Author: Boria Majumdar

India Women may have beaten Pakistan, and done so comfortably in the end, but the truth is that the game has raised many more questions than answers. India were poor. With the bat and on the field, the effort was below par. The top order isn’t firing, and at times the strike-rate or the lack of intent is alarming. Against big teams – Australia, England, South Africa and the like – India will get caught out with an effort like this. Neither Smriti Mandhana nor Harmanpreet Kaur have fired yet, and unless they do so, the acceleration just doesn’t happen.…

Boria Majumdar Now that the dust has settled on the selection for the Australia series, it’s time to take a dispassionate look at things. Clearly, the transition in Indian cricket is on its way to being complete. Ajit Agarkar’s selection committee has gone about its job with a certain degree of ruthlessness, and while one can question the haste, the intent is to make sure the new captain has adequate time ahead of World Cup 2027 to fashion his own team. As far as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are concerned, I don’t see either of them playing on too…

Boria Majumdar “The captain is the least important person in the team,” he said. “No, not in terms of performance. When it comes to batting, you need to lead from the front. Set the tone. But on the field, the captain comes after all his players.” A very Rohit Sharma kind of statement, and one that sums up his cricket philosophy. Ask any member of the Indian team, and all of them would swear by their former skipper. They knew his door was always open. They knew they could confide in him, and that they had his backing. They knew…

Boria Majumdar It’s been a nightmarish couple of years for Mirabai Chanu, India’s greatest-ever weightlifter. Going into the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 as the Olympic silver medallist, she watched her medal hopes disappear because of a hip injury. A year later in Paris, her failure to lift more than 111kg in the Clean & Jerk allowed Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao to beat her to the bronze by 1kg. Given that she was 30 then, it was easy to write her off. But at the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships in Førde, Norway, Mirabai stormed back to take silver behind North Korea’s Ri Song-gum. In…

In normal circumstances, an India-Pakistan game in the women’s World Cup is a no-contest. India are miles ahead and the ODI record, 11-0, stands testimony. On the other hand, we have all the build-up from the Asia Cup, which has now been added to by the ‘Azad Kashmir’ comment from Sana Mir. In every sense, Colombo is waiting in anticipation for the next chapter of this drama. Multiple questions stare at us. What will happen off the field? Will there be two commentators at the toss speaking to the two captains, like Ait was in the Asia Cup final? Will…

It was early morning in Paris, or rather a little distance away from the city, and Mirabai Chanu and her coach Vijay Sharma had just finished the morning warm-up. They reached Paris on July 7, 2024 and used the week to get acclimatised to the weather and the conditions. The coach was extremely confident of his ward’s chances. At the same time, he wasn’t one bit complacent. Things did not fall into place in Paris, and Mira was subjected to a lot of trolling. And yet, she did not give up. At 31, to go back to the highest level…

Boria Majumdar In the last two weeks, a huge number of Pakistani influencers on X (formerly Twitter) have tried to engage with RevSportz team members, and made provocative comments. Interestingly, not once have I, for example, engaged with any one of their tweets. And yet, this trend continues. I call this the art of staying relevant. Much like the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President who decided to walk away with the trophy which his team wasn’t competent enough to win, these influencers need India to stay afloat. India, as I have said before, lives rent free in their heads and…

In what may yet be the biggest controversy to impact the ICC Women’s World Cup, a commentator used the words “Azad Kashmir” on air while trying to describe the background of a Pakistan batter. While it can’t be ascertained if it was deliberate or inadvertent, the truth is that it was completely out of bounds and an act of utter irresponsibility. Anyone with the microphone should know better, and realise and own what they are saying. To disrespect millions of people is not acceptable, and the ICC must act. The issue has already blown up on social media, with Indians…

For years, India versus Pakistan was a tense affair. And yet, it was a cricketing rivalry. There were great duels – Sachin Tendulkar against Wasim Akram or Shoaib Akhtar, for example – and whoever won became a national hero. But all of this was limited to cricket. Yes, the army jawans would celebrate a victory, but never did that take centre stage. The Asia Cup has changed it all. India-Pakistan is no longer a cricket match. It has turned into something very different, and in the process, the sport has lost out. Let’s not get into the rights and wrongs.…

Boria Majumdar I write this with India Women just having won their first World Cup game against Sri Lanka. While it was a modest start at best, in normal circumstances, a tricky game against Sri Lanka would have helped India get into groove. Pakistan, the next opponent, aren’t a serious challenger, and India would have experimented with a series of tough games to follow. Not now. Not anymore. The India-Pakistan game in Colombo will not be another cricket match. It will be a continuation of the Asia Cup, and the only thing that changes is the gender. From men to…