If there is one major lesson that has been learnt at the cost of the spot-fixing scandal that has shaken the very foundations of cricket, it is that there is no substitute for honesty. Read more

If you were embroiled in a controversy that forced one minister to resign, cost a major company to have a multi-million dollar contract to be cancelled, and tarnished your own reputation almost beyond redemption, where would you be? Read more

Few cricketers have divided opinion like Muttiah Muralitharan, who announced recently that the first Test against India, starting on July 18, will be his last. If you like cricket, or like so many in this country, feel more strongly about the great game, you will be well advised to take a break from whatever you’re doing when that date comes around and turn the TV on. Read more

In the season of Twenty20 cricket, it’s not surprising that everyone is in an unseemly haste. While the frantic running between the wickets, the ambitious heaves and even bowlers trying to get their overs through in the stipulated time makes eminent sense, what seems amiss is our impatience in trying to get to the bottom of the off-field mess. Read more

For a tournament that prides itself at being impossibly modern and constantly ahead of its time, the opening ceremony of IPL III was unbearably retro. We’re constantly told that the IPL, and Twenty20 cricket at large, are designed to bring new, young audiences into the grounds. Read more

For decades now, the Australians have set the benchmark for everything in cricket. Ever since they took over the mantle on the field from the mighty West Indies, the men from Down Under have taken it upon themselves to be world leaders. Read more

If all goes well, in a week we’ll be thanking Dale Steyn. India fans who enjoy watching high-quality cricket against any opposition, and don’t mind if their team occasionally lose, will already be doing so. But what Steyn did with his high voltage spell in Nagpur was set up the second Test in perfect fashion. Read more

For a country obsessed with pitches, the last week has been a major talking point. As is so often the case when it comes to administrators or associations, the chatter has reached its zenith for all the wrong reasons. Read more

I was fortunate to take a couple of days off not long ago and drive down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. All the advance advice that came my direction was welcome – don’t miss this, avoid that, eat only here, don’t drink there … but the real annoying chirps began after. Read more

In a sport that has many different degrees of shame, this is one that has endured. At a time when teams bend the rules and stretch the “spirit” of cricket to some ridiculous extremes in order to get an edge, this is one infraction which will simply not be tolerated. Read more