2023 has undoubtedly been the year for Indian Cricket across formats. Despite a resounding performance in Tests & ODIs, they were unable to get past a familiar foe in Australia who beat India enroute to becoming ICC World Test Champions and also ICC World Cup champions.

This is a beginning of a new season of Cricket Unplugged where I am delighted to have my close friend Mayur: (A proud and sensible ICT & CSK fan) on the podcast to discuss the events that unfolded in the year gone by from the missed ICC trophies for India to relooking at IPL 2023 and the mini auctions that got lot of attention & eye balls rolling!

Enjoy tuning in and heres wishing all the listeners a great end to 2023 and fabulous 2024 ahead!

10 teams bought as many as 204 players after shelling out a total of ₹551.70 crore at the mega-auction in Bengaluru. Ishan Kishan was the most expensive buy at ₹15.25 crores when MI bought the wicketkeeper-batsman back to their franchise that has won a record five titles!

It was a dramatic mega auction when the auctioneer, Hugh Edmeades had to be replaced by Charu Sharma due to health reasons. Charu took over the mantle within less than thirty minutes notice & did a fabulous job! As this event is touted as the 'biggest event in the cricketing calendar' & its never easy to take centre stage and come out with aplomb!

We at Cricket Unplugged take a deep look into each franchise and break down each team's best buys. Which are the franchises that have been really good at the player's auctions? Which are the teams that don't look that strong on paper heading into IPL 2022? Can a new champion be crowned this season with the inclusion of two teams; Lucknow Super Giants & Gujarat Titans?

Soraj & myself present our IPL 2022 Auction Review in this super chilled, fun analysis of each squad and also share our personal opinion on some players who have got more than maybe they could have and how its going to be to see regular faces who were part of one franchises for over 5 years represent another team from this year onwards; For all of you who love IPL & especially who have followed the IPL Auctions this is going to be a really enthralling, insightful episode!

Enjoy listening!

It has been a while since me & Sooraj came together for a full-fledged episode on 'Cricket Unplugged' to discuss about Cricket! This reunion of sorts explores a broad variety of topics that has happened in the world of cricket in the past 3-4 months!

From the apathy of seeing Sri Lankan cricket, to India fielding two separate teams due to COVID and also building up to the India-England Test series which is highly anticipated we have got everything covered in this very free flowing, open ended conversation between two cricket fanatics reconnecting!

Our thoughts on ICC WTC Finals, Ind-SL series, and also some milestones in the world of cricket has been covered in vivid detail in this free flowing discussion!

Enjoy this reunion as we look ahead to India's tour of Sri Lanka!

It's that time of the year when most parts of India celebrate the beginning of a new year! And ever since the IPL has started, it adds a lot more fun & enjoyment to the festivities! So we at Cricket Unplugged decided to merge both: Festivals, albeit in times of a worrying second wave of the Coronavirus & IPL 2021!

We have Sooraj, Dr Manjunath & a debutant on this podcast: Chandrakanth Sharma talk about what it means for a tournament like the IPL to take place amidst such tight, secure bio-secure bubbles. The kind of sacrifices the cricketers to bring joy to so many people's faces is priceless! As the 3-4 hours when an IPL game goes on live, no one thinks about the impact of the second wave of this deadly virus, as everyone is glued to their TV screens to watch some scintillating, nail-biting cricketing action!

All the voices you hear will evoke one common sentiment: Gratitude to the BCCI & all the cricketers involved in making IPL 2021 happen without so much fuss or troubles as yet! The cricket action will speak louder than the virus! Enjoy listening to this festival special episode!

It just feels like the other day that IPL 2020 finished successfully in rather unique circumstances in the UAE! Cricketers have spread so much joy & happiness by playing such memorable cricket in very unusual circumstances in the past year or so. This episode of Cricket Unplugged, Snippets focusses on IPL 2021 and what Cricket fans, analysts have to say about the tournament!

We have to acknowledge the exemplary amount of sacrifices the players make in order to be move from one 'bio secure bubble' to another & not let the quality of Cricket dig whatsoever. Virat Kohli made a valid point that players must be consulted when it comes to scheduling of games especially as we see a surge in COVID-19 cases engulf the country.

In this episode, we get one of the co-hosts of a very popular & engaging Cricket podcast, 'The HawkEye Podcast': Rahul Kumar & one of my close mates, a fellow fan of singer KK and an IIT Delhi alumni: Pratik Verma make their debut on Cricket Unplugged! We also have one of the biggest supporters of the podcast, a special guest Dr Manjunath present his views on IPL 2021 and his expectations from the tournament!

It has been truly phenomenal to see that despite not being able to publish content on a regular basis in the past month or so, the popularity & eagerness to listen to the latest episode hasn't come down! In that endeavor, it's the time to make a format change & bring in more voices on the podcast!

Presenting you 'Cricket Unplugged Snippets', where we get different voices talk about one common theme or topic & to spice things up there will be some music infused too! To kick off this feature of this podcast, we have Mayur Venkatesh, someone who I hold in high regard as hes a respected name in the Toastmaster's circuit in the past few years making his first appearance on Cricket Unplugged! And whats starting off something new on 'Cricket Unplugged' without having the co-host Sooraj engage the audience in his own style!

Looking forward to get more voices coming onto my podcast, and with this new tighter, crisper format, the intention would be to keep our audiences engaged & also bring in new listeners, as we get deeper into this new exciting concept!

A big part of my love & passion for the game has got to do with players who shaped my fondness for the game. One such iconic greats who will go down as someone who has shaped many people's childhood & someone we look upto is Sourav 'Dada' Ganguly!

It's a pleasure to have my cousin S Badrinathan or 'Badri' recollect & talk about someone who has been instrumental in our love for the game: Sourav Ganguly. We take the listeners down memory lane by looking at the rise of India as a cricketing nation under 'Dada's' captaincy!

From the iconic India-Australia series in 2001, to India's epic series in Pakistan in 2005-2006 where MS Dhoni's hairstyle caught everyone's attention we have got everything covered!

The stories, emotions and struggle certain Indian players had to go through back when 'Dada' was captain to the team which scripted history in Australia had the legacy of Sourav Ganguly beautifully carried on!

For any Cricket fan, nothing can beat the experience of watching a game in a stadium! After an especially tough year in 2020 where fans in India were starved of too much live Cricket owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are witnessing Cricketing action now in Indian shores with the ongoing India vs England series!

Among the lucky 15,000 spectators who got the opportunity to witness India take on England on Day One of the second Test was the co-host of Cricket Unplugged & my dear mate Sooraj! I get him to share his feelings of watching the game, how was it considering this is a a game held in pandemic times.

We also elaborate on a variety of experiences we both have had the privilege to witness in Chepauk & Chinnaswamy stadiums over the years respectively! How every instance, memory is so closely etched in our hearts! Was a truly exhilarating journey doing this episode!