As anticipated, the political masters of Pakistan have finally directed its national cricket team to lift the boycott and play India on 15 February, 2026, as scheduled in Colombo . The Masters must've thought the money at stake is too lucrative to continue indulging in such kind of grumpy politics. Of course, they had imposed some pre-conditions that included making the 'handshake' a mandatory protocol, but the ICC looked the other way. So, the PCB takes it as protecting the 'spirit of cricket'. The Indian cricket board , the sponsors, the TV channels and millions of fans who do not necessarily mix patriotism with sports, if it's cricket in particular, must be deliriously ecstatic that all the revenues and hype and excitement shall be there for harvest thr oughout the ICC Men's T20 World Cup-2026 , co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka . Most of the Indians fans must also be ecstatic to have their heroes go on vanquishing the enemy neighbor and humiliating t...
We call him Bhaiya that means ‘Brother’; his official name is Vijay Kumar Deutale, originally from Nagpur in Maharashtra. He was tall, lithe, bespectacled and bearded with a predominantly grey tinge. He had a baritone that was always pleasant and soothing to the ears. I don’t remember him ever getting angry or raising his voice. He was always smiling, at times bursting out with free-flowing and pure laughter and merriment. Bhaiya had been known to us since the year 2003, and all these years he had been our spiritual guru, family friend and philosopher-guide in everything he chose to speak about us or we requested him to provide answers to our inquisitive questions. It wrenches away a part of our heart and soul to say that he is no more. Vijay Kumar Deutale was working as a civil engineer in the government of Maharashtra. On a quest to explore life and meaning of life further he took voluntary retirement a few years back and started doing his personal work more intensivel...