Author: Boria Majumdar

Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav need to score, and do so immediately Fifteen matches at an average of 23, and the pressure is indeed mounting on Gill. Surya is in the same boat. India’s captain and vice-captain need runs and without any further delay. With the World Cup round the corner, clouds suddenly hang over two premier batters. If two of the top three don’t score consistently, how can things be right heading into the biggest tournament of all? With Jaiswal and Samson waiting in the wings, the murmurs will only grow louder if things don’t change in Dharamshala. Sport…

It was early February 2022, and Hardik Pandya was already up and running for the day by 5:30 am. He was all set to go out and train—part of a rigorous daily routine building up to the IPL. Pandya, by his own admission, needed a break after the 2021 T20 World Cup to recalibrate. His not bowling had become a major controversy, and to a degree, he had to shoulder the blame for India’s failure to progress past the group stages of the tournament in Dubai. He needed to redeem himself and set the record straight. He had to make…

When R Ashwin called me a week ago and asked if I could travel to Chennai to be part of the mock IPL auction he was conducting, I was apprehensive. At times, these things are more show-off than anything meaningful. With all the aviation chaos going on in the country, the easy thing would have been to withdraw and not travel. But then, Ashwin has this ability to convince you, and it is tough to say no to him. He had also requested that I host the fireside chat after the auction, and it was an important review show after…

In business summits in India, you rarely see sport get its due. There is always a sports session, but it is tucked away between lunch and tea, and more of a token presence than anything else. If the other sessions take a little extra time, the sports session is the one that gets chopped. In my previous organisation, I was once asked to do a 10-minute session, down from 45! The truth is, few really care. That’s where the Telangana Rising Summit was different. It was refreshing because it had sport at the start of Day Two, straight after the…

We had just finished lunch and managed to avoid an invasion from a monkey at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. Gopi, Prasad and I had settled down to have some lovely watermelon in his office when the Dronacharya pointed out a couple of young Mizo kids training outside. “They are your story,” he said with a smile. My interest had instantly peaked. Mizoram and badminton isn’t the natural combination, and it would be nice to hear it from the man. “It was just after Rio when a senior IAS officer from Mizoram wrote to me for the first time.…

India had just won the final ODI in Vizag and had also taken the series 2–1. It was another white-ball series win under Gautam Gambhir, and yet he was subjected to serious abuse on social media. Sample this: “India is winning despite Gambhir, not because of him,” said a viewer on our show. “Gambhir has no role,” he went on to suggest. This viewer isn’t alone. There are many like him, and the narrative is that Gambhir isn’t doing the job expected of him. The truth is that in white-ball cricket, he has done a fine job. If India is…

On Sunday, December 7, Smriti Mandhana issued a public statement saying that her wedding had been called off and asked people to respect her privacy and that of her family. Shortly afterwards, Palash Muchhal did the same. I am absolutely not concerned about what transpired, or who is right and who is wrong. What led to this isn’t my concern at all. What is concerning, however, is that both of them had to issue statements under extreme social media pressure. A man and a woman, for whatever reason, have decided to call off their wedding. When you think about it,…

As my readers go through this column, I am on a flight to Chennai (provided it isn’t cancelled) to help Ravi Ashwin with his mock auction. With Ashwin, things are always interesting. He thinks out of the box and is never averse to taking risks or trying new things. His foray into the digital media space is one such example. Ashwin is a wonderful speaker and could easily have landed a commentary contract that paid him more than enough. In fact, he can do so at any point in time. However, he has chosen not to. Instead, he is intent…

Much was said about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the Australia series. In Australia, it was Rohit who won the Player of the Series award with a total of 201 runs. Against South Africa, it is Kohli who has delivered, with two hundreds and an unbeaten, sublime fifty to his name. Performance. That’s what ultimately matters in sport, and both of these legends have stood up for India. It was Rohit who set up the run chase beautifully tonight and even helped Yashasvi Jaiswal get into his groove. And then, it was Kohli who sealed it with some…

There are now just a few days until the Leo Messi tour of India. For India’s football fans, it is a major moment of joy. To see the world’s greatest footballer in their midst just six months before the World Cup is truly significant. Yet many, as is often the case in India, have raised questions about the visit: What’s the point of spending this kind of money? What benefit will this have for Indian football, if any? Why spend on this instead of grassroots football? First things first: Satadru Dutta is no social reformer. He is a sports promoter…