Author: Boria Majumdar

The Paris 2024 dream is alive. A resounding 5-1 win for the Indian women and the campaign, which appeared to be in danger of derailing after a surprise loss in the first game, is back on track. While India will have to face Germany, title favourites, in the semi-final, they will now get two chances to make it to the Olympics, with the third-placed team also making it to Paris. But all that’s for later. Tuesday night was all about determination and aggression. In the very first minute of the game, India were on the attack. A fantastic through ball…

“He has never had a bad season for the national team, and is like a rock for us,” said Igor Stimac, India’s coach, as the dust settles on the spirited fight and defeat to Australia. “A real leader of men, no praise is enough for Sandesh. We were excellent defensively against set pieces, and that’s our big takeaway from the game. In the first half, Australia weren’t able to dent our shape and the best chance was Sunil’s header.” It is only natural that a large part of the credit goes to Sandesh Jhingan, who was heroic against Australia. Jhingan…

At 14-19 in the second game, when Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s flick shot hit the net, there was clear relief on the faces of Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae. They were 20-14 up and one point away from levelling the contest. At six game points down, most pairs would give up on the game and focus on the decider. It was a near-impossible situation and while miracles do happen in sport, they are generally rare. With Satwik and Chirag Shetty, however, they are turning out to be routine. Six straight game points saved and, clearly, the Korean world champions were starting to…

Australia are a much better team in comparison to India. They aspire to be Asian Cup champions and are a side that has played every FIFA World Cup since 2006. Most of their players play in the leading leagues in the world, and ahead of the Asian Cup, they have played a practice game and trained to their best. In every sense, they are a superior outfit and almost impossible to beat. And yet, we expect India to compete. We expect the Blue Tigers to not be overawed and run the hardest they can for 95 minutes and push the…

We watch sport for action. There is always a kind of climax. A good innngs leading to a thrilling finale. A great over, and a wicket, and the match can change. A superb catch which turns a game on its head and makes a telling impact on the outcome. And yet, there are matches which have none of these. No perfect fairytale and no real climax. Rather, what the first T20I against Afghanistan had was the perfect anticlimax. In any case, this is a C-list series that few really care about, sandwiched between the South Africa and England matches. A…

India’s women’s hockey team start their campaign for Paris 2024 Olympic qualification in Ranchi from January 13. Vandana Katariya, one of the team’s most experienced stars, is injured, but with passionate support expected from the home crowd in Ranchi, India are confident of taking one of the three spots up for grabs. In this episode of Backstage with Boria, Savita Punia, the team captain talks of expectations, preparation and the phone call to her father that gave her the belief to play her first match at the Olympics. Boria: Welcome Savita Punia! How are the preparations and how are you…

Bilateral white-ball series lacks context. In recent times, there has been very little interest in such matches because no one really cares for them anymore. With franchise leagues the future, the way ahead for bilateral cricket is clear. While the World Cups and Champions Trophies will remain significant, bilateral series will sooner than later cede ground to domestic T20 leagues. Consider the following: If the BCCI was given a choice to extend the IPL for another 15 days as against a bilateral series involving six 50 or 20-over games in the same window, what would it prefer? Would it choose…

Boria: Welcome Janneke Schopman! Big tournament coming up, thoughts? Wish you a very happy new year and make it happier for us! Schopman: Thank you and happy new year to you too! It’s an important two weeks coming up. We are ready, excited but pressure is there. We had a lot of learnings for the last couple of months. We are hoping that we are ready to go. I know we are ready to go but never know what other teams will do. Boria: Did the trip to Spain help to get the team together? Schopman: It was good that…

In sport, the hardest thing is to be harsh on yourself. Take a strong call, and make yourself accountable. Take ownership and step up. Be the leader on and off the field. That’s what India now wants to see from Harmanpreet Kaur, skipper of the women’s cricket team. To say India played well in the red-ball game and it is only the white-ball games that were lost doesn’t really work. India played a one-off red-ball Test against Australia. And six white-ball matches, of which five were lost. How does that work for a team that aspires to be the best…

India play a very important series decider against Australia on Tuesday night. With the World Cup just 9 months away, it is key for India to win this series, for it will give the team and the skipper a much-needed confidence boost. And that’s what brings me to the captain. Harmanpreet Kaur is possibly going to play one of the more important matches of her career tonight. She hasn’t done anything with the bat of late and the pressure, clearly, is getting to her. Each time she comes out to bat, there is a kind of build-up. And when you…