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The Hindu
16 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Tactically Gambhir hasn't made it easier, he needs to take chill pill: Sanjay Manjrekar
Gautam Gambhir needs to loosen up, may be take a "chill pill", feels cricketer-turned-analyst Sanjay Manjrekar, who strongly believes that India earned a creditable draw in the fourth Test against England here despite some not-so-great tactical calls by the national team's head coach. Manjrekar didn't mince words when he said that the former southpaw hasn't strategically been on point in the red-ball format. Despite the fighting draw on Sunday (July 27, 2025), India are trailing 1-2 in the series with just one match to go. "I feel India has done well despite some of his (Gambhir) tactical decisions. Let's not forget: India lost 3-0 at home (to) New Zealand, lost comfortably to Australia (away). The fight we've seen in this team? That's down to the players. "Because tactically, Gambhir hasn't always made things easier— especially with some of his selections." Manjrekar also urged the fiery head coach not to treat every contrarian opinion as mindless criticism after the former India opener hit back at critics of skipper Shubman Gill describing them as people who lacked cricketing knowledge. "There was never any doubt about Shubman Gill's talent. If someone had doubts, they probably don't understand cricket. Some players take time to settle in international cricket. "In this dressing room, no one is surprised by what he's done on this tour," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference. "Even if he hadn't performed the way he did, we would still have had complete faith in his talent. What matters is that he's living up to his expectations and potential. More importantly, the so-called pressure of captaincy doesn't seem to affect him when he bats; he plays as a batsman, not as a captain," he added. Manjrekar, the veteran of 37 Tests, is known to speak his mind on various issues pertaining to Indian cricket, which at times doesn't conform to the popular point of view. After listening to Gambhir's press conference, the Mumbaikar couldn't help but express his take on 'JioHostar'. "Yeah, you can tell there are certain questions that get under his skin— especially when people question Gill as a young captain and batter. And honestly, those are valid doubts. "Even people who deeply understand cricket wonder whether this was the right time to hand him that opportunity. I just hope we can all understand this better," Manjrekar said. Over the past decade, whether it is some recently-retired superstars or current head coach and one or two senior players, there is always talk about "outside noise" which loosely means anyone who is critical of the team other than those present inside the confines of the dressing room. "It's not about 'you guys think' and 'we think'— we're all part of the same industry and the same country. I'd just like to see him take a chill pill, relax a bit, and be open to tough questions. Whether that will happen, I'm not sure," said Manjrekar. Manjrekar was also dismissive of Gambhir's assertion that Karun Nair wasn't dropped after his poor run of scores but just the best eleven was picked. "And to suggest that Karun Nair 'wasn't dropped'... come on. You guys see it as a drop; for them, it's about 'picking the right team'. If someone is dropped, he is dropped," he added.
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
ICC WTC 2025-27 Points Table: England slip to third after tough draw vs India in Manchester Test; Australia continue to lead standings
ICC World Test Championship 2025-2027 Standings: A valiant effort from the Indian batters saw them save the fourth Test against England in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday. After trailing by 311 runs in the first innings, skipper Shubman Gill and opener KL Rahul put on an 188-run partnership for the third wicket after two wickets fell for a no-score in the first over. Gill scored his fourth ton of the series while Rahul was unfortunate to be dismissed just 10 runs shy of his hundred. From there, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar stitched a 203-run partnership, helping India to a famous draw. England still leads the five-match series 2-1 ahead of the last Test. England slipped to third place in the World Test Championship (2025-27) standings after being condemned to their first draw in the 'Bazball' era in a Test not affected by rain. The Ben Stokes side now has 26 points from four Tests and a 54.17 PCT. India is still fourth with 33.33 PCT. Australia continue to lead the fresh new cycle of WTC standings with three wins and 100.00 PCT. Sri Lanka moved to second with 16 points and 66.67 PCT after two Tests. Bangladesh are fifth with one loss and one draw against Sri Lanka. West Indies, who had their chances against Australia in all three Tests but squandered those to get a clean sweep in the home series 3-0, have yet to open their account in the WTC this cycle. New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are yet to play any matches in this WTC cycle. Defending World Test Champion South Africa beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in the recently concluded Test match series, but since Zimbabwe is not part of the current WTC cycle, the series was not counted in for the standings. (Table updated after England vs India 4th Test on 27 July 2025)
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Masaan' at 10: It opened a window for indie cinema. Today, we are witnessing its quiet vanishing
Written by Anurag Minus Verma Masaan, the cult classic, just turned 10. It took me down memory lane. Back in 2011, I randomly messaged Neeraj Ghaywan on Twitter, saying I wanted to work in the film industry but was confused about how to get a shoe in. I had never been to Mumbai and had no idea what kind of struggle lay ahead. Neeraj, then assisting Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur, gave me his number and asked me to call. I still remember that conversation. He told me he had quit a well-paying job, was working 15-hour days as an assistant director, barely earning anything. 'I joined this industry a bit too late. You're in your early 20s, so it's the best time to come here,' he said. Four years later, Masaan premiered at Cannes. Neeraj cried during the standing ovation. And I remembered that voice on the phone: Uncertain, worn out, yet still chasing cinema as if all the answers to life's quiet miseries lay hidden in moving images, flickering in the dark, hypnotising strangers in silence. I messaged him a few days ago to ask if he had any specific memory from those days. He said: 'There was a time during those early days in Banaras when I had cramps even in my soles. I could barely walk. It felt surreal, like someone might tap me on the shoulder and say it was all a prank. But it wasn't. Despite the exhaustion and low pay, I never had second thoughts. I was having the time of my life.' To understand how Masaan was made 10 years ago, and how someone like Neeraj could be so afflicted with the desire to make films that he gave up everything for it, one must consider the kind of cinema that surrounded him. At the time, Indian cinema was going through a quiet rebellion. Films like Udaan (2010), Court (2014), Fandry (2013), The Lunchbox (2013), Ankhon Dekhi (2013), Miss Lovely (2012) and Sulemani Keeda (2013) emerged in that era. The idea of the independent film had begun to feel less imported. Its charm was so persuasive that even Ekta Kapoor, the architect of Indian television's saas-bahu New Wave, financed Love Sex aur Dhokha (2010). Metaphorically speaking, it was as if the big mall of Bollywood had started allowing a few local vendors to set up carts inside. Masaan, during that time, stood out by walking a line most films stumble on. It had the quiet ambition to merge world cinema sensibility with the storytelling pace of accessible commercial cinema. At the time, that was unusual. It wasn't loud in its portrayal of caste, the way some films flaunt their virtue. Nor was it so subtle, like much of arthouse cinema, that the idea melted into metaphor and escaped notice altogether. Masaan treated caste as a sadness that sits at the centre of love stories in India. Unlike the films and television shows that came later and kickstarted the 'small town' wave, Masaan didn't romanticise or exoticise the hinterland. There were no peppy background tracks layered with Spanish guitar to sell the charm of small towns or villages. The town in Masaan breathed, burned, and its people waited for something better, with no promise it would come. In that sense, Masaan offered a template for what Mumbai cinema could have become: Rooted in Indian reality, shaped with artistic clarity, yet still emotionally accessible to the public. The recent film All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia too tries to walk that delicate line between arthouse and commercial cinema, between politics and love, managing a theatrical release and being embraced by many. Like Masaan, it proves that this bridge can be built, just not very often. A decade later, the space for such films feels even more fragile. The idea of the indie film itself seems to be fading, not with a final collapse, but with a quiet vanishing. What could have been a strong foray into stories with emotional depth and artistic clarity never quite passed the baton. Instead, the torch dimmed somewhere in the distance, and nobody seemed to care. I spoke to Varun Grover, Masaan's writer, too, for the occasion, who explained the cultural shift over the last decade: 'Today, if I took the Masaan script to anyone, I doubt it would be made. No studio or production house would step up like they did in 2015. Back then, the algorithm didn't control everything. In fact, people encouraged anti-algorithm films. Now, OTT platforms are even tougher. Executives only care about what the data says. YouTube might be the last standing platform for original voices, but even that is shrinking rapidly. Outside of that, I don't think there's much left. It's a pessimistic thing to say, but even in 2015, people were already pessimistic. They just didn't know how much more despair was coming. Maybe in 2035, I'll look back and say 2025 wasn't so bad. By then, maybe creators won't exist. Robots will create, watch, and distribute content. We'll just sit on the sidelines, doing our podcast, talking to each other and that's it.' The writer is an author, podcaster and multimedia artist
