells. It was his

accurate bowling that dried the runs to the Super Kings to take risks .The Rajasthan bowlers bowled according to their field placements and thus restricted their opponents to a winnable

score of 163.

Man of the Match Whatever luck offered to Pathan he grabbed it, whether it was his catch dropped or some other critical lapses made on field by his opponents .Finally he got run out

of Suresh Raina’s direct throw but till that time Rajasthan Royals had reached very near to the target. For his all round performance he was declared man of the match, that was, he

deserved most

Rajasthan Royals have emerged as one of the strongest cricket team in the ongoing Indian Premier League. There is not any star cricketer accept Shane Warne and Graeme Smith   Prior to the matches the team was being considered to be the weakest team in the IPL This became evident when they lost their first match to Delhi Dare Devils. But they defeated the Kings XI Punjab in the next game and have won the next five matches in a row. They have lost only two games out of thirteen and and have reached the semifinals with highest point tally of 22.

Team is owned by UK based company Emerging Media Its franchise was acquire by the group for $67million, was the lowest bidding price for any team. Shane Warne is the captain and coach of the team. It is the only team in the IPL having a foreigner captain.

Warne’s magic is working well as they have kept their winning streak on, accept some debacles in. Captaincy is being praised by all. His aggressiveness has inspired all the players to perform at their best..They have played in a very disciplined manner whether it is the bowling department or the batting department throughout whole of the series. This all has happened under the guidance and leadership of Shane Warne. His crafty tactics have worked a lot in their favour.

In the last game they dashed the Mumbai Indians’ hopes of semifinal by scoring a spectacular last ball win over them. The team needed 15 runs in the final over and they won it by scoring two runs off the last ball and also have kept their winning streak on.

Chasing the target of 146, Rajasthan Royals had lost five wickets till the end of the 12^th over for just 77 runs .When Kamran Akmal (18), Swapnil Asnodkar (17), Shane Watson (18) and Mohammad Kaif (12), all failed, it were Ravindra Jadeja (23 not out) and Niraj Patel (40 not out) who then, bailed the team out of the crisis .They both not only scored required 69 runs but also preserved their unbeaten record at home.

Sidddharth Trivedi kept, both the Mumbai Indians’ openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, under control and Sohail Tanvir forced the visiting middle and lower order to dance to his tunes. Both the openers could score only 60 runs from the first 10 overs. Their disciplined bowling attack lead by Sohail Tanvir (4 for 14) and Sidddharth Trivedi (2 for 31) restricted the Mumbai Indians to the score of 145 for 7.

Although the Royals team is lacking quality batsmen as compared to the other IPL teams their determination to win, disciplined performance whether it is balling or batting ,and the aggressive captaincy have proved the cricket pundits wrong who had considered it the weakest team in the earlier stages of the IPL.

Olympics 2008 would be remembered for many reasons. In the history of the game of hockey, this was for the first time that India failed to qualify for the Olympics. It is peak time to remember the golden era of the Indian Hockey when India got a medal in the Olympics from 1928-1980 except once in 1976 which includes 8 golds.

It all started for a friendship between two British colonels who were part of Gallipoli Tragedy during the First World War. As a friendship gesture, an Indian Army hockey team toured for the first time to New Zealand in 1926. The hosts were shocked by the classic game showcased by the visitors and thereby established that Indians are indeed a world apart.

It was Dhyan Chand who mesmerized the world with his extraordinary skills. He led the Indians thought of taking part in the Olympics. In that era, a mixed team of 16 players, this 18 year old, legend of hockey, the “other rank” soldier from the Brahmin regiment stood out not because of the goals he has scored. It was the elegance and grace which he showed while scoring the maximum goals. Every goal scored was a lesson in the game of hockey from an institution, Dhyan Chand.

In the next three Olympics between 1928 and 1936, India stood like a behemoth, Dhyan Chand lived up to the expectation and the faith rested by the IHF. He was never called for selections trials.  England, the defending champion in 1928 Olympics, backed out when they saw Dhyan Chand at the Folkstone Festival Hockey enroute Amsterdam. It was the rarest occurrence in the history that a colonial country as mighty as the British Empire kept out from a particular sport for three Olympics. It is same British, 80 years later ironically, defeated India in a qualifier thus ensured India’s first exit from Olympic Hockey in 80 years.

In his autobiography, “GOAL” Dhyan Chand has mentioned that he only scored 3 goals in the finals though he was credited with 6 out 8 goals scored in the finals of 1936 Berlin Olympics in the Olympics records. Dhyan Chand’s legacy is not just confined to the pre- independence era. After partition, during 1947 a strong claim was made to declare India’s three Olympic golds neutral like British India or undivided India. The 1936 game team had 18 members, which had 8 Anglo Indians, 4 Muslims and 2 Hindus from Pakistan. But even the free India team won that psychological was as all of those 14 souls dwarfed against the towering dinosaur, Dhyan Chand.

It was fast batting this time coupled with bowling which helped KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS defeat BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLANGERS……easily. This opening match of cricket’s richest tournament ever played ($2bn) got a breathtaking start with fireworks and lasers in the sky; acrobats, rockers, dancers and cheerleaders on the ground.

One thing which I think everyone forget to look at is the rule book which I am sure would surprise the players and the viewers equally since this new format of the game has some strange rules clubbed with it. Have a look:

8-MINUTE RULE: If the player is absent from the field for longer than 8 minutes, he shall not be permitted to bowl in that innings after his return until he has been on the field for at least that length of playing time for which he was absent. He shall also not be permitted to bat unless or until, he has returned to the field and/or his side’s innings has been in progress for at least that length of playing time for which he has been absent or, if earlier, when his side has lost five wickets. There are some exceptions to this rule.

LIMITED OVERS:  No bowler shall bowl more than 4 overs in an innings.

PRE MATURE MATCHES: If the innings of the side batting second is suspended (with at least 5 overs bowled) and it is not possible for the match to be resumed, the match will be decided by the Duckworth-Lewis method  “Par Score” determined at the instant of the suspension by the Duckworth-Lewis method. If the score is equal to the par score, the match is a Tie. Otherwise the result is a victory or defeat, by the margin of runs by which the score exceeds, or falls short of the Par Score.

NO BALL-FREE HIT: The delivery following a no ball called for a foot fault shall be a free hit for whichever batsman is facing it. For any free hit, the striker can be dismissed only under the circumstances that apply for a no ball (run out) even if the delivery for the free hit is called wide ball. Field changes are not permitted for free hit deliveries unless there is a change of striker.

TIMED OUT: If the incoming batsman has not taken guard to receive the next ball within 1 minute 30 seconds of the fall of the previous wicket, he shall be deemed out.

FIELD RESTRICTIONS: Fielding restrictions shall apply for the first six overs of each innings. During the restriction, only two fielders shall be permitted outside the circle. At the instant of delivery, there may not be more than 5 fieldsmen on the leg side. During the non Fielding Restriction overs, no more than 5 fieldsmen shall be permitted outside the fielding restriction area. In case of an infringement of these restrictions, the square leg umpire shall call and signal “NO BALL”.

BODYLINE BOWLING: A bowler shall be limited to one fast short pitched delivery per over. A fast short- pitched delivery is defined as a ball which passes or would have passed about the shoulder height of the striker standing upright at the crease. If a bowler delivers second fast short pitched ball in an over, the umpire, call of no ball.

BOWL OUT: Similar to a penalty-shoot out in football, if the game ends in a tie, a bowl-out will be adopted to decide the outcome of the game, as it happed in the India- Pakistan league game of T20 world cup, 2007. The bowlers will bowl from the same end. 5 minutes prior to the start of the bowl out, the captains shall toss a coin for the right to decide which team bowls first or second in the bowl out. The referee will supervise the toss in the normal manner. The captains shall nominate their five bowlers in writing to the referee prior to the toss. 

 SIGHTSCREENS AND ADVERTISEMENTS:  Sightscreens shall be provided at both ends of all grounds. Advertising shall be permitted on the sightscreen behind the striker, providing it is removed for the subsequent over from that end. Such advertising shall not contain flashing or flickering images.

 Cricket has evolved from an all white five day game to one-day game. It then transformed a part of it to the day and night games giving huge relief to the viewers and the players of course. Time changed and the whites were replaced by different colors on the field. With changing pace of the human thought and belief and to bring more excitement in the game a new format was introduced in the form of T20. 

All this happened in just a few decades. It may be called as evolution or degeneration, according to the viewpoint you hold, there is no denying of the fact that the game gained popularity, excitement and of course money.

Asian countries, particularly India & Pakistan have a huge population which considers Cricket as religion. This is the only factor that India Inc bank upon the crickets the most. It also has impacted the other sports in India though one may not agree largely on this. Here comes IPL with yet another form of the game- on the lines of English Premier League, though the idea was first materialized by Subhash Chandra led ZEE group when they introduced ICL last year. Was it successful or not that’s a different story.

With imported (Hollywood style) cheerleaders, dancing to the tunes of Bollywood, Stars from Bollywood and India Inc joining in the crazy Indian cricket fans, Bangalore is all set to kick-off the IPL- an Indian version of T20 Cricket.

In the next one and a half month approximately, IPL with a taste of Bollywood masala in it is going to present the most sought after gamble that would land the big tycoons from different industries, who have spent billions to have the teams and players of their choice, in sea. It may also have a positive outcome that may change the entire outlook of the game of cricket all over the world.

In an attempt to make it a look alike of professional sports models of baseball, basketball and football, IPL would try to switch the loyalty of an Indian cricket fan. Tendulkar bowled out by Brett Lee is never enjoyed in India at large, which may not be the case this time. As it happened in PHL, a Pakistani player beating Indian goalkeeper would result into CHAK DE, which no longer is the case. .

Has BCCI given birth to BHASMASURA, who may ruin the richest board of world cricket?

As the Olympic torch coming closer to complete its Indian leg, the series of protest, back-outs, unfoiling of plots to disrupt the relay as expected are coming true.

As more than 100 activists supporting Tibet cause, under the leadership of TIBETIAN YOUTH CONGRESS, tried to intrude into the CHINESE embassy in New Delhi today. Shouting and holding banners reading messages like “Free Tibet”, “Stop cultural genocide”, and “No Olympics in China”, the protestors also shouted HU JINTAO MURDABAD ( down with Hu Jintao). A timely action from Delhi police though nipped it in the bud.

Indian government has deployed more than 15000 policemen and personnel from Para Military forces to avoid any incident which disrupted the Olympic relay in London and Paris. The two-kilometer route of the relay has been turned into a highly protected area. In an effort to avoid leaving no stone unturned for the safe completion of the DELHI-LEG of the Olympic torch relay, the government has  cancelled the participation of over 2200 school children, for security reason, which was planned otherwise.

Security agencies are on high alert to arrest any attempt to disrupt the relay. In a significant development, THE INTELLIGENCE BUREAU has sent an alert about a few Chinese nationals who are in the capital to pose threat to the torch. More importantly, their names, hideouts, modus operandi and above all photographs have been identified and issued. They are suspected to have entered from Nepal to India. The Chinese government is equally worried about the relay and is in constant touch with its Indian counterpart.

 At home, after Bhaichung Bhutia- national football captain, Kiran Bedi- first female IPS offices, M. S. Gill- former election commissioner and sitting Sports Minister, Soha Ali Khan- Bollywood actress, it is Sachin Tendulkar who would be missing from the relay. Though his reason is fitness related, it is suspected that the Indian Olympic Association was not taken into confidence while taking this decision.

Gill also advocated that only the athletes and sportspersons should run in the Olympic relay, giving birth to yet another controversy, though in mild tone. The torch, currently completing its Pakistan-leg would be in Delhi late tonight. Looking at what happened in London and Paris, it would be an acid test for the Indian authorities.

Giving in to Chinese concerns regarding the security of the Olympic torch during its relay here, the Union home ministry and the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) have agreed to curtail the relay route to the high-security stretch of Rajpath.

The torch relay - which is slated to have 80 participants in all- may start from Vijay Chowk on April 17, the scheduled day for the Delhi leg of the torch relay that would span 135 destinations world-wide, and conclude at India Gate: a run of 2-3 km. A torch-bearing ceremony is likely to be held at India Gate, for which the entire C-hexagon may be cordoned off. In other words, traffic from all the arterial roads leading to India Gate will be barred: in all possibility, from the night before April 17.

The security concerns relating to the Olympic torch relay here were discussed at a review meeting chaired on Monday by Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta and attended by senior officials of the Delhi government, IOA, intelligence agencies and the Delhi Police commissioner. The participants agreed that Rajpath was a better choice as regards security and traffic management as compared to the IOA-proposed Red Fort-India Gate route, and the arrangements could be on the lines of those made for the Republic Day and Beating Retreat.

Earlier, at a press conference in February to announce Delhi’s selection for hosting the India leg of the Beijing torch relay - Mumbai lost out due to logistical and security considerations IOA chairman Suresh Kalmadi had unveiled plans for a much longer route from Red Fort to India Gate. However, with Beijing expressing its concerns regarding the security of the torch in the wake of a few Tibetan protesters scaling the wall of the Chinese embassy - it even threatened to call off the Delhi leg if the Tibetan protests got uglier - the MHA felt that Rajpath was a better route in terms of security management as well as traffic management.

“The torch relay is a major occasion: like any other international event, we must ensure that it passes off smoothly…that is why I held this review meeting….the finer details will be worked out between the Delhi government and the IOA,” Mr. Gupta told. He also hinted that once the details are worked out, “I might hold another review meeting.” The review of the logistical details for the Olympic torch relay - which opened in Beijing on Monday - was necessitated after the Chinese ambassador Zhang Yan called on Union home minister Shivraj Patil last week to convey Beijing’s concerns regarding the safety of the torch after the security breach at the Chinese embassy.

The meeting had come despite an earlier assurance by national security adviser M K Narayanan that New Delhi would do all to ensure security of the torch. The arrangements for the torch relay would not be very different from that undertaken for the Republic Day and Beating Retreat ceremonies.

The story of how Imtiaz Patel almost became the chief executive and then quietly slipped away will become one of those classics about the bungling of the International Cricket Council in years to come. From announcing Patel’s name to the public prematurely, to being unable to get to him for a week after, the ICC did everything to botch up what would have been a very good deal.

Initially, there were doubts that Patel was concerned over his role, not wanting to be seen as a rubber-stamp CEO with Inderjit Singh Bindra being given such sweeping powers. But the Super Sport boss, it is learnt, was too pragmatic a man to let something like that get in the way.

The thing about Patel is that he seemed hand-built for the job. He was lndian but not Indian at all. He was a professional with a proven track record, and cricket was his sport while television rights, international and local, were his speciality. Malcolm Speed, the current CEO of the ICC, recognised this early on, well before the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September last year, and chose Patel as his preferred successor and went about courting him.

While Speed convinced Patel to throw his hat in the ring for the big job, it was by no means a done deal when David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, announced in Dubai on March 17: “We have been unanimous in selecting Imtiaz Patel of South Africa as the next chief executive of ICC and we have recommended his name for approval by the executive committee.”

Whether this was a genuine gaffe on the part of the ICC, or a not-so subtle way of putting pressure on Patel, who had not yet signed on the dotted line, is a matter of conjecture.

A couple of days after this announcement Patel made it clear that it was not quite a done deal just yet, although few believed he would turn down the offer. Patel was then whisked away to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for a high-prbfile meeting of chief executives and other head honchos of SuperSport. In that one week, when he was far from the influence of the ICC and in the company of those he had worked with so loyally for more than eight years, he was won back. Patel’s commitment to his company and the critical role he played were underscored, and the ICC lost out.

If one thing would have tempted Patel to take up the ICC job in Dubai it was his growing concern about living in crime-ridden Johannesburg. More than once Patel has spoken to his confidantes about the unhealthy atmosphere in the city and how his son sometimes woke up in the night with awful dreams.

On 03/31/2008, Patel informed Morgan of his decision. “We are obviously disappointed that Imtiaz has chosen to withdraw,” said Morgan, while adding rather contradictorily; “However, the fact that Imtiaz has withdrawn does not mean that, by default, we will be left with a candidate who is, in any way; inferior to him.”