Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

My first glimpse of Virat Kohli came in Agartala. It was during the knockout stages of the national one-day championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. This was early 2009. He had played five ODIs by then, but was yet to score big. However, he came to the Vijay Hazare knockouts with four centuries in the zonal phase. He made another in the capital city of Tripura. About a year earlier, Aakash Chpora had told me that this youngster was going to become the next big thing from Delhi. Chopra’s assessment was based on the extraordinary powers of application shown by…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Mumbai Sitting in the dugout, Gautam Gambhir tried to remain expressionless as India continued losing wickets during their futile chase of 147 in the third Test against New Zealand. The head coach didn’t betray a lot of emotions when the team slipped to defeats in the first two Tests either. His face remained firm and he was never seen barking at his players during those embarrassing moments. Known for his feisty nature during his playing days, Gambhir has to take some tough calls soon enough. Or else, he might just find himself at the other end of…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Mumbai “Is this Test cricket?” spectators at a packed Wankhede Stadium started wondering after India lost their fifth wicket in the eighth over. “Test match khelna bhul gaye sab log (these guys have forgotten how to play Test cricket),” murmured others. “Send them back to Kanga League.” These were the refrains as India crashed to their most embarrassing series defeat on home soil in history. Ignoring the heat and humidity — this was the warmest October in several parts of the country after 1951 — the fans turned out in numbers in Mumbai. Tickets come for a…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Mumbai Can they do it? Or will the pressure of chasing a target in the fourth innings on a pitch assisting spinners become too overwhelming? On Sunday at Wankhede Stadium, the Indian team will be put to a test to answer these questions. Most importantly, Day 3 of this final Test against New Zealand will determine if this bunch avoids the ignominy of suffering the first-ever clean sweep, involving three or more Tests, on home soil. The visitors have pricked Indian pride by winning the first two Tests and the series. In about 90 years of history,…

Cricket is a cruel judge of players. Success can get undermined and failures might get blown out of proportion. In the process, the sense of balance goes missing sometimes. What remains in public memory are the black marks, instead of the bright patches, even if the latter outnumber the former. Shubman Gill’s Test career has witnessed something like that. People say all sorts of things about him, mostly negative, and overlook the good work he is capable of. Nobody mentions that he has made above 800 Test runs in 2024 at an average of 50.31. There are three centuries and…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Mumbai Being the former bowling coach of the Indian team, Paras Mhambrey has seen the current crop of fast bowlers from close. Before India embark on a potentially gruelling five-Test tour of Australia after the disappointment of the home series against New Zealand, Mhambrey spoke to RevSportz about the prospects of this bunch and more. The following are excerpts: Q: Let’s start with a question on the Australia series. There are five fast bowlers in the squad, plus three travelling reserves. Is that too many, considering that India have rarely travelled with eight fast bowlers? A: When…

Digging your own grave is bad enough. It becomes worse when one starts trying different methods of doing that. India’s approach to the third Test against New Zealand was something like that. Not only did they invite trouble once but kept doing that. As a result, the visiting side finds itself in a strong position at stumps on Day 1, after India seemed to have taken a grip over proceedings. Let’s come to the most glaring of this suicidal tendency first. With the total reading 78/1, and about three overs remaining to be bowled, it appeared to be India’s day.…

To break news in advance is one of the major tasks of a news organisation. Before something has happened, they say that this is going to happen. It’s not like making predictions about the future. It’s more of deducing, based on the knowledge of the past and present, which helps form an idea of what’s coming. It requires hard work and a continuous process of staying in touch with reality. RevSportz reporting on retention of players for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League has been a shining example of that. Almost 100 per cent of the names mentioned…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Mumbai Pedology. It’s a word not remotely connected with cricket. Yet, it resonates every now and then, when Test cricket visits the Indian shores. It gets intricately related with the game, especially when it comes to the prelude to a game and refuses to leave, until the national team moves to other countries. It’s a so close yet so distant relative of India’s cricketing fortunes. Pedology means the science of soils. It studies the chemistry of the contents of its composition and decodes the unknown facts, like the chemical components, formation and evolution. In cricketing terms, it…

Players are remembered for different reasons. Some for their deeds and some for failures. Virat Kohli’s case is a queer one. Unquestionably one of the greatest of batters of his generation, he has been spoken about of late for his inability to cope with spin bowling. His records are still quite overwhelming. However, there is a reason to think that he will be remembered for both reasons. This is the tale of a strange contradiction. Kohli is on the same pedestal with Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. They are the contemporaries he is compared with. There is no…