Dilip Doshi (1947-2025): The Gentleman Spinner

DILIP DOSHI, the classic left-arm spinner who de­fied age and convention to make his Test debut at 32, died on June 24, 2025, in London. He was 77.

Born in Rajkot, Doshi spent much of the 1970s overshadowed by India’s famed spin quartet— Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. Despite strong performances in domestic cricket, Doshi’s chance came only in 1979 after Bedi’s retirement. But when it did, he made it count. In 33 Tests, he took 114 wickets with classical, old-school spin— flight, drift, guile. Doshi also played first-class cricket for Saurashtra, Bengal, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire.

Those who knew him remember not just the bowler, but the man: sharp-witted, learned, and dignified. He wasn’t just playing cricket; he was playing it his way. Doshi refused to compromise—whether it was turning down World Series Cricket on principle, or refusing to play cheerleader when not picked. Though he began in Gujarat, Doshi had a deep connection with Kolkata. He played a major part of his domestic career for Bengal and became a familiar figure at Eden Gardens. Doshi stepped away from international cricket in the 1980s quietly, as he found himself at odds with how the game was being managed in India at the time.

After cricket, he built a successful business and embraced a quieter life surrounded by jazz, books, and friends. Doshi is survived by his wife Kalindi, son Nayan and daughter Vishakha. (By Soumava Haldar)

Noisemaker: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Clerical Error

After claiming that Iran is a nation that never surrenders, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went quiet for a couple of days. His remarks ahead of Iran’s attempted missile strikes on a US base in Qatar were followed by the Israel-Iran ceasefire. Just as questions were being asked about his silence, Khamenei resurfaced, claiming the US entered the conflict to help Israel, something that is hardly a revelation. But bombastic bites can’t hide the fact Iran has had to accept a truce.

The Big Picture

Ideas
Weight Loss

Just months after Eli Lilly launched its weight-loss drug Mounjaro in India, the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is now here with its own blockbuster variant Wegovy. The drug is expected to hit pharmacies soon.

Drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy work because they curb your appetite. They contain a compound known as semaglutide which affects the areas in the brain that regulate appetite, and prompts the stomach to empty slowly, making those taking it feel satiated much faster. These drugs also activate receptors for a hormone called GLP-1, which animal studies have shown, is found in brain cells in regions crucial for motivation and reward. People who rely on these drugs for weight loss typically have to be on them for life. Stop using it, and the kilos come back almost immediately.

The reason why these drugs are here is obvious. India has a huge obesity problem. The National Family Health Survey-5 conducted between 2019 and 2021 found that 29.8 per cent of urban men and 33.2 per cent of urban women between the ages of 15 and 49 years can be categorised as overweight or obese. This is not to speak of childhood obesity, which is also said to be growing at an alarming rate.

This impact of these drugs will however be restricted to a small section for now. A month’s supply of Wegovy will set an individual back by anywhere between ₹4,336 and ₹17,345. Mounjaro is also pegged around the same cost.

Money Mantra
The Strongest Driver
Making the most of the Indian manufacturing renaissance

 

FOR DECADES, India’s economic engine has depended heavily on services. But in the last 10 years, attempts have been made to revive manufacturing.

Successive budgets have sought to do this. Lower corporate tax for new plants, production-linked incentives (PLI) in sunrise sectors, faster approvals, dedicated freight corridors, and state-level subsidies together aim to lift manufacturing’s share of GDP from roughly one-sixth to one-quarter over the next decade. The big question for investors is: How does one tailor a portfolio to ride this policy shift? Here’s a possible list of sectors:

Core capital goods makers: These companies build the machinery, boilers, turbines, material-handling systems, and factory automation that every new plant needs. Order books swell early in a capex cycle and profits grow sharply once operating leverage kicks in. Prioritise firms with diversified end-markets (steel, rail, renewables, defence) and healthy return on capital.

Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) and Semiconductors: India’s ambition to become a global phone-and-laptop assembly hub, and eventually a chip-packaging centre, puts EMS specialists on a multi-year runway. Look for companies adding high-value sub-assemblies, camera modules, printed circuit boards, power manage­ment chips, because margins widen as complexity rises.

Auto ancillaries tied to electric vehicles: Suppliers with propri­etary designs for motor cores, lightweight castings or thermal-man­agement systems stand to gain as both domestic and export demand scales up.

Defence and aerospace manufacturers: Higher indigenous con­tent mandates and a growing export pipeline (ranging from surveil­lance drones to naval vessels) support long-dated order books.

Indian manufacturing’s renaissance will not be a straight-line poli­cy tweak. Global downturns or raw-material spikes will test patience.

Yet, the broad direction is set: India wants to make more of what it consumes and export the excess. Building a diversified basket across the themes above offers investors a pragmatic way to participate in that transformation while spreading risk.

Viral
Amitabh Bachchan’s Papad Moment

A Danish Instagrammer, Frederikke, roasts a papad on an electric stove, telling us how she had brought back a packet of papads from a trip in Nepal. She tells her followers how she loves them, and asks if anyone can point her to where she can buy more of them. “This man,” she says, pointing to a picture of a man on the papad packet, “makes the best papadoms…. If anyone knows who this man is or where I can get more, please let me know”. The image on the packet was none other than that of Amitabh Bachchan. Frederikke may or may not know who Bachchan is—perhaps she intentionally feigned ignorance—but the video was hilarious regardless, and it quickly went viral. Even Bikaji, the papad brand featured, chimed in, promising to send some papads her way.

Dilip DoshiNews Brief