The Premier League witnessed yet another enterprising weekend of football both at the top and at the bottom of the table. But more importantly, for the first time since March, since the Pandemic raged across the world and it seemed like everything was never going to go back to normal, thanks to the brilliant efforts and hardwork by all health care associated members and the stringent measures in place, FANS WERE BACK AT THE STADIUM!!!

No more silly fake crowd noises but Proper, Authentic, Passionate and Beautiful Sounds and Songs from a real crowd, albiet it was just 2000 fans but it was a step in the right direction! So how the British Govt planned to go about all this was , they assigned a system to each place based on how severe a hotspot of Covid cases were present and grouped them from Tier 1 to Tier 4. So while not all stadiums welcomed back people at the stadium, clubs based in London, Liverpool and the South west Coast were allowed to do so and the sight of them singing and celebrating and dancing was truly an emotional event.

Having said that, lets see what took place across the 9 fixtures played over the weekend. Well, it was only 9 and not 10 because the match between Newcastle and Aston Villa was called off as a result of a surge in cases amongst the Newcastle staff and members and so it was in the best health interest of both clubs that the Premier League decided to postpone the match for a later date.

Liverpool FC 4 – 0 Wolves

The match was deemed to be a tricky and stumbling block for Liverpool given their horrible record of injuries of late. But with the crowd back in the stadium and after a spine tingling rendition of the famous anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, the Men in Red put in a masterclass. They absolutely outplayed Wolves and secured a comfortable and a big statement 4-0 victory over the Wolves with Salah on the scoresheet yet again, his latest tally equalling Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally while at Man United in 64 lesser games!

Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 0 Arsenal FC


Spurs welcomed back their fans and put on a classic Mourinho-esque display as the Gaffer’s Snatch and Grab, You Miss I Hit tactics were on full display. It was the Son – Kane show yet again as they assisted each other for their respective goals and after that the toothless Arsenal side could not give a reply. Arsenal FC’s struggles in front of goal have been extraordinary as they have now gone more than 63 days without a goal from open play !

Sheffield United 1 – 2 Leicester City

At rock bottom of the Premier League with just 1 point from their opening 10 matches , Chris Wilder and his Sheffield side were hoping that they would come off this match with atleast a point in the bag after they equalized to make it 1-1 thanks to a Mcburnie header. But the Foxes added more misery on the Blades in the 90th minute of the match when Jamie Vardy scored the winner in classic fashion to leave the Blades on just 1 point after 11 matches!

Other matches around the country :

Burnley hosted Everton and got off to a flying start with a well taken goal by Brady in the 3rd minute. But Everton’s in form No. 9 DCL ensured that his side equalised , a goal which saw him on top in the Golden Boot race with 11 goals thus far.

Manchester City hosted Fulham and it was a fairly routine and comfortable win as they secured all 3 points with a 2-0 win over the Cottagers.

West Ham welcomed back fans to their stadium and hosted Manchester United. The Hammers went into a deserving lead and should’ve added atleast 2 more. But they were to rue their waste chances in the 2nd half as The Red Devils scored 3 goals in 13 minutes to give them yet another unconvincing 3 points.

Chelsea hosted Leeds in what was expected to be an enterpricing affair between the 2 sides. Red hot Giroud was on the score sheet for the Blues yet again but so was Leed’s own striker in form Patrick Bamford as they headed into the interval at 1-1. But Chelsea ensured they secured all 3 points as goals from Kurt Zouma and Christian Pulisic rounded up a 3-1 win at Stamford bridge.

Crystal Palace visited struggling West Brom and their struggles were further compounded with a red card to Matheus Pereira which resulted in the flood gates open up as the Baggies shipped in 5 goals, giving the Eagles their best ever away win, winning 1-5!

The last match of the weekend saw Brighton host Southampton in an entertaining match. But with The Saint’s talismanic striker back to full fitness, Danny Ings made his comeback of the bench and scored the winner in the form of a penalty to hand them a 1-2 win over the Seagulls.

11 match days are done and dusted and the PL table continues to have an interesting look! Tottenham and Liverpool are joint on top of table with the former ahead on goal difference. Chelsea and Leicester City round up the Top 4 with Southampton in 5th! Arsenal in the meantime sit at a paltry 15th place. At the bottom of the table, Sheffield are rock bottom with just 1 point till date while Burnley and West Brom are the other 2 sides in the relegation zone on 6 points each with just 1 point away from safety.

That’s a round up of all the action from the Premier League this weekend! The marquee match next weekend is the Manchester Derby! So until next week, take care , stay safe and God bless!

Phew! What an absolute roller coaster end to the weekend in the F1 world! Name the emotion and it was on full display and the emotions were so strong that every person who did watch the way the race eventually ended were fully invested in it. It was Motor Sport Racing at its Bittersweet best.

So after the conclusion of last weekend’s Bahrain GP, changes were expected especially in the HAAS team. Firstly, just to give everyone as update, Romain Grojsean is absolutely fine and is on the way to a full recovery. It was really heartening to see the videos he posted , especially when he came back to the circuit to thank each and everyone who was involved in saving his life. However, he wasn’t deemed fit as expected for this weekend’s race and news trickled in that he will not be racing in the final GP of the season in Abu Dhabi.
As a result of this , HAAS roped in their test driver Pietro Fitapaldi. Pietro Fitapaldi is the Grand Son of the legendary Two Time Formula 1 winner, Emerson Fitapaldi. Racing literally drives in the bloodline of this family as his brother Enzo too is involved in the racing world

And then on Tuesday (1/12) , World Champion Lewis Hamilton was reported to be having minor symptoms of Covid 19 and was found to test positive. Despite testing negative during the previous week, he was found positive only after his symptoms showed up.
And that’s where things became interesting. In search of a replacement driver, Mercedes had to choose between their test driver Vandoorne or their future talent investment in George Russell of Williams. Surprise surprise, the management went for the latter, young , talented British driver George Russell (on 2/12) and that’s when the fairytale began, atleast it was a fairytale till then.

Russell’s move to Mercedes led to a vacant seat in Williams which was filled by their test driver Jack Aitken! So in just one week, we were going to witness atleast 3 Next Gen drivers, officially driving for their new F1 team !

With absolutely no time to get used to his brand new Mercedes car, no time for proper adjustments to his body shape in the cockpit, young Russell was tossed into the seat of Lewis Hamilton. George just had to learn and adjust on the go and he wasn’t going to complain at all. It seemed like his one chance to truly showcase his talent and also score his first F1 points in 37 races!
And what do you know, the young lad delivered and came first in FP1 and FP2 (on 4/12)! He did drop off in the FP3 but so what!

Then the real deal came around, qualification in this extraordinary oval-square lap of just 2.2 miles with just 11 corners and with lap times of less than 55 seconds (on 5/12)! Not much was expected off Fitapaldi and Aitken and both went out on Q1 with their heads held high as they would start P20 and P18 on the grid. Saturday man Russell eased into Q2 and for the first time in his life into Q3! He had absolutely no expectations and one probably thought that he’d qualify P4 or P5 with experienced drivers of the Red Bulls and Bottas vying up for Top spot. But George being the splendid talent he is, completely out did himself. He showed tremendous pace and control and was definitely not going to finish lesser than P2. But the question was could he get P1 on his Mercedes debut? In his last run of qualification, George drove his heart out but finished just 0.026s behind Valteri Bottas , to start in P2! That qualification run got everyone talking as the boy had absolutely no time to get used to the car which was not fitting him in every regard and yet he produced a stellar drive!

And so it was Race Day (6/12)! Lights out and away they went and Russell got a sensational start and a superb overtake on Bottas saw him lead an F1 race for the first time in his life! In the mean time, on Lap 1 at Turn 4, a certain Sergio Perez of Racing Point who qualified P5 was involved in an accident that saw enter the pits at the end of Lap 1 but more importantly, that accident knocked out Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc who qualified P3 and P4 respectively, That pitstop saw “Checo” drop to last on the grid and had to start to force his way through the field from the back of the grid. While Russell was doing an exemplary job in managing his tyres and leading the race, the same could be said for Perez too as he kept picking up those in front of him.

By Lap 60 of 87, George Russell seemed destined to get a deserving fairytale victory. And that was the beginning of the end of his fairytale. On Lap 61, his replacement driver at Williams Jack Aitken, who was driving his car, had an accident that left his front wing in the middle of the track and that meant that a Virtual Safety Car was in place. Mercedes used this opportunity to call in both cars for a safety pitstop to change the tyres and decided to double stack! Changing tyres for one F1 car is a crazy choreography in itself as these pit crew members keep practicing to ensure they change the tyres in atleast less than 2.5s, so imagine the concentration needed if they have to change the tyres for 2 cars back to back! Now Mercedes does this routine often and they do it to perfection. But somehow, of all the days they could chose to mess up, they chose George Russell’s dream F1 race debut. A horrible and calamitous miscommunication meant that George had to pit twice in 2 laps to change tyres as the wrong tyre went on during the chaos of the double stacking. That saw George drop to P6 with 20 laps to go but still enough time to catch on to new race leader Sergio Perez!

Yes! Sergio Perez was having a superb race and found himself leading the pack with 20 laps to go! But Russell had the pace and the skill he displayed to over take 4 cars in the next 10 laps was absolutely phenomenal to watch and got everyone excited! But as fate would have it, just as he was about to catch up with Sergio, he suffered a right rear puncture and in just one race, victory was denied twice! Oh the heartbreak! He joined the field in P14 and was on the verge of not even scoring a single point. Listening to his frustration and anguish was awful. He did manage at the end to catch up with the points as he ended P8.

But that horrible mistake by Mercedes meant that for the first time in 190 races, Sergio Perez was a race winner and his post race radio transmission left everyone in tears as he couldn’t believe what had unfolded and struggled to comprehend the emotion of it all!

Also worth mentioning is that Estaban Ocon of Renault, scored his best podium finish as he too drove a stellar race to finish P2 which left him in tears as well and the other Racing Point of Lance Stroll came in wonderful P3 to make it 2 Racing Points on the podium.

While there were tears of joy on the podium especially from Sergio Perez for whom everyone was really pleased with, there were on the other hand heart breaking tears of despair and sorrow from George Russell as his fairytale debut in Mercedes came crashing down in the most horrible of ways in no fault of his own. His potential was there for all to see but those pictures of him on the ground after the race told a sad story.

That’s the life of a professional. Going from Hero to Zero in the same match/race and especially when its no fault of your own, the emotion and impact it creates is tremendous. George experienced the highs and lows of being an F1 driver in 4 days from 2/12 to 6/12. And the fact that it ended on a low is a painful pill to swallow.

Chin up George, you will be on top of the podium one day. Your warrior like drive will never go unnoticed!

So until next week for the FINAL RACE of this THRILLING F1 Season in Abu Dhabi, take care and goodbye!

Cricket returned to Australia, the place where international cricket was last played before the world went into lockdown due to the Covid pandemic and who better than an Indian touring side who had a point to prove that their previous series win in Australia wasn’t a fluke.

India was playing international cricket after 290 days albiet a lot of the players played in the IPL held in the UAE. Australia this time around were further strengthened in their squad compared to last time around with the availability of Steve Smith and David Warner along with their raft of seamers who were finally fit together. The Aussies were coming off some momentum wherein they beat The No.1 ODI team , England, in their own backyard.

In case you missed this much anticipated riveting series, here’s all that took place !

Match 1 : Australia win by 66 runs

Opting to bat first, The Aussies got off to a blistering start with Finch and Warner posting a 156 run opening stand. After Warner was dismissed for 69, Smith came in and looked in ominous touch as his form , which deserted him(and Finch) during the IPL, came back and bullied the Indian bowlers. Finch brought up his century before departing for a well made 114. Maxwell too who was supposedly short of form came good as he displayed his wide array of shots. Smith scored 105 off just 65 balls and in the process scored the 3rd fastest ODI hundred by an Australian and along with a superb quickfire cameo of 45 by Maxwell, Australia posted 374!

India in reply had an aggressive approach. But perhaps they were too aggressive as that led to their downfall. Despite a fast start, the Indian batsmen in attempting big shots , kept giving away their wickets and thus only piled pressure upon themselves. Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood were the pick of the bowlers with a 3 and 4 wicket haul respectively as they ensured that India were not going to chase down the target. Hardik Pandya did provide some hope with a wonderful knock of 90 but the target proved to be too much as Australia won by 66 runs!

MOM : Steve Smith for his cracking century

Match 2: Australia win by 51 runs

Australia once again won the toss and opted to bat first and the story was the same yet again as the opening duo of Warner (83) and Finch (60) put on 142 runs for the opening stand. Despite both getting out in quick succession, Smith and his prodigy Labuschagne ensured the run flow did not stop. They put on a stellar batting clinic as they played some beautiful strokes with Smith once again being the aggressor as he brought up an identical century off 62 balls! Marnus Labuschagne scored a sweet 70 not before Maxwell launched into the Indian attack yet again as he absolutely smashed the Indian attack in the last 10 overs, ending up on 63* off just 29 balls as Australia piled on 389, all of their top 5 batsmen scoring 50+!

In reply, the Indian openers Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal once again got off to wonderful starts only to throw their wickets away. After a decent 38 by Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli took it upon themselves to try and ensure India got as close as possible to the target. Kohli finally came good as he was his usual splendid self with a solid 89 before departing at the wrong time with India on the up thanks to some stellar piece of catching by Henriques. His wicket turned the tide as the asking rate only kept increasing and eventually India lost by 51 runs with Cummins the pick of the bowlers with a 3 wicket haul.

MOM : Steve Smith for his near identical century

Match 3 : India win by 13 runs

For a change, Kohli finally won the toss and opted to bat first. Both teams made a lot of changes in view of the dead rubber. Natarajan won his first cap for India while Cameron Green too made his debut for Australia. Kohli and Gill ensured that despite losing Dhawan early, India were in a respectable position. Kohli once again put on a batting masterclass as India were 114/2. But that soon became 152/5 as the Aussie spinners trapped the Indians in a web , with both Agar and Zampa coming good again. Pandya and Jadeja though has other plans as they played a super counter attacking partnership of 149 as they ensured that India put on a respectable total of 302 , Pandya top scoring with 92(76) while Jadeja scored a wonderful 66(50).

In reply, India finally got a wicket in the powerplay after 6 matches as Natarajan provided the breakthrough. Smith too had a rare failure, providing India an opening into the match. Finch looked strong once again for his 75 but didn’t receive the support he’d have liked from the other end. Maxwell did try to change the flow as he played in and took on the bowlers. But the loss of wickets along with the increasing asking rate, Bumrah finally dismissed Maxwell for 59(38) and ensured that Australia would not get a clean sweep as India finally won a match after 6 ODIs , by 13 runs!

MOM : Hardik Pandya for his blitzkrieg knock of 92

Man of the Series : Steve Smith

And so , Australia draw first blood by winning the 3 match ODI series 2-1! Next up is the 3 match T20i series. Australia will be without Warner as he nurses his groin injury while they hope that Starc will be back after missing out the 3rd ODI. India though will look to carry forward the momentum gained by winning the 3rd ODI!

Until the T20i series, stay safe and take care!

In the new era of Sports since Covid came to affect our lives, there was a huge doubt cast on whether the sports we love would ever be played again. That was answered in June as sporting associations across the globe came up with stringent safety measures to ensure that sporting action came back and reignited that good old feeling of watching something competitive. After a while , the next biggest question was when fans could return to the stadiums and watch our favourites perform live! And in the cricketing world that question was answered in the form of this landmark series in New Zealand! New Zealand is one of very few countries in the world who can say that they got rid of Covid and to prove a point that it is possible, they decided to host the West Indies in front of packed stadiums for their tour, a sight that was most welcome to sports lovers across the world! Especially while watching it on TV, no more fake crowd noises but actual real people celebrating the return of live sporting action!

So, here’s what happened in the T20I series between the two sides!

1st T20I match : NZ won by 5 wkts via D/L

NZ won the toss and opted to bowl in a rain curtailed match. WI came out all guns blazing as they raced to 50 within 3 overs. But in a crazy spell of 12 balls , WI went from 58-0 to 59-5 as Southee and Lockie Ferguson ran riot and completely swung the game in favour of the Kiwis! WI captain Pollard though brought back some respectability as he smashed an unbeaten 75(37) to launch a counter attack and help WI post a challenging score of 180 in 16 overs!

NZ in reply came out of the blocks fast as well as they went hammer and tongs despite losing wickets at regular intervals. They scored 60 in the powerplay but with the loss of 4 wickets. Conway and Neesham stabalized the innings before the former holed out with 40 runs to get from 22 balls. Neesham and a stellar Santner though ensured that there would be no further hiccoughs as they chased the target down with 1 ball to spare!

MOM : Lockie Ferguson for figures of 4-0-21-5

2nd T20I match : NZ won by 72 runs!

WI won the toss and elected to bowl and that was the only thing that went their way as the NZ batsmen took the bowlers to the sword. The Black Caps once again got off to a flying start. At 53/2, enter Conway and Glenn Phillips. The duo smashed the bowlers all around and were in a menacing mood. The latter especially, coming off a good CPL tournament, bludgeoned his way to whirlwind century of 108(51) and was ably supported by Conway who himself scored a wonderful 65(37). Together they stitched a record 184 run stand to help NZ post 238!

The WI in reply couldn’t really get going as the asking rate got to them. In pursuit of such a daunting , they tried to get going from the first ball but in doing so lost wickets at regular intervals. Jamieson, Ferguson and Ish Sodhi bowled outstanding spells , having economy rates of around 6! Eventually, WI could manage only 166 in their quota as they lost by 72 runs!

MOM : Glenn Phillips for his knock of 108 off 51 balls

3rd T20I match : Match abandoned due to rain

Only 14 balls were bowled as rain played spoil sport , resulting in the match being called off.

NZ win series 2-0

Man of the Series : Lockie Ferguson

That was all the action that took place in this landmark series between the two sides! Credit to WI for being able to fly all the way to NZ , and thus becoming the only side to tour 2 nations during the Covid pandemic.

A 2 match test series awaits us between the two sides and we hope for some brilliant cricketing action!

A lot of us love sports and are connected to it in way or the other. We either watch the sport on the TV, play it with our friends or provide our own “analysis” to how certain things should have been done. We as spectators especially love to criticize any professional’s performance. But what many of us fail to realise is how much effort and sacrifice that particular athlete put in to reach where he/she is and to enable us the viewers watch him/her perform!

We all love to take things for granted as viewers. But if it was indeed so easy, wouldn’t we all in some way or the other become “professionals” and apper on TV? It is not one bit simple to reach the top or even perform the way they do.

I’m writing this on the back of what happened on Sunday in Formula 1 at the Bahrain GP. An absolutely horrific accident took place involving Romain Grosjean , in an attempt to overtake another car, got his rear wheel clipped and smashed into a barricade at high speed resulting not only in a huge fire but also his car split into TWO! The images were horrifying and it was ONLY A MIRACLE that he was not knocked out, had the presence of mind to get out of his car and with the help of the Marshalls and medical team, move to safety. He miraculously survived and suffered just minor burns on the back of his hands.

So why am I talking about professional personnel and the need for respect? Here’s why…

Let’s take Formula 1 for example. It is a motorsport race that involves aerodynamically wonderful machines that are meant to course a circuit at speeds of 330-350kmph , involving a lot of high speed corners and other considerations. This sport is driven by an exclusive group of just 20 drivers around the world. These drivers have to prove themselves at the Highest level on a consistent basis just so that they get to drive again in the following season as well. Behind these 20 drivers are others from Kart racing to Formula 3 and Formula 2 who keep competing with each other in order to get a seat amongst the elite in Formula 1.

Driving an F1 car is no easy feat. These guys are amongst the fittest athletes in sports in general contrary to other beliefs. They sit in a small space and negotiate a lot. They have to stay as focused as possible as one wrong move will send them at high speeds into a barrier. We as spectators fail to see all this. We only see the tip of iceberg and not all that a driver and his team have to go through.

It’s simply because of how well they are trained and all the routines they go through, was Romain Grosjean able to have the presence of mind to step out of his car and away from the incident in as quick a time as possible. As much as we the viewers always criticize Grosjean, yesterday was a moment where we all should appreciate what these athletes do and risk in order that we remain “entertained”!

This “climbing up the ranks” backstory is found in every single athelete whom you can name in every sport. We find it extremely easy to criticize these personalities. The dedication and hardwork put by them always goes unnoticed.

So the next time , we as viewers always want to criticize a particular profesional, we need to think again. The pressure,mounted by us fans , that they experience on a daily basis to keep performing is unimaginable. They are performing not only for us but also because it is the field that they chose to earn their livelihood. No sport is easy and nothing comes easy. And this applies to every single sport right from chess to cricket to football to F1. There’s nothing wrong in supporting a team or a player but it shouldn’t come at the disrespect of the others. Always appreciate what they do for our “entertainment” . I’m not sure if many people have noticed but while these atheletes perform and compete with each other on the field, off it, they are very respectful (most of them) of each other. That rivalry doesn’t cross the lines of a professional level. And yes, what I’ve mentioned very much applies to pretty much every walk of life but being a huge sports fan, I thought I’d stick to a sporting point of view!

And a special shout out to all the people involved behind the scenes to make these athletes the professionals that they are and all the staff involved in even conducting that sporting event in the first place.

Take care, wear a mask, be careful and always be respectful!

After a 2 week horror filled International Break where a multitude of players were affected either due to contracting the Covid virus or having muscle injuries, the Premier League resumed with a lot of clubs figuring out how to field XI out field players with a focus on Liverpool in particular as they came off worse with 8 players missing from the match day squad. Despite the numerous adversities, the Premier League still delivered in terms of quality and the players , staff, coaches and managers alike deserve a lot of praise for that! Having said that, let’s dive in to see all the action that took place over the weekend!

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester City

It was the marquee match of the weekend as not only was it because of the two teams involved but it was Mourinho vs Pep and a chance for Spurs to end the weekend on top of the table! And that is exactly what they did thanks to a trademark Mourinho masterclass which saw his side absorb all the pressure and then punish City on the counter with stellar goals from Son and LeCelso as the North London side showed why they remain a force to be reckoned with!

Liverpool FC 3-0 Leicester City

Much of the narrative leading into the match was about how Klopp was going to cope with 8 players missing out this weekend and a club record on the line with Leicester looking to end Liverpool’s 63 match unbeaten run at Anfield. But the Liverpool resolve was on show as every player produced a Champion performance and barely gave Leicester a sniff as Jota was once again on the scoresheet along with Bobby Firmino and an Evan’s owngoal. The result saw Liverpool go level on points with Spurs.

Other match results :

Chelsea were comfortable 2-0 victors as they travelled to St. James’ Park and punished a lacklustre Newcastle side.

Aston Villa hosted Brighton in an absolutely enthralling game as the match saw some wonderful end to end football being played as Brighton finally got a result they deserved as they won 1-2!

Manchester United were fortunate as a retaken penalty was required for them to eek out a 1-0 win over West Brom.

Everton got back to winning ways as a DCL brace and a Docoure goal helped The Toffees survive a fightback by Fulham as they won 2-3.

A superb strike by Sebastian Haller was enough to help West Ham to another win over a struggling Sheffield United.

Leeds United and Arsenal shared the spoils in an entertaining goalless draw that saw Arsenal defend resolutely and nearly catch Leeds on the counter despite going down to 10 men early in the second half.

Burnley finally managed to win a game as a Chris Wood goal was enough to secure all 3 points as they won 1-0 over Crystal Palace.

The final match of the weekend saw Wolves host Southampton in a tight match that ended 1-1!

And so, after Match Day 9, Mourinho’s Spurs would want to “STOP THE COUNT” as they stand on top of the table on goal difference. Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester round up the Top 4 with the red and blue clubs from Manchester in 10th and 13th place respectively.

On the bottom end of the table, Sheffield United are struggling with just 1 point on the board and are in desperate need of a miracle to turn their fortunes around and the same can be said about West Brom as well. Fulham is the other team in the bottom 3 as they remain already 5 points away from safety.

DCL tops the scoring charts as he becomes the first player this season to reach the 10 goal mark.

That brings an end to the action and we shall see you again next week as we review all the action on Match Day 10 which features a mouth watering London derby between Spurs and Chelsea not before European football takes place during the week with the hope that all the players return fit and healthy! Until then, take care, wear a mask and be safe!

Formula 1 was back in Turkey for the first time since 2011 and the conditions of both the track and the weather ensured that it brought out every bit of the best in each of the 20 drivers!

Heading into the F1 weekend, all the talk was about whether Lewis Hamilton could achieve the inevitable of winning the championship in this race itself as all he needed to ensure was that he score a minimum of 8 points more than his teammate Valterri Bottas.

But as soon as Friday kicked in, it was anything but straightforward. Since it was a newly laid track, all 20 drivers were absolutely struggling for grip. It honestly felt that they were skating on ice as a lot of the drivers suffered spins at various corners. With track temperatures low as well, the drivers found it hard to get their tyres heated up. Red Bull though managed to do well as both their drivers Alex Albon and Max Verstappen in particular managed to top the charts with the Mercs of Hamilton and Bottas much lower down the grid.

Saturday saw heavy rain fall and it made driving all the more treacherous. If you wondered why these F1 drivers are an elite bunch, look no further than the highlights of the Qualification and Race itself ( which I’ll get into). These 20 drivers drive at speeds of 250-300kmph on wet , slippery roads with utmost control of the car and also avoiding contact with their fellow driver.

The wet compound of the tyres were the order of the day and as Q3 came around, the track started evolving aided with the stoppage of the rain and the lap times became quicker. Racing Point gambled and chose the Intermediate compounds for Lance Stroll and it proved to be a Master stroke as for the first time in his young F1 career he got Pole position and ensured that Verstappen would start on P2! His teammate Sergio Perez made it a Racing Point 1-3 to give the team their best starting grid ever! Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton started on P6 while Valterri Bottas was P9.

With more rain on Sunday morning, the race got off to a crawling start as all the drivers took a cautious approach! The biggest surprise came from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who used all of his F1 experience to climb up from 12th to reach P4 within the first few corners of the opening lap! Bottas though suffered the first of his 6 spins and that effectively ruined any hopes! Around the 10-12 lap mark, with a racing line forming, most of the cars opted for the Intermediate compound and thereafter, Lewis Hamilton showed exactly why he’s a deserving record equalling world champion! Hamilton managed his tyres Absolutely brilliantly as everyone else struggled for traction! Verstappen away his opportunity as he was a little too impatient and ended up spinning twice at opportune moments! Ferrari seemed to love the conditions as for once, the straight line speeds of the cars were nullified and Vettel and LeLerc consolidated their good start to the race.

But the race of the day belonged to LH! He drove as precise as possible to ensure that the wheels were always on the dry racing line and as a result, his intermediates gradually converted into slicks as the race reached its latter stages. He was further boosted as Racing Point’s Lance Stroll failed to get grip on his new tyres which effectively meant he kept drifting further down and spoiling his weekend. The other Racing Point of Sergio Perez and the 2 Ferrari’s were engaged in a superb battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th as it went down to the last corner.

In the meantime though, despite forcast for rain supposedly in the final 2 laps, Hamilton went against team orders and trusted his instinct to stay on the track, a move which highlighted exactly why he deserves to be spoken along the same breath as the F1 greats like Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna as he went on to cross the finish line and become 7 time World Champion!

Vettel pipped LeLerc in the last 2 corners as it was refreshing to once again see the German veteran on the podium in 3rd along with Racing Point’s Sergio Perez who finished a strong P2!

And so, in the most unusual of years, Hamilton not only broke the record for most F1 race wins but also now equalled Michael Schumacher for most Championships and one can’t bet against him becoming 8 time Champion next year!

Until next time in the Baharain GP, stay safe , wear a mask! Ciao!

All the talk prior to this IPL was if Mumbai Indians could break their odd year jinx of winning the IPL. After all, they had funnily enough, won it in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. But 2020 is no ordinary year and in fact is the “oddest” of years. So could they do it? You bet they did!

The Blue team from Mumbai absolutely bullied their way through this year’s tournament. They lost just 5 games including their trademark first game. This MI team was as balanced a team one could ever ask for. Full credit to them for their choice of players. One of the major reasons they were so strong was because of the Indian batsmen, namely Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav. Yes they had a stellar bowling line up and wonderful middle order, but if those 2 never fired , then the pressure on the others increases. That was the biggest difference between them and the other teams.

Take Sunrisers Hyderabad for example. They had top notch bowlers and opening batsmen. But their middle order which the Indian batsmen had to fill in, never really contributed much barring a game or two.

Delhi Capitals too suffered due to the indifferent form of Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane. Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings too fall into that category.

King’s XI Punjab alone had a different problem. In fact it was just the opposite. The Indian contingent of batsmen in the form of Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh and captain KL Rahul were absolutely brilliant! But their overseas contingent of Pooran and Maxwell , on whom they banked upon to finish the innings , rarely ever performed for the team.

The success of a team through such a tournament depends not on a couple of individual performances alone on a particular day. Its also got to do with those little cameos here and there either with the bat or ball as well in the field that’ll contribute to a team’s consistent run. Mumbai Indians time after time did that. They were fortunate to not have many injuries, had a settled squad of 11 players , did not chop and change much and were wonderfully consistent in terms of contributions through their line up.

“Catches win Matches.” , “You have just dropped the World Cup”. These are all famous quotes that are constantly spoken off because of how true they are. And having said that, I’ve never seen an IPL season before with so many dropped catches! Was it to do with the low lights of the stadiums or the sweaty hands in those sultry conditions of UAE? I’ll never be able to answer that unless I was actually there. But dropped catches definitely cost a lot of teams a lot of wins. None more evident than in the playoff between Delhi and Hyderabad. Had those catches been taken , Hyderabad would definitely have won the match and in my opinion they were the only team who could put up a fight with the might of Mumbai. But that’s a theory for a parallel universe!

There were some stellar new talents on display with both bat and ball and especially from the Indian players. A lot of uncapped players had fantastic breakthrough seasons. To name a few, Devidutt Padikkal of Bangalore, Ishan Kishan and SKY of Mumbai Indians, Mandeep Singh of KXIP and Ruturaj Gaikwad of CSK, Washington Sundar of RCB amongst others.

Before I mention the one Indian bowler who stunned a lot of people, I feel it’s worthy to make a mention about Ruturaj Gaikwad, especially in his last 3 matches for CSK. He battled Covid, had a horrible first 3 innings which included 2 ducks and then he performed. That one six he hit off Washington Sundar got us all wanting more. My word, his technique was as text book as possible and his timing was just impeccable! His overall game looked like that of a certain Rahul Dravid in terms of his poise and graceful stroke making. The ease at which he played was just fascinating to watch!

And yes, coming to that one bowler who caught the attention of a lot of people, T. Natarajan. What a story and what a find in the IPL! The best ball to bowl by a bowler in any format of cricket is the yorker. And this young man from Salem, Tamil Nadu, bowled them better than even Malinga. The consistency and the regularity at which he nailed those Yorkers was sensational to watch and got us all excited. Even in the pressures of a playoff game, bowling the last over of the innings, he nailed all 6 yorkers! He has to be the Find Of The Tournament!

The biggest disappointment undoubtedly will have to be the performance of CSK ( Being a CSK fan myself , writing this is extremely hard). CSK were rocked in their preparations due to Covid and they just never got going, especially their batting line up. CSK and playoffs are a match made in heaven. But this is 2020 and it was anything but that. They were honestly really poor barring a few individuals especially Faf, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sam Curran. This year was more like an end of era for the current group of core players, perhaps preparing for the next decade with young talents coming through the ranks.

If there was one team I felt sorry for, it’ll have to be KXIP. They provided the maximum entertainment through the tournament and majority of it went against them especially in the first half of their campaign. Who can ever forget that Rahul Tewatia whirlwind against them! They somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and that was to be their downfall despite their stunning late resurgence.

Overall, Mumbai were definitely deserving champions and were only the second team after CSK to defend the title in 13 seasons of the IPL! They’ll be having this Trophy for just a few months though as the next edition will be underway hopefully on schedule in the much awaited year of 2021!

Until then, stay safe, wear your mask and take care!

The crazy start to the Premier League campaign continued into Match Day 8 with a lot of teams showing inconsistency, surprises and strong performances! VAR as usual was the inevitable talking point as the “Offside” and “Handball” ruling continues to polarise fans across the globe!

Having said that, let’s take a look at all the drama that unfolded across the 10 games!

Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool FC

The marquee match of the weekend began like 2 professional heavyweight boxers going blow for blow in the beginning of the match only to realise that a draw was a respectable result. Salah opened the scoring from the spot only for Gabriel Jesus to restore parity. This was followed by a surprising penalty miss by DeBruyne and thereafter chances were few and far inbetween as tactical alterations in the second half meant that neither team had the upper hand and so both settled for a point each.

Everton FC 1-3 Manchester United

Both teams headed into this clash on the back of dismal performances in their previous 2 games. With each having a point to prove, Bernard took the initiative to give Everton an early lead after a neat build up. United though , through talismanic Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandez, not only headed in the equalizer but also ensured that United went into the interval with 1-2 lead. After the break, in search for an equaliser, Everton were caught on the counter attack and Cavani duly finished the game off to hand Man Utd a 1-3 win!

Arsenal FC 0-3 Aston Villa

After a blistering and stellar start to the campaign, Aston Villa had derailed a bit in their last 2 matches and we’re looking to bounce back to winning ways. They were up against an upbeat Arsenal who put on a superb effort against Manchester United. But the Villains completely outsmarted and outplayed the Gunners as they ran riot in midfield. Leading 0-1 at halftime thanks to an unfortunate owngoal, in the second half talisman Grealish and Ross Barkley each set up Ollie Watkins to help the striker score a wonderful brace and help Villa return to winning ways at the expense of a woeful Arsenal performance!

Other games across the country!

At the St. Mary’s stadium, Southampton put up a resolute performance despite being without star striker Danny Ings, as goals from Che Adams and Armstrong ensured that the Saints went temporarily on top of the table with the help of the 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Crystal Palace hosted Leeds in an enticing affair. Scott Dann scored after 3 years to help the Eagles take an early lead. Just when Bamford thought he drew the match , VAR harshly ruled out the goal . That gave impetus to Palace to attack as Eze produced a stunning piece of magic from a dead ball to make it 2-0. Bamford however did finally have his goal only for Helder Costa to unfortunately restore Palace’s 2 goal lead with an own goal. Jordan Ayew put the icing on the cake to make it 4-1!

Chelsea hosted a struggling Sheffield United and the Blades took an early lead which however lasted only for 14 minutes as thereafter the Blues ran riot as they put 4 goals in the back of the net to leave the Blades in deep peril.

West Ham hosted struggling Fulham with the latter battling it out to ensure a draw only for Soucek to score in the 91st minute. Fulham did have a lifeline in the 97th minute, but Lookman fluffed his lines with a poor Paneka kick as Fulham were condemned to yet another defeat.

Spurs’ talisman Harry Kane scored a late winner against West Brom which put them on top of the table for a brief period.

Brighton missed a spur of chances as they were unfortunate to come away without all 3 points as they were held to a 0-0 draw against Burnley.

In another enticing match of the weekend, Leicester hosted Wolves in a tight and gripping contest. However a Vardy penalty was all it took to decide the contest as that win meant that Leicester City moved on top of the table heading into the International Break!

And so yet another controversial weekend of the Premier League was done and dusted! VAR as mentioned before, continued to dominate the headlines for the wrong reasons again.

Bamford’s call of Offside was frankly ridiculous as the strikers just pointed to where he wanted to play the ball and because of that, half of his upper arm was adjudged to be offside.

The penalty decision that went against Wolves was also ridiculous as the ball was played into the defender just 2-3 yards away at a fast pace and the defender was adjudged to wrongly handle the ball when in reality the ball hit him more than he putting his arm to the ball.

Each of these ridiculous decisions went on to affect the result of the match. The Premier League must use some common sense and help the players. Also the growing number of injuries for each squad is a huge concern. Take Liverpool for example, they’ve already suffered injuries to 13 players. While every other league is allowing 5 substitutes, the Premier League alone went back to 3 substitutes and to cap that off , International matches ina different parts of the world despite the rise in Covid cases especially in Europe.

Having said that, the Premier League heads into the International Break with Leicester City sitting on top of the table with Spurs second. Liverpool and Southampton round up the Top 4 while Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield languish at the bottom of the table! That’s it from the Premier League for now, see you all in 2 weeks!