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Rishabh Pant against Sri Lanka ( PC- ICT instagram page/ BCCI) To understand Rishabh Pant is to embrace the chaotic beauty of high-stakes theatre. Ever since his 2018 debut, he has lived on the razor’s edge of public opinion, labelled reckless when he falls, hailed as a genius when he conquers. His technique laughs in the face of classical textbooks, his body twists into impossible contortions, his bat swings with ferocious freedom, and yet the ball inevitably finds the boundary. He is India’s greatest Test wicketkeeper-batter, their leading run-scorer in World Test Championship history with 2,885 runs, and above all, a maverick who refuses to be tamed.   Yet, reducing Pant’s genius to sheer, unbridled instinct misses the quiet discipline brewing behind the curtain. His defining performance in Galle was not born of spontaneous luck; it was written through an obsessive, calculated grind long before he stepped onto Sri Lankan soil. The road leading into the Sri Lankan tour was pav...

  Image: RevSportz Vaibhav Tripathi, Colombo The setting is Colombo, not Galle. There are no sweeping coastal views here, nor any dramatic backdrop. Instead, there is a small ground in the heart of the city, steeped in the memories of Sri Lankan cricket. The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) has been one of the island’s principal Test venues since the early 1990s and has come to be regarded as Sri Lanka’s own Lord’s. Walk through the gates and the past seems to follow. The roll call is extraordinary. Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardene, Marvan Atapattu, Sidath Wettimuny and Dimuth Karunaratne have all worn the club’s colours. And what performances it has witnessed. Mahela and Kumar Sangakkara produced a 624-run partnership, which remains a world record. Muttiah Muralitharan claimed 166 of his 800 Test wickets at the SSC, still the highest number of Test wickets taken by a bowler at a single venue. Team RevSportz arrived at the historic venue on the same day that India travelled ...

Marnus Labuschagne (PC: X) Marnus Labuschagne’s future in Australia’s Test team is facing serious scrutiny. After another failure in the Darwin Test against Bangladesh, the pressure on the 32-year-old No. 3 is growing. Labuschagne scored one and 31 in the two innings, continuing a prolonged slump that has transformed his Test career from one of extraordinary promise into a fight for survival. From his debut in October 2018 until the end of 2022, Labuschagne scored 3,071 runs in 32 Tests at an average of 59.05, including 10 centuries and 13 fifties. His breakthrough came at Lord’s in 2019, when he became the first concussion substitute in Test history after replacing an injured Steven Smith. He did not look back. In 2021 and 2022, Labuschagne was ranked the No. 1 Test batter in the world, overtaking England’s Joe Root on both occasions. Since the start of 2023, however, the numbers have fallen dramatically. In 32 Tests, he has scored 1,655 runs in 61 innings at an average of 30.09,...

  Image :X In this exclusive conversation with T Dilip, he opens up about handling failures as a coach, understanding players individually and adapting training methods to bring out the best in each player. He speaks about the responsibility that comes with coaching, including taking the brunt when the team underperforms, while acknowledging that the credit belongs to the players when the team succeeds. He also reflects on the impact of failures on him and how they have shaped him over time. Boria: How do you deal with failure when, in spite of all the effort, the team drops multiple catches? Dilip: So, working with the Indian team, I’ve realised one thing, and that is appreciation and criticism both come with the same intensity, and you have to accept the criticism if you enjoy the appreciation. But, at the end of the day, it would be dishonest of me to say that it doesn’t affect me. Whenever a catch is dropped, I try to put myself in the player’s shoes and think about what t...

T Dilip as Indian Men’s Fielding Coach (PC: BCCI) T Dilip’s tenure with the Indian team saw fielding gain a renewed sense of importance, with his famous fielding medal becoming one of the most recognisable features of the dressing room. In an exclusive conversation with Boria Majumdar, the former India fielding coach opens up on how the medal came about, and the support he received from Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid in executing the idea. He also offers insights into Virat Kohli’s approach to fielding, stressing that what can appear to be natural athleticism is backed by immense discipline and hours of work behind the scenes. Boria: You were able to give fielding an important celebration, that perhaps is a legacy of yours. Can you comment on that? T Dilip: I am not sure if it is a legacy but being able to provide fielding the recognition that perhaps it did not have before gives me immense satisfaction. Apart from catches and run-outs, the 1% of factors like intensity, energ...

Team India in Galle. Image: Debasis Sen Vaibhav Tripathi, Galle A stone’s throw from the Galle International Cricket Stadium stands the Galle Fort, a landmark where Sri Lanka’s flag is almost always part of the scenery. But as the first Test slipped into its final moments, another flag took centre stage. High above the ground, the Indian tricolour was raised as India completed a memorable victory. A 165-run win gave India the opening Test and, in the process, another reason to celebrate in Galle. The players stood together on the field, the tricolour flying above them, creating an image that will linger long after the scorecard is forgotten. Then came the rain. Only moments after India had sealed victory, the showers arrived. Had they arrived a few minutes earlier, they might have forced India to wait for the result of their 600th Test. They could not, however, alter the outcome. For a young Indian side, most of whom were playing a Test in Sri Lanka for the first time, it was an...