NFL
Cricket
Intro/Outro by Sodhivine
Co-hosted by Gautam, Rohit and Sushant
NFL
Cricket
Intro/Outro by Sodhivine
Co-hosted by Gautam, Rohit and Sushant
Rohit (00:22.472)
Hello, welcome and namaste. Welcome to another episode of Namaste Ballers Season 2. This is your host Rohit speaking, co-hosting with our hosts Sushant and Gautam. Hello guys, welcome to the new episode.
Sushant (00:35.557)
Hello, hello. Welcome back. Super excited for another new episode. We have a lot of interesting content and excited to get into it.
Gautam (00:43.606)
Hello, hello, Gotham here and yeah, excited.
Rohit (00:48.496)
Welcome, awesome, good to meet you guys again. Before we kick off anything, we do have an official account on Twitter. It's called namaste ballers, ballers with the Z, B-A-L-L-E-R-Z. Please do follow it on Twitter and.
Sushant (01:04.863)
open for those who are you know up to date Twitter is now X so you know on X so we have to call it X
Rohit (01:11.312)
Yep.
Rohit (01:15.728)
Still trying to get used to the lingo, but whatever you call it X or Twitter give us a follow and That would be a podium where you can essentially give us feedback or ask questions and stuff So we'll go into those sets of things later in the episode, but that'd be one of the channels you can reach out to us All right, we'll kick off with NFL News and week two roundup
well start with the hottest teams in the NFL so far I mean commanders Miami Dallas Philadelphia Niners Falcons Tampa Bay and Saints all these teams are still unbeaten they are sitting with the record 2-0 and some of the teams are surprising some of them are not I mean especially I think
Given commanders I think they do they are giving a tough fight especially with Eric B enemy as the new offensive coordinator And even teams like Atlanta and Tampa Bay and nobody Expected there will be two and zero after two weeks into the season any quick thoughts at this guys
Gautam (02:32.466)
Yeah, I think Tampa Bay, I mean, who would have thought Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, that connection would be elite. I mean, two weeks, they've been pretty much cooking. So yeah, I mean, Mike Evans has been putting up really good fantasy numbers. Baker Mayfield has been playing really good. So let's see how much this is sustainable over the whole season. So we all knew Tampa Bay still had good.
Rohit (02:42.672)
Yeah.
Sushant (03:00.763)
I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. So, we're going to start with the presentation.
Gautam (03:01.378)
players but there was this question mark or the quarterback position so people obviously didn't expect them to To you know be to I know but and then Falcons B John Robinson, I think he's been putting up really good numbers and He's looking like a long term Option for their offense so
So yeah, some good teams there, some good surprising teams as well. So let's see how that goes.
Sushant (03:35.633)
Yeah, not only B. John Robinson, behind him Tyler Alger, that guy is also pretty good. They have a pretty solid run game and it's definitely showing. And kind of, I guess, a similar situation with commanders, I guess, Brian Johnson, that guy is, he's balling out.
Sushant (03:59.796)
So yeah, nice to see these teams. Let's see how many will last past week three.
Rohit (04:04.784)
Yep and next will be I think a good game I think commanders versus cowboys will be an interesting game divisional game and let's see if commanders can still stay I don't expect them to beat Dallas but let's see how much of a fight they will put
Okay with that said let's give like a quick look at couple of teams that are probably concerning especially I think Bengals they sink to 0-2 and Joe Burrow seems to have triggered his calf injury again see he seemed to be limping in the last game seems to be a little concerned I don't even know who the quarterback is behind Joe Burrow but
If Jobra is out for any set of games, I think that might be a big concern for Bengals.
Sushant (04:59.134)
Yeah, especially their wide receiver core, you know, Jamarches, T Higgins, like their upside is immediately limited, Joe Burrow is not in the mix. And of course, the first two weeks also wasn't that good for them, but it's not going to get better going forward either. They're in trouble.
Gautam (05:17.83)
Yeah, even last year actually, they started 0-2. So I think Bengal's land is not concerned. They're only concerned about Joe Burrows injury, I think. They're not concerned about the record as such. They're only concerned how healthy he is, can his calf get better? It looks like he's not able to throw the ball downfield or throw those long passes.
So that's where his calf injury is concerning Jobarro. But let's see how the Bengals, you know, traverse through this adversity.
Rohit (05:57.616)
Yeah and along the same lines Broncos fall to 0-2 as well. They almost tried to come back and do a victory dance against commanders. I believe the score was 35-30. Yeah that's like they were down by two points. They tried to go for a two point conversion which failed. Russell Wilson did play pretty good. But yeah, it was like an almost improbable Hail Mary that Russell Wilson.
Sushant (06:12.165)
3432 I think. Yes, sometimes only right. Yep, I think.
Rohit (06:27.868)
when they were down by 8 points and somehow he managed to get a touchdown yeah right two or three people yeah and then unfortunately they were not able to yeah convert the two points and win the game so that put them at loss then that kind of puts a lot of pressure on Broncos especially given how much
Sushant (06:31.152)
I think it bounced off like two or three defenders and one of their players and eventually somebody caught it. But yeah.
Rohit (06:58.332)
and yeah and Sean Payton they've sacrificed another draft pick again so they're kind of running low on fuel if they have to rebuild so it's do or die kind of a season for them.
Gautam (07:13.066)
Yeah, they kind of imploded right there were 21 and 3 actually Broncos were leading 21 and 3 and then from there Somehow the commanders, you know started that comeback So it turned out to be a good game not for the Broncos But a good game for the commanders actually But I think it was a tale of two halves the first half I think Broncos and Russell Wilson actually playing really well and after that, I think the commander's defense made it
Rohit (07:30.248)
Hehehe
Yeah.
Gautam (07:42.966)
probably made some adjustments and Russell Wilson, you know, started to getting sacked, you know, and then and then the offense was not as potent as in the first half. So, so a little concerning for Broncos. But but you know, this is probably not surprising, right? You have a new head coach in Sean Payton, who's, you know, widely regarded as one of the very good head coaches in the league.
So it probably takes some time for him to connect with Russell Wilson. So hopefully this marriage will show us some fruits in the way in the future.
Rohit (08:23.648)
Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of pressure, I think Bails and Raiders was an interesting game coming in. Bails had to take a lot of heat because they barely won, I think, or they lost against Denver, I believe the previous week. And there were news items floating around how Josh Allen has the most number of interceptions coming into that week for the past few weeks and how like Josh Allen
wasn't really like a winning quarterback and stuff like there's narratives around it.
Gautam (08:57.078)
I think it was bills and jets right?
Rohit (08:59.492)
No, Bills and Raiders was the game and Raiders, oh yeah, the previous game. Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah. And I think, oh yeah, you're right. Yeah. And I think Raiders came in hot as well. Raiders won the first game and they kind of are hoping Jimmy G would be like a good quarterback and the game started off really well. I think they were going neck to neck against at one point, I think it was like seven and seven and then it was like 10 and seven. I think Raiders came up top. But then Bills.
Gautam (09:02.679)
The previous one.
Sushant (09:02.896)
the first three quotes.
Rohit (09:28.156)
they tried to come back and they ended up with 38-10. So it was a really good game and I think Josh Allen finally finished off and silenced a whole bunch of critics. It's a good victory for Bills. Hopefully they can keep the momentum up. Along the same lines, and there was another interesting game, Chiefs and Jags. I kind of expected Chiefs to have like a smooth victory against Jags but Jav D.
Defense was pretty legit. I mean they tried to limit Patrick Mahomes only 17 points and Chief's defense was pretty legit too. They only limited Jaguars to 9 points. I think I mean both are AFC powerhouses seems to be and They also seem to have loaded on the defensive side of the ball this time around So it'll be really interesting if these two teams do actually make playoffs It'd be
a good match to see.
Sushant (10:27.415)
Yeah, relatively pretty low scoring games as someone who is heavily invested in Jacksonville Jaguars in my fantasy team, I was certainly disappointed.
Gautam (10:39.05)
Yep, I am chiefs Chris Jones actually came back in this game. He didn't play the first game. He was a holdout I don't think chiefs still gave him a contract. So he's still waiting on that contract, but he actually came back this game right or
Rohit (10:39.255)
Yeah.
Rohit (10:55.721)
He got a one year renewed contract. And he even got a sack this game.
Gautam (10:58.086)
He did okay so Yeah, I think he got a one and a sack or something's game and he did wreck the offensive line So so, you know, I think chiefs did get some of their stars back Travis Kelsey was back Chris Jones was back. So this looked like I was seeing this meme where you know
Thanos when he puts that final ring and he gets all that power. That's so that's where all the fantasy players Managers are like who have Travis Kelsey in their lineup So finally they can get to play Travis Kelsey. I think he got a touchdown as well. So so yeah, the tight end is like a barren land, right? It's it's if you get eight points or more. That's that's amazing for it for it for the Titan position
Rohit (11:28.756)
Hehehe
Rohit (11:43.549)
Yeah, yeah.
Gautam (11:55.938)
So anyone having Travis Kelsey is like a cheat code. So, yeah, good for my homes. They couldn't go into week three with own two record. So it's good that they won against a playoff team. So they're one and one. Bills and Raiders, Josh Allen, as you said, he's like a...
I don't know. I don't know what to make of Josh Allen. It's his is a very intriguing quarterback I know I can tell you exactly what a Mahomes is what a Joe burrow is What even water Trevor Lawrence is right now, even though he's new but with Josh Allen he's like one week. He'll be like the best quarterback of the league and the next week he'll be like who drafted this guy with like three four interceptions and
Rohit (12:25.657)
Yeah.
Gautam (12:51.854)
Fumbles and so it's I don't know On which day what kind of a quarterback will show up? I think that's why people are Are having those doubts because he is Not an accurate quarterback, you know, even though he takes those deep shots and you know, he's here he's not that accurate as accurate as say a Joe burrow or a Patrick Mahomes, so
So it will be interesting to see how or how far can Josh Allen take bills this season and even in the next few years. So that will be something good to track.
Rohit (13:32.504)
Yeah, absolutely. And last but not least, a quick shout out to Giants who came back by the most epic win ever. I think it was the largest comeback in at least in the Giants history and even like the last 50 years or something. They came back down from 7 and 28 to win the game 31 and 28 against Arizona Cardinals. I believe Arizona Cardinals at one point were up at 20 and 0.
And then the game went to 28 and 7 and it was ridiculous. And I kind of almost thought Cardinals would pull off an upset and Jets would go into a hole.
Gautam (14:12.507)
Yeah, I mean with Cardinals being in NFC West, I obviously want them to lose. So they were up 20-0 and I was like, what's going on? Cardinals is supposed to be the worst team in the NFL and why are they up 20? Thankfully they lost at least for the 49ers and I'm sure for the Seahawks as well. The thanks that the Cardinals lost. But
Rohit (14:16.721)
Hahaha
Rohit (14:20.068)
Right.
Rohit (14:31.587)
Yeah.
Sushant (14:34.236)
was.
Rohit (14:35.736)
Hehehehe
Yeah.
Gautam (14:39.106)
There are people actually saying that they are trying to tank this year because they want the top pick next year and that their rumors said, you know Kyler Murray might move on or they might trade him or something, but let's that's a discussion for another day, but But yeah an interesting game for Giants and a good game for them to be you After that first week the dropping that they had at the hands of cowboys. I think they're almost
Rohit (14:43.462)
Right?
Gautam (15:08.778)
getting a tripping again, but it turned out that they won the game. So good for them.
Rohit (15:16.58)
Absolutely and we'll move on to the next section with that. We'll quickly run down with the injuries that might affect your fantasy football season. First big shots are Saquon Barkley out two to three weeks. He hurt his leg again. Nick Chubb fresh off today against Steelers.
He hurt his left knee. He might be out for an extended while it might be even out for a season. The injury looks pretty bad. And on the wide receiver side, Devante Adams seems to have an helmet hit, an aggressive hit, but probably a week or so maybe doesn't seem that bad and Jalen Wardle is being evaluated for concussion right now. So we don't know the extent of it and
Anthony Richardson quarterback of Indianapolis Colts also seems to have been evaluated for concussion. So typically when they are evaluated for concussion we don't know how many weeks they will be out but that's what it is. So feel free to step into the fantasy football corner and then have some suggestions around the positions. But any quick thoughts on the injuries guys?
Sushant (16:33.007)
Nick Chubb one is definitely devastating. You know, just looking at the play, looking at his knee, looking at his expression after that. And the fact that it's known for a fact, known for sure that it's a season ending injury, you know, that's definitely heartbreaking for all of his fans.
Hopefully it gets better soon. Hopefully he'll be back next season. Back to his old self. I will tell.
Rohit (17:03.948)
Alright, let's quickly jump into the fantasy football suggestions of the week. We'll start with wide receiver. If you still haven't drafted or picked up Pocanacua then what are we doing here? He seems to be exploding in place of Cooper Cup and he might be doing better than Cooper Cup I guess. And Houston Texans receivers, Nico Collins and Tank Dale, they're excelling on their own under CJ Stroud.
there are some nice pickups for wide receivers they both had around 100 yards and touchstones couple of touchstones also
Sushant (17:38.452)
yeah and between the two of them tank del is only 4% rostered so there's a much better chance we'll be finding him on your waiver wires while Nico Collins is 61% rostered so you know some of your leagues might still have them so keep an eye out and he's a lot more consistent looking at both the weeks stats combined like he has a pretty safe floor you can say so he would be a
You know, throw a waiver wire or a fab bid on. Pukka Nakua, he's 75% rostered, so pretty high chance that you're not going to find him on your waiver wires. However, you benched him.
Rohit (18:15.888)
Yeah, it's interesting.
Gautam (18:17.618)
Yeah, I was lucky enough to pick up Pooka Nakoa in Yeah, but Yeah, I had to bench him because my wide receivers are actually pretty good I had a j brown, but unfortunately he just scored five points. So i'll have to think Should I bank a j brown? Or should I take Pooka Nakoa in the next game? let's
Rohit (18:24.146)
Uh... Uhuhuhu...
Rohit (18:37.684)
Ha ha.
Sushant (18:42.905)
I mean, realistically, what you have is a really good trade candidate. So you should probably think about that. You've got to make a better offer or ask again after this week's results. Who knows?
Gautam (18:49.418)
Well, I already tried that. People are not willing to trade.
Rohit (18:56.048)
Hahaha.
Yeah, I mean this week especially after injuries and concussions and stuff like that people are probably more desperate.
Gautam (18:59.297)
Yeah.
Gautam (19:07.71)
I'll probably hold on because I have three really good wide receivers and he's the fourth in my picking order. So I'll keep him. They're going to be by weeks. They're going to be weeks where wide receivers might be enjoyed. So I'm pretty sure I'll keep him in the lineup sometime.
Sushant (19:25.231)
All of that said and done, you should realize that his upside will become limited once Cooper Cup comes into play.
Gautam (19:29.802)
Yes, yes, definitely. I think Cooper Cup is gonna come back after week four. That's what I heard so yeah, if you're starting him start the these few weeks and but even if Yeah, yeah exactly. Yeah, but even if Cooper Cup comes I'm pretty sure the targets might reduce a little bit for Pooka Nakua but he will still be there because if Cooper Cup comes He's sure to be you know double-teamed
Sushant (19:39.721)
If you want to trade him trade him now.
Gautam (19:59.626)
and that will leave Poo Kanakwai alone. So he will definitely get some shares because if you see right now he's wide receiver one and the wide receiver two is, I think, two to Atwell, if I'm pronouncing his name correctly. So he also is actually gaining a lot of target shares as well, which will reduce once Cooper Cup comes back.
Rohit (20:27.968)
Okay, let's quickly jump to the running back section with the high profile running backs injured I think you've got to pick up the backups for Browns will be Jerome Ford for Giants will be Matt Breda And Coles, Zach Moss is a good pickup. He had a touchdown and he had a good game against Texans and Karen Williams on Rams Also a good pickup although may not be The best game to start next week
Sushant (20:54.889)
Yeah, with the with cam makers being benched.
as an active scratch. I think Karen Williams, he definitely showed that he's worth it. He can do it and can make a situation. He's on the trade block, might go anywhere. So we don't know. Maybe the Ravens might be looking at him. But that's an interesting story for a different day, I guess. But Karen Williams, good pickup. Zach Moss, only 41% rostered, might still find him. But Jerome Ford is going to be the hot new thing, I think.
Gautam (21:31.058)
Yeah, a couple of suggestions here. So the two free agent running backs available in the market, they're not part of any team right now, Leonard Farnett and Kareem Hunt. So with the running backs that have gone down recently, I'm pretty sure teams will bring these two running backs who are actually pretty good. They'll call them and they'll probably take them. So if you want to, if you have space in your bench, please stash one of these two.
Rohit (21:31.717)
Yep.
Sushant (21:35.48)
So, I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing.
Gautam (22:01.102)
Leonard Funnett or Kareem Hunt and you know, you will if they for example come into Colts or Source or some other team where they're starting running back is injured then they will definitely have a starting role
Rohit (22:16.592)
And also make sure you remember to put one of the sports or how many players you can in the IR sports in your roster. You may be able to leverage that. And quickly jumping onto quarterbacks. I mean, if you have Russell Wilson, I think he's probably doing okay. But if you're still looking for somebody else, then Jordan Lover, Matthew Stafford seem to be doing well. They're still available.
across the link so you should be able to find them. And with that now we'll quickly jump to the next section. I'll let Sushant go over this.
Sushant (22:58.284)
Yes, so this section is the NFL rookie fan ramp up section. This is like a new section that we're trying out. Feedback is always welcome. And if you're an NFL rookie and if you have any questions to begin with, feel free to post your questions. Follow us on the Twitter slash xhandle. Namaste, bollards. That's bollards with a Z in the end. And.
Going forward in the episodes, we'll try to answer some of these questions as part of this NFL rookie fan ramp-up section. This week around, we're going to give you a quick rundown of the format of the NFL and what the landscape looks like. I'm not going to take too much of your time, but here we go. So there are basically 32 teams in the NFL that are split across two conferences, the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference.
Each conference is split into four divisions containing four teams each north south east and west Through the regular season this year From September 7th to the 12th of Jan teams play a total of 17 games over 18 weeks with one of the weeks being a bi-week slash rest week To make their case to essentially get into the single elimination style playoffs
There are going to be 14 teams which qualify for the playoffs. This includes the top seeded teams from each division of the conference. That's going to be eight total teams. That is four from AFC and then four from NFC, followed by three wild card teams from each of the conference. That's going to be three from NFC and three from AFC. And then essentially, those remaining three wild card teams, they are like
the remaining best teams after the top ranked teams from each of the divisions that have already qualified. So, the top overall seed team of each conference gets a first round by and gets the home team advantage in the second round of the playoffs. The highest seeded teams play the lowest seeded teams through each of the playoffs.
Sushant (25:12.764)
And the final two teams of each conference plays the NFC and the AFC conference championship game and that's usually hosted by the highest-rated team. Finally, the winner of both the conferences play the Super Bowl. This time it's being played on the 11th of Feb in Las Vegas. So that is a quick rundown of you know what the format of the NFL is, when to you know when these matches are happening and if you know that you are a fan of a particular team
to look it up and you will find out which conference your team belongs to and which division your team belongs to. So that's pretty much it from the NFL Look It Up Fan Ramp section. If you have any future questions, please do reach out to us and we'll be happy to answer your questions.
Rohit (26:02.856)
All right, thank you, Sushant. That was a very high-level overview of how Innofer works for any beginners who are interested in picking up the game. And finally, the game that I'm mostly looking forward to next week will be a low-profile game on my names, but I think I'm excited to watch Falcons and Lions. Falcons seem to be unbeaten, and Lions are like a hot team.
beaten Chiefs, they lost the second game but there's still kind of very young teams that I'm looking forward to and we'll see what these young teams can do when they face each other.
Rohit (26:46.544)
any games of your interest guys that you guys will love
Gautam (26:49.182)
Yeah, even I was interested in that game Falcons and Lions I think Lions beat the Chiefs in the first week and they lost to Seahawks I think Very very close match. So so yeah, I think with Falcons surprisingly being 2-0 Looks like a pretty even decided team So that's that we are good match to see the other the other match I was looking at was
Sushant (26:53.14)
I think that's a good point. I think that
Gautam (27:18.414)
Chargers and Vikings. I think Chargers have lost both their matches, but their offense is really, really well. I think they've scored more than 30 points in each of the games. Justin Herbert has been playing really well. Their offense is playing really well. I think where they're lacking is probably their defense. They've not been able to stop the opposing offenses. And I think if they want to gain some wins, the defense has to step up. So.
I think Chargers, even though their offense is playing really well, they're somehow 0-2. And Vikings, it's an interesting team again. They have some weapons there, but they've not been able to play to the full potential, I think, this season yet. So it'll be interesting to see if Vikings can stop the Chargers offense, which is playing really well. So that's an interesting game.
Sushant (28:17.2)
Yeah, I definitely like the Chargers vs Vikings game as well. Who is the quarterback of Vikings? Kirk Cousins. I think that guy is in red heart form actually. And with Justin Jefferson as his weapon, primary weapon, they played a really good game.
Rohit (28:25.36)
her cousins.
Sushant (28:40.904)
I think it was for a losing cause against the Eagles, but still they did show up, they played a really good game. So I want to see the outcome of this game.
Rohit (28:53.104)
and yeah what I've seen on Vikings I mean their mistakes are costing them a lot I mean typically on these games they either have a fumble or some sort of like drops on their offense and if they can limit the mistakes I mean it's probably applicable to every team but especially Vikings I think they're scoring enough but if they can limit the number of mistakes that they can do then I think it'll be a really interesting game to watch Chargers and Vikings.
Rohit (29:21.892)
Alright with that said we'll move on to cricket. We'll quickly run down the news on the cricket. Asia Cup finals that was the biggest story of the week obviously India and Sri Lanka faced each other and it was a such a low scoring fest I mean I had to
double check and triple check the scores to actually believe this was i was there was some sort of dakwad louis method it was like 50 all out srilanka and then india managed obviously to score 51 without any wicket losing wickets but muhammad siraj is the man of the match he took six wickets which is giving out 21 runs six for 21 and
took three wickets and he only gave her three runs. So it's like amazing bowling. This is kind of the bowling that I would probably would like to see them continue into the World Cup. And this is what will give us a huge advantage if we can keep this pace up.
Sushant (30:32.338)
Yeah, Mohammed Siraj actually got four wickets in one over. I think that was like, you know, that was the turn in the game in favor.
Rohit (30:42.085)
Yeah.
Sushant (30:43.236)
Up front itself, you know, Bumrah, he got a wicket that started the downfall, but that four wickets in one over basically destroyed them without a chance of coming back. So definitely interested to see Siraj's prospects as we continue to move towards the World Cup.
Rohit (30:53.276)
Yep.
Gautam (31:01.566)
Yeah, I think I mean, Siraj, I mean, as you said, four wickets, one over. He just blew Sri Lanka away. But starting from the first ball itself, when Sri Lanka started to bat, Bumrah and Siraj, both of them, the balling, the swing that they were able to achieve. And they were, you know, almost unplayable balls. Some of the wickets that Siraj got, yes, Sri Lanka batsmen.
They played some loose shots. They saw the wickets. They were giving catch practice to the fielders. But I also heard some commentators saying that some of the wickets that Siraj got were just, it's not good bowling, but bad Sri Lankan batting. But if you see each ball or the previous balls that Siraj was bowling, he was not giving anything away. Every ball was, they were missing every ball.
And the pressure that they were putting was just immense. It was looking like a test match where it looked like every ball that the batsmen could become out. And batsmen were just trying to figure out what is going on. So with that pressure, I think Sri Lanka and batsmen, probably what they should have done was if they lost a couple of wickets, they should have stayed. But they kept trying to.
drive the ball and they kept trying to play and then they lost those wickets. But, but you know, excellent bowling, uh, there were no loose balls at all. No hit me balls at all. Every ball was, uh, was like almost like a wicked ball. So that was, that was good. The consistency was good. It is not like they're bald, four or three or four good balls. And then they gave one bad ball for them to, for, to hit, to hit something. So, so that was good. So a really complete bowling effort by the whole team.
But yeah, I mean Sri Lanka after defeating Pakistan and then coming to the finals expected like a even fight between India and Sri Lanka, but turned out to be totally one-sided and hopefully Sri Lanka can just forget this as a one-off day and just think about that achievement that they they've Beated or they've beaten a really good team like Pakistan to enter the finals. So
Sushant (33:01.434)
I'm going to be doing a little bit of a
Gautam (33:27.202)
They can think about that achievement and then go to the World Cup.
Sushant (33:30.693)
I even beat India during the super force so yeah Oh it was Bangladesh yeah you're right you're right I'm confused
Rohit (33:34.564)
Yeah, well somehow I mean I'm liking the odds of India and Sri Lanka playing in the finals. I think it's In super force What's the Bangladesh, yeah Yeah, but the odds of I think India and Sri Lanka meeting and finals are working out well for us Especially the last time we played in the world cup and now I think I hope we keep this trend going right
Gautam (33:40.534)
I don't think Sri Lanka beat India. Did they? I thought India lost to Bangladesh. Yes. I don't think Sri Lanka beat India. Did they? I thought India lost to Bangladesh.
Gautam (34:00.982)
Well, it's happening in India, so obviously the Asian teams will prefer the Asian pitches.
Rohit (34:04.084)
Thanks for watching!
Yeah, it's funny. I don't think any of us have predicted India winning Asia cup. I think when we predicted most of us, I think we're seeing Pakistan of Sudray, they're the strongest team, but things have
Gautam (34:19.462)
I think I think I think the couple of injuries on the Pakistan bowling side Harris Rof and Naseem Shah Both of them got injured. So their bowling was not their best and I think that is what impacted them it looks like Naseem Shah's injuries is serious, so It's doubtful whether he'll play the World Cup or no, but Harris Rof will definitely play so So if I mean Harris Rof is really good
You know supporting baller for Shaheen Shah of really so if the bowling clicks Then then Pakistan is a really good sign that the bowling is always good, right? I mean Historically Pakistan is known for their bowling Yeah, somehow they always produce this great fastballers somehow and right now it's all Shaheen Shah of ready, so
Rohit (35:03.724)
Yep, ever since I was born.
Rohit (35:09.52)
somehow.
Rohit (35:14.916)
You know, imagine a super team with Indian batsmen and Pakistan bowlers. I mean, nobody in the world could stop us.
Sushant (35:15.584)
I'm going to go on it. I'm going
Gautam (35:21.988)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, I mean, Pakistan ballers are really, really good. They're the three fast ballers are amazing.
Rohit (35:28.6)
Yeah, not saying anything bad against Indian bowlers, but I think historically speaking, I think Pakistan has a better record.
Gautam (35:33.734)
Yeah, yeah, I think if you have Umbra Shaheen Shah, Afridi and Haris Rauf, I think that's amazing Balling lineup with some but say we will take probably take Baba Azam from their batting lineup and then rest Rest Indian batsmen
Sushant (35:36.021)
I'm going to be here.
Rohit (35:49.076)
This is looking like my fantasy team. Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, Kuldip Yadav, congratulations to him. He won the player of the tournament for Asia Cup Finals. I think very well deserved. With that, we'll move on to the rest of the world. England wins the four-match one-day series against New Zealand with 3-1. And in the last game...
David Merlin scored 127 to take England to 3-11 and England won by 100 runs and South Africa wins the five-match ODI series against Australia but after being 0-2 they come back and win three games and they win the series by 3-2 and yeah
Sushant (36:43.045)
Yeah, that was definitely surprising like I totally wrote off South Africa, you know, like we completely lost the T20 internationals whitewashed and then they were down to zero and like yeah, these guys are pretty much done for but they did a complete 180. So I guess they're going the right direction as far as the preparations for the World Cup are concerned. I can't say the same for Australia though.
Rohit (36:47.39)
Throw it off, yeah.
Gautam (37:06.494)
Yeah, I mean one of the matches I think South Africa hit like 400 runs. Klaassen hit a century and I don't remember, very less balls. I mean 400 runs, that's amazing.
Rohit (37:07.7)
Yeah.
Rohit (37:19.396)
yeah absolutely and Bangladesh and New Zealanders had to play three match ODI series starting September 21st and India and Australia are also meant to play three ODI. The squad seems to be announced for that and couple of interesting tidbits around India and Australia I think KL Rahul seems to be the captain for that at least for the first two and then.
Virat Kohli will come back for the last game along with Rohit and then Shreyas Iyer I think who got injured during Asia Cup I think he is back to the squad and the most interesting I think addition is seems to be Ashwin who just turned I think 37 this week or last week or something like that. So I think
He seems to be like one of the oldest players who's probably making a comeback into this and maybe even to World Cup squad. Very interesting addition there. Any thoughts guys?
Gautam (38:25.854)
Yeah, I mean Ashwin, right? So I think there was this article about Rohit Sharma talking about Ashwin and someone was asking him Why are you why are you getting Ashwin in this ODI series? I mean, he's I mean the last time Ashwin played in ODI has been a while and I think his answer was actually Pretty good because he's been because what he essentially said was even though Ashwin did not play in ODI in a while he's
been in the Indian team setup. He's been playing test cricket. He's been playing T20. So it's not that he's not been playing cricket at all. And then with Ashwin, they get some variety. Because right now they have Akshar Patel and Ravinder Jadeja as left arm spinners. And then they have Kuldeep also as another left arm. So Ashwin, with his right arm off spinning, there's some variety there. And he's also a good batsman.
with Ashwin being a veteran and being one of the most smartest people to play cricket, I think what they essentially want to see is in these ODIs with Australia, how is Ashwin, is he bowling really well? And based on that, if they feel that Ashwin is playing really well and good enough for them, they might take him to the World Cup. Right now, he's not in the World
And Akshay Patel is also injured, actually. So they're not sure if Akshay Patel might be in the World Cup squad. But I think if Ashwin really plays well in these ODIs, then I think he's a really good player to take to World Cup, at least for that variety. I think he's someone that can bat, that can ball. He can.
He can, you know, his tenors will be really good. And considering this is an ODI and not T20, I think you need someone like Ashwin where he can provide that variety for your team. So, yeah, I'm actually excited that they're trying to see if they can get Ashwin.
Sushant (40:38.096)
Yeah, I think that as part of this one more ODI series before the World Cup, they're trying to develop the bench. By bench, I mean that outside the max number of allowed players that you can have, keep for the World Cup. If somebody were to get injured, you have these players who are match ready to get drafted in.
And I think that's the strategy that they're going with. So yeah, it's a good strategy. Hopefully nothing bad happens to a point where you have to start drafting, not your primary players. But it's a good strategy.
Gautam (41:18.394)
It'll be interesting to see what will be the World Cup playing 11. That's something that probably we can get into in the following weeks before the World Cup starts. I think that's something that we can definitely discuss and see. Are there some spots that can be interchangeable? But yeah, that's something that we can definitely discuss before the World Cup.
Rohit (41:44.868)
Yeah, absolutely. And with that, I'll hand it back over to Sushant for Cricket Turkey's Corner.
Sushant (41:53.097)
All right, so just like we had the NFL rookie fan ramp up section for the NFL side of the episode, on the cricket side of the episode, we also want to appeal to new fans of cricket who are curious about the game and want to better understand.
What this game is all about and more often than not, you know throughout my time in USA People, you know play or who watch baseball. They think it's pretty easy to pick up the game I forget but usually it's not that easy and people do end up being confused So this is like an effort from our side to essentially try to you know help People who are unfamiliar with the game to get ramped up with cricket as well
So if you do have any questions, please don't forget to get on X slash Twitter. And user follow us at namasteballers. That's with a Z. And post your questions there. So with that, we're going to touch on a very high level. It's called the formats of cricket. So we're just going to talk to you about the different formats that are currently available in the cricketing world.
The first format, the oldest format, is the Test Match Cricket. It's played over five days. Each team gets to play two innings over a period of five days, and it's usually pretty slow-paced, and it definitely, you know, measures your patience. The game, the entire game is a game of patience, skill, technique, and perseverance. It's definitely for the purest, you know, cricket enthusiasts.
The next format is a much shorter format. It's called one day international, if you're playing at an international level. And it's essentially just a single innings with 50 overs being played by each side. What is an over? That we will save it for some other time, maybe in some of the future episodes. And then the shortest format, the most electrifying format of cricket that has actually taken the world by storm.
Sushant (44:05.132)
And that is most likely to, you know, find, be the best segue to get into the, to get interested about cricket. That is the T20 international games. So this is essentially shorter than the one day international that I talked about, in the sense that it is also a single innings game where each side gets to play just one innings. However, you get to play only 20 overs a side.
And what is an over? We'll talk about that at some other point in time. So with that, that's essentially a high level of what the formats are. So what's happening in the cricketing world right now? There are a bunch of major tournaments that are happening, like the Asia Cup. Rohit Gautam and I, we just spoke about what happened at the finals of the Asia Cup. India won, beating South Africa. So that's done. What's around the corner?
Gautam (45:02.119)
Sri Lanka, I mean.
Sushant (45:03.364)
Sri Lanka, sorry. Thank you. Good. I was just testing to see whether you're listening or not. All right. So what's around the corner is the one day international 50 over World Cup. And that is starting in October. And it is hosted by India. And it's definitely going to be very interesting. So if you are curious about the game, this would be a good way. Good.
way to get into the game by looking at the best teams play each other at the one of the most prominent cricketing tournaments The next major thing that's upcoming is the t20 World Cup and here's the thing USA and West Indies are Co-hosting the t20 World Cup in 2024 and that's starting in June
So this is your opportunity to get in on the ground floor, learn about cricket, and be there to support USA from the get-go. As the host, USA does get automatically qualified. Now, USA is not the best team when it comes to cricket. But that being said, as people in USA, this is your opportunity to support your team. So that is the major tournaments that
that have happened or that are upcoming. Finally, I just wanted to give you a quick roundup of the landscape of cricket in USA. Just like NFL, Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, et cetera, USA now also has a new sport, which is cricket, but a new league, essentially, which is Major League Cricket.
And this is in the very nascent stages in the sense that just last year the first season was completed. It finished in July and six teams participated, you know, that's their Mumbai Indians, New York, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings, San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders and Washington Freedom.
Sushant (47:17.32)
So these are the six teams and it was very interesting and it featured a lot of famous international cricketers and there were some really good competitive games. We saw international players like Quentin de Kock, Martin Guptill, Aaron French, Trent Bould, Duane Bravo, etc. And there were some really close and interesting games that resulted from this. Of course, at the end of season one.
Mumbai, India, New York, they won the trophy beating Seattle Orcas in the finals. And that was an interesting game as well. So if you're curious about this Major League Cricket, do go to their website, majorleaguecricket.com. It has all of the latest information. And as part of developing cricket in USA and talent in USA, there is also another.
League under this major league cricket, which is minor league cricket and that is a lot more broader in the sense that is being played by 26 teams across the country and they're currently in their third season And and right now the third season is going on and the finals is going to be played on the 1st of October And if you're curious about those teams and if you want to figure out which team is closest to where you live
And if you want to support that team, do go to this website, minorleaguecricket.com. So that is the landscape of cricket in USA. And that is your opportunity to get in on the ground floor, support, understand the game of cricket, and be there to support USA when they make it to the T20 World Cup. And that's it as far as the cricket rookie corner is concerned. If you have any questions or feedback or thoughts on this, please do let me know.
Please do post them and we'll try to answer your questions in the next coming up search
Rohit (49:11.196)
Yeah, thank you Sushant. We all learned something new and thanks for all the details he has provided. And yeah, like he said, feel free to post questions on Twitter at namaste ballers, ballers with a Z. And let us know how we're doing or if you have any questions or if you want us to talk about any other topics or anything else.
Sushant (49:36.094)
All right. Namaste, Ballers.
Rohit (49:36.829)
With that, thank you everyone for listening to another episode of Namaste Ballers. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Gautam (49:47.18)
Namaste, Borgas, guys. Peace.