Author: Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar Successful sports stories don’t happen overnight. They need to be nurtured for years for the world to see them in full bloom. For an 87.58 metre throw or a badminton academy that changes the course of the sport forever, years of effort populate the backstage. And in many of these cases, the mother, literally, is the unsung hero. On Mother’s Day, it is essential that we celebrate some of these women and their contribution to sport. A trip to India’s medal-winning badminton factory, the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, can never be complete without dining with the young…

Will Virat Kohli travel to England, or will he not? Have we seen the last of him in red-ball cricket? Does he still have the game to score runs in difficult conditions in England? How tough will it be for India to deal with this void if he decides to give up Test cricket and move on? The truth is that Kohli hasn’t been the same Test player he once was over the three or four years. In Australia, the bowlers had his number, with Kohli time and again making the same mistake outside the off stump. Except the Perth…

Sport unites and this time round it has done so with the cancellation of the IPL. All of India shares the same sentiment that with the soldiers fighting to defend the nation, it was not apt to continue with the IPL at the moment. From a cricketing standpoint, can this break be utilised better by India’s cricketers, specifically Jasprit Bumrah for example, to better prepare for the tour? A fresh Bumrah could be India’s answer to this tough assignment and a couple of weeks of extra rest and preparation could do him a world of good. In fact, if the…

Social media brings with it added social responsibility. For men and women like us who are in the media domain, even more so. We have access to certain nuggets of information that might be appealing to the general public if put out. The truth is, in a situation as sensitive as now, every piece of information has to be handled with sensitivity and restraint. To give a specific example. I read last night across multiple social media handles how players were to be transported from Dharamshala to another city. Every detail was provided of the players’ proposed movement. I was…

It is now known that Shubman Gill is the frontrunner for the India captain’s job on the upcoming tour of England. Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, sources confirm, aren’t altogether out of the race just yet, but are behind Gill in the pecking order. That’s what brings me to Pant. He is having a shocking IPL. Picked for 27 crores by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Pant has had a nightmarish last month or so. But that’s where the issue is. Is his IPL form being taken as a yardstick when India’s Test match captain is being chosen? Hasn’t Pant…

It was days after the 2019 World Cup, and Ravi Shastri, then India’s head coach, and Bharat Arun, bowling coach, met me for coffee at a cafe next to Hyde Park in London. The disappointment of the semi-final loss was still very raw, and none of us could stop taking about it for a while. Only towards the end of the conversation did we start looking ahead. And one of the first things Shastri said was that he needed to make Rohit Sharma open in Test cricket. “If I don’t get him to open in Test cricket, my tenure as…

I had written this morning that I did not want MS Dhoni to bat at Eden Gardens. The reason was simple. He isn’t the same player, and I expected him to be scratchy. He was. But Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were worse. Eight out of the 14 wickets to fall in the match went to spinners. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were 5 down for 60, and KKR still couldn’t finish it off. Dhoni was struggling against spin. He wasn’t comfortable against pace either. But when it mattered, he managed to get under one delivery and put it into the stands.…

It was exactly 19:03 pm when the message came. I was on the verge of finishing the pre-match show and that’s when I happened to glance at my phone. The message was loud and clear. And it was about Rohit Sharma retiring from Test cricket. I instantly broke the story and we posted it from our RevSportz handle. Within minutes, people jumped on us and started abusing. It was natural. It was one of the biggest news breaks and fans were understandably unsure. We knew we were right and just kept telling our viewers that it was indeed the correct…

Tonight, it could well be the last time for MS Dhoni at the Eden Gardens. In fact, if it isn’t, I will be surprised. Rationally speaking, Dhoni should become coach or mentor of the team next year and guide the next generation. For most, it is one last time to see Dhoni in action. Bat for a few balls and hit a few shots. For me, the reality is I don’t want to see him bat at the Eden Gardens. It could well be the cricket tragic in me speaking but I don’t want to see the present Dhoni bat…

The loss of Sandesh Jhingan to an ACL injury played a huge part in India’s miserable AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign and also in the home losses that cost them a place in the third round of Asian World Cup qualification. After a lengthy lay-off, Jhingan returned to play a big part in FC Goa’s second-place finish in the league phase of the ISL. Now, after lifting the Super Cup with Goa, in what was Manolo Marquez’s last game as the club’s coach, Jhingan’s eyes are trained on resurrecting India’s AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifying campaign. In this exclusive interview…