PCCI Podcast 🏏

In the aftermath of Sri Lanka's stunning rearguard action in the 2nd test of the recently concluded series, it was only fitting to get the voice of Sri Lankan cricket - Andrew Fidel Fernando on the pod! Richa, Sarthak and Aditya speak to Fidel about a host of topics. From Big Dickwella Energy, his feel for the game, school cricket, structure, administration, and underrated characters. Sri Lanka remains an integral part of Cricket and there is no one quite like Fidel to help us understand their perspective. You can follow him on Twitter , read his work on Cricinfo and of course please buy his excellent book - Upon A Sleepless Isle 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com⁠ ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com We'd like you to listen to some of our other podcasts on politics and academia below. 1. Bharatiya Junta Pod - quirky, liberal take on all that's farcical, absurd and depressing in 'New India' 2. Desi Academia Pod - Perspectives of early-career Desi researchers navigating their futures both in India and abroad

We are joined by Mohammad Isam , Cricinfo correspondent for Bangladesh Cricket, to discuss a historic Bangladesh Test win against Australia. We ask him about their fast-bowling stocks, Shanto’s captaincy, Taskin’s celebration, Mahmud’s lack of one, and Kerry O’Keeffe. MV hosts, along with Sarthak, Saurabh, and Richa on the panel. This is one for the ages, folks. Tune in. ----- ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating! It helps a lot 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com

On this pod, Richa and MV are joined by Eddie Fitzgibbon . Eddie is a former ICC Development Manager; he was the director of operations for Cricket All Stars and now runs a sports management consultancy. Eddie's pieces on his Substack provide a window into the immense potential of Cricket as a global sport, offering a plethora of suggestions for improving the game through minor tweaks or by borrowing from other sports. It's not just about the players but keeping the fan at the centre of a lot of these conversations. We discuss the importance of World Cups, the need for Cabo Verde in a football WC, a Grey's Anatomy reference, journey of Associate teams and lack of clarity, Caitlyn Clark, GenZ (where have we heard that before?) and the burning question: What would Elon Musk do if he bought Cricket? ----- ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating 👉 You can follow us on Twitter , Instagram and YouTube ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work here . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at podforcricket@gmail.com

On this week’s PCCI pod, Richa, Sarthak, Nishant, Aditya, and MV discuss Rahane’s retirement and our best memories of his career, Gabba comes up once or thrice. We also discuss the ‘kesariya’ Indian Hockey Jersey, FIFA-UEFA jugalbandi, and Clicky Ponting type cricket ‘bodmosi’, the one off Women’s Lords Test between India and England, as well as the appointment of Fleming as the new Red Ball Manager successor to Baz. We also deep dive into the PCCI staff piece on Substack ‘Your cricketing heroes, they don’t really care about us ’ and why Sachin and Kohli toe the party line. ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com

Before we start this epsiode, we would like to extend our deepest condolences on the passing of a member of our PCCI and BJPod community, Sourabh. Sourabh ji was always a huge supporter of our content since the early days and eager to share his thoughts on Indian and world cricket. Rest in Peace. In this episode, we discuss the recent developments from the ICC board meeting at Edinburgh and the last minute shrinking of the ICC ODI World Cup to be held in SA in 2027. We have with us Bertus de Jong, who first broke this story. Follow Bertus's substack - https://substack.com/@outsidethecircle/posts and twitter - https://x.com/BdJcricket?lang=en ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com

We review the dual whitewashes and come up with solutions to ease GG's woes. Also, some tangential football WC chat, and uncle suggestions. ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com

We discuss how FIFA has learned some of its tricks from Jay Shah and ask if cricket was always ahead of its time. The discussion moves to how gatekept cricket is, and how it fails to even get the basics of organizing a sporting event wrong, again and again. The discussion moves onto the idea of expanding the sport, and what holds it back. ✔️ If you like listening to us, please follow us on your Podcast Platform & leave a rating 👉 You can follow us on ⁠Twitter⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠ ✍️ We write not so regularly on Substack. You can read our work ⁠here⁠ . 📨 If you would like to write to us, please email us at ⁠podforcricket@gmail.com

In this episode, we have Sarthak, Nishant, Raj, Richa, and MV to discuss the burning topics of the day - Trishul on live telly, Homeopathy, how the average fan is thought as a noob by the broadcaster and above all the Joy of Watching Sport in different timezones and what it does to us being a fan and our growth as fans.

We talk about how difficult this IPL has been to watch, KKR's misfortunes, GT's bowling, the return of Bhuvi, bouncers from Krunal, a possible Klaasen Orange Cap(?), a lot about Mumbai Indians, what are bowlers?, who is Vaibhav Suryavanshi, how will Punjab be remembered? Sarthak wrote a piece earlier today talking about how IPL became inert. Read it here .

29 games in. We review the teams based on their current position on the points table. Joining Richa and MV are Aravint and Karan We deep-dive into the conspiracy theories surrounding Mumbai Indians, briefly wonder if the Indian Premier League is basically the male version of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and spend more time dissecting Kolkata Knight Riders than they probably have themselves, before getting stuck in mid-table traffic. We also take a few (okay, many) digs at Lucknow Super Giants, debate Rajasthan Royals’ inevitable late-season fade despite one panelist backing them to win it all, break down Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s newfound efficiency, and make the case for Punjab Kings as the team to beat this year.

In this episode we have Richa, MV, Nishant, Vatsal and Asad to preview the teams. Highlights from the discussion include: Gujarat Titans get the Dr. Watson treatment from Asad capable, dependable, but forever in someone else's shadow MV finds yet another excuse to crowbar Succession characters into a cricket conversation, to no one's particular surprise Vatsal braces KKR fans for what looks like another season of frustrating mediocrity Nishant isn't buying what the Punjab Kings are selling this year Sarthak, Nishant, and MV talk about the absurdity of Ryan Rickleton's age and QdK's selection chances. Not to miss their chat about Rohit and the short-haired man. Richa & MV discuss the madness behind the trade of Sanju Samson and what lies ahead Listen in!

In this episode, we dive into detailed previews of RCB, CSK, DC, LSG, and SRH as we gear up for the season. Richa kicks things off with a deep dive into Royal Challengers Bangalore. For the Delhi Capitals segment, we’re joined by Arvint and Karan from Capitals Blood , alongside Raghav , as they break down the squad, key storylines, and what to expect this year. Vatsal takes the lead on Lucknow Super Giants, analysing their balance and potential combinations, while Sarthak covers both Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, looking at how these teams are shaping up.

In this pod, we have Vatsal, Asad, Raghav & MV discussing the Great IPL Performances of all time in a snake style draft. We discuss the memories and thoughts around the performances we've selected, how much of the IPL is actually forgotten, and probably a full list of 20+ other performances that never made it to the picks. The IPL is a blur and that is very well showcased in the chat and i'm sure the listeners are going to remind us of the many performances we forgot to discuss altogether.

In this episode, Sarthak, Aditya and MV catch up on nostalgia of jerseys, Independence Cup and review the World Cup's fantastic group stage where in fans across the subcontinent attended the games in great numbers and how the Associates lit up this World Cup every single day. This WC is a success despite the game's inherent objection towards the J word - Jeopardy. You can read S Gomesh's fantastic piece here . You can read Sharda Ugra's piece here .

Are you tired of the jingoism and ‘badle ka muqabla’ type narratives around India-Pakistan games? If yes, then this one’s for all you cricket lovers. We bring on people from both sides of the border, to hear their perspectives as people who have grown up loving the game and what this fixture has meant to them. This one should warm the heart, enjoy! We would like to thank Nawab Hassan Hussein Qureshi, Neha Shetty, Akshay, Assad Hasanain, Siva, Samee Siddiqui, Shubha Dutta, Rohail Salman, Saurabh, Raghav B, and Prateek Jha for featuring in this episode.

In what can only be classified as a coup (and as South Asians, we don’t use this term lightly), we have Sharda Ugra, Ahmer Naqvi, and Mohammad Isam to talk through the recent crisis in international cricket. We often explore these themes through Shah Rukh's movie metaphors, starting with K3G and ending with Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. The episode serves as a reminder that we need to keep lines of communication open between the public, and it’s even more important to do this with the current media landscape. We briefly touch upon the associates at this World Cup and who we are most looking forward to watching. Our guests are joined by hosts Richa, Nishant, Sarthak, and MV.

We have a star studded line up for this! Richa is joined by Tarutr Malhota from Best of Cricket Stories Neha Shetty from Never on the Backfoot Podcast Praatibh from Cricket by JB Shayan Ahmad Khan from Commbox We discuss RCB’s win (some of us still can’t believe it), talk about each team and even crown Sophie Devine as Falguni Pathak, worry about UP-W, wonder what went wrong with MI-W and end with some fun awards and a draft of the team of WPL 2026 which includes an uncapped player in this edition.

India-Pakistan cricket tensions are back in focus after Pakistan’s announcement of a boycott of the February 15 clash, raising fresh questions about the future of cricket diplomacy and global governance in the sport. To discuss this and more we spoke to Senior Journalist Chander Shekhar Luthra who has been covering the sport for over 30 years and long time friend of the pod, Behram Qazi. There are a ton of tangents but that's how it is, isn't it?

We had a freewheeling chat with Sushant Singh about Bangladesh’s omission from the T20 World Cup, ICC as the BCCI’s Dubai office, Hindutva and its reflections on how Indian cricket functions, sport’s culpability at letting oligarchs trample through the field, and lots of cricket memories. Sushant Singh is a journalist, author, and lecturer in South Asian Studies at Yale University. He is the Consulting Editor at The Caravan , a columnist with The Telegraph and The Morning Context , and his work has appeared in Foreign Affairs , Foreign Policy , Financial Times , and The New Yorker . Cricket fans have more recently seen him on videos of The Caravan and read his writing on Cricket Et Al. His piece on Mustafizur Rahman's exit from the IPL here You can follow him on Twitter Sushant's Recommendations Free by Leah Ypi Assembling India's Constitution: A New Democratic HistoryBook by Ornit Shani and Rohit De Osman Samiuddin's seminal piece - The Haal of Pakistan Mohammed Hanif’s vlogs on BBC - Here Links to Books, Pieces discussed on the Pod Ehsan Mani's moving tribute to IS Bindra Pundits from Pakistan (yes, again) War Minus The Shooting (yes, again) H-Pop : The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars by Kunal Purohit Corner of a Foreign Field by Ramachandra Guha Valkyrie

The PCCI pod brings on a cricket fan who goes by the name @vibeyseagull on twitter to talk through the allegations against Yash Dayal and the wider implications of how this case has been handled by the organisations that employ and are affiliated with him. We talk through other such cases in sport, how they have been handled, and the impact on women’s safety and participation in sport at all levels. Books mentioned on the pod The Day I Became a Runner by Sohini Chattopadhyay Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us about Modern India by Rukmini S