Author: Boria Majumdar

Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the legendary spinners that India has produced, especially in the red-ball format. Currently, he is currently busy playing in the TNPL, but ahead of that tournament, he opened up in a candid chat with RevSportz’s Editor-in-chief, Boria Majumdar. In this special episode of the Backstage with Boria, Ashwin’s book, ‘I HAVE THE STREETS; A KUTTY CRICKET STORY’ is celebrated as the off-spinner shared some untold stories along with his ways of overcoming continuous challenges, equation with Sachin Tendulkar, Mankading and a lot more. Boria: What does cricket mean to you? Not only you, to your…

Today, MS Dhoni celebrates his 43rdbirthday and his contribution to Indian cricket, especially as a leader, is just next to none. Ravichandran Ashwin has seen a lot of Dhoni’s career. In the Indian Premier League and as well as a part of the Indian team, they won major tournaments together. In this special episode of Backstage with Boria, while celebrating the off-spinner’s newly written book ‘I HAVE THE STREETS; THE KUTTY STORIES’, Ashwin shares his bond with Dhoni with Boria Majumdar. Boria: You and Dhoni had to be a very local Madrasi love affair. Tell me about that. Ashwin: I…

When Avesh Khan hit the full toss to Sikandar Raza at long off, the Zimbabwe captain couldn’t believe his luck. It was the decisive eighth wicket and from there on Zimbabwe couldn’t lose. Having failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup after losing to Uganda, this was something Zimbabwe cricket very badly needed. The few thousand present at the Harare Sports Club had found voice and cricket, and it yet again, proved why cricket is such a great leveller. Had India won the game, it would be considered routine. So, what, if the seniors haven’t travelled. This team still…

The Indian hockey team travels to Switzerland for a three-week camp before the much-awaited Paris Olympics as a part of the preparation. After their success in the Tokyo Olympics, expectations are really high this time around. In this ‘Trailblazers’ episode, coach Craig Fulton and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh open up about their preparation, their ways of handling and much more ahead of the Paris Olympics in an exclusive chat with RevSportz Editor-in-chief Boria Majumdar. Boria: Paris will be pressure, how are you looking at it? Fulton: Fortunately, we still got a bit of time. It is an exciting time to be…

Now that the dust has settled on the T20 World Cup celebrations, it is time to reflect on what has been a heady week. First, the visuals from Mumbai and Delhi were a story of incredible India. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli dancing at the Wankhede is not something you see every day, and it has left a mark on all our minds. It is why you watch and write about cricket, and frankly it is what the sport is all about. As true devotees, they deserved their moment. And so did the fans. But that’s not the point of…

The similarities were uncanny. As we witnessed the scenes in Mumbai last evening, snapshots that will forever be etched in fans’ memories, one was forced to go back to 1971, the first time such a parade was witnessed in the history of Indian cricket. And interestingly, it was for the team that had beaten West Indies in the West Indies and travelled back to India from the Caribbean – much like Rohit Sharma’s World Cup-winning brigade did from Barbados. Back in 1971, it was initially decided to offer a simple welcome to the team members at the airport, for they…

While the victorious Indian team left Barbados for New Delhi, and landed in India just before you read this, one man left for Harare to join the squad touring Zimbabwe. Rinku Singh, on a mission, will want to make a fresh start and a statement. Rinku wouldn’t know why he wasn’t part of the team. He wouldn’t know what more he needed to do to make the side as a finisher. But what he will know is that there is no room to sulk. He needs to pick himself up and move on. Shivam Dube, despite his final heroics, didn’t…

It was 130am IST time when Suryakumar Yadav messaged me. I had sent him an Oped piece I had done for ET and it was titled, “Anatomy of a Catch.” His message was funny. It read, “Arre apne itna bara piece likh diya hai! Par who catch ekdom jam gaya hai kya kehte ho”. Very Surya. Witty, funny, passionate and a friend. I asked him if he’d want to talk a little more in detail about the catch, about Rohit Sharma as leader and Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid. My questions were overflowing. Surya, as always, was forthcoming. I hadn’t…

We were in the commentary box in Dubai in November 2021 when news came in that Rahul Dravid had been formally appointed head coach of the Indian cricket team. Sir Clive Lloyd, one of the greatest captains the sport has seen, was on the microphone with me at the time. Soon after I had finished reading out Dravid’s quote, Sir Clive burst out in excitement, “Rahul Dravid will be a very successful head coach for India. Someone who has scored 13,000 Test runs will have the respect in the dressing room to tell anyone where they are going wrong. His…

Today is World Sports Journalists Day. All that needs to be said is that it is a very small fraternity. And yet, a deeply divided one. While there will be competition and it is only natural, we need to be united and back each other up. There is a larger cause – to document stories that inspire millions. While we compete, we must also have each other’s back. Else, we will all lose out. The entire fraternity is discriminated against at every level. By news editors and political editors who always claim the cherry – once there is a significant…