Laxman calls it a day

This refers to the report “Laxman bids international cricket goodbye” (Aug. 19). Indeed, Laxman was a class act. He won a lot of matches for India with his flamboyant batting style. Mohammed Azharuddin was the source of inspiration for Laxman as far as playing wristy drives were concerned. Throughout his career he maintained his physique and tried hard not to gain weight.
He scored 8,781 runs out of 134 Tests matches, which does not to seem to be an outstanding feat, but the given the position at which he used to come to bat — fourth or fifth down — it is not an ordinary achievement. But, there is no doubt about his class and technique. He was simply a treat to watch when he got going. His records especially against Australia have been remarkable and he always scored heavily against them and that speaks of his class especially when Australian bowling attack was considered very menacing with Shane Warne, Brett lee, etc were at their peak. Announcing his retirement, he said that he is retiring to open doors for youngsters, which should be lauded. It proves that he has consideration for his country and Indian cricket team. I think Tendulkar should follow his example and should hang up his boots to pave the way for youngsters, I think for Tendulkar prolonging the cricket career is not advisable. It shows that his intention is only to create records. Brian Lara was considered the best batsman in his time, even he retired gracefully and did not prolong the innings for the sake of just creating records, though he was playing the game pretty well at the time of retirement. Dravid was also playing good cricket when he decided to quit. All these examples are before Tendulkar and he should give it a thought as he is already approaching 40. Even his role model and mentor, Sunil Gavaskar, the best batsman India has ever produced, retired at the age of 37. The next example is Ricky Ponting, even at the age of 37 he was considered one of the fittest players in the cricketing world, he too retired gracefully. Laxman’s mammoth innings of 281 against Australia in 2001 in Eden Gardens will be considered as a hallmark where he mesmerized the spectators to the full extent. Now, his decision to play domestic cricket is a wise decision, and he should continue that in order to give a chance to youngsters to learn from his flamboyance.
Anees Lokhande
Alkhobar
Suffering from Down syndrome
What a foolproof plot — some people spot a minor girl “moving suspiciously” in a rural area near Islamabad while carrying a plastic shopper. They later found some burned pages of Noorani Qaida (a book to learn the Holy Qur’an) in the shopper. All this is sufficient for events to unroll: A small girl is accused of blasphemy, she is badly beaten, her family fled the area for safety, police register a case and girl is arrested, a large crowd gathers outside the police station, they want to put the girl on fire, crowd cordons off the police station and blocks the nearby highway, fearing for girl’s life (and their own lives as well) the police produce the girl in a court which sends her off to Adiyala jail on judicial remand, police and court actions infuriate the protesters who scuffle with police and damage the nearby public and private properties.
During the initial investigation, the Christian girl aged 11 was unable to answer the questions and been reported she suffers from Down syndrome (a genetic disorder that causes mental retardation and severe learning disabilities in children).
If ever, this girl survives in custody, it is very much expected that court will throw out the case on lack of admissible evidence. But what about the girl and her family who have to suffer whether in jail or in hiding for the years to come.
Is this not the case where blasphemy act introduced by Gen. Zia-ul-Haq made the whole nation to suffer with the Down syndrome? Can we justify that we are sane people not the type of monsters the outside world portrays us and which we reject as stereotyping of our country which was created itself to safeguard the rights of minorities.
Masood Khan
Jubail