Cricket with an Accent Podcast

It is hard to imagine a more romanticized figure in Indian cricket than Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Cricket writer Ayaz Memon returns to the show to talk about the impact Pataudi had on Indian cricket. The conversation covers Pataudi's early days in England where he honed his cricketing education, the inescapable comparisons with his father and finally it shifts to tackle his accidental ascent to the Indian captaincy. The rest as they is history!

Pataudi's legacy goes beyond stats as he was leading a team of a newly independent country which was still trying to establish its cricket presence. Memon shares his own anecdotes and views on the great man from his numerous meetings over the years. A must listen for any student of the game.

In this weeks podcast Dilip Chavan joins the show. Chavan is the president of the Massachusetts Cricket league. He has been involved in the MSCL for twenty years now and has witnessed significant growth in the popularity of the sport during this time. In this interview he shares the numerous challenges of managing and running a statewide cricket league. Cricket in America is not a foreign sport anymore but it still needs a lot of work to become a second tier sport. 

Chavan talks about the grass root work that goes into familiarizing the game at the community level, and more importantly introducing the sport at local schools. The conversation also covers the strength of the Massachusetts league in terms of the talent it attracts and how it measures up to other American states. 

Imran Nazir is the podcast guest. He is one of the biggest talents to come out of Pakistan cricket in the last two decades. Nazir looks back at all the promise and opportunities of his career with no regret. He states that structural changes are needed to recreate the magic of world class teams pakistan had produced in the past. He also talks about how the aggressive approach of the white ball cricket carried over to the test arena. The conversation also touches upon the significance of former greats coaching at the junior level where the real difference can be made. Last but not the least he explains how PSL can play a major role in reshaping the fortunes of Pakistan cricket. (The interview is in Urdu/Hindi)

Freelance writer and blogger Ahmer Naqvi is the podcast guest this week. Naqvi known as @karachikhatmal on twitter is an established voice on Pakistan cricket. His work has appeared on Espncricinfo among other sites. In a very candid conversation he helps unpack the mythical Imran Khan - Javed Miandad relationship. He sheds light against popular wisdom on how the duo worked collectively towards the team's success despite swapping captaincy few times during their illustrious run. Naqvi addresses the age old theory - why a generation of Pakistani fans think Sachin Tendulkar was not a match winner and Virat Kohli is. Is Younus Khan a batsman of Indian mold? A lot of interesting topics rolled into one.

Free lance cricket writer Daniel Gallan returns to the podcast. As a resident of London, Gallan weighs on the certain goodwill aspect between the respective boards given the English summer is about to kick off with visits from West Indies and Pakistan. Gallan believes Dean Elgar is the leading candidate for South African Captaincy. 

The podcast also takes a nostalgic turn as we recall South Africa's heart breaking WC 1999 campaign and the historic 2008 test win in Australia. Was 1999 the best chance for South Africa? Does the 2008 series win has an asterisk for the Proteas considering the depleted Aussie pace attack? A lot of these nostalgia driven questions are addressed here.

Samir Chopra is back to conclude his thoughts on the India Pakistan cricket rivalry. In an extension to the first episode this conversation revolves around the rise of Tendulkar, Azhar's captaincy, the friendship tour of 2004 and the overall change in trajectory of this rivalry where India became a stronger outfit. It is hard to cover all the players in an exercise like this - but we managed to mention Akram, Dravid, Waqar, Dhoni among other key names from both sides. The topics also include the global appeal of Virat Kohli and how his popularity has transceded over to the Pakistani fans.

Ayaz Memon has covered Indian cricket for more than four decades now. During his timeline he has seen the landscape of the game in India transform tremendously. He was one of the few journalists who has seen it all from the 1983 Prudential world cup win to Javed Miandad's last ball six to Sachin Tendulkar's debut and last match. In a candid chat Ayaz reflects on many complex topics from his coverage of the game that dates back to beginning of the 1980's.

He addresses the musical chair era of swapped captaincy between Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev to the selection of Azharuddin as the captain. The Chappell-Dravid era also gets an explained mention as well. Tune in for the chat!

Cricbuzz writer Bharat Sundaresan joins the podcast as he shares the "Finding Patterson" journey. The article is few years old but the story and drive behind this uncovering of the fastest bowler of his time is quite the listen. The podcast is full of anecdotes on Patterson. Sundaresan also has authored a book on MS Dhoni. How do you write a book on one of the most famous cricket players of all time? Lot of good details on this very process are shared as well. Tune in to uncover a journalists account on a missing cricketer and then how to document a famous cricketer in a book!

In an in house podcast Sanket Singbal and Sabeeh Ehsan talk about the Pant vs Saha debate across all formats and conditions. The conversation is backed by stats vs what has been conventional wisdom in Cricket over the years. The pair also touches upon whether Saeed Anwar is underrated as an opener. Last but not the least Salim Malik and Ravindra Jadeja are mentioned for respective reasons. Tune in to hear the discussion.

Samir Chopra is an academic who has been writing about cricket for over a decade. He is the author of books "Brave New Pitch" and "Eye on the Pitch". He has been a prolific blogger for EspnCricinfo. In this episode Samir puts his fan hat back and travels back to his first memory of the India Pakistan cricket battles in 1978. The conversation visits the first live telecast of the rivalry to key performers like Imran Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Javed Miandad and Kapil Dev among others. Samir shares lots of observations on how these men and their teams shaped the landscape of the future battles and what it meant to be a fan who consumed these encounters. Bishen Bedi's captaincy, impact of the Sharjah six and end of the spin quartet are also discussed. A must listen for any India Pakistan cricket fan.