Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Shamik Chakrabarty By 6.05 pm local time on Sunday the sun was out in south London. By then, however, the match officials had decided to bring down the curtain on the fourth day’s play of the Oval Test. It felt like a hastily taken decision, for there was still an hour to manoeuvre. Stuart Broad, the former England fast bowler, wasn’t impressed. “Still 20 mins away from possible start time, everyone has their sunglasses on at the train station. Felt the supporters deserved to see a finish to that Test Match today. Felt a lazy decision to call it off…

As if the series needed more drama, play stopped for bad light with England on 339/6, chasing 374 for victory. Chris Woakes started to pace up and down in the dressing room in flannels, wearing a sling. The game suddenly changed after tea. The pitch became lively and the ball started to swing, both conventional and reverse. Prasidh Krishna has an uncanny knack of oscillating between the sublime and messy. It was the phase when he channelled his inner Sylvester Clarke — one of Surrey’s biggest fast-bowling legends. Jacob Bethell tried to hit his way out of trouble but lost…

Shamik Chakrabarty Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped on 20 and 40, Harry Brook and Liam Dawson letting go of a couple of sitters. But when he reached his sixth Test hundred, everyone at The Oval was applauding. At the end of the day, it was a Test century. When the youngster eventually hangs up his boots, he will be judged by the number of runs scored and centuries made. The record books will not incorporate the chances dropped with an asterisk. Jaiswal’s 118 off 164 balls took India to a position of ascendency in the series decider. Intent was the buzzword,…

Shamik Chakrabarty After bowling six overs on the spin, Mohammed Siraj wanted a breather. Shubman Gill, his captain, urged him to bowl one more. Siraj, the perennial team man, agreed. He strained every sinew to unleash a yorker, good enough to make even Curtly Ambrose proud. Jacob Bethell was a sitting duck. On the spiciest pitch of the series, Jasprit Bumrah opted out to manage his workload. Siraj, yet again, stood up to be counted. His eight-over spell post-lunch changed the game. A nip-backer accounted for Ollie Pope. Gill was initially reluctant to take the review and changed his…

Shamik Chakrabarty For the first time in the ongoing England-India series, a Test match started in proper English conditions. In Blighty, it’s usually sunset in November, sunrise in March and peak summer in July. But on Thursday, the London skies were grey with intermittent showers, and The Oval pitch had a tinge of green. Poor Kuldeep Yadav… For the first four matches, team balance had kept him out of the playing XI. In the series decider, conditions played a part in his omission. Kuldeep’s Test future now looks uncertain, but that’s a different story. Shubman Gill lost his fifth…

Shamik Chakrabarty Jasprit Bumrah is fit. At the post-match press conference in Manchester, head coach Gautam Gambhir had said: “All the fast bowlers are fit. There are no injury concerns.” But the team’s best bowler won’t be turning up for the series decider at The Oval — a win-or-bust game for India. The tourists are 2-1 down in the series, but Bumrah is opting out of the final Test ostensibly under the pretext of workload management. On the face of it, this is absurd. But that’s the way it is now with Bumrah. He has become a luxury for…

Kuldeep Yadav is in serious consideration to play the fifth Test at The Oval, RevSportz understands. The left-arm wrist-spinner, who hasn’t yet got a game in the ongoing England-India series, might come in for Anshul Kamboj, whose average speed was under medium-pace in his debut Test in Manchester. A final call will be taken after having a look at the pitch and two practice sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. The fifth Test starts on July 31. After India’s spectacular jailbreak at Old Trafford, the five-match series is still alive, going into the decider, with the hosts leading 2-1. The Indian…

Shamik Chakrabarty Antigua 2002: Anil Kumble asked the team physio to strap his jaw. There was some hesitation on the other side, but Kumble wouldn’t listen to him. India had an outside chance to win the Test and the team’s best bowler was never going to sit out, notwithstanding a broken jaw. A Merv Dillon bouncer had put a serious dent in that piece of bone while batting. But the leg-spinner was a ‘Tiger’ among men. As he climbed down the stairs, a fan carrying the Tricolour accompanied him until Kumble entered the ground. The brass band played Sare Jahan…

It was an essay, carved out of grit, pain and strong character. Shubham Gill’s captaincy in the Old Trafford Test was ordinary. His century in the second innings was the atonement. It was his ninth century in Tests. Given the backdrop and the context, it was his best yet. Finally, after spending six-and-a-half hours at the crease, Gill’s concentration betrayed him. Lunch on Day 5 was approaching and after being so disciplined for so many hours, the India captain chased a harmless delivery from Jofra Archer outside off to nick it to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. That felt like…

On Saturday, the confirmation came that the 2025 Asia Cup would be played in the UAE from September 9 to 28. Both India and Pakistan are placed in Group A, and the arch-rivals will meet on September 14. If the two sides qualify for the Super 4s and win the rest of their matches, they will meet again in the final. The BCCI is the event host. The official announcement regarding the Asia Cup came from Pakistan’s interior minister on a day when India was celebrating the Kargil Vijay Diwas. Naturally, it angered a lot of Indian fans, going by…