Author: Joydeep Mukherjee

Every Indian is seething. This is an insult. How can we capitulate so meekly? There wasn’t even a semblance of a fight or a contest. Once the dust settles, let’s try and decode this. South Africa is one of the toughest places to play cricket. If England has a seam and Australia bounce, South Africa dishes out both, as was apparent at Centurion. Could we have gone earlier and got used to the conditions? Yes, we could have, maybe had another inter-squad match. But, how do you replicate the pace, bounce and importantly, the accuracy and relentlessness of the attack?…

It’s haemorrhaged runs in this T20I series against Australia. It just seems like, after the more conventional 50-over format, the dam has broken. The batters seemed to have had enough and have thrown caution to the wind. So what has changed in a matter of less than a week. And against a similar sort of opposition, on pitches that haven’t been altered? Let’s deep-dive into the possible reasons. Both the teams are at about 50 per cent capacity, and rightly so. After a long and gruelling World Cup, the seniors needed a break, more mentally than physically. Australia have felt…

Have we ever let anyone down? I have many times. India’s cricketers did not let anyone down. They did their best but Australia were better. We need to learn to live with that, or not watch sport. We are all hurting and so we should. It is meant to hurt. We did the same to West Indies in 1983 and to Sri Lanka in 2011. Sport is meant to give you pain, as much as it brings us joy. And for me, the sun has come out and the hurt will get less and less with every passing day. And…

Six men in the likely starting 11 for the men in blue were not a part of the side that took the field at Old Trafford four years ago, when India’s hopes of winning another World Cup were crushed within the first Powerplay of the run chase. Whether there will be redemption or payback, only time will tell. Do the players remember that game? Of course they do. But in my opinion, a lot of water has flown under the bridge for both teams – four years, after all, is a long time. What will be uppermost in the minds…

A top-of-the-table clash is always a mouth-watering prospect, especially when both teams have qualified for the playoffs. It then becomes showtime, and an opportunity for both sides to justify why they are where they are. This game at Eden Gardens was meant to be all of this. For me, the way Rohit Sharma started for India was the most telling statement, and one that had a huge bearing on the game. He got 40 off 24 balls, but the manner in which he got those runs broke South Africa’s rhythm and shredded any plans that they had in place. Virat Kohli…

There are some sportsmen in the world for whom one does not need a time, place or period to talk or write about. In the modern era, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic fit that bill, as do Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo in football. Virat Kohli certainly belongs in that league of legends. The first time I saw him bat, live, was in a game between Delhi and Railways. The year must have been 2009. I was doing some scouting for the Kolkata Knight Riders, apart from being a member of the coaching staff at the time.…

There is never a bad time to write about some people. Let me try and rephrase that. Some players are so special that any time is a great time to write on what they bring to the game. That breed is rare, and rightly so, part of an elite club that you can enter only by virtue of performances that stand the test of time. A recent entrant to this club is Mohammed Shami, and I have had had the privilege of knowing him from a fairly young age. Club cricket in Bengal has attracted players from all over the…

A top-of-the-table clash in the group stage is always a mouth-watering contest, without the pressure of being ousted from the tournament. The psychological edge going into the playoffs, and the bragging rights of staying undefeated, are up for grabs. But once the knockout games begin, none of this will have any bearing. It will be down to who handles the pressure better while executing their full skillset. In the past, some have succumbed to this. Suddenly, the body gets tighter and the brain fuzzier. This is where the been-there-and-done-it players generally come out on top, for they are more used to…

I was 19 when I played a final for Mohammedan Sporting (Dhaka) against Abahani. I’d been to Eden Gardens many times as a spectator, but never before had I seen such a big crowd while looking around from mid-pitch. It was almost numbing. That was at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, and it’s no exaggeration at all to say that it was Bangladesh’s equivalent of Mohun Bagan against East Bengal. In those days, their club cricket was super competitive, and it wasn’t uncommon for crowds of 50,000 to flock to such games. Pakistani stars like Wasim Akram would fly in just…

At 155-2 in the 30th over, with Babar Azam on 50 and Muhammad Rizwan on 47, India could see the writing on the wall. It didn’t make for happy reading – a total of 280-plus for sure, and maybe even in excess of 300. Mohammed Siraj, who had had a quiet start to the competition, was taken for two fours in the first over of his second spell, but perhaps purely because of instinct, Rohit Sharma kept him on. It was the kind of scenario that Babar feeds on. Take your time, get set and then make the opponents pay.…