PCCI Podcast 🏏

We try to address the continued hijacking of ICC events by BCCI (and the BJP), how cricket as a sport only serves interests of the Indian nationalistic idea, and against the interests of the sport.

In this episode, MV is joined by Richa and Dave to preview the WPL 2026. We break down the teams, talk about the new money flowing into the game, thank Jay bhai, and decide which food item best represents each franchise. There’s also a bold call on why DC could finish last, a completely unnecessary but entertaining detour on whether Meg Lanning will run onto the field to hug Sophie Ecclestone, and an attempt to explain why MI just keep getting everything right.

The order of Previews -

Duration: 01:26:36

In this episode, regular listeners Shay, Fahad and Smarts record about their first time at the stadium watching a Cricket match.

We compare iconic Indian venues like MA Chidambaram Stadium, Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, and Wankhede Stadium, and contrast them with international experiences at Lord's Cricket Ground.

The conversation revolves around stadium access, ticketing challenges, hygiene and security issues, crowd behaviour, and how these factors impact families and first-time fans.

We also relive unforgettable moments like watching legends live, standing ovations, and dream destinations such as a Boxing Day Test...

In this episode, we talk about Bazball.

Its merits, demerits ,and how it all came crashing down because of very little planning and even poor execution.

We also talk briefly about the Indian T20 squad for the upcoming T20 WC and what happened with the axing of Shubman Gill?

Richa, Aditya & MV are joined by Vatsal to discuss the humiliation in Guwahati and the first Ashes Test in Perth.

- We start with a fun Game - Whose Line is it anyway? Baz or Gam?

- Discussion on the difficulty of playing spin

- Decline in structured cricket tours

- Abject Selections and insipid leadership

- Analysis of the game + Jansen, Bavuma and Harmer - the stars for SA

- How teams prepare for Indian tours and the future

- Lots...

We talk of Gambhir's latest blockbuster, how he can conjure lineups without balance even if given infinite resources. We then move onto discussing the insecurity that results in such pitches. The discussion then moves onto the recent news of Indian cricketers backing a majoritarian movement, diversity and inclusion in Indian cricket.

Also, a lot of Sports Tak, Yaari and RevSports review around this test match.

In this episode with Ahmer Naqvi, we sit down to discuss the politics of sport, will cricket ever go truly global?, the future of India Pakistan Cricket, Is indian Cricket a Biryani or a Fine dining restaurant & why Ronnie from Awwal Number was the greatest batter in Cricket ever.

Ahmer can be found on Twitter

His Youtube Channel with Osman Samiuddin is Batta Fast

Ahmer recommended the following books, movies & documentaries through the course of our conversation -

Khayal Darpan - Documentary

Uncut...

This is an episode we had the most joy in creating. 

We can’t thank Sharda Ugra enough for her time, and you’ll hear that come through in the podcast. She also promises to join us for Part Two!

India are World Champions and we discuss the game, the immediate aftermath, the emotions and the performances.

This was a truly wide ranging chat and there was a lot of joy for the women who have just become World Champions!

Duration: 01:59:37

Well, that's the pod.

The game, the players, Jemi, Harman, Charani, Litchfield, Australia's fielding but also the dropped catches and of course we lament that ICC's Twitter Team has not posted a single clip of the winning moment.

This episode is an ode to the organisational skills of the ICC and the dedication of the BCCI to make the Women's World Cup the biggest ever by throwing money at it.

Rain started as a means of jeopardy in a WC has simply ruined it.

Might add the lack of marquee venues and faraway venues has ensured the interest doesn't pique but decrease.

So, this entire episode is a collection of Rain Sounds from PIXABAY. Enjoy.

This is not a review. We got together to discuss our thoughts on the current status of the tournament, lack of support for the game and the wonderful coverage in print and online media, we discussed Marufa Akter, Nigar Sultana Joty's inspiring captaincy, SA's chances at lifting the trophy, Aus-India game which was attended by Sarthak, and the joy of an underdog victory and the time for Bangladesh has come, the level playing field in the women's game compared to the men's game and Gavaskar's not so shocking comments on air during the India West Indies test series.

There’s some strong language in this episode. If that’s not your vibe, you’ve been warned.

In this podcast, we discuss peace.

Only fitting it's out on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday!

We discuss the noises about a boycott, the profiteering around the boycott, the lack of nuance and professional decency in Ind-Pak cricket coverage.

In this episode Richa, Aditya and MV are joined by Sarthak Dev to discuss the career of Cheteshwar Pujara.
We dive into our earliest memories of Cheteshwar Pujara, tracing his evolution as a batter and how he cemented his place at No. 3. Along the way, we relive some of his finest and most underrated innings, admire his mastery against spin, and explore the unique challenges faced by modern Test batters in the era of the WTC, tricky pitches, and the pace bowling pandemic.

Pujara's career, like many in the middle order, feels incomplete. We end by...

We just quickly got together to record some initial reactions after the stunning game at the Oval. We will come back with a more detailed analysis of what has been a fantastic test series.

This episode is a chat with the folks on The Last Wicket Podcast. Do listen to their previous podcasts which have tremendous nostalgia value and a lot of depth in variety of the topics discussed.

The current landscape of cricket journalism and television coverage is characterized by a significant decline in quality and depth, as discussed in our latest podcast episode.

We explore how the monopolistic tendencies of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have led to a homogenization of narratives, focusing excessively on celebrity players while neglecting broader...

We sat down to discuss England's win at Lord's.

We discussed why Jadeja should have attacked more, why is this team so defensive?, what is the secret of Ben Stokes' energy? (No we didn't) but definitely marvelled at Archer's return and the dangers of Siraj being overbowled before looking ahead to the Manchester Test where we think Kuldeep is a must (heck, we thought he was a must in all tests).

There is sadly no media review but an observation that the Indian fan and YT creators ended up defending this selection...

2nd Test Review of the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy

Media Roundups (multiple times, as one must)

Mulder Brainfade?

The wives of cricketers are to blame for everything

Predictions for the Lord's Test

Pradeep Magazine is a cricket writer, columnist, and former sports editor of The Pioneer, the India Today e-paper, and the Hindustan Times. He began his journalistic career in 1979 with the Chandigarh edition of The Indian Express and served as its cricket editor in 1999–2000. He writes on cricket regularly in The Tribune. He has written 2 wonderful cricket books - Not Just Cricket & Not Quite Cricket

In this episode we chat about -

In this episode, we discuss the changing nature of Bazball, Gill in his first test as captain, Yashasvi's drops affecting the game, the joy of Rishabh Pant, the finesse of KL Rahul, the vitriol against Siraj and Prasidh, the uselessness of Ravindra Jadeja and of course a media review of our favourite Youtube channels.

Tim Wigmore is a sports writer for The Daily Telegraph and has also written for The Economist, The New York Times, ESPN Cricinfo, and The New Statesman, among others.

We sat down to discuss his latest book - Test Cricket - A History, which is his most fascinating book yet. There is a unique mix of history, context, aesthetics, race & class which another writer could have easily papered over. Tim excels in his ability to weave stories across centuries with this one and making the history of the game we love not as overwhelming.<...

The only way to honour the memories of those who lost their lives in the stampede at Chinnaswamy on 4th of June is to continue talking about it.

We speak to Sarthak Dev, who wrote an excellent piece for News Laundry.

You can read The story of a disaster: An IPL win, a city’s joy, and a tragedy that was waiting to happen here.

Tarutr runs BestofCricket Substack where he publishes a Daily Newsletter with the best cricket stories (text, audio & video). You ca...

Trigger Warning

Mentions of the Tragedy at Chinnaswamy are discussed at multiple points in the episode. There is an outline and trigger warning at the start of the episode.

We are joined by Dave, Shay, Richa, Aditya, Tarutr & MV in this episode and there are 5 RCB fans who sent in voice notes on how they felt about winning the first league title.

What is covered in this episode?

1. RCB Fans from across the world share what it felt to win the first...

In this episode, we have long time listeners Saurabh, Shay & Fahad to discuss their memories of the IPL.

It’s a great mix of folks from varying age groups and their association with the league. While Saurabh is largely neutral despite having a soft corner for SRH & RR, Fahad loves CSK & Shay is an RCB fan from North India. 

It gives us an insight into how the IPL has evolved and how the evolution affects the people watching it. 

Are they stil...

We sat down to record the Origin Story of our love with the game.

We discussed -

- Our first playgrounds (societies, mohalla etc)

- How our teams were decided?

- What were the various toss instruments?

- Specific rules for batting (1D, 2D) and bowling (fast, knee height no balls etc)

All of the above across the country since the panel was diverse and we wrapped up with our favourite story of playing Cricket.

In our series of episodes dealing with the lack of cricket in Indian cricket coverage and the rise of jingoism and demi-god worship in cricket media, we have with us accomplished cricket analyst and writer, Gurkirat S Gill.

Sarthak is a writer and music composer. He writes a Substack called Lines on The Grass, and you can find some of his other written work at IndianExpress and EuroSport. He uploads his music on Instagram and YouTube, but only when his morning coffee hits the right spot.

Read Lines on the Grass

Listen to Sarthak's music here & you can follow him on Twitter as well.

In this episode, we have both the Adityas, Raj & MV.

We discuss -

<...

Today, we have with us Sharda Ugra, a sports journalist for over 30 years who now writes what she wants, when she wants and where she wants. You can read her work in the Hindustan Times and her coverage of the BCCI in The Wire and The Caravan, amongst other publications.

Along with Sharda, we have Swaroop who has been with The New Indian Express for over a decade and a Red Ink Award winner. He has covered multiple Hockey World cups, Asian Games, Cricket World Cups and, very recently covered the World Chess Championships. 

Duration: 01:08:19

In this episode, we have Richa and MV joined by Tarutr Malhotra from Best of Cricket.

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Best of Cricket scours the internet for the best cricket stories and brings them to you straight to your Whatsapp. If that's not enough, they also publish original stories themselves and deepdives into the cricket media landscape and how the game is covered since they're looking at everything from a Bird's eye view and up close, daily. You should subscribe if you haven't already.

During the WPL, they covered all the games with reporters from all...

Trigger Warning & Disclaimer: Gambling, Betting, and Fantasy sports involve risk. A lot of information shared here might be triggering for those who gamble or in recovery. We recorded this to bring forth the issues involved with Gambling, Betting, and Fantasy Sports. Same goes for all the links in the shownotes.

In this episode, we have MV and Aditya who are joined by Swaroop Swaminathan from The New Indian Express.

Swaroop has been with the daily for a decade and has covered two Asian Games, two Hockey WCs, the recently concluded Chess World...

In this episode, we have Dave from USA who has been following the WPL along with Richa and MV.

We speak about

We cover the unhealthy Ind-Pak obsession among Indian TV coverage and fans, the jingoism and absurdity, unfairness around the CT. Also, why exactly did Vikrant Gupta travel to Lahore? And more discussion about DP World Dressing Room.

In this episode, Richa and MV sit down to discuss the goings on in the first week of the WPL where all games were won by the side chasing and how the teams have fared. We look at the exceptional performances by Nat Sciver-Brunt, Elysse Perry, swoon over the action of VJ Joshitha and wonder if RCB have enough in the tank to stay top of the table

We first talk about the new Netflix documentary on Ind-Pak cricket. Then the discussion moves onto previewing the CT (what exactly is the CT meant to be?) and then the (d)evolution of cricket anthems and advertising.

Richa & MV sit down to discuss the 5 teams in the WPL, the absurdity of Indian selectors which is the reason that we discuss so many redemption arcs, Jon Lewis’ luck (finally?), why are MI so good, can DC finally win the WPL, why spinners might not rule the roost, 4 venues means new fans and why RCB women are the toast of Bengaluru town & last year’s win matters so much more.

We reviewed the teams in the following order -

Gujarat Giants

Mumbai Indians

UP Warriorz

Delhi Capitals

Ro...

In this episode we discuss the new guidelines for pupils of the BCCI Residential Hostel under the aegis of Principal Shri Gautam Gambhir.

We did a snake-style draft between the 3 of us (MV, Nishant & friend of the pod – Saurabh) to find out the Top 15 Most Memorable (largely painful) ODI knocks played against India.

Order of Picks –

Nishant (N)

Saurabh (S)

MV (M)

Here are the 15 –

1.

Douglas Marillier’s 56* at Faridabad (N)

2.

Chris Cairns’ 102* in the ICC Knockout final 2000 at Nairobi (S)

3.

Aravinda De Silva’s 66 off 47 in 1996 WC Semi final in Calcutta (M)

4.

Travis Head’s 137(120) in the Khada H...

Our rant, as usual.

We review the MCG test, confused tactics and preview the SCG test.

We review the Gabba test and the sudden Ash Anna retirement.

We review the Adelaide test, the noise around it and also some Mahatma Cote analysis.

We review the teams after the mega-auction and the food that they are analogous to.

We review the first test of the India-Australia series. Also, who is Anil Sir?

We talk of the buzz around the BGT and the chest-thumping and bullying around the CT.

We review 46 a.o, the women's WC and Pak-Eng.

We discuss the reactions to the early exit from the T20 WC by the Indian Women's T20 side. Also some discussion on the chaos that is Pakistan cricket.

In this random conversation we (MV, Raj, Nishant and Vatsal) attempted to create a playing XI from the roster of "morally grey cricketers".

Our picks:

Vatsal - Salman Butt Nishant - Azhar Raj - Gibbs MV - Muhammad Asif MV - Shane Warne Raj - Cronje Nishant - Amir Vatsal - MSD Vatsal - Sreesanth Nishant - Shakib Raj - Chris Cairns MV - Marlon Samuels

We do our best attempt at previewing the Women's World Cup.

Srivastav Ranganathan 22:43 (0 minutes ago)to meIn this episode we go ahead and preview the Women’s T20 World Cup.It’s evident we are doing this for the first time and mostly for ourselves to make this World Cup a lot more easy to follow. We found a lot of useful links that helped in our research. They are as follows -Erika Morris’ wonderful twitter thread - https://x.com/ErikaMorris79/status/1840344771832787311 WC Previews on CI and CB go without saying along with some on the...

In this pod, we discuss the most memorable Men’s ODI WC games. We have Raj, Nishant and MV on the pod for this one.

Lots of things were discussed and some recommendations -

1. War Minus The Shooting - https://bit.ly/3MZHeGW

2. Master of Mombasa (On Asif Karim by Jarrod Kimber) - https://bit.ly/4dvYIFW

Our Picks

1. R - Aus v India 1992 Brisbane

2. N - NZ v Aus 2015 (Group Game) Auckland

3. M - Aus v Afg 2023 Wankhede

4. M - Ken v WI...

Trigger Warning: Strong Language has been used in this conversation. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, Raj, Aditya and MV are joined by Behram Qazi to discuss the life of a Pakistani journalist covering world cricket.Behram has been the subject of constant online hate from across the border for his national identity and this does take an effect on his mental health.It will be clear to those who listen that Behram is well travelled, well read and is constantly asserting inclusiveness in his conversations even if online hate is now part of his daily...

Today, we have the best cricket writer of our times - Gideon Haigh to discuss

the life and times of the greatest cricketer that ever lived - Shane Keith Warne.

13th September 2024 would have been his 55th birthday.

Gideon has of course, written extensively on Warne, chiefly his 2012 book - On Warne, and keenly followed his career and after.

We discuss tough art of leg spin, the legacy of Warne as a spinner, and beyond,

Gideon’s fondness of Warne and the ensuing sympathy while being critical of

...

We talk about the recent Pak-Ban series, what it means for the two sides and the reactions to the result in India. Also, talk of the importance of stories in sport.

Nostalgia Pod: The Best Test Innings vs India In another trip down nostalgia’s lane, we do a snake-style draft to discuss the Best Test Innings vs India. Joining today on the pod are the 2 Adityas, Raj, Nishant & MV. 15 innings/ performances which captured our imagination. Jayasuriya 340 - AdityaP KP 186 - RSS Akmal 113 - Nishant Baz McCullum 302 - Aditya1 Steve Smith 109 - MV Ollie Pope 196 - MV Dinesh Chandimal 162 & 59 - Aditya1 Afridi 141 - Nishant Younis Khan 267 - RSS Clarke 329 - AdityaP Andy Flower -232 AdityaP Jimmy Adams 174* & 78* - RSS Hayden 203 Nishant Travis Head 162 - Aditya1 Saeed Anwar 188 - MV

We rant about the Indian Olympic coverage, and a lot of sports tak.

We do a draft India-Pak squad purely on nostalgia and vibes. Discuss fond memories of the players along the way.

Michael Sanders is a professor of Public Policy at King’s

College, London and the director of the experimental

Government team & on this pod we discuss his latest

paper - Built it and they will search - The impact of

using double-header fixtures to boost the profile of

women’s cricket

Paper Link - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/double-header-matches-boost-

interest-in-womens-cricket-study-finds

King’s College Profile - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/michael-sanders

Twitter Profil...

In this episode, we discuss cricket analytics, growing the game, quantifying pressure/clutch in sport with one of the pre-eminent analysts in our game, Tim Wigmore.

Tim Wigmore is a sports writer for The Daily Telegraph, and has also written for The Economist, The New York Times, ESPNCricinfo and The New Statesman amongst others. He has written many books and we will be discussing his books and cricket writing in this episode. He has a unique lens on Cricket having covered the Associates extensively and thereon written about them and the global game. His books provide us...

A fantasy draft episode of men's cricketers who deserved an ODI WC but didn't win one. Also, lot of nostalgia detour along the way.

In this episode, we talk about the reactions, celebrations and the ramifications of this T20 WC win. Also, in the second half we discuss the state of the woman's game and the structural challenges to it. Also, more VikNik, Noman Niaz discussion.

Mohammad Isam is Bangladesh cricket’s leading voice and has been writing on cricket for over 15 years, first with The Daily Star and what will be 12 years very soon for ESPN Cricinfo. Isam bhai has a bird’s eye view of Bangladesh Cricket and looks at the game not just as a journalist but also as someone who played the game with many of the players who have or are currently playing in the national setup.

In this freewheeling chat, we discuss at length what happened in the Afghanistan Bangladesh game in the 2024 T20 WC...

In this episode, we review the Super 8 stage and share our thoughts on the 8 teams and a special focus on Afghanistan Cricket & the importance of the asian nation’s qualification to the Semi finals of an ICC tournament. Books & Documentary mentioned on the podcast - Out of The Ashes Documentary by Timothy Albone - https://youtu.be/4H23kHiE_KQ?si=J7DGhzptalkEmQas Second XI: Cricket in its Outposts by Tim Wigmore https://amzn.in/d/0ewwq4ED (We mention the Afghanistan chapter but the book is a great read on Associate outposts of Cricket) Out of the Ashes: Th...

Join us for a different perspective on the sport we all love. Featuring Andrew from the Great White North

At the end of the group stage of the 20-team WC, we discuss the signs and trends from the Associate sides and the joy around watching unknown names and contests on the biggest stage.

In a very special episode, we spoke to two of cricket's most accomplished storytellers, Sharda Ugra and Gideon Haigh. We talk about the state of the global game, the expanded T20 WC, nationalism in sports, and, cricket writing, among many things.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day

License code: 2TYHRU4ICFTOEUXT

A special episode where we chat with an American cricket (and Marcus Stoinis) superfan on the day of the remarkable result in the 2024 T20 WC where the USA beat Pakistan at Dallas. We talk to Dave about how he discovered the sport, and his association with it.

We discuss the Indian squad for the 2024 T20 WC and the general lack of conviction around Indian cricket in this episode.

The team returns with a full roster and a lot of ranting in what is the podcast equivalent of a net session -- all over the place.

We discuss a wide range of topics, including the politics of cricket, with Behram.

We discuss the P word, high stakes contests, what the loss means to Indian cricket. Also, the most bizarre post-match presentation for a global event ever.

Humne socha milte chalein...

We discuss the jingoistic narratives around the WC, our relationship with the sport and how the current jingoism influences our association with the sport and the Indian team.

We discuss the mahaul around the India-Pak game.

More WC rant, our predictions, wishlists, and potential trends to watch out for. Also, what we hate about some batting stances.

In the first of our WC buildup episodes, we discuss the organizational chaos that is the 2023 WC, WC promos past and present, and everything around the WC. Actual team previews and tournament previews to follow soon. 2003 WC Promo - https://youtu.be/rgg3FqfvwBE?si=-Y2WOtH1U0eSpkz1 2019 Promo -https://youtu.be/UFONbWly3Ds?si=sDFr47HSZ_FQeQTu

We spoke about ashes, controversies of ashes, bazball, women's ashes, worldcup qualifiers and the uninspiring Indian team for west indies tour. 

We review the WTC Final of 2023, and the trends from this cycle and look ahead to India's test team for the next cycle.

We review the 2023 IPL.

P.S - The episode includes a segment on the WTC final which is not outdated because of the delayed episode release. Aplogies for the same and we promise to do a timely review of the final soon after the last day on Sunday.

In the second of two episodes this week, we talk of the WTC final, chaos around the Asia Cup and look ahead to the WC squad.

We ramble on in a free wheeling conversation around this year's IPL and rant a lot about the broadcast.

We talk about psychobabble and the idea of pressure. Also, the spectacle that was the Modi Cricket Rath Yatra followed by some BGT 2023 discussion. Featuring @Vatsal_Sachan, friend of the pod.

We review what has been a very predictable end to India's T20 WC campaign, and discuss the issues with our T20 setup.

Some previous episodes over the last 2 years where we discussed these problems are listed below.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/VnfzzqPdZub

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ger53OVdZub

In this episode, we review the Ind-SA, the holes in India's T20 lineup and look ahead to a more T20-centric team. Also, we discuss the prospects of sides for the SFs going ahead.

We preview the Ind-Pak World Cup game and also the latest from the T20 WC 2022.

We discuss the trends from the first round of the Asia Cup, and what it means for the T20 WC in Australia.

This week, we discuss the trends from the recently concluded Ind-SA T20 series and the different batting approaches in T20s with @hganjoo153.  Also, some more Indian broadcasting rant. We also discuss the upcoming T20 WC and what could be the format of future T20 WCs. Also, what would test cricket in America feel like?

This week, we rant more about India's T20 conservatism and also go on a tangent about the rule changes that`d serve T20 cricket well.

We discuss some of our earliest memories of watching the sport and the feelings that cricket in different countries and different scenarios evoked.

We discuss various talking points around the IPL.

In this week's pod, we discuss stories from the last few weeks of world cricket -- Pak-Aus,  ICC World Cup (W) 22, Bangladesh-SA, Mohsin and Rizwan Haider, The Unquiet Ones and the IPL

This week we discuss the age-old "Data v Narratives" debate with cricket analytics superstar, Himanish Ganjoo (@hganjoo153 on twitter). Also, we move on to discuss the recent IPL auctions and the squads. We end the pod with some rant about Indian cricket broadcasts.

In this episode, we review Mike Marquesee's cricket classic, War Minus The Shooting, recently republished by @81allout. We discuss Mike's phenomenal and at times prophetic reading of subcontinental cricket and its society. Also, how the author identifies strands of majoritarian nationalism and its presence in everything around the 1996 Cricket World Cup. All this while enjoying the sport itself. 

We'd like to thank the @81allout podcast for introducing us to the book.

In this episode, we examine claims of Kohli's India being comparable to 2000s Australia. Are they really? Is ICC silverware really overrated? What do the overseas W/L ratios for the two sides look like?

In this episode, we discuss Kohli resigning from test cricket, the Ind-SA series, the legacy of this side, and the data versus emotion debate with cricket analysis.

We talk of our favorite Ind-SA innings, bowling spells, Jammy Sir's influence and the current test series.

In this episode we discuss the captaincy announcement and the unnecessary fiasco around it.

In this episode, we discuss how Pakistan's T20 WC has taken so many by surprise, and the fallout of the India-Pak result. 

This episode was recorded a day before the Ind-NZ game.

We discuss the post-match coverage around the India-Pak game and why it was more toxic than usual. Also, we discuss the failings of this current Indian T20 side.