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Whateley

Bharat Sundaresan in the studio! | BBL Merger concerns (09.06.26)

09 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 14.327 Gerard Whateley

Want to have your say? Ring Gerard on 1300 736 736. Now, back to Waitley. I'm very pleased to say Barats Andresen is here in the studio. Barat, it's lovely to see you. Good to see you, Gerard. Are you looking for a tuxedo?

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Chapter 2: What insights does Bharat Sundaresan share about his visit to Melbourne?

14.594 - 35.582 Bharat Sundaresan

Certainly am that. It will be a sight. I know. I'm going all in, Jared. Black shoes, tuxedo, whatever is expected of a black tie costume. I'm calling it a costume because on me it will look like one. So tonight you're at the Australian Football Hall of Fame. I'm so excited to be there, Jared. So privileged to have been invited for it. So I'm going to follow the tradition.

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35.882 - 45.575 Bharat Sundaresan

I've been told by so many people that it's the best night of the year in terms of Australian football. So So yeah, I'm going all in. I will be buying a pocket square, which will have a lot of color in it.

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45.975 - 52.984 Gerard Whateley

Nice. So Thursday night, chill on the hill, Angus Young. Tuesday night, Hall of Fame, penguin suit.

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53.685 - 62.636 Bharat Sundaresan

This is fancy dress week for me, Jared. I saw only my second footy game at the MCG yesterday, Jared, and what a game to be there for.

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Chapter 3: How does Bharat feel about attending the Australian Football Hall of Fame?

62.757 - 87.951 Bharat Sundaresan

What a brilliant game. What a great event. As well, you know, with just the way Neil Danaher was remembered and his life was celebrated. And then for Cozy Pickett to have the game he did. And just in the last five minutes of Cozy Pickett, all of the whole mercurial... nature, everything about him, just why we get so excited about an athlete like that came to the fore.

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88.312 - 100.39 Bharat Sundaresan

But just overall, I was in the crowd for the second half. You know, Jared, I'm a man of the people. And just to see two teams who call the MCG their home ground react the way they did with the fans, it was spectacular. It was spectacular.

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100.792 - 113.721 Gerard Whateley

All right, so the MCG is going to see a lot of cricketing years to come with BBL. What's the setup going to be? What happens if an IPL team or Indian interests buy the second Melbourne license, do you think?

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113.819 - 131.305 Bharat Sundaresan

Um, it'll mean it'll be a business deal. And it'll end there, Jared. I can't see any, you know, this whole ever since that news broke that Cricket Victoria and then credit to my new ball partner, Tom Morris for the story, the merger talk happened. And

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131.285 - 149.23 Bharat Sundaresan

I was listening to your show last week and I messaged in, I think around this time last week, saying it was a bit concerning and it has nothing to do with people calling in. I mean, that was just how it was presented that, oh, there'll be a team for Victorians and there'll be a team for the outsiders. I don't know. And I just felt it's a very dangerous area to go into.

149.29 - 170.403 Bharat Sundaresan

Maybe it was just a throwaway line in that piece. And, you know, this talk that, oh, the Indian diaspora doesn't support... a Melbourne team if it's owned or the Melbourne Stars weren't getting their support. So we need to create another team for them. I don't like language like that at all because, you know, our society is already divided. It's getting more divided by the day.

170.843 - 190.237 Bharat Sundaresan

My social media tells me that every day, Jared. So just because an Indian player or an Indian owner comes into the space and owns the other second team in Melbourne, I don't think any Indian origin person is just going to, okay, I'm going to go support that club. It's different if Indian players come.

190.257 - 207.646 Bharat Sundaresan

So if R. Ashwin does show up this season and play for Thunder, and then there are a few people who suddenly start supporting Thunder, I can see that happen. Also because it's our Ashwin, you know, a player of that pedigree. But it'll purely be a business deal. It'll bring in more money for sure.

207.986 - 224.472 Bharat Sundaresan

But I think the question to be asked, and I've been pondering this in the last one week, Jared, is what is for sale though? I mean, is the BBL almost... I know I've been fully in favor of privatization, but I wonder if the BBL is ready to be sold or any club ready to be sold to foreign interests.

Chapter 4: What are Bharat's thoughts on the upcoming BBL season and its privatization?

376.51 - 393.191 Bharat Sundaresan

Like I said, so are you saying you go support that team, but not the Victorian team? Like if I was in their position, I would feel safer to, especially in the climate, the way it is, the political climate, I'll feel safer to go and support the Victorian team than be, you know, expose myself as the one who's not supporting the Victorian team.

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393.331 - 409.995 Gerard Whateley

Yeah. But I've been looking forward to that conversation for a week. Thank you. Happy shopping. There's a bit of cricket this afternoon. It's a 50-over game. That shows you how vaguely – who's even over there? Ollie Peake will play, so that's good. See you at the Hall of Fame. Oh, can't wait, Gerard.

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