Author: Boria Majumdar

India start their Super Eights campaign on June 20 against Afghanistan. And that’s what prompted the thought. Could 2024 be Afghanistan’s 1983? Can Rashid Khan and the boys go all the way, where it all started for them back in 2010? I remember covering the Afghanistan-India game in the Caribbean in 2010. There was a certain curiosity about the Afghans. Insurgency or sport was the choice for many. They had chosen sport, and the rest was history. Since then, many like Rashid has gone on to become role models. They are superstars and play T20 cricket all around the world…

When a team loses, heads roll. Often, captain and coach both pay the price. Players are dropped, and their careers come to an end. But what about administrators? If you destroy a World Cup and a bridgehead into a potentially huge new market, what about accountability? Will someone take ownership, and put in their papers? Let’s face it – the US cricket experience has gone south, and badly so. What had started as a major opportunity to make inroads into a new market ended up being a complete damp squib. The pitches were bad, the outfield poor, and drainage pathetic.…

First, it was 10:30am, then 11:30am, 12:30pm and 1:15pm . After four inspections, no decision was taken and then there was an announcement about lightning. So, despite there being no rain in Florida for four hours, the outfield wasn’t made ready for play. There are two possible explanations here: the groundsmen and women weren’t good enough. And two, the organisers should have covered the entire ground knowing full well that the drainage was bad. This is a World Cup, and the match had huge significance for Pakistan. For a change, imagine this was India, and something similar had happened. All…

The New York leg of the T20 World Cup is over and the Nassau County Stadium is being dismantled. Rather, it has been. So how does one rate this leg of the competition? Was it a success and did cricket make serious inroads into the US mind space as it was hoped? Was it a partial success – building the stadium in 106 days, for example, was a real achievement and surely the ICC deserves praise. But what about the pitch and the outfield? Were they of a standard befitting the World Cup? Was security over the top and did…

I have known Igor Stimac well for a while now, having done a number of interviews with him as well. He always speaks his mind and is someone who looks at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. Last night was different. Stimac sounded lost, like someone who was on the verge of a meltdown. Angry, frustrated, disappointed and upset – all rolled into one. He had just finished the press conference, and we had a fairly detailed chat on what had transpired. Excerpts from the conversation: Boria: Your first reaction to what happened. For us, it was day lightrobbery.…

Team India’s dream of qualifying for the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the first time was demolished as Qatar defeated them 2-1. However, it was the controversial decision regarding the home team’s first goal in the 73rd minute that made headlines. Indian fans were left shocked as the ball appeared to have gone out of play after Gurpreet had saved a header from Aymen. Despite this, the whistle did not come, and Al Hassan pulled the ball back into play and passed it to Aymen, who put it into the net. Despite several replays, the referee…

Shivam Dube is in the firing line. Despite India’s win, Dube has got enough and more flak in the last couple of days. First things first – the catch he dropped off Mohammad Rizwan was a sitter. He did not have to move, and it just went in and out. Had Rizwan won the match for Pakistan, the dropped catch could well have been the talking point for the next few days. With the bat too, he hasn’t been able to deliver yet. And many have asked why he is in the team ahead of Rinku Singh if he isn’t…

The 21 medals at the Asian Games last year, including seven golds, were a sign that Indian shooting was on a steep upward climb after a lull of a few years. And it wasn’t a one-off. As many as 21 Olympic quotas, the highest that India has managed, has raised hopes. With the shooters doing consistently well in international competitions, the optimism isn’t unfounded. Yes, many will say shooting was built up in a big way ahead of Rio and Tokyo, and it all came crashing down as the pressure mounted on the young shooters. They are right to be…

Pathetic. That was the word Wasim Akram had used for Pakistan after they lost to the USA. I wonder what word he or anyone would use after Sunday night. Every adjective would actually fall short in describing how limp Pakistan were. I had predicted a Pakistan win soon after Babar Azam won the toss. On a wicket where batting was hugely difficult, the toss was always expected to play a major role. And it did. India, despite a very good start, folded for 119, a total most good teams would be expected to overhaul. Pakistan could assess the situation and…

It was two hours after the India-Pakistan World Cup match had ended on June 16, 2019, and the Curry Mile in Manchester was a sight to behold. One side of the road was dark, and all the Pakistani restaurants looked deserted. On the other side, every Indian restaurant was full and every possible dance form conceivable could be glimpsed. People were dancing to the dhol, and the bhangra was impromptu and full of energy. The tricolour was everywhere and the party had just begun. India had once more beaten Pakistan in a World Cup encounter, and yet again, it was…