Kookaburras in England, Kiwis in Pakistan ... and Ducks in India. As the IPL moves into mid-season madness, our knowledgeable friends assemble to kill many birds with one stone. We ruminate on Travis Head's special liking for opponents in shades of blue, the strange week in the life of Rishabh Pant, Jos Buttler's remarkable 100 v KKR, and a deep-dive into the unforgettable game between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings which, strangely, we all have forgotten. Will Ajit Agarkar follow the policy...

The answer is no, of course, but why let that come in the way of a buzzword filled headline for your podcast episode! But no, seriously, in Episode 119, we come together and wonder if Bumrah is tough to play because of his PM-like tendencies. We also wonder whether India's T20 World Cup selections will be impacted by the national general election vote-bank politics. Iman is busy simping for Gill, while Tony as expected continues pimping for Sanju. In the company of Bro Tareque who repeats...

It's IPL season, so naturally Max, PGK, Varun, and Tony want to start the episode with the team selection for the T20 World Cup. Which Mahabharats characters will make the plane to North America? Also feat: the comedy in Bangladesh and Shreyas Iyer's investment. And finally, some IPL action. Show notes: Tony's piece on Sanju which led to them meeting: https://whereisbillwatterson.substack.com/p/the-confounding-clarity-of-sanju RCB's Contributions to cricket :...

Kaustubh Kumar returns to the pod after nearly a year and says "nothing has changed". The same folk are doubing down on the same views on most things. The episode, which is hosted by doubler-PDP features other regular "downers" VaMu, Sadagopan Murali and MohanK. They talk about the IPL, Kohli's "mediocrity", the Nagin Derby and captaincy problems that have spilled over from the IPL to Pakistan cricket! Tune in... Catch us on social media: 1. PDP: https://twitter.com/prashantdptweet 2....

Two bouncers per over, TV umpires sitting with directors, bright AF stumps, and some ridiculous cricket. As the IPL clown car drives past the first round of matches, you see the bits and pieces gang waving out of it. Join Nitin, Srinath, Chops, Varun Venkatesh, and newest panelist - ex Cricinfo guy, and current writer of shows such as Family Guy, Farzi, Guns and Gulabs and more - Suman K, as they potter around pointlessly while laughing way too much.

After 16 years, Royal Challengers Bangalore are champions. We lived to witness this fine day. Whodathunk! Nitin, Max, VaMu and Brother T assemble soon after RCB's victory, to review a memorable second installment of the Women's Premier League. And with one week to go for the IPL, we wonder if the RCB boys will follow suit. Also in this episode - Rachana Ramchand, who recently completed a two-week stint coaching rural school children in Nepal as part of the Cricket Without Boundaries...

On the wonderful occasion of R Ashwin's 100th test, the gang get together to finally deliver the long promised Cage Match. Join Tony, PGK, Srinath, Hank, and Chops as we talk about what we talk about when we talk about Ashwin talking about us talking about him. And also, a round up of the India England series, and the WTC standings. This episode also features two Ash na tribute songs by the incredible Prashant DP, and the always heavylifting Hank. Follow us: Bits and Pieces on Twitter:...

This week, Bits and Pieces goes deep into contract law and HR practices, and quite fittingly, we do this without the lawyer or the HR professional in our gang joining the pod. Our group randomly sympathises with Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, randomly ridicules the Dharamsala 100th Test darlings Ashwin and Bairstow. And somehow foretells Shardul Bedex Thakur's incredible Ranji semifinal performance. Murali's Bedex rap and PDP's David Attenborough impression of the Bairstow Migration are worth...

Following India's stirring 3-1 series win over England in Ranchi, the gang assembles for take 112 of trying to explain Bazball. And we have two equally reliable takes on this pod - one delivered by Swami Nithyananda (voice acted by Mimicry Marauder Prashant DP), and one from our own Night-hawk Iman Pande, who joins the panel from under a blanket in a hotel bedroom in Bellandur to decode Bazball through Product Management analogies. Stay tuned for our usual Ash-Bash segment, a detailed...

Moments after India's remarkable win at Rajkot, the crew assembles with boundless joy and schadenfreude, in fond remembrance of Bazball, whose Ashes will be carried in an urn in the back pocket of Jonny Bairstow for the rest of his playing days. Bits and Pieces celebrates the arrival of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan, the latest recruits from the (Navi) Mumbai school of batting. But what's a BnP episode that doesn't make random detours? We end the episode by talking about Sourav Ganguly's...

Is Shreyas Iyer injured? Is he dropped? Is he rested? Is he acting? Is Kaviya Maran the greatest T20 franchise owner in history? Who is Ollie Robinson? Why does he have a podcast that's rated so poorly that it resembles a puff-of-dustbowl pitch? Why is Rehan Ahmed allowed near a microphone? Does Quentin Tarantino own a T20 side called the Deadly Vipers? Is Chattisgarh a Ranji team? Are Vijaykanth Viyaskanth and Vyshak Vijay Kumar the same person? Is there a Potchefstroom franchise in the...

Tony, Bisi, Nitin and SpamMo come together to review India's hard-fought win to draw level in Vizag, on the back of Jaiswal's fine 200 and Jasprit Bumrah's ascension to immortality. The gang spends a lot of time discussing Bairstow's face, Stokes' dreams, Shoaib Bashir's luggage, Ashwin's totem, Root's form and India's selection troubles. Also, a recurring segment in the podcast now - Srinath Sripath's impressions of Harsha Bhogle. And to this, we add a new doozie: Prashant DP's...

What a start to a summer of grief, and the Shamar of joy... Bisi, Sandy, Srinath, Murali and Chops get together on the day of Bazball's first win on Indian shores and a Windies' win for the ages at the Gabba to cry, feel angry, smile, guffaw, break heads and crack jokes while constantly pointing and laughing at Ashwin's fielding, and AB de Villiers' ridiculous new ideas to 'improve' the game. And - a bonus epicmax clip of Srinath Sripath pulling off the most audacious Harsha Bhogle impression...

In Episode 107, Bits and Pieces continues its Pulitzer-worthy investigation into the state of cricket pitch manufacturing, outfield preparation and stands manufacturing as the American venues for the 2024 T20 World Cup get into a race against time, logic and sense to be ready in time for the ICC's big event. Also, an in-depth look into various Indian squads for various formats of cricket, some of which have been announced and some of which haven't (to be clear, we are referring to the squads...

At one point Tony says "We've been talking for 20m and only Rachna has made any sense" (edited out). At another point Tony whines on like a pork "chop" about Sanju Samson not making the "cut" (edited out). And for some part of the pod Tony self edits himself out of the pod on account of a power-cut. In between all of this, Chops, Bisi, Rachna, VaMu, SandyG and Tony talk about "cricket without borders", fielding in the IPL, over-reliance on data, selection methods, the Afghanistan ODIs, the...

It's year 3 of Bits and Pieces, and on episode 105 Tony, PGK, Mohan, Murali, Tareque and surprise guest Iman talk about how the balance of the universe is maintained, about the primacy of Presidents and Secretaries, of the team that turned up for Bihar, and why England is correct in bringing a Chef to India. Join the gang for the sublime and the ridiculous. And tell a friend. Follow us: Bits and Pieces on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket Tony:...

As 2023 winds down, catch the gang in a mood that is equal parts dark and humorous. There's a bit of looking back with dollops of recency bias thrown in and there's a bit of looking forward with pessimism and optimism jostling with each other for screentime in a set of moving pictures called imagined reality. Time is a circle, they say and the circle of Centurion has made us none the wiser. Oh, and don't miss the many in-jokes that all of you are in on, dear listeners and the needles that are...

It's been a glorious week, one in which Sanju Samson has scored a scintillating century to win India an ODI series in South Africa. So, Max, Varun, and Tareque get together to discuss everything else. From Punjab Paddlers' Shashank redemption, to Hyderabad's Hyper bids, we've got you covered. Join us this holiday season for all the action from the world of cricket, and a deconstruction of the IPL auctions and teams, that's as long and entertaining as the IPL itself. Follow us on...

Just when we thought we'd covered every possible angle there was to the Hardik Pandya transfer story, Mumbai Indians named him as captain, setting tongues wagging across the board, including in our esteemed panel which asks the exclusive question that no one else thought about: Have Mumbai appointed the right Pandya brother? Hardik-gate reminds us of Pakistan in the 90s; Pakistan's Test team getting pulped in Australia reminds us of India in the 90s; And India's ODI selection reminds us of...

In this episode, Bits and Pieces takes guard afresh after completing a fine 100. We ponder the metaphorical implications of Mushfiqur's soft-handling the ball, Buttler's disastrous run as ODI captain, and Pakistan's comical preparation for their next hammering in Australia. Also, lots of banter on the WPL Auction, and a cool rundown from Rachana Ramchand, and a review of the Englnd v India T20s. This episode also unveils the real reason why CSK doesn't pull off a Mumbai-Hardik and buy every...

If an auto-rickshaw in Bangalore were a player in Indian cricket, who would it be? And why? What is the connection between a former Indian cricketer, an African nation, and a large temple in South Asia? Did ChatGPT select the Indian cricket teams for the South Africa series? And what's with the utter weirdness of the IPL (retentions)? NitinS, KartikT, SandyG, SrinathS, and MuraliS discuss these and much more in the 100th episode of Bits & Pieces... We are wherever you listen to...

This week, the Bits and Pieces gang is in conversation with S Giridhar and VJ Raghunath, two amazing cricket romantics who talk about their wonderful book called "Mid Wicket Tales: A Century and More of Cricket" which has been recently released. The indomitable duo holds court on a whole host of topics, ranging from Madras and Bombay cricket in the 60s and 70s to the ODI World Cup final 2023. They astound us with their memory, delight us with anecdotes aplenty and have us smiling ear to ear...

Join Hank, SamMo, Tony, Iman, Chops, PGK and Nitin as they review India's resounding performance in the 2023 World Cup, where they followed up flawless victories against all teams in the league stage, with one more win against New Zealand to reaffirm their position at the top of the ICC ODI ranking tables, seven full points clear of Australia. The gang also reviews the warm-up friendly match between the two teams on a tricky pitch at Ahmedabad, ahead of the much-awaited T20 series kicking off...

It's time for the semi circle. With the 4 qualifiers decided, the gang is now ready to take a 180 degree turn on all of their pre world cup qualifiers. What happened when Angelo's metal Helmet met mental hell outside Bank of Baroda, Maxi's pickle juice blitzkrieg and much more - on the latest Bits and Pieces 'Time Out' with Sandy, Srinath, Chops, Knittins, and Tony. Follow us: Bits and Pieces on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket Sandyji: https://twitter.com/sandeeplanjewar Srinath:...