Australian Open ~ good gestures by Roger Federer and Serena Williams

Every day as we enter our Office building, Security would want us to show the Identity Card ! ~ what would be your response on being stopped and how do rich and famous people [read Cine actors and politicians] behave at Public places, especially, if they are asked to establish their identity – this man was remarkable !

At Melbourne, it was  – master class Dhoni finished another match, with Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav batting well and earlier Yuzvendra Chahal bamboozling with 6 for 42 at Melbourne .. .. then the Capt Virat Kohli and his actress wife Anushka Sharma enjoyed some more special and memorable moments in Australia signing off  in the most stylish way possible. Kohli and Anushka went to watch the first Grand Slam of 2019 - Australia Open - that is being played at the Melbourne Park. Not just that, they met the legendary Roger Federer, who is aiming to win this third consecutive Australian title. Roger Federer is a six-time Australian Open champion, the owner of 20 major singles titles, a man who has spent more weeks ranked number one than any other and one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet ?

The Australian Open is now on .. .. For the first time in his career, Alexander Zverev is through to the fourth round of the Australian Open. The No.4 seed got there via a largely trouble-free 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory over local wildcard Alex Bolt. The South Australian lefty had enjoyed a breakout tournament, advancing further at a Grand Slam than he ever had before. Suddenly, he was appearing at Rod Laver Arena under lights – also a career-first – on Saturday night. In spurts, the 155th-ranked Bolt troubled Zverev, with his big first serve, power off the ground and net-rushing instincts keeping the match competitive. But the gulf between the two on this occasion came in the consistency department. And Zverev had this attribute in spades over his opponent.

Like Federer, there is another one at top – Serena Williams has been in devastating form and she made short work of 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska, winning 6-2, 6-1. The title favourite has dropped just nine games on her way to the fourth round and spent only three hours and six minutes on court in total. Yastremska grew up idolising Williams, and the American gave her young opponent a hug at the net, telling her: “You did amazing, don’t cry.” Williams added later: “As she was walking towards the net, I could tell she was quite upset. I kind of liked that. It shows she wasn’t just there to play a good match, she was there to win. She wanted to win. That really broke my heart. I think she’s a good talent. It’s good to see that attitude.”

Williams also talked to Yastremska in the locker room after the match about a time violation the Ukrainian teenager received in the second set that the American felt was unfair. “I didn’t think she deserved the time violation,” said Williams. “I thought that the umpire has to wait until the crowd stops clapping before announcing the score. I felt just to keep the match going he was announcing it really fast, which is fine, which is normal, but maybe she wasn’t used to that.

The 23-time grand slam champion on Saturday cruised through to the fourth round with a steamrolling 6-2 6-1 blitz of teenager Dayana Yastremska, but wasn’t 100 per cent sure about some of the decisions made in the match. The 37-year-old legend’s uncertainty was only revealed when her opponent opened up in her post-match press conference about an exchange they shared while returning to the locker room following their third round match. The Ukrainian said Williams was on her side when it came to a controversial time wasting code violation warning issued to Yastremska. She suggested umpire James Keothavong was overly pedantic when enforcing the 25 seconds players are allowed in between points. Yastremska claimed Williams said Keothavong was also too quick in announcing the scores after each point was played — triggering the serve clock early in her opinion. Meanwhile, Williams has earned widespread praise for her consoling of Yastremska immediately after their clash. The youngster looked like she was ready to cry as she approached Williams at the net after the match, and will have been heartened to receive some comforting words from a woman nearly 20 years her senior.

More amazing was the incident that occurred to Roger Federer – and the way he reacted to that !!  Rules are rules, after all. So what if Federer is a six-time champion at Melbourne Park ... the owner of 20 Grand Slam titles in all ... a man who's spent more weeks ranked No. 1 than any other ... and one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet? A video showing Federer stopped by a security guard in .. Federer stopped by a security guard in a hallway outside a locker room at the Grand Slam tournament made the rounds on Twitter on Saturday, drawing a mix of amazement and amusement.

In the clip, the guard is seen indicating to Federer that he was missing his Australian Open accreditation pass. Players, coaches, officials, members of the media and others are given lanyards with badges that have a name, a photo, tournament role and a bar code that can be scanned at security checkpoints.  Fed idn't argue. He stood patiently, waiting until he was joined by members of his entourage. That's when he was allowed to proceed and go through the door. Saturday was a practice day for Federer at Melbourne Park. He is scheduled to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round on Sunday.

The Swiss ace is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having amassed a staggering 20 Grand Slam titles, but that did not stop security keeping him out of the players area with no pass to show. Federer is on form right now as he bids to defend the Australian Open title he won 12 months ago and looks unstoppable on field. Unruffled, Federer, waited until he was joined by coach Ivan Ljubicic before he could continue with his afternoon as he continues his preparations for his last-16 match against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Meantime, Women's ace Maria Sharapova strolled through the corridor with confidence, not noticing the security officer asking for proof of ID. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

19^th Jan 2019.

Kathiawar Saurashtra makes history ~ chases 372

This region was once known as ‘Kathiawar’ ~ the  word Kathiawad means the land of the Kathis, a Rajput tribe who migrated to the region in the 8th century and controlled the southwestern peninsula of contemporary Gujarat. Before Indian independence in 1947, most of Kathiawar was divided into numerous princely states, ruled by local potentates who acknowledged British suzerainty in return for local sovereignty.   After Indian independence, the Princely  states of Kathiawar acceded to India.  Now it is Saurashtra, also known as Sorath or Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat,  located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District.

Now they play Ranji and have the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Sir Ravindra Jadeja in their ranks.  Recently, Chairman of the senior national selection committee, MSK Prasad heaped rich praise on Cheteshwar Pujara, calling him a "modern-day Buddha" after the India batsman played a key role in India's historic Test series win in Australia. Prasad insisted that Pujara is turning into a role model for young cricketers in the country and that he is going to inspire a generation of traditional Test cricketers, who are considered endangered species in the T20 era.

One would recall that famed Indian Triumph on Feb 3, 2018 at Mount Maunganuj, New Zealand – in  ICC Under-19 World Cup Finals.   The score card would read : India U19 217 for 2 (Kalra 101*, Desai 47*, Gill 31) beat Australia U19 216 all out (Merlo 76, Uppal 34, Anukul 2-32, Shiva Singh 2-36) by eight wickets.  India sauntered to a record fourth Under-19 World Cup title in front of a partisan crowd of 4000 odd at Bay Oval, to finish an unbeaten campaign that had begun against Australia at the same venue three weeks ago. The margin of victory then was 100 runs, and it was comprehensive in the grand final as well - eight wickets.  In winning the tournament,  India pulled off their second highest successful chase in U-19 World Cups, after the 226 to beat Australia in Townsville in 2012. Unmukt Chand had led that chase with a sublime century, as  another Delhi boy, Manjot Kalra, reprised the feat. In the tournament opener against Australia, Kalra had missed his century by 14 runs in an effort to hit out; he was unbeaten on 101 off 102 balls in the final.

The finisher was Wicket-keeper batsman Harvik Desai with 47* ~ and in a land where you have so many young Wicketkeepers in the fray including Rishab Pant, Ishan Kishan, the keeper for Saurashtra in this match is Snell Sukhdev Patel – Harvik Manishbhai Desai is playing as an Opening batsman .. as the keeper   Snell Patel has been doing pretty well for Saurashtra - today, too, he scored 72 - there was no place for Desai in the side. However, an injury to Avi Barot, a regular Saurashtra opener, just before the start of the tournament threw up a vacant opening slot. Saurashtra coach Sitanshu Kotak took the gamble of playing Desai as a pure batsman and the 19-year-old didn't disappoint.

Now in the 2^nd Quarter Finals at Lucknow (Jan 15-19, 2019)  - Uttar Pradesh made 385 & 194 and Saurashtra 208 & chasing mammoth 372 won by 6 wickets.  Vidarbha and Saurashtra pulled off victories over Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on the final day of their Ranji Trophy 2018-19 quarter-finals, to book their berths in the semi-finals. Saurashtra will face Karnataka to try and get into the title round, while Vidarbha will take on Kerala.

Chasing a mammoth total of 372, Saurashtra got off to a solid start with Harvik Desai, the opener, scoring a 259-ball 116. With wicketkeeper-batsman Snell Patel scoring 72, Saurashtra's got a 132-run opening stand. Saurashtra were in a spot of bother after losing Kamlesh Makvana cheaply and then Desai in a span of six overs. However, Pujara did what he does best control the temp of the game with a well-paced 110-ball 67. Notably, Pujara suffered a rare failure in the first innings when he was dismissed for 11 in the first innings by young U-19 World Cup-winning pacer, Shivam Mavi.

Harvik Desai's maiden first-class century helped Saurashtra pull off the highest chase in Ranji Trophy history, breaking the previous record of 371 set by Assam against Services in the 2008-09 season.  Saurashtra, the visiting side, began the day on 195 for 2, still 177 adrift.  With 136 runs still needed, Desai's wicket gave some hope to the hosts, and the new ball was taken after the 85th over. But Pujara and Jackson batted sensibly, mostly playing with soft hands. The UP seamers drew a couple of outside edges but they fell well short of the slip fielders.

Earlier, Vidarbha took only eight overs on the fifth day to wrap up victory by an innings and 115 runs against tournament debutants Uttarakhand in their game in Nagpur. Umesh Yadav and left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate picked up five wickets each to bring a swift end to Uttarakhand's second innings for 159.

This is only the highest run chase in 4^th innings ~ not the highest – in the  famed Ranji Trophy, in between it became an unwritten rule that Toss is the most vital. The winner bats first without hesitation, amasses runs - amass runs mostly by staying put, wear down the opponent and  win by First innings lead.   My memory takes back to the finals in 1981/82  at Delhi in March 1982.  Karnataka played first.  Roger Michael H Binny scored 115; Brijesh Patel 124, stylish Sudhakar Rao 71, Kirmani 116, Ranjit Kanwilkar 116 – as they were all out after 255 overs making 705.

Ranjit Kanwilkar,  an all-rounder was only 21 and was considered to be an exciting prospect, sadly died later in an accident when coaches fell into lake Ashtamudi Kayal in July 1988.  Delhi bowling was in the hands of Madanlal, Mohinder Amarnath,  Maninder (who went for 204 runs), Shukla and Kirti Azad.  Chasing  706 is certainly daunting – but Delhi had other plans.  Raman Lamba scored 36, Gursharan Singh made 101; Surinder Amarnath fell cheaply.  Kirti Azad,  Surinder Khanna, Madanlal all made useful runs – Mohinder was rock steady and made 185.  At one stage Delhi were 589 for 8 -  116 short……….   Shulka made an unbeaten 69 and Rajesh Peter made 67 in an unbroken stand  as Delhi took the lead.  Hapless  Binny, Khanvilkar, Vijaykrishna, Raghuram Bhat all went for 100+. As there was no rule for unfinished match, the match went into the sixth day enabling the hosts to gain first innings lead and mercifully stopped at that. ....

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

19^th Jan 2019.

Chucking in International Cricket ~ MSD & Chahal shine at Melbourne

Chucking ! – many Cricketers have been complained of doing this …. Somehow, many Off-spinners have been called for chucking – not many fast bowlers with suspect action. .. .. .. at the end, you will read of a famous Indian who was reported for ‘chucking’ in a Test match [clue – he played in all matches in 1983 World Cup]

 

Beating Australia in Cricket is dream ~ beating them in their own land is fantasy ! – way back in ODI 104 on 8^th Jan 1981- Australia thumped India, bowling them out for a paltry 63 ! Dennis Lillee, Rodney Hogg, Lenny Pascoe were not the stars – it was Greg Chappen who had enviable figures of 9.5-5-15-5 !!

 

10 years later,  Dec 8, 1991- in Benson & Hedges World Series at Perth, India beat Aussie by 107 runs.  Krish Srikkanth, the man of the match scored a blistering 60,  Aussies were bowled out for 101 with Ravi Shastri having figures of 6.5-1-15-5.

At Melbourne rain threatened – but the result was to the liking of every Indian fan – an Indian victory and MS Dhoni performing well.  The match had started like the other two: with a superb opening spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He got one to bounce outside off to take Alex Carey's edge to second slip, where Kohli made good ground to claim the catch, and then there was  the  dismissal of Finch. He tried everything, standing out the crease and more, yet failed again.    In 622 ODIs played in Australia since the very first took place at the MCG in 1970-71, no-one has ever bettered the bowling figures of 6 for 42 claimed by Yuzvendra Chahal for India against Australia on January 18, 2019. He now shares that lofty perch with another Indian, Ajit Agarkar, who plucked his one haul of same at the MCG in January 2004.

The score card reads :  India 3 for 234 (Dhoni 87*, Jadhav 61*) beat Australia 230 (Handscomb 58, Chahal 6-42) by seven wickets.  India has had a highly successful trip downunder – today, the team had 3 playing their first match and two of them performed exceptionally well.   Yuzvendra Chahal's career-best 6 for 42, the joint best ODI figures in Australia, set up a seven-wicket victory to take the series. Chahal's haul left a modest target but a slow pitch made scoring tricky as MS Dhoni, whose role has dominated the narrative of the series, scored his third half-century in three innings - while being given three lives - and the recalled Kedar Jadhav produced an excellent hand.   Chahal's second ball of the match began Australia's downfall when he had the in-form Shaun Marsh stumped, and he claimed three wickets in each of his two spells, surpassing his previous best of 5 for 22 against South Africa at Centurion.

After scoring three-successive fifties, including a series-clinching 87 off 114 balls from No. 4 at the MCG, MS Dhoni said that he's ready to float in the middle order.  There are times, when you need Dhoni to ensure that the team is not all out inside the allotted overs.. .. In the series opener in Sydney, he walked in at No.5 after India were reduced to 3 for 4 within four overs. He weathered many attacks in a chase of 289 before falling in the 33rd over. He batted at No. 5 in the must-win second ODI for India and struck an unbeaten 54-ball 55 to force the series into a decider. In the third match on a tough pitch, Dhoni was dropped twice ended up making 87* - now in this ODI series, he has aggregated 193 at an average of 193 !! – he is the man of the tournament, though Chahal had an exceptional performance today.

Moving away, there has been instances of chucking in International Cricket – more recently, the ICC has attempted to codify the maximum permissible flexing of the elbow as 15 degrees. When a player is found by the umpire to have delivered the ball contrary to those rules, the umpire will call a no-ball and he is said to have been called for throwing. Where public opinion is that a player's bowling action appears to be that he routinely throws, he is said to have a suspect or an illegal action, or more derogatorily, he is said to be a chucker.  Over the years, a number of players have been called in Test cricket and One Day Internationals, invariably creating controversy and occasionally destroying cricket careers. For many spinners, especially off-spinners, they are susceptible to be called for throwing when they have a front-on approach because the elbow gets in front of the wrist upon release, especially bowling doosra.  In the first ODI at Sydney, an Indian bowler was called for ‘suspect action’

~ if you had guessed it was Ambati Rayudu.  The part-time offspinner now has to get his action tested within 14 days, but can continue bowling in international cricket until the results are known.  Virat Kohli used him for a couple of overs in the middle of the innings and when they went for 13 runs, he was taken off.  Rayudu has only ever bowled in nine of his 46 innings in ODIs.

Chucking is no recent event ~ before the turn of 1900s, two bowlers Ernie Jones of Australia and CB Fry of England had been called for chucking.  In International, the list is long and includes – Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, James Kirtley, Johan Botha, 

Abdur Razzak (Bangla); Shane Shillingford, Marlon Samuels, Sachitra Senanayake,  Kane Williams, Saeed Ajmal, Prosper Utseya, Sohag Gazi, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny and .. .. ..

.. .. … interestingly  – in April 1983 at Bridgetown Test, West Indies required a solitary run to win.  Greenidge and Haynes opened and the bowler was ….. Syed Kirmani, the wicket-keeper.  His only ball was reported ‘chucking’ and WI won with that extra. Thus Kirmani  was not hit for  any run of his bowling … !!

.. what will the Selectors and coach Ravi Shastri offer for not picking up Kedar Jadhav and Yuz Chahal earlier !

 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18^th Jan 2019.

 

giant leaf for mankind ~ cotton sprouts in moon !

A small green shoot is growing ~   it is germination of a plant, that of cotton to be specific -  and .. .. is touted as ‘giant leaf of mankind’..baffling !!

No space mission has ever explored the far side from the surface. As such, it's the first chance to explore a mysterious region of Earth's natural satellite.The "face" that's never seen from Earth has some key differences to the more familiar "near side". The far side has a thicker, older crust that is pocked with more craters. There are also very few of the "maria" (dark basaltic "seas" created by lava flows) that are evident on the near side.   If you are wondering, it is all about Moon and Chinese exploration of the darker side. Plants have been grown outside this Universe,  previously on the International Space Station, but this is the first time a seed has sprouted on the moon. The ability to grow plants in space is seen as crucial for long-term space missions and establishing human outposts elsewhere in the solar system, such as Mars.

Chinese spacecraft named Chang’e 4 braked out of lunar orbit and slowed to a controlled touchdown on the far side of the moon, a first in the history of space exploration. The spacecraft landed at 0226 GMT on Jan. 3 (9:26 p.m. EST on Jan. 2).  Chinese Chang'e-4 has reportedly landed at a site known as Von Kármán crater, a 180km depression located in the far side's southern hemisphere. But Von Kármán lies within a much bigger hole punched in the Moon - the South Pole-Aitken basin.It's the oldest, largest and deepest such basin on the Moon and formed when an asteroid - perhaps 500km across, or more - collided with it billions of years ago.This event was so powerful that it is thought to have ploughed through the Moon's outer crust layer and through into the zone known as the mantle.  

 ‘Cotton’ the soft,  fluffy staple fibre grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fibre is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fibre is to aid in seed dispersal.  The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, and India.  The fibre most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile.  Current estimates for world production are about 25 million tonnes annually, accounting for 2.5% of the world's arable land.

It  marks the first time any biological matter has grown on the Moon, and is being seen as a significant step towards long-term space exploration. The Chang'e 4 is the first mission to land on and explore the Moon's far side, facing away from Earth. It touched down on 3 January, carrying instruments to analyse the region's geology and now comes the news of germination of cotton ! .. the  ability to grow plants on the Moon will be integral for long-term space missions, like a trip to Mars which would take about two-and-a-half years. It would mean that astronauts could potentially harvest their own food in space, reducing the need to come back down to Earth to resupply.

The Chinese Moon lander was carrying among its cargo soil containing cotton and potato seeds, yeast and fruit fly eggs. The plants are in a sealed container on board the lander. The crops will try to form a mini biosphere - an artificial, self-sustaining environment. On Tuesday, Chinese state media said the cotton seeds had now grown buds.  China’s  official mouthpiece the People's Daily tweeted an image of the sprouted seed, saying it marked "the completion of humankind's first biological experiment on the Moon". Fred Watson, Australian Astronomical Observatory's astronomer-at-large, told the BBC the development was "good news". "It suggests that there might not be insurmountable problems for astronauts in future trying to grow their own crops on the moon in a controlled environment."   I think there's certainly a great deal of interest in using the Moon as staging post, particularly for flights to Mars, because it's relatively near the Earth," Mr Watson said.

Prof XieGengxin, the experiment's chief designer, was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post: "We have given consideration to future survival in space. "Learning about these plants' growth in a low-gravity environment would allow us to lay the foundation for our future establishment of space base." He said cotton could eventually be used for clothing while the potatoes could be a food source for astronauts and the rapeseed for oil.   China's Xinhua news agency said that the seeds were rendered dormant using "biological technology" during the 20-day journey from Earth to the Moon. They only began growing once ground control centre sent a command to the probe to water the seeds. Xinhua said the probe had taken about 170 pictures so far which have been sent back to Earth.

On Friday, the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) released several images taken by the probe including panoramic images of the landing site as well as video of the vehicles touching down.

Really an interesting news that could have far reaching effects for the future !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

16^th Jan 2019.