Delhi Pants Gujarat
Cummins' villain arc, a Ranji pay hike, Strauss would kick Stokes’ butt, & Sehwag calls Australia poor.
This newsletter will be off tomorrow (26th April) because I need to go cast a pointless vote against Modi in a constituency that overwhelmingly favours BJP. If you’re an Indian - make sure you get out there to vote this month!
Delhi Pants Gujarat
Pant proves a point, Pat’s villain arc at SRH, & the Jio-Disney merger is going to create an IPL monopoly.
The Delhi Capitals beat the Gujarat Titans by 4 runs. Cricket.com’s Shubh Aggarwal says that Rishabh Pant & Axar Patel put the team on their back, and made their strongest cases yet to be included in the India World Cup squad.
Speaking of, Wisden’s Naman Agarwal looks at the log jam of Indian openers performing at the IPL, while Indian Express’ Venkata Krishna B asks who’s going to back up Bumrah with the other pacers either injured, out of form, or not back by the BCCI.
Hindustan Times’ Somshuvra Laha writes about the changing anatomy of an IPL run chase, especially in the context of LSG’s incredible win against CSK this week.
ESPNcricinfo’s Alagappan Muthu has a tongue-in-cheek look at how Pat Cummins has evolved from the nice guy who comes first to SRH’s evil mastermind (who will probably come first).
Economic Times’ Javed Farooqui has a fantastic piece on how the IPL ad market is going to change drastically with the consolidation of Disney Star & JioCinema in the coming months. [Paywall]. Farooqui also reports that JioCinema are going to start charging INR 29 a month for their non-sports content - a move that will leverage their ownership of the IPL rights to undercut their rivals.
You think RCB’s bowling is bad? You’ve got no idea…
…I’ve been looking at every team’s bowling metrics (and will be doing a deep dive on them on my Twitter account today!), and RCB are so bad that it’s hilarious. They’re dead last in the three most important bowling categories, and second last in 4s conceded.
By the way, I’ve set up a Twitter and Instagram account under @BestCricStories where I post all these graphs & images, and would appreciate the support if you like them!
Money talks (or so the BCCI hopes)
IND’s domestic players to get a 4x hike, the Women’s WC qualifiers are here, & ZIM call up a Campbell.
Cricbuzz’s Vijay Tagore reports that the BCCI is considering upping maximum domestic earnings to INR 1 Crore (~$120K) in an attempt to incentivise players to play in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments.
OneCricket’s Mayank previews the Women’s World Cup qualifiers that kick off this week.
Johnathan Campbell, son of the legendary Alistair, has been called up to the Zimbabwe national team.
Bazball isn’t even the best version of the English team
Strauss would kick Stokes’ butt, the joys of head-to-head comparisons, & how cricket has gotten DRS right.
The Telegraph’s Tim Wigmore chats with Andrew Strauss about Bazball and the state of the English domestic game. In short - he thinks his Test side from 2010-12 would kick the current English team out of the park! [Paywall]
The Guardian’s Rob Smyth reflects on the joy of comparing the head-to-head stats of various players, and how the large data sets make Test cricket such an enjoyable format to look back on with the numbers.
Cricbuzz’s Telford Vice writes about how cricket has gotten electronic umpiring so right when every other sport is struggling with it.
The Open Magazine has an excerpt from Boria Majumdar’s new book about his press ban following the Wriddhiman Saha controversy. I’m not a big fan of his Trump-ian attempt to whitewash history and refuse to apology for anything - but, it’s well written and provides an alternate viewpoint on a cultural flashpoint in Indian cricket.
RCB’s missed opportunity
Kumble can’t forget RCB’s 2009 loss, Sehwag calls AUS a poor country, & what’s the point of the County Championship?
Ravi Ashwin welcomes Anil Kumble to talk about his short but memorable IPL career. Highlights include how Kumble adjusted from needing 4 overs to get warmed up for red ball cricket to figuring out how to maximise his time during T20 games, and the “missed opportunity” of winning the title with RCB in 2009.
Club Prairie Fire’s Adam Gilchrist & Michael Vaughan host Virender Sehwag to reminisce on his career, Tendulkar & playing Pakistan. Something I noticed - in a funny exchange, Sehwag says he did not play in other leagues the offers of a $100K salary were too little. Makes the BCCI’s plan to lure in domestic cricketers with $120K (a decade later) seem a little…pointless.
Wisden Cricket Weekly talks about the highlights of the County season so far, the point of the tournament, and the debate on which ball to use. [Apple Podcasts]
Final Word’s Geoff Lemon & Adam Collins talk Chamari Athapaththu’s incredible 195* against South Africa this week. [Apple Podcasts]
Powerplay’s Firdose Moonda & Valkerie Baynes host Zimbabwe's Josephine Nkomo to preview the Women’s World Cup qualifiers. [Apple Podcasts]
Editor’s Note
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