Lokendra Pratap Sahi

Kapil Dev with his pets. KAPIL Dev Nikhanj, or ‘Kaps’, knows more than a thing or two about cricket. Inspirational captain, World Cup winner, legendary all-rounder, more than a proficient golfer, soft corner for strays… Clearly, a man of many parts. Excerpts from an exhaustive interview…   Q: Nine wins out of nine… Have India been brilliant or the opponents poor? A: It’s a performance to admire and respect. Any team can have a bad day, but it takes some effort coming to the semi-final of a World Cup undefeated. Consistency has been the key and it’s 10 on 10 on that score. Q: Watching India’s graph over the past five weeks it would seem the World Cup is an easy tournament… A: When the going is good, everything looks good… No tournament is easy, least of all a World Cup. Q: The India win you enjoyed the most? A: Very first match, against Australia, when we were three down for two on the board (chasing 200). Gems from KL Rahul (97 not out) and Virat Kohli (85) got us full points. Ma...

  Interviewer with Mickey Arthur WITH more lows than highs in the past month, the World Cup hasn’t gone the way Mickey Arthur, Pakistan team’s director of cricket would have liked, but he’s far from crushed. Technically, Pakistan are still in contention for a semi-finals berth. Realistically, even a miracle no less may not be enough.  Be it teams or players, only the controllables can be controlled. Once other equations come into play, might as well board the first flight home.  Naturally, Mickey still has fingers crossed, hopeful that Babar Azam and his men can raise the bar exponentially against England, at Eden Gardens, on Saturday. In a way, perhaps, Glenn Maxwell is an inspiration. Powered by his 201 not out against Afghanistan, Australia managed what appeared impossible. But then… The world, as Virat Kohli says in a classic promotional on TV, does live on hope.   As Pakistan cricket’s off-the-field face, Mickey is aware he must not come across as deflated ...

  Jimmy Cook STEPHEN James Cook, or Jimmy Cook, can never be dislodged from a unique position in South Africa’s ODI history: Thirtytwo years ago, at Eden Gardens, Cook was awarded ODI cap No.1. He also faced the very first delivery, from Kapil Dev! India, it may be recalled, won that ODI and the series. South Africa’s captain then, Clive Rice, is sadly no more. Mohammed Azharuddin helmed India.  Cook, who turned 70 in July, is a full-time coach and has just finished working with Oman’s juniors. Besides his own Academy in Johannesburg, Cook is associated with Gary Kirsten’s one in Cape Town. While younger son Ryan is coach of The Netherlands, elder son Stephen is SA20’s head of cricket operations. Cricket and the Cooks, well, truly inseparable.  Owing to Cook’s travel across continents, different time zones and his coaching commitments, my interactions with him had to be spread over a couple of days.  Excerpts… Q: You have the distinction of owning South Africa’s ODI ...

David Gower: Classy on and off the field DAVID Ivon Gower didn’t just score over 11,000 runs for England, he did so with flamboyance that isn’t a feature of every batsman who makes it to the highest level. Classy as a batsman, classy as a person too. That’s Gower. Besides, he has been a dear friend from England’s 1984-1985 tour of India, when he was the captain. Gower, who has made it to the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s Hall of Fame, is currently on vacation in France, near St-Tropez. In a wonderful gesture, Gower nevertheless took time off on Saturday evening to answer a range of Qs. Excerpts… Q: Only one win in the first five matches… Stunned by England’s performance, or the lack of it, in World Cup 2023 or is there a better description? A: Stunned, yes. Astounded. Perplexed. Bemused. Take your pick! Q: What do you think derailed the defending champions from the beginning itself, when teams normally look to build momentum? A: Impossible to know (what went on within). I w...

  In February 2017 , Bedi was in Calcutta to deliver The Telegraph 's annual Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture. Pix appeared with the Author's interview of Bedi in the newspaper HOW do I begin? Where do I begin? Do I write at all? Hard to do so when you’re overwhelmed by grief. So, it’s on the day after dear Bish’s demise that I’m making this attempt. But the questions return: How do I begin? Where do I begin? Do I start with my first look of Bishan Singh Bedi, in possibly a maroon patka, as a 10-year-old? That was during my Eden Gardens ‘debut’, India vs Australia Test, in the 1969-1970 season. Or, do I start with my first face-to-face meeting with Bish, as a journalist, in the mid-1980s? I could introduce myself to Bish, no more, as seniors in the profession kept badgering him to add “ raunaq ” to an impromptu “ mehfil ” by cracking “non-vegetarian” jokes! Bish’s response: “ Yeh koi time hai kya ? Let’s meet at 7.30 in the evening.” My first (and lasting) impressions...

MS Dhoni, doing it his way. Pix: Courtesy ICC THE past week has seen extraordinary happenings both over the 22 yards and away from the thick of action in World Cup 2023. Cricket is a mere five years away from making a comeback in the Olympics, in Los Angeles. Too late for the Rohit Sharmas and Virat Kohlis to become Olympians, but the Ruturaj Gaikwads and Yashasvi Jaiswals should. Already back are exciting/bizarre rewards (depending on how you view them) after Poonam Pandey’s offer to strip if Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team won the 2011 World Cup. Dhoni did lift the World Cup, but publicity-seeker Poonam didn’t strip, claiming the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declined to give permission. Laughable, for the BCCI doesn’t control social media platforms. Perhaps dreading a bounty being placed on her head, Pakistani actor Sehar Shinwari didn’t take a leaf out of Poonam’s controversial book, but did draw inspiration in a limited way. On the eve of the India vs Bangladesh match,...