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No Balls Cricket Unfiltered Episode 45: BazBollocks Comes To India

·43 min·2 clips

David Lloyd compared the Bashir visa issue to the D'Oliveira affair.

1. The No Balls Cricket Podcast episode 45 centers on the India-England Test series and the arguments around pitches, visas, and team selection. 2. Siddharth Pradhan and Aditya Dev host the episode, and they frame the preview as cricket analysis mixed with sarcasm about England. 3. The episode asks whether England can cope with five Tests in India while dealing with turners, one front-line seamer, and Shoaib Bashir’s visa problem. 4. The hosts start with New Zealand’s 1-1 Test series in Bangladesh and note that Bangladesh won the first Test before New Zealand won the second. 5. Pakistan’s tour of Australia is described as a 3-0 loss, with the hosts pointing to scores of 271, 89, 115, and the 25-year gap since Pakistan last won a Test in Australia in 1999. 6. India’s women’s team gets a long discussion after beating England and Australia in one-off Tests, including the first-ever India women’s Test win over Australia. 7. The hosts mention Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, and the fact that neither side reached a century in those matches. 8. West Indies cricket comes up through the first Test against Australia, Shamar Joseph taking a wicket with his first ball to Steve Smith, and West Indies batting struggles. 9. The India-England preview turns to England’s XI, where Mark Wood is the only front-line seamer and Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, and Jack Leach make up the spin options. 10. India’s likely XI is discussed with Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Jadeja, Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj all named. 11. The hosts argue that India’s home record since losing to England in 2012 is extremely strong, with only a few Test defeats since then. 12. They point out that Joe Root is England’s best player of spin and still may not be enough against India’s attack on turning pitches. 13. The episode spends time on the wicketkeeper choice, weighing KS Bharat against Dhruv Jurel after Rahul rules himself out of keeping. 14. Axar Patel is presented as a likely pick because he bats well and caused problems for England on the previous tour. 15. The hosts repeatedly return to the Bashir visa delay, saying the ECB mishandled the process and that the British government made the dispute bigger. 16. David Lloyd’s comparison of the issue to the D'Oliveira affair is directly mocked and treated as overblown. 17. The tone is argumentative, fast-moving, and often comic, with the hosts interrupting themselves to move between rankings, selections, and side jokes. 18. The format mixes rapid news roundup, series preview, and an awards segment for ECB incompetence, David Lloyd, and David Warner. 19. Listeners who follow India Test cricket and selection debates will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting calm, neutral cricket recap may skip it.

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