Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

“Happy birthday Sunil, my friend. I hope you will be fit forever,” said Zaheer Abbas. “Congratulations on reaching 75. Only 25 more to go. And god willing, you will complete that too,” said Asif Iqbal. Sunil Gavaskar turning 75 is an occasion for his friends from across the border as well, and the two former Pakistan greats offered their wishes, as they spoke to RevSportz. They recounted stories of their time, but more on that later. Gavaskar was India’s biggest sports star in the 1970s, by a country mile, and he was the first Indian cricketer who transcended geographic boundaries.…

Gautam Gambhir has been appointed as the Indian team head coach and will start working from India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this month. BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed the appointment via a post on his X (the erstwhile Twitter) handle on Tuesday. “It is with immense pleasure that I welcome Mr @GautamGambhir as the new Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team,” wrote Shah. “Modern-day cricket has evolved rapidly, and Gautam has witnessed this changing landscape up close. Having endured the grind and excelled in various roles throughout his career, I am confident that Gautam is the ideal person…

My first visit to Ranchi was courtesy MS Dhoni, who (indirectly) invited me for the price of a couple of Shatabdi Express tickets — onward and return — to his house at MECON colony. It was December 2005 and the newspaper I was working for had assigned me to do a year-ender on Indian cricket’s new sensation. Ranchi was a cricketing backwater then and Dhoni’s rise was bringing the city to prominence. The sensational 123-ball 148 against Pakistan in Vizag, that announced his arrival, had happened a few months ago that year. It was Dhoni’s maiden international hundred and the…

Hello back-three, Gareth Southgate’s old friend, it has come to talk with him again… Will he get his waistcoat out also? No. A white t-shirt remains his sartorial choice. On a serious note, a back-three had indeed served the England manager well in the past. It was Southgate’s preferred choice at the 2018 World Cup, where his team reached the semi-finals. He stuck to it in the last edition of the Euros as well, until England’s defeat to Italy in the final. After the loss, Southgate ditched a back-three and shifted to 4-2-3-1. He is returning to his ‘old friend’…

For a change, madness was lovely. Indian fans can be a little too twee. But then, cricket is a religion in this country. The flight carrying the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team landed at the Mumbai airport to a water cannon salute. At Nariman Point, the starting point of the open-top bus parade, a sea of humanity greeted the players. The heavens opened, and from a normal perspective, standing behind the barricades soaked in the rain and without virtually any breathing space was borderline eejit. But the fans didn’t mind. They were experiencing history. By the time the bus parade…

Acerbic punditry has been part of English football. The late Brian Clough, the legendary former Nottingham Forest manager, was the master of it. The likes of Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer are continuing with it. Gareth Southgate, the England manager, is in the line of fire. Pundits, fans and a section of the British media seemingly want Southgate to channel his inner Rinus Michels and make England play like the Holland team of the 1974 World Cup or Tele Santana’s Brazil at the 1982 World Cup. Simple wins don’t satisfy them, notwithstanding the fact that England are in the quarter-finals…

It was the time for emotional outpouring. India won another T20 World Cup after a gap of 17 years and as the players and coaching staff were celebrating at Kensington Oval, Virat Kohli went into Rahul Dravid’s embrace and shed a tear. Not far from them, Hardik Pandya was talking to the host broadcaster and eulogising the head coach. The entire team then decided to toss Dravid in the air. Kohli and Rohit Sharma led the way. The great man was bidding farewell to the Indian cricket team with a world champion’s medal around his neck. His players wanted to…

After 16 overs, South Africa were 151/4. The equation for them came down to 26 runs off 24 balls, with six wickets in hand. The Proteas could sniff the trophy. For Rohit Sharma, he had to make a decision. Jasprit Bumrah had bowled the previous over and it had to be Hardik Pandya or Arshdeep Singh for the next one. The skipper turned to Pandya. The first ball of the 17th over was full and wide, and Pandya had rolled his fingers over the seam. Heinrich Klaasen reached out for a swat through covers but nicked the ball to Rishabh…

Sixteen runs were needed off the final over, Hardik Pandya had the ball and David Miller was on strike. As long as Miller was there, South Africa hoped. He swung at a wide full-toss and it was going for a six, until Suryakumar Yadav intervened. Surya ran around from wide long-off, clawed down the ball, toppled over the rope but kept his feet inside it. He lobbed the ball back into play before completing the grab. It was an astounding catch that put the final nail in South Africa’s coffin. India were winning the T20 World Cup. The monkey was…

Sachin Tendulkar was startled. The press box in Multan was stunned. Rahul Dravid had called time on India’s innings, with Tendulkar batting on 194. In his autobiography, Playing It My Way, Tendulkar wrote about the incident in detail. In milestone-obsessed Indian cricket, it was almost a sin, denying the game’s biggest superstar the chance to score a double century. But Dravid, who was the stand-in captain in that Test against Pakistan, stood his ground. The match had to be won and he put the team above individuals. Two decades later, as Dravid is saying fare-thee-well as India coach, the entire…