My latest for The State of Play: "There’s a simple paradox that characterises Indo-Pak cricket. India supplies the market, Pakistan fuels the rivalry, and the broadcaster provides the liquidity. If Pakistan forfeits, the market stays strong, but the liquidity disappears." 🧵

For those asking who are the nine RCB bidders & the five shortlisted for RR, please subscribe to The State of Play. The State of Play is a subscriber-led publication on the business of Indian sport. Annual subscription costs ₹2,499 + GST or $120 🙏🏽 stateofplay.club

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Good overview of the brilliant work done by Venkat. Worth every rupee.

This thread of articles is a proper throwback to the chat I had with Venkat Ananth sometime before he went to market with The State of Play! And to see it unfold in arguably on the largest of stages that Indian sport can offer is amazing! Keep the first class journalism coming!

I've just made the exclusive The State of Play story on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals sales processes FREE. However, as I keep saying, please consider an annual subscription to help me deliver more such stories in the coming days and weeks. stateofplay.club/royal-challeng…

✨A fresh coat of paint for The State of Play with a clear focus on improved readability. Live now. Do take a look and well, subscribe :) stateofplay.club

super excited to drop the first story on the rebuilt website. 😅 in today’s The State of Play story, I wrote about at how associate cricket nations built visibility (commercial, media etc) in the attention economy era. the Flipkart sponsorship of 🇳🇦 is instructive on that front

but beyond that, the story has details about how Nepal built its digital presence (ft Paras Khadka), Yannick Colaco on the associate cricket broadcast flywheel and storytelling, Peter Della Penna on the loneliness of covering these teams, and Daniel Beswick on a volunteer-run effort.

also, the story has a money quote from Eddie Fitzgibbon. “In terms of sheer narrative and storytelling in sport, associate cricket is second to none.” Do subscribe, and read. Really enjoyed reporting and writing this story. Lotta ☕ guzzled while writing! stateofplay.club/associate-cric…

dropping at 4:30 pm today. a subscriber-only 🔒 update on the IPL franchise sale processes ft. RR and RCB. to get the full scoop, do subscribe to The State of Play and join a growing list of sports business leaders, investors, and owners. ⬇️ stateofplay.club

🚨 Another ring-side account of the Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru sales processes. > RR R2 slightly delayed with some complications. Sellers waiting to see how much RCB goes for. > RCB moving towards a 4-6 field shortlist. > One bidder has dropped out.