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In this issue

06-10-201823 STORIES

The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium seems idle for now, but IL&FS, which runs the facilities, claims it will host about 35 matches during the Ranji Trophy.

Uttarakhand cricket: The pooling together of ideas

The ambiguity surrounding organised cricket in Uttarakhand signifies its status as one of the country’s cricketing backwaters. But what could be the c

Abhishek Mukherjee

The Puducherry team will play its home games at the Siechem Cricket Ground.

Cricket in Puducherry: Hitting the ground running

The abundance of league and junior cricket in Puducherry has gone a long way in ensuring that the Union Territory is one of the strongest new teams.

Hari Kishore M

The state-of-the-art Urja Stadium, the home of the M. S. Dhoni Cricket Academy in Patna, is likely to feature two matches this season.

Bihar cricket: Letting bygones be bygones!

Sundry issues — conflict of interest, domicile, disciplinary actions and the lack of a proper office for the association — exist, but for the time bei

Sikkim’s young cricketers set up nets in one of the stands at Paljor Stadium and use one section of the gallery as a cemented pitch.

Cricket in Sikkim: Fuelled by hope and nothing else

For a state where tourism is the major industry, entering the cricketing arena hasn’t been easy. But it has dared to dream.

The Sovima cricket ground is located at a two-hour drive from the hills in no man’s land.

Nagaland's Ranji debut: They too are a cricket tribe

When the state was gearing up for its BCCI induction, we visited their territory for an introduction.

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

The foundation stone for the Suaka Memorial Cricket Ground was laid in 2010 and the stadium was handed over to the Cricket Association of Mizoram on May 23, 2014.

How a venue came about for Mizoram's cricket team

No association office, no money. But an idea paved the way for the Cricket Association of Mizoram as it readies for its first season of domestic crick

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Though Meghalaya is far better prepared than its neighbours, it is not bereft of the financial woes that have plagued each of these states.

Meghalaya cricket: Riding high on emotions

Meghalaya is far better prepared for the coming domestic cricket season than its neighbours, but it is the emotion of finally representing their state

NorthEast United ISL

A thorough overhaul for NorthEast United!

Among the teams that have played all four ISL seasons, NorthEast United is the only club to have never reached the semifinals, despite coming close on

Amal John

Matias Mirabaje did well for Delhi Dynamos in the midfield last season and has been acquired by Mumbai this year to bolster the team.

Mumbai City FC: Putting the house in order

Taking lessons from last year’s disastrous show — where it finished seventh — the team has made it a point to strive for balance in every department.

The Luwangpokpa ground in the foothills of Imphal can easily accommodate 12,000 spectators, but now it needs assistance from the BCCI in order to get equipment.

A king who put off his coronation to play cricket!

A return to roots, multi-sports acumen and a star coach — Manipur’s cricket team is filled with heartfelt stories.

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Matej Poplatnik, the 26-year-old Slovenian, is lethal inside the box.

Deluge wets Kerala Blasters’ gunpowder!

A good show by the Kochi-based Kerala Blasters in the coming ISL can bring some solace to a football-loving Kerala which is struggling to rebuild live

P. K. Ajith Kumar

The ground that the Arunachal players use for practice has two concrete wickets. But when they are not practising, the wickets are used by the owner of the property to park his vehicles.

Arunachal Pradesh: Braving marshes, potholes and puddles

With no grounds available, Arunachal Pradesh’s young cricketers have been training on a small patch of marshy land, far away from the state’s urban ce

Michael Soosairaj (green) should give Jamshedpur the impetus as playmaker. He turned out for Chennai City FC in the I-League last season.

Jamshedpur FC: Needing the feet to move forward

The need is to strengthen the midfield and attack, but this hasn’t stopped the club from reinforcing its defence and building on last season’s solid d

Suhith Kumar

Corominas, the Spanish goal-scoring machine, netted a dozen and a half last season.

FC Goa: Can The Gaurs gore this time?

The tale of FC Goa is a fascinating one. In four editions of the Indian Super League, The Gaurs haven’t been able to win the trophy, reaching the semi

Shyam Vasudevan

Shyam Vasudevan

The new teams will play in the Plate Group — the lower rung of the Ranji Trophy system from which the top two teams qualify for the knockout stages — this season, and there could be some lop-sided matches.

Ranji Trophy 2019-20

Indian cricket’s final frontier

Nine teams join the domestic circuit this season. Bihar, Puducherry and Uttarakhand might be able to put up a challenge, but the six sides from the no

Vijay Lokapally

Iain Hume is the most experienced and prolific of all ISL players.

Portugal and Pune...how will the mix be?

Having parted ways with Spanish midfielder Marcos Tebar, the club has announced contract extensions for Emiliano Alfaro — the club’s top scorer last s

Anirudh Velamuri

Anirudh Velamuri

Marcos Tebar, the Spanish midfielder, is back with the Dynamos after a year with FC Pune City.

Delhi Dynamos: The passing game!

Last season, Delhi Dynamos conjured 8,703 passes in 18 matches, 10,900 touches and 295 crosses.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Serena Williams argues with chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the women’s final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Serena lost in straight sets to Japanese star Naomi Osaka.

It ain’t over till the fat man forgets

Referees are expected to be robots, unfeeling, unemotional and inhumane. But sport is about passion, emotion and humanity. Hence the tension.

Suresh Menon

Gaurav Kapur.

For The Love of Sport

Kirmani in the living room

Sports broadcaster Gaurav Kapur recalls the first meeting with 1983 World Cup winner Syed Kirmani and how he missed out on a cricket career because of

Anirudh Thapa is a busy midfielder with a wide passing range.

Chennaiyin FC: All set to defend the crown

John Gregory’s teams are built on resolute defensive displays with the players buying into his philosophy of defending from the front.

Aashin Prasad

Manuel Bruno Lanzarote has come from Goa after a stellar season there.

ATK: Carrying on with Englishness!

ATK has acted out of pragmatism in the new season (2018-2019) without the flamboyance it had sought to display previously.

Amitabha Das Sharma

Going great guns: India's captain Virat Kohli is the quickest to reach the 18,000-run mark in international cricket.

Kohli tops elite list

Despite repeated failures in batting, especially by openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, the stubbornness in going with only five specialist batsmen was not just inviting trouble but taking its hand and bringing it into the changing room.

On The Write Line

If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail

On the tour of England where the limited-over internationals were played before the five-match Test series, the Indians thought they would be ready fo

Sunil Gavaskar

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