How disappointed were you on Sunday? Whether you were a Pakistan fan or an Indian fan, and whether or not you enjoyed Virat Kohli's masterclass, you must have felt a tinge of sadness watching cricket's biggest rivalry turn into a one-sided affair. Once fierce competitors, Pakistan have now become India's punching bags.
The Champions Trophy 2025 match in Dubai was a prime example. At no point did Pakistan look threatening. With the bat, they were timid against an Indian attack that wasn't even at its best. Captain Mohammad Rizwan played an outdated brand of ODI cricket, and Pakistan paid the price. None of their batters showed urgency, appearing overawed by the occasion and the flamboyance of the Men in Blue.
The Champions Trophy 2025 match in Dubai was a prime example. At no point did Pakistan look threatening. With the bat, they were timid against an Indian attack that wasn't even at its best. Captain Mohammad Rizwan played an outdated brand of ODI cricket, and Pakistan paid the price. None of their batters showed urgency, appearing overawed by the occasion and the flamboyance of the Men in Blue.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The big India-Pakistan game in the Champions Trophy is over, and I'm going to go a little
00:10off track here, guys.
00:11Alan and Kingshuk have joined me on this latest episode of Sledging Room.
00:16You know, in 2016, I think, 2016 during the Olympics, I was covering the shift here only,
00:23and there was a film, Rajinikanth film called Kabali, which had humongous hype, like that
00:31was probably his first association with one of the major film directors, one of the new
00:38modern era film directors.
00:40And I argued with my previous boss that I need an off between the Olympics or just after
00:45the Olympics when the coverage was a little busier, and I booked a 7am or 8am show.
00:52There were early morning shows here also.
00:54The hype was unimaginable, you know.
00:57And then I finished shift at 12 and then did not sleep, thinking that I'd missed alarm.
01:02And then I went and watched that film.
01:05When I came out, you know, I felt like how I felt yesterday evening.
01:10The disappointment of, you know, something not living up to the hype so much, you know,
01:16that kind of, I could feel that yesterday, I felt like, why did we write so many things?
01:21Why did we talk about so many things, despite warnings, as in like, we had a guest column
01:25which said that this rivalry shit don't fall for the hype.
01:30And it was one more evidence of why this rivalry is gone, legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who spoke
01:37to us yesterday, said that even as in like someone who has been part of the rivalry,
01:42he's saying it's become a no contest now.
01:45Do you agree with that?
01:47As in like, as in like agree as in what do you have to say?
01:51I completely agree with that notion, because, you know, there was a time even when we were
01:57writing that column about our favorite moments, that 2003 match, when Saeed Anwar scored the
02:03100, Pavesan posted somewhere around 270.
02:06That was a very challenging.
02:07And you could feel the tension in those matches, right?
02:09Because they had a bowling attack that had Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Yunus and Wasim Akram.
02:15Now, when you look at it, it is...
02:18Sorry to interrupt you there, but yesterday also they had these three people, right?
02:22Yeah, 90s.
02:2390s bowlers.
02:2490s bowlers.
02:25That's what Aqib Javed, their coach said.
02:26Yeah.
02:27What 90s?
02:28If those 90s bowlers actually hear it, I'm very sorry to say they might catch a bus and
02:33come and beat him up.
02:36You look at the bowling attack.
02:37Now, Wasim Akram stated a very interesting fact.
02:41I was looking at his post-match comments.
02:45He said that Pakistan have the second worst average amongst 14 teams that have played
02:50ODIs this year, 60.
02:53And they are worse in a group that actually contains USA and Oman.
02:57No offence to them, but they are obviously minnows when it is compared to everybody.
03:01So you have that kind of...
03:05You have that kind of a bowling attack.
03:07That was toothless.
03:08Yeah.
03:09Shaheen Shahafridi produced one moment of magic.
03:11Abrar Ahmed produced one moment of magic.
03:14What else was there?
03:15There was nothing.
03:16There was no planning, nothing.
03:18And I'm very sorry to say, I would actually tell ICC, please don't group India and Pakistan
03:23together in the same pool.
03:27That's the funniest part.
03:28That's the funniest part.
03:29Because yeah, you do it for the ticket grabs, but what are the fans getting?
03:33Pakistan fans are crying on one side saying that we are spending money, we are wasting
03:37our time for this.
03:38There is no contest.
03:39They have accepted defeat long time back.
03:41Don't do this anymore.
03:42That is my plea to the ICC.
03:45Because it's just done.
03:46It's just done.
03:47You have had Shubman Gill come and defend it.
03:50None of the Pakistan players or anybody said it because they were probably arrogant.
03:54They probably were sure or they probably were...
03:57Yeah.
03:58They're done.
03:59Yeah.
04:00But yeah, this contest, it's done.
04:01That rivalry is over.
04:03India's rivals right now are probably Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, those kind of big
04:09teams.
04:10India is way out of the Pakistan leagues.
04:12I would even say Sri Lanka is a bigger rival in Asia than Pakistan right now.
04:16You don't have to put even for Sri Lanka.
04:18Yeah.
04:19One of the...
04:20Yeah, they defeated us.
04:21But before our Salman Ali Agha comes into the mix, you know, I want to give our listeners
04:27and viewers a little bit of context of what happened yesterday and why are we so, you
04:30know, upset about all this.
04:34Pakistan opted to bat first on a...
04:36The toss was won by Rizwan and that's the only thing probably he won.
04:40Not even Dil.
04:41Not even Dil Jeeta at the end of the day.
04:42So I think after batting first on that, that was a big advantage for them.
04:47But they managed to post 241, 152 dot balls in 300 balls.
04:52That's kind of one of... and we did a copy where I saw a Pakistan fan saying, this cricket
04:58belongs to the Stone Age, not even to the 90s.
05:00152 dot balls, posting 241.
05:04And once they posted 241, you were in no doubt that India could get there.
05:08Like even if they had lost early wickets, even if their 90s fast bowlers had stuck early,
05:13241 was always going to be chased, right?
05:16And India eventually chased it and the icing on the cake was a Virat Kohli 100.
05:21This Virat Kohli, who was, you know, people said so many things about him that he doesn't...
05:26he has probably lost the urge, he has probably... he can't correct his technical issues and
05:31all that.
05:32We'll come to that later.
05:33To make it short, his 100 was the icing on the cake as India finished with like 45 balls
05:39remaining.
05:40Yeah, that's the part that I wanted to, you know, make it clear before our Salman Ali
05:44Agha comes in.
05:45Why am I Salman Ali Agha?
05:46Good player of spin.
05:47Batting in the middle order today.
05:48Oh, yes.
05:49Right, right.
05:50Yeah.
05:51And finished...
05:52See, in Mohammad Rizwan's immortal words, either it's a win or it's a fight.
05:56So learn from India, learn from this game.
05:59Stop fielding teams in ICC tournaments and just like sort yourself out and come back.
06:05My biggest problem is actually with the hype that the broadcasters build around these matches.
06:10And I keep comparing cricket with football.
06:13If in football, FIFA were to put Brazil and Argentina in one group in every single World
06:17Cup, you would have massive outrage, asking questions about the FIFA management.
06:22The context is a little different.
06:24It's not different.
06:25It's two sporting tournaments where teams play.
06:28Football is a game that is run...
06:30Is an actual game.
06:31No, it's run, you know, in so many countries, it has the power to generate money from so
06:37many countries.
06:39Cricket maximum six, eight, nine.
06:42But even like, so you have to pull them together, especially when they're not playing bilateral
06:46series.
06:47I don't have a problem with that.
06:49But that hype, as in even people are expecting it.
06:52It's not the problem with the hype.
06:54It's you know, the problem with not living up to the hype.
06:57The problem with Pakistan not contributing.
07:00So would it not be better if you were to pull in India and Australia in one group and have
07:05two cracker of a match, two cracker games, one in group stage, one later in the final?
07:09The organizers also have this doubt.
07:12What if there is no India Pakistan game in an ICC tournament?
07:15You pull Pakistan in the other group, inevitably, they don't advance.
07:20What will happen then?
07:21But then if they are facing India, you know, just like how Kingshuk said about football,
07:26you know, there are certain matches in football that ends in 2-1.
07:30The scoreline might be 2-1.
07:31But you are very, very sure that one team was very dominant over the other.
07:36I think even if the game, whatever the hype was, yesterday, it was absolutely one sided.
07:43You said 151 dot balls.
07:45I think Pakistan has played more than 300 dot balls in two matches combined.
07:49Already.
07:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:51That is equal to one match.
07:52Actually, one match in dots.
07:54What is the standard?
07:56Okay, we were covering the match.
07:58We were actually saying that, you know, when Virat Kohli and KL Rahul's innings was criticized
08:03during the World Cup final, when he was not showing intent.
08:06And we actually came to the conclusion that this Pakistan innings was worse than that.
08:11This is a bowling attack without Bumrah.
08:14You are…
08:15Half-fit Shami.
08:16Half-fit Shami.
08:17Shami had to go out.
08:18Harshit Rana, who is playing his first ICC tournament.
08:21You could not, are you saying that you could not rotate your strike against these kind
08:25of bowlers?
08:26And my biggest problem with that thing, that Pakistan team is that they have been playing
08:30cricket since cricket started, right?
08:33Afghanistan, who probably got to hold the bat for the first time in the mid 2000s, have
08:37a better approach to playing white ball games than Pakistan.
08:42And I don't know how is that even possible?
08:45Because these guys do play T20 leagues outside.
08:49These guys do like represent their country in top games.
08:53They have a good domestic system.
08:55What has gone wrong in Pakistan, management, country and in the team, that they comfortably
09:01look the worst team in any tournaments that they have played in the last two, three years?
09:08That's my thing.
09:09Because I think when we were doing the preview episode also, I said that I have full belief
09:13that Pakistan is going to go out of the group stages.
09:16There is no X Factor in this team.
09:18You had one X Factor that was Sai Mayur, got injured, unfortunate, got injured.
09:24He was out.
09:25Fakhar Zaman, a veteran Fakhar Zaman is your X Factor.
09:29He got injured in the second ball.
09:31Okay, that is also unfortunate.
09:32But what about other players?
09:34You are banking on other players, you are banking on a guy like Babar Assam.
09:38To his credit, a small credit that I would give is that Babar Assam tried yesterday.
09:44I don't see the criticism coming at least he tried in some way or the other to give
09:48Pakistan a good start, which was not there with Imam.
09:51Imam was like almost thrown into the deep end right from the get go.
09:55He has not played ODI for almost a year.
09:57He was out of the team.
09:59Now you are bringing back, bringing him back into the side.
10:02And then you have got guys who Saud Shakeel is a very good test player, but he does not
10:07have the ability to hit big shots.
10:10That was pretty evident yesterday.
10:12He tried one big shot, he got caught out.
10:16And then you don't bring in a spinner.
10:19You have got guys like Fahim Ashraf, Usman Khan, who you are not going to be playing
10:23in any of the matches.
10:24Then why not bring in a spinner?
10:27Why not add an extra spinner to help Abrar?
10:30Abrar did trouble India.
10:32That ball to Shubman Gill, I think if you could see the reaction of Virat Kohli, he
10:36was a little scared.
10:37Oh, this guy is going to do, he produced probably the ball, one of the deliveries of the tournament.
10:45Now what are we going to do?
10:47If he had support from the other end, it could have been a contest yesterday, could have
10:50been a contest yesterday.
10:52But apart from that, they were raving about how Aqib Javed was raving about our fast bowlers,
10:58that is our strength in white ball cricket.
11:01Your main fast bowler Shaheen Shahafridi got hit for 74 runs.
11:05Virat Kohli targeted your pacers and they were out.
11:08They were completely out.
11:09Their body language was not good.
11:11They did not show anything of the pitch.
11:13Naseem Shah, after that one over where he got hit for a 6 and a 4 by Rohit Sharma, did
11:18not produce anything from that match.
11:21So what is wrong with Pakistan is probably they don't even know what is their best team.
11:27Who are they going to bank?
11:30Do they have a domestic circuit at all?
11:32Is that even existing at the moment?
11:34Because the whole pundits that are there, the former players are saying that the domestic
11:39cricket is dead because nobody gets a chance to play in this team.
11:42There are 7-8 players who are sticking.
11:45They keep on sticking with these players.
11:46They never produce the results.
11:48And as Kingshuk said,
11:49They did that Champions Cup thing, remember, right before this tournament.
11:53They pulled in five mentors, spent an exorbitant amount of money, I think $900 million if I'm
12:00not wrong.
12:01And they brought these players together.
12:03Are you sure about these figures?
12:04I think so.
12:05900 million, I remember.
12:06I'm not sure if it's Pakistani Rupee or in dollars.
12:10I think it's in dollars.
12:11You have to be very specific about it.
12:12Whatever, like, maybe we can like just like put a figure in there to correct me.
12:15You go and search Pakistan GDP and then, oh my, let's not, no, you have to be, you have
12:23to get the facts right.
12:24Because when they renovated the stadiums, it was said they spent around 17 billion.
12:28Million?
12:29Billion.
12:31So then we saw it was rupees, it was not dollars.
12:34So you have to be very specific.
12:35That makes sense.
12:36Yeah, we'll just put it under the stomach, whatever.
12:38So what was I saying?
12:40You killed my train of thought, man.
12:42Yeah.
12:43Maybe Champions Cup.
12:44No, maybe this is what happens in the Pakistan selection meeting, you know, like somebody
12:47says something, somebody else says something, things get lost in translation, and they make
12:52a squad, which is not even, not even, you know, like, set for the conditions.
12:58It becomes even more difficult if you have an English speaking foreign coach.
13:02So you know, I am not, no, but, but you know what, when, when, when Babar was the captain,
13:08all you Babar haters said, oh, Babar's friends are being played, Babar has his own, but now
13:14with Rizwan, who was looked at as a saviour, Rizwan's friends are being played, na, Fahim
13:19Ashraf kahan se aaya?
13:21Who is Fahim Ashraf?
13:23Why did Imam get out in the first place?
13:25Why did Fakhar Zaman get dropped in the first place?
13:28You knew that Fakhar Zaman is your only X Factor player.
13:30Not only did you drop him from the contract, you let him out of all your teams.
13:34And just before the Champions Trophy, you brought him back because Saim was injured.
13:39My problem is it's not, it's not see if you have to stoke the India Pakistan rivalry again,
13:44it has to, you know, it has to, you have to, you have to get Pakistan back to where they
13:49were, or at least back to the stage in early 2010s, where they were still able to, you
13:54know, the Misbah era, where they were still able to make it watchable.
13:58But after that, it has been like, if you call the 2021 T20 World Cup, the undoing of their
14:03T20 side, the highs of the T20 side, which got into their head and they never played,
14:09you know, they never tried to get used to the changing pace of the T20 cricket.
14:14The 2017 Champions Trophy can be, you know, pinpointed at a similar moment for the ODIs.
14:18Since then, they have been very particular about retaining their rankings.
14:22They have been very particular about retaining their stats.
14:26If you look at the way they have played, every other team experiments in bilateral series,
14:30right?
14:31England don't care about whether they win or not.
14:33Pendakit came and said, we don't care if we win in India or not, our ultimate aim is to
14:37win the Champions Trophy.
14:38While we ridiculed that statement, while a lot of us, it made sense because if you look
14:43at it, he said, we are not worried about the results here, we want to get things right.
14:48And even Rohit Sharma says that when you make those, you know, weird additions, when Varun
14:52Chakravarthy is brought in in the last moment, it's all part of, you know, whether it works
14:56for me or not.
14:58But Pakistan take pride in winning these bilateral series.
15:01Look at the way they won in Australia against a second string Australian team.
15:04Look at the way they won in South Africa against a second team South African team.
15:07And that gives a false sense of superiority that we are going to dominate this tournament.
15:12And when you lose the first two at home, and when you're on the brink of elimination, see
15:17humiliation is a very strong word, which shouldn't be associated with sport.
15:21But with Pakistan's performance this time, I think it's, it's borderline humiliation
15:27for them.
15:28If I am a Pakistan cricket fan, and I am sitting and watching, I'm wearing it to respect the
15:34great players who played for Pakistan, not for the current crop, when I'm sitting and
15:39watching that Mohammad Rizwan press conference and him coming out and saying, yeah, it is
15:43almost done.
15:44It's over.
15:45It's over.
15:46He said it's over.
15:47Yeah, it's over.
15:48That kind of shows the entire camp.
15:50He said there are, we are going to be 15 captains, they are playing like 15 captains.
15:55Each player has his own agenda.
15:58Each player comes into the field, having his own agenda.
16:02And then you come out and say that, yeah, we are done, we are done here.
16:06That is disappointing.
16:07That's the truth.
16:08Probably for the first time in the tournament, he has spoken truth.
16:12But do you really want to, like, if you are going to make that statement and look defeated
16:17throughout the matches, then give a bye for everybody else.
16:20No, we would be saved of all this work that we are trying to do.
16:24Others will be saved of just wasting time and going to the grounds and watching the
16:29match or sitting at home and watching the match.
16:33After all this, Pakistan will qualify for the final and win the tournament.
16:36Yeah, that's what I was going to ask.
16:37That Champions League is a weird tournament.
16:39As we speak, New Zealand are facing Bangladesh, if Bangladesh beat New Zealand by a big margin
16:44and then Pakistan beat Bangladesh and then India beat New Zealand, then Pakistan can
16:49go through.
16:50But, but it's a mathematical equation.
16:52And then there is rain also predicted.
16:54There is rain.
16:55Where, where?
16:56Pakistan versus Bangladesh.
16:57So it's as improbable as me winning some Olympic gold or something.
17:00But you can, you never know.
17:01There is archery in 2036.
17:02There is eSports now, you might, you could.
17:05No, archery in 2036, there is no, we have seen 40 year old archers going there and winning
17:10gold medals, right?
17:11Yeah.
17:12But will you make that cut off in time, 40 year old, next Olympics?
17:162036.
17:17Yeah, but we are staying too far away from the, but yeah, it's kind of very, as in like
17:24at one point, you feel sad for Pakistan, right?
17:27No, no, no, it's your own doing.
17:29It's your own doing.
17:31What have you done?
17:32Like, like you say, 2017, you win the Champions Trophy, things get to your head.
17:35See, you can't, you can't look at it from the cricket point of view.
17:38Then what point of view?
17:39There is a lot of political instability there.
17:41Every time a government changes, a PCB chief comes, a PCB chief is appointed by the Prime
17:46Minister, which still is their own doing.
17:48But yes, there are certain things that you need to cut.
17:51They have not played international cricket at home for like, what, like for 15 years,
17:56as in like, it's, it was cut off in 2009 and came back to, you know, high profile international
18:02cricket only in 2021, 2019 at that time.
18:05So it kind of, you know, when they played their first few test matches, even the home
18:09players were not aware of the conditions because they had never played there, right?
18:12They never played international cricket there.
18:15And the domestic structure is also a problem.
18:17Like you pointed out the Champions Cup, every time Pakistan have to fix something, the new
18:22guy comes in and he has to show that he's working instead of, you know, probably getting
18:27the domestic tournaments back on track.
18:29You introduce a new tournament with five flashy head coaches and all that, which is kind of
18:34the problem, right?
18:35They don't have a stable setup like the BCCI, right?
18:37So I don't know, there is no quick fix.
18:40You can only rely on miracles like the Fakar Zaman 100 in the Champions Trophy or the Mohammad
18:46Amir spell in the 2017 Champions Trophy or the way Shaheen bowled in that 2021.
18:52But if you look at consistent success, which is something, you know, that is, you know,
18:57evaded Pakistan in the last few years.
19:00But coming back to Virat Kohli, honestly, tell me, Alan and Kingshuk, did any of you
19:08think that he'll get these runs?
19:10Honestly, I think with the discussions being around how Virat Kohli has not done well against
19:19PIN, the surprise to me was, if you noticed yesterday's game, that final boundary he hit
19:26of Khusdil was his only boundary against PIN.
19:30And he said that in his post-match interview as well, that my whole approach was that I'm
19:37going to target the pacers and I'm going to be very, very careful against spinners.
19:42That was a very good tweak.
19:43Obviously, does not work every single time.
19:46You go against a different team who has better quality, that might not, that approach might
19:50not work.
19:51Like it did not work against Bangladesh, who had a better bowling attack, at least PIN
19:54attack.
19:56But he made that tweak and that was a very conscious effort from him.
20:01And he also stuck to the thing where he was going to attack pacers and he did that also.
20:07So for me, that was a big surprise, that tweak that he made.
20:10When I wrote about it, I said that probably Virat should try to sweep the spinners like
20:15how he did in the IPL 2024 season, which was successful for him.
20:20That was the one thing that I was quite surprised by.
20:22But yeah, Virat has always stepped up against Pakistan.
20:25Pakistan have almost become like that team where Virat Kohli always steps up and he delivers
20:32those runs regardless of whatever form he is in.
20:36And that was what Harvaiyan Singh also said.
20:39He said, my bold prediction is that Virat will score a hundred.
20:42I don't know if he's done the Bangra yet because he has promised that also.
20:46But the fact is against Pakistan, Virat Kohli is almost inevitable.
20:52That is what happens.
20:53Probably Virat might write to the ICC, right?
20:56Every match gave him a letter.
20:57Asking for bilateral series against.
20:58But you know, like that's actually a great thing that you say, like Pakistan's biggest
21:04lesson from yesterday's game is perhaps the Virat Kohli innings.
21:08A person with 14,000 ODI runs, 51 centuries, now 52, 51, 51 centuries, keeps reinventing
21:15himself under criticism.
21:18That's something Pakistan have never done since the time I started following Pakistan
21:22cricket.
21:23It's the same people at the top.
21:26It's the same approach at the top.
21:28And they just continue to defend themselves and their process all the time.
21:32Virat also does that.
21:33A lot of times Virat has snapped at people saying that my process, my process.
21:38But every time you see that his career hits a trough, goes back to Bombay, practices with
21:44Bangar, works on his shot ball.
21:47Here, went to the training 90 minutes ahead.
21:50People said, Anil Kumble said that maybe he's doing a little too much.
21:55Worked for him.
21:56Yeah.
21:57Worked for him.
21:58Did something different and worked for him.
21:59And the best thing was when I was watching that Virat Kohli innings, he kept on rotating
22:02the strike.
22:04Why was Pakistan not even trying to do that in their innings?
22:07He did it perfectly.
22:08He had Shreyas Iyer also come in.
22:10Shreyas once, he saw that, okay, Virat was hitting the pacers, now like the pressure
22:16might fall slowly on him.
22:19Let me try to go against the spinners.
22:20And he did that role perfectly.
22:23You could have easily compartmentalized your innings.
22:25You did not do that.
22:26And like how Kingshuk said, like when you look at Virat Kohli, he reinvents himself.
22:30Why can't a Shaheen Shahafreedi do it?
22:32He always depends on one thing, swing.
22:36If it does not happen, he's a very, very average bowler.
22:39He's not world-class at all.
22:41Because world-class players always reinvent themselves.
22:45Whenever they know that, you can look at Sachin, how Sachin reinvented himself in that
22:49Australia tour.
22:50He did not play the cover drive because he knew that people were trying to get him out
22:53at that point in time.
22:55World-class players always reinvent themselves.
22:58Pakistan do not have any single world-class player.
23:02They do not even match up to any of the Indian players right now.
23:06Because Indian team, we were all discussing about, oh, are we going to mess up the combinations?
23:13Because the quality was always there.
23:14With Pakistan, the combinations are messed up, the quality is messed up and none of them
23:18can reinvent themselves.
23:19Tell me honestly, barring say Babar, Rizwan and Naseem, can any of these players get into
23:26Indian Ranji Trophy teams?
23:27No.
23:28Okay, that was a front.
23:31No.
23:32No.
23:33Let me give you an example.
23:36If you have a Mumbai team, which is star-studded, do you even think you would take a Babar Azam
23:42in that team?
23:43No.
23:44In place of Surya, I probably would, for Red Ball Cricket.
23:47No, I will not.
23:48I will not.
23:49Mohit Sharma got into that team and the Mumbai coach was pissed off that you messed up my
23:53combination.
23:54You took out two of my best batters from the team.
23:57The quality is there.
23:58Angrish Raghuvanshi, there is a young batter coming in.
24:01A Prithvi Shah cannot make it into that team for obvious reasons, which we will not go
24:05into.
24:07But there are so many, so many good players in that Mumbai team.
24:10Mumbai team has won the Ranji Trophy how many times?
24:12More than 40 times, right?
24:14Why?
24:15Because there is quality in that team.
24:17On the vice versa, I think Pakistan would love someone like Prithvi Shah at the top.
24:22Even for those inconsistencies, considering Saim Abhishek Jodhi, imagine you say that
24:28someone is there who can give you a 40 ball 60, but with a little bit of off-feet troubles.
24:34They will be like, okay, that's probably a…
24:39But you know what, I thought about Virat Kohli coming back there.
24:42Like you know, we all speak about, oh, he did that with spin, he did that with his…
24:47But if you want to be blunt, he still has issues, he can't go away in one day.
24:53Like Rashad Hussain got him out when he was trying to play back foot, that cut shot.
24:58You mentioned in your copy where he doesn't play a lot of back foot shots, but he has
25:02been making a conscious effort to do that.
25:05But more so, I think, you know, he still has those technical deficiencies.
25:09We saw that in Australia where, you know, people made plans, as in Australian bowlers
25:16made plans and they got him out every time.
25:18But I think we have seen cricket before and MS Dhoni, what technique did he have?
25:23As in he had his own technique, but he had that, you know, mental resolve.
25:27He had that courage, you know, to show that, okay, I can get better than what the opponent
25:33is planning.
25:34Likewise, Virat, people doubted his hunger, people doubted his mental strength.
25:38So I think that's why that Pakistan knock is going to be very important.
25:42It's still a big game.
25:43We might say, oh, but if India had lost, then we would have all trained our guns on the
25:47Indian team.
25:48So I think that mental strength, that was a show of his mental strength that, yeah,
25:52I am at this age, my probably my hand-eye coordination is not as good as it was.
25:57Probably I have some technical issues.
25:59I get out to spin more than I got more than I used to in the past.
26:04But I still have that hunger and that mental ability to mask those deficiencies and score
26:10those runs.
26:11Yesterday, if you look at it, it was a spotless innings.
26:13There was no drop.
26:14There was no drop chances.
26:15I don't think there was even an LBW shot.
26:18So I think, yeah, I am very happy that Virat scored, but I'll be, you know, I'll be wanting
26:23to look at him, look at what he does against better bowling lineups, like someone like
26:28Mitchell Santner.
26:29Yeah, New Zealand.
26:30Someone like a Mitchell Santner, or I don't know, as in like, or go to Sri Lanka and play
26:36their spinners there.
26:37So but you know what, you can't rule him out.
26:40You can't say that you can't write endulkar pieces about Virat Kohli yet.
26:44You will be proved wrong like how the master proves people wrong.
26:49That's probably what I want to say about Virat.
26:52I love Virat, as in like, I want him to score.
26:55But you know, that the theatre that he brings, especially when it is green shirts.
27:00At the end of the day, when you look at yesterday, I think all said and done, the most anticipation
27:05in the match, the most tension in the match was when everybody was wondering if Virat
27:11will get to his 100.
27:12The most horrifying part of it was seeing Hardik Pandya walk in when Virat needed 20-15
27:18runs in the end.
27:19Started bashing.
27:20That was the only part that was most entertaining in that point.
27:23And I think Akshar also said about it, he was doing his maths, like what Virat has to
27:28do.
27:29Because everybody wanted Virat to get to the 100.
27:31That's it.
27:32End of the day.
27:33That was the whole point at the end of the match.
27:34You know, it would have been very good had we sent Rizwan as his batting partner.
27:37When Virat needed 20, you would pakka know that Rizwan wouldn't show intent.
27:42Yeah.
27:43And put pressure on Kohli to get the runs also.
27:46So yeah, that was probably it.
27:48And probably with his age also, I think he joked yesterday that, you know, it's a good
27:51thing that we have a week off, one week off because I am 36 and as a 36 year old, I think
27:58I want to put my feet up for at least one or two days.
28:02Maybe the 23-24 year old kids might not be happy with it, but I'm very happy.
28:06Let me just rest for some time and like recalibrate.
28:09And yeah, like probably that comment that Kumble made, is he trying too hard?
28:15Probably the biggest thing was seeing a 36 year old come up and, you know, lead the team
28:22on the field during that practice session.
28:24Then obviously we were worried when he had an ice pack on his leg, that all that adds
28:30to the aura of the man.
28:31That is what, at the end of the day, you know that he is, you know, his powers are waning.
28:36He is 36.
28:37He is not the same angry, you know, destructive batter that we have all seen over the years.
28:46He's kind of mellowed down.
28:47He's become a very, very calm person.
28:51He does not pick up fights.
28:52He does pick up fights, but he does not pick up fights as often as he used to.
28:58Before you say unnecessarily, think about the Sam Constance.
29:01But then again, that's all the aura of the man and credit to him.
29:06So, yeah, like you said, spotless.
29:09Hope that form continues as well.
29:12But what do you think about the other teams, Kingshuk?
29:14Yeah, I was waiting like for, like we said.
29:17Your Brendan McCullum love has been exposed again.
29:20Why?
29:21As in like, what have, as in like, if you can't beat that Australian team, then I'm
29:26sorry, you are not going to, we are going to probably be endless.
29:28But Ben Ducat already said that it doesn't matter if you win bilaterals against India.
29:33It only matters if you win the Champions League final.
29:37So group stage matches also don't matter.
29:40Who cares?
29:41But, you know, one thing that I noticed about that England team performance was that at
29:46least one batter stayed through.
29:48I think Kingshuk was also telling me that, you know, probably this is the longest time
29:51Ben Ducat has spent on.
29:53No, we actually look at the numbers, right?
29:55Yeah.
29:56And in between his test innings, like he's a great test batter.
29:59So amongst all of his test centuries, this is like the second most number of balls that
30:04he has played in his entire career in innings.
30:08And he did well.
30:09He scored 165.
30:10But the fact is, the problem with the England team is that there is nobody in form to probably
30:16compliment him.
30:18If he had scored 165, it's chipped in.
30:22But you need one more contribution coming in, right?
30:24You need another 71 of, let's say, 36-35 balls or 200 strike rate innings.
30:30That was not there.
30:31These guys tried and then they failed.
30:33And their bowling is still subpar.
30:35Nobody is there apart from Adil Rashid.
30:38You see of Adil Rashid, that's it.
30:40Nobody else contributed and that track was basically a road.
30:45And yeah, I mean, Josh Inglis was spectacular that day.
30:50I personally did not give Australia a chance.
30:53But the way that Carey and Josh Inglis paced that innings, England were searching for answers.
31:00And they have been searching for answers since the end of the ODI World Cup.
31:05Nothing is working.
31:06And probably, again, they need to ask questions about Josh Butler also.
31:11His captaincy, his form.
31:13These are things that need to be questioned.
31:15And unfortunately, there are no questions coming up.
31:17I think you were a bit too severe with their batting performance.
31:22If you score 330-odd runs and you still lose, yes, like you said, it was a road and there was dew.
31:28But in a major tournament, 330 probably is a good score batting first.
31:32But I think this is where I think we should probably give credit to Australia, saying
31:37that they took them by surprise.
31:40You did not...
31:41I think they lost two early wickets.
31:43Traveyside and Steve Smith was gone.
31:45And most of us thought, okay, this is a done deal.
31:48England are going to run through and then win this match.
31:52But then, these Australians, you know, whenever they come to an ICC tournament, the planning...
31:57I don't actually agree to that.
31:59I don't actually agree to your assessment of saying that 330 is like a good score in
32:03any tournament.
32:04Because I remember in that match, when Ducat was playing that innings, by the 40th over,
32:09the conversation was, 380 can go, 380-375 can go.
32:14400 even.
32:15Yeah.
32:16That's when the collapse happened.
32:18Just that, and like, if you compare that to the Australian innings, Joss Inglis did
32:24score 120 of like 86 balls, right?
32:27But the majority of that barrage of shots came at the very end of his innings.
32:32So he was able to sustain the pressure and let go of himself when they thought that England
32:39were trying a little too much, like trying to take those wickets.
32:44That's something that we have heard again and again in this Champions Trophy.
32:48How these batters have a lot of time, even if they can't see it.
32:53So the idea is that till the 40th over, if you can save up on wickets, you can really
32:58let go.
32:59And on flat batting tracks, you can manage those 120-110 runs at the end.
33:05Tell me one batter in England who would play 50 balls, score 25 runs, and then say that,
33:10yeah, you know what, I can take this deep.
33:12Not a single one.
33:13Everyone wants to play their shots at the start, set the tempo, and then carry on.
33:18That's the biggest difference between an Australian side right now and an England side right now.
33:24When you go home, when this episode of Sledging Room is published, listen to what you said
33:29now.
33:3050 balls, 25 runs, and then go bang at the end, right?
33:35When MS Dhoni does it, Kingshuk has a problem.
33:39I am just putting it out there because the IPL 2025 is coming as well.
33:45But I think that is, like he said, probably that is the biggest downfall or biggest flaw
33:51of basketball, right?
33:53That you have to go hell for leather at all points in time.
33:57I remember this because Brendan McCullum was the coach of KKR.
34:02And this was a game against Rajasthan Royals.
34:04And this was Strayer's first season as captain.
34:07He was scoring 87.
34:08We were set to chase down some 200-odd runs.
34:12The match was well set.
34:14Everything was going fine.
34:15Strayer went for a shot, got out to Yusuf Indra Chahal.
34:18But the run rate was well in control because the batters were targeting Obeid McCoy from
34:23the other end.
34:24So you had Yusuf Indra Chahal, see-off is over, he got Strayer Sair fine, but you still
34:29have batters.
34:31See him off, target Obeid McCoy, get the win.
34:34That is the agenda.
34:35No.
34:36Everybody came in.
34:37Everybody tried to target Yusuf Indra Chahal, gave him a hat-trick, lost the match.
34:41And lost the match, not by a heavy margin, by 4 or 5 runs.
34:45McCullum era, KKR must have been nightmarish for you, right?
34:47It has been.
34:48And that is the same thing he has taken to England.
34:50We were all surprised by how they played in Test cricket.
34:55But ODI cricket, this approach does not work.
34:58Because you need certain, expect a Shubman Gill, if he was playing against Bangladesh
35:03and decided, okay, everything is done, now I am going to play my shots.
35:06No, that is not how it works.
35:07So he himself said, as in like, Shubman Gill beautifully explained that after the match,
35:12he was asked, okay, Rohit Sharma said that you guys are playing a new brand of ODI cricket.
35:18Is it going to be attack at all time or how is it going to be?
35:20He said, no, it is not going to be attack at all time.
35:23Probably we will go for the shots when the bowler is under pressure.
35:26And he also beautifully explained the relationship between him and Rohit.
35:29That Rohit always takes the aggressive route.
35:32He takes more risks in the power play.
35:34Well, that allows me to settle down.
35:36So probably that is how it should work, right?
35:38Everybody cannot go helter-skelter and throw the kitchen sink at every ball.
35:43So that is something that...
35:45England does not have that kind of a batter.
35:47Now it probably makes me understand.
35:49I was thinking when Brendan McCullum was appointed as a Test coach,
35:53oh, is it a wrong move?
35:54Would he not be more suited for white ball?
35:56But I think probably he is not suited for white ball now.
36:00If you ask our colleague Saurabh, who is unfortunately injured,
36:03he will say, Brendan McCullum does not belong in the coaching room at all,
36:07in the dressing room at all.
36:08Saurabh went to the ballet hall on the road, broke his shoulder.
36:11But not a good coaching material.
36:13But I do not know as in, it is still early days.
36:16But your quick reflection before we wrap up this episode of Sledging Room,
36:20we had given predictions before the start of the Champions Trophy.
36:24Do you guys stick to it and how have you seen them?
36:26My biggest concern is, we all had high hopes from Afghanistan.
36:31But probably the way they started against South Africa was limp.
36:33I think their batting, apart from that,
36:36you know, Gurbaaz firing, if he is not firing,
36:39the pressure falls on the other guys
36:41and the other guys have not been able to step up.
36:43And they also played Siddiqui Lahtal in that match.
36:45We spoke about him in detail before the...
36:48I think that game, that entire momentum that was supposed to be set
36:53in the first 20 overs, they could not do it.
36:55I think Shahidi came in, he said that, you know, we failed there.
36:58But, yeah, I mean, I was a little disappointed by that performance.
37:02I do not think their bowling was that bad.
37:04Yeah, 300 was expected on Pakistan tracks.
37:07They have been flat throughout.
37:08315 was still okay.
37:11They did well.
37:12But, yeah, I mean, their batting was a problem.
37:16And I think that could be a problem.
37:18You know, the narrative around that match also surprised me a little bit.
37:21Because a lot of people whom I met were saying,
37:24oh, Afghanistan will roll over South Africa.
37:27South Africa never plays spin well.
37:29But that perception is completely wrong.
37:32South Africa have become one of the most improved spin playing sides
37:35in the recent years.
37:36Like, look at their batting lineup.
37:38Miller is experienced.
37:39Klaasen is experienced.
37:41Temba Bahoma can play spin really well.
37:42Don't forget...
37:43Rassi Vanaduzan can play really well.
37:47Markram, if he's in the mix, if he wants to do well, he will do well.
37:51With all those IPL experiences that they've had,
37:54they have become a very dangerous side.
37:55And that's why I was a little surprised.
37:57Yeah, you can put your money on Afghanistan.
37:59But it's too harsh to say that they probably will run over.
38:03Probably that is a few...
38:04I heard it from a few people.
38:06I don't know whether you heard such reviews from people.
38:10In a no mental pressure game,
38:12they have an extremely balanced side.
38:14And they have very good spinners as well.
38:16Keshav Maharaj, one of the best spinners
38:18who can exploit any conditions.
38:20And also they have Tabrez Shamsi who's sitting outside.
38:23You're a man who can roll over his arms when needed.
38:26So that looks like a solid side.
38:28I think they will make the semi-final.
38:31So what was your prediction from the Afghanistan and South Africa?
38:35Do you still stick to that or do you go Australia and South Africa?
38:38Looking at what Australia did that day was a genuine surprise for me.
38:42I have to accept it here.
38:43And after this win, knowing Steve Smith, he'll not let it go.
38:47I think it is Australia and South Africa from that group.
38:50And India, Pakistan from this group.
38:52India, Pakistan?
38:54Let's believe in miracles.
38:56I hope when we walk out of this room...
38:58I think we both synchronized that.
39:00I hope when we walk out of this room...
39:02I hope when we walk out of this room,
39:05New Zealand and Bangladesh are 300 for 3 in 30 overs.
39:10If that is the case, I think Sabya would have already left the building by now.
39:15But let's see.
39:16But let's believe in miracles.
39:17India, Pakistan final in the Champions Trophy.
39:20I don't want that.
39:21I think I would...
39:22What do you guys think?
39:23What was your prediction?
39:24I think India, New Zealand and South Africa, Afghanistan.
39:28But yeah, I think now I feel South Africa, Australia and India, New Zealand.
39:33You were not with us when we were in the previous episode
39:38where we previewed the Champions Trophy.
39:39Yeah, but I think I did my prediction in the one before that.
39:43Okay, then has it changed now?
39:44What was your prediction?
39:45My prediction was South Africa, Afghanistan and India, New Zealand.
39:51And I stick to that because I think what Australia did,
39:54that the fact that they're batting bailed them out.
39:56It's not going to happen every day.
39:59And their bowling is going to leak more runs against other teams than England.
40:04So you're saying England or Afghanistan, who are going?
40:06As in like South Africa or Afghanistan are your picks?
40:09Yeah.
40:09And you're sticking to them?
40:10Yeah.
40:12I think it's time to ask our viewers and listeners also.
40:16Probably the first round of matches are over.
40:17India and Pakistan played their second round on Sunday.
40:20What do they think about the tournament?
40:23Whether it has been exciting or not?
40:25And who do they think will go from here?
40:28Please send in your predictions and feedback on 8588-966-996.
40:32If you're listening to us on Spotify and Apple podcast, please do rate us.
40:36And like we always say, if you're watching us on YouTube,
40:38please leave your comments.
40:39We'll learn more from your feedback.
40:41Thank you, have a great week.