The most natural reaction to losing the World Cup on a technicality would have been of excessive outrage. And no one could have held it against New Zealand captain Kane Williamson were he to be taken over by anguish. It stung deep, but not even an imminent heartbreak was enough for Williamson to get carried away.

Constructing a batting lineup that was the envy of the rest of the world came with a price. England compromised on the quality of bowling, hoping to make up for it by outscoring the opposition. A fearsome bowler who could instill fear into the opposition’s best batsmen was the missing piece in the jigsaw. Enter Jofra Archer.

At the end of the league phase, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has achieved the rare distinction by becoming the first player to score over 500 runs and bag over 10 wickets in a single World Cup. Regardless of who bags the Man of the Tournament award, Shakib has without a shadow of doubt been the story of this World Cup.

Should the pattern of India’s top three batsmen firing in every single game break, does India have adequate alternate sources to find runs from? Should the team be worried about its middle order, ahead of the semi-final?

With a performance that will go down in history in the World Cup final against New Zealand, England’s Ben Stokes infused ecstasy and euphoria befitting the occasion. The World Cup belonged to England. The World Cup belonged to Ben Stokes. And late last night, Stokes ascended to the cricketing pantheon.

Sudhir Mishra's Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi critiques the eternal debate between the Indian Left’s romanticism of its “cause” and its ability to propagate “change”. It’s extraordinary how a film made in 2005 managed to foreshadow a reality that the Left is waking up to, only now.

In Prakash Jha’s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It’s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country’s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.

Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai could easily have been adapted into a political potboiler with countless twists, item songs, and stereotypical portrayals of the bureaucracy. But, Banerjee refuses to go down the OTT route. Shanghai is an exercise in restraint. In a way, it can be looked as a balm for the hyper-nationalistic age we live in.