Author: Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar at Lord’s It was his third delivery in red-ball cricket after four years and the impact was immediate. Jofra Archer had squared up Yashasvi Jaiswal and the joy was palpable. He sprinted towards his mates and it was Shoaib Bashir who got the first hug. Archer was back and all of Lord’s had started to celebrate. While Karun Nair and KL Rahul played out the rest of the hostile five-over spell, the real battle had not yet started. It did the moment the Indian captain had come in. Within an over, Ben Stokes got Archer back into the…

The responsibility fairly and squarely lies with AIFF. This isn’t a new negotiation and it is known to one and all that the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) expires on December 8. Now, following a Supreme Court order, AIFF can’t negotiate on a new MRA. But months back, these negotiations were on. Did they not foresee what was coming? Did they not realise that this is India’s premier football competition and not starting it on time will send a really bad signal? While FSDL in all its letters has expressed willingness to engage, sources confirm that they will not agree to…

Boria Majumdar at Lord’s It was his day. A young boy, who came to Lord’s for the first time 37 years back, finally witnessed his portrait unveiled at the home of cricket. He rang the bell to start the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Dreams, as Sachin Tendulkar always says, “do come true”. There is a caveat here. Hard work and more hard work to go with the talent he was blessed with. That’s what made him the world’s best and that’s what Lord’s celebrated yesterday on the first day of the third Test match. For me, it was…

Boria Majumdar at Lord’s When did we last watch a day of conventional Test cricket in England? A day when the scoring rate kept hovering around three runs an over. It was anything but Bazball, and India, may I say, forced this reaction out of England after the Edgbaston miracle. After winning the toss, Ben Stokes decided to bat, which in a sense went against the ethos of this England team. India came out strong, and at no point did they give easy runs. Jasprit Bumrah, as usual, kept beating the bat and both Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj too…

Boria Majumdar in London Sunil Gavaskar arrives The Dilip Sardesai masterclass of 212 had given the Indians a lot of confidence in the first Test in Jamaica in 1971. And the confidence gained was on display as the team played its next tour game in St Kitts. Playing the Leeward islands, India decided on resting all three frontline spinners, Bedi, Prasanna and Venkat, and yet managed to bowl the opponents out for 147 in the first innings with Jaisimha picking five. This was in response to the Indian score of 361-6 declared, an innings that saw Sunil Gavaskar bat for…

Boria Majumdar I was in the Compton Stand recording for my show when Rishabh Pant walked across the ground on his way to the press conference room. Seeing him go past and seeing the message from the Indian media manager that they were indeed on their way, I too started walking towards the press conference venue. I was a few steps behind Rishabh when Trisha asked me if I was ready for the live show. I suggested to her that we should go live straight after the press meet. Rishabh heard me say that and turned towards me with a…

Boria Majumdar in London A tour isn’t only about covering games. The behind-the-scenes is as much the story as the matches themselves. These stories are sometimes dark and sometimes funny. Whichever way you look at them, they are part of your diary. It started the day my colleagues landed in Birmingham. While Gargi missed her connection from Dubai to Birmingham with the war in the Middle East delaying flights, others in the team missed the coach from Birmingham to Leeds. As if this wasn’t enough, Amit Shah misplaced the apartment keys (one of the three apartments that we were using)…

Boria Majumdar and Rohit Juglan While some may remember him for Javed Miandad’s last-ball six in Sharjah, they may not be aware of the mental toughness that took Chetan Sharma to England just months later, and a place on the Honours Board at Lord’s. His 18 wickets played a huge part in the 1986 series win, and he spoke exclusively to Boria Majumdar and Rohit Juglan about his expectations for Lord’s, the bond with Akash Deep and how impressive Shubman Gill has been, both as a batsman and leader. Take me back to your fond memories of 1986? You know…

Boria Majumdar in London Shubman Gill speaks of application in the post-Edgbaston scenario. He says the batters must keep applying themselves. Having spent hours at the crease during the second Test, Gill the batter has demonstrated what application is all about. He was a genius who England had no answer to. But, is captain Gill asking for something from some of his players that they are consistently capable of producing? Can Yashaswi Jaiswal, for instance, apply himself against a quality opposition like Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson and a swinging red ball at Lord’s? An excellent player, does he have…

Boria Majumdar in London Today is Sourav Ganguly’s birthday. He turns 53. And yet, every Bengali still loves to remember him as a young 20-something taking Lord’s by storm on a damp early English summer day in June 1996. Yes, it was some 29 years back, on June 20, 1996, but for us in Bengal, it is still as fresh a memory as India’s Edgbaston win. Pushed up the order to No. 3 in an attempt to expose him to the most challenging of conditions, Sourav Ganguly’s initiation into Test cricket was a real baptism by fire. The stage was…