Author: Boria Majumdar

The athlete is always right because he is an athlete. An Indian reality. For days and months, I sought validation. I tried to make people understand that what was in the public domain was not the truth. There was another side to it, my side, which should have been heard at that point. Entire articles and opinion pieces were written even in well-respected dailies without asking for a response from me. Public sympathy was not in my favour. The Cricketer who had represented the national team for over a decade, was always more powerful than I on social media. His…

A 100 international hundreds. Impossible, but true. A testament to greatness that can never be challenged by even the most vociferous critic. Cricket has always celebrated Jack Hobbs scoring 100 first-class hundreds. In most debates on the world’s best opening batsman of all time, Hobbs has beaten his other illustrious successors like Sunil Gavaskar to the finish line on the strength of these hundreds in the first-class game. They are a monument to his hunger and phenomenal run-scoring ability. The difference between first-class and Test cricket is like chalk and cheese. It is akin to the difference between India playing…

YPU. A term that starts with one of the lesser-used letters in the English language, and three letters that are seldom used in this configuration. But strung together, they had the power to nearly destroy a life, and deeply damage a career built with two decades of hard work. Why do I write this now? Do I not know that I will be abused and trolled relentlessly once this book is published? Have my family and I not had enough? More than half a million abusive tweets in the week between February 20, 2022 and February 26, 2022. Weren’t those…

Maria Emilianova and Boria Majumdar At an age when most teenagers are struggling with high-school trigonometry or an acne outbreak, D Gukesh is the Candidates chess champion, storming past a strong field of eight, including two other Indians, to book his place against Ding Liren, the Chinese who took over as champion after Magnus Carlsen lost his appetite for classical chess. After his epochal triumph in Toronto, Gukesh spoke exclusively to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, and Maria Emilianova. Also included are excerpts from his interaction last January, where he had spoken of the influence of Viswanathan Anand and much more.…

Part of Gary Kirsten’s support staff when India won the 2011 World Cup, Paddy Upton has been part of the Indian sports ecosystem in various ways for over a decade. Currently a mental conditioning coach with the hockey team ahead of the Paris Olympics, Upton spoke to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, about the unique pressures that Indian athletes have to face and how they can win the battle of the mind. Boria: Back home in Cape Town after being with the Indian team in Australia. The series did not go our way. Is there a mental issue? The country will…

When we watch a cricket match, the IPL for example, we watch it as a kind of habit. We take a few things for granted. For example, we know we will hear a set of commentators giving us their views of the game, we know there will be a mid-game show, and an element of fan-speak on occasion. We also know that the commentary will follow a set pattern. For most of us, able-bodied citizens, this is just normal. Seldom do we think about those with a hearing impairment. How will they enjoy an IPL game? Is it taken for…

Daryl Mitchell had just got out to Hardik Pandya, caught at long-on. The camera panned to the crowd, and one could sense a degree of anticipation. Even the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) supporters weren’t unhappy, because MS Dhoni was about to step out to bat for perhaps the final time at the Wankhede. Or, wait a minute. What we witnessed in the next four balls begged the question – is it the final time? Rather, should it be the last call for someone with a strike rate of 241 in the final over in the IPL? Hardik bowled the first…

It is the Bengali New Year today. And a festive day in many other parts of the country. First and foremost, subho nababarsha to all of you. It is a convention that we all make our new year plans and promises to ourselves on this day. For us at RevSportz, it is no different. From an idea in December 2021, today we are a team of over40. It is no longer about me. Rather, it is the team that drives the organisation. Today, it is time to outline a few things. Talk about how we want to go about things.…

For the record, India had won just one medal in the 2012 Paralympics in London. In Rio the number had increased to 4 and it was a significant achievement for the country that was still trying to come to terms with the Paralympics. In Tokyo, it was a four fold jump and India ended with 19 medals from a contingent of 54 athletes and it was by far the most successful Paralympics in India’s sporting history. India lost a few very close contests or else the medal count could well have crossed 20. The momentum continued with the Asian Para…

Sanju Samson has been one of the most talented players around. And yet, he himself would agree that he hasn’t done justice to all this potential. I, for one, was extremely excited seeing Samson play the kind of shots he did the other night. He carted the ball to all corners of the ground and reached his 50 with a very good strike-rate. Samson has been consistent in this IPL and has staked a strong claim for the wicketkeeper’s position in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup in June. Whether Samson should be there can also be answered…