Author: Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar in Dubai India play Oman on Friday night, but the focus is already on India v Pakistan for Sunday, September 21. Against the backdrop of all that has happened already, this will be another much-talked-about encounter. Firstly, a boycott is no longer in the narrative. Rather, how India drives home the larger message will yet again hog the limelight. It is also important that we focus a little on the game itself. After all, it is a game of bat and ball at the core of it. On field, the gulf just seems too much between…

Boria Majumdar 2,700 days. Yes, for 2,700 days Neeraj Chopra had not finished outside of the podium. It finally ended in Tokyo. It had to end. He is human and sport is real, not reel. He had to fail for that’s what sport teaches you. And this failure is a public one. Unlike us, when we fail, we fail in private. For Neeraj it is a public failure and you know what, he is entitled to fail. It is okay to not be okay. Okay not to win. Okay to not make the podium. Neeraj is India’s greatest-ever athlete.…

Boria Majumdar in Dubai And so, the Asia Cup continues, for now. Until Pakistan find the next reason to throw the toys out of the pram. Over the last three days, poor Andy Pycroft has garnered a thousand times as many column inches as he ever did during a modest nine-year international career with Zimbabwe. To make it even more perplexing, the furore over his behaviour is a complete non-issue. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) alleges that it was Pycroft that told Salman Agha not to shake hands with Suryakumar Yadav at the toss. They claim that by doing so,…

Boria Majumdar Neeraj Chopra is arguably India’s greatest ever athlete. Two Olympic medals, a gold and a silver, multiple World Championships medals, Diamond League triumphs, he has seen it all. And yet he hasn’t. As he takes centre stage in Tokyo, it will be yet another first for him. How does he deal with the Arshad Nadeem challenge? While he knows what to expect from Julian Weber, who is in the form of his life, Neeraj wouldn’t know what to expect from Arshad. Will that put any additional pressure on him or will he go about his business unfazed? How…

The question that is doing the rounds in Dubai as I write this piece is what will Pakistan do tonight? Will they give the UAE a walkover or will they play? What we hear is that the ICC has responded to the call of removing the match referee and the response is negative. Andy Pycroft wasn’t at fault, and if at all anyone was responsible, it was the ACC officials at the ground who had informed him. If the ICC does turn down Pakistan’s request, and we hear they have, what option does Pakistan then have? Will they stand by…

Boria Majumdar in Dubai Why does Pakistan want India to do the handshakes? What’s the significance? Is it only because of sportsmanship? The spirit of the game? Is there any other motive to the whole thing that we are actually missing? Like I have said many times before, the India-Pakistan game on Sunday wasn’t a normal one. It is being played against the backdrop of a dastardly terror act and was played more out of compulsion than anything else. India has its own geopolitical ambitions and playing Pakistan is a part of this larger ‘India’ story. It is to ensure…

Boria Majumdar in Dubai You have a bad team. You have a team which includes a player who spews venom on social media. You have players who don’t have the ability to stand up to your opponents. And you don’t have the courage to call out your own like Faheem Ashraf and yet you talk about spirit. Clearly feeling the pressure, what does Mohsin Naqvi do? Attack the match referee Andy Pycroft for wrongdoing. There are many questions here. Is he being targeted because he is from Zimbabwe? Because they don’t really have the clout in international cricket? Would it…

Pakistan apparently refused to send Salman Ali Agha to the presentation because the India’s players refused the post-match handshakes. That’s the narrative being peddled at the moment. Ask people in the know, and you will realise this was not the case. Rather, what was conveyed was something fundamentally different. The message sent was that Pakistan wouldn’t attend the presentation because it was being conducted by Sanjay Manjrekar, an Indian. Apparently they weren’t comfortable with that, and hence decided not to attend. However, Shaheen Shah Afridi did come and collect his award, which yet again spoke of double standards. And then,…

India was always going to be the better team. How much better was the question. Could Pakistan compete? Are they even there to be able to push India? Could the Indians remove all the emotion when they walked out and turn in a ruthless and clinical effort? These were the questions doing the rounds at the start of the Asia Cup game. In front of a Dubai International Stadium packed to 90 per cent, the Indians turned in an effort they will be pleased with. They needed to brush Pakistan aside and they did. From the first wicket in the…

Boria Majumdar in Dubai Four hours to go for the India-Pakistan contest, and the tension is palpable. For the first time in history, Indian fans are divided on whether to watch this game or not. Should they boycott or use the sports field to make a point? What’s the best approach? In all this, one thing is certain. The end point for everyone is the same. Each is an Indian and each is hurt. Angry, upset and fed up. And that’s why this disagreement. Each one of us are figuring out our own ways to protest. But each one of…