Hat-trick and hat-trick for Hamilton in Canada

Formula 1 moved across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada on the second weekend of June, where Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hosted the seventh Grand Prix of the season.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) with 2 race wins this season, sought to move close to Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) who sat at the top of the table with a 25-point advantage with 3 race wins.

The Canadian Grand Prix has always been a happy hunting ground for Hamilton, having won 5 races in the past years, including the last 2 years. 

But even by those standards, this was a dream Sunday for the British driver. He went on to win his third consecutive one, thus completing a hat-trick in cricketing parlance.  

The sport of F1 has a very different definition for hat-trick though, which includes pole position, race win and fastest lap. Hamilton managed to secure this hat-trick as well.

Our guest writer and F1 expert Kavish Anand puts it succinctly, "While Hamilton's comeback drive at Monaco was about supreme race management and tyre strategy, Vettel's drive at Montreal was about sheer courage and determination. Who goes all in on the last 3 laps to get 2 more points and risk it all?

Vettel did just that when he overtook the 2 fast Force India's of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez . While the move on Perez was routine, the move on Ocon was probably the move of the race (barringr the Flying Dutchman eccentric start). This move showed how brave a driver Vettel was. 


As he himself pointed out later, the move involved significant risk and boy did those pay off. Had he got 1 more lap, maybe just maybe he would have taken the podium all by his sheer will"

The overtakes have to be seen to be believed. The video shows the overtakes (Lap 66, Ocon) and (Lap 69, Perez). 



To admire the genius better, watch the last maneuver once more.



Kavish says, "Hamilton and the sliver arrows may have landed a blow to Ferrari (that's what Hamilton said) but make no mistake; the prancing horses are going nowhere and going nowhere is the man on whom the blow landed the most severely : Sebastian Vettel."

As a result of his heroics in the end, Vettel hangs on to his lead at the top of the table, but precariously. He is just 12 points abreast of Hamilton, who is set to ensure this goes down to the wire. 

At Azerbaijan (the next Grand Prix) which promises to be a fast-paced cracker, Vettel would come back harder than ever. With all his experience, Lewis knows it. Or has he got a bit carried away with this emotional win (at Montreal). The sight of him having having Ayrton Senna helmet was an emotional moment.

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts, we are in  for some pulsating action! Keep watching this space.

A trophy of champions indeed!

What a sea of fortunes this last fortnight has been!

Before it began, this edition of Champions Trophy had been advertised by Star Sports as 'Champions ka World Cup'. An apt description, considering the fact that only the top 8 teams as per ICC rankings made the cut. This meant a former giant West Indies missing out. This is a team that as recently as March last year, had won the World T20 in a thrilling finish with 4 sixes on as many balls in a dramatic final at the Wankhede.

This augurs well for the game, that there is enough competition to edge out such high-quality teams. The event was being held in the British Isles, just like the previous (2013) edition.

And as soon as the event began, one performer stood out for consistency and impact. It was the ever-fickle English weather. Rain played a part in almost all matches in the first week, leading to wash-outs and overs being truncated.

As a result, after 6 days and 6 games, we had 2 wash-outs with points shared, and the other ones won by 96 runs, 124 runs, 87 runs and 8 wickets. The margins clearly bring out how one-sided these games were. The tournament seemed destined to be a boring, rain-affected affair after a week. But, then Pakistan sprang to life, and so too, did the tournament.

They seemed over and out after a deflating loss to arch-rivals India by 124 runs where poor batting, pedestrian bowling and club-level fielding gave the impression that they didn't stand a chance in this event.

But, then in a must-win game against South Africa, they raised their game to another level altogether. The Proteas who had played a dominant game against Sri Lanka in their opener, were stunned. Pakistan winning by 19 runs in a rain-truncated match.

This game started a string of surprises. Sri Lanka were up next in a must-win against defending champions India, and they also produced an inspired performance, putting aside their poor form to chase down 322 convincingly.

Bangladesh then completed a hat-trick of Asian surprises by pulling off a huge upset against New Zealand. Down 33/4, they produced pure magic to chase down 266, eliminating the Kiwis from the tournament.

These upsets suddenly brought thrill and energy back, and jolted a sleeping tournament out of slumber. All of a sudden, the last few matches (Aus v Eng, Ind v SA and Pak v SL) became virtual quarter-finals and the audiences certainly loved every bit of it.

England continued their consistent dominance and steam-rolled Australia, who returned home winless. India held their nerves to get the better of a choking and nervous South Africa with ease. And Pakistan played like only Pakistan can. Stop, start, race, stutter, stop, start. A less than convincing performance, with few glimpses of brilliance took them through to the semi-finals.

Their sudden rise after the crushing loss in the first game deserves an article in itself. Refer to this great piece on Pakistan's resurgence. http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-champions-trophy-2017/content/story/1103610.html

And so we had our semi-finalists in place. England, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The former two were pre-tournament favorites, while the latter two were teams that  even in your wildest dreams, you wouldn't have expected would make it this far.

England still looked the favorite at this stage, but Pakistan's exuberant run was far from over. They put in another brilliant day at the field, and England were left in the cold once more on the global stage. India ended Bangladesh's run with a clinical win in the other semi-final, without as much as breaking a sweat.

This boils down to an India-Pakistan final, the mother of all battles, may the best team win!

Nadal cruises to his La Decima

Paris witnessed history today as Stade de Roland Garros saw its most famous athlete win the French Open for a record 10th time.

Rafael Nadal had finally accomplished his La Decima (that's how you refer to the tenth in Spain, the county that Nadal belongs to). 

The organizers were set for it and had put together a presentation ceremony themed on the tenth win. The stage had a big logo showing 10 alongside the Roland Garros logo, while there were banners in the crowd saying "10 RG" and "Bravo Rafa".

The match itself ended up being a side note in the event, as it was very much one-sided. His Swiss opponent Stanislas Wawrinka looked listless against a Nadal onslaught, and wasn't up to the mark. He didn't show any of the spark that had helped him get the better of Nadal in their last Grand Slam final together, 2014 Australian Open.

Wawrinka looked tight from the start, probably a combination of being overwhelmed by the occasion and being exhausted from having spent 15 hours on the court in the last 2 weeks, which included a grueling 5-set win over Andy Murray. Nadal had spent 5 hours lesser, having dropped just 29 games on way to an impressive run to the final, which saw him drop no sets.

Nadal started applying pressure right from the start, and the 4th game (Stan's serve) saw many balls sent long from both players, and Rafa looked close to breaking. The game saw as many as 6 deuces, but the Swiss managed to just about hold his serve. Rafa was in brilliant touch both physically and mentally, which he displayed in the 5th game, when serving on the game, he saw Wawrinka move to the side of the court from the corner of his eye, and served down the line to close the game.

The relentless pressure helped him break Wawrinka in the 6th game and again in the 8th game. Takes first set 6-2!

The second set saw Wawrinka becoming more aggressive. He strives to open up the court more, make more angles for Nadal, approaches the net often for serve and volley (where he manages a remarkable 100% points won on net approaches). He does show glimpses of his aggressive win on this court 2 years ago in the final against Djokovic where he had approached the net and volleyed to good effect.

The image effectively sums up Wawrinka's day on Sunday. Frustrating!

However, today the opponent was on a different plan altogether, and Nadal broke up once to take the second set 6-3. The third set was a formality as Nadal easily clinched it 6-1.

When Wawrinka hit it into the net on match point, Nadal collapsed to the ground in joy where he stayed for a while. He rose, totally overwhelmed, and with tears of joy in his eyes, as he ran to accept his opponent's greetings. His dream had been accomplished! History had been made!

What followed was a very emotional Nadal watching his 10 title wins being shown on the big screen, an image that will stay in the hearts of all tennis fans and certainly in those of Rafa fans for some time to come. Relive all those 10 here :

10 Roland-Garros Titles
10 Unforgettable Moments
1 Champion#RG17 pic.twitter.com/e7xfGgl4qI

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 12, 2017

The way he cuddled the trophy showed the world how much this means for him, after career threatening injuries, loss of form, and the slow and painful return to the top level. It had been 3 long years of wait since his last win here in 2014, his last Grand Slam!

This was a time when even his biggest fans had started doubting if he could ever return to his old form. But he showed us all that you don't count Rafa out, never ever. Vamos!

Hamilton outsmarts Vettel in Barcelona GP

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, on Sunday, saw a fascinating match up between Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari. This was the fifth Grand Prix of the season, with Vettel having won 2 races and Hamilton 1.

Hamilton and Vettel, winners of seven of the last nine drivers' titles, provided a cliffhanger of a contest today. A contest which had it all. Dangerous contact between the cars, multiple overtaking attempts and smart tyre strategy.

If there were any doubts as to who the favorites for this year's driver's title were, those were answered today as the duo gave enough indication that this season would be a direct head-to-head for the crown.

In the end, it was Hamilton and his team Mercedes’ strategy that saw them through, ably supported by the other Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas.

Both drivers made 2 pit-stops during the 66-lapped race. It was the choice of tyres that made pretty much all the difference.

While Vettel went for Soft, Soft and Medium respectively, Hamilton chose Soft, Medium and Soft, in that order. 

A Soft tire provides speed, and faster turning on corners, while sacrificing durability. A Medium tire on the other hand, is more durable, with a lesser speed. I shall take up tyres in detail in another blog spot.

Hamilton had started the race on pole position, with Vettel on second. After the race began, Vettel soon pulled ahead of Hamilton and started increasing the gap from Hamilton on second, whose Mercedes teammate Bottas was behind on third. 

After coming out of his first pit stop, where he chose Soft tyres, Vettel joined at second position behind Bottas, and realized that he has got to make the best use of this part of the race, where he is on Soft, while Hamilton is on Medium. He made multiple attempts to overtake Bottas in Laps 23 and 24, and was thwarted effectively by Bottas, thus helping Hamilton gain a precious couple of seconds in number 3 position.

Vettel finally overtook Bottas in Lap 25, and soon enough Bottas allowed Hamilton to overtake, showing brilliant teamwork. Vettel meanwhile pushed to extend his lead. 

Lap 37, Hamilton pits, switches to soft tyres, and joins the track 24 seconds behind Vettel. Lap 38, Vettel pits, and he joins back very close to Hamilton, and the two cars come very close to each other, but Vettel pulls ahead, Hamilton isn't too happy and is heard telling on the team radio that he was alongside Vettel and was forced to push wide.

But the advantage is with Hamilton with his soft tyres. Meanwhile, Bottas' engine goes bad in Lap 40, and he is out of the race.

Hamilton keeps striving desperately to overtake, and finally succeeds in doing so in Lap 44, with an amazing maneuver. Vettel now keeps hoping that Hamilton wouldn't be able to take his soft tyres to the end of the race, and would be forced to stop.

Hamilton doesn't, and manages his engine superbly well, keeps extending his lead, and in the last 6 laps, it seems that Vettel has accepted the result. 

Hamilton eventually wins by 3.5 seconds, and closes Vettel's lead at the top of the drivers' championship to 6 points. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a fascinating season on our hands!

The rise and rise of Brand Kohli

Feb 2017 saw Virat Kohli, captain of Team India, making a big announcement on his Twitter, “A new era begins now. With @PUMA. #Forever #ForeverFaster”, heralding the start of an 8-year period for which he shall endorse Puma.

The endorsement deal is worth INR 110 crores, broken up into –

1. Fixed payments of roughly INR 12 crore per annum
2. Royalty payments depending on the brand's business performance

The Puma contract is path-breaking if you consider the fact that no Indian sportsperson has ever signed a deal of this magnitude. In the past, Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni have been in the Rs 100-crore club through multi-year contract with sports and talent management agencies, but neither crossed the mark via a single deal.

Puma would work with Kohli in markets like UK, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East and "wherever Cricket is relevant.” The deal helps Virat fill the gap for a sports brand in his portfolio, which had appeared since December, when he decided not to renew his 3-year contract with Adidas.

Currently, the stalwart endorses the following 17 brands apart from Puma –

• Audi
• Boost
• Colgate
• Gionee
• Herbalife
• Manyavar
• MRF
• Nitesh Estates
• Pepsi
• Punjab National Bank
• Samsonite
• Shyam Steel
• Smaaash
• Tissot
• USL
• Valvoline
• Vicks
   

The journey

Kohli’s brand endorsement journey started soon after he captained India U-19 team to victory in the 2008 U-19 World Cup. He was signed up by sports agent Bunty Sajdeh of Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment after the 2008 Under-19 World Cup. (Sajdeh also manages endorsements for Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay.)

His first endorsement was in 2010 when he joined actor Genelia D’Souza for Titan’s Fastrack. The deal lasted 2 years and was worth INR 25 lakhs, a miniscule amount as compared to his current earnings.

The ascent       

The years since 2010 witnessed Kohli coming into his own, rising exponentially on the back of some brilliant innings to emerge as India’s leading and one of the world’s best batsmen. He went on to assume captaincy of India in all three formats of the game and of the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. His brand value has increased in sync throughout.

One of his biggest endorsement deals was signed in 2014, INR 10 crore per annum deal with German sports goods giant Adidas, for a 3-year period. The same year, he signed up for a INR 6.5 crore-per-year deal with MRF.

In 2015, the charismatic batsman entered into an 18-month deal with carmaker Audi India (INR 5 crores). Audi thus replaced Japanese automaker ToyotaKirloskar in his brand portfolio.

The enigma that keeps growing

All the different brands have the option of either hiring the endorser on a yearly basis or a day basis. For the day based contracts, Kohli charges INR 2 crores per day (equivalent to the amount Sachin used to charge and higher than MS Dhoni’s INR 1.5 crores per day).

Kohli signs contracts for about 3 days with per day charge of Rs 2 crores. Brands utilizes those three days in photo shoots, press briefings along with other appearances

A notable thing is that Virat is quite selective about which brands he wants to associate his name with. “The brands which he thinks match his personality or he will use, are the ones he opts for,” says Sajdeh. According to industry sources, Tata Motors had approached Kohli but the cricketer chose to endorse Audi over it, even though it offered him lesser money, as the luxury automobile brand “suited” him more.

Apart from endorsements, he also has a plethora of investments in fashion brands, gyms and sports franchises, discussed in detail here.

‘Cheeku’ as he is fondly known in Delhi’s cricket circles, has certainly come a long way from a INR 25 lakh start with Titan to a INR 110 cr contract with Puma. In terms of cricket, he has Sachin’s records to chase down, but in terms of endorsements, he clearly leads the pack and only sky seems to be the limit!

Battle of the Gladiators : Chapter 50

Saturday, May 13th 2017, Madrid Masters Semi Final 1 marked half a century of clashes between tennis' great champions, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The previous head to head had been quiet even, with Djokovic slightly ahead at 26-23.

Here's an interesting compilation on all those 49 matches,in case you are interested.

It is a fact that goes unnoticed that the duo have played more matches together as compared to the more famous Federer-Nadal rivalry, which has seen 37 encounters. The varied playing styles of Nadal and Federer and their great friendship off the court are probably some of the reasons that 'Fedal' is more fabled than Nadal – Djokovic (gosh, we still don't have a moniker for it!).

The formbook 

Coming into this game, the World No. 2 Serbian was on an unbeaten 7 match streak against Nadal, dating back to 2014, however what evened the scales was the fact that Novak had seen a poor start to 2017, and had very recently fired his whole coaching staff before this tournament desperately hoping for a change in fortunes for the season.

Nadal, on the other hand, has been in blazing hot form since the start of 2017, playing in 6 finals, including the epic Australian Open final against Federer (Fedal XXXV, as it was labeled by some) after a painful return from injury. The clay court season had been ominous, with Nadal winning his 10th title in Monte Carlo and Barcelona each. He looked set for his record breaking 5th crown in Madrid, but there stood Djokovic.

Matchup no. 50 

Nadal carried his good form into this game, breaking Djokovic in the first game itself, much to the delight of the crowd. He broke again in the third game, and then served to go 4-0 up. The first set was done and dusted in 40 mins. Djokovic made many unforced errors and continued looking a patch of his dominant self who had been in red hot form for last couple of years.

The second set started with Nadal breaking in the second game, but the third game saw Djokovic trying to break the flow and come into his own. The returns were back, and so was the fighter comeback spirit typical of Djokovic. He broke Nadal back in the third game, and then served brilliantly to win his service game to nil. However, the brilliance came through only in patches, as Nadal clawed back and left his stamp on this encounter. With 1 hr 40 mins on the clock, and 5-4 up, Nadal served for the match, had two match points. But, Djokovic, as we have so often come to see in the past, magically rises his game and goes on to save both of them. However, today was not his day, as has been the story this season, and Nadal closed the game on his third match point.

How does Djokovic move on from here? Who would he appoint as his new coach? Can he overcome his mental demons or is the current slump a sign of something bigger? Many unanswered questions, but tennis would eagerly await the great Serb to come back into his own.