BIZARRE: Sharda ugra - You Need To See This

Hit for six: why India’s Women’s Cricket World Cup win is victory for equality

Sacrifices made to reach final – defying social stigma, lack of resources and juggling jobs between training – makes victory still more extraordinary

The Guardian - UK · Nov 7, 2025

Hafta 552: Online gaming ban, Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on India

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by economist and author Vivek Kaul and sports journalist Sharda Ugra. 

Newslaundry · Aug 30, 2025

Should India host the Olympics? An authoritative guide to why this is a bad idea

On July 1, inside a glass tower in Lausanne, India made its pitch to the world. 

Newslaundry · Aug 4, 2025

Big media’s strange self-censorship of Cricket World Cup, and why it mustn’t now forget ‘rat-hole mining’

In the good old days, when print was king, people got all their news from newspapers. Depending on your preoccupations or interests, you could start with page one, or turn to the back of the newspaper.  Page one, as now, consisted of headline news – mostly politics, some business, disasters,…

Newslaundry · Dec 1, 2023

‘Indian hostility’ looms over Asia Cup’s stripped-back hosts Pakistan

Pakistan gets set to host just four of 13 matches of the regional cricket tournament after India’s refusal to tour.

Al Jazeera · Aug 29, 2023

Manipur simmers, champions protest, but Modi's focus is on his new Parliament

We have witnessed a fortnight of high drama. The contrasting images – of the prime minister of a secular country walking into a new Parliament building accompanied by saffron-clad Hindu priests even as award-winning women wrestlers literally wrestled with the police to assert their right to protest – were riveting. 

Newslaundry · Jun 2, 2023

Indian wrestlers strike against high-profile MP accused of abuse

India's top wrestlers, including two Olympic medallists, make allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation, threatening huge implications for a country where women's sport is only now gaining time in the spotlight.

ABC News · May 13, 2023

No data, questions ignored, sports used for ‘propaganda’: The trials of the modern Indian journalist

In India, the “good old days” of journalism weren’t that great. News was dangerous during the Emergency and governments did their best to stifle the free press, such as former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra’s 1982 Bihar Press Bill.

Newslaundry · Apr 15, 2023

Despite new focus, media misses the darker story about women in sports

While mainstream media continues to focus on games politicians play, this column will focus on the games women play, as in cricket, tennis, football, hockey, athletics, etc., and how the media covers their struggles and achievements.

Newslaundry · Mar 9, 2023

NL Playoffs Ep 31: T20 World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Sao Paulo F1

Newslaundry subscribers Aniketh Kalur and Gowtham Kode are joined by sports journalist Sharda Ugra to discuss the recently concluded T20 World Cup, the impending FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and Formula One. 

Newslaundry · Nov 18, 2022