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The Makings of Praful Hinge – From Injury Setback to IPL Breakthrough Moment; Ft. Atharva Taide

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Praful Hinge (L) and Atharva Taide (R). (PC: BCCI) Auction day in the IPL is a theatre of anticipation, where players wait, watching and hoping to hear their names being called. If not all, most players, especially uncapped ones, are glued to their screens to see when their names will go under the hammer. While the auction was taking place, a spiritual Praful Hinge was at a temple, where he learnt that he had been picked by SRH for INR 30 lakh. Hinge was elated but not entirely surprised, as SRH’s current bowling coach, Varun Aaron, had been in touch with him from the beginning. Despite having played just one senior-level T20 match, Hinge was expecting SRH to bid for him. In the dynamics of an auction, one can never be certain about what will happen, but fortunately for Hinge, he did not have to travel far from his home in Nagpur in search of an IPL team. In a squad of 25, his chances of getting an opportunity to play for the Orange Army were slim. However, an injury to one of his...
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Barefoot Beginnings to ‘Gopalganj Rabada’: Sakib Hussain’s Dream IPL Debut

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Sakib Hussain at IPL 2026 (PC: BCCI/IPL) In the dusty expanses of Gopalganj and Siwan in Bihar, they didn’t call him Sakib Hussain. To the locals gathering around makeshift pitches to watch tennis-ball cricket, the lanky teenager hurtling the ball at terrifying speeds was simply known as “Rabada”. Long before his sensational four-wicket IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday, Sakib was fighting a very different kind of battle – one of survival. His father, a daily-wage labourer, lived an “earn today, eat today” existence. For Sakib, bowling scorching deliveries in local village tournaments for a meagre ₹500 a match was a desperate hustle. Sakib never had the luxury of a gym or a structured diet. His family, drowning in financial instability, urged him to secure a government job in the Army. Operating with no Plan B, Sakib took to running. He would sprint for two hours straight every day, treating it as marathon training for military selections. ...
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When Bowlers Become Invisible: The One-Sided T20 Spectacle

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IPL 2026_Bowlers (PC: BCCI/IPL) Cricket is a game of bat and ball. And I insist on the word “ball”. The current version of the high-risk, high-reward T20 game seems to focus only on the batter. High risk for whom? High reward for whom? It is as if the bowlers are mere bystanders. If the high risk comes off, we see more 15-ball fifties. The high reward is reflected in 220-plus scores. Where are the bowlers in all of this? It is a highlights package being played out on most days, with bowlers completely taken out of the equation. In some games, as many as 100 runs have been scored in the first six overs. It is plainly ridiculous. Punjab Kings (PBKS), for example, had the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen in their ranks – two of the better T20 bowlers in the world. Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) too had some quality bowlers who were simply toyed with. While Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 78 off 26 balls, Abhishek Sharma followed up with a similar score, and then Priyansh Arya...
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Asha Bhosle and the Art of Playing Without a Script

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    Asha Bhosle. Image :X A couple of years ago, I watched Asha Bhosle perform live in Dubai. She had turned 90 that year, and some of us were sceptical about the show, thinking she might perform one or two numbers and leave the rest to the junior artistes. Instead, she was on stage for the entire three hours, using a quad walker and even managing a wardrobe change in between. The highlight of the evening was when she danced a few steps to her popular hits. There are careers that follow a script, and then there are careers like hers – improvised, instinctive, and gloriously unpredictable. Long before the T20 format made breaking convention fashionable, Asha had already lived it. We often describe modern cricket through the language of innovation – range-hitting, unorthodox angles, players redefining roles. But Asha ji was doing all of that decades ago in a recording studio. While Lata Mangeshkar was the perfect straight drive – pure, classical, timeless – Asha was the ...
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Virat would be fine: Krunal Pandya Don’t have an update on Rohit: Sherfane Rutherford

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    A couple of years ago, I watched Asha Bhosle perform live in Dubai. She had turned 90 that year, and some of us were sceptical about the show, thinking she might perform one or two numbers and leave the rest to the junior artistes. Instead, she was on stage for the entire three hours, using a quad walker and even managing a wardrobe change in between. The highlight of the evening was when she danced a few steps to her popular hits. There are careers that follow a script, and then there are careers like hers – improvised, instinctive, and gloriously unpredictable. Long before the T20 format made breaking convention fashionable, Asha had already lived it. We often describe modern cricket through the language of innovation – range-hitting, unorthodox angles, players redefining roles. But Asha ji was doing all of that decades ago in a recording studio. While Lata Mangeshkar was the perfect straight drive – pure, classical, timeless – Asha was the scoop over fine leg, the...
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Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar set Wankhede alight, as RCB beat MI

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RCB against MI (PC-BCCI) It was supposed to be a Ro-Ko show. The Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) game at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday turned out to be a Ro-Ko sideshow. Virat Kohli scored a half-century, but that came off 37 balls. Judged against Phil Salt and Rajat Patidar, who scored at strike-rates of 216 and 265 respectively, Kohli’s innings was a stroll. To make matters worse, he felt his ankle during his innings and didn’t come out to field. An update on Kohli’s fitness is awaited. As MI chased 241 for victory, Ryan Rickelton was the enforcer, while Rohit Sharma took his time to get into the groove. And as he started to up the ante, Rohit felt a bit discomfort in his right hamstring and retired hurt on 19 off 13 balls. In the end, Kohli finished on the winning side, as RCB beat MI by 18 runs. Back-to-back wins for RCB at this venue, and after losing to Rajasthan Royals, the defending champions returned to winning ways. This is now three straight defea...
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IPL 2026: Viewer Fatigue, Real-Money Gaming Ban or Temporary Dip in Fan Frenzy?

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  Eden Garden stands during a KKR match. Image :Revsportz There are messages doing the rounds in multiple cricket groups suggesting there is overall less interest in the IPL this year. People appear to be watching or consuming less. While we don’t have figures to substantiate this, attendance at Eden Gardens, for example, hasn’t been up to the mark in the last two games. While rain was an issue, KKR’s poor start to the competition could be another factor. There could also be viewer fatigue. Someone made the point to me the other day that many people used to follow the IPL to play fantasy cricket or take part in real-money gaming. That was the hook, and it drove millions to engage with the IPL. While there is no doubt the tournament will retain its popularity and remain the go-to competition for cricket, the question that needs to be asked is whether the fandom was genuine or partly driven by this real-money gaming addiction. Were fans drawn to the IPL because of their own gami...
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