Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai The BCCI’s Annual General Meeting here in Mumbai on Sunday will have a touch of history. For the first time, an official from Jammu and Kashmir is going to helm Indian cricket. Mithun Manhas played for Delhi, turning up in 157 first-class matches and 130 List A games. But the 45-year-old, who was born in Jammu, will represent the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) at the AGM. Farooq Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, used to be an important player in the BCCI politics during his heydays. But Manhas becoming the cricket…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai A double whammy for PBG Alaskan Knights, as they snapped up world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi at a high-stakes player draft in Mumbai on Friday. It set the stage for Season 3 of the Global Chess League (GCL), a joint initiative between Tech Mahindra and FIDE. Wesley So, who would be making his debut in the GCL, triggered a fierce bidding battle before joining upGrad Mumba Masters, as six franchises built their squads for the new season. Alpine SG Pipers roped in Fabiano Caruana, while five-time world champion Viswansthan Anand continued to be with Ganges…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai Jasprit Bumrah has aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Mohammad Kaif after the former India batter filed a post on social media on the way the fast bowler is being used at the ongoing Asia Cup. Bumrah has shot down the perception that his usage is related to his injury management. “Bumrah under Rohit would generally bowl overs 1, 13, 17, 19,” wrote Kaif on his X (formerly Twitter) handle. “Under Surya, in Asia Cup, he bowled a three-overs (sic) spell at the start. To avoid injury, Bumrah these days prefers to bowl while his body is warmed…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai Is Shreyas Iyer injured? According to a media report, the Mumbai batsman has written an email to the BCCI, informing that he will be “taking a break from red-ball cricket” for the time being to address his long-standing back issue. No way is this correspondent questioning the veracity of the report. But no confirmation has come yet from the BCCI, with the Indian squad for the two-Test home series against the West Indies set to be picked on Wednesday. This has come on the heels of Shreyas pulling out of the second multi-day game for India A…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai It’s only a week to go for the ICC Women’s World Cup to commence. India will start their campaign against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on September 30, and they will be one of the tournament favourites on their home patch. Then again, there is Australia, India’s bogey team. In a recently concluded three-match ODI series, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co lost to the Aussies 2-1. Can they get past their nemesis and go the distance at the World Cup? Cheteshwar Pujara was in Mumbai on Tuesday to promote pickleball on behalf of The PHorce Club. Cricket questions, especially…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai It could be a virtual shootout between Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal for a middle-order spot, as the selectors pick a 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming two-Test series against West Indies on Wednesday. The selection meeting is likely to take place online, and it is learnt that Shreyas and Padikkal are in the fray at the expense of Karun Nair. The series starts in Ahmedabad on October 2. Padikkal has runs in red-ball cricket under his belt, being fresh off a 150 for India A in the first multi-day match of ongoing series against Australia A.…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai Usain Bolt will play football in Mumbai on October 1. The eight-time Olympic gold medallist, the greatest sprinter in the history of the sport, is coming here as PUMA brand ambassador, and will trade his running spikes for a football. Bolt will play one half each for Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC. Beyond the track, Bolt is a football nerd, an unabashed admirer of Manchester United. After retiring from athletics, he carried a dream of appearing for trials at Carrington which didn’t materialise. But the Jamaican legend had trials at other clubs, in Europe (Borussia Dortmund,…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai Loaded Guns can be attractive. This is metaphorical, inspired by the Hollywood action thriller released in the 1970s. Trust me, Ursula Andress as Nora Green will woo you a hundred times more than Sahibzada Farhan and his unloaded willow, with the bat handle pointing towards himself. Egged on by the Pakistan opener, war lingo wouldn’t be out of place here. It wasn’t kamikaze, rather hara-kiri. Farhan stunk the place out with his ‘gun’ celebration but, more importantly, from Pakistan’s point of view, he lost focus and got out soon after completing his half-century. Things were nicely…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai The BCCI have probably dropped a major hint about the team composition, and captaincy, for the three-match ODI series in Australia. Video footage shared by the BCCI on their X (formerly Twitter) handle showed Rohit Sharma having a joint session with KL Rahul at the cricket board’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bangalore. The post read: “As part of their preparation for the upcoming assignments, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul trained at the BCCI Centre Of Excellence focusing on skills and strength training.” It added: “Both players simulated the different conditions on offer at the CoE during…

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai If things go to plan, Mithun Manhas would be the next BCCI president at the cricket board’s Annual General Meeting on September 28. RevSportz understands that Manhas, a domestic cricket stalwart, will file his nomination on Sunday. He will represent the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association at the AGM. Manhas assuming the highest office in Indian cricket is as surprising as it is unexpected. It was decided at a meeting of the bigwigs in Delhi on Saturday. If eventually he files the nomination, the BCCI will continue with its recent practice of electing a former cricketer as…