Tendulkar's Century - maiden one and not adding to the 100

For a Sports lover, there is so much of Cricket news to write about – it was Cricketer in Politics as Sachin took guard taking oath as Member of Parliament – or Politics in Cricket, in keeping legendary Kapil Dev out of the recipients of BCCI payments – there is something happening in India A tour at West Indies, while WI are playing in England.

More than all these, a century by a youngster is the talk of the Cricket World ? – how is this important are you pondering ?

The recall or comeback is the talk in WI -  Chris Gayle's 15-month international exile is over after he was formally recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for the forthcoming series against England, starting in Southampton on June 16. There is smacks more of Politics than any Cricket, as  Gayle and his agent Michael Hall spoke with an array of political and cricket figures including the island's prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Baldwin Spencer, WICB president Julian Hunte, WICB director Elson Crick and the WICB's legal officer Alanna Medford.  The meeting, devised to smooth over any "residual matters" between Gayle and the WICB, was followed by the announcement of the squad for the limited-overs segment of the England tour, with Gayle returning to the ranks for the first time since the 2011 World Cup.

Now the West Indies ODI Squad looks formidable :  Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine

Once Chris Gayle made himself available, the Directors of West Indies Cricket Board met and issued a statement that his presence will be an asset to the team and they look forward to his contributions. 

If you are wondering of the century, it was that of Arjun, Sachin Tendulkar's son, who  slammed the first century of his blooming career in the Mumbai Cricket Association's Under-14 selection trials held at the Cross Maidan in Mumbai on Saturday. The 12-year old made 124 to help Khar Gymkhana beat Goregaon Centre by an innings and 21 runs and enter the final of the tournament. He hit 14 boundaries and a six during his knock.  Arjun, who is a left hander unlike his father, had scored 64 runs in his previous match during this MCA summer vacation tournament that also serves as selection trials to the U-14 team.  Arjun made his debut at the national level in January last year in the Cadence Trophy in Pune. He has been in news since then.  Born on 24th September 1999, Arjun is often seen going to the stadium to watch his father play and enthusiastically cheering for him.

Whether it is in our nature of seeing family lineage in everything or that he really has class [which sure is too early to be judged], his first century has made some ripples, if not waves

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

5^th June 2012.