Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

They were going full vocal in the aisles at Eden Gardens… Ah, how we miss Tony Greig, and his ability to sugarcoat hyperbole with flair. To describe Virat Kohli on a cricket field, you need a Greig behind the mic and not a Richie Benaud. No disrespect to ‘his master’s voice’, arguably the greatest commentator the game has seen. But raw emotions and melodramatic baritone serve a nice cocktail. Kohli is no longer the angry young man of cricket. He is now a senior citizen, doubling up as team mentor, be it the Indian side or Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Even…

The ban on applying saliva on the ball, a Covid-era imposition in cricket, is set to be lifted in the IPL. This follows the IPL captain’s meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday. It is learnt that all 10 captains have agreed to it and an official communication in this regard would be sent to the franchises in due course. The IPL starts with a game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens on March 22. In another development, two balls would be used from each end from the 11th over onwards in this…

As Varun Chakravarthy approached the rostrum, he was serenaded by “Varun, Varun” chants from the fans. They turned up in numbers at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, where Kolkata Knight Riders held Knights Unplugged 2.0 — a fan-engagement event — on Wednesday. The supporters gave the spinner a hero’s welcome. What a difference a year can make! Over the past 12-odd months, Varun has won the IPL for KKR, earned an India recall, became the team’s “X-factor” and lifted the Champions Trophy. Pairing up with Sunil Narine, KKR’s self-effacing hero, the 33-year-old is once again ready to give batters sleepless nights…

Watching Kolkata Knight Riders’ practice sessions can sometimes be boring. Beyond the fun football that serves as the prelude, it’s about sticking to the process. Andre Russell wows with his close control when they play football. At the nets, he sends the ball into the stands for fun. KKR’s nets sessions give a feel that the team is running on autopilot. This is despite the fact that they have lost their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer, and larger-than-life mentor, Gautam Gambhir. Credit goes to the KKR management for retaining the winning core although, in a mega-auction year, it was impossible…

The IPL 2024 ended on May 26. Since then, Sunil Narine has spent his time plying his trade in different T20 leagues, probably collecting his thoughts, and a Rs 12-crore retention fee, about how to catch the opponents in a spin web, yet again, in this year’s Indian Premier League. The small matter of a T20 World Cup that was played in the United States and the Caribbean last year didn’t woo him enough to come out with his international retirement. Narine is 36. But Kolkata Knight Riders were always going to retain him irrespective of his age. His presence…

Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah at the SCG Nets (PC: Debasis Sen) Amid the pyro of colours as the country celebrated Holi on Friday, an update on Jasprit Bumrah was a bit concerning. The fast bowler is said to be still recovering from the back injury that saw him miss the Champions Trophy. And he is set to be ruled out of the first few matches of the 2025 IPL as well. Bumrah is expected to join the Mumbai Indians squad by early April. Bumrah is Indian cricket’s most valuable player by a distance and there’s no question of rushing…

Ajinkya Rahane took a corner seat, leaving the centre for Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit and the newly-appointed team mentor Dwayne Bravo. Vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer was at the other end. Usually, captains are expected to be at the centre, especially when a franchise is holding its first press conference of the season. But that’s how Rahane has been, never craving for centrestage. He chose to take a back seat after guiding India to arguably their greatest-ever Test series win, in Australia in 2020-21. He refused to hog the limelight after captaining Mumbai to the Ranji Trophy triumph in…

On March 4, India sauntered into the Champions Trophy semi-final. Virat Kohli anchored the chase and there was support around him, from Shreyas Iyer to KL Rahul, and Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya. India went past Australia’s total of 264 without any hiccups. From a personal point of view, that was exactly what this humble hack wanted. With a 2 am (Dubai time) flight to catch, a twist in the tale could have queered the match-report pitch. It wasn’t desirable. So, thanks are due to the Indian team and their collective effort. At the post-match press conference, Gautam Gambhir, the…

It’s another ICC tournament final. Once again, India are the clear favourites. They ended their ICC trophy drought at the T20 World Cup last year. At the same time, India haven’t won a global 50-over event since 2013. They were the odds-on favourites against Pakistan at The Oval in 2017 and against Australia in Ahmedabad six years later. On both occasions, they were left heartbroken. Don’t forget, New Zealand are a very good team, well-rounded enough to make Ravichandran Ashwin uneasy – as per his comment at RevSportz’s Trailblazers 3.0 Conclave. India lose another toss – 15 on the spin…

He went into the Champions Trophy final with the retirement vibes in the air, his international future reportedly hanging in the balance. The response from Rohit Sharma was an 83-ball 76 that gave him the Player-of-the-Match award and an embrace from head coach Gautam Gambhir. The skipper led from the front, as India beat New Zealand by four wickets to clinch the trophy. Expectedly, Rohit was in top fettle at the post-match press conference, hitting the retirement question for a six. “I am not going to retire from this format. Just to make sure that no rumours are spread moving…