Author: Boria Majumdar

A RevSportz exclusive Contrary to popular perception, which has been doing the rounds in the media, there is a concerted effort on the part of the AIFF and Igor Stimac, the national head coach, to work together as closely as possible leading to the India’s matches against Afghanistan later this month. The AIFF has also sent a letter to the coach expressing its fullest support and assuring him of every backing in his quest to take India to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers. India have never made the third round and it will be historic if it…

On Monday, March 4, we kickstart the Trailblazers Conclave 2.0 with a Pullela Gopichand press conference. Why did we pick Gopi? Why is he special? What makes him different, and the best person to start the conclave? PV Sindhu had just won her Olympic Games quarterfinal in Rio Di Janeiro in 2016 against the legendary Wang Yihan of China, and all of us, members of the Indian media contingent, were euphoric. One more win, and Sindhu could finally end India’s medal drought. It was late evening in Rio that same day when I met Gopi at the gate of the…

Two women who have redefined sports narratives in India. Two very different careers and yet very similar. Both are rebels in their own way. And yet very conventional. Both resilient and passionate athletes who are role models to many of us. Both from the same city which had little or no tradition of their respective sports and yet both broke barriers to be the best in the world. Sania Mirza and Nikhat Zareen are two such champions who headline the Trailblazers Conclave and will be together in a panel titled ‘Women Power’ on International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024.…

The Indian squad for the fifth Test has been announced, and yet again KL Rahul is missing because of injury. In fact, he is in London for diagnosis and the press release suggested that the BCCI medical team were in touch with experts to figure out when Rahul would make it back to the pitch. Rahul, it could be said, is one of the unluckiest players around. Each time he gets into a streak of red-hot form, he is laid low by injury. His hundred in South Africa was one of the best by an Indian against the moving ball,…

Why do we call the Olympics the Olympic movement? Why is sport always a life lesson? And why is it that sport teaches us a lot many more things than winning or losing? The two men who stand for what sport can do much beyond the field of competition are Abhinav Bindra and Nicco Campriani. For them, making a difference to people’s lives matters much more than winning an Olympic medal. Abhinav’s involvement with the OVEP programme, for example, is evidence of this. 200,000 kids in Odisha and now expanding into Assam, it is a story of real on ground…

No Shreyas Iyer and no Ishaan Kishan in the recently announced list of central contracts. Does it send the right signal to players who disregard national duty or domestic commitments, and only wish to focus on the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL)? Does it really matter to them when their IPL contracts are worth crores, or is this a landmark move that will show results next season when players think again about taking undue liberties? The fact is, this is a welcome move. The BCCI had to crack the whip because players had started to take things for granted. And…

The exhibition of sporting artefacts and chess photographs will be the added attractions at the Trailblazers Conclave 2.0 on March 7 and 8, 2024 in Kolkata. Sport lends itself to great storytelling. And every sporting artefact of significance has a story to it. Take Abhinav Bindra’s Beijing gold medal gloves for example. It ended a wait that lasted almost 100 years. The story of the final, the tension and finally the story of achievement. The signed jersey from the Indian hockey team that made the podium in Tokyo. Saurav Ghosal’s Hangzhou Asian Games team gold medal winning jersey. Vishwanathan Anand’s…

Administration is a thankless job. And if you are in a position for well over 13 years, there is a certain kind of boredom associated with it. You become tired and jaded, and a new beginning is always the best option. For Elena Norman and Hockey India (HI), the parting of ways isn’t bad. She will seek new pastures and try to reinvent the wheel, while the sport will now need to find a new CEO who will ensure that the professionalism associated with the federation continues. Norman, like everyone else, isn’t perfect. Many called her attitude dictatorial, and employees…

World champions Suhas Yathiraj, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manasi Joshi, Sumit Antil and Yogesh Kathuniya, the headline presence at Paris 2024 – Comité d’organisation des Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de 2024 – will star at the Trailblazers Conclave on March 7 and 8, 2024 in Kolkata. And this offers a perspective. When you are fighting for newsprint against cricket, you always have the risk of ending up second best. And when it is an intense Test match in Ranchi that could lead to an Indian series win, it is more so. Trailblazers 2.0: Celebrating the Unparalleled Journeys of Every Athlete…

It was a conversation with Rohit Sharma that left a lasting impression on me. India had won the famous Gabba Test (January 2021) and Rohit, like everyone else, was in a very happy frame of mind. “In team sport, it is always about wins like this,” he told me. “Individual milestones, while they look good on the scoreboard, don’t really matter unless the team wins. Even if you score a 30 and make your team win, it is way more important than scoring a 100.” As Dhruv Jurel hit the winning runs in Ranchi, my thoughts went back to this…