Saumya Mehta

100%. But even with the next T20WC being in Australia (& the one after in England?), I don’t know if he’d be on my team-sheet, the points you made about him playing 3-formats (& captaining 2) despite not having established himself + the injury risk he comes with being why. He would surely succeed in T20s & would be especially valuable in Australia, but I believe it’s better for him (& Team India) if his focus remains on doing well in Tests + ODIs, to establish himself there & ofc, manage the injury risk. We’ll likely do well in a T20WC in Australia even without him (though it’d be good to have him there), but we definitely need him to stay fit & focused for the ODIs & Tests that are going to quickly fill the calendar up until then.

It is silly to think Gill would not be successful in T20Is. But it is also a pointless debate when India do not really need him in that format right now. Unless there is a World Cup in Australia, or to a lesser extent in South Africa or England, there are better suited options. Making him play all three formats and captain two when he has not fully established himself in two of them is simply not the most optimal use of resources.

The “inspirational change” you’re describing & “difficult calls” that Hardik’s talking about are both, I have a feeling, going to come in the form of another explosive move in the trading window later this year. Don’t think it’ll be productive, but because it worked in 2019 with QDK & 2020 with Boult, the MI management seems to think that it’s the wisest solution to their gaps.

Going neck to neck, Hardik hasn't had the luck maybe? Quite a few that didn't to to hand. MI need a inspirational change to get back in top. Lord only, then 12 over wicket junction has to work again for them.

Worth taking a punt on Ashwani + Izhar ahead of Chahar + Shardul, like SRH did with Sakib + Hinge ahead of Unadkat + Harshal. Of course, it has only been one game & SRH aren’t going to get 10 phenomenal matches on the trot from the new duo, but what they offer in big 2026 is > what Unadkat (who I know had a good 2nd half in 2025) & Harshal (who I know has a way of getting wickets) bring to the table. Similarly, Chahar had his share of promising PowerPlay spells in 2025 & Shardul’s got this knack for taking wickets. But, if between them, you’re gonna go for 70+ in 5-6 overs, that solitary wicket you’ll get doesn’t really matter, especially not while defending a total. What’s the worse that could happen if they play Ashwani + Izhar? 20+ run over in the PowerPlay? A wicket when the game’s long gone & you’ve just been hit for 3-4 boundaries in the over? Hmm… that’s not something you’re getting with Chahar + Shardul already, is it?

Bumrah, Boult, Hardik, Santner form a decent bowling lineup if they’re employed smartly. The rotation of bowlers has been worse this time (& it already wasn’t great last season), Markande vs Patidar being testament to that. Worth playing Ashwani + Izhar ahead of Chahar + Shardul (like SRH played Sakib + Hinge ahead of Unadkat + Harshal)… what’s the worse that could happen? We concede 20+ runs in the 1st over & the other guy gets a wicket after conceding 15 runs later? Hmm…

If Mumbai Indians want to make the playoffs this #IPL season, Deepak Chahar can’t play another game this season, especially at Wankhede. He looks a pale shadow of his former self. Bumrah can’t do everything alone, Hardik-Shardul-Deepak is a big gaping hole with the ball, it’s rather embarrassing the quality on display, sub standard bowling. #MI

@antariksh Are you a KKR fan by any chance?

My big conspiracy prediction theory is that RR will blood in Lhuan-dre Pretorius this season because they know Jaiswal will leave to captain a side after the next mega auction. Heck, he might even leave after this season if he thinks that might help him break into the T20I WC squad for 2028. And Pretorius is the designated successor to Jaiswal at RR. But where will Jaiswal go? Let's look at all the teams. RR - Riyan Parag is the designated choice. Time will tell how that call pans out. Plus, one suspects Jurel might also emerge as a leader in time. MI - Great fit, ideal successor to Rohit, but a tad too early. Plus, with Hardik, SKY and Bumrah there, not possible for at least 4 to 5 seasons. (Although, if they tell him to come, and assure him that he's the next one in line, he could consider) DC - Unlikely, because the team, the leadership group, a strong Indian core and even Axar ... seems okay? RCB - Intriguing. Could have happened, but last year's championship win and Patidar's current form mean not for at least another 2-3 seasons, if at all. So slim chances. CSK - 2 reasons it won't happen. Gaikwad (existing captain) and Samson (next in line if Gaikwad loses the top job). LSG - Only if Pant decides to leave. PBKS - Shreyas Iyer won't be leaving anytime soon. SRH - Between Abhishek and Ishan, the leadership is locked in. GT - Gill. KKR - Extremely high chances. Ideally, KKR would prefer someone like KL (can also keep), but a YBJ would do rather nicely, thank you.

@Noahpinion Metamorphosis would have been a wildly short story if it were written in 2026

On a date last year, a girl asked me what I'd do if she turned into a worm, and I told her I'd take her over to Anthropic and have them create an AI model to translate worm speech

If you have ever dropped your jaws in amazement on one night as Sanju Samson effortlessly decimates the opposition, and then instantly smacked your face with your palms when he walks back to the pavilion without troubling the scorecards for the next many nights, you are not alone. Few players are able to imbibe a feeling of awe in a fan one moment and then turn it into complete anguish the very next moment the way the Rajasthan Royals captain does. Over the years, he has made it somewhat of a norm to start an IPL campaign with a resounding pop and then fizzling out as the season progresses. No wonder, Samson averages nearly twice as much in his first 3 games of any season as he does in the rest. In fact, he has scored around 37% of his runs for Rajasthan from only the first 3 games of each season. Given this statistic, it used to be justified for him to routinely be put under the pump by experts and analysts for being “inconsistent.” Note the “used to,” for there is a catch here. Criticism for his mercurial flair “used to” be warranted at a certain stage; when, after destroying the RCB bowling in RR’s 3rd match in 2018 with a 45-ball 92 that comprised 10 sixes, he only managed an average of 21.9 and strike rate of 124.6 in the next 12 games that season; when he scored a sublime century against SRH in his 2nd game in 2019, ripping the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar apart, and did not score another 50 in the remainder of a heartbreaking season. There was enough promise in his early season performances, but just as much disappointment in his ceaselessly fascinating ability to play a “what was that?” shot, and find frustrating ways to get dismissed for the rest of the season, every season. Even in 2020, when the IPL traveled to the UAE, a similar narrative was running its course. After 2 breathtaking innings, a 74 (32) against CSK and 85 (42) against KXIP, he only surpassed double digits in 2 out of the next 8 matches. Shouts of complacency, irresponsibility, and a lack of composure started doing the rounds, as it generally does with players of his caliber when they fail to convert their potential to performance. However, when he finally registered a noteworthy score that season, on October 22nd, 2020, there was a pleasant change in his approach. Albeit in a losing cause, Samson pieced together a 26-ball 36. What was “pleasant” about this innings? The fact that he did not seem to be getting carried away by his own convictions. After punishing Sandeep Sharma for consecutive boundaries off the 4th and 5th balls he faced that evening, he quickly shifted his focus to rotating the strike, waiting for the next opportunity at which to slash his bat with the class he possesses. Watching him trying to get his eye in was quite unusual, considering that he had been getting out every 9.625 deliveries for the 8 games that preceded this one, including a 3-ball duck only a couple of nights earlier. But this “unusual” behavior was soon to turn into a norm– a norm just as much as watching him perish as soon as he got to the crease had been until then. That fairly unsuspecting knock against SRH has been somewhat of an inflection point in a career that spans 119 innings. Sanju Samson’s Career in 2 Phases Before Oct 22, 2020 Since Oct 22, 2020 Innings 98 21 Runs 2,445 716 Average 27.2 39.8 Strike Rate 132.4 144.4 % of Runs in 4s/6s 56.0 61.2 Dot % 35.2 31.7 Since October 22nd, 2020, Samson’s average and strike rate have experienced a change of +12.6 and +10.0 respectively. Consequently, he has been scoring more runs in 4s and 6s and facing fewer non-scoring deliveries than ever before. To label a player “inconsistent” for more than a year and a half since their record witnessed such an incredible transformation is quite comical. And at the end of several innings that he has played in this period, including every knock of his this season, commentators on air have been engaging in this comical discourse. If the numbers themselves are not enough, here is how they stack up against the performances of his contemporaries: Only 9 batters to have faced at least 200 balls in this period have a better average than him. Of these, only 2 have a better strike rate than him. 1 of them is his RR teammate Jos Buttler, while the other is CSK captain Ravindra Jadeja. With a focus on his role in the RR lineup, it is worth mentioning that no player has a better average or strike rate than Samson at 3 and 4, the positions he generally toggles between, since October 22nd, 2020. Sanju Samson’s IPL Record (Oct 22, 2020 – present) Phase Balls Average Strike Rate Dot % Powerplay (1-6) 109 29.2 107.3 48.6 Middle, Phase 1 (7-11) 186 87.7 141.4 28.5 Middle, Phase 2 (12-16) 144 41.7 173.6 25.7 Death (17-20) 57 17.2 150.9 24.6 Other than the fact that he is scoring more runs in boundaries, he is also paying more heed to innings construction without compensating on his strike rate. Not only does his strike rate improve as he progresses through the middle overs, but he also lets fewer balls go unscored. There is not a huge difference between the percentage of 1s and 2s he has been taking since the upturn, but his ability to survive at this average-to-strike rate ratio is impeccable. It suggests that he has started to value his wicket more, play shots that evade the fielders and reach the boundary more consistently, and no longer just goes boom-or-bust. No player who has faced at least 100 balls in this period averages more than his 87.7 in overs 7 to 11, while only 1 player - Moeen Ali - scores at a better rate. But Ali’s superior strike rate of 147.1 is constricted by an average of 29.7. And if his average takes the cake in overs 7 to 11, his strike rate reigns supreme in overs 12-16, with no batter scoring at a better rate than him in this phase. He tops this list among the heavyweight likes of AB DeVilliers, Suryakumar Yadav, and Glenn Maxwell, each of whom has sealed many a game for their franchises with their middle over proficiency. Moreover, Samson is agnostic to most bowling types– a trait that is extremely rare, especially given his superlative record of late. He strikes at 140+ against pace as well as spin, indicating that he is more than prepared to take down any matchup that the opposition think tank might devise for him. When gauged from this lens, his improvement as an IPL batter becomes apparent. What becomes even more apparent, however, is that the view that many commentators hold about him still being unreliable and rash has absolutely no legs to stand on. In a career marked by such a strong inflection, there is no limit to the ways in which the 27-year old’s numbers, which had been his greatest foe for years, can now back his exponential talent. But it is worth taking a moment to ponder how this change actually transpired. Does the fact that he now has to shoulder the responsibility of captaincy have anything to do with his increased sense of responsibility? It might be one, minor contributing factor, but it is definitely not the basis. He was appointed captain in 2021, but the change in approach started towards the latter half of the 2020 season. What is it, then? In UAE 2020, he thrived in his first two outings in Sharjah. But as the pitches wore off and RR traveled to grounds with wider boundaries, his temptation soon started to end in agony. Maybe he used to get tempted by a delivery that fell in his arc or impelled a lofted shot, and take one risk too many, too early in his innings. Between 2018 and India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2021, more than ⅔ of his dismissals were a result of the ball getting ballooned by fielders. Maybe he used to get complacent. Maybe he was not given proper clarity surrounding his role, especially in his erratic stints with Team India under the Kohli-Shastri regime, which resulted in more busts than booms in his urge to score quickly. Maybe he got trapped into overhitting his favorite, most aesthetically pleasing shots with predictable setups by the oppositions. Or, maybe, players with his level of superior ability take time to unlock their full potential. It may sound cliche, but it is most definitely true. Samson has been playing in the IPL since before he turned 20. And from such a young age, he started getting chronicled for his repertoire of shots and attractive style. His skills were dribbled around in different phases by both the franchises he played for, be it the Powerplay with DD or even death-over hitting for RR. And he did not fail to prove his mettle in any of them. Now that he has settled into a clearer role and has developed the ability to back his exceptional shotmaking with an eye for consistency, the marvelous results are out there for everyone to see, not only in the IPL but even in the little that we have seen of him since his return to national colors this year. Yet, it seems like his previously mercurial flair has been fitted into a stereotype– one that many players have succumbed to in the recent past. And it is going to take some time for fans, commentators, and analysts alike to come around to the fact that he is no longer the Sanju Samson who simply whacks every ball in plain sight… that he is now the Sanju Samson whose effortlessness can now be looked forward to even beyond the first 3 games of the season. Or so we hope, as RR prepares for their 4th match of the season today. With RR having won 2 out of their first 3 games, his own season having started with two impactful knocks, and a T20 World Cup to be played in Australia later this year, there is definitely a lot on Sanju’s bucket list. And for their own sake, the critics that he is yearning to silence should start to take themselves off the list before he forces them to.

@saumsipo @Phil_Geo88 @IndianMourinho Paste the text here then

2800 runs in IPL since 2019 at 35/150 is outstanding consistency and destruction. We should not have to make a case for Samson every single year, yet we have had to for the last three seasons for some inexplicable reason. If this World Cup finally ends that nonsense, nothing better. And this is not even him at his peak. I have seen him operate at an even higher level, and I hope he finds that as well for CSK.

@warikoo Superb, thank you :)

@saumsipo Gemini + Claude Cowork/Code

In the last 10 days - Designed a fully working website from scratch, in 5 hrs - Drafted ~95%-ready legal documents for a new product in under 2 hrs - Created 100% ready presentations from mockups, in under 30 mins - Built a custom app for personal use in 3 hrs All using English as the programming and design language. "I don't know how to code' isn't the obstacle anymore. It is the willingness to do.

@fadednailpaint Matcha Machche

What's the Indian equivalent of what they call 'burger bachche' in Pakistan?

just spent two hours crafting a thought, only to realize I didn’t agree with it anymore. this is one of many reasons the act of writing is so important, and should never be outsourced. thinking hones your writing. writing hones your thinking.

PS: Of course, running the pilot, creating value for our first customers, & building partnerships than enabled the cash-flow to remain bootstrapped are top tier professional accomplishments, but if I'm being honest with myself, Gill coming at Crawley with "grow some balls, yeah?" & the entire team surrounding him to "applaud" the batter's acting skills are what well & truly completed the year😅

I'm willing to forget anything & everything I've done or experienced this year, but not the last 20 minutes of action on Day 3 at Lord's in July. Witnessing that live was, by far, the greatest honor I had in 2025, & I'd not trade that soul-stirring memory for the world.

Talked to elite school admissions officer Said every boy from east coast: 1. Does robotics 2. Has some NGO (in Asia typically) they did work with 3. Built a startup Said they're all indistinguishable from each other

@ElRealesVikram Cricket ka pata nahi but comedy aur cinema ke maamle mein, absolutely top-notch. I actively look forward to his work.

He sounds stupid to me because I understand cricket, I wonder how stupid he sounds to people who understand comedy 😂😂😂😂

@_nicolealonso “Hated” NYC for a while before moving here, but many of these experiences have elevated literally everyday life in this city.

as someone who hated NYC for a while after moving here, one of the things I've grown to love immensely is the access to top-notch experiences any night of the week: - concerts - live tv tapings - comedy shows - broadway shows - world-class restaurants

The glaring problem with schools is that a topic could take 1 week to learn, but it’s stretched across 3-4 months because that’s how long the course must be. Even worse, the learning doesn’t involve doing, so most people don’t learn a thing until they graduate.

Was hoping to catch #VarunThakur as well! Koi nai, next time…

A comedy-filled weekend in NYC with @thevirdas’s Hey Stranger last night & @BiswaKalyanRath’s hilarious act in Brooklyn this afternoon. Felt more at home than in Diwali :)

looking back, it’s obvious i was meant to be a founder. when i was young, i hated being told what to do. not out of ego, i just thought i had good judgment, and rarely got the chance to follow my intuition. every time i rebelled, things worked out better than expected.