Author: WebDesk

RevSportz Comment It’s difficult to imagine that two decades have flown by. For a younger generation, in an age when bilateral ODI series mean top players being rested and lukewarm interest, it’s next to impossible to understand just how much attention there was on India’s tour to Pakistan in 2004. The Sunday Times in London had an entire page of the sports section previewing the series. The following Sunday, another full page contained a match report from Karachi and a colour copy taking in the mood in India. Things were no different during the Test series that followed. One full…

RevSportz Comment There was a time when Phil Foden’s nickname, “Stockport Messi”, was used to mock him and Manchester City’s delusions of grandeur. Not any more. City are champions of Europe, and the world, and on course for an unprecedented fourth English title in succession. After the manner in which Manchester United were taken apart, despite Marcus Rashford giving them an early lead with an Exocet, you would find few arguments against City pulling that off, or Pep Guardiola’s assertion that Foden sets the standard for the rest of the league. “Absolutely not,” said Eric ten Hag, United’s manager, when…

RevSportz Comment This has been a long time coming, which seems a funny thing to say about a team that only played its first Test in May 2018, and which clinched its first win in the eighth match it played. India, for example, took 25 games to break their duck, while it took New Zealand 45 Tests. Compared to them, Ireland have got there at Usain Bolt pace. Yet, the feeling is of a team that international cricket has left behind. Afghanistan, and even the Netherlands, have won plenty of plaudits in recent years, and both pulled off noteworthy upsets…

You ask any Indian above the age of 35 which was the greatest Test series of all time, and the chances are that they won’t even need to think twice. England and Australia may point, with some justification, to the epic 2005 Ashes, but for those that follow Indian cricket, no experience will come close to Australia’s visit in 2000-01. Steve Waugh’s side were called The Invincibles for a reason, having racked up 15 Test wins on the bounce. That became 16 inside three days in Mumbai, despite Sachin Tendulkar playing two of the best knocks of his illustrious career.…

It’s the kind of ‘fact’ that is shared by casual football fans, the ones who wake up once in four years and realise that such a sport exists. They tend to be the harshest critics, because disparaging something is easy when you’re unaware of ground realities. But over the past couple of days, this pearl of wisdom has been shared by hundreds of thousands of Indian football fans. Ahead of Qatar and Jordan contesting the Asian Cup final on Saturday night, this nugget of trivia reminds us that in August 2018, India (96) were ranked higher than both countries. Now,…

The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey has emerged as FIFA’s choice to host the 2026 World Cup final. Dallas and Los Angeles had also lobbied hard for the honour, but the summit clash – scheduled for July 19, 2026 – will be played at the 82,500-capacity venue that is home to the National Football League’s Giants and Jets. Los Angeles, which hosted the 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, doesn’t even get a semi-final, but the USA will play their first match at the SoFi Stadium on June 12. The tournament, expanded to 48 teams divided into 12…

Practice session for the Indian football team. Credits ( Indian Football Team Twitter) Swapnil Mukherjee and Rahul Giri in Doha It will always be a source of great regret for Australian football fans that the team didn’t qualify for the World Cup at a time when the likes of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka – the best players they’ve ever produced – were in their prime. Had Australia been part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) back then, that team would have breezed through…

As VVS Laxman, who scripted some of Indian cricket’s most famous innings, turns 49, we look back on a career that melded amazing grace, precision strokeplay and incredible strength of will. It was also a reminder that nice guys really don’t finish last. They can be the best among us. Here, we look back at some of the epic innings he essayed down the years. 281 v Australia, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 2001 What is there left to say about this innings? India were so far behind in this match after three days that some in the commentary team, including the…

This clash between two teams in green pits one side riding the crest of a six-hitting wave with another who have just suffered the ignominy of a first defeat to Afghanistan. Pakistan and South Africa may both have begun the tournament with two straight wins, but the similarities end there. Victory at Chepauk will put South Africa one foot in the semi-final, while leaving only a Pakistani fingernail clinging on to the precipice. South Africa’s top six have blown the opposition away when batting first. In the final ten overs of innings, they’re racking up the kind of scores that…

Given how well India’s spin bowlers had performed in the first innings at Chepauk, Adam Zampa’s spell was always going to have a crucial bearing on the result. Given his outstanding record in India – 27 wickets in 16 previous games – and a slow, abrasive surface, there would have been more than a hint of nerves in the Indian dressing room. Though they had recovered from the depths of 2 for 3, a total of 56-3 after 17 overs suggested a game very much in the balance. A wicket or two then, and it could very much have been…