Shashank Nair

Sports journalist. Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick - in that order. I don't care about what you make of my retweets.

[Express Sports @IExpressSports]

Arnolds of Andhra: How three villages produced India's weightlifting wizards

Thread 🧵

Sangidi Rallu was an ancient village fair contest of lifting massive granite boulders, shaped as a torus (shape of an unhollowed tyre). Three villages in northern Andhra modernised the rural skill to become weightlifting powerhouse. It gave India its first-ever women's Olympic medal, through Karnam Malleswari.

✍️ Tanishq Vaddi

(1/n)

https://t.co/4YR13ETgmT

[Ch1rag.ś @Ch1ragjpg]

@nautfcb U’ll only pass it to me won’t u bruno ?

[Bd@irB@ll @Bd_irB_ll]

Messi is basically a PED for these Argentinians. I'm seeing Almada do things he's never done before

[✍️ 🇦🇱 @10blended]

Lautaro thinks just because Messi is playing well I’m not noticing how dogshit he is I see you too buddy

[Anirudh @AnirudhMenon89]

Stop with the insane Kerala Story 2 ads Zee5. Do you people even realize who's up watching this World Cup here?

[Mihir Vasavda @mihirsv]

Jaspal Rana had the stillness of a shooter but carried himself with energy of a man constantly ready for a fight. He could be encouraging to young shooters, but blunt to the point of discomfort when confronting authority.
Truly, there was no one like him.
https://t.co/f7o8ajoHFP

[Vinayakk @vinayakkm]

Hello, hello! 👋🏻

I am starting off something new (hopefully daily, but let's see) on Substack.

What we Watched Today – with the first piece on PV Sindhu vs An Seyoung. (Of course it had to be badminton 🏸😃)

A quick note on what the idea behind it is👇🏽

[Jairam Ramesh @Jairam_Ramesh]

In August 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports had flagged that funds donated to the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) were being used to fund sports complexes in IAS officers’ residences and welfare associations.

@mihirsv, a journalist from the Indian Express, has conducted a deeper investigation and uncovered the spanking sports facilities built for our babus. These lavish projects were bankrolled by the same fund which supports the Targeted Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) – the Government’s flagship project to support our finest athletes who stand a chance to win an Olympic medal. At a time when the nation hopes to host the Olympics itself, such petty pilfering only discourage our sportspersons.

Given the way in which funds have been used, it is unsurprising that donations to the NSDF have shrunk from Rs 85.26 crores in FY 2023-24 to Rs 37.02 crore in FY 2025-26.
The fund is governed by a Council headed by the Union Sports Minister.

This is the same Parliamentary Committee that Mantri Pradhan had rejected and dismissed for having members of the Opposition. It is now for his colleague in the Ministry of Sports to take corrective action against the IAS officers’ lobby or to play petty politics.

https://t.co/a2sxSCnU3c

[Sincere Dibya @TheSincereDude]

🚨 A ship headed to India. Hit by projectiles. In Hormuz.

Say it slowly.

10 days ago, India invited IRIS Dena to MILAN 2026 naval exercises in Vizag. Hosted Iranian sailors. Took photos. Then; the US torpedoed that very ship in the Indian Ocean. 87 dead. India said… nothing.

Not a protest. Not a walkout. Not even a press conference.

Jaishankar called it “humanitarian” that we let another Iranian vessel dock at Kochi.

Iran called IRIS Dena India’s guest. And we couldn’t even stand up for our own guest.

That silence had a price.

Today, ships bound for Gujarat are being bombed in Hormuz. This isn’t collateral damage. This is what happens when every warring party; US, Israel, Iran; has correctly concluded that India will do nothing.

We have no red lines. No leverage. No spine.

Modi surrendered our Iran ties under US pressure. Quietly buried Chabahar. Abandoned INSTC. Voted with the West selectively, gained nothing in return. And now we are diplomatically invisible in a war that directly threatens our oil lifeline.

85% of India’s crude passes through or near this corridor.

Our Prime Minister’s response? Phone calls. “Deep concern.” CCS meetings. Another strongly worded statement filed under “things that changed nothing.”

Nehru built Non-Alignment so India would never be a bystander in wars that affect us. Indira created leverage. Vajpayee maintained balance. Modi replaced all of it with optics, foreign junkets, and WhatsApp-forward diplomacy.

The result is staring at us from the Strait of Hormuz.

We weren’t caught in this war. We walked into it; blindfolded, unarmed, and completely alone.

[Amit @nottheamit]

indian middle class worth is Rs 2k

[Lalith Kalidas @lal__kal]

Over the last 4 months, I've attempted to uncover a major domestic cricket racket under the #BCCI in #Pondicherry as part of an @IndianExpress investigation. Within the #CAP, fake addresses are manufactured for outstation players to be labelled as 'local' cricketers, their eligibility certificates are sold for a fee and a one-man proprietorship raises serious allegations over governance, finance, land ownership and voting control

https://t.co/aN8JcpkbjN

[The Hindu @the_hindu]

Nearly 37% children under five stunted, govt data shows
https://t.co/xcSFl8mQkE

[All Things Mavs | Jimmy C Hoops @All_Things_Mavs]

even the chess guy doesn’t understand this move

[Dami @TheChelseaWay]

Incredible how entertaining basketball is when it isn't broken up by 50 ads and 400 dance breaks.

[Swaroop @arseinho]

She's been surrounded by PhDs, doctors and people who know what they are doing. You, sir, are an anonymous handle with an internet connection and about 0.75 working brain cells. Please stop with this insane conspiracy theories. Shut the fuck up.

[Mihir Vasavda @mihirsv]

Breaking: Vinesh Phogat likely to be disqualified, may miss #Paris2024 medal
#wrrstling
https://t.co/POvBPQ581i

[Richard @gamray]

Just absolutely sensational

[Amy Broadhurst @amybroadhurst12]

Have a lot of people texting me over Imane Khelif. Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’. I thinks it’s the way she was born & that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been beating by 9 females before says it all.

[Mihir Vasavda @mihirsv]

Shattered after the Tokyo Olympics, #ManuBhaker thought she was done with shooting. Then, while on vacation in Cherai she found herself lifting a kettle and practising in her room.
Her redemption story, in her own words: #Olympics
https://t.co/qezCvXwyhz

[The Olympic Games™ @Olympics]

Atlanta 1996 Paris 2024
🤝
Céline Dion