Author: Boria Majumdar

No Jasprit Bumrah and you can sense the seismic effect. It is a team which has all sorts of bowling options, and the only explanation is the management is unsure of the bowling unit. In contrast, they now know the batting is good enough and will hold its own and that’s why, as unfortunate or as disappointing it can be, Jaiswal had to miss out. Three straight questions come up from the selection. First, how much faith do they have in the pace bowling unit? With five spinners in the side, it is kind of apparent that they expect the…

For two games in a row, India have batted KL Rahul at No. 6. And in both games, he hasn’t scored many. In my opinion, that position isn’t the right one for Rahul, and the numbers bear that out. If India continue with the Axar Patel experiment at No. 5, and there’s no reason why they would not with the all-rounder doing extremely well with the bat, there is logic in trying out Rishabh Pant at No. 6. The point is simple. If Rahul is not batting at No. 5, where he has thrived in the past, there is reason…

A team’s strength can often be assessed by how good the bench is. And that’s where India’s 50-overs side scores over many others. India has someone of the calibre of Yashasvi Jaiswal sitting on the bench as a back-up opener. He is a match-winner, and had had the most extraordinary 2024. And yet, he doesn’t find an automatic spot in the team. With Shubman Gill scoring runs and Rohit Sharma back in form, chances are that Jaiswal might not get a single game in the Champions Trophy. Coming to the middle order, India have Rishabh Pant sitting on the sidelines.…

Rohit Sharma has now scored. Shubman Gill has scored in both games. Virat Kohli hasn’t looked out of touch in white-ball cricket, and will surely score sooner rather than later. Shreyas Iyer is in sublime form, and the Axar Patel experiment has been successful. With Hardik Pandya also in good touch, all of a sudden, India’s batting looks extremely formidable. I haven’t even mentioned Ravindra Jadeja here, as good a No. 8 as you will get anywhere. Perhaps, it is time to say that India are Champions Trophy-ready. An easy series win against a decent English side is good preparation,…

Rohit Sharma has scored a lot of hundreds for India, but this will be a very special one. Maybe he has played better. In fact, he has. Been more dominant and in control. But given the circumstances and all that has transpired over the last three months, this hundred will give him a lot of satisfaction and also relief. As captain, he will now know that the dressing room stays with him and he isn’t a passenger. He will not have to take the tough call like he did in Sydney, and all of the murmurs have been put to…

Let me make a confession first. I haven’t watched much of Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, and did not know about her till her recent run at the Mumbai Open. Only when she started her matches did I start to follow more closely. My curiosity was first aroused when a friend, Niladhri Chatterjee, whose daughter and mine went to Kindergarten together, wrote to me, “Dada, get Maaya to the Conclave. She is the next big thing in Indian tennis.” His daughter is doing extremely well at the sub-junior level and I knew that he follows the sport closely. That was when I…

It was just days after he had suffered a debilitating shoulder injury that I chatted with Shreyas Iyer. He was in pain, but the resolve had not gone away one bit. While he was still unsure if he needed surgery, his focus was very much on his return. He wanted the big stage for himself and was determined to make a mark. That he had to undergo surgery and missed the next World Cup must have made him even more determined. Knowing Shreyas, he must have been itching to be out there in India colours. Since then, much has happened…

Fear of failure. A very common phrase, and an often-used one when it comes to elite, high-performance sport. If we ever needed an example of a player impacted by it, Rohit Sharma in Nagpur was one. In his desperation to succeed, Rohit looked apprehensive. Anxious and subdued, he wasn’t remotely close to what he was in World Cup 2023. In fact, back then, he was able to give India the starts because he did not care about failure. He looked purposeful and determined. In Nagpur, things were very different. He seemed scared and was conscious of not getting out. Eventually,…

I have said multiple times in the past, that if there is one format where Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli can still make a serious difference, it is the 50-over one. While Kohli is the greatest to have played the 50-over game, Rohit too has been stellar, and was perhaps the most impactful Indian batter in the 2023 World Cup on home soil. Additionally, Kohli is a livewire on the field and saves a few extra runs in every game. Each time I have said this on my show, the comment has been met with strange responses. A huge number…

It was kind of obvious. When we as a team sat down to identify our focus sport for the Tata Steel Trailblazers Conclave 3.0, the answer was staring at us. Chess. There can be no debate that Indian chess took giant strides in 2024. In the words of Viswanathan Anand, “There is no doubt the sport is doing well and the future is looking great, but it will take some doing to match 2024.” Anand is right when he says this. From D Gukesh winning the candidates and Arjun Erigaisi crossing the 2800 Elo rating, to India winning the men’s…