Show notes

0:00:01 Beginning: there's something about Aussie

7:00 the wicket and types of players picked? Individual picks and how they look, hales, pujara, jamieson, 

17:35 the ipl support conundrum, why cant Gopal support a particular team? and Baba Arjun's diagnosis

20:15 how to pick an ipl team if you are just not that into it...yet?

25:20 What is the man vs machine match up of the IPL Teams?

68:00 who is going to win the ipl?

80:00 The best IPL test team? very obvious answer

Arjun and Gopal discuss the just concluded 2nd test between India and England, including the pitch, the selections, the umpiring, and of course the players. Predictions for the Ahmedabad test, folks?

SHOWNOTES

1:00 Indian selections

3:00 England rotation policy

7:00 Impact of Chennai’s crowd

8:32 Was it a bad pitch?

13:05 Player Performances - Foakes ‘keeping’ Buttler out, Moeen Ali increasing his IPL stock, Axar outdoing Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin the all-rounder, Arjun’s love-hate relationship with Rohit Sharma, and Ajinkya Rahane in India

33:00 Third umpiring howlers, how to get better DRS decisions?

41:16 The fancy new Motera stadium at Ahmedabad, and reminiscing about Tendulkar and Yuvraj

43:55 What can we expect from the pink ball and the pitch?

46:00 What changes will India make for the third test?

47:45 Who will England pick for the third test (and could Sam Curran not take the train!)?

52:45 Which team is likely to come out top (and what is ‘thepla time’!)

We had a fun and enlightening discussion with our special guest Sri on the podcast to discuss the first test match.

Why does it swing more for England? Was this a bad pitch? Who is the real Rohit Sharma? ...all this and more

Gopal and Arjun take a technical look at the ongoing first test match between India and England in Chennai. They dissect the selections, the pitch, the performances of specific players, and where both teams can go from here. Is it really a stalemate or can someone eke out a win? Did their pre-series predictions come true?

Also, Rishabh Pant is at it again!

Shownotes

01:15 - State of play across three ongoing test matches (Ind-Eng, Pak-SA, Ban-WI)

02:30 - Cricket’s return to free-to-air in UK, and Channel 4’s commentary (Mr Cook) vs Sky

04:00 - Quick predictions for Pak-SA and Ban-WI

Team selections

04:44 - Indian XI for this game; why was Shahbaz Nadeem picked ahead of Kuldeep?

09:00 - England XI; why did England pick only four bowlers on a flat wicket?

The pitch

12:20 - The flat Chennai dosa pitch, different types of pitches (cracked, green, dusty), why did the new curator prepare such a pitch?

21:12 - COVID impact on teams winning the match after winning the toss

23:00 - Bumrah’s press conference about the impact of the new SG ball

Player performances in this test

25:15: Joe Root, and a new way of looking at his conversion rate vs other great batsmen

31:10: Stokes’ aggressive innings vs Sibley’s cautious approach

34:08: India’s decision to stick to a leg side fielding setup

35:51: Washington’s unthreatening bowling combined with desperately poor luck

38:45: Losing all three reviews, and why Laxman Sivaramakrishnan needs DRS training and fashion tips from Warne

42:36: Was Buttler the poorest performer of the match so far?

45:30: Rishabh Pant’s chatter behind the stumps, where he wants Washington to go, his multi-lingual motivational skills, Arjun’s Bengali skills, and a shoutout to Saurav dada

51:08: Ishant Sharma...what a star he is

54:45: Shubman Gill’s close-in fielding technique

Predictions for this test

57:50: Should England try to bat as much or should they have declared already?

60:05: Whom do the bookies favour, and how can England win this match?

64:25: Our club’s first XI captain - Jack - shares an opinion on the WTC’s impact on this game, as we drift into references from North Bombay and South London

To discuss the ongoing Pakistan v. South Africa test series, we invite our friends Umer (from Pakistan) and Rob (from South Africa). They take a serious look into what's plaguing both cricket teams and how they can bounce back. Rob shares his love for Temba Bavuma, while the group shares their views on "test match specialists".

In our first ever episode (after the Rishabh Pant pilot), Gopal and I invite special guest Tom to discuss the upcoming India-England 2021 test series. Who should and shouldn't play? Who will win? And...who's Anthony D'Mello?

The pre-pilot that started it all! Arjun and Gopal talk about Rishabh Pant.