Kohli is finally King of the IPL!

[00:00:08] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Edges & Sledges Cricket Podcast. I'm your host Ashwin. I'm joined by Varun and DJ. We have a full house today because this is the first episode since the completion of what felt like a four month long IPL 2025. But DJ, I know you're excited because after 18 long years of watching the IPL, although we are not RCB fans, Virat Kohli finally got to lift an IPL.

[00:00:38] How crazy is that? I mean, we never thought it would happen, right? To be honest, this was it. This was the last trophy in his cabinet. This was it. How are you feeling? Yeah, pleased for the King. I think he said he didn't think it was ever going to happen, right? So at least we were on the same page there. But I mean, fantastic tournament for the RCB team. Redemption for King Kohli, redemption for a lot of the RCB fans. Finally, they could say,

[00:01:07] Eesala Kap Namdu, which the women had already said last year. They said that once, yeah, on the women's side. Yeah, so congratulations to them. The only thing I think on this podcast, what we should remember, guys, is it was the 18th year and Virat Kohli's jersey number is 18. So luckily for us, Akshar Patel's jersey number is 20. So we wait another two years. So you're saying it's not even 2026? It's not even 2027.

[00:01:31] All right. Varun, let's talk about it. Like when you saw, you saw those scenes last year with him and Rohit in the, in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa and like the emotion. Then this was kind of a weird one where Hazelwood was bowling to Shushak and it four, with four or five balls left, it became mathematically impossible. And the moment that happened, you saw him like almost immediately tears start to fill up Virat's eye.

[00:01:56] Like it, walk me through that kind of, those kind of last moments and how somehow this was not about Rajat Patidar or Josh Hazelwood or anybody else. This was about the one man who has played for the same franchise for 18 years. Like talk me through that kind of last over emotion for you. Yeah. The only man who has played for the same franchise for 18 years, it's like RCV equals Virat Kohli. Like some of these guys have even been born when Virat Kohli started playing for RCV.

[00:02:26] Like web of Sudivanshi, right? That's how he was born quite a lot after. Like four years later. That's how, how long he has been waiting for this trophy. I think the scary thing is they have lost in situations like that before. And I think that we spoke about it in the last, last episode, the last, last episode, we talked about DNA and we talked about Punjab versus RCV is going to come down to the DNA of who can hold them off.

[00:02:56] And yes, it's a new team, but you can't help but feeling that, you know, it's until it's mathematically ruled out that a win is possible. Right. So I think when, you know, just before the mathematical equation kicked in, you saw, he looked to his right on the boundary and his friend was standing there. AB de Villiers and they both kind of did a fist bump.

[00:03:21] And I think the ball after that is when it became clear that RCV has now won this, barring any weird no balls. And so I just think it, like, it takes over that emotion, right? Because in the morning of you're dreaming about what will I do when we win? But as the game progresses, remember on a, on a belter of a surface, 191 or something. The hip, it's a little short. Every expert says they're 20 to 15 to 20 short.

[00:03:50] So, yeah, man, I mean, we'll walk through the celebrations and all, but it was just a great feeling because the thing about sport is like you could play an entire career being number one and not having won a trophy. Right. And Kohli has won three in the last 12 months. So just think about it. If Kohli had just retired 12 months earlier, he would have retired without a trophy. But it's just, it feels magical. Yeah, it was designed, it almost like is the perfect story, right?

[00:04:18] Like at this point, this, this was it. This is what he needed. This was what was missing. But before we go into the details of the game, you specifically mentioned 190, a little bit short. Talk to me a little bit about the player of the match and the role that he played. Like, has it been an accident? The IPL goal. I had to bring him up quickly. I was mocked for this. Four trophies. You should still be mocked for it.

[00:04:46] There's a whole click info article about how he's a goat now. Are you serious ghostwriting for Sid Monga? Was that you who wrote that article? I mean, Kronal Pandya, man, just turned the game. Like, talk about a big match player. And I think he's the only guy who has got two man of the matches in IPL finals. So he's done this before. Incredible.

[00:05:09] And he made a statement after saying, I told my brother that there's going to be nine trophies in 11 years or something. And I went crazy doing the math. Like, I actually pulled out Google and my calculator. And I was like, how does this math work? But apparently checks out, right? So they have nine trophies. Kronal Pandya, man, he just turned the game. He just understood the pitch, slowed it down, bowled the right lengths.

[00:05:35] And that was the match-winning performance for me. Like, in my head, I was betting that this is going to be Bhovi. Like, it's going to be the Bhovi show and he's going to be the man of the match. But Kronal Pandya, I just did not expect that. But he turned the season around when they beat Delhi. With the bat that time, right? And then he turned it around in the finals where he did it with the ball. And that's the thing about all-rounders.

[00:06:03] When they, like, a good all-rounder is priceless. We've known this for a long time. And, yeah, he's been second fiddle to his brother for a long time. But on the night, he showed up. He really did. All right, let's quickly run through what happened in the playoff stages. I'm only going to spend time on the last two games. It feels, with the pace of how the cricket calendar goes, the final was four or five days ago at the time of recording this. But it feels like it's already been months. We've already seen a Karunayar double century and a Rahul century

[00:06:32] and Jharel making runs and all of these things. But let's just talk through it, right? So remember, Punjab and RCB were one and two. Very disappointing sort of first qualifier from the Punjab team where they made 101 and RCB finished it in 10 overs. So RCB jumped straight to the final. Punjab knew they would have to play again. But that's the thing with coming first and second. You get a second shot. Mumbai thrashed Gujarat 228. A good chase by Gujarat fell short. And then you had Mumbai versus Punjab in that second qualifier.

[00:07:02] DJ, let's talk about that match really quickly, right? So Mumbai batted first, made 203 runs. Punjab was chasing. Started okay, right? But Prabh Simran and Priyanch, who you've relied on so much. This has been arguably a top-heavy side, just like Gujarat and a few others. 13 for one, 55 for two. And then Josh Inglis, who was looking really good, also got out. Shreyas Ayer, 87 of 41.

[00:07:30] But that scoreline doesn't quite do justice because he was batting fairly conservative with until about 10 balls left in that innings. And then Nehal Vadera, who, along with Namandhir, actually, has probably been one of the finest middle-lower order batters in this series. I mean, DJ, it feels like our memories are so short. Liv Bukashreas has now lost the final. But what an absolutely magnificent performance to get his team into the final. Is that fair?

[00:07:59] Yeah, it was outstanding. I think the internet was lit up by that ball from Bumrah, which was a Yorker, which, like, Shreyas played with quarter of a bat for a four. By the way, have you seen that he did that exact thing to Bumrah? I think it was, like, eight years ago. Okay. Okay. I haven't seen that piece. Yeah, there's a great clip of Bumrah bowling. A much younger Bumrah. Why don't you probably see that? Much younger Bumrah bowling a Yorker to Shreyas. And Shreyas just kind of hitting that same job.

[00:08:28] So he was prepared. Yeah, I have seen it. I'm surprised DJ hasn't seen it because he's watching Shreyas at the Mumbai T20 League. Batting left-handed, basically. After this podcast, just get out and stir that. That one will come off very quickly on your iPad. Yeah. Shreyas are here. They play for Mumbai at Ranji level, right? So they probably come across each other a fair amount, generally and domestically. Or maybe not. Does Bumrah play for Gujarat?

[00:08:57] He must be playing for Gujarat, not Mumbai. Yeah. Sorry. I should probably know this part. I don't even know Bumrah's home state. I don't think he's played Ranji cricket. Why would he, man? You have to wrap him in war. He can't even play all the test cricket he's being given these days. But, I mean, that shot was incredible in a tournament where over a thousand sixes have been hit. Lots of people were saying that that was the shot of the tournament.

[00:09:22] But the extension of the arms, I mean, he just took those Mumbai bowlers apart towards the end. Every ball, like he knew where it was coming and it was going for six. He just kept extending the arms and the ball just kept going for six. He was really pissed. He gave us one of the moments of the IPL when he was really pissed with, I think, Shashang Singh. It was so good. And Shashang has since done another interview, by the way, where he said he should have yelled. He should have slapped me is what Shashang said. Yeah, I think it was yesterday. But Shashang has said, Shashang should have slapped me.

[00:09:51] Yeah, because Shashang did the interview saying, watch us, we'll be top of the table. And I'll come back on your podcast. And so Shashang's always welcome on our podcast to predict when Delhi's going to win. But that was another moment of the IPL. And then it set up, it's fair, right? Like having the top two teams play the final. Well, it's almost the right result in a way. And I'm sure somebody's done the stats on this. But there are very few teams, I think, that have won the IPL from being third and fourth, I'd expect.

[00:10:19] Because just the grind of getting that extra game in. And I'm sure that match will be interesting to see as to who, how many teams have won the IPL after winning the playoff one or qualifier one, right? And I'm sure that break that you get almost like half a week or a week time, I think it makes a big difference. So it did set up a grand finale against team one and team two on Tuesday. So yeah, back to you. Yeah, really well said.

[00:10:49] And I mean, just a phenomenal knock by Ayer. Varun, I saw a tweet that I could have sworn you wrote, which was that in 2024, Shreya Sahir won the trophy for Veer. And in 2025, you came this close to winning it for Zara. And of course, that's a Sharuk Khan and Preeti's hint reference. Yeah, I saw that. I saw that, yeah. That's pretty good.

[00:11:13] So, of course, at this point, we're set back up for an RCB versus Punjab Kings final. RCB batting first. Varun, walk me through the knock, right? You said 190, a little bit lacking. Nobody really stood tall, right? Varun batted well, but was batting? Man, I had a powdery ball. So it's one of those knocks where, in hindsight, won the match. Great, exciting. But in that moment, not a great knock, right? Spare a thought for Arshadip.

[00:11:42] By the way, Kyle, all of these guys bowled brilliantly. But going into the break at 190, what are you saying as, I guess, Rajat Patidar, but also Virat in the dressing room? What are you saying at 190? Do you really have hope? Do you think this is realistic? Or you just know that you've got to go out and give it your best shot? I mean, in the break, I was messaging my friend saying, if I was in the dressing room, I would be saying the biggest man on the ground is pressure. Right?

[00:12:10] And that's stolen from Justin Langer in the test when they're playing the Headingley test where Ben Stone sticks him apart. But the biggest man on the ground is pressure. And 191, 10 runs short, 15 runs short. In a final, you would probably say on par. And I think that's how I viewed it. It's just that the situation, the circumstances, the arena, the stage, right?

[00:12:37] That is what I think they would have gone out and said, we are above par, is how I think they would have approached it in the dressing room. And that we've got, you know, four overs of a Hazelwood, for example, is similar to what you talk of Boombra. Now, it's not the same, but Hazelwood has been performing. So, when you start thinking along those lines, I think they would have just been very, very positive out there. Also, don't forget they ripped Punjab in the previous time they played together. So, I just think they would have gone out with a lot of confidence.

[00:13:07] Yeah. And so, then DJ, talk me through that chase a little bit, right? And let's start with Shreyas. Obviously, Propsim and Priyanch made some runs, etc. Shashank had more to do and fell short. And I do think, by the way, if you're just looking at a scorecard, Shashank's knock is a little bit misleading. A lot of people are saying, oh, just one hit short and this and that. But he hit 22 of the last four balls. And that's because Josh had the breath to just run in and not bowl it in.

[00:13:35] Like, with four balls left, they were very clearly, if there's no no balls or wide, the RCB win. So, Josh, of course, Josh wouldn't have given the three sixes and a four in the last four balls. Let's be clear. But we spent so long talking about Shreyas. And then he comes out and to the, I'm going to call him a part-time baller, but to Romario Shepard, gets out for one. I mean, this is what makes this game so hard. You can't show up and perform day after day. And that's what makes the great so great.

[00:14:05] But is it, I mean, yeah, how do you feel if you're Shreyas at this point? Got your team into the final, fist bump, gave all kinds of expletives to Shashank in the previous game that went viral. So, and then couldn't do it in the big moment, right? Yeah, really difficult. I think he had a, he only had a couple of days, right, to recover or maybe even one day to recover from that fabulous knock against Mumbai Indians. I think he said he only had four hours sleep.

[00:14:32] From that high to come back down and to refocus yourself, do the press conferences where one guy says, oh, it's like any other game. One guy says it's like a final, there's mind games happening. He's also the captain. He's got to take care of all of that. So, I mean, it also showed the over-dependence on Shreyas in a way, right? Like, he'd been fantastic throughout the tournament. Of course, you mentioned Nehal, whatever. He was really good, but he didn't really come good.

[00:14:58] And remember, Punjab have never won a tournament batting first. And RCB have never won a tournament batting second. So, either way, this was going to be a first in some way for one of the teams. But it was kind of anticlimactic because they would have relied on Shreyas to come up with at least a 50. They had to win, right? When you look back at Chesing 190, you want your number four, number five to chip in with decent scores.

[00:15:28] The Shashaf knock is, I don't want to say it, but like it's been 15 minutes, 24 seconds. I've mentioned it's a bit of like an MSD knock, right? I actually thought you would mention him when Varun said only one player has played for the same team for 18 years. You would have said Thala would have if not for the team being banned. He probably would have. He probably would have. Also, Thala didn't captain the second season at Tarpiers. So, the Supergiant really don't like their captain.

[00:15:56] So, I look forward to welcoming Vishap Khan back next year to Delhi. There's a hot tick if I've ever heard what you think. Vishap not only is not captaining, but it's going to move back to Delhi next year. There is going to be all kinds of chaos next year. And also, sorry, I was like if Punjab had won this. Don't you remember the comment that Vishap made after the auction saying, thank God, not Punjab? That was terrible, man. Like, why would you say that? It was just such bad taste.

[00:16:27] By the way, regardless of the fact that they didn't win, they reached a final in L.S. They didn't even come close. So, it doesn't matter. It was great. Anyway, so, back to the air question. Really unfortunate that he didn't click. But that's it, right? Big match. We want your big players to step up and score those runs. Unlucky for Punjab fans who I don't know very many of, but I know Rohan has been on the show before. He'd be pretty upset. All right. Let's take a very quick break.

[00:16:55] When we come back, we will talk a little bit about the rest of the IPL and then preview what's coming next for Team India. And we'll do a full deep dive into our upcoming test series next time. But we'll take a very quick break. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast. We're at One Tip, One Hand on all the social medias.

[00:17:22] If you're on YouTube, if you're on YouTube live right now, leave us a message or hit that like button, hit that subscribe button as always. Right? So, Varun, we got to it a little bit. But talk to me about the whole reaction, right? It was less about the actual win as much as it was about camera pans to Anushka. Virat celebrates.

[00:17:43] Then, by the way, he makes what is an interesting comment and saying it's still five levels below test cricket, which is an important comment in terms of like the youth and wanting to motivate young cricketers in India to still play test cricket. But how did you feel all of that kind of went down at the end? And was it just that pure and unadulterated joy that you had thought? Was it more a relief than anything for Virat that he gets to fight? Like now he can hang up his boots in all formats. Not that he will, but now he could. But Bia, talk to me about those moments at the end.

[00:18:14] Yeah, so it, hot take here. No, true take here. I mean, I was watching it. It felt like I was watching the Kohli show and it was like him and this trophy. And it felt like he was singing, Tujmai Rab Dikhta Hai. The trophy. The second Bollywood reference. That's the only thing that's going on. It was just Virat Kohli and the trophy. And there was, everything else was a blur. Like, it just left confetti behind all these RC players, everything. I've said it again. It was a one bad show.

[00:18:44] He, everyone just kind of came towards him and they were, you know, hugging him. And the camera was only on him. Nobody showed anything else. When he was looking for Anushka, when he was looking for AB, when he ran to hug AB, when by the way, everyone was like Punjab at one, he would have just gone. But Gail is paying for Punjab also, right? That's the thing. He would have just like changed his jersey and they're like, you know, bro.

[00:19:13] That would have been a good one. You know, and then when Ravi Shastri came, how he ran to him like a child. And it was just a Virat Kohli show, man. And everyone in their speech was just like, yeah, we've done it for Virat. And it takes you back to 2011 where Virat is saying we've done it for Sachin. So occasion was not as big, but I think the lack of having a trophy for 18 years just made this so much more special. And yeah, I guess he deserves it in some sense.

[00:19:41] Like he's, he's been the true brand ambassador for Indian cricket. In fact, I was reading yesterday or today morning that two, two interesting things. One, I think the first time in many years, no fans have showed up to the UK London airport, right? When the team has arrived, no fans have showed up. And the second thing I read is the ECB is actually lowering prices for the first test because nobody's really. Yeah. So it's just very interesting. And it shows you the power of Kohli.

[00:20:09] Like, can you imagine people are not buying tickets? I mean, DJ, I don't know if you're going for the first test, but I'm, I don't know where it is. So the first London test, if, you know, I don't know if you're going, but I know that if Kohli was there, you would definitely be going. I wouldn't have. No, no, I am going for the Lord's test and the Oval test. Yeah. But yeah, that's interesting. I hope you didn't buy day four and five. Like with the decomposition of this team, it may not last for. Listen. No, they're going to have a long batting lineup tomorrow.

[00:20:39] Yeah. Shardul, right? Shardul's going to score. Shardul and nine. Oh, geez. DJ, let me ask you. Yes. Yes. The King Kohli show. We often talk about, and Shreyas gets overlooked last year a little bit, which is absolutely unfair, but he does, right? KKR retained what a lot of people are calling the wrong IER last year for a large amount or spent a large amount of money on him. Talk to me about Rajat Patidar, right? Right.

[00:21:07] 312 runs this season, average of 24, strike rate of 140. Not his best season, but the bat nowhere close to it. And yet, I mean, captain aside that has struggled for 17 years under a variety of different captains, they've never made it. They've never lifted the trophy. And under Rajat Patidar, they did. I mean, how much kudos does he get? How much work is Virat still doing on the field, but not like, what's your read on Rajat?

[00:21:36] I mean, yeah, at the moment, I think you're looking at the Kohli show in a way. And it's right as well for it to be the Kohli show, to get up every year, year after year, with the Chennai and Mumbai fans probably mocking you with your ESC and motto. It's hard. It's not easy to give everything on the field, have three finals where you've lost, get into a fourth final, finally win that one.

[00:22:07] But Rapa, I mean, like when you look in the history book, in the end, who's the winning captain? It's going to be Rajat Patidar. It won't be Anil Kumblay. It won't be Virat Kohli. It won't be Faf Duplicy, who was the captain, I think, last year. I'm trying to think if there's anybody else that's captained them that I can remember, but I don't think I can. Maybe Vittori, but no, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Vittori definitely played for them. But it's, I mean, Rapa just brought that little bit of calmness.

[00:22:35] But he's not an international P20 player. He did burst onto the scene in the P20 game, right? With that cracking hundred that he made two or three years. But he just brought that little bit of calmness. Let's not be mistaken. The break, unscheduled break in the middle of the IPL for the India-Pakistan tensions did help. This team particularly, Rapa had an injury. He could play as an impact player. Hazelwood had a bit of a niggle. He came back.

[00:23:05] Obviously, they're all here for the World Test Championship final, which we will totally ignore because India's not playing. That's the way it should be. No. But Rapa, I think, he was good on the field. He played a couple of crucial knocks to win them games. But it was also getting the best out of all the other players. They also fed into the auction, right? So, they seemed to have a very good auction. They got someone like Kronal.

[00:23:33] So, I mean, it's getting everybody to give off their best. And often, it doesn't have to be your best player who's doing that. So, Rapa's leadership, as you say, very underrated. But, I mean, winning an IPL for a franchise which is as big as the RCB. I think, kudos to him. Two more things. I think the Ahmedabad crowd that wept with Kooli on the 19th of October 23. Kind of nice to see them celebrating with Kooli.

[00:24:03] Obviously, the World Cup is nothing to be compared with the IPL. But still, and then, of course, shock and condolences for the people that were injured and lost their lives in that RCB celebration. Which, I mean, frankly, is pretty shocking, right? So, it's not been a great week for the franchise from that front. So, I mean, it's also a somber note to the celebrations. Yeah, really well said.

[00:24:33] It did definitely mar the celebrations a little. And, as DJ said, our condolences for lost lives. I mean, just the last thing you want with anything to do with sport or celebration. So, really disappointing and sad to see. Varun, as we wrap up kind of IPL conversation for 2025, where does RCB, where does Virat go from here, right? Like, he's hung up his boots now in two of the three formats for Team India. He obviously hasn't said anything yet.

[00:25:02] Didn't really want to make a statement or anything. But do you expect, will Virat play for RCB in IPL 2026? Or is this about as good a note as he can go off? No, I mean, he will definitely play for RCB in IPL 2026. I see another three to five years. I also saw a meme where they said, you know, Virat Kohli didn't give up butter chicken to retire from TESA 36. So, he's going to play. There's something more than…

[00:25:32] There's politics involved, in my opinion, for his test retirement. Yes, he's not been performing. Nobody's doubting that. But I still think the team is better off with him. But either way, I think for me now, the biggest question on Kohli is, can he get to 2027 October without Gautam Gambit throwing him out of the ODI side? One second. Before you get to ODI, I want to just make sure I heard you right and repeat it for the record on camera. Is your hot take that Virat is not done in whites for Team India?

[00:26:02] No, he's done in whites. I'm not happy that he's not done in whites. No, there are people who are saying he may come back and unretired and all that. So, I truly want to… He will not come back if Gambit is dead. So, that's why… If India loses to England 5-0, Gambit might lose his job and Virat maybe… That one can only hope, my friend. One can only hope. You don't hope for an India 5-0 loss. I mean, I hope that Virat Kohli comes back. If India has to lose 5-0 for that to happen, then that's a byproduct.

[00:26:31] That's a hot take and we are not going to preview the full test series on this episode. DJ, do you agree? Do you disagree? Where's your head up now? Kohli is not coming back. I don't think he's coming back. No chance. There's no chance. I mean, after the fanfare with the team and Cena off, there's no chance. I actually think Kohli is done for IPL too. He's going to wait a little bit, but he's going to retire, focus on ODI. You don't think he's going to come back next year? I don't think so. I'm happy wrong. I think he'll come back. I think he's got a couple of years of IPL in him because it's just been mega auction, right? What did he want to do?

[00:27:01] He's been playing for 18 years, dude. So what is Thala? Why is Thala there? But Kohli did say he's not going to play. You're asking the right question on Thala for me. Thala is like what, seven years older than Kohli? Yeah, so maybe Kohli will be like, I want to be there for the fans and all that stuff. Yeah, but Kohli said he's not going to do impact player. He was clear about that actually. Yeah, what is your thought of that, by the way? That was a big dig at his, Rohit Sharma and his colleague, right? Did you hear that, Kohli?

[00:27:31] Yeah, but Kohli's fitter than most people are, like in their 20s. That's what I'm saying, but he's fit enough to play T20s for India and Tests for India too. Yeah, but T20s, I think his game was, it was not keeping up with the pace of what a 21-year-old was doing for the game. Or 14-year-old just did. But how is that, that's the same point for IPL, right? IPL is 10 teams or 8, whatever number of teams, and he's consistently hitting 500 plus, 600 plus runs.

[00:28:01] So he's not keeping anybody out. Like he's not, like he's keeping swastika somebody out from RCB, which I don't think anybody really cares so much to see him. I, I mean, I don't, I would love to see him back. I feel like the record's the state. And I think he walks into the side. He's a phenomenal player. He scored over 600 runs yet again. I'm not sure he has the motivation anymore. That's my point. It's like, this was it. Like he needed to, he needed to get this trophy. It was the one thing missing. I think, so there's a, there's an element of like, does he have the drive to get back?

[00:28:30] Now, maybe like Thala has done, he may come, I can say, I'm doing my fans want me. I do this for the fans. The energy that comes when I'm in the Chinnaswami. Great. Got it. Totally fair. It's not about whether he deserves it. It's just about his, that drive and motivation. To be honest, the one thing missing for him is actually the world test championship. Yeah. He's given that part. That's the only thing that's missing from his trophy cabinet. If you think about it, he's got everything else that he could get. And the WTC is the only thing that's missing.

[00:29:00] So we won't talk about it. All right, guys. Great IPL. Congratulations to Virat. We will see in the next 10 months, nine months, I guess it's nine months away from restarting. Whether he comes back or not. Very quickly, we're going to preview the India-England series next week. But Varun, let me just ask you about this. I'm feeling a bit depressed. I wasn't even thinking that he would come back. It's across my mind. I hope I'm wrong. But what is it? He's talked about wanting to spend more time with family, raising his two kids.

[00:29:28] He's got nine and a half months of the year in London. Except for ODIs. Now he's going to play ODIs to try to stay fit till 27. And that's why he's trying to say that they're going to throw out ODIs. Anyway, it's a discussion for a longer day. If he doesn't play in any format for India, I can see him saying, yeah, we'll go spend three months here in Bangalore and play IPL. No question. But as long as he's trying to play ODIs, I'm not sure. Anyway. DJ, let's quickly talk about this India-A versus England Lions.

[00:29:58] So it started so fast after the IPL. Many of the teams, the guys who were not playing in the final or in the playoffs even flew pretty early. And it started with Garud and I are hitting a double. And everybody's minds exploded like, oh my gosh, he's back. And then very quickly, India made 550 and England came in with 580. And you realized, okay, these guys are batting on a road. I think nine guys crossed 50 runs in that match. Three guys from England win centuries.

[00:30:23] So do you read much into that type of a knock or on a pitch where everybody's making runs? Is it less impactful than Garud made a double? No, I don't think it is actually. I think runs are runs. And I mean, the guy's got a triple hundred in test cricket. He's got, I don't know, 800, 900 plus runs in the domestic season. He's got eight, seven, eight, I don't know. He had a cracking season.

[00:30:51] He's done his selection chances no harm whatsoever by putting on another double hundred. Who else got runs for India? But one second. Tom Haynes made 171. Max Holden made 101. And Dan Moosley made 113. These are not guys who are in the setup for India. But he's not competing with them for his part. No, fair. I'm just... He's done his made eight. He's done his made seven. Yeah. He's not competing with Tom Haynes for his part. No, it's fair.

[00:31:19] I'm just saying it was such a road that these guys got to bat on. Which makes Jasper and Isler even worse. But that's the point. You can only do what you can do. You're given the bowling. You're given the pitch. You're given. You're not choosing those bits. But you've got to put the work in. And then you've got to show the run. Like if it got five and you've given it away. That's... Then you're discussing whether he's batting four or three for India. Or five for India in the test match, right?

[00:31:48] I actually think that knock is... Along with Rahul's knock in the other game. I think that's... Those are the two shining lights for me in that... In the prep piece. But Nail, man, like what comeback is... Barun, KL Rahul flies into England. I mean... 116. I mean, he's trying to... I think he would have walked into the 11 anyway with the absence of Rohit and Kohli. Now there's no doubt, right?

[00:32:17] Yeah. I mean, there's no doubt. He would have played anyway. He's just on this high, I think, coming off the IPL as ODI... Yeah, his ODI form. And I think... I feel lucky that KL Rahul is there actually in this Indian setup today. Because I think Jaeswal is... It's going to be tough. Like, I think Jaeswal has the mental strength to fight it in England. But DJ said it as well, right? England is one of the hardest places to bat. And Jaeswal has not got that sanctioned in four innings that he's played.

[00:32:47] In fact, he's just got out in the second innings of the second game. So, I think having KL Rahul is great. And I do agree with DJ. I think Karun Nair and Gail are going to be the number three or four in whatever order they choose to do that. And personally, I think it's fair. Karun Nair, reward him for what he's put in and the runs that he scored in the domestic season and here. So, I personally don't think Asahi should have been ahead of me.

[00:33:15] And by the way, Jaeswal has been brilliant but has played 19 tests. Gail, our new test captain, has played 32. We forget, but Rahul has played 58 tests, right? Like, that experience, whether it's all been successful or not, that experience counts for a lot. Yeah, and centuries in England. I mean, I think Gail's average in England is 14 or something I was reading. So, it's fine. There's difference in captaincy, experience, bowling. So, everything needs to come with it. But yes, I think we're lucky that Rahul is there.

[00:33:44] I think Jaeswal needs that mental strength to fight through. And I think Karun and Gail are going to be the three and four. The challenge with Rahul is that he just needs to maintain that form as he goes through the series. Because he seems to have great starts to series. And then it sort of falls away a little bit. He had that, he had 100 last time at Lord's Tenteri Dubai. First two test matches. Trenbridge and Lord did it pretty well. And then kind of fell away a little bit. And then same with Australia.

[00:34:11] I did well in the perth test, but then kind of fell away a little bit. So, he starts off looking really tight and like really focused. But I think a long test series really takes it out of Rahul first. So, for him, it'll be like, it's kind of like the Samsung challenge, right? Like how Sanju Samson starts off really strong and then fades away. It's like a test version of that, but for Kail. Yeah. All right. Well, we're going to get deeper into all things India versus England in our next episode. But at the time of recording this, Rahul is batting, right? So, we will find out.

[00:34:41] He's on 17 of 23 as I speak. But we'll find out if he can put it up, put up some runs in the second innings as well. That brings us to a wrap, guys. Varun, I know it's late for you. So, go get some sleep. Congratulations to King Kohli and RCB and every RCB fan who has persisted with the team and the King for 17 and a half years until they got something to celebrate. That's the end of another IPL season. It's been great getting to relive and cover with all of you guys. And before we know it, Test Cricket is around the corner. So, five matches against England.

[00:35:12] We are at one hand on all the socials. If you're on YouTube, leave us a comment. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. We read and try to respond to all the comments. And we'll be back next week. This is the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast signing off.