Author: Boria Majumdar

Chandrakant Pandit has been a very successful coach at the domestic level. His record, may I say, speaks for itself. But come the IPL, he hasn’t been able to replicate his domestic success, and that’s what explains KKR’s plight in 2025. The question to ask is: why? Why would Pandit not be able to do the job at IPL level, and why is it that he has to leave at the end of the season? At the domestic level, Pandit hasn’t really managed big egos or huge success stories. Teams that he has coached have had stars, yes, but not…

India’s tour of England is just around the corner, and preparations are on in full swing. And it was a pleasant surprise last week to get a call from Prakash, owner of Tharavadu [Ancestral House], one of the best Indian diners in Leeds. “We met multiple times during the 2018 tour and I had fed you jaggery dosa,” he told me. That was when the penny dropped. Tharavadu was in the news because Virat Kohli frequented it a few times, and it was a staple of ours during our stay in Leeds. “We have seen the food shows you…

He has been one of the most consistent batters in the IPL, while opening with Shubman Gill. Many like Michael Clarke and Eoin Morgan have identified Sai Sudharsan as the next batting star from India. Level-headed and hugely hard working, Sai Su, as he is known, keeps things simple. In this conversation with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, he spoke about the team culture of Gujarat Titans, Gill as leader, the presence of Jos Buttler and his India ambitions. Boria: Incredible consistency from you at the top of the order, and match-winning efforts, may I say. What’s the secret? Sai Sudharsan:…

It was days before the Brisbane Test in 2021, and we had broken the news that Jasprit Bumrah was injured and likely to play a part in the decider. Understandably, the news went viral within minutes and social media was abuzz with what it meant for India’s chances at the Gabba. For us, this was routine work and we did not think much till Rohit Sharma messaged. It was just before noon that he sent a long WhatsApp message requesting us not to break any injury related news. The Bumrah update, Rohit argued, could help Australia and allow them to…

It was rain in Kolkata that granted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) a lifeline in the match against Punjab Kings. And it was rain last night in Bengaluru that robbed them of the little chance they had of making the play-offs. It was a tame end to a campaign that never really took off. KKR, I must confess, were one of my teams for the top four. A middle order with Andre Russell, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh, and the spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy – you could almost sense it was a good side. Harshit Rana and…

Boria Majumdar It was mid March and Abhijit Deshmukh had called to ask me if we should cover the Doha Diamond League from on ground. In a startup, the thing is you always want to do more. And the question always is how much is too much? With the IPL playoffs round the corner (at that point, the break wasn’t envisaged), my first thought was ‘Will anyone watch?’ But then the Revsportz idea of covering every sport from on ground resurfaced. I knew questions would be asked of me with the financial year end round the corner, but still decided…

Is Neeraj Chopra the greatest-ever Indian athlete? Is it premature to say so? Can he be compared to the likes of Abhinav Bindra, Sachin Tendulkar, PV Sindhu, Viswanathan Anand, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and, finally, Major Dhyan Chand? Is such a comparison fair? I think the debate might have been settled tonight. The only thing that he was missing was the 90-metre throw. Paris had hurt him. He stayed resilient, went and worked the hardest, picked out Jan Zelezny as coach and hit the magic mark of 90.23m in Doha. That he didn’t win, courtesy Julian Weber’s monstrous final throw,…

In a video that went viral at the end of India’s 2020-21 tour of Australia, the BCCI put out what captain Rahane had said to his teammates at the end of the Brisbane victory. What stood out for us are the two men Rahane singled out. He congratulated Kuldeep Yadav for his work ethic and said to the left-arm wrist-spin bowler that he would soon get an opportunity. Kuldeep was the only member of the squad who hadn’t played a Test match in Australia. He also thanked young Kartik Tyagi for his contribution in the nets, mentions that showed Ajinkya’s…

Boria Majumdar He isn’t a part of the Indian set-up at the moment. Nor was he a part of the IPL to start with. For the record, Shardul Thakur went unsold in the auction and was thereafter drafted in by LSG as replacement for Mohsin Khan. From being the toast of the nation to being out in the wilderness, Shardul has seen it all. And yet, he never gave up. “Yes, I felt bad when I wasn’t picked for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” he told me. “For the first two days, it seemed all was lost. But then, I asked myself…

It was around 2pm on January 18, 2021, and the enormity of what India were up against on day five at The Gabba was slowly dawning on us. Australia had set India a target of 328 and, on a wearing pitch, were overwhelming favourites to close out the series 2-1. The ball had started to misbehave from the cracks, and it was going to be a serious test for India’s batsmen against the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Maybe it was on an impulse that I sent a message to Virat Kohli. How good…