Bits and Pieces : The friendliest cricket podcast · LLLC

Ep 173: The Super Intent of the Superintendent Makes a Nation Believe

·1 hr 7 min·4 clips

Mohamed Siraj keeps a wallpaper that says "Believe."

1. Bits and Pieces: The friendliest cricket podcast talks through India’s 2-2 finish in the England Test series after the final day at the Oval. 2. Tony, PG, BC, Max, and Nitin appear as the core panel, with each host identified through cricket jokes about selection, travel, and attendance at matches. 3. The episode asks how India pulled off the chase and what the 2-2 scoreline says about Gautam Gambhir’s selection strategy. 4. The panel opens by saying they had planned a final episode titled "Obits and Rest in Pieces" before India's result changed the mood. 5. They describe recording from Jaipur-to-Noida travel, a sister-in-law's house in Noida, and a taxi ride on the highway between Jaipur and Delhi. 6. The hosts compare the series with the 2021–22 England tour and say this tour felt like "Rahu Kala" for Indian Test cricket before the turnaround. 7. They also note that the series produced four results and very little time lost to English weather across 25 days. 8. Siraj becomes the emotional center, with a phone wallpaper that said "Believe" and a post-match reflection on his self-belief. 9. The panel says he was the only bowler who looked fully switched on through the final stretch, even with workload and pressure. 10. Prasidh Krishna gets credit for key dismissals, including setup work that removed Harry Brook, Joe Root, and Jacob Bethell. 11. The discussion revisits Dhruv Jurel’s missed run-out and the review around Jamie Smith, with repeated focus on small margins. 12. Chris Woakes’ heavily strapped arm and sweater/jumper become a talking point as the hosts puzzle over how he would even face a ball. 13. The group also debates whether India could have finished the chase differently if Woakes had been pushed into strike earlier. 14. Kumar Dharmasena, Asan Raza, and the umpires are discussed as part of the tension around late-match decisions. 15. Gautam Gambhir’s team selection becomes the main analytical argument, with "two and a half bowlers" and the use of Washington Sundar versus Kuldeep Yadav repeatedly raised. 16. The panel says Gambhir has made something work with what he was given, but they worry that the wrong lessons could be taken from the result. 17. The style is loose, loud, and highly referential, with the hosts interrupting each other and moving between tactics and jokes. 18. The energy mixes celebration, frustration, and live-match stress, including reactions to rain delays, umpiring calls, and late wickets. 19. Listeners who follow India Test cricket and selection debates will get the most from this. 20. Listeners wanting a clean, spoiler-free cricket recap may skip the dense in-jokes.

As heard by us

A drawn India series turned into noisy, combative, oddly affectionate Test-cricket banter.

This episode starts with a result nobody in the room expected and then keeps widening the frame, turning a drawn India series into selection arguments, WTC table talk, and a mock-grand national pride routine. The energy is the draw here.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want a Test draw that feels like a win and kicks up plenty of noise.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Bits and Pieces : The friendliest cricket podcast