Author: Boria Majumdar

It was around 10pm in Sydney when I got HS Prannoy on the line. Even before I could say something, I heard him laugh. No words. I could sense that he was very well aware of the reason behind the call, and saw the irony behind it. He was out for dinner with the team, and when I said it was one of those days in sport, which we will never be able to get our heads around, Prannoy found his voice. “Thank you,” he said. “It means much.” And I could hear him laugh again. He was still in…

The World Cup is less than two months away, and we still don’t have a firmed-up schedule. In a meeting on Thursday, the Kolkata police informed the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) that it would struggle to provide adequate security on November 12 for the England-Pakistan game because it falls on the same day as Kali Puja – a festival that is celebrated with much fanfare in Kolkata. While CAB President Snehashish Ganguly confirmed saying they haven’t yet received anything formally from the police, news reports quoting Kolkata police sources suggest that issue has been informally communicated. Normally for Kali…

I have been traveling to Hyderabad for years now, and it is always exciting to see the athletes train with Pullela Gopichand. But before the Thomas Cup win, it was always about Srikanth Kidambi or Sai Praneeth, or Satwik and Chirag in the men’s doubles. We knew Lakshya Sen was coming up, but few would speak much about HS Prannoy. Here was a man of talent, but one who had not done justice to his potential. Plagued by multiple injuries throughout his career, Prannoy, I think I can safely say, has had it harder than many others who started at…

PV Sindhu has lost yet another match against Beiwen Zhang, her nemesis, at the Australian Open. And in all fairness, Sindhu looked below par. Despite making it 16-16 in the second game, she then conceded four straight points to Zhang and it was all over in no time. It isn’t the first time this has happened, and is now becoming a cause for worry. Her slump shows no signs of stopping and with the Olympic qualification cycle on, there is enough reason for worry if you are an Indian badminton fan. But then, every great player goes through a slump.…

It is now known that Sunil Chhetri, the India national football team captain, and his wife are awaiting the birth of their first child. We have seen pictures of Chhetri performing rituals at home with Sonam, his wife, and there have been media reports quoting him as saying that he would ask Igor Stimac, the India coach, for a break during the King’s Cup. Quite understandably, Chhetri wants to be with his wife before he travels to Hangzhou for the Asian Games. Revsportz can confirm that Stimac is very much on the same page as his captain. Speaking to Boria…

The end of the Second World War and the process of decolonization thereafter provided the opportunity for a truly pan-Asian Olympics-type event. India played a pivotal role in stitching together the new Asian Games. As Indian administrators went about creating the Asian Games Federation and the first Delhi Asiad of 1951, they were also driven by the idea of a resurgent independent India and the vision of a new world order: decolonized states, led by India, marching forward to take their rightful place. At the heart of the story of the Delhi Asiad was a desire for newly independent India…

India start their Asian Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday evening, and it marks the beginning of three very important months for Indian hockey. As they set foot on the newly laid turf of the magnificent Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai, they will have one eye on the Asian Games, which could also guarantee India a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics. To set things in context, I was joined by Harmanpreet Singh, the captain and best drag-flicker in the team, and Craig Fulton, the Head Coach who will be facing his first real home challenge in Chennai since taking…

Sanju Samson has immense potential. Each of us knows it. The kind of shots he played on Tuesday night on his way to 50 were proof of the kind of ability he has. And yet, it hasn’t been a stand-out international career so far. Is it just because he hasn’t been given enough opportunities while some others have? Is this conspiracy theory the answer? While it is all about India, such divisive and toxic opinions don’t really hold ground, however much his fans would want that to be the case. The truth is that Samson hasn’t done justice to his…

With the Indian football team for the 2023 Asian Games finally announced and – as mentioned by RevSportz – including the three seniors, Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan, it is pertinent to look back at Indian football’s finest hour, the gold-medal winning effort in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. However, this campaign was anything but pleasant, a story not much known in sports circles. The Asian Games was organised, and continues to be organised, under the larger umbrella of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They are Asia’s mini-Olympics and, as in the story of the Olympics itself,…

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Now that the dust has settled on India’s Asian Games participation and we also know the draw for the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, the focus needs to shift to preparation. A failed Asian Games and a poor World Cup qualifying campaign could mean that all the momentum that we now have in Indian football is lost. Frankly, the next eight months are perhaps the most important eight months in the modern history of the game in India. Good results would mean the public support for the game is sustained, and India could well be on the fast track…