Press Box 2020

An unusual Test match for the Press Box 2020 podcast. Bharat Sundaresan’s final Test in India as an Indian reporter — he would move to Australia and follow that team soon after. And Anand Vasu was out of the press box, thanks to issues with accreditation. The two stayed together in Hyderabad, perhaps for the first time, this Test and for a change the podcast looks at what goes

India and Australia snuck in a thriller of a two-Test series in the shadow of the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010. For the first time in ages, cricket took a back seat in the newspapers and on television, in India and it was a pity, because the action on the field was taut, tense and memorable. Ricky Ponting got shaded in Mohali by a VVS Laxman special, in one of the last games

The Boxing Day Test of 2014 couldn't have ended in a more perfect fashion at the MCG as far as the Press Box was concerned. Despite it having been a run-heavy affair on a Melbourne pitch that was fast-gaining a reputation of being the flattest in the country, the facile draw which gave Australia an unassailable lead in the series meant everybody could go ahead with their New Year p

The city that never sleeps, that never stops, was brought to a grinding halt for a brief moment. The year was 2013, and the cricket world turned its collective gaze on one of the world’s great cities, to one of cricket’s spiritual homes, to say goodbye to one of its favourite sons. Sachin Tendulkar played his last Test at the Wankhede Stadium, against the West Indies, and altho

After being battered repeatedly, by Quinton de Kock, rain and South Africa, not necessarily in that order, India went into the Johannesburg Test of 2013 mildly undercooked. It was, after all, India’s first big test minus Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. It goes without saying that the fourth corner of the Fab Quartet, Sourav Ganguly, had already receded into the bac

By the barest of margins. The baaaarest of margins. The 2019 World Cup was decided — some will argue it wasn’t even decided — by the barest of margins. When the game was completed, nothing separated England and New Zealand. When the SuperOver was done, nothing separated England and New Zealand. And yet, England won the World Cup, on the back of having scored more boundaries t

Remember the name, remember the game. On a hot, steamy evening in Kolkata, West Indies and England provided a finish that was made for television, made for drama and will be replayed in minds for some time to come. The sight of Carlos Brathwaite standing tall and launching Ben Stokes, and with him England, to defeat, was something else. But the game was not just about that big fini

India's tour of Australia in the 2014-15 season was plunged into despair when Phil Hughes died, after being struck on the head by a bouncer, just as India were preparing to leave for Australia's shores. The players went to Macksville for the funeral, the Brisbane Test was shifted to Adelaide,  and when play began, India were without Mahendra Singh Dhoni, their captain. Standin