Google might have live scores and match details at a glance, but if you’re looking for some in-depth analysis and fun conversations with fellow cricket fans, these folks have you covered.
Edges & Sledges: Coordinating between Singapore, London and Cincinnati to create a podcast is a challenge that Dhananjaya Chak, Varun Garg and Ashwin Garg have risen to. The team behind the 1 Tip 1 Hand cricketing blog recently previewed the World Cup with former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu. “Our latest episode had Andrew Menczel (of the Cricket Unfiltered podcast) from Australia and Tim Dale Lace (A View From The Stands blog) from South Africa We’ve got a few more special guests lined up, but don’t want to reveal too much,” writes Chak. He adds that the Virat Kohli-led Indian team is their favourite, since he “combines class with the ability to handle pressure”. Listen on IVM Podcasts.
Aakash Chopra: For the former Indian cricketer (he played for the national team from 2003 to 2004), becoming a major YouTube presence was not a planned move. “From one video a day to live shows once a week, it quickly turned from a fun exercise to a serious one. We even have sponsors (like the Rooter sports app) on board,” he says. His channel currently has about 7.87 lakh subscribers. A pro at Twitter, he most recently trolled Herschelle Gibbs during the India vs South Africa match. Chopra also has a user-driven segment called #AapKiVani, where he answers followers’ questions. Follow on YouTube and @cricketaakash on Twitter.
81all out: “India were all out for 81 while chasing 120 in the Barbados Test in the series against West Indies in 1997. This is one of most crushing losses for our generation of Indian cricket fans — and the first name that popped into my head when we were thinking of names for our podcast,” says Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee on Twitter), who met co-host Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) on Twitter, but never in person. Their shared passion for the game led to a collaborative blog, which resulted in this podcast. Beyond post-match discussions, Vaidyanathan says, “We have a series where we chat with fans on their personal memories of watching different World Cups. We hope these will resonate with listeners through the season, and hopefully, beyond.” On 81allout.com.
cricAnandha: One of the first independent RJs in Tamil, Anand first ventured into cricket-based content in 2017. Starting with IPL matches on the Smile Settai YouTube channel, he set out on his own a year ago as cricAnandha. Since then, he has garnered over 60,000 followers for his reviews, analyses and predictions. “I’ve been doing my research for the past two months to give a more nuanced take for the previews, post-match discussions, controversies, weather, field sets and more,” he says.
