Although there was already a men’s professional Squash league, in 1930 British Open was incepted by the All England Club (which also established Wimbledon).

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men’s basketball league in North America. Founded in 1946, it is one of the major American professional sports leagues and NBA players are the world’s best paid sportsmen. Although being an American league, its influence around the globe is noteworthy.

The game started off as a leisure time activity for richer groups of the population, but the game was too big to be chained down to such a small future. It grew like an untamed forest fire and before it anyone realised it had extended itself to all corners of the Indian society. The Gentlemen’s game soon became a pandemic. It had taken over the hearts of billions. Every park, by-lane and corridor became a cricket ground in no time. The people of India welcomed it into their lives with arms wide open. Such was the grandeur of the game. The game transformed itself from the game of nawaabs to a common man’s dreams.

Well, not the best way to get your way back into the game, but the recent victories of the team have shown, that his leadership skills may be turning around, and he may have found what he was lacking while steering KKR into the ground. As Ganguly fans rejoice, and social networking mediums and blogs are abuzz with his return, this IPL gives us a little more to think about as it edges into the fifth year of its being.

The match started with Pakistan opting to bat first. I think the opening pair of Hafeez and Jamshed was unlike any other Pakistani opening pair I have seen. All the previous opening combinations for Pakistan had the same approach of hammering the bowlers in the first power-play by taking additional risk, however this pair not only scored fast but also hit the ball along the ground as well. Hafeez and Jamshed both produced a textbook performance which can be included in the coaching manuals for the game.

A case in point – India v/s England, 2011, The Oval – Day 4 – Sometime between lunch and tea. Being a cricket fanatic and a hopeless cricket romantic, even after losing the first three tests, I am following the 4th day in a non descript room somewhere inthe rural part of India, hoping against hope that India will in some way save this final test.

I remember watching that first test match at Lords. I remember watching SauravGanguly’s effortless drives through the covers.

Some forms of sports are said to close doors on people disqualified on certain parameters. For example, only a physically fit person can contest in contact and physical sports like Wrestling, Martial-Arts, Football etc.; while on the other hand only a mentally strong individual can win a game of Bridge or Chess.

I was born in the era of Cricket so I hardly got any chance to see the same enthusiasm for Hockey in my time.

India v/s Zimbabwe 1983 World Cup: Another World Cup game in which the Country failed to live up to the expectations was the game against the minnows, Zimbabwe! Batting first, the Indians lost half of their side for 17 runs and were left tottering with the tail to follow! Kapil Dev however took the batten from the on and played a Captain’s knock to save the Country from humiliation!