Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai On the fourth morning of the first Test between India and Bangladesh here at Chepauk, which turned out to be the final session of the game, Mohammed Siraj was given a long spell by Rohit Sharma. The fast bowler bowled seven overs, had five maidens and gave away just 12 runs. But he didn’t get a wicket. On several occasions, the ball narrowly missed the outside edge and Najmul Hossain Shanto looked shaky. In fact, the spell was so good that Ravichandran Ashwin had to wait for almost an hour before he was brought into the…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai At the post-match press conference, after Bangladesh’s 280-run defeat to India in the first Test at Chepauk on Sunday, Najmul Hossain Shanto was asked to address the elephant in the room. The Bangladesh captain initially was taken a little aback before recovering quickly and handling it well. The question was about Shakib Al Hasan’s poor form, be it batting, bowling or fielding. As far as his batting is concerned, the ex-Bangladesh skipper had a so-so outing in the first Test, scoring 32 in the first innings and 25 in the second. He bowled just eight overs…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai Bangladesh were taken care of in less than four days. There was nothing surprising in India’s resounding win in the first Test at Chepauk, notwithstanding that Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side were riding high after a 2-0 series win in Pakistan. At the post-match press conference, the Bangladesh captain was asked to compare the challenges they faced against Pakistan with playing against a world-class outfit like India. He chose to be politically correct. Pakistan don’t have an all-round bowling attack like India, with Jasprit Bumrah being the jewel in the crown. They don’t have the luxury of…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai After equalling Shane Warne, Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about his Chepauk swansong. On Sunday, as India wrapped up Bangladesh’s second innings for 234 to win the first Test here in Chennai by 280 runs, Ashwin matched Warne’s tally of 37 five-fors in an innings. This is jointly the second-most among the spinners, with Muttiah Muralitharan towering over the rest with 67. The Indian great took 6/88 in Bangladesh’s second innings. Unlike England or Australia, India doesn’t have just five or six fixed Test centres. Caught in the quagmire of rotation, traditional Test venues don’t get matches regularly.…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai If things go to plan, MS Dhoni is likely to play at least one more season in the IPL. It hasn’t been finalised as yet and will depend on the BCCI’s retention policy. But it is learnt that Chennai Super Kings have their former captain in their retention shortlist ahead of the 2025 mega auction. RevSportz understands that the five-time IPL champions have drawn up a five-man shortlist, assuming that three retentions and two Right to Match (RTM) cards will be allowed. According to sources, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana and Dhoni are…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai Back in December 2022, when Rishabh Pant’s Mercedes crashed and caught fire on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, cricket was probably the last thing on his mind. The young man was fortunate to survive. He suffered multiple ligament injuries to his right knee that put his cricket career in jeopardy. But Pant sang the merry song of courage and resilience, and came back to the Indian team fold after nearly two years. His comeback has been gradual, first in T20Is, followed by ODIs and then Test cricket. On Saturday at Chepauk, he scored his sixth Test hundred. Talent…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai First, some hard numbers… 104, 91, 52 not out and 119 not out. These are Shubman Gill’s scores in the second innings of Test matches this year. Four consecutive fifty-plus scores with two of them ending in a hundred attest the young batter’s love affair with the second innings. Ever since he has cemented his place at No. 3, at the expense of Cheteshwar Pujara, Gill has scored 478 runs in nine innings at an average of 79.66 in the second dig. Is he a second innings specialist? The question has to be asked. There’s…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai He fell prey to a soft dismissal in the first innings. In the second, Rishabh Pant made sure he didn’t repeat his mistakes. The wicketkeeper-batter has returned to the Test fold after a gap of 629 days. He marked it with his sixth Test hundred. About 10 minutes after lunch, as the left-hander pushed Shakib Al Hasan wide of long-off for a couple, he raised his bat and went into Shubman Gill’s embrace. The seam movement had died down on the Chepauk pitch, there was no scoreboard pressure and the Bangladesh bowling didn’t ask tough questions.…

What is the difference between success and excellence? Success is related to outcome, while excellence is the fulfilment of a process. Success has a flip side, which is failure. Excellence is permanent. Ravichandran Ashwin has achieved humongous success in his glorious cricket career. He has more than 3,000 Test runs, including six hundreds, and over 500 wickets. He is a World Cup winner. Still, at the age of 38, his hunger remains insatiable. He rigorously pursues excellence. What makes him do that? “Happiness,” said Ashwin at the press conference on Friday, after scoring 113 in the first Test against Bangladesh…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai The Indian fast bowlers went hunting in a pack. Bangladesh batting was an easy prey. Jasprit Bumrah was the jewel in the crown. But the support around him, from Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj, was very admirable. It was aggressive. It was relentless. It offered a throwback to the golden age of fast bowling, when the famous West Indies pace quartet of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner were taking the mickey out of the opposition batters. Later, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee formed a devastating pace trio for Australia. The…