Sports कट्टा

New coach. New captain. Terrible start to the campaign. On such a backdrop, it was his spree of spells in the latter half of the league stage that enabled Mumbai to enter the knockouts. In the semifinals, after Mumbai were reduced from 0 to 5, he dug deep to help Mumbai scrape out of a hole. Still, he missed out on playing the final in what turned out be his last Ranji season. Let's hear it from the former India spinner about the topsy-turvy outing

With less than a fortnight remaining for the inaugural World Test Championship final, will lack of preparation hurt India against New Zealand? What lesson does the racism row in England have for promising cricketers? Can India Women be competitive in the lone Test in England? And would Ramesh Powar have asked a better candidate than Amol Muzumdar to pass the baton on as Mumbai head coach?

From nearly packing up his kitbag since he had stopped enjoying to emerging as the leading light in Mumbai's yet another title triumph, veteran batsman Amol Muzmudar - recently appointed as Mumbai's head coach - recalls a roller-coaster ride in 2003-04.

We know the venue for IPL's restart but we are still awaiting the schedule. Here are the tentative dates and the possible issues the BCCI will have to deal with before IPL 2021's remaining 31 matches are played later this year.

What has prompted the discussion about India's scheduled five-Test series in England to be curtailed to a four-Test series? Why is IPL more important than international cricket to Indian cricket ecosystem? And what has caused the payments for women's and domestic cricketers to be delayed for the last year?

Cricketer and actor are two of the most sought-after professions in cricket. Having been there and excelled in both the professions, Salil Ankola walks down the memory lane and relives playing with Tendulkar, support from Nana Patekar. He also tells us how he fell back in love with cricket all over again to return as the Mumbai chief selector

What prompted change of guard while appointing India Women coach? Is WV Raman justified in feeling hard done by? What prompted Bhuvneshwar Kumar to go after "sources" in a news report? And why is Australian news media still going after the IPL entourage even after all of them having returned home?

Despite Indian sport, especially cricket, having evolved into a profession, mental training is still in its nascent stage. Mugdha Bavare, a swimmer-turned-sport psychologist, is one of the seasoned professionals who is helping out sportspersons across levels to optimise their performance. Bavare stresses on the integration of coaches and parents into shaping minds of young athletes and the pressures young cricketers face. Besides, she also explains how to stay in the present; how to change young cricketers' goals beyond striving for an IPL contract; how to bounce back after failure and how to deal with uncertainty of sport.

With COVID-19 resulting in the IPL 2021 being halted midway through the tournament, is resumption of the tournament practically possible any time soon? And will it be fair to see two India squads playing in two different countries at the same time?

Having played in the first five editions of the Indian Premier League, the cricketer-turned-coach recalls some of his favourite moments on and off the field. Besides narrating how Dhoni called peace during his post-match discussion with Matthew Hayden that almost boiled into an argument and how Kumar Sangakkara helped him changed his approach, Powar dissects the evolution of a spinner's role in T20 cricket over the last decade