Shubman Gill is India’s new Test Captain

[00:00:08] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Edges & Sledges Cricket Podcast. I'm your host Ashwin. We are joined by both DJ and Varun. We have a full house for the first time in a few weeks. Jets, how are you doing? Varun, let me start with you, man. It's getting to that fun part of the IPL. We've had a test squad announced around the corner of an India-England series. We've got a lot to talk about, but how are you doing?

[00:00:31] I'm good. I feel like we always say it's just coming to the fun part of the IPL. This is, I think the first time IPL would have touched four different months. And I know that Ashwin and I were talking about it a month ago that said, you know, the IPL will eventually become a four, five, six month tournament, but there is a little bit of fatigue, I have to say. It's not possible to stay up this late. And I think that mid-break, the mid-season break just kind of broke that momentum a little bit.

[00:01:00] But yeah, like you said, playoffs are coming. And I think today, three of us are here together. We've made an effort because it's time to crown the new king. So that's why the three of us have tried our best after a very long time to come together. Yeah, I love it. DJ, let me quickly ask you, you know, I know the IPL has been hard for you this year. You have a newborn at home, things in general parts of life.

[00:01:23] But has it also been a little bit of, hey, the playoff spots were decided or the four teams that make the playoff spots were decided seven games left in the season. And there's a test series coming. And as Varun said, an eight-day break sort of broke the momentum. We're used to these blitzes and suddenly the pause we weren't quite used to. Was it a little bit of all of that or what are you feeling? Are you feeling the IPL fatigue as well?

[00:01:51] Yeah, I have to say, it's been difficult following the IPL with the breaks. And yeah, as you said, there's a bit of personal stuff as well at the moment. But I actually think I've started to, and when do I do turn it on, right? Like, and I was enjoying the IPL. I was enjoying Delhi Capitals doing pretty well. But there is, I feel there's a bit of sameness to these games where people are chasing 200 plus on a regular basis.

[00:02:19] And for me, that impact player rule, I think it just has to go. Because it's made these games quite samey in a way where, like, Sunrisers the other day put on 200. And yesterday, they put on 278 for three. Klassen got a 37-ball 100. It doesn't feel special for a person to score a 137 ball. It's happened twice this season. Of course, the first one was by the 14-year-old, which made it interesting. It's almost like you need something really super novel like that for it to make news.

[00:02:48] Like a Klassen 37-ball 100 five seasons ago would have been bonkers. But it's just like, yeah, meh, okay, cool. So I think we've got a bit, what's the right word for it? And maybe it's been so long that we've done this together. I've actually forgotten. I think we've got, like, desensitized. Yeah, to the moments and stuff. Yeah, it's been a bit strange. Yeah, very interesting. Which is actually why, amidst the IPL, we are going to spend the second half of the show talking about the playoff teams, of course.

[00:03:16] But many of you have tuned in to hear us talk about, as Varun said, and I'm not sure I would use the same language, but I'll use his words for now. Team India test cricket is crowning a new king. And of course, by that, I mean there's a new skipper in charge. We talked about Rohit's retirement. We actually talked about Kohli's retirement as well. But Varun, surprised, disappointed, excited. What was the first kind of emotion when you saw that announcement? Or, by the way, yeah, predicted.

[00:03:45] What was the first emotion when you saw Shuman Gil get announced as test captain? I mean, the second Rohit retired, I said Gil is the captain. And, you know, on all my cricket WhatsApp groups, everyone's like debating Bumrah versus KL versus Pant versus... I don't know, there was another name thrown in. And I was just like, Gil is the captain. Like, it's what India does. It's what we know.

[00:04:07] And I think the reality is, if Bumrah was going to play every test match or even 80-90%, I think it was a straight shoe-in. But I think Agarkar has even come out to say Bumrah will not play all five. And the rumor is that he will play only three. So, in that situation, you've got the start-stop captain changing midway. So, I think I'm good with the decision, to be honest. We'll talk about who the other contenders were.

[00:04:35] But let me just stop there by saying I think I predicted it and I'm good with the decision. I think the one thing I want to talk before I come to DJ is... So, the fourth name thrown in the mix was actually by DJ, which he got subbed for, which was Jaiswal. I want to... The point that he made, which is very interesting and is true, is at the day of selection, of Shubhman Gil's selection as India test captain, he is averaging 35.06. Okay?

[00:05:02] He has averaged 16.5 in the one test he's played so far. 43 last year. 28 in 2023. 29 in 2022. 29 in 2021. It's not a one bad season. It's caused a blip. He seems to be in that 30, 35 range. As far as I could tell, at the time of appointment of Azhar, you know, many of our test captains, let's say, I don't have all the numbers in front of me, but many of them, nobody averaged as low as 35.

[00:05:30] So, that was the point DJ and I were discussing last week. What is your take for it on the fact that as a batter, he hasn't really shown himself. He's not... Virat is going to retire at 46 after five very, very bad years by his standards. So, what is your take on that? Yeah, look, that's the whole debate, right? And people have been saying Gambhir has picked somebody who has a similar test average to him in England. And I think Gil didn't play the Brisbane test. And there's a whole bunch of chatter on this.

[00:05:56] But in my view, like, you know, since we're talking about it, I personally don't think Kiel Rahul is a captain material. I think he's just happier now. You've seen him this season. I... Rishabh Pant, the other major contender, it was always going to be a toss-up. But he just doesn't have that temperament. So, then you're looking at a guy who you think is going to be the future. You think he is going to be part of the playing 11 for a long time. He's actually been playing for five years.

[00:06:25] So, I don't disagree with what you guys are saying. I just think from the pool of cricketers that they had, I think... I think this was the only decision. I'm choosing my language carefully. I'm not saying I think it was the right decision. I think this was the only decision. DJ, let me come to you. So, this was obviously your point. The announcement happened after we last spoke. Were you surprised? Or do you think it was predictable, but you're still not totally convinced on him? And honestly, maybe he has to prove himself in your eyes as well.

[00:06:55] Yeah, I mean, I don't think there was surprise. I think the chatter was all about Shuman Gail taking over the captaincy. I think there was... I don't think there was doubt on that. I think the only question was, would Bumrah kind of be the captain for most part? And rested and then could have Shuman kind of step into that. But it is disappointing, I must say, for Bumrah, right? Like he's a... He captained us in that Perth test match.

[00:07:21] He's captained us in that last test match in England, which was replayed after COVID and stuff. We won the single test match we won in Australia was under his captaincy. So disappointing, but understandable in terms of workload. He broke down in the Australian series in that fifth test match. He's coming back from injury. Yeah, so not a surprise, but... So I was reading somewhere that Kohli, when he got made captain, was averaging 39 point something.

[00:07:49] So not a million miles away. Again, the similarity was a fixture in the ODI squad. Almost an ODI great on his way. Similar to Gil, in a way. I think Gil has to score those runs, right? He's played one test match in England. If I remember correctly, there was a World Test Championship final. Maybe he's played two test matches, both being World Test Championship finals. I don't think he's played a regular test match. He's played three matches in England.

[00:08:18] So he's played two World Test Championship finals. He played in Edgbiston, where he was... Caught Zach Raleigh, bowled James Anderson in both innings in 2022. Okay. And he played in the Oval, where he was bowled... Wait. That's the wrong one. Oh, no. He's only played two. You're right. For some reason, this stats website I'm looking at thinks the Kennington Oval, which is in Australia, is classified as England. So anyway. Yeah. Kennington Oval is in England, though. Like, that's the Oval test match. So why is he... Oh, sorry.

[00:08:47] That was the World Test Championship final. You're correct. Yeah. So it would have been. That would have been the one against Australia. Right. The one where the Cameron Green catch and like... Sam Ballin. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. But I think the other one he played was against New Zealand in 21, probably, because he opened the batting. Your memory is unbelievable. Yeah. That's correct. The Rose Bowl. So, but he hasn't scored runs in England yet. He scored a few runs in Australia. As Varun said, he was dropped.

[00:09:12] So his pressure will not be as captain because it's almost by default, his pressure will be to score those big runs because that's what India needs. And people will have an eye on what approach he goes with. Like, the Kohli was very much 20 wickets. We need fast bowlers. We need to get those wickets. He's kind of handicapped in a way with Shami not going, but we'll come to all of that. I think his bigger test is that as a test batter versus captaincy because that's kind

[00:09:41] of fallen to him. Yeah. Varun, let me ask you this very quickly. Last thing on Gil before we get to the squad. How much of an impact is he going to have on strategic decision making? You know, Kohli invested in quick bowlers. He wanted to play four quicks. All that. It didn't happen from test one. It almost never does. So how much do you see this England series, which starts in 23 days, by the way, 24 days. How much do you see this England series as being a test of Gil the captain versus Gambhir, the coach, will run it. Bumrah, former successful captain, will run it.

[00:10:11] And Gil will be focused on his batting and grow into that role as a skipper. Look, let's be very clear. Gambhir is going to run this side. From the second he's come in, I think he's just waited for when Rohit and Kohli will leave. He has not had success with them. From my perspective, no downside for him. If he loses in England, he's lost in Australia with the two greats, right? So I think it was very much maneuvered by Gambhir. I think Gambhir will call the shots.

[00:10:40] He will have an Agalkar to keep him in check. But let's face it, once you're on the field, Gil and Mumrah will be the two decision makers. Pant, of course, as vice captain, we should talk about that. But just my gut feeling is Gambhir is running this team now. Very interesting. All right, let's talk about the rest of the squad. DJ, as we get into it, let me start by asking you, this is a phrase I've used a lot over the years on this show, and I'm going to bring it up again. Well, I guess it's two parts.

[00:11:08] One is recency bias, and two is conflating the different forms of cricket. You knew I was going to ask about this. Because in the squad, of course, Gil... Sai Sudarshan. Gil is having a monster season. But then you have Sai Sudarshan. You've left out Arshdeep, because he's had a decent, but not a great... Now, Arshdeep is in. He's playing. He's in the squad. Oh, sorry. You've brought in Arshdeep. You've left out Arshdeep. Arshdeep, yeah. My notes are all over the place. You left out Arshdeep.

[00:11:37] Arshdeep has had not a great IPL. It's been okay. But what did he do to deserve being dropped? You've dropped Sarfraz. So as you start to think about the squad, what role has an IPL played in the last... I was going to say 12 weeks, but closer to 15 weeks at this point, to bias the selectors? Yeah, it's a very interesting question. Because I don't think Sai Sudarshan has a monster domestic record like Sarfraz. Right? Sarfraz got 250s.

[00:12:06] When he debuted, he got that 150-plus against New Zealand. And then first test before, it all went pear-shaped for India in the World Test Championship last cycle. Didn't really play in Australia. So what are you dropping him on the basis of? Like he didn't play a single game. He's never played in England really. So let's talk through the dropping, right? Like, I mean, Harshit, I kind of get it. He got dropped partway through the series. And Arshdeep brings a left-hand angle to stuff. So it's fine.

[00:12:36] He's played a bit of county cricket as well. So I get that. The Sarfraz dropping is slightly, I think, unfortunate for him. But again, Sarfraz was the Karan Nair of two seasons ago. Like just piling it on in the domestic season to get into the test side. So kind of battering that door down. So Karan is in. But Sarfraz is out. And then Sai Sudarshan, I mean, apparently the view on him is that he's the next big thing in Indian batting.

[00:13:04] But I mean, what about the likes of Rutturaj Gaikwad? Because he was touted to be one of these guys. He could bat up the order. Devdhat Padikal is another one that could… These are all guys that have been around for a while. Now, Sai Sudarshan is exciting. He's done well in the Gujarat Titans setup. Incidentally, the Gujarat Titans captain seems… has become the Indian test captain. I don't know whether that influences anything. Look, he's had a monster season in the IPL, right? And he's been magnificent.

[00:13:34] But whether that translates into test runs in possibly the hardest conditions to bat in in the world, I think the jury is out on that. But good luck to him. I think it'd be nice to see a left-hander succeed at what would be number three, right? It would be sort of Ganguly's… Yeah. Kind of… That's where Ganguly succeeded in your first test match that you guys watched. Yeah. Good memory. 1996. Listen, I didn't think about the Gujarat Titans point because you could argue Chahil's

[00:14:01] most successful white ball career was under Kohli's leadership, right? And from their time together at RCB, it translated into ODIs. Jadeja came into the setup under Dhoni. Like, there are things to be said for the level of visibility. Like, maybe they see something about the work ethic, the hard yards they're putting in, et cetera, that we don't always get to see. But as a skipper, you do. Varun, let me quickly ask you about Selfras. All the social media rounds were showing me how he's lost 10 kgs and is, like, putting on…

[00:14:30] Putting in a ton of effort, et cetera. What happened here, you think? I think he was asked to drop that rate in 2014 or 2016. It takes time, man. No, it's just… I think when your back is against the wall, that is when you'll take these drastic actions, right? And that's the difference between Kohli versus everyone else. He just did that every day. I… I… My view on Selfras is, I think, a little bit unfairly treated.

[00:15:00] But I feel like they see him as that batsman. Like the Omesh Yadav of test cricket, right? In India, he'll come and he will just play. But in overseas conditions, I feel like they've… They've just written him off. And I don't necessarily think that's fair. Selfras Khan is the Omesh Yadav of batting. Maybe my favourite line I've ever heard. All right. And we've also forgotten about Shreya Sayar, who's played, I think, the last World Test Championship back in…

[00:15:29] The last Test match India played was the World Test Championship final, I think, in England. And I think he played that. Also having a monster IPL season. Yeah, but he's clearly pissed somebody off. Somebody, yeah. So he's just out of the reckoning, right? He lost his central contract. I wonder who… I wonder who he's pissed off. A guy who claimed credit for his last IPL win. Who now happens to be the coach of India. Like, is it really that surprising who he is pissed off? Yeah, one sec.

[00:15:57] But just to be clear, I've been misspeaking my stats on this show, but he has gotten a central contract back this year. Okay. So Shreya Sayar… But he did play the… He did lose it, and now he's back. But he has played Test cricket in England before, right? Man, you're really testing my ability to find stats. Because I think he did play the Aussie World Test Championship final. Oh, and even the kind of rescheduled game, not Edgbaston, but like… I feel like… He played in Edgbaston.

[00:16:25] I feel like DJ should just confidently say it. Yeah. No, but then the comments will then later correct me. Because apparently I got something wrong last week about Kohli's first test at number four. And my cricketing knowledge was classified as appalling. DJ's been smart because he's making sure Ashwin gets the comment. Yeah, of course. He's played once in July of 22 in Edgbaston, which would have been… That would have been the rescheduled test, right? Yeah, I'm just trying to find the whole score. That would be the rescheduled test. England 1x7 wickets. Fifth test. Jadeja Century. Yeah.

[00:16:56] Johnny Berstow Century. Oh, man. Anyway. All right, guys. We've gone on for longer than I thought about this. DJ, let me quickly ask you about the rest of the squad. So let's go through the 11, or what I think will be the 11. And you tell me if you agree or not and how you're feeling about it, right? It is looking like Jaeswal and Rahul to open. How do you feel about that? I was expecting that. I mean, they are the incumbent openers in Australia. They did pretty well.

[00:17:23] The test match we won in Perth was built off the back of their opening partnership. KL Rahul's got hundreds. He's got runs overseas. Again, he was not even part of the captaincy discussion by the sounds of it. He's previously captained India in South Africa. I have no issues with KL Rahul opening the batting. But please, just like, tell him that he's the opener and don't open down the order to six in three test matches time. Because this guy's just been messed around with for too long.

[00:17:54] He can open the batting. He can bat three. I'm okay with either. Like, he's good enough to do both. Just don't say you're one day middle order, one day you're low. One day you're going to finish games for India in T20. One day you're going to keep Wicked for India in Oat. It's insane. And like he is like... Even in the IPL season, by the way, mid-season he stopped keeping. Porel started keeping. Then they'll ask him, Stubbs kept. I think it's because of how bad a fielder Porel is in the outfield, actually. I mean, he dropped some sitters. Okay, Varun.

[00:18:24] Let's show. Openers, pretty well locked. Jaswal and KL. I'm going to jump around to the things that I think are locked, so that we can spend time on the things that aren't. But Gail at four, Pant and Jadeja, call it somewhere in that five, six, seven. Fair? No questions? Yeah, I would say fair. And then Bumrah and Siraj 10 and 11. Yeah. Now let's talk about three and six. So your options sort of are Sai Sudarshan, if you walk him in right away into the first test match. Abhimanyu Ishwaran, who could play at three.

[00:18:54] Again, similar type of discussion on his. He's been around the squad for a while, but hasn't played for a while. And then at six, your options sort of are. It's too high for Shardul, obviously. Sorry. Karun Nair and Nitesh Kumar Reddy. What do you think, Varun? Do you think this becomes a squad again that plays multiple all-rounders? So you have Reddy Jadeja playing that six, seven spot that give you a bowling option? Or do you think they back somebody like a Karun who's earned? No.

[00:19:23] So here's my view. I think they will firstly bat till eight. Right? And that means Shardul bats at eight. That's my prediction. Those two statements are opposite. Shardul's not a batter. Hey, I still sometimes watch one straight drive off his in England. All right. And I'm just like, wow. So let's go. So number three, Sai Sudarshan. It's fine. Good. People come in. They choose their own players. This is just the way it goes. So you don't think Ishwaran has a shot?

[00:19:53] Do you think? No, Ishwaran is not going to play. Ishwaran is just doing a world tour and traveling. I mean, he's seen quite a lot of fun stuff. He's the captain of India A. And he's going to not play a single game. In fact, if somebody gets injured, they're going to fly somebody in and play them ahead of him. But Ishwaran will get great quality test time. Yeah. Net time. Yeah, he'll get great net time. So Ishwaran will not play. Sai Sudarshan is going to be his number three, in my opinion. And I think they will give Reddy ahead of Karun Nair. Because there was the bowling option.

[00:20:23] I mean, he's hit a century at MCG, right? So I just think that's how it'll go. Okay. So no question. Then seven, et cetera. And then we talked 10 and 11. So let's talk this eight, nine, 10 setup, right? Your options are Prasid, who I think walks in, DJ. Hits the deck hard. I think he walks in a world where Shami hasn't been picked because of fitness, which we didn't talk too much. And then I think, to Varun's point, I actually think at eight, you play Shardul. I think Chadeja can be your lone spinner at Headingley, at least in the first test.

[00:20:53] And you play Shardul at eight. I'm not so sure about this, the Reddy pick. Because if you have four full-time seamers, or call it three plus Shardul, and Chadeja, you need a Nitish Reddy option to bat. But honestly, he could walk in just for his batting. And that giving the bowling option is a bonus. DJ, thoughts on that kind of lower order? Yeah, so I do like the idea of playing Nitish Reddy. Because he's been classified, I think, in the selector's conference as a batting all-rounder,

[00:21:23] as opposed to Shardul, who's a bowling all-rounder. Look, we haven't won a series in England for a long time. Doing the same thing over and over again isn't going to change things. So it might be worth, actually, playing those extra all-rounders, playing a Jadeja, playing a Nitish, and playing a Shardul. And then building the rest of your team around that. Because Nitish, yes, he wasn't effective in Australia, but he's going to be effective in seeming, what should be hopefully seeming, conditions where the ball nibbles around.

[00:21:52] He's not an express bowler, but he'll be decent in English conditions, right? And like, so I do like the idea of playing those three all-rounders in the middle with Bumrah and Siraj to kind of bring that up. And I think Bumrah is not going to play all five test matches. I think a Prasid would then come in. I don't think pace is that much of a determining factor in England as it would be, say, in Australia with hit-the-deck.

[00:22:20] Because you do have Bumrah in the normal course, and Siraj has kind of rediscovered his mojo as well. Interesting, I think, where they go with that. But yeah, I would like India to play three all-rounders because you've seen games being turned by the likes of a Sam Curran coming and smacking it around, right? How many test matches have we seen him change in like half an hour, 45 minutes of smacking the ball around it? That's the 2018 series with all Sam Curran.

[00:22:47] So, I do like that Nitesh Kumar Reddy kind of taking the game to the opposition. It's a bit like what Pandya would have done previously, but obviously Pandya is not fit enough to play the longer format. So, yeah, I would like a Nitesh Kumar Reddy pick. Varun, closing thought, Prasid or Arshdeep is that third seam option. So, I mean, it's going to be controversial. It won't happen, but I would play Prasid, Arshdeep and Bumrah because I think Arshdeep gets that swing. You've got Siraj in India. In England?

[00:23:17] In England. No, Arshdeep gets that swing and they're going to rotate. Let's be clear. All four of them are just going to rotate across the five tests. So, all of them will get a chance. But my prediction is here is the age of kind of Prasid Krishna in test cricket starting, right? Like he has been on the fringe for a while. I think he bowls well. He hits the deck hard. He's got very nice action, great pace. I can't, I'm still going to see his swing,

[00:23:45] but I think this is where you start seeing a Prasid becoming a regular feature for India.

[00:24:19] Yeah. Gil could bat three. Gil has taken intent apparently to bat four. Okay. So, he said that he will be. Yeah. And now he gets to make the call. Jurel could bat four, right? Like Jurel could bat four. I have no issues with that. He's good enough to play this. He's played test cricket before. Rather than throw a Sai Sudarshan into the mix, I wouldn't mind starting off with a Dhruv Jurel, to be honest. So, but I'm a known Jurel fan, right?

[00:24:46] For me, actually, having three out-and-out seamers, as long as Shardul is bowling well enough, it doesn't add that much because you'll, hopefully the conditions will help medium pacers. So, Shardul I would classify as a medium pacer rather than. So, you're thinking three plus Jadeja plus Shardy? No, I'm thinking two. I'm thinking two plus Shardul plus Jadeja plus Reddy. Okay. So, Reddy will be a fourth seamer option. Interesting.

[00:25:15] I don't think Reddy can be your fifth bowler, but time will tell. We have an India, like I said, India A game coming up. Guys, we're going to take a very quick break. We will come back, talk a little bit about the run-up to the IPL playoffs. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast. Welcome back to the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast. All right. I have to start. I didn't go back and look,

[00:25:44] but I think this year we decided not to do individual playoff predictions. We decided to try to come up with a consensus. We didn't come up with a consensus, so we ended up going slightly different directions. But the three teams that were in all of our top fours were CSK, Rajasthan, and Sunrisers. Is that correct? Do you guys remember this? Did this feel fair? I feel like I said Punjab and RCB,

[00:26:14] but I could be wrong. Anyway, we can go back and check. We definitely said Sunrisers. We all said Sunrisers. I definitely said CSK. And I think I said Mumbai and Delhi. Those were my four. Because Mumbai was a crazy team. I think I'm pretty sure I said CSK, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Rajasthan. So I'm also one out of four. I think Varun was also one out of four. He might have had a slightly different approach. But guys, our four playoff teams were decided

[00:26:43] with seven matches to go, the earliest it has ever been decided. Now there's some drama on top two versus not, and it'll go down to the last two games, which are going to happen right as we wrap up recording this podcast. Varun, what are your thoughts? Has that taken a little bit of a zip out of the season? I mean, you cannot, I mean, you can script it, but on the assumption that this is not scripted, this is going to happen some years, right? And especially in a year where you had a break, it's going to happen. And Delhi, unfortunately,

[00:27:12] was the one team who could have tried to push it close and it just fell apart after that four in a row start. So thoughts on the impact of that to this whole season? To the break, you mean? No, just the fact that it's four teams. Seven blocked so early. Yeah, it's not happened before, is what I would say. We've been, you know, in this position where there's two games left, and today is going to decide who gets into the top four, and then tomorrow decides who's going to be in the top two. So, look, they've kept the magic alive.

[00:27:41] We still don't know who are the top two. But yes, for the first time, you kind of had Rajasthan and Chennai and Hyderabad just rocking up and being like, yeah, we're playing, you know, we're planning for next year. You could very clearly see with teams like CSK trying different orders, trying different people. So I think they are trying, but this year something just changed. It just doesn't have that magic that it used to have. Yeah, it's interesting. DJ, let me ask you quickly about this last run of the last three or four games

[00:28:11] that have just happened, where all the top teams, in their bid to try to solidify their top two spots, have lost their games after the bottom teams were eliminated, right? So let me just run through that really quickly. Delhi beats Punjab by six wickets, chasing over 200. CSK beats Gujarat by 83 runs. By the way, Devald Brevis has cemented his name in CS Code lore for the future. Hyderabad beats, oh, sorry, Hyderabad KKR was a run one. Hyderabad beats Bangalore by 42 runs.

[00:28:41] And Lucknow beats Gujarat by 33 runs. You had four results out of the last five games, though the last fifth match was a dead rubber. Four results that went counter to the favorites and has now made this a little interesting. Is it a nothing-to-lose mindset from these teams? Is it a nervy mindset from the guys who've made it to the top four? Why does this happen? I don't know the answer to that, man. It's been weird. It's been topsy-turvy. It's like,

[00:29:11] maybe some of the teams are trying to conserve some energy for the playoff stages. But it has been weird. CSK winning by 83 runs. I mean, they've won like four games a whole season. Yeah. It's been weird. RCB bottling it as well. GT had the chance to cement that top two spot yesterday. They bottled it. It's just like, none of them seem to want to

[00:29:40] make the IPL completely uninteresting. So they're all making sure that there's something to look forward to. Today's the last game of the league stage? Second last. Tomorrow. Okay. So, yeah. It just carries on. I don't have any answer why it's in this way. But, yeah. I mean, good for the teams that have been at the bottom and their fans to actually get a bit of something to smile about. I mean, DC, disaster season, to be honest. And when you look back,

[00:30:11] it all started to unravel after that loss against Mumbai, which would have been a win. Yeah. I think you, Ashwin, on this show said, Mumbai are going to get on an upper trajectory off the back of that. And I just go back to that moment where we're smacking it everywhere as Delhi fans. And we're like, yeah, we're going to win this easily. And you have three runouts and one over. And before that over, like I think Bumrah has just been hit for a six. You can see Hardik Pandya's shoulders just drop and he's just like, she's still calm, right? Like he's not throwing experience around.

[00:30:41] But what a turnaround for that team from like bottom of the table last year. Yeah, it's been a weird season. Delhi finishing fifth was a pretty average result, I guess. But if you asked at the beginning of the season, would he take fifth? Probably yes. Yeah, and to be very honest, I don't see anybody other than Mumbai at this point blitzing it. Now that I've said that, I've jinxed it. But they just look so solid. They're going to lose a couple of their guys at the top. But they're bringing in Johnny Berstow

[00:31:11] just for the playoffs. And you know, they're spending the money. They're willing to invest. I think they will see the results for it. Varun, let me ask you as we get into the playoff season. You have these sides. You have these two types of sides almost where you have such an insane level of over-reliance and over-development on your top three, maybe top four now that they've rotated a little. But I'm talking, of course, about Gujarat where the top two guys are number one and number two on the fight for that orange cap. I mean, Sai Sudarshan,

[00:31:41] 679 runs. Shubman Gill, 649. Just absolute dominance at the top. But the counter to that is when you get to 15 for three as is the nightmare for Indian fans, then your odds of winning the game probably drop to very, very low. Equivalently, you could argue Punjab has gotten here off the back of Priyansh, Prabh Simran and Shreyas. Shreyas has now moved himself to four to help smooth that out a little. Do you see a drift between these sides where you can back till six with like a Namandhir,

[00:32:11] et cetera, for Mumbai? Or do you see it all kind of playing out in the playoffs because these are one games and anything can happen? So for me, I actually see Gujarat having this problem but the other teams don't. Even if you think of Punjab, you've got a Nehal Wadera, you've got a Stoinis. So there are guys and Shreyas dropping to four. I think there's going to be like two factors here. One is history has not been great for teams where the top two or three

[00:32:41] have scored bulk of the runs in a long tournament. So we saw that last year with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, right? Stark got them out in the first over in both playoff games. Yeah. In the finals, sorry. So I think there's a big risk there and I have a feeling butler may not be there for the finals if they make it. So all the more cause for concern. And the second fact I'm going to say that's going to make a difference is just the DNA

[00:33:10] of RCB and Punjab, right? How do you overcome that losing streak of 18 years even though 99% of the players are new? How do you break that DNA and that tag? And so sadly when you think of both these issues there's only one team that emerges strong on both fronts. So I am really hoping that RCB and Punjab win this IPL. I'm very ready for a new team. But yeah, I think all of us

[00:33:39] kind of know where you're going. There's a very funny meme I think of the GB Fallon Show or something where three people are all saying please sit down please sit down and you've got Kohli, Shreya Sire and Gil's face and the thing is whoever sits first faces Mumbai Indians. So they're just like please sit, please sit. It's just I think it's the reality of what's going to happen. Yeah, I mean this is why I'm so nervous. I think safe to say for any neutrals meaning not Mumbai fans

[00:34:09] it would be nice to see a new team show up in RCB versus Pumkus. DJ, I have to ask you part of why I was, you know, I've been thinking about in the last three weeks or so why there's not that much discussion. Why haven't seen why have I not seen Virat that much, right? He had his retirement announcement, all the tributes, this, that. Then I realized and I don't know if you guys did too on the 3rd of May they played a game against CSK then there was a long break and then their first game back

[00:34:38] was washed out and so since the 3rd of May the RCB side has only played one game and that was just the Sunrisers where the Sunrisers made 233 or something you know Ishan Kishan made his 94 231 and so Virat made 40 odd runs but we should probably be sitting are we just are we just that scarred as fans we should all be sitting here saying this is his shot he's had a great season RCB has looked balanced they've looked pretty solid they qualified you know they've been hovering in the top few

[00:35:07] for quite a while they didn't qualify off of a freak run of five out of six or whatever they did last year things like that why are we not more excited about Virat it's just all of us as fans tempering our own expectations I think there's two things right like it's RCB fans have had a lot RCB have probably taken as much flack as Delhi fans over the years right for not performing well in the IPL some of the Punjab guys have managed

[00:35:37] to get away with it surely the LSG guys will soon join that like non-winning club but I don't know RCB I think they've lost a couple of players after the break which may be challenging for them Hazelwood I think is a big miss because obviously he's off for the world test championship final look I would like

[00:36:07] Kohli to win the IPL but that's because he's Kohli and I mean really he's a Delhi boy right so it's that would be that would be a just result I feel but I mean the most acceptable result I think for the neutral would be for Gujarat Titans to win because they've won it once they've got a new captain Gil well he came in last year and he's now the Indian test

[00:36:37] captain Mumbai will win it six times which will put them ahead of everybody else which makes it hard and like the fans will obviously be too happy and then Delhi will lose their companions in RCB and Punjab if one of those two new teams win right so that's where we are I think my I think the most acceptable result in all of these scenarios would either be for an RCB win or for a or for a win by Gujarat Titans all right

[00:37:06] Varun as we wrap here final prediction we now know that the four teams are Gujarat Punjab RCB Mumbai I'm calling Mumbai wins I hate it and I don't want them to but I'm calling it Varun quick final prediction on who begs the trophy this year RCB DJ final prediction I'm going to say Gujarat man all right you have three so somehow now that the odds mean Punjab is going to win that's lifting the trophy again seven years of running this show and that is exactly

[00:37:36] what is going to happen Jets thank you for joining me Varun I know it's late for you it's great to get all three of us back on to talk about Shubhangil for everybody who's listening we are at one tip one hand on all the social medias it's the at the number one tip number one hand if you're on YouTube hit that like button hit that subscribe button leave us a comment we'd love to hear from you and we'll be back I think after there is an IPL champion crown in the lead up to India versus England so more to come once we know who has the last

[00:38:05] trophy thank you everybody for joining us this has been the Edges and Sledges Cricket podcast signing off