NL Playoffs Ep 8: Unpacking India’s sports ecosystem with Amit Varma

In this episode of NL Playoffs, hosts and Newslaundry subscribers Aniketh and Gowtham are joined by podcaster and writer Amit Varma.

They talk about India’s sports ecosystem, what it’s like to report on a sport from the ground, how mindsets can affect performance, the “monopsony” in Indian sports, and a lot more.

Tune in!

Timecodes

00:00 - Introduction

03:22 - India’s sports ecosystem

11:21 - Player profiling

23:39 - Reporting on sports

35:58 - Sportspeople and their mindsets

41:36 - Sports culture, how it compares to politics

56:33 - Dropout rate in sports in India

1:10:28 - Questions from Newslaundry

1:23:57 - Monopsony in Indian sports

1:29:11 - Recommendations

Recommendations

Amit

Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics

Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04

Aniketh

Schumacher

Sports: Men and women react differently to a missing audience

Gowtham

The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics, from Route One to False Nines

The Seen and the Unseen

Produced by Jude Weston and Brien Benny, edited by Samarendra K Dash.

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