Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

On Friday morning, Bengaluru Police arrested Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s marketing head Nikhil Sosale in connection with the franchise’s victory parade stampede that occurred outside Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Eleven people were trampled to death, with scores suffering serious injuries. According to a report in The Indian Express that quoted a senior police officer, RCB took an “unilateral decision” to hold the victory parade and didn’t obtain the permission “as mandated under the Karnataka Police Act for events requiring police security”. “We were stretched thin in terms of resources. We were virtually handling four events simultaneously on that day…

From the New Delhi railway station stampede to the Maha Kumbh Mela crowd crush and the Bangalore IPL stampede on Wednesday — have we learnt any lessons from the tragedies? Are we willing to? Where is the accountability? How many people have been brought to book? The life of a common man in this part of the world is not priceless. It’s worthless. As per the official account, 11 people died and scores were seriously injured around the Chinnaswamy Stadium during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory parade/celebrations yesterday. And the political blame game has started in earnest. India is not a…

With a reduced slate of boundaries and over-the-boundaries in the Powerplay and Phil Salt departing early, the attention turned to Virat Kohli. Salt and Kohli formed a formidable opening partnership for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in this IPL with more than 1,000 runs between them. The hard numbers say Kohli made a bigger contribution with 657 runs compared to his partner’s 403. But they also confirm Salt’s role as an enforcer with a strike rate of 175.98 vis-à-vis Kohli’s 144.71. In the final, Salt perished in the second over, thanks to a fine catch from Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer. The…

November 19, 2023, and Motera was the theatre of heartbreak. India had moved like a freight train at the World Cup until they fell at the final hurdle. After the defeat against Australia, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Indian dressing room to console the players, Shreyas Iyer looked distraught, still struggling to come to terms with the defeat. He had scored a match-winning hundred (105 off 70 balls) against New Zealand in the semi-final but fell cheaply (4) in the final. He was holding himself responsible for the loss. March 25, 2025, and Shreyas played his first game…

The IPL 2025 summit clash in a way offers a throwback to last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) final — Shreyas Iyer versus Rajat Patidar. Shreyas’s Mumbai defeated Patidar’s Madhya Pradesh in that game. The context here is different, so are the teams. Only domestic cricket nerds cared about the SMAT title showdown. On Sunday, when Shreyas was shining like a star in the Ahmedabad night sky, JioHotstar logged 40 crore concurrent viewers. Two deserving teams are in the final, and it is good for the IPL and cricket. Royal Challengers Bengaluru under Patidar has finally gotten over their…

“It was important that Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) comes and bowls that over, and the margin becomes bigger,” Hardik Pandya said at the post-match presentation after defeating Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator. When you run out of superlatives, you keep it simple. For Bumrah, simplicity is genius. Like Mumbai Indians captain, their coach, Mahela Jayawardene was matter-of-factly, when he was asked about the great fast bowler at the post-match press conference. “There was definitely no concerns when he (Bumrah) came back (from the injury lay-off), because the reputation itself carries through,” said Jayawardene. “He bowled a few sessions (after coming back)…

Shamik Chakrabarty They don’t give you death by a thousand cuts. They don’t smash you to smithereens. Usually, the pattern is that against Mumbai Indians, opponents feel they are always in the game, until they are not. They try to react, but it’s too late. That was Mumbai Indians (MI) of yore. Things have changed of late. The IPL is fiercely competitive. But four years without a title is not befitting of a franchise of MI’s stature. Worse, they finished at the foot of the table last season, and a reportedly fractured dressing room rather than their cricket was the…

In the game against Lucknow Super Giants, Royal Challengers Bengaluru pulled off something that was hitherto unknown to the armchair viewers and ‘experts’ across the length and breadth of the country. Chasing 228 for victory, they were 123/4 in the 12th over, and it was time to send an ‘equerry’ to collect data from Mumbai Indians’ practice session. That was the old RCB, over-reliant on Galacticos. Things have changed this term. Jitesh Sharma won the game for RCB, playing arguably the innings (85 not out off 33 balls) of the tournament yet. The TV camera panned on Virat Kohli. Indian…

On Monday, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) put out a picture on their X (formerly Twitter) handle, as they rewound to their IPL title triumph in 2024. The group photo with the cup at the centre of a banquet table was accompanied by a post: “A day that will live in our hearts, forever. Celebrating 1 year of our third IPL crown.” Shreyas Iyer was left out of the celebratory post, although acknowledging his contribution would have been classy. KKR didn’t win their third IPL title only with their retained players. Check out the tweet from KKR here A day…

I keep the ends out for the tie that binds Because you’re mine, I walk the line — Johnny Cash Andre Siddarth is lucky enough to sit next to his captain on Chennai Super Kings’ team bus. The young and the old recently had a conversation. “I asked Andre, ‘how old are you?’ And he is exactly 25 years younger than me,” MS Dhoni told the host broadcaster after the game against Gujarat Titans on Sunday. The other day, Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi touched his feet. The southpaw is a teenager. Dhoni will turn 44 in July. “Definitely, you…