For Golf Legend Player, Sachin Tendulkar is his hero

For Golf legend Gary Player, Sachin Tendulkar is his hero. “You should know Sachin Tendulkar is my hero. He is too good. Among South African players, I like Jacques Kallis. But for me, anyone who is better than Don Bradman will be the best,” said the legend, who is in India to design a golf course for DLF.

According to a Times Of India report, Gary player might not have even played golf but for his father's insistence. Player was equally good in cricket, soccer and rugby as a schoolboy. But dad Harry noticed Gary's felicity with the golf club and the hardworking gold miner managed to get a loan to buy his son a golf kit. “And I'm ever grateful to him for doing that,” Player told TOI on Thursday.

Player brought in Tendulkar once more into the conversation while illustrating a point about golf. “Golf is a unique sport because it gives you a chance to play and win over a long period of time. Golfers have a bigger career span than any other sportsperson. You know, Tendulkar is a freak of nature to have played cricket for so long. But even he won’t go beyond 40 which means he will play for about two more years. But in golf, you can continue playing well beyond 50. I won my last pro title at 62,” he said.

According to Hindustan Times, Indian cricket is increasingly becoming a web of deceit and conspiracies, which should be a script writer's delight. The latest twist to the tale is Sehwag's exclusion from the team, which the Board insists is not “dropping“ of the player but mere “resting“ due to an injury, reads a column in HT.

Coming to Virat Kohli, the column adds that Kohli has been a rare exception in the midst of terrible all-round failures, someone who could very easily fill the void that the likes of Laxman and Dravid would soon create, but does that mean we reward him with a responsibility which does not sit easily on even mature minds. “Here we have a young, brash man, whose conduct needs course correction before he is burdened with hopes of leading the side in future. Indian cricket in the recent past has played musical chairs with the vice-captaincy slot. First it was Gautam Gambhir who was seen as a potential captain, then for reasons best known to the selectors, Sehwag was resurrected on this tour as Dhoni's deputy and now Kohli is being projected as his heir apparent. Kohli on this tour has shown his middle-finger to the spectators, has questioned umpiring decisions and is seen as an angry, intemperate young man, not the best qualities you would associate with a leader.”

Meanwhile, Honestly, we are a bit disappointed, but Sri Lanka deserve to be in the finals," remarked a senior player soon after the Sri Lanka beat Australia to reach the final, dousing India’s hopes of making it to the last stage, writes The Times Of India. "It was a see-saw affair and we felt that Australia may just pull it off in the end, but it just didn't happen. It's disappointing, but that's how the game goes. We need to head home now," said a younger player of the Indian team.

Call it sixth sense or whatever, the Indian team spent their last two days relaxing and unwinding. They stayed away from practice probably because they felt people would laugh at them if they didn't make the finals, adds the paper.

"A team which knocks down Australia three times on the trot has to be in the final," said another Indian player. "On the positive side, we will get to spend a few days at home before going to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup. We have been away for almost three months and were feeling a bit homesick," he added.

In his column in Times of India Harsha Bhogle emphasis the role of manager and coach in the team. “Teams are not like families in Rajshri Films where if the bride's parents are sweet, the groom’s are sugary. Ambition takes the field like a shadow when a player enters and therefore insecurity, even if not on the scoresheet, is never too far away,” wrires harsha, adding that eventually skills win matches, but in the wrong climate, skill has a do-not-disturb sign outside its door. That is why the position of coach and manager is so important.

“The coach has to monitor skill and try to improve performance and to that extent, he must seek to create bonhomie and as the leader, it is eventually the captain's responsiblity to see that there is harmony in the side. Good captains always talk of the spirit in the dressing room. But sometimes the captain himself may be part of the discord and the coach may be finding his way around or might have his hands full. That is where the manager steps in; a respected elder who knows when to let boys be boys, but who has the power and the stature to draw the line when needed,” he adds.