Author: Boria Majumdar

On the surface, Karun Nair’s return to the India fold was a disappointment – aggregating 205 runs across eight innings at an average of just over 25. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll see that he was part of vital first-innings partnerships in both Tests that India won, at Edgbaston and The Oval. In this exclusive chat with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, Karun talks of the long road back to the Test side, playing through pain and the inspiring message from Gautam Gambhir before the series. Boria: Give us a sense of the backstage. The last two years of…

Shreyas Iyer was brilliant in the IPL. Not just as leader, but also as a batter. He played some extraordinary innings for the Punjab Kings and was key to his team making the final. Going purely by performance, he is one of the names that should be there in the Asia Cup team list. It is not just IPL performance that goes in Iyer’s favour. In the Champions Trophy, played in Dubai just ahead of the IPL, Shreyas was superb. He is arguably one of the better players of spin in India at the moment, and with conditions expected to…

While India attained political freedom on August 15, 1947, it did so on the sports field a year later during the 1948 London Olympics. For newly independent India, the London Olympic of 1948 were more than a mere sporting event. The event offered an opportunity for assertion, and was the stage for a young nation to claim for itself a place in the world parliament of successful sporting nations. It was also a platform for an infant nation-state to compete with its former master, and give vent to years of frustration and discontent. India’s hockey team satisfied this national yearning,…

Boria Majumdar Midway through August and Indian football fans still don’t know if they’ll be able to watch the Indian Super League (ISL), the sport’s top tier in the country, this year. Understandably, much of the scrutiny has been on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its management of the issues. Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, spoke to Kalyan Chaubey, AIFF president, and put him on the spot about the ISL mess and the selection of Khalid Jamil as men’s national team coach. Boria: What is happening with ISL? Can we expect it this year? Kalyan: We had a meeting…

Is Shubman Gill a certainty in the Asia Cup squad? The answer is maybe not. This isn’t a reflection on Shubman Gill, the batter. He is a first-rate batter and someone who can score runs in any condition. In fact, if he plays 10 T20 games, he could well score in seven of them. Also, he has had fantastic seasons with Gujarat Titans. And yet from what I hear he isn’t a certainty in the Asia Cup squad. While things can indeed change between now and 20th when the selection committee is expected to meet, as on date, Gill…

Boria Majumdar Indian football has not been in good health. No one really knows what is happening with the nation’s top tier League and with several clubs stopping operations, there is a lot of uncertainty around. Kalyan Chaubey, President of the All India Football Federation(AIFF), has a lot to answer for. Does the organisation have any answers for all this ongoing chaos? Can things improve going forward and, most importantly, will the league season happen? If so, when? When I got on the Zoom call with Kalyan, I informed him that we would do the interview only if he agreed…

On this day a year earlier, the Paris Olympics was done and it was time to go home. While the Indian campaign was modest, team RevSportz had done its absolute best at the Games. As a young organisation, less than three years old then, we had made an ambitious plan for Paris. To get a team of 7 to the Olympics was considered crazy. How could we spend so much money? How will we generate so much revenue? Is this model of getting 7 journalists to a Games sustainable? Honestly, as Editor and Founder, I did not have answers to…

Boria Majumdar There has been much talk about Shubman Gill being made vice-captain of the Asia Cup team. First things first, Gill is a gun player. He has been in stellar form, and that’s the case not just in red-ball cricket. There is no argument that he played superbly in England, and hence has to be included in the T20 set up. He had a very good IPL and has also been working on his strike-rate. The truth is you can’t go wrong by including him in the team. Having said that, it is not just about Gill alone. It…

In some good news for India, it is learnt that skipper Surya Kumar Yadav is perfectly on track to make it back for the Asia Cup. Surya, who is undergoing rehab, had already started batting and it is now a matter of time before he starts the final phase of his recovery. “He is taking it week by week,” a source close to developments said. “It is now time to start high intensity fielding drills and high-speed running. That’s will happen starting today.” It is also to be seen where Surya bats for India at the Asia cup. Chances…

Sandeep Patil’s comments on Jasprit Bumrah have been much debated on social media. A caveat is important here. Sandy Bhai is a good friend and someone I much respect for his achievements. But on this issue, I have to say I differ with him, and do so completely. The first reference point for me is Jofra Archer. Archer played two Tests in the series and was rested for The Oval. England managed his workload post-Manchester. Of the two Tests he played, he helped England win at Lord’s. In fact, in the second innings at Lord’s, he was almost unplayable and…