The Last Wicket

We speak with eminent journalist and cricket author Vijay Lokapally about his career in journalism, current state of Indian cricket and the book he co-authored with Gulu Ezekiel - “Speed Merchants: The Story of Indian Pace Bowling 1886 to 2019”.

Links

Follow Vijay Lokapally on Twitter.

“Speed Merchants: The Story of Indian Pace Bowling 1886 to 2019”

Former Indian cricketer and Indian Women's coach WV Raman joins us for a chat about his time as a player with the Indian and Tamil Nadu side for close to two decades, his thoughts on an expanded Women's IPL as well as women's tests, his book "The Winning Sixer: Leadership Lessons to Master", and much more.

Links

Follow WV Raman on Twitter

Find his book on Amazon

Follow his podcast on Buzzsprout

The Cricket Guys are joined by former India player, commentator and current Bengal coach Arun Lal for an expansive chat touching upon his approach to coaching in the domestic circuit, his thoughts on how a commentator can add value to proceedings, memories of Bengal's Ranji trophy win in 1990, his fight against cancer, and much much more. Don't miss his thoughts on dealing with anxiety in the middle of a pandemic.

Delhi Capitals super-fan Gurkirat Singh Gill joins us to chat about the transformation of the Daredevils into the Capitals, the evolving social media strategies of the IPL franchises, the wild extremes of IPL fandom, the enduring allure of the IPL and much more. 

Links

Follow Gurkirat on Twitter.

Rajasthan Royals team coordinator Arjun Dev joins The Last Wicket to talk about coaching kids at the Six Cricket Community in Bangalore as well as his experience of working within the IPL. We talk about his journey in coaching, the dynamics of mentoring kids, the rising interest of girls for the game, and much more. We also hear some interesting behind the scenes stories from the Rajasthan Royals dressing room. 

Also, The Last Wicket hosts take some time to share their thoughts on the debate over the IPL in times of spiking COVID-19 cases in India.

00:13 - 25:10 - The Last Wicket hosts share their thoughts

25:47 - 01:38:33 - Conversation with Arjun Dev

Links

Follow Arjun Dev on Twitter

Six Cricket Community

Cricket Central Store

The Cricket Guys continue their conversation with analyst and author Dan Weston (@SAAdvantage) who works with teams to provide recruiting and strategy assistance through his firm Sports Analytics Advantage. In the second of a two-part conversation, we talk about the value of anchors in T20 batting, future of cricket analytics and advice for budding analysts.

00:14 - 18:32: Thoughts on the "denied run" between Sanju Samson and Chris Morris, as well as the criticisms of KL Rahul and Manish Pandey

18:39 - 56:41: Conversation with Dan Weston

(Leave us a voice message to be featured on an upcoming episode of The Last Wicket!)

Links

Find Dan on Twitter

Sports Analytics Advantage

Check out his book: "Strategies for Success in the Indian Premier League"

The Cricket Guys are joined by analyst and author Dan Weston (@SAAdvantage) who works with teams to provide recruiting and strategy assistance through his firm Sports Analytics Advantage. In the first of a two-part conversation, we discuss Dan's journey in cricket analytics, his views on IPL team building, inferring player potential from statistics and much more. 

(Leave us a voice message to be featured on an upcoming episode of The Last Wicket!)

Links

Find Dan on Twitter

Sports Analytics Advantage

Check out his book: "Strategies for Success in the Indian Premier League"

In a freewheeling chat with the Cricket Guys, stand-up comedian and TV presenter Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) talks about his juggling act as a television presenter and comedic performer, his thoughts on the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan, the PSL setback, his expectations from Pakistan's tour of South Africa and much more. Spoiler alert: not everything about this episode is concerning cricket.

Links

You can follow Aatif on Twitter 

Check out his YouTube channel

Post Match Chat YouTube channel

Ranveer Singh consoles Aatif Nawaz

Postcards from Lahore

In this special episode, the Cricket Guys and Minal (Granger_Gab) gather on the 10 year anniversary of the 2011 Cricket World Cup final to reflect on some fond memories. We talk pre-tournament expectations, greatest moments, our immediate reactions to India's win, and the team's legacy ten years on. Tune in for some flashbacks to the insouciant Sehwag, tribute to Tendulkar, Yuvraj's champion mentality and well of course, "Dhoni finishes off in style".

Links:

You can follow Minal on Twitter here.

You can read her article on the World Cup win, written three days later: Why I Can Only Say Thank You

Some video clips from the stands (World Cup Final): World Cup 2011 Memories

Bonus Link: Minal's other passion is KDramas; wondering what all that is about? Check out her podcast: Crash Landed on KDramas

New Zealand Cricket's Ground Announcer Jake O'Flaherty (@jakoboflaherty) pulls over by the side of the road to talk with us about how he got into ground announcing, memories of announcing Dhoni's and Kohli's names in front of a raucous crowd, exciting talents in New Zealand cricket, and what he expects from the inaugural World Test Championship final. We also commiserate over shared heartbreaks from the 2019 World Cup.