Remember the time when Indian men's cricket was having a glorious moment? A miraculous series win in Australia, winning series across all three formats against England at home, reaching the World Test Championship final, winning (technically) a series in England...how long ago was that? What? Just this year? Hard to believe, when it seems like at the moment it's just going from crisis to crisis. Well, one prolonged crisis over the captaincy, with a tangentially related crisis, the crash and burn...
Dec 23, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 28
THE COWARD IS BACK! That's right, our resident Guyanese dentist, Dr. Ian Jagan, has finally decided to show up, after multiple efforts to get him back on were rebuffed because, we can only presume, he was too scared to talk about West Indies cricket. (He says he's been busy, but we know better.) Now that he is back, we can get stuck into the post-mortem of West Indies' disastrous T20 World Cup showing, and then even more into where it went wrong for India and what needs to change. At some point,...
Nov 18, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Does anyone know the difference between Himesh and Kamlesh? Two classic Gujarati names, so quintessentially Gujju that our supposedly "respected" journalist got the name wrong of someone fairly significant: Lord KAMLESH Patel, who is, as that title suggests, a lord, not of the Shardul Thakur variety but one of those actual English lords, but who also got misnamed by Aditya as Himesh. Also, he's from Uganda. But definitely still Gujju. On that hilarious/embarrassing note, welcome to Episode 26, w...
Nov 13, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 26
The curse of the podcast production turnaround time strikes again: we bring you an episode recorded before India were officially knocked out, but could only be released after. Good thing we didn't make any bold predictions about India winning the tournament in this one. (That's not sarcasm/self-deprecating humor, we were actually that dejected about India's slim chances.) There's also a post-mortem of some of the other disappointing teams (our good friend Ian Jagan's was with us in spirit for th...
Nov 08, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 25
After a brief hiatus as we recovered from the disappointment of the last Test of the England-India series being cancelled, we are back! (It was especially disappointing for Sid, as he was going to dress up as Mario one last time for that match, and now Manchester has been deprived of that Test as the ridiculous rescheduled Test has been handed to Edgbaston. We're also still pissed off in solidarity with our Pakistani friends after their series against New Zealand and England got called off in co...
Oct 31, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Well, it only took one Test to get us back into gloating mode. In the midst of selection controversies, covid scares, and the specter of batting collapses, India produced a stunning turnaround from the third Test – and even within the fourth Test itself – to take a 2-1 series lead heading into the final Test. Siddhant is guaranteeing rain in Manchester for that final Test, which of course means we're getting five days of sun – though that never happens in Manchester. (Now that we've said that, w...
Sep 10, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 23
So, uh, that'll teach us to gloat too much. India's batting collapses left some egg on their players' faces, and some more on ours – which is a particularly bad look if you're dressed up as Mario. As Siddhant was while in attendance at Headingley. If you want to see how that looks, check out our Instagram...and Mario was back for a brief encore on the pod. Which was back down to its pared down, 20-minute limit, because when we can't gloat we tend to talk a little less. No Balls Cricket: Twitter ...
Sep 02, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 22
We've ditched our 20-minute format this week, because 20 minutes is not enough time for the amount of gloating we want to do. Not after the way India beat England in the second Test. Plus, if Jasprit Bumrah can take what is supposed to be a 6-ball over, turn it into a 10-ball over, and that extra time is what ends up defining the match, we think that's a template we can follow too. We might go back to 20 minutes for the next episode, who knows. The future is as unpredictable as England's squad s...
Aug 21, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 21
We are back! After a hiatus due to...well, life, as well as avoiding talking about that one Test match that happened in June that might have been somewhat important, we decided to jump back into action just in time for the India-England Test series. And by in time, we mean after one Test and Day 1 of the 2nd Test is already done. That makes sense, right? While you ponder that question, you can check out how quickly we managed to do a round-up of a month-and-a-half's worth of cricket. And then ho...
Aug 13, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 20
The moment two years of Test cricket has been building up to is here. And so, just in time, hours before the World Test Championship final is set to start, we have a podcast to preview it. If you're wondering why so late, well, please check in with our new panelist Phil for an answer. Key points: Niket is not on this pod, but more importantly, he had nothing to do with the pitch for the final, which means we should have a good match. Also, we recorded before India announced their XI, and, shocki...
Jun 18, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Some of you may have noticed that though we claimed to love our new concept, a pod in 20 minutes, we often (code for always) go over our self-imposed 20-minute time limit. You're absolutely right. And to know what we think of anyone pointing this out or, even worse, complaining about this, well, meet our newest panelist, Phil. Phil has a handy response to all such criticism. Speaking of criticism, Ollie Robinson has come in for plenty. We give our take on the now-suspended England seamer, as wel...
Jun 07, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 18
If anyone thought we couldn't find something to talk about even when there's almost no cricket on, well, you haven't been paying attention. Clearly, we love to talk, and we will find our ways. And thanks to some good old-fashioned ineptitude, drama, and sexism from the BCCI, we had an episode's worth of ranting. Women's cricket has been shafted yet again by the powers that be in India, with things coming to a head over contracts, prize money, scheduling, and all manner of disrespect that should ...
May 29, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 17
The IPL is off for the time being, after the powers that be finally saw sense and realized how big a risk this whole endeavor was in the middle of a pandemic...especially after the pandemic started hitting home. So our latest T20 in 20 discusses the fallout from the postponement and where the tournament could end up being played in the meantime, along with a round-up of the world of cricket including updates from Zimbabwe, who are still a Test-playing nation despite what some incredibly smart pe...
May 15, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 16
We've convinced ourselves that our T20 in 20 format is a genius idea. It certainly rolls off the tongue, and sounds exceedingly clever — 20 minutes to talk about a 20-20 game, how smart! — and there's nothing we like more than a clever, smart-sounding idea. So without further ado, Siddhant and Aditya are back for a second round of talking about the IPL and asking the important questions, like...are CSK good again? While we're having a little fun talking about the cricket, though, we'd also like ...
May 04, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 15
IPL season is upon us, and in the spirit of the times, we have a new format for our round-up of the best, biggest, most significant tournament in cricket: T20 in 20, where we round up the week that was in the IPL in 20 minutes. How is this episode still 32 minutes long? Well...we found a loophole. Niket, Siddhant, and Aditya pat themselves on the back for their preseason predictions bearing out so far, and we also had to discuss the best moment of the season: Rohit Sharma bowling! Sid and Adi wo...
Apr 22, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 14
We mentioned last week that Rob Moody was our first guest on the pod (speaking of which, please check out Episode 12 if you haven't already!) because we were sure Niket was going to be on again at some point. Little did we know how soon that was going to be proven true. Yes, the man who said the Chennai pitch was going to be "English-looking" (the English did like the look of it for the first match) is back. We did let him know what we thought of his pitch expertise (a role thrust upon him thank...
Apr 08, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 13
We are BUZZING after this episode. It's our coolest one yet! For the first time, the No Balls Cricket Podcast has a guest! (We're not counting Niket, who 1. Fucked up his pitch tips so badly we'd rather forget him and 2. Is supposed to be a regular contributor more than a guest, and will be back soon.) Rob Moody, of the robelinda YouTube channel fame, with his extensive archive of highlight videos, joins us from Melbourne to talk us through some of his funnier video titles, his favorite memories...
Apr 04, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 12
It's rapid fire time. We tried setting a time limit on ourselves. And failed, but not that badly, so maybe we actually succeeded? We'll leave that one up to you. Aditya's back to round up the India-England ODI series with Siddhant, who along with dunking on the England cricket team, is also taking the challenge to an English royal. With good reason, we believe. Surely he's sexier than Prince William? For context, and general shenanigans, check out our latest episode! And be sure to follow/subscr...
Apr 01, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 11
This episode carries special meaning for us, as friend of the pod Rohan Das tragically passed away last week. In his honor, Siddhant was joined by fellow friend of the pod Aayushraj Soni, with Aditya and Ian out this week and Niket still in hiding (we haven't forgotten about his completely bogus inside information about the pitch for the Chennai Tests). But Sid and Aayush didn't miss a beat, with enough jabs about Dinesh Karthik, the England cricket team, and the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, n...
Mar 24, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 10
There was a big update from West Indies cricket just after we recorded our last episode, and we thought we might do a live episode to react to that. So we did. Except, four days later. And not live. Great job, us. But now that we finally got ourselves together, Ian took his chance to gloat about West Indies' 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in the ODI series and react to the Test captaincy change, and then tell us to put on our best camera faces. For all that and more, check out our latest episode, and be...
Mar 18, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Ian's back, which can only mean one thing: we're talking about the finer points of dentistry in Guyana. Like, for example, whether West Indian batsmen have the precision to deal with good spin bowling. Or if the ultimate blunt force tool that is Chris Gayle still has a place in West Indies' T20 squad, sacrilegious though such a question may be. Yes, we're doing another West Indies focus this time, quick on the heels of our India-England Test series review. The team from the Caribbean just beat S...
Mar 12, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Lend us your ears, we come to bury England, not to praise them. That's right, India wrapped up a series win, booked their spot in the World Test Championship final, and Aditya and Siddhant are here to celebrate. There is some hint at serious analysis along the way, but largely we've taken the same tone as some of the shitposters who have made Ravi Shastri's supposed drunkenness a source of entertainment for everyone: this is time to troll. Listen as we do exactly that, and as Shastri said, have ...
Mar 09, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 7
The whole point of this podcast is that we get together and troll whoever we want to troll in the world of cricket. This time, we didn't even have to do anything - that Test match trolled itself, England, cricket in general. Our best way of paying tribute to a Test that lasted only two days was to do an episode with only two people. Some combination of the Chennai pitch inside man and the official dentist of Guyana cricket (as declared by No Balls Cricket) will be back soon, but for now, Aditya ...
Mar 02, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Do you like the IPL? We like the IPL. Sort of. Siddhant hates it but loves the entertainment it provides. Aditya appreciates how it's helped a lot of cricketers but doesn't really care about it day-to-day as long as Mumbai Indians are winning. We both do care enough about it to take time off in the midst of an India-England series with implications for the championship round of the only format that truly matters to discuss what is really the most important part of any IPL season: the auction. Ia...
Feb 25, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Big news - we're moving up in the world. We're now on Spotify! And Anchor, Pocket Casts, and Podcast Addict as well. In honor of this huge moment of a plucky, fun-loving group doing big things, we have a special theme for Part 1 of this episode: the West Indies. We even have a Guyanese guest on the pod! Tune in to watch us run the rule over the West Indies' stunning whitewash of Bangladesh, and then, of course, talk about India's big win over England that set everything right with the world agai...
Feb 19, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Long before he became respected journalist (and now disrespected former journalist, apparently), back when Aditya was just starting off as a sportswriter, he had a client who liked to say: expect the unexpected. It’s a lesson that should have stuck, so that you can avoid egg on your face from doing stupid things like predicting a 4-0 whitewash of England only for India to lose a home Test against England by a whopping 227 runs. So now, after James Anderson managed to find the one cloud in Chenna...
Feb 18, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In the true spirit of India’s upcoming series against England, we’re one-upping the London busses: no podcast for two years, then two episodes in two weeks. If that particular cliché made you groan, wait until you get to the end of this episode, where we showcase our sense of humor at its finest. In the meantime, we have a new third man, better than the old third man in so many ways, but most importantly because he brings us inside info from Chennai, venue of the first two Tests of the India-Eng...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 2
The team was down a key man. Others weren’t in the country, either. And so, it looked hopeless, if not already over. We mean us. We’re baaaaaaaaaaack. As far as overcoming absences and coming back when it never looked possible, can you really top a podcast returning after no episodes in two years, with one member deciding to bow out entirely and the other two leaving for different parts of the world? Oh. Right. The Indian men’s cricket team did something similar, apparently. But…but…we’ve switch...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 1
This is an archival episode from June 5, 2019. We’ve redefined the concept of a World Cup preview, in that we waited until almost every team has played a game, and some teams have played two, to get started. Hey, if it works for the Indian cricket team at the World Cup, why can’t we do it, too? First off, a special message to one of our favourite Pradhan Dental Care patients, Virat Kohli: win or lose, your teeth will always be in good hands. But please win. Did that seem like a shameless sponsor...
Feb 18, 2021•40 min
This is an archival episode from March 24, 2019. Bad news: we’ve lost our stats and analytics man, technical producer, junior pro cricketer, and resident bad analogy merchant, Siddharth Solanki, who needs a break from cricket as he struggles to deal with the difficulties of trying to have a life while living in the far reaches of Kandivali. But the show must go on, even after a two-month delay. And Siddhant and Aditya will maintain they were always the smart ones on the pod anyway. So get ready ...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
