Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Heavyweights fall with a thud. When that happens, there is noise. It’s no different with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025. One of the all-time great franchises in the 18 years of the competition, they have set examples that will be difficult to replicate. Considering their legacy, this year’s experience (10th and last on the table at the moment) has been traumatic for their fans — one of the most passionate and dedicated among all IPL teams. This was bound to unfold, following natural laws. There is a sell-by date for everything and CSK overlooked this. They stuck to the…

A commanding batting performance from the top three propelled Gujarat Titans to a 38-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL 2025 match in Ahmedabad on Friday. The hosts made 224/6 and restricted the visitors to 186/6. GT moved to the second position with 14 points from 10 matches. SRH were left at second from bottom, with six points from 10. The GT openers — Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan — wasted no time in putting the SRH bowlers under pressure. The pitch was perfect for shot-making and they just kept flowing from the blades of the left-right duo. There…

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) crosses the halfway stage and gets closer to the business end, talk of what lies ahead after that has started getting louder. Other than enjoying the advent of a fresh crop of teenagers, cricket fans have started preparing for the Test series in England commencing in June. India last won there in 2007. After that, they lost three series and drew the last one. Amid worries over the availability of the frontline fast bowlers, a batting line-up which has been brittle of late and a dip in the team’s graph in Test matches overseas,…

Other than stunning the world for the sheer audacity it was crafted with, the century by Vaibhav Suryavanshi was a screaming statement from Bihar. After the political and geographical division of the erstwhile state into two — Bihar and Jharkhand — in 2000, and the BCCI’s move to recognise the state unit of the latter instead of the former in 2004, cricket in Bihar came close to a grinding halt. For years, scuffles between bodies claiming to be the legally verified custodians of cricket in the state made headlines. At BCCI meetings, self-proclaimed officials of several entities turned up, saying…

Josh Hazlewood kept getting his team back in it as Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted their first win on their home turf after three defeats in IPL 2025. A sixth victory in the ninth match boosted their playoff chances and made them joint-leaders in terms of points. Rajasthan Royals lost a third successive game they looked like winning to remain on four points after nine games. The total of 205 posted by RCB was under threat for a large part of the RR innings, but Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya took wickets at crucial junctures while Suyash Sharma bowled economically to derail…

To think of it now! It was exactly a year ago when D Gukesh was giving us sleepless nights — quite literally. The Candidates Tournament was taking place in Toronto, Canada, and games would start shortly after midnight IST. Almost up to dawn, chess lovers in India stayed awake following the moves. Even non-chess enthusiasts — especially those whose profession involves reporting sport — had no choice. Looking back, those were good nights. No Indian had made it to the Candidates since Viswanathan Anand. Here were three — Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi — in the elite field of…

On a day a young opener from Mumbai dazzled the crowd for a while on his IPL debut, a veteran from the city returned to big-scoring ways. Teenager Ayush Mhatre made instant impact with a 15-ball 32 for Chennai Super Kings, before Rohit Sharma posted his first half-century in IPL 2025 to help Mumbai Indians to a massive and potentially campaign-turning win. Chasing 177 to win on a Wankhede Stadium pitch firm for batting, MI were home with plenty to spare, thanks to Rohit’s unbeaten 76 off 45 balls (6×6, 4×4), his solid opening stand with Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar…

Cricketers suffer loss of form or fitness in their careers from time to time. It’s an inseparable part of sports. Shreyas Iyer’s problem was different. At 29 years of age, he had lost the trust of the authorities who run the game in the country. Around this time last year, the BCCI left Iyer and Ishan Kishan out of the list of centrally contracted players for neglecting domestic games. Hailed a special talent soon after he started playing for Mumbai, Iyer already had a century on Test debut under his belt, other than a string of strong ODI performances, which…

Eighteen years, two countries other than India as the hosts and upheavals in the financial structure of global sports later, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has firmly established itself as a phenomenon. It’s been a runaway success from Day 1 and kept raising the bar, pushing it to unforeseen heights. Glory, deeds and astronomical sums apart, the IPL has also been a hotbed of controversies. Court cases regarding spot-fixing and betting, high-profile arrests and suspensions, raids on drugs-related binges, failed dope tests, extravagant fancies off the field and the rare instance of a player slapping another on the face on…

One of the few players who have survived in the Indian Premier League since the first edition in 2008, Ajinkya Rahane seldom comes under the spotlight. He has this year. Having represented five franchises before joining Kolkata Knight Riders, he is the captain for the first time. The price tag of Rs 1.50 crore makes him perhaps the cheapest buy to go on to lead an IPL side, in recent times. Irrespective of the price, the pressure on Rahane is enormous. Surprise choice as the skipper of the defending champions, he has expectations to meet. Although the KKR owners are…