Send us a textHello and welcome everyone to another episode, in which we look back at the two tests across the Tasman Sea, the WI-NZ test match and the 2nd Ashes test match. I am joined by the usual triumvirate of Sandeep, Ajit and Shounak and we discuss how well Windies managed to save the game, albeit NZ were a couple of players short in the 4th innings. And then we absolutely thrash the lame excuses Eng has made after this loss, look at how they have continued to perpetuate their weaknesses when Australia appears to have put in a better performance. Finally, we also pay our respects to Robin Smith, a legend of the game from the late 980s to mid 1990s, the purveyor of a great cut shot. May he rest in peace.
Send us a textHello and welcome everyone to another episode of The Cricket Slouch.In today’s episode we shall try and dissect the heavy thrashings suffered by England and India in their respective test matches, and to help unpack the pain and trauma, I am joined by Sandeep and Shounak.We try to make sense of what happened in the blink of an eye at Perth, and then the shock of India's abject capitulation vs South Africa at Guwahati en route to another series loss at home within 13 months.Finally we celebrate the 100-test career of Mushfiqur Rahim and what a magnificent servant he has been for Bangladesh cricket. This time we refrain from making any bold predictions about the next Ashes match, having been thoroughly humbled by the outcome of the Ind-SA series. So, sit back and enjoy the discussion !
Send us a textHello and welcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch.In this episode we discuss the unexpected SA win over India in the first test, on a pitch that was tailored to guarantee a win for India, take note of Gill's injury and what could have been if he had played, and look at the performances of Bumrah, Kuldeep, Axar, Jaiswal, KL, Sundar, Harmer, Jansen, and Bavuma.We couldn't help but compare Jaiswal to Crawley, take a detour into F1 to highlight how minimising mistakes is crucial to becoming a great sportsperson, and also marvel at the repetition of India's tactics to roll out tricky pitches despite their frequent losses on such surfaces.All this before the inevitable segue into the lead up to the Ashes and England's recent practice match vs Eng Lions.So, please sit back and enjoy this discussion which features Shounak and Lea on the panel.
Send us a textWelcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch, where I am joined by Sandeep and Lea, who is one of the keenest observers of the game I have come across in recent years. In this episode, we do a little preview of the upcoming Ashes series and the India vs South Africa series, before taking a look at the ongoing Ireland vs Bangladesh test match. Somehow along the discussion, we digress a bit to talk about Ricky Ponting's wines and the emerging cricket scene in Japan. Lea also runs a regular You Tube channel where she covers various matches and talks to other cricket people. Her channel is named bescheuerteskurzesbeinSo, sit back, relax and enjoy the chit-chat.
Send us a textIn today's episode Shounak, Ajit and SP unpack India's twin wins in the Women's ODI WC semifinal and final. We discuss a few individual performers, team issues and improvement, role of backroom staff. and the improvements in both South African and Indian teams. We give credit to Amol Mazumdar and the coaching staff and Neetu David and her selection team. Among other things, there is the usual ICC and BCCI bashing and we cover a story within Zimbabwe cricket about Sean Williams. Enjoy the discussion.
Send us a textWelcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch with Sandeep, Shounak and Ajit.The guys talk about the India-WI series, the SA-Pak test match, a round up on the Women’s ODI World Cup matches the goings on in the Asia-Pacific T20 WC qualifying spots with Ross Taylor playing for Samoa and Japan taking a few strides towards improving their rankings.A deep dive into the Indian selection then leads way to what have Windies got to take away from this series given that their current crop of batters average less than their 6th and 7th highest batter from the 90s and 2000s. They then segue into how the SA women are leading the way in shaking off the “chokers” tag after imbibing some anti-choke serum and how Nepal are shaping up to be the Cardiac Kids !This is the Link to the Armchair Cricket Episode featuring Bertus de Jong as mentioned in the podcast discussion. Enjoy !
Send us a textHello and welcome everyone to The Cricket Slouch, a podcast where we are always critical about something in the face of some wonderful cricket.In this episode Sandeep, Shounak and Ajit enlighten us with their take on the final test of the TAT (Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy) and live through the dramatic 57 minutes on the morning of final day of the final test at the Oval !They also provide insights into how we have already forgotten Rohit and Kohli, and rue the continued non-selection of Kuldeep. The chat moves on to "where to from here" for Team India, before a brief segue into the Ashes prospects and then onto the NZ-Zim series in progress at the moment.Finally they cap it off with some of the controversial moments in TAT and how Stokes is a fan of declarations !The Greg Chappell article on slip fielding mentioned in the pod can be found here on Cricinfo.Have fun listening and spread the word !
Send us a textHello and welcome everyone to The Cricket Slouch, a podcast where even though narrative rules, the numbers in context cannot be ignored. In this episode we will cover the 3rd test between England and India, and the 3rd test between Australia and West Indies. We talk about the efforts of Jadeja and Rahul, Green and Greaves, Seales and the Josephs, but more than that those of Stokes, Starc and Scotty Boland, India's continued woes with catching, why we can't let bye-gones be gone, and why Sundar might be the new Duckett.To make some sense of some of these crazy numbers, I am joined by Shounak and Ajit, who have both generously donated some of their precious time to this cause. .Have fun listening and spread the word !
Send us a textHello and welcome to yet another episode of The Cricket Slouch. Shounak joins S.P in this episode in the absence of Sandeep and Ajit.In this episode we look beyond the copious runs scored by India, England, South Africa, celebrating batting feats by Gill, Smith and the record that could have been Mulder's. We look back upon India's dominating win, Akash Deep's bowling, England's tactic backfiring and the predictability of Windies batting. We talk potential changes to the England and India teams for the Lords test and do the usual complaining about lack of support for the weaker teams. Finally we cast a glance over a young gun in Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and how he could be a superstar in the making with his prodigious talent and a growing list of incredible performances. Enjoy !
Send us a textHello and welcome to yet another episode of The Cricket Slouch.In this episode we talk about England's win over India, Australia's win over Windies, Sri Lanka's over Bangladesh and also touch base on the match in progress between South Africa and Zimbabwe.We discuss noteworthy performances, applaud Zimbabwe for scheduling 11 tests this year for themselves, talk of Windies batting woes, and Bangladesh's mercurial performances. This is in addition to what India need to improve on if they are to win the 2nd test vs England.And to add substance to the discussion, I am joined by my regular buddies, Sandeep, and Ajit .Please enjoy responsibly.
Send us a textJust as is with London buses or trains, there isn't one for a long time and then two come along in quick succession, so also with our podcast it seems !In this episode, we do a little preview of the upcoming England-India test series, and for the banter I am joined by my regular buddies, Sandeep, Ajit and Shounak.We talk potential playing XIs, England's formidable batting approach, India's bowling deficit, Gill as captain, likely playing conditions at Leeds for the first test, and general jibes at the usual suspects, with a little pre-series prediction for some added fun !Please enjoy the discussion.
Send us a textHello all, welcome to Season 4 of The Cricket Slouch and what a way to start it with a discussion on the recently concluded World Test Championship final. Congratulations to South Africa for having won it and for finally being able to get that monkey off their back and beating a fancied Australia after being on the backfoot for 3 whole days !And to deconstruct this astonishing win, I am joined by my regular buddies, Sandeep, Ajit and Shounak. We discuss the ebbs and flows of the match, Markram's astonishing innings, Rabada's incisive bowling and Bavuma's leadership and defiance in the face of adversity, and Smith's return to form. We also talk about where to for both sides from here, likely changes we might see, potential retirements coming up and just a hint of what Australia might do for the Ashes. So please, relax and enjoy the discussion.
Send us a textHello and welcome to the The Cricket Slouch, a podcast for fans of all persuasions.We apologise for the long hiatus since the last episode at the conclusion of the BGT and today, we bring you our 3rd anniversary episode where in I am joined by my usual buddies Sandeep, Ajit and Shounak to talk about a range of topics.Some of these are -1) Consolidation of power among the Big Three in the ICC via the likely proposal of two tier test cricket calendar.2) Saudi entering the game with their Grand Slam model.3) More Associate teams playing multi-nation tournaments now, thus bringing more context to those encounters.4) WPL's success heralding a better future for women's competition and payment.5) MLC looks set to be a fixture on the calendar and thus it could usher in American style professionalism and accountability in the sport. 6) The uptake of data and analysis by most teams now, esp in T20 franchises. 7) Amazon purchasing broadcasting rights (in Australia) to Asia Cup and u-19 tournaments.8) ICC launching a Challenger Trophy. Also ICC creating a task force to look into best supporting Afghan women's cricket. Allowance for using one ball per innings instead of two.As usual, a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all the contributors and listeners, without whom we would never be able to continue doing what we do.
Send us a textWelcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch.Sandeep once again hosts this week's episode and he is joined by the regular duo of Shounak and Ajit to discuss the series finale of the BGT at Sydney, a test match that was done within 3 days on a spicy deck. A lot of What If's plague the fans and management alike, but there are bigger questions to be asked, and answered here.Such as the fate of seniors like Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja and Rahul, what the spin dept will look like, which pacers need to be given a chance, and the composition for the England tour. A spotlight is also shone upon Gambhir's role and whilst it is early, is he the right person to be the head coach?Australia take the plaudits here, but was this a really good cricket series and where does the new plan to have a 2-tier system fit in if the Big Three are the only ones in the top tier?This and much more in this episode !
Send us a textWelcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch. Sandeep hosts this week's episode and he has captained the team much better than Rohit in recent times. He is joined by the regular duo of Shounak and Ajit to discuss the fantastic test match that we have witnessed at the MCG where fortunes fluctuated and wobbled more than a Pat Cummins' wobble ball !We talk about the dramatic finish in the last hour of the game, how Australia forced a victory in what appeared to be a match heading to a draw, Pant's shot selection, Rohit's captaincy and his poor form along with that of Kohli, Jaiswal's controversial dismissal, Kohli's joust with Konstas, the Rise of Reddy and finally the possible Playing XI for the final test at Sydney. Sit back and enjoy !
Send us a textWelcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch, and I am joined by Sandeep and Shounak to discuss the drawn Third test at the Gabba in this BGT series.We talk about India's repeated first innings failure, sub-par bowling being a problem where Bumrah has to do the salvage job over and over again, Rohit's under-par captaincy, and perhaps a wrong call at the toss, Head being India's latest bogeyman and why Hazelwood's injury might not actually benefit India at Melbourne.We also lament Ashwin's retirement and poke fun at Isa Guha's recent comment on Primate-related issues.Sit back and enjoy !
Send us a textHello and welcome every one to another episode of The Cricket Slouch, a podcast where opinions are dime a dozen and stats are secondary.Today I am joined by regular collaborators Sandeep, Shounak and Ajit.After the dizzying high of the win at Perth, the Indian team has seemingly hit a trough again at Adelaide, the venue of their ignominious 36 all out in the last tour. We talk about the batting failure, lessons not learnt from the past, Australian bowlers being superior in this match, couple of controversial incidents and India's changes of getting to the WTC Final in 2025.We also talk about whose turn it might be to go on paternity leave, which could perhaps boost India's chances of a win at The Gabba ;)Enjoy !
Send us a textHello and welcome everyone to another episode of The Cricket Slouch. I am joined by Shounak for this episode, in which we talk about India’s unexpected and astonishing win at Perth and going 1-0 ahead in the 5-match BGT series and the major talking points from the match including both sides’ bowling, India’s top order finally playing the way they were expected to, Bumrah’s magic, NKR’s promising talent, a couple of controversial issues from the match, and finally discussing potential changes for the Adelaide Test. Towards the end we talk about Cricket Australia investing in the future of Pacific Cricket and what this actually means and how it could have been a bit better. Enjoy !
Send us a textHello all, The Cricket Slouch podcast is back with a broad post-mortem review of New Zealand's historical whitewash over India in India.I am joined by Shounak and Aryan in dissecting what NZ did well and where India fell behind in this series and wondering what may have been if certain events had panned out differently.Whilst NZ did the basics well, this series loss was a perfect storm of things going wrong for the Indian side and we ponder whether this side is now ready to transition towards youngsters. We talk a little about the squad for the BGT and how India are likely to perform there.Take away message - Paternal obligations are the secret to away wins !Shounak writes features for Emerging Cricket.Aryan writes match reports and feature articles for Guerilla Cricket.
Send us a textSandeep and I are joined by Rahul Patil from Sportsfreak to talk about two of New Zealand's major cricketing achievements in the modern era - namely the women's T20 World Cup win and the men's test win in India.Although this was meant to be a NZ-centric discussion, it quickly meandered into familiar Indo-centric territory.We talk about the toss, the tactics, the batting collapse for the ages, NZ's sharp bowling and fielding, Sarfaraz's innings, Ashwin and Jadeja's declining fortunes, rise of the young brigade and the slow fading of old legends, and how to tackle spin bowling. And then we turn our attention to the the women's team's triumph in the T20 World Cup and how NZ beat all odds and expectations to emerge Champions and why we need to retain this format and not cave in to the Big Three.
Send us a textIn this episode Sandeep and I are joined by Aryan Surana, who writes features and match reviews over at Guerilla Cricket, to talk about the return of cricket to Gwalior, the Ind-Bangla series, the potency of the Indian test attack and other notable points. We also pay our respects to the late Ratan Tata, may he rest in peace. Aryan's two recent articles on cricket in Gwalior can be found here -Article 1 - general return of cricket to GwaliorArticle 2 - Interview with Mr Scindia
Send us a textGreetings and welcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch !Today we have Estelle Vasudevan on board again and this time we talk about the upcoming women's T20 World Cup and go through the different squads whilst narrowing down on the final four and eventual prediction for a winner. The women's game has grown in leaps and bounds and the quality now is much better than what it was 10 years ago and there are no easy games expected in the upcoming tournament. Will Australia win again, or will it be England's turn this time round ?Or will Sri Lanka spring a surprise and make it to the last four at the expense of India? Can Windies do it again with the return of Dottin ?Find out as the discussion unfolds !
Send us a textWelcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch.Today I am joined by Sandeep and Estelle Vasudevan to talk about Sri Lanka's recent test win against England at The Oval and whether this win has enabled Sri Lanka to save test cricket or not, their chances of possibly winning the series this time, and what does the future look like for the men's team.We also talk about their leading players in a bit of depth and whether Angelo Matthews can be timed retired by the selectors and where the bureaucrats are missing out on cashing in on fostering great rivalries in the subcontinent.
Send us a textHello and Greetings everyone and welcome back to another episode of The Cricket Slouch.Today’s episode is going to focus on the East Asia Pacific T20 Regional sub-qualifiers A, and even more specifically on the Cook Islands team and their performance and their heartbreak at the tournament. I am joined by Rahul Patil for this episode as he discusses the team’s performance, heart break at the last game, cricket in general in the Cook Islands, their recent progress domestically and internationally as well as attempts that are being made to introduce the game to the youth. He also gives his view on the recent ICC change to the pathway from sub-regional qualifiers to the World Cup qualifiers.
Send us a textHello everyone.Welcome to another episode of The Cricket Slouch. I am joined today by Sandeep and Shounak to discuss India's amazing win over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final and talk about the highlights of that match - Kohli's innings, Bumrah's bowling, Arshdeep's and Pandya's contributions and that catch by SKY among other things.We also talk about the tournament as a whole, its success, and then segue into talking about Afghanistan and whether they have done enough to overcome the political and moral virtue signalling and get invited to bilateral series with the big boys..We start the episode talking about Frank Duckworth's passing and wrap it up with a thank you to Dravid and his contribution thus far to Indian cricket.Enjoy and share the episode with your fellow cricket loving friends.
Send us a textHello all listeners, Please join us for an absolute laugh riot recapping and reflecting upon the first week of the T20 Cricket World Cup, that has been a real hoot and full of interesting action and unforeseen results !I am joined by Sandeep and Shounak, both of whom are regular collaborators. We talk about the important moments in the first week, individual and team performances, light ICC bashing, some hilarious takes on a few scenarios and our expectations of the imminent Ind-Pak game !Please help support the podcast by word of mouth, and also support other local and global cricket initiatives if and as you can !Have a Happy T20 World Cup !
Send us a textHello everyone. In this episode, I am joined by a new guest, Aryan Surana, who writes regularly for Guerrilla Cricket’s website, and occasionally tweets. He had also started Cricket Beyond Borders, a podcast that has sadly gone MIA for a while now.We talk about the Indian squad in some depth and Aryan shares his views and observations about the players from the recent IPL, as well as talking about the most likely combination for the playing XI, the role of the spinners, and most likely approach of the team, on their way to the semis.. He isn't confident of predicting beyond that.Please enjoy the discussion and feel free to write to us at our X/Twitter handle - The Cricket Slouch
Send us a textIn this episode, I sit down with Shounak and Nate Hays to discuss the upcoming Cricket T20 World Cup from an American perspective. We talk about Nate's foray into cricketing fandom, the Big Innings podcast and his venture with Jomboy, the Ball in Play League.We fawn over USA's first ever series win over Bangladesh and then move on to discuss the various venues for the World Cup, some politics, fan expectations, chances of the USA team, rivalry with Canada, and Nate's involvement in the WC as an Announcer at the grounds, and whether attending the opening match is more important than his daughter's birthday.Some chit chat about other new teams in the tournament then wrap up the episode.Both Shounak and Nate write for Emerging Cricket and Nate's podcast can be found on the website as well as his channel on Youtube.
Send us a textWelcome to the 1st episode of Season 3.Today we have a slightly different topic of conversation, one that took roots a while ago when Dan Weston and I started contemplating this discussion. Dan Weston has previously worked with Kings XI Punjab, Leicester and B’ham Phoenix, and comes with a noted reputation in cricket as a highly valued analyst and strategist. Today he talks about what goes into the making of a champion team - the building blocks of the team, the players, the analyst, the support staff , the culture and the how to ensure the legacy across subsequent years. Dan is on X (twitter) and can be found here. His Substack is to be found here. The article referred to in the discussion is to be found here !
Send us a textWelcome everyone to the Seond Anniversary of The Cricket Slouch.As per tradition, we have done a special episode while the IPL is in full swing, and this time we talk about the important milestones - players, events, administrators - in the evolution of Indian Cricket over the past 5 decades, which was a conscious decision for the sake of brevity. Sandeep, Ajit and Rahul share their valuable input, views and insights towards this discussion that spans India's first win in the Windies and England to the doldrums of the 90s to where they stand now in global cricket. From players like Gavaskar and Sardesai to players like Kohli and Bumrah and everyone in between. Rahul's latest Snickometer channel can be found here. The article on Amar Singh and Mohd Nisar is to be found here.The books mentioned by Sandeep are named Elephant in the Stadium by Anurabha Sengupta, G R Vishwanath's Wrist Assured, and John Wright's Indian Summers, which are all available on Amazon and probably other book retailers too.
