Author: Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar at Eden Gardens The day started with chants of “Boom, Boom, Bumrah!”. In fact, as he was fielding in front of the B block, he even acknowledged the crowd. Jasprit Bumrah and the Eden Gardens crowd was a match made in heaven on day one of the Test match. Each time he picked up a wicket, the roar was defeaning. That’s what Eden has always been about. They know their cricket, and know how to celebrate a champion effort. South Africa had started well and raced to 57 in no time. Boundaries were coming easily and fast, and…

Boria Majumdar By the time my readers go through this piece, I will be on my way to the Eden Gardens. We will start our pre-show at 8:30am every day, and early-morning Kolkata in November is the best time to be in the city. To see happy faces walking up to the stadium, talking cricket and buying some fruits and biscuits on the way, takes me back years, to when I used to request my father to please try and get me a ticket to go and watch the game. You will see very familiar figures outside the stadium. You…

After six long years, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) organised the Jagmohan Dalmiya Conclave. The keynote speech was delivered by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. It was an evening that brought together the members of the association, past and present office-bearers, cricketers from the state and legends like Anil Kumble and Jhulan Goswami. Under President Sourav Ganguly’s aegis, the event helped set the tone for the Test match that will start in less than 12 hours. Sunil Gavaskar was provocative and witty as always. And that’s what helped set up the interactive session. As host, all I had to do…

Boria Majumdar With less than a day to go for the India-South Africa Test match at Eden Gardens, it is time to look back at the 2010 match at the same venue, a game that witnessed some spectacular performances, and allowed India to retain their No. 1 position in the world Test rankings. After a magical comeback from a position of utter hopelessness, India had South Africa on the mat on the last day. Time was an issue and India needed to close out the game to level the series. South Africa had won the first Test in Nagpur and…

Boria Majumdar As we get ready for the first Test match of the India-South Africa series at Eden Gardens, we have to ask that most clichéd question – will there be a sizeable crowd at Eden to watch Shubman Gill and team play? The real legacy of Sourav Ganguly, as an administrator trying to lead from the front, will be in trying to get the masses back to watching Test cricket at Eden Gardens. And from the looks of it, Sourav is clearly on the right track. Not very long ago, Eden Gardens was full for a Test match. In…

Boria Majumdar It was the Asia Cup final, and India were reduced to 20-3 with Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav all back in the hut. That’s when there was a collective clamour in the press box. “Boria da, send Subhayan to the airport immediately,” said a number of our industry colleagues. “He needs to leave the press box.” Clearly, Subhayan’s reputation preceded him and I was amused. In any case, Subhayan had a flight at 2am and had to leave around 9:30pm. Soon after he left, there was a partnership, and eventually India won a hard-fought game. “We…

Boria Majumdar With the Indian and South African players having touched down in Kolkata, the focus is now firmly on the Test match starting November 14. Against the reigning WTC champions, this will be a huge challenge that could well define India’s campaign. The South Africa series inevitably brings back memories of the very first match between the two teams at the Eden Gardens in November 1991, a 50-over thriller that marked South Africa’s formal re-entry into world cricket. What stood out first and foremost about this match was the crowd. Eden Gardens was packed to capacity and there were…

Boria Majumdar You watch a cricket broadcast today and there are 30-plus cameras being used, and millions and millions of dollars riding on it. And then, when you think that just 35 years ago, there was no concept of broadcast revenue in Indian cricket, it feels almost unreal. As we get ready for the South African and Indian teams to touch down in Kolkata for the Test match, it is relevant that I recount this broadcast story, which started with the India-South Africa match at the Eden Gardens in November 1991. Ali Bacher, the man behind the series in…

Boria Majumdar Indian football is facing a battle for survival. To imagine a country’s national league doesn’t get a bid for a commercial partner shows how dire the situation is. It is grim and we can’t overemphasise it in all honesty. This brings me to two things. FSDL. For the longest time I have heard social media revolutionaries claim FSDL has done nothing. Fair enough. And we have also seen some people try to stop the partnership at the Supreme Court from continuing. Each one of these people should now be questioned for the damage they have caused to the…

Boria Majumdar Writing in 1959, this is how AS de Mello described the formation of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF): “In 1924, at the request of the now defunct Western India Hockey Association, Lieutenant Colonel Luard, who was then President of the Gwalior Sports Association, addressed all hockey associations, clubs and individuals interested in the game and invited them to a meeting in Gwalior. This meeting, which took place on November 7th, 1925, resulted in the official formation of the Indian Hockey Federation.” At the inaugural meeting of the federation, Gwalior, Bengal, Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, Western India, Punjab University and…