Author: Boria Majumdar

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…

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…