Year in Review 2008 : SPORTS

Sachin Tendulkar – The Milestone Man


With a voracious appetite for individual records, Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the greatest milestone-man in the history of cricket. In the year 2008 he broke records which just a decade ago were considered beyond the reach of a bat-wielding-mortal. Sachin transcended that by first crossing the 16,000 run mark in ODI during the CB series in Australia and following it up by becoming the highest run scorer in Test cricket by eclipsing Brian Lara’s record of 11, 953 runs. Finally, during the Nagpur Test against Aussies he notched up his 40th Test ton, inevitably the first to do so in the history of cricket.

Monkeygate scandal: Verdict says Bhajji 'not out'


Nearly a month after match referee Mike Procter banned Harbhajan for three Tests following an Australian complaint that he had racially abused all-rounder Andrew Symonds by calling him a “big monkey”, the ICC panel on 29th Jan decided that racism charges could not be proved against Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.

IPL season 1 begins, changes cricket forever


The moment IPL was conceived everybody knew that it will revolutionise the game forever but when it actually unfolded with its ‘glam’ quotient amalgamated with the slam-bang format of the T20, everybody knew that the gentlemen’s game will never be same again. The man behind the scene was Lalit Modi, whom BCCI gave a free hand to sculpt the tournament the way he likes. He did that and brought out some audacious results. Sachin and Sanath walking out to open the innings, Md Kaif running to greet Shane Warne after the fall of Sourav Ganguly’s wicket and Ricky Ponting running down from ‘covers’ to advice Ishant on how to get Hayden’s wicket! It all happened here and nobody complained. Everybody likes earning a ‘little more’.

Magic in Beijing begins on 08/08/08


At a propitious confluence of 8s, traditionally considered so favourable, at 8 pm on 8.8.08, the opening ceremony began, condensing in an hour five thousand years of Chinese civilization in a spectacular feat of symbolism and historical sweep. With unprecedented attendance by world leaders — including Sonia Gandhi, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush — one of China’s most well-known filmmakers, Zhang Yimou, artistic director of the opening ceremony, used a contemporary aesthetic to harness the epic scale of Chinese dance drama, adding to its grandeur precision and

Abhinav Bindra does the unthinkable


Abhinav Bindra shot his way to country’s first individual Olympic gold, a moment he lived for the last four years, i.e., since his disappointing show in Athens. He didn’t disappoint anyone on the now historic date of 11th August 2008 as he took gold in the 10 m air rifle at the Beijing Olympics. In the last round of shots, he pulled out a 10.8, the closest one gets to a perfect 10.9 to shoot a speck on a paper that Abhinav has been staring at for a decade. This perseverance paid rich dividends. No longer will India come to the Olympics without commanding the simple courtesy of expectations placed on them.