🕊Lukka Chuppi
Lata Mangeshkar's love affair with cricket, Unmukt Chand's journey in the game & hockey happenings
*cue drumroll*
The IPL Auctions are less than a week away!
Reply to this email with your most outlandish auction prediction.
Lata Mangeshkar’s love affair with cricket
Lata Mangeshkar’s death on Sunday sparked an emotional outpouring all across the country. Tributes and tears flowed freely, as people shared her stories and achievements. An aspect of her life that came to the forefront amidst this was her passion for cricket. We’ve compiled some of these anecdotes below.
The most renowned story about her love for the game involves the 1983 World Cup win. To reward them for their exploits in England, the BCCI had decided to award each member of the team ₹25,000. Lata di found this too measly a sum and on the team’s return to India, organised a fundraiser concert in Delhi that raised upwards of 21 lakh INR. Each player, along with manager PR Mann Singh received 1 Lakh each. The remaining six lakh was used to renovate the Nehru Stadium. As a gesture of their appreciation, the BCCI since then has reserved two tickets for the Mangeshkar family for every India game at home.
She was in the stands on that fateful day at Lords in June, 1983. She had invited the team to her hotel ahead of the final to wish them luck and she spoke of how Kapil returned the favour after the game and invited her out for dinner with the entire team.
Lata di’s support for the team didn’t fade as the years passed. After India clinched their historic series win in Pakistan in 2004, the first call team manager Ratnakar Shetty received was from her.
“I can never forget that as soon as India sealed the series in Rawalpindi, the first call I received from India was from Lata Didi and she was as excited and joyous as any other Indian. She asked me to pass her congratulatory messages to all the boys,” Mr. Shetty told The Hindu.
When India went on their open-top bus parade through Mumbai after winning the T-20 World Cup, the team bus stopped for a few minutes in front of her home on Peddar Road as she waved on in celebration.
She has also spoken of how she didn’t eat or drink anything for the entire duration of India’s semi-final against Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup!
Unmukt Chand’s journey in the game
We’ve been thinking a lot about Unmukt Chand lately. With all the headlines being dominated by a swashbuckling U-19 captain from Delhi who scored a phenomenal century against Australia in the World Cup, how could we not?
Few players at the U-19 level left as searing an impression as he did. There was an aura to him that drew hope. Brands had found their ‘next big thing’ and for a while, it felt that so had the senior team. But rather than serve as the foundation on which he built his career, the U-19 WC win in 2012 was the pinnacle.
He made his Ranji debut at 16, his IPL debut at 18 and captained India A at 20. Chand had a stellar List A record, scoring 4505 runs at an average of 41.33. He captained the team to series wins over New Zealand in 2013 and Bangladesh in 2015, yet a senior call-up eluded him. Every member of the India A team he captained against Bangladesh has played for India but him.
With growing up and maturity comes too much analysis, which might lead to paralysis. Expectations when not met lead to insecurities, which hamper performance. Each dismissal takes you into a mental spiral, even as you see your fellow cricketers progressing to the next level. Somewhere in their success, you lose yourself. The more you try, the farther it goes away.
Unmukt Chand for Wisden in 2019
The descent was as rapid as the rise. The nadir came in 2016, where in the space of a few months he was dropped from the Delhi team, went unsold in the IPL auctions and was left out of the India A team. The next few years were spent on the fringes, with Chand even opting to play for Uttarakhand instead of Delhi in search of a fresh start. He eventually decided to quit Indian cricket last year at the age of 28.
He relocated to San Francisco and signed a multiyear contract with the Minor League Cricket team, Silicon Valley Strikers. In November last year, he signed for the Melbourne Renegades and went on to become the first Indian male cricketer to play in the BBL.
Poor luck and murky politics had a role to play to his career trajectory but Chand has also spoken of being overwhelmed by all the advice he received early in his career and falling into a “technical rut”. While he doesn’t cite himself, Chand also mentions how coaches should help young players understand the mental aspect of the game and teach them how to “have that insatiable hunger to perform each time”.
For every Virat Kohli, there’s an Unmukt Chand. His story isn’t a cautionary tale. It’s a reflection of the cut throat nature of elite sport where making it to the top is nothing short of a miracle.
“Cricket is a team sport. But, it’s also a personal battle,” he wrote in his essay for Wisden. Here’s hoping that our current champions are equipped with the mental fortitude for the battles ahead.
What’s happening with our hockey teams?
This section is for you. Yes, you. The fan that sat transfixed by India’s men and women hockey teams at the Olympics last year. The fan who woke up at six in the morning to watch Rani Rampal and co chase history. The fan who welled up when PR Sreejesh’s heroics secured the Bronze. The fan who had Chak De on repeat for one month. The fan whose hockey fandom ended once the Olympics did.
Here is a brief summary of what’s been going on with the two teams. It’s all the context you need to re-ignite your passion.
Women’s Team
They started the year by winning the bronze medal at the Asia Cup in Oman. It was a disappointing showing given India had entered the tournament as defending champions. But, it must be noted that the team had played only one competitive game post the Olympics in the build-up to the Asia Cup.
Towards the end of January, the team made its debut in the FIH Hockey Pro League, the international hockey federation's top-flight global league. The Women kickstarted their campaign with two resounding wins against China. Their next game is against Netherlands in Bhubaneswar on 19th Feb.
The team’s got a packed 2022 ahead of them. Post the FIH Hockey Pro League, they’ve got the World Cup in July followed by the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. A gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou will secure qualification for the 2024 Olympics.
Men’s Team
The Men’s Team take on France in their first competitive game of the year, in the FIH Pro League, today.
India will be hoping to bounce back after their disappointing showing in the Asian Champions Trophy in December, where they just about secured a Bronze medal in a tournament where Japan were the only other country to have competed in the Olympics.
It’s a new look squad, with just two players above the age of 26. Sreejesh, who didn’t play the Asian Champions Trophy, returns for the FIH Pro League. Last week, the champion shot stopper won the World Games player of the year award. But, Sreejesh’s appetite for medals hasn’t abated. In a virtual press conference, he spoke of having his eyes set on the World Cup in India in 2023.
As the highest ranked team in Asia, India will be hoping to build on its Olympic success at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games this year.
“After the bronze medal match, me and Manpreet Singh (captain of the Indian team) came to each other and said this isn't the end of our journey. This is just the start. That's been our message from the start. We have to take our opportunity from here," said coach Graham Reid.
Person of Interest
Neeraj Chopra is a perennial person of interest in India. He piqued our interest just that little bit extra this week by being nominated for the Laureus Sports Award in the ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ category. The other notable players in this category include tennis stars Denil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu and Spanish footballer Pedri.
He is the third Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar and Vinesh Phogat, to be nominated for a Laureus Award.
“From being a kid in a small village in rural India who only took up sport to get fit, to standing on top of an Olympic podium, it’s been quite an eventful journey so far. I feel privileged to be able to represent my country and win India medals at the global stage, and now to have this recognition from Laureus and be considered alongside such exceptional athletes is a really special feeling," said Chopra in a statement.
The jury for the awards comprises 1300 journalists, who pick nominees across seven categories. The winners will be announced in April, following a vote by the Laureus Sports Academy that consists of 71 sporting greats.
Direct Hits
We really can’t stop binging on Athletic Interest videos
We’re running out of fun ways to tell you to subscribe to our newsletter. Just do it already.