Author: Boria Majumdar

It was a slow and painful death. Yes, Indian men’s football is dead. The Ashes can be flown into the Arabian Sea. As a follower, it was agonising. 11 corners and nothing. No ideas, no innovation and pathetic defending. The Lallianzuala Chhangte strike was fantastic and thereafter it was all downhill. To imagine Anwar Ali and Rahul Bheke are the best we have. To imagine we need Sunil Chhetri who is a pale shadow of what he was. This is a team with no future. No Khalid Jamil or for that matter any coach can do a thing. Let’s all…

Boria Majumdar We often think that matches are won by teams that have talent. Or rather, a bunch of talented players. The truth is that matches are also won by using common sense, and talent is not always enough. The Indian team under Harmanpreet Kaur certainly has the talent to go the distance. Australia and South Africa are two of the best teams in the tournament, and both were games India could have won. They did not. And it’s not because they don’t have the talent. Rather, they lacked the common sense to do the basics right. It doesn’t take…

Boria Majumdar It is said that if one wants something really badly, one does get it. Kuldeep Yadav would have wanted that five-for more and more after missing out on the entire Test series in England. His last five-wicket haul was in March 2024, 18 months ago. But in those 18 months, he has just played two Test matches for India. That’s what shows the temperament of the man. He misses out each time India opt to strengthen the batting. It happened five consecutive times in England, and almost happened in Ahmedabad. And yet, he does not complain. He stays…

Boria Majumdar Over a glittering career that encompassed four Olympic Games, nine golds, and a further eight at the World Championships, Carl Lewis was the most charismatic and celebrated athlete of his time. In this exclusive chat with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, he explains why India should bid for the Olympics, what made the long jump the hardest event, and why he feels it will be next to impossible to emulate a Jesse Owens, or himself, in the future. Boria: What is the responsibility that you carry being Carl Lewis? Lewis: It’s an interesting question. Everything happened to…

Boria Majumdar Sport is defined by an obsession with excellence. To push the bar each time you take the field. And each time you fail, you go back to the drawing board and come back better and stronger. That’s what the quest for perfection is all about. Let me also say this – no one is perfect. No day is ever perfect, and the quest is always to be perfect on an imperfect day. Shubman Gill is the best example of this. He didn’t score a hundred in the first Test of this series. He was determined to go big…

It was the very last part of the Sport, Business and Society conference at IIM Indore and we were announcing the names of the award winners — men and women who had submitted fantastic, full papers well before the deadline. Generous cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 had been handed over to our third and second-placed participants, when Professor Himanshu Rai, Director of IIM Indore, stepped up to announce the name of the winner of the first prize of Rs 1 lakh. It was Professor Supriya from Ajmer and soon after the announcement, she broke down in tears.…

Yashasvi Jaiswal is all about hunger. For big runs and daddy hundreds. Someone who many believed wasn’t a Test match player has proven everyone wrong. Centuries in Australia and England and a couple of doubles at home, Jaiswal, at a tender age, has done things that many do not in entire careers. The reason behind this is his craving for runs. On occasions that he gets in, he makes things count. Tremendous powers of concentration, superb temperament and a deep desire to make the format his own has made Jaiswal stand out in the last two years. If things go…

Boria Majumdar Mental Health. Heavy words. As if it isn’t normal to have a mental-health issue. It is as if a person is weak. How can someone mentally fragile play sport, and how can he or she be successful? Every person has his or her vulnerabilities. And it is perfectly normal. Imagine the kind of mental pressure a Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma will be under when they play Australia on October 19. But then, is it wrong for Rohit or Kohli to feel that apprehension? Isn’t it normal to be anxious, to feel the nervous energy? What’s the issue…

Harshit Rana was the toast of millions of Indians after Perth in December 2024. His aggression, hit-the-deck bowling, the first innings ball to get Travis Head – his selection was considered a masterstroke. Now, Harshit is in the doghouse. Apparently, he is a “quota” selection based on Gautam Gambhir’s KKR connection. He is the favourite whipping boy, the subject of many memes and downright abuse. Check social media, and you will see what I am referring to. This is no defence of Harshit. He isn’t my relative, and the truth is I don’t even know the man well. Yes, I…

Shubman Gill’s career is on the fast lane. Are the selectors investing too much in him, or is there a proper plan behind the decisions being taken? Leaving the social media narrative aside, which is completely polarised, it does seem that the selectors are acting to a plan. Had that not been the case, they would have made him ODI captain in May itself while announcing him as the Test match leader. They did not. In fact, they wanted to check how he did as red-ball captain and if he was capable of taking the pressure. Could he score in…