Sports कट्टा

Only once since the inception of Ranji Trophy in 1933-34 has Mumbai/ Bombay missed out on a title for more than five years. In fact, it turned out to be an eight-year-long wait since the glory in 1984-85. The itch was finally broken with Ravi Shastri leading Bombay from the front and carving out a generation of youngsters who went on become champion cricketers. Jatin Paranjape, the stylish left-handed batsman, recalls the landmark season.

Now that it's official that the T20 World Cup and the remaining Indian Premier League will be played in the United Arab Emirates, we tell you about the windows that are being worked out for both the events. Besides, we also discuss India Women's topsy-turvy performance in England and Rahul Dravid's challenge while being in charge of India's team in the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka

From getting under the wings of Ramakant Achrekar only after his 10th standard to being one of Rahul Dravid's most trusted lieutenants in India's coaching ecosystem, Paras Mhambrey has had a fascinating journey. The former Test pacer recalls the 2002-03 Ranji Trophy season as his first pacer.

Giving due credit to New Zealand, veteran cricket writer Sunandan Lele joins us to decipher various issues arising out of India's unsuccessful inaugural World Test Championship campaign? Did India falter in team selection? Should India persist with the same line-up for the Test series in England? What makes Virat Kohli an unfortunate captain? And was Kohli's jibe after the loss aimed at Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane?

Wicketkeeper. Coach. National selector. Administrator. IPL Talent Scout. Kiran More has contributed to the world of cricket in various capacities. In the first part of the freewheeling chat, More recalls his early days in Vadodara to his first tour with the Indian team, to West Indies in 1983; from his much-delayed Test debut in England in 1986 to Sachin Tendulkar's much-anticipated Test debut in Pakistan in 1989; from dropping Graham Gooch at Lord's in 1990 to citing Rishabh Pant's example to explain the art of wicketkeeping. Don't miss the stories of watching Vijay Hazare gardening from his school; earning a pat on the back by Sunil Gavaskar in Bombay's fiercely competitive corporate cricket circuit; and learning from the great George Headley while scoring during the West Indies tour.

From listening to Javed Miandad's ghazals on the field to the (in)famous altercation with him during the 1992 World Cup squad; from advising Kapil Dev to avoid a defensive stroke while batting to grooming talent at his academy in Baroda, including the Pandya brothers; and from how as the national chief selector he ensured Mahendra Singh Dhoni was picked at the right time to the Sourav Ganguly exclusion saga. Part 2 of a must-watch freewheeling chat with Kiran More, the former India wicketkeeper.

Pinnacle for Test specialists; the first, and possibly the last, WTC final outing for the seniors in the squad and the best chance for Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli's coach-captain combo to emerge victorious in a World championship. Let's build up towards the maiden WTC final

New coach. New captain. Terrible start to the campaign. On such a backdrop, it was his spree of spells in the latter half of the league stage that enabled Mumbai to enter the knockouts. In the semifinals, after Mumbai were reduced from 0 to 5, he dug deep to help Mumbai scrape out of a hole. Still, he missed out on playing the final in what turned out be his last Ranji season. Let's hear it from the former India spinner about the topsy-turvy outing

With less than a fortnight remaining for the inaugural World Test Championship final, will lack of preparation hurt India against New Zealand? What lesson does the racism row in England have for promising cricketers? Can India Women be competitive in the lone Test in England? And would Ramesh Powar have asked a better candidate than Amol Muzumdar to pass the baton on as Mumbai head coach?

From nearly packing up his kitbag since he had stopped enjoying to emerging as the leading light in Mumbai's yet another title triumph, veteran batsman Amol Muzmudar - recently appointed as Mumbai's head coach - recalls a roller-coaster ride in 2003-04.

We know the venue for IPL's restart but we are still awaiting the schedule. Here are the tentative dates and the possible issues the BCCI will have to deal with before IPL 2021's remaining 31 matches are played later this year.

What has prompted the discussion about India's scheduled five-Test series in England to be curtailed to a four-Test series? Why is IPL more important than international cricket to Indian cricket ecosystem? And what has caused the payments for women's and domestic cricketers to be delayed for the last year?

Cricketer and actor are two of the most sought-after professions in cricket. Having been there and excelled in both the professions, Salil Ankola walks down the memory lane and relives playing with Tendulkar, support from Nana Patekar. He also tells us how he fell back in love with cricket all over again to return as the Mumbai chief selector

What prompted change of guard while appointing India Women coach? Is WV Raman justified in feeling hard done by? What prompted Bhuvneshwar Kumar to go after "sources" in a news report? And why is Australian news media still going after the IPL entourage even after all of them having returned home?

Despite Indian sport, especially cricket, having evolved into a profession, mental training is still in its nascent stage. Mugdha Bavare, a swimmer-turned-sport psychologist, is one of the seasoned professionals who is helping out sportspersons across levels to optimise their performance. Bavare stresses on the integration of coaches and parents into shaping minds of young athletes and the pressures young cricketers face. Besides, she also explains how to stay in the present; how to change young cricketers' goals beyond striving for an IPL contract; how to bounce back after failure and how to deal with uncertainty of sport.

With COVID-19 resulting in the IPL 2021 being halted midway through the tournament, is resumption of the tournament practically possible any time soon? And will it be fair to see two India squads playing in two different countries at the same time?

Having played in the first five editions of the Indian Premier League, the cricketer-turned-coach recalls some of his favourite moments on and off the field. Besides narrating how Dhoni called peace during his post-match discussion with Matthew Hayden that almost boiled into an argument and how Kumar Sangakkara helped him changed his approach, Powar dissects the evolution of a spinner's role in T20 cricket over the last decade

Two of the eight team - Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings - have confirmed COVID-19 cases in IPL's biosecure bubble. What may caused the breach of the bio-bubble? Will it lead to IPL's suspension? Had it not been for the pandemic, would David Warner have continued after being sacked as the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain?

Performance analysis or data analysis has emerged as an integral part of modern-day cricket. Devraj Raut - who has extensively worked with Mumbai, India Under-19 and India A - takes us into the world of a performance analyst. Don't miss some of the tales involving Rahul Dravid, the coach, and some of India's most promising young cricketers

Is it actually fair to celebrate cricket in the midst of a scary COVID-19 wave? We dissect all the threads of the contentious issue. And oh yes, we also discuss the contrasting fortunes of India's leading all-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya - in IPL 2021 so far

Prof Ratnakar Shetty, a top BCCI executive who was also the Tournament Director for the 2011 World Cup, narrates the challenges faced during the tournament and how Indian cricket has evolved over the last decade, especially in the wake of IPL's rise

From being an administrator to an executive to the team manager to the World Cup Tournament Director, Prof. Ratnakar Shetty has been involved in Indian cricket in various roles for more than four decades. In the first part of a prolonged interview, Shetty talks about his transition from a chemistry professor to a cricket administrator and also shares his memories as team manager from India's tour to Sri Lanka in 1997 and the historic tour to Pakistan in 2004. It obviously includes the events around declaration of India's innings in Multan with Sachin Tendulkar batting on 194

Veteran analyst Sunandan Lele joins to discuss the talking points of the second week of the Indian Premier League's second week.

Mumbai's Ranji Trophy-winning coach. Successful stints with India Under-19 and India A. And assistant coach stints with various IPL franchises, including Mumbai Indians, Pune Warriors, Delhi Daredevils at the moment Delhi Capitals. Moreover, with honing the skills of the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina, Amre was the first batting coach in India to sign a contract as a personal coach. The former India batsman shares his wealth of coaching experience in a new series titled "Gurucha Kaanmantra"

In the first weekly wrap of IPL 2021, veteran analyst Sunandan Lele joins us to dissect the possible impact of COVID-19 on the tournament, whether over-rates are a farce, the impact of express pace in T20s and how cricket treats DhoniIt can be released asap.

A winner of four IPL titles and the captain of Mumbai's last Ranji Trophy title, Aditya Tare played a stellar role in Mumbai's triumphant Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ahead of the Indian Premier League's 2021, besides detailing Prithvi Shaw's rise in Mumbai's colours, Tare looks back on his decade-long stint in IPL and spells out the secret of Mumbai Indians' excellence in the T20 league.

Will Glenn end up being Maxwell of MaxFail after yet another million dollar signing by the Royal Challengers Bangalore? And will the bowling attack including the likes of Bhuvneshwar, Natarajan and Rashid bamboozle others in Sunrisers' quest for another title?

Will Suresh Raina's return provide the much-needed impetus to Chennai Super Kings after its worst-ever outing last year? And will rechristening its own SRK lead Punjab Kings to a maiden title?

Despite a new captain in Rishabh Pant, with Shreyas Iyer being ruled out of the entire tournament, will Delhi Capitals continue their splendid run from the last year? And will Shakib Al Hasan prove to be the catalyst to revive Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League's 2021 edition.

We start a sneak peek into all eight teams ahead of the Indian Premier League's 2021 edition. Will Mumbai Indians create history by recording a hat-trick of titles and can Rajasthan Royals bounce back after ending the 2020 edition at the bottom of the points table?

Did you know minutes after Mahendra Singh Dhoni ended India's 28-year drought of a World Cup triumph at the Wankhede Stadium on April 2, 2011, chief selector K Srikkanth and his colleagues were forced to celebrate with the crowd on Marine Drive. Surendra Bhave, the former Maharashtra captain who was a member of the selection committee, recalls the fascinating tale along with his other fond memories of the campaign.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur worked well in tandem; Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya not only waged an assault in the middle overs but have also given the top-order licence to kiss. Besides these positives, did India's ODI series in England, which saw Shreyas Iyer being all but ruled out for the next six months, signify the end of KulCha of Indian cricket? भुवनेश्वर व शार्दूलची गोलंदाजीत कमाल रिषभ आणि हार्दिकची मधल्या फळीत धमाल श्रेयसच्या दुखापतीची आहे मात्र खंत वाटत आहे कुल-चा जोडीचा एकदिवसीय सामान्यांमधील अंत IPL कडे मोर्चा वळवायच्या आधी पाहूया भारत व इंग्लंडमधील ODI मालिकेचे विश्लेषण

Sam Curran almost single-handedly ensured the good work of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur centre to zilch, but India managed to edge past England to end the season on a high.

England duo's pyrotechnics square the ODI series off to set up a mouthwatering decider. Is it time for India to shade the conventional approach while batting?

A majority of seasoned players came good but it was Krunal Pandya and M Prasidh Krishna, both making debut in ODIs, who starred in India's convincing win in the first ODI versus England.

Have India found a new opening combination for T20 World Cup in captain Kohli and 'Hitman' Sharma? Has Bhuvneshwar Kumar proven his worth? Who is a better finisher: Shreyas or Hardik? And is the spin department a cause for concern? While reviewing the series win against England, we also take a look at the relevance, or the lack of it, of the forthcoming ODI series.

India's ploy to open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli pays rich dividends as Men in Blue seal the series with a convincing win in the deciding T20I.

Suryakumar's sensational fifty coupled with Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur's effort with the ball leads to India's narrow win and sets up a mouth-watering series decider.

England's fearsome pace trio overshadows superlative innings by Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler to present captain Eoin Morgan a fitting gift in his 100th T20I.

Ishan Kishan's fifty on debut underlined his mettle, the depth of India's T20 strength and the feeder system headed by Rahul Dravid as India thrashed England in the second T20I.

Three England pacers consistently clocking more than 140 kph expose India's top-order to set up facile win in T20 series opener.

With an eye on the forthcoming T20 World Cup, to be played in October-November, India and England will try out various combinations. India, especially, will be hoping for their T20 specialists to fire.

Does the WTC final qualification mean India is unassailable in Test cricket? What makes Rishabh Pant special? Should top-order consistently not firing against England be a concern for India? We dissect all these aspects while reviewing India's emphatic series win versus England.

Washington & Axar deflated England with the bat and then the Indian spinners sliced through the mentally fatigued England batting.

Pant's game awareness and Washington Sundar's temperament allows India to gain the upper hand against a tiring England attack on the second day.

While England's batsmen continued to falter against spinners, besides India's tweakers, Mohammed Siraj made optimum use of his opportunity in Ahmedabad

Why will Australia cheer for England in the last Test of the series? And why would India not take a chance of offering a flat-bed at Motera?

What will the pink-ball Test be remembered for? Demonic pitch at Motera? Terrible batting by England or outstanding spin bowling by R Ashwin and Axar Patel? Also, a sneak peek into the Motera experience.

A combination of poor pitch, poorer batting and exceptional spin bowling resulted in the shortest Test match since the second World War

How Axar Patel and R Ashwin assessed the conditions at Motera on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test perfectly to expose England's lack of technique yet again