Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Shortly after India’s capitulation in the Centurion Test match against South Africa on Thursday, social media started murmuring that now, the axe will fall on bowlers after a defeat characterised by a massive batting disorder. On either side of South Africa’s 408, India managed 245 and 131. Can the bowlers be blamed for this? The answer is yes, at least partially. Bowling was also responsible because South Africa should never have been allowed to get that far on that pitch. India’s fast bowlers had a chance to corner them, but let them breathe free by releasing the pressure in key…

The South African reply began on a shaky note. Aiden Markram fell early. Dean Elgar and Tony di Zorzi were getting beaten outside the off stump repeatedly against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. They were making the ball move, talk and do all sorts of things. With two more fast bowlers to unleash, India looked good to pile pressure on the home team, on a responsive pitch, under a fair amount of cloud cover. That’s when the match turned. Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur released the pressure, went for plenty and, from a cornered position, South Africa started scoring…

Nandre Burger bowled one from that typical left-armer’s slanted angle for a right-hand batter. Movement in the air or off the pitch was minimal. But this over-the-wicket line and that particular length were such that the delivery had ‘play me’ written all over it. Virat Kohli displayed restraint of an alien nature to let that go. He appeared to be in good position. Head would have been right above the ball had he chosen to make contact. Something told him not to. Everything about that delivery was so perfect that it went sniffing his back thigh. It had eventually opened…

A two-Test series in South Africa takes one 10 years back. In 2013, MS Dhoni had taken a side to the Rainbow Nation for the same number of matches. It was the first overseas assignment for a batting unit comprising Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay. Some of them had played abroad, but this was their first test as a collective, after the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar. They gave a fairly good account of themselves against a vaunted pace attack and lost 1-0. There are similarities in that batting line-up and this one. Kohli and…

Across eight Test tours of South Africa, India have an ordinary record. They have played 23 matches, won four and lost 12. There is a similarity in all four wins, which came on different trips. India batted first on these occasions and their fast bowlers did maximum damage. Of the 80 wickets taken in these games, the quicker bowlers accounted for 64. Twice, India have lost a series after winning the first Test. The Sreesanth show in Ganguly’s comeback Test Johannesburg, Dec 2006: India’s first win on South African soil came after four defeats and five draws on three previous…

This was in the 1990s. Disgruntled with the administration of the Badminton Association of India (BAI), Prakash Padukone decided to take on the establishment. The former World No. 1’s decision to contest the BAI elections drew widespread attention. Eventually, his team lost by a big margin. The difference between that episode and another famous tirade launched against a national sports federation by some prominent sportspersons is fundamental. Padukone chose to fight following the established norms. Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and others are demanding what goes against the rules. It was no surprise to see the faction supported by Brij…

In cricket, sometimes comes the situation when push comes to shove. In Sanju Samson’s stop-start international career, that moment arrived, quite literally, in Paarl. It was the last ball of the 44th over of the Indian innings in the third and final ODI against South Africa. Sanju pushed Keshav Maharaj gently towards long-off and took off for a very important single in his life. It brought up a maiden international century and handed him a lifeline as far as this level of cricket is concerned. Not without reason did he celebrate by flexing his biceps. “I’m proud of it, considering…

Mitchell Starc: Rs 24.75 crore. Pat Cummins: Rs 20.5 cr. Sam Curran: Rs 18.5 cr. Three of the costliest buys in IPL history are overseas fast or fast-medium bowlers. Other than Starc and Cummins, fourth and fifth on the list of costliest buys at the recent mini-auction — Harshal Patel (Rs 11.75 cr) and Alzarri Joseph (Rs 11.5 cr) — are pace bowlers. Leaving out Starc and Cummins, the average sum spent on 13 overseas fast bowlers at the mini-auction was Rs 4.08 crore. Uncapped Australian Spencer Johnson went for Rs 10 crore. Overseas fast bowlers have always been in…

Sameer Rizvi bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.4 crore. Delhi Capitals spent Rs 7.20 crore on Kumar Kushagra. Shubham Dubey cost Rajasthan Royals Rs 5.8 crore. Robin Minz went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 3.6 crore. The chances are high that these players were unknown to the Indian cricket audience before the mini-auction for IPL 2024 held in Dubai. There are more like them. M Sidharth, Sushant Mishra and Sumit Kumar also got Rs 1 crore or more. Unheralded Indians getting big sums from IPL teams is not new. So many of them getting princely sums in one go…

The Kolkata Knight Riders are one of the most talked-about teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They are also one of the more under-performing ones. After the second of two title wins in 2014, this team owned principally by Shah Rukh Khan have made the final just once, in 2021. In fact, in the last five editions, that was the only time that they reached the last-four stage. At the mini-auction in Dubai for the 2024 edition, KKR will have lots of vital slots to fill. They have roped in a new mentor in Gautam Gambhir, who was captain…