Sport - Sports : General

Lone medal hope

Sir, — Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi parting ways had been a huge loss to Indian sports. But now they have come together once again for the Athens Olympics. From their win in the Masters series tournament in Toronto this much is clear: the old magic is still there. The duo has certainly raised expectations of a medal in Athens. In fact, they look the only medal hope for over one billion Indians.

Pankaj Kumar Sinha,

Chennai
Relief

Sir, — The Toronto Masters series win by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and the success of chess maestro Viswanathan Anand at the Dortmund Sparkassen tourney provided the much-needed relief for Indian sports lovers after the cricket team failed to inspire in the Indian Oil-Asia Cup tournament in Colombo. Will the Indian side put up a better display in the forthcoming one-day tournaments in Amsterdam and England to rekindle hopes?

M. Ratnasabapathi,

Madurai
Pathetic display

Sir, — The Indians were outplayed by the Sri Lankans in the final of the Indian Oil-Asia Cup cricket tournament in Colombo and the reasons were not far to seek. The running between the wickets was miserable and the fielding pathetic. Some of the players did not appear fully fit. Except Sachin Tendulkar no one seemed fully committed. What the team needs is a full-time sports psychologist.

Jeemon Joseph,

Aluva
Colombo debacle

Sir, — Barring the boastful remark by Saurav Ganguly that "we know how to tackle Sri Lanka," there was precious little that the Indians did to unsettle the Lankans who proved a difficult proposition in their backyard. Anil Kumble's exclusion in the final was uncalled for. He is a spinner who can contain any batsman even when he does not get wickets and in the one-dayers this can mean much. With the exception of Sachin Tendulkar, no other Indian batsmen could stand up to the Lankan attack, a pity considering that the team has a batting line-up which is regarded as the best in the world.

Sailen Basu,

New Delhi
Keep shuffling

Sir, — As a cricketer who has played at the lower levels in the fifties, I feel that the Board should think of shuffling the team with an eye on inducting young talent of all-round ability. What is the purpose of having a good batting line-up that seldom shows its ability to pile up runs? The Sri Lankan bowling in the final was nothing sensational, but the Indian batsmen made it look menacing. Why should we select and retain players supposedly for their run-making ability when they repeatedly fail in the big matches?

V. Chandrasekaran,

Tiruchi
Quality fare

Sir, — Copa America may not have had the glitz of the Euro championship but the competition was of a high standard despite several countries fielding second-string teams by resting the top stars. All the matches were worthy of World Cup quality and though some teams had to finish by the wayside it did not take away the merit of their performances as they were already in the big Copa America league. Congratulations to Brazil for wearing down Argentina in the final.

A.V. Narayanan,

Tiruchi

Chennai

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