Author: Boria Majumdar

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…

Soon after East Bengal lost 1-2 to Kerala Blasters on Sunday night, a mini-mountain of abuse was directed at Anwar Ali. Not that I was surprised. But what made it further distasteful was that it did not stop with Anwar. People started abusing his family. His mother and wife, and everyone else, were also dragged in and the slurs kept piling up. It brought back unpleasant memories. And a sense of outrage. I know what it is like to be subjected to this kind of abuse. I know how it feels when your mother and wife and daughter are targeted…

For the longest time, I have heard that you can’t really go out and monetise Olympics and Paralympics coverage. More so for the Paralympics. No one is really interested, and hence brands don’t care. In my capacity as Sports Editor with news television networks in the past, this was always a problem that I had to negotiate and overcome. Most marketing departments would come back and say they weren’t able to sell the event, and as a result, there was no way one could send reporters to cover it. Without money coming in, money spent on coverage was considered a…

The final match had just ended, and that was when Dibyendu Barua, a dear friend and head of the Indian delegation in Budapest, messaged. “Do you want to speak to the women who just created history?” he asked. I had put in a request much earlier, hoping that history would be created, and that both the open and women’s teams would win gold in Budapest. At times, miracles happen and this was one such. “This is the start of India’s dominance in world chess,” said Dibyendu. It was exactly what Viswanathan Anand, the architect of this revolution, had said to…

India had lost the 2019 World Cup semi-final to New Zealand in Manchester, and there was doom and gloom all round. Sourav Ganguly and I went out to have a quiet dinner at an Indian restaurant, Ziya Grill on Curry Mile, and Ganguly said all of a sudden, “In the next 10 years, India’s real big star will be Rishabh Pant. You all are not seeing it today, but he is your next big star.” I have always respected Sourav’s understanding of the game and hence kept quiet. But at that point, there was little to back what he was…

I hadn’t met Ajay Jadeja in years. And yet, it was as easy as could be. Jadeja was relaxed and warm and the conversation got going within seconds. “I almost missed the flight from Delhi,” he said. “It was pouring. That’s why I just jumped out and got into the metro. You can reach the airport much faster that way in Delhi.” That was when the conversation turned to Afghanistan and his role during the 2023 World Cup. Gautam Bhattacharyya, who was with us, asked him why it was that he did not take money for the assignment. Jadeja, charming…

How good is Ravi Ashwin, and what keeps him going? Each time you speak to the man, two things stand out. His hunger and his commitment. He just loves the game. That’s really it. Ask him to play cricket with you on the terrace, and he will put his hand up. Ask him to play cricket at midnight, and he will be the first out there. Ask him to rescue India from a tricky situation, and he will do it time and again. A real legend of the game, what defines his cricket is his commitment. He just wants to…

As the India-Bangladesh series starts today, one of the main subplots that I am keen on is how the Indians tackle quality spin. India’s record against the turning ball in recent times isn’t great, and the Sri Lanka series in July was evidence that most of our leading batters struggle against quality spin. Unlike in the past when spin wasn’t an issue for the Indians, things have changed in recent times, and we have seen opposition spinners win Test matches in India. Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe and Tom Hartley have all done well for their teams on Indian soil, and…

It was a hostile crowd to start with. And the match was against the host nation in China. If anyone watched the game closely, he or she would agree that the umpiring left a lot to be desired. In fact, at one point India’s captain, Harmanpreet Singh, was so exasperated with the on-field umpire that he gestured to his players that the umpire was not able to comprehend, nor was he willing to listen! Whether it was bias or home pressure, we wouldn’t know. But the truth is the umpiring could have been better. And yet, at no point did…