Eden diary: Isha Guha, always a Kolkata Knight Riders fan at heart

Isha Guha, the former England pace bowler and one of the most recognisable faces among the women’s TV pundits, has another identity – she has always been a Kolkata Knight Riders fan deep down. Yes, it has got a lot to do with her roots with the city as she was present at the stands for Saturday’s KKR game against Punjab Kings.

‘’Yes, I have always supported KKR from afar. Last year was very very special,’’ Isha told the KKR anchor at an Instagram reel. A day before, Isha and her octogenarian father Barun Guha – who migrated to England – braved the scorching heat to catch both the teams during their net sessions. This time around, Isha is on holiday as she is not a part of the IPL team this season.

 ‘’It’s great to see the Jhulan Goswami stand,’’ was one of her first observations, the former Indian pace legend being one of her contemporaries in the game. Sr Guha had left Kolkata way back in 1965 to settle in the UK but according to Isha, they used to take trips from time to time to catch up with the family.

‘’Dad used to plan his visit with the England Test matches to watch the likes of Pankaj Ray bat. I haven’t been here in a while but I have a lot of memories of the city, while I have also played in Kolkata in 2005 and had been a part of commentary teams,’’ said Isha, who hasn’t been out of touch with her mother tongue Bengali. Her mother, incidentally, had written a book on Bengali recipe and Isha had been feasting on some Bengali cuisine this time.

 ‘’Ami bolte pari, anek bujhte pari,’’ (I can speak Bengali, can also understand a lot) she said in heavily accented Bengali.

Umran Malik is back

 The sight of Umran Malik, the Jammu & Kashmir tearaway with the Knights at their practice session on Friday was a welcome one. Malik, whose hopes of making a strong comeback in 2025 season was derailed by an injury and he was replaced by the left-arm seamer Chetan Sakaria.

 However, soon after he received the clearance from National Cricket Academy (NCA), the KKR management invited him to be a part of the squad and train under bowling coach Bharat Arun. Time will only tell whether Malik, who created quite a sensation in his debut season for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022 by regularly bowling at 150-plus clicks and was fast-tracked into the national white ball set-up, can be back in his elements.

 The KKR management, meanwhile, deserves kudos for keeping him in their fold – albeit without a contract.