When was the last time the media, the selectors, the commentators, or even the coach could speak their mind freely or take a hard call in relation to an Indian superstar? India's anchor-heavy T20 World Cup squad selection was followed closely by the Virat Kohli - Sunil Gavaskar spat, bringing back attention to the uneasy power that the holy cows of Indian cricket hold. Is this unique to India? To cricket? Are the fans to be blamed? Is there a way out? Sharda Ugra joins the gang this week to dissect why the stars reign supreme in the country of Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth (and Amitabh Kant). Shownotes: 1. Sharda's piece on the Kohli - Gavaskar tangle: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/a-virat-kohli-sunil-gavaskar-tangle-and-an-indian-cricket-reality-101715003613662.html 2. Sharda's 2015 open letter to Kohli: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/sharda-ugra-a-letter-to-virat-kohli-951641 3. Sharda's piece on Shastri 2.0: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/come-to-think-of-it-whatever-happened-to-ravi-shastri-1-0-1223184 Sharda isn't on Twitter (she's smart in so many ways), but we are: 1. Bits and Pieces: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket 2. Chops: https://twitter.com/el_chopernos 3. Srinath: https://twitter.com/srinathsripath 4. Nitin: https://twitter.com/knittins 5. PDP: https://twitter.com/prashantdptweet

Tony, Chops and Nitin chat about the latest happenings in the unending IPL, and cast their deep focus on the strange edge-case that was witnessed at the end of SRH v RR, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar pinned Rovman Powell lbw, with two runs needed to win off the last ball. And now that the Indian team for the World Cup has been selected, our friendly panelists wonder wistfully about the glorious past weeks, when we could all still play selection predictions. Alas. Come for the banter, stay for Prashant DP's latest impeccable impressions, this time, of the CSK coach Stephen Fleming. Follow us on Twitter: 1. Bits and Pieces: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket 2. Chops: https://twitter.com/el_chopernos 3. Nitin: https://twitter.com/knittins 4. Tony: https://twitter.com/notytony 5. Stephen Fleming: https://twitter.com/prashantdptweet

From book cricket to stick cricket to cheat mode, the scoring rates in IPL 2024 continue to soar out of the realms of anything we could have imagined. Max, VaMu and PDP come together in Episode 121 to explain how we are reacting to this nose-bleed inducing run-flation, and also 'why' we are reacting this way. This is a rare, reflective episode of Bits and Pieces, and aptly, we kick it off with Srinath Sripath mimicking Harsha Bhogle in a rare moment of frank self-reflection.

Find us on Twitter:

1. Bits and Pieces: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket

2. Max: https://twitter.com/maxdavinci

3. PDP: https://twitter.com/prashantdptweet

4. VaMu: https://twitter.com/varunmurali43