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 Ashwin-Jadeja show to put their own claim of a dream run continuing. Shakib al Hasan courted more controversies. India won a highly significant test which took its overall test wins higher than overall test defeats. We look ahead to the 2nd test in Kanpur. Afghanistan cracks the SENA code and we believe they are the 2nd best white ball team in Asia. We look at Eng-Aus white ball tour and speculate if Travis Head is gearing up to open in red ball cricket.

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 Pakistan, the test ambitions of Bangladesh, the thorny issues of Hathurusinghe and Shakib al hasan. And we preview this pivotal series looking ahead to the probable starting XI, India's strategy, BD strategy, the return of the 2 Delhi prodigal sons, Ashwin's possible last test at Chennai and predictions.

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 it is deeply flawed. The flaws are so obvious that if not rectified it will render all WTC legacies void. We talk about various aspects of the WTC which needs to change. We look at some of the brightest uncapped players from across the globe and predict our top bets for future debutant of the year.

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 slots? Who are the long shots who may upstage all calculations if they have a great IPL This is the final episode of Season 1. Thanks for all the love you all have given us. We will take a break during IPL and come back later with Season 2.

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 England Lions whereas India picked up 4 members from the India A team We also debate around - which was the pivotal result - 2nd test at Vizag or 4th Test at Ranchi? - where was the series won/lost - batting or bowling or management Finally we attempt our interpretation of Bazball and if it has a future in cricket.

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 let his legacy be defined only by his longevity - who among Ashwin and Anderson has a better away+neutral record? and why is the perception different from actual fact? - How Rohit and Subhman's 100s and Sarfaraz and Devdutt's 50s stock up and set them up for future roles in Indian batting line up - Has Zak Crawley cemented his position as the next best English batter after Root? or was there some incorrect bowling changes of Rohit to credit this - Which is worse - Bairstow the 100 test man or Bairstow the sledger? - Does Bashir have a future in Test? What about his DRS skills? This is a 5th Test review focussing on individuals rather than events. We will be back with a series review and points for each stakeholder in this series

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 Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow's careers till their 99th test. Finally we look at the narrative of Bazball before this final test and do our predictions round. Lastly we do apologize for getting this preview out so late. Hope you like it.

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 has of scoring in the 2nd innings. Finally we talk about 3 facets which have ensured India win the series despite all the obstacles.