The Surfer

"When I told my mother that she can stop sending me money, and I sent her the first lump sum of cash, it made me the happiest man alive because a nuff hungry we face, and I was finally able to care for her. Whenever we were younger, and there was a little bit of food, I would always make them eat before me because if anything, I would bear the hunger because me know she try her best. The other day, she sent me a voice note telling me how proud she was of me and how happy she was to see all that I have done and continue to do that made me nearly tear up."

"You mentioned the concentration side [for Root also gave away his wicket earlier this summer when set fair on 80 against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street] and that's key. But also my bowling and fielding - you need to develop everything away from your main strength. And then give as much back to the team when you've got young lads coming in and they want your insight and advice. You help them as much as possible. So there are so many different ways to improve. But the starting point for me is cutting out those rash shots. Last year, on occasions, I was dropped early on and given extra opportunities and from that I was able to make big scores. This year it seems as if whenever I've made a mistake I've paid the price. The important thing is to stay very strong with my natural game."

Every high performance athlete has mental challenges. So do coaches and officials.

Pakistan's third away win against England in 20 years has them poised to leapfrog India as the No. 2 ranked Test team in the world. They trailed Australia, the top-ranked nation, by just seven points leading into the Lord's Test. If Australia lose their upcoming series against Sri Lanka, and Pakistan win in England, Misbah-ul-Haq's side will move to the top of the rankings.

He is, to my eyes, running in well, his action is holding up, and his pace is good, hitting the bat hard. In the first innings, he conceded four runs per over which may seem profligate but in fact is only half a point above his Test match career economy rate of 3.57. He bowled one particularly energetic spell from around the wicket, thrashing it into an unresponsive pitch and gaining nothing in return. But pitching it up and swinging it is not his game. I thought it a worthy piece of bowling.

I know that a lot of the guys competing for that spot have scored runs. It's not going to be easy. Nothing has come to me easily. I have to work my way towards it. And I'm prepared for it. I've always said Test cricket is my priority. I was never an opener (in ODIs). MS Dhoni, one fine night, spoke to me and said you have to open the next day. And I said, "Why not. I'll try." And I did pretty okay. Even now in Test cricket, it's the same situation. The first four years, I never knew where I was going to bat. I'm sure in the next few series things will change.

Kumble was never one to blow his own trumpet, but no one ever needed to be told that he was giving the team everything that he had. Whether with the bat or the ball or in the field, Kumble competed with a tenacity that few Indian players have surpassed.

Kumble will demand the same commitment from the teams that he coaches. He will demand nothing less than 100 per cent effort, but he will be generous to those who give of their best and fall short on occasions.

This two-week one-city African sojourn was not so much, if at all, about what Dhoni was up to in front of the cameras though. It was more about what he was up to behind the scenes. It was a tour that even for one as well-travelled a cricketer as Dhoni--he broke the record of captaining his country in more internationals than anyone else in history--was unprecedented. For once, he wasn't in the glare of the spotlight. There were no rogue cameras following him around, recording his every move. For once, he was left to be on his own. It was the cricket tour version of a hideaway.

Considering the squad he was leading and the lack of intensity in the series, Dhoni could have easily shut himself in his room, looked at this tour as a burden, and grudgingly counted down the days. It would have been understandable even. But instead, he warmed up to the task, and also to having a bunch of new faces that he hasn't had much to do with in the past around him. To have a fortnight away from the swarming press coaxing, cudgelling and cossetting him for a definitive answer about his future may have helped too. It was as if having the breath of fresh air and the breathing space had had a therapeutic effect on him. As the tour progressed, he seemed more rejuvenated than ever, like someone keen to get going with the next chapter in his remarkable narrative rather than someone bracing for what many detractors perceive as the bitter climax.

Luckily, Mr. Latif was determined to preserve this era and the rest of cricket history from the dustbin of time. He strived to take away some of the gloom from the cricket pavilion by transforming it into Pakistan's first ever cricket museum.

Raina's tribute said Ali "taught so many lessons to all of us". That Ali certainly did, but have our modern-day sportspersons imbibed them? The Ali path isn't easy to tread. In India, no athlete has ventured anywhere near that road, forget walking in the footsteps of a man who was as sure about the strength of his voice as he was about the power of his punch.