The Top Order Cricket Podcast

In this episode of the show, Stu and Baldy provide a midweek IPL update to discuss CSK's win against KKR and two final-over thrillers that saw points go to Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Gujarat Titans.

We discuss standout performances from Rashid Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shashank Singh, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Shubman Gill as well as the key moments of these three games.

We'll be back again early next week with more news and views as we go through the next instalment of our Power Rankings, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

0:55 CSK v KKR - Chennai are a force at home

4:45 Crucial wickets for Ravindra Jadeja as spin plays a big part

8:00 Was it just a bad day at the office for KKR?

10:00 Jadeja pranking the Chennai crowd with MS Dhoni

11:50 SRH v PK - Sunrisers local players step up

14:45 Punjab Kings love a close game

15:30 No score is safe anymore - batters hitting the go button

19:50 Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh do it again (almost)

21:05 GT v RR - Are Gujarat back?

22:50 Excellent day for Rashid Khan

24:40 Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag's partnership

26:15 What went wrong for Rajasthan's bowling?

30:40 Upcoming games

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In this episode of the show, Baldy, Binksy, Raj and Stu review the week that was in IPL 2024 with another instalment of the power rankings.

Recorded on Monday 8 April, we discuss all 10 teams and the key questions facing all of them as we pass the 20-game mark of the tournament.

We'll be back again later in the week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

1:40 Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler's 100, do they have any weaknesses at all?

7:40 Kolkata Knight Riders - So much batting firepower, but what about the bowling?

14:15 Lucknow Super Giants - Marcus Stoinis's responsible knock

20:55 Sunrisers Hyderabad - Abhishek Sharma's ball-striking and positive signs for the bowling attack

30:05 Punjab Kings - Shashank Singh to the rescue

36:45 Chennai Super Kings - Is their bowling in trouble without Pathirana and Mustafizur?

44:25 Mumbai Indians - Is Romario Shepherd the answer to balancing this MI lineup?

51:30 Gujarat Titans - Runs for Shubman Gill, but David Miller's injury news takes their week from bad to worse

58:00 Delhi Capitals - Has Mitchell Marsh's hamstring strain put an end to their playoff chances?

61:40 Royal Challengers Bengaluru - Virat Kohli scoring runs for fun, but where's the help?

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In this episode of the show, Baldy and Stu review the recent IPL 2024 games between LSG and RCB, and KKR v Delhi Capitals.

Recorded on 4 April 2024, we start by discussing Kolkata's huge win against Delhi:

In the second half of the show we look back at the Lucknow Super Giants' comfortable win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

We'll be back again early next week with the next instalment of the IPL 2024 Power Rankings, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

0:40 KKR v DC - Is 270 in a T20 game about to become the norm?

3:05 Sunil Narine's boundary-fest and the KKR power-hitting

6:00 Angkrish Raghuvanshi and the fearlessness of young players

8:40 Mitchell Starc on the board

9:55 Rishabh Pant continues to improve

10:45 Are KKR title contenders now?

11:45 LSG v RCG - how much trouble are RCB in?

13:40 Do RCB need more from Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green?

16:00 LSG - Quinton de Kock and Nicholas Pooran looking in good touch

19:15 The Mayank Yadav show

23:35 How are we feeling about LSG's chances after 3 games?

28:10 Outro

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Back by popular demand, the Binksy, Raj, Baldy and Stu gathered in the same room to run through the second instalment of the IPL 2024 Power Rankings.

We discuss all 10 teams and how they are travelling after the first 14 games of the tournament.

We'll be back again next week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

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In this episode of the show, Raj and Baldy discuss the past few days of IPL action.

Recorded on 29 March 2024, we look back at the highlights from the first full week of the IPL, including:

We'll be back again early next week with another instalment of our power rankings, plus more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

1:55 Records galore for SRH against Mumbai Indians

5:45 Is it time to panic for MI?

7:35 Rajasthan make it 2 from 2 against Delhi Capitals

10:10 What have we learned about KKR?

13:45 CSK - leadership change but the winning ways continue

15:35 Rachin Ravindra on fire

18:30 Biggest surprises from Week 1?

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In this episode of the show, Binksy and Stu cast their eye over the first few days of IPL action and unveil the first power rankings of the 2024 tournament.

Recorded on Monday 25 March, after each of the 10 teams had played one game, we look back at the big moments and key players from the 5 matches so far, including:

We'll be back on Thursday evening (NZ time) with more news and views from IPL 2024, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

1:50 CSK v RCB - defending champs start where they left off

5:35 Rachin Ravindra's debut

7:40 RCB - it's early, but are there danger signs already?

11:30 Gujarat Titans - why do we still underrate them?

14:40 Mohit Sharma and contributions from everywhere

16:08 Ashish Nehra's wizardry

18:15 Mumbai Indians - Jasprit Bumrah outstanding, but what about Hardik Pandya's role?

22:10 Mumbai's seam-bowling injuries

22:55 Rajasthan Royals - Sanju Samson's great start

26:10 Trent Boult in the powerplay

28:15 LSG - underwhelming performance or decent fightback?

31:55 KL Rahul at the top of the order

32:40 KKR - Andre Russell goes boom

36:00 Should KKR be ranked higher?

37:35 Buyer's regret on Mitchell Starc?

39:35 Sunrisers Hyderabad - Heinrich Klaasen's almost heroics

40:00 SRH player combinations - did they get it right?

44:35 Punjab Kings v Delhi Capitals

45:00 Sam Curran stars for Punjab

49:30 Alarm bells for DC?

50:25 Impact player rule

53:35 Two-bouncer rule

56:00 Outro

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In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Stu and Raj preview the IPL tournament, covering Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Wall-to-wall T20 cricket is about to begin, with the IPL followed by the T20 World Cup and in this episode (part 2 of 2) we focus on five teams, discussing squad news, why each team can win, potential weaknesses, key players and predicted finishing order. We also give our overall tournament predictions, including semi-finalists, champions and the winners of the purple and orange caps.

Teams covered are:

Mumbai Indians: Mumbai have arguably the best batting lineup in the competition, stacked with local talent. There's the return of Hardik Pandya and what that might mean for the harmony of the side with him taking the captaincy from Rohit Sharma, plus a few question marks about their spinners - but does that even matter when Jasprit Bumrah is in your side?

Punjab Kings: There's an English flavour to this squad, with Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran all set to feature during the tournament. Add the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel to that and the bowling attack looks solid, but can Shikhar Dhawan and co score enough runs to take them to the playoffs?

Rajasthan Royals: T20 opening partnerships don't get much better than Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, and the addition of Shane Bond to the coaching staff has the New Zealanders excited for 2024. There's great spin depth, batting firepower and lovely Trent Boult, but where are the allrounders?

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli! Faf du Plessis! Glenn Maxwell! Cameron Green! Mohammed Siraj! The RCB lineup won't be short on matchwinners, but who will fill the fourth overseas spot in the XI? And will their bowling lineup be able to defend anything under 200?

Sunrisers Hyderabad: It was a busy auction for Daniel Vettori and the Orange Army. Pat Cummins joined as captain, plus Travis Head and Wanindu Hasaranga to round out a remarkably strong collection of 8 overseas players. Which four will they choose from game to game? We debate this, plus discuss whether Umran Malik can get back to his best, how much we'll miss Dale Steyn's hair and whether Captain Cummins's golden run is set to continue in 2024.

We'll be back again regularly during the tournament with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

2:20 Mumbai Indians Preview

12:52 Punjab Kings Preview

22:50 Rajasthan Royals Preview

33:15 RCB Preview

43:40 SRH Preview

54:15 Predictions

1:02:00 Outro

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In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Stu and Raj preview the IPL tournament in two parts, starting with CSK, DC, GT, KKR and LSG.

Wall-to-wall T20 cricket is about to begin, with the IPL followed by the T20 World Cup and in this episode (part 1 of 2) we focus on the first five teams (by alphabetical order) to discuss squad news, why each team can win, potential weaknesses, key players and predicted finishing order.

Teams covered are:

Chennai Super Kings: New Zealand eyes are focused on the fortunes of new Black Caps' recruits Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra - will they become CSK fan favourites? We also debate how damaging Devon Conway's injury will be and, of course, whether MS Dhoni will lead #WhistlePodu to another title.

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant's return is filling all the headlines, but is it fair to put so much expectation on his shoulders? There's also talk about the Australian connection, the spin strength of Kuldeep and Axar, and whether young players like Kumar Kushagra and Yash Dhull will have a positive impact.

Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya is gone, but there's still plenty of experience in this squad as they look to return to a third consecutive final. We discuss the impact of Mohammad Shami's injury, try to figure out which overseas players will best balance the side and whether Spencer Johnson has a big role to play.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Binksy's old favourite Andre Russell is back for another campaign, but can they improve on last year's 7th placed finish? We're excited to watch another Rinku Singh season, and there's excitement about a spin attack that could include Suyash Sharma alongside Varun Chakaravarthy, but what about the seamers?

Lucknow Super Giants: The not-just-regular giants have made the playoffs in both of their two seasons, but there are plenty of questions leading into this upcoming campaign. How fit is KL Rahul? Can Shamar Joseph light up the tournament? And can Deepak Hooda get back to the form that saw him earn an international call up?

Look out for part 2, which will release in 24 hours' time, in which we'll discuss the Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. We'll also predict our semi-finalists, winners and leading wicket-taker and runscorer.

We'll be back again regularly during the tournament with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

2:00 CSK Preview

12:50 Delhi Capitals Preview

23:40 Gujarat Titans Preview

33:45 KKR Preview

44:00 LSG Preview

54:20 Outro

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In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu discuss the second Test between the Black Caps and Australia, as well as some parting thoughts on the India v England series.

Fresh from day 4 at Hagley Oval, we give our initial reaction to a see-sawing Test that saw Australia win by 3 wickets and secure at 2-0 series victory.

We talk about a match-defining partnership between Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh, ask if Australia's bowling attack is their best of all-time and give praise to Matt Henry for his efforts during the series.

There's also praise for Ben Sears, plus questions about Steve Smith as an opener and New Zealand's game management in the second Test.

In the second half of the show, we move to the India v England series to discuss Rohit Sharma's captaincy, the future of Bazball under Stokes and McCullum and which young Indian players might have a long-term future in the Test side.

We'll be back again next week with an extended IPL preview, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

1:22 Black Caps v Australia immediate reaction

4:09 Australia's ruthlessness and patience

7:09 Is this the Australia's greatest ever bowling attack?

9:00 New Zealand's bowlers

11:40 Ben Sears

14:45 Matt Henry's impressive series

16:00 Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh

18:25 The Steve Smith question

21:40 New Zealand's missed opportunities

24:20 India v England

25:30 Rohit Sharma's captaincy

32:00 Questions about the Bazball approach?

38:25 Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep - who can stick in this Indian side?

43:40 Outro

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In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu discuss the 5th and final Test of England's tour to India, which saw the home side record a dominant victory to celebrate Ravichandran Ashwin's hundredth Test.

We start the show by discussing the English reaction to a heavy defeat, and which players might face questions leading into their home summer.

Then of course there is huge credit to India - batters such as Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal have shown that the future is still very bright for India, while the experienced spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav got better and better throughout the series to pick England apart on their way to a 4-1 series victory.

To finish the show, there's a word for Jimmy Anderson, who took his 700th Test wicket in his 187th match.

We'll be back again next week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00

0:35 Deflating way for England to end series?

11:00 Huge credit to India - Gill, Jaiswal, Ashwin, Kuldeep

20:35 Jimmy Anderson's 700th wicket

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