Rio Olympics and more in 2016: Mark your dates

Rio 2016 will be the first time the summer Olympics will be held in South America.

Lodha report
January 4

The buzz around this report from the Shakepeare-quoting Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha is that it’s a potential game-changer in Indian cricket. The expectations are skyhigh — there is the talk of structural reforms ranging from restricting a state to one team to preventing politicans and industrialists from holding top administrative posts in BCCI, and a lot more. We shall have to wait to see what the 65-year old Lodha, the man known as “People’s judge” and who hails from a family of famous jurists and social workers, comes up with. Also, importantly, it remains to be seen how the Indian board reacts to the suggestions.

Under-19 World Cup
January 27 to February 14

Rahul Dravid has chosen to focus on developing talent, ignoring the invitations to become an administrator or a commentator. He is in charge of the India A and Under-19 teams and will be taking the colts to Bangladesh for the U-19 World Cup. The youngsters have won back-to-back tri-series in Kolkata and Sri Lanka and have remained unbeaten in the ten matches in the lead-up to the showpiece event. India surrendered the title two years ago, losing to England U-19 in the quarter-finals in UAE. Can they regain the crown under Ishan Kishan’s leadership? Watch out for Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Sarfaraz Khan, Mahipal Lomror and Avesh Khan.

Asian Olympic Shooting Qualifiers, Delhi
January 25 to February 3

Indian shooters’ quest to make the cut for Rio Games received a huge boost when the country was awarded the hosting rights of the final qualifying campaign after Kuwait was stripped off the right owing to an ongoing conflict of the country’s Olympic Committee with the IOC. India has so far earned eight quotas, three less than their tally at the previous Olympics. With 35 places up for grabs in Delhi, they will be looking to add to their tally.

Brendon McCullum
February 20

It says much about how well he has taken to leadership that Brendom McCullum, who will be known more as a captain than a batsman in his country, has chosen to retire in front of adoring crowds after a Test series against favourite sporting rivals Australia. His aggressive leadership during the World Cup had a nation in an adrenalin rush that left adults and kids giddy, excited and intoxicated on the team’s style of play. Never before had a team of eleven players walked around the park as if they owned it. No, not even Martin Crowe’s in 1992. They induced surprise, McCullum’s men had swagger hitherto unseen. Rugby yes, cricket no.

Asia Cup
February 24 to March 6

Bangladesh will host the Asia Cup for the third time in a row, but the tournament has been changed from the 50-overs format to a T20 affair. Four Asian Test nations, along with a qualifier from the Associates, will participate and will use the opportunity for final preparations ahead of the World T20. The successful team will carry the momentum to the marquee event. That the World T20 will be played in similar conditions — India hosting it — is a big advantage for the participants. India haven’t done well in the Asia Cup of late. They will try to make amends and be in top shape before the mega show.

FIFA president’s election
February 26

Seventeen years since he took over as FIFA president, Sepp Blatter won’t be around when an Extraordinary FIFA Congress elects its new chief. With FIFA’s image in tatters and its men either in prison or fighting extradition to the US, the election offers football’s world body to correct a few wrongs.

World T20
March 8 to April 3

Five years after that glorious night at the Wankhede Stadium, it’s befitting that it’s India, the evangelists of cricket’s shortest format, will play host to the World T20. Amidst all the sixes, switch-hits and super over finishes, the focus will converge on one man, MS Dhoni, as he looks to add yet another gem to his bejewelled crown. His rise in captaincy that started with the triumph in South Africa back in 2007, will come a full circle in March. Come April 3, will Dhoni finish yet another home ICC tournament, and maybe this time his illustrious career, with a six over wide long-on?

Augusta Masters
April 7 to 10

Augusta is to golf what Wimbledon is to tennis. It’s the sport’s holy grail, the green jacket as hallowed as the green grass of SW19. For Anirban Lahiri, it will be an opportunity to consolidate his reputation as being one of the world’s hottest young prospects after a highly-successful 2015 that saw him set several records for Indian golf. The Asian tour champion has already made the cut for the prestigious event, having finished 2015 inside the top 50 of international rankings. Come April, though, he will be keen to show once again that he isn’t afraid to rub shoulders against the world’s best, even as the likes of Jordan Speith, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott continue to raise the bar higher.

IPL
April 9 to May 29

The BCCI has managed to retain the eight-team format, replacing the banned franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, with Pune and Rajkot, who will be only there for two years. And we already have some novelty in terms of squad compositions. MS Dhoni, the face of the ‘yellow army’, will now lead the Pune franchise. His friend and team-mate for eight years, Suresh Raina, will be a rival, being signed up by Rajkot. Top ten players from Super Kings and Royals have been equally distributed between the two new entrants. Do they have enough time to plan properly and build a team?

Centennial Copa America
June 3 to 26

As the name suggests, it is hundred years of Copa America and that’s reason enough to organize a big bash for a tournament held every four years, the last one in 2015. The tournament was in jeopardy following the FIFA scandal, in which several top executives were involved. Despite the presence of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the USA, the event, coming just before the Olympics, the event could see some of its top stars giving it a miss.

Euro 2016
June 10 to July 10

With the country still reeling from the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks, there were calls to postpone the event to ensure safety isn’t compromised. But the organising committee head Jacques Lambert made matters clear by stating, “to consider postponing is to capitulate.” But even the concern over security measures remain, national coaches have begun making rounds to find their best 23 players. Holders Spain continue to be favourites but their title defence will be challenged by World Cup winners Germany. The English in turn stormed into the finals by becoming only the sixth team to record a perfect qualifying campaign (winning each of their 10 qualifying games). Eyes will also be on Belgium this time around, who are currently ranked at the top of the FIFA charts.

Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, August 5-21

It’ll be clichéd to scrunch down the Rio Games, the first Olympics in South America, to a straight marquee battle between Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt – gunning for a triple triple. Or to Michael Phelps looking to take his haul to 20.

For, 2016 is one to look ahead to rising stars while saluting the setting suns. Those on the horizon are Jamaica’s next in line — Jaheel Hyde at the 400m hurdles after he’s recorded a world mark at 12.96 over 110m.

There’s the Brit Giarnni Regini-Moran, sending the Queens country into a flutter like Tom Daley did last time around, owing to his all round artistic gymnastics prowess, and China’s 14-year-old prodigy Si Yajie on the 10m platform in diving.

Katie Ledecky, at 15, is the new Missy Franklin in the pool for the Americans aiming for an unprecedented 7 gold medals, even while the old Missy upgrades her medals. Yana Kudryavtseva, the Russian sensation in rhythmic gymnastics debuts at the Olympics even while Matheus Santana brings home cheer to Brazil looking for a strong splash in the 4×100 free.

For India, a country of maturing big stage Olympians – it’s worth looking for encores from the likes of Sushil Kumar, Gagan Narang, Saina Nehwal, Yogeshwar Dutt and MC Mary Kom. It’ll be even more exciting if those in the shadows – the likes of PV Sindhu, Narsingh Yadav or Sarita Devi — show up and get counted on the podiums. The whole country would be rooting for the pocket powerhouse of pistol – Jitu Rai, the affable little army man.

Never discount Abhinav Bindra, even if he waves off his thing of brilliance as a hobby. Women’s wrestling is heaving with prospects of a maiden medal, and women’s shooting too ought to be pushing for one, for it is due. Hockey would do well to be Top 6, though the one team tugging at the heartstrings could be the one where Rani Rampal leads out her girls on the field after a rare qualification.

Boxing’s stuck in an administrative mess — and though you’d want to bundle the bickering not-so-wise men into a punching bag to drill some sense into them — it might only be the last-gasp efforts of a Mary Kom or Vikas Krishan who could salvage that script with a medal.

Wimbledon
June 27 to July 10

World number 1 Novak Djokovic may be the new crown prince of tennis, but Roger Federer isn’t quite done yet. Critics may claim that age is catching up with the 34-year-old, but time and again the Swiss maestro has elegantly woven his way past opponents to make it to the final of the Grand Slams. Championship-winning results though have reduced in the last few years. His last three appearances in the final of any of the four majors, coming at Wimbledon 2014 and 2015 and US Open 2015, resulted in defeats at the hands of Djokovic. The last win was back at Wimbledon 2012.

For the coming season though, Federer has parted ways with coach Stefan Edberg and armed himself with a new coach, friend and former practice partner Ivan Ljubicic. Yet among the four majors, it will still be the grass courts of Wimbledon that will serve as the best chance for the winner of seventeen Grand Slam titles to get the better of Djokovic.

At the same time a win at Wimbledon 2016 would give him his eight title at the championship, going one better than the record he is currently sharing with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw.

Mohammad Amir’s return to England
July 3 to September 7

The boy who made Michael Holding cry on television could return to the scene of crime in England where his shenanigans put him in jail, and throws up repurcussions even today. Holding broke down as he feared the loss of a bowling talent but Amir has re-surfaced after years of shame. By July, the pensive atmosphere that has seen a captain retire in protest at the inclusion of Amir, which hasn’t been accepted by the Pakistan cricket board, would have died down and we might see Amir running in to bowl. The television would hopefully gorge on close-ups on his bowling arm rather than his feet this time around.

Davis Cup
July 15 to 17

India will face the winner of the New Zealand and South Korea clash in a tie to reach what will be the country’s third consecutive World Group playoffs. The prospective squad includes usual suspects Yuki Bhambri, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes, though the progress of Saketh Myneni cannot be ignored. Yet even among the big four of Indian tennis, there are shortcomings. Despite breaking into the top 100 in world singles rankings, 93-placed Bhambri has struggled with his fitness — he currently nurses a tennis elbow injury. Devvarman in turn had a relatively forgetful ATP 2015 season. However, his performance at the Davis Cup for India has been commendable. Meanwhile the strong doubles pairing of Bopanna and Paes may be starved for playing time together, as the Davis Cup is normally the only time they play together.

AFC U-16 Championships
September 15 to October 2

It may not be one of the most significant footballing events this year, especially with the European and American continental championships taking place, but in India’s context, this will mark an important beginning. Crucially, the tournament will help realise India’s preparedness for 2017 Under-17 World Cup, the biggest football competition that will be played in the country. The junior team, coached by Germany’s Nicolai Adam, has been turning a few heads in the exposure trips across Europe. But this will be the team’s first real test and will show where they stand ahead of the showpiece event next year.

World Chess Championship
October-November

Viswanathan Anand needs one more world chess title to equal Karpov and Kasparov’s six. He has tried and failed the past two editions, against Carlsen. And going by his present form, it could be difficult for him to even challenge the Norwegian. For that to happen, Anand needs to win the Candidates in March, not a mean feat, given the quality of the opposition. Watch out for Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri.

England’s 5-Test tour of India
November-December

India last hosted a 5-match Test series in 1987, when Sunil Gavaskar brought an end to his remarkable career against arch-rivals Pakistan. Eighteen years on, it’s the English who are coming for the full-monty to try and repeat their success from four years ago. But as the Proteas learnt this year, beating India in India has become a much more monumental task now with unabashedly turning tracks being rolled out for all comers. But in Moeen Ali, England have an unlikely weapon who could turn the Indians’ biggest weapon against them, especially after he made a mockery of them in seaming conditions last year.

Men’s junior hockey World Cup
December 1 to 11

A lot of hype surrounded the junior team the last time India hosted the World Cup, three years ago in 2013. It was a gifted lot and many expected them to finish on the podium, if not on top of it. But the team came crashing down, finishing in the lower half. Harendra Singh’s boys have an opportunity to make amends this year when India will host the junior championship for the second consecutive time. A settled squad and having recently won the junior Asia Cup, the team is once again among the favourites. Will they be able to live up to the billing?