
Aspirations. The Indian Olympic Association had to reach ahead of itself, asking for the Asian Games of 2014 and the Olympic Games of 2016. Great work Suresh Kalmadi & Co but what about our performance on the field?
Bindaas is how you describe the Wall these days. Rahul Dravid wears a smile even when you talk of the Greg (Chappell) effect
Chappell, you have to love or hate. Even if the Indian cricket coach says strategising is the same as experimenting
Dada, who lay low, returned to a winning team year-end
Estranged couple Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Now off, now on, now off again at Doha
Fathers were talking the walk, be it Bhupathi’s father who made those sharp comments about Paes’ “attitude” or Sania Mirza’s father defending his ward over her skirt
Gender was in question, after runner Santhi Soundarajan won the silver at Doha. The hormones debate continues
Heavyweight, that’s hockey’s KPS Gill who everybody agrees should go but nobody is willing to sack
Ironical India, while the economy booms, sporting is still fighting for priority
Justification, the Indian sports administration excels in. Including the appointment of an English coach, Bob Houghton, for the national soccer squad, though funds remain dry. Logic hard to beat
Kayoed. Lifters of India were banned for drug abuse and when the ban was lifted, the federation did not have the money to pay a huge $ 50,000 fine. Lifters in limbo, yet
Lost, good money after bad. Money lost on an account from the PILCOM era is the issue between former CAB chief Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar
Medals are coming by the dozens and thank the shooters.
Nandrolone. This year, Indian sport was infected with this performance enhancing banned drug. Across the border, it was Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif
Opulent is how you could under-describe the Indian cricket world, with a record billion dollars from TV deals
Patchy, you would say, was the loss to West Indies and the one-dayers in South Africa
Quirky Umpire Darrel’s hair-raising stunts had Pakistan baying for his blood
Rudderless Indian hockey is set to lose coach Vasudevan Baskaran and the IHF is thinking about a foreign hand
Shotgun Jaspal Rana is back with the fireworks at Doha
Trite was the comment from Malcolm Speed who said India was a very powerful cricketing nation, money-wise
Unexplained were the quick flights by athletes ahead of “secret” World Anti Doping Agency raids
Vanished. Rupaya, a national level fencer, went to Ireland and disappeared. Later, it was found that her partner was around in that country and she had sought asylum
Walk, don’t run. The Delhi Half-Marathon was a success, only there could have been more top-level performances
Xtreme fitness of things, sometimes. Sachin Tendulkar’s tennis elbow cured, Sehwag settles, Sreesanth discovered
Yuvraj versus Yuvraj drunken brawl
Zapped at the end of a year in Indian sports


