PRG's Thoughts

"A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?"                                                                                       -Robert Browning   There are certain athletes that fall in to another category. There isn’t a name for it, but you just know it when you see them.  While Danill Medvedev was winning his first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2021, Rafael Nadal was battling with the unforgiving reality that all athletes face- my body just won’t allow it anymore. He was questioning his return to the tour, let alone playing in the Australian Open.  January 30th 2022 has left me speechless.  The category Rafa is now in, or maybe he always was, is of those select few athletes that defy the physical and mental confines of a human being's ability.  Tiger Woods couldn’t walk, but came back to win the Masters in 2019. Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open while she was pregnant. In 1974 Muhammad Ali, a 4-1 underdog, pulled off the “rope a dope” a

In a shocking decision, Virat Kohli stepped down as Captain of the Indian Test Side, leaving a lacuna in team leadership that no current player can fill.  KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were not certainties in the side eight months ago. Ajinkya Rahane is done. Rishabh Pant has barely matured as a batsman let along making him Captain and the team is left with no one who can lead. The big mystery in Cricket, that I have struggled to unravel for some time, is why bowlers are not made captains. Not just in Indian cricket but the world over. Pat Cummins is currently captain of Australia but it seems like it was just because Tim Paine ran in to a controversy and they had to make a choice at the last moment.  The last Australian bowler to captain the side over a long period of time was Richie Benaud in the late fifties and sixties. The last English bowler was Bob Willis in the early eighties. Anil Kumble captained India for 14 tests in between Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni but that seemed like it was

The Covid-19 virus does not discriminate. I wish the same could be said for the Australian Open. In one of the most appalling and cringeworthy decisions the Australian Open granted a medical exemption to Novak Djokovic to play the tournament.  The rules state, that to play in the Open a player must either be fully vaccinated or receive a medical exemption.  The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has guidelines on why a medical exemption should be given. Those with acute medical conditions, including undergoing a major surgery, those who have had Covid in the past 6 months, or have had a serious adverse event attributed to a previous vaccine dose, could receive an exemption.  The chief of Tennis Australia Craig Tiley, said, the exemption given was the same as any other player could have received. Novak's application of course is not disclosed and so we are not sure why he qualified.  I am happy to be proved wrong, but I am not buying that he qualifies in any