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Opinion & Editorial

Bold takes, honest perspectives, and fan-first opinion on cricket and football's biggest debates — no agenda, no sponsor influence.

Latest Opinions

Rahul Krishnan

Senior Cricket Writer · June 22, 2026 · 5 min read

Cricket

Franchise Cricket Is the Best Thing to Happen to the Sport in 50 Years

Critics call it a corruption of cricket's soul. Traditionalists warn of a Faustian bargain with commercialism. But I'd argue that the rise of franchise cricket — the colourful, loud, globally watched form of the game that has taken root in living rooms from Mumbai to Manchester — is actually cricket's greatest gift to itself in half a century. It has brought the sport to billions of new fans, created financial security for players in smaller nations, and — crucially — has not killed the formats that purists love. Both can, and do, coexist. The evidence is in the numbers: Test match attendance is growing in traditional strongholds, while franchise tournaments are introducing the game to an entirely new generation. That is not a threat. That is an opportunity.

Priya Mehta

Football Correspondent · June 20, 2026 · 6 min read

Football

Money Has Ruined Competitive Balance in Top-Flight Football — And Fans Are Noticing

When only five clubs across Europe have won their respective top leagues in the past decade, we need to have an honest and uncomfortable conversation about what we call sport. Competitive balance — the idea that, on any given day, any team can beat any other — is the lifeblood of spectator sports. Without it, matches become predictable, and even the most passionate fan begins to wonder whether it's worth waking up at 3am for a "contest" that feels pre-determined by financial muscle. Financial regulation has tried and failed repeatedly. The solutions are complex, imperfect, and politically difficult. But pretending the problem doesn't exist, or worse, celebrating the dominance of a handful of clubs as "excellence," misses the point entirely. Competition is what makes sport worth caring about.

Nandita Kaur

Sports Culture Writer · June 18, 2026 · 4 min read

Sport & Society

Women's Cricket and Football Are No Longer "Also Rans" — They're the Future

The record attendances are real. The global broadcasting deals are real. The growing social media audiences are real. Women's cricket and women's football have arrived — not as an afterthought, not as a charity case — but as commercially vibrant, compelling products that can stand fully on their own merits. The question now isn't whether these sports deserve attention: they demonstrably do. The more interesting question is why mainstream media and sports administrators took this long to notice something that passionate fans could see clearly for years. The journey isn't complete. Pay gaps remain. Visibility still lags. But the trajectory is unmistakable, and the momentum is impossible to ignore.

Arjun Singh

Cricket Writer · June 15, 2026 · 5 min read

Test Cricket

International Cricket's Crowded Calendar Is Burning Out Players — Here's the Fix

Cricketers are human beings, not content machines. The relentless expansion of the international cricket calendar — driven by broadcast deals, administrative ambitions, and franchise obligations — is placing impossible demands on players who are expected to perform across all formats, year-round. The results are visible in dropped catches, mistimed strokes, and a creeping sense of cognitive fatigue that no sports drink commercial will fix. The solution isn't radical: it's about prioritisation, player consultation, and acknowledging that rest is not weakness — it is performance insurance. The sport needs to choose between extracting short-term revenue and protecting the long-term health of its greatest asset: its players.