DC get their Pants pulled down

What happened with Pant and DC, IND spinners’ BGT hangover, & why IRE are struggling to grow the game.

Pant walks away from the Delhi Capitals

DC get their Pants pulled down

All the IPL retentions, what happened with Pant and DC, LSG’s owner speaks out, & Middlesex are in deep trouble.

• The full list of IPL retentions, from Kohli to Dhoni, can be found here. ESPNcricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi reveals that the MI players decided their retention prices themselves, Times of India’s Arani Basu explains why Pant asked to leave DC, & Indian Express’ Venkata Krishna B reports on CSK’s interest in the wicketkeeper as a Dhoni replacement.

• Revsportz’s Boria Majumdar talked to LSG owner Shashwat Goenka and INR 21-crore star Nicholas Pooran about their strategy, ESPNcricinfo’s Dustin Silgardo looks at the trends among retentions, Cricket.com’s Anirudh Suresh analyses particular team choices, & analyst Dan Weston answers fan questions about franchise decisions.

• 20 wickets fell on day one of the India A-Australia A match, with the home side leading by 88 runs. Cricket.com’s Anirudh Suresh writes that Nathan McSweeney made his case to be Australia’s opener despite scoring just 29 runs.

• The English Cricket Regulator has asked Middlesex County to conduct a review of their culture. The Guardian’s Matt Hughes writes about the club’s uncertain future as this latest charge adds to pre-existing on-field and off-field problem.

• Ben Stokes & Jos Buttler have extended their England contracts, while the Bangladesh Cricket Board have purged themselves of 11 Directors connected to the former Awami League government that lost power in August.

The spin margin

IND spinners’ BGT hangover, Pujara’s BGT legacy, & why IRE are struggling to grow the game.

• Cricket and Stuff’s Harigovind S speculates on why Indian spinners have gone around the wicket to same handed batters so often in Tests since 2023, while Wicket Cricket’s Akshay Mangal Mahar analyses Cheteshwar Pujara’s understated statistical legacy in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

• Cricbuzz’s Telford Vice writes about the new normal in cricket, where different variations of the same teams are constantly playing nearly meaningless cricket in different corners of the globe.

• New Indian Express’ Kalyani Mangale talks to 20-year old Shweta Sehrawat to get an insight into how the increased number of Women’s games has led to a positive impact behind the scenes, even for domestic players.

• The Part-Timer’s Nathan Johns answers fan questions about the state of Irish cricket, including detailed responses to queries about Cricket Ireland’s financial situation & decision-making, and how it hampers them from growing despite their Test status.

The original giants of home domination

What World XI could be a prime West Indies side at home?

• Good Areas’ Jarrod Kimber, Behram Qazi & Estelle Vasudevan draft a contemporary World XI that could’ve beaten a prime West Indies side (c. 1976-95) in the Caribbean in a Test series. [Apple Podcasts]

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