Tendulkar, a faceless cricketer in Rio

[Jaswinder Singh Baidwan]

Right, so Sachin Tendulkar is also here. For the rest of the nations of the world, that's not really a big news - after all, Serena is here, Nadal is here, Phelps is here, Neymar is here. Maria Sharapova, a few years ago, wondered who Sachin Tendulkar was. A straw poll in the press box here reveals that Tendulkar is not really a world figure in sport. But for us poor wretches from a one-sport nation, the arrival of Tendulkar in Brazil is news. Tendulkar is expected to visit the Olympic Village over the next two days, meet the Indian sportspersons and speak some motivational words.
Tennis drama
The emotional atyachar of tennis continues. Now news has emerged that Leander Paes has refused to stay with Rohan Bopanna at the Olympics Village. The dislike among some of our top tennis players is quite intense; that dislike is projected through the tennis players' proxies in the media. Thus this news from unnamed sources that Paes has refused to stay with Bopanna. However, the fact is that many sportspersons prefer to stay away from the Olympics Village. Paes didn't stay at the Games Village in 2012 and 2008 too. In 2012, he did spend one night at the Village, only to get a feel of the Village.
Bopanna did not want to partner Paes for the Rio Games, and he had given an excellent tennis reason for that. But more than that, it's no secret that Paes and Bopanna have little love for each other. It's no surprise that they won't share an apartment. Yet this has become news because the players or their proxies in the media can't escape this legacy of enmity.