Salil H Athavale

When I first played club cricket (for a pretty weak team) our captain was very clear on one thing. If he won the toss we would bat first because then we only had to field for as long as the opposition took to knock off the target. Safe to say we did not defend too often and we certainly did not successfully chase 😂 It’s not how any serious team would approach the game, obviously, but in the Lucknow heat Afghanistan might have done well to take a leaf out of my old skipper’s playbook!

@cricket_broken I feel their free flowing, flamboyant football is destroyed. A lot of Method has entered into football

Has the quality of South American football decreased?

@toi_gauravG Or World Cup final between Australia and Sri Lanka in 2007

The 🇮🇳 A vs Sri 🇱🇰 A match in Dambulla, played in near darkness in Super Over Stage, and generated controversy, reminded me of an ODI in Sharjah, between 🇮🇳 & 🇵🇰 on October 23, 1991, which India lost by 4 runs. That match too was played in near darkness... PAK 257/7, IND 253/6

Is it only me who is unreasonably irritated when the football World Cup is referred to as “FIFA” in conversation or social media posts? “I could not stream FIFA last night” “Did you see that goal in FIFA?” Etc I mean, literally no one would say ICC for a cricket World Cup in any format. #WorldCup

@wmakarand Perfect. Reason can be anything but such attitude can’t be acceptable

No third world nations sports fans do not do this. You can keep your first world behavioural patterns to yourself. India won the Cricket world Cup back to back. Not a peep of an incident. And India is way more populated. Indian authorities are far better at giant crowd management.

Wanna know how Shakuni's langda-pan was introduced? Hear from Gufi Paintalji himself. He says "No one knows if Shakuni was langda, the Limp is my creation". & The myth makers created a pura backstory of the limp that never was. Shakuni ka war bana diya & Gandhari ko Mangalik 😂

@kushal_mehra Very well said.

The best part about today's game was that KL did not bother about Shubman's century. This is a clear deviation from the old Indian team culture. And this credit should be given to Gambhir. We give him a ton of brickbats for his red ball goofups. But this personal record obsession was a thing for our Indian team.

🌧️🌊 Eyes on the Indian Ocean: Is There Hope for an Improvement in the Monsoon Situation? The future progress and strength of the Indian monsoon now largely depend on the oceanic and atmospheric changes taking place over the Indian Ocean. (N-1)

INDIGO LAUNCHES BANGKOK TO VARANASI FLIGHTS. Netizens call it the ‘Paap & Prayaschit’ route

If a single pilgrim is attacked during Amarnath Yatra, I promise you this: that I will ensure not a single pilgrim flies off for Haj. - Balasaheb Thackeray, 1993.

@Vikspeaks1 When we wake up tomorrow, he will be saying “deal is going great… we will have peace soon” 🤦‍♂️

Mr. Ceasefire says we will strike more tonite.

La selección brasileña cuando eran alcohólicos, mujeriegos, indisciplinados y fiesteros. Les decías una racistada y te clavaban 4 goles

@Oam_16 Most importantly, they don’t mention Harry Brook as vice captain now 🤔

ECB take the safe path. Harry Brook, the vice-captain, does not get the promotion.

Usually a Chef travels with the touring England team.The way England players are involving themselves in the brawl at pubs ECB should hire services of a bartender who can serve alcohol in the team room. First, Brooks. Now skipper Stokes and Atkinson. ECB seems to be spineless.

रशियाची भव्यता ते अमेरिकेचा ढिसाळपणा! आम्ही मित्रांनी रशियाचा फिफा वर्ल्ड कप (FIFA World Cup 2018) खूप आधीपासून प्लॅन करून दिमाखात फत्ते केला होता. रशियात पाऊल ठेवल्यापासून जे वातावरण अनुभवायला मिळालं, ते थक्क करणारं होतं. फॅन आयडी (Fan ID) दाखवला की तिथली अद्ययावत मेट्रो व्यवस्था, एका शहरातून दुसऱ्या शहरात जाणाऱ्या आंतरराज्य ट्रेन , फॅन पार्क्स आणि इतर अनेक सुविधा फुटबॉल चाहत्यांसाठी अगदी मोफत होत्या. तिथल्या प्रशासनाने जगभरातून आलेल्या चाहत्यांचे जे आदरातिथ्य केले, त्या भारी वातावरणानंतर आमची पुढच्या वर्ल्ड कपसाठीची उत्सुकता शिगेला पोहोचली होती. त्यानंतर आला कतार वर्ल्ड कप. पण दुर्दैवाने, कतारच्या वेळी कोरोनाचे (COVID-19) सावट आणि आम्हा मित्रांच्या वैयक्तिक आयुष्यातील काही अडचणींमुळे आमचा plan जमू शकला नाही. मोठ्या स्वप्नाला तात्पुरता ब्रेक लागला, पण आम्ही हरलो नव्हतो. आमचा जिद्द कायम होती आणि आम्ही पुढचा थेट 'मिशन वर्ल्ड कप अमेरिका' प्लॅन केला! मी स्वतः खूप आधीच व्हिसा काढून तयारी सुरू केली. आमचे अनेक मित्र जे आज जगाच्या वेगवेगळ्या दिशांना, वेगवेगळ्या देशांत स्थायिक आहेत, त्यांनीही आपापल्या बाजूने प्लॅनिंग सुरू केले. सगळं काही ठीक चाललं होतं, पण जसा जसा वर्ल्ड कप जवळ येऊ लागला, तसा आम्हाला अमेरिकेच्या व्यवस्थेचा एक वेगळाच चेहरा पाहायला मिळाला. तिथली ढिसाळ नियोजन यंत्रणा आणि "तुम्हाला यायचं असेल तर आम्ही सांगू तसंच यावं लागेल आणि आम्ही सांगू तेव्हाच यावं लागेल" हा त्यांचा अवाजवी तोरा आणि अहंकार आम्हाला प्रकर्षाने जाणवू लागला. आमचे काही मित्र स्वतः अमेरिकेत असूनसुद्धा, तिथल्या या जाचक अटी आणि नको त्या मानसिक त्रासामुळे शेवटी आम्ही सगळ्यांनी मिळून तो प्लॅन 'फ्लॉप' (रद्द) करण्याचा एकमुखी निर्णय घेतला. आज जेव्हा वर्ल्ड कप सुरू आहे आणि तिथल्या एकंदर ढिसाळ कारभाराच्या बातम्या समोर येत आहेत, ते बघता आम्ही घेतलेला निर्णय किती योग्य होता, याची जाणीव होते. तो प्लॅन कॅन्सल केला ते बरंच झालं, नव्हे तर आज मनाला एक वेगळाच आनंद आणि समाधान आहे अशी आमची भावना आहे. पण एक फुटबॉल फॅन म्हणून, रशियातल्या त्या स्वप्नवत सुविधा आणि आदरातिथ्य अनुभवल्यानंतर, आज अमेरिकेतली ही दुरवस्था वाचताना आणि बघताना खरंच मनापासून खूप वाईट वाटतं. शेवटी, खेळाचा आनंद हा सुखाचा आणि उत्साहाचा असायला हवा, मनस्तापाचा नाही! @Russia @FIFAcom @FIFAWorldCup

The reality of Thane infra. Metro train and AC double decker bus, both inaugurated with much fan fare by Thane politicians, now both gathering dust.

I have been following Indian cricket for four decades now and am yet to see a chair of selectors who can match Ajit Agarkar in sustained ruthlessness. You may not like him, but you have to admit that he does not hesitate to make bold decisions.

@kushal_mehra Are bhai isase jyada bheed to kaunse bhi Mumbai local train ke station pe milegi!!!

Bhai kitne besharam log hain yaar. They are reporting as if thousands turn up!!! More people turn up to a local dance party than to this protest in India. This is why Western media is so discredited.

The Cockroach Janata Party drama has turned a serious NEET CBSE issue into a farce. It will get buried fast. The government gets cover, the opposition gets content, & the students .. they get nothing. At this rate, CJP should check whether they are accidentally on the government's payroll.