Author: Boria Majumdar

Limp — that’s how I would describe this performance. From 93 all out to this latest debacle, KKR continues to plummet into a darkness of its own making. From the start of the season, the focus should have been inward. Introspection should have been the watchword — identifying issues and solving them, particularly the batting. Instead, the noise outside dictated the narrative. KKR won the toss on what was described as a dry pitch by the captain. They played an extra spinner in Moeen Ali. Not a single spinner picked up a wicket. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan…

In 2019, and an IPL season he made his own, Andre Russell had said to me, “The fans are the ones we play for. Every single year, they have been with us. Every game, they are there to support us. They want us to win. The Kolkata crowd is just fantastic for us and they always get out the best in us performers.” These are the very same fans who have now started to feel let down by Russell. The Jamaican star hasn’t really found his mojo in 2025 and that explains why KKR aren’t in the top four. In…

It was painful to watch. Football of the very lowest standard, and to then think that these foreigners are being paid top dollar by East Bengal, you feel the fans have every right to feel helpless and upset with this 0-2 defeat against Kerala Blasters. Except the late first-half opportunity, when an open net was missed after PV Vishnu’s shot hit the post, all of East Bengal just walked around the pitch in the second half. No attack, no pressure and no effort. This is not what the fans want to see. You can lose, but at least make an…

At the halfway stage of the IPL, it is evident that some of the pre-auction retentions were way off the mark. In this piece, we look at five such calls. Jos Buttler: In a very surprising move, Rajasthan Royals (RR) let go of Buttler. Whatever may have been the reason, the call was a surprising one. And Buttler has already proved it multiple times this season by standing up for the Gujarat Titans (GT). Yesterday as well, it was another Buttler masterclass that floored top-of-the-table Delhi. The best part about Buttler, one of the best white-ball players ever, is his…

Today, KKR is one of the biggest brands in the IPL. Millions of fans, and full houses at the Eden Gardens are the norm. Shah Rukh Khan is KKR and, vice versa. But could it have been different when things started? Was it always this smooth? There is a story that makes matters fascinating. It is a classic what-could-have-been story. In fact, it is fair to say that Lalit Modi himself wasn’t convinced about how many bids he would get ahead of the first season of the IPL in 2008. That’s why he had reached out through personal contacts to…

RevSportz Exclusive Amid the challenges faced by East Bengal’s men’s team in the Indian Super League (ISL) for the last few years, the club’s women’s team brought home a reason to celebrate by clinching the Indian Women’s League (IWL) title this season. In light of this triumph, and to discuss the road ahead for the senior men’s team, the dynamics of the upcoming Super Cup, and more, Debabrata Sarkar—popularly known as Nitu Sarkar or Nitu Da—and Rupak Saha, the club’s General Secretary, sat down for a conversation with Boria Majumdar. Boria Majumdar: We did not celebrate the Indian Women’s League…

It was over Christmas in 2007 that the rules of the forthcoming IPL were worked out in Mumbai between the BCCI and the International Management Group (IMG) top brass. Should franchises be assigned icon players, or should they go under the hammer was a key question that people had to answer. How would it look if Sachin Tendulkar was bought by a franchise other than Mumbai? Or Sourav Ganguly was picked up by anyone except the Kolkata Knight Riders? Would such things end up dividing fan loyalty, and would such a move go down well with the fans? Also Read:…

Some things, they say, are destined to happen, and India’s victory in the 2007 World T20 in South Africa was one such. More than anything, it was this victory that set the stage for the IPL. It was proof of concept for broadcasters and advertisers alike, that Indians loved the format and would queue up to watch it prime time if it was packaged well. In fact, when Lalit Modi managed to get a buy-in from BCCI President Sharad Pawar for the league in early September 2007, and walked out of the meeting with 25 million dollars in hand to…

In the contemporary sporting world, few would doubt that India is the new cricket superpower. It is more often than not that India leads, and others follow. Without exaggeration, Indian cricket is a mirror in which nations, communities, men and women now see themselves. That reflection is sometimes bright, sometimes dark, sometimes distorted, sometimes magnified. Cricket, for hundreds of millions of Indians, is a source of mass exhilaration and depression, security and insecurity, pride and humiliation, bonding and alienation. In fact, for many in India, cricket has replaced religion as a source of emotional strength and spiritual passion. And since…

The host broadcaster has named the IPL the Indian Possible League. No one has done justice to this tagline better than Karun Nair. Hardik Pandya was right when he said the way Karun was batting, Mumbai Indians (MI) were running out of options the other night in Delhi. In fact, the transformation of Karun and his zeal to chase excellence is a life lesson for everyone. No one has played Jasprit Bumrah better, and his 89 was one of the best innings of this IPL. Karun hasn’t had the luck of the draw go his way. To be left out…