Musings of a Curious Mind

101-2. This is not India’s score after 20 overs. It is Rafael Nadal’s clay court record in best of 5 set matches. At Roland Garros, it is 78-2. No one has ever dominated or will ever dominate a grand slam again the way Nadal has dominated the red clay of Paris. While he is not the greatest tennis player of our generation( Serena Williams wins that crown hands down), Nadal is right up there with Federer and Djokovic when it comes to the GOAT in men’s tennis. Nadal is on the brink of an unprecedented La Decima at Paris this year. And he has hardly broken a sweat. Having already won the Monte Carlo and the Madrid Masters in the clay court season, Nadal was one of the favourites heading into Roland Garros. And so far, he didn’t disappoint. No sets dropped. 29 games lost over 6 matches. If you did not appreciate this fact, re read the last sentence again. In Tennis, you can win a set even after losing 6 games and this man, 12 years after winning his first grand slam, is winning mat...

Think of North-east India and what are the first things that comes to your mind? Rock and roll, scenic beauty, pretty women, and to some extent even football. In fact, Independent India’s first football captain, the man who was also the flag bearer for the Indian contingent in 1948 Olympics, Talimeran Ao, was from Nagaland. But inspite of this, teams from the north east have never ever come close to winning or even competing for the biggest honours in Indian Football( current avatar being I-League). But Aizawl FC are on the verge of doing a Leicester. And even if they somehow manage not to win the league next weekend, they have already created one of the biggest underdog stories in Indian sports history. 30 years back, Mizoram was not even a state. 15 years back, there was no individual from Mizoram who played professional football in India. And it was only in 2011 that Aizawl FC was reborn as a competitive team. If betting odds were common in India, before the start of thi...