All Out For No Loss

The Champions Trophy: The Finals Preview

Champions Trophy 2025 has arrived and the pre-tournament favorites have made the final. Between them they have a combined record of 13-1 in the past month (the one loss was when India beat New Zealand last Sunday)

In this conversation we will take a look at the two teams and the lead-up

During the chat we touch upon the following questions -

1. Will New Zealand reprise Nairobi 2000 or Manchester 2019 ?
2. Will India continue their dominant run in the ODI game ?
3. Who do we think is the favorite ?
4. What should Rohit do if we win the toss ?
5. What are the likely and par scores ?
6. And for whom will this be the final dance ?

#ICC #BCCI #newzealandcricket #indiacricket #australiacricket

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/champions-trophy-2025-finals-preview

The Champions Trophy: Final Round Games and Semi-Final Preview

Here come the semi-finals of the 2025 Champions Trophy. The same teams that played in the 2023 WC semi-finals have made it to the semi-finals of this tournament and done so in a convincing manner.

India has been looking at its best with three very strong showings while New Zealand was very good until they got tripped up by a sublime show by the Indian spinners. South Africa is looking like a complete team as they won their two games that were played in very convincing style. The Australia fought back to win against England albeit easily and were looking in very good shape against the Afghans as well. Without doubt the four teams that played the best made it to the semi-finals.

In this conversation we will take a look at the last 4 games of the league phase and will do a preview of the semi-finals

During the chat we touch upon the following questions -

1. Is India unstoppable ?
2. Who will India pick in their semis after Varun gave them a good problem to have ?
3. Can New Zealand return to their efficient best after a slip-up ?
4. Will South Africa continue their merry ways or will they hit their play-off wall once more ?
5. Australia is missing their big quicks, but would anyone underestimate them ?
6. Did India really have an unfair advantage ?
7. How could ICC mess up the scheduling so badly ?

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/champions-trophy-2025-into-the-business-end

The Champions Trophy: And then there were five left Preview

We are one week and halfway into the Champions Trophy and seen three teams being eliminated after two rounds of matches.

The official hosts Pakistan just were unable to overcome the pressure of a home tournament. They crumbled rather meekly against a very efficient and impressive New Zealand and then just were not able to challenge India.

Bangladesh predictably capitulated by ceding significant ground in the first quarter of both games, and even though they tried hard there were simply unable to match either India or New Zealand.

Clearly India and New Zealand have laid down markers as the teams to beat in this tournament. Then again their first challenge is when they play each other over the coming weekend.

England was part of the two best games in the tournament so far, but just slip their advantage again and again and ended up being the third team to be eliminated. In 2025, the English cricket teams (men and women) have a combined record of 1-16 !

Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan will be battling for the two semi-final slots from group B.

In this conversation we will take a look at the 8 games that have been played and discuss what we liked and did not from each time.

During the chat we touch upon the following questions -

• Does England require a major overhaul of their white ball setup ?
• What happened to Pakistan ?
• How good can New Zealand be ?
• Can India ward off New Zealand ?
• Does Australia have it in them ?

#TeamIndia #Australia #England #SouthAfrica #Pakistan #NewZealand #ChampionsTrophy #2025CT #ICC #BCCI

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/champions-trophy-2025-the-halfway-point

Moving on from the various ODI bilateral and tri-series into tournament play. The 2025 Champions Trophy is starting in less than a week being played in Pakistan and Dubai.

A short tournament featuring 8 teams drawn up in two groups of 4, with the top 2 in each group advancing to the semi-finals. Ten games will be played in Pakistan (Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi) and 4 in Dubai with the venue for the final contingent on whether India is still in fray.

Group A features India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh and Group B has Australia, England, Afghanistan and South Africa. Between the World T20 in 2024 and the WTC, teams have not really play much ODI cricket since the 2023 World Cup. The form guide though suggests that India and New Zealand might be the teams to watch for, then again between varying conditions and teams doing a lot of experimenting it is difficult to draw any specific pattern.

In this conversation we will be taking a look a brief look at the squads of the 8 teams and trying to assess their prospects. In particular factoring in the non availability of key players in some teams. We will also be spending more time on the selections for Team India, particular the curious decision of taking a spin heavy unit to Dubai.

During the chat we touch upon the following questions -

1. Can Afghanistan cause any ripples like in the 2023 World Cup ?
2. Does Australia have it in them to overcome the absence of all their first line quicks ?
3. Will England wake up from their stupor ?
4. How will New Zealand fare for their first major tournament without Boult and Southee ?
5. The South Africans have been severely impacted by the loss of many quicks. Will their reserve quicks come to the party.
6. Can Pakistan handle the intense pressure of a home campaign ?
7. Will India prove that the England series was just a trailer to a ICC trophy win ?

#TeamIndia #Australia #England #SouthAfrica #Pakistan #ChampionsTrophy #2025CT #ICC #BCCI

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/preview-champions-trophy-2025

In this conversation we will be reviewing the India v England ODI series.

The Indian team handily routed the English white ball teams in the 8 game series spanning both T20Is and ODIs with the final score line being 7-1. One of the biggest indicators was that England's No.11 batter got to bat in every single game !

While England was able to put up some resistance in three of the five T20Is, the ODI series was absolutely one-sided. India handily won the first two games in 37 and 42 overs and that was even though they clearly started taking things easy in the final stretch. And then in the final game the margin was 142 runs with England barely batting 35 overs.

This English team clearly looked completely out of depth with just a few flickers of resistance which for most part came from their openers. Their bowlers looked pedestrian other than Adil Rashid and to a lesser extend Mark Wood. To boot they seem to have a lot a few first XI players to injury. These performances do not augur well for their chances in the Champions Trophy. That said they always seem to play better in Pakistan than in India.

Team India looked imperious even without Bumrah. Rohit seems to have regained his mojo, Gill is looking like a million bucks, Virat scored a very good 50, Iyer is looking ready to reprise his heroics from the 2023 WC. The bowling unit looked in great shape with even Shami slowly showing signs of getting back into his groove.

During the chat we touch upon :

1. Are India's two white ball teams ready to be the dominant white-ball force in the next few years ?
2. Has the elusive balance finally been achieved for Team India?
3. Is Team India primed to make a strong statement in Champions Trophy ?
4. What ails England ? Why are they not playing to potential ?
5. Will England recover from this shellacking in time for the Champions Trophy ?

#RohitSharma #ViratKohli #TeamIndia #ShreyasIyer #Buttler #Salt #ODI

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/india-clobbers-england-in-the-white-ball-series

Review of India England T20I series and preview of ODI series

In this episode we are reviewing the T20I series where an electric Team India absolutely thrashed England. In the first game the target was chased down in less than 13 overs and in the last game, we could have asked them to bat again and still won. There was a humdinger in Chennai and a very efficient win in Pune which provided the additional benefit of getting under the skin of the English team. The only misstep was in Rajkot where our batters could not silence Adil Rashid.

Also in this episode we will be previewing the ODI series that started on Feb 6 and more importantly the trial run for the Champions Trophy for both team. On paper both teams are strong contenders for that Champions Trophy and this series might serve as some kind of a litmus test.

During the chat we touch upon

• Is Abhishek Sharma the real deal ?
• Is there some validity in England being upset about Shivam Dube being converted into a quick bowler ?
• What is happening to Sky ?

#Abhishek #SKY #Samson #TilakVarma #TeamIndia #Dube #Rana #ImpactSub #ConcussionSub #Buttler #Salt #T20I

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/the-impact-sub-series

In this episode we chat with Advait Varadarajan a member of the Orlando Galaxy Minor League Cricket Team.

Advait has played for Mumbai Cricket Association U-15 and U-17 club and state level camps, DY Patil and MIG cricket clubs in Mumbai Cricket Association's club and state-level tournaments. Also represented CMU at the collegiate level before playing for Orlando Galaxy in Minor League Cricket. In 2024, he was selected for the USA South Zone T20 squad. Beyond playing, he has served as a Florida U-15 hub selector and remains actively involved in youth cricket development.

In addition to talking with him about his early years in the extremely competitive Mumbai junior cricket circles, we also discuss the growth of the cricket in the Florida specifically in the Tampa-Orlando region.

Participants:

1. Vasant Kumar
2. Ramakrishnan G Iyer
3. Anand Kumar Sankaran
4. Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Guest:

1. Advait Varadarajan

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/cricket-with-advait-mumbai-cmu-tampa

After a grueling series in Australia, the Indian team is back to playing white ball cricket for the next few month. First it will be a five game T20I series against England followed by a 3 game ODI series against the same opposition. Then the team goes to Dubai to play the Champions Trophy after which IPL 2025 starts.

In this episode we are previewing the T20I series pitting an Indian T20I team that looks more aligned to the modern T20 game against a very powerful England side. What's not to like about a growing team pitted against arguably the strongest batting group in the international white ball game.

During the chat we touch upon

• The Team India Squad - can they maintain the momentum
• The English Team - the new chaps and the new but old coach
• What we can expect in this series ?
• And how Shami copes with his first international action since that fateful day at the NMS

#SKY #Samson #TilakVarma #TeamIndia #Bethell #Buttler #Salt #T20I

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/clear-sky-with-a-chance-of-buttler

A chat with one of Bay Area Cricket’s leading entrepreneurs, Biju Nair 

Continuing in our series of conversations with cricket evangelists in the Bay Area we are chatting with Biju Nair a technology and cricket entrepreneur. As is our wont we focus pretty much exclusively on the cricket part of his portfolio.

During the chat we touch upon 

• The Blazers cricket academy
• The Bay Area open
• Ownership of a Minor League franchise
• His goals to making cricket a mainstream sport in the country
• And yes a little bit about his  favorites.

Blazers Cricket Academy offers year round coaching to kids of all ages with a pathway program to:

1. Senior and youth cricket as part of North California Cricket Association clubs 
2. Minor league and major league cricket ecosystem 
3. USA Cricket at all age levels

More info at: www.blazerscricketacademy.com

#EastBayBlazers #Grizzlies #BayAreaOpen

Participants:

• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian
• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/biju-nair-a-cricket-entrepreneur

The Surrender at the SCG

An all to play for test match on a green mamba at the SCG that culminated with Australia regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the strength of a pair of sustained bowling performances.

Even before the test it was becoming increasingly clear that the team was struggling to get their act together. We had the head coach being combative in the pre-game press conference, and then a lot of speculation as to whether the designated captain would be playing. The uncertainty continued all the way to the toss before it was confirmed that Rohit was not playing - dropped or opted or stood down - nobody will ever know. And then came the rather surprising selection of two spinners in playing XI for a match that was to be played on a green top.

Then came the now familiar routine of our main batters struggling as we got bowled out for 185 in the first go around. It looked all lost when Bumrah left the ground for scans, but our other two seamers fought back and managed to get India a 4 run lead. After a riotous start to the second innings, our batters returned to their tried and tested modes of failing as we had another batting collapse at the hands of Scotty Bowland who finished with ten wickets in the match. This meant Australia had a smallish 4th innings target and that became miniscule when Bumrah did not take the field for the fourth innings. And even the blind faithful were forced to concede after about 6 overs of terrible bowling from the other quicks, as the game became a cake-walk for Australia.

Questions

1. What is wrong with the Indian team management ? Should the house be cleaned ?
2. Is it the end of the road for Rohit and Virat in red ball cricket ?
3. Will England 2025 look like the tours of 2011, 2014 and 2018 ?

In this episode we talk largely about what happened at the SCG and in particular look at the causes for the struggles in this test and for that matter in the series.

Take a listen and let us know what you think.

#INDvsAUS #BGTSeries #CricketTalk #WTC25 #AllOutForNoLoss #BCCI #Bumrah #PatCummins #MCG #Bowland #Webster #SCG #Gambhir

Participants:

• Vasant Kumar
• Ramakrishnan G Iyer
• Anand Kumar Sankaran
• Vijaykumar Balasubramanian

Also available on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

https://all-out-for-no-loss.captivate.fm/episode/the-surrender-at-the-scg