Author: Boria Majumdar

Sport makes for great television, and that’s well known. But when the best cricketers from across the world are in rickshaws or autos in the remotest part of Bengal, scouting talent that will then hone their skills under the tutelage of some of the best cricketers, that makes for a television show quite unlike anything done before. That’s what the HUNT is all about. The idea is to scout the best talent, who may not have the opportunity otherwise, and project them on television so that talent scouts from franchise leagues, for example, could be attracted to check some of…

Murali Sreeshankar is a rare athlete. Real clarity of thought, no fear of failure and steely determination make him one of India’s better prospects in athletics going forward. With a season’s best leap of 8.41m in the Long Jump, which was followed up by an 8.37m effort in the recently concluded Asian Athletics Championships, Sreeshankar has already qualified for Paris 2024. And that’s what has helped him to start planning for perhaps the biggest 14 months of his career. In this detailed conversation with Boria Majumdar on key issues like doping, mental health and medal hopes in Paris, Sreeshankar gives…

In a rather shocking decision Victoria has announced the cancellation of hosting the 2026 CWG citing rising costs. Needless to say with just 973 days left for the games, this is a terrible call for the Commonwealth Games movement. Having said that, costs were always going to be the issue that could decide the future of these mega events. Are they sustainable? Should cities jump in? Does the end result justify the billions of dollars spent? And what does this mean for the Commonwealth Games going forward? The Olympics caravan moves to Paris in 2024 and to Los Angeles in…

Nineteen acres of land in the heart of Puri. Literally seven minutes from the beach. And as you enter the Jagannath Cricket Stadium, which is a composite facility for sport with gymnastics being the other sport in the complex, you are transported to any other facility in the West. Clean with state-of-the-art facilities, the gymnastics facility trains kids between the ages of six and 14. And in the two hours that I was there , a couple of kids really caught the eye with the skill on show. By the time it was 6pm and the sun was just about…

With performances on a downward spiral, the WPL gains are getting lost and momentum severely impacted. Immediate correctives are in order. Salient points Mithali Raj was called out for her strike rate. With Raj having retired a year earlier, there is no one who can remotely come close to her in terms of consistency. Shikha Pandey is the classic case of how players should not be treated. Stars like Shafali and Jemima continue to be inconsistent. Fast bowling department looks barren. Selection calls are seriously problematic. Do we really have a road map for the women’s game in India? Is…

It will be a big blow for Indian football if the team misses out on Asian Games participation. And it will be a repeat of what happened in 2018. According to the Sports Ministry rules a team which is not ranked in the top 8 can’t be cleared for participation and India is currently ranked 18th. So in that sense the door is closed. But then is it? There is also a clause which states that if experts and Sports Authority of India make a special recommendation for a particular sport citing reasons why an exception can be made, the…

Celebrating The Champion Minset with Manasi Joshi and Tejaswin Shankar On a day we launch a new series, Metamorphosis: Best Through Sport, Health and Education in collaboration with Federal Bank Hormis Memorial Trust, it is pertinent to explore how athletes deal with mental and physical health challenges and emerge triumphant. While we profile Manasi Nayana Joshi in today’s episode, the other athlete I want to talk about here is Tejaswin Shankar, in the news for his medal winning effort in Decathlon at the Asian Athletics Championships, a first Decathlon medal for India. To Manasi first. When I asked her how…

Trailblazers- Episode 3- A weekly series celebrating Paralympic Champions presented by Tata Steel. “When I went to the Athens Paralympics in 2004, all I had was a pair of spikes that cost me Rs 400 and a javelin priced at Rs 300,” said Devendra Jhajharia. “That’s all I had. I paid for the trip myself, and was one of the 25 athletes who represented India in Greece.” We had asked him to recount his journey to his first Olympic gold medal, and his response was heart-rending. “Every other athlete participating in Athens would come to the stadium with his personal…

It has never occurred that two Indians draped in the tricolour have celebrated winning medals at an Olympic stadium in front of a near packed crowd. It was to this rarity that the country woke up to on Saturday 10 September 2016 in Rio when Mariappan Thangavelu and Varun Bhati won the gold and bronze in the high jump in the Paralympics. And in what was yet another huge moment for India, Deepa Malik followed up with a silver in the shot put on 13 September throwing 4.61 meters, a personal best for her. Finally, it was Devendra Jhajharia with…

In an exclusive conversation with Boria Majumdar, Igor Štimac confirmed he has discussed his stint with Indian football and his plans going ahead with Croatian legend and Ballon d’Or winner, Luka Modrić. Štimac met Modrić in Croatia, where the coach is taking a break and working on a series of presentations for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on his plans for Indian football. “We spoke a lot about Indian football, and he was amazed by what we have done in recent months. He was very surprised that I accepted the India job four years back instead of waiting for…