Author: Boria Majumdar

Mahatma Gandhi and cricket sounds a bit odd to begin with. The Mahatma, never really of any keen athletic disposition, trying his hand at what was a colonial import to keep the empire together wasn’t the most logical thing. Yet, he did have his run-ins with the gentleman’s game from time to time, eventually playing a serious hand in the discontinuance of the Bombay Pentangular tournament, colonial India’s version of the commercially lucrative IPL. Kausik Bandyopadhyay in his work, Mahatma on the Pitch, says it nicely, “It is interesting to explore the illusions of a sporting Gandhi, who played little…

Almost every day during the last week, we have seen a press release issued by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Either, it is issued by PT Usha, its president, or by some member of the Executive body opposed to her at the moment. I am not going into the merits of who is right or who is wrong. The fact is, it doesn’t really matter because the end result is India cutting a very sorry figure in front of the world. That there is no love lost between the president and her team is known. That there is disunity is…

Indian chess is at an all-time high, and there is much interest in the sport across the country at the moment. With the Global Chess League (GCL) round the corner and Gukesh Dommaraju involved in a World Championship title clash in exactly a month and a half, interest is all set to be sustained and even peak over the next few weeks. Speaking to RevSportz, R Praggnanandhaa, a key member of the gold-medal-winning team at the Chess Olympiad, made a huge statement, which should come as music to the ears of every Indian chess fan. He not only backed Gukesh…

In the latest no-holds-barred episode of Backstage with Boria, RevSportz’s editor-in-chief talks to Lalit Modi, the architect of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the recent developments with The Hundred in England. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have spoken of tremendous interest from Indian investors, but Modi, who says he backed out of negotiations earlier, opens about with typical candour about how the numbers just don’t add up. Excerpts: You said the ECB’s sale of The Hundred is much like a Ponzi scheme. Why did you use such harsh words? Look at the last scheme they put out…

There is a liar masquerading as a super fan, and his name is Tiger Robi. He lied the day before yesterday, saying he was assaulted in Kanpur. When his falsehoods were exposed by the police and hospital authorities who conducted all tests on him, he conveniently changed the narrative to him “feeling unwell and dehydrated”. I have since read a number of his Facebook posts. He has a follower base of 1.3 million, which makes him an influencer of some sort. And let me state this – he is a peddler of hate. He provokes fans and says a lot…

The best teams adapt to different situations, and that’s what makes them great. May I say that’s what this Indian team is all about. For the longest time, it was a given that India would go in with three spinners on home soil. The fast bowlers would bowl a few overs, and then the likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would take over. Add Kuldeep Yadav to the mix, and it is a lethal threesome. At home, this was the template. So much so that even the likes of Jasprit Bumrah could be rested. What is also important to…

Shakib Al Hasan is Bangladesh’s greatest ever cricketer. But as he calls it a day, the question is how he will be remembered, Will his politics come in the way, and will he have to live elsewhere with what is going on back home in Bangladesh? Or will the current political dispensation be kind and reasonable enough to give him the farewell he deserves? Shakib isn’t the most endearing personality. He isn’t Mashtafe Mortaza, for example. He is elite, and a star who was always a cut above the rest. Be it in his 7500 runs in 50-over cricket or…

There was a news item published in national dailies on Wednesday which said Vinesh Phogat had been served a whereabouts violation notice by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). She apparently violated the clause in early September by not being at home in Sonipat. From what we know, Vinesh is now a retired athlete. She is an active politician and is diligently campaigning in Haryana with elections round the corner. While her name could well be in NADA’s Registered Testing Protocol as an elite athlete, many on social media wondered if that was even logical. Does she even care or…

The Indian team led by Harmanpreet Kaur is finally in Dubai for the T20 World Cup. May I say it is the most important tournament that Harmanpreet has ever led the team to. At home, the sport has momentum and with the Women’s Premier League (WPL), giant strides have been taken. Internationally, however, the Indian women’s game needs its 1983 moment. And for Harman, more so. Make no mistake, she is capable. Under her, India have come close. But it is one thing to come close and a very different thing to cross the line. South Africa’s men came close…

Now that the dust is starting to settle on India’s gold-medal-winning efforts in the Chess Olympiad, I think it is time to speak about my exchange with Viswanathan Anand on the day of the final round of games. In fact, the previous afternoon I had spoken to him and requested him for an interview at the end of the competition. Anand has been a friend for years, and he readily agreed. What he said was that he would send me a detailed video the moment the final round of games were done, as he wasn’t sure if he would be…