From Bangalore's parks to the Indian team: Vijay Bharadwaj unplugged

Apr 21, 2020

01:00:42

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A big moment for us at 81allout as we have an international cricketer on our podcast for the first time.

Vijay Bharadwaj played 3 Tests and 10 ODIs for India in the turn of the millennium. His high-point was during the LG Cup in Nairobi in 1999-2000 where he was named the Man of the Series for his all-round performances. He was a giant for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and played a vital role in their three Ranji Trophy triumphs in the 1990s.

In this episode, Vijay chats about his formative experiences of playing cricket on the street and in the parks, and remembers a number of characters who lit up the Bangalore cricket scene in the 1980s and 1990s.

Talking points:

The competitive nature of street cricket in the Bangalore of the 1980s

Graduating to the park

The deadly variations that spinners employed

A bowler who was a combination of Shoaib Akhtar and Muralitharan

The intensity of each net session

Pitch-catch out, beaten out, full-toss out

Copying Mohinder Amarnath

Dodda Ganesh, David Johnson and other street-fighters

The pressure of playing for Karnataka

Spinning to Ranji glory

Participants: