After he scored both the goals in Feb 19 NFL tie against JCT in Ludhiana, Edmilson has become the cynosure of all eyes in East Bengal. Not without reason. Ever since East Bengal lost the services of Baichumg Bhutia beginning this season, it suffered several defeats in spite of playing well solely because it did […]
Owning stadiums, meaning business
The left rule of 3 decades has ensured that powerful ministers and leaders of the main ruling party have come to ‘own’ lucrative public properties, notably stadiums. Close to where I stay is the Jadavpur Stadium, a sprawling but unkempt campus, which I’m told ‘belongs’ to Sunderbans minister, Kanti Ganguly. What this means is no […]
Paying for transfer
2 days after Spanish football giant FC Barcelona is reported to have offered an all-time high of about Rs.258 crore as transfer fee to Manchester United to acquire Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo, India’s own big trio, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mahindra United are sitting in Bangalore tomorrow to decide on starting the concept of transfer […]
CAB flounders
Not long back there was an acrimonious change of guard at the helm of CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal). Incumbent Jagmohan Dalmiya was elbowed out of office by Prasun Mukherjee, backed by solid political patronage. Mukherjee happens to be the city police chief. One therefore thought India-Sri Lanka one-dayer yesterday would be a cracking of […]
Completing the rout
After blanking off Mohun Bagan 2-0 this afternoon, Sao Paulo Football Club (SPFC) from Brazil completes the rout of 3 major Kolkata clubs. They earlier defeated East Bengal 3-0 and Mohammedan Sporting 6-0. Notably, there are many Brazilians associated with Kolkata teams. The two coaches of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and the captain of […]
Ranadeb not considered
The 30-probables for the cricket world cup squad has been announced yesterday. Dada’s selection was expected, so that surely is good news. What however has turned it sour is the omission of Bengal’s highly successful pacer this season, Ranadeb Bose (his picture on left is sourced from Cricinfo, © Cricinfo 2007). Of course to be […]
Race of wings
This X-mas, while people came out in hordes to make most of their day out, including peeping in at the scene of didi’s indefinite fast at Esplanade East if that fell on the way, a congregation for a different sort of enjoyment happened in a field off EM Bypass. It was the annual South Kolkata […]
And now, Sourav motivates
We know Sourav’s gritty half-century at Wanderers Saturday last against South Africa paved the way for re-recognition of his tenacity and fighting spirit. Critics who till recently spoke foul of him, are suddenly seeing great virtue in him. But nobody was prepared to see the way South Africa was decimated by Indian bowlers. Indeed it […]
Are Bengalis afraid outside?
We’ve heard this before. And now Kapil Dev says this again on ‘Frankly Speaking’ when interviewed by Arnab Goswami, the NDTV veteran and now the editor, Times Now. He is asked what he thinks of Sourav Ganguli. Kapil Dev’s surprise reply is that Sourav epitomizes courage and aggression, so unlikely in a Bengali. For good […]
Touching bottoms
Indian participants at the Doha Asiad have mastered the art of nonchalance to such perfection that one is shocked in disbelief and wonders if they have any amount of shame left in them. Indian hockey team’s exit from Asiad before semis is like searching for nadir with gusto. No member of the team except perhaps […]