Author: Manupriyam Gupta

A former district-level cricketer wanted to fulfill his personal ambition of playing for India through one of his children because he couldn’t. That dream became a reality and his daughter stepped up and fulfilled his ambition. Father Shriniwas Mandhana represented Sangali disctrict and came close to being picked for Maharastra cricket team. Daughter Smriti Mandhana at just 18 years and 29 days of age made her debut in the Indian Women Test Team. Background: Mandhana was born on 18 July 1996 in Mumbai. When she was two, the family moved to Sangli in Maharashtra, where she completed her schooling. Both her father and…

Cricket made its international comeback amidst the coronavirus pandemic at Southampton where the current ODI World Cup winners were challenged by the T20 champions. After a long gap of 117 days, it was a moment to cherish for every cricket fanatic as they were about to witness live action of cricket. Ben Stokes was handed the responsibility to lead the England side in absence of the regular captain, Joe Roots who is on a break for the birth of his second child. The new normal sink with no fans present in the stadium to cheer for their favorite players. WI…

Cricket in India could be traced during the pre-independence era when we were under the colonial prowess of the East India Company. It is believed that the sport was brought to the Indian shores by the British sailors in the 18th century. It was the Parsi community who established an oriental cricket club in 1846. After a gap of 4 decades, the Parsi team toured to England in 1886 where it played 28 matches, having to manage a single victory, 19 losses & remaining 8 results in a draw. By 1912, various communities of India including the Hindus & Muslims…

Bangladesh, India & Sri Lanka had won the joint bid for hosting the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup as the premier ODI championship was back in the Subcontinent after the 1996 edition. A total of 14 teams had booked their berth for the final tournament and prepared themselves for the round-robin & knockout in the Asian sub-continent. As compared to the previous edition (2007), the teams had more chances to qualify for the knockout stages. The groups (Group A & Group B) was equally balanced with two associate nations in each of the group. The former consisted of defending champions-…

1999 Cricket World Cup – A stranger in its own home The platform was set to arise again after 16 years, as the extravaganza of the World Cup returned to England amidst cricket being in a transition phase. The cold atmosphere, green pitches and medium pacers swinging & seaming the ball, batters with strike rate of 100 being considered respectable were few of the statistical changes in the last edition of the World Cup from the 20th century. It was probably the last chapter to be added in the Phase 1 of history of the prestigious tournament & perhaps the…

As we celebrate the maiden anniversary of the 12th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 which was scheduled from May 30 – July 14, a brief outlook on the previous editions would give us a clear picture of what is different & unique in the history of the tournament & the sport. The origin of the Cricket World Cup can be traced back to the year 1975 (June 7) when the 1st ever edition was organized. The governing body of the cricket was founded in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia & South Africa which was named “International Cricket…

World Champions, England return back to their capital city to fancy their chances of levelling the ongoing Ashes series and also put a stop to the former Australian skipper- Steven Smith who is currently in the top-notch form of his career. Bagging the Player of the Match in the Birmingham & Manchester encounters- the right handed Aussie look ahead to add more runs in his kitty comprising of 671 runs in just 5 innings. A double century to his name in Manchester which resulted in a 185 run triumph over their Ashes rival meant the lost chance for the host…

Igor Stimac’s squad were successful to steal an unexpected point from their away match against the reigning Asian Champions- Qatar in their FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Doha on Tuesday. Playing without the experience of captain- Sunil Chhetri who was laid down with fever against the side ranked much above the Indian Blue Tigers according to the latest FIFA World Rankings- India showcased a defensive masterclass which helped them to become the only Asian side to not lost to the hosts of FIFA World Cup 2022. Suffering a heartbreaking 1-2 loss against Oman in their opener on September 5, 2019…

Hockey India set off to a dual winning start to their Olympic Test event held in Tokyo. The men’s team faced the nemesis Malaysian side while the female counterparts had a tough outing against a resilient Japan side. Already having secured respective berths in the FIH Olympic qualifiers, scheduled to be held later this year, India started off as the favourites for the encounter. The Indian Divas entered the field with an aim to edge past the hosts at the Oi Hockey stadium, early on Saturday morning before the Men’s team laced their boots against Malaysia. Playing with 16 players…

The entire nation is awaiting to celebrate its 72nd year of Independence in a few days time. India made their debut at the Olympic event back in 1928, participating as a colonial nation under British rule. Major stalwarts such as Jaipal Singh Munda, Lal Shah Bokahri, Dhyan Chand in the first 3 tournaments, India emerged as a strong and a dominant force in the sport of Hockey. Conceding a mere total of just 3 goals & scoring more than 100 goals in from 1928-1936, India was successful to clinch the top podium finish thrice consecutively. Defeating the host nation- Netherlands…