Dear Express reader, This past week was rich in interesting news developments. The high point, of course, was India’s remarkable win in the Brisbane cricket Test. The Sensex touching a peak of 50,000 points was another high. We wrote editorials on both these events. The triumph Down Under also as commented upon by former India captain and spin legend Bishen Singh Bedi. Economist Jean Dreze weighed in on the farm laws debate by drawing our attention to a less-talked-about issue — the contradiction in India’s large food stocks and the prevalence of widespread hunger and malnutrition. Dreze argued that “the double imbalance in India’s cereal economy (between procurement and distribution as well as between production and consumption) will need more than a short-term fix”. The need of the hour, according to him, “is to expand distribution under the PDS. Failing that, the country is heading towards another round of wasteful stock accumulation even as poor people struggle to feed their families”. The Brisbane win was remarkable because Team India was a depleted side having lost most of its senior players to injuries. Under the stand-in captain, Ajinkya Rahane, it was a second-rung side that took on a full-strength Australian side. The grit displayed by the young, inexperienced team and the dramatic turnaround in its fortunes, especially after the collapse in the first Test at Adelaide, added to the excitement. A new set of stars — Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur — emerged as India chased down a record target at a venue considered an Aussie fortress. The Express editorial pointed out that “Brisbane 2021, should not be considered a coincidence or fluke. It’s just a dot in the arc, the triumph of a robust, inscrutable system. It’s an example other Indian sports can emulate”. Former CAG and cricket administrator, Vinod Rai, too made it a point to credit the institutional changes and investment made by the BCCI for the win, besides, of course, the character shown by the players in times of adversity. In his Oped, former Test captain Bishen Singh Bedi put some context to the win. He also spoke out against the overemphasis on the backstories of players. He wrote: “Someone being a rickshaw driver’s son has nothing to do with his cricket: On a sporting field all are equals. Those adjectives, intended praise perhaps, seem like slurs. If youngsters are competing on equal terms then where’s the need to indulge in pity of any sort?” He also criticised the tendency to hype every win as “the greatest ever”. The compulsion to live solely in the present and refuse to historicise events is perhaps unavoidable for a spectacle society. It should not, however, be forgotten that Team India has recorded some dramatic wins in Australia in the past — for instance, Sunil Gavaskar’s team winning a Test in Melbourne in 1981, when an Aussie team that boasted of Greg Chappel, Kim Hughes, Dough Walters, Alan Border, Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh in its ranks was bowled out for 83 while chasing a target of 143 runs! An injured Kapil Dev had turned in a remarkable spell of seam bowling, taking five wickets! Bedi also made a proactive suggestion that the BCCI should consider making Rahane the captain for Tests. This, he said, would allow Virat Kohli to focus fully on his batting. “Does India need Virat Kohli the great batsman or Virat Kohli a mediocre captain in the long run?” was how Bedi posed the question. Amrita Dutta’s essay drew attention to the patriarchal attitudes that continue to shape perceptions about the role and relationship between women and home, especially the kitchen, in the backdrop of the conversations triggered by the Malayalam film, The Great Indian Kitchen. Bhaskar Chakravorty wrote on the complex nature of social media and the web of corporate interests that allows fake news and polarising opinion to proliferate. Amusement was provided by the Gujarat CM, who announced that the dragon fruit hereafter would be called Kamalam since the name dragon fruit reminded him of China. We could not resist but list a slew of objects with Chinese connection that await renaming! Elsewhere, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation suddenly found itself concerned whether meat sold in restaurants in its jurisdiction was "halal" or "jhatka". If only the corporators showed a similar interest in paying salaries and pensions of corporation employees on time! It provided meat for an editorial. Till next week, Amrith | 
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