PITCH PERFECT
Sportswomen from tennis and badminton made it to the top five in the list of India’s best sportspersons, but the country still bleeds blue
THE AUSSIES HAD A tough time nabbing Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket in the recently concluded Test series which India won, making history as the first team from the Indian subcontinent to win one in Australia. What’s even tougher, though, is dethroning Virat Kohli from pole position in india today’s Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey. India’s captain was not even the second best player of the series, but his leadership skills, combined with his consistent performances, is enough to guarantee that the International Cricket Council’s highest ranked batsman in Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI) continues to be India’s most beloved sportsman.
Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hasn’t fallen off the charts despite retiring from Tests to play shorter formats only. With two match-winning innings to also clinch the one-day series down under, Dhoni once again proved that he is still the man to bank on to successfully chase a target and, rightfully, won his first man of the series award since 2011. The performance showed that the 37-year-old is not hanging up his gloves any time soon, especially when his heir apparent, Rishabh Pant, 21, had a stellar showing in the Border-Gavaskar series with 350 runs and a record 20 catches.
Rohit Sharma, captain of choice when Kohli is unavailable and currently second in the ICC’s ODI batsman ranking, is right after Dhoni. The presence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah suggests that bowlers are not overlooked in a nation where Sachin Tendulkar was once god.
Breaking cricket’s hegemony are three sportswomen: Sania Mirza, currently on a sabbatical from tennis after giving birth, along with badminton players P.V. Sindhu, currently the highest paid sportswoman and a strong medal contender for Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, and Saina Nehwal, who returned to her erstwhile coach Pullela Gopichand for better results.
Women may not be in the top three in the MOTN survey, but their achievements count for a lot as those surveyed recognised athletes from varied fields, like boxing (Mary Kom) and cricket (Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur). The men in blue, though, are still the ones India cheers for the hardest. And if they keep up their winning ways, especially while away, it’ll be hard not to.
VIRAT KOHLI M.S. DHONI ROHIT SHARMA SANIA MIRZA P.V. SINDHU