Hi, this is Sharda Agra.

Hello, this is Mohammad Assam.

Hi, this is Pradeep Magazine.

This is Bharam Kazi.

Welcome to the PCCI podcast.

It's been a couple of weeks since we last talked, which was after the first Test and India South Africa Test series.

Since then a lot has happened.

Brydon Cars was found running around drunk with no Toki Gaddi in a casino in Noosa.

That's something that happened.

Cummins came in for one match bold on I think a couple of days won the Ashes and is not bowling again in the series that happened.

Stokes GI, Aurapne plays Kovic men, Bolkar, Cheligai.

Basically Australia won the Ashes and also the Indian men's cricket is serving up a shit storm in a shit sandwich.

So we're going to start first with what happened in the Ashes in the England, Australia series.

So what what were your impressions of the last couple of Tests?

You know, first the pink ball test in Brisbane.

And if you don't remember what happened, England scored 334 all out, Australia's scored 511 in response.

You know, Mitchell Stark was somehow allowed to bat and they basically got England all out for 241.

And at the end, you know, some words were said between Steve Smith and Joffre Archer basically about how he's bowling fast at a time and nothing's going on.

But yeah.

What?

What were your impressions, Arthur?

My first impression is that we're all glad Matthew Hayden will not have to fulfil his promise of unclothed and Joe Root got a century with.

I mean, I'll spend a few minutes on Joe Root.

A is 1 of this generation's Test greats.

He's not a good player.

He's a great player.

And the problem I had with the way his record in Australia was spoken about is that Ricky Ponting had not put a century in India until 2008 or maybe 10, and no one didn't call him great, rightfully so.

He was great of the game and you're allowed to have these weak spots.

No one has a perfect technique and you literally have to be an AB de Villiers, a Tendulkar, Laura kind of a player to have that.

Everybody else kinds of has weak spots, so I found it very weird and I'm glad he got this injury just to get that monkey off the back.

My immediate reaction to to the pink ball Test match was how carried away the England bowlers looked after that initial burst.

But I think it was Joffre and I like Brighton cars as a bowler.

I think he gives full effort.

But right after there was a bit where I felt that they just got carried away with bowling with the pink ball.

And yeah, I think the 500 post 511, there was no coming back.

And it, it, it almost felt like Australia were doing what they do best, which is, and if if sure they had a generation where the core of the team was just great.

But the best thing they do is just play the correct percentage cricket.

And that's what makes it so hard to beat them at home.

And I think Brisbane was, they played sensationally at Adelaide, but I think Brisbane was a test where they played like Australia and Australia and that was the England weren't good enough for that.

What were your thoughts?

My thoughts were basically, I think I was first of all really confused with England bowling plans and we'll go into this in a little bit more detail afterwards, but I I didn't like their lengths.

I thought they let the Australians bat and get away with it.

And considering how many scars they could have left on the Australian batting lineup coming into this series in the first couple of games, I think they let something that should have been an advantage for them.

Like they let that slip.

So I think even in the Adelaide Test match, they let the match get away from them for too long.

Like I think the marked difference that I see with this Australian team, which, you know, we can debate about whether it's strong or weaker than other Australian teams, but they never have very, very bad days.

Like I always see that if they're even if they lose like a session, they'll always claw back a little bit in the next session.

They're not always ruthless with closing out games, but they won't let, they won't let the game get really far away from them, which is not what can be said for England.

They do let games get so far away from them.

And in Adelaide I think they played really well actually to quite an extent.

Like I thought England bowled well, I think they batted well, but they let the game get too far away from them before they started doing these things.

Yeah.

Plus you mentioned the length, I think pink ball, that is the key thing, right?

Your length has to like substantially change and it's a few meters worth of change that has to happen in the length a couple of meters, a few, I mean a couple of meters where you have to go that like maybe at least from back of the length when the pinball is due new or if you're polling on the lights, you have to kind of go a little bit fuller.

Which one of the spells that keeps playing on and it's so funny, it keeps playing on your social media channels or your Youtubes.

He's the James Anderson spell with the pinball in 2017.

And and not to kind of shit on them for a decision which had made it, which is last year, they told James Anderson, hey, you're not needed.

And they were crying out for somebody with his kind of controller length and just hold the right length, just keep challenging their outer axis because Australia were not in their best batting form.

I don't think like I, I, I don't think they were confident because Marnus is just back into the team.

He's he's scratchy.

Usman can't get a run.

Whether all this new then then who else?

I think Cameron Green can't.

He can't buy or run with all the money in the world, which will include the KKR money.

He's also been moved around the order, right?

He's also been moved.

Around then you get to your Alex Carry.

Alex Carry is a wonderful cricketer, but by the time you can get so you can get this Australia team 3-4 down, like you rightly said, there is a chance for a good bowling attack And and this England bowling attack has the tools to be good.

There is the chance to make the early, you know, inroads to be tactically very aware.

I'd like to quickly not to not to go back to an older series or make it about India like we are like the instinctively we can do.

But one thing I, I do recall when going to Australia, it is the tactical detail of the plan with Tushan Itanagaraja wrote a piece today on the England team changing their bowling coaches time and again.

Tim Saudi was the bowling coach for the first Test.

Then he left.

They got somebody who, who was there before they tried asking Dale Steyn.

Dale Steyn was not available.

So it's a mess.

And the, the reason it's a mess is the bowling coaches there for the tactical kind of fine tuning.

When India went to Australia in 2020, the COVID series, India's bowling coach was Bharat Arun.

And we remember Brisbane and we remember, you know, we remember Melbourne, but and Bumrah, Siraj, everything.

Some of the very key tactical wins that India had in that series was not letting Smith and Manners get trans barring I think 1 innings.

And the tactical plan was for Ashwin to come in early in the innings and to bowl middle and leg, just cut off their offside.

And then when they bowl a slider, they are able to they they sometimes edge and the first slip comes into place or the backpack comes into place.

They got out a lot like that and to have an tactical plans to that detail where you are so sure of, OK, this is how we're going to go get them out.

This is not an ego battle.

So if short ball isn't working, you move on.

And I just felt that lacking with the England bowling, with the pinball where they went short way too early with the ball, that that has more lateral movement than zip.

The pink Kookaburra doesn't zip like the red Kookaburra.

So they did.

They just did not bode well.

And every batter, I'm just going through the scorecard right now.

Travis said.

33, J Weatherall 72, Mana 65, Steve Smith 61, Camden Green 45, Alex Gary 63, Josh English 23.

And then Mitchell stopped for 77.

This is an indictment on they could not get any batter out cheaply.

The cheapest like in the whole line up, the first batter who got out in coats cheaply was Josh Inglis for 23 and then Michael Nisa for 16.

So that's not a that, that's a pretty bleak look that with a ball that traditionally abates like aids the bowlers in condition that were bowler friendly under lights, you could not get 1 batter out cheaply.

Yeah, I think who, who was it?

I think it was last even last year, if you see Australia's batting and India's bowling plans were still better than England's plans for this game.

And I think you rightly pointed out that the bowling coaches have a part of, have a part to play, right.

So I heard Rob Baron say basically that they wanted Jimmy Anderson to be the bowling coach for this series, but he said he's not available for the first Test because he had to play in a charity golf tournament.

And now he's not, I think, coaching them at all.

And, you know, you can always bring English cricket back to golf, which is something really.

Yeah, that's that's always something.

But yeah, I think their bowling plans were really, they did this, they did their bowling line up a huge disservice because I think us Atkinson is a pretty decent bowler.

And if you give him the chance to bowl the right lengths that are a little fuller than what they were bowling, they could have gotten the Australian batters in trouble.

Like, this is not a, this is not a batting order that's in, that's in form.

Like that.

And secondly, with the pink ball, how do you not play Georgetown?

Yeah, ha ha, ha.

Like the whole point of Georgetown is the Georgetown is your line in length, sometimes back of the length, sometimes full.

Bowler gets the ball to sling in the air and he would have been a perfect and he bowled at a bit of a high pace.

So he would have been pretty much the perfect foil between Archer and cars hitting the deck with Archer going full once in a while.

Gus Atkinson bowling line in length and Josh Tong would have been the perfect for that would have been the perfect balance.

And and that comes also regarding the bowling coach.

I think that it it comes from a place of really pushing for every edge that you can get.

They fired all their analysts in the last few months.

They don't have an analyst right now and they used to have Nathan Lehman who's one of the world's best analysts in cricket.

They fired all they are flipping over bowling coaches.

And what that tells me is that there is, there seems to be a belief within McCallum Stokes and you know, maybe Press Gothic to an extent and Jiten Patel that we know it.

We know how to win and we know how to, we don't have to prepare, we don't have to play practice matches.

We just rock up and we'll be fine.

And, and I think a lot of the stick that England have been getting is not, not about the cricketers.

The cricketers are fine.

They're very skilled.

It's the way they've approached a seriously difficult form of cricket.

And maybe we'll come to basketball as a concept later.

And this is not about basketball.

This is the the trappings around it where you're not willing to put the tactical rigor, you're not willing to go to a Plan B and a Plan C, you're not willing to have different plans for different battles, attack and defend at the right time, slow down the game when you need to, pace it up at when you need to.

And and that's been, that's been their undoing.

There is a reason they haven't won a single big single series against India or Australia home and away in the since these these guys took over.

And, and it's not hard to see why.

MV comments Yeah, I think, I think I'm actually very disgusted by the lack of preparation.

I mean, if if lay people like us understand that there is a need for preparation, there is a need for tactical preparation and there is a need for on ground preparation, then I mean with all the might of the England Cricket Board and England and Wales Cricket Board, whatever it is called, they should have really understood, right?

Like I mean, I mean where do you learn from?

You learn from failure, right?

England hasn't won in Australia since forever.

I think in this century they have won one test.

No, no, 2010 they won the 3-1 Correct.

But bar but barring that, but barring that test.

Exactly.

I meant I meant that only.

So Abby, what do you do?

You try to understand what either the other winning teams have done, which is only BCCI, or you try to understand what went wrong.

In all cases, it is very, very clear that bowling in Australia is fundamentally different than bowling anywhere else in the world, be it spin or be it pace.

And because of the kind of assistance that the batter gets in Australia versus the kind of assistance the batter gets anywhere else in the world, right?

I mean, you could, you could, you could have made an argument of you maybe a decade ago that the conditions in India are probably more batting friendly than let's say even Australia for that matter.

I don't even know if that's right.

But but I mean, the, the pendulum has shifted towards the batter in Australia.

That is known, right?

Which means what is which means what works works is essentially persistence over a long period of time, bowling long spells, having plan A, Plan B, plan C for those long spells and then having the rigor to go back and spend a lot of time at the grease.

The problem is spending a lot of time at the crease seems to only apply to Ben Stokes, whereby he is like, I will bat out because it looks like the team is in trouble.

But what that has done, and I think a lot of podcasts have said it, so it might be just me repeating it, but it was very clear, right?

Like, let's say there are others in the team who might not have played their natural waiting game because basketball, essentially the basketball doctrine has prompted them to play an attacking game.

So now wouldn't they be feeling shortchanged inside the same dressing room despite all the brow falls bravado, bravado that they are talking about everywhere.

And the other thing is I this is the one series that you've been landing for four years.

And it is Matt Roller who said it, that Baz reached out to Stain about 6-7 weeks ago.

And after the second test, somebody asked, yeah, yeah, 6-7 weeks ago.

And Stan said no.

But after the second test, somebody asked them, are you like, what's the plan, guys?

I mean, you said that you were prepared.

He said Key.

No, we're going to Noosa.

We need to chill for a bit because that's been planned a year ago.

So your Noosa beach vacation was planned a year ago.

But her bowling coach we this is this is the level are we E level is level of preparation pay everybody at every level should get fired in in in in all seriousness.

Now the problem.

I I, I think it's just hubris key.

Yeah, because I remember Play Players Tribune article that Stokes did I think in collaboration with Adidas just before the 23 Ashes.

And he that was the first Ashes under, you know, basketball.

And the whole talk was OK, how will you?

You know, we are so excited.

The last one year you lit up cricket and anything can happen.

You've been chasing 37380, you've been killing it.

So let's do it.

We might win the Ashes.

And he did the players with an article where he said memories matter.

You know, we, we are here to make memories and results are secondary or something to that effect.

And I don't actually believe that players to the caliber or cricketers to the caliber of Nogalam or Stokes and don't care about winning.

Of course they do.

I think it's the hubris that we are the only arbiters of what good cricket is and what positive cricket is.

And you know, we once you've decided this, we are the only ones who know what's up because anyone who's tried to, I advised them and some of the advice was quite sagely where your both homes and boycotts.

They're pretty excited about the Ashes.

And at the start they said don't train at Lilac Hill boys.

I mean, it's a park for for all God's sake.

I mean, just just play a game at Waka.

Play a game somewhere else.

Just play an actual game against the state team or play against the tools.

Just just play an actual cricket game.

Don't play against the England Lions.

It's not a practice game and I think it was was it Stokes was McCallum they called them has beens and it's not so much that you how can you call Botham has been Botham can be wrong, Boycott can be wrong.

That's absolutely fine.

And they.

Often are like and.

Often are and just because they're grades, I mean we have our set of grades who are like way more wrong than right.

But it's what they were suggesting.

If Sunil Gavaskar suggests says don't play T20 cricket, you're liable to say boss, it's a different world from what you inhabited.

Now I will play T20 cricket.

If Sunil Gavaskar is telling you that before a test series, which is make or break, you need a two week period where you adjust your back speed to account for the red ball moving, that's bloody good advice and you should take that on board.

So it is crazy to me that they saw all the advice given to them and it was right in the front of the faces.

Just get a state game.

Any state association in Australia, they will organize the game.

It's not that tough and people will flock in.

People will flock in Western Australia versus England.

Will be sold out lilac ground.

Pay.

Yeah, it will be sold out.

That's what if the hubris that we know what's up.

The thing to me is like, even if you put basketball aside, right?

So fundamentally Basmakalam's principle is his job is to be a man manager, less of a coach, which I actually understand because a lot of cricketers at this elite level, you may not need to coach them as much.

You may need to, you know, have some gentle guidance.

But most of the times if they're, if they're elite players, they will, you know, figure things out and you only need to tweak things as much.

You don't need to do like a lot of hands on coaching.

You kind of just need to make sure they're in the right frame of mind.

But the problem is that this has gone into a level of unprofessionalism, I think because the real difference between England and Australia is actually in Australia looks like a side of professionals.

England, always.

In England doesn't even have a fielding coach.

Now you tell me, like in general, anywhere you go in the world, the US, the ground outfield is going to be different.

Even ground fielding is going to be different.

Your visibility is going to be different man.

In the pink ball test, Jamie Smith was struggling as a wicket keeper because he couldn't see the pink ball well enough.

Now this is something that is remediable, right?

You look really unprofessional if your wicket keeper cannot even see the pink ball and he's struggling to like really, he looked awful in that game and you've dropped catches, which is which is like, how do you expect to beat Australia if you're going to drop catches, if you're going to drop your half chances, if you're not going to back up your bowling?

Even Osman Khawaja in this game, right.

I think he was.

Was he dropped when he was in five?

Was am I remembering that correctly?

I think he was dropped in five.

The ping ball.

Nikhila was second.

Third game Adelaide, Yeah.

Yeah, he was dropped in five.

Yeah, so he goes on to score 80.

You drop Mitchell Stark in the previous game when he goes on to score 70 odd.

Like you can't be dropping, you can't be dropping catches against Australia.

And that is where Australia beats you because you know, Marnus Labuschen does, you know, things in the field that are that look superhuman.

But that's actually just how Australia is, right?

They get they try to find any possible Ave.

to get back in the game and often it's on the back of really good feeling.

And about the feeling, I think NASA Hussein mentioned it in the Sky podcast.

England don't play pinball cricket domestically.

So this is their first pinball game in God knows how long.

Like they their only avenue of playing pinball cricket is when they go to a touring team and maybe invest in these New Zealand or somewhere you're playing a pinball Test match.

It is entirely possible that the game at Ahmedabad was their last pinball game.

It's it's possible.

So because they don't, they don't play at all domestically, there is no pink ball cricket that happens.

What that means is a wicket keeper who's new, when they come into the team they are going to have trouble sighting the ball and this is something Pujara has spoken about long, long time that pink ball is, it's the sighting that is different.

The movement and everything you can still adapt to as a batter and a bowler and all that's fine.

It's the as a fielding you struggle the most and the knowledge about it and the criscos about it has been so much that it's very easy to anticipate that a bunch of our boys are playing their first ever pinball game.

It is going to take them time.

These guys are professional enough to know key.

Nothing you do on the Nets is going to count once you step into the ground because even the surface of the Nets is not like the surface on the ground.

Australian pitches are dropping pitches.

They are rock hard.

Your legs would get tired early.

The pink ball in that setting with with the ground, It's a it's a whole new thing and these guys just didn't prepare.

I'll I have a story from I have a story from where when was the Tokyo 2021 Tokyo Olympics?

So you know how South Korea win every gold medal at the archery at archery, right?

They don't lose.

In 1988, women's archery was brought back.

There have been 10 Olympics since they won the team gold.

10 nights the men have won, not won the gold team gold since 84.

Once they won the team gold every single time, it is harder to get into the South Korean.

It is harder to win a local competition in South Korea than to get into their Olympics team that the winners at Rio 2016 didn't make it to Tokyo.

So the story goes, once the Tokyo was gifted and Rio finished South Korea, for four years, their archery comp, their archery association KA, they sent people to the exact ranges where the shooting would actually would happen.

Four years.

Why?

To notice the wind patterns, to notice the colours of the holdings, to notice the banding, to notice which way the light would fall, to notice how the crowd will react, which way the crowd will come in.

Essentially, they created an exact replica in the South Korean ranges and they said, boys, when you get to Tokyo, all you need to do is just shoot.

Every ounce of preparation will make you do go shoot, hit a 10 and imagine getting the colour of the branding red and where the sound comes from.

If there's a train station nearby where the trains, they replicated that as well.

That is what I mean.

That's an extreme example of preparation, but that is an example of when someone takes something seriously, what it looks like versus fielding, coach, bowling coach, analytics, team preparation.

And when our grades are telling us, boss, we have been here, we know what it's like, we've also lost, but we know what it's like.

And you're like, though, these guys don't know anything.

It's just hubris.

I mean, basketball is the basics.

They don't even have a selection team.

They don't even have like, what is a selection based on?

They've had the same guys.

They've had the same guys.

Infamously, Shoaib Bashir was selected because somebody showed Ben Stokes like a video on his phone on social media website.

I don't remember, whether it's Twitter or TikTok or whatever, Who cares?

OK, Shoaib Bashir doesn't make it to his county team's first eleven, OK?

And he's here as your primary bowler, primary spin bowler.

You don't select him and you select Will Jacks, who clearly he's he's a part timer, right?

And he still tried to bowl well, But but The thing is, the thing with part timers is they can't keep it up for long periods of time, right?

That's the basic difference between a part timer and a full time spinner.

So like all of this, like you said, it's there's an attention to detail that's missing and they seem to think like their focus on vibes will just get them through, which is really disappointing because they could have made this ashes series quite competitive.

Like I coming in, I thought he if this England team keeps it together and I'm granted I wasn't paying close attention to their preparation at the time.

These things kind of come out only after you lose a few games because that's when people start talking and you know, letting things slip.

But yeah, I thought they would at least take a couple of games of of Australia and until day 2 at lunch and Perth.

I did believe that.

Like that seemed to be the.

Accident that was happening, yeah, yeah, yeah, but.

I think all of these tests were alive at some point in time, right?

All of these tests were alive at some point in time.

They just didn't have the mental fortitude to just even play the situation.

Apart from that, I think we just talking about the selections, right?

So I think it was Harmison on talksport.

He said that he sat for the interview for becoming an England selector and he said that one day before the actual interview.

Alex Stewart, who also wanted to be part of the selection committees, did not sit for the interview because he was told that you will not have final say.

So I mean, if, if that is the case, then how do you even expect selectors to have any kind of say in, in this entire piece?

I mean, Shoaib Bashir for all his cable preparation and, and being hyped for this and sad that this is where it has turned out.

I think he's what, some 40 overs for 200 runs across the two games that he's played.

I think 88 match, 25 overs 115, then another match, some 12 overs 83, which is crazy, right?

Like, I mean, there's no way that he was going to play.

It's also this irritation that they only choose the players that everybody's been telling them to pick after after everything is done.

It's that Liam Dawson pick, right, Even versus India.

Yeah, they pick Liam Dawson.

So, yeah, of course.

And and now of course they didn't, they didn't take him to Australia as well.

And you ended up playing Will Jacks.

Now what's going to happen to Will Jacks is what what is essentially happening to Nitish Kumar Reddy in in India, right?

Like that, that you've played him a couple of tests here and there abroad.

Now you'll be like, should I drop him or should I continue to play in all probability because yeah, he'll be a casualty in all of this despite giving his best and will.

Jax could have earned a good amount of money playing the ILT 20 right now.

Or I'm say I'm just giving the reality, this is the reality of cricket today that of course ECB plays pays well.

I'm not saying ECB doesn't pay well, but the reality is that if you have a leader who everybody believes in, like Stokes, so will Jax is like TK boss, I'll come and I'll do this.

Of course it's great that I get to play Test cricket as well, but how long is this going to last?

And apart from that, I think even even what the fielding coach, I mean, leave the fielding coach.

I you're dropping dollies.

Yeah, left, right and centre.

There was a, there was a fielding coach's job to make you aware of the fielding coach cannot make you a better fielder.

The fielding coach is a, is a tact like similarly, like Vikram Rathore cannot make Virat Kohli a better batter.

But the reason he was, you know, people like the reason Ravi Ashwin worked so well with Bharat Arun, who was not a percent of the bowler Ashwin was, is because Bharat knew the game from perspective that helped Ashwin become better.

It's a very worn and Terry Jenner relationship, right?

Where Terry Jenner, I don't think played international cricket and Warn was the greatest ever.

But every time Warn had a break, he went back Terry Jenner.

So it's you need the coach to help you spot things that as a cricketer you may not or even if you do, the coach will help you make make you more round that OK in a pink ball test, expect this this would happen.

You know you will spot the ball late.

So let's do some drills where you know it's very quick and you might still drop.

But over time you will develop a pattern where you're picking up where you know your bowlers in a long spell in a long day.

They know OK, next 3rd 20 overs, we are not going to give any runs.

They're not getting out.

The ball is soft and it's hot 40°C, all good.

They're not going to score runs.

While the mark.

My fondest days of watching live cricket was day 2 at Bangalore in 2017.

India on day one had gotten out for 189 if I'm not mistaken or something to that effect.

Nathan Land OK yeah, yeah, 189 and that my favorite KL row 90.

And thing is they they India had lost the first Test at Puna.

If they lost this, it was quite a guarantee they are not going to win both of the next Test.

And India just paused the game.

Like Australia couldn't get out.

They couldn't score runs.

And it was like, we're going to keep bowling.

You're not going to score runs, you're going to play bad shots and that thing off.

And this is very anti Kohli, right where you think Kohli would be like that?

No organization, 4 slips, 5 slips.

He's like, no, today is not the day for five slips and that comes from good coaching.

There's a story that Ashwin went to Kohli's room the previous night and said, I want to hold the game back.

I want to make them reach for their shots and Kohli while playing PlayStation.

It's like, do what you want, I'm with you.

And this is Bharat Arun's effect.

This is a thinker like Ashwin who who will do different things.

And what weirds me out the most about this, this hubris from England is this is their second transformation since 2015, right in their first transformation, which was Andrew Strauss, Owen Morgan, Trevor Bayliss.

It was an example of how method can lead to madness.

Everything selection of theirs was made with method, including picking Adil Rashid.

Matt Roller itself has written a book called White Hot about England's domination in white ball cricket and the foresight they had with picking Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, the way they went for Joffrey and wood picking.

Even James wins at that point in time.

James wins.

Yeah, Who was that?

Liam Plunkett.

Liam Plunkett.

Getting it Plunkett, who's very specific roles and they said no, this is how it's going to be.

We are going to set up a profile.

So post 2015 World Cup in the summer, their first game, I think they got all out for 80 something because Owen Morgan said hit and they got all out.

They came back and he said no problems, we're going to do it this way, we're going to hit.

And the reason the method was we're going to bat deep.

You're going to have Joffre Archer coming in at 10.

Abdul Rashid has first class centuries, so you haven't batting deep.

The next World Cup is in England four years later.

These will be the kind of grounds and pitches.

So prepare, you are going to hit A poetic thing a lot of people miss about the 2019 World Cup was that England won on boundary count and we've all felt bad for New Zealand.

But I guess who hit the most boundaries in the previous four years in the World Cup cycle?

England, no one hit more boundaries than that.

So it was very but obviously they I don't think they thought that they will get the Super over.

So it is so crazy that the same set of people who created a monster team out of preparation have now let this team, other team go four years on vibes.

It is it is unbelievable.

How do you how are you playing with Jack?

Such a spinner, man?

Will Jack if you tell me, will Jack shoot back three?

I'm with you.

But how is he a spinner?

How is Shoaib Bashidi a spinner they both know was in domestic cricket?

How do they know how what it is like to bowl 20 overs?

No, apart from that, like see the the other thing is that every spinner struggles in Australia.

I think the visiting spinners in Australia last 40 years according to Jared, I think the average above 50 like overall, that's how bad it is.

And then there is this ability and even Australian spinners for that matter, aside of let's say Netherland and 1.

So and, and when we talk about the previous transformation, I think what, what people keep missing is that the tremendous amount of institutional work done by mobile work, tremendous amount of data work done by Nathan, Nathan Leon, a maths teacher in a school.

And from that to, to this right like you have to, you have to understand that nothing will come overnight.

And I think why there is all this criticism of basketball is also because there was a expectation that they had set.

And that expectation was set because they they truly moved the game forward in in their first year, whereby every every other team learnt that they need to score faster.

Every other team realise now with this, with the data that's available that impact points while batting have to be differentiated.

Therefore bowlers are more unsettled.

Every team start scoring faster.

All of this was happening, but what was also happening is that they were tremendously good bowling in the third innings of a Test match where games are decided.

And at that point in time you had Anderson and Broad and and both of these guys were told that guys, it's time.

I have a like I'm I'm generally always team no country for old men.

But in cricket now, like cricket is so attritional that you need that experience sometime in the middle that sometimes now basis space here also needs a claim Mustak from the other side.

Basis space here also needs Wasim to be doing some magic on the other side.

I mean what video bunk audio Bunkardo or other regularly Wasimka cable third innings 4th innings.

It's what one 32135 right Max 140 that because the the wrist and and like he rushes little here and there versus a show versus a Joffra Archer.

He's going to look like he had to come.

But the fact of the matter is that is what changes game, right Like and in Australia, attritional cricket is what changes the game.

And, and this we had spoken about in the previous part also, is that Australia are going to give it time and England are not going to give it time.

And that is exactly what has happened across the across the batting order.

Australia have been like we will give it time your whole game essentially is based on the fact that right and then we will bowl, then we will bowl the lengths that we bowl.

That is top of off, top of off top of off.

You do what you want after that nothing right?

You can't do anything.

Nobody has answers to top of off.

Why does?

Why does?

Essentially.

Why does your friend need to need to have a on field with his captain while you're trying to clear the tail match keep What were you talking before the game started that morning?

Weren't you talking weren't you talking about it?

If you weren't talking about it, then who was then then then you're not good at your job.

And I think this also came out that specific, that specific thing was because I've seen Joffrey enough where he can be a bit alright with his line length.

I read, but but there is no scope, right?

There is no scope of being alright with your line length.

So I'm saying, and I'm saying and I'm saying Casabhi Bolero and I, and I go back to this like across all levels of cricket.

I think if you go to 1st division cricket or even 2nd grade cricket, if there is 1/2 decent bowler and you tell them what length they have to hit, as long as it's not, it's not that you tell them by it has to be a Yorker every ball, right?

Which is the toughest delivery to execute.

If you tell them what lengths to hit, they should be able to do it.

And you're telling me that Jofra Archer can't do it?

Jofra Archer.

I'm telling you this is not true.

So that's the that's the correlation causation you're drawing.

I am saying Jofra Archer is not somebody who can be programmed at bold these legs.

Jofra Archer is bold.

I am.

No, Yeah, I am.

I am completely.

Again, like, no.

Yeah.

Like I've seen people program the program the worst kind of Mavericks.

I'm saying live games, live games.

You.

Are going to what is possible versus what is not possible.

That's not.

Mitchell Johnson but Mitchell Johnson who programmed karatana Sachin 2013 IPL may.

You know where his Habs say both Joffra and Bryden, they vary in their lengths, even if they know what they're supposed to bowl, They they do air in their lengths.

Even even Joffra does.

I think he's definitely like someone who, yeah, would tail under eye.

You just bowl full and straight at the stumps, right?

What?

And that's.

What is that?

Just bowl on the stumps?

Don't, don't I'm not going to set a field for you bowling right.

And just because I mean, this is not to obviously take on every, but just because Johnson and ten others were programmed, that obviously doesn't equate to that.

Joffrey will also save and there are different bowlers.

There are haywire bowlers who do very well when they're just let B and I think Joffrey is one of those.

I think he's at his best when you let him have the ball and he was bowling piss poor at that point.

There is a spell they also bowled.

Was it to Stark or was it to I forget who it was?

I mean, I kept bowling wide.

Merely sub say.

I think Stokes interferes too much in the bowlers.

He doesn't let them, Oh yeah, yeah, you know, figure out their plans.

He'll change fields.

That's where MV is, right?

Right.

That's where MV.

Is so that's that's the point which I think MV is saying is like discussed here.

Yeah, like why is it coming out on the field?

Why don't, why don't you know immediately, OK, once, once the team is 6 down or 7 down, we go to bowling completely full and straight around systems.

This should not be showing up on the field.

And the other thing is, like the English media, man, the way they talk about Archer and even the Australian media, the way they talk about Archer, it's just you're leaning into the most racist tropes.

OK.

Ryan Harris Yeah.

But you cannot, say, take your chains off and.

You know there is a I'm sure you guys have read it.

So 538 used to be Nate Silver site now?

Yeah, they did a study where they showed 2 silhouettes playing football and they asked a bunch of absolute random people who are very savvy with football to commentate.

And then they showed silhouette one to be a Caucasian player, silhouette 2 to be a African American player.

And the commentary happened and they locked the commentary and actually the guy who they were showing his Caucasian was actually African American and was flipped.

And what came out Long story short is the words used for white players is a lot to do with technique and mental ability.

And by default the words used for people of African or sub-saharan descent is straight up physical like we call them.

When Andrew Russell hits.

The words we use for them are very very.

Instead of talking about his skill and technique and we never give to his game the credit for having a great technique.

We always spoke about his power as if 10,000 runs can just come from power.

So that is very true and you can hide it only so much so when you're saying when he and Hailey told was it Hailey or Dean Jones told Ambrose to take off his wristband?

Dean Jones.

Dean Jones.

Dean Jones?

Yeah, and it sounds like a Dean Jones thing.

No, no, it's the most like, it's the most amazing video.

Everybody should watch it.

And if by chance, as a listener, you've heard about it for the first time, go and watch it like Dean Jones telling Curtly Ambrose, can you please remove that white this band because you're bowling with the white ball and Ambrose, like Habita.

And The thing is not to label on the point, but the point MD made about line length programming, right?

And Ambrose is a great example like his obviously ferocious isn't that.

But one of the things that very often said about Ambrose was he can land it on a hanky for an entire day.

He did not miss his length once.

The problem with Joffra is that he tries too much.

That was what I think, which I and I begin began our conversation with.

You need an Anderson on your side as a heel on your side.

You know at some point I'm sure a Glen withdraw on your side to tell a Brett Lee, a Jafra this, a Wasim on our car on your side at this moment.

Just bowl good length, angle the ball away, you will get a wicket.

You don't have to be this enforcer all the time.

Just the next 4 overs bowl there, the wicket will come.

And I don't think it is just captaincy programming.

There's an article that Monga wrote after Zahir.

Is that the he picked a lot of the everyone else's wickets because he would guide them how to get their wickets and it's very important and I don't think by picking up Gus Atkinson, Brighton cards, Josh Tom.

Where does Jofra look towards if he wants his wicket?

Who's the leader of that?

Who's the leader?

Because.

Who's the person standing?

Stokes, it's like Chhati Patekuniya.

Why is Ben Mccallum's tattoo not on your chest?

There are no leaders in terms of like bowling and you want things when things go pear shaped.

Stokes is like, give me the ball, I'll do it, which is insane TV because he's that good.

But it doesn't work in the long term, man.

I mean, he'll do that Lord's thing that he did and bowl for ages.

He'll play a heading lead.

He'll bat like he did here.

But how's that helping his team?

It's not Archer isn't growing.

A good captain will grow his team or or team with them.

It's it's Archer isn't growing.

I don't think Brighton Cars is any different a bowler than when I first saw him.

So it looks to me like the narrative of this Ashes, at least in the first couple of Tests and a couple of days into this Test, also look like the it's going to be about Ben Stokes, the tragic hero, Shakespearean almost.

He's he's the only one standing tall while his team collapses around him and it's all about him.

The hero worship of Ben Stokes.

It's it's to me, it's almost Dhoni esque because even the great Michael Atherton apparently invented or we don't know for sure, but that's what Brad Haddon says, apparently even invented a story about Stokes his first time in Australia and sledging.

Brad Haddon and Brad Haddon, you know, reacting to that.

There's a great video that comes up on Willow Talk where Brad Haddon is like, no where, where the hell did that come from?

So what is with the English media and their veneration of pen Stokes?

Like I I don't get it.

They like this, they like this singular and this is a cross sport where they like this singular, big, arching, overarching presence.

They got it with both of them.

They wanted to get one with Flintoff.

They did never get him because Flintoff was like by the Rupi Namuza, please shut up.

And he went into 10 Downing St.

drugs.

You could only get so much.

I think what you get out of Stokes is this generational talent who's very clearly got the personality of a leader, who has the work ethic of a leader who will grind himself to dust for a team.

And what he has is a country that has never won enough.

At no point in cricket history have England been enough.

Like in the last fifty 60-70 years have England been a fantastic cricket team who win a lot consistently.

When their ODI team and T20 team were winning World Cups, that Test team couldn't win two matches in a row.

And you know, when the Test team got a little OK, their ODI team suffered.

They've never been very, very good.

So they they suffer from that complex that somebody will save us and somebody will make us great, which I can see why they think that about Stokes.

He has a personality.

I'm sure he has the talent, but it is they refuse to criticize him.

Man, it is unbelievable.

They refused to call him out on things that are very objectively wrong.

And, and I mean, in the summer when the handshake stuff happened, even the most objective of commentators were really tiptoeing to not call out for what it was.

That, you know, positive vibes.

You keep them out in the sun long enough.

They're sanctimonious pieces of shit.

So they are now they want to decide when the game's done.

And as you know, Ian Higgins said on Great cricketer podcast when Ben Stokes said that, are you going to score your hundred against Harry Brooke?

You are bowling Harry Brooke bowl your bowler.

No, bowl your best bowler.

We, we've not asked for Harry Brooke.

You are choosing to bowl Harry Brooke.

So and the English commentators never called him out on that, that, you know, that was not cool.

Shouldn't have done that.

That was embarrassing.

They just chose things that oh, they've been on the ground.

They're frustrated.

It's a bit of emotion coming out and you're right, it's Dhoni esque.

It's definitely Dhoni esque.

And I think they're also start going to start sharpening the knives now.

It's going to the tide's going to turn the other way.

If it is 4 mil or five mil, the tide will turn the other way because this is the series they were looking at.

This was the promise.

This world, this Ashes was the promise, not the home Ashes.

England are good at home anyway.

Australia don't win shit in England and somebody put a horrible picture the last time Australia won Ashes in England, but of a certain monument that was still standing.

I don't want to get this podcast out of so whatever you guys don't want to talk about.

So Australia don't vote in England.

Ben Stokes, his team was going to do well in an in home matches.

That's fine.

This was the series.

This was the series they had been promising.

This was the series for which they sacked Broad and Anderson.

This was the series why they picked Wood cars, Tom Archer together.

They're like, we are going to go with this battery of real hard, hit the deck, quick bowlers.

This was the series for which they fast tracked with Bashir before he had bowled enough balls in first class cricket.

And I think a great aspect of Himanish, Jared and Ashwin's discussion was that you need overs.

That's when you become a good spinner.

He did.

That is a non negotiable thing.

The more you bowl, the better you become.

And they pick the young guy not out of OK, he's picking, you know, 10 wickets every game in first class wicket just because he's tall.

So you did everything, you called it the series of your lives, everything happened and then you turned up and you were, you didn't prepare.

So I think the knives will be sharpened.

If it's five mil or 4 mil and I don't see it going the other way, then the knives will be sharpened.

Envy.

I see the.

I don't see the knives being sharpened as much I.

Don't see them yet either so it's like it's.

Like that.

It's like the Gambhir thing man, where anything happens, Gambhir is in the ascendancy.

Even here it seems the same.

I think no.

No, no, that that talk only has changed.

They're talking such a different game now.

Yeah, but.

I mean, see The thing is he also has the white ball reigns now.

Which is really like a very stupid idea, but I want to ask you guys.

So I'll start with you this time first.

MV have you noticed that there is a marked difference between how the English team is covered by Sky Sports and DMS versus how they're covered by Talksport and the following on podcast?

Like you talked about Steve Amazon talking about, you know, his experience with being a selector interview for a selector job like Henderson and Dan Goff right there.

They're more working class like for people who don't follow all of these, right?

So talk sport is they have people who are a typical actually almost like an English football crowd, you know, like their primary sport is going to be football and they come from like more working class areas and the Sky Sports guys and the DMS guys, you know, Rob Key was a part of that Sky Sports team.

I haven't heard any criticism of the structure that's been set up by Rob Key and Bazma Kalam.

I've been very, very disappointed.

With both, they play golf with them, they're their buddies.

Like, you know, like it just reeks of an elitist circle.

Yeah, it does.

It does it.

I've been very, very disappointed with both and Hussain in this in this store.

I don't think we get them on commentary here in India.

We get the other.

We get 7 and so you so you end up seeing a lot of post match post matches.

I've been what 12 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 15 minutes.

I'm like, I'm like bar a minute my hello.

I mean, like, how are you able to do this so fast?

And, and there's like literally barely any criticism.

And it was, it's actually shameful.

I think I, I didn't think that they would not have the capability to criticize one of their own because that's what we, we always thought they could.

And now it just seems like he it's just a private, private men's club and they are all of them have the keys to it life membership.

They're like, guys, we can't get anybody any dirty linen here being washed.

And they're supposed to have an interview with Rob Key that today or tomorrow, something like that.

And, and I wonder, I mean, what's going to come out of that?

I mean, Rob Key, I'm, I don't see there are any easy answers here as well because, because the preparation was so poor.

I don't know what's there to even defend here, right?

And it's only going to get tougher.

Melbourne is going to be like 95,000 people on day one, guaranteed.

It's a Boxing Day Test.

It's the only thing that they look forward to.

Earlier they used to look forward to that Soul ODI game plus the Boxing Day Test.

Now, I think because there's so much more cricket traditionalist, I mean, what traditionalism?

People from all over the world, Australians, all Mel, folks from Melbourne from all over the world fly back to Melbourne just for this test.

Those who have life memberships, those were like, and you can prepare, you can like plan for this trip.

People do that.

What do they expect And imagine, I mean, for all their faults, the Bami Army or 40,000 folks are travelling for this Ashes.

Imagine what kind of a show you've put up for them.

I mean, it's absolutely horrible.

Yeah, absolutely horrible.

And my and, and, and I mean, even I didn't think I would criticize Stokes as much, but I mean, it's it's it's it's down right demeaning the way he is batting and then expecting the polar opposite from everybody else.

Why, why does he get to play the situation, not everybody else?

Why does?

He get to.

Yeah, yeah, but why does he get to bat the defend the easiest time to score runs in a test and then come out the next morning and start scoring runs?

I mean, aren't you wearing the heart on your sleeve and all of that nonsense?

You are right.

Then there is, Then there is the additional, the, the flip side to all of this is quieter, doesn't play 2 Tests.

Steve Smith is not there in the third Test.

Josh Hazelwood is not playing all the Tests.

Pat Cummins is so chilled out he's telling I might not even play Melbourne, boys.

I might not even play Melbourne.

And this is where you are?

I mean, Ponting said this is the strongest English side that has come here in the last 25 years or something.

The thing is there is a, there is a false sense of confidence that this team has given to a lot of people.

And, and it goes back to the same point like BCCI doing 22 in England.

There's garbage versus garbage.

I mean a lot of a lot of fans that you see a lot of people that I meet generally they've always been criticizing basketball up towards other India may keep basketball this basketball that basketball is that you still didn't beat them.

It was there for the taking.

It was there for the taking and you still don't do that I.

Think I think.

In the criticism of basketball, I hope there is a nuance set where you separate the principles of basketball.

My question is, I'm not being nuanced.

You know what?

Atherton said.

Please go ahead.

Yeah.

So Atherton said basically when this entire England team was going to NOSA for five days and it's clear like they were drinking for most of the time there, he said.

So what do you want them to just go into the room and have bread and water?

Like, is that, is that what you would like?

Like he's not leaving any nuance there either.

He understands that this is a team where if somebody in the team wants to say that I want to go play the practice match, you know, that was happening with the press against the president 11 at some point of time or wanted to play some other game, they would not be able to do that because it's become it's become very cultish, right.

But I agree with your point, which is like everything in basketball is not incorrectly.

What is basketball at the end of the day?

It's, you know, taking strategic risks when you are at specific points in the game, making sure like the bowlers are hit off their lens.

You're not letting them bowl to you.

You're kind of, you know, you're doing unexpected things at times when the opposition doesn't expect that from you and you're applying pressure to them at that point of time, right?

You're bowling short.

You're bowling with interesting fields, you're trying to make the opposition thing, but it seems like they've abandoned their approach of out thinking the opposition.

I right?

Everything you said, but instead of abandoned, I would I would go one more layer that the bottom layer of any good testing is strong set of fundamentals and by fundamentals.

What is the one truth of Test cricket that is immutable is that you be friend time.

You will win that test ticket for dogs years has been five days and regardless of the run rate you play at, regardless of the reverse scoops you play, it will go on for five days.

So if you on the day one of edge Baston, if you are going to declare at 380, you will get found out by a team, which will just be like that's cool.

We'll just bat 2 days, man edge Baston, you prepared a flatty for us.

We'll just bat 2 days, all good.

And that is the difference between the principle.

They batted phenomenally well and they were at edge.

Bastard.

They really batted well.

Everyone looked good.

They have batted well many times across against every opposition in pretty much every series they've played since these two took over.

They had no business losing the last Test against India.

Harry Brook had no business playing that shot.

And I'm not going to listen to this course's reward route.

Playing the reverse scoop to Bumrah.

What is your best case scenario if you play the reverse scope?

That's the difference between principle and execution.

Principle is we don't want Bumrah to settle on a length.

Great.

Principle, excellent.

We have to take a bit of risk.

We can't play him from our back dog.

Superb.

What is the option you chosen?

Reverse scope.

What is the best case scenario?

6, right.

Given the lengths Bumrah bowls, what is your worst case scenario is you, you, you miss execute, you're out.

It's Joe Root getting out your best batter.

It wasn't some rando player taking that risk.

Joe Root took that risk.

So I think I wish there is a separation between, you know, how basketball is analyzed where principally I thought it brought a lot of refreshment that's ticketed.

It said we're not going to take the conventions too seriously.

We're not going to take ourselves too seriously, but the execution was just so poor and like from the like from the starting point on the first time they played a big series, this poor execution.

So yeah, I think when when it is that we make judgements, we we, we make that difference, that these are all very, very good cricketers who did some very silly shit.

Yeah, I agree.

I hope that we don't completely abandoned all of the principles of basketball.

I think like there's a lot to there's a lot to like in the previous English team did so badly in the Australia that you know, this is still better than that.

I will say this is better than that 2120.

One.

Oh, yeah, yeah, The last.

Do you remember how David Gauer reacted after Hobart?

Ollie Robinson was backing off?

Your four nil down.

Your three nil down.

Whatever.

Ollie Robinson is backing off and he got bold and David Gauer went red.

He's like, you don't have the courage to face a ball.

So that was just a meek team.

Chris Silverwood's team was just cowardly, timid, meek team.

This is not a cowardly team.

This is a team that thinks they can get into the West Indies 1975 team.

And that's the problem.

And as a Manchester United fan, I see the shapes and I recognize the shapes.

I see the shapes.

Yes, a few words about Australia.

Let's go.

So they did not have their top bowling lineup for most of the series so far.

Do we think this might be the end of Lion?

Because I feel like I got a huge sense of Deja vu, like Lions fielding and injuries himself, and then it's out for the rest of the series.

What do we think?

I think so.

I, I don't think Australia, I don't know if Todd Murphy's in this squad, he was being groomed as the next line.

I think over the last two or three years they were trying to groom him as very similar bowler actually and excellent control and line and length.

Does the over spin.

Very, very similar bowler in so many ways.

They're trying to groom him.

They're trying to groom Matt Hoonoman.

They gave up on Mitchell's absent too easy I felt.

But they they definitely were after these two.

So I don't think at Melbourne there is a merit in playing 5 seamers.

You should play a spinner and travel.

I mean not, not a non travel head spinner.

So I won't be surprised to see somebody one of these two playing I.

But given the age, given Australia's next big assignment which is against these two teams, I think comes January 27 in India, January, February 27 in India, it's too late.

I don't think Landservice, I think we may have seen the last of him or maybe he'll stretched in another summer, retire while playing.

I think he'd want to retire off the on the field and that's a very interesting thing because these guys would win and that's so good.

Very few of them will play the next Ashes.

A lot of them are playing the last Ashes.

Yeah, I mean, I would think at least Steve Smith, I don't know how long he wants to hang around, but I thought he was kind of on his last legs last time last year at the end of last year against the India series, because I didn't, I think he was struggling a little bit.

He's gotten a form resurgence, which is good for him.

Khawaja, of course, like he's not playing again in the Ashes.

But, and I don't even know if they're going to select him in Melbourne and Sydney because there is a theory like of keeping Josh Inglis in the middle order, right?

He's the future, but I I feel like this Australian team never thinks about that.

They just think about how are they going to win the next game.

And I think the thing that worries me most about this Australian bowling lineup is I don't see a huge like a second string set of fast bowlers that are trying to break into the team.

Like Jai Richardson would have been my bad, but I don't think he can stay uninjured for a year right.

That's that's the main problem with Jai Richardson.

The guy who, the guy who got hurt giving a high five once.

Yeah, after getting someone out, you think he's playing Boxing Day?

Jai Richardson.

I think so, I think.

It will.

Be, I think it will be Jai Richardson, it will be Scott Boland and it will be so that's what I, that's, that's my surprise.

It will be Cameron Green and they I hope they now don't drop Cameron Green even though he's done poorly.

Yeah, because the series is 1 now back in now.

There is no reason to drop him, right?

Because you've invested for so many years in him, now give him that freedom that just play.

And he's still bowling pretty well.

He's bowling really well.

Yeah.

So you have Cameron Green, you have your Stark Bowl and I think it will be Jai Richardson and Michael Nisa.

Yeah, I like Doggett.

I actually like Doggett as well.

They just made forced him to bowl short, which is not his strength, but I I really liked the look the.

First ball he bowled, he almost got ruled out.

His first ball it has cricket, he got bought that in deeper they don't have.

You're so right.

They don't have a string of 222323 year olds.

All these guys are 30 plus.

Yeah, Jay Richardson is 28 I think.

Yeah Doggett is 31 ish.

Mike Kelly.

So is 3435.

Whatever.

Yeah.

So Nisa Boland is 34353435.

They've been doing.

It for SO.

Many years, that's correct.

They're actually Nisa and Boland are the second string version of the previous generation, but they need like a first generation for the next cycle.

So they do, they do.

And I don't think, and I think it comes down to a lot of their otherwise, like there's a left arm bowler, they have it, I forget his name.

And obviously they're playing a lot of your franchise T20 leagues.

And what that is doing is it is taking a bit away from how red ball already they are.

Whereas these generations, they almost didn't play your BBLS and your IPLS and WPLS.

Yeah, they joined a bit late.

Stock didn't play IPL for how many years?

He was disrespecting India, by the way.

Remember that.

So I I feel that because Nathan Ellis used to be a big name, who's that left arm?

He has this very weird action, Spence.

Bartlett, you're the man.

Oh, Spencer Johnson, OK.

Bartlett is a completely one of those.

Nathaniel can represent this, this, this and I have this thing.

I OK, I'll confess nothing irritates me more than a fast bowler taking a 30 pace runner and bowling 5 slower balls out of six, sometimes 6 lower balls.

Bowl 1 pace up man.

Bowl 1 pace up please, because I love fast bowling.

I saw the first time I saw this was Siddharth Trivedi for Rajasthan Royals.

Every ball was a slower ball.

He didn't have a non slower ball.

So I think they, Australia have lost a generation of quicks to that where they've molded their techniques so much to T20 where just the consistency they were showing these pitch maps that comments bold on that he's that bowl and bold on just a hanky.

And they kept pitching there, kept pitching there, kept pitching.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

I I don't think they have too many who can do that who are like 20-4 years, 25 years old.

Yeah, I agree.

And any last notes on Australia MV?

Yeah, I mean multiple #1 those are case of are there Travis Head scoring his fourth hundred in Adelaide in in four years and then turning up for the post match and and saying that now I have to arrange for the festivities for the next few days.

And then being asked how much time did it take, He said 3 minutes to arrange for everything.

That is one.

The second is the stupendous catches that Marnus La Bhushan has taken in this series.

One in the deep, diving to his right and taking it.

Then two diving to his left.

Diving to his left.

Covering Alex Kerry.

And, and, and, and and then showing that childlike joy that everybody has when, when we take any catch, I mean, even if you throw a key to me from when I'm leaving the house and I catch it, I know, boss, this is a great catch, right?

Like, I mean, there's this childlike enthusiasm that we all have for justice taking a catch.

And he was so surprised with both of these catches.

And I was like, yes, This is why we watch sport boss.

This is a watch sport.

There is nothing else.

I was but it.

Also speaks to what Richard was saying at the top.

That man is taking those catches.

He must have trained his ass off to take those.

Catches, of course.

Yeah.

And everything I'm like, I don't want to get philosophical, but I will.

Anything in life, if you keep doing it again and again, it starts getting easier, right?

Yeah.

You're not going to be great on day one.

Exactly which is the?

Which is the right way to do fielding and not exactly I?

Mean every aspect of the game in this in this in this modern game is so punishing if you're like even 1% bad at it.

It's crazy.

Like even dropping Travis Head at 99, his criminal was you're the stand in Captain Harry Brooke dropped.

That was an easy catch.

I'm sorry.

Exactly.

And then he scored 71 more runs.

I I mean, that's the thing, right?

Like like most people watch highlights, but there was a 20 minute period where he was on 99.

There's a 20 minute period he was on 99.

He was struggling.

There's a run out chances.

Well, and then he drops this catch.

And even then the run doesn't come.

He doesn't run on that drop catch.

The run comes.

He's like, I need to take a risk, boss, I'm going to charge your route now.

I mean, those are little.

I mean fielding.

I think one of the stand out things this this entire series has been the fielding.

Steve Smith has also taken 11 blinder in the previous test.

Labushan's taken what, 23?

Australian Josh Inglis got a note.

Josh Inglis.

Out of nowhere, out of nowhere like by the way impact on the series except.

You know how good they are, Mark Walker, they wouldn't come here.

Good day.

How do you still have the chops?

First Shorty hit the stumps man.

And so he's how in a suit and without warm up.

He just took the ball, threw it off balance, hit the stumps and it just this this cricket country.

There is just something about them.

It's it's not champion mentality as much as.

Such.

A.

Perfection.

The Loving.

Specialism, get everything, get a control.

Random thing for you to mention without warm up.

Right?

Like, like I was listening to Sally Lankola of all people.

Of course you were.

On on some part that he has come on.

This is where we lose our five, our five listeners.

It's actually very, very crazy what he said.

So he said that he played that first Test in 1989.

In the second test he reached the ground.

I think it was Sial Court.

The second test was no second Test, maybe Alpinia, Karachi, wherever.

So he's like as soon as he reached the stadium, WE Rahman said no.

Rahman Lamba I think was with him and he said let's race and he races and he pops something in his hamstring.

That's it, he's done it and he's like, I hadn't done the warm up and it was so cold.

And that's the reason he's left with what, one test?

That's all he played.

It's the same story that Abdul Wasan says no, that his two get stronger.

Somebody told him run every day.

He ran 5 kilometers on the streets of Delhi every day and then when his knees went, he's like, oh, you shouldn't run this much on the streets.

Know the fitness levels.

I think even the 23 final, right.

And like the bowling, they didn't consider boundary for 40 / 35 overs, whatever from the first ball they're fielding on that night.

And there is no greater sign of where the team's at than they're fielding.

Yeah, if your fielding is good, the team's in a good shape.

Leave that.

The women's team in the 2025 semi final, Sharda, if you remember, she said why are you running?

There are only two runs for India to get.

Yeah, I saw the group game live.

No Alice Perry injured.

She's had to go off for cramps.

And that same afternoon she was she was driving like a Panther.

And thing is, these guys are a big that they're not.

There's a difference between the stature of say subcontinental athletes and Australian athletes.

They're just physically much bigger.

But the way they dive around it is it is a site.

And that was like Ellie's Perry, Phoebe Litchfield, the way they fielded at Vizag is is phenomenal man.

And.

It's playing different sports growing up, isn't it?

Like that's what it is.

And I think I have Maxwell Autoval field and two, there are two forwards, one by Kohli, one by Cummins.

Yeah.

And Cummins kind of explains the rationale behind keeping Maxwell in the team all the time.

They likely look, Maxwell is not going to score once in three games.

He's not even going to score once in five games.

Sometimes he might not score once in seven games.

But thing is, the rest of us are there for the every seven games.

We'll play percentage cricket.

That's what we're good at.

The one day Maxi comes good, he'll win us the game.

Yeah.

So the rest of them doing the basics so well, so consistently gives you the place to have a David Warner, gives you the place to have a, oh, by the way, was a fantastic cricketer, but gives you the place for a Maxwell tomorrow.

If there is a leg spinner, they get the next factor.

Leg spinner, They're like, that's fine.

The rest of us will bowl well.

You do your thing.

It allowed a Brettly to flourish because he knew he had Gillespie and Maghra on in this side, worn on one side.

And that will always be Australian cricket.

As long as they're going good, they will always have that thing of people who come in.

They could be good, they could be bad.

They lost so many tests in the subcontinent between those in that Clark captaincy, Lehman, Darren Lehman, period.

They were never unprofessional.

They never looked like they were not prepared for it.

They just looked like they're not good enough and that's that's the difference between them and a lot of teams.

I agree and I think one note I want to make about this Australian team is it looks like they learn from their mistakes, right?

So you know, after losing the BGT in 2021, they are more cognizant about rotating their bowlers for long series because a huge function of you know, Rishabh Pant and Pujara, especially Pujara's role.

In that series was just staring down the bowlers and you could see by the end like they were extremely tired and that fatigue, you know, that is a legitimate part of Test cricket is staring down the opposition's bowlers.

You can just see like they learn from their mistakes.

They learn from how they played basketball.

Like just Alex Kerry award for him.

But I mean, what a wicket keeper I have, I have never seen a wicket keepers like performance stand out in test, Test matches and him standing up to the stumps and facilitating like really taking the bass out of pass ball to some extent.

Here was here was something else like these, these kind of small things.

You couldn't tell.

They prepared for it, right?

In the 2023 Ashes, they tried doing this right because England was coming down in the Ashes.

In England, you know, Alex Kerry was keeping up with the stumps, but you know it was, you knew it was a reaction to what had happened in the previous days.

In this case, you can see this man has practiced for this.

He has practiced his ass off to make sure that he's prepared for these English batters coming down the pitch and stepping out to the bowlers by keeping up with the stumps to 135 kilometers per hour bowler that is very, very fast.

This we must mention the 135 TV it is.

Not.

Very fast, but I will I will recommend anybody who thinks 135 is is easy to go to the nearest smash yeah whatever cricket bowling machine and play 120 Just play 1/21/20 May in the words of a lot of my friends, baate bole nahi hoga or ball koi Milan nahi you like killer.

Even even the like, even at a very high professional level.

135 is what?

McGraw bold.

Yeah, yeah, no, no.

And many.

135 is what?

Pollock bold.

So Mcgrann Pollock bold.

Exactly.

Many fast enough.

It is fast enough, but in comparison people 3-4 people fast is 145 plus Joffrey is fast.

I'm talking about the general person.

I'm sense it.

The second thing is the second thing, sorry, is the fact that this entire series, my favorite people to listen to after every day or after every Test match have been Willow Talk.

Especially for the insights on keeping that I have got from Healy and Brad Haddon.

I had to give props to Adam Peacock for being the most fantastic host.

Like he's just given them the platform and and the thing with Healy is that Healy doesn't try to share the fact that she is a keeper herself at any point in time.

She's like the stages for Carrie stages, not Hamare Zamani.

Yeah, Makya Karthi, Makya Karungi.

None of that even for had the had in the Brad had in bracket WK is what is in your mind.

So I think it's more apparent.

But going back to Carrie, just the intensity, even while he was batting, there was a 50 partnership between him and Travis Head.

As soon as the 50 partnership happened, Travis Head of course is like he buy high 5 by 5, but carries like so zoned in.

I don't care guys.

I'm batting like he's he's completely zoned in.

That's how intense he is.

And you need these type of characters all through.

You need like a Marner somewhere doing all this monkey business and then you need carry on the other side and then you need Steve Smith and then you need Usman Khwaja.

I mean, we've not even spoken about Usman Khwaja.

We've not spoken about the metronomic had come in spell that spell.

Yeah, why you can tell about Cummins.

You know how he got Root out, like Root was playing so well.

And I think I knew Adelaide would say that was the bounce.

Yeah.

And he just gave him a hope.

You know, you could tell like Root just really wanted to get off strike.

He was like and in in the previous ball just before he got Oh my God, he wants to get off strike.

This is a bad, this is a bad sign.

He looks uncomfortable.

He wants to tab it down the third man, which is a shot he had taken away in the previous game, but he brought back into this game.

And Pat Cummings just knew that this guy, he wants to play the shot.

Let me give him the worst ball possible to play the shot, too, but enough that he considers only playing the shot.

Like, it can't be like a completely short ball that he thinks of a completely different short.

It has to.

It has to, like, draw him in to the short, believe he can do it and also, like, make it so that he gets out.

It's just just beautiful.

That is Mr.

I was like, yeah.

Yeah, Cummins is differently I, I, I and this is the conversation I've had because we are so reluctant to place any current players in the pantheon of grades.

Conference is the second best Australian seamer in the last 30-40 years.

The only one who's been better is McGraw.

And this is not just numbers, this is just his relentlessness.

He can bowl A7 over, which he did right after coming back from injury.

He he's a fast bowler who never gets flustered.

It's unheard of.

The best fast bowlers gets get flustered.

McGraw got flustered at times.

Alan Donald famously did not like being hit.

He got flustered.

Yeah, Pollock Stain, Everyone had their faces when things would not go right and they would lose their line or length a little bit.

You never see that with comments and people like comments.

And Carrie, very weirdly enough, to take a football analogy, they remind me of in a good football team, like you can have your explosive fingers and center forwards, your center backs and goalkeeper have to be very stable characters because they are your spine.

You need stability there, there.

You can't have these maverick rock stars there.

You need solid low heartbeat people, invisible onai.

Imagine invisible onai.

And that's carry.

This reminds me of old schoolkeepers.

You wouldn't notice like a Healy, like a booty poucher like Vandisar.

And in modern times, maybe a rhythm on Alex Stewart.

And there are so many, you never notice them.

And he's he's something else, Carrie, in terms of keeping and yeah, comments to Kya.

He if it comes like Sydney match come and see match backs.

It and.

Yes, he's and it's just so many occasions he's just done it, he's just shown up and he's won the Test match.

In his debut Test match in in South Africa, 6 wickets on debut, hit the winner and she was there.

It's just the thing, it's God.

Like, I don't, I'm an atheist, but if there was a God, he's God's God's friend.

There's a good chance that, you know, Government is possibly one of my most favorite players of all time.

Like you're not I.

Wouldn't be.

I wouldn't be.

Surprised.

I mean, I know like all of you people have your your own classics and your colorful characters and everything, but you know what Cummins has brought to the game and brought to stealing cricket.

Cummins will age very well.

Yeah.

Cummins will age very well as a cricketer.

In our in our memories, yeah.

Especially because occupied because all like a Dravid did a Dravid did you know how do we say this Sean Pollock did these kind of characters where sure they don't have the peaks that are Sachin did a warn did and we love our Sachin and we love our warn and Donald Alan Donald, but there is that bit of extra love we had for a Sean Paula type add to the comments where we just enjoy watching them and I can watch comments day in day out.

No stress.

He's.

A great leader.

He's a great man.

Like I really like the I like the personality aspects about Yeah, solar panel packed.

He does it.

He does it.

He's jail.

Not once have I heard him say something that was untoward.

I.

Mean The thing is.

The fast border to do that is is an achievement itself.

So the the Steve Smith crap about Monty Panesar in the beginning of the series, I was just like, yeah, like Patrick Cummins would never have let Monty Panesar know that he thought about him for even like half a second.

Like he would not have said anything about Monty Panesar even.

That's the variety you need.

That's the variety you need in a team.

Otherwise, it's quite dirtier.

My problem with Smith was Smith went Twitter.

Smith's reply was perfect.

Twitter bought reply.

He oh, what about this?

No, yeah, either get dirtier either said say something like incriminating on one.

Like Shane Warne, like you go to 30 games with this.

No Shane want to Monty Panesar itself.

Like you can, he said Kimonte Panesar has bowled the same game.

He's like, he's bowled 30 Test matches, but he hasn't like his pointers, he hasn't learnt from those Test matches.

He's bowled the same Test match.

He's played the same Test match over and over again, which is basically that Monty Panesar has no brains.

That's.

Or go like 1 to Ranathunga where one was trying to get Ranathunga to lunch forward and he wouldn't where one told Healy that maybe place a Mars bar on a good length Ranathunga will come forward either go there or go what Ranathunga said.

One told Ranathunga.

I think after this over itself, the over got over and Narathunga was crossing 1 and he said, Shane, I'll tell you something, it's better to eat a Mars bar than what you've been eating.

So either go down there.

I am all for it.

I have no model policing.

Yeah, do a pat comments where you don't even acknowledge they're like yeah.

Cool.

And Pat And Pat does it every time.

Every time.

What do you think of Ben Stokes cricketer?

Player.

Not to take the conversation aside, but comments won't ever call someone born.

It won't happen.

Never.

Yeah, it won't happen.

Yeah, I know Cummins is one of my all time favorite cricketers.

Hard not to be.

I mean in the bowling.

I love Pogba.

We should do a draft of our favorite cricketers.

Vocally do that or what?

So speaking, Speaking of, you know, shit and shit, basically what's what's wrong with Indian cricket and why do I have to ask this question like 35 times every year?

Like why?

Why am I asking this all the time?

So just to give a recap to folks, because we've done a huge context switch here is that a couple of days ago in the middle of AT20I series with South Africa, India announced their provisional World Cup T20I scored.

And the thing that happened is they basically took India's next generation potential leader.

He's already the captain of two out of three teams.

They brought him in for a small series in against South Africa where South Africa is basically just trying out different players everyday.

So it's it's a fun series for South Africa.

They brought him in for that series.

They took out a beloved social media, beloved player to bring in Shubman Gill.

And we can debate on the merits of that decision.

But essentially after two or three games, they just dropped Shubman Gill and he had to pretend that he was injured out, which is what we found out later is actually he was told he was dropped for the for the World Cup squad.

And for some reason this was I found out from Sportstuck that this was actually known to some cricket journalists prior to happening to when it happened, which is.

Like.

How?

How can you do that?

And the problem is not that this decision is based on any kind of database analysis.

Because if you look at Shubman Gill, Shubman Gill's record in the last IPL, but you should not look at T20 as you should look at IPL for T20 performance.

He's got a strike rate of 155.

And I think his his average is like 404039 around around that.

It's a pretty good average and it's a pretty high strike rate, right?

So most teams would kill for some player like that in their team.

You know, India have a lot of options.

So there's point for choice.

But you know, what does it look like when you take in your captain of two out of three formats, You bring him as a vice captain for potentially one of the last series before your World Cup, and then you tell him that he's dropped halfway and he's dropped for the World Cup.

He's not even in the squad for the World Cup.

It's not that they told him, like, we can't have you as a top batter.

Like, what does that do to a team, to a player?

And what what does that tell us about the entire ecosystem of Indian cricket?

And the IT tells me that there is clarity.

It tells me that there is clarity of thought.

It tells me that maybe Mukesh Ambani does not hold all the reins for providing a daddy to all Indians.

It tells me that this is actually very poor here.

Cable is maybe cable.

First of all, team, team, team.

And people were questioning the captain, Mr.

Soldier number soldier #2 Surya Kumar Yadav.

Soldier who's going to blast, blast, blast, blast.

Soldier.

Actually Gil was there in the team before Samson and then Gil was playing some other formats and that's why Samsung was playing and now it's no longer the case.

I think he bought the mumbo jumbo key and then there was enough media pressure that this might not be the right call after all.

And looks like from whatever reports we are reading that there were three selectors who said 9 by 9 like a jasate ghar ka World Cup.

We can't take this, we can't take guilt to a World Cup.

And eventually they prevailed over Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar and Suryakumar Yadav and we have this again.

My favorite, one of my favorite, not my favorite, one of my favorite Succession episode.

Season 1 Episode 2 should show at the fuck factory happening in Indian cricket every single time.

Or like as Richard just said, 35 * a year.

They've also changed tag so OK, like to to mention my sense.

I think their World Cup squad is the best squad that would have picked.

I love this squad.

What they've changed tack to which I have a problem with key.

Why do you change it midway?

Why do you have this clarity from the get go?

Is that the reasoning given by Agarkar is pretty solid that we want keeper at the top because then it allows us to have our 5678 as all around us?

Absolutely fine and selecting Sanju and Ishan Kishan speaks to that consistency of thought.

Key opener has one of the openers.

We want a keeper.

They'll drop Jitesh who has done no wrong.

Punk is nowhere near the the setup.

KL is nowhere near the setup which also speaks to fine.

We are not trying to fit in a piece here.

Fit in a piece there.

Then why drop Sanju at all?

If you were clear with this path, then give Sanju slash another keeper opener, a longer run.

Keep giving him chances.

Sanju has been blasting runs here for India.

There is something he's doing right.

If you don't want to pick Sanju, pick somebody else.

You've changed that.

You've given Shubman this thing.

You flew him over to Australia in the middle of a Test season to play random T 20s.

You got him back.

How is he going to settle in two formats?

Is he going to grow as a cricketer?

If you have him because you really want him to be the next face of Indian cricket and then under pressure you drop him.

I the weight was handled with you when I have a lot of problems with I I have it on some authority that he's not he he he was not well aware from from before.

But I think they'll accidentally landed on a good score which is profile wise.

This is the team that had to be your.

It doesn't matter if it's a Shankishan or Sanju, you have to go.

We could keep her at the top.

You have to have Abhishek 3.

I wish it was Shreyas but three Tilak he's done no wrong.

Wonderful player 4 Sky 5 Hardik and from 5678 you have your 4 all rounders.

9/10/11 can be your Kuldeep Parun and Bumrah or Kuldeep Vashti Kumar depending on the track and that also gives you the chance to play the extra batter at 5:00 and have heartbeat at six and whatever 7 and 8 shivam and all.

So profile wise this is a great squad.

It is just a lack of clarity that worries me that they're trying to force into playing so many format.

I like secretly wish that.

Just don't play T20 eyes man, Don't bother with that.

Just player IPL.

Do your you're very good at Test and ODS.

And in a very weird way I'm glad because he's he's going to now focus on the 27th World Cup and his Test batting, which is finally picking up.

I take a slightly different ACT about the team, like I think with the Indian team.

You're anyway, you're not going to win based on one or two players like with T20I.

Yes, you need, you need to take a look at form a little bit more than you would in other formats because it's very hard to get back into form.

But I think what's happening is like, you're a lot of these friendlies that happen, like, I call them friendlies because that's what they have.

Your bilateral tournaments, They're not always an accurate reflection of how well somebody's going to do because they're not.

The other sides are not always.

They don't always have their best players.

But I think stuff like if you knew you wanted a keeper at the top, then playing Jitesh in the squad was just, that's just cruelty at that point.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like what?

Why bring him in?

Like, if you're not, if you know you're not going to go with him, Like, be clear with the communication that he's your second choice or your third choice in this case.

Yeah, I, I understand why they've picked up Ishan Kishan.

I don't have any confidence that Ishant Kishan is going to do a good job because I haven't, He's not done that well in the IPL and he's found out when it comes to like any good bowling, like if this squad comes up against an Australian team that knows where to bowl to him, like he's going to struggle.

Like I, I don't have a lot of confidence in Ishant Kishan and he's been.

But the merits of the thing aside, like actually the person who should be opening is there as well.

And they've kept in Abhishek Sharma on the basis of, you know, IPL and D20 is and he's done well lately.

But I don't know.

I don't know if I think.

He's the generational talent.

He is, he is, but also like, I'm afraid that they've, they've put a lot of expectations on him at this point of time.

I, I feel like he's, I would like him to develop a little bit more.

I don't know.

I thought he was like 20.

3 Shubman's batch Shubman's batch.

Oh, OK, OK Shubman's best friend, you know.

Shubman's best.

Friend.

Best friend from childhood, yeah.

That that's what is probably not.

Abhishek's batch.

OK, So that that's what is probably not up for grabs, but I'm surprised that they don't have Jaswal in there because I think Jaswal has a better record than both Samson and Gill in terms of opening I think Samsung's team for downturn.

Agarkar mentioned also in the press because everyone was hounding about Shubman.

He's like boys.

No one speaking about Jaswal, have you seen him back?

It's just like the way we're building the team.

We have 3 opening options we're taking which is Abhishek, Samsung, Ishan.

We can't have a fourth opener in a 15 man squad which is fair logic by pure merit does Jaswal do?

He should like he's too good.

But if you are married, Ryan Parag should be in.

And Ryan parag is a multi dimensional player.

He can bowl you a couple of overs if shit goes wrong.

Yes you have 7 bowlers.

I understand that 7 bowling options in year 11.

But if you feel that I don't need a between washy and paragraph Sir or you know I don't need a shivam duve, maybe you play Ryan Parag.

Perfectly good batter at 5.

Hardik can come in six hard pitch, you get Ryan Peral, you take out, you get another pace so you take out strong.

The way those things are certainly available to you.

I don't know what purpose Rinku Singh solves.

Should Rinku be in T20 teams 100%.

Has Rinku been very good last couple of years?

Not really.

He's not even been in the team and he's been available.

IR doesn't get let him back.

Take care doesn't let him back.

I no, I think Rinkuka, The thing is right, like he has to play the finisher role.

He has to play the finisher role because you can't put again all, all the eggs in Hardik Pandya's basket.

You have to think about that.

I don't think Jitesh is as much of a finisher.

No, no, Rinku skilled the question.

The mirror.

Rinku is an exceptional finisher.

Rinku hasn't batted.

That's my thing.

He hasn't batted.

And Rinku doesn't do as well against spin at the death.

But again, yeah, like, I mean my question, my question remains like 2 soldiers ever ask any questions when they are called up to Siachen.

If somebody is at let's say Madras suppers in plush Ulsoor, Bangalore, but you're suddenly called to Siachen, you go to Siachen.

Are you questioning AQI?

Should be searched for old.

But to me the problem is now there's somebody else pulling the strings above Gautam Gambhir and Ajita Garkar as well.

I think it's beautiful.

I think it's beautiful.

I think this chaos, this chaos stays.

Beautiful.

My my my biggest problem is that this chaos has come up a little early for my liking.

I wanted like complete power in the hands of Gambhir for the longest time.

But I think and I'm a sad person.

I might be in the minority, but I'm a sad person because I must remind our listeners that in the second Test versus South Africa, I was supporting BCCI because I wanted GG Sir to win the Test and draw the series.

Because the kind of questions people have asked him, I felt sad.

Somebody who's doing so much for the country and people, people like you with a mic, standing in random corners of the Internet are asking him questions.

You can't ask questions of a soldier.

You can't ask questions of somebody who's doing it for his country bed time.

Gambir is.

Gambir is is the is the.

So here's my question, OK, Like, if you take a step back and you see what's happening, like some time ago, we got the news that Geo and Star are kind of reluctant to keep the rights of ICC tournaments for the next couple of years.

And I wonder if there is a bit of, you know, Indian cricket trying to run itself through social media.

And they're both like YouTube, what Youtubers say and what what is being said on social media.

What are social media trends?

Because it was clear, right?

There was a huge trend on social media to get rid of Shubman Gill and, you know, making some of these populist decisions.

That's that's not the job of selectors, but it's definitely something that administrators try to keep an eye on, right Key, you know, are we going to get enough viewership, you know, from the subcontinent, from ICC trophies going on?

Because with the removal of Virat and Rohit, right, that's that's definitely a concern now for the team.

And I wonder if we're going to see more of these chaotic moves to try and, you know, get next and get the next generation of heroes and build more viewership.

You'll get chaos, you'll get a lot of chaos and you'll get Shubman was earmarked as captain because he's the Gillette man of the, the next Gillette person for India, right?

So his selection itself was 200.

Percent, and this is true for bumping him suddenly to test captaincy.

He did well and he's learning on the job I have.

I'm a huge financial fan.

The the problem with his ascension was that you did it without any proof that he can do it.

So you took a punt on him and it's just luck if he turns it around and becomes a great captain.

It wasn't an informed decision.

You didn't give him time to do it with India a, with Punjab.

And a lot of selectors have said that for years.

We prepared Shreya Syed to become a leader.

We reared him.

We would give him India A Games, we would give him, we would force Mumbai to give him, you know, a few sessions to make him captain because we wanted him to be India's next captain.

After all.

I think we will see chaos, you will see favouritism.

I do not necessarily think this was a populist decision as much as as in a selection group been to say groups of people.

One obviously for the current, for what was then South Africa series and the other for just select your Sanju and Ishaan at the top.

And the moment they tactically went with one formation, they couldn't have Shubman.

That's the thing, you couldn't have a middle ground where you're picking Sanju and Ishan and you're also picking Shukman because then it had to be Sanju and Jitesh and you pick a Shukman and maybe, you know, and you can then have space for a Shukman and because then you have two keepers, you have a space for that.

The moment you went for Sanju and Ishan, it was over and that's where Rinku comes in.

So I would wish that there is clarity given to the players.

By all accounts, it wasn't to Sukman, but I I would wish that that bit is done, yeah.

I think the decision, the decision is not as bad as how it was done, right?

Yeah, we can.

We can debate on the merits of the decision.

Like there's pros and cons.

I get that completely.

But I wonder if the way that this was done, it causes more destabilization and if it was even worth doing just for how it would disrupt the team.

But like Envy said, soldiers are not worried about a stray bullet.

This is he's, he's, he's thriving.

He's thriving on chaos, he's thriving on.

I'll make I think this this team, this team, I think it's a good squad.

It's a fairly decent squad.

The question is always going to be what kind of 11 does Gambhir pick?

What kind of roles does he assigned to these people and how do they excel in those situations?

The other the other issue is that there is going to be consistent insecurity across any teams that Gambhir plays or any tournaments that can be plays as well.

What we can be certainly sure of is that there will be pitch tampering, there will be cable tip, all all the things that you don't want in a home World Cup from a team that is perfectly, let's say one of the one of the favourites at the very least, if not complete outright.

I know majority will think that they're complete outright favorites or egg cheese man Abhi both.

South Africa's base for this next World Cup is Ahmedabad, and the final is that Ahmedabad.

Also, South Africa have a phenomenal T20 setup.

Yeah, they have stubs and Brevis and that Rickelton guy and they have this.

They have Mumbai Indians, they have Mumbai Indians, Quinton de Kock.

See Quinton de Kock anywhere else and anybody in Mumbai Indians.

Is a different player all together.

They have Colin Borsch, they will have, they won't and they have the brains to say Rabada is in T20 material.

He's not playing T20 so they have the brains to do that.

South Africa have been knocking on the doors for a long time.

There is a semi final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, there is the final of the 2024 T 20 World Cup.

They won the next WTC.

I think they are very strong contenders.

I think they are overwhelming favourites because of just the strength of what they are taking to the World Cup.

But I would not be surprised if South Africa are there at the end, and they are.

Strong.

The other thing is like a lot of World Cups are just like home World Cups for the Indian team, right?

So so.

Home World Cup at the home of cricket.

Home of cricket Home of cricket with one one exit for 1,00,000.

Imagine final May if it goes South.

1,00,000 We'll talk about the scheduling, but I've heard the scheduling is I haven't looked at it deeply, but I've heard the scheduling is very.

So any any final notes envy before we end the pod?

Mainly I'm good.

Nothing.

Nothing to add.

It's just a fairly long episode.

OK, so people will enjoy it.

We'll see what happens and Merry Christmas to everyone and a happy New Year.

I don't know if you'll record before the new year happens again, but if we don't then Happy New Year to everyone.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas.

I don't know what is the happy.

New Year and Merry Christmas.

Hindu equivalent of of these greetings, but we'll be up go to all those celebrating.

I mean, I have heard Abhi recently, I have heard Abhi recently, I have heard in large corporations in India, they don't even say Merry Christmas, happy holidays, Secret Santa Kobhi.

Why can't you just say Merry Christmas?

Yes, but what else were you saying before that?

So happy holidays, right?

Stop saying happy holidays, go back to saying merry.

Christmas.

Don't, don't.

I don't want to be happy.

I want to be merry.

Secularize, which has which reminds me of a few things, but caught behind and we'll end the recording.