The intensity of Kolkata's relationship with Ganguly, its penchant for cosmic, comic hyperbole when it comes to the player, is unique.
Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
The firecrackers started going off at 9.58pm. That was when Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hoicked a full toss from Harbhajan Singh, and Virender Sehwag — keen not to drop the World Cup — took the catch with cautious glee.
India were lucky. India were plucky. They held their nerve as Pakistan, unable to conquer their inner demons, spectacularly imploded in a dramatic semi-final, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
I have never gone to a cricket match with my daughter. That’s because she follows cricket in a desultory way. Football is the game she is passionate about keeping up with, with tennis a close second.
Zaheer Khan was magnificent. Yuvraj has turned this tournament into his own. And with Ashwin clicking, and the fielding not as insipid as it has, the quarterfinal was India’s most rounded and spirited performance so far,
Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
With the quarter finals approaching, there is no margin for error any longer.
Soumya Bhattacharya on what India did right against the West Indies, and where it can get better.
The implosion of the batting and some baffling moves concealed a few promising signs for India, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
Of course, all men behave with their daughters in a way they do with no one else. You might disagree (saying that they behave with their sons in exactly the same way as they do with their daughters), but I'm afraid that we'll then have to agree to disagree on this one. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Sometimes, when she is not aware of it, I catch myself looking at our daughter carefully. It is during moments in which she is utterly absorbed in something or the other. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
As the World Cup is about to complete its first 15 days, here are the five things we have learned from it so far. Soumya Bhattacharya writes. See special
Sachin’s lesson on how to pace an innings:
Not that we needed this particular innings for that particular tutorial, but Tendulkar – in his sixth World Cup – showed us again why he is the most durable batsman of all time.
Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Be prepared," someone with experience in such matters told me. "It will come your way sooner or later." Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
All is as it should be, we have walloped Bangladesh (although, to remember 2007 - and other Favourites vs Minnows in non-cricket-World-Cup openers - we shouldn't sound so smug). But what are - as the marketing bozos say - our takeaways from this one?
Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
So it's nearly upon us, the final term-ending school break of the year, and our nine-year-old girl, my wife and I are looking forward to it with a sense of keen anticipation. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.