Virat Kohli : READY FOR CAPTAINCY?

Yes, Dhoni batted exceedingly well for his 99, which saved India the blushes. But that should get him a spot in the team as batsman-wicket-keeper, not allow him to remain the leader of the ship. The Indian Test cricket is already sinking; we will only sink further with a tired skipper at the helm of affairs against a rapidly improving side like Australia. 

Coming to Virat, the singular argument against him is he isn’t ready for the job yet. Or rather he is too young and inexperienced in Test cricket. Arguably the best leader in the world now, one who also leads the world’s premier Test match team, Graeme Smith, was made captain at the age of 22. He clearly wasn’t ready for the job, more if we keep in mind the circumstances in which he was given the responsibility. Smith, keen and innovative, made a success of the opportunity. Our very own Saurav Ganguly is yet another example. When he was made captain in 2000, he was clearly not ready for the job. Sachin had given up captaincy and with no one else considered good enough Saurav, four years into international cricket, was given the responsibility. It soon turned into a defining moment for Indian cricket. 

Kohli too is close to four years old in international cricket. Already ICC player of the year in the one day 50 over format, he has clearly been India’s best batsman in 2012. Having scored a magnificent 133 of 86 deliveries at the start of the year and a 300 ball hundred at the end of the year he has demonstrated hunger and adaptability, things Indian cricket badly need at the moment.

T20 World Cup on the doorsteps

T20 worldcup starts today amidst very opposite circumstances as compared with the previous three editions. In the previous three editions, the kick-off evening was glittery and extravagant with various performances (non-cricketing) including music, festive displays and firecrackers. This time around there will be no such opening ceremony and the match will take the center stage. It may be because of the terrible financial condition the Srilankan Cricket board finds itself to be after organizing the 50-over world cup. But for us fans, matches matter most and we wouldnot complain about opening ceremonies. Although no clear favourites for the winner's trophy in this format, i feel India, Pakistan and South Africa have more than decent chance to make it to the final four. After that noone can predict.

Michael Schumacher to run for 300th time

If you are into sports, you most probably know Michael Schumacher. He is synonymous to the sport, the most popular and well known personality in the Sport. The Seven-Time World Champion has had a tough time after returning back to F1 circuit after retirement and that race win has eluded him despite strong showings at some races. This upcoming sunday in the race at Spa, he will be participating in 300th race of his career. It is a great achievement to be racing for such a long duration in such a physically and mentally demanding sport. Thumbs up to Schumi. And hope he finally gets that race win jinx out of his way for good.

India The U-19 World Cup-2012 Champions

Nepal's neighbouring country India has just won the U-19 World Cup, the hero of the match being the Captain Unmukt Chand (I didnot know india also have chand as surnames, may be he is from migrated family from Nepal, just a guess). Nevertheless, he played a captain's innings, not out century along with another youngster Smit Patel who had unbeaten half century to overhaul Australian total 225 in 50 overs by scoring 227/4. After having some scares in the tournament, specially the close call against Pakistan, India retained their World Cup which they had won last time around too under the captaincy of a certain Virat Kohli. When is the day going to come when Nepal get anywhere near that title after the dismal showing this time around.

Basketball - Happening in Nepal!

Basket-ball is a very happening sport these days. To attract students for enrollment in their schools and colleges, a basketball court is being popular attraction which the schools and colleges are building.. A basket ball court normally in schools means just two boards with baskets, the ground is normal ground flattened for the sport. Still, girls and boys alike are lured into the sport which is being a type of fashion trend to be playing basketball.  At senior level, basket ball is not getting the results asked for but inter-school and inter-college competitions do pull up general public to watch the growing sport. However, it is limited to well-off boarding schools and not for general public schools due to lack of courts outside of schools and for general public to play in for free.

Memories of the Best World Cup i Watched

We all have heard about the great games and players of the past. Pele, Garincha and Maradonas alll played in an era when I was either too young or had not even been born. So I really started watching worldcup football matches since the 1998 World Cup. It should have been all about Ronaldo but we all know what happened in the finals. So, myself being a huge soccer fan, had my hopes high for Brazil in the 2002 World Cup and Whoila! they delivered. Even to this day, i remember almost all the goals brazil scored. They won all the matches comfortably, barring perhaps against England when Ronaldinho scored a blinder, which he later admitted that he was going for a pass not a goal. Still the beautiful game they played in the tournament and the great goals they scored and the fact that no opponent really gave them a scare proves that since 1996 world cup, brazil of 2002 was the best team even upto now. Spain in 2012 are close call but my points go to that team.

WWE - Is It a Sport?

Professional Wrestling in form of Sports Entertainment or the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is broadcast in various countries including Nepal, whilst not live but recorded, and people love the entertainment value of the show. But some people tend to think whatever they see is totally impromptu and real. Well, the fact of the matter is that shows like WWE, TNA etc are like choreographed dances. It is really done but everything (in most cases) is pre-planned, the moves performed have been practiced many times and the shows are meant for entertainment only. It is NOT a real sport. Although the performers are good athletes with fantastic physiques but the results and drama shown are all fixed and planned to raise the popularity of the show. The blood bath sometimes shown in most cases are fake too.

Computer Gaming in Nepal

The young generation in Nepal, kids from classes 3-4 on to teenagers are into video-gaming and computer sports. The well-off children who can afford expensive stuff like PlayStation-3, X-box do own these to cater to their gaming needs. However, most of the gaming population cannot affort expensive equipment just for gaming purpose so they do it on their family computers and laptops.

 However, in computers and laptops,
there are limitations while playing high-end graphically rich games for which either the game specifications will have to be lowered (play at low quality pictures) or they have to skip the particular games which are not supported by their systems. The low income levels of general public is a hindrance for playing high-end games as they were built to be played.

Sports that do and donot cater to Nepalese public

Although sports as a whole is followed by the citizens of nepal, specially the youth, it does not mean all the popular world sports are followed in Nepal. Some types of sports, which are famous in the world stage happen not to create enthusiasm amongst the general sports audience in Nepal. Sports like motorsports, F!, MotoGP though are not played in Nepal, lots of people follow these sports.
In other instances, sports like american football, rugby, diving, track & field sports are widely popular around the world but not quite so in Nepal. In other instance, national sports like dandibiyo, kabaddi are rarely followed by Nepalese, ones that are our own.

Football - Present Status

Football, also called the beautiful game, is a sport that is quite polular in Nepal. In fact, cricket and football are two of the top popular sports in the country and the third popular is not even close to these two. It is played at every level from schools to districts, to region and national tournaments.

But as in cricket, the lack of professional future in the sport is a major drawback and hence the sport is not as successful internationally, since the players have to earn their living doing other jobs. The condition is getting better however, since the players are being taken up by corporate houses and entities like nepal police and nepal army where they can grow professionally.
 Some more description can be found in this link: Football in Nepal

Status of Cricket in Nepal

Cricket is arguably the most popular sport in the country Nepal, may be at par in popularity with football. The popularity can be proved by the fact that almost every corner of Nepal you visit, you are likely to see kids and teens with bats and balls of all types, not necessarily the standard ones, as they cannot afford the expensive equipment, but still have makeshift stumps of sticks, balls of rubber and what not. The following video also gives a nice description of the status of popularity.

It is however a sad fact that the popularity does not bring about genuine cricketers at senior level. Nepal has got lots of talented youngsters, they keep on producing good results at international level at age groups but due to lack of professionalism in the sport and lack of adequate facilities all throughout the country to groom players against standard opposition, the talent at youth is dying or is forced to leave the sport for other career prospects. The situation is however getting better, however at a slow pace.

Introduction to Nepalese Sports

Nepalese sports as a whole is currently recuperating from the failures in the recently completed Olympics games. Although some of the athletes did perform as per expectations, the great hopes that at least one of the athletes would be able to capture any of the medals were shattered, as they always do.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/countries/8662738/Nepal-London-2012-Olympics.html
In the meanwhile, recent showing of the Nepalese U-19 cricket team in the U-19 world cup has not met the high standard set by previous teams. The squad, however boasting some good talent, failed to reach even plate champoinships final. The squad that went out there but couldnot really perform can be viewed in this link.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-under19-world-cup-2012/content/squad/572051.html