Winning away therefore is rightly regarded as the ultimate accomplishment in Test cricket but in process, enormous shame and ignominy is attached to losing at home.

An entire generation of fans has learned to love tennis itself through their love for Nadal.

In the end, the crowd of people – having abandoned any sense of concern for their own safety – throwing themselves around at the sight of champions riding along the Marine Drive is going to be the defining memory chronicling this chapter of Indian cricket history.

Talking up your style of play in the press may have its benefits. But buying into that hype yourself is hardly prudent. England currently are borderline high on their own supply.

That Bumrah is the single most complete fast bowler of his generation is no longer an opinion. It’s a demonstrable, definitive fact.

There’s an undeclared two-tier system in practice where Australia, England, and India have grown increasingly inward-looking and are too happy to play between themselves while the rest of the world remains an avoidable afterthought.

The big games too swing one way or the other based on the same set of variables – pitch, conditions, toss, and some happenstance.

The Narendra Modi stadium has in a short time managed to shift the fan culture to be more representative of the politics its benefactors stand for.

Competing for space and attention against the far more constantly engaging and instantly gratifying T20s, the 50-over game has long been facing a crisis of identity.

In winning the World Cup, not only did the Argentine emerge out of Diego Maradona's large shadow, he took his popularity to a point where not rooting for his success became concerningly abnormal behaviour.

A disproportionate focus on calling out the colonial rhetoric does a disservice to aspects of the practice of running out a non-striker that does merit a sincere conversation.

Federer’s final career statistics may put him behind his two greatest rivals. But the experience of watching him play for the better part of two decades far outweighs what the final standings read.

There is something uniquely indescribable about the Shane Warne experience. His bowling was a grand theatrical act. Warne loved playing the showman.

His dry phase, unfortunately for Kohli, coincided with the board firmly establishing its control.

But at the end of the day, agony and pain in a way essentialise competitive sports. There’s no prize worth fighting for that doesn’t leave one contending party in dismay.

In all likelihood, Kohli's reign in limited-overs cricket will be bereft of the ultimate glory of an ICC trophy. But in his final stretch as leader of the men in blue, he is perhaps leaving behind something of far greater value.

Part of Holding’s appeal was his refusal to toe the line in service of the establishment.

No matter how much the administrators pretend to prioritise the longer format, the fact is there’s only so much they can do to resist the market forces.