In episode 80, Mohan, Bisi, Murali, Vaishnavi and Tony have a point of view on the end of West Indies cricket, preview potential AI applications, renew the ashes, review the women's Ashes and more. Jump in! Follow Us: Bits and Pieces: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket Mohan: https://twitter.com/mohank Bisi: https://twitter.com/bisibelebhaat Murali: https://twitter.com/muralisatagopun Vaishnavi: https://twitter.com/vaishbhaskaran Tony: https://twitter.com/notytony...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 80
Prashant, Rachana, Bisi, Chops and Nitin gather around for a chat on England's bounceback in the men's and the women's Ashes, the latest goings on in Indian cricket, and on Tamim Iqbal's career that has become a matter of diplomatic importance in Bangladesh. Join us for high quality love for Mark Wood and Steve Smith, some de rigeur Stuart Broad bashing, and a quick gander at the World Cup qualifiers. Find us on Twitter: 1. Bits and Pieces: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket 2. Prashant: https://tw...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 79
In the very depths of hell, they say you find the ashes of the greatest sinners and their spirits left to wander. Quite the contrast to the last two weeks, where we have seen the very depths of hell in the Ashes while the greatest sinners are wandering instead quoting spirits (of cricket) after having lost every session, day and game with complete abandon. Bashball is the take English media won’t write because they are.. after all English, and the Indian media won’t do because they are too busy ...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 78
Join the friendliest podcast with Tony, Vipul, PGK, Srinath, and Sandy as they break down the first Ashes test, the world cup schedule, and the new Indian team. Feat: The BazBall Cage Match between Praveen and Srinath. Grab a chair, and hit someone with it. Follow us Bits and Pieces on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket Vipul: https://twitter.com/sporty_baba PGK: https://twitter.com/peegeekay Sandy ji: https://twitter.com/lanjewarsandeep Srinath: https://twitter.com/srinathsripath Tony: ht...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 77
In the aftermath of a deflating loss in the WTC final at the Oval, the legendary Hank Philharmonic Symphony descends to the recording and delivers potential Grammy-winning introductions for those on the panel in this episode, thus lifting their hurt spirits. But once the spirits exit the elevator, the friends see Bazball and they see Ashes and meditate a bit about the first Bazball Ashes without realizing that their uncledom is on full display. Then they turn their attention to the Duleep Trophy...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Another ICC final, another Indian defeat. The stoicism of the Bits and Pieces panel is tested to the limit, but they show up again (unlike India's Test side) for Episode 75, which spans the soap opera that is India selection, Ashwin's omission, Umesh's inclusion, Shardul's protrusion, Kohli-Pujara-Rohit-Gill's enduring irritation, Rahane's resurrection, Head's accumulation, Starc's excretion and the MCC manual's arbitrary catch arbitration. Who do we end up pinning the blame on for India's repea...
Jun 11, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 75
The Great War has well and truly ended and miraculously, we have five scarred survivors who look back on the Great War and look forward to a battle of a different kind to be fought on an almost circular battlefield. After gazing wistfully at the credits and debits of the War, they shift their attention to the Final which probably doesn’t feel like one. They are hoping for the best but fearing the worst. They are looking at battle formations and weather conditions, jinxes and reverse jinxes, expe...
Jun 04, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 74
Moments after Ravindra Jadeja flapped Mohit Sharma to the fine-leg fence to signal CSK's fifth IPL title triumph, the Bits and Pieces gang assembled to discuss the most engrossing final in the world of cricket this year. That's right! Tune in for a detailed preview to the World Test Championship final between India and Australia. Hehe, kidding. We talk till the cows come home about Chennai Super Kings' vexing title triumph, MS Dhoni's coronation not being a causation for their success, Rayudu's ...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Moments after the final league match of IPL 2023, Max, Sandy, Murali and Nitin assemble - completely coincidentally, in the colours of the four teams that finally made the playoffs - for another episode of batshit banter and questionable gyan. We take a close look at the leading runs and wickets charts of the IPL and are astounded to note the complete (Naveen-ul) lack of players from Lucknow Super Giants in it. The group jumps from IPL to WTC to Ashes to ICC rule changes with the sort of deft fo...
May 22, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 72
What do you get when you combine mangoes, hot debates, hot takes, IPL bantz, wrong facts, and questions with no answers? That's correct - you get Naveen-ul-Haq's Instagram feed. But you take all of that, and you add in a panel as passionate as this one, confabulating like bosses over four successive Zoom conference calls, attempts at Sachin mimicry, an intense debate on the BCCI's balance sheet, and a detailed discussion on what cricket should learn or unlearn from NBA... and you get Episode 71 ...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 21 min
70 is that odd phase in an innings, the period when you’re trying to change gears but can you? In Ep 70, we have Sameer from The Brokenhearted Boys Club of RCB and Chops from the 1940s and debutant Varun Murali as President of his RWA’s IPL Debating Society exchanging non-existent notes and reviewing non-newsworthy pieces of news as the IPL juggernaut rolls on in a strangely traffucked sort of manner, especially in the middle of the points table (no, not the one for Fairplay). They also talk abo...
May 08, 2023•51 min
As the IPL rumbles along, join our knowledgeable gang to find answers to some amazing trivia. For instance, how many times can a bunch of guys crack 69 jokes on the 69th episode of their podcast. Murali, PGK, Sameer, Max, Tony and Nitin also quiz each other on mind-bending IPL facts, which get fact-checked realtime on the show. Who are the Kumars with most wickets in IPL history? Which bowlers have taken most wickets with headbands? What feat do Tendulkar and Kohli share in the IPL, that no othe...
Apr 30, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 69
IPL 2023 - a 2 monthlong throwback to the 2015 World Cup, where Dhoni, Rahane, Mohit, Amit, Shami, Ishant et al are in the thick of things - expertly reviewed by a panel barely watching the tournament, only on your favourite cricket podcast. Join the gang as they also celebrate Sachin's 50th in style, but only after paying respects to Tony Sebastian - godfather of this podcast - on his birthday, which even Sachin marked with due respect. Also tune in for some Dickie Bird nostalgia, Australia's W...
Apr 23, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Why is Prithvi Shaw? How is Mohit Sharma? Why are spinners bowling at the death? Is Rohit Sharma the first-ever non-playing non-captain? How good is Virat Kohli's strike-rate in balls bowled after he gets out? Did Herschelle Patel Mankad-miss the IPL, mait? Is Ricky Ponting the most unlucky guy at the tournament? How unfollow-worthy is Sourav Ganguly's Instagram account? Can L Siva please come as a guest on a podcast with zero Test caps? This and other important non-questions answered by your no...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 67
The IPL is back, and all kinds of knowledge and nuance has gone out the transfer window. Phew! It's our time now, join in for good ol' Bits and Pieces Bantz & Pizzes with Sameer, Krt, PGK, Nitin, Sandy, Tony, and Tareque as impact sub as we make the IPL interesting with the B&P jinx, The Ashwin Opening, the Prithvi Shaw Gambit, and Coda, Ghoda, and Veliya Poda. Don't stand on ceremony, jump right in to the trial ball episode. Show Notes 1) Join our fantasy league, Friends of Bits and Pie...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 66
Aussie cricket media allrounder, Melinda Farrell first puts the gang at ease on their own podcast and then proceeds to rock it with her inimitable brand of humour and her insights laced with empathy about the goings on in cricket across the men’s and the women’s games. She also traces the key events in her own career, reflects on how she started writing long form and explains how she’s such a natural in front of the camera too. There’s also her stellar performance at our carefully curated rapidf...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 65
Osman Samiuddin, author of The Unquiet Ones and among Pakistan's greatest cricket writers, joins the gang on Episode 64 to discuss Wasim Akram, Memes, the Wasim Akram of Memes, his career as a sports writer over the best part of two decades. Two decades that have spanned a time where there was too much bilateral cricket and dosti between India and Pakistan, to a present where we're left wondering if the rest of our lifetimes will be filled only with Gambhir v Afridi in Legends League Cricket mat...
Mar 26, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 64
On Episode 63, we discuss cricket et cetera with the renowned Australian cricket (and beer) writer Peter Lalor. Peter has been coming to India for 30 years, and has seen more of India than most of us, and his outside-in observations on the country's cricket, politics, infrastructure, economy, and yes - beer - should make for interesting listening. Should Australia have come earlier to acclimatize to India ahead of the BGT? Will Cricket Australia convince Cameron Green to get a strategic niggle t...
Mar 19, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 63
After a high profile episode featuring Gideon Haigh, we are back to the giddy highs of our own indulgent banter, this time on the roads of Ahmedabad, the rains of Christchurch, the age of Neil Wagner, the dear leadership of our dear leaders, the humble-pie eating ability of our Ashwin-dissing panelists, the wicketkeeping skills of KL Rahul, and the jersey-launching skills of Lucknow Super Giant supremo Gautam Gambhir. We review the BGT, preview India's squad for the WTC final (roughly 748 games ...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 62
In Episode 61, Chops, Sameer, Mohan, Krtgrphr and Murali gather around to listen to Bits and Pieces’ newest friend: the legendary cricket writer and South Yarra CC’s premier batter, Gideon Haigh. Listen in as Gideon holds court from Indore on the ongoing India vs Australia Test series, Victor Trumper, Shane Warne, Ian Chappell, Wasim Akram and World Series Cricket while describing how he wrote his books, how he plays his cricket and how he sees the myriad changes afoot in cricket right now. List...
Mar 04, 2023•1 hr 7 min
On Episode 60, we are (sadly) back to being a sausage fest. Chops, Tony, Max, Sameer, Bisi and Nitin join to dissect Healy's sweeping masterclass and glean meaningful takeaways from it. They ponder Australia's trainwreck of a tour, and their disastrous handling of their spin resources. There's chuckles and sympathy in varying measures for Ashton Agar and KL Rahul. The gang puts Dr. Strange to shame by painting out elaborate scenarios around how Bazball is likely to fare in the Ashes and when Eng...
Feb 26, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 60
For the first time in 59 episodes, we have a female/male gender ratio greater than 1! And for the first time in our history, we also have a former player on the panel - Ananya Upendran joins the gang for this special episode. Not entirely surprisingly, even though we recorded this on Day 2 of a very interestingly poised 2nd Test of Border Gavaskar Trophy, we discuss the WPL auction, the Women’s World Cup, the structure of the women’s game in India, the might of the Australian women’s team and mu...
Feb 19, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Like the Nagpur Test which featured three debutants in Todd Murphy, SKY and KS Bharat, Episode 58 of your favourite cricket podcast features three smashing debutants - Mayur Narasimhan, Sandeep Lanjewar and Vaishnavi Bhaskaran. The gang assembles to discuss Australia's strangely underwhelming performance in the first Test, the hand-wringing around the pitch, selection headaches and absolute Indian dominance led by Rohit Sharma and the spinning trinity. We wonder if we accidentally passed on the ...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 58
A few days before the glorious Border Gavaskar trophy takes off, we dream of a Borderless India that could play our neighbors, while discussing the ignominy of India’s megalomania in choosing not to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. We also dissect the beauty of bowler-friendly T20 wickets, the fabulous U-19 Women’s WC win, spare some kind words for Joginder and Monk on their retirement and lots more, in this rollicking episode. Listen away! Follow us on BnP - https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket ...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 20 min
On episode 56 of Bits and Pieces, six of your friends get together to discuss the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Women’s Under 19 World Cup, the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals line-up, the India-NZ white-ball series, player burn out and much more. Much banter, laughter and “chalk throwing in the era of zoom”. Join Mohan, Rachana, Chops, Tareque, Vikas and Bisi. Join in for all the fun! Follow Us: Bits and Pieces on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket Chops: https://twitter.com/el_chopernos Vika...
Jan 29, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 56
On episode 55, Bits and Pieces is joined by the lofty and loveable Andrew Fidel Fernando. Join Srinath, Chops, Krt, Sameer, and Tony as they chat with Fidel about the secret of Jayasuriya's bat, the fitness of Ranatunga, Herath, and Sri Lankans, the sexiness of the dad bod, and some amazing stories from the emerald Isle and New Zealand. Follow Us: Bits and Pieces on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket Andrew Fidel Fernando: https://twitter.com/afidelf Srinath: https://twitter.com/srinathsri...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 55
Do you remember that day, many decades ago? Travel back in time. What do you see? Do you see that young, handsome kid with short, curly hair and a straight bat, performing magic in the middle? He's defending the danger balls solidly, covering his stumps when the angle is threatening, and shredding the bad balls - rock, paper, scissors. The entire city has come to watch him play. There are three times as many people outside the ground, as there are inside, trying to get in. Some of them are findi...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Tareque Laskar aka the Econormist joins Tony, Srinath, Chops and Murali to chat about his unique storytelling style using sport (and pop culture) to explain economics. The gang get meta about early Twitter's impact on building strong, like-minded communities among sports fans, playing club cricket in England and Europe filled with plenty of tea, scones and biryani . As always, there's a wrap-up of the week's action, from the SKY fall in Rajkot to the skyfall in the dusk twilight in Karachi. Foll...
Jan 08, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 53
The friendliest podcast completes one full year of uninterrupted weekly podcasts as the world steps into 2023. Join Srinath, Nitin, Mohan, Choppy, Sameer, and Tony as they round up the action from the week, and a look at the Bits and Pieces jinxed year for Indian cricket. The gang also reminisce some of the favourite moments from the 52 episodes from 2022 and give you a hint of perhaps what lies ahead for your friendliest cricket podcast in the new year. Hop on and ride along! Follow us: Srinath...
Jan 01, 2023•1 hr 28 min
@Sporty_Baba aka Vipul joins the gang for the latest episode of Bits and Pieces, which is all about the good, the bad and the ugly parts of the Indian cricket fan's stadium watching experience. The discussion spans Bangalore's N Stand, the abominable Kotla, the worst stadium experience in India (even we are surprised that Kotla didn't win this one), and many lovely tales around Bombay's North Stand Gang (watch out for the way we bait our Chennai listeners by terming Bombay the knowledgeable crow...
Dec 25, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 51
