Cricket Unplugged- A Podcast on Cricket

10 teams bought as many as 204 players after shelling out a total of ₹551.70 crore at the mega-auction in Bengaluru. Ishan Kishan was the most expensive buy at ₹15.25 crores when MI bought the wicketkeeper-batsman back to their franchise that has won a record five titles!

It was a dramatic mega auction when the auctioneer, Hugh Edmeades had to be replaced by Charu Sharma due to health reasons. Charu took over the mantle within less than thirty minutes notice & did a fabulous job! As this event is touted as the 'biggest event in the cricketing calendar' & its never easy to take centre stage and come out with aplomb!

We at Cricket Unplugged take a deep look into each franchise and break down each team's best buys. Which are the franchises that have been really good at the player's auctions?

Which are the teams that don't look that strong on paper heading into IPL 2022? Can a new champion be crowned this season with the inclusion of two teams; Lucknow Super Giants & Gujarat Titans?

Soraj & myself present our IPL 2022 Auction Review in this super chilled, fun analysis of each squad and also share our personal opinion on some players who have got more than maybe they could have, to how its going to be to see regular faces who were part of one franchises for over 5 years represent another team from this year onwards; For all of you who love IPL & especially who have followed the IPL Auctions this is going to be a really enthralling, insightful episode! Enjoy listening!

It has been an amazing journey to get a platform to talk about and express our views on the game that's really close to our hearts! What started off as  making conversations between the crew of 'Cricket Unplugged' more professional to have completed 25 episodes! It does feel good and helps us to push ourselves to deliver better content in each episode that would keep our listeners entertained, informed and engaged when they tune into this podcast. 

In the milestone 25th episode, we at 'Cricket Unplugged' try to decode the most popular and successful franchise in the Indian Premier League(IPL)- Chennai Super Kings(CSK). There is a format change for this episode as Sooraj is on the receiving end of my questions as he is and continues to be an ardent and loyal fan of CSK. 

Despite this season where nothing seems to have gone right for 'Yellove' CSK, one can't just dismiss the franchise's contribution to the success of the IPL and through this conversation we get to listen to a pragmatic and level-headed  fan's perspective. 

And no podcast is complete without it's listeners and guests who have come on the show! There's something special in store for them as well!

As we see the biggest T20 league in the world, Indian Premier League(IPL) unfold in the UAE currently, we decided to shed light on a rather grim and dark time in the league's history that led to two franchises especially one of the most loved in the IPL, CSK being banned for two years. 

We get our host Sooraj, who has been a CSK fan since the tournament's inception to provide his take on what that match fixing/betting scandal meant for ardent CSKians. How did it affect them? Did they dissociate themselves from the IPL those two years? And we round up on a hopeful note that the beautiful game must stay away from such scandals or controversies in future. 

Cricket is a beautiful game and will continue to be so. But one can't deny that there have been certain incidents/ scandals that have presented the game in bad light. Apart from being a Cricket Analyst, I have been and continue to support the Australian cricket team. The teams under Steve Waugh's leadership and Ricky Ponting have played a defining role in my passion for the game. 

In this episode, I don the hat of an Australian fan and try to present how it must have been from the other side, especially when the cricketing fraternity and media were openly pouncing the Aussie side post the unfortunate incident that happened on 24th March, 2018.  Yes, those cricketers deserved to be punished, but was the treatment meted out to them fair and 'within the spirit of the game'? 

What does it take to have such a loyal, close knit support base like the CSK franchise have enjoyed over the years?? Why are fans so connected with CSK despite all the trials and tribulations they went through which included their two year ban from the tournament. 

Every player who is a part of CSK feels like it's a family and we have  our host Sooraj pour his heart out about CSK and why he is so attached and connected with the franchise from the past twelve years!! This episode is a special tribute to all the 'Whistle Podu' fans who I am sure will be rooting for their franchise even this year! 

The most coveted and the biggest T20 carnival in world cricket- IPL is back!! After some doubts owing to COVID-19, now the stage is set for the cash rich league to kick start off in the UAE from September 19th, 2020. And quiet naturally, like everyone else we at Cricket Unplugged are eagerly waiting for the action to start! 

In this episode we do a preview of our own, where we look at how this IPL could shape up sans the fans. Can the UAE and BCCI pull off such a high profile tournament blemish free? It certainly is a challenging task to keep so many players in a biosecure bubble for this long. 

Also, we discuss the possible advantages of players having played in the English summer and the CPL who could add a lot of value for their respective franchises as they have got a lot of play time already in the past couple of months. 

Cricket might have received its razzmatazz in the truest form decades later, clear hints around the same were pretty much evident during the World Series Cricket played between 1977-1979.  The tournament might not have lived long but encapsulated all the contemporary facets of cricket especially that of the T20 leagues being played around the world.

Coloured kits, protective helmets, field restrictions and day-night cricket, all of which are pretty common things in modern-day cricket were all pioneered during the World Series Cricket. Fitness, which has become a must during these times of the sport being played throughout the year, also gained awareness during the World Series Cricket for the players were required to play a lot of matches during a limited window.

That being said, the biggest positive coming out from the tournament was the belief that the sport can be marketed successfully to gain affirmative results as far as the commerce was concerned.

In this episode, we take you back time to a series or competition in World Cricket that has truly shaped the sport: much of what we see in Cricket now was envisioned and delivered way back in 1977-1979 by one man's vision- Kerry Packer! 

In the previous episode,  we at Cricket Unplugged took the listeners to what we felt are India's most iconic moments and memories in Test cricket over the years. The focus of this episode would be recollecting India's iconic performances over the years in Blues- ODIs and T20Is. 

India under MSD's leadership paved the way for World glory not once but thrice. We look at how MSD's captaincy has played such an integral role in India and World cricket's growth in T20 cricket in particular as the inaugural World T20 win in 2007 led to the formation of the IPL that has changed the face of cricket. 

We take the listeners down memory lane, by revisiting some iconic performances in the years gone by that featured the likes of MSD, Virat Kohli and a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!

On the occasion of the 74th Independence Day, we decided to dedicate one episode to the cricketers who have defined India's rise in World cricket over the decades. It's a thrilling and exhilarating experience to witness these cricketers go about their work as every Indian feels connected at various levels with their favorite cricketers or the Indian team. 

This episode is all about presenting our thoughts and memories of India's finest wins and performances in Test Cricket over the decades. From Sunil Gavaskar's brilliance in 1971 vs West Indies to Gautam Gambhir's superlative performance in New Zealand and everything in between, we have it covered!

Special mentions are provided but the overall focus for this special episode is India's memorable performances overseas over the years, especially against the British or England team. 

Many of you who have been following the game must have heard about the Kolpak Deal as a result of which many prominent and talented players from especially the African cricket countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe decided to forego the pride and honor to play for their country and instead chose to move to the United Kingdom and play for English counties. The main reason stated by players who took this deal was financial security. 

So then what really is the Kolpak Deal? Why has it affected cricketers from South Africa and Zimbabwe as much as it has in the past decade or so? Isn't playing for the country the biggest motivation and drive for a professional sportsman? Or do they also have to think about other factors that may not make too much sense for a common cricket fan.

We discuss about this grave and sensitive issue plaguing World cricket in this episode where we present our personal take and opinions on this issue and look at what we think this has done for the quality of cricket coming out of South Africa and Zimbabwe in the past 7-10 years.