After Madan Lal, another 1983 World Cup winner slams RCB, calls Bengaluru stampede tragedy a 'deadly welcome'
The victory event, jointly held by the RCB management and the Karnataka government, turned fatal as massive, unregulated crowds overwhelmed the venue's security capacity. At least 11 people lost their lives, and nearly 50 were injured in the chaos. Kirmani, deeply moved by the tragedy, questioned both the timing and the management of the celebrations.
"My condolences to bereaved families. This was a deadly welcome to IPL champions. In our times, there was no such media hype and there was no TV and there was no such thing which could lead to such things," Kirmani told India Today.
Kirmani, who represented India in 88 Test matches, felt that the felicitation of RCB's maiden IPL triumph could have waited a little longer, allowing for better planning and crowd control. He stressed that such an important moment should not have been rushed.
"On that count, I suppose if RCB waited for 17 (18) years to become champions and organisers, whosoever it may be, could have waited for a while for things to settle down and then organise a show to felicitate these great heroes of RCB."
Madan Lal had earlier bashed RCB for not waiting a little longer to organise the title celebrations.
The former wicketkeeper didn't shy away from questioning the intensity of today's cricket fandom, highlighting how the game's changing nature has led to situations previously unheard of.
"The fans of our times were not as crazy as fans of today, and especially in the IPL, the crazy fans are unimaginable, particularly as you could see lakhs and lakhs were around just to get a glimpse of these great heroes," said Kirmani.
He further posed a thought-provoking question on whether the same crowd would have shown up if Karnataka had won the Ranji Trophy, suggesting that the growing glamour and media spectacle around the IPL has fundamentally altered how fans connect with the sport.
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Shubman Gill's pursuit of perfection: How Indian captain put in serious hours to prepare for English Test and came out trumps
It was about a month before he was to take the most important flight of his life to Heathrow, London, for his first assignment as India's Test captain at 25. On one gloomy day in Chandigarh before Shubman Gill came to England, England came to Shubman Gill. It was IPL time, he was leading the Gujarat Titans and having nets on what seemed like a 'dicey' pitch – some balls flying towards his face, others darting at his ribs. Shubman would stop training, dump the white balls back in the kit bag, and ask for a shiny red new one, the kind used for Test matches. Even while playing IPL, Shubman wasn't missing a chance to be England-ready. Gujarat Titans' assistant coach Naeem Amin is based out of London, and he was there to witness Shubman's quick ball-switch. 'And the bit that you will find interesting was him keen to practice just against a new ball. As soon as the new ball would become a little bit old, he'd change it for another new ball,' says Amin. As India's new Test No.4, Shubman knew that after facing the white-ball on flat tracks, he had to deal with the swinging-seaming red cherry in England. Amin also talks about the young skipper's hunger to learn and the desire to improve. 'His appetite always puts cricket first, and in that aspect, he is second to none. When Kane Williamson (former New Zealand captain and world's leading modern-day batsman) was in our team (GT), he was asking him about his thoughts all the time. 'How would you go about this or that? Why are you doing this drill? How does it benefit you?'.' England and New Zealand are miles apart, but on the cricketing map of conditions and pitches, they aren't that different. Williamson is in England playing county cricket these days, and turned up for the Lord's Test to find his one-time IPL teammate in the middle of the form of his life. He was pretty happy with what he saw. The pursuit of batting perfection has been Shubman's life goal since his wonder years in Punjab's border town of Fazilka. His father, a landed farmer, would pay kids in the neighbourhood Rs 100 to bowl at his son all day. When in his teens, Shubman knew that he could go back to tractors, fields and the family agriculture income, if cricket didn't work out. Like many others around him, the batting prodigy didn't lose sleep over the dilemma of academics or a career option. He would get up fresh with only cricket on his mind. Shubman would follow a punishing schedule, all through his Under-16 and Under-19 days, bat close to 6 to 8 hours every day. A typical day for him in Chandigarh, where he and his father moved from their village, would be about 3 to 4 hours of batting in the morning, a quick Amritsari lunch of patti or chhola kulcha, and again 3 to 4 hours of batting. Even when he made it to the Indian team, he was among the batsmen who batted the most at the nets. 'I want my body to take control of my mind … Not my mind taking control of me, seeding inside me self-doubts or getting carried away. Because I have practised so much for so many years, I want my body to take control of my mind. Let the muscle memory kick in. That's my challenge: use the mind to tell itself to stay quiet,' he once told The Indian Express. In England at the age 25, Shubman seemed to have achieved that batting nirvana. India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has been watching him closely for the past several months, and he could notice a change. 'From the Australia series to this series, I have seen his thought process and the way he batted. It is little different from what he has done in Australia … I would give a lot of credit to him for deciding what he wants to play, when he does not … Every batter, at some stage of their life, thinks and changes the way they bat in Test cricket. And Shubman seemed to be doing that brilliantly in this England series,' Kotak said. Before this series, Shubman's highest Test score was his 128 against Australia in 2023. As if he was given a Midas touch along with the captain's armband, everything that he touched in England has turned to gold. Between June 20 to July 6 – his fortnight of fortitude from the first to the third Test – Shubman registered three higher scores: 147, 269, 161. This was like the Swedish pole-vaulter Mondo Duplantis clearing new heights every other day, raising the bar at will. It was in Birmingham that Shubman would find his Bodhi Tree, where he found enlightenment. In England, his 267 is being hailed as the most perfect knock he's ever played. Data shows that epic innings had a false shot percentage of 3.5 – that's the least for any innings in England since this statistic came into existence 20 years back. Since geniuses like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Pointing, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli are on the list below Shubman, the Birmingham innings is worthy to be framed in India's batting Hall of Fame. The near-perfect 267 was the outcome of his long penance, after mulling over many dismissals. It lifted him to a higher level, elevated him to the spiritual state where 'the body controls the mind' and the 'mind tells itself to stay quiet.' xxx England isn't an easy place to play cricket. In summer, the days are long; for cricketers, they are longer. They can suck the energy out of you, the weather can be murky, it can make you gloomy. This time, during the day, there was heat too. Consider the schedule of an Indian cricketer during the Lord's Test to understand this. The day would start at 6 am to be on the team bus that would start at 8 am. The match timing would be 11 am to 6.30 pm. By the time the team settles on the bus for the journey back to the team hotel, after press conferences and interviews, it would be 7.30 p.m. From Lord's to St James Court, where the team stayed, was easily a one and half hour long journey on the team bus, negotiating London's notorious traffic. After that the players would have a meal, some me-time and then hit the bed. Within hours, the alarm would go off once again. The schedule would be more or less the same for 25 days, plus there was the pressure of performance and fear of failure to deal with. For Gautam Gambhir, Shubman's biggest achievement as a first-time skipper was to remain unfazed all through this very demanding tour. 'This England team challenges a captain much more than Australia. They have many batsmen who can just run away with the game, and this puts pressure on the captain when the team is fielding. But not once has he looked shattered or lost,' he says. In Australia, there's just one Travis Head in the Test team who can mentally disintegrate an opposition captain and make the fielding side rudderless. In England, Bazballers are crawling out of the dressing room ever so frequently. It starts with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the batting buccaneers who can brain freeze the best. Down the batting line-up, there is Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, and Ben Stokes – all three with swinging bats that can rattle any captain. The run machine Joe Root, with his solidity, seems to loom as a fulcrum. There have been occasions when Shubman has looked clueless, when he seemed to have lost the grip on the game but the team didn't give up. As was the case at The Oval when Brook and Root seemed to have the game in their pocket, India kept on coming back at them. And when they got a toe-hold in the door, they barged in as a commando unit on a covert operation. But as a member of the tour said, this series has been one of learning for the young skipper. 'See the way Ben Stokes leads his team, he has a few fielding templates, or call them plans, to get wickets. He keeps his fielders moving around. Suddenly, there would be a leg-side trap, next the off-side would have fielders in funky positions. Shubman needs to find his own templates and plan. He is young, he is hungry, he will learn,' a team official says. Gujarat Titans coach Amin gives an example of Shubman's thinking of a course correction as soon as he gets out. 'He is not the kind you will say I could have done this or that. After he has made a mistake as a batsman and got out, he has already dissected it on his walk back to the dugout. This is how quickly he realizes what he needs to do. There are times when there might be video analysis going on for another batter. He's keen to listen in, just in case he can upskill 0.5%,' he says. In the first Test in Leeds, he got out playing a reckless shot when on 147. It would have helped if he had stayed on longer. On the eve of the next Test, he would take the blame, promise to do better and an astonishing atonement waited for him. He would score a double hundred in the next innings. What was that compelling reason for the improved performance? 'Sometimes, especially when you are the captain, I think you need to lead by example so that whenever there is another player in that situation, you can command that player,' the team official said. This was a captain subtly asserting himself; this was a skipper earning the right to be the 'commander.' Former England captain Nasser Hussain, who had noted during the first Test that Gill 'lacked aura' would reassess his verdict at the end of the second Test: 'He (Gill) is not going to be a Kohli-type character. He's got a low heartbeat, but that can help. Look at this crowd here today. Look at all of India watching on. You may need someone just to calm the team.' As for Gambhir, he hasn't been over-interfering in the proceedings on the field. For long periods of stand-offs where wickets have been hard to come by, the captain has been changing fields, bowlers, and tactics without any obvious prompt from the dressing room. When Shubman is batting, the substitutes haven't randomly run on the field with gloves, or when the team is fielding, carrying unasked-for water bottles. Shubman does his thing, the way he likes. He does have counsel available on the field. Vice-captain Pant, seniors KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, and even Mohammed Siraj, to chip in – when asked for and even offer unsolicited advice. As the pundits from the commentators box, especially while assessing the new captain during the first Test have said 'Shubman is running the team by committee.' xxx Amin speaks about this same leadership trait in the captain, who is always willing to listen. 'Shubman is the kind of guy where a 15-year-old was there and he had an opinion on something and Shubman thought it would be useful to him, he would listen to him,' he says. Behind those soft features and dimpled smile, there is a steely resolve to stay ahead. 'The guy puts in hours… he puts in some serious hours to get better. Like I'm telling you about the red ball, how he's practising against it, even when he's in India. He's just trying to stay one step ahead,' says Amin. It is the same pursuit of perfection that started from the border town. Life came full circle for Shubman at The Oval. In a 2-2 verdict, it was tough to say if the runs brought the best out of his captaincy or the captaincy triggered an avalanche of runs.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Do you think jawans complain? You're playing…': Gavaskar tells Gambhir, 'Wipe that out of Indian cricket dictionary'
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Monday claimed that fast bowler Mohammed Siraj 'debunked' the workload myth in Test cricket. Siraj played all five matches of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and picked up 23 wickets (the most in the series) to inspire India to a 2-2 draw against England. Mohammed Siraj bowled 185.3 overs across the five Test matches against England There was considerable chatter around workload management in the Indian camp and how the fast bowlers would be rotated over the course of the series. While every other pacer got at least one game off, Siraj was the only one to feature in all five Tests against England. He bowled 185.3 overs across nine innings — the most by any bowler from either side — and finished as the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps. His tally included two five-wicket hauls, one of which came in the series finale at The Oval. His nine-wicket match haul there helped India bowl England out for 367 in their chase of 374, sealing a famous win. Speaking to India Today, Sunil Gavaskar was effusive in his praise for Mohammed Siraj — not just for his performance, but for his dedication to the sport, the format, and his relentless drive to win the series for India at all costs. Gavaskar said the pacer single-handedly proved that 'workload' is a myth — calling it more of a 'mental thing' than a 'physical' one. 'There's always the saying that the bowlers win your matches but the fact of the matter is that you've also got to score the runs. So because India didn't score the runs, they lost those two matches. So yes, I think Siraj bowled his heart out and he debunked forever this business of workload. I hope that the word 'workload' goes out of the Indian Cricket dictionary. I've been saying that for a long time. For five Test matches nonstop, he bowled 6-over, 7-over, 8-over spells because the captain wanted it, and the country expected of him. And I think that is the one thing that we all should keep in mind that this workload is only a mental thing, not so much a physical thing,' he said. Gavaskar also cautioned head coach Gautam Gambhir and the team management to avoid buying into such narratives, citing Rishabh Pant's bravery in Manchester as an example. Pant had batted with a fractured toe and scored a crucial half-century that helped India secure a draw in the fourth Test, forcing the Oval decider. 'If you are going to succumb to people who are talking about workload, then you are never going to have your best players on the field. You've got to get them to a situation where you say , 'Hello, you are playing for your country, and when you are playing for your country, you got to forget the aches and pains in your muscles. That is what you mean on the border. Do you think the jawans complain about the cold, or what is the situation? They are there to give their lives for the country. Give your very best for the country. Don't worry about accident pains. What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out bat with a fracture. That is the kind of thing you want to expect from your team. That is the, that's something that you want to expect. Don't go by the little injuries. It is an honor given to you amongst 140 crores of people, so you are so lucky to be able to represent India. And you should not take that lightly. And this what we have seen with Siraj, five Test matches, bowling non stop,' he added. Gavaskar clarifies: Jasprit Bumrah's absence due to injury, not workload Gavaskar clarified that his remarks on workload management were not directed at Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for two matches during the England tour. He explained that the pacer's absence was due to an ongoing injury concern, not part of any rotation strategy. 'Not a problem in home series, but definitely in overseas series, where you're taking a team overseas, and the balance of the team can get affected. At home, you have ample time to call out to reserves, so it's not so much of an issue. But going overseas, you have to maybe look at that factor. But Bumrah was an injury issue, not a workload thing. He's had a serious injury. And so therefore I think that also has to be taken into consideration. When he played the two Test matches, he took two fifers. India might not have won, but he took those wickets. So you mustn't forget what a wonderful bowler he is,' Gavaskar said. Bumrah suffered a back injury during the tour of Australia earlier this year, which ruled him out of action until mid-April. The selectors, in consultation with the BCCI medical team, later decided that Bumrah would play just three matches in England to manage his injury.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
What is an Olympics task force? Trump signs order ahead of 2028 LA games to avoid another Paris ‘disgrace'
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