Author: Boria Majumdar

It was a green deck, and South Africa A bowled with a lot of venom in the session before lunch. Abhimanyu Easwaran fell for a duck, while Sai Sudharsan did not covert a start. KL Rahul too fell to a good delivery, and when India lost Devdutt Padikkal to the ball of the morning, South Africa A were on top. Rishabh Pant counter-punched for a bit, but when he was dismissed after lunch and Akash Deep followed soon after, it seemed that India A would be bowled out for under 150. Nothing of the sort happened, with Dhruv Jurel scoring…

Shubman Gill’s inclusion in India’s T20 side has polarised opinion. Ahead of Gill’s return to the team, Sanju Samson was batting with Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order, and he scored three hundreds. India disrupted that combination by bringing Gill back and also appointed him vice-captain. It has been done on the basis of potential, and with a clear plan to appoint Gill as all-format skipper in the future. The truth is Gill hasn’t done much in this format since making it back at the Asia Cup. Except in one Asia Cup game and the abandoned T20I in…

As the focus shifts to the last two T20s of the ongoing India-Australia series, the one call that will be of interest is the selection of the wicketkeeper-batter. Ahead of the Asia Cup, the expectation was for Jitesh Sharma to start in the middle order, with Shubman Gill taking up the opening position. The team management, however, opted for Sanju Samson and batted him at No. 5 in the tournament. The decision was a mixed success, with Samson not doing too badly in a position that was a first for him. In fact, in the final, it was the partnership…

Boria Majumdar For the longest time, we questioned the BCCI for not doing enough for the women’s game. I had written countless pieces on why the WPL wasn’t being made a reality. Credit where due, because in the last few years, the BCCI has done much to promote the sport and the World Cup win will only add momentum. Now that the 50-over World Cup has been won, the BCCI too will do more to keep pushing. There is another World Cup in England, in the T20 format in June 2026, and it would be great to see India make…

Boria Majumdar It was the 2017 World Cup final at Lord’s and India were in control. At the time Deepti came out to bat against England, India could almost smell the cup and were in touching distance. A good effort from Deepti, and history would be made. Unfortunately for her and for the team, pressure got the better of the 20 year old and Deepti had to end up second-best. She got one more opportunity in 2018, in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean against the very same opponents. Yet again, she wasn’t able to perform…

She wasn’t even part of the squad, and was eventually called up in the most unfortunate circumstances when Pratika Rawal was injured. Call it divine providence or call it an absolute masterstroke, but Shafali Verma played the stellar hand in winning the Women’s World Cup for India. First with the bat, with a brilliant 87. An innings that was worth more than a 100. She kept the scoreboard moving and decidedly put the pressure on South Africa after India lost the toss yet again. A strong start was a must and Shafali and Smriti Mandhana ensured India got it. Some…

We at RevSportz have always prided ourselves on being able to do proper on-ground reportage. That’s where you can make a difference. That’s what we did for the Women’s World Cup as well. Trisha Ghosal and Snehasis Mukherjee started their journey on September 12, with the India-Australia bilateral series. Trisha covered it and was then joined by Snehasis in Guwahati on September 24. I remember asking them, “Do you want to finish the pujas and travel?” The two of them did not take time to say, “We will be there in Guwahati ahead of the team and be ready.”…

There were no television cameras in 1983 when Kapil Dev smashed that 175 not out against Zimbabwe and rescued India from the depths of despair. While the world missed out on seeing those heroics, for his teammates, the knock had the effect of making them feel that a miracle was indeed possible. A dream that few dared to even think or speak about turned into reality over the next two weeks. Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten innings of 171 against Australia in the 2017 semi-final, which was broadcast live across the world, had equal potential and more. Harmanpreet was trending ahead of…

Boria Majumdar In 24 hours, India’s women’s team will play the most important match of their lives. The stakes are at their highest and there is a huge amount of interest all round. The upset semi-final win over Australia has ignited fan passion and the tournament has come alive ahead of the final. I still call it an upset, for Australia were indeed the team to beat. They have proved it time and again, and set the bar really high. For India, the batting effort exceeded expectations. At the break, with 339 to chase down, hardly anyone gave India a…

Boria Majumdar As we soak in the miracle of Navi Mumbai, and yes, it certainly was one, it is time to take a pause and reflect. A deep dive will tell you that it was by no means the perfect game. The batting was stellar and Jemimah Rodrigues played the innings of her life. Harmanpreet Kaur played a very important knock and so did Richa Ghosh with her power-packed cameo. While we celebrate the batting effort and also the human frailty that Australia showed, we must also acknowledge that India were not close to their best with the ball or…