Celebrating National Youth Day today, we look at three young chess stalwarts - World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi. After performing well in the Global Chess League in Mumbai held from December 14-23, 2025, at the Royal Opera House, they participated in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships held in Doha, Qatar, from December 26-30, 2025 where Arjun won a bronze medal in each category. Gukesh Dommaraju from Chennai became the yo

One of the most technically perfect batsman the world cricket has produced, Rahul Sharad Dravid was born on January 11, 1973, and as he celebrates his 53rd birthday on Sunday, Indian cricket pauses to honour a man whose career embodied the spirit of the gentleman’s game. In an era defined by flamboyance, noise and instant gratification, Dravid stood apart—calm, composed and unyielding. Aptly nicknamed “The Wall,” he was not merely a cricketer but a moral compass for the sport

Mumbai: The launch of the CIDCO Open 2025 presented by Larsen & Toubro marks a significant moment in the evolution of professional golf in India, not merely as a sporting event but as a statement of intent. Scheduled from December 16 to 19 at the Kharghar Valley Golf Course in Navi Mumbai, the tournament enters the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) calendar with a prize purse of Rs 1 crore, instantly positioning itself among the more consequential domestic events on the

As the cradle of Indian cricket, Mumbai has churned out legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Sachin Tendulkar, the Little Master himself. Tendulkar, born in 1973, debuted at 16 and redefined batting with his 24-year odyssey of 100 international centuries. But in an era of T20 dominance, IPL glamour, and global distractions, will Mumbai's fabled maidans—Wankhede, Shivaji Park, Cross Maidan—birth another such phenomenon? My view: it's unlikely in the near future,

In the high-stakes theatre of ODI cricket, where India’s quest for a third World Cup title looms large—likely in 2027, but with eyes already on the 2025 Champions Trophy as a dress rehearsal—few players embody the blend of aggression, experience, and leadership quite like Rohit Sharma. The “Hitman”, as he’s aptly nicknamed, isn’t just an opener; he’s the spark that ignites India’s batting engine. With whispers of retirement post-T20 World Cup 2024 and a lean patch in bilatera

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team has been a rollercoaster of triumphs and tribulations. Appointed in July 2024 following Rahul Dravid’s successful stint, Gambhir brought a reputation for tactical brilliance from his IPL mentorship, where he guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a title in 2024. Yet, despite notable successes in white-ball cricket, including leading India to victories in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2025 Asia Cup, he re

Ah, the Ashes. That venerable old urn, stuffed with more history than a dusty attic, where England and Australia pretend to hate each other over five days of polite savagery. But spare a thought for the first Test in Perth, November 21-22, 2025. What was billed as a grand reopening of the rivalry turned into a slapstick comedy of errors, wrapped up in under 48 hours. Eight wickets to Australia, they say. Eight hours of therapy for England, more like. Welcome to the debacle wh

IPL 2026 – where defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) strut into the arena like prom kings fresh off a fairy-tale win, only to realise the crown’s made of kryptonite. After shattering an 18-year curse with that nail-biting 2025 triumph – Virat Kohli’s beard practically glowing under the Ahmedabad lights – the big question isn’t “Will they?” but “Can they without imploding like a bad sequel?” Picture this: The squad that finally cracked the code now faces the

There comes a point in every sporting career when statistics stop defining a player, and character begins to speak louder. For Ajinkya Rahane, that moment may already be here. The elegant middle-order batsman, who once stood as the very embodiment of composure and grace under pressure, now finds himself staring into the twilight of his illustrious career. The question is no longer whether Rahane can make another comeback, but whether he should. And even more profoundly—what d

Jemimah Rodrigues – the cricketing equivalent of that friend who shows up to the party in sweatpants, cracks a dad joke that somehow lands, and then accidentally wins the beer pong tournament. In a sport where Indian women batters are expected to channel the ghosts of Tendulkar and Laxman while dodging curveballs from selectors faster than a rickshaw in Mumbai traffic, Jemimah has carved out a career that’s equal parts fairy tale, farce, and feel-good redemption arc. At 26, s

National Sports Day is not just a tribute to Dhyan Chand, but a reminder of India’s potential to become a sporting powerhouse.   India celebrates National Sports Day on August 29, marking the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, regarded as the greatest player in the sport’s history. More than symbolic, the occasion reminds us of the values sports instil and their role in shaping a healthy, disciplined, and aspirational society. Sports has its own language of

The sweet symphony of Indian cricket selection – a melody so predictable it could be scored by a tone-deaf orchestra. Just when you thought the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had exhausted its repertoire of baffling decisions, they drop another chart-topper: excluding Sarfaraz Khan from the India A squad for the upcoming red-ball series against South Africa A. Because nothing says “meritocracy” like ignoring a batsman who’s been piling up runs like he’s hoarding

Oh, joy! Just when we thought cricket couldn’t get any more “innovative,” the powers-that-be have gifted us “Test Twenty.” Because nothing says “preserving the sanctity of the game” like smashing the five-day epic of Test cricket into a hyper-caffeinated, 20-over sprint. It’s like taking Shakespeare’s Hamlet and condensing it into a TikTok video: “To be or not to be? LOL, bye!” If you’re not already rolling your eyes, allow me to sarcastically applaud the ICC or whichever mar

Oh, the glorious, ego-pampering spectacle of a West Indies cricket tour—a tropical carnival where India’s batsmen strut like rockstars...

In the relentless grind of Test cricket, where endurance trumps explosiveness, India’s wicketkeeping conundrum has long centered on...

The game’s abbreviated formats have skewed the contest, leaving its essence at risk. Cricket was born in the English countryside as a...

Harold Dennis “Dickie” Bird, the unmistakable figure in white who brought a touch of Barnsley banter to the world’s cricket grounds, has...

Oh, joy of joys! In a cricketing universe where fast bowlers get bodyguards and batsmen get billion-dollar endorsements for breathing, we...

Shreyas Iyer – the cricketing equivalent of that friend who keeps getting invited to parties but then spends the whole night awkwardly...

Ravichandran Ashwin, the eternal tinkerer of Indian cricket, has finally decided to hang up his IPL boots after the 2025 season. What a...