COVID-19 no longer a global emergency
Glad to know COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency (“WHO downgrades COVID-19 pandemic, says it’s no an longer emergency”, Gulf News, May 6). This pandemic has killed more than 7 million people globally, and it has changed our lives and the world. COVID-19 brought about many changes and forced us to adapt to working from home and homeschooling for a long periods – things we considered practically impossible in the past. Home became the safest place, and family bonding strengthened during this period. When the lockdown was relaxed, we started venturing out in masks – we expressed our feelings through our eyes and learnt to smile with our eyes. Since the pandemic occurred, medical and scientific communities in several countries have introduced different types of vaccines to save human lives. All of them have only had one goal to attain immunity for the citizens. The UAE was a role model for the rest of the world in its COVID-19 efforts. We saw the world unite to fight this pandemic and succeed.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai
IPL: Suryakumar Yadav’s magic help MI beat RCB
After a spate of failure, it is heartening to see the return of Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) with his scintillating knock of 83 runs in just 35 balls to pip the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), whose middle order seems to be struggling to score (“IPL 2023: Suryakumar Yadav shows his versatility to revive Mumbai’s IPL campaign”, Gulf News, May 10). While the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma continued to fail, Ishan Kishan celebrated his selection to play the World Test Championship (WTC) finals at the Oval with a hurricane start. He made 42 runs of 21 balls to lay a firm foundation for SKY and Nehal Wadhera to stitch a fine century partnership to easily achieve the target of 200 set by RCB in just 16.3 overs. This helped them climb up to the third spot in the points table. Mumbai Indians seem to have made it a habit to rise up like a phoenix. Things may now change for the better for the MI. Like MI, Delhi Capitals too have picked up pace, and their top order has started to perform in unison. If their star bowlers like Norji strikes form, who knows, they could also knock at the top four places for a playoff position. Beware Chennai Super Kings, who have a one-point advantage to qualify.
From Mr Vinay Mahadevan
India
Cricket: Chennai Super Kings crush Delhi Capitals by 27 runs
Kudos to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his yellow brigade for their excellent performance against Delhi Capitals, who at one time seemed to run away with the match (“IPL 2023: Chennai thrash Delhi by 27 runs for seventh IPL win”, Gulf News, _ ). But the veteran Dhoni and his deputy Ravindra Jadeja came to the party with a 50 runs partnership during the slog overs to set up a reasonable fighting target. Later on, it was over to the bowlers, especially Deepak Chahar, who excelled by giving a lightning start to get out the DC Captain, Warner, for a duck. Later on, he also accounted for the dangerous Phil Salt, who failed to capitalise on his quick fire 17 of just 11 balls. From there on, the spinners choked the Delhi Capitals batsmen and enabled Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to win by 17 runs. This win has enabled CSK to inch closer to the playoff place. If they can win their next match, they could seal one of the top places. Well done team.
From Mr N. V. Krishnan
India
IPL excitement
This year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) season results are very close, decided during the last over or even the last ball of the 20th over. Even after playing 10 to 11 matches, the 10th-ranked Delhi team has ample chance to qualify for the playoff stage. Ironically, most Indian celebrity cricketers struggle to win matches for their franchises. Young members like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, and Jithin Sharma have repeatedly proved to be the heroes of their franchise. The other teams need help to get a place in the playoffs, except for Gujarat Titans, who are performing like a well-oiled machine. With the rain washout result against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with 13 points, could be the next team to qualify for the playoff. LSG and Rajasthan Royals (RR), who started like a hurricane, seemingly struggled to maintain their tempo and could miss the game. Incidentally, the five times champion team, Mumbai Indians, seem to be struggling to put up a winning combination. Rohit Sharma, the hitman, is struggling to score and seems unfit. He could be rested for at least a few matches to regain his confidence. The point table shows that the spectators are in for exciting tussles between top teams to fight for a place in the playoff. Keeping our fingers crossed!
From Mr N. Mahadevan
India
