81 All Out - A Cricket Podcast

In our latest episode of the podcast we chat with former Bangladesh Test cricket Shahriar Nafees and ESPNcricinfo journalist Mohammad Isam. Talking points: Street cricket in Dhaka Legends of tape-tennis cricket The value of age-group cricket in Bangladesh The period when cricket started to overshadow football in Bangladesh Memories of cricket from the 1990s The Fatullah Test against Australia in 2006 A heady period for Bangladesh between 2005 and 2007 The pressure of having to live up to expectations Participants: Shahriar Nafees Mohammad Isam (@isam84) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Related: Shahriar Nafees' YouTube channel  Unbelievable to have scored a T20 hundred - Shahriar Nafees interview Nafees leads Bangladesh's brilliant charge - ESPNcricinfo report When Mohammad Ashraful took on McGrath and Gillespie - ESPNcricinfo That winning feeling - Rabeed Imam on Bangladesh's win over India in 2004 - ESPNcricinfo

In this special episode of the 81allout podcast, we chat with Michael Sexton on his latest book Border's Battlers, which provides a fascinating account of the iconic tied Test between India and Australia at Chepauk in September 1986. Michael has been a journalist, producer, and sportswriter for over three decades and been a part of ABC, BBC, and Channel Nine. He has written eight books and two of them on cricket - Chappell's Last Stand and Border's Battlers.  Talking points:  Contextualizing the state of Australian cricket and Border's captaincy coming into the Test series against India  Vaudeville reenactment of the last over of the tied Test by Greg Matthews  Dean Jones's magnificent double-century followed by an ambulance ride to the hospital  Getting the geographical specificity of Chennai and Chepauk right  Heroic efforts of Ray Bright and forever-on-the-field 13th man, Mike Veletta  Influence of Bob Simpson and the elephantine memory of Errol Alcott  Kapil Dev's brilliant counterattacking century  Murmurs of a headbutt and the rancorous spirit through the dramatic stages of the match  The camaraderie and consistency of Dara Dotiwala and Vikram Raju  Shivlal Yadav's six; a rational and calculative Ravi Shastri under immense pressure  Parallels and the differences to the tied Test in Brisbane in 1960  Participants: Michael Sexton (@Michael_Sexton5) Siddharatha Vaidyanathan (@Sidvee) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Related: Scorecards of the tied Tests - Brisbane '60 and Chennai '86 Madras Magic - a documentary on the Chennai tied Test Highlights of the Brisbane tied Test Martin Smith on how the tied Test ended the career of Vikram Raju Arunabha Sengupta on the dramatic last day of the Test Dean Jones and the second tied Test at the Bradman Museum Books recommendations from Michael Sexton: Edging Towards Darkness - John Lazenby Harold Larwood: the Ashes bowler who wiped out Australia - Duncan Hamilton

We started with Delhi, moved to Karnataka, and now head to West Bengal for our next edition of the street cricket chronicles. Through this series we hope to bring out the cricket culture in different cities at the most amateur levels: whether it is on the streets, in the gullies and driveways and terraces, on beaches, or in the parks. In this episode we chat with two guests who grew up in Kolkata and Asansol in the 1980s and 1990s. Talking points: Rubber, Deuce, Rubber-Deuce and Cambis balls Influence of the long monsoon and early sunset on the street cricket dynamics Seasonal switch between cricket and football Genteel Kolkata and the not-so-genteel Asansol Parents as match referees Why Harbhajan Singh would have struggled in street cricket in West Bengal Pocket money? What is that alien concept? The contentious wide calls and the self-regulating rule Bricks as stumps and real-time Hawkeye problems Cricket as an individual sport and the near-universal chronology of batting and bowling line-ups The popularity of Abdul Qadir in the '80s in Kolkata and how his bowling action was the most imitated in the streets Mimicking Azhar's fielding, Srikanth's mannerisms, Hudson's batting stance Participants: Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) Shom Biswas Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) * Lead image from here Related: Abhishek Mukherjee's writings at Cricketcountry, Firstpost, Sportstar Abhishek Mukherjee on Azharuddin's 182 against England at Eden Gardens in 1993 Abhijit Gupta on the glossary of gully cricket in Kolkata Just another Bengali playing cricket on the streets Street Cricket Chronicles from Delhi – 81allout archive Street Cricket Chronicles from Karnataka - 81allout archive

Our special guest this week is Nadeem F Paracha, an historian, author, and cultural critic who writes a regular column for the Dawn newspaper. NFP, as he is fondly known, has been a keen observer of Pakistan cricket for close to half a century. Drawing on his vast knowledge of history and culture, he brings a unique perspective when writing about the game. And he adds vital context with regard to the political and social conditions that have prevailed across the years. Talking Points: Wasim Raja - a man ahead of his time Pakistan's historic win in Sydney in 1977 Mushtaq Mohammad - a largely forgotten captain Zia-ul-Haq's love for television Javed Miandad's immortal six in Sharjah The 1987 World Cup - and Imran's retirement The ugly 1990s and the match-fixing scourge Inzamam and the Zia school of captaincy Misbah's ideology-free pragmatism Participants: Nadeem F Paracha (@nadeemfparacha); Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee); Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Related: Like Nation, Like Cricket: How Cricket Has Mirrored The Political Evolution of Pakistan - nayadaur.tv - Nadeem F Paracha; Pakistan cricket: A class, ethnic and sectarian history ; The biggest unfulfilled talent - Nadeem F Paracha on Wasim Raja; West Indies v Pakistan, Fifth Test, Kingston, 1977 - YouTube upload; Misbah's story: How the almost forgotten cricketer rose to become an icon; Cricket columns by Nadeem F Paracha in Dawn; The multi-faceted domestic giant - Gul Hameed Bhatti obituary - - Osman Samiuddin; With Allah on their side - Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2006 - Osman Samiuddin Books discussed: The Pakistan Anti-Hero: History of Pakistan Nationalism Through the Lives of Iconoclasts; End of past: An immediate eyewitness history of a troubled nation; Unquiet Ones; Cutting Edge; Imran: Autobiography of Imran Khan; Inside Out; Art of Captaincy

In our latest episode of the podcast we talk to Abhinav Mukund, who has played seven Tests for India and recently became only the second batsman from Tamil Nadu to cross 10,000 first-class runs. Abhinav has not shied away from expressing his views on matters as important as mental health and colourism. In a wide-ranging chat, he opens up about matters both cricketing and non-cricketing and reveals a maturity that belies his years. Talking points: Formative experiences around cricket The teenage prodigy Abhinav A triple-hundred at the age of 18 The India call-up Tours to West Indies and England The dejection of being dropped Coming out of a funk The brief return to the national side Making peace with oneself The issue of mental health in cricket Why he came out strongly against colourism The dream of winning a Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu And much more... Participants: Abhinav Mukund (@mukundabhinav) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Related: It's ok to take a break, it's ok to speak up - Abhinav Mukund column on cricbuzz.com Columns by Abhinav on cricbuzz.com Abhinav Mukund's statement on discrimination based on color (2017) 'Getting to 100 Ranji games or 10,000 runs doesn't happen overnight' - Abhinav Mukund interview - ESPNcricinfo Back-up man Abhinav makes peace with his role - Sidharth Mongia - ESPNcricinfo The fall and rise of Abhinav Mukund - Arun Venugopal - ESPNcricinfo

Our special guest this week is Prof Surya Prakash Chaturvedi, a veteran cricket writer from Indore. Prof Chaturvedi, a retired professor of English, chose to write about his passion in Hindi and went on to author 15 books on the game. The 83-year-old Chaturvedi has had a chance to witness the great breadth of Indian cricket - starting with CK Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali all the way to the current generation. Talking Points: The challenges of writing on cricket in Hindi The great Holkar team of the '40s and '50s The frightening presence of CK Nayudu Vijay Hazare - a study in courage Mushtaq Ali - a cricketer nonpareil Meeting a young Sunil Gavaskar The genius of Salim Durrani The decision to write in Hindi Coining new cricketing terms in Hindi Memories of a young Narendra Hirwani And much more... Books by Prof Surya Prakash Chaturvedi: Prof Chaturvedi's Wikipedia page -  all available in National Book Trust Prof Chaturvedi's Amazon page Related: Bengal v Holkar - Ranji Trophy final 1952-53 Hiralal Gaekwad: the southpaw who lost out to Vinoo Mankad - CricketCountry.com Books discussed in the podcast: The Sunil Gavaskar Omnibus  EAS Prasanna - One More Over Sandeep Patil - Sandy Storm

Our special guest this week is Mudar Patherya, a cricket writer for Sportsworld magazine through the 1980s - before he moved on to other interests. Across five trips to Pakistan, visits to Sharjah, a tour to West Indies, and several assignments within India - Mudar made a name for himself as one of the finest writers on the game. The more we listened, the more we were convinced that he was the 'Forrest Gump of cricket' in the '80s. Talking Points: Covering India's tour to Pakistan in 1982-83 The fascination with Abdul Qadir Getting to know Imran Khan Javed Miandad's famous six in Sharjah The shock and disbelief in Lahore on that evening in 1987 The World Cup final at Eden Gardens The fiery passion for cricket in a small corner of Calcutta Meeting (and shocking) a president of the MCC The genius of Mushtaq Ali The magnificent Mr Pataudi The craze for football in the Calcuta of the '70s and '80s When Sanjay Manjrekar was the Wall Sachin Tendulkar's first day in Test cricket Collecting cricket memorabilia and much more… Related: Lessons from a middle-aged cricketer - - ESPNcricinfo - Mudar Patherya Does Kolkata still love Test cricket - ESPNcricinfo - Mudar Patherya Third Ground - The Cricket Monthly - Mudar Patherya A man of opposites - ESPNcricinfo - Mudar Patherya on Tiger Pataudi Charmingly villainous - The Cricket Monthly - Mudar Patherya on Imran Khan An Old, Old Cricketer Speaks - Wisden Cricket Monthly - Mudar Patherya interview with DB Deodhar 'Every generation needs its writers to tell its stories' - Sharda Ugra podcast on 81allout England XI v Australians in 1921 Victor Trumper's iconic 335 and a smashed boot factory window - Cricketcountry.com - Pradip Dhole Books by Mudar Patherya: The Penguin Book of Cricket Lists - Mudar Patherya and Barry O'Brien Wills Book of Excellence: Cricket - Mudar Patherya Ultimate World Cup Cricket Quiz - Mudar Patherya and Ravikant Srivastava Books discussed in the podcast: Another Bloody Day in Paradise - Frank Keating Beyond a Boundary - CLR James

Our special guest for our latest episode is Clayton Murzello, group sports editor of Mid-Day in Mumbai. A few months ago, we had chatted with Clayton about his journey in cricket journalism and of the stories surrounding club cricket in Mumbai. This time we chose to ask him about the stories behind the stories – and the challenges that a journalist often has to overcome in the process of doing a story. Talking Points: The pros and cons of working for a tabloid The preparation and approach to a cricket tour The importance of reading Meeting a paralyzed Winston Davis in England His first big story for Mid-Day - about Mohsin Khan Interviewing Michael Holding in the Dhaka airport Tracking down the family of a cricketer who mysteriously disappeared Knocking on an Indian captain's hotel room door late at night The economics of the media today and much more... Participants: Clayton Murzello (@claytonmurzello) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Ashoka (@ABVan) Related: Cricket in Mumbai: stories, legends, and folklore - 81allout podcast with Clayton Murzello Winston Davis is paralyzed, but not in spirit - Clayton Murzello 'Every generation needs its writers to tell its stories' - 81allout podcast with Sharda Ugra

In this episode, we chat with former India Test cricketer, columnist, author and commentator Aakash Chopra. Aakash tells us about his initiation into the game – in the mid-1980s – and of learning the fundamentals from his legendary coach Tarak Sinha. He goes on to review his international stint and admits he hadn't fully understood his game until mid-way through his career. Talking Points: Memories of Sonnet Cricket Club Thinking about the game from an early age The pressure he was under on his Ranji Trophy debut Cricket as a team game v cricket as an individual game Playing for the team v playing to one's strengths The gift (and curse) of Sachin Tendulkar Writing his first book Beyond the Blues The problem with being fully honest Writing for happiness Enjoying the game through the tough times Finding empathy during the course of criticism ... and much more Participants: Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Ashoka (@ABVan) Books by Aakash Chopra: Beyond the Blues: A Cricket Season Like No Other - Aakash Chopra Out of the Blue: Rajasthan's Road to the Ranji Trophy - Aakash Chopra The Insider - Aakash Chopra Related: Aakash Chopra's ESPNcricinfo columns Tarak Sinha's 40-year labor of love - Sharda Ugra First time I was scared... - Aakash Chopra YouTube channel

In this episode, we chat with journalist and author Samanth Subramanian. Samanth, an accomplished author and internationally renowned journalist, is a long-time cricket fan who began his career as a sub-editor at Cricinfo. He rewinds to the time he fell in love with the game – in the mid-1990s – and gives us a terrific overview of his relationship with cricket over the years. As a fan, a full-time cricket journalist, an observer from a distance, as well as someone who dips into the game to take in its pleasures. Participants: Samanth Subramanian (@samanth_s, http://samanth.in) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Related: The Confidence Man; India's Lavish Farewell to Sachin Tendulkar; Unknown Cricketers; 'You little beauty' (81allout podcast); Fly Lara Fly;  The Star We Don't Know; 'Every generation needs its writers to tell its stories' - Sharda Ugra; From Bedi to Kohli: a cricket writer's journey - Vijay Lokapally podcast; The things we remember, the things we forget - 81allout podcast Books discussed: Following Fish: Travels Around the Indian Coast; This Divided Island: Life, Death, and the Sri Lankan War; A Dominant Character: The Radical Science and Restless Politics of JBS Haldane; Picador Book of Cricket; The Art of Cricket; Pundits from Pakistan; Chinaman - a novel; A Corner of a Foreign Field; War Minus the Shooting; Autobiography of an Unknown Cricketer