Fair play

Sir — The decision by Wimbledon authorities to give women tennis players the same amount of prize money as the men is certainly welcome (“Big W remembers W”, Feb 22). Such a move will not only boost the spirit of the current crop of women players, but it will also encourage young girls to take up tennis as a career. Hopefully, the French Open will now be compelled to offer equal prize money to men and women tennis players, thereby making tennis a truly fair sport.

Yours faithfully,
Mirza Hassanuzzaman, Calcutta

Keeping hopes alive

Sir — The Indian cricket team seems to have rediscovered its form after a long time (“Facile win bodes well for World Cup”, Feb 18). The victory over the Sri Lankans in the final one-dayer proves that the Men in Blue are shaping up well for the World Cup next month. Indeed, fans will be expecting Rahul Dravid and his men to put up a good show in the West Indies. Comeback-man, Sourav Ganguly, is in sublime touch and his presence would give the Indian team the required experience at the top order. Yuvraj Singh, who was struggling with injury problems, scored a fluent 95 at Visakhapatnam, thereby putting to rest doubts about his fitness. With Dravid, Tendulkar and Dhoni also in the side, the batting line-up looks formidable.

The bowling department seems to be in good shape too. Zaheer Khan is in excellent form and S. Sreesanth has proved that he can be a match winner. However, there will be some concerns over the inclusion of players like Anil Kumble and Munaf Patel. In order to succeed in one-day cricket, a team requires eleven utility players who can bowl, bat and field well.Unfortunately, Kumble and Patel are not exactly famous for their batting or fielding. This can prove costly for India’s chances in the tournament. Nevertheless, cricket followers in India would love to be proved wrong on this count.

Yours faithfully,
Subhasish Das, Calcutta

Sir — The whole of India seems to believe that India has a very good chance to win the World Cup. The recent wins against Sri Lanka and the West Indies have strengthened such a perception. This only goes to show that the memory of the average cricket fan in India is very short. They have already forgotten the drubbing that India received in the one-dayers held in the West Indies and in South Africa. Moreover, it has to be remembered that India’s recent series win was against a depleted Sri Lankan side, which had rested key players such as Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. There are other strong contenders for the World Cup. After their wins over the mighty Australians, both England and New Zealand have proved that they can win the tournament. South Africa’s fine performance against Pakistan also shows that they are in the title hunt. With such formidable opponents in the fray, Indians will be hoping that an in-form Tendulkar and Ganguly will help them lift the cup.

Yours faithfully,
Rahul Dutt, Calcutta

Sir — Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have rediscovered their form with the bat. This means that the Indian team will be heavily dependent on these two players to do well in the tournament. But Tendulkar or Ganguly alone cannot win the World Cup for India. The team management needs to do a few other things to be successful in the West Indies. For instance, a counsellor should be appointed to help the players concentrate on the job at hand. There should not be too many changes in the side either. The coach and the captain should consider these factors if they want to see the boys lay their hands on this coveted trophy.

Yours faithfully,
S. Kumar, Bangalore