Author: Boria Majumdar

PV Sindhu, one of our great champions, had lost her eighth final in a row in 2019 when we managed to speak to her. Things between her and Pullela Gopichand, her coach, had not yet gone south, and Gopi was with her when one of us called. Sindhu, clearly, was distraught. We could hear her howl on the phone and her words, “I need to get over this. People think I can’t play under pressure.” Since then, she has gone on to win a world title, a second Olympic medal, a Commonwealth Games gold and more. And yet when she…

On the evening of the fourth day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final, soon after Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara got out to the softest of dismissals, I put out a video from outside The Oval questioning their shot selection. The point was simple – both got out to poor shots after getting set, and both were wickets that India lost rather than ones that Australia earned. How many times have we seen Pujara try the ramp shot? And in circumstances when India needed him to play 200-odd balls and stay at the crease. Rohit, India’s best batter in…

After the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval, Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach, said that it wasn’t a 469-run pitch, and that India conceded far too many runs in the last session on day one, something which allowed Australia to take control. According to him, the bowlers were too wide, and as a result, Travis Head and Steve Smith cashed in. “We knew what lines and lengths to bowl,” said Dravid after the game. “Our lengths weren’t bad, but we probably bowled too wide. Gave room to Head. There was too a small rap on the knuckles for…

As the dust settles on the World Test Championship final defeat, it is time to introspect. Look back and learn the lessons. A deep dive into some of India’s best wins in key games over the last decade and a half throws up some rather interesting findings. Each of these wins saw some fascinating out-of-the-box thinking from the captain and the management, something that was missing in the WTC final. To start with, the World T20 of 2007. Few expected that MS Dhoni would turn to Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over against Pakistan. And while he conceded a…

India have just lost a high-stakes final, in pretty miserable fashion. But the question to ask is why this happens repeatedly? Why is it that India continue to underperform in the big games? A deep dive into India’s Test performances in the last three years throw up some key findings. Repeatedly, the opposition tail has hurt India. On Saturday, when Marnus Labuschagne was out to Umesh Yadav, Australia were 124-5, and India had a sniff. Had the tail been snuffed out for another 50 or 75 runs, India would have been chasing 375 and not 444. Despite having a well-rounded…

As the dust settles on India’s World Test Championship (WTC) final loss, a deep dive into what happened leaves us with far too many questions and too few answers. With the wait for an ICC trophy now stretching beyond a decade, and critics calling India the most under-performing finals team, asking some of these questions is most pertinent than ever. Approach: Ahead of the team’s departure for England, there was a lot of talk about approach. In fact, it was repeatedly mentioned that India should play to their strengths. However, what we witnessed was a restrained, almost fearfully conservative, approach…

It was my second-last evening in London, and Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had helped set up the evening with an unbroken 71-run stand. Kohli played some majestic shots, and it was only fair that I celebrate with family and some delectable Calcutta cuisine. I am consciously making a distinction between Calcutta cuisine and Bangla cuisine here, for, in London, much of what passes off as Indian food is actually not really Indian. Chourangi, very close to Marble Arch, is as authentic and as close to Calcutta cuisine as you will get. It is much like the Kohli cover-drive. On…

India was up against it as day five at the Gabba slowly dawned on us. Australia had set a target of 328 and, on a wearing pitch, were overwhelming favourites to close out the series 2–1. The ball had started to misbehave from the cracks, and it was going to be a serious test of India’s batsmen against the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Maybe it was on an impulse that we sent a message to Virat Kohli. How good would it have been had Kohli been there on day five to bat at…

Shardul Thakur v Pat Cummins. And may I say, it was all Cummins in the first 20 minutes. Shardul wasn’t able to get bat on ball, and was hit multiple times on the wrist and the forearm. He was in serious pain, and few felt he could survive. But then, this is Shardul. All guts and khadoos. He stayed on and braved the pain to make a fifty that has kept India afloat in this contest. A glance at Shardul, and one can’t help but feel that he is the antithesis of what a fast bowler usually looks like. He…

Crushing the pain barriers – mental and physical – was Ajinkya Rahane’s calling card at The Oval on Day 3, as he tried his best to stitch together a gritty partnership to keep India in the game. John Patrick, the late American playright, had once said: “Pain makes man think. Thought makes man wise. Wisdom makes life endurable.” Rahane’s greatest strength is knowing his limitations. It’s an attribute that goes unrecognized. But it’s a vital part of a human being’s mental make-up. Knowing what you can do and where you stand. Rahane can never be Virat Kohli for he doesn’t…