Author: Boria Majumdar

For the longest time, people have said that all she does is make fancy reels, that she is more a social media phenomenon than a cricketer. That she had talent has always been known. Tonight was when all of it came to light, and Jemimah Rodrigues helped vanquish the world’s greatest-ever women’s cricket team. Coming into bat early on after Shafali Verma was dismissed, Jemi knew she had to stay on and play big. More so when Smriti Mandhana was caught down the leg side. It was Jemi who took on the role of senior partner in the run chase.…

As journalists, we are expected to be objective. And it is our job to be so. But on occasion, you find it really difficult to stay neutral and talk reason. Today is one such. Yes, Australia are the favourites. They are the best team in the world by a mile. But then, this is a one-off game. We all know what can happen in a one-off contest. Rain and inclement weather notwithstanding, India do have a chance. In 2017, it was Harmanpreet Kaur who made the unthinkable happen. In 2025, it is yet one more opportunity for her and the…

Between 7:30am and 9pm every day, the man is in the operation theatre conducting surgeries and saving lives. Away from the public glare, we don’t really know much about his daily routine. But the moment you ask the Indian sports ecosystem, players swear by him – he is their go-to man. Dinshaw Pardiwala is not just one of India’s best surgeons, he is also the miracle man of Indian sports. Because of medical confidentiality, there are things that can’t be disclosed in the public domain. That is only fair. Not being a medical expert, you always run a risk when…

Sport is cruel. Just when you think nothing can go wrong and the negativity is behind you, something happens that is least expected. That’s what transpired with Pratika Rawal against Bangladesh. She over ran the ball and then suffered that severe ankle sprain. It looked dire, and as she limped off, it was evident that her World Cup was over. With 308 runs, including a match-winning hundred against New Zealand, Pratika was a star for India in this competition. Against Australia in the pool stage, she played a very strong hand. To not have her in the semi-final is a…

As the dust settles on the ODI series and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli settle back in to more sedate lives away from the media glare, it is time to turn our attention to the T20 series, which starts on Wednesday in Canberra. With the T20 World Cup exactly three months away, this is India’s best chance to fine-tune and try out new things. Unlike competitions like the Asia Cup, where the pressure was high for off-field reasons, this is the best chance for Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir to take some bold calls. Take the case of Rinku Singh.…

Gautam Gambhir has got a lot of hate of late. If you are India’s head coach and you are feisty, you inevitably will. Ravi Shastri is the best case in point. While social media wasn’t what it is today, Shastri was social media’s favourite whipping boy for a large part of his tenure. At times, his success in Australia or elsewhere was overlooked and plenty was said and written. That wasn’t the case with Rahul Dravid, for his personality is such that he isn’t a Ravi or a Gautam. Even then, he did get some flak for his failures as…

I sound like a broken record every time I say retirement is a personal call. No one can tell someone else to retire. Each time I have said so, trolls have come and said ‘PR’, and that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should immediately retire. The truth is they are the ones to decide. The decision is theirs to put their names forward for selection. Entirely their decision. And then, it is on the selection committee and the management to drop them if they so wish. And as long as they perform and score runs, we all know what the…

In January, it was the very same Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Rohit Sharma was forced to drop himself from the team. Having spoken to him on India’s last practice day, his words still ring loud in my ears. It turned out to be the last time he played for India in whites. In the very same match, with Jasprit Bumrah walking off with an injury, Virat Kohli led the team only to see India lose the match and the series. Batting failures in both innings meant his last Test was little better than Rohit’s. For every Indian fan out there,…

It was his first tour to Australia in 2012, and Virat Kohli looked completely out of sorts in the first few games. In Perth, Australia, as they often do, had managed to get under his skin. Not able to handle the heckling, Kohli showed the middle finger to a particularly noisy section of the crowd after they called him a ‘wanker’. The anger (mis)management was a feature of early Kohli, and there were concerns that it would get in the way of a full blossoming of his talent. Much like Sachin Tendulkar in 1989, he was finding it hard. Sachin…

I had written back-to-back pieces last week backing Pratika Rawal. She was being unnecessarily trolled and abused, and it was clearly impacting her mental health. Against England, she looked under pressure and out of sorts. It was as if she was trying too hard. It meant the match against New Zealand was a huge test for her. A failure would have meant more trolls jumping in, and the young lady would have been pushed into a corner. Pratika was circumspect to start with – 6 off 18 balls, and it was evident that India were taking their time. Smriti Mandhana…