India-Pakistan cricket tensions are back in focus after Pakistan’s announcement of a boycott of the February 15 clash, raising fresh questions about the future of cricket diplomacy and global governance in the sport.

To discuss this and more we spoke to Senior Journalist Chander Shekhar Luthra who has been covering the sport for over 30 years and long time friend of the pod, Behram Qazi.

There are a ton of tangents but that's how it is, isn't it?

We had a freewheeling chat with Sushant Singh about Bangladesh’s omission from the T20 World Cup, ICC as the BCCI’s Dubai office, Hindutva and its reflections on how Indian cricket functions, sport’s culpability at letting oligarchs trample through the field, and lots of cricket memories.

Sushant Singh is a journalist, author, and lecturer in South Asian Studies at Yale University. He is the Consulting Editor at The Caravan, a columnist with The Telegraph and The Morning Context, and his work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, and The New Yorker. Cricket fans have more recently seen him on videos of The Caravan and read his writing on Cricket Et Al.

His piece on Mustafizur Rahman's exit from the IPL here

You can follow him on Twitter

Sushant's Recommendations

Free by Leah Ypi

Assembling India's Constitution: A New Democratic HistoryBook by Ornit Shani and Rohit De

Osman Samiuddin's seminal piece - The Haal of Pakistan

Mohammed Hanif’s vlogs on BBC - Here

Links to Books, Pieces discussed on the Pod

Ehsan Mani's moving tribute to IS Bindra

Pundits from Pakistan (yes, again)

War Minus The Shooting (yes, again)

H-Pop : The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars by Kunal Purohit

Corner of a Foreign Field by Ramachandra Guha

Valkyrie

The PCCI pod brings on a cricket fan who goes by the name @vibeyseagull on twitter to talk through the allegations against Yash Dayal and the wider implications of how this case has been handled by the organisations that employ and are affiliated with him.

We talk through other such cases in sport, how they have been handled, and the impact on women’s safety and participation in sport at all levels.

Books mentioned on the pod

The Day I Became a Runner by Sohini Chattopadhyay

Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us about Modern India by Rukmini S

In this pod, we have Nishant, Richa, and MV to discuss the Ashes.

We discuss Noosa, the wad of cash, England's lengths, new ball bowling, Mark Wood's audacious plan to drive to Perth, the death of Bazball, and the continued excellence of the boring Aussies.

We then move to the WPL where we briefly discuss each team on the table and who are we buying, selling and holding.

We try to address the continued hijacking of ICC events by BCCI (and the BJP), how cricket as a sport only serves interests of the Indian nationalistic idea, and against the interests of the sport.

In this episode, MV is joined by Richa and Dave to preview the WPL 2026. We break down the teams, talk about the new money flowing into the game, thank Jay bhai, and decide which food item best represents each franchise. There’s also a bold call on why DC could finish last, a completely unnecessary but entertaining detour on whether Meg Lanning will run onto the field to hug Sophie Ecclestone, and an attempt to explain why MI just keep getting everything right.

The order of Previews -

1. UPW
2. RCB
3. GG
4. MI
5. DC

We end with a fun quiz because why not?

Who is most likely to

1. Break their bat smashing something?
2. Have a really funny reel?
3. Break a stump?
4. Hit 5 sixes in an over?
5. Yell at the umpire?
6. Yell at their teammates?
7. Yell at the opposition player?
8. Take an awesome boundary catch?

In this episode, regular listeners Shay, Fahad and Smarts record about their first time at the stadium watching a Cricket match.

We compare iconic Indian venues like MA Chidambaram Stadium, Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, and Wankhede Stadium, and contrast them with international experiences at Lord's Cricket Ground.

The conversation revolves around stadium access, ticketing challenges, hygiene and security issues, crowd behaviour, and how these factors impact families and first-time fans.

We also relive unforgettable moments like watching legends live, standing ovations, and dream destinations such as a Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A look at why cricket isn’t just about what happens on the field, but everything that happens getting to the stadium for the average fan.

In this episode, we talk about Bazball.

Its merits, demerits ,and how it all came crashing down because of very little planning and even poor execution.

We also talk briefly about the Indian T20 squad for the upcoming T20 WC and what happened with the axing of Shubman Gill?