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As 2020 wends its tortuous path, it sets a bar so low that we can only hope and imagine that 2021 will be a great year by comparison. But 2021 will also be the fiftieth anniversary of what author Anindya Dutta has described in the title of his new book as “The Greatest Year”.
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At two hours and nineteen minutes plus intermission, "Sachin: A Billion Dreams" never drags, although it probably does not warrant a place on the top shelf of sporting documentaries. A love letter to be sure, but a well-crafted one.
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Here is the spreadsheet for the standings in my daily Best on Ground points for the 2017 India versus Australia Test series. It follows in the tradition of the Midwinter-Midwinter, the Wessels-Kepler and the #GilesWallyN, and is based on a score of 3-2-1 to the best three players of each day's play in a Test match. (Hat tip to the channel 7 commentary team of the mid-1970s from whom I adapted the idea.)
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When should the selection of a cricket team come with a photoepilepsy alert? This is how the BCCI announced its team to tour Sri Lanka via Vine in October 2015:
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On Tuesday, Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced while on a state visit to New Delhi that Sachin Tendulkar would be made an honorary Member of the Order of Australia. . Yet on Wednesday morning, the Australian media is full of outrage. How can such a seemingly safe and popular decision be so controversial?
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My last recollection of live action at the London Olympics was at around 1am Monday, falling asleep as the Washington Generals of the men's basketball final, Spain, were just maintaining their grip in was a surprisingly close tussle.
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Sachin Tendulkar is surely cricket's greatest batsman of the past twenty years, and maybe (in competition with Vivian Richards) the best of my lifetime. His genius, longevity and durability have given him records that may prove impossible to break. But the farcical pursuit of his "100th international hundred", which climaxed at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur yesterday, is a blight that his illustrious legacy can do without.
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Rahul Dravid is to Sachin Tendulkar what Bill Ponsford was to Don Bradman and Rohan Kanhai was to Garfield Sobers. Dravid, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Friday, was that exceptionally talented and prolific batsman who just happened to be playing for India at the same time as one of the sport's very best.
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One for the Stadium Australia highlights reel methinks. David Warner's switch-hit right-handed six of Ravichandran Ashwin, Australia v India, Twenty20, 1 February 2012.
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"Tendulkar’s 100th 100 a certainty and what a place to do it. 1st Test played at MCG as well as 1st ODI"
- Tony Greig, Twitter, 5.42pm 27.12.11"Did I jinx him...if so sorry"
- Tony Greig, Twitter, 6.01pm 27.12.11, five minutes after Tendulkar was dismissed for 73.
The continuing expectation of Sachin Tendulkar's "100th international hundred" and a delightful partnership with his rejuvenated team-mate Rahul Dravid. The highlights of the second day of the Melbourne Test between India and Australia, 27 December 2011.
Tendulkar fell for 73, and that faux statistical milestone remains unconquered for now. But it was still a joyous innings to watch, encapsulated in these highlights, from the official Cricket Australia Youtube channel, of the post-tea session of play:
