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An open letter from a fuddy-duddy cricket romantic

Thank you, Australia. Thank you for being such a gracious host to the greatest advertisement of test cricket in this century. These were tough times, make no mistake. The sport was behind the curtains for a major part of the year overshadowed by gloom and doom. To rise from those ashes and host a spectacle of this magnitude, kudos to everyone involved. Thank you, ground staff, and the support personnel involved to make sure this event runs smoothly. Thank you for giving our young buds, fertile soil to blossom in. Over the years, you gathered the reputation of being the toughest place to make a debut. But throughout the series, as many as 6 debutants played their part in this heist. So, thank you for giving us our future heroes. Thank you, Australian fans. I won’t let the abuse by some idiots at SCG overshadow the grace that you’ve shown throughout the tour. I know it’s difficult to see your heroes lose but I’m sure as the feeling sinks in, you’d know that it’s cricket which eventually ...

In Defiance of All Odds: The Mumbai Indians Story

Despite being the most decorated T20 franchise of all time, they were devoid of a successful title defense. Never had they successfully chased a target in a final. Never had a team chased down a sub-160 target in an IPL final. Never did an IPL team have 2 uncapped Indian batsmen scoring almost 1000 runs in a season between them. Mumbai Indians, in defiance of all odds, in a quest to an unprecedented 5th IPL crown, have drafted a blueprint of T20 success.   Jerry Krause infamously once said, “ Players   and coaches   don't win championships ;  organizations win championships ”. This came from a manager of arguably one of the most dominant dynasties in NBA history, Chicago bulls, who completed a double three-peat between 1990 and 1998 under Krause. Although this didn’t particularly go well with the centerpiece of their success-Michael Jordan, Mumbai Indians certainly have taken a feather out of Krause’s book of management.   IPL arrived in 2008. India was still fi...