Never on the Backfoot: A Podcast

Welcome to Episode 157 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The 2022/23 Women's Senior T20 Trophy was the 14th edition and the tournament took place between 11 October and 5 November 2022. 37 teams competed in the tournament, divided into two groups of eight and three groups of seven, playing each other side in their group once. The winner of each group progressed straight to the quarter-finals, whil...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 156 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Ireland defeated England again in a World Cup and won by five runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after rain fell in the 15th over of England’s innings. Rain and a wobbly start from England have handed Ireland a famous T20 World Cup triumph at the MCG. This makes Friday’s match against Australia, also in Melbourne and with a s...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 155 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Team India has had a spectacular Asia Cup. Winning their group stage matches and translating the wins into a good show in the knockouts and winning the Asia Cup was the icing on the cake. Another important aspect to discuss is the Women’s IPL is finally getting underway and this episode will also discuss that! The podcast is also a...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 154 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. A Virat Kohli masterclass helped India beat Pakistan in an MCG thriller. He hit an unbeaten 82 as India pulled off a miracle four-wicket victory in India's first game at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Melbourne. This episode features Neha sharing her reflections on that scintillating match! The podcast is also available on Apple Po...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 153 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The domestic season is back and we’ve had an exciting Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy. This episode will discuss the summary and takeaways from the premier domestic tournaments in India while also previewing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. On the podcast today to join us for this discussion, we have Naman Samtani. The podcast is also a...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 152 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast today is Marina Iqbal. She is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer. She played as a right-arm medium-fast bowler and right-handed batter. She has appeared in 36 One Day Internationals and 42 T20 Internationals for Pakistan between 2009 and 2017. This episode traverses her journey so far. Th...

Welcome to Episode 151 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Jhulan Goswami is an unbelievable beast. In a career spanning 20 years and 261 days, the second-longest of any woman to have played international cricket she scalped 355 wickets in 284 matches across the three formats. The only woman cricketer with 200-plus wickets in ODIs, she took 255 in the format, 64 more than the second-best on the char...

Welcome to Episode 150 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Having endured a woeful 1-2 defeat in the T20I series, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian side raised its standards in all the departments of the game to bounce back in the ODI series and claim a magnificent 3-0 win and to discuss this monumental series win, we have Ashwini Patil of Women's CricZone fame. Don't miss out on this insightful discu...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 149 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining Neha for the episode and adding value to the discussion is an ardent cricket fan, Anshul. This episode is all about Aaron Finch's retirement from ODIs, his career at large and what this means for Australia. The discussion also focusses on the possible replacements and who will lead them in the shorter formats after the 2020...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 148 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. This is a first for the Podcast where we will be reviewing and previewing a men's and women’s series respectively on the same episode. We will be discussing major talking points and takeaways from the Women’s England vs India T20I series and previewing the men’s India vs Australia T20I series. The podcast is also available on Apple...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 147 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The economic crisis has formed the backdrop for much of Sri Lanka's Asia Cup campaign. But their brand of cricket and some landmark wins like the ODI series triumph over Australia at home and now the Asia Cup title have come as a balm. For people desperately seeking solace through sporting glory, yesterday was a night to remember....

Welcome to Episode 146 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. India has had a shock exit in the ongoing Asia Cup and it thereby becomes pertinent to evaluate India’s T20 formula in the wake of this disappointing tournament. Going by what has transpired in the Asia Cup so far, India needs to answer several tricky questions quickly if they want to improve upon their performance in Australia next month. O...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 145 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Virat Kohli finally brought up his 71st international century after a wait of 1019 days today. Kohli who scored his last century on 23rd November 2019 against Bangladesh brought up a welcome hundred against Afghanistan in the dead rubber clash in the Asia Cup 2022. Kohli ultimately finished with 122* off just 61 balls, which is the...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 144 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast is Vishal Yadav. He is the founder and CEO of Female Cricket which aims to inspire and empower female cricketers around the world. It's been over 6 years since this initiative and his venture has connected with over 5,00,000+ female cricket enthusiasts through his social and digital channels. They also run...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 143 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast is Gurkirat Singh Gill. It is an understatement to say that Gurkirat is an ardent cricket fan. He is the host of 'Gupshup with Gill' on YouTube where he has interviewed a plethora of cricketers and many prominent voices of the game. He also plys his trade as an expert for 12th Khiladi and is currently with...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 142 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. India won the 3rd ODI against Zimbabwe to win the three-match series 3-0 in Harare and this was their final challenge before Asia Cup 2022. The hosts bowled effectively in the second game before giving India a serious worry in the dead rubber. They had been listless in the first match. For putting up a fight in the second part of t...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 141 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast is Akanksha Kohli. She is a professional cricketer who represents Karnataka. She has played inter zonals, the prestigious Fairbreak tournament in 2018 and all of the domestic tournaments organized by BCCI. In this episode we uncover her early days, her career so far, perspectives on men's and women's crick...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 140 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast today is Suprita Das. She is a journalist with over fifteen years of experience reporting and writing on sport. She won the RedInk Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2015. Her first book, Shadow Fighter, a biography of boxer Sarita Devi, received rave reviews and subsequently, she penned a book in 2018...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 139 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The Indian men’s cricket team will square off against Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series starting on August 18. Harare will play host to each of the one-dayers. Notably, this is India's first tour of Zimbabwe in six years and KL Rahul will captain Team India. Zimbabwe has been a team to watch out in recent times considering their...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 138 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Joining me on the podcast today is Estelle Vasudevan. She is a writer at ThePapare.com, who works primarily on Cricket, Athletics and Netball. We've discussed her journey and early roots, her career so far, perspectives on Sri Lankan men's and women's cricket and so much more in this insightful episode. The podcast is also availabl...

Welcome to Episode 137 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Australia women’s cricket team captain Meg Lanning has announced she will take a period of indefinite leave, effective immediately. Lanning cited personal reasons for the decision, with no return date set. The No.2 ICC Women's T20I batter and No.5 ODI batter was set to stay in England after Australia's Commonwealth Games victory, to feature...

Hi there! Welcome to Episode 136 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The Indian men's cricket team routed the West Indies 3-0 in the three-match ODI series and 4-1 in the five-match T20I series to cap off a successful tour of the Caribbean and the USA. This episode will focus on a review of the series and major talking points and discuss the squad chosen for Asia Cup as well. The podcast is also ava...

Welcome to Episode 135 (Part B) of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. Although India had a commendable run this CWG 2022, they ended up with Silver. There are a lot of talking points and who better to discuss them with if not with another ardent women’s cricket fan. On the podcast joining me for the comprehensive analysis of the Indian women’s cricket team's performance in the recently concluded CWG 2...

Welcome to Episode 135 (Part A) of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. This CWG was a phenomenal exhibition for women’s cricket. The two semi-finals, the bronze medal match and the gold medal match were some well-fought and exciting contests. This episode will summarise these matches.  The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor and a lot of other platforms and spr...

Welcome to Episode 134 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. The Women's Hundred 2022 will witness 26 top quality 100-ball matches scheduled to be played between 11th August and 3rd September 2022. This episode previews all the eight teams and a lot of pointers to look out for in this exciting season that gets underway on August 11th. The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, S...