My Science School

When the inaugural T20 World Championship was to be played, no one gave India even a slender chance of winning the Championship. Some of the better-known names were, missing from the Indian squad and Mahendra Singh Pansingh Dhoni was made the scapegoat captain to lead a team that would not lose face even if it returned without a single victory. What happened finally is history but above all it brought into limelight a new potential captain for the Indian cricket team.

Dhoni was no Samson with all his strength in his long hair but a captain who remained cool as a cucumber even under the most stressful situation. It was only a matter of time before M.S. Dhoni would be handed the reins of India cricket to be in the safest of hands. Dhoni appeared at the international arena in December 2004 when he made his One Day International debut against Bangladesh.

Perhaps the month of December had a special significance in Dhoni’s career; he made his test debut against Sri Lanka in December 2005 and the following December, his T20 debut against South Africa.

Dhoni draws his ancestry from the District of Almora in Uttarakhand but was born in Ranchi, then in the State of Bihar and now in Jharkhand, the district to which his father moved for employment. Since the Bihar youth teams of various age groups were not all that strong, Dhoni had to put outstanding individual performances to remain in the limelight. However, once in the Indian team, he remained an invaluable asset for the team in all the three forms of the game and once the leader, his achievements remained unparalleled.

In 90 Tests, Dhoni known lovingly as Mahi scored nearly 5,000 runs at an average of a fraction over 38 but it was his efficiency behind the stumps that accounted for the 256 catches 38 stumpings. However, Mahi’s achievements in the shorter version of the game remain enviable. In 350 ODIs,  he scored 10,773 runs at an average of 50.53 with a highest score of 183 not out and a record number of victims behind the stumps; 321 catches and the number of stumpings  with the integers reversed standing at 123; a total of 444 victims. In 98 T20 Internationals, Dhoni scored 1,617 runs at an average of 37.60 and accounted for 91 victims behind the stumps in the form of 54 catches and 37 stumpings.

However, what puts Dhoni in a class of his own are his achievements as a captain. He remains the only captain who led his team in winning all the three limited overs ICC trophies; the ICC World T20 in 2007, the ICC World Cup in 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy, in 2013. In addition, he led the Indian team to victory in the Asia Cup in 2010 and again in 2016. Under his captaincy, India also achieved the distinction of achieving the top test ranking. There can be no greater recognition of Dhoni’s leadership than fact that the record eight times he was included in the ICC’s ODI XI, he was named as the captain on five occasions.

Dhoni has been considered as one of the greatest finishers in limited overs cricket and his 82 unbeaten innings are a testimony to his rare talent, however, when the time has demanded he was always ready to lead from the front and the most outstanding instance was when he decided to open the innings in the final of the 2011 ICC World Cup. One rare unique behaviour that Dhoni introduced was to hand over the won trophy to the junior-most member of the team once he was back with the team after receiving the trophy. Nothing can be more motivating for any youngster in a team where Dhoni was the skipper.

As a leader of the Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL, Dhoni’s achievement is another example of his great leadership. Of the ten times that CSK has participated in the 12 IPL tournaments so far, Dhoni has led his team into seven finals, winning the title on three occasions.

M.S. has been a recipient of several awards, some of the more prestigious being the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. The Territorial Army conferred the honourary rank of Lieutenant Colonel and he justified the honour by undertaking a two-week training stint with his unit.

Dhoni’s retirement and abdications have come in stages but the respect that he wielded among his teammates was always evident when the man behind the stumps took the liberty of resetting the field and it was never contested even when someone else was at the helm of affairs. I hope that the Government of India will hold a similar view when it comes to awards and honours for achievements that hitherto have never been reached by any other captain in bringing glory to the Indian cricket team.

Dhoni’s retirement from international cricket may be a disappointment for many of his fans but we all have definitely not seen the last of M.S. Dhoni. The number 7 in yellow jersey will still be seen playing the helicopter shot for the CSK in the IPL and the team’s opponent batsmen will still not dare to venture out of their batting crease as long as the man behind the stumps is the one who has the world’s maximum number of stumpings in limited overs cricket.

 

Credit : Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar (Teenager Today)

Picture Credit : Google

On September 27, 2020, the ninth match of this edition of the IPL was played between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals. KXIP posted 223 for 2 in 20 overs, only to see RR chase it down, as they reached 226 for 6 with three balls to spare. In the process, RR broke the record for the highest successful chase in IPL history, a record that was already theirs.

Smith, Samson and Tewatia combined for 188 runs in the chase, scoring the bulk of their 226 for six in the end. While the big hitting was expected from Smith and Samson, Tewatia's knock came from nowhere.

What made it more incredible was the fact that he scored just 17 runs off the first 23 balls he faced and the remaining 36 in his last eight balls. He also scored five sixes off a single over from Sheldon Cottrell (18th over of the match).

In 2020, it was KXIP's Mayank Agarwal who scored a hundred. His 50-ball 106 included 10 four and seven sixes, but he finished on the losing side.

Agarwal was involved in an opening partnership of 183 with his skipper KL Rahul, who scored a 54-ball 69. This is the third highest opening stand in the IPL and the highest partnership for any wicket in the IPL to end up on the losing side.

In 2008, it was Australian Andrew Symonds who ended up with defeat despite scoring a century. Symonds scored 117 from 53 balls, with 11 fours and seven sixes. Symonds had the added agony of bowling the last over off which the winning runs were scored by RR.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Companies and businesses worldwide have had to grapple with the current situation, with working from home being a popular option. Most sports, including cricket, however cannot take place with the participants sitting at home. The solution? Organizers came up with the idea of bio-secure environments with strict regulations.

Following the success of various other sports inside what was called a bubble, cricket too followed suit. England were at the forefront, holding a number of series across formats and against various oppositions. The Indian Premier League (IPL), shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) owing to the increasing cases in India, is now being played in a similar bubble-like environment.

Despite these new changes, the first week of the IPL had everything that we expect out of this blockbuster tournament. Star cricketers, both Indians and overseas, have put on a show. Big hitting, mind-blowing fielding, spectacular bowling…the IPL has already ticked all these boxes. What’s more, this edition of the event has already seen a match go to the Super Over and another game tie the maximum number of sixes hit in a single game. The competition is only likely to get better here-on…

Did you know?

This is not the first time that the Indian Premier League has had to shift out of India. The 2009 edition was completely held in South Africa and the 2014 edition saw the first part of the tournament being held in the UAE. While the 2009 and 2014 editions of the IPL were pushed to the dates of the general elections in India clashing with the tournament, the 2020 edition had to move out of the country owing to the ongoing pandemic situation.

 

Picture Credit : Google

When Michael Schumacher finished his F1 career, many believed that some of the records that he had set were possibly beyond the reach of anyone- present or future – in the sport. One of those records was his podium finishes, as he notched up a record 155 when he had finished in the top three places in a race. And then came along Lewis Hamilton…

At the Spanish Grand Prix in August 2020, Hamilton had a dominant victory. While wins are nothing new for him, this particular one put him on the podium for the 156th time – one more than Schumacher. Having grown up watching Schumacher dominate the sport, Hamilton mentioned that he couldn’t “even begin to describe how this feels” and added that he felt “humbled and honoured to be mentioned in the same light as a driver like him.”

Did you know?

Hamilton has since then had two more podium finishes, increasing the record number of podiums to 158 (ahead of the Russian Grand Prix in September). A number of other Schumacher records are also within his grasp, including the most pole positions at the same grand Prix and of course the big one, most F1 world championship titles.

 

Picture Credit : Google

After Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Sofia Kenin won the men’s and women’s singles titles at the Australian Open 2020, tennis, like every other sport, entered a period of no action owing to the coronavirus. The Wimbledon was cancelled and the French Open was pushed to a September start. When tennis finally resumed in August, not all the big names on tour. And when Djokovic was defaulted for inadvertently hitting a line judge with a ball, the path was open for a new winner. Austria’s Dominic Thiem. Who had come close on a number of occasions before, grabbed the opportunity and became the first new winner of a men’s singles Grand Slam event since Marin Cilic won the 2014 US Open.

The women’s section of the US Open saw Japan’s Naomi Osaka win the title, adding to her victories in 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open.

Did you know?

Thiem not only became the first new winner of a Grand Slam men’s singles title, but was also the first to be born in the 1990s to achieve the feat in men’s singles. He is also the first currently active male player in hi 20s to win a men’s singles Grand Slam title.

Thiem didn’t have it easy though as he had to come back from two sets down to win the final against Alexander Zverev. That made him the first player to come back from two sets down in the US Open final in the Open Era (1968 onwards).

 

Picture Credit : Google

Liverpool claimed the English top-flight after 30 years with their first Premier League title. Lyon and Bayern Munich, meanwhile, chalked up victories in the women’s and men’s Champions League respectively.

The football season that ended in 2020, especially the big leagues in Europe and the continent’s elite club competitions, were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were all, however, taken to a logical conclusion, even though the end of the seasons was pushed much later than usual.

Among Europe’s top five leagues, all eyes were mainly on the English Premier League in the 2019-20 season. For Liverpool – giants in terms of reputation – ended their long wait for an English top-flight title by lifting it for the first time since 1990. And since the Premier League era only began in 1992, it was also the club’s first Premier League title.

Both the women and men’s Champions League were completed in a single country, with the usual home and away fixtures done away with in favour of a single match for what remained of the knock-out fixtures following the resumption. The Women’s Champions League was won by Lyon as they made it a record five times in a row. The men’s competition, meanwhile, was won by Bayern Munich, who did it for the sixth time in the competition’s history.

Did you know?

Liverpool mathematically assured themselves of the Premier League title with seven matches left for them in the season, making them the earliest to win the title.

Lyon won the Women’s Champions League for a record seventh time.

Bayern Munich not only won the Champions League, but did it by winning every single game they played in the season’s competition. They are the first team to win with a perfect record.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt across spheres around the world and sports have been no exception. The biggest casualty, without a doubt, is the Summer Olympics that was to take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 24 to August 9, 2020.

With the coronavirus rearing its ugly head, the organizers had no other option but to postpone the event in March 2020 – due to marketing and branding reasons – but the 32nd edition of the Olympics, the first one to be postponed (there have been cancellations), is now scheduled from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

While questions linger as to how exactly the Games can be carried out in 2021, what with the growing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, there is hope from the fact that most other sports have restarted in one way or another. The scale of the Tokyo Olympics and the global participation, however, throws it more challenges than any other. Only time will tell if our wish for Tokyo 2020 to be the “Games that conquered COVID” would come true…

Did you know?

While Tokyo 2020 is the biggest event affected by the pandemic, it was certainly not the only one. Numerous other sporting events were either postponed or cancelled due to the virus. Among them are the T20 World Cup that has now been pushed to 2021 and the 2020 Wimbledon, which has been cancelled.

 

Picture Credit : Google

On August 30, 2020, Lyon defeated Wolfsburg 3-1 in the final of the Women’s Champions League match that took place at the Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastian, Spain. With that, Lyon not only won the competition for a record seventh time, but also made it five successive victories on the trot.

Ada Hegerberg missed out this time due to injury, but she has been pivotal in Lyon’s glorious run. The first-ever recipient of the Ballon d’Or Feminin in 2018, Hegerberg holds a number of records in the Women’s Champions League. She not only holds the record for most goals in the competition (53), but also holds the record for most goals with a single club – 49 with Lyon. And to add to this, she also holds the record for most goals scored in a single season of the competition as she notched up 15 goals in the 2017/18 season!

Lyon, which became the first team to play 100 UEFA women’s club games in October 2019, have made it to the final of the Women’s Champions League on nine occasions. They won the tournament in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, losing the final only in 2010 and 2013. Eugenie Le Sommer, Wendie Renard and Sarah Bouhaddi are the only ones to have been part of all seven victories of Lyon in Women’s Champions League.

Wendie Renard and Sarah Bouhaddi are the only players to have been part of all nine finals that Lyon have made it to in the competition. Renard also holds the record for most appearances by an individual player in the competition, as she has 88 games under her name. with 67 of those being wins, she also holds the record for most match victories by an individual player in the event.

 

Picture Credit : Google