Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

On Friday, Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “It’s good to see our international players playing domestic cricket. Domestic games are as important as international game (sic).” It is up to the BCCI to ensure that the India stars playing domestic cricket does not become a one-off – a knee-jerk reaction to the disaster Down Under. Indian cricket would be better off without tokenism, and the board’s strict parenting must continue. When the big names announced their availability for the ongoing Ranji Trophy fixtures, there was a belief among a section of fans – mostly keyboard…

Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens The best thing about India’s T20I side is that it doesn’t have any ensconced deadwood. It doesn’t have any big egos and the dressing-room is seemingly free of negative vibes. It has youngsters like Abhishek Sharma who manifest the irreverence of youth. Fear of failure is not a part of this dressing-room culture, as attested by Abhishek, and also Sanju Samson, in the first T20I against England at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Sanju set up the chase with a cameo (26 off 20). Abhishek took the game away from the opposition with a blistering 79…

Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens Varun Chakravarthy befuddled England by turning the ball and not turning it. Harry Brook fell prey to the former. Liam Livingstone was done in by a straighter. It’s an incontrovertible fact that England batsmen don’t play spin well, for the majority of them read the ball off the pitch rather than from the hand. On highways, their gung-ho style yields spectacular results, but this Eden Gardens pitch was a bit on the slower side, as predicted by England’s head coach Brendon McCullum. As the degree of difficulty increased, only Jos Buttler was up to the…

Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens Even after the toss was done and India’s playing XI was announced, Mohammed Shami was bowling on one of the side pitches. By then, he knew he wasn’t part of the XI. It was an anti-climax. The build-up of the first T20I between India and England here at Eden Gardens was all about Shami’s return to international cricket after a gap of 14 months. Without any official word about his fitness, the omission appears tactical. At the same time, a couple of genuine questions need to be asked. What exactly is Shami’s (match) fitness status?…

Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens In his first team talk after assuming the role of Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, Gautam Gambhir had stressed there would be “no senior and junior” in the team. It was Eden Gardens in March last year. After KKR won the IPL, Gambhir’s leadership was praised by every team member. The former opener, part of two World Cup-winning sides, has a special bond with this venue, first as KKR captain and then as a backroom staff of the franchise. It is so deep-rooted that he even came back for a farewell shoot after becoming India’s coach.…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Kolkata On the face of it, an unbalanced white-ball series a month before the Champions Trophy serves little purpose. An eight-match limited-over series between India and England is commencing in Kolkata on Wednesday. Five T20Is and three ODIs make things lopsided. The Champions Trophy is an elite eight-team ODI event. So, an overload of T20Is defies logic. Then again, it’s down to commerce. T20 cricket is like Bollywood masala movies that hardly make any lasting impression. But the three-hour evening show woos the fans and broadcasters, and fills the coffers of the cricket boards. Cricketers know that,…

As India’s training session at Eden Gardens on Monday meandered along, Axar Patel went to one of the centre pitches and went hammer and tongs. He is India’s new vice-captain in the T20 format and to start with, the team atmosphere here has been visibly more relaxed. Given the outpouring of leaks, a question on the team’s support staff was inevitable at the press conference. Their role was called into question during and after the Australia series. The same group of support staff are part of the white-ball set up also. Is there a communication gap? Axar confirmed clarity. “The…

It felt like a Freudian slip. Rohit Sharma probably was unaware that the mic was already turned on, as he and chief selector Ajit Agarkar settled themselves for the Champions Trophy team selection press conference on Saturday. The skipper whispered to the chief selector and his voice was recorded. “Ab to aur ek dedh ghanta baithna padega iske baad. Secretary ke saath baithna padega thoda discuss karne ke liye. Ye sab cheez family wamily ka ye wo. Ab sab mereko bol rahe hai ki yaar… (I have to wait for another hour-and-a-half after the press conference. Need to have a…

Kevin Pietersen has sent fans into meltdown with a tongue-in-cheek post on social media, making himself available for the role of the Indian team’s batting coach. A story is doing the rounds that the BCCI might hire a batting coach after its review meeting of the Australia series. Pietersen, the former England captain, replied to one such post on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “Available!” On the face of it, the response appears cryptic, but it has already attracted more than 120,000 views and close to 10,000 likes. Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Pietersen played 104 Tests for England, scoring 8,181…

This is leaky glum time in Indian cricket. The latest ‘scoop’ centres around a young cricketer who reportedly has been accused by head coach Gautam Gambhir of “leaking” dressing room secrets in Australia. Quite how so much ‘information’ came out of the BCCI’s review meeting where the cricketer wasn’t present was anyone’s guess. India suffered a humiliating home series whitewash against New Zealand before losing 3-1 in Australia. India lost because of lousy team selections, bad strategy, wrong tactics, poor technique on turning and seaming pitches and ensconced deadwood in the squad. The BCCI seemingly has addressed the issues by…