NL Hafta

Samar Khan and Rahul Puri are back this week with their latest round-up of sports. And they have a lot in store -- Manchester City winning the Premier League, Indian Premier League (and Virat Kohli’s fate), the Formula One races and more. For Puri, Manchester City’s win was something that was just bound to happen sometime, and the title was, indeed, well deserved. The part that money might have had a play in giving the team an upper hand is undeniable, but both agree that money cannot be enough. The problems, however, that the money factor brings into the game are pointed out by Puri when he says, “What worries me about this money thing is that it won't surprise me at all if all these teams including Liverpool, increase their squads. And I don’t think that is good for football -- that all the elite players should congregate at just a few clubs. That’s not how the English game has ever been.” Regardless, whether Manchester City will be able to retain the title was a question both Khan and Puri seemed to have answered in the negative. Puri says, “Winning back-to-back titles in England is not a joke. And nobody’s won back to back since ten years.” Moving on, the duo discusses IPL and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s unwise decisions in the game. As Khan says, “Virat Kohli and the IPL just do not seem to get together. He makes unquestionable decisions about team selection. Bangalore has always struggled with the bowling attack. It just seems to be like a jinx that Kohli cannot get together for the IPL.” Partially agreeing with this view, Puri adds, “But I think that we all need to understand that IPLs and tournaments like IPL, you cannot win with two men. You need a team. Bangalore’s problem throughout is that it is not about teams.” What is it about, then? For Khan, it is more about ‘big flashy individuals.' Further, about the IPL, Khan and Puri make it a point to give a special mention to Kolkata Knight Riders -- the team that is pretty much coming together. It has Andre Russell, after all, who Khan likes to call a ‘butcher’, and Puri calls him a ‘weightlifter’. Two teams they are worried about are Delhi Daredevils and RCB. All in all, both foresee an interesting IPL season, considering they still don’t have favourites. The last topic of discussion was the Formula One races and Lewis Hamilton’s defeats. But both agree how Hamilton does not give up, and that it will be interesting to have Formula One competitive again. Tune into #JustSports for all this and much more!