From The Pavilion End...

The Indian Domestic season started off with two first class competitions - the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy. Both were engaging matches. Here we discuss the hits and misses and potential debutants for Indian Test team in the coming 12 months looking at these tournaments. we discuss the revamped rules for IPL retention that makes IPL retention a 4-D chess match.

India astonished opponents Bangladesh, the cricket world and Father Time itself as a test match meandering to a draw sprang to life and finished one and half session early. Sri Lanka blanked New Zealand and Kamindu Mendis got his name in the same sentence as Sir Don. India and Bangladesh looks ahead to respective test and T20 series.

Bangladesh were supposed to give India a tough fight in red ball cricket. On a manchester-esque pitch, 2/3rds of the 1st day done of the Chennai Test - all that was true. But then Ashwin and Jadeja - probably the greatest ever twosome allrounders ever in any test team became Batman and Robin and saved Gotham. Both achieved significant milestones. Hasan Mahmud and Rishabh Pant sandwiched that Ashwi...

For long the India vs Bangladesh rivalry has been the second most intense rivalry among Asian countries (after the Nagin rivalry). But this rivalry has been limited to white ball only. Now after the 2nd greatest ever 2 test series win for an Asian team, Bangladesh are confident for a red ball rivalry. We invite Muntakim Romman from Dhaka to share his thoughts on the historic victory against Pakist...

FTPE returns with another season of podcast covering the India test season. In this episode we speak about WT20 - India breaking its hoodoo, Australia and England falling flat, Afghans and West Indians switching places, the controversy of NY pitches and broadcasters hauling ICC for mismanaged tournament. Can a global tournament ignore the subcontinent viewers? WTC was a long awaited tournament but...

We take a final look back at the India England series. - There's one stat which shows how effective India was both in defense and outbazballed the bazzball team in attack. - we rate all the players and other protagonists of the series We evaluate India WT20 certainties and hopefuls as IPL comes along. Who are the players who have booked their slots? Who are the contenders for the remaining slo...

As the dust settles on India vs England series which was fiercely fought at most times we look back at where the difference between the teams were made. 3 points where the gap came up were - England's strategy to prepare on set pitches in Abu Dhabi and avoid any coordination in local conditions - How India took the learnings from the 1st Test - England's reluctance to use any backups or En...

The 5th Test between India and England was played at picturesque Dharamshala and we discuss if we should have this as a regular Test venue. We discuss the various protagonists of the match - why couldnt the English players pick Kuldeep Yadav - <heated> discussion on why people still question Ravi Ashwin's performance - Has Jimmy Anderson achieved the pinnacle of fast bowling or has he le...

India and England has played a fascinating series...but what has Virat Kohli got to do with it?? We look at the pitch and the team combinations - Is 2 seamer strategy bound to backfire? Should Rajat Patidar play or will Devdutt Padikkal become India's 5th debutant of the series. We look at the recent fad of centurions. What connects the Fab 4 in their century tests? We put a marker on Ravi Ash...

India snatch the win on an alien pitch having lost the toss, conceding a first innings lead and missing their best bowler of the series. As they say - it was a satisfying win. But what even made it more heartening were the characters behind it - Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel were just two cogs. We also talk about Joe Root, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir. We discuss the curiously happy knack Shubhman Gill...

The bandwagon moves east to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hometown Ranchi for the 4th test. The difficulties of the Indian squad is compounded by continuing unavailability of KL Rahul and imposed resting of Jasprit Bumrah. Is this the worst that England will ever find India at? Alternatively - how can Bazball not win this test match? Find out our pitch preview and teams analysis with impending change...

This was one of the most satisfying home win for India in a long long time. But 3 four day tests have shown this is an exhilarating series. We check India's batting in both innings, the captaincy and the bowling on the crucial 3rd morning and find out the key characters of the win. This discussion also includes - Indepth analysis of Joe Rooting Bumrah to Jaiswal - How Kuldeep finally may have...

India and England are playing an engrossing series where the inexperience of the Indian batting is matched by the inexperience of the English batting. Both teams could have legitimately claimed they should have been 2-0 up. So it is fine that the series is 1-1. How will the Rajkot pitch hold up? What kind of pitch will suit India's batting and bowling talents best? How will this rank inexperie...

We look back at the 2nd Test between India and England played at Vizag. We analyze the performances so far from both India and England and try to identify the narrative of the series and where both the teams are faltering and succeeding as either team could have been up 2-0 or down 2-0. We look ahead to the series and strategize from each camp - on what could land a killer blow. From the Indian pe...

India has lost an unlosable test. On top of that 5 test regulars - Kohli, Pant, Shami, Rahul and Jadeja are out for the 2nd test. Indian team has more debutants than England squad. What hope does India have of equaling the series at Vizag? Is it game over or is there a learning India can take from both history and the 1st test at Hyderabad which will enable them to fight back? We preview the 2nd t...

England bazballed their way to probably the most unlikeliest of their 15 wins in India. India won all the sessions of first 2 days and then lost all the sessions of the last 2 days. While only the pitch and curator came out with pass marks, Indian batting, bowling, captaincy and planning were severely shown up. What can India do to arrest this slide? Or are the English too strong and 2012 will be...

India vs England starts on 25th January. India is without Virat Kohli, Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane all together after Nov 2011. England have announced their XI already and the team has 1 pacer and 3 spinners where Ben Stokes cannot bowl! Are we going to see another 2 day test? We discuss all that and more in this discussion

England are coming to India for a 5 test series. In this comprehensive preview we look at the past record, the teams announced, the venues and pitches they are most likely to prepare, the respective strategies the teams will adopt and finally the prediction. Can Bazball survive Ashwin and Jadeja? Can England survive with only Leach as a lone spinner? Who will be India's wicketkeeper and 3rd sp...

India maintained its unbeaten status vs Afghanistan and also its unbeaten status at home. But how fruitful was the series for the T20 World Cup? We outline 5 things we learnt ( & a few things we didn't learn) from this T20 Series. How highly should we rate Rohit's ton? Why his 2 super-over performances were better than his 20 over performance? What's the significance of Virat's...

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the two highest run getters in T20I cricket, However they haven't played in any T20I since India lost the 2022 World Cup Semi Final on 10th Nov 2022. With the next T20 world cup barely 6 months away, selectors have decided to recall them both. Is that the right call? Do both or either deserve to be in the India T20I team for the World Cup? Why are the media mak...