Test Match Special - The IPL - Brilliant Buttler does it again!

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Tymal Mills and Steven Finn join Nikesh Rughani to discuss Jos Buttler's latest heroics after another dramatic week in the IPL. Plus, we hear from Punjab Kings' Kagiso Rabada.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. To embrace the impossible requires a vehicle that pushes what's possible. Defender 110 boasts a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms, a weighting depth of 900 millimeters and a roof load up to 300 kilograms. Learn more at landrover.ca. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. podcast at the IPL. Hello and welcome to the Indian Premier League podcast from Test Match Special.

I'm Nick Esh Raghani. The IPL continues to deliver the shocks, the superstars, the centuries. You just never know what to expect, except perhaps the underperformance of RCB. We'll touch on that in just a moment as well. We'll chat through all the latest over the next 30 minutes with World Cup winner Tamal Mills and Multi-Ashers winner Stephen Finn. And we have an exclusive interview with South Africa's Superstand. start, Kagiso Rabada.

This is the TMS podcast at the IPL. Well, Stephen Finn and Tamal Mills, thanks very much for joining us. Let's get into it then, and let's start at the top. This is a game we covered together, of course, on the BBC, Rajasthan versus Kolkata. Brilliant game. Rajasthan chasing down 224 to win and remain top of the table at the halfway stage of the season. Josh Butler with the second century to Mal you've seen a lot of IPL cricket over the years

I mean he has been an absolute gun for Rajasthan Royals in the last couple of seasons just incredible yeah and the thing is you've seen it over and over again now so you somehow still get surprised and entertained by it even though we've seen it on so many occasions and we were speaking on air during the run chase how he wasn't getting much of the strike he was sat at the other end I think at one point he was, you know, pretty pedestrian, about 25 off 18, 19 balls.

And he's ended up scoring, you know, 100, what do you get 110 or out? In and around there to win the game for his side off the last ball. And he's managed to farm the strike, when batting with the tail at the end as well, perfectly getting that vital single off the last ball of the penultimate over. It was, it was a masterful winnings. And what was a great game of cricket, you know, seeing 200s in a game, even as a bowler, me and Finney can sit here. and maybe grimace a little bit

but it's entertaining cricket and when you get it when it culminates in a really good finish then you don't mind I guess as much but yeah it was a brilliant game of cricket and some great skill on show 107 knot out from 60 balls earlier on Finney

Sonor Narayan with his first century in T20 cricket it's taken a little while 500 odd matches but he's taken a fair few wickets in that time so let's not talk him down too much we've seen a couple of performances of his, well, we've been on commentary together, haven't we, the 80-odd that he got

earlier on in the season, the 100 this time, the wickets, the lack of run scored from his bowling as well. It's a massive shame that he's retired from international cricket, isn't it? It's a massive huge shame and a great loss for the West Indies actually, I think the West Indies looking forward to that World Cup.

On a side note, I think, of good contenders for it in their own conditions, and you add him into the mix as well, it would be a very formidable team. playing against. So he's a huge loss for international cricket, but that loss is the night riders game across all franchise tournaments that they're involved. He plays for them. And you can see why he's one of the bedrocks of all of the teams that they have. He's the sort of person

that you would want to build your team around offers everything with the bat and the ball, maybe not quite as mobile in the field as he might have been 10 years ago. But he, he's just a remarkable player. And right up until those last four or five overs where Josh Butler turned it into the Josh Butler's show. You just thought he was nailed on Narine, was nailed on to have won another man of the match and to have won his team another game. And we will move on from KKR in just a moment, but we have to talk about Phil Salt, Tamal. He's in as a replacement in place of Jason Roy at the top of the order there. He's had a very steady season, hasn't he, at the top of the order, in partnership with Sunil Narine. And if you're ever going to impress, try and

impress your national selectors in particular, and be on a world stage like this, it's not a bad time in the run-up to the T-20 World Cup. He certainly put himself in the mix for that, hasn't he? Yeah, 100%. And look, he had a brilliant series when we were in the Caribbean in the last England saw just before Christmas. He scored to a T-20-100. So, you know, I'd fully expect him to be part of that T-20 World Cup squad.

He's had a brilliant kind of 12, 18 months, really, just not only very recently, it's kind of sustained periods of form. He seems to have, yeah, kind of taking his game to another level in terms of accessing the offside a bit more. he was maybe a bit more leg side dominant in the last couple of years, but he's certainly accessing all around the ground now. And he's managing to do it pretty consistently as well.

And his wicketkeeping as well keeps on improving to a point where, you know, when he first started when he was at Sussex, he was, you know, a very occasional wicketkeeper and you'd get by and he's worked really hard on it to now the point where, you know, he's keeping in the IPL and, you know, he's kept for England as well without, you know, really noticing any drop off in standard. So, yeah, no, he's had a brilliant, as I say, 12, 18 months. months or so and he's a very, very dangerous batter at the top of the order. He's had quite a few

high scores and he's been contributing for KKR. Yeah, and KKR. One of the early runners as well, right up there towards the top of the table. They've played a game less than the Rajasthan Royals, but eight points from their six games so far, four victories in that and a really impressive net run rate just behind them, the Chennai Super Kings. Finney, you call yourself a former I'm a cricketer now and at the age of, what is it, 35? 35, yeah, no. I mean, it's a little bit premature

because of injuries and the toll that your body has taken over all these years. There's a young wicketkeeper at Chennai Super Kings who seems to be doing rather well this year is rolling back the years. He's rolling them back and his strike rate

and this year's IPL is 236. So, yeah, it's remarkable really that the evergreen MS. Doni keeps on doing it. He's just a cult hero, isn't he? from the long flowing hair to the Mohican that he once sported, the ginger tips that he had. He's just an icon of Indian cricket.

He's probably the only player in the country. Virac Koli, maybe, but everywhere that he goes, the stadiums turned yellow for Chennai Super Kings. And I think that's solely to do with him. He's been a remarkable player, a remarkable servant, and somehow he keeps on doing it. 42 years old. And it's not just the fact that he's coming in

and whacking a couple of sixes. He's actually making contributions to the team. They beat, you know, they won that game against the Mumbai Indians by 20 runs. He comes in when Chennai batting first gets 20 off four balls and ultimately those 20 runs are the difference between Chennai winning and losing that particular match as well. So absolutely brilliant.

Probably his last year, do you reckon, just quickly? Haven't we be saying that for about four years? It must be his last year. It's remarkable. It's remarkable. but yeah, maybe his last year and what a send-off it would be for him for Chennai to be in amongst it when the playoffs come. Absolutely, yeah, he looks like he's kind of playing on one leg. When you see him walking back to the team bus or in the hotel after games,

he's limping, he's really struggling to get himself out there, which is probably the reason why he bats at number eight and just has those little cameos, but he's still keeping wickets and, you know, really, really impressive to see. Another man who was a kind of massive super-stop. star in Indian cricket over the last few years, but just taking a slight dip, not just in this IPL, but just because of his injuries at international level, missing a lot of games for India. Hardik Bandia, who, of course, we know about his exploits, not just for India, but in

the IPL, he's won all those titles with the Mumbai Indians. He then went over to the Gujarat Titans, won the title in their first season as a franchise, took them to the final in his second season. He's been re-signed by Mumbai, of course, as captain. Lots of controversy Tamal surrounding that, replacing the great Rohid Sharma as captain, you know, the guy who's won you five titles as a skipper at the Mumbai Indians guy. You've played under, of course, during your time there. I mean, you know, what is the deal with Hearduk Bundy as captaincy? Is it, is, is Mumbai's poor start to the season anything to do with that? Do you think there's a lot of unfair criticism of him, all the booing and so on and so forth? And even criticism from people

in the media, former players, you know, Sunno Gavasker has come out and discreetly. described Hardik Bandia's captaincy as ordinary. Is that needed? I mean, Karin Pollard, who's on the coaching staff there now, just says he's sick and tired of people picking on Hardik. And that kind of seems like a bit of a theme among people, you know, right-minded people, let's say. Yeah, it's impossible to put an exact finger on it and give you an exact answer. There's certainly been a lot of drama.

It's almost been like watching a soap opera at times. You say the big star, the big character, you know, of all the bravado, that Hardic Pandia is leave, do well, come back. And, you know, I don't think there were many people when Hardic Pandia was signed back to the Mumbai Indians that didn't sell, you know, what an unbelievable deal and what an unbelievable signing. And for one reason or another, it hasn't worked out. Obviously, people have pointed to his captaincy a lot. I haven't watched every game that Mumbai have played, but obviously the game where Bumra, you know, didn't ball, he bowled early in the power play and then Hardik didn't bring him back on to bowl when everybody else

was getting, you know, smacked around the park everywhere. That was obviously, people pointed a lot of fingers to him then. Buma has been the standout bowler for Mumbai by a long stretch. But ultimately, the captain can't bowl all the balls or bat all the balls or hit all the balls. Sorry, face all the balls. Hit all the balls. So it's, yeah, look, it's been a frustrating one. And the expectations and the standards of Mumbai Indians are, you know, higher than anybody else.

You know, even though Chennai are with them in terms of, you know, the wins and the, the success, it seems to obviously mean a bit more from Mumbai and there's that bit more pressure and the glamour and the owners and the captains and the players and the famous fans and things like that associated with Mumbai Indians. So yeah, it's been interesting to watch hasn't it from afar. And as you say, it would also be different if he was really popping off on the field as well, you know, with his batting, with his bowling, as we've seen from Hardik in years gone by. He could be such a dynamic all-rounder. And as you say, he's had quite a few injury problems in the last few years.

He's not been able to bowl as much as what he would have liked to, I'm sure, in the last few years in particular. So the strain of captaincy plus the maybe not bowling and batting as well as what you would have liked might take at all. Two wins from the last three, though, and Roy at Shermer with his first IPL century in over a decade. So the last time he scored an IPL century, the Mumbai Indians hadn't won a title. He then captained them to five titles. He's now not captain again, and he's banging out the centuries. Well, there you go. It's a secret source, isn't it?

Don't captain and score hundreds. But, yeah, it's been great. In full flow, you know, his strike rate this year, I believe I saw, you know, up in the 160s. So he's obviously seeing the ball really well. Obviously, some good wickets are being played on all throughout the IPL this year. They're pretty flat all around the country, aren't they? But it's great to watch Roachshama in full flow. He's a, you know, he's a great guy.

I was lucky enough to play with and under him in the year I was at the Mumbai Indians. So got to know him a little bit. And, you know, a really good person. to be around. So, yeah, that's been, you know, they are, they kind of are being spoken about and being portrayed as if they're, you know, bottom of the league having lost every game

and everything's doom and gloom. But they're still well in the hunt and they've got some players that are in good form and, you know, they've got some talented young batters and they just need the, they just need a few more bowlers to really step up in support of Jasper at Bumra. And if you face, if you're facing the Mumbai Indians in crunch time,

you're going to have to be on your A game. absolutely right tamal stephen stay right there because coming up we've got plenty more chat around what's been happening in the tournament and we'll hear from kagizzo rabada IPL on the tMS podcast let's take a journey back to 2003 Canadian teen sensation avrilavine was topping the charts and turning the music industry upside down but what if I told you that the avalavine we know and love might not be the same Averill.

What? Did Averill die? Was she replaced by a doppelganger? I'm Joanne McNally, and I'm doing a deep dive into a notorious internet conspiracy. Who replaced Averill Levine? Listen on BBC Sounds. IPL on the TMS podcast. So Tamar Mills and Stephen Finn still with me,

and we've seen lots of run scored in this year's IPA. Too many runs. We've seen records broken out from the Sunrises Hyderabad on two occasions in terms of highest IPL score and second highest T20 score of all time when they posted 287. Do you think that's a lot to do with the pitches in this year's tournament?

The bats, the kind of training that the batters do or poor bowling or just maybe a mixture of all of those things? Well, and I think one thing that you didn't mention there, the impact player. I think the impact player has had a significant impact on the freedom with which people can play at the top of the order because you've got that extra batter always in your team, usually down to number eight. You have a proper batter striding out to the crease. So in that regard, when you're batting at the top of the order, where usually you would imagine you talk about the anchor role,

you talk about someone batting through, not batting through a T20 innings, but allowing the more exuberant players to bat free. around that person, that's not necessary anymore. Everyone can go for it right from ball one. And I think that that plus the boundaries, plus the bats and plus the wickets, all combined into that one melting pot, I think have culminated in there being ridiculous scores this year.

I would imagine, and I think there's a few murmurs coming out of India now, that that impact player rule might be revisited at the end of this season, but for the time being who'd want to be a bowler? Yeah, indeed. Who'd want to be a bowler at the Chinaswamy? I know you did it, Tamal, a few years back. You did mention on commentary, though,

that, you know, slightly different conditions when you were out there because of the surface being relayed, etc. But Viracoli, enjoying conditions, not just at the Chinaswami, but everywhere he seems to play at the moment. He's the orange cap holder, top run scorer in the competition as we speak. But again, his side, RCB, falling apart, really, rock bottom of the table, just one win from their first seven.

games, where's it all gone wrong? Yeah, Finney and I spoke about it on air today as well in a brief break. But I think obviously with their overseas players, they've obviously struggled with the combinations. Obviously, having your captain as an overseas player in Faf Duplice means that's obviously one of your overseas players, you know, essentially locked in, you know, there's no maneuverability there, which is, you know, fine with a player of fast ability. But there's always potential for that player to be out of form.

They traded for Chris Green, who's on a huge. Cameron Green, sorry, who's on a huge salary, who's, again, they've wanted to be a top five batter and also contribute with the ball. And unfortunately, he's had a tough start for the competition. Glenn Maxwell, who, you know, nobody would argue about the signing or the retention of Glenn Maxwell. He's one of the great players to play. You know, that inning for Australia against Afghanistan in India six or seven months ago was one of the greats, you know, greats of all time, you'd argue. Again, he's, you know, found himself dropped from the side with poor performance. And And then at the auction, they spent big resources on getting some fast bowlers in to try and, I'm assuming to improve their performances at the Chinnaswami and that grounds that are difficult to defend on.

You know, they spent over 10 crore on Alzari Joseph. He obviously begun the competition, didn't go particularly well. They moved him out. They retained Reese Topley from last year. He's, you know, he's had a couple of decent games, but struggled in others as well, which happens. They played Lockheed Ferguson in the last game. who's got proven pedigree in the IPL and in an international cricket

and they've still got Tom Karin on the bench who hasn't yet to feature. So they're rotating their way around the overseas players. Dinesh Kartick's been in great form with a bat, as you already mentioned, Virac Koli. So they've had a couple of batters that are in good form.

They haven't had enough. And unfortunately it's been the same with the bowling. There's haven't had enough players consistently be able to put in good performances to back up whatever good work they have been able to do in and around that.

Yeah, and not being able to live up to what the women did earlier this year in winning the WPL, the WPL rather, for the first time. The second season of asking, it's been a very long wait for Virac Koli, who's been there since 2008, says he's never going to play for another IPL franchise. So the weight looks like it's going to go on for at least another year for the RCB. I mean, look, the rest of the pack, you've got some sides towards the bottom of the table who haven't really looked dangerous this season at all. You've got the Delhi Capitals.

I mean, the Mumbai Indians, they have picked up a couple of wins and you probably back them to go on a bit of a run if they can get some of those top players firing like Surio Gomai Yadav who's back into the side. But there's no real surprise about Delhi, I feel. The way they performed in the last couple of years, Fini in particular, you know, they had that period, didn't they, where they changed their name to the Capitals,

being led by Shreus Ayer, who is now Captain of Kolkata, of course. and they were successful in at least getting to those top four positions and getting to finals and things like that. It's not quite happen in the last couple of years, has it? No, and they've been hit with injuries this year, but the balance of their team just doesn't look right in the games that I've watched and the ones that I've commented on, their bowling looks significantly weaker than they're batting,

and I think that they've been found wanting a little bit. They've got Ricky Ponting as their head coach, Rishab Pant, back from his car crass, which is really heartening to see. so you hope that they can pick up some degree of momentum through the rest of the tournament, but certainly the fragility of that bowling lineup would concern me if I was a Capitals fan looking towards the rest of the comp.

Right, let's hear now from another overseas start who's been lighting up the IPL. For the last seven years, South African fast bowl at Kagiza Rabada, got his first franchise break as a 22-year-old playing for the Delhi Capitals. These days, he plays his cricket for Punjab Kings, who, along with Delhi and RCB, the only sides never to have won the IPL.

In an exclusive interview, he told me why the Indian Premier League retains such appeal for players. First of all, cricket is a religion in the subcontinent and particularly in India. And, you know, the reason why, and everyone knows, the reason why the IPL is such a big franchise league is because of the TV rights and their investments, the investment behind the tournament and through investment, which means there will be money.

And that's what attracts the best players in the world is ultimately the money. And then when you look at the cricket is the opportunity to test yourself in T20 cricket against some of the best players in the world. as well. So I think all of those elements come together and that's why it's the most lucrative and the biggest franchise league in the world. Players like yourself are of course brought into the IPR for a lot of money and so the main reason being is that you know you're some of the

best players in the world but in terms of what you can give back to Indian cricket, how much do you see that as a responsibility that players like yourself, you're now a senior international or cricket, how do you see yourself in that role in terms of mentoring some of the younger bowlers, particularly with the Punjab Kings, as a big talent bull there? How is that role for you? Well, I think that cricket is all about inspiring. The sport is all about inspiring, because even myself at a stage, I was a teenager or a kid in primary school looking at players who were the world stage back then and wanting to be a part of it and tasting, you know, what it feels like and feeling, well, wanting to feel what it feels like to be playing and expressing

yourself on the big stage. And I think it's about giving back to cricket. That's what it's about. And you look at what it's done for Indian cricket. It's inspired players to, you know, to want to be great. But also it's given them an opportunity, you know, to earn and to provide, you know, for their families and for themselves. And economically, I think it adds, it adds, you know, to that avenue. But as a whole, if you look at leagues around the world and what it's doing for the youngsters that are playing in those leagues, it's exposing them to cricket and it's allowing them to rub shoulders with the best in the world. If you look at the SA20 as well and look at the players that have

been identified from the South African League and are now playing in the IPO, if there was no let's say 20, then I don't think, you know, that exposure would be on the same level. When you look at all other leagues, you know, such as the 100, such as the Big Bash and etc. I think it's just giving back to cricket. And that's where I feel my role, you know, at its essence, would be. because cricket and other players through cricket rather have given me the inspiration

to want to play and to be great and so I guess for me at its essence is about doing the same thing for you just briefly who were some of the inspirations growing up who did you watch and want to be like one to emulate in the back garden there's so many great players, it's almost a bit of an unfair question.

But the ones that did stand out for me were Dale Stang, A.B. DeVilleus. Later on, I learned about Viv Richards, how amazing he was. Shane Warren, Jimmy Anderson, Mackay and Dini and Tovation one more I mean it's a tough one It's difficult isn't it It's very difficult Yeah it's extremely

Yeah I mean there's been so many legendary players You've mentioned many just there Many of whom have been involved and still are involved in the IPL It will be in a coaching capacity in some of those cases as well A lot of those players just like you Even though you're a lot more recent than some of the names you mentioned there would have had a very different journey into top-level cricket. You just touched on it a few moments ago about the young players

and being exposed to the world, really, by playing in these franchise leagues and then being almost shoehorned into their national sides as a result of good performances for their franchises. How different do you think it is now? When you've got young cricketers who have played barely any domestic cricket, they're given that IPL contract, they get that opportunity, and all of a sudden they become a household name in a country like India where 1.5 billion people

follow the cricket religiously. Yes, that's the way cricket is evolving. And if it happens that way, then so be it. I do think as much as it's about playing for money, I think if you want to see a longevity in one's career and what to see and still want to, to produce great players, and I feel that it should not all be about the money. It should be about, you know, craftsmanship and understanding that without players, you know,

the game is, there's no product, and it's about understanding that nurturing players is more important than them making a handful of money. That's the only danger in which I see this could be heading towards. But all in all, cricket is changing. Once you get identified, then boom, you're in. A classic example would be Quenama Parker, who lit up the under 19 stage. And then in his final year of school, he's already a part of the Mumbai setup. But at the same time, as cricketers, you can go through some challenging periods in your career. And with the social media these days and the hype that certain players get put under, sometimes it can be a bit unfair on them. Players take some time to get into their own and they have to learn, you know, their craft over time.

It's not easy. You don't just got to rock up and everything is going to happen your way. Over social media these days, and you look at craftsmanship and the way that a player has to mature, without it just being about the money and thinking that a player is a finished product, that can never happen. And sometimes the perception could be that way. So I guess my main point is about it still being about cricket and not just about someone, the youngster coming in and he's already the finished product. There has to be a nurturing.

And through that nurturing process, then you'll still create great players. But sometimes you don't want it just to be for the hype because what happens is that players come in and then they get spat out and then are they really getting the best opportunity. But then what you'll see as well is you'll see a whole lot more consistency with the teams and it's not just the like a fast food restaurant type approach. At Punjab Keyes it looks as though you do have a very settled group and you've got a good mix of experience

as well as some of these younger players who've come in in the last couple of years mixed start to the season in terms of results so far, very early days of balls how are you guys feeling within the camp about your plans from the start of the season and how you've been able to implement them? Yeah, this year we've just been

there's been a focus on roles what is your role in the team at which phase and how best are you going to do that how best can you exploit that and the belief is that if we get that right and we play cricket the way

that we want to by taking the game on and not letting the game come to us that will bring the consistency but yeah the team is more experienced and there have been some complications with Johnny not being available last year and a few injuries in the team

and players coming in and out that wasn't issue but this year it seems to be a lot more settled and I think we're also familiar with each other too so that makes it a lot more settling too it's been a couple of years since you joined the Punjab franchise back at the start of the 2022 season.

Have you, I mean, I'm sure you've settled in in that part of the world and with these teammates who have been part of that journey with you. Have you learned any Punjabi? Is there anything you can repeat on the air? Curses and things like that. Usually the first kind of things you learn

when you learn Punjabi. Let me tell you that. Shastriakal. It's very polite. Nice greeting. Yeah, yeah. The other words are rolling for the BBC sport would be happy.

I don't think so. Yeah, let's not do that. We do have quite a lot of Punjabi listeners. Look, it's a really well-supported franchise, not only in Punjab, but there's a lot of Punjabis, both in the UK and other countries in the US and Canada, lots around the world. It's a really well-supported franchise. You guys have not won the IPL in the history of the competition

when it was Kings 11 Punjab or with the Punjab Kings. It's been a while since you've made the playoffs as well. a message to all your Punjabi fans around the world, are you going to do it this year? Yeah, we have 100% believe that we can do it. We've got the team

and it's about combining those elements together and playing for the badge. I think that's what's going to get us to win, playing with that passion. That's I mean, you're asking a

professional athlete whether we have the chance. Well, 100% we have a chance to win. We definitely to believe that we can do it. Yeah, we just need to come with that attitude and with that passion onto the field. So that was Keghizzo Rabada talking to me about playing in the IPL. And Tamar, from your point of view, you were there not too long ago in the IPL. I mean, what is the big draw apart from the money? for a player to go and play in the IPL. Yeah, the money is obviously great. Well, it can be great.

You get a lot of players that are playing in the IPL for very little money. And there is certainly the case of players now turning down the IPL because the money that they get bought for in the auction doesn't move the needle in comparison to what you can earn now in other franchise leagues for a significantly less amount of time. But, you know, if you want to really accomplish great things in cricket, going to the IPL and doing well is probably, your best way to do it. If you go to the IPL and you have a good year and you achieve something great, whether that be part of a winning team or individually, it opens up doors for you,

you know, moving forward. You obviously get retained by your team for next year. You're a popularity, your growth within, you know, subcontinent increases undoubtedly, which is obviously can be marketable and there's plenty of follow-ons there. The games are unrivaled really just from playing IPL in India, similar to when you guys were in India for the World Cup. You know, you don't get that anywhere else in the world. You get big stadiums around the world, but you don't get the consistent atmosphere, the vibe, the buzz, you know, turning up to a full stadium, an hour before the game and all the fanfare and all that that goes with it. You don't get that in any other franchise league in the world. Yeah, that's one thing that, you know, I really draw upon from my time

playing in the IPL is those games, those nights, you know, at Eden Gardens, at the Chinaswamy, at the Wankady, whatever it might be, the atmosphere and the buzz you get, you know, you can't replicate that anywhere else. And it just just feels bigger, you know, even a lot of the time bigger than ICC tournaments playing in the IPL. If you're playing in a high-profile IPL game, that can be as big as it gets. So, yeah, there's certainly an awful lot that is attractive about the IPL. And when you get good games and good finishes and if you can put together a good tournament,

it's certainly beneficial for yourself. Fini, would you agree with most of that? Absolutely, yeah. I think outside of the big ICC tournaments, it's the biggest thing out there. Other tournaments are trying to replicate what the IPL have done. They're the market leaders. They're the people who did it in 2008,

the first franchise tournament. They saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and they've come bursting through it. And they've produced this amazing product that I think it's only second in, terms of money per game in terms of a sporting event to the NFL in the world, which is a remarkable thing for them to have been able to achieve and something that they've cultivated over there themselves. And that atmosphere is something I was never lucky enough to be able to

go and experience it. My best chance would have been 10, 12 years ago. And yeah, it's something that when you're a player, you look upon it and you look upon those atmospheres and you think you want to be out there. You want the feeling that Josh Butler has just had out there hitting the winning runs in a huge game like that when you're backs against the wall in front of 60, 70,000 people. That feeling that you get is pretty much unrivaled in cricket.

And then you had a bit of cash on top of it and that probably puts the icing on the cake. Yeah, of course. And the free Gucci boots as well as we saw on Andre Russell a little bit earlier in the game that we commentated on. Stephen multiple Ashes winner of course and Tamar Mill's T20 World Cup winner as always thank you very much

we've of course got the best insight here on the Test Match special podcast throughout this tournament we're heading to the halfway stage of this year's IPL and if you want all the details of what's happening just head to the BBC Sport website and app for tables scorecards

and all the key details elsewhere on BBC Sounds you can look out each Friday for a new edition of our county cricket podcast with the amazing Kevin Howells. And on that stream, you'll also find the award-winning No Balls with Kate Cross and Alex Hartley. Thanks for listening.

IPL on the TMS Podcasts.