2013: What to look forward to?

 Happy new year fellas! Another exciting year ahead for all you sports fans. Here is a quick glimpse of some of the tournaments to look up to in 2013. So mark your calenders and get ready for a sporting new year ahead!! 

Cricket:

January 11-27: India vs England, 5 ODIs
February 22- Mar 26: India vs Australia, 4 Tests
April 3- May 26: IPL  6
June 6-23: Last edition of ICC Champions Trophy in England
June 28- July 11: West Indies- Sri Lanka- India, ODI tri series
October: India vs Australia 7 ODIs, 1 T20
Nov-Dec: South Africa vs India, 3 tests, 7 ODIs, 2 T20s

Tennis:

 January 14-27 :Australian Open
May 26- June 9: French Open
June 24- July 7: Wimbledon
July 26- Sept 9: US Open

F1:

October 27: Indian GP

Basketball:

February 17: NBA All Star game
June 6: NBA Finals (best of seven)

Hockey:
Jan 14- Feb 10 : Hockey India League

Football:

EPL: 2012-13 season till May 19
Liga BBVA: 2012-13 season till June 1

UEFA Champions League 2012 Draw

All the eyes were on the beautiful city of Monaco as some of the biggest names in the world of football gathered to unleash the draw of the biggest club competition in the world - The UEFA Champions League! The fate of all the clubs depended on 4 pots. The teams were divided into 4 groups according to their seeds. The first seeded teams were allotted pot 1, second seeded teams with pot 2, third seeded teams with pot 3 & fourth seeded teams with pot 4. Here were the 4 groups according to their seeds:-

Pot 1 - Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Porto and AC Milan

Pot 2 - Valencia, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit-St. Petersburg, Schalke, Manchester City, Braga and

Dynamo Kiev

Pot 3 - Olympiakos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, Spartak Moscow, PSG, Lille & Galatasaray

Pot 4 - Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, CFR 1907 Cluj, Malaga, Montpellier and Nordsjaelland

One chit per pot had to be picked every time. All the four chits picked would form a group.

The groups were picked as follows:-

Group A: Porto - Dynamo Kiev - PSG - Dinamo Zagreb

Group B: Arsenal - Schalke - Olympiacos - Montpellier

Group C: AC Milan - Zenit St. Petersburg - Anderlecht - Malaga

Group D: Real Madrid - Manchester City - Ajax - Borussia Dortmund

Group E: Chelsea - Shakhtar Donetsk - Juventus - Nodsjaelland

Group F: Bayern Munich - Valencia - Lille - BATE Borisav

Group G: Barcelona - Benfica - Spartak Moscow - Celtic

Group H: Manchester United - Braga - Galatasaray - Cluj

Here is an analyses of all the groups and what to expect from each group:

Group A: This group contains the likes of Portuguese champions Porto and French Power-house PSG. The other teams that complete the group are Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev and Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb.

Prediction - Porto and PSG are expected to clear the group without much difficulty

Group B: England's Arsenal have been drawn into the group along with Germany's Schalke, Greek champions Olympiacos and French champions Montpellier. Interestingly, Arsenal and Olympiacos have been drawn in the same group for the third time in four years.

Prediction - Arsenal and Schalke are expected to clear the group. But both the other competitors are more then capable of producing an upset. Montpellier, in particular can give both Arsenal and Schalke, a run for their money.

Group C: Serie-A runners-up AC Milan have made it to the group along with Russian power-house Zenit, Belgian champions Anderlecht & Spanish club Malaga.

Prediction - AC Milan are the firm favorites to clear the group as toppers while Zenit, Anderlecht and Malaga are all capable of making it to the knock-out stages. Expect a stiff competition for the 2nd place.

Group D: This is the group of death to say the least. All the teams in the group are the champions of their respective countries. La Liga champions Real Madrid, English champions Manchester City, Dutch Eredivisie winners Ajax & Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund have made it to the group. This is the first time in the history of Champions League that all the teams in a group are champions of their country.

Prediction - No prediction is relevant here. All the clubs know what it takes to win. All the matches of this group will be mouth-watering clashes. Looking forward to see this group in action.

Group E: Defending champions Chelsea have been drawn in this group. The other teams to make to the group are Italy champions Juventus, Ukraine champions Shakhtar Donetsk and Danish Superliga winners Nodsjaelland.

Prediction - Chelsea & Juventus are expected to clear the group easily, Shakhtar Donsetsk can cause some problems though. This will be a fight for topping the table rather then surviving one.

Group F: Last year's runners-up & German giants Bayern Munich have made it to the group. The other teams are Spainsh side Valencia, French club Lille and Belarusian champions BATE Barisov.

Prediction - Bayern Munich are the firm favorites to top the group. The other team expected to make it to the knock-out stage is Valencia, Lille would give a tough fight to the Spanish club though.

Group G: The group contains last year's semi-finalists Barcelona. The other teams to make it to the group are Portuguese giants Benfica, Russia's Spartak Moscow and Scottish champions Celtic.

Prediction - Barcelona should top the group quite easily, followed by Benfica in the second place. Spartak Moscow & Celtic would have everything to play for and thus are capable of securing some unexpected results.

Group H: 2011 runners-up Manchester United have been drawn into the group along with Portugal's Braga, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Romanian champions Cluj.

Prediction - Manchester United are expected to top the group easily, subject to some surprises like last year. This group will be more of a fight for second place with Braga as well as Galatasaray fancying their chances.

The only thing left to add to the excitement of Champions League is the kick-off of the prestigious tournament. The star studded event is scheduled to start on the 18th of September.

Will Chelsea retain it or will Barcelona win it? Will Bayern come back strongly or will it be Unted's year? Will Madrid claim it or will Mancity stamp their supremacy?

All your questions will be answered, come 18th of September. Till then keep waiting and enjoy footbal!  

Dhyan Chand- India's first sporting legend

Years pass by, Generations pass by, but some people are never ever forgotten! Major Dhyan Chand is one of them! Today, India celebrates the birth anniversary of the greatest man ever to grace the hockey field! Here are some quotes on the WIZARD of hockey!

"He scores goals as runs in cricket' - Sir Don Bradman

"He is the greatest, yes I want him in my team but he is too patriotic to come here" - Adolf Hitler, after Dhyan Chand straight away rejected his tempting proposal of 

joining the German team

Team India in 2017

It was a strange feeling not seeing Dravid and VVS in the batting card for team India last week in the first test against Kiwis. The team was without the services of the two veterans after almost 15 years. 

With 5 out of the 11 players in our squad in their 30's, we should be prepared to see more such replacements in the near future. 

Keeping that in mind, youngsters like Pujara and Kohli have shown tremendous promise and considering the performance of recent Under 19 team, the future of Indian cricket looks bright.

Here's a prediction for the Indian test team 5 years from now keeping in mind the 7 batsmen 4 bowlers combination used often by the Indian team. In bracket the members of the current playing 11 which they will replace are shown.

• Ajinkya Rahane (Gautam Gambhir)
• Unmukt Chand  (Virender Sehwag)
• Cheteshwar Pujara
• Virat Kohli(c)
• Manish Pandey (Sachin Tendulkar)
• Suresh Raina
• Parthiv Patel (wk) (MS Dhoni)
• Ravichandran Ashwin
• Umesh Yadav
• Harmeet Singh (Pragyan Ojha)
• Sandeep Sharma (Zaheer Khan)

While its almost certain that players like Pujara, Kohli, Raina, Ashwin will be there for many years to come (hoping that they are not prone to any career threatening injuries), players like Sandeep Sharma, Harmeet Singh, Manish Pandey also present a strong case for themselves.

Olympics Aftermath: a statistical overview

India sent 83 athletes to this year's Olympics, largest contingent so far for the country which returned with 6 medals, which too is the highest number of medals we could get thus far. Let's take nothing away from the athletes who gave their best and fought hard but it is not a satisfactory result  

India is at the bottom when you look at medal to population ratio. 1.2 billion are represented by mere 83 athletes who bag 6 medals and stand 55th in the medal tally.

To analyse this problem, we traverse the nation dividing by the states.

Here's a graphical analysis about the athletes we sent, the sport they compete in and where they belong. (Hockey is not considered in the study)

Here's what I make of the study:-

· Gujarat, MP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya , Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Tripura, Tamil Nadu , Mizoram did not have a single athlete from their state.

Indian hockey and its defensive crisis!

Almost every aspect of the Indian Hockey team has grown under Micheal Nobbs. “Almost” in the above sentence has the maximum weight. I have used “Almost” because there is still one area in which India has not grown. Our attack line is awesome, our midfield is creative and disciplined, but what about our defense? Is it disciplined enough? The simple answer to the question is – NOT AT ALL!

What’s the problem?

Sandeep Singh & VR Raghunath! When you look at these names, the first thing that comes to our mind is – drag flicks. And why not, we are gifted enough to have 2 of the best drag flickers in the world. But my question is, isn’t hockey beyond Drag Flicks? Why aren’t they famous for their defensive skills? Yes, Sandeep is an exceptional drag flicker. Yes, he makes those lovely solo runs. But he is an average defender.

Our defenders are very poor in marking & look vulnerable at times. Such is our helplessness that Ignace Tirckey has to drop back and play as the 3rd defender for most of the matches. At times, we defend poorly than most of the 2nd tire teams in world hockey. Yes we do have Rupinderpal Singh but let’s be realistic, he ain’t good enough! The problem is, we have attacking minded defenders and not one out-and-out defender. We now realize the importance of Dilip Tirkey and his calm & composed solid defending.

All eyes on Britain

bird's eye view of the Olympic park

                August 2011, the world saw an ugly face of otherwise regarded as 'sophisticated' Britishers. England was burning, London was no exception, the riots had spread wide open. With less than a year to go, the question aroused about whether or not the British forces were capable of pulling off a safe Olympics, but 11 months into the riots, the picture has changed.

            

Britain in 2012 has shed the image of the riots , they have presented themselves as a Sports-friendly nation, playing host to numerous sporting events this year, range of sports including the likes of Cricket, Tennis, Football, Formula 1 and Golf. Here's a quick look at the major tournaments which took place on the British soil this year.

Cricketing Summer:

The summer saw West Indies and Australia touring England for their respective bilateral series against England, the hosts coming out victorious in both the series.

EPL:

The EPL ended in May with the most dramatic finale one would have ever imagined, Manchester City coming from behind to clinch the title.

Mark Webber wins the British Grand Prix

Silverstone: Mark Webber won a drama-packed British Grand Prix as he beat Pole Sitter Farnendo Alonso for the 1st place.

Ferrari's Alonso was the favorite to win the race as he started at the pole. However, his pole position was snatched by Webber as he dove past the former with 4 laps remaining. Webber's Red-Bull team-mate and the defending world champion, Sebastian Vettel completed the podium.

Oscar "Victorious"

            

        

They say you need legs to be able to run, but this man from South Africa made his own statement and proved - its the will that is required to run, not the legs. Becoming the first ever athlete with a double amputation to qualify for the Olympics, Oscar has already entered the record books without even competing in the games. But the ticket to London wasn't that easy to get for him.

Oscar Pistorius was born with congenital absence of the fibula (causing shortness and deformation) in both legs. But that could never keep him away from the play ground. A rugby player during his childhood, he has also played provincial level tennis and water polo.  In addition, Pistorius took part in club Olympic wrestling. He continued to be a rugby player until 2003 when he suffered a serious knee injury, he was introduced to running in January 2004 while undergoing rehabilitation and rest as they say is history.

Are you listening Persie?

The 2006 world cup was on the cards. The world was looking forward to a whole new footballing spectacle and so was I. As a 12 year old, I as many,  knew football by Brazil and Brazil by football. I did not know a single thing about the beautiful game before, but was looking forward to see the mighty Brazilians play. And the much anticipated tournament started!

After seeing Brazil through to the quarters, I was fairly happy and satisfied by my 'adopted' nation's performance. Brazil had to play a much less fancied France side in the quarters, who were deemed as not more than a small obstacle for the defending champs. But to my surprise and disappointment, against all odds,  France sent Brazil packing out of the cup. And the goal scorer was none other than 'Thierry Henry'. The Arsenal forward who was little unknown those days, at least to me. I being a neutral, soon forgot Brazil and started admiring Zidane and Co. After seeing my team through to the finals, my heart was broken again as the Les Bleus lost to Cannavaro's Italy in the finals.

The WC memories soon faded away but one name still was well in my thoughts, 'Thierry Henry'. I just couldn't forget this name. I had fallen in love with Henry and his footballing skills. And this was the turning point in my life. I started loving football then anything. I today very proudly say that, it was Henry who made 

me love football.

I had heard of the English Premier League but did not follow it before. For the sake of knowing Henry's club, I just googled the words "Thierry Henry's club" and the name I found was "ARSENAL FC". Now what is Arsenal I thought. So I found out the club's site and gazed through it but couldn't get anything. So I turned my TV on and ran through some sports channels, and to much of my pleasant surprise, I saw Henry playing in a red-white t-shirt with O2 written on it. And suddenly it clicked in my mind, it was Arsenal in action. Again, I was introduced to Arsenal, through Henry. And yes, as a proud follower of Henry, I started watching Arsenal games.

Match Report: Spain 4-0 Italy

Spain created history by becoming the first nation to successfully defend its European Championship crown. The La Roja also went into the record books by becoming the first nation to score 3 or more goals in an international competition finale.

2 goals in each half were enough for Del Bosque and his men to send a clueless Italy crashing out. David Silva opened the scoring as Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres & Juan Mata all netted for the La Roja.

Del Bosque brought Fabregas back into the attack to replace Negredo as Torres was overlooked again. Prandelli too made one change to his starting 11, with Ignazio Abate recovering from his hamstring injury to replace an in-form Federico Balzeretti at right back.

Min 1-14: It took no time for Spain to settle as they started of with a series of dangerous attacks. Firstly, a Sergio Ramos free-kick from distance and then his well headed effort, both fizz passed over the Italian bar. 

Then, Xavi's crashing attempt went well off target, after a brilliant one-two with Fabregas opened him.

Match Report: Italy 2-1 Germany

Super Mario rips apart a humbled Germany

Mario Balotelli fetched the headlines for all the 'right' reasons as his 1st half brace was enough for the Azurri to defeat a below par Germany side. Mesut Ozil how ever got a consolation for his side as he converted from the spot.

Germany brought Mario Gomez & Lukas Podolski back into the squad as the two were benched in their quarter final tie with Greece. Toni Kroos got his first start of the tournament as Thomas Muller was overlooked. Italy on the other hand made only one change, bringing in Giorgio Chiellini to replace Ignazio Abate as the former fully recovered from his injury.

Min 1-6: Both sides got of to a cautious start!

Match Report: Spain 0-0 Portugal (4-2 Penalties)

Casillas the savior as Spain survive the Portuguese scare.

Cesc Fabregas netted the winning goal from the spot after Bruno Alves failed to score as La Roja emerge victorious in an all Iberian tie to book their place into the final of UEFA Euro 2012

       

Spain's team shit sprung a surprise as Sevilla's young striker Alvaro Negredo found his place in the starting 11 from nowhere as Del Bosque decided to bench both Fabregas and Farnendo Torres. On the other hand, Portugal manager Paulo Bento had to bring in Hugo Almeida to replace their injured striker Helder Postiga.

Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman get wild card entries into the Olymics

In what could prove to be a twist in the already in news tale of the tennis saga, Sania Mirza and Rashmi Chakravarti's doubles team have got a wild card entry into the Olympics. Sania, ranked 12th in the world could not get an automatic qualification. So she had to rely on the wild card to participate in the London games.

The other Indian to get a wild card was Somdev Devvarman for the singles event. 

Indian Tennis Blues

            "Will he or will he not?" That's the million dollar question concerning Paes partnering a relatively inexperienced Vishnu Vardhan. Fears are that Paes might skip the Olympics all-together. And that seems to be a worrying factor, with just a month to go to the Olympics, there are doubts about India's highest ranked doubles player participating in the games. Looking from the fans' point of view it looks unfortunate to say the least, but hold on, Pairing up Bhupati-Bopanna might be India's best chance for a medal. Here's why-

           

The whole country treasures the memory of India's favourite Tennis duo Lee-Hesh playing together as a team, winning matches in Grandslams, Davis Cup and so many other ATP events, we could literally feel the vigour seeing their famous chest-bumps, whole nation was proud of the Indian Express.

Match Report: Italy 0-0 England (4-2 Penalties)

Super Mario's super misses don't matter as the 2 Ashleys of England miss penalties.

Andrea Pirlo was the hero for the Azzurri as he lead his team to the semi-finals. Italy scored 4 of 5 penalties as England's Ashley Cole and Ashley Young missed from the spot to hand it over to the Azzuri after a goalless 120 minutes of play.

Fernando Alonso wins European Grand Prix

Valencia: Ferrari's Fernando Alonso became the first driver to win 2 races this season by winning a dramatic and accident-filled European Grand Prix on Sunday. The biggest surprise was the presence of Micheal Schumacher (3rd) on the podium for the first time since his return to F1.

Match Report: Spain 2-0 France

A Xabi Alosno brace was enough for Spain to send listless Les Bleus crashing out of Euro 2012. 

Cesc Febregas was selected over Fernando Torres as the latter did not impress in the game against Croatia and the rumored infighting in the French camp gathered more momentum as Samir Nasri was surprisingly benched in the game.

The downfall & resurgence of Hockey in India

There was a time in India when a 2 year old boy would have said to his father – Papa, I want to be like Dhyan Chand babu. Pargat Singh, Dhyanchand, K.D. Singh Babu and the other members of the Indian hockey team were the only heroes for India. There was a time when the world knew India by 2 words – Population and Hockey. There was a time when other teams shivered standing in front of the Indian hockey team. There was a time when the final of hockey in the Olympics was called off not because of rain, not because of any technical failure, but because the finalists simply refused to play against the mighty Indians. There was a time when Adolf Hitler bowed down to team India when Germany was ruthlessly thrashed in the finals of the Olympics.

Cricket World Cup-2011

          Summer of 2011 was in many senses "Unique". The world had witnessed the Japan Tsunami, Hosni Mubarak resigning in Egypt, Earthquake in New Zealand, in the national events we had A Raja being arrested in the 2G case, historic results in the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu polls, Saina Nehwal winning the Swiss Open, Vishwanathan Anand regaining his world no 1 title. There was one more  thing which was notable in the last summer. Cricket's biggest spectacle had landed in the sub-continent for the third time.

         

         

 The world cup was set up perfectly with great anticipation, with ICC's campaign-"The Cup that Counts" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhrUpmjFY5E)showing 14 captains walking on a tight rope to get their hands on the trophy which also showed the sub-continent street culture, pepsi too didn't stay away, it came up with its campaign- "Change the Game" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzQUZTuw5Q), which featured the likes of  Dhoni, Pieterson, Bhajji, Sehwag, Shakib, Dilshan ,Malinga and my personal favorite Billy with his "tedhi ungal", Nike also came up with the "Bleed Blue" slogan, and later on released an exciting commercial during the tournament (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvRPz_zoTK4), and how can we forget "De Ghuma ke" - the official theme song! In short, the anticipation of the event was reaching a new high with each and everyday building up to the countdown.