All eyes on Australia

          The Australian summer is here. And all sports fans are training their eyes on the smallest continent, for this month's action is all in Australia. While the Europeans and Americans are recovering from the frosty winter, the Australians are enjoying the summer and the limelight.
          For a country with more sheep than people, they are very good at many sports. They are four-time world champions in cricket, play decent soccer and have some players donning jerseys of top clubs, have produced supremely talented tennis players and are often among the best at the Olympics.
          The Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground is well known, and the most recent one was a roller-coaster ride with team fortunes changing by the minute. The series then became a blatantly one-sided affair and continues to be. Their revamped domestic Twenty20 league, the Big Bash League of BBL, also attracted fans and was neatly scheduled around the ongoing Test series. The final will take place on 28 January at the WACA, between Perth Scorchers, featuring experienced players such as Brad Hogg and Sydney Sixers, who boast of an attack spearheaded by Brett Lee.
          And of course, the Australian Open. What better way to begin a year than a hard-court tournament in sunny Melbourne (again!). The Grand Slam is drawing to a close, with four pairs of eyes aiming for one trophy. Wozniacki has been finally knocked off her controversial perch on top of the WTA rankings, while Nadal and Federer will face off for a spot in the final for the first time in nearly seven years. Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, seeded 6, have booked a place in the mixed doubles semifinals while Leander Paes, teaming up with Czech Radek Stepanek, has reached the last four and will play second-seeded Mirnyi and Nestor.
          This is the season for looking Down Under for all the sport action. In a few months, the French Open, IPL and other northern hemisphere-based events will return for another edition. Life and Earth's tilt move on.

Another Hiding Underway

          The Indian cricketers are having the worst imaginable start to the New Year. Down 2-0 against the ever powerful Australians, the players are under media fire and are facing ire from the cricket-loving masses of the populated nation.
          The Indian media is truly unparalleled in its contrasting treatment of players. And others from all fields, for that matter. Should someone score a century or take a mugful of wickets one day, they are duly coronated and divinified - for the time being. Fail to replicate that the next time around and they have 'flattered to deceive' and 'failed to live up to expectations' (set by?).
          I have not got too many opinions from the general Indian cricket-mad crowd, but I have got a sense from my classmates what they feel about India's ability and their series predictions. (This was after the first Test) One said India 2 Australia 1. Now that is a dream. The Australians subsequently proved this wrong. Another said 4-0, the number which is haunting the sports pages of the newspapers and occupying a good amount of television time, also the scoreline which seems most likely at the moment. A third said 5-0, which speaks volumes about Australia's prowess and her own knowledge of cricket.
          At this juncture in the England-India series, the debate was whether it would be 4-0 or 2-2. No one considered a 3-1 or the possibility that one match or both remaining games would be drawn.
Also, the century- or half-century-makers have largely been old masters like Ponting, Dravid and Hussey. An exception has been in Clarke and his mammoth 329. Both teams are in a period of great change, where the aged soldiers of the past decade are moving on and youthful players are entering the fray. The young Australian bowlers are slowly beginning to look like they can replace the famed attack of McGrath, Warne and later Lee. The Indian batsmen are not yet making way for the younger generation, though at this rate they may give way and need to hang up their boots.
          These are some thoughts on the much-awaited 'Agneepath' series. I join the other cricket fans in the country in wishing the Men in White (for now) the best of luck.