Special Reports
Young captain, fearless squad, and a shot at history By all standards of modern Test cricket, India’s 336-run hammering of England at Edgbaston last week wasn’t just emphatic—it was historic. The victory not only levelled the five-match series 1-1 but also signalled the arrival of a new Indian era led by a youthful yet fearless…
Raman Lamba’s story is one of raw talent, unyielding passion, and tragic destiny. Born on January 2, 1960, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, Lamba rose from local cricket grounds to the international stage, leaving an indelible mark on Indian and world cricket before his untimely death at just 38. From childhood, Lamba was known for his…
MS Shanker Can there be anything more bizarre than a man under the scanner for corruption writing a letter demanding justice for others? That’s exactly what Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) Joint Secretary T. Basavaraju has done. Basavaraju—who is already facing heat after a parent accused his close aide of accepting a bribe for securing a…
Somashekhar Ganta The headline could well be a cryptic clue to what is reportedly unfolding in Beijing. Social media is abuzz with speculation that “She” (Xi Jinping), the all-powerful General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is being quietly dethroned by “Who” (Hu Jintao, his…
How a Former Cricketer Hijacked a Supreme Court-Mandated Reform Panel MS Shanker In a damning new chapter in the saga of Hyderabad cricket’s administrative collapse, fresh revelations by former Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice N.A. Kakru, expose the internal sabotage of the very Supervisory Committee that was tasked with cleansing the…
Alberto Juantorena’s Unmatched Olympic Reign Some athletic feats stand so far apart from the norm that they enter the realm of legend, transcending specialization, redefining human limits. At the very peak of such rare accomplishments lies Alberto Juantorena’s historic double gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics: victories in both the 400 meters and 800 meters….
Jagmohan Thaken In India, 69 percent population lives in villages, where most of the populace is associated with agriculture and allied activities, but snatching the agricultural land by the governments in the name of urban and industrial development leaves these Ruralites in the lurch with a stigma of landless, unsettled, and unemployed. However, the Governments…
Veteran Umpire Ramaswamy Breaks Silence: “Blame the Club Secretaries” MS Shanker After weeks of speaking to former Hyderabad cricketers—disillusioned, dejected but not defeated—I took a detour. On the advice of some wise old players and my former colleague Jagannath Das, I turned my attention to those who watch the game from the other side of…
N Nagarajan I write this as someone who completed secondary education in a century-old school in Delhi, where both Tamil and non-Tamil students studied together. From Classes 1 to 3, Tamil was the medium of instruction, while English was taught as a language. English wasn’t our home language, but we gradually picked it up, thanks…
MS Shanker It began with a phone call. An innocuous ring on a Monday evening. Within ten days, KN Radhakrishna (name changed), a 60-something retired resident of Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad, saw his entire life’s savings—over ₹1.36 crore—vanish into the digital ether. Not to a robber with a weapon, not to an elaborate Ponzi scheme, but to…
