81 All Out - A Cricket Podcast

In episode 151 of the 81allout podcast we review the first Test between India and Australia in Nagpur. India outclassed Australia in all departments and their superior depth in both batting and bowling propelled them to an innings victory. Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: Rohit Sharma's exceptional ability to suss up the conditions and bat accordingly Ravindra Jadeja's mesmeric control on the first morning The outrage over the selective watering of the pitch Which team doesn't doctor its pitches to give the home side an advantage? The Smith-Labuschagne partnership on Day 1 Todd Murphy's impressive debut - speed, control, and accuracy The Pujara sweep - and how rare it was for him to get out that way Nathan Lyon's problem on slow Indian pitches The Jadeja ointment - and the connection with Sandpaper-gate Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview) Ashoka (ABVan) * Buy War Minus the Shooting by Mike Marqusee | Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar by Mike Coward * Related: Why have visiting bats stopped having big series in India? - Kartikeya Date - Cricketingview What's happening with the Napur pitch - Venkata Krishna - Indian Express India's cheat code: lower-order muscle - Karthik Krishnaswamy - ESPNcricinfo Forget conspiracy theories and whingeing, there’s only one way to win in India - Mark Taylor - Sydney Morning Herald Couch Talk 81 with Sunil Subramaniam - Subash Jayaraman - Couch Talks Rohit's zen, Pujara sweeps, Murphy's five and Ravi's improvement - Jarrod Kimber - Jarrod Kimber's Sports Almanack

In episode 150 of the 81allout podcast we preview India's upcoming Test series against Australia - the latest chapter in a storied rivalry. Australia sure have the team to pull off a series win but the panel agrees that they will still need to be at their best to hand India their first home-series defeat in nearly a decade. Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: Australia's attitude towards cricket in India over the years: from apathy to obeisance The role played by Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Mike Coward and a few others in embracing India and her passion for cricket The 2017 India v Australia series, and the gripping Bangalore Test Can Pat Cummins replicate Glenn McGrath's success in India? The current Australian bowling attack v the 2004 attack that won in India India's fast bowling potency in home conditions (even without Jasprit Bumrah) Ashwin v Smith: a rivarly with a layer of deep technical insight Are we about the see the new new Virat Kohli? Can Australia's batters (especially the left-handers) tackle Ashwin? The flexibility Jadeja offers this Indian line-up Pant's absence and an opening for Axar to bolster the batting Our wishes for the pitches in this series: green tops and raging turners Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview) Ashoka (ABVan) * Buy War Minus the Shooting by Mike Marqusee | Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar by Mike Coward * Related: When Australia conquered the Final Frontier - 81allout podcast rewinds to 2004 ‘It struck me that you can score 574, declare twice, and still lose a Test’ – Allan Border - 81allout podcast How Smith's grip is linked to tennis - Daniel Brettig - Sydney Morning Herald R Ashwin: 'I've always been good at assessing batsmen, but now I think I've taken it to another level' - Sidharth Monga interview - The Cricket Monthly Umesh Yadav's spell v Kerala in Krishnagiri - Hotstar (access on in India) How will Smith and Labuschagne bat against Ashwin and Co.? - Sridharan Sriram column - Indian Express 

In the latest episode of the podcast we look back on Australia's tour to India in 2004-05 - when Adam Gilchrist led the visitors to their first series win in India in 35 years. Australia have won just one Test in India since - and will hoping to improve that record in the upcoming four-Test series. Support us via Ko-Fi Talking Points: How 2004 was in many ways the sequel to 2001 If McGrath won't get you, Gillespie must Shane Warne's finest hour in India The emergence of Michael Clarke - and a special Bangalore hundred Adam Gilchrist's measured brutality Damien Martyn's expertise against spin When Kumble rocked Australia on day 1 in Chennai Virender Sehwag's unforgettable 155 - and the match that promised so much A curious case of 'greenwicketitis' in Nagpur Was Nagpur really an outlier pitch? Or was it just magnificent bowling? The most exciting Test of that series - on a raging turning in Mumbai Murali Kartik's moment, and the liberating Tendulkar-Laxman partnership Do the current Australian team have a bowling attack to win in India? Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Prashant DP (@prashantdptweet) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) * Buy War Minus the Shooting by Mike Marqusee | Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar by Mike Coward Related: True colours - Adam Gilchrist - Amazon The balls of the century - Shane Warne to VVS Laxman - Sharda Ugra - The Cricket Monthly Anatomy of a classic - Virender Sehwag on his 155 in Chennai - ESPNcricinfo Once upon a twinkle-toed debut - Siddhartha Vaidyanathan - ESPNcricinfo Wisden Reports - Australia in India 2004-05 - ESPNcricinfo John Wright's Indian Summers - Amazon India lose 35-year-old home record - Sharda Ugra - India Today Justin Langer chats with Gideon Haigh and Peter Lalor - Part 1, Part 2

In the latest episode of the podcast we chat with journalist Annesha Ghosh about the Indian Women cricket team - their journey in 2022 and how much there is to look forward to in 2023. Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: 2022: a momentous year for Indian women's cricket both on and off the field Mithali Raj: colossus nonpareil Jhulan Goswami: a torchbearer who inspired a generation The physiological challenges for a woman to bowl fast How Kolkata toasted Jhulan during her last match The lack of transparency with the Indian selectors Shikha Pandey's comeback - and her ingenious practice videos India's march to Commonwealth Games final - and the eventual heartbreak The sizzling Harmanpreet-Jemima partnership at the final How does any team beat Australia? What is the secret sauce The allround options in the Indian lower order Deepti Sharma's running out Charlie Dean at the non-striker's end The incredible potential of the women's IPL The BCCI's historical apathy towards women's cricket Participants: Annesha Ghosh (@ghosh_annesha) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Ashoka (@ABVan) * Buy War Minus the Shooting | Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar Related: 2023 could be India Women’s all-at-once year, after everything, everywhere in 2022 - Annesha Ghosh - Moneycontrol Jhulan Goswami: A swansong of Indian cricketer who inspired millions of women - Annesha Ghosh - BBC The girl who took women's cricket to the next level - Annesha Ghosh - The Cricket Monthly The Fire Burns Blue - Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta Patnaik - Amazon Cameroon bowler Maeva Douma effects four mankads in two overs - Wisden Why is there stigma involved in running out a non-striker? Because it's all about power - Sidharth Monga - ESPNcricinfo Viacom 18 bags women's IPL media rights for $117 mln - Reuters

In the latest episode of the podcast we chat about the challenge of being a modern umpire - and how excess scrutiny and knee-jerk reactions from pundits have combined to create a toxic environment. Talking Points: The challenge for modern umpires - with ball-by-ball social media scrutiny How TV replays can fool us into thinking that umpiring is an easy task Has DRS accelerated the erosion of the umpire's authority? The frequent grumbling around the soft-signal  - is it even needed? The issue with Sachin Tendulkar's reservation about umpire's call The value of umpiring judgement, and why the on-field umpire's decision is vital Ben Stokes' misunderstanding of the soft-signal Do umpires' performance change based on the match situation? Will cricket go the way of American football with video replays? Support 81allout via Ko-FI Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview) | Cricketingview Substack Ashoka (@ABVan) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) * Buy War Minus the Shooting | Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar Related: Why Does The Umpire Get To Decide? - Kartikeya Date - Cricketingview Television killed the umpiring star - Kartikeya Date - The Cricket Monthly On Umpire's Call - Kartikeya Date - Cricketingview The new lbw rule in DRS - Kartikeya Date - Cricketingview A Conversation with Warren Brennan About Hotspot, RTS and other Technology in Cricket - Cricketingview podcast The DRS and Technology in Cricket - Channel 7 video Accepting the umpire's decision has become a date concept - Gideon Haigh - Twitter Simon Taufel podcast - Subash Jayaraman - Couchtalk

In the latest episode of the podcast we discuss India's 2-0 win in the Test series in Bangladesh. Talking Points: India's close escape in the second Test in Mirpur Are Kohli and Rahul going through a bad patch or are they on the wane? Batting against spin with the new ball v old ball The challenges of playing fastish finger spin in the DRS era Axar Patel's deadly round-arm action - and why it is invaluable on these pitches Where R Ashwin stands v Kapil Dev in the allrounder stakes The non-selection of Kuldeep Yadav for the second Test - was it really shocking? Support 81allout on ko-fi Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview) Ashoka (@ABVan) * Buy War Minus the Shooting | Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar Related: Is the DRS a good thing? Yes if you're a fingerspinner, no if you're a left-hand batsman - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo Training the Hawk-Eye on Axar Patel: Angular, Anomalous - Himanish Ganjoo - Substack 'Phenomenal' Shreyas Iyer calms the panic down with assured batting - Sidharth Monga - ESPNcricinfo All-rounder Ashwin, second only to Richard Hadlee, rescues India again - VS Aravind - Sportstar Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Litton Das stride towards becoming Bangladesh's next batch of match-winners - Mohammad Isam - ESPNcricinfo

In the latest episode we talk to author and journalist Gideon Haigh about his recent collaboration with Wasim Akram on his memoir Sultan. We talk about the process of writing the book and the challenges that Gideon had to overcome to ensure he told the story in Wasim's voice. Talking Points: The process Gideon followed and the contrast with On Warne The conversations Gideon had with Imran, Dravid, Shastri, and plenty of others Settling on a voice for the book - how people imagine Wasim will speak like Wasim's ability to praise and slam his team-mates - often in the same paragraph Wasim's evolving relationship with Waqar - their partnership and falling out The physical and emotional hurdles Wasim had to overcome through his career The challenge of writing the chapter on match-fixing Was Wasim the greatest bowler of all time? Revisiting the great spells via YouTube Participants: Gideon Haigh Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) * Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar and War Minus the Shooting (both books republished by 81allout) Related: The wonder that was Waz - Gideon Haigh - ESPNcricinfo 'The match-fixing rumours were like a trauma... no one trusted each other' - Wasim Akram interview - Guardian At 56, Wasim is turning his thoughts to his legacy - Osman Samiuddin - ESPNcricinfo 'He made you believe the impossible' - Gideon Haigh on Shane Warne - 81allout podcast On Warne - Gideon Haigh - Amazon The Unquiet Ones - Osman Samiuddin - Amazon Pakistan in 1999: the allure, the magic, the heartbreak - 81allout podcast with Ahmer Naqvi and Hassan Cheema

In the latest episode of the podcast, we discuss the idea of greatness in cricket. What do we mean when we say a player is 'great', how does one compare across eras, and what are the pitfalls we fall into when discussing greatness. Talking Points: Greatness as a measurement of a player's performance against their peers The habit of putting down one player as one elevates another The need for a transcendent moment for a player to be anointed 'great' The fallacy of the match-winning innings Lillee v Cummins: the complexity of comparing two great bowlers The power of nostalgia in talking about greatness - the Andy Roberts problem Great batsmen in weak teams and great bowlers in strong teams The problem with recency bias when judging greatness Is this South African team better than the teams from the 1990s and 2000s? The high benchmark for subcontinental players in foreign conditions Support 81allout on Ko-fi Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview) * Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar (recently republished by 81allout) India (hardback) | India (paperback, e-copy); Australia (hardback, paperback, e-copy); USA (hardback, paperback, e-copy); UK (hardback, paperback, e-copy); Canada (hardback, paperback, e-copy) Related: The line of greatness - Siddhartha Vaidyanathan - The Cricket Monthly Wisden 100 - Wikipedia Who are the greatest T20 players of all - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo Who are the best batsmen of each decade - Anantha Narayanan - ESPNcricinfo The Richards standard for ODI batsmen - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo A new measure for cricketing greatness - Andy Bull - Guardian An all-time world Test XI, according to ICC rankings - Rupin Kale - Wisden

In the latest episode of the podcast we speak to two pioneers from the early days of the internet: Simon King, the founder of Cricinfo, and Vishal Misra, an early volunteer who was instrumental in the building of the database and streamlining live scoring. Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar (recently republished by 81allout) India (hardback) | India (paperback, e-copy); Australia (hardback, paperback, e-copy); USA (hardback, paperback, e-copy); UK (hardback, paperback, e-copy); Canada (hardback, paperback, e-copy) Talking Points: The difficulty of getting cricket updates in the early 1990s Chatrooms, IRC, and begging for score updates The aggregation of cricket fans across North American universities The idea for building a database that would store all cricket information The early pioneers such as KS Rao and Murari Venkatraman The evolution of the Cricinfo scorecard Sending live updates from Malaysia, Kenya, and Bangladesh Travis Basevi - the man who built a wonder-tool called statsguru Vishal's memories from the 1996 World Cup - when live scoring took off The day cricinfo's server crashed in Oregon Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Simon King Vishal Misra (@vishalmisra) * Related: ESPNcricinfo at 20 years - ESPNcricinfo One night in 1996 - Vishal Misra - ESPNcricinfo The wizard Elz - Siddhartha Vaidyanathan - ESPNcricinfo Travis Basevi, my friend who changed the way cricket was consumed - Vishal Misra - ESPNcricinfo Travis Basevi: the Statsguru visionary who transformed cricket - Tanya Aldred - Guardian Cricinfo - How it all began - Rohan Chandran A bot called Cricinfo - Badri Sheshadri - ESPNcricinfo The Cricinfo story -  Hosted by Gautam Govitrikar - YouTube

In the latest episode of the podcast we discuss the recently concluded T20 World Cup in Australia - where England were crowned champions. We focus on some of the themes of the tournament - upsets, teams assessing a variety of conditions, exploiting ground dimensions, and the overall calibre of strokeplay - and wonder how some of the great bowlers are largely nullified by the format. [podcast_subscribe id="1595"] Buy Cricket Beyond the Bazaar (recently republished by 81allout) India (hardback) | India (paperback, e-copy)Australia (hardback, paperback, e-copy)USA (hardback, paperback, e-copy)UK (hardback, paperback, e-copy)Canada (hardback, paperback, e-copy)  Buy Mike Marqusee's classic cricket book War Minus The Shooting on Flipkart and Amazon. Talking Points: A World Cup full of memorable upsets Navigating the conditions across Australia - and the effect it had on teams Batting against length v batting against the field Why some great batters are misfits in the format India's problem at the top - and KL Rahul's T20 v Test fortunes The Nasim Shah over to Jos Buttler in the final The big difference between batting in an ODI and in a T20 Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee); Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview); Ashoka (@ABVan) * Related: England's approach may lead other teams into the T20 era - Sidharth Monga - ESPNcricinfo The England white-ball machine - Jarrod Kimber - YouTube The 'rationally irresistible' rise of Jos Buttler, T20 opener - Matt Roller - ESPNcricinfo Who was to blame for India's defeat - Cricviz Why T20 hitting is not just a more risky version of batting - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo