Herausforderungen » dddddd India managed just 241 in reply.It certain

At around 12.50pm on a hot Saturday afternoon in Mumbai, December 10, Alastair Cook called for an ambitious lbw review. At the same time, in Bangalore, Prema Nair, a teacher at Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Koramangala finished her walk back home. The replays were on when she entered. This was an offbreak from Moeen Ali, which her son, Karun Nair, playing his second Test, had looked to defend. The umpire saw the bat and pad close together, and also figured the ball was turning too much so ruled it not out. The odds for this getting overturned were long. Yet everything went right with the review: from round the wicket, the ball turned enough to miss the inside edge but not the leg stump.Here we go again, Prema thought. She doesnt watch Karun bat. She locks herself up in a room and worships when he bats. She watches the IPL games but not Delhi Daredevils batting. She cant bear to watch. She gets too nervous. So her husband Kaladharan tapes the games, and she watches them later. This Saturday review against Karun just reinforced the superstition for her.Kaladharan, 62, found it difficult to convince his wife, 59, to come to Chennai to watch her first cricket match, and had to play on her emotions to win her over. How will I go alone? How will you stay back alone? This is his first Test in south India. So finally Prema relented. Having seen - through moist eyes - her son bring up his first Test century, and then go on to make it only the third triple by an India batsman, Prema finally believes that she cant bring bad luck to her son. A son for whose career both parents - middle class with no back-up if cricket doesnt come off - have made a lot of sacrifices. How could she ever possibly bring him bad luck?The thing, though, is that luck has been a big thing in the Nair family. It has also been cruel. In July, having made his India debut in the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe, Nair went to Alleppey in Kerala to make offerings as gratitude for getting his India cap. The current in the river was too strong, and the snake boat capsized. Everybody swam for safety as you do in such situations. Karun made it, but only later did he realise that the relatives who had organised the trip couldnt.A religious trip for good luck had turned into something horrible. It was bound to affect Karun deeply, but his family and relatives tried to keep him distracted, and get him back to cricket. No matter what you do, though, if you are the superstitious kind, the following incidents can bog you down. On the A tour of Australia in August and September, he managed just 38 runs in four innings. On Test debut - which was a last-minute decision thanks to an injury to his good friend KL Rahul - he was run out by his captain Virat Kohli after some freakish fielding. In his second Test, he dropped Englands debutant Keaton Jennings before he had scored - Jennings went on to make a century - then fell victim to that improbable review on 13. It is difficult to break into the India batting line-up. In three years, they have handed out one cap to a batsman - Rahul. Karun was a week shy of his 25th birthday when he finally got the call. His batting is not as explosive as Rahuls. He is not a flamboyant person. He and Rahul are both friends, they have played almost all of their cricket together since the age of 11, but Karun is more subdued. I think he once felt like getting tattoos [like Rahul], but I said its not a good thing and he has stayed away, says Kaladharan. There are bound to be fears you are not cut out for international cricket, when the fates seem to be conspiring against you.All those fears have been quashed now as the Nair family and friends watch Karun race away to a double and then a triple-hundred in a match that he got because Ajinkya Rahane got injured in the final nets session in Mumbai. At one point, Karun looks to play a vertical sweep as left-arm spinner Liam Dawson fires a defensive delivery down the leg side. No, not that shot, says his father, there is a short fine leg in place. A friend next to him says, No, no, its okay, he is hitting down on it, into the ground.Like Sachin Tendulkar used to, says Kaladharan. He likes that and the reverse sweep.Kaladharan should know. He goes to every match Karun plays in Bangalore. A mechanical engineer who was posted in Jodhpur when Karun was born, Kaladharan moved to Bangalore and has also worked on the sprinkler system on the Chinnaswamy Stadium outfield. Karun knows his father is there in the stadium when he plays Ranji Trophy matches at Chinnaswamy but doesnt point to him when he reaches milestones. In Chennai he does. At every milestone, after acknowledging his team-mates, he turns towards the Pattabhiraman Gate End and points to Level 1 of F Stand.The proud parents are sitting there, living every moment of the innings, trying to come to terms with what has just happened. Their shy son, who doesnt speak much, who watched old videos of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev when little, whose main pastime was PlayStation. Their prematurely delivered son, with weak lungs as a kid, who would keep falling down and crying as a baby. Their triple-centurion son. Puma Shoes Australia Outlet . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Wholesale Puma Shoes Australia . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. http://www.discountpumaaustralia.com/ . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Cheap Puma Australia . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Cheap Shoes Australia . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Martin Guptill, New Zealands opener, flourished with an impressive 84-ball 72 that helped his side to their first victory of the tour, beating India by a 19-run margin in the fourth ODI played in Ranchi on Wednesday.New Zealand won their first toss of the tour in eight matches and opted to bat first on a surface that Kane Williamson, their captain, said would aid his three spinners, Ish Sodhi, Anton Devcich and Mitchell Santner.New Zealand got off to a solid start with the bat, as Guptill and an inform Tom Latham added a 96-run opening stand. Guptill made his attacking intentions clear early in his innings by smashing Dhawal Kulkarni for three fours in the second over of the match. The first two were drives past point and over mid-on and the third was a slap over extra cover.Guptill, in a bid to attack, presented the hosts with a chance as well, when he was on 29, but Amit Mishra failed to hold on at mid-on. He made India pay and clobbered 12 fours in his innings.Latham was solid in defence and added 39 runs before he fell in the 16 over. Guptill guided New Zealand to 138 before departing in the 26th over. The tourists buoyed by an impressive display from their top order posted 260 in their innings.The top six Indian batsmen got starts on a tricky surface, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane added 79 for the secoond wicket, but once they fell, the rather inexperienced middle order failed to make a substantial contribution and faded away rather meekly.dddddddddddd India managed just 241 in reply.It certainly is a great feeling, Martin Guptill, Man of the Match, said. To put up a performance myself and give the team a defendable total is satisfying. We thought we could have got more but it was a defendable total. It came down to our bowlers to do the job, and they did. Virat is a class player and to get him early was a big step.Williamson said that their goal in Ranchi was to build partnerships and they succeeded in doing just that. Absolutely happy and proud. What we wanted was build partnerships. It was not an easy surface. Although you always want more, 260 was not a bad effort on that surface. Coming here, we had to decide between dew that may or may not come in versus the deterioration, he said.The dew didnt come in, so that perhaps worked in our favour. Tough decisions to drop Anderson and Ronchi. We have played on different surfaces so that affects selection. Also it has been a long tour. Its exciting to go 2-2; India is a great side, it is exciting to go level into the final match. ' ' '