Is India’s Rishabh Punt no longer working?

[00:00:00] I. V. M.

[00:01:06] 1-3 ODI Series 2-0, West Indies bat at first got 240 for 7, India got 256 for 4. So on paper quite an easy victory for India. But let's talk through a few things that happened in that game. First of all, the Gale Storm hit India and in particular Khalil Ahmad.

[00:01:30] Let's talk first about Khalil Ahmad. Ashwin, your thoughts about Khalil Ahmad, does he deserve his spot in this Indian cricket team?

[00:01:36] Yeah, look, I think we've talked about this a little once before. I think there is always just in white ball cricket an inherent advantage to having a left arm seamer.

[00:01:45] So I get why they're trying him. I just like I've yeah, like I've been saying, I think he needs a little bit more time at the domestic level.

[00:01:53] I think they seem to have taken a liking to him. He's probably got a good work ethic hits. I know he runs and hits the deck hard.

[00:01:58] I don't think he's quite at the level of the rest of Indian fast ballers. Maybe 10 years ago, he would have been a first choice pick. But when you've got the boomeraz and boobies of the world, I don't see Khalil making a full strength side at the moment.

[00:02:09] So go to them to try like I said important to have left arm options. But I don't think he's at the level we need him to be yet. Varun, is Khalil in your first 11?

[00:02:17] No, Khalil is not even in my second 11. So I don't know what he's doing in the team. But I agree with everything Ashwin said that would have been my response exactly.

[00:02:26] Yeah, I find it quite hard that in a world where Khalil plays Sani actually doesn't play and I'd love to have watched Sani after showing in the 80-20 series playing in the ODI game.

[00:02:35] But I guess we'll have to wait a little bit longer for Sani to make his ODI debut. But what happened actually and why Khalil came up in my mind was what Chris Gale did to him.

[00:02:45] And you know, like Khalil does the phone call celebration. It felt like to me that he needed to call 911 or 999 basically with what Gale was doing it. Because the Gale storm really took to him and he scored 72 of 41. He batted absolutely brilliantly.

[00:03:02] He was given a free hit to kind of get the juices flowing by Shami and he just went completely berserk. And it was like watching a T20 game. It was fantastic to watch.

[00:03:14] He really enjoyed smashing Khalil all over the place. I think he'd gone for 44 runs in four overs or something like that. And then when he got out, the Indian players kind of gave him a farewell.

[00:03:26] He was almost given a guard of honour. He put his bat, sorry his helmet on his bat handle with the Jamaica flag and stuff. Ashwin, I'm a little bit confused. Did you watch his post game interview and when he was asked whether he's retired or not?

[00:03:42] Is Chris Gale actually retired? That's a million dollar question. I think nobody knows. Kohli was tweeting tributes to him, calling him a good servant of the game and has served his country and the sport really well.

[00:03:55] So I think we all assumed he's retired. I wasn't watching when he got out but it looks like all the Indian players run up and shook his hand. And it definitely looked like he's retired. Let's not forget he actually was deemed to be retired prior to this, right?

[00:04:08] So him playing this series was a surprise because initially he'd said he's done, he's not playing any more ODIs for rest of the day. Then during the World Cup at some point he said, no actually I'll talk to you guys again after the India series.

[00:04:20] So Chris Gale being Chris Gale probably messing with the media a little bit just having some fun as he's done on the pitch for so many years.

[00:04:26] Varun, do you think Chris Gale should actually retire? I know you've got some strong feelings about some Indian players who you think should have retired previously but is Chris Gale actually out staying his welcome?

[00:04:34] Wait, maybe Chris Gale can go serve with the army for a couple of months. Yeah, Varun, again I'm going to let that one go to the keeper.

[00:04:43] No, I'm not sure to be honest. I think when you, Chris Gale has always had a career like this where in a three game series he'll hit a 70s odd in one and he'll get out 10 off 30 balls in the other.

[00:04:58] So it's not unusual to me. I think I can't think of too many better openers right now and I think it's going to be up to Chris Gale honestly when he retires. I think he's doing fine, especially given his last innings.

[00:05:10] Yeah, interestingly he hasn't been picked in the test squad so I think that's it for him for the test game but we'll see whether he continues to play T20s.

[00:05:18] There's obviously a T20 World Cup coming up next year in Australia and yeah, his ODI career doesn't seem to be over because he told the presenter that he'll be playing until further notice. So very interesting that one.

[00:05:33] Ashwin you raised an interesting point about people serving the army and stuff but I wanted to talk about their replacement. A guy called Rishabh Panth. Let's talk through his innings this third ODI.

[00:05:45] It wasn't very long innings. It lasted one ball precisely. He came down the track and tried to slog a left arm spinner for six his first ball got out exactly the way the previous left hander had got out before him.

[00:05:58] Shikhar Dhawan caught at mid off actually not even clearing the circle. Ashwin have we given Rishabh Panth, are we firstly biased towards him? You know on this podcast we are actually, we all actually like Rishabh Panth a lot because we like the way he plays his cricket.

[00:06:14] We like the character that he is. It helps that he plays for Delhi, the Delhi Devils, the Delhi Capitals but are we maybe giving him too long a rope and is he hanging himself with that rope?

[00:06:27] Well that's a great question and well worded. Look I do not think we're giving him too long a rope just yet. I think there's a lot of different things with Rishabh Panth and when you're watching him it's not that he gets out of good balls.

[00:06:38] He gets out of average shots that just went wrong. They are so, so ugly. I mean yeah there was just no way to describe it better than you did but it was just so ugly and that makes it so much more painful to watch a batsman who is talented.

[00:06:50] Especially often when Kohli's on the other end you just see Kohli's face fall when Panth does something so ridiculous.

[00:06:56] So to answer your specific question I don't think we're giving him too long a rope. We are so trigger happy as Indian cricket fans in the media in particular at saying alright two matches failed let's move on to the next guy.

[00:07:07] And I think just like with Aiyar we're going to talk about him but when somebody does well for two matches we're already talking about him being the next guaranteed slot in the side and then he'll fail.

[00:07:16] He will it's inevitable and we're going to ask for his head on a platter. So let's hope Panth finds his form. Let's not forget he was the guy that took us to victory in the 30-20 with a really nice 65 odd.

[00:07:28] So very painful to watch him but I don't think we're giving him too long a rope just yet. I know you're a Rishabh Panth fan and we were kind of I was actually particularly getting over the disappointment of waiting for this guy to come into bat.

[00:07:40] He bats at number four in limited overs. I was actually looking forward to watching him bat and he gets out in that way and I mean like there are a lot of four letter words that right with Panth which we can't actually use on this podcast because obviously it's family friendly and what not.

[00:07:55] But we got some good puns out of it. Rithvik actually tweeted in saying team India's Panth on Rishabh is not working which is pretty good I thought but Varun having been a Viru fan are you being transported back maybe half a decade into the days of watching

[00:08:11] Virinder Sehwag bat but at least he opened the batting right? Yeah I definitely am. I think the biggest difference like you said is he opened the batting so you weren't waiting for an hour for him to come in there was no kind of man this is I really can't wait when will this guy get out

[00:08:26] I want to see Panth come in I want to see him finish the inning. I think the difference is Sehwag opened and you knew very early on what was going to happen so you managed your expectations accordingly it was incredibly frustrating.

[00:08:37] With Rishabh Panth man I think there hasn't been enough of a rope that has been given to him so I don't know where the rope is long enough question is coming from it's still early days I mean I'm going to make an open call here to say

[00:08:49] I think Rishabh Panth needs a personal coach and I am very available to fly down and help him out. You know DJ I know you've seen Jhojita Oye Sikander.

[00:08:58] Amir Khan was also like this in the start once you have a coach with some dedication and you start running the mile then doing the sit ups and the push up anything is possible man so give him a little bit of time.

[00:09:08] Are you calling yourself Ayesha Jhulka basically? I forgot her name I was actually thinking what is her name and I was going to say I can be Ayesha Jhulka for Rishabh Panth and I forgot her name.

[00:09:19] Yeah I can totally see Varun driving his Jeep and Rishabh Panth running behind him. Yeah and me holding up the 5 km sign and the 6 km sign and yeah man.

[00:09:28] Yeah we've seen Panth put up quite a lot of fitness videos recently as well so he is taking his fitness very seriously hopefully he takes his batting seriously because I'm starting to get a little bit frustrated with his thing

[00:09:40] and actually to be fair we've previously spoken on this podcast maybe it's the way the management is using him. Are we batting him in the right place? Should he bat at 4? There's discussion whether he should bat at 5 or 6?

[00:09:54] Whether he should open the batting? This management seems to be hell bent on batting him at 4 which brings me to our next question. Shreyas Ayer has batted at 5 in that game he came in after Rishabh Panth got out batted with his skipper played an absolutely beautiful knock

[00:10:12] which I thought was one of the best knocks I've seen from an Indian player for a really long time. It was an innings that I thought just mapped off class he got 65 runs and 41 balls he had 3 6s sorry he hit 5 6s I think with the just huge 6s

[00:10:29] the one he hit straight was fantastic again Delhi Daredevil's Delhi Capitals captain Varun I'll come to you first on this

[00:10:37] is there a case for Shreyas Ayer to be batting at 4? Absolutely DJ there's no doubt in fact it really upsets me that the team management did not make him bat at 4

[00:10:48] however again due to some very silly shots he almost it almost felt like he was the effective number 4 for India he batted absolutely fantastically he in the first game we had said it's only the first innings we don't want to get ahead of ourselves

[00:11:01] the second game I mean even Akoli came out and said that this guy made it easy for me I'm very very happy he seems to be the answer

[00:11:09] for the middle order that we're looking for I think India's team balance still needs a lot of debate and discussion which we won't get into today but just from an Ayer perspective I'm extremely happy.

[00:11:18] Ashwin yeah hindsight is 20-20 right but would having an Ayer at number 4 instead of a Vijay Shankar at number 4 or a punk at number 4 in the World Cup have made a difference do you think? Yeah hindsight 20-20 exactly but I think it definitely could have

[00:11:34] I think if you really think about it when you go through the approach to BCC ahead and we've talked about this so much but really quickly they prioritized and picked Ryudu at 4 because they said no we're going to go with somebody who's older

[00:11:45] but we're going to go with experience that was the message about a year before the World Cup and then over time that kind of disappeared Ryudu was obviously not selected in the end and then they replaced him with two potential options

[00:11:57] both Shankar and Pant who are both great players but completely inexperienced and so from my perspective I think if your goal was to go with a quality number 4 batsman who is less experienced Ayer maybe even a Manish Pandit

[00:12:09] those kind of names should have popped up to the front so hindsight is 20-20 I definitely think he could have made a mark but we talk about him being a little bit older than the Shubh Mandgail Prithvi Shah class of players

[00:12:19] but let's not forget he's still 24 so he's got a long potential career ahead of him and I'm really glad to see him in the mix That's exactly what I was about to point out actually because he's only 24, Rishabh Pant yes we say he's a young player

[00:12:29] he's 21 right there's only a 3 year difference between the two of them but the maturity that Shreyas Ayer kind of brings to his batting I think is just fantastic to see I think it's helped him being capital, Delhi Capital's captain as well because it's that added responsibility

[00:12:44] and he played a fantastic innings the only thing I'm a little bit worried about and I want your thoughts on this Varun is his game against the short ball because I was a bit surprised that Kimar Roach didn't actually test out his short ball game

[00:12:59] Fair, DJ I didn't watch too much of this series and I think to be honest in the IPL one doesn't get too much of a sense of short ball weaknesses on Indian pitches

[00:13:09] so I haven't seen him enough against the short ball but if it is something that he needs to work on I do feel he's mature enough to pick it up

[00:13:17] I think Shreyas Ayer is the kind of guy now who probably is seeing that for the next 4 years he has a golden run and golden opportunity to make this slot his own and he will tackle any kind of short ball issue if there is one

[00:13:30] And Ashwin what do you make of his stats? He's batted 7 times in 1 day international he's got 450s but the majority of his innings have come against the West Indies and Sri Lanka He averages only 24 against South Africa so are we getting too excited too quickly maybe?

[00:13:46] I mean I just think you can't blame him for not having played against England, Australia and South Africa when you haven't really played him much right

[00:13:53] so I don't know exactly how many games he played against South Africa but in 7 innings to make 450s if they were against Sri Lanka and West Indies it's because that's who we played him against

[00:14:03] So yeah I don't think we're getting too excited too quickly I think anybody who says he's number 4 permanently or guaranteed the slot is probably jumping the gun a little

[00:14:13] He does need to prove himself in different conditions against different opposition but I mean he's earned his shot for sure

[00:14:18] The other thing I also wanted to say is there are lots of guys in the wings but none of them are coming across as a strong middle order bat

[00:14:26] and that's why I made the comment where I said I really feel he can look at this as an opportunity for the next 4 years because whether it's Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shubman, Gil, Prithvi Shor I mean between ages of 20 to probably 28

[00:14:41] they're all top order batsmen and there's suddenly a niche that this guy can create for himself I think his only competition right now is a Manish Pandey

[00:14:50] because even K.L. Rahul is not that comfortable at 4 and you were slotting him in so I mean that's just my perspective

[00:14:57] Yeah and I think that's absolutely fair he is from the Mumbai School of Batsmanship, the Khadus batsman that Mumbai produces and we'll have to see what he does

[00:15:06] I'm quietly confident and hopeful because as you said he's only 24, he's got time ahead of him, he's got class obviously on his side

[00:15:13] and if he's got any technical deficiencies he's got time to work on them and for King Viv and Virat Kohli to actually praise a player in their I think 7 thinnings

[00:15:24] I think it is just really telling what they think of this guy so I'm really hoping that Shreyas actually fills that void that has been created and he's a great T20 player as well so good signs for us for the T20 World Cup

[00:15:36] Pant will obviously be kicking himself after watching what I did at number 5 after that short buy-in at number 4 but let's move on a little bit I want to talk about someone we don't talk about enough on this podcast and that is a guy called Virat Kohli

[00:15:50] he scored his second successive 100 to win us the game it was a 35 over game remember it was a shortened game because of the rain and he has taken India home along with Shreyas Ayer who got out towards the end but I mean 43 hundreds in the game

[00:16:09] there's been some chat about people from people I think who don't understand the game enough to say oh but he didn't get a 100 in the World Cup semi-final when it mattered and it counted and all of this stuff but I'm just like this guy is just absolutely phenomenal

[00:16:22] he pulls out 100 after 100 after 100 and it's the hunger I think the World Cup has actually driven him even more what do you think Varun has his performance actually improved after that World Cup?

[00:16:33] Yeah I mean again it's been from an ODI perspective two games he's played he scored 200s don't forget like he hit I think 300s against Australia 300 against West Indies so he's coming like he's just the master of the ODI game

[00:16:47] there is no denying that just to give you an interesting stat he has hit the most ODI runs in a 10 year period in any decade he's got 11 over 11,000 runs in the 2010s if I may say so and by the way we've got another 4 and a half months

[00:17:06] of cricket to go with Bangladesh West Indies and the South Africa series to come he's at 4,250,150 the next best on that list is Ricky Ponting at 9,000 runs with 2300s so not only are there 2,000 less runs

[00:17:22] there are also 20 less 100s which if my math Ashwin is correct that's pretty much the gap between the two right the 20 hundreds pretty much yeah yeah so hitting 20 hundreds again I don't know numbers well enough

[00:17:35] but I would be happy to probably make a claim that says a lot of people don't hit 20 hundreds in their entire ODI career so that's just how phenomenal he is yeah we have a sum total of zero between the three of us on this podcast right so

[00:17:48] I have hit 200 not 100 but yeah oh in the game that you made the 8 year olds bowl to you the whole day the 2 day game Ashwin still has fond memories of

[00:18:01] anyway Ashwin I want to get your thoughts on Virat Kohli man like what is it with that guy what what what what flip switched in his mind

[00:18:09] what happened to him from being a very good player what made him probably the greatest one day player to ever have played the game you just asked me what flip switch which is like what join cost or one of those funny slips but anyway

[00:18:22] switch flip switch flip there it is I want to just build quickly before I get into specifics on what Varun said so he's right only 14 players have ever made 20 centuries or more in and like just for some names of ODI players who played you know over 200 games

[00:18:37] and didn't make 20 centuries Brian Lara 299 games 19 centuries Jai Warden a good shot call us Nathan Astell Adam Gilchrist

[00:18:48] say why none of these guys have come close to 20 centuries and all played more than 200 matches so I'm sorry just to interrupt you that the 20 centuries is the incremental number of centuries over the second best in a decade yeah it's just ridiculous like when you look at it's just ridiculous right

[00:19:03] I do also want to say because for those who are on social media I think people who are less involved with the game then say we are or less attached to it are looking exactly like you said DJ and said nobody didn't make a World Cup century or oh West Indies is stat padding

[00:19:17] and he just makes all his runs against West Indies etc let's be really clear about a few things okay yes West Indies series tend to be easier than bilateral but there's a guy who made five centuries in the World Cup

[00:19:28] Rohit who's failed against West Indies Davan who's had a great run in the last few years hasn't really done much against West Indies so these were not easy centuries and I think if you look at the scorecard it's easy to say oh yeah I called him in another two centuries whoopty do

[00:19:40] but if you watched the game it was hot he was sweating they were coming in running in hard at him you know I've never never heard him say I was tired out there making the century and he did after the first one so anyway that's all my rant to say he puts in so much hard work so much effort

[00:19:56] I mean he's made nine centuries against West Indies yes but he's also got eight against Australia he's got five against New Zealand right so he's making runs across the board and he's just an absolute legend of the game we are just fortunate to be able to watch him and for him to be leading our side right now.

[00:20:11] Absolutely agree with that actually and I think what frustrates me is that it's not just the people who tune in once every four years when the World Cup is on who are saying stuff like that it's actually people who follow the game which are like oh but his World Cup record isn't great he's actually maybe got two or three

[00:20:25] World Cups ahead of him and Sachin had a fantastic World Cup in the last one that he played and he had a great 2003 World Cup as well so that's kind of the age at which Koli is at now so for us to be criticizing him it just shows what he's already achieved by the age of 30 right

[00:20:43] he's aged 30 he's got two World Cups ahead of him arguably if he stays fit and he stays in form and I can totally see him actually I mean raising the bar so high that no one's ever actually going to get there in the one day game at least that's sad.

[00:20:56] DJ can I ask you a quick question? Yeah go on. Are you predicting that he'll play the 2027 World Cup and then go and spend a couple months with the military before coming back and deciding about his future?

[00:21:06] Well as long as he doesn't get run out in the semi-final I think it's all fine man I just wanted him to win the World Cup but okay I know that's the MS Dhoni comment I'm just missing MS Dhoni man like you've seen what that Wicked Keeper batsman brought us you don't have the stability in that middle order anymore

[00:21:22] I'm going to move on from this where I wanted to go was after the Koli ODI chat was the fab four and we've been watching the ashes the second tested on at Lord's Steve Smith was not out overnight he kind of saved Australia from a collapse yesterday which is Friday the third day of the test match

[00:21:44] Yeah third day today is a four day today Saturday the fourth day of the test match and he got hit on the elbow by Joffre Archer he looked in a lot of pain a lot of pain and then he continued to bat because I think he's just missed so much cricket that he can't bear the thought of missing anymore

[00:22:02] cricket and then just before we started recording this podcast he's been hit in the head Varun do you want to talk our listeners through about what happened there?

[00:22:09] Yeah so in fact I missed the first one where he got hit on the elbow but this was a Joffre Archer delivery at I think 93 miles per hour extremely quick kind of knocked him on the helmet and then the neck and Steve Smith literally fell flat to the ground

[00:22:23] everyone had a look of shock on their faces the players ran up to him I think the physio or whoever that person is ran out and he was able to get up back on his feet

[00:22:34] but I think the right call was made which was to get him off and he looked visibly upset so DJ coming back to your point about not wanting to miss anymore cricket

[00:22:44] he actually looked visibly upset but it was a terrifying delivery to get and after the whole Phil Hughes incident in fact I think it was almost made mandatory that

[00:22:55] DJ you may know this better to wear that there's something on the side of your helmet that you also have to wear and just as I was watching a replay right now I saw he wasn't wearing that so that's pretty scary

[00:23:06] Yeah I think the English board has made it mandatory to wear the it protects the back of your head which is where Phil Hughes got hit right so it actually protects the back of your head and the side of your neck

[00:23:18] Yes which is where Phil Hughes got hit so you'll see Joe root when he bats actually has that protection at the back of his head and along with and yeah I've got the ashes on right now and Pat Cummins I can see that on his helmet but on the replay of Steve Smith maybe I'm wrong but I didn't see that so that's not good

[00:23:33] Yeah also with Steve Smith who knows it may be a superstitious thing he's such a superstitious cricketer maybe he just said I don't want to change my helmet because I've scored I don't know a billion runs in this helmet and I average 105 in this helmet so I'm not changing my helmet come what way

[00:23:45] But it's not good seeing it's not a good look but Ashwin was that the concussion rules are in right so who do you substitute for Steve Smith do you get Bradman back from his grave?

[00:23:58] Yeah basically unreplaceable right there's no way you can bring in anybody for Steve Smith look I mean let's put in context it's the end of day four and because a day and a half or a day this match is probably going to almost definitely going to end in a draw

[00:24:09] so I don't think it matters enough for them to substitute anybody in as long as the two Aussies can keep adding for a couple more hours

[00:24:15] Yeah I will say absolutely unbelievable cricketer I mean as you guys were talking I was looking up some pictures and it's just so terrifying to watch a batsman lying flat on the ground

[00:24:24] I mean it's pretty shocking even for a bowler like Jofra Archer like I was telling you guys before the show

[00:24:30] you know he comes in he runs hard and it's goal is to bowl fast and to bowl bouncers it's legal it's within what's done in the game but you never expect that it'll actually hit somebody on the head in a way that they'll fall down

[00:24:40] so the ashes are tough they're hard fought I'm hopeful Steve Smith is okay and can keep going but just scary stuff Yeah and they're both teammates at the Rajasthan Royals don't forget right so interesting times in the IPL

[00:24:51] and some of those second 11 players that Jofra was warming up against a couple of weeks ago will just be thanking their lucky stars they didn't get one of those

[00:25:00] but I wanted to just play out the concussion replacement a little bit more so if you had to have a like for like replacement

[00:25:08] Varun would you fly Kohli in would you fly Cain Williamson who's playing another test match in Sri Lanka at the moment which New Zealand looked like they're going to lose would you fly him in

[00:25:18] or Joe Root I mean is there a fab 4 a fab 3 which is the best all conditions all format batsmen in the world at the moment easy question

[00:25:28] I think it's Steve Smith I would I would have flown down Kohli again but since that's not that feasible or likely I think the only fair thing to do is to ask Joe Root to sit out as long as Steve Smith is out

[00:25:39] I think that's that's a like for like replacement Ashwin your thoughts on Steve Smith and I want to ask you a question about his limited overs average because the question is all conditions all format

[00:25:49] Yeah see that's what threw me off a little because if you ask your original question is to passport not being a barrier if Steve Smith got injured in a concussion what batsmen do you send in

[00:25:58] and for me actually that's Chiteshva Pujara I think if you look at the stats he belongs in the fab 4 for tests yeah he doesn't play limited overs but anyway for me if Australia had the ability to pick a like for like he's the guy you'd bring in

[00:26:10] I will say I mean yeah he's limited overs record is not great there's all sorts of stuff he came in as a legs pin into play in the side etc so there's so many different variables but just absolutely a legend of the test game and also like

[00:26:23] Kohli only 30 years old so long career ahead of him. So definite test match replacement being Chiteshva Pujara very interesting choice and there's a very interesting article on ESPN cricket info which I've sent these guys

[00:26:34] I think it says Steve Smith is the best of the fab 4 right so please go and have a read of that guys very interesting conversation there we'll be back straight after this break we'll be talking about the

[00:26:48] Ravi Shastri debate and the appointment of the Indian coach so don't go anywhere listen to the break and they add in the break and we'll see you straight after the break thanks.

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[00:28:52] guys the other topic the other big topic of the week is what we need to talk about and that is Ravi Shastri has actually been reappointed as the coach

[00:29:06] Ashwin, I know you had a strong reaction to this. Of course we were all shocked nobody expected this it came out of no no of course I'm just kidding right I mean it was obvious from day one. It was one of our tweets that's getting some traction on online these days or since yesterday is

[00:29:23] just how far sickle this process was everything from the interview process to the panel to constantly claiming Koli will have no say in the matter whatsoever to then eventually writing a letter that showed the top three choices Shastri, Mike Hassan or should I say Mike Hassan as they wrote it and Tom Moody in that order

[00:29:41] why do you need the second and third place what are they going to do like did they get a silver and bronze medal for coming second and third in the coaching application so it's just been a disappointing process I know it works both ways right I know if it was an automatic reappointment for Shastri we would have been sitting saying what the heck they didn't even consider anybody else but it just feels silly and

[00:29:58] and wasteful of all of our time that they quote unquote considered other coaches and then ended up with Shastri anyway. Tom Moody has been rejected four times now I know there's issues with the I feel there are issues with the process right I feel they went through this whole rigmarole and this whole situation with the coaches five of them being interviewed

[00:30:19] and presentations being made and all of that stuff but coming to the merits of Ravi Shastri being a coach do you think he's a bad coach for this Indian team and are there actually better choices that were available to the BCCI?

[00:30:32] Yeah so I'm going to play a little bit of devil's advocate on the podcast mainly because I think we have to kind of be a little bit objective and provide both sides of the story right so I actually agree with Ashwin and everything he said but I think the key thing that he pointed out is that the process itself was a farce and a lot of us knew that before this started

[00:30:52] and similarly whether you're a Gary Kirsten or a Mahila Jayawardhane I'm pretty sure the fact that you knew this is how it's going to pan out means that you didn't even throw your hat in the ring so yes I would have loved to see somebody like a Jayawardhane I don't know too many other coaches but I mean he's somebody whose name comes to mind I would have loved to see him kind of coach India

[00:31:14] Having not put in his application now from the existing pool of candidates that did unfortunately the CSE can only make a choice based on whoever has

[00:31:26] From that perspective I think there was I think Shastri has come out the strongest I think his record with India proves that I think I don't remember the stats percentage wise but I don't feel like I've seen a more consistent Indian team

[00:31:43] We have made the semi-finals I don't necessarily know that if another coach could come in could we make the finals could we win the world cup I'm not 100% sure of that and so from that perspective I think the CSE had to do at Joe Shastri because that was the only real option they had

[00:32:00] Ashwin do you think Mike Hesson I mean he coached New Zealand from I think 2012 to 2018 do you think he would have done a better strategic job?

[00:32:08] I 100% do I think but let's be really clear Shastri's role in the side as coach is not to do a strategic role not to set a vision it's just to work with Kohli and partner and sort of move the agenda forward that the senior players have

[00:32:22] So I think Mike Hesson doesn't hesitate to step out there was a whole dispute that happened sorry it doesn't hesitate to speak out there was a whole dispute that happened with Ross Taylor where he basically told Ross Taylor you're not worthy of being captain you're a fantastic player

[00:32:35] and you'd belong in the side but you don't deserve to lead it and so I don't I mean Shastri's not going to go say that to anybody and so I think Mike Hesson would have potentially been controversial may have been really good but would have been a little controversial and that's what that's not what the CSE decided we need right now

[00:32:49] Very interesting and Tom Moody of course has applied for the job four times so guys I mean maybe fifth time lucky 2021 when Shastri's tenure is up so we'll have to see maybe Tom

[00:33:00] You know I was thinking about this there are certain jobs like if you think about football or soccer rather coaching there are certain jobs there's a rearmander job there's a Manchester United job that people will try over and over because that's the sort of pinnacle

[00:33:12] and obviously the coach and manager is not given quite as much importance but I would bet if you're one of the Moody's or Kirsten's or these guys on the coaching circuit this is it right India if you can coach India excuse me if you can coach India and manage to get them a world cup when that's the pinnacle of the sport right now

[00:33:28] Yeah I don't actually think Shastri is such a bad coach I know he's got a lot of bad press recently for being Virat's yes man and stuff but he's got something about him he's obviously been a great successful test cricket and ODI cricket a champion of champions right for India in the past

[00:33:43] So there are no questions about his cricketing pedigree he's been a great commentator I mean probably people have their own view about him I personally always enjoyed his commentary or his tracer bullets and his edged and taken and it's what the doctor ordered and all of that stuff I have always enjoyed it

[00:33:59] Varun your thoughts about Shastri

[00:34:01] No I think the reality is yes I've already said I think he's not as bad as we think he is I think the problem is he's Virat Koli's yes man but DJ you also have to consider they tried somebody who was not Virat Koli's yes man Anil Kumble who we all respect a lot and we know how that ended so partly you can't help but think that while they've made such a great effort to come out and say

[00:34:24] Virat Koli was not consulted I don't think anyone needed to consult him to know what he wanted I don't think anyone needed to consult him to know that if Tom Moody or Mike Hessen came in they could have been problems I would say more than 50% chance there would have been problems and Virat Koli is not going anywhere so like I said I think the process is messed up but the outcome we all knew

[00:34:47] Yeah and the outcome was almost predetermined wasn't it Ashwin one last question on this whole coaching situation what's their scenario where Shastri could have remained involved with the team management as perhaps a team director or team manager and you brought in somebody for the strategic and technical side of things obviously they support coaches which the CAC will also play a part in appointing but could we've got someone in on the strategic side to try and

[00:35:15] better the Indian strategy and team selection and things like that and Ashwin do you think he should have been the CNO of the team what's the N chief nightlife officer nightlife I thought it would be a CBO chief moves officer or something that was close this is the Yoyo Hadesing test again for sure CBC NO is the Ravi Shastri's title maybe we can get that trending on Twitter

[00:35:39] Yeah look DJ you're right that option existed obviously they chose not to go with it I think everything Varun said his spot on in terms of the role like having tried different leaders etc we talked about this when Delhi came up now sure as a young captain and that's the only reason Ponting and Ganguly is these loud outspoken people worked in the background I think with Koli you need somebody who will work with him so I would have loved to see somebody appointed for strategy or vision didn't happen I do think you mentioned something interesting which is the support coaches

[00:36:09] I think they play such a critical role whether it's Sanjay Bangar or Bharat Arun so hopefully that goes in a direction we want and we have some really strong tactical thinkers to help ensure the batting and bowling and fielding are at the level we need them to be awesome so I think that's the conversation on the coach done so we they've got the two big tournaments that Ravi Shastri will be looking to help India win by 2021 the

[00:36:31] 2020 World Cups one in Australia and one in India guys the test championship is about to start and I just wanted to talk very briefly about India's first test against the West Indies right are you looking forward to that that test championship and the test series after all this white ball cricket

[00:36:51] Ashwin I cannot wait to see India back in white I'm excited I'm ready for it my friends who watch cricket who are less attached half attached to the game who watch the T20s and ODI's are shocked that we want that I'm excited to see tests against West Indies but I just cannot wait

[00:37:07] I'm so looking forward to seeing Pujara batting I hope my aunt gets his shot I hope Hanuman Vihari gets a shot you know I don't know what's going to happen with the punt versus Sahar decision I think we decided before earlier we think punt is going to play and then for me most

[00:37:21] excitingly Bumrah Shammi and Ishaanth bowling in tandem I just cannot wait so I'm so excited for next Thursday the 22nd which is when the first test match against West Indies kicks off.

[00:37:30] And Valmur what are your thoughts on numbers on backs and names on backs dude do we have a strong view about whites having names on them?

[00:37:38] Not really as I'm watching it right now in the ashes I think it looks fine it doesn't make any difference to my life at all so yeah I think you've got to keep trying different stuff and this is something where it's not making me say this is amazing but it's like okay yeah that's not bad so why not.

[00:37:53] Okay very interesting I just want to talk about a couple of team members one from the West Indies as well as one from the Indian side. The Wicked Keeper spot and I know we spoke about this maybe three or four episodes ago right.

[00:38:07] Riddhimaan Sahar or Rishabh Panth have our thoughts changed on that since we spoke about this last on the podcast which was just after the World Cup I think.

[00:38:17] Varun is Panth going to make the first 11 and why should he make it over Riddhimaan Sahar who's done well in the India A games remember and he's probably a better keeper.

[00:38:25] Yeah Panth will definitely make it he should make it he's the future and why is the only Indian Wicked Keeper who has had test entries in Australia and England so I don't need to say more than that. And Ashwin do you agree with that?

[00:38:39] Yeah I mean he'll remember we shared a sad last week he's also scored the highest T20 international score by an Indian Wicked Keeper so yeah I think he's going to start but I don't think he'll have as long a leash in this three test series.

[00:38:51] Sorry it's only two tests so he'll probably play both Sahar unfortunately to miss out but I think Sahar will keep traveling with the squad and if they have a long long home season ahead of them and it's not easy to keep against spinners at home in India so if he's

[00:39:05] going to be behind the Wicked since Sahar got a shot.

[00:39:07] I actually think Sahar is going to play the game because he's a better keeper firstly secondly I think Panth needs I think stuff seems to be handed to Panth on a platter almost because he's the future and he's an attacking batsman and he's got intent and content and talent and whatever

[00:39:25] He needs to really put his head down and want it badly and I think a stint out of the test team carrying drinks will make him want it more almost and obviously he's got more years ahead of him.

[00:39:38] I think it's quite unfair on Sahar who was the incumbent keeper and he's a more dependable batsman in the test format almost.

[00:39:44] Yes Panth is an attacking batsman he's got hundreds outside India one in Australia and one in a losing course in England but I think Sahar has got 100 in the West Indies the last time he came here so I actually think Sahar will play.

[00:39:57] I don't know whether that I think it that's the way it should happen but maybe it's not going to happen we'll see when the test starts whether I'm right or wrong but the player I wanted to speak about from the West Indies team is Rahim Cornwall right

[00:40:12] and he got selected. Ashwin do you know about this guy what do you think of him?

[00:40:17] Yeah we talked about him a little bit last week this guy is an absolute tank he's a huge guy I think he's 6'5 and yeah just but apparently had an absolutely rockstar domestic season to go ton of wickets with the ball so I think he's an exciting player I think he bats a little bit too so let's see how that goes I'm always happy to see good new talent coming in he's only 26 years old he's an off spinner so it'll be good to see him.

[00:40:41] He's playing he's unfortunate to make his debut probably against the batting lineup that plays spin the best in the world at the moment but we'll let's see how he does let's hope he does well but not too well.

[00:40:52] Yeah and the bit that Ashwin left out was that he's also 140 kilos so the West Indies selectors have already said that he's going to lose weight 6'5, 140 kilos his t-shirts look fairly small and short for him but yeah it'll be interesting to see how he goes in the test format.

[00:41:09] Obviously the West Indies have some good off spinners in Rostin Chase who played pretty well last time he's a good batsman as well and yeah guys I think that's what I just wanted to mention Ashwin have you got an update on the ashes perhaps.

[00:41:24] Yeah I just during the 30-40 minutes we've been recording this I just wanted to share that after Smith we talked about went off because of being hit in the head he has walked back on so in the 85th over Peter Siddles is dismissed and to a rousing applause Steve Schin came back on.

[00:41:38] Hit 2'4's in his first two balls so it looks like he's now moved on to 92 by the time you guys hear this episode we'll know how the test match ended but great to see him come back obviously a very very positive sign that he was cleared by the physio to walk back out.

[00:41:51] So glad to see that we love watching Smith and he's eight runs away from his third consecutive ashes century.

[00:41:57] Oh my God I just wanted to actually ask I forgot to ask you guys Varun is Steve Smith actually going to push Koli to better his game and lift his game in this West Indies test series because Koli must be watching this right he's number one in the world right now.

[00:42:11] He's still number one as in the rankings but Steve Smith is closing that gap very very quickly.

[00:42:17] Yeah he will and it's that's the beauty of having great cricketers across nations playing at the same time right you are going to be in a situation where there is a healthy competition you want to out do each other so I'm very happy with this actually.

[00:42:32] Yeah and I think last summer when we watched Koli bat I think there was no doubt in my mind that he was the best batsman in the world but Steve Smith has come back so hungry for these runs it is just you can see the hunger in his eyes when he goes out to bat and he doesn't want to go off the field he's back on there even though he's been hit in the head.

[00:42:48] I mean I have I hate to say this but I'm becoming a fan of his batting despite the extremely ugly way in which he leaves the ball which is another argument that you're never going to have a like for like replacement if he ever goes off the field because no one can leave the ball and that extremely

[00:43:07] crab like strange odd wand waving situation that he does which is almost unnecessary because the ball's gone and then he's still waving his bat around and he looks kind of disgusted he turns his bum on the ball it's just very very strange but apart from the aesthetics I think I've become a fan of the man and his desire to just score runs and I just find that I've never seen anything like that

[00:43:34] and when people say that he's an experiment maybe he is and go and check out his stats in that article that we mentioned. Anyway guys I think that's all we had to chat about this week we will definitely be back next week when the test match would have started so we'll be covering that as well

[00:43:49] as always we've got loads and loads of comments from you guys on Twitter this week because obviously there's been a lot of stuff going on so keep those coming in where one tip one hand we're on Facebook at one tip one hand

[00:44:00] we're on Instagram at one tip one hand as well write us an email contact at one tip one hand dot com it's great to always hear from you always good to know that there's someone out there listen to the podcast and reacting to it if you agree with us tell us if you don't agree with us

[00:44:12] tell us fine we'll listen to you and we'll come back to you and we'll tell you why we disagree with you but anyway guys it's a wrap this week it's been great speaking to you and we'll see you next week thanks

[00:44:48] you know how your friends hate it when you ramble about some nerdy crap and you just want somebody to listen to you well sorry there's nothing we can do about that but come listen to us ramble and it'll almost be like the real thing kind of

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