IPL 2026 Awards: Magic Moments and Big Surprises

You're listening to the TMS Podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

Ah, well, this is an emotional one. Hello and welcome back to the final episode of Strategic Timeout, the place where we have been debriefing all things IPL 2026. Now, this seems like a good opportunity to look back at the tournament— our highlights, the key moments, the drama and looking ahead to next year as well. As always, we have got a wonderful lineup joining us for our final episode. All I'm saying is, if these two guys were at a wedding, just keep your aunties away. Keep them well away. He's been there from the very start, traitors finalist and all-round cricket fan, Faraz, and making his debut on Strategic Timeout. Content creator, one of the funniest guys on the internet, is Henry. Do you want to give your full name though?

Henry Dupin 1.

And why is it that?

Uh, sort of, it's quite obvious actually. Yeah, a structural thing.

Um, guys, it's a joy to have you. And Henry, tell us a little bit about your journey because it wasn't the most pleasant, was it?

No, no, no. Uh, 2-hour train from London, uh, but there was no AC on.

And for context, it's Tuesday afternoon and it's a scorcher. Yeah, 30 degrees. Yeah, 31.

Exactly. I know it's first world problems, but honestly, it was just, it was too much.

We've helped you out though.

No, yeah. Amber's giving me a fan, which I'll be keeping the whole time. But yeah, it was too much. The windows were all open, the sun's coming through and I just couldn't deal with it. Sweating everywhere, but I'm fine.

Before we get into the tournament and we start to look at that final, tell us, where did the love for cricket come from, Henry?

Whether it's love, it's more about my parents sort of forced me to sort of play cricket.

It sounds like the same thing, to be honest.

Yeah, they just— my dad and my uncle have a cricket team, so they forced me to start playing very early. So I'd start off just, you know, fine leg, doing all the running for them, and that's just kind of never stopped. I kind of thought, you know, if I start off playing adult cricket, which is like 11, which is quite good, I don't think any professional players playing adult cricket at 11.

Well, no, they probably—

there's a fair few, maybe. Yeah, I thought I was doing— at that time I was definitely the only one. And then, um, yeah, I haven't really improved since, but I'm still doing the running for my uncle and my Dad.

And your dad was the captain of the team?

Dad's captain, uncle's vice-captain, and that's a lot of pressure playing for them because every single time, you know, they're putting pressure. The cricket, normally when you play cricket with your friends or your teammates, the cricket stays there. My cricket comes back home with me. So at the dinner table, if I don't do well, I know it's that with the portion size of my food, a lot of the things, right? So I'm getting judged constantly.

But how much pressure was on you if you're just doing fine leg to fine leg?

No, but like, I also get to bat at 8, 9, 10.

Couldn't do it.

It started off—

Henry was there for the day out. He was just there to field. I've said that you create kind of comedy content. You know, you as a content creator, you are a household name within me and my sister. We quote you quite often, Henry. But for, you know, somebody watching at home, what are you known for on the internet?

For basically— how would I describe it? Relatable, desi, British-style comedy content.

Yes.

A blend and a mixture of both is what I do. But most people just say I talk rubbish online for a living, which is absolutely fine, which is what we're doing right now.

Yeah, yeah, that's how I've managed to get myself on here, I think, to be fair. So you just can't complain. Yeah.

And how's your week been? Because you had a day out to Wembley.

Oh, I up the borough. Didn't last long, to be fair, did it? Oh yeah, it was a mint weekend, to be fair. It was probably Apart from that 90 minutes, which was probably one of the worst 90 minutes of football I've ever seen.

It was a bit boring, wasn't it, the game?

A bit is a bit of an understatement. I genuinely think that was probably one of the worst playoff finals I've seen for a long, long time. Like, the footy was terrible. It was terrible. But let's not talk about that. The weekend was mint. It was absolutely scorching. Me and my mates absolutely flying and that. So yeah, it was good crack in the Big Smoke, to be fair. First time at Wembley as well.

Enjoyed it?

Yeah, good.

Shout out McBurney. Um, legend.

Um, let's talk IPL. Punjab have been one of the biggest shocks of the tournament, but we're down to 4 teams. We're recording on a Tuesday afternoon, so theoretically when this goes out we'll have our 2 finalists. But at the moment, RCB, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and of course Sunrisers, um, 3 of those teams who have essentially just won the same amount of games and lost the same amount of games. It's looking quite tight at the top of the table. How has it shaped up? Have those teams that you thought would make it, have they made it?

Well, I, at the first episode of this, said Mumbai Indians.

So we've had an absolute shocker, by the way.

Well off the mark, well off the mark with that one. To be fair, Gujarat have been class. I think like they're sort of coming up towards the back end really. So they've been mint. They've sort of surprised me a bit. I know they've got a good side, like the bowling attack's ridiculous when you've got obviously KG. Opening up, it's— you can't really go wrong. But yeah, they surprised me for how good they've been.

I feel like they've approached the game differently as well. They've put more emphasis on their bowling. They haven't really chased after the big numbers as such, and I think that's kind of why they've been so successful, and that's why they find themselves in playoffs.

Their batting as well, it isn't like all gung-ho at the start in the power play like everyone else is. Like, they can get off to a slow start and then still put a big score on because they're not sort of just throwing the wickets away. So yeah, I think it's been good to see for that as opposed to like everyone just sort of trying to smash everything out the park.

Has it gone how you expected it, Henry?

I didn't think RCB would actually—

Really?

I knew their team was super strong and I knew obviously after winning, I just always think that after a team wins, I just think there would be a bit of winners fatigue. I just felt like that would happen and then they've just been so, so good. And obviously I did think Punjab Kings would actually win it. I really did.

I really, I had a soft spot for them. I said, I think that was my prediction at the start, didn't I? I thought I wanted them to.

But no, I think obviously the top 3 teams they deserve to be there. Rajasthan Royals there also. I would love for them to win out of the 4 teams left, to be honest.

I'd love an RCB and Rajasthan final. I feel like it's going to be an RCB-Gujarat final though.

Yeah, I think that as well.

I think it's going to be that.

I hope not. I hope there's something, because I think that would be a really interesting final. There's so many storylines in an RCB-Rajasthan.

Well, RCB and Rajasthan Royals, yeah. While we are talking about Rajasthan, somebody we've spoken about a lot on the show, Henry, we may as well just name the show after him, is 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi. What have you made of him? Because you were an 11-year-old playing adult cricket, so you could have been Suryavanshi.

No, I could have been so close. But also, like, I was having a conversation with my— because I watched the only IPL games I do get to watch are with my family, and I watch it with my cousins. And a lot of my cousins, there's two of them, they're both 14 and 15. And like, we were sat there watching. Sometimes you're not watching cricket all the time, and we're playing, you know, stick cricket.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I actually, for like one of their presents, I literally bought them like the full extended game so they could play all the missions and stuff, right? Or not the missions, the games. And my cousin who's 14 is playing stick cricket. I'm looking at TV and I'm seeing him bat. I looked at him, I said, get your phone out. Look at this guy. He's 14 years old doing that. I just couldn't believe it, honestly. Like, especially that, that six against Bumrah. I mean, it still left me shocked. But he is just— it's weird to see because you're almost seeing greatness unfold where you think this is the start. You know, I wasn't at the start of Sachin Tendulkar's career. Wasn't the starter a lot of it, but you get to literally watch a 14, 15-year-old start his career in that manner. It's incredible to see.

We've said that he's future in Disney all over. They need to be snapping him up.

Well, I think I've been saying that if he's not in the T20 setup next, like for their next tours and things like that, it— I don't know what they're doing, to be honest, because he has to be there. I think he has to be there.

So last night I went through all 14 of his innings So I have a question for you. They're not— no big prizes here, but if you can guess how many runs he scored in his 14 matches— this is before, by the way, before the qualifiers. So I'm not going to give you any score, I'm not going to give you any clues, but how many runs do you think he scored in this year's tournament?

In his 14 innings?

14 matches.

Yeah, 14.

14.

I reckon he scored about 540.

Is that your—

Yeah.

You're locking in?

Yeah.

540.

No, because every time I've seen him play, he scored a lot of runs. So I think I'm gonna go with— I'm gonna go high. I'm gonna go 780.

780?

Yeah.

Okay, whoever gets the closest gets to end today's episode with their own little outro. Um, 583. Oh, 583. Faraz takes it. A chance to redeem yourself here, Henry.

Yeah.

How many sixes has Suryavanshi scored across the tournament? And by the way, he is top of the table in terms of most sixes scored by a player.

So he scored 583 runs and I reckon the majority of them be sixes. So I'm saying 60.

60? Final answer. Okay. What about for you, Henry?

I'm going to go slightly higher just on some maths and I'm going to go 71.

53 sixes, but by the time this goes out, he probably will have scored another—

there you go, that's what I'm thinking about. Oh, right, yeah, predicting in the final when he scores 5 sixes.

Yeah, he probably will have doubled that. Yeah, but he tops the table in terms of how many sixes, which is just insane in itself.

Ridiculous.

Is there any more questions?

No, there might be later. You won't be ending today's episode, I'm really sorry.

Really sad.

Um, that just shows the talent he is. Again, just dominated the headlines. Did anyone see the video of him with Kevin Peterson.

I haven't watched it yet, but I've seen, I've seen a clip of it, and it's about like sort of his mentality and stuff, and I thought it's class. Like, it's so good. He's so fearless. Like, he backs himself so much, and it's so, so good.

Imagine his ego at 14 though, like going into school. He doesn't go back into school, surely?

I'm sure he needs to get an education.

I don't know about that.

Yeah, fallbacks. Like, Max Daumann missed Arsenal training because he was too busy.

Did you see him though? They gave him like a guard of honour. The Kevin Peterson thing though, really interesting conversation. KP basically asked him, do you celebrate your 50s? And he was basically like, nah.

That's it.

I did see that, yeah.

And he also asked him, what's kind of your next ambition? He basically wants to score a double century in T20, which essentially hasn't been done by a professional. The closest was Chris Gayle getting 175. That's his next aim.

But the thing is, as much as he is good, I just think 200 is very high. But I do think he will get close to it.

Yeah.

But you have to understand, getting 200 in one game I don't know if you're about to do that, but I think you'll achieve a lot in cricket. I just think that 200 is a very tough thing to do.

I, I think so. If there's anyone to do it, he probably could, but it's just like you have to face basically all, like, the— all of the innings, you know what I mean? Out of them 20 overs, you're probably gonna have to face like 16 overs, do you know what I mean? 15, 16 overs to be able to score 200, I think. So it's like yourself— so he's not rotating the strike at all. Obviously, if you're getting 200, you're not going to just smash him boundaries, but you're right again. The bowling as well, like, who's going to be bowling to him where he's gonna Smash 200.

Yeah, Mumbai Indians. But no, but if there is anyone to do it, it would be— yeah, yeah, of everyone, he would be the person I would say would do it. And he's got the most amount of years, hopefully no injuries, yeah, to do it.

Whoever Nofe is, he's definitely been up there in terms of orange caps, so he's in the top 6. Still a lot to play for, still a lot of runs to get in the qualifiers. Any other batters that have stood out to you? For me, I'm just going to throw out there Shubman Gill. I think he's been fantastic as well. Anyone's for you?

His partner Sai Sudarsan.

Yeah, Sudarsan.

Those two, that's a dangerous, dangerous duo. The way they've batted. And I was surprised. I didn't realise how good he was until this season when I was watching him play. I was like, he is, he should be in all the setups. Like he is, he is good.

He's really good.

Yeah, very good. I think Abhishek's had a decent year, to be fair. Abhishek Sharma. Yeah, he's been decent for the Sunrisers, but again, like for the Titans as well, isn't it? Washington Sundar. I think sometimes some of the innings he's played have been quite decent, to be fair. So you always have people nipping in here and there and stuff. So there's been a fair few.

This feels like a tournament though that you kind of slip under the radar unless you're not getting those big scores, if that makes sense. If you were not scoring them, you could be having a great innings, but if you're not—

Jay Swale as well, he's played well.

He's played really well, but because obviously he's opening up with the star boy, he's But also because like the IPL, the amount of numbers we're seeing, it's so crazy that sometimes we see like good scores and we're just like, nah, it's not that good. Like we're seeing crazy scores.

Yeah.

Like a batsman could score like 17, it's alright.

Yeah. How have you found that, Henry? Because we've spoken about having too much of a good thing. Kind of these big scores have become normalised this year in terms of getting 220+ is just normal.

Yeah.

Do you think it's just made it a bit predictable? That's kind of been our argument this year.

I don't know if you watched the, when the, because that was one of the games I didn't get to watch when the Kings chased down 264. Or something like that.

Yeah, 264.

And I think it was after 6 overs they were on 116, and it's almost like you were convinced they were going to go and chase down 264 without a couple of— within like the first 5 or 6 overs. And you sit there and you're thinking, this is really enjoyable, this is crazy batting. And you have to think like, players in the past who are great players, I don't know if they could compete in this sort of current format because it's just crazy. But also, what, what can we get excited about? Because we're literally seeing How many more runs can you chase? How many more runs can you do? It's too much almost at a time.

Do you know what I've wanted more of though? The close finishes.

Yeah.

I think I've watched 2 games where it's gone down to the final ball.

Yeah.

That's what I want more of. I think we just need to get that balance. I think it's been— Jofra has done amazing. I just think— and Rashid Khan as well, actually, in terms of spinners. But I think they need to get that balance right next year to make sure it's a bowler's game as well.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I think I've seen some— like there's been talk about like the flat decks and the flat pitches and things that hasn't helped as well. But it always is. I always— enjoy the games that has that bit of needle and stuff. Like, one of my favorite games, and probably a lot of people's favorite games, is when RCB beat Mumbai Indians in the chase down. Kumar come in with 9 off 3 and it's a 6. Like, you just don't expect it to happen and it makes it so. But then you see the celebrations of RCB in the dugout as well. Like, I feel as if winning games like that, it just means so much more and gives you so much more of a boost as well, as opposed to like— obviously you're not going to complain if you're chasing 220 with like an over to spare, 5 balls to spare. But games like that, like proper, proper really winded on there.

Well, I mentioned a few bowlers there because we've done Orange Cap, Purple Cap. In terms of bowlers that have stood out to you who have had an incredibly tough job on those pitches as well, you don't want to be a bowler. We've had so many players on the podcast, Henry, who've just basically said wouldn't want to bowl out there.

Yeah, yeah.

And Chris Green was like, definitely don't want to bowl just because the pitches are so flat and you're not really getting much movement. Any bowlers that have stuck out for you? For me, it's Joffre Archer.

I saw I think it was against Mumbai Indians, was it? And I was like, this is crazy. But I've always rated Jofra Archer so highly. But it's good to see an English person going to the IPL and smashing it. Like, because I think for me, that bowling, that the spell that I saw, I was like, I haven't— because of the cricket I've seen, that one was the one that stood out for me.

Do you want another question?

Yeah, go on.

How many, how many wickets has Jofra got? Watch him say like 75.

Uh, okay, let's go with 15.

It's a sensible guess. 21.

Oh, see, I actually would have actually gone like 28, 29.

Um, he's in the running for Purple Cap. Um, your boy Bovee's done well.

Yeah, he's done.

You love him, don't you?

Yeah, he's class. Like, he just is. He is world class in it, you know what I mean? And he's been, he's been at the top of his game for years as well. Like, years. You just can't go wrong. But I like KG as well. KG's been class for Barca. But I've like, you know when you have like your sort of your guys in sport and you're like, he's like one of my guys, Truth. I remember him like breaking through first at South Africa at national level and I was like, he is a boyo, him. Like he's a proper boyo, him. So I've always loved him regardless of how he plays, but he's had a good tournament, I feel.

So Buvie's up for it, 24 wickets. Joff for 21, and then Rashid Khan holding it together for the spinners, 19 wickets. So all in the running for Purple Cap as well.

It's not a surprising top 3, that really, is it?

No, it's not.

This is the TMS Podcast from BBC Radio Radio 5 Live.

Let's talk about those who have had a bit of a disappointing season, and perhaps it's not gone the way they wanted. We've already mentioned Punjab, but there is such thing as peaking too soon, isn't there?

Yeah, that was disappointing because I think they, they started off so well, and then you, you look at the table and you're thinking, you know, they've gone far last year, I think they'll go far, and I just don't— maybe it is the thing of peaking too soon. I don't believe in that too much because I think, you know, teams should just be able to, like, you know, be consistent.

Yeah, exactly.

But I guess I got proven wrong.

I, I disagree at that point. I think it's something like sort of subconscious, and it's inevitable that you don't obviously want to peak too soon, but it can just happen. And I feel as if in tournament settings, in sport, especially in tournament cricket, like, you want to save that last run of form towards the end of a tournament, because if things click too early, you might get a bit complacent, uh, you do, you know what I mean? I feel as if Punjab possibly might have happened to them. Uh, but yeah, I think it has been a bit of a shock, to be fair.

The momentum they generated at the start of the tournament, they haven't managed to carry through. But a team like KKR had a slow and steady start. I know they haven't qualified, um, for the playoffs, but I felt like they, they deserved it in the sense they were doing so well towards the end as well. And Sunrisers have been a surprise, haven't they? Yeah, Sunrisers, I don't think anyone predicted— well, from the start of the show, I don't think anyone predicted for them to be in the top 4 as well. And it's a long old tournament as well. So Punjab have been quite disappointing towards the end. They did finish on a win. Mumbai.

Yeah, it's crazy.

Who have been not performing very well for the last, I'd say, 6 years, not since 2021.

Crazy. And they had that, they had that mess up in the field, I think, was it yesterday or day before as well, where there was a catch on the boundary and both of them just looked at each other. That's just summed up their whole tournament. Like, they've just not been at it.

But with the players they have, it's just like you You'd start to think, you know, well, Bumrah's had a tough season. Yeah.

Hardik's out with a back spasm. So just, just losing two pivotal players, you know, two that are having a tough season as well. I was watching something really interesting with Joss Butler. He said after the 2019 World Cup when they won on home soil, it was kind of that, you know, when you win a big tournament, everyone expects such big things and it just doesn't happen. The same's happened with India when they won the World Cup that they've got all this kind of pressure on them that they're used to, by the way, they are used to, but then having to perform it's such a big ask. Do we think that's played into it?

See, I don't know, because especially with some of the previous guests that we've had before, it's like the pressure that they have anyway, just like representing India, playing in the IPL, it's, it's insurmountable regardless. So I feel as if they're sort of able to deal with them pressures. Obviously it's a bit easier from the outside looking in, but from what we've heard over the series as well with like they can't even walk down the road or go to the shop, you know what I mean? So I feel as if that's things that they probably are used to, and if not, should be.

In a sense, if they played for India, that is the biggest pressure. So this should be kind of— not— it's not nothing, of course the IPL is huge, but playing for India, the amount of pressure there is for that, you come down to the IPL, it should be— be able to handle that sort of pressure.

Where do we think it's gone wrong then? Because a team like Chennai, we haven't really spoken about Chennai either, have we?

I know, I think again when we've talked about captains a lot this year, I feel as if they've probably not, not recovered from like just having, having found someone who could fill Donnie's shoes because realistically who can, you know, they're big shoes, ridiculously big shoes to fill, you know what I mean? So it's one of them where just finding, finding that leader because he was like Mr. Reliable and he handled everything. So I feel as if it's sort of looking to them key pivotal players who can handle things. So hopefully you might see someone in the coming years take that role, but you never know.

And in terms of looking ahead then, I guess we've spoken about the fact that has this tournament been a bit too predictable? We've kind of lacked the really close finishes. What do you think the tournament needs to do next year to make sure that it keeps evolving and it keeps bringing in a new audience?

As you— I think it was said before, that was the tighter finishes. Hopefully, you know, the bowlers have more of a say in the game. Because when it comes to just how the— those big scores and stuff, you can have too much of a good thing, as you said before. I think you keep on having these big scores, the game will just get boring. And you want a six to mean something, you want those big shots to mean— you mean, you want those big scores to mean something. When it's too much of it, it feels like nothing. So I think also you want, you want a bit more of those tighter, closer games. But it's nothing that— I don't know if the league can— you know, what can they do to that? They can't make the batsmen stop scoring rather than bowlers taking more wickets.

It's in the pitch though, isn't it?

Yeah, that's true.

So just balance out those pitches a little bit, give the bowlers something. Um, there are talks of making the tournament longer, so increasing it from 74 to 84, even 94 games, to kind of counter that both sides then get a home and away fixture.

I see, I see where they're coming from, purely from a monetary aspect, financial aspect, because you see these games all the way through the tournament, they are absolutely packed. Yeah, it's packed to the rafters. And even though we say people watch the games, especially there, do you know what I mean? They'll watch every single game. So I feel as if sort of money makes the world go around, don't it? So it's one of them where— but I feel as if, uh, obviously, obviously for us watching here, massive fans, but in India it's, it's completely different, is it? Do you know what I mean? Like, that's sort of— I feel as if that's what they live and breathe at times. So I think they'll probably love it. They might love it. But for me, making the tournament longer might create a larger disconnect.

And the thing is, growing up, like, I used to remember it's IPL season and it's not meant to last for too long because you want to enjoy it. I think if you make that season longer, you add more games to it, it ruins the sort of the effect of each game. And of course, you know, there'll be home and away and you still get your playoffs and things like that. But I think the idea of it being a shorter season is more impactful than, than making it big, especially for the players themselves as well.

When you sort of increase their schedule, they've got maybe less time to recover, more pressures, things like that. So that might decrease their performance in a sense.

Well, there's been loads of criticism, hasn't there, particularly of Jacob Bethell, about, you know, missing some of the county championship to play IPL, play franchise cricket. So if you increase that tournament, the cricket calendar is already congested enough as it is. Yeah, so it's— you're asking more of the players.

Yeah, that's what I mean.

So you're at risk of injuries. So then the players in the world might be missing out on international cricket, on World Cups, on things like that for a few more games when it's probably not, when it's not really needed.

It's really interesting because you look at the likes, when I think of IPL and I think I said this on the first episode, I think of Virat Kohli, I think of Rohit Sharma, I think of MS Dhoni, even though he didn't play this season and they're eventually going to retire. So what does that fandom look like? Who are those players going to be in the future that people will be watching the IPL for? Because it's going to change, you know. The players that we look up to, the players that are the stars of IPL, is really going to change. So who are those names going to be?

I think obviously Suryavanshi is the easy one.

He's a star in the making for me.

Yeah, he's an easy one. I feel as if Ishan Kishan was sort of established a few years ago, and now he'll be coming into his own. Well, I say coming into his own, he's already a massive star as it is. You've got Shreyas Iyer there as well, so I feel as if it is in good hands, do you know what I mean? You've got Jaiswal who will come into it. I think he's what, 19 or 21 or something. It's just sort of how old, uh, Sriyavanthi is. It just makes it look silly, doesn't it? But these still are young lads, and I feel as if them names there— Abhishek Sharma as well— them names there will carry through because the talent in India is ridiculous.

Yeah, but I don't think it's a talent issue. I think also, even though, you know, we're not part of the marketing teams and stuff, but like Kohli is such a big personality.

So he's a brand.

He's a brand himself. And like, obviously I know Dhoni hasn't played this season, but Dhoni is a brand. These type of players, we've been blessed to have them in like this generation of watching them, and maybe we've taken them for granted as well, and maybe when they're gone we'll miss them even more. Because it's not about just having amazing players, it's about they brought so much more to the game. Yeah, like when Kohli's playing, people are coming to watch him. I think Sriivanshi, he has that, but I think it's— I don't know about the other players. Like, they're great players, fantastic players, you come, but you come and watch a Kohli game. You don't really care what team he's playing for. You come and watch a Kohli game.

Yeah, great. That's a great point, that, to be fair. I didn't really think of that because obviously, as you said, the talent is rife. But yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Yeah, so you have really got Surivanshi there. That is a household name. And then, yeah, you're right, you know, it might take a couple.

It takes time though, doesn't it?

Like 100%.

Maybe Shubman, like Shubman's got that thing about him. Um, but you need a few more. I don't know, they need to—

I feel as if Mohammad Siraj is a good one as well. He's a great character. He's a great character. I know he's not like extremely young, but he's a great character as well. So I feel as if people would come out for him, especially he's had a good tournament as well.

It takes time though, because when Sachin was playing, it wasn't about Kohli. Kohli was kind of in the background doing things. Once your Sachin goes, your Kohli steps up. It's a case of when these players move on, it's a chance for these players like your Shubmans, like your Sirajis to move up, I guess. Um, so we are fan of it increasing, or no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, I think I already The players have already got a lot in terms of their balance in their franchises and the county and the Hundred and things like that. That is a lot. We haven't given the fielders much attention, have we? So best catch, because this tournament is known for its spectacular boundary catches, the one-handed catches. So is there a particular match that has stood out?

Well, we've seen some great catches, but you know what, I'm gonna go for something else. I'm gonna go for a stumping. Jarell's stumping. Oh yeah, it was ridiculous. One-handed, dumb leg side, diving away from— it's crazy.

The balance, the agility. I had to rewatch it because I was like, how has he done that?

Never seen anything like that, and I don't think I will. It's unbelievable.

Might have been one of the greatest stumpings ever.

I know a lot of people go with Shreyas Iyer's, uh, the catch on the boundary.

Yes.

But I, because I field at point, and obviously I played Division 12, but fielding at point is the hardest thing.

Yeah.

And like, I feel like we have a union. Everyone who fields at point, doesn't matter if you play IPL, we have to stick together. So I think Safraz Khan. Yeah. I think his catch at point. I think there's another one, uh, Mandeep Pandey, I think. I'm not sure.

At point again?

Yeah, at point. Oh, they're both at point. Oh yeah, yeah, I only do catches at point.

Point union?

Yeah, exactly, it's a union.

And can we shout out your cricket club while we're at it as well?

Oh yeah, it's Brentford Cricket Club, Division 12, uh, and we're the second side. Our first team's in Division 11, so fantastic. Not much better.

And Dad and Uncle still going strong in that team?

Uh, yeah, uh, they haven't, uh, they're useless. Yeah, this is one of those ones where it's they talk the most but they run the least, and that bothers me. And then it's their attitude as well. Um, you know, my own dad gave me LBW and it like, it hit my stomach. I couldn't believe it.

You can't go against umpire's decision.

No, but you can't— I mean, it's your dad.

And then, yeah, I can't. My dad's an umpire and he's— he comes home with his umpire's head on. I'm like, oh, why have you given a level 1 for this? Or why he's done this, he's done that. Can't go again.

Your dad's probably a decent umpire. My dad's He's got no idea what's going on.

Your dad's holding the club together by—

You know, he wants to be star of the show, that's what. He just wants everyone to say, oh, was that? Yeah, out. That's what he wants to do. He wants that bit of like 5-minute attention.

You must have been fuming at him when he got out.

Oh no, 100%, 100%.

All right then, I'm going to get your predictions. I'm going to get your predictions. I'd like to know though, we're going to do our own orange and purple caps. It doesn't have to be the most that they've scored, just your own bowler and batter that has stood out for you this season, that has really made an impact on you and think has been the best player for you. So start with you, Faraz. Who's been your bowler?

My bowler of the tournament? My bowler— I know, I know Bouvy's top, but you know what, I'm gonna give it to Jof.

I thought you were gonna give it to Bouvy.

Yeah, I know Bouvy's top, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give it to Jof. I just feel as if some of the games like that Mumbai Indians game, like, that was his game, do you know what I mean? And I feel as if at times as well some people might underestimate him because he doesn't always perform, especially in England shirt at times, but this tournament he's been spot on.

I'm going for a Rajasthan Royals double.

Oh, are you?

Okay.

I think Srivanshi for batsman and Archer for bowler.

Okay, fine. Yeah, why?

I think they're obviously— Srivanshi speaks for himself.

Yeah.

And then as I said before about Archer, with a couple of the spells he's bowled, and those pitches are so hard. And to make— most of the time these games are decided by the batsmen, and for a bowler to go and decide that game, decide a few of the games he's played in, I think he stands out for me. Um, of course you have the other bowlers, but I think Jofra Archer for me, considering he had quite a slow start as well, he's really picked up. So no, and that's the whole thing about peaking, yeah, peaking at the right time.

Um, so you've done your batter and your bowler. Give us your batter.

Has to be Siddharth, I think. Oh, that's the best. And yeah, because he's just like, the way he's batted as well, the way he's attacked the game, he's not been just gung-ho, do you know what I mean? He's been playing really well, sort of adapting to different situations, and he's class at the end of the day. And he saw, yeah, I think he's, he's there for me.

I'm going to throw another one in there, but someone who's really surprised you, so somebody who you weren't expecting.

Anyone? No one was expecting a 15-year-old.

But, um, someone who's been a bit underrated, under the radar, but has kind of stepped up.

That I was gonna— what you said about Washington Sundice, I saw one of those innings where he played and I thought, that is impressive. And I thought it's— you have a few of those players where I don't, I don't think they scored many runs across the season, or it's just a few of the games they showed up. Yeah, but like, uh, yeah, that's what I'd say.

Okay, what about for you, Faz?

What is it?

Prabh Simran.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Prabh Simran's really surprised me because to be fair, I hadn't heard much of him beforehand. Uh, but yeah, he's, he's been really good.

To be honest, against the Delhi Capitals was He got like 76 of 26 balls or something.

Yeah, so yours would be perhaps amazing.

I'm gonna just throw, just because I don't think we've given a lot of credit to spinners, but Rashid Khan. Yeah, I think it's so hard to bowl on those pitches, and I just think he's been brilliant, and he's very consistent as well. So he's not an underrated player in the cricket world, but I think he's not in the format. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. All right then, it's the big one. Who's going to win it? And bearing in mind this episode goes out once the Eliminators and once the Qualifiers are done, so there is a chance of us getting it completely wrong, but I guess that's the fun of it.

So can I go for a want and what I think as well?

Oh no, no, you can't. You've got to give us one name.

RCB will go back to back, but I want Roger Stone to win.

You want Roger Stone to win? Okay, fine.

I think it's going to be an RCB-Goodra final, and I think Goodra might take it. Really? I think Goodra might take it.

Oh, Coley would be fuming though.

Oh yeah, big time.

Absolutely fuming. I want it to be RCB and Rajasthan. I want it to be that, but I think it will be RCB and Gujarat, and I think RCB will win. I think they'll go for the double.

But I'd love like a passing of the torch, you know, Rajasthan, if Surav Banshee was to be—

you imagine, no, going back to school, you just won the IPL.

Yeah, that would be sick as well.

Could you imagine at 15 years old?

Kohli in the back pocket.

Yeah, I'm quite excited to see what he'll do next year. How do you, how do you get past this?

Yeah, and that's the thing. And I feel as if, I hope he's got like a good— but you know what, his mindset seems like wanting to score 200 in the T20. A lot. Yeah, how many 15-year-olds would you ask, even like who were that level, like that, obviously no one's that level, but 18, 20, 21, how many people would you ask and they're scoring at the rate he's scoring at and they're wanting to score double that? Do you know what I mean? I feel as if there's not many. So that speaks volumes about him. So I feel as if people are sort of scared that he might fall off, I don't think he will. So I think, as I said, it will sort of be scary.

So as long as you've got the right people around him, yeah, because you see a lot of these young prodigies coming, obviously nothing like this, but you see a lot in any type of sport. You see a 17-year-old, a 16-year-old, a lot of them, they fall off, attitude problems or people around them. So you just hopefully has the right people around them.

But on your point, putting himself in the same category as Chris Gayle as well. I know Chris Gale's got 175, but I want to beat that and I want to go above and get 200. That in itself speaks volumes.

Well, that, that, that's, that's exactly the same mentality Chris Gale would have, that sort of universe boss, you know what I mean? Like, he might take that torch. And so, and imagine we see him bossing all 3 formats of the game, which is something I feel as if he can do. Uh, he's got a lot of time to do it. Yeah. So, so yeah, I feel as if he'll, he'll he will be in good hands. He'll have a good— I think he will have good people around him, but even sometimes if he doesn't, I feel as if he's got that mindset where he won't fall off anyway.

No, absolutely. And Henry, it's been a pleasure to have you on. Have you enjoyed it?

Yes, very much.

You looking forward to your train home?

I don't know.

Have you shown people your little what's next to you?

Oh yeah, I've got a fan here that Amber's given to me, which I'll be keeping.

He's been forced to turn off.

Yeah, I've been forced to turn off, even though I really do want to put on. So as soon as it finishes, I'll be back.

So he'll be nicking that, taking it to London. And for us, it's been an absolute joy. If I was to ask you what's been your highlight of the series so far, we've had so many people come in, we've had some fantastic guests. What has been your highlight?

You know what, I think my highlight has just been looking into Chris Green's eyes.

Oh, beautiful eyes, Henry. Beautiful eyes. Go and watch that episode back.

What about my eyes?

No, no, no.

Ah, shady then.

Guys, it's been an absolute pleasure. Enjoy the final. Well, that's all we've got time for. Enjoy the IPL final and enjoy the summer of cricket ahead. It's been an absolute pleasure. We'll see you soon.

The TMS Podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.