Author: Boria Majumdar

The current Indian side is a very average cricket team. That has been the case for the last two or three years, at least. And may I say, across formats. This is the hard truth. Since 2013, India haven’t won an ICC trophy. A couple of times, they have come close, like in the 50-over World Cup final in 2023 and the WTC final earlier in the year, but they were comprehensively beaten in both games. India have still to win a Test series in South Africa. Each time an Indian team travels there, there has been a clamour that…

Where did India lose the plot? A 190-run lead, and then with England 163-5, there was one result possible. Or so we all thought. Ollie Pope did not. He was audacious and breathtaking. Having dismissed him cheaply in the first innings, India did not have a Plan B for him. For Joe Root, they did. For Ben Stokes, yes, but not for Pope. So, when he mounted the attack and started denting India, the bowlers and the captain did not really know what hit them. It wasn’t part of the plan, and India were caught napping. Reverse-sweeping consistently and getting…

How many of us know Anuradha Devi? Just the night before, I was watching her shoot the finals of the ISSF World Cup in Cairo and was left wondering if she could make the Olympics at her age, 33, and go on to make history by winning a medal for India. It isn’t a pipe dream, for she managed to beat the very talented Rhythm Sangwan and almost took down Anna Korakkaki in the 10m pistol final on her way to a precious silver medal. Soon after that final, my thoughts turned to Rohan Bopanna. He was playing the final…

It wasn’t the only time that Lazarus fled the camp. “He had left a second time when I was in Bhubaneshwar,” said Kalu Sir with a chuckle. “He had one trouser, and during the monsoons, it hadn’t dried in time after a wash. He left for his village because he did not have anything else to wear. For me, it was a lesson. While teaching them hockey, it was also important we kept an eye on what these talented but underprivileged kids needed. I got him back again, and took him to the government store and bought him some T-shirts…

Lord’s 2014, and England had given India a green top. Despite Ajinkya Rahane’s fine first innings ton, India were far from safe going into the second innings. And when MS Dhoni was dismissed, leaving Murali Vijay stranded, hopes of an Indian win seemed remote. In walked Ravindra Jadeja. Two hours later came the first-ever sword dance. Jadeja@50, and the match had been set up. Thanks to Ishant Sharma’s super bowling effort, India won a famous victory, which to an extent had also been set up by Jadeja. Back home, he has always been superb. And gets better with every series.…

As the flight touched down on the newly laid airstrip and the engines were turned off, the first thing that struck us was the silence. Unlike other airports, Rourkela is still one that works at its own pace and rhythm. It has this one flight coming in from Bhubaneshwar every afternoon, and the same flight travels back within an hour of landing in the city. It is more like a ferry service than a flight. Getting off the ATR via the ramp, the first thing you notice is the half-kilometre walk to the terminal. There aren’t any buses plying to…

After winning the toss, to 246 all out within an hour after lunch. For England, it passes off as Bazball. In other words, full-scale aggression of a kind that is now England cricket’s trademark. But if you delve deep, some of the shots played were just poor. Not Test match batting by any stretch of imagination. And yet, it’s Bazball. So, it’s all permissible and okay. The best batter on show was Ben Stokes, and whatever he played wasn’t Bazball for sure. He gritted it out for the first 50 balls, and only when he had the tail with him,…

Mahendra Singh Dhoni. One of the greatest Indian icons ever. Someone who has served the country with distinction on the sports field for years and, among other things, even participated in active army exercises. In fact, his love and respect for the Indian army is well-documented, and there is no institution that commands greater respect and glory in this country. And yet, the faceless bigots on social media have decided to attack Dhoni for not going to Ayodhya on January 22. Some even called him “dhobi ka bacha” and “mullah” while attacking him. As I write this piece, the abuse…

A poor AFC Asian Cup campaign has just come to an end, with six goals conceded and none scored. Understandably, social media has gone into meltdown. The usual arguments – a country of 1.3billion and we don’t even have 11 half-decent players – are doing the rounds. Sack Igor Stimac is also trending. Remove Stimac, for sure. With immediate effect. For the moment you do, Indian football will be back on track. Don’t bother giving the next coach time to prepare the national team for absolutely vital World Cup qualifiers in March and June, and then get rid of him…

It was early on Monday afternoon that the BCCI sent out a press release announcing that Virat Kohli has asked for a break for the duration of the first two Test matches against England. As was expected, social media went into meltdown soon after. There were two different kinds of arguments doing the rounds. First, the naysayers who questioned Kohli and his commitment to the Indian cricket team. They used the MS Dhoni example. Dhoni had opted to stay on in Australia for a Test series during the birth of his child, and that was reason enough for Kohli’s nationalism…