Sir — There have been many comparisons made of late between the former captain of the Indian men’s cricket team, M.S. Dhoni, and the young player, Rishabh Pant. To be honest, however, the two cannot be compared. It is true that allowances must be made for Pant because he is still new to the team and is yet to learn a lot of things, such as how to keep for spinners, especially on tracks that aid spin. But it cannot be denied that had it not been for his sloppy stumpings in Mohali, India could have won the series against Australia.
Moreover, Pant also has to learn how to rotate the strike, score singles and doubles and settle down before lofting the balls over the boundary. Dhoni faces none of these problems; he is in a class of his own. He never attempts lofty shots immediately upon arriving at the crease. He always plays it cool and goes for big shots only after steadying himself with singles and doubles.
The truth is that Pant, in spite of his lack of cricketing maturity, is favoured by his captain and coach. As a result of this, Dinesh Karthik, who is a much better player than Pant, has lost out.
One hopes that Pant will be willing to learn and hone his wicket-keeping skills. This is the only way in which he can truly earn a spot as a permanent member of the national team.
N.V. Krishnan
Chennai
Sir — Speculations are rife that M.S. Dhoni will quit international cricket at the end of the upcoming World Cup in England. Nothing can be a greater gift or a more fitting farewell to the legendary cricketer from Jharkhand than India winning the trophy for the third time. Few public figures can claim that biopics on their lives were filmed before they retired from their fields. Dhoni is one such person. His great wicket-keeping skills, astute reading of the game from behind the stumps, calming presence and impeccable finishing skills in batting have all made him one of the greatest cricketers to have played the game. His out-of-the-box thinking has received plaudits many times. When Dhoni finally decides to hang up his boots, he will be leaving a huge impact not only on Indian cricket, but on Indian society as well, since his accomplishments go beyond the realm of the game.
Ranganathan Sivakumar
Chennai
Do the right thing
Sir — It was heartening to read about Dilip Poddar, the salesman at a sari showroom in Surat who discovered a bag containing Rs 10 lakh and returned it to its owner (“Salesman returns Rs 10 lakh”, March 19). Poddar had chanced upon the cash-filled bag on the side of a road. He could have pilfered it if he had so wished. The fact that he did not shows that while greed might be tough to overcome for a lot of people, it is certainly not impossible.
Although honest people are hard to come by these days, one can rest easy knowing that the likes of Poddar are still a part of our society.
Sourish Misra
Calcutta
Heavy damage
Sir — More than a thousand people are feared to have died in the tropical cyclone, Idai, that recently hit Mozambique. The port city of Beira has been almost fully destroyed. Four days after Idai hit, torrential rains and powerful winds, combined with flash floods, swept away roads and bridges. The cyclone also reached the neighbouring country of Zimbabwe and caused widespread damage.
Both Mozambique and Zimbabwe are impoverished, much like other countries in the African continent. It is difficult for ordinary citizens to withstand the onslaught of natural calamities like cyclones. It would be safe to say that recovering from the damage caused will be far harder for these countries than it would be for coastal states in a prosperous nation like the United States of America, which have also experienced devastating cyclones. Provisions and medicines are falling short; Zimbabwe and Mozambique need international aid in a big way. One hopes that the global community will do enough to help the two countries overcome this crisis.
T.K. Nandanan
Kochi
