How much does bowling matter in T20s and how does one measure the potency of a bowler in this format? What are the measures of excellence for a T20 bowler?  Support 81allout on Ko-fi Talking Points: How does one describe a good T20 bowler? Is it possible to separate actions and outcomes for T20 bowling?  A format that offers the bowlers almost no leverage What is the role of bowlers in a contest designed to be between bat and bat? Does a great T20 bowler need any particular skills?  The value of bowlers with unconventional actions What Jasprit Bumrah does well in T20s Why T20 b ..read more

T20 started in the early 2000s but what if the format was invented 15 years earlier. Who were the players who would have excelled in the shorter format? We decided to pick a T20 side from the era before the IPL and debated how Aravinda de Silva and Brian Lara might have changed their game for T20s. And if players like Ricardo Powell and Adrian Kuiper would have had more illustrious careers than they did. Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: The evolution of ODIs and T20s - and how both took about 20 years ago mature Would players like Sunil Narine have been as big a star if not for T20s ..read more

We review the fifth Test between India and England in Dharamshala – where India stamped their authority with a win by an innings and 64 runs. Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: A one-sided – and thoroughly expected – end to a Test series in India The Bazball delusion  England's inadequate bowling resources thoroughly exposed Kuldeep the genius - a wristspinner with both variety and control  R Ashwin caps off his 100th Test with signature spells The first morning - when Bumrah and Siraj made the ball talk The challenge against spin for Duckett, Pope, Stokes, and Bairstow  ..read more

We review the fourth Test between India and England in Ranchi – where India sealed a series with a magnificent five-wicket win.  Support 81allout at Ko-Fi Talking Points: The third-innings bowling that capped another brilliant third-day fightback India's forced accelerated transition - with a team full of youngsters Dhruv Jurel's expert batting with the tail Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep - an undecipherable trio  Bazball sucking all the oxygen out of the England media Did England miss a trick by not bowling Anderson and Robinson enough? How England's statements often ran opposite to their ..read more

We review the third Test between India and England in Rajkot – where a terrific all-round performance helped India go 2-1 up.  Support 81allout at Ko-Fi Talking Points: India's magnificent bowling on Day 3 How the flat pitches in this series are neutralizing Bazball India's spinners - turning the ball more with greater control Why England's batting tactics are actually a tribute to India's great bowling Why India are actually relentlessly attacking while England are highly defensive Why England should have played an extra seamer in all three Tests The problem for England's spinners in I ..read more

We review the second Test between India and England in Visakhapatnam – where Jasprit Bumrah powered India to a 106-run win.  Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: A celebration of Test cricket A series with echoes of the 2016-17 home series v Australia  Are England really playing Bazball? India's decision to play five bowlers even with an inexperienced batting line-up Does anyone think of drawing a Test match these days? Jasprit Bumrah: an artist operating on a different plane to the rest James Anderson's spell and the mystery around how little he bowls in India Did England pick ..read more

We review the first Test between India and England in Hyderabad – where India lost a Test match at home after gaining a first-innings lead of 190.   Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: One of England's greatest wins Ollie Pope's freakish 196 India's approach to facing left-arm spin Why England choose to sweep and reverse-sweep India's spinners Bazball and the approach to risk-taking India's batters getting out to unforced errors after being set Jasprit Bumrah's astonishing range  Participants: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd) Ashoka (@ABVan ..read more

We rewind to England's tour to India in 2001-02 - when India won the three-Test series 1-0 and England leveled the six-match ODI series 3-3. England arrived in India on the back of terrific series wins in Sri Lanka and Pakistan - and despite a green bowling attack managed to gave India a scare in two Tests.  Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: The uncertainty around the tour because of the events around 9/11 India's eventful 2001 - epic wins, big defeats, and plenty of controversy  The similar (yet contrasting) narratives around the captaincy of Nasser Hussain and Sourav Gangu ..read more

We review the two-Test series between South Africa and India - which ended 1-1 after a bowler-dominated shootout in Cape Town.  Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking Points: India's missed opportunity to finally win a series in SA Why the Cape Town pitch backfired on South Africa India's lack of fast bowling depth - a sign of more struggles in future away series Mohammad Siraj's dream spell on the first morning in Cape Town  Dean Elgar's century: a tale of plays-and-misses and cashing in on poor bowling Aiden Markram's astonishing attack Where Rabada and Bumrah showed their class: figur ..read more

We are thrilled to have novelist and cricket writer Rahul Bhattacharya to talk about his experiences from the World Cup. Support 81allout on Ko-Fi Talking points:  Cricket writing v cricket analysis - and how each is a specialised job Does the BCCI care for what is written about them in the press? The antipathy towards Indian and foreign fans throughout this World Cup The staggering amount of money people were willing to pay for tickets The experience of covering a match at Ahmedabad India v Pakistan - and how the discourse seems to be war minus the shooting Jasprit Bumrah - what can't h ..read more