Openions Blog

Well, I sometimes do imagine the togetherness that cricket has brought in the lives of the Indian people. The game has become so important in our lives that sometimes our entire mood might depend on the team’s performance in the middle. The fans just love the sport and there is almost every household in the country where the cricketers are treated as idols.  So, The Men in Blue were back in action after 9 months and everyone was excited. International cricket for India was returning and we were traveling to Australia. Having beaten them in the longer formats of the game back in the 2018-19 season, there was a hope that we will be fighting hard and will be giving them a close contest. (Source: Facebook) However, things have not been towards the Indian side to date and we have lost the One Day International (ODI) Series. It is quite common that if we lose a series, then that ignites a lot of public debate throughout social media. The people criticize some decisions and pit into two o...

The game of football is well enjoyed when it is played smoothly and is not interrupted in any means. The new season of the Premier League is already underway and there are already a lot of controversies regarding VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) and their handball decisions. Last season we saw teams, fans, players, and managers complaining about the VAR as they were killing the true essence of the game. (Source: Premier League) This week, the handball incidents which later turned out to be a penalty proved costly for teams and made them lose points. Tottenham Hotspurs were looking too good in their game against Newcastle United but eventually lost two points at the very last minute due to a penalty decision given by the VAR. Brighton also looked to garner a point against mighty Man United but lost it at the last minute. The same happened with Crystal Palace, who lost a point due to a handball decision against Everton. The teams who might have got the privilege to get a spot-kick can be ...

The 2019-20 season of Premier League will always be special. We witnessed a season-ending in July due to the pandemic plus we had Liverpool as the champions of England. Liverpool fans had been waiting for this moment for the last thirty years. It was their first title in the Premier League era. Liverpool dominated most of the season and finished with a massive 99 points. With Manchester City at a distant second place, Chelsea and Manchester United were the other two teams seeking the UEFA Champions League qualification. The drama for the Champions League spots as well as the relegation battle was quite alive till the last minute of the league. Jack Grealish led Aston Villa to sneak out of the relegation zone, whereas Bournemouth and Watford along with Norwich will be playing the Championship next season. Leicester City were looking comfortable for a Champions League finish before the lockdown, but things did not go according to their plans after the restart, whereas Bruno Fernandes b...

The Olympics is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event in the world. It involves players from all around the globe representing more than 200 countries. The Olympics qualifications in itself are big events, the athletes work really hard and try to make a place in the Olympics finals and then fight with their full sweat and glory to carve their names in the list of Olympic Medalists. They carry dreams and expectations of millions from their home country and look to play at their best in the main event.  For a big country like India, the Olympic Games have always ended on a disappointing note. The journey of our country started in 1900 with only one athlete participating in Paris. However, our first team was sent to Antwerp in Belgium in the year 1920. We have participated in every Olympics since then. During this run, we have only won a mere total of 28 medals which include 9 gold medals, 7 silver and 12 bronze out of which only 17 are individual medals. (Source: ThePri...

Is there any doubt about which team is the most consistent one in the IPL? Chennai Super Kings have never failed to qualify for the playoffs. They have made it to the IPL finals for 8 times in 10 seasons. They have the second highest number of trophies in the IPL, just one behind the current Champions, Mumbai Indians. CSK started their campaign with players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina. They later on bought players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. These are some core players around which CSK build their squad every year. The players have 100% loyalty towards their team and have become an immense part of the CSK family. The fans of CSK are spread all over India and the players never fail to impress them.  We are here with a series of IPL Dream Teams wherein we will be making All Time XIs of the current eight teams in IPL. During this venture, I am being assisted by Raunit Raj and Amit Vikram Singh who have immense knowledge in the field of c...

Delhi Daredevils started their IPL campaign by qualifying for the semi-finals. They finished at the top of the table in the following season but eventually couldn't reach the finals. Since then, the Delhi Team doesn't look the brightest of the lot, making it to the playoffs only twice in 10 seasons. They are a team who have finished at the bottom of the table for the most number of times and haven't reached an IPL final even once. They even had a very talented squad with them at some occasions but they didn't get the result that their fans were hoping for. They are a team who like to build up their squad from scratch for the most number of times which leads to a pool of new players and coaching staff every year, making it difficult to have stability and coordination within the team.  We are here with a series of IPL Dream Teams wherein we will be making All Time XIs of the current eight teams in IPL. During this venture, I am being assisted by Raunit Raj and Amit Vikram...