Author: Boria Majumdar

Ravichandran Ashwin and I have always shared an excellent rapport. We have the friendship to discuss and debate contentious issues, even if we don’t agree on certain things. And that’s the best part of a conversation with Ashwin. This was yet again on show when we spoke about the England-India series. Midway through the conversation, I broached the topic of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma not being there. I also said that Virat would be missed more because he was an ambassador for the format. He had always prioritised Test cricket, and that will now have to be done by…

Ravichandran Ashwin has always been a great talker. He digs deep, tries to understand the game, and then comments on it. Now, as one foraying into the media space, he has already build up a significant fan following with his analysis. The best part about Ashwin is that he speaks his mind, and that’s what sets him apart. This is what was on show when we did this interview to try and set up the England-India series. While the transcript of the interview will be up on the RevSportz site soon, let me focus on just one aspect here, for…

The setting was the home of English cricket, Lord’s. India were playing England in the second edition of the World T20 on June 14, 2009. Lord’s, as is the norm these days with most venues where India play, was taken over by a sea of light blue (England too wore blue, but a slightly darker version). It did not stop here. Just as Paul Collingwood’s side came out for a pre-match warm-up at the Nursery Ground just behind the media centre, they were booed and jeered by a section of the crowd. England, the home team, booed at the home…

By Boria Majumdar The first Test between England and India will start in Leeds on June 20, 29 years to the day since a certain Sourav Ganguly (and Rahul Dravid) made his Test debut. He announced himself on the big stage with an accomplished 131, a knock he followed up with 136 at Trent Bridge. Having drawn a series in England as captain in 2002, Ganguly spoke exclusively to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, about the unique challenges that India will face in England, and how Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness is key to Shubman Gill enjoying a winning start as skipper. Boria:…

Talking cricket with Sourav Ganguly is a pleasure. And when it is an intense conversation with no phone calls in between, it is more so. That’s what happened at his Waterloo apartment on Monday, June 9, 2025. While we did do a formal interview and the transcript will be published on RevSportz in a couple of hours, the backstage, which was just normal cricket chat, was just as interesting. Take the Rishabh Pant case, for example. Sourav, for long, has been a Pant supporter. In fact, it was Sourav who had said to me in 2019 that Pant would be…

This game could well mark the end of the Manolo Marquez era. And may I say it isn’t a bad thing for Indian football. It has been the worst one year for the national team and someone who was negotiating and agreeing with FC Goa was clearly not interested in the India job. Or he had seen the writing on the wall. Either way, Manolo wasn’t on it 100 per cent and it will be better for the AIFF to look beyond him. Three years back India beat Hong Kong 4-0. Today, they lost 0-1 to the 153rd ranked side.…

Boria Majumdar As a player, Michael Clarke was part of one of the strongest Test sides in history, which won in India for the first time in 35 years in 2004. Now a commentator after an illustrious career as player and captain, Clarke spoke exclusively to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, about the World Test Championship final between Australia and South Africa. Boria: In your books, are Australia the favorites for the WTC final? Michael Clarke: I think the Australian team is playing beautiful cricket, the way we dominated India in Australia. And again, I think the conditions play a part…

A visibly relaxed Srinjoy Bose, who filed his nomination for General Secretary of Mohun Bagan Club, caught up with me around midnight India time. After a rather acrimonious election campaign where Bose and Debasis Datta traded barbs for almost two months, both called a truce and decided to come together to bury the hatchet. “Everything can be resolved through dialogue, and while it is true that we had drifted apart and did not see eye to eye for some time, I am glad we managed to resolve our differences and come together for a cause,” said Bose. When asked what…

It was a plan well made. Sourav Ganguly would be back from Lord’s by 12:30pm after his meeting, and we would catch up at his Waterloo apartment over lunch to set up the England-India series. Ganguly is always a delight to speak to, and more when it is in London and about Test cricket. What we hadn’t factored in was that the train journey from Oxford to London Paddington could be badly messed up. An incident at Reading meant the train wouldn’t go to Paddington, and one had to shift to the Waterloo option from Reading. Actually, it wasn’t a…

Boria Majumdar Kuldeep Yadav will be 31 in December. Yet, in a superb international career that has seen him take 306 wickets from 166 matches across all formats, it’s almost staggering to note that only 13 of those caps have come in Tests. Wretched luck with injuries hasn’t helped, and neither did the presence of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – two of the all-time greats – in the Indian side. But with Ashwin now retired, Kuldeep has an incredible opportunity to nail down a place on the upcoming five-Test tour of England. In this exclusive interview with Boria Majumdar,…