Never on the Backfoot: A Podcast

Welcome to Episode 133 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast is Nikhil Popat. He is popularly referred to as @CricCrazyNIKS on Twitter and he thinks, predicts and tweets about cricket 24/7. He is a legendary Fantasy Cricket expert with over 7 years experience in the field. This episode delves into his early days, his journey so far, his experiences with Fantasy Cricket and ho...

Welcome to Episode 132 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast today is Aayush Puthran. He was born in Mumbai and currently writes for Cricbuzz. Over the last nine years, he has written about the game and the players around the world, specialising in women’s cricket and cricket administration. Follow him on Twitter @aayushputhran. This episode delves into his early days, his jo...

Welcome to Episode 131 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. We’ve had an action-packed week with some scintillating matches so far. This episode will give you a summary of the CWG 2022 league games and we will preview the exciting semi-finals. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Overcast and a lot of other platforms and spread the word. Do check out @nev...

Welcome to Episode 130 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast is Jarrod Kimber. He is an Australian cricket writer and filmmaker. He came to prominence as the founder of the cricketwithballs blog before working as the editor of SPIN Magazine and then as a writer for ESPNCricinfo. He writes for several other publications and he has also written five books on cricket and was joi...

Welcome to Episode 129 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Ben Stokes left the cricketing fraternity shellshocked when he announced that he will step aside from ODI cricket post the England-South Africa three-match 50-over series opener in Durham on July 18. At 31, Stokes is one of the fittest athletes in world cricket. The all-rounder has already won an ODI World Cup medal, in 2019 and has over 5,0...

Welcome to Episode 128 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. ODI Cricket is dying a 'slow death' after the surge in T20 leagues across the globe. Not long ago, 50-over cricket games were one of the most competitive and interesting games to watch. Fans used to love the format as it was the combination of both test and T20Is. The aura it possessed back then had some magic in it, however, things are diff...

Welcome to Episode 127 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Women’s cricket is all set to mark its debut at the Commonwealth Games this month in Birmingham, England. All of the cricket action will be live from the Edgbaston Cricket Ground from the 29th of July to the 7th of August, it’ll be played in the Twenty20 format and will feature 8 nations fighting it out for podium finishes. The last time cri...

Welcome to Episode 126 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Two days after India won the ODI series in England, several members of that squad have travelled to the Caribbean for another enthralling 50-over contest beginning today followed by an exciting T20 series. This episode will focus on major talking points from the ODI squad selected for both teams, what to look forward to and a look into the T...

Welcome to Episode 125 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. On the podcast today joining me is Abhishek Mukherjee. Abhishek da as he is fondly referred to dons multiple hats of being a cricket historian, analyst and writer. He was chief editor of Cricket Country and assistant editor of Wisden India Almanack. He has written for many other cricket publications. Follow him on Twitter @ovshake42 for some...

Welcome to Episode 124 (Part B) of Never on the Backfoot Podcast.  India’s tour of England has finally ended, and the visitors should be given credit for coming out unscathed. India had a 2-1 lead over England in the Test series last year before the fifth encounter was postponed to 2022 because of coronavirus. India lost the deciding Test as the series ended 2-2. But the side came to terms in the...

Welcome to Episode 124 (Part A) of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. India squandered the opportunity to pull off a historic Test series win in England as the hosts won the rescheduled encounter in spectacular fashion by seven wickets to pull level at 2-2. Destructive centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root helped England retain the Pataudi Trophy. India fell short at the final hurdle once again,...

Welcome to Episode 123 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining us on the podcast today is Vijay Lokapally. Sir is an Indian sports journalist and author. He started his career with the Patriot newspaper in 1981 and later joined The Hindu Group in 1986. Sir has been considered in the media as one of India's most respected writers on cricket and according to Sportskeeda, he is regarded as one of t...

Welcome to Episode 122 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The SL v IND series was an exciting one as we won the T20I series 2-1 and ODI series 3-0. There a lot of talking points from this tour and with the CWG also fast approaching, we have some exciting times lined up. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Overcast and a lot of other platforms and sprea...

Welcome to Episode 121 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The term 'BazBall' has been used excessively everywhere and this episode aims to break down what the fuss is all about. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Overcast and a lot of other platforms and spread the word. Do check out @neveronthebackfoot on Instagram and @neverontheback1 for the latest...

Welcome to Episode 120 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. On the podcast today joining me is Nikhil Samant. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession, running his business in Pune. Like all Indians, he is a huge fan of the game of cricket. His passion and need to be associated with the game culminated in his writing of the book, ‘It Wasn’t A Waste of Time - The Story of the Most Important Decade'...

Welcome to Episode 119 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. When Mithali Raj announced her retirement, it not only drew curtains on one of the most decorated careers in Indian cricket but also signalled the end of an era. In a career that spanned 23 years, she represented India a record 333 times across all formats, scored a world record 10,868 runs and became the first Indian captain to lead the cou...

Welcome to Episode 118 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The England vs South Africa one-off test was a fascinating contest that was unfortunately cut off thanks to bad weather and the fact that women’s tests are 4-day affairs. Nevertheless, that doesn’t take away from what a great test match it was. We have a lot of exciting talking points, so strap your seatbelts and here we go! The podcast is a...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 117 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The semifinals of the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy season began on June 14 with Bengal facing Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai contesting with Uttar Pradesh in the second match. The two games were played at the Karnataka Cricket Association Ground in Alur and the Just Cricket Academy in Bangalore respectively. We had MP and Mumbai progress to the...

Welcome to Episode 116 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. India completed a 2-0 whitewash in the just-concluded T20I series against Ireland. While the Men in Blue registered a convincing win in the opening game, they were given a run for their money in the second and at one point it seemed as if the Irish would end up pulling off a huge upset. This episode is all about a review of the Ireland serie...

Welcome to Episode 115 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The BCCI controls the biggest economy in world cricket just recently wrapped up a blockbuster three-day online auction for the IPL’s media rights for the 2023-27 cycle. Propelling itself to the second spot on the list of most lucrative sporting properties in the world, the IPL secured a whopping INR 48,390.50 crore (approx. US$ 6.2 billion)...

Welcome to Episode 114 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. It was way back in 2014 that legendary New Zealand cricketer the late Martin Crowe saw into the future and declared Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root as the 'Fab 4' of the current generation of batters in world cricket. His prediction could not have been more right as the four players have dominated all three forms of th...

Welcome to Episode 113 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The fifth and final T20 International between India and South Africa concluded in a no-result due to heavy rain in Bengaluru. With this result, India achieved their second drawn series against the Proteas at home (2-2), following a 1-1 tie in 2019. In the shortest version of the game, Team India is yet to defeat the Proteas in a home series....

Welcome to Episode 112 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining us on the podcast is Mohit Shah. He has six years and counting worth of editing and writing experience in digital media and he is passionate about sports and films. Having worked with ESPN India for 6 years, he currently works for Women’s CricZone.  It was a fun episode where we chatted about his career and everything cricket was als...

Welcome to Episode 111 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining us on the podcast is Lalith Kalidas, a Sportstar journalist. The Ranji Trophy 2022 has arrived the last four stage with Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh competing for a spot in the final. In the past couple of days, eight quarter-finalists put up a fight with both bat and ball, and we look at some of the biggest talki...

Welcome to Episode 110 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining us on the podcast is Ananya Upendran. She is a self-confessed cricket tragic, who used to play and now actively writes about the game. Having played cricket professionally for India A, South Zone, Hyderabad and Sikkim for over a decade and a half, she has taken her love for the game into the world of writing. This was a really fun an...