Author: Boria Majumdar

Three seasons and three Playoff appearances, twice with LSG and now with KKR he has gone one step further. There is definitely something that Gautam Gambhir does right. No Phil Salt at the top of the batting order did not matter. Mitch Starc was not firing in the group stage, it did not matter. He came out all guns blazing on Tuesday night against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad in IPL 2024. KKR will fire is what GG will say and keeps reminding us that cricket is a team sport even as many are always obsessed with individuals. You will never…

It has now been a month since Banned: A social media trial was launched. And, may I say, the feedback and response from all over has been overwhelming. The truth is finally out there, and most importantly, my readers now know it all. The two questions that I have been asked multiple times in the course of conversations on the book are as follows: How did I or the family survive the trauma and the abuse? And second, what helped me to get through it all, and how can I now help others who go through similar situations? Both these…

Sport is all about handling pressure. Soak in it, and deliver. Absorb it and make it work to your advantage. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) did exactly that in the last six games as they believed in the fairy tale. By not giving up and taking it step by step, they have now opened things up for themselves and their fans, and are on the cusp of history. Their women did it a month and a half back. Now, if the men’s team can follow suit, it will be a season like no other. But the RCB story isn’t the subject…

Yash Dayal is a case study of resilience and determination. To make it back after what he went through last year couldn’t have been easy. Five sixes conceded to Rinku Singh, and he was the favourite whipping boy of social-media trolls. The subject of memes, he was mocked for days and weeks. No one cared for his mental health, or that he was a youngster. He lost weight and was depressed. Many felt his IPL was perhaps over, and it would take him months and years to get back to the game. But how he came back last night! Against…

There are games and then there are mega contests, in sports. Between teams, or in this case, between individuals. Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal, Federer versus Novak Djokovic in tennis, Mohammad Ali versus Joe Frazier in boxing, Yazdani versus David Taylor in wrestling, Neeraj Chopra taking on Jakub in javelin and so on. Each of these contests assume the status of a cult over a period of time. You don’t want either gladiator to lose. Each has enriched sport for years and each has a legion of fans who will forever be with their superhero. To see one of them…

The selection of the Indian table tennis team for the Paris 2024 Olympics has raised a lot of eyebrows. No Ayhika Mukherjee and no Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (both will travel as alternate players) in the list has compelled many to term the selection unfair. Subramanyan Raman, former head coach who led the team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the subsequent World Championships, spoke to Boria Majumdar on the issue and raised some serious questions about the selection. Boria: No Ayhika despite beating the Chinese world No. 1 two months back. How do you see this selection? Raman: I am surprised…

At the business end of an IPL tournament, most of the games would have some relevance attached to them. However, that won’t be the case when the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 17. It is true that LSG are on 12 points and victory would take them to 14. Unfortunately, their net run-rate of -0.787 is nowhere near as good as that maintained by their competitors – Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings. In fact, it is even worse than that of Delhi Capitals. In such circumstances, the focus shifts to…

Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan were teammates with the Indian national team for over a decade. They also played alongside each other at Bengaluru FC. After Chhetri announced that the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait would be his last game for the Blue Tigers, Jhingan spoke to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, about how much his captain would be missed, and of the legacy he leaves behind. Boria: I have done many interviews with Sandesh Jhingan. I want to put that on record first. But this is very different. So firstly, grateful, Sandesh, for joining me. When was the first time…

He is clearly one of the greatest footballers to have played for India. Statesman and captain, Sunil Chhetri was once frustrated when he was forced to sit out a match against Qatar in Doha because of an injury. The reason, he has always primed himself on being one of the fittest players in the team. He had once said to me, “I know I am not as talented as Messi or Ronaldo but what stops me from working as hard as them and if not harder. That is in my control and I can certainly do it”. Sunil then went…

On my show, 5@5, one of my viewers asked yesterday if Gautam Gambhir would make a good India coach. It was an interesting suggestion, and got me thinking. Gautam has done brilliantly as mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders, and a large part of the credit for KKR’s stellar run in the IPL this season is being attributed to him. As mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he had steered the team to two consecutive play-off appearances, something they have missed out on this season despite being in a very good position a week or so ago. So, in terms…