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Speaker 3: Welcome to another episode of Sledging Room.
Speaker 4: Uh, this is an Asia special that we are starting
Speaker 4: today and we have a special guest with us. We
Speaker 4: have our usual suspects. Along with him is Nichol nas.
Speaker 4: Welcome Nichol Nash.
Speaker 3: You've been doing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I hope you can, you know, add that little
Speaker 4: to Sledging Room as well.
Speaker 5: I just hope that you guys are kind to me,
Speaker 5: nice to me, don't sledge me. Yeah, and yeah, great
Speaker 5: we have you know, we can have healthy banter and
Speaker 5: some insights, but a lot of fun. That's what I
Speaker 5: look forward to.
Speaker 4: Great, since there's an Asia Cup special, Yeah, a little
Speaker 4: bit of banter. You've been probably doing Asia Cup for
Speaker 4: the last twenty years more than yeah. So what are
Speaker 4: your earliest memories of an Asia Cup tournament?
Speaker 5: Oh, that's a good one. I mean the memory is
Speaker 5: that that one shared trophy I remember, you know that
Speaker 5: that is there? Then an yeah, you know getting hit
Speaker 5: for those unfortunate success by child. Yeah, not a great
Speaker 5: memory though, that's there. I think that other game, correct
Speaker 5: me if I'm wrong, because herbudget Singh hitting Shoibakta, yes
Speaker 5: for those sixes again. I mean it just goes around
Speaker 5: India Pakistan game, so I guess. Yeah, those a lot
Speaker 5: of games getting washed out in Sri Lanka every time
Speaker 5: it happened there. That's another memory that I have in
Speaker 5: recent memories. I have India not making the final of
Speaker 5: the last Asia Cup one of the major things that happened,
Speaker 5: and it was a landmark. We're not getting to his
Speaker 5: seventieth hundred. Remember how long that wait was and it
Speaker 5: kept going on and on and he broke that duck
Speaker 5: in a in an Asia Cup game. Different formats of course,
Speaker 5: but Sri Lanka getting dismissed for fifty three Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: that omat siaj on fire again and another Asha Cup memory. Yeah.
Speaker 5: So these are some memories that I have from the
Speaker 5: Asia Cup.
Speaker 4: When you spoke about this, I think you were very
Speaker 4: you know, you were able to remember the incidents from
Speaker 4: the start of the start of the cup very well,
Speaker 4: like a hardbudget saying like a but even I can't
Speaker 4: remember the last few Asia Cups. But you know, if
Speaker 4: you ask me the World Cups, I can tell you
Speaker 4: a couple of matches, but the Asia Cups are very
Speaker 4: difficult to remember.
Speaker 3: Is what I think.
Speaker 4: That brings me to a question to both of you,
Speaker 4: has the relevance of the tournament gone down?
Speaker 5: See? I mean overall, I don't think Asia Cup means much.
Speaker 5: And I'll tell you why because even the people who
Speaker 5: organize the Asia Cup, they haven't paid paid too much
Speaker 5: heed to it because I remember it used to keep
Speaker 5: getting postponed multiple times India over the OOST previously as
Speaker 5: well as far as I remember, and then mon year
Speaker 5: it didn't even happen. Nobody really cared. Then the format
Speaker 5: also keeps changing sometime. So what you're telling everyone that
Speaker 5: it is a sort of a dress rehearsal to a
Speaker 5: big Icic tournament that may be following, whether it's a
Speaker 5: fifty over champions trophy or if it's a T twenty
Speaker 5: World Cup, whatever the year is and whatever the icy trophy.
Speaker 5: So Asia Cup can be addressed in her So I
Speaker 5: think you've made it like that. That's not to say
Speaker 5: that Asia Cups haven't been exciting, and that is primarily
Speaker 5: down to the India Pakistan riivalry. I think that is
Speaker 5: kept Tisha Cup alive. And you know, India Pakistan doesn't
Speaker 5: even need any relevance, It doesn't even need a trophy.
Speaker 5: The two teams just play. It could be in Khey
Speaker 5: cricket as well and they'll be massive interest. So I
Speaker 5: think that is what is kept Tisha Cup. And also
Speaker 5: if I take you back in history, the Asha Cup
Speaker 5: came about because you wanted to have this camaraderie between
Speaker 5: Asian countries. And you know, Jagmon Dhalmia was the one
Speaker 5: who really got this going simply because you wanted a
Speaker 5: united Asian front against the Western Bloc in that sense.
Speaker 5: So you said we need to fight. They might and
Speaker 5: eventually and on the table when you sat in the
Speaker 5: ICC and the votes came into pass. So Chagman Dharmia
Speaker 5: like this father figure took along you know Bangladesh and
Speaker 5: Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well. I mean, we're an
Speaker 5: environment where I don't think India Pakistan born Hoomi can
Speaker 5: be discussed that much. But if I take you back
Speaker 5: in history. It's actually a partnership between India Pakistan World Cup, correct,
Speaker 5: which which absolutely changed the whole landscape of international cricket.
Speaker 5: Where the two countries said, fine, we'll get together, and
Speaker 5: that World Cup happened and you know, first ever World
Speaker 5: Cup outside English, just as they say, is history. So
Speaker 5: I guess that was an extension of that done by
Speaker 5: Jae Moon Dalman. Now it isn't the case where now
Speaker 5: you're in a scenario where till very recently, because we
Speaker 5: didn't know whether this Asia Cup will go on, and
Speaker 5: there was this discussion that who's with India, So you know, okay,
Speaker 5: Sri Lanka will be with India, Nepal will be with India,
Speaker 5: but Bangladesha siding with Pakistan. So the only fishers in
Speaker 5: the Asian block as such. So then that's why I
Speaker 5: probably I'm just looking at various elements why it's not relevant.
Speaker 5: But having said that, once you know India Pakistan are
Speaker 5: playing and they do it by design, you might have
Speaker 5: three India Pakistan.
Speaker 4: It has never happened, by the way, it has never happened. No,
Speaker 4: No India Pakistan final has happened.
Speaker 5: In Yeah, yes, I was there last Ashaka where India
Speaker 5: Sri Lanka played the final fifty over the Ashaka before that,
Speaker 5: again at the same menu, India didn't even make the final.
Speaker 5: I think that was a shot cup.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, but when mister Jasha was the President
Speaker 4: of the Asian Cricket Council, there was a there was
Speaker 4: a i think revamped effort in they announced a list
Speaker 4: of Asia Cup events from the under nineteen level women's
Speaker 4: say Shia Cup and all that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, but I had an important observation that he made.
Speaker 4: You know, when you talk about is Cup being the
Speaker 4: dressed yourself for the World Cup, the last few tournaments
Speaker 4: suggest something.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean if you look at the Isha Cup T
Speaker 6: twenty version. Last time, the two teams that played in
Speaker 6: the final of the Isha Cup twenty one of them
Speaker 6: reached the final cup also in Australia Pakistan.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 6: Yes, Then the next time when the Ishak Cup happened,
Speaker 6: India played the fine year on the Ishak Cup and
Speaker 6: then they played the final of the World Cup also.
Speaker 6: And apart from that, I personally think that Isha Cup
Speaker 6: is just another occasion where you can you can have
Speaker 6: another India Parkistan game. Because now when we don't play
Speaker 6: those Bilatteral games. We are only limited to these Issia
Speaker 6: Cups and the Icy tournaments, so it is more occasions
Speaker 6: where you can play Pakistan and you can get that
Speaker 6: broadcast revenue and all. Because I was looking at at
Speaker 6: tweet and it said that I don't know why are
Speaker 6: we having the Shia Cup because apart from India and Pakistan,
Speaker 6: I don't think there's another another team that is going
Speaker 6: to give us that much a challenge because in the past,
Speaker 6: like twenty thirty years, Sri Lanka used to be a
Speaker 6: good team when the likes of Javadeney and Sanghara were there,
Speaker 6: but now even they don't challenge that much. So now
Speaker 6: it's India, Pakistan or nothing in the Ashia Cup.
Speaker 3: You know, both of you are That's where I was.
Speaker 4: Both of you are going to get some trolls from
Speaker 4: from Bangaladesh and Sri Lanka fin will oh yes, some
Speaker 4: claim to be bigger than India Pakistan.
Speaker 5: No, no, nothing, I mean, and now you even have Afghanistan.
Speaker 5: Pakistan is also a rivalry, but nothing matches. Now you've started.
Speaker 5: Even Australia and England accept that nothing matches. In England,
Speaker 5: I mean because ashes was you know, kept at this
Speaker 5: pedestrial where you said that's the most important rivalry. But
Speaker 5: now if you hear former players from both England and
Speaker 5: Australia and they say fine, historically and you know all
Speaker 5: the you know, context attached to when it started, Yes,
Speaker 5: ash Is, we can you know, talk about it and
Speaker 5: get romantic about it. But in terms of share numbers
Speaker 5: and the excitement and you know the basis of how
Speaker 5: an India Pakistan rivalry happens, I don't think any rivalry
Speaker 5: there matches that I in fact compare it to, you know,
Speaker 5: like Ranger Celtics in football or a real Madrid Barcelona
Speaker 5: and football. One of the greatest sporting rivalries that you
Speaker 5: can think of it, I don't think nothing comes closer.
Speaker 5: But the reason I say it was an unfair comparison
Speaker 5: because I think we've been very unfair to two teams.
Speaker 5: When anyone who says that it's only India Pakistan. For example,
Speaker 5: Shri Lanka, I think they've been more consistent with compared
Speaker 5: to and I'm not talking about the old Shri Lanka
Speaker 5: for Jessuria and arav in the Ranatuma. No, the recent
Speaker 5: Sri Lanka has been more consistent than India and Pakistan
Speaker 5: to have reached the final. They actually one day shut
Speaker 5: up and reached the final, reached the final last time around.
Speaker 5: So they are Shamsan And I must say that I
Speaker 5: did see Shrilankan cricket, you know, go through a bit
Speaker 5: of a dip a few years ago. But yeah, but
Speaker 5: now I think they've had a research with Sana Jezula
Speaker 5: coming back, they've had a research and and I think,
Speaker 5: you know, in a T twenty format and in fact,
Speaker 5: i'll say in white ball cricket, somehow Shi Lanka finds
Speaker 5: a way to be competitive. And so for Afghanistan, I
Speaker 5: mean they are the semi finalists of the last twenty
Speaker 5: World Cup where Shu Lanka didn't make it, where Pakistan
Speaker 5: did not make it that far, but Afghanistan have.
Speaker 4: So as we speak, they've beaten Pakistan and then tri
Speaker 4: series New Afghanistan.
Speaker 3: Yeah they can but that's one.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they probably they can go on and win that
Speaker 4: tournament and get into the Asia Cup with more momentum
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 5: Right, so you never know, yeah, exactly, so I would say.
Speaker 4: And if you see the groups, if you look at
Speaker 4: the groups, India Pakistan in one group and the other
Speaker 4: group has Bangladesh, Sri Lankan, Afghanistan, so you might call
Speaker 4: it that group that you might call that group as
Speaker 4: a group of death yus. Here you see Oman and
Speaker 4: Hong Kong, so you never know asn't like.
Speaker 5: Well, that's where the questions Oversha Cup you know start
Speaker 5: that you you've designed it that way. You made sure
Speaker 5: that you're saying three times it may not happen.
Speaker 3: They should probably have a draw ceremony for this, just.
Speaker 5: That how is that how you get not only the
Speaker 5: put India Pakistan in the same group, they also ensure
Speaker 5: that the other teams are you know, such that they
Speaker 5: will both they won't lose to they won't be Pakistan
Speaker 5: that they come though you never met in twenty World Cup,
Speaker 5: US says like pulled off a surprise, so you never know.
Speaker 4: But it would be fun if you have a draw
Speaker 4: ceremony and say how how you put India Pakistan together?
Speaker 5: But it'll be fun for whom fans who want to
Speaker 5: see in their Pakistan, the organizers want to see in
Speaker 5: their Pakistan. I mean, truth be told, even you and
Speaker 5: I would want to see in your and and this
Speaker 5: is not this is me talking as a pure professional
Speaker 5: where you know, if I'm writing about a match or
Speaker 5: if I'm discussing the match, you know that there will
Speaker 5: be ten times the eyeballs to the article that you
Speaker 5: write or to the video piece that I do when
Speaker 5: it's an India Pakistan. So eventually, as you know, Horrablso
Speaker 5: mentioned that if you're going to have a tournament, you
Speaker 5: need that context. So if you have an open raw,
Speaker 5: then you steal us of the opportunity of seeing India Pakistan.
Speaker 5: But having said that, I must tell you we were
Speaker 5: doing a chat yesterday and I'm saying that India Pakistan
Speaker 5: is the number one game and nothing ever comes close
Speaker 5: to it. We had a few viewers you join us
Speaker 5: from UA and a lot of them because it's a
Speaker 5: you know, live conversation that we have with a lot
Speaker 5: of on sports today with a lot of viewers, so
Speaker 5: many of them from Yue did write into us during
Speaker 5: our live chat that tickets are still easily available and
Speaker 5: that's unheard of, and I've covered cricket in the UA.
Speaker 5: India Parkistan games are sold out weeks in advance. So
Speaker 5: in fact, I also happen to get a press release
Speaker 5: from the ticketing agency saying that oh you know, here's
Speaker 5: the package that's available. Want in Dubai. Forget packages because
Speaker 5: sometimes packages don't get sold. They're expensive because they bundle
Speaker 5: a lot of matches together in the hospitality, they're expensive
Speaker 5: individual so they go but individual match tickets regular tickets,
Speaker 5: which is why partist explain no, not extended. So not
Speaker 5: the only thing that I can think of that there
Speaker 5: are a lot of people for the very first time
Speaker 5: who may not be keen to be watching India Pakistan
Speaker 5: and there could be multiple reasons for that. I did
Speaker 5: think about it. Who could that come from. I don't
Speaker 5: think it would come from the Pakistani audience. They will
Speaker 5: always be Pakistan fans. But you must remember even in
Speaker 5: Dubai in my last few visits to Dubai Champions troph
Speaker 5: before that, that it's still always about seventy to thirteen
Speaker 5: in favor of Indian fans. Indian fans always outnumber Pakistan fans,
Speaker 5: and it even happens in the Middle East, right fans
Speaker 5: A lot of them who stay there, but a lot
Speaker 5: of them who travel as well, both from India and
Speaker 5: Pakistan as well as from the UK and US. People
Speaker 5: do travel, but overall, if I was to look at
Speaker 5: the number, it's always about seventy to thirty even now,
Speaker 5: And this is a sea change from the time I
Speaker 5: remember watching cricket in charge and the nineties, where you'd
Speaker 5: have fifty to fifty on most occasions, there'd be more
Speaker 5: Pakistani fans. So now, why is still the ticket's not
Speaker 5: being sold? Because now, which are the parties that may
Speaker 5: not be buying ticket? Are the Indian fans or Pakistani fans?
Speaker 5: Now Pakistan fans whatever I've gauged from their interaction or
Speaker 5: the content that I've consumed, is that they're more than
Speaker 5: happy to watch. So the thirty percent of the Pakistan
Speaker 5: fans that usually turn or would have bought the tickets,
Speaker 5: then that leaves us with a seventy percent. And I'm
Speaker 5: guessing that seventy percent could be split between fifty to fifty.
Speaker 5: Where fifty percent of Indian fans would still be okay
Speaker 5: watching a game, maybe there are fifty percent there who
Speaker 5: don't want to be watching the game, one for what
Speaker 5: happened very recently in the aftermath or operations and others
Speaker 5: could be may be keen to be watching, but don't
Speaker 5: want to be seen to be watching that game.
Speaker 4: So this could be the few reason in the confines,
Speaker 4: comfort of your house and then support.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so the proof of the pudding would be television viewers.
Speaker 4: I was noticing oneting Nicole and sob like from say
Speaker 4: the twenty twelve, two and eight we have had cross
Speaker 4: border tensions. We have not as like intensified. We have
Speaker 4: not had bilateral series. But as we call for boycods,
Speaker 4: as we call for you know, pulling out from certain tournaments,
Speaker 4: the numbers have only gone up.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 4: That's probably on the outside India Partistan people probably don't
Speaker 4: want to watch the match or they don't want the
Speaker 4: team to play the match. But when you look at
Speaker 4: the numbers, viewership numbers, like you said, it's been only
Speaker 4: on the apps, it has been.
Speaker 3: Seeing an uptick.
Speaker 4: So I just wanted to ask you a question, a
Speaker 4: personal question, as like you can choose not to answer this.
Speaker 4: If you both were, okay, not talking as journalists, if
Speaker 4: you both were, you know, fans of the sport in
Speaker 4: this climate, would you buy a ticket and go watch
Speaker 4: an India Pakistan match.
Speaker 5: Good question, I'll answer for I'll hear what he has
Speaker 5: to see.
Speaker 6: When this India Pakistan game was announced, I remember talking
Speaker 6: to a Shay and I told him, Yeah, I told
Speaker 6: him I covered the story. And then I told him
Speaker 6: why are they playing? Because whatever happens. I am a
Speaker 6: sports fan and I love my team, but I'm also
Speaker 6: an Indian citizen and I've seen what has happened, how
Speaker 6: our own countrymen have suffered because of the Crosswater terrorism
Speaker 6: and all those event that has happened in the aftermath
Speaker 6: of operation before that. So I will personally not be
Speaker 6: willing to put my money and go and buy a
Speaker 6: ticket and go and watch an India Pakistan game.
Speaker 1: I actually don't want this game to be happened to
Speaker 1: be happened.
Speaker 6: To be very frank with you, it's my personal view,
Speaker 6: but I don't want to watch this game or I
Speaker 6: don't want this game to be happening. But as a
Speaker 6: professional journalist, I will do my duty. I will cover
Speaker 6: the game when and as my team asked me to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he has no option as a professional, but yeah,
Speaker 4: but yeah, I'll come to that later. What are you
Speaker 4: going to do me? Asn't like I don't know, as
Speaker 4: I would probably see it might sound controversial, but I
Speaker 4: don't want as and I don't want them to make
Speaker 4: to be mixed. But maybe after what has happened in
Speaker 4: the recent times like blatant is it boiled down into
Speaker 4: something that is very ghastly. We have seen loss of
Speaker 4: lives from the very own I don't think you should
Speaker 4: probably look at the financial benefits right now. Probably play
Speaker 4: another twenty series or ODI series against Australia when we're
Speaker 4: going to be back. They will get you the money,
Speaker 4: of course, not as an India Partistan. But if it
Speaker 4: had been before operations in there, I would have said
Speaker 4: probably okay, as and like we have we have, we
Speaker 4: were playing in multinational tournaments and all that. But once
Speaker 4: this escalation as and it didn't right, it doesn't sound
Speaker 4: right for me as well.
Speaker 5: So would I buy a ticket? The answer is one word.
Speaker 5: Answer to that is no, simply because I would not
Speaker 5: buy a ticket for any game I know for because no, honestly,
Speaker 5: because I don't enjoy in live experience of watching any
Speaker 5: cricket match. They I rather watch a cricket match in
Speaker 5: the comfort of my house where I have a condition,
Speaker 5: I can order the food that I want and I
Speaker 5: don't have to be parking my car two kilometers away
Speaker 5: and then walking for many which happens in Dubai as well.
Speaker 5: Might I add, and in the heat of Dubai you
Speaker 5: have to walk. We have to as journalists as well, sparked,
Speaker 5: like a kilometer in advance in the heat to walk
Speaker 5: to reach there. So given a choice, I'm a fan there. No.
Speaker 5: But joke's apart. See, I mean it's a certain in
Speaker 5: depth thing.
Speaker 3: You wrote a piece for us as well.
Speaker 5: Correct, It has so many less that if I start
Speaker 5: now explaining it will probably take an hour.
Speaker 4: For me to tell you what on the one On
Speaker 4: the one hand, we are saying like that one point
Speaker 4: that you made in the piece that I really caught
Speaker 4: my attention was you said India wants to as in
Speaker 4: India are looking to host some major events like you know,
Speaker 4: the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games eventually. So the
Speaker 4: government has said that we'll make the visa process and
Speaker 4: all that, even if they were even ready to host
Speaker 4: Pakistan in the Hockey Sha Cup which is happening in
Speaker 4: raj Gir, even in the Junior Asia Cup which is
Speaker 4: gonna happen. So you you wrote that, you know, why
Speaker 4: what the cost of what are we planning to host
Speaker 4: all this?
Speaker 3: Right? Can you explain that?
Speaker 5: But so I'll tell you what. Okay, I'll break it
Speaker 5: down as briefly as I can. If you were to
Speaker 5: asked me overall that should India Pakistan be playing cricket
Speaker 5: or not? My point is that, see, cricket can't be
Speaker 5: looked at in isolation. What would happen. Let's let's remove
Speaker 5: operations and there let's remove you know what happened in
Speaker 5: and that has continued to happen. There is cross bordered
Speaker 5: terrorism and you need to tackle with that. But what
Speaker 5: used to happen? And as I said, for more than
Speaker 5: two decades, there have been many points in my career
Speaker 5: with this ession has come and then we've tried to
Speaker 5: answer it. And over the years I've learned a couple
Speaker 5: of things. One that cricket is taken as hostage. So
Speaker 5: all the focus goes on cricket. And you know, first
Speaker 5: time you have to attack something, you say, why I'm
Speaker 5: in your Parkistan playing on cricket, and you kept doing
Speaker 5: that while every other sport is happening. There's ten is
Speaker 5: this and that. So I thought that was double standard.
Speaker 5: Why do you want to hold cricket as a hostage?
Speaker 5: So first you need to have a fixed policy for Pakistan.
Speaker 5: Now you and I can't decide that policy. You and
Speaker 5: I are experts and sports, right we follow that. Now.
Speaker 5: For example, I went to Pakistan to cover during the
Speaker 5: champions Trophy and I can't tell you how much hate
Speaker 5: I got. Why did I get that? Hat? Because how
Speaker 5: could you go to Pakistan? Why did you go to
Speaker 5: a country from there? From from no, no, not from there? Yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean there you were welcome. People might find that
Speaker 5: hard to believe, but that was a reality. And I'm
Speaker 5: not gonna lie. I'll tell you exactly what I experienced, right,
Speaker 5: But sure I got a lot of hate. Okay, fine,
Speaker 5: so I am So what am I to understand that
Speaker 5: people in India? And this is by the way, before
Speaker 5: operations and do it before Pelgram has happened, right, So
Speaker 5: I got a feeling that a lot of people here
Speaker 5: in India did not like me traveling there, even though
Speaker 5: I went there to do my job. I didn't go
Speaker 5: for a holiday or I did not even go as
Speaker 5: a representative of this government to shake hands with Pakistan
Speaker 5: and get friendship going. I don't have that mandate or
Speaker 5: the authority to do that. We just went as traveling
Speaker 5: journalists anyway, That's what we are told. So then I
Speaker 5: understand anything to do with Pakistan is a no go, right,
Speaker 5: this is what people want. Then cut to all of
Speaker 5: this happens, Operations in Loo happens, and Pelgram happens, and
Speaker 5: then everything to do with Pakistan is banned in the
Speaker 5: country where their social media handles are banned. You stop
Speaker 5: the water. Then you say that Diljit Dosan just told
Speaker 5: for being an antia. So now now what am I
Speaker 5: to understand? What are you to understand? You're not geopolitical experts.
Speaker 5: You have to understand that nothing to do with Pakistan happened.
Speaker 5: But then you you go ahead and say, now for
Speaker 5: this sake of now coming back to Olympics, so we
Speaker 5: need to be looked at and because this was mentioned
Speaker 5: in the in the stand that the government took quote
Speaker 5: unquote that we need to be looked at as a
Speaker 5: viable venue.
Speaker 3: This is what was doing.
Speaker 5: My point is exactly that that how is it then?
Speaker 5: If everything is put in national interest and that is
Speaker 5: number one, then why do you need to look as
Speaker 5: a viable venue? Can you not function as a country
Speaker 5: if you don't host the Commonwealth Games or the Olympic
Speaker 5: Games anyway, By the way, that's another debate. The loss
Speaker 5: making exercises. Commonwealth game, nobody wants it. This Commonweal game
Speaker 5: you had to cut short because even people who had
Speaker 5: won the bid didn't want to host it.
Speaker 3: I think it's pulled out. And then when the Glasgow.
Speaker 5: Correct, so nobody also was that. That's first. Secondly, you
Speaker 5: know what happened last time you also a Commonwealth game?
Speaker 5: It was the games was organized very well, but you
Speaker 5: know the aftermath, why would you want to do it?
Speaker 5: Then you get to Olympics and my take for the
Speaker 5: Olympics is I tow the Olympics. I love Olympics, spot
Speaker 5: and everything. My point is, if you can and it's
Speaker 5: also a loss making exercise, as most a lot of
Speaker 5: people correct. So now why don't you use that money
Speaker 5: to become a better Olympic nation? Right we are? We
Speaker 5: are a country at one point four billion and happy
Speaker 5: with five six medals each Olympics. You can't be you
Speaker 5: have countries that are you know, smaller than the size
Speaker 5: of some of our states landing up with twenty thirty medals.
Speaker 5: I think our first team should be I'm not saying
Speaker 5: the best country and it's not going to happen in
Speaker 5: the Olympic Game, but at least be competitive, and it
Speaker 5: should in some way be you know, in relation to
Speaker 5: our size and power global in Olympics as well. So
Speaker 5: if you're winning twenty twenty five medals, I think you
Speaker 5: need to focus on that. So why do you have
Speaker 5: to be a viable when you win? The importance of
Speaker 5: the country is there. That's something that I didn't understand.
Speaker 5: So for me it felt like a double standard. First
Speaker 5: you say nothing can be you and I can't even
Speaker 5: consume YouTube content from Pakistan, but now you're going to
Speaker 5: be playing cricket. And then Asia Cup was the tournament,
Speaker 5: which is not even an ICC tournament, right, So if
Speaker 5: you had skipped it, how does that matter. It's not
Speaker 5: going to invite any sanctions, it's not going to isolate you.
Speaker 5: Just because you want to be seen by the rest
Speaker 5: of the world as a country that will be able
Speaker 5: to host a big event in the future, you're doing that.
Speaker 5: It doesn't work. But now if you've taken the stance,
Speaker 5: then I would And just to extend that, I was
Speaker 5: looking at some business numbers and export import between India Pakistan.
Speaker 5: It was somewhere between roughly around fifty five million that
Speaker 5: India was exporting fifty five million dollars that India was
Speaker 5: exporting to Pakistan, and last year has seen that because
Speaker 5: there has been sanctions on exporters, well, that has seen
Speaker 5: it to be cut down to just five million, so
Speaker 5: a ninety percent cut. Now that ninety percent cut has
Speaker 5: been born by Indian citizens, people who you and I whoever,
Speaker 5: and it's percolated down to everyone, whether you're a business owner, worker,
Speaker 5: creating that product whatever. Right, So now I'm saying now
Speaker 5: that guy, whoever that might be, he's running a business.
Speaker 5: His business may have shut down, so he's sacrificed. He's
Speaker 5: not made any noise. He sacrified that business because your
Speaker 5: policy is said that and you said no country first,
Speaker 5: I have to follow that. So a lot of people
Speaker 5: have sacrificed. But then you're going to be playing cricket,
Speaker 5: I don't know from now on. Then there should be
Speaker 5: a free for all. You and I should be free
Speaker 5: to decide what we need to do. And then in
Speaker 5: that case, if you watch an India Pakistan game, I
Speaker 5: should not be allowed to point fingers you and call
Speaker 5: you anti national. Of course, right, we cannot. If everyone's
Speaker 5: going to be looking at situation and deciding, then I
Speaker 5: could say that no, for me, country comes first. I
Speaker 5: won't watch anything to do with Pakistan, I will not
Speaker 5: buy anything to do with Pakistan, I will not make
Speaker 5: friends with anyone from Pakistan or whatever. I won't consume
Speaker 5: Pakistani content, blah blah blah. But cricket is my love
Speaker 5: and India Pakistani is the number one game, so I'll
Speaker 5: watch it. So if I was to do that and
Speaker 5: make an exception, then I should not be questioned as well.
Speaker 5: So then allow everyone to decide what they want to do.
Speaker 5: But just to the larger point, I know it would
Speaker 5: have taken a lot of time. But to the larger point,
Speaker 5: when I was saying that completely, should you have India
Speaker 5: Pakistan games or not, to which my thing is and
Speaker 5: this was my belief before operations in there, and that
Speaker 5: you have not had India Pakistan bilateral cricket for more
Speaker 5: than a twocade. Has anything happened in terms of Pakistan
Speaker 5: financing terror activities in India. Has that put a stop
Speaker 5: on them? No? And my larger point is that it
Speaker 5: continued to happen, whether you play cricket with them or not,
Speaker 5: because the people that are responsible for it, whether they
Speaker 5: are the fundamentalists, whether it's their army, whether it is
Speaker 5: their weak government. They don't care whether you play cricket
Speaker 5: with Pakistan or not. They don't care. I am again
Speaker 5: stating I went to Pakistan. I don't think a regular
Speaker 5: Pakistani fosters any hate for any Indian. I experienced that personally.
Speaker 5: A regular Pakistani doesn't even understand geopolitics or what happens
Speaker 5: or whatever. He's not even in any way in the world. Yes,
Speaker 5: are they fanatics there. I'm sure they are, right as
Speaker 5: they would be in any Are they you know, people
Speaker 5: who buy into what their army says, and I would
Speaker 5: call them a rogue army or you know the fundamentals
Speaker 5: that they have. Do they buy into it? Yes they are,
Speaker 5: but by and large the people won't be like that.
Speaker 5: But yes, they have to pay for the sins of
Speaker 5: people that are running the country. And I guess the
Speaker 5: country is already paid for it. If you look at
Speaker 5: the two countries now, the difference is Shock and Chaine,
Speaker 5: and I think they are paying for it. So my saying, yeah,
Speaker 5: so whether you play cricket or not, you're not dealing
Speaker 5: the core issue at hand, the core issue at hand,
Speaker 5: and I think it needs to be dealt with that
Speaker 5: can only be dealt with either militarily or diplomatically, where
Speaker 5: you then so not everything can be solved by war,
Speaker 5: but it can be solved diplomatically, whether it is through talks.
Speaker 5: And if you then talks cannot happen, then you learn
Speaker 5: how to isolate parks that you know there are countries,
Speaker 5: and I think Indias are powerful enough country to do that.
Speaker 5: So you have to find different ways to do it.
Speaker 5: You play cricket, you don't play cricket. You and I
Speaker 5: will keep talking about it, but it will not help
Speaker 5: us find the solution that we're looking for. And that
Speaker 5: solution is to whether you make friends with them or not,
Speaker 5: is not that. But you need peace and quiet on
Speaker 5: the borders. Is what is the solution that we're looking at.
Speaker 5: Because we can change everything, but you can't change your neighbor, right.
Speaker 5: You can do anything that you want, you can't change it.
Speaker 5: So you have to find a solution for it. And
Speaker 5: I don't think playing cricket, not playing cricket will ever
Speaker 5: result in a solution. That was my larger thing. But
Speaker 5: then you know, you'd be nervous to say something like
Speaker 5: that because people would throw you saying.
Speaker 4: That, how dare you say you're taught to believe otherwise?
Speaker 4: As well as like once you head there, you know
Speaker 4: you know what.
Speaker 5: Yeah, But again I'm not saying that you need to
Speaker 5: be friends with them if you think that it's a
Speaker 5: country that has not learned its lesson and you think
Speaker 5: as a country you cannot and you tried to extend
Speaker 5: that hand of friendship and they came back to buy too,
Speaker 5: and you do not want to go down there, which
Speaker 5: is fine, absolutely fine, But then you need to find
Speaker 5: a solution how to sort this out. Then you get
Speaker 5: the rest of the world. No, I mean you go
Speaker 5: back to the South Africa example. There was a time
Speaker 5: where India was leading the charge of isolating South Africa
Speaker 5: because of a part head. But the rest of the
Speaker 5: countries then buy into it. Australia was still playing cricket
Speaker 5: with them, England was playing cricket with investing these and
Speaker 5: playing trick to them. But then you you gathered momentum
Speaker 5: slowly and steadily more countries joined you in that movement,
Speaker 5: and then it reached the state where everyone boycotted South
Speaker 5: Africa to a point where you got what you wanted
Speaker 5: and they let go of that policy. So I mean
Speaker 5: you could do that with Pakistan.
Speaker 3: Park is on attempting financial option as well.
Speaker 4: Ass and like if you isolate them from World cricket,
Speaker 4: will it hurt the IC coffers No.
Speaker 5: But my point is who are we to look out for? Icicers,
Speaker 5: ic C needs to bother about ICIC I think what
Speaker 5: India needs to look out for is bss here. Now
Speaker 5: let's say financially. And I don't buy the financial boogie
Speaker 5: that oh India is playing for financial whatever.
Speaker 3: In the Asia Cup? Yeah, yeah, how.
Speaker 5: Does India even gain if India pulls out a Asia Cup?
Speaker 5: India could have organized a trial series that would have
Speaker 5: made probably the same amount of money for them as
Speaker 5: that which you could have done independently as well. So
Speaker 5: I don't think that India is doing it, you know
Speaker 5: because a lot of people say money is the priority.
Speaker 5: So money can't be the priority. Firstly, government, Now why
Speaker 5: did the government allow it? How is the government aining financially?
Speaker 5: Even if you're gaining financially, that money goes to the
Speaker 5: business air comment doesn't get any of it. It's a
Speaker 5: private firm b c CI is and they keep that
Speaker 5: money with themselves. That's one Secondly, I don't think even
Speaker 5: bss AS is going to gain that much financially. They
Speaker 5: could have gained the similar things by hosting another try series,
Speaker 5: So that's also not the thing. I think the reason
Speaker 5: they've done it is because they don't see it would
Speaker 5: cause you embarrassment that supposing you went with the stance
Speaker 5: of not playing them. Now, then what happens during the
Speaker 5: ic C tournament, Then they'll say, oh, you're playing in
Speaker 5: ic you might as well have played in an ACC tournament.
Speaker 5: So government also had to come up with one policy
Speaker 5: that you follow. But then if this is the policy
Speaker 5: that the government follows, then you allow, Like I'm just
Speaker 5: going back to the business owners, you allow them as
Speaker 5: well to function in a limited capacity. What about the
Speaker 5: film guys who made films and who are going to
Speaker 5: lose half their revenue, you allow them to do it
Speaker 5: as well.
Speaker 3: Like one one thing will be interesting to see the
Speaker 3: viewership numbers this time.
Speaker 5: What do you think it's going to take hit or
Speaker 5: it's gonna go.
Speaker 4: On with with it might not better. The T twenty
Speaker 4: World Cup is a bold call, and it's not a
Speaker 4: it's not a guess. It's a bold call because I
Speaker 4: might I don't know. It might also it might also
Speaker 4: exceed the T twenty World Cup numbers. Why do you think,
Speaker 4: like you said the context, that people might not want
Speaker 4: to be seen as watching the game, But then when
Speaker 4: you when you watch it on TV or when you
Speaker 4: log into your streaming platform, it gets registered.
Speaker 5: It's like it's like how when I go across covering cricket.
Speaker 5: You know, nowadays it's fashionable to criticize and target the media, right,
Speaker 5: and I'm not of much sports, but politically as well. Right,
Speaker 5: you get targeted, and so everyone will say, no, no,
Speaker 5: TV is this we don't watchudge, you know, but everyone
Speaker 5: watches they know on program It's like in a drawing
Speaker 5: room conversation. Now it's very cool to lampoon television media
Speaker 5: saying a television we don't watch TV news, But how
Speaker 5: do you know they're watching. They're all watching those same
Speaker 5: mindless debates that have and that fighting everyone because the views.
Speaker 5: So I mean, I I kind of agree with you
Speaker 5: that that no matter what people say, there will be
Speaker 5: a lot of them watching. Who knows because of this
Speaker 5: this you know, almost warlike situation that you had, maybe
Speaker 5: emotions are running high. So when that match happens, more
Speaker 5: and more people want to watch because I want India
Speaker 5: to be in Pakistan and basa. So maybe it takes
Speaker 5: the numbers high, But I know, what.
Speaker 3: Do you think?
Speaker 6: So the basic thing is that the government has allowed
Speaker 6: the match to happen, right, So when the government has
Speaker 6: allowed the match happened to happen and people are covering
Speaker 6: in India.
Speaker 1: Who stops me or.
Speaker 6: For you towards the match from your own drunk room?
Speaker 6: And why will you not watch the match? Like sitting
Speaker 6: in your room, you will definitely watch the tv O
Speaker 6: India and Pakistan playing. Let's just have a look at
Speaker 6: the score. What is happening, Oh, there's no barbarism, there's
Speaker 6: no vertkuli.
Speaker 1: What are the young guns doing? Let's just look up
Speaker 1: and look at it.
Speaker 6: And as you said, when the context of war is
Speaker 6: on that Indian and Pakistan might go onto our let's see,
Speaker 6: they must beat Pakistan. We can't lose to Pakistan now
Speaker 6: at all. So I think the numbers will definitely not
Speaker 6: go down if they don't work, they will definitely not
Speaker 6: go down even.
Speaker 5: If I feel that people don't watch it, and I
Speaker 5: think this time genuinely they will be those people that
Speaker 5: will boycott the game. I have a feeling, whether it's
Speaker 5: on TV or on the ground, there will be that.
Speaker 5: But if India wins that game, that said, just take
Speaker 5: the first game in India. Win India other favors. Don't
Speaker 5: tell me people won't be celebrating and that you're not
Speaker 5: going to be hearing five characters go and don't tell
Speaker 5: me even if someone who tried his best not to
Speaker 5: watch that game will not go back and watch those
Speaker 5: highlights till one hundred percent go back and see, oh,
Speaker 5: how is it that India? Because that will you know,
Speaker 5: arouse your patriotism.
Speaker 4: That yeah, we've always associated patriotism with cricket. Doesn't like
Speaker 4: most of us, whether you call it a misconception, whether
Speaker 4: you say that it's a cricket team playing for a
Speaker 4: private entity and not representing your country, but not anymore
Speaker 4: you're going to the Olympics. But yeah, but like I
Speaker 4: have when I've grown up watching when he pulled off
Speaker 4: his shirt and or when such a hit that six
Speaker 4: against Shoybuger, I felt I felt patriotics and like that's
Speaker 4: that's how when I was growing up, I knew what
Speaker 4: it was to.
Speaker 6: You know, no, why cricket every yeah, I think every
Speaker 6: sport has this. I remember that twenty fourteen World Cup
Speaker 6: finals between Brazil and Germany. When Germany are battling Brazil,
Speaker 6: everybody was crying in the stands. The whole nasion was
Speaker 6: united and they were crying what has happened to our football?
Speaker 6: We were the world champion for so long.
Speaker 1: So it's assisted to every sport.
Speaker 6: There is one way for a common man to show that, yes,
Speaker 6: I'm an Indian, or I'm a Pakistani, or I'm a
Speaker 6: German or I'm a British.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: When when England played the World Cup, even when they
Speaker 6: are not a title containers, the World Cup will come home.
Speaker 6: That trends and people are big fans. So patriotism and
Speaker 6: sports go together.
Speaker 5: I think I no matter where I whether it's on
Speaker 5: TV or live in at the Olympics, or even at
Speaker 5: there's an Indian national anthem just played, I get goosebumps.
Speaker 5: Even when I go watch football and I'm Baker Stadium
Speaker 5: in India is playing whatever Syria or anyone, it's exactly
Speaker 5: the same feeling. And I guess it why that happens
Speaker 5: is it tugs at your basic human emotion where you
Speaker 5: want to be better.
Speaker 3: Than the other, and of something bigger as well, you know.
Speaker 5: As in we are better than them. And so those
Speaker 5: days you know when I don't know, we want that
Speaker 5: evolved one hundred years ago. You could go to war
Speaker 5: and settle that. Right right now, you're living in an
Speaker 5: age where you don't do it. Sport's the only way.
Speaker 5: And you said we are superior than you as a
Speaker 5: race or as a country and those things.
Speaker 4: And I still can't forget the feeling that we had
Speaker 4: in the in August last year, all of us were
Speaker 4: watching the Tokyo Olympics final kind of expecting me that to,
Speaker 4: you know, to walk away with the gold and the
Speaker 4: hardwak that we felt that day. I still haven't recovered
Speaker 4: from it. By the way, I'm like, you know, I
Speaker 4: was ceremon I were just seeing as in like first throw,
Speaker 4: I think I sure didn't yeah, as an he didn't
Speaker 4: complete the run run up again. And then the second
Speaker 4: when the even the commentators was they just grow louder.
Speaker 5: The That's how it was in the stadia. I was
Speaker 5: there and I'm a kid, you not when you threw
Speaker 5: and this, and when I was asked one of the
Speaker 5: moments of the Olympic it was that because what happened
Speaker 5: was that when you see javelin in TV, it's a
Speaker 5: different thing. It's you don't really get the bigger picture.
Speaker 5: But of course when you're seeing it live, you can
Speaker 5: see from it leaving, and it's not different camera cuts
Speaker 5: that you see right or a follow you don't understand.
Speaker 5: And even when the camera is following, you don't understand
Speaker 5: the depth of it. You only understand once it's landing.
Speaker 5: But when you're seeing it live you can see how
Speaker 5: far it's going right now, most even if you're a
Speaker 5: seventy meter thrower or in a ninety plus thrower, your
Speaker 5: initial bit is quite the same. The initial tragic tree
Speaker 5: of each javelin thrower is the same, so it takes
Speaker 5: about the same tragic tree, and then the ones who
Speaker 5: hit ninety or are in the late eighties, their javelin
Speaker 5: just continues on that tragic tree, whereas some then the
Speaker 5: ones that will fall short there begins to dip at
Speaker 5: the end. So the initial tragic tree is the same,
Speaker 5: and then some will dip and then some continue going
Speaker 5: usher scares. That's exactly what happens, so it throws it
Speaker 5: it's similar, and then when you know that the dip
Speaker 5: has to start. It doesn't dip, it goes and the
Speaker 5: whole stage, you know, you could hear the stadium were like, uh,
Speaker 5: it's not stopping, is it going? And then goes and
Speaker 5: match knew it done something incredible. And just before that,
Speaker 5: I remember social media and I must give I've also
Speaker 5: discredited Pakistan for a lot of things in this podcast.
Speaker 5: Must give them one thing credit for that. You won't
Speaker 5: find better self deprecating humor than Pakistani themselves. The amount
Speaker 5: of fun that they make of their own athletes. So
Speaker 5: they they will like, we're still far more touchy of
Speaker 5: our athletes. You know, we're very protective. They're not coming, Yeah,
Speaker 5: they'll just go after it. So I remember the best
Speaker 5: means of that javelin competition before the competition were coming
Speaker 5: from Pakistan only, and they were making fun. So there
Speaker 5: was this one thing about I think Wember or someone
Speaker 5: you know, practicing with.
Speaker 1: This new technique and he's doing this.
Speaker 5: The one guy writing from Pakistan is look at our guy.
Speaker 5: He's going there with best wishes and ad above ghee
Speaker 5: and milk. You know that that's this is what we
Speaker 5: can give you.
Speaker 4: Now go, you know do what But now I can
Speaker 4: say one thing, and he did it. Now I can
Speaker 4: say one thing. The rivalry is bigger and leveling than
Speaker 4: in cricket. It is it is I think the Asian
Speaker 4: rivalry itself isn't there is a new ricent that's another day.
Speaker 5: But the only difference is that both those guys and
Speaker 5: I interacted with them after the medal before that are
Speaker 5: both these guys needed are shore in that sense. It's
Speaker 5: a gentle giants. So they while the rivalry is fun
Speaker 5: to watch, they don't add any masala to it, which
Speaker 5: is so respectful of each other. But in cricket, the
Speaker 5: thing is that cricketers, I.
Speaker 3: Think the market. The market drives the way you behave also.
Speaker 5: Generally how they behave, and then the social media posts
Speaker 5: and you know how a lot of has been written
Speaker 5: about it. And I know some of those social media
Speaker 5: post by a few Pakistani cricketers were downright shameful. But
Speaker 5: some Indian cricketers are also quite jinguistic and gaga in
Speaker 5: praising their country, and I guess that happened. Some of
Speaker 5: them did cross the line as well, especially in Pakistani cricketers.
Speaker 5: I completely agree, but these two guys are like, no, no,
Speaker 5: he's very good.
Speaker 4: No, no, he is, and they're inspiring a lot of
Speaker 4: other issuans also, Lincolns are coming up. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 4: know what started as an podcast All three were from
Speaker 4: cricket playing top three, just saying all the ones who
Speaker 4: must be bowling at some point, neither gha than Anderson
Speaker 4: and Peters.
Speaker 3: Maybe shoving can try it now?
Speaker 5: Shoving still going through a No, it's it's considered a
Speaker 5: bit of a slur to stell a fast baller, to
Speaker 5: go to javelin saying that you think I.
Speaker 1: Was throwing.
Speaker 5: Because a few times unfairly so my dad, I was
Speaker 5: hugely fat.
Speaker 4: The moment, you know, myinds me of my gully cricket days,
Speaker 4: the moment even in some cally cricket matches they allow
Speaker 4: you to throw, but the moment you go to some
Speaker 4: match where only bowling is allowed, only round arm bowling
Speaker 4: is allowed. You try your best, but since you don't
Speaker 4: have that you know, practice of not bending them and bowling,
Speaker 4: they'll call you out in two walls like you're.
Speaker 5: Not need maybe babe out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but what started, as you know, Asia Cup curtain
Speaker 4: Raiser has rightfully gone this way, I think, as in
Speaker 4: if we had sat here and spoken about only okay,
Speaker 4: who is who are we going to pick? What is
Speaker 4: Bangladeshi's chances and all that? But that will do next week.
Speaker 4: But I think with you here and with both of
Speaker 4: us chiming in, we spoke about things that we should
Speaker 4: have we should speak about, and you talk about this
Speaker 4: Asia particular, especially in the lead up to the controversies
Speaker 4: and the lead up to it. But before we go
Speaker 4: the just give me a quick your quick thoughts on
Speaker 4: the squad and your quick thoughts on the squad. India sport,
Speaker 4: especially like Krista machadis they can't apparently told okay, they
Speaker 4: can win Asia Cup, but they can't win T twenty
Speaker 4: World Cup. But do you think this squad will go
Speaker 4: to the T twenty World Cup? Is this going to
Speaker 4: be the fifteen sixteen?
Speaker 5: In the squad, I don't see too many changes happen.
Speaker 5: A couple might still happen, but I think they picked
Speaker 5: this sCOD keeping in mind the T twenty World Cup.
Speaker 5: The only way I see some big changes happening is
Speaker 5: if like the last Asia Cup in the T twenty
Speaker 5: format that happened in the UA where India didn't make
Speaker 5: the final then I think you'd be forced to make
Speaker 5: a few changes if you don't, which I don't think
Speaker 5: India will. I think for India not winning the Asia
Speaker 5: Cup will also be looked at as a disappointment. So
Speaker 5: final they should definitely make. They are the best team,
Speaker 5: even though in T twenty the format is such that
Speaker 5: upsets can happen. But I think they'll keep that squad overall.
Speaker 5: I think, you know, if three of us also sat
Speaker 5: and made the squad, we pretty much would have picked
Speaker 5: the same team. I was just a bit surprised with
Speaker 5: a couple of names. I think I would have, you know,
Speaker 5: found a way to get him and the second name,
Speaker 5: which may surprise a lot of people. I was surprised
Speaker 5: you didn't go with the Washington sunder. And the reason
Speaker 5: I'm saying that is you might need an off spinner.
Speaker 5: I know off spinners are going out of fashion in
Speaker 5: T twenty cricket. I looked at some numbers and you know,
Speaker 5: with Ashwin going, it's pretty much the end of of spinner,
Speaker 5: at least in the Indian context. And I know that
Speaker 5: Washi was not even played as a spinner by Gujrat.
Speaker 5: This idea pretty much played as a batter. But why
Speaker 5: I said that is because with Pakistan they got a
Speaker 5: few left handers and Nabby has been bowling well for
Speaker 5: Afghanistan in this series, so with a few lefties it
Speaker 5: wouldn't have really hurt them. And also because India would
Speaker 5: be caught between you know, playing bothatikul Deep together. If
Speaker 5: they don't play then they might be a bowler shot,
Speaker 5: but then they need to fill a batter, so their
Speaker 5: combination just doesn't add up. Had you got a Washi,
Speaker 5: I think it would have just sorted a lot of things.
Speaker 5: So I'm a bit surprised that Washi and shares In
Speaker 5: make it. But then I'm also picking overall. If I
Speaker 5: look at this team, it's it's a gun team and
Speaker 5: dare I say that they have You know, they are
Speaker 5: the current T twenty champions, but imagine a team becoming
Speaker 5: champion after that. You see a bit of a dip
Speaker 5: from each team, right, Yeah, once you reach the peak,
Speaker 5: India has actually pushed the boundaries even to another level.
Speaker 4: Now I think it'll be it will that will be
Speaker 4: the pressure to maintain that in the lead up to
Speaker 4: the T twenty World Cup.
Speaker 5: May not see so I'll only tell fans one thing
Speaker 5: that you've gotten used to the two hundred and fifty
Speaker 5: sixties seventies that India was piling up in Hyderabad. Then
Speaker 5: in South Africa, India was going past two fifteen quite
Speaker 5: comfortably in T twenty cricket phenomenal numbers. But I'm just
Speaker 5: saying in n Asia Cup, I would want Indian fans
Speaker 5: to reconfigure that because the conditions aren't going to be
Speaker 5: like that, So just change that. Don't expect those numbers.
Speaker 5: But I still feel this Indian team will be ahead
Speaker 5: of the Cup, so whatever they do is going to
Speaker 5: be the benchmark. Others will be following. And I mean,
Speaker 5: while they be a good competition from Lanka, from Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Speaker 5: I still think in the clear cut favorite, I don't
Speaker 5: see any area that they haven't got covered. And one
Speaker 5: thing I'm really looking forward to. Would I have picked
Speaker 5: the Schumann Gill in the team, Maybe not, But what
Speaker 5: I'm looking forward to is how Shumann Gill approaches this.
Speaker 5: I have a feeling that we look at Shubman Gill
Speaker 5: as a semi aggressive batter, right, Let's put it that way.
Speaker 5: He's got good IPL numbers, decent T twenty a numbers
Speaker 5: as well, but and even one fifty strike d which
Speaker 5: he operates that is phenomenal for most other teams. But
Speaker 5: I'm looking at that Indian batting lineup where he does
Speaker 5: seem a bit short on that. But I would love
Speaker 5: to see how he's going to play. I have a
Speaker 5: feeling that he will play in a very different role.
Speaker 5: I think he's going to be. He will have to
Speaker 5: buy into the philosophy of this team, which is led
Speaker 5: by Ssurakumaria, where everyone has been told that fifty sixty
Speaker 5: seventies I don't need from you. I need a twenty
Speaker 5: ball thirty or a fifteen ball forty or you know,
Speaker 5: to that level, and that does it. Each of us
Speaker 5: is going to do that, go out and entertain, and
Speaker 5: I think rather than Schumann continuing in the form that
Speaker 5: all the mold that he operates in, he will buy
Speaker 5: into this philosophy and you might say a different Shuman.
Speaker 5: And if you can do that, then I think it
Speaker 5: doesn't matter whether it Schumann opening or Yessr, who I
Speaker 5: also thought was unfortunate to have missed out, but it'll
Speaker 5: be the same thing.
Speaker 4: So sort of Schumann or Samson isn't like Schuman yes,
Speaker 4: but will Samson be there in eleven or.
Speaker 6: See when the squad was announced, I was very very
Speaker 6: against the inclusion of Schumann in this squad and then
Speaker 6: the name in the vice captain. But when I was
Speaker 6: doing a story as usest in me. So I was
Speaker 6: doing a story and I was looking at the stats
Speaker 6: of how the Indian teduntary openers have fared in the
Speaker 6: past three or four years since that two T twenty
Speaker 6: World Cup where we failed. So that states that Schumann
Speaker 6: Gill has been part of India's best opening partnership in
Speaker 6: titndies and the opening partnership of Sandu Samson and shik
Speaker 6: Shelma has the poorest average among the last ten bring partners.
Speaker 3: But one of them have carried on. Yeah, but there
Speaker 3: was This is a wrong metric.
Speaker 5: Ye who cares about.
Speaker 6: Having Yes, there is where coming but the strike When
Speaker 6: you talk about the strike rate, when Schumann Gill has
Speaker 6: been part of an opening partnership, the strike it has
Speaker 6: been something around one for T one thirty. But when
Speaker 6: these two have been there it has always been on
Speaker 6: one at one ninety tred. So yeah, and the way
Speaker 6: we have seen cricket now, you can't have a six
Speaker 6: over forty. Not with a zero ticket. You will better
Speaker 6: take it a seventy of one in six over. In
Speaker 6: the current setup, even if you're playing in the way,
Speaker 6: if you can get going, you can get going.
Speaker 4: Yeah, when Nicol was talking about semi aggressive, I think
Speaker 4: there's no doubt that Schumann can't be as aggressive as Samson.
Speaker 3: But the first five balls, can you just take the
Speaker 3: fear of failure out and go for it?
Speaker 5: You know? You see you now look at the ipl
Speaker 5: that happened, and this is the approach by GT. But
Speaker 5: you see GT felt shot okay. But now look at
Speaker 5: the teams that made their final. Even if we're in
Speaker 5: that sense, changed his approach and they had a filled
Speaker 5: sort to do that damage. You know, so you needed
Speaker 5: that approach. Look at a PUNJABU made the final, the
Speaker 5: two openers operating the same way. So I think this
Speaker 5: is what what you've realized. So it's not that See
Speaker 5: we also see the strike rate at the end and
Speaker 5: one fifty does look good, But what happens You don't
Speaker 5: feel at the power play that much now you reach
Speaker 5: one fifty because you operate at one thirty for most
Speaker 5: of the time, and towards the end you make it
Speaker 5: one fifty. But if you look at in the larger
Speaker 5: you know picture for the team and you say, no,
Speaker 5: I want one fifty at the start, one fifty in
Speaker 5: the middle, and my the correct So my guys will
Speaker 5: also operate at two hundred, which you will too. But
Speaker 5: you've wasted that one sixty, one fifty or one eighty
Speaker 5: strike rad I needed at the start by being at
Speaker 5: one point.
Speaker 3: You can always make up for it as an overrated statement.
Speaker 5: In correct, correct, correct, So I think that way, and
Speaker 5: I have a feeling that once he's coming to the team,
Speaker 5: and that's fair enough. You see him as a future star.
Speaker 5: It's not that he can't play like that. He may
Speaker 5: have been told that you got to operate in a
Speaker 5: different gear. It doesn't matter. We are not looking at
Speaker 5: big runs for you. You have the strokes that you know
Speaker 5: you need to operate at one sixty, one seventy. You
Speaker 5: play that, you get out, not a problem. And I
Speaker 5: give you some insight if you remember I we had
Speaker 5: Sulukumar Y'ada for our conclavet very recently and I did
Speaker 5: ask him this that you know, how is it that
Speaker 5: you've gotten this team to buy into your philosophy it's
Speaker 5: one thing that we kept saying about fear of failure
Speaker 5: should be out bad like them. But you have to
Speaker 5: convince everyone to do that. Right, How did you get them?
Speaker 5: And he said, listen, I only told them one thing,
Speaker 5: he said, I have told them. Forget about everything else.
Speaker 5: You walk on to the field that thirty thousand people
Speaker 5: who've come to watch, go and entertain them. Their job
Speaker 5: is to entertain them. Forget about what will happen. And
Speaker 5: he said, if each guy goes with that mentality that
Speaker 5: whatever deliveries I spend, I will entertain them. It's not
Speaker 5: about I get a big total. The total gets managed
Speaker 5: by itself. The philosophy gets managed by itself, and so
Speaker 5: everyone plays and short enough this team. What it showed
Speaker 5: was that there were occasions if you've seen in the
Speaker 5: last year, were there, I mean thirty for three or four,
Speaker 5: and yet they've piled up more than two hundred because
Speaker 5: they just did not move from that one thought that
Speaker 5: we have to keep attacking. And I'm liking that, so
Speaker 5: I guess Schumann might. I was also sorry. I didn't
Speaker 5: really think that Shuman should have been part of that team,
Speaker 5: But now that you've got him, I think he'll change
Speaker 5: the way he'll play.
Speaker 1: He has change.
Speaker 4: I hope Ben Duckett hasn't seen this part you saying
Speaker 4: that told you that they wanted to entertain the crowd.
Speaker 3: He might claim credit for that.
Speaker 4: Baball is the bedrock of India's twenty revolution.
Speaker 5: But I must say I really enjoyed Duckets patting.
Speaker 3: I think he's a pattern.
Speaker 5: Yeah. But even the way bats in test latch cricket, Yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean you need openers like that is also one
Speaker 5: of those. And duck a little bit of the left
Speaker 5: left handed verse. Yeah, you're right, and he's not all
Speaker 5: just attack attack. He's got a good technique, good defense. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Also making of being a top notch.
Speaker 6: He took rough Yeah, so he has got all that
Speaker 6: attribis to be a scessful opener.
Speaker 1: And even in T twenty and oas he has been
Speaker 1: really good.
Speaker 6: Like people I was, I was listening to a lot
Speaker 6: of people when they were playing that county cricket, so
Speaker 6: they were talking about him, They're talking about Bendaget, and
Speaker 6: then when they saw their numbers in T twentys and os,
Speaker 6: they're equally good. So it's not just his hitting runs
Speaker 6: at good pace he's hitting runs for long form.
Speaker 1: And also so he's there and for the squat. I
Speaker 1: wanted to make one point.
Speaker 6: I was very very I felt very hard done by
Speaker 6: the absence of jas Well. I love jas Well as
Speaker 6: a batter in T twenty especially, but like, yes, he
Speaker 6: has been performing good for you in test cgate, but
Speaker 6: that does not mean that you drop him ten tis format.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you know what you're talking about. You can
Speaker 4: deeple speaking to us. He said, there are forty cricketers
Speaker 4: an Indian setup right now in T twenty setup where
Speaker 4: you can pick one and argue for and against him,
Speaker 4: you can drop one and argue for and against him.
Speaker 4: Forty might be a two bigger number, but at least
Speaker 4: twenty others.
Speaker 5: No. In fact, I we did exercise and I said
Speaker 5: that look at this Indian team and the embarrassment which
Speaker 5: is that we have I may we made an alternate
Speaker 5: eleven and that alternate eleven was a gun eleven. So
Speaker 5: you get a Y and uh side to open, yes,
Speaker 5: them to open. Number three could be care right, who
Speaker 5: had a phenomenal I po. You can get a year
Speaker 5: at four, Ryan five at six.
Speaker 3: Again can walk into that side as well.
Speaker 5: Exactly. But because I got kre at three. The numbers
Speaker 5: are very good at this, I PO better than this.
Speaker 5: So like he's there and then you've got you. I
Speaker 5: could have gone to the site shore. We are outstanding.
Speaker 5: I PO the shnow is there? Uh? You know? So
Speaker 5: was she soon that? In fact he didn't make this
Speaker 5: team and you your highest wicket taker. So imagine that
Speaker 5: eleven was this eleven far more competitive?
Speaker 3: Then get another team.
Speaker 1: In have a series between you.
Speaker 5: See, they could have found away like we are boycotting.
Speaker 5: We're not sending a main team, sending beating. It would
Speaker 5: have killed two birds with one stone. That yeah, give
Speaker 5: me envy of the world the talent that.
Speaker 4: You have of course, and hope yeah, yeah, I hope
Speaker 4: we bring the results that is expected off before you.
Speaker 5: Who do you think is going to be playing twenty
Speaker 5: eighth final.
Speaker 6: India Afghanistan for hmm, it's old call, but it is
Speaker 6: a good call because Afghanistan finished fourth in the World Cup.
Speaker 6: India one that you don't need World Cup and those
Speaker 6: are spin friending conditions here.
Speaker 1: Also, I think you will get spins and the.
Speaker 5: Only thing is condition. Pictures might be but I think
Speaker 5: this and that's why if I pick my vantage. I'm
Speaker 5: going to India Pakistan and I'll tell you why. It's
Speaker 5: conditioned specific. So you're playing all matches at night, right,
Speaker 5: and they will be due that it's set in a
Speaker 5: that type. I don't know how and both in remember
Speaker 5: Champions Tropheet helped the spinners, but those are day games, right,
Speaker 5: I mean half of it you played in the day.
Speaker 5: So India even played four spinners in a lot of games.
Speaker 5: But now I think if you remember now last Asia
Speaker 5: Cup where India did not make the final, but Sri Lanka,
Speaker 5: Pakistan went there, and you remember Sri Lanka on the
Speaker 5: dint of their seam bowlers was good than the left Tama,
Speaker 5: so they did a lot of it. And ditto. I
Speaker 5: think Afghanistan right now in the tricity is being four
Speaker 5: four spinners in eleven which they'll do well. There are
Speaker 5: a lot of them are mystery spinners of due al,
Speaker 5: so they can control. But I think it will be
Speaker 5: the fast bowling and for Pakistan showing some better form.
Speaker 5: They've got that fish, they've got Hassan. Yeah he's getting
Speaker 5: toung for a few runs. But now see what they've
Speaker 5: done is they've now gone on the Indian model. They're
Speaker 5: trying to ape in there and that's getting my dimension
Speaker 5: player for sim for them, and bowls can also you know,
Speaker 5: get to runs and bowls. So they're getting into these
Speaker 5: multi dimensional players and they've dropped Barber and Reswan and
Speaker 5: to look.
Speaker 3: Have some Indian problems. Of the five openers in the
Speaker 3: top five.
Speaker 5: Correct, but then they've been told that you keep suckers
Speaker 5: not opening because they've got.
Speaker 6: That opening they also have. They have Mama Harris with
Speaker 6: the keepers. They also have I.
Speaker 1: Think he's been in.
Speaker 3: An opener.
Speaker 1: He plays an opener, and.
Speaker 5: He's the one who's winning them games.
Speaker 6: He's coming down and in finishing games for them, so
Speaker 6: he's the as fact right now for them.
Speaker 4: So that means I'm happy that as professionals we are
Speaker 4: doing our job getting to know Pakistan.
Speaker 5: The other thing is why one is the job. Secondly,
Speaker 5: I mean I've been going through what we call those
Speaker 5: anxiety tea episodes of having no live Indian cricket. I've
Speaker 5: not gotten used to such a big gap of no
Speaker 5: Indian cricket, so I'm craving a cricket. So where do
Speaker 5: I get. There's a tri series happening, so I end
Speaker 5: up watching that we don't need how work, we need
Speaker 5: not be managed.
Speaker 3: Actually it's really frustrating.
Speaker 4: Like yeah, asn't like now even the even the other
Speaker 4: sports it has started now, asn't there was a lull
Speaker 4: there also the yes, the World Championship badminton and all that.
Speaker 3: Now you have a series of events.
Speaker 4: Yeah, true, yeah, but when we get back next week
Speaker 4: we'll talk in depth about what is going to happen
Speaker 4: cricket wise in Asia Cup immediately till then. As in
Speaker 4: like the viewers and listeners, you can send in your thoughts.
Speaker 4: We had Nickel, you allowed to sledge in the common sec.
Speaker 3: They do, they do.
Speaker 4: Actually, they questioned us, you know when I think we
Speaker 4: spoke about Superman will and the selection thing. Yes, we
Speaker 4: asked us, what at what level have you played cricket?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: So, and our king shukosari asn't like. He is a
Speaker 4: very very ire dient, you know, follower of these comments
Speaker 4: and when it comes to replying, he doesn't wait for
Speaker 4: the next week's episode.
Speaker 3: He goes there and lies.
Speaker 5: What did he say?
Speaker 3: He says, I have been a fast bowler in created so.
Speaker 5: It doesn't matter you are saying even if you did
Speaker 5: not play Color Cricket. The best film reviewers. I've never
Speaker 5: made a film right, but they I rely on them.
Speaker 5: I read about them and they do give great insights
Speaker 5: in how a film is made. I don't think Ratan
Speaker 5: Tata knew how to make trucks right, but Tata makes
Speaker 5: the most amount of trucks there in the world.
Speaker 3: So yeah.
Speaker 4: I also feel that when it comes to watching US
Speaker 4: journalists talk about something, you don't have to actually take
Speaker 4: us seriously. It's just an opinion as we are giving
Speaker 4: you an opinion sometimes unless it's yes.
Speaker 3: But when when we are giving opinions, you either take
Speaker 3: it or not.
Speaker 4: As in most times we as in we try to
Speaker 4: shy away from giving youngg like I'm doing now.
Speaker 3: But no, no, that's fine.
Speaker 5: See again, as I tell you, you would never be
Speaker 5: able to make everyone happy, of course, and no matter
Speaker 5: what you say, yeah people again, we live in times
Speaker 5: where people will never change your opinion. I go back
Speaker 5: to drawing room conversation. You have a political debate and
Speaker 5: you are on this side of the fence and the
Speaker 5: other way. No matter how much you say, he's never
Speaker 5: going to change your mind. No matter how much he says,
Speaker 5: You're not going to change. It doesn't matter. I also
Speaker 5: listen to each other.
Speaker 4: There's a little bit of lack of empathy on social media.
Speaker 4: Sometimes I wonder, Okay, if five were in that person,
Speaker 4: I wouldn't sit behind a keyboard or a monitor and
Speaker 4: type of comment like that. When people meet you in person,
Speaker 4: they're not this one hundred person.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I completely agree. I said, if you go through
Speaker 5: some of the mention in my social media, you will
Speaker 5: see a lot of hate. And even in the comment
Speaker 5: section of the videos that we do, you do see
Speaker 5: a lot of hate. But believe you me, every time
Speaker 5: I've gone it, and mostly I end up meeting people
Speaker 5: who know us in cricket matches right on the ground.
Speaker 5: So many times I have not met a single person
Speaker 5: and who's been nasty or has even been critical. It
Speaker 5: will come even if they have disagreed with something. They'll
Speaker 5: talk for people. I said, why I heard that, but
Speaker 5: you know I don't, and then we end up having
Speaker 5: a discussion in a of course. But majority of the
Speaker 5: eighteen ninety percent are very complimentary of the work that
Speaker 5: you do and how you've been doing and how they've
Speaker 5: been following you for so long. So I guess it's
Speaker 5: only on social media where you are faceless and you
Speaker 5: want to win your anger, infustation. You're right, whatever, you
Speaker 5: want to get noticed or whatever. Yeah, but you're not
Speaker 5: that version when you meet those people. In course, in
Speaker 5: course that's true, but.
Speaker 4: That doesn't stop you, you guys, from being nasty. If
Speaker 4: you had fought with your partners, you can just went
Speaker 4: it out on us as well.
Speaker 3: We'll take it. But on a serious note.
Speaker 5: Which actually may have fought because delivery is not coming on.
Speaker 4: But on a serious note, you know we have as
Speaker 4: a nickel and sort of all of us have made
Speaker 4: some points that we think is right or wrong.
Speaker 3: You can respond to them.
Speaker 4: You can share your thoughts on eight five double eight nine,
Speaker 4: double six, double nine six. If you're listening to us
Speaker 4: on Spotify and Apple podcasts, please do rate us and
Speaker 4: like we always say, and like you just said, if
Speaker 4: you're watching us on YouTube, please leave your comment.
Speaker 3: We'll be more than happy to learn your feedback. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Have a great week. If we'll come back with a
Speaker 4: lot of Asia Cup specials.
Speaker 3: Thank you,