At around 12.50pm on a hot Saturday afternoon in Mumbai, December 10, Alastair Cook called for an ambitious lbw review. At the same time, in Bangalore, Prema Nair, a teacher at Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Koramangala finished her walk back home. The replays were on when she entered. This was an offbreak from Moeen Ali, which her son, Karun Nair, playing his second Test, had looked to defend. The umpire saw the bat and pad close together, and also figured the ball was turning too much so ruled it not out. The odds for this getting overturned were long. Yet everything went right with the review: from round the wicket, the ball turned enough to miss the inside edge but not the leg stump.Here we go again, Prema thought. She doesnt watch Karun bat. She locks herself up in a room and worships when he bats. She watches the IPL games but not Delhi Daredevils batting. She cant bear to watch. She gets too nervous. So her husband Kaladharan tapes the games, and she watches them later. This Saturday review against Karun just reinforced the superstition for her.Kaladharan, 62, found it difficult to convince his wife, 59, to come to Chennai to watch her first cricket match, and had to play on her emotions to win her over. How will I go alone? How will you stay back alone? This is his first Test in south India. So finally Prema relented. Having seen - through moist eyes - her son bring up his first Test century, and then go on to make it only the third triple by an India batsman, Prema finally believes that she cant bring bad luck to her son. A son for whose career both parents - middle class with no back-up if cricket doesnt come off - have made a lot of sacrifices. How could she ever possibly bring him bad luck?The thing, though, is that luck has been a big thing in the Nair family. It has also been cruel. In July, having made his India debut in the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe, Nair went to Alleppey in Kerala to make offerings as gratitude for getting his India cap. The current in the river was too strong, and the snake boat capsized. Everybody swam for safety as you do in such situations. Karun made it, but only later did he realise that the relatives who had organised the trip couldnt.A religious trip for good luck had turned into something horrible. It was bound to affect Karun deeply, but his family and relatives tried to keep him distracted, and get him back to cricket. No matter what you do, though, if you are the superstitious kind, the following incidents can bog you down. On the A tour of Australia in August and September, he managed just 38 runs in four innings. On Test debut - which was a last-minute decision thanks to an injury to his good friend KL Rahul - he was run out by his captain Virat Kohli after some freakish fielding. In his second Test, he dropped Englands debutant Keaton Jennings before he had scored - Jennings went on to make a century - then fell victim to that improbable review on 13. It is difficult to break into the India batting line-up. In three years, they have handed out one cap to a batsman - Rahul. Karun was a week shy of his 25th birthday when he finally got the call. His batting is not as explosive as Rahuls. He is not a flamboyant person. He and Rahul are both friends, they have played almost all of their cricket together since the age of 11, but Karun is more subdued. I think he once felt like getting tattoos [like Rahul], but I said its not a good thing and he has stayed away, says Kaladharan. There are bound to be fears you are not cut out for international cricket, when the fates seem to be conspiring against you.All those fears have been quashed now as the Nair family and friends watch Karun race away to a double and then a triple-hundred in a match that he got because Ajinkya Rahane got injured in the final nets session in Mumbai. At one point, Karun looks to play a vertical sweep as left-arm spinner Liam Dawson fires a defensive delivery down the leg side. No, not that shot, says his father, there is a short fine leg in place. A friend next to him says, No, no, its okay, he is hitting down on it, into the ground.Like Sachin Tendulkar used to, says Kaladharan. He likes that and the reverse sweep.Kaladharan should know. He goes to every match Karun plays in Bangalore. A mechanical engineer who was posted in Jodhpur when Karun was born, Kaladharan moved to Bangalore and has also worked on the sprinkler system on the Chinnaswamy Stadium outfield. Karun knows his father is there in the stadium when he plays Ranji Trophy matches at Chinnaswamy but doesnt point to him when he reaches milestones. In Chennai he does. At every milestone, after acknowledging his team-mates, he turns towards the Pattabhiraman Gate End and points to Level 1 of F Stand.The proud parents are sitting there, living every moment of the innings, trying to come to terms with what has just happened. Their shy son, who doesnt speak much, who watched old videos of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev when little, whose main pastime was PlayStation. Their prematurely delivered son, with weak lungs as a kid, who would keep falling down and crying as a baby. Their triple-centurion son. Cheap Nationals Jerseys .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. Wholesale Custom Nationals Shirts .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. http://www.customnationalsjersey.com/ . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Cheap Custom Nationals Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Nationals Jerseys China . PAUL, Minn. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana coach Kevin Wilson made a change last week.For the first time in six seasons, he went conservative. Rather than cranking up the pace and trying to win a shootout, he asked his offense to stay patient early and his defense to keep the score close.The strategy worked perfectly against Michigan State and if it continues, Indiana could be headed for bigger things.It was really great to see those guys respond and get a three-play stop (in overtime) because typically weve never done that, Wilson said Monday, after poring through the film of Saturday 24-21 upset of Michigan State . I was really proud of the defense for that overtime one-two-three stop there. That was awesome. Wilson hopes this revamped unit continues playing well enough to get them survive the next two rounds of a daunting three-game stretch -- Saturday at No. 2 Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) and Oct. 15 at home against No. 12 Nebraska (4-0, 2-0).One thing is already clear: This is a vastly different defense from the ones Indiana fans have grown accustomed to watching over the past two decades.From 2005-15, the Hoosiers allowed 34.1 points per game. This year, under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen, things have changed dramatically as the Spartans learned the hard way. Indiana allowed only seven first-half points and wound up sacking Tyler OConnor on second and third down in overtime, forcing a 49-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide left.Indiana (3-1, 1-0) finished the upset with a chip shot field goal on the ensuing possession.But the turnaround goes far deeper than one game.The Hoosiers have gone from the Big Tens worst scoring defense in 2015 season to eighth this season. Indiana is ranked ninth in total defense, seventh in third-down conversions allowed and the 1.75 turnovers per game it has forced is nearly identical to No. 4 Michigan (1.8) and not far behind No. 11 Wisconsin or Nebraska (tied at 2..dddddddddddd0).Bigger changes can be found in another area -- confidence.When Michigan State forced overtime by scoring a touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 11 seconds left in regulation, everyone inside Memorial Stadium -- including the Hoosiers defensive players -- flashed back to the almost identical scenario that played out last season against Michigan. After forcing overtime, the Wolverines went on to beat Indiana that day.This time, they were not going to allow it to happen again.Absolutely, linebacker Tegray Scales said when asked if the Hoosiers remembered what happened against Michigan. We said, `We just have to finish this game. In those situations, we just have to bow our necks and finish.And for a change, they did.Now the question is whether the defense can be stout enough to hold up against two more ranked teams in the next two weeks -- and right now, Wilson and the Hoosiers are eager to see if they can hold up.It just gives us more confidence, safety Jonathan Crawford said. But we have to forget about this win and go on to the next one.Game notes Wilson said starting right tackle Dimitric Camiel could miss the rest of the season after having surgery for a bulging disk in his back. ... Starting right guard Dan Feeney, an All-American last season, has missed the last two games with a concussion. Wilson did not provide a timetable for Feeneys return. ... For now, Wilson sounds content to use punter Joseph Gedeon as the holder on extra points and field goals. Wilson said he made the change, from Mitchell Paige, because kicker Griffin Oakes said he works more with Gedeon in practice. ... Indiana received three points in this weeks Top 25 . Michigan State fell out of the rankings with seven points.---Online:APs college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '