The tennis elbow has ruled master batsman Sachin Tendulkar out of the Videocon Cup being played here in Amsterdam. When newsmen came to the media center a press release was waiting for them announcing this. “Sachin Tendulkar will not be participating in any of the matches of this tournament due to an acute onset of ‘tennis elbow’ to his left arm,” said the press release. “The results of the initial physiotherapy treatments are promising and the Indian team management hope to have him ready for the Natwest Trophy series in September,” the release added. The news was received with dismay and disappointment among the Indian fans and supporters who have come here from all over the world to witness the exciting matches in this tournament.
Ponting Sees Videocon Cup as a New Challenge
Australian captain Ricky Ponting sees the tri-nations Videocon Cup as a new challenge for the world champions. “We have had a long break from cricket. The Videocon Cup is a new challenge and we will have to be at our best,” Ponting said in a signed article. The three teams will use the tournament as preparation for the bigger challenge — the ICC Champions Trophy in England from Sept. 10. The Australians will be without vice captain Adam Gilchrist, their wicketkeeper and hard-hitting one-day opener. “Gilly is an asset but we have been able to find replacements when key players are missing,” Ponting pointed out.
Shastri, the Champion of Champions
Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri is now a familiar face on the satellite TV as a commentator. Most cricket fans will remember the Bombay left-arm spinner and one-day opening batsman as the winner of the “Champion of Champions” title as the Man of the Series and a shining Audi car in Australia in 1984. He has a shrewd cricketing brain and led India to a memorable Test victory against Viv Richards’ West Indians at Chepauk, Madras in 1987. Narendra Hirwani made a sensational debut in that Test, claiming 16 wickets with his leg-spin bowling. “There were three debutants in that Test and it was indeed a great win for India,” Shastri once told me. For the Videocon Cup, Shastri feels that India will have to come up with a new game plan if they want to do well here.
“As the Asia Cup showed, some of the Indian tactics have become stale and predictable, and may not cut ice with teams of the caliber of Pakistan and Australia,” Shastri said in a published article.
Colorful Crowd at the Videocon Cup
The crowd at the Videocon Cup is both colorful and varied. People have come from all over the world. Ashok Sharma is a professor of journalism in Ohio. He, wife and two sons are here for the tournament.
“We decided to combine our holiday with the tournament. We are great Indian supporters and watch all the matches on the TV at home,” said Ashok. Anup Desai and his group stood out at the entrance, dressed as they were in the national tri-color. Atiya and Ali are from Budapest, Hungary and are here to support the Pakistani team. The organizers have found it difficult to deal with the surging crowd here and queues were formed even a couple of hours after play was supposed to have begun.
