Shayan Acharya, Tarun Shastry, Aditya Padinjat, along with host Abhishek Saini, dive deep into the key performances and moments from the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy.
They discuss Mumbai's crushing innings victory over Pondicherry, the exceptional all-round performance of Jammu & Kashmir against Hyderabad (and the rise of Akhil Samad), and the heartbreaking near-win for Kerala against Madhya Pradesh. The episode also scrutinises the struggles of Tamil Nadu and features a discussion on the controversial mid-season break for white-ball tournaments and its impact on team momentum and player workload.
The defining narratives of Ranji Round 4:
- Historic Win: J&K registers first-ever Ranji win over Delhi, anchored by Qamran Iqbal's unbeaten 133.
- Mumbai's New Anchor: Musheer Khan steps up with a century and 3 wickets (POTM), addressing top-order issues.
- POTM Paradox: Shahbaz Ahmed (86 runs, 8 wickets) snubbed for Player of the Match in Bengal's victory.
- Tamil Nadu Crisis: Senior batters fail captain Sai Kishore's call for accountability in the loss to Andhra.
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In this episode, we dive deep into the power shift from Harmanpreet Kaur to Smriti Mandhana — how two icons shaped India’s greatest cricketing moment in different ways.
We explore how Harman’s grit and vision built the foundation, and how Smriti’s calm leadership and modern approach carried the team into a bold new era.
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Welcome back to Matchpoint Paradox. After a brief break, we dive straight into the drama of the Ranji Trophy's first round. Reporters Tarun Shastry, Prasanna Venkatesan, and Vivek Krishnan bring you match reports from across the country.
Vivek recounts his first-time experience in Srinagar covering Mumbai vs. Jammu and Kashmir, where Shams Mulani delivered a game-changing performance with the bat (91) and ball (7-wicket haul), even as questions linger over Mumbai's pace attack. Tarun details the nail-biting finish between Saurashtra and Karnataka in Rajkot, highlighting Chetan Sakariya's crucial last-wicket stand and Shreyas Gopal's eight-wicket haul.
Finally, Prasanna dissects Tamil Nadu's disappointing loss to Jharkhand in Coimbatore, focusing on the team's spin inexperience and Ishan Kishan's surprisingly 'calculative' 173. We also discuss the unheralded stalwarts of first-class cricket like Paras Dogra and the persistent need for all-round ability among India's left-arm spinners.
It was yet another successful Women's Premier League campaign for the Mumbai Indians, which won it's second title after beating Delhi Capitals by eight runs. Our correspondents Lavanya L, Rajdeep Saha and Kavita Menon provide an in-depth analysis of the 2025 WPL season.
Expectations can be a double-edged sword in elite sport. The pre-tournament favourite team or an athlete winning a title could be taken for granted while failure could attract intense criticism. India was in this unenviable situation.But over the last three weeks, the Men in Blue have gone about their business clinically and methodically to emerge triumphant after beating New Zealand by four wickets in a pulsating summit clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.Our correspondents Dipak Ragav and Pranay Rajiv dissect India's journey to the top.
In this episode of Matchpoint Paradox, Sportstar's Cricket Podcast, Dhruva Prasad and Sahil Mathur try and unpack the raging debate on a two-tiered international Test ecosystem, its pros and cons and more.
#CricketPodcast | #SportsPodcast | #TestCricket
Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years with a 3-1 series win. The series was filled with misses for India which comes away from the continent with its Test ecosystem in disarray. KC Vijaya Kumar joins Dhruva Prasad and Sahil Mathur to discuss the ups and downs of the series and the road ahead for Gambhir and his boys.
#BGT | #CricketPodcast | #CricketNews | #SportsPodcast
If there is one person who knows R. Ashwin better than most, it is former India cricketer and women’s team coach W.V. Raman. The Tamil Nadu off-spinner made his First Class debut when Raman was at the State team’s helm and spoke about the latter’s role in his early years in domestic cricket.
#Ashwin #IndianCricket #CricketPodcast #IndianSports #SportsPodcast
🎙️ Podcast | In a brand new episode of Matchpoint Paradox, Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and Amol Karhadkar look at an interesting IPL Auction and the talking points that emerge:
From Mumbai Indians' faith in Tendulkar Jr.'s and the practicality of Vaibhav Suryavanshi's acquisition by the Royals to #IPL2025 signifying the closing of an important loop and much more.
You can also catch this episode on all major podcast platforms including YouTube where the full video of this episode is available. #CricketPodcast | #IndianCricket | #IPL | #IPLAuction
The #INDvAUS Test rivalry has some incredibly dramatic moments From Gavaskar's angry walkout in 1981, Dravid and Laxman's resistance in 2001, the infamous Sydney Test in 2008 to Pant and Co.'s defiance in 2020/21, we revisit the experience of one of the best rivalries in the sport across generations in this special video. ft. Vijay Lokapally, Dipak Ragav, Aashin Prasad, Pranay Rajiv CHAPTERS 00:36 - 02:18 - Intro 02:19 - 17:03 - Earliest memories of the India vs Australia cricket rivalry 17:04 - 25:30 - Gavaskar's walkout in 1981 a flashpoint in the IND v AUS rivalry? 25:31 -28:40 - The infamous 2008 Sydney Test 28:41 - 31:34-How Kohli changed the character of the rivalry 31:35 - 39:23- Most competitive India vs Australia series 39:24 - 43:54- Predictions for BGT 2024 #BorderGavaskarTrophy | #PerthTest
Arun Dhumal, the chairman of the Indian Premier League, talked about the exit of T20 World Cup-bound England players mid-season and also the future of the Impact Player rule.
#CricketPodcast #Podcast #IPL #IndianCricket
Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra were unable to recreate the magic they managed together when they went their separate ways in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. Amol Karhadkar and Pranay Rajiv look at the repercussions of the IPL's most controversial transfer and what it means for the future of Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians.
#IPL2024 #IndianPremierLeague #CricketPodcast
Asha Sobhana Joy is an individual with immense faith in the universe. In 2021, the leg-spin-bowling all rounder was dropped from the Railways side and found herself low on confidence. She posted a photograph on her Instagram account then with the text — ‘Fall seven times, stand up eight.’ Roughly 869 days later, she and her Royal Challengers Bengaluru outfit, led by Smriti Mandhana, lifted the franchise’s maiden Women’s Premier League (WPL) title. Less than a month later, Asha was named in the squad for India’s five-match T20I series against Bangladesh.
Here's Asha Sobhana's story of how she found cricket and her difficulties staying in the game
Send in your feedback to sportstar@thehindu.co.in #RCB #wpl2024 #WomensCricket
Senior cricket analyst Dan Weston breaks down how teams go about their auction picks in the Indian Premier League.
Catch our complete cricket coverage on Sportstar.
#IPL2024Auction | #IPL2024 | #IndianCricket
From rule changes forcing teams to change auction strategy to tickets for to watch the auction looking like the new norm, Amol Karhakdar and Sahil Mathur recap the IPL 2024 Auction in this episode of Matchpoint Paradox.
#IPL2024 | #IPL | #CricketPodcast | #SportsPodcast
Amol Karhadkar joins Lavanya Lakshminarayanan in this episode of Matchpoint Paradox, Sportstar's cricket podcast, to review India and Australia's World Cup campaign and the road ahead for the two countries.
#CricketPodcast #Podcast #WorldCup2023 #Cricket
In this episode of Matchpoint Paradox, Sportstar's cricket podcast, Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and Pranay Rajiv look at the positives and negatives of New Zealand's campaign in the 2023 Men's ODI World Cup.
#CricketPodcast #Podcast