By Vicky Kapur

A scoreline of 212/6 vs 336/5 doesn’t even begin to do justice to the hype created for an India-Pakistan encounter on the cricketing field. And this was during the ICC Cricket World Cup, the quadrennial contest for cricket’s most celebrated title. What a washout! It was pegged as the clash of the Cup and even rain gods relented (save for the fact that Pakistan’s innings was truncated by 10 overs and the target was revised down by 35-odd runs). But even ardent admirers of Pakistan cricket will concede that the 11 Men in Green on the ground were no real match for the Clinical 11 from India.

Continue reading How India Vs Pak pushed cricket on the back foot →

By Purva Grover

Men, as I was made to believe, can live contentedly, with just a few pair of trousers, two shirts (white and blue), and a single pair of shoes. Of course, new-age men may boast drawers full of many pair of socks as well to match up with the well-paired trousers-shirts combo. The man I married is not new-age; we’re both ageing and I’d like to think with grace. Of course, I expected his wardrobe to be skeletal as well. I was right, but only partly.

Continue reading Can you ever have enough World Cup jerseys? No. →

By Sukayna Kazmi

“How did that happen?” That is the first question I’m asked when people find out that I’m half-Indian, half-Pakistani (well, my father is from India, and mother from Pakistan). For some, it’s hard to digest that love can blossom between people from rival countries. Even though India and Pakistan have a history of political conflicts, the two communities mingle quite happily in the UAE.

Continue reading Indo-Pak match: What it means for one from both sides →

By Abhishek Sengupta

As cricket’s self-anointed ‘World Cup’ involving all of nine countries and a clutch of Caribbean island-nations comes rolling to 10 cities around England and Wales this summer, I realise I might just be completing a decade without cricket, an era of having not given two hoots about the gentleman’s game.

Continue reading This is my dream India XI and it beats the #10YearChallenge →

By Sami Ha Zen

Playing cricket during the holy month of Ramadan may seem normal, but what was different about our play was that we played matches inside a mosque in Sharjah. Our usual playground was a football pitch but we shifted to inside the mosque during the holy month.

Continue reading How about crunching a game of cricket before munching at Iftar? →

By Rituraj Borkakoty

At a time when the world is littered with hate and anger, Pep Guardiola has taken matters into his own hands by helping us escape the gloom, albeit momentarily. For 90 minutes, he brings that smile back to our faces by sending football teams that don’t really make the world a fairyland, but they turn their playground into a canvas with their exhilarating passing game.

Continue reading Pep talk: A commitment to the beautiful game →

By James Jose

Cricket fans, especially in India, have yet again been treated to an entertaining edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Spread across three months — March, April and May — fans have lapped up the twists and turns, experienced the highs and lows of the most popular cricket league.

Continue reading A shorter IPL? What a sweet thought →