Author: Ashok Namboodiri

Picture credit- X There are sporting contests, and then there is the Ashes – a rivalry older than the automobile and the radio broadcast. Every two years, whether under a Melbourne sun or beneath grey English skies, the Ashes returns like a grand old play — rehearsed for 140 years but performed with fresh fire each time. In a world increasingly shaped by white-ball cricket’s dazzle and speed, the real marvel is this: the Ashes still feels timeless. It still evokes that lump-in-the-throat nostalgia, the kind that binds great-grandfathers to grandsons in a single breath. But as the Ashes…

A glimpse of a cricket coaching camp (Image: Madan Lal Cricket Academy) As my Uber turned off Darga Road and onto the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass (I don’t know what they call it nowadays!), I got a glimpse of the imposing yellow building that was my school in Kolkata. That was where I played under-15 cricket and where my love affair with the game began. There was a time not very long ago – though T20 makes everything feel like ancient history – when cricket coaching began with a single sermon: “Head still. Play straight. Front-foot defence.” If you…

Ashok Namboodiri, Kolkata There was a moment at Eden Gardens last week that captured not just the soul of Indian cricket, but the future of the global sports economy. A Test match that ended in under three days, on a pitch that drew criticism, in conditions that offered little balance still attracted more than 100,000 spectators across the truncated contest. They came despite the early finishes, despite the controversy, despite the foregone conclusion. Why? Because in sport, loyalty is immune to logic. And in 2025, that irrational loyalty has quietly become the most rational investment in the entire media industry.…

Picture credit- Debasis Sen “If Test cricket is now just a WTC points scavenger hunt, we might as well read the obituary. And with surfaces like these, the game isn’t dying — it’s politely being escorted to its grave,” wrote former first-class cricketer Shishir Hattangadi on X. India’s 30-run defeat to South Africa has left a queasy aftertaste – not because the home side lost, but because of how. A surface that misbehaved from almost the first session, 40 wickets tumbling, just one fifty in the match, and legends of the game criticising the wicket have all made…

By Ashok Namboodiri at Eden Gardens Is it time to think of a split coaching role and philosophy for the Indian team in white-ball versus red-ball cricket? India’s 30-run defeat to South Africa at Eden Gardens will be remembered less for the margin and more for what it symbolises: a collapse chasing 124 on a turning home track, a furious debate over pitches, and a head coach whose red-ball report card now looks nothing like his white-ball resume. At the centre of it all is Gautam Gambhir. On paper, Gambhir’s white-ball tenure is exactly what the BCCI hoped for when…

By Ashok Namboodiri Indian cricket is now powered by a new class of heroes who evoke raw, emotional attachment among young fans. It happened in an instant. Day 2 of the India–South Africa Test. India were struggling a bit on a dry wicket, wickets falling in clusters, and as the ninth wicket went down, the atmosphere in the lower tier of the clubhouse turned sombre. I felt the mood shift, until a sudden tug on my neck snapped me back. A young boy, barely twelve, leaned forward, eyes wide with alarm. “Isn’t Shubman playing? What happened to him?” He hadn’t…

Ashok Namboodiri India is a land where cinema is culture and cricket is oxygen. We produce more films than any nation on earth, sell more streaming subscriptions than most markets combined, and our athletes today – from Neeraj Chopra to Harmanpreet Kaur – carry global resonance. So why, despite this cultural and commercial firepower, have we still not produced a sports documentary series that sits alongside The Last Dance, The Test, or Drive to Survive on the world stage? Why don’t we have an iconic Indian sports narrative that becomes binge-culture, pop-culture and sporting folklore all at once? The short…

IPL’s earliest creative choice was a masterstroke: don’t sell cricket, sell entertainment. Sony’s 2008 launch film “Manoranjan ka Baap” spoofed ’80s cinema and declared IPL the “father of entertainment,” instantly positioning it against all TV, not just sports. That tone of mass, filmy, unabashedly fun made a new league feel already iconic. 2009 reframed the property from entertainment to social phenomenon “Ek Desh, Ek Junoon” spotlighting a billion people doing one thing together. That shift from “watch us” to “we, together” is where IPL began to own the community and scale as core brand codes. Across the Sony years, the…

PC- BCCI Mohinder Amarnath’s red handkerchief fluttering from his back pocket during the 1983 World Cup remains, for me, one of cricket’s most endearing sights – a mix of superstition, swagger, and pure individuality. Every time Jimmy adjusted that crimson talisman, it felt as though the hopes…

The Premier League’s 11th week offered a cocktail of dominance, drama, and defiance. While Manchester City sent out a thunderous reminder of their title credentials with a ruthless dismantling of Liverpool, Arsenal’s momentum took a brief stutter in Sunderland. Chelsea and Aston Villa continued to flex their attacking muscles, while Brentford delivered another giant-killing display. The week summed up why this season feels refreshingly open, with underdogs emboldened, giants vulnerable, and the tactical evolution of English football very much on display. A pulsating encounter in North London saw Tottenham and Manchester United trade punches till the end. United once again…