Author: Boria Majumdar

Though he had shone at the national level, few outside the athletics world had heard of Kishore Jena before his stunning fifth-place finish at the World Championships in Budapest last August. Soon after, the son of paddy farmers from Odisha improved his personal best by almost three metres while pushing Neeraj Chopra to the limit at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. In this exclusive chat with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, Jena spoke of how last season’s feats are just the beginning. Excerpts: Boria: In 2023, you achieved a lot, broke records, set a personal best, won medals. At the start…

Rashid Khan had just dropped a catch off Noor Ahmed. Even before he could look up to his captain, Shubman Gill was there to give Rashid a pat on the back. Intense and involved, Gill as captain has been excellent to watch. He has pushed his own fielding a couple of notches higher, and taken to captaincy as if it was waiting to happen. Body language is most important, and that’s where Gill radiates confidence. He has been a bowlers’ captain, and at no point has he been hands off. Just after Darshan Nalkande was smashed for two sixes by…

Catches win matches is one of the oldest sayings in cricket. It was proved right again in Lucknow on Sunday night. Gujarat Titans were cruising in the powerplay, and with 164 the target, Lucknow Super Giants seemed to have a tall ask against the likes of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan. It was more so when Mayank Yadav, the star of the IPL so far, walked out as a precautionary measure. A bowler short, Lucknow needed a miracle. After Yash Thakur cleaned up Gill with a peach, Kane Williamson walked out for Gujarat. In a relatively small chase, Williamson is…

Yet another RCB outing, and one more excellent innings from Virat Kohli. Not just the volume of runs scored, but also the manner in which he got them was evidence that Kohli is in excellent form. Let’s state this clearly. Kohli is batting extremely well, and his record in World Cups and big games should settle the selection debate once and for all. How can you look beyond someone who is batting this well and is also a gem of a fielder? Also, his record in big games like Pakistan is unmatched. And yet, there has been a lot of…

Mirabai Chanu won silver in the 49kg women’s weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics. But the years since have not been easy ones. There was another silver at the World Championships in Bogota in 2022, and gold in the Commonwealth Games the same year, but the Asian Games medal she covets continued to be elusive after a thigh injury saw her limp off the stage in Hangzhou. After months of recovery, Mirabai, who turns 30 in August, is on the comeback trail. In this exclusive interview, she and Vijay Sharma, the national weightlifting coach, spoke to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, about…

With HS Prannoy struggling because of health issues, Lakshya Sen has taken up the mantle for Indian badminton in the men’s singles in recent weeks. His displays in Paris and at the All England – he got to the semi-finals in both events – have rekindled hopes that he could cause an upset or heree at the Paris Olympics. With Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar in his corner, Lakshya is confident of building on these big strides. In this exclusive chat with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, he spoke of his All England disappointment, and his hopes for the Thomas Cup…

At 153-6, few gave Punjab Kings a chance, with two overs from Mohit Sharma still left. Also, it was the great Rashid Khan who was bowling the 17th over. Against such an attack, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, the impact sub, had a mountain to climb. It was the same Shashank whom Punjab had bid for and then wanted to cancel the deal. Eventually, after a social media backlash, they had to release a statement which said, “Punjab Kings would like to clarify that Shashank Singh was always on our target list. The confusion was due to two players of…

After a stellar year in 2023, when he established himself in the top 10 of badminton’s men’s singles rankings, HS Prannoy has endured a very tough start to 2024. Though he has clinched qualification for the Paris Olympics in July-August, persistent ill-health has hampered his progress this year. As he and his support team work to find a solution, Prannoy spoke to Boria Majumdar, editor-in-chief of RevSportz, about the crucial months that lie ahead, and in particular the defence of the Thomas Cup and the quest for an Olympic medal. Excerpts: Boria: Olympic Qualification is finally done! It was expected,…

It was in late January that I got a call from Sanjeev Goenka, who sounded excited. Anyone who knows him will know he isn’t one to get animated easily. “Mayank Yadav is clocking 150kmph regularly,” he told me. Before I could even understand where he was headed and what he was saying, he added, “He will be our X-factor in the IPL.” While I found the conversation interesting, I did not do anything about it. There was no way to find out who had informed Goenka about it, and without first-hand information it wouldn’t be fair to do the story.…

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, and 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 he did come back last season. Showed what…