Rajya Sabha nomination could well expose Sachin to vagaries of real world

Sachin Tendulkar is an unblemished middle class hero, who gets much love, affection, space and time, whether in the media or in public discourse, says an article in Hindustan Times. “It won’t be an exaggeration to say we as a country seem to have a Tendulkar obsession,” the article says, adding that this obsession showed when he was approaching his centuryof-centuries milestone. The longer it took him, the greater the media agonised over it.

“Today, his nomination to the Rajya Sabha has created a piquant situation that could well expose the man to the vagaries of the real world and reveal to us the “real” persona behind the batting genius. The world of politics is governed by a different set of rules, where anything goes as long as it benefits a party or an individual. So, the question is not whether Congress’ cynical exploitation of Tendulkar’s popular image was the reason behind this nomination, but what made him accept this offer,” says the article.

For sheer variety of cricketing conundrums, you just can’t beat league cricket, reads an article in The DNA. “The openers for Delhi were a Sri Lankan and an Indian — Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag. The opening bowlers for Mumbai were a Sri Lankan and an Indian — Lasith Malinga and RP Singh. Malinga gave just one run in his first over, but 16 in his second. That’s because he bowled the first one to Sehwag who was circumspect after getting beaten twice. But Jayawardene had no trouble hitting him for three fours in his very next over. Strange? Should it not have been the other way round, Jayawardene defending and Sehwag hitting?”

Not really. Jayawardene, unlike Sehwag, seemed to know instinctively what Malinga would bowl and where he would pitch it, adds the paper. “After years of nets with him, he can probably dispatch Malinga to the fence in his sleep. And here we are talking of the league’s all-time best bowler. How cool is that? You can only see Sri Lanka’s best bat taking apart his fearsome colleague on an international stage in this form of the game.”

“A young West Indian, Sunil Narine, plying his off-break with all the guile that is traditional in the land of his ethnic roots; a wizened old Aussie Brad Hogg reveling in conditions that suit his left arm leg spin; youngsters like Rayudu, Rahane and Rohit proving their time has come; Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly trying equally hard to show they are not done; and captaincy that veers from the sublime to the disastrous; these are just a few of the things you can only see in league cricket,” says the DNA article.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Sri Lanka's World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga's tenure as the head of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) came to be short-lived because of his opposition to Indian Premier League, a report here has claimed.

“Theisland, quoting SLC documents said Ranatunga was removed "after the BCCI applied pressure on the Sri Lankan government". Ranatunga was unavailable for comment on the matter. The paper says an offer was made by the English Cricket Board (ECB) when Ranatunga was the head of SLC, for Sri Lanka to play a Test series in England, but the dates were clashing with the 2009 IPL. Ranatunga's request for the players to return early from the IPL was resisted by the players,” says the report.