Sarthak Dev

Shreyas Iyer has the gait of a Bollywood hero in action. He walks with his head thrown back, shoulders loose, a languid authority in every stride. He’s chill, but he’s in control. He wore that nonchalance to the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on April 25th, and kept it on while depositing balls fifteen metres into the stands. The last of his sixes took his team, Punjab Kings, to within two runs of victory with nine deliveries left. They got there with a single and a wide.

Sarthak Dev · Follow 15 min read · -- A walk through cricket’s awkward relationship with mental health. Trigger warnings apply. Credit: Joey Guidone As you read this, the England men’s Test team are touring New Zealand for a three-match series.

The skies were steel grey as I stepped out from the Chepauk train station for the first day of India’s Test match against Bangladesh. Chennai had been a preheated oven for the past week, but decided to play nice for the start of India’s cricket season. A gentle inward breeze from the Bay of Bengal kept the skin cool. Bangladesh bowled first, bowled well, and soon had India reeling at 34–3. Chepauk, however, was breathing easy. It was too early in the day to nudge nonchalance into anxiety.