In the 1980s, West Indies were an unstoppable force. First under Clive Lloyd, and then when Viv Richards took over, the Caribbeans were practically invincible wherever they played Test cricket, sweeping all before them with a justified arrogance that bordered on the disdainful. Throughout that decade, they lost just eight out of 82 Tests, a majority of them fashioned by…

They call him the Smiling Assassin, and not without reason. Muttiah Muralitharan never made you feel bad when he teased and tormented you to your doom, with a big smile on his face. The Sri Lankan off-spinner played all his cricket with a smile, whether he was getting the ball to turn big and leave batsmen bemused, or if they…

Jacques Villeneuve was only 13 when he sought his mother’s permission to follow in the footsteps of his father and aspire for a career in motor racing. His father, Giles, had been killed two years previously on the race track during a qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix in Zolder in 1982, following a collision with Jochen Mass. His…

Virat Kohli had led India to the Under-19 World Cup title in Kuala Lumpur in March 2008. Even during that campaign, it was obvious that this batsman was to go on to greater things, though no one would possibly have imagined that in a decade’s time, he would establish himself as the best all-format batsman of his generation. His hunger…

The MRF World Series for the Nehru Cup was akin to the World Cup itself, with all top teams assembling in India for top honours. The best players in the world had congregated on one stage, and the race was as much for team glory as for individual bragging rights. Few people have the same sense of occasion as Viv…