Bose and Dinda claimed four wickets each and ensured three points for Bengal from the 14-run lead over Delhi. They were excellent examples of the team’s competitive approach and intensity on a placid track of low bounce and slow place that challenged bowlers to maintain a high level of discipline.

Of course, the track also demanded immense concentration from the batsmen. Delhi’s overnight pair of Rajat Bhatia (65, 166 balls, four fours) and Sumit Narwal (60, 132 balls, seven fours) continued the stirring fightback for 24 more overs and made its stand worth 119 run runs before Bose got the breakthrough by trapping the left-handed Narwal in front.

Five overs later, Dinda responded by castling Bhatia. With Delhi still 37 runs short of Bengal’s first innings score of 473, it seemed like the visiting side would cruise home without more ado. But the last wicket pair of Pradeep Sangwan and Parvinder Awana resisted for eight overs and gave the home side hope that they would miraculously cross the line.

The strapping Bose had Awana caught by Anustup Majumdar to end such aspirations and seal the lead for Bengal. Together with Dinda, Bose had bowled more than two-thirds the overs sent down by Bengal. The pair — as also support seamer Laxmi Ratan Shukla — showed oodles of patience as they kept chipping away at the home batsmen.

The work ethic shown by the team at the Kotla augurs well for the Bengal side that promised to be competitive through the season. The new dynamics in the side, given that there is a new captain-coach combination in Manoj Tiwary and WV Raman, ensured that the side emerged as a battling unit here.

The challenge would be to sustain the momentum gained by a solid team showing in the side’s opening game of the first class season. In a league group that includes heavyweights like Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, Bengal will have to keep showing such intensity and teamwork, as they did at the Kotla, to be in with a chance of making it to the knockout stage.

For most of the day, Kohli had made it appear that as if there were two different contests being played on a placid Kotla track — one when Kohli was on strike and the other when he was away. After he made 173 (267 balls, 24 fours, one six), the Bengal fast medium bowlers made good use of some reverse swing to claim three more wickets.

From a strong 261 for two, built on the basis of Kohli’s century stands with Shikhar Dhawan (42, 104 balls, five fours) and skipper Mithun Manhas (43, 114 balls, four fours), Delhi slipped to 328 for six at the close on the third day. The home side are 145 runs adrift of Bengal’s first innings score and will be banking on all-rounder Rajat Bhatia to extend the fight well into the final day.

The track continued to challenge the batsmen, more so when the bowlers landed the ball in the right areas. Playing strokes was not easy at all but Kohli made it look the simplest of crafts. Clearly, he was drawing confidence from the match-winning hundred he made against Australia in the one-day International, in Visakhapatnam, a little over a fortnight ago.

After Dhawan was well taken behind the stumps by Wriddhiman Saha in the bruising opening session, the man in form knew it was important to bat with a positive approach and make runs. He found another ally in Manhas as he scored even off good deliveries and made the Bengal attack wonder how to remove the thorn in their flesh.To be fair, the Bengal squad did not allow his strokeplay to affect their body language and stayed on their toes. Yet, even luck seemed to desert Bengal as Iresh Saxena dropped a sharp chance with Kohli on 74.

It took a smart piece of fielding and an accurate throw by Arindam Das from wide gully to end Kohli’s attempt to steal a single and his entertaining innings. In no time, Delhi lost Manhas, Gaurav Chabra and Punit Bisht as well and was down to 295 for six, showcasing the value of Kohli’s approach and his massive contribution to the chase of 474 runs.

Kohli’s knock may have had class written all over it, but Bengal bowlers and fielders’ hard work helped the visiting side keep their nose ahead in the contest that combined the enthralling and the excruciating.

Here’s the report in The Telegraph

Having raised visions of a 500-plus score on Monday, Bengal faltered to finish with 473. Delhi’s premier batsmen Virat Kohli (batting 51) and Shikhar Dhawan (batting 33) stroked the side to 89 for one at close, indicating that the opening session on Wednesday would be critical in the battle for the first innings lead.

Having won all sessions on Monday when it made 313 for two, Bengal conceded much ground in the opening session when a more disciplined home attack picked up four wickets in the span of 12 overs. Arindam Das’ fall to Parvinder Awana trigged a slide with Sumit Narwal claiming the scalps of Manoj Tiwary, Anustup Majumdar and Lakshmi Ratan Shukla in quick succession.

When play resumed, Bengal would have expected Das and Tiwary to build a substantial partnership but Das (156, 258 balls, 20 fours) was bowled in the fifth over the day. Tiwary’s fall not much later put paid to hopes that he would celebrate his elevation as Bengal captain with a century. He made 69 with nine fours.

Had it not been for Sourashis Lahiri’s unbeaten 68 (122 balls, 10 fours, one six) – his fourth half century in 77 first class games – and his 98-run stand for the seventh wicket with Wriddhiman Saha (36), Bengal would have finished around the 400-mark. That would have swung the scales towards the home side more definitively.

With Saha putting a price on his wicket, Lahiri adopted a more aggressive approach as the pair showcased resilience and the determination that Bengal has promised to embrace this season. It was a pity, though, that once Saha was dismissed by the deceptive Rajat Bhatia, Lahiri was a helpless spectator as the tail-enders made no contribution at all to the score.

While the Delhi bowlers did come up with an improved show, especially on the line and length fronts, it must be said that on Tuesday the Bengal batsmen’s lacked the application that they highlighted so strongly on the opening day. Their shot selection left a lot to be desired and it forced the team to finish short of the 500-run mark, not to speak of a bigger score.

Despite Lahiri’s exploits with the bat and despite seeing Chetan Sharma’s back in the fourth over, Bengal’s psyche appeared to be dominated by the thoughts that it had allowed Delhi to come back into the match. It was highlighted when Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary’s decided to remove Lahiri from the attack when his off-spin was posing Kohli some questions.

It is clear that Tiwary and coach WV Raman will have to get the team to focus on the fact that Delhi is still 384 runs behind rather than worry that the home side’s unseparated second wicket pair looked in ominous touch. They know that the bowlers will have to produce the rabbit out of the hat on Wednesday.

My report on the second day in The Telegraph

Remaining unbeaten with 150 (238 balls, 19 fours), the 29-year-old ensured that Bengal held the upperhand, sharing century stands with the left-handed Sreevats Goswami (61) and skipper Manoj Tiwary (batting 47) for the first and unfinished third wicket, leaving the Delhi camp scratching its head.

Arindam Das, who has served Bengal cricket for close to a decade without ever drawing national attention, was a personification of focus. His approach was that of a batsman who knew what exactly to expect from the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch and play in an unhurried manner. Clearly, he conquered the bogey of low bounce with a fair measure of comfort.

In scoring his seventh first class century, he did well not to attempt playing across the line, drawing praise from Delhi coach Manoj Prabhakar. Das got a hundred against Delhi at the Jadavpur University ground last season but that came in the second innings of a match that was heading to a draw. On Monday, he stayed focussed through the day and did his team proud.

Tiwary, who had done his side a good turn by calling the coin right and opting to bat first, continued the good work when he walked in to bat after debutant Abhishek Chowdhary (20) was trapped in front by Mithun Manhas. Tiwary (80 balls, six fours) showcased his intent to play a long innings and help Bengal along to a big first innings score.

Earlier, after he had done the hard yards and gained the psychological edge over the home side with some attacking strokes, Goswami gifted his wicket to Mithun Manhas. Lured to attempt the arial route, he ended up offering a tame catch to mid-on. The moment he played the shot, Goswami knew he had thrown away a great chance to compile his maiden first class century.

Till that moment, the 21-year-old Goswami had played an attractive venture, driving elegantly through the covers, punishing leg-spinner Chetanya Nanda for pitching short and pulling Parvinder Awana to the square leg boundary.

With his brand of intelligent off-spin bowling, Manhas was the only bowler who looked like taking a wicket on Monday. The others, barring the workhorse Rajat Bhatia, lacked the discipline that the track demanded of them, erring in line and length and hardly testing the Bengal batsmen.

Prabhakar conceded that while the track was hardly helpful to the bowlers, they needed to show a more positive attitude when they return on Tuesday. Bengal will be keen to extend its domination by winning more sessions and then pile the pressure on the home batsmen in what is clearly a battle for the first innings lead.

My first day’s report in The Telegraph

Of course, there is some wonderful talent stacked up on either squad – be it Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Wriddhiman Saha and Ranadeb Bose or be it Delhi’s Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rajat Bhatia and Pradeep Sangwan, to name a few. Yet, on Sunday, the cricket fraternity inevitably paid more than usual attention to the track.

Given that the International Cricket Council imposed a 12-month ban on the Kotla after a one-day international featuring Sri Lanka was be abandoned on December 27 last due to a dangerous pitch, it was hard for anyone to pretend that the strip being readied for the Ranji game would not be the focal point.

The Kotla groundstaff is confident that the pitch will behave better and that the teams would enjoy squaring up against one another in their opening first-class game of the season. With Delhi’s attack revolving around the seamers, it is likely that the green tinge will remain in place and raise the hopes of the bowlers.

With the two rollers parked a fair distance away from the pitch on the eve of the game, it is clear that the home side was loading the tilting the scales towards its trio of Sangwan, Bhatia and Sumit Narwal. But Bengal’s seasoned Ranadeb Bose and the lively Ashoke Dinda, supported by Laxmi Ratan Shukla can pose challenges to the home batsmen.

Bengal won just one game last season and finished low in the group table but a new dynamism is evident – and not just because the team has a new captain in Tiwary and former India opener WV Raman has returned as coach. The vibrancy stems from the belief that the team has the wherewithal to challenge strong sides in the group like Delhi, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

“Our team recognises the league group as challenging and as a huge opportunity to get noticed with consistent performances against such teams,” Raman said. “What better way to start that journey than with a good showing in Delhi. The team did well to win its four games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament and can show the intensity needed here.”

Many have found it tempting to look at the game as a clash between Delhi’s Virat Kohli and the Bengal skipper Tiwary but no game of cricket must be viewed as a match between two batsmen. The teams are quite evenly matched and the squad that can overcome the doubts about the track and adapt quickly can get its nose ahead of its rival.

“We will be without four players who are on India duty but we have the team to deliver the goods,” Delhi coach Manoj Prabhakar said. “We have a squad that is brimming with self-belief, with each player capable of pulling his weight. The players are not too worried about how the track will play and are focussed on giving our best effort on the field.”

Raman and Prabhakar preferred not to risk naming their playing XI on Sunday but exuded confidence that their teams would be competitive and intense through the four days that will set the tone for the rest of the season.

The teams:

Bengal (from): Avishek Chowdhury, Anustup Majumder, Arindam Das, Sreevats Goswami, Manoj Tiwary (captain), Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket keeper), Arindam Ghosh, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Sourashish Lahiri, Shiv Sagar Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ashoke Dinda, Iresh Saxena and Md Shami Ahmed.

Delhi (from): Mayank Tehlan, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Aditya Jain, Mithun Manhas (captain), Rajat Bhatia, Gaurav Chhabra, Chetan Sharma, Punit Bisht (wicket-keeper), Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan, Parwinder Awana, Pawan Suyal, Chetanya Nanda and Vikas Mishra.

Here is a link to the report in The Telegraph where this piece appeared first

The clouds of doubt over DDCA and the selection system have not cleared at all.

Has Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag had his way with the Delhi and District Cricket Association after raising the banner of revolt against the growing influence of its Sports committee in matters of selecting various teams that represent the state? Or has he been sold a dummy by the mandarins?

Most dailies have interpreted the announcements made by DDCA President Arun Jaitley at a briefing on Tuesday as a victory for Sehwag. Only one newspaper has seen this as a climbdown by Sehwag. I am inclined to believe that Sehwag has backed off from waging a full-scale battle against the machinations he complained about in the first place.

Sehwag’s biggest grouse was against the influence of the sports committee on the selection process – and that has not been addressed. By all accounts, the sports committee will continue to nominate the selectors as it has done in the past decade and a half. There was no mention of how the growing influence of this panel was proposed to be curbed.

In the wake of the storm raised by Sehwag & Co, DDCA had a chance to revamp, if not scrap, the sports committee but that panel has been left untouched. Had the DDCA President announced that the task of choosing selectors would be taken over by the Executive Committee, he would have been seen as addressing the issue.

Instead, Jaitley swung around to appear to favour the sports committee. “The best way to run the system is to not confront your own bodies. You have to reconcile with your bodies, you can make suggestions, and I have not found them in defiance of the executive committee. I don’t think they will be,” he said.

To my mind, this was the operative part of the media briefing.

Back in 1994, the DDCA Executive Committee, in its wisdom, decided to abrogate its powers to nominate the sports committee and advocate an election process. This panel was also invested with the responsibility of nominating the selectors at all levels – opening a veritable Pandora’s Box.

Unlike in the fable, it appears as if they left Hope trapped inside the box.

There are some points I would like to make.This is not the first time Sehwag has threatened to leave Delhi and each time he has had a conversation with DDCA President Arun Jaitley, he has taken a step back in compromise. This time he appears a bit more determined to make a point. I am hoping that he does not back off from the chance to cleanse DDCA of muck that drags it down.

Sehwag is not talking about the selection of the key players in the squad. He is clearly talking about the horse-trading that goes on for the 13th to 15th places in the squad. And in some cases for the 13th to the 20th places in a touring party.

DDCA Sports Secretary Sunil Dev admits that this is true, having seen a number of boys wearing the Delhi team uniform slink away when he entered a ground in Visakhapatnam where an age-group tournament.

The incident has also thrown up how a number of former cricketers have joined the chorus. Not a few of them have all held positions in various committees, including any of the selection panels, and in the team management. And nearly all of them have had their sons play age-group cricket in and for Delhi. It reinforces my belief that there are few, if any, saints in the world of cricket.

I was quite amused to see the Government-nominated Directors also join the me-too race and hold a press conference. One of these, Vibhakar Shastri even threatened to have DDCA taken over if it did not set the house in order. To my mind, he does not even understand what Sehwag’s been talking about.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India needs to encourage its affiliates to adopt a model constitution. Only cricket clubs and not individuals must be members of these units. Even then there is no guarantee that persons of mettle will man critical posts that ensure the development of cricket in the right lines everywhere.

He has such a busy schedule, meeting dozens of dignitaries, attending functions and answering many media requests that it is with trepidation that we drive to our rendezvous – the Sat Pal Akhara in the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi’s Model Town. Would Olympic Games bronze medalist Sushil Kumar be there so early in the day? We are in for a pleasant surprise. Sushil Kumar, mud all over his sculptured frame and oil greasing his hair, was about to complete his training for the day.

The 25-year-old breaks into a warm half-smile when we approach him in the akhara and quickly explains the role of the akhara. “We mix turmeric power, mustard oil and many other things in the soil. These work as tonics and antiseptics,” he says, not so much to tell us why he was covered with mud all over but to introduce us to some nuances of wrestling. “I would train in the akhara once a week but I would not change the style, using the same techniques as on the mat – and that helped me improve my speed.”

Dressed in but traditional training gear – a brief, he was ready for us, with the Olympic Games bronze medal within reach so that he could pose for Outlook’s Photo Editor T Narayan. I squatted barefoot beside him, not wanting to sit in a chair while the champion was in the akhara – and walked him through many moments in his life. And after a good hour and more, I come away convinced that he is humility personified.

The 66kg wrestler has come back to a resounding reception and yet he does not hesitate to return to the monastic life that he embraced more than a decade ago when he sought guru Sat Pal – after listening in to a programme on All India Radio – and submitted himself to the rigours of training. Many years later, after he won the bronze medal in Beijing, he could have chosen to sit back in his parental home in Baprola village in Najafgarh on the outskirts of Delhi but he was back where his heart was – in the akhara.

“I have done that too,” he says, pointing to a young aspirant dragging a heavy block of wood by ropes to level an area. “That block is called a fatta. This exercise provides an excellent workout for the shoulders and thighs.” And he has climbed the rope that dangles from a tall tree – and that has helped him develop upper body strength. And I cannot remember how many of those push ups I have done,” he says, pointing to some younger wrestlers perform on the little gallery nearby. Some of these lads nurse dreams of going on to do well for India. For other, learning the craft will allow them to earn some cash for themselves and their families by fighting in the dangals.

Sushil smiles a knowing smile when I suggested that he and his fellow-wrestlers defied the lazy stereotype that legend heartlessly builds up around rural natives of these parts. “We may be lazy in many walks of life but one can’t be lazy about something that is a passion,” he says. “The balance of a bout can change in a matter of seconds and there cannot be any room for laziness in my life. We train to develop attributes like thinking, speed, power, stamina, flexibility and durability.”

His guru Sat Pal, himself a Padma Shri award winner after his Asian Games gold in 1982, walks by and pauses to join the conversation. “When Sushil came to me first, he was 11 or 12 and weighed about 35kg. We trained him and as he first won the Delhi schools championship, we knew he had a strong character that is rare even for wrestlers,” he says. “He would follow all that we would tell him, uncomplainingly. If I told him he had to do 500 push ups, he would go way beyond that. If we told him to complete 20 sprint repeats, he would do 30. Only such a player can become a champion. There is a great joy in shaping such a diamond – and words can never do justice to that process.”

My mind goes back to a conversation I had some days earlier with Roshan Lal Sethi, who has been watching dangals (wrestling competitions) since the 60s, and he tells you believes there are about 200 akharas, big and small, reputed and fledgling, in Delhi. “They are spread all over Delhi, including in the rural belt, and are as far flung as Yamuna bank and Mehrauli, North Delhi and Najafgarh. Why, even now, the dangal every Sunday near Jama Masjid is popular. You must see it to believe it. In fact, Sushil had fought in those dangals before he came under Sat Pal’s tutelage.”

But before I could ask him that, the guru went his way to others needing his attention. And to some new kids who have turned up at the Chhatrashal Stadium in the hope of joining his akhara. Clearly, we know Sushil Kumar has won more than an Olympic medal. He has won a huge battle for his sport, wresting media’s focus on to wrestling.

Cut to August 20, China Agiculture University Gymnasium in Beijing.

Having got a bye in the first round, he was not prepared for defeat by Ukraine’s Andriy Stadnik in the quarterfinal. He spent the next hour and a half alternately agonizing and praying for Stadnik to make it to the final.

“When I lost to him – and I was not able to do anything right in my bout – I stayed in the stadium, rested and was only watching him, hoping that he went into the final,” recalls Sushil. “I had my heart in my mouth and a prayer on my lips when he was fighting the Kazakh in the semifinal. It was a close contest. There were four or five pehlwans of more or less equal calibre and could win against one another. I did not want to return the Games Village.”

Prodded to linger just that bit longer on that memorable day, Sushil says he thanked God – Hanuman, to be precise – and told himself not to make any more mistakes and give the bronze medal his best shot. “I was perhaps more fit in 2004 and would have brought home a medal from the Athens Games but repechage had not been introduced then. I had to fight three bouts in the span of 75 minutes and I was glad we had trained for such a schedule.

Lingering is something that Sushil normally does not like to do. “The bronze medal is done and behind me,” he says. It is clear that this is not false modesty but a philosophy of life that is ingrained in true gladiators. “I have to focus on the present and the future.” I ask him if it is easy. For, we don’t let him forget that in a hurry, inviting him to a series of functions or asking him to fulfill media commitments. “Look, we are sitting and talking about it. So, it’s okay to relive some of those moments for you. But I cannot let it overtake me or my character that is rooted in the present. Wrestling as a sport demands continuity. If you give up training for a day, you are set back by three or four days – and I cannot afford that.”

Ask him about the time he was kept out of the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games despite his defeating Shokinder Singh, and you get a simple response that packs much erudition. “I believe in looking ahead. I can’t be lingering on any thing. On a defeat, on non-selection or even on an Olympic medal,” he says, ending my search for disappointment or frustration beneath his calm countenance.

But if you thought that he does not have much to say, you have another thought coming. He minces no words on some issues. For example, ask him about the Baghpat based Shokinder’s decision to auction his international medals in an ostensible bid to raise funds for a good akhara in his home town. “Such acts do not benefit any one. He has a job in the Railways and has got promoted twice. Such behaviour can only harm wrestling as a sport, leaving a poor imprint in the minds of the young wrestlers.”

Indeed, Sushil does not mind speaking his heart out against the system that allows one wrestler to choose the grip that he would employ at the start of the bout. They should go back to the spin of the coin. “I had to think on my feet and find a way to turn the tables on my opponent in the bronze medal match. I used the kachchi daav (a special move) and was able to clinch the win,” he says of the biggest bout of his life.

He speaks candidly about his win-some-lose-some attitude when I ask him if he missed a normal life outside the akhara. “We have to make sacrifices in some areas of life to be able to achieve in our chosen areas,” he says. “The othe day I met someone who studies for 16-17 hours a day. He is probably missing out on the joy of playing sport, isn’t he? But he may not view it that way. I don’t think I have been wrong in choosing to be a wrestler.”

There are more honest words that surface from his heart. “We love the attention the sport is getting but honestly, we would feel more encouraged if the dignitaries met us even before we set out for competitions,” he says. “I believe all our athletes will deliver better results if they know that the country cares for them.” For all that, he hasn’t yet been able to meet Minster for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav, given that the latter had trained his focus on the floods ravaging north Bihar. “He was ecstatic when he called me in Beijing after I won the bronze medal bout but I was unable to take his call then,” he says.

Take his attention away to Khali – the heavy weight ‘wrestler’ who had a whole nation eating out of his hands on his return from the US after a spell in WWE – and Sushil gets as candid as he can ever be. “Khali’s is a different kind of wrestling. In fact, it is not wrestling but a form of entertainment,” he says, quite dismissively. Sushil has a very strong opinion on doping as well. “First, let me tell you that you will not find a wrestler because of the akhara system in India,” he says. “The thought of taking recourse to such aids never crossed my mind. It is wrong to indulge in doping. A player’s life gets spoilt by such a thing. In fact, our coaches and senior pehelwans and my guru Sat Pal will never allow such things to happen.” Mention of Sat Pal brings a twinkle to his eyes. “I share an indescribable relationship with my guru.”

Almost as if on cue, having completed another round of his akhara, encouraging, chiding, cajoling and scolding his trainees, Sat Pal returns. “He had all but lost his bronze medal bout to semifinalist Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhastan in Beijing. Our eyes met and I urged him to give it all he had and with speed,” recalls Sat Pal. “He had lost the first round bout to Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine in similar circumstances. I am so glad he understood what I was telling him.” It was just as well that Sat Pal ended his self-imposed exile from international competitions after he retired in 1984. “I went on my own and I would like to believe that my presence helped him.”

“When he lost his first bout, we were quite flabbergasted and didn’t know what had struck us. He was not able to fight as well as he could. He seemed too keen and under pressure to win. We then stayed on in the Stadium, praying for Stadnik to keep winning his way to the final so that Sushil would get a chance to make amends. I told him to be himself and to shed the fear of failure. Then he beat the Amercian Doug Schwab (world No 3), Belerus’ Albert Batyrov and the Kazakhstan’s Leonid Spiridonov (world no 4). He is sharp kid and fought each of his bouts intelligently to find Olympic success.”

There has been talk about living conditions and some unromantic stories about the wrestlers being packed in rooms. But the truth is that these lads no other way. “I could have brought a flat with the money I got from the Arjuna Award and other winnings but I would not have been able to discipline myself,” he says.

I ask him about the new motorcycle gifted to him by a TV channel. “It is a lovely piece of machinery but I don’t know how to ride it. Praveen knows a thing or two about such bikes and I will be his pillion,” says Sushil, getting up to leave because he has an appointment to keep. He heads to the shower, washes off the mud, towels himself dry and walks back into the room that has been his home away from the Baprola home for a good part of the last decade. “My childhood has been spent here. I was in the sixth or seventh class when I came here. Nothing has changed for me.”

Yes, at this point of time, he knows not what life beyond guru Sat Pal’s akhara.

(This piece first appeared in Outlook Citylimits and the photo is courtesy my friend and its Photo Editor T Narayan)