Here’s wishing… Team Indian Express pens down its hopes for the New Year

— Shivani Naik

Big leap: My money on jumpers

With a World Championship silver and Diamond League title, Neeraj Chopra again was the best-performing athlete of the year by a distance but that was on expected lines. 2022 has been the year of jumpers.

A one-two finishes in the triple jump at the Commonwealth Games, a first high jump medal (Tejaswin Shankar’s bronze) and a long jump silver by Sreeshankar Murali in Birmingham are just a few highs our leapers have touched this year.

These performances are even more assuring because all the jumpers mentioned here have consistently performed well throughout the season. By their admission, all of them are still a work in progress and with an average age of 25 still haven’t reached their peak. High jumper Tejaswin Shankar deserves a special mention cause his historic bronze came under the most testing and unusual run-up to the Commonwealth Games.

He had to knock on the doors of the Delhi High Court despite achieving the qualification norm set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to even
participate.

His story should inspire other athletes and jumpers especially to show grit both on and off the field. Predicting is perhaps one of the riskiest parts of sports writing but I am ready to put my money on the jumpers to take it up another notch this year.

— Andrew Amsan

Chopra vs Nadeem, a mouth-watering clash

One of the key events that athletics aficionados will be looking forward to this year, apart from the World Championships, will be the Asian Athletics Championship to be held in Thailand in June. The marquee clash for the event could be the competition between friends and rivals Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra and CWG champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. While the Pakistani javelin thrower won the CWG title in Birmingham with a 90-plus throw, Nadeem is in rehabilitation after an elbow injury. Chopra, who has been training in the USA, will be keen to cross the 90m mark as well to better his Pakistani rival.

— Nitin Sharma

WC: Kohli’s last dance at the marquee event?

In emphatic fashion, Virat Kohli ended his century drought last September in Dubai. Followed by a productive World Cup, the mauling of Haris Rauf would become stuff of legend and lore. But a century in the longest format still eluded him—36 innings since he registered his last. There would be no better time to rediscover his vintage form than when Australia — who’ve historically channelled the best in him — tours India for a four-Test series. The year would have a wider resonance for him too, with the ODI World Cup scheduled in October-November, in what could be potentially his last dance in the global event.

— Sandip G

Will India enjoy home comfort again?

Everyone remembers what happened the last time India hosted the 50-over World Cup. But the cricketing heavyweights, considered among the favourites for every major tournament since then, have flattered to deceive. The cupboard has been bare for the last decade. This time, with the ODI World Cup being held totally in India, familiarity with conditions and strength in depth in personnel should work to their advantage. It’s a big opportunity to prove that they don’t underwhelm on the big occasion, a trait that has allowed some detractors to use the ‘C’ word while describing them.

— Tushar Bhaduri

Curing India’s walking wounded

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been dealing lately with long list of injured players rehabilitating back in the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and there has been no reason found behind so many causalities in span of one month. An injured Jasprit Bumrah made India’s T20 World Cup bowling attack vulnerable and inexperienced too. Moving forward a fit bowling attack is what India needs especially in big tournaments.

— Devendra Pandey

For Mumbai, a chance to end Ranji Trophy drought

Despite the absence of Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur, Mumbai have fielded a formidable line-up in their Ranji Trophy campaign so far; Armaan Jaffer is having to sit out after making a hundred against Andhra. Mumbai have gone five seasons without a Ranji title now. They have made two finals in that period, but that could be solace for sides that win once every other decade, and then spend the next decade talking about the win. With the line-up they have and the legacy they carry, Mumbai will be disappointed if they don’t come near the title this year.

— Abhishek purohit

Here’s hoping to celebrate ‘St Totteringham’s Day’

It has been 18 years, 7 months and 3 days since Arsenal won a league title. The last time they did under Arsene Wenger, they did so in style, going the entire season unbeaten and ending up as Invincibles. Since then a lot has changed. The Gooners, including yours truly, have undergone lot of agony that no football should go through. And then Mikel Arteta arrived. A major rebuilding happened and here we are starting to dream again. No, not about the title…one step at a time. A 4th place finish will take us back to Champions League. If lucky, at the expense of Spurs, so that we go back to celebrate St Totteringhams’ Day. And then start to dream again about winning the title. Possible? Of course because “We have got Super Mikel Arteta.”

— Venkata Krishna B

Wanted: A leggie who can bamboozle batsmen

Can a new quality Test legspinner come along please? There are a few in the T20s: quickish, googly-loving, flat-ish tricksters who are good but even the very good ones among them seem to flourish when the batsmen look to hit them. A classy legspinner who can bamboozle even a good batsman looking to defend, con him in the air, trick him in the mind, make him look utterly silly – now, that’s missing. Someone who can make a kid fall in love with this art just by watching him rip across tantalisers. The last such artist died last year.

— Sriram Veera

A green top and a fully-fit pace quartet

Followers of Indian sports, it is advised, should have modest dreams. Since golds and silverware for Indian athletes are mostly exceptions than the rule, it’s the small pleasures that fans should seek. So here’s wishing for a cloudy Test match morning on a green top in 2023 with the cream of the Indian pace pool, all fully fit, taking the field like restless racing colts. The Dream Pace team has to be: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj and Umran Malik. Just imagine the scene – Keeper stationed deep, slips cordon far, short leg in place and balls flying around. Stumps flying, edges being held, loud appeals and fear gripping the rival dressing room. History will tell you that nothing can be more intimidating than facing a relentless world-class take-no-prisoners pace quartet. Spin trios, batting Galactica too can win games but there is no better show of strength than the annihilation by pace. Superpower cricketing nations are those with fire to blow away opposition not billions in the bank. It’s not an unrealistic dream but an ambitious one – the bit about the best four being fully fit.

— Sandeep Dwivedi

Hockey hopes & cricket’s Olympic ambitions…

A World Cup to start the year. The Asian Games towards the end. It’s perfectly set up for the men’s team led by Harmanpreet Singh to really consolidate their rise in world hockey and reassert their continental supremacy, something they spectacularly failed at during the 2018 Asian Games. This could also be a year when cricket finally becomes an Olympic sport and boxing loses the coveted status. These decisions will be taken during September’s International Olympic Committee’s Session in Mumbai, the sporting equivalent of a G20 summit where India will also lobby for the hosting rights of the 2036 Olympics.

— Mihir Vasavda

… while boxing finds itself on the ropes

Rather than a major sporting event, there is now a sport to look out for in 2023. Specifically, whether this sport will continue to be a part of the Olympics or not. The re-branded International Boxing Federation, along with its Russian president and Gazprom sponsorship is currently in the final stages of a war with the International Olympic Committee. Their association with Russia, along with their election manipulation, has been denounced by the IOC. The Los Angeles Games in 2028 already does not have the sport in its charter. The IOC has threatened that the final nail in boxing’s coffin could come as soon as the 2024 Paris Games itself. Where this struggle for power will take the sport is likely to play out through this year.

— Shashank Nair

Say no to dumbing down of coverage on TV & OTT

There exists the snarling, bad-mouthed, fiery-eyed athlete on the playing fields, courts, in the ring and on the mats but broadcasters of sport have gone overboard by hyping up bad blood and puffing up match-ups. The greatest of rivals Federer and Nadal holding hands and crying or the all-smiles moment of Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan after an India-Pakistan T20 should help change the perspective of those coming up with these scripts for an Indian audience. Also, they may be on your payroll but asking former greats to play juvenile games on air, dance or even make small talk with film stars promoting their movies is at most times cringe-worthy. Every little milestone is not historic, pre-game shows can be more than just mindless hero-worshipping exercises and those in studios or behind the microphone can be a little more insightful. Dumbing down of sport on television and OTT can’t get any worse. So hopefully 2023 will be the year we press the unmute button on our remotes.

— Nihal Koshie

New year, renewed hopes for Indian football

It promises to be a huge year for Indian football. After it was announced that the winner of the I-League would be promoted to the ISL, there’s been a huge buzz about the second-tier league, which has been suffering with step-brotherly treatment for years. The new AIFF committee too promises to bring out great changes to Indian football, which stagnated under the previous regime. If they’re able to get more I-League teams across different states in the country, it will create a huge pool of talent which will help the national team. Speaking of the national team, Sunil Chhetri is 38, and still a talisman, but he at some point this year, he’s going to have to evaluate his future.

— Anil Dias

For women’s cricket, a lot to look forward to

The year can prove to be a litmus test for the popularity of women’s cricket in India, with the inaugural IPL and the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February. If India can put on a strong showing in both, plenty of opportunities to promote the women’s game and structure its domestic development are going to open up. The BCCI made performative announcements of two key decisions this year – equal international match fees for men and women and the women’s IPL. But will the governing body live up to the expectations of giving women cricketers an equal claim to the stage? We should get more clarity next year.

— Namit Kumar