Boria Majumdar is an Indian sports journalist, sports historian and writer. He was the co-writer of
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...
's autobiography ''
Playing it My Way''. He is currently banned for 2 years by the
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...
for threatening cricketer
Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha (born 24 October 1984) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team. He is a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman. He plays for Tripura in domestic cricket and for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Pr ...
.
Early life
Majumdar was born on 8 March 1976 at
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. He completed his schooling from
The Frank Anthony Public School, Kolkata
The Frank Anthony Public School in Kolkata, India, is a co-educational school imparting primary, secondary and senior secondary education.
The foundation stone of the school was laid by Anglo-Indian leader, social activist and educationist Fran ...
. He completed his B.A. in History from Presidency College,
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
in the year 1997. In 1999, he did his M.A. in Modern History from the same university. He was awarded the
Rhodes scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
in 1999–2000 and went to St John’s College,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
to do a
DPhil
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
on the Social History of Indian Cricket in October 2000.
He completed his doctorate in March 2004 and the thesis was subsequently nominated for publication in the Oxford monographs series. It was published in India by Penguin-Viking as the much acclaimed Twenty-Two Yards to Freedom: A Social History of Indian Cricket in December 2004.
Personal life
Majumdar is married to Sharmistha Gooptu.
Majumdar launched
RevSportz with backing from multiple corporates.
Sports journalism
He co-wrote ''
Playing It My Way'', the autobiography of former
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...
.
He have connections with high-profile former cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar and others. He writes columns-articles for various newspapers and websites. He worked as an editor of Times of India and covered 2020 summer Olympics for them.
In 2018 his second book, ''Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians: The On and Off the Field Story of Cricket in India and Beyond'', was published by Simon & Schuster.
In 2019 he was a senior research fellow in the School of Sport and Wellbeing at the
University of Central Lancashire
, mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun"
, established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted)
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
.
Previously he has worked as distinguished visiting fellow at
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...
, Melbourne and, since 2003, as visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago.
Controversies
The
BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...
imposed a two-year ban on Majumdar after a three-member committee found him guilty of intimidating India wicket-keeper
Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha (born 24 October 1984) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team. He is a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman. He plays for Tripura in domestic cricket and for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Pr ...
over an interview request in 2022. BCCI committee after investigation found out that Boria Majumder threatened Saha by WhatsApp messages, when the latter was not willing to give him an interview. After receiving the messages, Saha posted the screenshots of these messages on his twitter handle without revealing Majumdar's name. From March 2022 BCCI banned him for 2 years, amid this ban he is not allowed to take interview of any registered cricketer of the board, the board blocked him from entering in stadium-grounds amid domestic or international cricket matches, he is not allowed to use any BCCI or state cricket board's facilities. Majumdar will not receive any journalist accreditation during any cricket matches. Majumdar accused Saha, that he doctored his WhatsApp messages, and said that he will file defamation case against him. According to BCCI, this decision was given after hearing both parties by a committee at New Delhi. BCCI in their press release said that this decision will set a precedent for the future, so no journalist will dare to threaten a cricketer to do something or force to give an interview.
Bibliography
* ''
Playing It My Way'' (2014)
Ghostwritten
''Ghostwritten'' is the first novel published by English author David Mitchell. Published in 1999, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was widely acclaimed. The story takes place mainly around East Asia, but also moves through Russia, B ...
for S. Tendulkar.
* ''Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians: The On and Off the Field Story of Cricket in India and Beyond'' (2018).
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majumdar, Boria
Indian sports journalists
University of Calcutta alumni
Living people
1976 births
Indian male journalists
Journalists from West Bengal