This Week in Cricket #199: Black Caps selection questions for 2026 and IPL Week 3 in review
The Top Order Cricket PodcastShow Notes
In this episode of the show, Stu and Raj discuss the current overseas tours involving the Black Caps and NZ A, plus some key emerging questions as the third week of IPL 2026 comes to a close.
We start the show by discussing the many Black Caps on tour in various parts of Asia in the month of April - primarily the NZ side in Bangladesh and the NZ A team in Sri Lanka. We highlight names to watch such as Curtis Heaphy and Tim Pringle, as well as the form of familiar faces like Henry Nicholls, but then wonder whether there will be opportunities for any of them in the year ahead as we look forward to key series against England, India and Australia.
As we turn our attention to the IPL, the middle orders get their time in the spotlight. The openers dominate the headlines - and the orange cap leaderboard - but can you win the tournament without a reliable middle order? Shreyas Iyer and his Punjab Kings come in for praise, while questions are raised about the Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans despite their impressive performances so far.
To round out the show, we debate whether it is time to put a line through the Mumbai Indians' chances and talk through the most recent games on the calendar, which saw costly missed opportunities, the highest IPL team score of the season, more runs for Cooper Connolly & a first win of 2026 for KKR.
We'll be back in your feed again soon with more cricket news, including plenty of IPL coverage and the current NZ tours. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.
You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].
Thanks for listening.
0:00 Intro
0:55 Black Caps in Bangladesh & NZ A Sri Lanka
3:10 Black Caps selection questions for the big year ahead
16:15 IPL 2026 Week 3
19:55 Is this the year of the middle order?
27:45 Rajasthan v KKR
32:15 Punjab Kings v LSG
37:10 RCB v DC
39:25 Sunrisers Hyderabad & Gujarat Titans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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