Use him sparingly
Your cover story on the world’s best bowler—Jasprit Bumrah—was interesting; it feels great to see a bowler from our country being proclaimed the best fast bowler in the world (‘Pace & quiet’, January 13).
All said, this 25-year-old pacer has a long way to go. A fast bowler’s career, these days, is shortened by injuries. Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri should use Bumrah sparingly. I was delighted to know that Bumrah’s exploits have won him fans even in Pakistan. That is a country which boasted about its fast bowlers and made fun of us for not having a quality pace attack.
Kuldeep Tyagi,
On email.
Your cover story gave us a complete picture of this fantastic Indian bowler called Bumrah, who proved his mettle with his world-class bowling in the recently concluded India-Australia Test series.
What a proud moment it is for Bumrah’s mother, Daljit, who brought him up on her own. Today, standing tall in his chosen field, Bumrah has repaid his mother with much more than what she expected from him.
Bumrah was lucky to have got wonderful coaches who let his unconventional bowling action stay, and worked on it with perseverance. Even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, in your interview with him, was full of praise for this talented lad.
The graphics on Bumrah’s bowling figures was awesome. The description of every wicket taken with the picture of the batsmen, balls faced and runs scored, was good.
May these good-natured bowlers and batsmen of the Indian team remain grounded and take Indian cricket to greater heights.
Jayashree Krishnamoorthy,
Mumbai.
Bumrah is a complete bowler who can perform well on any surface. The Indian team management should use him carefully. Among the current lot of players, Bumrah seems to be the most down-to-earth one. I hope he will not take success for granted. I hope he does not become arrogant like many other cricketers.
Tapesh Nagpal,
On email.
Your entire cover was on cricket! Yes, the nation has every reason to cheer the well-earned victory of the Indian team in Australia. But, at the same time, let us not over-hype the victory, as it leads to imbalance in our sports focus.
I feel, we, as a nation, are obsessed with cricket, and are not according adequate importance to other sports. That is why our performance at the Rio Olympics in 2016 was so dismal.
R.D. Singh,
On email.
Watchful, India
The best lesson that both India and Pakistan can learn from Bangladesh is to not let religious fundamentalists and orthodox clerics—who call themselves defenders of faith and rituals—dictate terms to governments in policy making (‘Cheers and fears’, January 13). Bangladesh, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, has been quite trustworthy in matters of regional cooperation, as against Pakistan, which promotes cross-border terrorism.
But one pertinent and perplexing question remains—does a minuscule opposition pitted against a party with phenomenal strength augur well for survival of a nascent democracy? Only time can tell.
A formidable ruling party with a non-existent opposition is detrimental to the very existence of democracy, as such a situation will only promote autocracy with military forces clandestinely and gradually marching forward to occupy centre stage in Bangladeshi politics.
India, being an immediate neighbour of Bangladesh, has to remain watchful and vigilant on the developments, should such a situation arise in the days to come.
Jaideep Mittra,
On email.
For India, it is better to have Hasina continue as the prime minister of Bangladesh. Her party, the Awami League, has been historically close to India. India should continue to provide Bangladesh with intelligence inputs to target its terror network. Bangladesh needs India’s support always.
Vyom Prakash,
On email.
Next superstar
Ranveer Singh has evolved over the years, and one can safely say that he is the best among the young actors (‘DeTour’, January 13). His true potential has still not been exploited. 2019-20 will almost mark the end of the reign of the Khans in Bollywood, and Ranveer, if this is how it goes, will be the next superstar. Some of us may not like his crazy antics, but I think he has toned it down to a large extent.
Nandagopal M.,
On email.
I never cared much for Ranveer, till a few years ago. But today I realise that Ranveer’s performances are only getting better with each film. An emotional person, Ranveer lets his heart speak. He is not a person to be carried away by success. Bollywood needs more of such actors who are grounded even when success rockets them to stardom and fame.
Tigin Thomas,
On email.
Target Tokyo 2020
Your story on heptathlete Swapna Barman’s gruelling journey over the years was informative. Indian sport has come of age with our young sportspersons making us proud with their sterling display of talent (‘Dreamgirl’, December 30). Of late there has been a spate of young people taking to sports and delivering internationally.
So many medals were won by young Indians in the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other international sports meets. Let us hope that our country will be a force to reckon with in all sports in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A.L. Naik,
On email.
Tweets on print
I have invariably started reading THE WEEK from the Last Word these days. Shashi Tharoor, your columnist, has converted his column to his tweets. There is too much of ‘I’ in it. In his hands, Last Word has become nauseating with all the Modi baiting. Tharoor’s rhetoric is good, though. Perhaps his apprehensions are valid. Twitter, in his hands, had already turned toxic.
C.V. Venugopalan,
On email.