It was the morning of November 10, 2021, a couple of days after India’s cricket team played their final group match against Namibia at the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai. Virat Kohli and his boys were already out of the tournament, having lost to arch-rivals Pakistan and New Zealand in the first two matches. I got a call from Boria da that he would be coming to the place where I was staying in Sports City to pick me up and take me somewhere. On the way, I was told that we were heading to the Indian team hotel in Jumeira for an interview already set up with Ravichandran Ashwin. That was the first time I came to know about Backstage with Boria, which has gone on to become the signature show on RevSportz. It was one of the most fascinating interviews I was fortunate and privileged to record on camera. It was in Dubai that the seeds were sown for RevSportz with Boria da and Vinod (Agarwal) da at the forefront. Trisha (Ghosal), who is the head of production, was also part of the planning, along with Sharmistha (Gooptu) di.
Having known Boria da for a long time, I knew something very special was in the offing. He also had a point to prove, having left the India Today Group. He has always strived to be the pathbreaker. And the Backstage with Boria series was the perfect platform to launch RevSportz. After arriving in Kolkata, he took me and Trisha, along with Umakanta da, to Sourav Ganguly’s residence in Behala. Remember, Dada was then the President of BCCI. He was also part of the BWB series which also featured Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar and other sporting icons of the country.
Having worked under Anilava (Chatterjee) da at Greymind Communication Pvt Ltd, I was part of Dosh Minuter Khel and Xtra Time, which revolutionized sports programming in Bengal. And here at RevSportz, Boria da’s vision is to make it the best sports platform in the country.
I realised that when I was part of a seven-member-strong team in Birmingham to cover the Commonwealth Games 2022. RevSportz made a strong statement with the coverage of the CWG, with Boria da leading it. I was quite astonished to watch Boria da’s bond with the athletes from all disciplines at the games, from Mirabai Chanu to PV Sindhu. In the last two years, RevSportz has sent multiple correspondents to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup, Australia for T20 World Cup 2022, Budapest for the World Athletics Championships, Birmingham for CWC 2022, the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Para Asian Games, Colombo for Asia Cup cricket and the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Another trendsetting initiative from RevSportz was to host a Conclave, a first of its kind in the country where sporting icons of the country could come together under one roof. The first edition of the Trailblazers Conclave had stalwarts and legends like Abhinav Bindra, Pullella Gopichand, Neeraj Chopra (virtually), Mirabai Chanu, Anju Bobby George and many more. The second edition will be even bigger and grander with it being staged over two days.
RevSportz is also part of several community activities and the most prominent among them is the Football Carnival which is in its second year. In the first edition, we had 36 teams in the men’s section, and 12 on the women’s side. This season, there are an equal number of teams (24 each) for both men and women. It is worth mentioning that the prize money is equal too. I also felt proud as a member of RevSportz when we celebrated the mothers of Hira Mondal and Shaika Ishaque on International Mother’s Day.
Since my association with RevSportz, it has been quite a fascinating journey. Today, RevSportz has grown from strength to strength with as many as 37 staff, not only in Kolkata but across India. There has been a few disagreements and misunderstandings as in any organisation, but all I can say is how much I’ve enjoyed being part of RevSportz family over the last two years. As we embark on the third year, RevSportz’s endeavour is to get stronger and bigger with its 360-degree coverage.