The Good

In another development, former West Indies cricketer and eminent commentator Michael Holding got emotional during an interview with Sky Sports where he recalled how his mother suffered a lot due to the omnipresent menace we’ve been facing in our respective societies. Just as Holding mentioned, racism won’t disappear overnight, but even if it improves at a snail’s pace, we can put an end to it. Hopefully, with the efforts of everyone around the globe, we can actually handle the situation responsibly, making the world a better place to live in.

In what was a great initiative taken by the Indian Sports Ministry, the body removed the salary cap of INR 2 lakh for Indian coaches in a bid to encourage them to produce better results. Even though the domestic coaches took an equal effort in shaping up the elite athletes, they were devoid of a salary equal to their foreign counterparts, which was disappointing from their point of view. The decision was also taken to attract former players to take up more high-performance training roles in the future. In a way, this has opened up a lot of opportunities.

In another development, the apex body also decided to offer contracts of four years to complete an Olympic cycle as opposed to the renewal system which was being followed till now. There are a couple of positive sides to it. First, the athletes would be saved from the heck of adjusting to the methods of new coaches every now and then and secondly, it will maintain uniformity for a four-year cycle, which will help the athletes improve their skills and enhance the chances of winning medals at multi-sport events. There could not have been a better way to implement the policy with India aiming for a top 10 finish at the 2028 Olympics.

VAR playing spoilsport in the English Premier League

While the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was welcomed with wide arms during its introduction, several decisions overturned by the VAR over the past few months have left a bitter taste for people on the wrong side of things. The English Premier League has been bearing the brunt of the VAR in the past week, witnessing several controversial decisions. Tottenham Hotspur was not given a penalty when Harry Kane was pushed inside the box by Bournemouth’s Joshua King. While the on-field referee Paul Tierney was not interested straight away, VAR Oliver also chose not to intervene, a move which was heavily criticized by Spurs coach Jose Mourinho.

Indian sports suffers collateral damage during a pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has had drastic effects in the world of sports, which we have already mentioned before. While most of the scheduled sports activities have been stalled, many of the athletes have been tested positive for the deadly virus. But there are cases where people closely associated with the sport have been immensely affected by the pandemic, with the magnitude being so grave that they’ve taken to other professions for a living. K. Ramandeep, a former junior India footballer, who was a full-time coach at the FC Barcelona School in India, has gone back to farming in Jalandhar. 

The Ugly

Lungi Ngidi gets involved in a spat with fellow Proteans

Pat Symcox’s Tweet largely echoed the current situation in hands where many white farmers were brutally killed in the African nation and urged Nigidi to raise voice for the cause which was worth supporting. Meanwhile, Boeta Dippenaar also coined the term ‘All Lives Matter’, and stated if Ngidi wanted his support then the latter must also consider the farm attacks a part of the movement. Cricketer Rudi Steyn also batted against the barbaric act in the rainbow nation, but West Indian cricketer Darren Sammy and teammate Tabraiz Shamsi did back Ngidi’s statement. Either way, it goes unsaid that racism needs to be eradicated to maintain a healthy environment.

Jofra Archer's heated exchange of words with West Indies cricketer Tino Best

Tino Best, the animated character he’s always been, continued the chain of events as he quickly turned on the heat again and insisted the ‘young man’ not to address him personally. He went on to add that Archer hasn’t bowled quick enough since Ashes and reminded him to buckle up ahead of West Indies’ second innings. We were expecting nerve-wracking action in Southampton, which we are being treated with. But the sub-plot was not really welcome, especially when we are celebrating the return of cricket after an unprecedented break.