Ajmal is the best and Kohli is...

The last week has seen records tumble, new stars rising and controversy in the form of Saeed Ajmal’s action. And in the middle of all that, Bangladesh quietly made their way to the final of the Asia Cup – the first time they’ve made it to the final of a tournament involving four teams.

But the story of the week was undoubtedly Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th ton. It’s finally done, the monkey is off his back or as Ravi Shastri would’ve said: the gorilla is off his back. But the question that even Tendulkar fans will be asking is what next for Tendulkar – should he retire from ODIs keeping the 2015 World Cup in mind or should he continue mentoring the younger lot?

Either way, the record also showed that cricket is indeed a batsman’s game. When Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne took a 1000 wickets in international cricket, their achievement wasn’t quite celebrated in the same vein. Indeed, it hardly got a mention… all of which leads us to believe that the 100th ton wasn’t so much about the record but about Tendulkar himself.

And even as Tendulkar himself must have heaved a huge sigh of relief after getting the century, another Indian was starting to make his presence felt. Virat Kohli’s ride from potential star to great-in-making has been spell-binding. With every innings in the middle, he seems to climb another level. It’s been astonishing.

And last but not the least in the whole controversy surrounding Saeed Ajmal’s action. The Pakistani spinner is currently the second best bowler in both Tests and ODIs but that didn’t stop controversy from raising its ugly head.

However, the point to be made is that if India truly had a problem with Ajmal’s action, they should have made an official complaint. Nothing of sort happened. So Ajmal is still the best spinner on the planet and India’s still can’t read his doosra.

And last but not the least is the news of West Indies beating Australia in an ODI after five years. Just might be the beginning of their long walk back to the calypso times.

Watch cricket writer Ayaz Memon and Sports editor Ashish Magotra discuss all this and more in the latest edition of Sports Talk.