NL Hafta

Samar Khan and Rahul Puri are back with their weekly roundup of sports. They share their views on the legacy left behind by Arsene Wenger, Gautam Gambhir stepping down from captaincy, the rediscovery of MS Dhoni and more. On Arsene Wenger, Rahul says: “I think he is the last of the managers that you will see have a role like that. That's for the clubs today, they limit the managers' authority.” Adding to it, Samar feels, “It's a lot to do with the new owners. People who are coming with new money, they need far more control.” On the ownership model, Samar points out that previously people who had a passion for football owned clubs. In agreement, Rahul says now they are just corporations. Furthermore, Rahul calls Wenger a "complete control freak" and that he had so much power at Arsenal, the only way in which he would leave was by somebody taking a harsh call. Samar recalls the famous Wenger and Alex Ferguson rivalry. Rahul mentions that Manchester United fans are struggling with the fact that Ferguson is no more the manager. Talking about instant success, Samar points out that it has been a while since Liverpool tasted instant success. Rahul appreciates the kind of football being played by Liverpool. The duo then discusses the ongoing Indian Premier League. On Gautam Gambhir stepping down as the captain of Delhi Daredevils, Samar calls it "pretty much the end of the road for him." Regarding the CSK versus RCB match, Samar says, “At 36 or 37, Dhoni has rediscovered his form.” To which, Rahul calls Dhoni a “phenomenal finisher of a match.” He adds that Dhoni might not be a consistent player, but “if he scores 10 runs in one over, he is capable of getting 30 in the other over.” Apart from Dhoni, the duo feels Ashwin is another one to surprise with his captaincy skills in the Punjab team. One interesting fact that they notice is that in this IPL season, young Indian boys and lesser-known names are doing well. All this and more on this week’s podcast.