Author: Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar In an age of instant gratification and white-ball madness, Khaleel Ahmed comes across as a breath of fresh air. To see someone as obsessed to play red-ball cricket felt good. Khaleel has talent. We have all seen that. What he lacked was consistency and for a period he suffered from multiple injuries. As always, the comeback was hard. He struggled to get a hold on things and was lost for a period. “I did not know what to do,” said Khaleel. “How to make a comeback, what all I needed to do. It was difficult. Now I…

In a interview with RevSportz’s Editor-in-Chief Boria Majumdar, Khaleel Ahmed opens up on his IPL revival, Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, MS Dhoni’s guidance, his red-ball ambitions, and why he believes he deserves another shot at India colours. Excerpts: Boria: This season’s IPL gave us all a lot of hope that Khaleel Ahmed can contribute to Indian cricket again. Your thoughts on that. Khaleel: Yes, this one thought of being able to serve Indian cricket again is what motivates me, keeps boosting my spirit and is my top priority. As you said, you have seen how my season went with CSK…

Boria Majumdar The moment you are critical about some cricketer or coach, you are certain to face a backlash. And it doesn’t stop there. You will be called paid PR, you will be called names and at times your parentage questioned. The fact is that it is our job in the media to ask questions, especially if I am writing an Op-Ed piece to give my opinion. You are welcome to differ and disagree. In fact, anyone should. But the level of intolerance is such that disagreements will inevitably lead to social media slander and journalists be labelled as paid…

Boria Majumdar In an interview with RevSportz’s Editor-in-Chief Boria Majumdar, India badminton team’s men’s doubles coach Tan Kim Her opens up on the World Championships efforts and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Excerpts: Boria: You first thoughts on the performance of the boys at the World Championships. Tan Kim Her: After seeing the draw, we knew it was not easy because we are not seeded. We sat down and I talked the boys and asked them to take one game at a time. First, we had to face Chinese Taipei and hence before the start, we analyzed opponent’s game watching…

“For 2025 focus was on 3 tournaments – All England, World Championships and Super Series Finals at the End of the Year.” – Tan Kim Her We have heard tons on workload management in the last few weeks. And it yet again came back into our discussion last night when coach Tan Kim Her returned my call from Paris. “It is coach Tan”, he said as I was preparing to call it a night on Sunday. The coach was getting ready for the prize distribution in Paris and it was nice of him to return the request and do the…

Rahul Dravid was one of India’s greatest-ever cricketers. Perhaps the best No. 3 batter that we have seen. His resilience and his intensity stood out, and are learnings for every aspiring person wanting to play the game. But as coach, his record is modest. Except the 2024 T20 World Cup win, there is nothing much to write home about, and some of his decisions were questionable to say the least. Dropping R Ashwin in England for the 2023 World Test Championship final was one such. As an IPL coach/mentor, Dravid hasn’t tasted much success. And the question to ask is:…

We are in the news business, and each one of us has to confront the curse of breaking news. I have been fortunate enough to break hundreds of snippets of news in my career as a journalist. The truth is that today’s breaking news is tomorrow’s toilet paper. What gives us a high today has no relevance tomorrow. Or for that matter, in an hour, when things have been picked up by everyone. Just yesterday, I had done a show saying Robson Robinho was finally certain to come to India and was being signed by Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG)…

Boria Majumdar It’s now more than two decades since Irfan Pathan announced himself as an all-rounder of genuine promise. Though he couldn’t quite live up to the early potential, he still played a huge part in India winning the first T20 World Cup in 2007. Now a commentator with coaching ambitions, Irfan spoke exclusively to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, about coaching and mentoring youngsters, his own playing journey and the prospects of Kohli, Rohit and Shami making it to World Cup 2027. Boria: Tell us a bit about the side of Irfan Pathan that makes time out of his busy…

The venue was the same. The stage of the competition also the same. The stakes were at their highest and the head-to-head record a little on the negative side. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik yet again stood in the way of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and a World Championship medal. In our work group, people kept wondering why it was that the Indian pair kept bumping into the two Malaysians. Perhaps it was destined. Chia and Soh could have lost their second round match against Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap. They were a game down and had…

Ask yourself this question, for he is. And then tell yourself that between 2021 and 2025, he has never finished outside the top two in any competition. You will know why he is special. But then, this isn’t the reason. There have been athletes who haven’t lost for years and have ruled their sport. Valarie Allman, who yet again won the Diamond League, is an example. She is brilliant, and one of the best ever. But with Neeraj, there is a very human element to him. He can fail, and he does. He has bad days just like you and…