Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Exhibit 1: Shakib Al Hasan gave the ball a bit of air. Rohit Sharma jumped out, freed his arms and hit it over long-on for a six. A ball later, the India captain late-cut the spinner for a four. Ten runs already scored in the over, Rohit could have played safe. But he decided to take his chances and go over the top again. This time though, the ball stuck in the surface a little and he was not quite to the pitch of the ball. Rohit was out after scoring 23 off 11 balls and on air, the great…

Kuldeep Yadav teased Shakib Al Hasan with a tossed-up delivery. The latter was up to it. He cleared his front leg and slog-swept it straight over the bowler’s head for a six. The asking rate was still touching 15 runs per over and the former Bangladesh captain had thrown down the gauntlet to India’s best bowler on the day. Kuldeep had to respond. He resorted to change of pace. Kuldeep bowled another looping delivery to Shakib. This time, it was wider and a lot slower. The batter tried to hit it on the leg-side, but he was deceived in the…

For India, it was a World Cup to forget. They went to the 2007 World Cup (50-over format) in the Caribbean as one of the favourites, but lost their first group league fixture against Bangladesh. It eventually derailed their entire campaign and an early exit ensued. To this day, it remains arguably India’s most humiliating World Cup defeat. Rahul Dravid was the captain of that side, and he returned home to the news that fans (read, fanatics) had burned his effigies. Circa 2024, and Dravid is back to the West Indies for a World Cup (T20 format), and his team…

The last time India played against Afghanistan before their T20 World Cup Super Eights fixture on Thursday, two sets of Super Overs had to be used to decide the winner. India eventually clinched it, but on a January evening, in excellent batting conditions in Bangalore, Afghanistan had stretched the hosts to the limit. Normality returned on a Kensington Oval pitch that tested the batsmen’s skill sets. India were the better team and they rolled over Afghanistan. During their 47-run victory, India also showed why they are one of the favourites to win the T20 World Cup. On a day when…

The game was only a few overs old, when ‘Jaiswal’ started trending on X (the erstwhile Twitter). Out there in the middle at Kensington Oval, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were struggling to force the pace, after India won the toss and elected to bat. The pitch was slow, the ball was stopping, and the Afghanistan bowlers were taking pace off the ball. They were challenging the Indian openers to hit the ball in unusual areas. The veteran duo was not up to the challenge. On a surface where Rohit scored eight off 13 balls and Kohli made a run-a-ball…

In 2010, a jaded Indian team went to a T20 World Cup in the Caribbean on the heels of an IPL, and they returned tail between their legs, after losing all their Super Eights matches. Fourteen years down the line, there’s another T20 World Cup in the West Indies, and things have changed. Back then, India’s commercial might in world cricket was established. But on the field, the team was searching for consistency, and they lacked the modern-day swagger. Now, things are better planned, players’ workloads are well managed and India play consistent cricket across formats. So, as Rohit Sharma…

Over the phone, a Mumbai cricket veteran sounded sceptical. “People are going gaga over Gautam Gambhir,” he said, requesting anonymity. “I have an apprehension. This might become Kumble 2.” Back in 2017, Anil Kumble had to make an acrimonious exit as India coach after falling out with then India captain Virat Kohli. Kumble, the great leg-spinner, fell short on the most important aspect of modern coaching, man management. A few years ago, Paddy Upton, the former Indian team mental-conditioning coach who also coached Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, wrote a sumptuous book on the modern style of coaching. He denounced…

Two years ago, as India were hammered by England at the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide, it felt like the end of a cycle. The Indian T20 team looked to have completed its shelf life and was in need of regeneration. In the country’s cricket circles also, change became the buzzword and for the next one year, new players were brought into the fold. As Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were kept away from the T20I set-up, a new opening pair of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal seemed ready to assume responsibility. A finisher of Rinku Singh’s talent…

Jonty Rhodes is in the reckoning to become India’s new fielding coach, RevSportz understands. The former South Africa cricketer hasn’t received any formal approach yet, but his is one of the names doing the rounds. A new coaching team will take over from July. The BCCI will announce the appointment of the new head coach before the end of this month and Gautam Gambhir is believed to be in pole position to replace Rahul Dravid. Rhodes had earlier applied for the position of the Indian team’s fielding coach in 2019, but didn’t make the shortlist. R Sridhar was reappointed, for…

As umpires Richard Kettleborough and Sharfuddoula were inspecting the Lauderhill, Florida, outfield on Saturday for a match between India and Canada in the ICC T20 World Cup, three Indian players walked up to them to have a chat. Captain Rohit Sharma was accompanied by Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya. The players were relaxed, chatting and smiling. The IPL 2024 looked like a thing of the distant past. Not many moons ago, the boo-boys were attacking Pandya wherever he went. He was the target of the so-called ‘Rohitians’ during the IPL. As he took over Mumbai Indians captaincy from Rohit, rumours…