Author: Bharath Ramaraj

Somewhere in 2019, Rohan Bopanna, the ace Indian tennis player, looked set to hang up his tennis shoes. The reason was lack of cartilage in his knees. So much so that he was taking two to three painkillers a day. He didn’t just overcome it through Iyengar Yoga and good physiotherapy but went on to win his first Men’s Doubles Grand Slam at the age of 43. He also became the oldest first-time No.1 player on the ATP Tour, at an age when most sportspersons would have already walked into retirement life. Behind the scenes, athletes have their own struggles…

The memory goes back to a rain-marred ODI at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. India Women needed one of their batters to negate the new-ball threat. But within 10 overs, everything had gone pear-shaped for the hosts. Marizanne Kapp, the South African colossus, ran through the top order and finished with figures of 4 for 21. Explore that performance further and you will see how she located the right line and length for the conditions from the very first ball. No wonder she accounted for the prized scalps of both Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj. Time flies. Almost a decade has passed…

Bharath Ramaraj The final moments of the India-Australia game were too much for the ever-smiling Jemimah Rodrigues. Tears of joy rolled down Jemimah’s cheeks during the post-match presentation. She just couldn’t control the gamut of emotions while talking about India’s earth-shattering victory over Australia in the 2025 World Cup semifinal. She wasn’t the only person who struggled to handle the joy and happiness of pipping Australia. Those Indian cricket fans at the ground, and beyond, also would have shed a few tears. After all, India had done something that seemed impossible, overhauling a total of 338 against a team that…

Bharath Ramaraj After a while, it seemed difficult to keep track of every Jasprit Bumrah achievement or his jaw-dropping offerings. Over a period of time, he has blended savagery with skill and surgical precision to befuddle many a batter. Bumrah is that complete fast bowler who can seamlessly don different roles in all three formats of the game. That is in brief about Bumrah’s all-round skill set. However, his unorthodox biomechanics are such that they could also lead to injuries. The fast bowler has already suffered a few back issues. And one more stress fracture of the back could even…

Bharath Ramaraj in Bengaluru Former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, on Monday, asked the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to announce election dates rather than pointing out clauses in order to defer it. Vinay Mruthyunjaya, administrator, and Shanta Rangaswamy, former India captain, also urged the state body to conduct the proceedings. The KSCA secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam had stepped down from their respective positions following the stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 this year. The celebrations held to commemorate RCB’s title triumph turned ghastly as 11 fans were killed and many others were injured. “The whole…

What is the right template for ODI cricket? Possessing more batting depth or selecting the better bowler? On the surface, both alternatives have their own merits and demerits. To gauge the essence of the answer, one has to sift through the information case-by-case basis. Here, the case study is about whether Kuldeep Yadav or Washington Sundar should be picked in ODI cricket. And with India slipping to a 50-over series defeat in Australia, it has become a hotly-debated topic. Before delving deeper into Washington versus Kuldeep, there is one more jigsaw to be added to the narrative — Hardik Pandya’s…

Ahead of the second ODI against Australia in Adelaide, the onus was clearly on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as the experienced duo looked to make substantial contributions in the series. Eventually, it turned out to be a case of contrasting fortunes for the two veterans – Rohit accumulated a 97-ball 73 while Kohli ended up with his second duck, in ODIs, in Australia. Thanks to fifties from Rohit and Shreyas Iyer, and the lower-order batters’ pyrotechnics, India finished with 264/9 on the board. India, who were sent in to bat, struggled to negate the seaming conditions upfront. By the…

Just navigate your search box on the ‘X’ platform and write down the following keywords – Kohli, cover drive. Curiously, you would notice more criticism than praise in the recent past. In reality, this is one of Virat Kohli’s main weapons in his batting quiver. And it is a shot that has been showered with adjectives and praises. But in the last few years, especially in the longest format, this stroke has come under the scanner for some of his dismissals. Fans and experts alike have given numerous suggestions. The popular version of the hypothesis is that Kohli should…

YouTube is one of the main sources to refresh some evocative memories from another time. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli wading through the last stretch of their respective illustrious careers, YouTube or some other source could be a medium to watch and rewatch some of their old heroics. Once upon a time, you might have ended up witnessing a hundred of either Kohli or Rohit live, and now it is time to rekindle those moments. It also tells us that we are living more on memories than live action in relation to Kohli and Rohit. To some extent, that…

Certain prominent names are missing from India’s ODI squad for the Australia series – Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya – due to injuries. In their absence, Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been given opportunities. With the 2027 World Cup in South Africa not far away, the Indian team management also has a long-term vision. The resultant outcome is they are keen on picking tall fast bowlers, alongside left-arm pacers. A case in point is the selection of the left-arm pace bowler Arshdeep Singh. Let’s zero in our focus on the trio of Nitish, Jurel and Arshdeep: Nitish Kumar…