What a knock!!

Lucky were we to witness one of the finest exhibitions of batsmanship from the great man, Sachin Tendulkar as he created history again, becoming the first batsman in world cricket to score a double hundred in One-day International cricket, at Vadodara. Clearly, no peak seems to be too high for this man, who has piled on a mountain of runs in both forms of the game, and has been the toast of the nation ever since he made his international debut, over 20 years ago, at the tender age of 16. Inspite of having scored over 30,000 international runs in both forms of cricket, he still maintains a child-like enthusiasm for the game, even after having played at the top level for such a long time, and having broken every record meant to be broken. It would have been a real treat for those fans who were lucky enough to witness the knock live, one day that will remain in the collective memory of any self-respecting cricket fan for years to come. Indian sport and the country in general surely owes a lot to this great ambassador of the sport.
Another heartening piece of news is that of the young badminton sensation, Saina Nehwal breaking into the top five at the world level in singles, with her impressive feat of reaching the semi-finals of the All England Championships last month. Only 20 years of age, Saina is still on the way up and capable of many more stellar achievements in future, including getting right to the top of the world rankings, which certainly is within her reach. India has some other promising shuttlers like Chetan Anand, who is currently ranked 10th in the world in singles, and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju, also ranked 10th in the world. There's plenty of hope, especially for Saina to reach the pinnacle in world badminton with her dedication and hard work.
These achievements have certainly overshadowed the Indian hockey team's disappointing performance in the World Cup, where the team finished a distant eighth and lost all but one game in the tournament. Indian hockey has a long way to go, both in terms of catching up with the speed and precision of skills displayed by the European teams, and in improving their relations with the administration. It will take many years for them to get back to being a formidable force, like they were in the 70s and early 80s.