Leslie Xavier : All

Leslie Xavier
National Sports Day 2019: What’s the Big Idea?
29 Aug 2019
Indian sports national award system — for the Arjuna, Dronacharya and Khel Ratna — insults the man in honour of whom it is instituted. The spirit of Dhyan Chand demands sportsmen never need to play…
Leslie Xavier
Interview: Kabir Kohli, Signed by Spanish Football Club CD Olimpic de Xativa (420 Grams Shorts)
28 Aug 2019
420 Grams in conversation with Kabir Kohli, who has been signed by Spanish Tercera division football club CD Olimpic de Xativa, and Anuj Gupta, co-owner of Xativa and Sudeva.
Leslie Xavier
Alchemy Through IQ: How PV Sindhu Flipped the Script to Make History
26 Aug 2019
In her third consecutive trip to the Badminton (BWF) World Championship final, PV Sindhu finally struck gold. And luck had nothing to do with it. The victory is midpoint in a long ranging project…
Leslie Xavier
Aishwarya Pissay's World Title and the Reality of Motorsport's Gender Bias
22 Aug 2019
Aishwarya Pissay’s 2019 FIM Bajas World Cup victory is being viewed through two divergent lenses, that of adulation and another of criticism. The truth, though, lies in the middle. Her path was…
Leslie Xavier
Dodgy Star and Missing Bouts: Déjà vu for Indian Boxing as Mary Kom Avoids Nikhat Zareen
08 Aug 2019
Not for the first time MC Mary Kom has used her influence and force of personality to avoid trials for selection. Like many Indian sports stars, her pioneering heroism is now self serving and…
Leslie Xavier
Prithvi Shaw Ban Puts Spotlight on the Farcical BCCI Anti-Doping Protocols
31 Jul 2019
A backdated ban, a test that took five months to confirm, an innocent cough syrup and a reluctance to embrace systematic drug testing protocols are just some absurdities that emerge from the Prithvi…
Leslie Xavier
The Art of Diversion as Seen in Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma Rift Drama
30 Jul 2019
In the aftermath of an underwhelming ICC World Cup, the Indian cricket team has refrained from discussing and reviewing its cricketing faults. Instead, what we have witnessed is a game of smoke and…
Leslie Xavier
Great Expectations Peter To a Damp Squib At Indian Wrestling Trials for UWW World Championships
26 Jul 2019
The Wrestling Federation of India’s selection trials for the 2019 UWW World Championships carried extra significance as the event act as qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The quality of the…
Leslie Xavier
Hima Das’ Gold Medals and the Need for a Realistic Perspective
22 Jul 2019
For a nation starved of sporting success outside of cricket, any success is glorious. But, it is time to change that culture and understand the context of victories and the standards involved. Hima…
Leslie Xavier
ICC World Cup: England Win. New Zealand Win. Cricket Loses Via Rulebook Farce
15 Jul 2019
Modern cricket’s greatest criticism has been the unequal contest between bat and ball. England cricket team’s fortuitous ICC World Cup 2019 win only magnified the fact. To have the greatest World Cup…