NL Hafta

Samar Khan and Rahul Puri discuss the latest happening from the world of sports. The discussion kicks-off with recently concluded Champions League finale in which Real Madrid beat Liverpool. Samar says, “The one thing that we have to give them is the fact that they are the three-time champions and that takes some doing.” Rahul says, “Especially in the second half, they were far away from the better side.” He adds, “Liverpool without Salah is just not the same attacking threat.” The duo also talks about Sergio Ramos’ charge on Salah that injured him and sent him off, retired hurt. Samar says, “Big moment in the game was actually Ramos’ challenge on Salah. Even though it was a mercenary challenge to try to bring a player down. It’s like Madrid will do anything to win!” Rahul answers, “The morning after I wanted somebody to kill Sergio Ramos frankly. But that’s the player he is.” “Sergio Ramos is a thug!" he says. “It was a completely professional foul. There was no doubt about it. He certainly wanted to bring Salah down. In a football match, when you bring somebody down, there is a chance that you can hurt them," he adds. Rahul says that the challenge that Zidane, the Real Madrid manager, faces now is that this isn’t a great Real Madrid side. He says, “Zidane knows that he has to make big changes.” The duo agrees that Zidane has achieved a phenomenal feat by winning the Champions League three times in a row. Rahul says, “There are only 3 or 4 managers that have ever won three European Cups. Period. Zidane has done it three times in a row!” Samar and Rahul speak about the Indian Premier League in which Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lifted the trophy after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Samar gives the maximum credit of CSK’s victory to its captain, MS Dhoni, to which Rahul replies, “If you’re looking for limited overs captain, you don’t look any further than Dhoni.” Samar argues that this season some teams have shown that you don’t need a team of superstars to win matches. Rahul speaks about Dhoni, “He is the one ultimately who picks the players for the auction. He is the one who creates the culture. And it’s a winning culture that he creates.” He adds, “Rayudu walked into CSK  after being left out by MI. And he walks in that place like he has always played there.” Speaking of the statistics, Rahul recounts that of the 11 IPL seasons, CSK has been in the playoffs 9 times, 7 times in the finals and won it 3 times! The duo recalls the amazing South African all-rounder AB De Villiers’ journey as a cricketer who recently announced his retirement from all formats of the game. Samar says,  “He’s the guy who could actually take the game away from you. If you see the kind of strokes he played, the kind of batting that he did. You never knew where to bowl to him because he could have ten shots to every delivery.” Rahul comments, “For me, De Villiers is  up there with Brian Lara, as two of the most entertaining players we’ve ever seen.” You can also listen to all our podcasts on the Newslaundry App and get updates about all our podcasts via Twitter and Facebook.