Test series victories over Sri Lanka and South Africa ensured Virat Kohli could justify the team's failures earlier in the year.
Just 54 people turned up on the first day of an England-Pakistan Test a few weeks ago.
126 of Ashwin's 176 Test wickets, points out Bikash Mohapatra, have come on home turf. Half of the remaining 50 have come on similar surfaces in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
In winning the Davis Cup Andy Murry has fulfilled the hopes Britain had in him. Now, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com, he needs to live up to his initial promise and consistently deliver results a player of his potential deserves.
With a record that was anything to be proud of, the only way India could have beaten the South Africans in the ongoing Test series was by using 'home advantage' to the optimum, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com.
The Serb's dominance in 2016, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com, is way beyond numbers. It's about how he forced his opponents into submission.
'He has led India to wins in the World T20, the World Cup and the Champions Trophy. Which other captain in the world can boast of such a record?' 'And if it is about form, then Virat Kohli isn't in the best of form. Neither is Shikhar Dhawan. So what do you do? Drop them all?'
For all her achievements, says Bikash Mohapatra, Saina is yet to win either the Worlds, Olympics or All England, badminton's flagship events.
As Michael Clarke gets ready to play the final Test of his career, what will be remembered -- like his predecessor Ricky Ponting -- will not be their many triumphs, but the failure to win the Ashes on English soil.
Following Angel Di Maria's nightmare stint, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com says the 'Theatre of Dreams' has never been a happy a hunting ground for players from the continent
The summer transfer season in Europe has witnessed many a high-profile move, and a surprise or two. Rediff.com takes a look at a few such tales that ended not as expected.
Sadly, the Lodha panel verdict on the IPL spot-fixing scandal of 2013 can't guarantee such incidents won't happen in the future, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com.
'Even at 42, Leander's ball skills, his reflexes at the net, the hand-eye coordination... nothing has diminished. In fact, he is as good as he's ever been.'
Bikash Mohapatra traces the rise of the Swiss, first man to win multiple Slams in the 'Big Four' era.
On the 30th anniversary of the football tragedy, Rediff.com's Bikash Mohapatra, in an exclusive interaction with Italian author Francesco Caremani, discusses the incident that affected so many people, including himself.
India's former Davis Cup captain Akhtar Ali discusses the secret behind Leander Paes's success with Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com.
The 20-time English Premier League champions are far from their best, but, in the final analysis, it is the results that matter, and at the moment they are on a winning spree, says Bikash Mohapatra
The result in the first Test against Australia was expected, if one takes a look at India's recent, or overall, record overseas. What was unexpected, though, says Bikash Mohapatra, was the Virat Kohli-led side's change of attitude.
Roger Federer's straight sets victory over Richard Gasquet in the Davis Cup final against France on Sunday not only made Switzerland only the 14th nation to win tennis's prestigious trophy, but also completed the final piece in the Swiss's puzzle.
IFFCO beat competition from among the 523 cooperatives from 30 counties that were surveyed for the agriculture and food industries sector.