India astonished opponents Bangladesh, the cricket world and Father Time itself as a test match meandering to a draw sprang to life and finished one and half session early.
Sri Lanka blanked New Zealand and Kamindu Mendis got his name in the same sentence as Sir Don.
India and Bangladesh looks ahead to respective test and T20 series.
Bangladesh were supposed to give India a tough fight in red ball cricket.
On a manchester-esque pitch, 2/3rds of the 1st day done of the Chennai Test - all that was true. But then Ashwin and Jadeja - probably the greatest ever twosome allrounders ever in any test team became Batman and Robin and saved Gotham. Both achieved significant milestones.
Hasan Mahmud and Rishabh Pant sandwiched that Ashwin-Jadeja show to put their own claim of a dream run continuing.
Shakib al Hasan courted more controversies. India won a highly significant test which took its overall test wins higher than overall test defeats.
We look ahead to the 2nd test in Kanpur.
Afghanistan cracks the SENA code and we believe they are the 2nd best white ball team in Asia.
We look at Eng-Aus white ball tour and speculate if Travis Head is gearing up to open in red ball cricket.
For long the India vs Bangladesh rivalry has been the second most intense rivalry among Asian countries (after the Nagin rivalry). But this rivalry has been limited to white ball only. Now after the 2nd greatest ever 2 test series win for an Asian team, Bangladesh are confident for a red ball rivalry.
We invite Muntakim Romman from Dhaka to share his thoughts on the historic victory against Pakistan, the test ambitions of Bangladesh, the thorny issues of Hathurusinghe and Shakib al hasan. And we preview this pivotal series looking ahead to the probable starting XI, India's strategy, BD strategy, the return of the 2 Delhi prodigal sons, Ashwin's possible last test at Chennai and predictions.
FTPE returns with another season of podcast covering the India test season.
In this episode we speak about WT20 - India breaking its hoodoo, Australia and England falling flat, Afghans and West Indians switching places, the controversy of NY pitches and broadcasters hauling ICC for mismanaged tournament. Can a global tournament ignore the subcontinent viewers?
WTC was a long awaited tournament but it is deeply flawed. The flaws are so obvious that if not rectified it will render all WTC legacies void. We talk about various aspects of the WTC which needs to change.
We look at some of the brightest uncapped players from across the globe and predict our top bets for future debutant of the year.
We take a final look back at the India England series.
- There's one stat which shows how effective India was both in defense and outbazballed the bazzball team in attack.
- we rate all the players and other protagonists of the series
We evaluate India WT20 certainties and hopefuls as IPL comes along.
Who are the players who have booked their slots? Who are the contenders for the remaining slots? Who are the long shots who may upstage all calculations if they have a great IPL
This is the final episode of Season 1. Thanks for all the love you all have given us.
We will take a break during IPL and come back later with Season 2.
As the dust settles on India vs England series which was fiercely fought at most times we look back at where the difference between the teams were made.
3 points where the gap came up were
- England's strategy to prepare on set pitches in Abu Dhabi and avoid any coordination in local conditions
- How India took the learnings from the 1st Test
- England's reluctance to use any backups or England Lions whereas India picked up 4 members from the India A team
We also debate around
- which was the pivotal result - 2nd test at Vizag or 4th Test at Ranchi?
- where was the series won/lost - batting or bowling or management
Finally we attempt our interpretation of Bazball and if it has a future in cricket.
The 5th Test between India and England was played at picturesque Dharamshala and we discuss if we should have this as a regular Test venue.
We discuss the various protagonists of the match
- why couldnt the English players pick Kuldeep Yadav
- <heated> discussion on why people still question Ravi Ashwin's performance
- Has Jimmy Anderson achieved the pinnacle of fast bowling or has he let his legacy be defined only by his longevity
- who among Ashwin and Anderson has a better away+neutral record? and why is the perception different from actual fact?
- How Rohit and Subhman's 100s and Sarfaraz and Devdutt's 50s stock up and set them up for future roles in Indian batting line up
- Has Zak Crawley cemented his position as the next best English batter after Root? or was there some incorrect bowling changes of Rohit to credit this
- Which is worse - Bairstow the 100 test man or Bairstow the sledger?
- Does Bashir have a future in Test? What about his DRS skills?
This is a 5th Test review focussing on individuals rather than events. We will be back with a series review and points for each stakeholder in this series
India and England has played a fascinating series...but what has Virat Kohli got to do with it??
We look at the pitch and the team combinations - Is 2 seamer strategy bound to backfire? Should Rajat Patidar play or will Devdutt Padikkal become India's 5th debutant of the series.
We look at the recent fad of centurions. What connects the Fab 4 in their century tests?
We put a marker on Ravi Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow's careers till their 99th test.
Finally we look at the narrative of Bazball before this final test and do our predictions round.
Lastly we do apologize for getting this preview out so late. Hope you like it.
India snatch the win on an alien pitch having lost the toss, conceding a first innings lead and missing their best bowler of the series. As they say - it was a satisfying win.
But what even made it more heartening were the characters behind it - Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel were just two cogs.
We also talk about Joe Root, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir.
We discuss the curiously happy knack Shubhman Gill has of scoring in the 2nd innings.
Finally we talk about 3 facets which have ensured India win the series despite all the obstacles.
The bandwagon moves east to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hometown Ranchi for the 4th test.
The difficulties of the Indian squad is compounded by continuing unavailability of KL Rahul and imposed resting of Jasprit Bumrah. Is this the worst that England will ever find India at? Alternatively - how can Bazball not win this test match?
Find out our pitch preview and teams analysis with impending changes analyzed in our 4th Test Preview
This was one of the most satisfying home win for India in a long long time. But 3 four day tests have shown this is an exhilarating series.
We check India's batting in both innings, the captaincy and the bowling on the crucial 3rd morning and find out the key characters of the win.
This discussion also includes
- Indepth analysis of Joe Rooting Bumrah to Jaiswal
- How Kuldeep finally may have proved his worth
- Ben Duckett's proclamation that other teams have imitated their approach
- India's middle order when Kohli/Rahul/Pant returns
- Jaiswal may be the most poised and mentally sorted youngster you will find in cricket and why its just a start for him and huge days are anticipated in future
And finally why India has got these Baz-balls in their grip now.
Let us know your perspective of the 3rd test.
India and England are playing an engrossing series where the inexperience of the Indian batting is matched by the inexperience of the English batting.
Both teams could have legitimately claimed they should have been 2-0 up. So it is fine that the series is 1-1.
How will the Rajkot pitch hold up? What kind of pitch will suit India's batting and bowling talents best?
How will this rank inexperienced Indian line up fare against Bazball?
What changes does Ben Stokes needs to do in his 100th test to make it a memorable one?
And will we see as exhilarating cricket as the first 8 days of this series has shown us?
Find out all that and more in this episode.
We look back at the 2nd Test between India and England played at Vizag.
We analyze the performances so far from both India and England and try to identify the narrative of the series and where both the teams are faltering and succeeding as either team could have been up 2-0 or down 2-0.
We look ahead to the series and strategize from each camp - on what could land a killer blow. From the Indian perspective we hazard a guess on what the team could be - and if one contentious veteran could get a recall.
Do let us know how you are liking our effort - on spotify / apple podcast / amazon / youtube / twitter
India has lost an unlosable test. On top of that 5 test regulars - Kohli, Pant, Shami, Rahul and Jadeja are out for the 2nd test. Indian team has more debutants than England squad.
What hope does India have of equaling the series at Vizag?
Is it game over or is there a learning India can take from both history and the 1st test at Hyderabad which will enable them to fight back?
We preview the 2nd test starting on Friday between India and England
England bazballed their way to probably the most unlikeliest of their 15 wins in India.
India won all the sessions of first 2 days and then lost all the sessions of the last 2 days.
While only the pitch and curator came out with pass marks, Indian batting, bowling, captaincy and planning were severely shown up.
What can India do to arrest this slide? Or are the English too strong and 2012 will be repeated again.
India vs England starts on 25th January.
India is without Virat Kohli, Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane all together after Nov 2011.
England have announced their XI already and the team has 1 pacer and 3 spinners where Ben Stokes cannot bowl!
Are we going to see another 2 day test?
We discuss all that and more in this discussion
England are coming to India for a 5 test series.
In this comprehensive preview we look at the past record, the teams announced, the venues and pitches they are most likely to prepare, the respective strategies the teams will adopt and finally the prediction.
Can Bazball survive Ashwin and Jadeja?
Can England survive with only Leach as a lone spinner?
Who will be India's wicketkeeper and 3rd spinner?
What kind of pitches should we expect?
India maintained its unbeaten status vs Afghanistan and also its unbeaten status at home. But how fruitful was the series for the T20 World Cup?
We outline 5 things we learnt ( & a few things we didn't learn) from this T20 Series.
How highly should we rate Rohit's ton? Why his 2 super-over performances were better than his 20 over performance?
What's the significance of Virat's innings in the 2nd match?
Did Yashasvi and Rinku book their slots in the XI? What about Shivam Dube?
What did India miss doing?
And finally - why did Rohit Sharma bat 3 times in the 3rd T20?
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the two highest run getters in T20I cricket, However they haven't played in any T20I since India lost the 2022 World Cup Semi Final on 10th Nov 2022.
With the next T20 world cup barely 6 months away, selectors have decided to recall them both.
Is that the right call?
Do both or either deserve to be in the India T20I team for the World Cup?
Why are the media making so much furore?
What are the logic for wanting to move on from Rohit and Virat as per cricketing media?
Are the selectors really abandoning the path of youth?
Is Rohit and Kohli's recall going to adversely impact on India's T20I World Cup future?
These and many more such questions we handle in this first episode of our podcast "From the Pavilion End..."
#ViratKohli #RohitSharma #T20WorldCup #SubhmanGill #KLRahul #YashashwiJaiswal