Malahide (Ireland), Jun 25 (Cricket News) India's fringe players including a struggling Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson will get another chance to prove themselves before the return of the seniors when Hardik Pandya marks his much-anticipated International captaincy debut against a star-struck Ireland in a two-match T20 series, beginning here on Sunday.

With Rishabh Pant joining the the Test side in England, Pandya was appointed the stand-in skipper after his heroics in leading Gujarat Titans to IPL 2022 triumph in their debut season.

Pant stood in as skipper in their last T20I series at home against South Africa after KL Rahul pulled out due to a groin injury.

India have been forced to hand the captaincy duties to too many players due to injuries, scheduling issues and workload management over the past 24 months.

Hardik joins that list for the one-off Ireland series and expectations will be high from him after his exploits with the Gujarat Titans.

NCA chief VVS Laxman, who will be filling in for India head coach Rahul Dravid in the short-series with the latter overseeing the Test team's preparations in England, is expected to follow the template set by his former teammate.

The two games will give the think tank more clarity on identifying the core group of players for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year and the team for the three games against a strong England next month.

In the home series against South Africa, Dravid displayed his stable approach and retained the side in all five games despite losing first two games. The Pant-led side bounced back to level 2-2 before the fifth match was washed out.

With Pant and Shreyas Iyer joining the Test squad in the UK, the series opens a window for the likes of Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda.

It could well be a make or break situation for Samson who has not been able establish himself in the T20 set up despite getting many opportunities.

Returning from a wrist injury, Suryakumar Yadav will walk back into the playing eleven and he is likely to bat at number three or four.

Ishan Kishan made a strong case for the reserve opener's slot with his consistent run against South Africa and he will be looking to build on that success.

The pressure will be on his opening partner Gaikwad, who looked in discomfort against high-quality fast bowling in the previous series.

India's pace sensation Umran Malik and yorker-specialist Arshdeep Singh, who patiently warmed the bench against South Africa, could get their big break with the conditions expected to favour the fast bowlers.

With the due respect, Ireland are not expected to push India to the limit like South Africa did, giving the visitors more freedom to experiment.

For Irish players, the series against the mighty India presents them an opportunity to attract global attention.

Uncapped Stephen Doheny and Conor Olphert have earned maiden call-ups in the squad led by Andrew Balbirnie, who feels India remain a very strong outfit despite the absence of senior players including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.

"Nowadays, any Indian team you play is going to be a good team. It kind of shows the depth of Indian cricket that they can put out two teams. We couldn't do that - there's no way we could put out a Test team and a T20 team at the same time, we just don't have the numbers for that, " Balbirnie said ahead of the series opener.

Squads India: Hardik Pandya (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

Match starts 9 PM IST. 

Also Read : India's ideal playing XI for the two T20Is against Ireland

News Source : PTI

Cuttack, Jun 11 (Cricket News) As he got down to plot his return to the Indian team, Hardik Pandya would hit the bed at 9.30pm and wake up at 5am, dedicating the day's intervening period of time to win battles against his "own self" and the doubting Thomases.

The star all-rounder followed this time table strictly for four months, after which he guided an unfancied Gujarat Titans to a memorable title triumph in only their maiden IPL outing, leading the debutants from the front to earn an India call-up.

In a video posted by the BCCI, Pandya recalled the win in IPL 2022 and the rewards that followed.

"I was happy. It was more about the battles I won against my own self and a lot of other things as well. Winning the IPL, or even qualifying (for playoffs) was a big deal for me because a lot of people doubted us.

"A lot of people frowned at us before we started. A lot of people raised a lot of questions. A lot of things were said about me even before I made a comeback," Pandya said.

The 29-year-old all-rounder said that he would get up at 5 AM and sleep at 9:30 in the night for four successive months during his time away from the Indian team after the T20 World Cup.

"It was never about giving them answers. I'm just proud of the process I followed. No one knows what I went through the six months that I was off. I've gotten up at 5 in morning to make sure I train. I slept at 9:30 in the night for fourth months, so (there was) a lot of sacrifice.

"It was the battle I fought before the IPL. I have always worked hard in my life, and it has always given me the result I wanted," added Pandya.

He also said the ongoing series against South Africa is the ideal platform to get into the groove for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

"Every series or every game you play is as important as your last. So, for me, World Cup is the goal, this is the right platform to get into the rhythm and a lot of cricket is going to come back to back. Always being in the rhythm is very important.

"My role will be changed here, I won't be captain, I won't be batting higher up the order and guiding through the innings. This will be back to being the Hardik for which I am known for," Hardik said.

Coming back into international cricket after a long layoff, Hardik fitted seamlessly in the finisher's role, smashing 31 not out from just 12 balls in the first T20 against the Proteas.

In the IPL though, he had batted at No. 4 for Gujarat Titans. 

Also Read : Celeste Raack leaves Ireland camp for family reasons before South Africa series

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) Gujarat Titans in their very first season in the IPL took the tournament by a storm. Not only did they finish at the top of the table, they then went on to win the qualifier 1 and the finals to win the coveted trophy. Before the start of the season, there were a lot of doubts regarding the GT squad with experts and fans labelling them as the weakest team on paper. Their players have proved everyone wrong as a lot of different players have stepped up in games to win matches for the team. It is what you call a complete team performance and a lot of credit has to go to Ashish Nehra and Gary Kirsten for their work behind the scenes.

At the centre of it all has been captain Hardik Pandya. Mumbai Indians surprisingly chose not to retain Hardik Pandya as they went for Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard. A lot of eyebrows were raised when Gujarat Titans picked Hardik Pandya as their first draft pick for 15 cr and made him the captain. He had no previous experience of captaining a team at any major level let alone in a tournament like the IPL. Throughout this season, his leadership skills have been excellent. All the Gujarat players have praised his role in the side on numerous occasions.

Pandya's individual performances have also been excellent. In 15 games this season he has scored 487 runs at a strike rate of 131.27 with the willow. Batting at number 3 or 4 during the season, Pandya was seen in a different role as an anchor and he did it perfectly finishing as the 4th highest run scorer. He returned with the ball this tournament and reminded everyone what he is capable of. Although he didn't bowl in every match, Pandya picked up 8 wickets at an average of 27.75 and an economy of just 7.28. His 3/17 in the final against Rajasthan Royals was absolutely incredible and very instrumental for the win. The good thing was that he was able to clock 140+ KMPH which shows how much his bowling fitness has improved. 

Hardik Pandya is already back in the Indian T20 side for the series against South Africa. A comeback in the ODI squad should also happen eventually depending on a few factors. The immediate concern for Rahul Dravid will be Pandya's role in the team. He has batted higher up the order in the IPL this season but India need him to bat lower down the order. His fitness is something that will have to be handled with caution and not taken for granted. Another injury is the last thing Indian team and Hardik Pandya want. The 1st of the 5 T20Is against South Africa will be on 9th June.

Also read: Centurion Rajat Patidar's IPL 2022 Journey from agony to ecstasy

(Cricket news) After a 15 year wait the RR fans can finally celebrate going into their second final and believe that they can go on to win the trophy for the late Shane Warne. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans in their first season have exceeded all their expectations and reached their maiden final, they will play in front of the home crowd where almost 1 lakh people will witness the biggest ever final.

For RR they have been riding on Josh Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal’s brilliance, both have been the lynch pin for their franchise. Yesterday, RR was in a spot of bother but up stepped Josh Butler to score his fourth hundred of the tournament and equaling Virat Kohli’s record of 4 hundreds in a season. Although he is quite far from Virat Kohli’s unbelievable 973 runs in 2016, this season for Butler will go down in the history books for RR. The same can be said for Chahal, who has already picked up the most wickets by leg spinner with 26 wickets. He along with Ashwin have formed a deadly bowling partnership as when they tend to pick three wickets or more, they have gone on to win all the games. In the seam department, Prasidh Krishna brilliantly bounced after David Miller took him to the raptors and produced a match winning spell of 3-22 in the last match while on the other hand Trent Boult bowls the perfect line and length which makes it difficult for the batters to get going.

GT has been the surprise package this season. Before the start of the IPL all the experts and former players didn’t give them a slightest chance to reach the final but their team spirit and togetherness have brought them this far. Along with that, Hardik Pandya has led his team brilliantly and has instilled a never say die attitude in them. GT have won 7 matches in the last over this season which indicates their attitude. Miller who is now in the middle of his best IPL season has amassed a total of 449 runs at a strike rate of 141.19 at an average of 64.14 and has established himself as the backbone of the Gujarat Titans middle order. 

At the top of the order, Shubam Gill and Wriddhiman Saha have formed a very stable partnership, which builds a foundation for the middle order batters to finish the job as this season, Saha has scored the most runs in the powerplay. In the bowling department, Shami has led the bowling from the front and has guided them brilliantly. Rashid Khan will be the key against Josh Buttler as their battle will be one to watch out for.

Pitch and weather report: The Narendra Modi Stadium pitch is often a good scoring venue for batters as the outfield tends to be quick. The bowlers have to hit the right length and line to stop the batters from scoring freely. The temperature is going to hover around 38 degrees as no rain is expected tomorrow, dew factor may come into play in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• Prasidh Krishna requires 2 wickets to reach 50 wickets in the tournament. 
• Yuzvendra Chahal needs two wickets to surpass Amit Mishra (166) and become the third-highest wicket-taker in IPL history
• Hardik Pandya needs to take four wickets to reach 50 wickets in the IPL
• Mohammed Shami (98) is two wickets away from reaching the landmark of 100 wickets in the tournament.
• Alzarri Joseph needs two wickets to get to 50 wickets in T20 cricket
• R Ashwin (156) needs to take one wicket to overtake Piyush Chawla as the second-leading wicket-taker spinner in the IPL.

Also read: Change in mindset against spinners key to IPL 2022 success: Miller

Probable XI for GT:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Matthew Wade, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Yash Dayal

Probable XI for RR:

1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Devdutt Padikkal, 5 Riyan Parag, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Obed McCoy
 

Ahmedabad, May 28 (Cricket News) The risk-free tactic used by opposition batters has helped Rashid Khan deploy a defensive game-plan of trying to hold one end up while allowing the bowler at the other end go for the kill.

In his fifth IPL season, Rashid is no longer an unknown quantity and the batters across franchises are trying to see off his overs while trying to go after other bowlers in Gujarat Titans line-up.

While an economy rate of 6.73 in 15 games is very impressive, Rashid is currently ninth in the overall list with 18 wickets.

"My mindset wasn't any different in play-offs. The energy and the thought process is the same throughout. But teams are playing it safe against me. So, I am trying to keep it tight and that increases the chance of picking up wickets by the bowler at the other end," the Afghan spinner said ahead of Sunday's final.

For him, hitting one particular area is key.

"Irrespective of whether it is a league game or knockouts, my mindset is to bowl in a certain area and I don't try anything differently. My objective is to build pressure," Rashid said at the pre-final press conference.

Evolving as a batter ----------------------- Rashid has shown that he is no mug with the bat with nine sixes and a strike-rate of 206 plus in this season. Having developed a second skill obviously boosted his confidence and especially after contributing in finishing a couple of close games this season.

"I batted a bit higher than where I was batting before. The other thing is the confidence. It is given by the coaching staff, captain and all the players. They believed I will be able to perform. That is the kind of energy you need as a player and that has been given to me," he said.

He in fact practises a lot at the nets.

"There are more batting practice sessions for me, batting more than before and the belief that everyone has on me, that this guy can deliver and score some runs for the team, crucial runs.

"I always had that belief that I can score those 20-25 runs for the team at the end, if the team needs," he added.

All praise for 'Killer Miller' ---------------------------- Rashid also praised his team-mate David Miller, stating that he makes the job of the top-order easy.

"Having David, someone who’s in form in the middle, making scores, makes the job of top order easy. Numbers 4, 5 and 6 are important in T20 and once you have them in form, it does help to win games and doesn't matter whatever the target is.

"They have scored without any fear, especially when you look at the game against CSK (Chennai Super Kings), the kind of innings David played, he showed his class," Rashid signed off. 

Also Read : Change in mindset against spinners key to IPL 2022 success: Miller

News Source : PTI

Ahmedabad, May 28 (Cricket News) A change in mindset while facing spinners has played a big part in his success in the ongoing Indian Premier League, believes Gujarat Titans batter David Miller.

Miller has been the second highest run-scorer for GT with 449 runs from 15 matches, with an unbeaten 94 being his highest score. Skipper Hardik Pandya leads the chart with 453 runs from 14 games.

And the South African said the hardwork he had put in at the nets paid rich dividends.

"It has been a good season for me against spin. It has been something that I have worked hard on. I have never really felt that I struggled against spin, but it is an area I had to improve," Miller said during the pre-match press conference ahead of their IPL final against Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.

"...I have changed my mindset against spin. I have changed one or two things. I feel like it is just about making sure, especially in T20 cricket, that I am looking to score every ball.

"If there is a bad ball at least I am in a good position to put it away. It creates a bit of pressure on the bowler. So that is one of the things mentally I have tried to improve," he added.

Miller said playing all the matches for GT has been a confidence booster for him.

"This season (I am) batting a bit higher. I am batting at five. I have managed to bat from the start of the season and play all the games, so it has been enjoyable that I am not in and out (of the team).

"I have managed to build something the whole season and keep my confidence growing," he said.

"I have been backed all the way. Playing all the games allows a player to settle down and really not worry about selection. I am loving being part of this successful team," added Miller, who has been playing in the IPL for 12 years.

He attributed GT's success in its debut season to collective effort.

"It has obviously been a really good season. But for me the standout has been Rahul Tewatia. Someone like (Mohammed) Shami has bowled incredibly well this season. He has put us in good positions in the powerplay. "It is tough to single out players. A lot of guys have put their hands up throughout the competition and that has contributed to a lot of wins," he said.

Miller was also effusive in his praise for opener Wriddhiman Saha. "He (Saha) is almost like a pillar of strength. I played with him for many years at Kings XI (Punjab Kings) and he is the one who doesn't complain, doesn't speak much but gets on with the job.

"The contributions that he has made has been extremely good upfront. He has set the tone, scoring a lot of boundaries in the powerplay, really getting us to good starts. He has had an incredible season and hopefully he tops with one more extremely good game," Miller signed off. 

Also Read : This is different Virat, one who has made more mistakes in one season than his entire career: Sehwag

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has today announced the 2022-2025 ICC Women’s Championship match-ups that form the qualification route to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025. Ireland Women will host England, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka, while the squad will travel to play Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the West Indies over the four-year cycle.

This is the first time that Ireland Women are part of the ICC Women’s Championship, and - along with fellow newcomers Bangladesh - will join Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies as they fight it out for qualification to the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup. The tournament hosts (yet to be announced), along with the top five sides in the Championship standings will earn direct entry, while the two remaining spots will be identified through a global qualifier.

The first fixtures for Ireland in the competition is a three-match One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa from 11-17 June at Clontarf Cricket Club (read squad announcement here). The ODI series will be preceded by a three-match T20 International series from 3-8 June at Pembroke Cricket Club.

Speaking on the news, Ireland Women’s captain Laura Delany said: “We're really looking forward to the championship starting. To have South Africa here on home soil first up is a brilliant opportunity for us. We know it'll be a bit of a challenge, but I think since the introduction of the full-time contracts it's allowed us to have more contact time with our coaches, Glenn [Querl] and Ed [Joyce], but also to spend more time going through video footage and looking at their strengths and weaknesses. We know South Africa are a quality side, but we're just itching to get out there now.

“This has been an aim for the Irish women’s team, not just for the last 24 months, but since the introduction of the championship. Every team wants to be involved, the standard of cricket is growing and the only way as a team that you're going get better is if you're playing competitive cricket on a regular basis so to be included and to have the opportunity to play against these quality sides over the next few years is a brilliant opportunity for us.”

Having to play three series in the sub-continent the Irish captain is fully aware of the challenge:“It will be very tough, but it's a challenge that we welcome. As a team we haven't had an opportunity to go to those countries over the last few years due to COVID - we're a young side and playing in those conditions will definitely be different to playing in the likes of England or here, so it's something that we're looking forward to. It will be a great learning opportunity and we can't wait to play against those top-quality sides."

FIXTURES 

The T20I and ODI dates are:

3 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 1st T20I (Pembroke, 4.30pm start)
6 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 2nd T20I (Pembroke, 4.30pm start)
8 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 3rd T20I (Pembroke, 4.30pm start)
11 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 1st ODI (Clontarf, 10.45am start)
14 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 2nd ODI (Clontarf, 10.45am start)
17 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 3rd ODI (Clontarf, 10.45am start) 

The three ODIs will be Ireland Women’s first fixtures as part of the ICC Women’s Championship.

Also read: Centurion Rajat Patidar's IPL 2022 Journey from agony to ecstasy

(Cricket news) After being knocked out in the Eliminator for 2 consecutive seasons, Royal Challengers Bangalore have finally overcome the hurdle to reach the Qualifier 2. RCB defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 14 runs and there is a singular reason why and that is Rajat Patidar. The Madhya Pradesh batter scored an unbeaten 112 off just 54 balls to guide RCB to a first innings total of 207 runs. RCB ended up defending the total as LSG fell 14 runs short.

After losing the toss, RCB were put into bat first. Their innings got off to a disastrous start as skipper Faf du Plessis was dismissed for a golden duck by Mohsin Khan. Rajat Patidar came in at a very difficult time and started positively. Wickets kept falling at the other end but Patidar kept on playing some exquisite strokes. He anchored the RCB innings perfectly while Dinesh Karthik provided a great finishing touch. Patidar hit 12 fours and 7 sixes in his stellar innings. He became the first uncapped player to score a ton in an IPL playoff game. Virat Kohli after the game said, "I've seen many impact innings and many innings under pressure for a long time, but I haven't seen many better innings than Rajat Patidar's knock".

The knock is even more special considering the context that Rajat Patidar went unsold at the mega auction. Even with a base price of INR 20 Lakh, Patidar found no buyers. He was later roped in by RCB as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia. After giving a few chances to Anuj Rawat, Patidar came in to bat at number 3 which allowed Virat Kohli to open the batting. He registered the scores of 16(16), 52(32), 21(15), 48(36) & 26(21) to cement his place in the side. David Miller has a similar story as he also went unsold in the first round of the auction before being picked by Gujarat Titans in the 2nd round INR 3 Cr. Miller, just like Patidar played a match-winning knock to lead his side to a win in Qualifier 1. RCB will now face Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Also read: Hits and misses from India's squad for the 5th Test against England

(Cricket news) Can RCB fans dream of “Ee Sala Cup Namde” or will it be the familiar story of choking at the big stage? While watching the DC vs MI, RCB players had a range of emotions - going by their social media. Eventually, DC lost and the RCB's camp went into ecstasy as they had entered the playoffs. Virat Kohli was one of those players who led the celebrations and it showed how much it meant to him. On the other hand, LSG have been the most consistent side in the tournament but a few shaky performances at the end meant that they finished 3rd in the standings and have to face a spirited RCB side in the Eliminator.

RCB are going to bank on a rejuvenated Kohli and hopefully finds his mojo in the Eliminator against LSG. RCB also seem to have found enough horsepower in the batting lineup as Faf du Plessis stitched a 115 with Kohli versus GT which was also the franchise's highest partnership this season. Rajat Patidar has made some decent contributions at No.3 but the gamble of sending Glen Maxwell at three last match played as the RCB management need to assess the situation before they can send him up the order. Dinesh Karthik will be the key in this high pressure match as he will be given the finishers role. RCB have bowlers have just bagged 16 wickets in the PowerPlay, with seamers taking only 12 wickets in that period as it is the lowest by any franchise this season. Josh Hazlewood will hold the key against Quinton De Kock as he has dismissed him thrice in the IPL.

LSG have been able to win tight matches but the one thing they haven't been able to figure out is the extreme reliance on their top order. KL Rahul (537 runs at 48.8), Quinton de Kock (502 runs at 38.6), and Deepak Hooda (406 runs at 31.2) have scored the majority of the runs but the other batters have collectively contributed only 789 runs at 17.2. If their middle order is not performing then the fast bowlers are compensating for it, they have taken 96 wickets in the league stage at an average of 23.8 and strike rate of 17.1 which is highest this season. Mohsin Khan, who bowls with a high-arm action and has been the key man for LSG this season as he has the added advantage of a left-arm angle. Avesh Khan who has been the leader of the pack is back to his best after a dip in his form also. Krunal Pandya had some success against DK dismissing him twice and conceding just 24 runs off 28 balls. 

Pitch and weather report: The pitch at the Eden Gardens was a wonderful batting wicket and the same can be expected from this match. The weather is very unpredictable as basically the Kalbaisakhi season in Bengal has started and a few thunderstorms are expected but mostly we can expect a game today.

Interesting facts:

• LSG have lost 23 wickets in the Powerplay in the IPL
• SuperGiants are yet to win a single match against the teams that have qualified for the playoffs in this year
• DK has the best death-overs strike rate (226.37) in the IPL (min 50 balls faced).
• Virat Kohli needs  one more catch to reach 150 catches in T20 cricket
• RCB have lost the Eliminator in the last two IPL seasons
• Quinton de Kock needs to hit three sixes to reach 300 sixes
• Mohsin Khan needs to take four wickets to reach 50 wickets in T20 cricket.

Also read: Remember the Titans: Killer Miller, Captain Pandya take Gujarat franchise to IPL final

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Mahipal Lomror, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel/Akash Deep, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Probable XI for LSG:

1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 KL Rahul (capt), 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Avesh Khan, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Mohsin Khan, 11 Ravi Bishnoi
 

Mumbai, May 21 (Cricket News) Chennai Super Kings found it challenging to match their "catastrophic success" in IPL 2022 where the defending champions were not "good enough" to win tight games, feels head coach Stephen Fleming.

One of the most successful sides in the IPL, the four-times champions ended their campaign at the penultimate spot, managing just four wins in 14 games.

"There was mixed success. We sort of stuttered our way through. We had a number of games that were close, but we were not good enough to get across the line.

"That's the normal story of the season we don't qualify," Fleming said after CSK's five-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals on Friday.

The New Zealander added that the team, comprising several new players, found it challenging to play the same way as previous seasons.

"When you start a new cycle and have a number of new players and a new dynamic in the team it can be testing.

"We suffered from catastrophic success so just trying to play the same way, continue from our last four years, which were very successful, is a real challenge.

"Dropping back and understanding what the new players can do, it can take a little bit of time." Fleming, however, feels the underwhelming season will be a catalyst for the players for the next edition of the league.

"We didn't have a couple of form players that could get us through those early days, get the win and the momentum going.

"We had opportunity to do better than we did but the reality is we couldn't qualify for the semis and that will be the catalyst for next year." Fleming picked rookie pacers Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh's performance among the positives in CSK's lacklustre season.

"I think he was excellent. A nervous start, but we stuck with him and we reaped the rewards towards the end. He just got better and better. Simarjeet is also responding to the pressure. So, those two boys definitelyth were a positive." "The first year of the three-year cycle is a chance to see some players. This one today was great to have a look at a couple of guys under pressure." He added that all-rounders Moeen Ali, who scored a 57-ball 93against RR, and Ravindra Jadeja are key components of the team.

"Ali was superb. He is one of our marquee players and (on Friday against RR) I thought it was probably going to be a 250-run wicket, but the game suddenly changed at the halfway point of our batting.

"But Moeen has shown us his class with both the bat and the ball and his partner Jadeja make a key part of the side," Fleming added. 

Also Read : We have done well in patches but what is important is to keep doing well as a team: Dhoni

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) DC face MI in a do or die match for Rishabh Pant and co as they need to win in order to qualify for the playoffs.  DC are a team that is yet to win an IPL title and they are going up against a team that has won the most IPL trophies over the last 14 seasons. A team whic is high on emotions will go up against a team that's simply going through the motions of the tournament.

MI will use the last match as a tool to see their pool of young players in the squad. MI have had a dismal season, but over the last few games they have been quite unpredictable. They put an end to CSK’s playoff hopes by handing them a thrashing and then they went on to beat Rajasthan Royals and table-toppers Gujarat Titans in back-to-back games. MI although they have a had abysmal season, they will take a look of positives in the tournament as the form of Tilak Verma and the power hitting from Tim David has been exceptionally good. In the bowling department, MI fans will be hoping that next season Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah form a lethal partnership as this season Bumrah didn’t receive much support from the other bowlers. Although over the last few matches, Daniel Sams has been acurate with his line and length. Bumrah vs Pant will be an interesting battle, Jasprit Bumrah has kept  Rishabh Pant in check, conceding only 47 runs in 42 balls and dismissing the southpaw six times in the process.

For DC they need to win this match by hook or by crook, after an entire season of inconsistency by winning a game and then losing one, DC's head coach Ricky Ponting believes that his team has finally found the much needed momentum after breaking the trend with a victory in the previous game. Whether it's a facade of confidence or a genuine feeling of much needed confidence but one thing is certain that the team is finally performing as a collective unit. Marsh has been in good touch, scoring fifties in the last two games. He has the experience of playing under pressure,a recent example being his performances for Australia at the T20 World Cup last year and his experience will come in handy. But a lot rests on David Warner to score big if DC are to win this crucial encounter. In the bowling department, Kuldeep Yadav will be the key against the right handers, especially the ones who look to take him on. Rohit Sharma over the last few years have struggled against Khaleel Ahmed and Axar Patel, both of whom have combined to dismiss him only thrice in 75 balls but conceded at less than run-a-ball.

Pitch and weather report: Even though dew hasn’t played a big part in the second innings, chasing teams have won three of the last four matches here. The pitch tends to offer a lot of pace and bounce in the first six overs but in the latter half it becomes much easier to bat. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees as no rain is expected in this humdinger of a battle.

Interesting facts:

• Delhi Capitals' last six opening partnerships have been 0, 5, 0, 16, 0 and 0. The five partnerships before when Warner and Shaw opened aggregated to 336 runs at an average of 67.20.
• David Warner has six fifties against Mumbai Indians in 19 innings, averaging 44.07 and striking at a rate of 138.87
• Jasprit Bumrah has taken 20 wickets in 18 matches against DC
• Kieron Pollard has averaged 14.40 and strike rate of 107.46 which his worst in a single IPL season.
• Daniel Sams needs one wicket to 100 wickets in T20s.
• Khaleel Ahmed needs two more wickets to reach 50 IPL wickets.

Also read: We have done well in patches but what is important is to keep doing well as a team: Dhoni

Probable XI for MI:
1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Ramandeep Singh, 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 Sanjay Yadav, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Riley Meredith, 11 Murugan Ashwin/Mayank Markande

Probable XI for DC:
1 David Warner, 2 Sarfaraz Khan/Prithvi Shaw, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Khaleel Ahmed
 

(Cricket news) After KKR’s loss yesterday the fight for the last place is now between RCB and DC. With 14 points to their name, RCB will be aiming to defeat table-toppers GT comprehensively in their final game of the league phase to give themselves the best chance of progressing into the playoffs. But if they lose, it would be an exit door for the franchise as they have a negative NRR of -.323. Even if RCB emerge victorious they won’t be guaranteed a place in the top 4 considering their poor net run rate.

RCB’s main concern this season has been the topsy turvy form of Virat Kohli as he needs to score runs at the top of the order if RCB are to win big against the table topper Gujarat. RCB may need one of their big three Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to play a match winning innings. The other silver lining is that Rajat Patidar is making the number three spot his own with useful contributions and Mahipal Lormor is also making useful contributions with the bat this season. Dinesh Karthik will again be the key batsman heading into the match, a lot will rest on his shoulder to finish the innings for RCB. On a positive note, Wanindu Hasaranga has bagged 23 wickets so far and is subsequently the second highest wicket taker this season. In the pace department Josh Hazelwood needs to bounce back after ending up with sorry figures of 0 for 64 from four overs as Johnny Bairstow went on a six-hitting spree against him, on the other hand, Siraj has conceded 85 runs in his last seven overs in this IPL as he needs to improve his death bowling.

GT have already qualified for the playoffs and will try some different combinations and permutation before playing the first qualifier in Kolkata. Wriddhiman Saha has provided them with much needed impetus in the Powerplay over the last few games while Shubman Gill has compiled over 400 runs this season as their opening combination has been one of the main reasons for their success. One of the worries for the side is the form of their skipper Hardik Pandya, who has scored only 56 runs in his last six matches after his blistering start to the season. In the bowling department, Rashid Khan is finally getting back to his deadly best as he has  picked up seven wickets in his last three matches. GT's seamers have been brilliant this season with the new ball, taking 25 wickets in the PowerPlay this season, Shami alone has taken 11 wickets in the powerplay. Rashid Khan vs Dinesh Karthik will be an interesting battle as Rashid has dislodged Karthik three times and given away only 30 runs off 28 balls.

Pitch and weather report: The Wankhede pitch has been a high scoring venue this season like we saw in the last match, SRH vs MI. The decks at the Wankhede have tended to offer spongy bounce through the course of the tournament and batters find it difficult to bat early on. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with no chance of rain as dew may play a factor in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• GT seamers have the best death overs economy rate  in IPL 2022.
• RCB and GT are undefeated at the Wankhede Stadium this season with 
• Titans have hit the fewest sixes (59) in this year's IPL  but the most fours (210).
• Saha has a strike rate of 138.40 in the powerplay this season.
• Mohammed Shami has dismissed Kohli five times in 60 balls and conceded only 80 runs.
• Rahul Tewatia has hit Harshal Patel for 40 runs off 21 balls without getting dismissed
• Maxwell has the highest strike rate (200.00) against spinners
• Virat Kohli needs one catch to reach 150 catches in T20 cricket.
• Mohammad Shami requires three wickets to reach 100 wickets in the IPL

Also read: LSG pull-off last ball thriller after de Kock's sensational hundred

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Mahipal Lomror, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Probable XI for GT:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Matthew Wade, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Lockie Ferguson/Alzarri Joseph, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Pradeep Sangwan/Yash Dayal

(Cricket news) KKR’s slim hopes of qualifying for the playoffs this season rely on them to win against a strong LSG squad. On the other hand LSG will be on the back of two losses and will hope to bounce back and secure their position in the top 4.  All KKR can make sure is that they get a big victory in order to get their NRR (0.160) ahead of Delhi Capitals (0.255). That would mean DC's game against Mumbai Indians will be a must-win game for them.

For LSG their batting has been the reason for the good run in the tournament but over the last two matches it has somewhat deteriorated. LSG since the auction have had the best opening combination as they have an average of 36.13 for the first wicket which is the second-best in IPL 2022. But their batting problems start after the pair of Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul are separated. From batting position 3 to 6, LSG batters have averaged only 21.88, which is the worst of any team in this year's IPL. They have tried different players at different batting positions but none have paid dividence as of now. They have tried as many as nine batters, including K Gowtham, Jason Holder and Karan Sharma, at number 3 and 4. One saving grace for this team are the fast bowlers as both the young bowlers in Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan have seriously impressed with the correct line and length. KKR have lost 38 wickets to short or short-of-good-length balls from fast bowlers, expect Jason Holder and Chameera to bowl a lot of short balls 

KKR and opening batting combination have been a niggling theme this season, they have already used five opening batting combinations this season, and finally managed to get a first 50-plus opening stand through Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane against MI. But with Rahane ruled out, they will be forced to change their opening pairing yet again. KKR over the last few matches have been heavily reliant on Nitish Rana to score the majority of the runs, he has scored 176 runs in his last five games at an average of 44 and has also hit 22 sixes, which is subsequently  the most by an Indian batter this season, and has taken on the spinners especially in the middle overs. Shreyas Iyer also needs to lead from the front after a blistering start to the tournament he has been struggling to score runs recently. In the bowling Andre Russell has become their leading wicket taker with 17 wickets this season as Umesh Yadav (6.9) and Tim Southee (7.0) have been the most economical. All three fast bowlers will need to perform if KKR are to get a massive victory.

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil pitch has been tiring out as winning the toss and batting first becomes important. The older the ball, the more difficult it becomes to bat on this pitch. Batters need to take advantage of the power play if they are to post a respectable total. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees as no rain is expected today.

Interesting facts:

• LSG have a  run-rate of 11.30 at the death is the best of any team in IPL 2022, while KKR are at the bottom of that list at 9.82.
• KL Rahul has been dismissed for 10 or less for 12 times since the start of 2018 - six of have come in this season alone and subsequently four of those have come in the last five innings
• Shreyas Iyer has only 115 runs in his last 6 innings, at an average of 19.17 and a SR of 104.55
• Sunil Narine has an economy rate of only 5.48 this season
• Andre Russell needs 28 runs to reach 2000 runs for KKR in the IPL. 
•  Tim Southee needs five scalps to take 50 wickets in IPL

Also read: GT look to continue winning run, RCB need big victory to remain in play-off race

Probable XI for LSG:
1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 KL Rahul (capt), 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Avesh Khan, 9 Mohsin Khan, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Dushmantha Chameera

Probable XI for KKR:
1 B Indrajith, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sam Billings (wk), 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
 

(Cricket news) SRH’s campaign hasn’t any type of form this season as they went on a 5 match winning streak after losing the first three matches in the tournament but are now on the back of 5 defeats in a row and their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. For MI they have nothing to lose knowing that if they win, they will dent SRH’s playoff hopes.

For SRH, they are still in contention for the playoffs even after five straight losses following five straight wins as  it is purely down to their batting from Nos. 3 to 6. Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran have been the key players at those positions and Sunrisers average 35.5 per dismissal for those spots combined, the best among the teams in IPL 2022. Kane Williamson's form has been abysmal this season; his batting average of 18.9 this season and his strike rate of 92.9 is the fifth-worst by any player to have batted in ten innings in an IPL season. The SRH management need to make changes to their batting order as they need some fresh impetus in the batting department. In the bowling department, all the bowlers who were in form started conceding a lot of runs as they have conceded more than 175 in the previous matches. Washington Sundar and Shreyas Gopal will be key, both of whom have combined to dismiss Rohit Sharma four times in 37 balls.

MI would take confidence from their last match and hopefully rebuild next season but now they would want to end the tournament on a high. Very little of Tristan Stubbs could be seen against CSK as the management will likely continue to back him in the middle order, while young Tilak Verma continues to impress for MI this season. Rohit Sharma needs to get amongst the runs for MI this season as it will not only be good news for MI fans but also for the Indian cricket fans. In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah will be the key as he has had the better of Nicholas Pooran, dismissing the dangerous southpaw twice in nine balls, conceding only seven runs. Daniel Sams also proved his worth with a match winning spell in the last match.

Pitch and weather report: The Wankhede Stadium pitch has been the best batting pitch this season but has also seen pace and bounce up front with the new ball.  Chasing sides have won six of the last eight matches at this venue. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with no chance of rain as dew may play a part in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• Rohit is yet to score 30+ in two consecutive innings in this calendar year in T20s and hasn't registered a 50+ score either in IPL
• SRH have used the fewest overs of spin this season
• MI and SRH are two of only three teams to use the same opening pair throughout the season.
• Abhishek Sharma averages above 30 or strikes at over 130 this season no one in the team does other than him.
• Mumbai have conceded 94 sixes, while Sunrisers have conceded 92 this season
• Jasprit Bumrah needs  one wicket to become the first Indian fast bowler to take 250 wickets in T20 cricket

Also read: AB de Villiers, Gayle inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame

Probable XI for SRH:

1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Shashank Singh/Glenn Phillips, 8 Marco Jansen/Kartik Tyagi, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan

Probable XI for MI:

1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Tim David, 6 Daniel Sams, 7 Hrithik Shokeen, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Riley Meredith, 11 Kumar Kartikeya Singh

(Cricket news) The similarities between PBKS and DC’s campaign is pretty much identical with 12 points in as many games. Neither of them have won two games on the bounce in IPL 2022, pointing to familiar inconsistency that both these franchises have faced this year. On the contrary both the teams will be on the back of resounding victories as PBKS dented Bangalore and their playoffs hopes, while Delhi stalled Rajasthan Royals march into top-two with an eight-wicket statement win

PBKS batting department has come off good in the last two matches as Jonny Bairstow has struck form after being moved to the top of the order, hitting fifties in the last two games. His blazing knock against Royal Challengers allowed Liam Livingstone to play himself in before going on an all-out attack,  Livingstone has the second-best strike rate of 180.75 in IPL 2022 and has hit the third-highest number of sixes (29), only behind Jos Buttler (37) and Andre Russell (32). Mayank Agarwal changed his batting position to number 4, but he hasn’t been able to score many runs for his franchise. In the bowling department, Rishi Dhawan has shown he can shoulder the responsibility of the fifth bowler, while the inclusion of Harpreet Brar has given them another spin option along with Rahul Chahar. Punjab's pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada have the best economy of 9.9 in death overs this IPL even though the South African has done the bulk of wicket-taking in that phase.

DC last match rode on the brilliance of Mitchell Marsh and David Warner to win the match as  Marsh hit 89 off 62 balls, apart from picking up 2 for 25 from his three overs against RR. With 1005 runs in 22 innings and with 12 half-century knocks, Warner is the leading run-scorer against Punjab in the IPL. For DC there is some positive news as Prithvi Shaw will be back in the playing XI. In the bowling department, Kuldeep Yadav's dwindling returns with just 5 wickets in the second half at an average of 37.2 as compared to the 13 in the first at 14.31, and his economy jumping to nearly 10 from 7.86 is a bit of worry for the DC management. Khaleel Ahmed missed the last match but he too has been in form and might replace Shardul Thakur who has had a very underwhelming season according to his high standards. Since the start of 2021, Liam Livingstones has the lowest average (17.66) against left-arm wrist spin, while the lowest strike rate (133.11) is against left-arm orthodox spin. 

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil stadium has thrown in some mixed results as both bowlers and batters have got some joy on this pitch. Chasing has been a trend at this venue with the toss-winning captain opting to bat first just twice so far this IPL. 10 out of 18 games have been won by chasing sides. The temperature is going to hover around 31 degrees as no rain is expected today.

Interesting facts:

• PBKS have five 60+ Powerplay totals while DC has three such totals in IPL 2022
• With 1133 runs in 29 innings at an average of 47.2, Mitch Marsh is the top run-getter at one down  position in T20 cricket since 2021.
• Rabada is  on 97 wickets from just 61 IPL games, and could potentially overtake Lasith Malinga as the fastest to 100 tournament wickets who did it in 70 matches 
• Kagiso Rabada has got Warner out five times in 83 balls. But Warner has taken 124 off him, at a strike rate of 149.39.
• Kuldeep has the edge over Shikhar Dhawan as he has been dismissed twice in 37 balls while giving away only 34 runs.
• Mayank Agarwal has scored only 36 runs off 43 balls against Axar but has never been dismissed by him.

Also read: All-round RR humble LSG by 24 runs, inch closer to play-offs

Probable XI for PBKS:

1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Rishi Dhawan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh

Probable XI for DC:

1 David Warner, 2 Prithvi Shaw/KS Bharat, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Lalit Yadav, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Chetan Sakariya
 

(Cricket news) For both the teams it will be a do or die fixture as they seem to have a very slim chance of qualifying for the playoffs, given their low tally of 10 points and their negative Net Run Rates. Delhi Capitals, with an NRR of +0.210 on the other hand, appear much better placed. But for both KKR and SRH, a victory isn't going to hurt whatever's left of their campaign.

For KKR their coach Brendon McCullum became the new England test match coach in the middle of KKR's campaign, meaning there's already a sense of flux in the camp and how the team responds to the news will be fascinating to watch. KKR will be without Pat Cummins for the entire campaign as he is flying back home after suffering a hip injury. In the batting department, KKR reverted back to their original opening partnership of Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkiya Rahane. Venkatesh's 24-ball 43 was essential to Knight Riders posting their first fifty opening stand with a score, 64 for 1 in the powerplay, against Mumbai Indians last match. KKR’s lower middle order of Rinku Singh and Andre Russell have been consistent this season but they need the top order to produce runs. In the bowling department, their highest wicket taker this Umesh Yadav needs to fit as they are missing that experience in the pace bowling department.

After 4 wins on the trot for SRH, their campaign has somewhat gone downhill due to the injuries in the squad. Sunrisers have tried out different bowling options, but Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, J Suchith and Shreyas Gopal haven't quite provided the control and wicket taking ability that Natarajan and Washington brought. The good news for Sunrisers fans is that both Natarajan and Washington are likely to be fit for this match. In the batting department, Captain Kane Williamson's powerplay strike rate of 79.52 is the lowest among batters who have faced more than 50 balls this season. His opening partner Abhishek Sharma's form has also cooled off after a hot start but their middle order of Aidan Markarm and Nicholas Pooran have been consistent with their performances. In the bowling department, Shreyas Iyer struggles against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, having scored 44 runs in 49 balls and dismissing him 3 times at an average of 14.67 with a strike-rate: 89.79. Since his five wicket haul, Umran Malik has figures of  4-0-48-0, 4-0-52-0 and 2-0-25-0, which needs to improve if they are to make the playoffs.

Pitch and weather report: The toss in Pune matters a lot as nine of the 12 games in Pune have been won by teams batting first but teams are still reluctant to defend totals. Last match we saw the pitch being on the slower side as the spinners played a massive part in the game. The temperature is going to hover around 26 degrees with no chance of rain as dew will not be a factor in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the edge over Rahane in the IPL, having got him six times in 15 innings while keeping him to 89 runs off 96 balls
• Andre Russell has smashed Bhuvneshwar for 51 off 21 balls at a strike rate of nearly 243 while getting just once in the IPL.
• This is going to be Shreyas Iyer's 100th IPL game.
• Sunrisers Hyderabad have won only one out of their five IPL matches in Pune.
• Kolkata Knight Riders have won seven out of eight IPL matches in Pune.

Also read: Punjab Kings demolish RCB by 54 runs riding on half-centuries from Bairstow, Livingstone

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Sam Billings (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Umesh Yadav/Shivam Mavi, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Probable XI for SRH:

1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Washington Sundar/J Suchith, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Marco Jansen/Fazalhaq Farooqi/Romario Shepherd, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan/Kartik Tyagi
 

Melbourne, May 13 (Cricket news) Kolkata Knight Riders pace spearhead Pat Cummins will not take part in the remainder of the IPL and has left for home to recover from a minor hip injury.

His franchise confirmed the development on Friday, few hours after a report in cricket.com.au said that the Australian Test captain, who was roped in by KKR for Rs 7.25 crore, is returning to Sydney for his rehabilitation ahead of the national team's tour of Sri Lanka next month.

"Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the remainder of the TATA Indian Premier League with a mild hip injury and has returned to Australia for two weeks of rest and rehabilitation," stated the official release.

Cummins' recovery is expected to take a fortnight.

Before leaving for Australia, Cummins said, "I had an amazing time in India, and I would like to thank KKR for taking care of my family and me. I wish all the team members the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament. I will be watching the games and be cheering on." Following the match against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday, Cummins, who bagged 3-22 from his four overs, underwent an MRI on his right hip.

KKR, who will take on SunRisers Hyderabad in Pune on Saturday, has not asked for any replacement for Cummins.

Besides leading the Australian Test side, Cummins is also a vital member of the ODI and T20 teams.

The Sri Lanka tour will be followed by Australia's T20 World Cup title defence at home, a five-Test home summer, a Test tour of India and an away Ashes campaign.

The Aussies will then return to India for the ODI World Cup in October 2023.

The KKR team management, however, is yet to confirm the development.

Cummins played only five matches in the IPL this year and picked up seven wickets at a strike rate of 17.0.

With the bat, he scored 63 runs, which includes a blazing 14-ball 56 not out against Mumbai Indians -- the joint fastest fifty in the history of the IPL -- last month.

KKR are on the brink of elimination, having logged just 10 points from 12 games. 

Also Read : IPL 2022: SRH face KKR in battle of survival

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) A win for RCB would virtually guarantee them a place in the playoffs as they breach the magical 16 point mark for qualification. The equation for PBKS is pretty simple, they need to win their remaining games if they want to qualify for the playoffs.

PBKS have won 5 matches this season and seem to be paddling through a familiar storyline, with the team turning out to be inconsistent. To make matters worse, their NRR of -.231 isn't impressive either. In the batting department, Johnny Bairstow finally found form after being promoted to the top order as captain Mayank Agarwal continues his struggles with the bat, in the lower order Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma are playing the finisher roles in the team as their are masking Shahrukh Khan's modest form. In the bowling department, they have picked the second-fewest wickets in the middle overs of the innings and have the worst economy rate in the middle overs also. Once again they have to heavily depend upon Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar to strike crucial blows. Rabada has dismissed his former South African skipper Du Plessis thrice in T20 cricket.

RCB are a win away from virtually sealing their place in the top four but Faf Du Plessis and co will be worried about their poor net run rate which leaves them with less room to work with. The last 4 out of the 5 batters scored 30’s and helped them reach a mammoth total. One of the key players in the past few games has been Rajat Patidar, who was brought in belatedly as a replacement player but has been a revelation at the no 3 spot. Dinesh Karthik continued his fine form this season and will again be the key player against PBKS as he will be assigned with the job to finish the innings. In the bowling department, Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga will be the key as Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan have been dismissed four times each against spin while Bairstow has fallen twice to spin in IPL 2022. Hasaranga also dismissed Mayank at the start of the tournament. 

Pitch and weather report: The Brabourne Stadium pitch has been on the slower side as batting becomes difficult with the older ball but the last match played on this venue was on 6th May as we can expect a new pitch for this game. Spinners will play a crucial role in the match. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with no chance of rain as dew might play a factor in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• Karthik, Livingstone, Rajapaksa and Jitesh have the highest strike rates for the first 10 balls faced, in IPL 2022
• Faf du Plessis has scored 702 runs in 13 innings against the PBKS
• Arshdeep has given away just five sixes off the 38 overs he has bowled this season, the least for a bowler this season
• Kohli has been dismissed in the first 15 balls on eight occasions in IPL 2022
• Rabada has taken 18 wickets which is  the most by a pacer in IPL 2022
• Virat Kohli needs  one more run to become the first player to 6500 runs in the IPL
• Mayank Agarwal needs seven more runs to reach 1500 runs for PBKS in the IPL. 

Also read: CSK's fast bowling stock will be strengthened next season, hints Dhoni

Probable XI for PBKS:

1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 4 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Rishi Dhawan, 8 Rahul Chahar, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Sandeep Sharma

Probably XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Shahbaz Ahmed, 6 Mahipal Lomror, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pune, May 13 (Cricket News) Struggling after four straight losses, Sunrisers Hyderabad will need to sort their bowling woes when they take on an inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders as both the teams look to stay afloat in the IPL play-off race here on Saturday.

A series of losses after a five-match winning streak has dropped SRH to the sixth spot with 10 points and they would need to win all the remaining three games to salvage any hopes of making it to the play-offs.

With 10 points, KKR, however, are on the brink of elimination. Shreyas Iyer's men have just two more matches to go and wins in both will only take them to 14 points, which might not be enough with Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore already sitting pretty in the top four with 14 points from 12 games.

One of the main reasons behind SRH's awful run in the last few games is injuries to frontline bowlers -- Washington Sundar and T Natarajan -- and the sudden loss of form of speedster Umran Malik.

It culminated in SRH conceding more than 190 plus runs in each of the last four games.

While Sundar had injured his bowling hand again, death over specialist Natarajan had picked up a niggle. But coach Tom Moody was hopeful of the duo's return against KKR.

Malik, who looked fast and furious in the earlier games clocking 150kmph consistently, has gone wicketless and conceded too many runs in the last few games and his form will be key for SRH.

Fazalhaq Farooqi and Karthik Tyagi were taken to cleaners by RCB in their last game, further adding to SRH's problems.

In batting, SRH have the quality but skipper Kane Williamson will have to take more responsibility as he has just one fifty to show this season. Although Abhishek Sharma has given them solid starts, the youngster has not been able to anchor the innings.

Rahul Tripathi, Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram too have been among runs but SRH batters will need assistance from their bowlers, who will have to ensure that they limit their opposition to reasonable totals.

KKR, on the other hand, are paying the price for making constant changes to their playing XI and are now staring at elimination after losing seven of their 12 games.

KKR, however, are coming into the match after beating Mumbai Indians in their last game and they would look to end things on a high.

The 2021 finalist have struggled in the powerplay this season but with Venkatesh Iyer, who was dropped due to his lean run, back in the mix, KKR produced a good effort against MI.

The seasoned Tim Southee and Pat Cummins too were back in the XI and produced a solid effort, sharing four wickets against MI.

But according to reports, Cummins will miss KKR's remaining matches as he is heading home early to recover from a minor hip injury.

KKR's highest wicket-taker Umesh Yadav had missed the last game after pulling his calf muscle and the team would be hoping he recovers for the match.

Teams (from): Kolkata Knight Riders: Aaron Finch, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Baba Indrajith, Nitish Rana, Pratham Singh, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer (C), Ashok Sharma, Pat Cummins, Rasikh Dar, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Aman Khan, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohammed Nabi, Ramesh Kumar, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Sam Billings, Sheldon Jackson.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C), Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, J Suchith, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sean Abbott, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Tiwary, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.

Match starts at 7.30PM IST. 

Also Read : Absence of DRS was unlucky, set off chain of events that went against us: Fleming

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) For the majority of the 14 seasons before 2022, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have dominated the league with 9 titles between them, and have raised the roof whenever their paths have crossed. Although this season has not been smooth sailing for both the teams as they occupy the bottom two places in the table. For MI, their star player Suryakumar Yadav is out for the season, same applies to CSK with Ravindra Jadeja.

CSK dealt with a major blow when their former captain Jadeja was ruled out for the season with a rib injury. In the batting department, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway are forming a terrific opening pair. The two have put together one half-century and two century stands in just four innings. Along with that the finishing skills of MS Dhoni are coming in handy as he is only proving to the world that age is just a number. In the bowling department, Mukesh Choudhary seems to have turned the page after a poor start to the season and is their leading wicket taker this season, last match we saw Simranjeet Singh also perform well along with some season pros in the side. For CSK, Dwayne Bravo will hold the key as he has dismissed Rohit five times in the IPL before. 

For MI, Suryakumar Yadav who has been the most successful batter this season for them, has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a forearm injury he suffered during the match against Gujarat Titans. In the batting department MI is clearly struggling to get any real partnerships going, the top order as well as the middle order have failed miserably this season. Mumbai can try out uncapped South African Tristan Stubbs in the playing XI as he could replace Ramandeep Singh, with Basil Thampi coming in for Riley Meredith to keep the overseas players' count to four. The batting really needs some reinforcements and Stubbs can bring that unknown quality to the table as the CSK bowlers must not have seen too much of him.

In the bowling department both Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah will be the key, Pollard has dismissed Conway three times in 17 balls for just 17 runs. He has been successful against Robin Uthappa also with three dismissals in 32 balls for only 42 runs. Against Moeen Ali, he has two dismissals in 25 balls for 25 runs. Bumrah fresh after his fifer against KKR, will look to get the better of Shivam Dube as he has dismissed him twice and scored just 10 runs in 17 balls against him.

Pitch and weather report: The Wankhede Stadium has historically been a high scoring venue with chasing being easier considering it's a small ground and dew playing a major part but the last two matches, the team batting first have won the match. The pacers will get a lot of pace and bounce with the new ball but once the ball becomes old, batting will be easier. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with 10% chance of rain

Interesting facts:

• MS Dhoni has scored 710 runs at a strike rate of 130.8 against MI in the tournament
• Rohit Sharma has near-identical numbers against CSK - 752 runs at a strike rate of 125.3, including seven half-centuries
• In IPL 2022, Pollard has scored only 144 runs in 11 innings at an average of 14.40 and a strike rate of 107.46.
• Rohit Sharma has been dismissed 4 times against spin this season, scoring only 33 runs off 32 balls.
• MS Dhoni will be batting his 200th innings for Chennai Super Kings in T20 cricket
• Robin Uthappa (4951) is 49 runs away from completing 5000 runs in the tournament
• Jasprit Bumrah (248) needs two scalps to complete 250 wickets in the T20 matches.
• Devon Conway (3996) needs just four runs to complete the landmark of 4000 runs in T20 cricket.

Also read: Marsh's all-round heroics power DC to eight-wicket win over RR

Probable XI for CSK:
1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Simarjeet Singh, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Mukesh Choudhary

Probable XI for MI:
1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Tristan Stubbs/Ramandeep Singh, 5 Tim David, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Kumar Kartikeya, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Basil Thampi/Riley Meredith
 

New Delhi, May 10 (Cricket News) Jitesh Sharma, one of the finds of IPL 2022, has attributed his wide range of strokes to his penchant for learning a new shot "every year".

The 28-year-old wicketkeeper batter, who has been playing limited overs cricket for Vidarbha since 2014, has grabbed attention with his audacious strokeplay for Punjab Kings. Not only he has established himself in the playing eleven after making his IPL debut, Punjab have relied heavily on him and Liam Livingstone to finish games.

In his seven innings, including three 30-plus scores, Jitesh has scored 162 runs at a strike rate of 167.

After his 18-ball 38 in the last game Rajasthan Royals, the great Virender Sehwag backed his inclusion in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup as a reserve keeper batter. "Grateful that Sehwag sir has said this about it me but I can only do what is in my control and selection is certainly not," the soft-spoken cricketer told PTI on Tuesday.

"I didn't expect that I would have a season like this. As a cricketer you can only try to have the right mindset and focus on performance, the rest is uncontrollable. That is what I tried to do." Jitesh has impressed with his ability to find the boundaries all around the ground. In the last game, he beautifully flicked in-form leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for a six and two balls later, he flat batted Prasidh Krishna's slower ball over the mid-off fielder.

Jitesh has not done a lot of experimentation in the IPL but makes a conscious effort to learn a new shot every year. He has mixed skills and power effectively to play multiple impact innings for Punjab over the course of the season.

"I have worked hard on this (on his range of strokes). Playing straight is my strength. It is down to preparation again. I also try to learn a new shot every year or learn something new." His big-hitting skills have been enhanced under the guidance of Punjab's power-hitting coach Julian Wood.

"While during tournaments I don't try to do anything different. What I have known all these years I am doing that only.

"There are minor changes I have made including in my power game, the right posture and having a strong base. This is what our power coach has taught us." He doesn't have a go-to shot but he loves hitting the straight drive.

"My favourite shot is a shot which gives me maximum runs. I don't mind even when I nick one to the boundary. I don't have a go-to shot but I really like playing the straight drive," said Jitesh.

He also feels that skill and power in the modern game go hand in hand.

"Every technical batter is a power-hitter. Cricket is a mixture of technique and power. If you can add power to a sound technical game, it can only be good." In his own franchise, he is getting to learn a lot from Livingstone on the power aspect of batting while he is picking Jonny Bairstow's brains on wicketkeeping. Outside that, he also got to speak with his role model M S Dhoni.

"I have also learned a lot from Amabati Rayudu when he was a professional player with Vidrabha.

"At Punjab, Livingstone talks to me about how to bat on different surfaces, who to attack and when. He is also very relaxed while batting, that is another thing I have picked up from him.

"With Jonny, since he knows about keeping in all conditions, the talk is mainly about the glove work and leg movement.

"Amongst other teams, I was lucky to get some time with Mahi bhai. I have also learnt a lot by just observing him over the years. He just told me to 'play situations' as the result is not in your control." He has already attracted attention like never before with his exploits in the IPL but Jitesh has stuck to what brought him success in domestic cricket. "In domestic cricket too you tend to hit from ball one but in IPL you don't get as many loose balls. The bowlers are much quicker and more consistent at this level." After Sehwag's endorsement, has he started thinking about the India cap? "Every cricketer wants to play for India and I am no different. But there is no additional pressure on me as I am someone who thinks about preparation and don't look beyond the next game which we have against RCB (on Friday)." 

Also Read : Pant should bat in the 'Russell mode'; just smack, no matter who the bowler is, says Shastri

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) LSG have been one of the most consistent sides this season, stringing eight victories in 11 games, same as fellow IPL debutants Gujarat Titans. These two sides will face off for the second time, as the winner this time will become the first team to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2022. LSG have won four on the trot while the Titans who had a five-game winning streak, have lost two successive games and will be eager to get back to form.

LSG have been heavily reliant on their top order to get the majority of the runs as KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock have formed a formidable partnership. They have also found the solution to their No.3 problem in the form of Deepak Hooda who has managed scores of 41, 52 and 34 in their last three games. Marcus Stoinis has been used as a floater in the teams as in the last match we saw him score 14-ball 28 which is a sign of things to come as the Australian is yet to make a big impact in this tournament. In the bowling department, the pace bowlers Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Jason Holder, have picked up 44 wickets which has highlighted the collective nature of LSG's pace bowling arsenal. Although the spin duo of Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi have failed to pick up wickets at regular intervals, they have restricted the batters to low run rates in their overs. Avesh Khan could be the key against Shubman Gill, having conceded only 25 runs off the 28 balls he has bowled to the opener while he has also dismissed him twice.

GT are entering this fixture on the back of two defeats and will like to go back to winning ways again. Even though they lost these two matches, Hardik Pandya and co. can take out some positives as Shubman Gill and the captain are back amongst the runs after failures in the recent games. A stable batter at No. 3 is still a concern for them, but Sai Sudarshan's 65 against PBKS gave them some encouragement. Their lower middle order has been the reason behind winning games as David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan have kept Titans in the race for the playoffs. In the bowling department, the GT management will be a bit worried after Mohammed Shami's expensive outings in the recent games as they will be hoping he gets back on track quickly. Rashid Khan will be key as he has dismissed Rahul three times, with the batter having a strike rate of only 76.64 against the leg spinner off the 43 balls he has faced.

Pitch and weather report: Both the teams are undefeated in Pune as the pitch over the last few matches suggest that it is on the slower side. If the batsmen can negate the early pace and bounce, then batting becomes easy, like we saw when Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 99. The temperature is going to hover around 28 degrees with a 10% chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Gujarat Titans have been the best chasing team this season, having won five out of the six times they have batted second.
• Marcus Stoinis has batted in five different positions in his eight innings so far in IPL 2022, with his 38* off 17 at No. 8 against RR being his highest.
• Mohammed Shami has dismissed both KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock thrice in the IPL.
• Saha has an average of 51.7 against pacers this season.
• Lockie Ferguson's economy has jumped to 10 in the last six matches, after having conceded 7.7 runs an over in the first five matches.
• Chameera is two short of completing 100 wickets in T20s.
• Quinton de Kock is one half-century away from overtaking Kamran Akmal (48) to own the record of most fifty-plus scores by a wicketkeeper in T20 cricket.
• Hardik Pandya (46) needs four scalps to complete 50 wickets in the IPL.

Also read: Bumrah was special but batters let us down, says MI skipper Rohit

Probable XI for LSG:

1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 KL Rahul (capt), 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Avesh Khan/K Gowtham, 9 Mohsin Khan, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Ravi Bishnoi

Probable XI for GT:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Pradeep Sangwan
 

(Cricket news) Cheteshwar Pujara is knocking on the selectors doors with his performance in the County championship. After underwhelming performances for India in the tour of South Africa and England along with the home series against New Zealand, Pujara was dropped from the Indian side after being the rock of the team for so long. The batter then went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction after which he signed for Susex to play in the England County championship. 

Playing in the 2nd division of the County Championship, Cheteshwar Pujara has scored 717 runs in 7 innings. He has scored 2 hundreds and 2 double hundreds and is also the 2nd highest run getter. Pujara's performance has attracted eyeballs and people are already calling for his return to the Indian side. India has only one Test match scheduled this year which is the postponed game against England. India are leading the series 2-1 and new captain Rohit Sharma along with new coach Rahul Dravid will be looking to seal the series.

Pujara is playing in England which is an added advantage. India at some point will have to move on from Pujara and the process has already started as they have been dropped and calling him back could prove to be costly. Chief selector Chetan Sharma said that if Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara get runs in domestic cricket then they can return to the side. Pujara has done just that so he will definitely be in the mix.

The quality of the County Championship has been questioned but one of the bowlers Pujara got the better of is Shaheen Afridi who is considered the best all format bowler in the world. There are 9 more games left for Pujara to play which could make things clearer. If he continues to put in good performances then it will be very difficult to keep him out of the squad for the Test on first July. 

Also read: Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants look to seal IPL play-off berth in match against each other

(Cricket news) It's not the best of times for Kolkata Knight Riders to face MI, seeing that their head-to-head with Mumbai Indians is pretty ordinary, for some reason MI always had their measure against KKR. When KKR played MI this season, Daniel Sams ended the match with an over to forget, as Pat Cummins took 35 off that over to score the joint-fastest half-century in the IPL, but with the majority of the season done, both teams look like out of the playoffs race already.

KKR’s main concern has been selecting a consistent side over the league phase as they have used close to 20 players to play in the playing XI. There have been honest confessions from the head coach Brendon McCullum about being aware that the opposition is testing his batters with a barrage of bouncers, but they haven’t found any answers to counter it as yet. Much like how their woes in the batting powerplay despite trying out five different opening combinations have hampered them from giving them a get start at the top of the order. In the bowling department, Sunil Narine will hold the key as he has the best economy rate of 5.23 in the IPL this year. His record battle against Rohit Sharma will be one to watch out for, he has dismissed him nine times in 170 balls, conceding runs at a rate of 107.65, Tim Southee has also been fairly successful against the MI skipper.

MI will be confident after getting two wins on the board and will be proud of the effort in the last match, where they defended 9 runs of the last over to win against the table topper Gujarat Titans. In terms of batting all the Indian cricket fans would want to see Rohit Sharma score some runs this tournament as he has hardly got going in this year's edition, the MI young guns have been carrying the mantle of scoring the majority of the runs this season. One positive over the two wins was that Tim David played brilliant finishing knocks to take his team to victory as his hefty price tag is finally paying some dividence. In the bowling department, the five-time champions have managed the second-worst economy rate (9.04) of all teams in the middle overs but could exploit KKR’s powerplay struggles. Riley Meredith could be used to test the KKR batters with bouncers as Bumrah vs Russell will be a battle to look out for, he has dismissed the hard-hitting West Indian thrice in 49 balls, conceding runs at a rate of only 134.69.

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil pitch has been a hard surface as batting becomes easier once the batsman is settled and can negate the early swing. Last match proved that chasing would have its advantages even as Delhi Capitals fell 91 runs short of Chennai Super Kings' score on Sunday evening. The temperature is going to hover around 31 degrees, the conditions are expected to be cloudy with high humidity levels as dew might play a part later on.

Interesting facts:

• With 328 runs, Tilak Varma is Mumbai India's leading run-getter of the season so far and the highest run getter for uncapped players
• Mumbai have won 22 of their 30 games against Knight Riders. Their win percentage of 73.33, the highest win percentage against another team in IPL history.
• In all T20s since the start of 2021, no batter has hit more sixes in the death overs than Tim David (47).
• Rohit's average of 19.80 in IPL 2022 is his worst in any season of the tournament.
• Mumbai are set to play their 250th T20 match overall.
• Shreyas Iyer needs to hit four more sixes to reach 100 sixes in the IPL.
•  Andre Russell (1972) needs 28 runs to complete 2000 runs in the IPL

Also read: Head coach Brendon McCullum rues KKR's power play struggles

Probable XI for KKR:

1 B Indrajith (wk), 2 Aaron Finch/Sam Billings, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Shivam Mavi/Venkatesh Iyer, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Harshit Rana/Umesh Yadav

Probable XI for MI:

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 M Ashwin/Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kumar Kartikeya, 11 Riley Meredith
 

(Cricket news) Both Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad have found it tough to maintain consistency in this year's IPL 2022.  The two teams are separated by just two points but as many spots. The battle to get into the top four is bound to be more intense with each team having four games left after this.

DC are yet to find that winning combination as David Warner, the former title-winning captain, will go up against SRH for the first time since his unceremonious exit from the franchise last season. DC’s batting this season has been topsy turvy as the middle order has been hot and cold the entire season with the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Rovman Powell and Axar Patel unable to perform at a consistent level. In the bowling department it has been the Kuldeep Yadav show as he has picked up 17 wickets this season and subsequently won the man of the match trophy everytime DC have won this year. The left arm trio of Axar, Mustafizur and Chetan Sakariya will be the key in restricting their opposition to a low score as Mustafizur Rahman has kept Tripathi in check to a strike rate of 40, Chetan Sakariya limits him to 83 and finally Shardul Thakur  has restricted him to a strike rate of 117.

The SRH camp on the other hand will be hoping that their bowling finds its mojo back after conceding a lot of runs in the last two matches. The likes of Umran Malik, Marco Jansen and T Natarajan have been phenomenal this season but over the last two matches they have been taken to raptors, going more than 10 rpo. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will hold the key for SRH as he has dismissed Prithvi Shaw twice and he scores just a run-a-ball against Bhuvneshwar. This could set the tone early for SRH and might put them in the driving seat. In the batting department, SRH will be desperate that their skipper Kane Williamson, who has only one fifty this season, finds his touch again. One positive is the form of the young opener Abhishek Sharma who has scored more than 320 runs in this year’s tournament and is lighting up the season with his stroke play.

Pitch and weather report: The Brabourne pitch has seen lots of runs scored as well as opposition getting out for less than 100 runs. It has been a relatively spin-friendly ground as the small boundaries might come into play. The temperature is going to hover around 31 degrees as dew may play a part in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• Kane Williamson has won eight out of nine tosses this season
• Rishabh Pant has a strike-rate in excess of 145 in five of the six innings he has faced more than ten balls.
• Warner is the highest run-getter for Sunrisers in IPL history, with 4014 runs at an average of 49.6.
• Pant has 466 runs, has hit 22 sixes and smashed 128* against Sunrisers
• Kane Williamson needs to take two more catches to reach 100 catches in T20 cricket.
• Axar Patel (99) needs just one scalp to complete 100 wickets in the IPL
• Mustafizur Rahman (46) requires four wickets to reach 50 wickets in the IPL.

Also read: Concerned that different types of bowlers are getting Kohli out: Ian Bishop

Probable XI for DC:
1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt& wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Chetan Sakariya

Probable XI for SRH:
1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Washington Sundar/J Suchith, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan/Kartik Tyagi

(Cricket news) In-form Lucknow SuperGiants will look to solidify their position in the top four with a victory over the inconsistent Punjab Kings. The protagonists of IPL's most successful partnership in the last season in the IPL, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will face off for the first time this season with both their sides seeking consistency as the race to play-offs intensifies. 

Lucknow Supergiants are coming off the back of a fine victory over MI as KL Rahul slammed his second century of the tournament, Rahul has been the most successful run-getter for Punjab to date in IPL with an aggregate of 2548 and four successive 500+ seasons leading up to his switch to LSG and it will be an emotional return for the adopted son of Punjab.  With the likes of Jason Holder, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda in the XI, they have depth in batting as well as bowling. The only area of concern going into the match may be the number 3 position as Manish Pandey hasn’t scored too many runs, Gautam Gambhir and co would want some stability in that position. In terms of bowling,  LSG have only rarely used Marcus Stoinis the bowler in this IPL, but his stellar record against Mayank - two dismissals in three games might tempt Rahul into giving him some few overs in the powerplay. KL Rahul would see Ravi Bishnoi come into form as he has only picked up just two wickets in last four games at 9+ RPO.

PBKS batting has mostly been led by Liam Livingstone but over the few matches the Englishman had failed to replicate his previous form. Shikhar Dhawan’s 88 in the last match would be a confidence boost not only for him but for his franchise as well as the returning Bhanuka Rajapaksa added more firepower to Punjab's batting half. The form of Mayank Agarwal might be a bit concerning but if he manages to play the anchor role with Shikhar then he will soon get back amongst the runs. In the bowling department Kagiso Rabada will be the key as Manish Pandey averages only 7 against him and has been twice dismissed by the South African in all T20s. Mayank Agarwal can use Rahul Chahar in the powerplay considering his record Rahul is good, he has scored only 36 runs off 35 balls against Rahul Chahar with one dismissal.

Pitch and weather report: The MCA pitch last match saw a lot of pace and bounce as RR were able to defend the lowest total in this year's IPL. We saw Kuldeep Sen trouble the RCB batsman with his raw pace as the same looks to continue in today's match as well. The temperature is going to hover around 35 degrees with no chance of rain as the dew won't be a factor in the second innings.

Interesting facts:

• Mayank Agarwal has won only one out of eight tosses in IPL 2022
• Among regular captains this season, KL Rahul has scored the most runs (368) and has the highest average (61.33)
• Marcus Stoinis (986) and Deepak Hooda (978) are both 1000 IPL runs
• Arshdeep Singh has got Quinton De Kock out twice in 14 balls while giving away only 14 runs.
•  Arshdeep has the best economy (5.66) in the death overs
• KL Rahul has a strike rate of 145 against both spin and pace, which is subsequently the best 

Also read: Titans look to continue 'Golden Touch', RCB seek Kohli's return to form

Probable XI for LSG:

1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Avesh Khan/Mohsin Khan

Probable XI for PBKS:

1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Rishi Dhawan, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Sandeep Sharma

(Cricket news) KKR come into this match in dismal form as they have lost four on the trot, their unsavoury run kick started against DC earlier in the month. Until then, KKR had been topping the table with three wins in four games. DC on the other hand have had a topsy turvy IPL season as they have been plagued with injuries and covid cases but will look to make a late playoff run in the second half of the season.

KKR have some worries going into the match as their top order and middle order are failing to perform, the KKR management need to find a solution. In terms of batting the KKR batters have been a hit and miss this tournament, Aaron Finch firing from the top of the order against Rajasthan Royals gave them hope but he had to sit out of the match against Gujarat Titans with a niggle as Shreyas Iyer also has been hot and cold this season. The only consistent player this season has been Andre Russell who not has been performing with the bat but also with the ball. Their bowling performance over the course of 4 matches has been awful as they have conceded almost 11.63 rpo in the death. The arrival of Tim Southee into the playing XI has brought some parity in the ball line up as he has a bowling average of 10 which is the best this season among the bowlers 

DC have been heavily reliant on their opening batsmen to score the majority of the runs as the middle order has been performing that well. With Mitchell Marsh back after recovering from Covid might just slot straight into the playing XI as the number 3 position in the team has been very uncertain. They too would be hopeful of better results after Rovman Powell gave hints of delivering on his hitting promise, after a blistering knock against RR in the last match. Their death bowling too hinges solely on Mustafizur Rahman, which has proved to be cumbersome of late as batters usually take him on in the death. Andre Russell has been dismissed three times  by Shardul Thakur and Mustafizur Rahman so far but he also maintains a healthy strike rate against them also, it will be interesting on how Rishabh Pant uses these two bowlers in the death overs. 

Pitch and weather reports: The Wankhede pitch over the last five matches have been producing a lot of runs as the last five matches barring yesterday’s match was won by sides batting first as dew factors is not affecting the venue so much. We can expect a lot of runs especially with firepower that is on display today. The temperature is going to hover around 33 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Sunil Narine needs one wicket to reach 150 wickets in the IPL
• Prithvi Shaw has an average 56 and has a strike rate of 171 against KKR
• DC have taken only eight wickets in the powerplay in IPL 2022 and it is the lowest amongst all teams in IPL 2022
• Sunil Narine has dismissed Rovam Powell thrice in eight meetings, and Powell's average reads 7.3 against the mystery spinner
• Umesh Yadav has dismissed David Warner four times in 55 balls
• David Warner has the highest strike-rate of 171 in the powerplay this season

Also read: I had self belief in my batting, I've been working on it in last two years: Rashid

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Sam Billings (wk/Aaron Finch, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana/Baba Indrajith, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Venkatesh Iyer, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Shivam Mavi, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Probable XI for DC:

1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Sarfaraz Khan/Mitchell Marsh, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Khaleel Ahmed
 

Mumbai, Apr 27 (Cricket News) Former West Indies speedster Ian Bishop reckons Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson is wasting good form and opportunity to press for a recall in the Indian T20 set up by not playing impactful innings in the IPL.

The wicketkeeper-batter is still on the fringes of the Indian T20 team and a stellar show in the IPL could be help him stake a claim in the T20 World Cup squad.

"That Sanju is wasting good form and good opportunity to score runs to press for an international recall, to lead his team when Jos Buttler doesn't score," Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo's 'T20 Time Out'.

Although, Samson is a delight to watch when he gets going, the free flowing right hander is yet to consistently play the kind of impactful innings one expects from him.

He last featured for India in the T20 home series against Sri Lanka in February.

With the flamboyant Jos Buttler failing against RCB on Tuesday, it was the perfect opportunity for the RR skipper to rise to the occasion. Samson even looked in good touch, smashing three sixes and a four but could only manage 27 off 21.

He was dismissed by Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga after missing an attempted reverse-sweep.

"It's not that Sanju's out of form. But that's a match-up with Wanindu Hasaranga and him, and he should have known better. He got out of the blocks quite nicely," Bishop said.

"I'm a Sanju Samson fan, been that way for years now, (but) he's wasting good form by shot selection," Bishop added.

Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori feels the game comes too "easy" to Samson and he thus tries to do too many things.

"It feels like the game is too easy for him, so 'I'm going to try something different, I'm going to try and make sure I can play every shot in the book'. He is at his best when he's striking down the ground," Vettori said.

"He's a joy to watch when he's playing that well. But everything looks a little bit easy and sometimes it feels like he isn't in the moment, and then he's out." Apart from a 55 and an unbeaten 48 against Sunriers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals respectively, Samson has endured an underwhelming season. 

Also Read : Reasons for Royal Challengers Bangalore's batting woes in IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) Royal Challengers Bangalore in all these years has never managed to win the IPL. Despite being one of the top teams consistently, RCB has never gone all the way and won the silverware. Traditionally, Bangalore is always known for being a batter dominated side who is often let down by its bowlers but this time it seems to be the other way around. The bowlers have performed very well for RCB this season but the batting has been well below standard. The absence of AB de Villiers after all these years can clearly be seen but there are other factors as well.

RCB unsurprisingly retained Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell before the auction. They signed Faf du Plessis to become the new captain and opener. Dinesh Karthik was brought in to be the designated finisher for the team and he has been excellent so far this season. Despite having a strong core group, RCB have been disappointing as a batting unit this season. The management backed Anuj Rawat for as long as they could but dropped him in the last game. Shabaz Ahmed has been good in patches but hasn't played a big innings yet. Suyasb Prabhudesai has also been underwhelming.

Maxwell hasn't got going so far this season with just 1 fifty in 6 matches. Du Plessis has played a couple of very good knocks but hasn't been able to replicate his form from last season. Virat Kohli is a different story altogether as he is in his worst ever period form wise. The former Indian captain has scored only 128 runs in 9 games with the highest score of 48. With Kohli it always feels like a big knock is around the corner but it has been a while since a big knock. The big worry amongst all cricket lovers is whether Kohli will actually come back or not. He played the first 8 games batting at number 3. After two golden ducks, Kohli was promoted to open the innings. This could have been the magic but it wasn't as his struggles continued.

Now RCB have done everything they can to change personnel wise and it might be time for a little bit of an attitude change. RCB got all out on 68 while batting first against Sunrisers Hyderabad and in the very next day were bowled out at 115 while chasing 145 against Rajasthan Royals. Virat Kohli needs to rediscover his form while others also need to take more responsibility. Mahipal Lamror, who has been sitting on the bench, is a candidate to come in the side.

Also read: League leaders GT take on SRH in a top of the table match

(Cricket news) Punjab Kings, who have managed just three victories out of the 7 matches they have played are hurtling towards an awkwardly familiar territory of having to treat every remaining game as a must-win in order to secure their first playoffs berth in eight editions. On the other hand for CSK every match from now on is a do or die match if they are to make the playoff berth.

PBKS season has been plagued with inconsistency with only Liam Livingstone scoring the bulk of runs (226 runs, 3 half-centuries), with the likes of Johnny Bairstow and Shah Rukh Khan failing quite badly in this year's edition. The major talking point has been the form of Johnny Bairstow who has just managed to score 41 runs, whereas his replacement Bhanuka Rajapaska was hammering the ball out of the park for fun before the Englishman arrived. Touted as PBKS' most apparent weak link, their bowling department has fared reasonably well in this years tournament led by veteran Kagiso Rabada and uncapped bowler Arshdeep Singh churning out economical spells even though he's not got enough wickets to show for it. Punjab's spinners have the least impressive economy rate in IPL 2022 of 8.65,  a weakness that the PBKS management need to figure out as spinners have been integral in this season’s IPL.

CSK will be high on confidence after a MS Dhoni masterclass but still have a long way to go in the tournament, if they are to make the playoffs. The batting for CSK off late has been better as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa have given them decent enough starts. Shivam Dube has been the only bright spot throughout the tournament as he has conjured up 236 runs this season and is their highest run getter also. CSK's have also been better in the power play bowling in the last three games, not conceding more than 42 runs and taking a total of nine wickets in that phase. Rookie pacer Mukesh Choudhary has a lot to do with that improvement  having been backed despite an off-color start to the season, and lately has come good with the new ball. Mahesh Theekshana has been chipping in consistently with important wickets but CSK's major worry would be the form of their captain Ravindra Jadeja, who has failed to perform with bat as well as ball.

Pitch and weather report: The Wankhede pitch initially saw some good seam movement as batters found it difficult to get settled in but the last two matches have seen massive targets being posted as that is likely to continue. The temperature is going to hover around 32 degrees with no chance of rain as dew will play a factor in the second innings

Interesting facts:

• PBKS  pace bowlers have combined to take only 18 wickets so far in IPL 2022 
• CSK's top-three have a collective aggregate to just 436 runs so far in the season 
• Shikhar Dhawan averages nearly 42 after 27 innings against CSK,
• Shikhar needs 59 more to bring up a 1000 IPL runs against CSK
• Dhoni has scored five fifties and an overall 630 runs at an average of 52.5 against the PBKS
• Dwaine Pretorius has got Liam Livingstone out 4 times and has conceded only 87 runs
• Dwayne Bravo needs 9 runs to get to 1000 in the IPL.

Also read: RCB aim to stop Jos Buttler juggernaut against Rajasthan, Kohli's form in focus too

Probable XI for PBKS:

1 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Jonny Bairstow/Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Nathan Ellis/Odean Smith, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Arshdeep Singh

Probable XI for CSK:

1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Dwaine Pretorius, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Mukesh Choudhary

(Football news) After two hurtful back to back losses Barcelona bounced back with a regulation 1-0 win away at Real Sociedad. They now prepare to host 14th placed Rayo Vallecano to try and stay in the title race even though it is unlikely. A win could take them 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid with 5 games left. A loss however would practically end their title hopes for this season and could also put their top 4 place in jeopardy.

The entire Barcelona defence suffered injuries in the last game. Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and Ronald Araujo had to be taken off before full time. The trio is unlikely to be involved in the game while Jordi Alba should be fine. Pedri, Sergi Roberto and Samuel Umtiti are still out of contention while Ansu Fati could be back on the bench. Barcelona may have to deploy a back line of Alba, Oscar Mingueza, Eric Garcia and Sergino Dest which would invite a lot of trouble for Marc Andre Ter Stegan. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran Torres and Ousmane Dembele should start up front with Gavi, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie De Jong in midfield. 

Barcelona are expected to have a lot of possession but Xavi will be hoping that Barcelona could create more clear cut chances and be more of a goal threat. Sergi Guariola and Radamel Falcao will be goal threats for Rayo Vallecano. Goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski will be very busy throughout the 90 minutes. Rayo will definitely look to soak up all the pressure and try to play on the counter attack. 

Also read: Real Madrid to offer Luka Modric 1 year extension

(Cricket news) After the mini covid scare Delhi Capitals bounced back in emphatic fashion when they beat Punjab Kings in the last match. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals will be on cloud 9 after a thrilling victory over KKR in a high scoring encounter. Both teams will be looking for back to back victories and give their season the much needed momentum.

The Delhi Capitals have been heavily reliant on Prithvi Shaw and David Warner to give them good starts as they have been arguably the most destructive and in-form opening pair in the tournament but that is masking their problems in the middle order. Rishabh Pant has played a couple of cameos but Rovman Powell's form is a serious concern for the DC management . In five innings this season, Powell has scored only 31 runs, at an average of 6.20 and a strike rate of 100.00. In the bowling department the left arm bowlers have been brilliant for them, as they have held a sway over the oppositions batting lineup. Shardul Thakur has the edge over Devdutt Padikkal, dismissing him three times in 19 balls, as the Wankhede pitch will offer a lot of assistance to the left arm swing bowlers early on. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel will be the key against Shimron Hetymer who is circumspect against  wrist spin.

Rajasthan Royals this season have been reliant on three players, Jos Butler, Shimron Hetmyer and Yuzvendra Chahal to win them matches this season. If Buttler has been the chief  power-anchor, then Hetmyer has ensured Royals have finished their innings with a crescendo. Among those who have scored at least 200 runs this season, Hetmyer has a strike rate of 179.83 which is the third-highest and both of them have scored more than 57% of Royals' total runs. With the bowl, Chahal is spinning webs around the opposition batters, having picked up 17 wickets in 7 matches already this season. Prithvi Shaw's struggles against Trent Boult as he has been dismissed thrice in 18 balls. The battle between Ashwin and Warner will be one to watch out as the offspinner has dismissed Warner five times in 127 balls while conceding 159 runs.

Pitch and weather report: The trend of winning the toss and bowling first will continue as the Wankhede pitch offers uneven bounce and pace up front, also the dew factor will come into play later on. Defending totals seems to be feasible at the Wankhede as the last two matches were won by teams defending a total. The temperature is going to hover around 33 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Royals have the best economy rate (6.72) in the powerplay this season
• Khaleel's economy rate so far this season is 7.15. It is the first time in five IPL seasons that he has gone for less than eight.
• Prithvi Shaw averages just 18.29 against Rajasthan Royals
• No team has hit as many sixes as Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022
• Rajasthan have batted first in five matches this season as Sanju Samson has only won  one toss
• Delhi's openers - Warner and Shaw - have put on four consecutive 50-plus stands in IPL 2022
• Also read: M.S Dhoni rolls back the years with thrilling last ball win over MI

Probable XI for DC:

1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Khaleel Ahmed.

Probable XI for RR:

1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Obed McCoy, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.

(Cricket news) Mumbai Indians are still struggling to get that elusive victory whereas Chennai Super Kings have won one out of their six matches they have played. A lot is riding on this match as a defeat for Mumbai could be all but curtains for their campaign while a loss could put Super Kings on the brink. The two teams combined have nine IPL titles out of the 14 seasons thus far but this year has been a season to forget for both franchises as they have won just one game in the 12 matches they have played. 

Mumbai Indians have tried everything but nothing has paid dividence for them as Mahela Jayawardene and co need to find some answers quickly for an upturn in form. This season, the  veterans for MI haven’t performed as Rohit Sharma is averaging only 26.7 as an opener in the IPL since 2020, for them the recipe to success has always been if Rohit performs for his team, Mumbai have won seven of their eight games since 2018, whenever Rohit has scored a half-century. For MI surprisingly Kieron Pollard will hold the key with the ball as he has picked 14 wickets against CSK which is the most he has against any opposition in IPL. Bumrah will hold the key in the death overs to contain CSK's aggression in the latter overs, MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube have struggled to hit the MI pacer.

CSK have some respite despite their terrible start to the campaign as some players are getting back to their usual best. The orange cap winner from last season had a best of 17 in the first five matches before a welcome return to runs with a 73 against Gujarat Titans as they should have won the last match also but a terrible last over from Chris Jordan resulted in a loss. CSK should play Dwaine Pretorius over Chris Jordan, who has been expensive in the middle overs (economy rate of 11) as well as at the death (economy of 13.04). Pretorius has fared better with the ball in each of those phases, having an economy of 6.80 and 10 respectively. Ravindra Jadeja has been successful in keeping Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in check so there could be possibility that he could bring himself on much earlier in the innings if the MI captain gets off to a good start.

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil pitch has been the most unpredictable pitch this season as it has seen runs galore as well as wickets falling down at regular intervals. One thing is certain that pacers will get a lot of movement up front.  Temperatures are expected to be around the early to mid-30s through the course of the match but humidity is likely to be around 40 to 50%,with no chances of rain.

Interesting facts:

• It will be the 200th T20 appearance for Bumrah and 200th IPL appearance for Robin Uthappa
• Bravo has 31 wickets against Mumbai, the most by anyone 
• Gaikwad averages 54.1 in the powerplay since IPL 2020, the most among openers
• Six matches lost by MI in 2022 is already their longest losing streak in IPL and no team has started off an IPL season losing their first seven matches.
• Robin Uthappa needs 81 runs to reach 5000 IPL runs

Also read: Delhi Capitals bounce back to defeat lackluster Punjab Kings

Probable XI for MI:

1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Dewald Brewis, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Kieron Pollard/Tim David, 7 Fabian Allen, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Tymal Mills/Riley Meredith, 11 Jaydev Unadkat

Probable XI for CSK:

1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Chris Jordan/Dwaine Pretorius, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Mukesh Choudhary
 

(Cricket news) RCB and LSG are probably the two most in-form teams in this year’s IPL, both teams are on 8 points and will look to go top of the table. Both started with a loss, both registered a hat-trick of victories and then lost the subsequent game. For RCB this season Dinesh Karthik has been the star of the show, helping them win two matches single-handedly. As for SuperGiants, their openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock have clicked together at the top, easing the burden on the middle order

RCB are heading into the match in red hot form, having won 3 on the bounce. RCB's primary concern will be the top order, with skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli having managed only one fifty-plus score in the 12 innings between them. Du Plessis started off with a wonderful 88 against Punjab Kings, while Kohli hasn’t even hit a fifty in this year's tournament as his highest score is 41 not out off 29 balls. Their strong middle order of Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik and Shabaz Ahmed have masked their problems. In the bowling department Mohammed Siraj has been very expensive and RCB is missing Harshal Patel, especially in the death overs as he may be ready for this crucial encounter, although Josh Hazelwood has brought in some much needed leadership in the bowling front. Wanindu Hasaranga will again be the key against the left-handers in this LSG side.

LSG on the other hand are banking on their top order to score majority of the runs as their middle order has been hot and cold this season. The No.3 spot in particular has been an area of concern for the SuperGiants, with Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, and K Gowtham all getting look-ins but none have made a lasting impression in that crucial position. Another worry for them is that their overseas paceman Dushmantha Chameera has been leaking too many runs. He has gone for 12 or more in an over in two games, and LSG will want him to tighten up. If LSG are to stop Dinesh Karthik from causing havoc then they need to keep hold of Ravi Bishnoi as his strike rate dips to 75 against wrist spin, with the wicketkeeper-batter having managed only 12 off 16 balls against wrist spinners this tournament. Jason Holder holds the key as he has picked up nine wickets in five innings against them at an average of 14.33 and economy rate of 7.58 against RCB.

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil pitch has been the most unpredictable venue this season but one thing is certain that pacers get a lot of swing early on in the inning. History suggests that chasing is a better option in this venue but the last two matches were won by sides batting first. The temperature is going to hover around 32 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• KL Rahul, who has scored 501 runs against RCB, averages 83.50 against RCB
• Harshal Patel is yet to pick up a wicket in the death overs. He picked up 21 wickets at the death in the previous season.
• Karthik's first-ten-balls strike rate is 214 which is the best this season
• Avesh Khan has taken five wickets in the powerplay and death overs in IPL 2022.
• Super Giants (8.61) and Royal Challengers (7.86) have the worst and third-worst economy rates in the powerplay in IPL 2022.
• Glenn Maxwell has dismissed Rahul twice in four T20 innings 

Also read: Battle of power hitters as COVID-hit Delhi Capitals clash with Punjab Kings

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Suyash Prabhudessai, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Josh Hazlewood.

Probable XI for LSG:

1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Ayush Badoni, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Ravi Bishnoi.
 

(Cricket news) After their blistering start to the campaign for KKR, their season has somewhat derailed with two successive heavy defeats as a victory against the high flying Rajasthan Royals is a must. On the other hand, RR have similar woes but will start as favourites for this clash, their talisman bowler Trent Boult might be back for this all important clash.

KKR started off the season with a bang but in the last two matches their weaknesses were exploited very badly by Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. KKR’s top order this season have scored the least amount of runs at a very poor strike rate. For KKR, they need Venkatesh Iyer to perform as he has only passed the 20 run mark once this season. The team management needs to make a call whether to continue with Aaron Finch at the top or promote someone like Billings who missed the last match due to illness. Against Chakravarthy, Buttler has only scored 12 runs in 8 balls, and has been dismissed twice. Samson, meanwhile, has fallen thrice to Umesh and Narine, striking at 79.67 and averaging 15.67 against the West Indian off spinner. KKR may also look to push Shreyas Iyer down the order to tackle the Chahal threat in the middle overs.

Rajasthan Royals have been heavily reliant on the top order to get the majority of the runs. Shimron Hetmyer has been RR’s trump card this season, he has strike rate of 262.00 which is the best strike rate of any batter who has faced at least 20 balls in this phase this season. In the bowling department all eyes will be on the two spinners Chahal and Aswhin, as both have the edge over Aaron Finch and Nitish Rana. Ashwin may be given a few overs in the powerplay, while they could  hold Chahal back for when Rana comes to the middle, with the leg spinner getting the middle-order batter 4 times. Rana averages just 14 against Chahal, striking at 109.80. For them the absences of Trent Boult played a major role in the last defeat as the New Zealand pacer will be the key in the death overs to negate the threat of Andre Russell.

Pitch and weather condition: The Brabourne Stadium has been the highest scoring venue this season and even big targets are not safe considering the boundaries are very small. Dew plays a major role at this venue considering the high humidity that is there. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Sunil Narine will play his 150th match for KKR
• Samson is 49 runs away from the 5000 mark in T20 cricket.
• Trent Boult has returned 78 wickets in 58 games, averaging 21.71 with an economy rate of 7.69.
• After scores of 55 & 30 to start the season, Samson has scored 32 runs in the next 3 innings.
• Andre Russell has the highest strike rate for anyone with any one having 1500 IPL runs. His strike rate is at 178.61 with 1879 runs.

Also read: Miller magic seals three-wicket win for Gujarat Titans against CSK

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Aaron Finch/Sam Billings, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Aman Khan, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.

Probable XI for RR:

1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 James Neesham/Trent Boult, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Kuldeep Sen.
 

(Cricket news) Mumbai Indians are struggling and one more loss would mean that they will virtually be out of the playoff race but on the other hand the new franchise Lucknow Supergiants have played 5 and won three. Mumbai Indians must win eight of their remaining nine league matches to have a fair chance of making the playoffs, after losing five in a row to begin with. However, miracles do happen in sport, like when Kolkata Knight Riders won nine games in a row on their way to a second IPL title in 2014.

One of Mumbai's problems is that their senior core of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah have not contributed a lot but their youngsters Tilak Verma and Dewald Brevis have shone on the big stage. Suryakumar Yadav is the only batsman that is scoring big but isn't getting much support from the other players. The very fact that MI are playing with just three overseas players says that something is wrong in the MI camp, as they should look to play Tim David or Fabin Allen to give them that extra all rounding option. Except for Jasprit Bumrah the rest of the other bowlers are proving to be really expensive as Rohit Sharma and co need to figure something out really quickly. Thampi, Ashwin and Jaydev Unadkat have never dismissed de Kock in a T20. Moreover, his strike rate against them reads 173, 153 and 145, respectively.

The Lucknow Supergiants suffered a disappointing defeat against the Rajasthan Royals in their last match and will look to bounce back and go to the top of the table. There have been many other contributions with the bat from Hooda, KL Rahul and the impressive Ayush Badoni, and with the ball from Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, K Gowtham and Pandya. The LSG will look to send Marcus Stonis up the order from him, get settled and play a big innings rather than playing the finisher role in the team. Ravi Bishnoi has enjoyed reasonable success against MI batters (Surya, Rohit, Kishan and Pollard) and has managed to keep them quiet as the three spinners in Krishnappa Gowtham and Krunal Pandya will be the key in this fixture.

Interesting facts:

• Rahul has the most runs in the IPL since 2018 with 2680 runs at an average of 53.6
• Dushmantha Chameera has got Rohit Sharma out six times in T20Is
• The No. 3 spot has yielded only 21 runs as they will look to get Marcus Stoinis at no 3
• Five defeats for Mumbai Indians is also their joint-longest losing sequence in IPL. They lost each of their first five matches in 2014 edition and the first four matches in 2015

Also read: Tripathi, Markram star in SRH's third straight win

Probable XI for MI:

1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Dewald Brevis, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Tymal Mills/Tim David, 8 Jaydev Unadkat, 9 Mayank Markande/M Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Basil Thampi/Fabian Allen

Probable XI for LSG:

1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Ravi Bishnoi
 

(Cricket news) SRH are riding high after two consecutive victories but take on the mighty KKR who will look to bounce back after their disappointing loss against the Delhi Capitals. For SRH they will be without their only spinner Washington Sundar as he suffered an injury last match. On the other hand KKR will welcome the Australian captain Aaron Finch to the squad and maybe can even go start into the playing XI.

For the Sunrisers the main positive over the last two matches has been the opening pair of Kane Willamson and Abhishek Sharma who hit 75 and 42, Kane Williamson scored 32 and 57. It looks like Rahul Tripathi and Nicholas Pooran have also hit form at the right time. Their bowling has been quietly effective lately, with T Natarajan leading the way with eight wickets, and Sundar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar being economical alongside their occasional strikes. Heading into the clash the main concern for Tom Moody and co will be the injury to Washington and who will ultimately replace him in the playing XI. For the SRH, Bhuvi will be the key man upfront as he has a good record against the KKR top order which has been topsy turvy this season, One thing they need to be aware of is KKR's lower middle order which can win matches single handedly.

KKR have mostly banked on individual brilliance for their three victories but as a collective unit they are yet to hit full flow. The most runs scored by KKR in five matches is Andre Russell with 130, 70 of which came in a single innings while Venkatesh Iyer has only one score above 20, Shreyas Iyer has crossed 30 only once, Sam Billings has got starts but has failed to fire on all cylinders, Ajinkya Rahane has scored only 80 runs at a strike rate of exactly 100 despite opening each time, and same applies to Nitish Rana. The KKR management might replace Rahane at the top with Aaron Finch or a relatively unknown quality in Abhijeet Tomar. Umesh Yadav has ten wickets in five matches and has an economy rate of 7, Sunil Narine boasts the best economy rate of 4.85.

Pitch and weather report: The Brabourne Stadium pitch has usually been a high scoring venue as the average first innings score is 180. Dew over the last few matches at this venue is not affecting the outcome as much as it should, the spinners will play a crucial role in restricting the opposition in a small ground. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with no possibility of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Since 2020, Sunrisers Hyderabad haven't beaten  Kolkata Knight Riders
• Rahul Tripathi has career strike rate of 221.42 and 160.61 against Umesh Yadav and Sunil Narine
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked 28 wickets against KKR - the most he has picked against any franchise
• If Aaron Finch gets picked in the playing XI that will be his 9th franchise, which will be the most
• With a strike rate of 99, Rahane and Venkatesh have been the slowest opening pair this IPL

Also read: Skipper Hardik Pandya shines as Titans beat Royals by 37 runs

Probable XI for SRH:

1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Shreyas Gopal, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Ajinkya Rahane/Aaron Finch, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Sam Billings/Sheldon Jackson (wk), 5 Nitish Rana, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Pat Cummins, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Rasikh Salam, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
 

(Cricket news) Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans will be looking to make 4 wins out of 5 as little separates both the teams after four games in this year’s IPL are tied on 6 points with three wins and a loss. Both the captains have won just the one toss as RR are yet to chase in the tournament. In the last match, GT were outplayed by Kane Williamson’s side and will be looking to bounce back in style by going top of the table.

Gujarat Titans had all their bases covered till the last match where Lockie Ferguson proved to be expensive but the GT team management have found a perfect balance in the bowling area with Mohammed Shami getting the new ball to move around, Rashid Khan has four bankable overs and Hardik Pandya is completing his quota. The only area of concern in the bowling department is the fifth bowler as Darshan Nalkande is relatively inexperienced and Rahul Tewatia hasn’t bowled much over the last year or so. In the batting department the two overseas left handers have been disappointing as Matthew Wade is not being able to give his side those blistering starts that he used to give Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash and David Miller although hasn’t come out to bat much, he needs to prove his mantle by finishing the innings. Wriddhiman Saha, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Alzarri Joseph and Dominic Drakes are among the players who can replace them.

Rajasthan Royals are enjoying one of the best starts to the season after a long time as the team is finally performing as a collective unit. RR's pacers have picked up 8 wickets, averaging 14.25, Prasidh Krishna and Trent Boult have formed a good partnership with the ball as both of the bowlers are picking up wickets at regular intervals. Young quick Kuldeep Sen showed on his debut why he is rated highly by the RR management and cricketing experts, after he successfully defended 14 runs in the final over bowling to Marcus Stoinis. RR’s batting has been on fire courtesy of Josh Butler and Shimron Hetmyer, both have scored 218 and 168 respectively and both of them are averaging above 70. Both the spinners Chahal and Ashwin will fancy their chance to break into the middle order early as Miller has got out thrice by both the spinners.

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil stadium experienced a run fest in the last match, with the wicket being so dry that the dust on it was palpable. The spinners played a massive part as they took wickets at regular intervals, we can expect the same thing this match. The temperature is going to  hover around 32 degrees, with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Only Bumrah has taken more wickets than the duo of Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal in the middle overs, the two spinners sit on top of the wicket charts.
• Hetmyer has the second-highest strike-rate in death overs. He strikes at 195.95 with a boundary percentage of 27.3.
• Rashid is one strike away from becoming the fourth overseas player to 100 IPL wickets
• Buttler (15) and Hetmyer (14) are the top six-hitters of the competition
• Royals for the first time in franchise history, have both the Orange Cap holder [Buttler] and Purple Cap holder [Chahal].

Also read: PBKS hand MI 5th consecutive defeat courtesy of Dhawan and Agarwal

Probable XI for GT:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade/Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Darshan Nalkande

Probable XI for RR:

 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Kuldeep Sen

(Cricket news) Royal Challengers Bangalore are on roll this season, having won three matches in a row and have a chance to go to the top of the table. On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings are struggling to find any sort of momentum as Ravindra Jadeja is finding captaincy a tad difficult as they are looking to get that elusive victory which will hopefully kick start their season.

For CSK something needs to click in this year's IPL, last season’s orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad is struggling to find his form this season. For Chennai, the opening partnership hasn't clicked, batting through the middle has been very mediocre, the ability to take wickets in the powerplay is missing and the spinners have lacked wicket-taking edge, so all in all the need of the hour is a collective lift in form. The injury to Deepak Chahar was a big blow to them as they don’t have another experienced fast bowler who can take wickets at regular intervals. The big story line going into the match would be the match-up of Ravindra Jadeja vs Glenn Maxwell who has dismissed him 6 times in 50 deliveries.

RCB will be without Harshal in the game against captain du Plessis' former side, as he left the bubble due to the demise of his sister. It is not known yet when he will return. In order for him to play again he will have to undergo a three-day quarantine. RCB have most of their bases covered as last match even out form Anuj Rawat scored a brilliant 70 runs which helped his side get their third consecutive victory. David Willey early on gives them a favorable match-up against Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is yet to survive past the PowerPlay and has shown susceptibility against left-arm pace. The RCB middle order will play a crucial role when it comes to chasing big totals as all three batsmen (Dinesh Karthik, Glenn Maxwell and Shabaz Ahmed) are in good form. 

Pitch and weather report: DY Patil pitches have been the most unpredictable as we have seen high scoring as well as low encounters in this venue. One thing is a given, that dew will play a major part in the second half of the innings so the trend of winning the toss and bowling first will continue. The temperature is going to hover around 33 degrees with no possibility of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Virat Kohli is 52 runs off getting to 1000 runs against CSK
• Ravindra Jadeja has picked 23 wickets in 28 matches against RCB
• In the absence of Deepak Chahar, CSK have managed to pick just one PowerPlay this season
• Moeen has been dismissed twice by Glenn Maxwell  in four innings and averages just 5.5 against him with a strike rate of 73.
• Dhoni has scored 51 off the 28 balls against Mohammed Siraj and is yet to be dismissed by the pacer.
• Dinesh Karthik has a strike rate of 155 and 159 against Dwayne Bravo and Jadeja but he has been dismissed three times each by them

Also read: Williamson and bowlers guide SRH to comfortable victory over GT

Probable XI for CSK:

1 Robin Uthappa, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Shivam Dube 6 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Dwaine Pretorius 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Mukesh Choudhary/Tushar Deshpande

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 David Willey, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Siddarth Kaul, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Akash Deep
 

(Cricket news) The new side GT are riding high on confidence after three victories in IPL 2022. On the other hand, SRH got their first victory over the weekend against CSK to get their season back on track. In the last match, Rahul Tewatia and Shubam Gill led GT to an unbelievable victory and as for SRH Abhishek Sharma’s blistering fifty made sure they got those crucial two points.

Titans have surprised the league with their unbelievable start as many experts doubted them even though the bowling attack looked strong with the likes of Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson and Rashid Khan. With Shubman Gill firing up top, that concern doesn’t look like a very worrying sign for this franchise. The one area of concern for them is the opening combination with Matthew Wade who's struggling for runs at the top of the order, the management might want n to bring in Rahmanullah Gurbaz but it's unlikely they would make any changes and persist with this winning combination. Mohammed Shami will hold the key, as he has dismissed Kane Williamson four times already in this format of the game. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad will have to try and pick up as many wins as they can and make winning a habit, if they are to qualify for the playoffs, they will need to start winning games regularly. Rahul Tripathi can be dangerous once he gets going, although he has been dismissed by Shami twice in seven games, he averages just 10 and strikes above 100. His main match up will be against Rashid Khan as he has struck at a strike rate of 141 against him. While Umran Malik has been hitting impressive speeds, his bowling line and length hasn’t been impressive, so the SRH management need to make a decision if they stick with or give Kartik Tyagi or Shreyas Gopal a game. Abhishek got the majority of the runs against CSK, but it will be interesting to see how he fares against quality pacers in the form of Shami and Ferguson.

Pitch and weather report: At the DY Patil stadium, they have largely produced moderate scores only. Taking the pace off the ball has been productive but with this contest being played under the lights completely and the trend of winning the toss and bowling will continue as the dew factor will come into play in the second innings. The temperature is going to hover around 32 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Sunrisers have scored runs at 5.1 in the powerplay, the lowest for a team this season 
• Hardik Pandya is one six away from getting 100 sixes in the IPL
• Rashid needs to strike two more wickets  for a total of 100 wickets in the IPL.
• Tewatia has a strike rate of 143.7 against pacers but that strike rate drastically drops down to 101.34 against spinners
• Shami is the only bowler to have dismissed Williamson three times in the IPL and only average 9.73 against him

Also read: Shimron Hetmyer, Chahal guide Rajasthan Royals to three-run win over LSG

Probable XI for GT:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk)/Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 3 Vijay Shankar/Sai Sudharsan, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Darshan Nalkande, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami

Probable XI for SRH:

1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5 Aiden Markram, 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Romario Shepherd/Marco Jansen, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umran Malik/Shreyas Gopal/Kartik Tyagi, 11 T Natarajan
 

(Cricket news) Mumbai Indians suffered their third consecutive defeat against KKR in a match which looked there’s to lose as Pat Cummins caused havoc in the Mumbai bowling line up. On the other hand Royal Challengers Bangalore are on a roll after Dinesh Karthik helped them finish off the innings with a brilliant knock and the added fact that they will have their talisman Glen Maxwell along with Josh Hazelwood available for selection, will help boost their confidence.

Mumbai Indians have quite a lot of issues to address as their bowling line up of Basil Thampi, Tymal Mills and Daniel Sams have leaked runs with the ball, while their older batting hands Rohit and Kieron Pollard are yet to find some form in the tournament. We can expect the inclusion of Fabian Allen to perform the Krunal Pandya role in place of Daniel Sams who was taken to the raptors by Pat Cummins last match. MI may also consider swapping out Basil Thampi for more experience in the form of Jaydev Unadkat, who had his breakthrough season in 2017 playing on the two-paced Pune pitches. Rohit needs to be wary of how he uses Jasprit Bumrah’s four overs as in the last match his use of him was really sceptical, his record against Kohli is one to watch out as he usually has the edge over him in IPL games.

RCB are riding high on Dinesh Karthik’s brilliance after him and Shabaz Ahmed guided them to a fine victory and now with Glenn Maxwell coming into the playing XI, they now all of a sudden possess a really strong middle order. The RCB management will want more from Anuj Rawat, although he has had two fifty partnerships with Faf Du Plessis, his individual scores read, 21 (20), 0 (2) and 26 (25) as Mike Henson will hope that the opener maximises the powerplay. David Willey and Shahbaz Ahmed will be used as floaters, to tackle leg spinner M Ashwin and left-arm finger spinner Fabian Allen. David Willey is strong against leg spinners, as is his T20 strike rate of 134.40 against them. Hasaranga will hold the key in terms of the bowling department.

Pitch and weather report: The Pune pitch has been the most unpredictable pitch this year as the four games held here have had different outcomes. Pune assures one thing, that the pitch will be a two paced wicket, where the spinners will play a major part in the game. Early on we might see the pacers getting some pace off the wicket. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees as dew will not be a big factor compared to the Mumbai venues.

Interesting facts:

• Karthik has dominated Jasprit Bumrah in T20s; he has scored 54 runs off 33 balls at a strike rate of 163.63 without getting out
• Bumrah has dismissed Maxwell, r seven times in 15 innings while giving up 75 runs off 65 balls.
• Harshal Patel has picked up 18 wickets in ten matches against MI at an economy rate of 7.59 and average of 12.94.
• RCB and MIi have the worst death-overs economy rate in IPL 2022 with (13.32) and (12.94) respectively. 
• Rohit is 51 runs away from becoming the second Indian after Kohli - to 10,000 T20 runs.

Also read: Rahul Tewatia and Shubman Gill lead GT to a 6 wicket win over PBKS

Probable XI for MI:

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tim David/Dewald Brevis, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Fabien Allen, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Tymal Mills, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Basil Thampi/Jaydev Unadkat

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat/Mahipal Lomror, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 David Willey, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Akash Deep
 

(Cricket news) Gujarat Titans got their third consecutive victory over the Punjab Kings in dramatic fashion as Rahul Tewatia hammered two sixes of the last two balls to lead his side to a very dramatic victory. Hardik Pandya won the toss and unsurprisingly chose to bowl first as they made two changes bringing in Sai Sudarshan and Darshan Nalkande in place of Vijay Shankar and the injured Varun Aaron. On the other hand, Mayank Agarwal handed Jonny Bairstow his PBKS debut in place of Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

In the first innings, England all-rounder Liam Livingstone, who was the costliest foreign player this season made full use of a lucky catch which Hardik Pandya caught but was unfortunately touching the boundary ropes, to smash a second consecutive half century and help Punjab Kings post 189/9. Livingston smashed 64 off just 27 balls to score the bulk of the runs for them as he shared 52 runs partnership for the third wicket with opener Shikhar Dhawan (35) to revive the Punjab innings after they were 43 for 2 after the powerplay. Rashid Khan had a field day against the Punjab batsmans as he picked up three wickets and conceded only 27 runs. Darshan Nalkande had a good IPL debut as he finished with figures of 2/37.

In reply, Gujarat Titans had a poor start as they lost Matthew Wade early on but Shubam Gill and debutant Sai Sudharsan shared a 101 partnership to stabilise the innings, Surdharsan made a nice 35 off 30 balls to support Gill who was smacking the ball all around the park and it looked like GT would chase the target quite easily. The decisive moment came in the match when Rahul Chahar got Sudharsan in the 15th over as the scoring rate was brought down and put the opposition under pressure. In the penultimate over the pressure showed as Shubam Gill just missed out on a terrific century by 4 runs. The Titans needed 19 off the last over and all hopes of a victory were dashed when Hardik Pandya was run out on the first ball by Bairstow, but in stepped Rahul Tewatia to hit two massive sixes to edge out a victory from the clutches of a defeat. 

Pandya after the unlikely victory said: "The kind of ups and downs happen, I think I have now become used to it. It was a Kings' game; some sympathy for them losing this. Gill has been telling everybody that he is there. A lot of credit goes to Sai as well. Body is coping all right; I am getting tired obviously. As the games come, I'll be getting better."

Shubman Gill after his motm performance said, “It is important to keep the scoreboard ticking. It is important to hit those gaps because this outfield is rapid. It is just about execution. It was just one of those days where I was hitting the ball well and finding the gaps as well. I am hitting the ball hard, trust me. I am doing my level best to hit it hard, it might not look that way. As an opener, I have to bat through the innings, so that it is easier for the big-hitters to hit it in the end. Instead of not thinking in the nets, I try and work and reduce my dot balls as much as possible. Not sure about the celebrations now, it takes us one hour to reach the hotel”

Also read: CSK and SRH look for their first victory in match no 17

(Cricket news) Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have had terrible starts to the season but will look to rejuvenate their season with an important victory. The panic button has not yet been pressed, but for both CSK and SRH, that point may not be far away. Both the captains are a bit under pressure to perform as this year the margin of error is very less especially with 10 teams.

For CSK, nothing has gone their way this year, the defending champions are missing Deepak Chahar who is likely to make his comeback somewhere near 25th April. Super Kings have had a 0-3 start to IPL 2022, with key players from the IPL 2021 not yet firing, missing the dominant top-order runs Ruturaj Gaikwad has not had the ideal start to the season but he did started off IPL 2021 in similar fashion and ended up with the Orange Cap. Robin Uthappa v Washington Sundar in the PowerPlay has all the makings of an intriguing tussle as the swashbuckling opener will look to roll back the years and  reproduce the kind of start he got in the tournament when he played for KKR. For the CSK fans one thing to cheer is the form of MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube who have found some form with the bat.

For SRH, nothing has clicked this season, as they might just have bigger problems than their opponents. Openers Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson have the poorest combined strike rate (76) among all teams in the powerplay yet and both haven’t survived the full powerplay as well. Rahul Tripathi in recent years has been most successful in the IPL as an opener and Aiden Markram has an T20 average of 57 from No. 3. Williamson on the other hand is batting as the opener but his best IPL numbers are from No. 4. The SRH management will look to shuffle the batting order in order to achieve the best result. Their economy rates for the last seven overs from overs 15 (9.6) and 16 to 20 (11.7) are among the poorest of all the teams, with Umran Malik, Washington Sundar and Romario Shepherd all proving expensive.

Pitch and weather report: The last afternoon game at the DY Patil stadium saw Jos Buttler score a big hundred as winning the toss won’t be very important, since dew won’t play part in the afternoon game. The one thing that can affect the players is the heat and humidity as the temperature is going to hover around 34 degrees with no possibility of rain.

Interesting facts:

• It is going to be Jadeja's 150th T20 match for the Super Kings. Only Suresh Raina (200) and Dhoni (217*) have played more matches
• Dhoni has a strike rate of 195 (his best among all teams)  against them and has hammered Bhuvneshwar for 97 runs in 49 balls with zero dismissals
• Williamson has struggled against Super Kings, averaging 26.50 in five innings
• But Kane Williamson has scored 338 runs in 10 innings against CSK at a strike rate of 142.62
• Ambati Rayudu has been a menace against SRH, scoring 513 runs in 16 innings at 132.22, including an unbeaten century

Also read: Gill, Tewatia star in Gujarat Titans' dramatic 6-wicket win over Punjab Kings

Probable XI for CSK:

1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Dwaine Pretorius, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Tushar Deshpande

Probable XI for SRH:

1 Rahul Tripathi, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Shreyas Gopal, 11 T Natarajan
 

(Cricket news) Lucknow Super Giants will look to continue their fine form and get a win against a Delhi Capitals side which are still missing some key players but the likes of David Warner and Anrich Nortje will most likely return to the playing XI, making it an exciting encounter to witness. All eyes will be on the two future captains of India as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will battle out with each other on the field. 

The Lucknow Supergiants will be further boosted by the arrival of Marcus Stoinis who might go directly into the playing XI and can give the top order much needed stability with him batting at no 3 or 4. Meanwhile, Avesh Khan got back to his best after conceding nine runs per over in his first two matches but his brilliant four-wicket haul against Sunrisers Hyderabad will give him a lot of confidence as he's going to be the one leading this pace attack again for the Super Giants who were further boosted in bowling department with the arrival of Jason Holder, who gave them the assurance of bowling in the death. On the other hand, some concerns for the Super Giants are that Andrew Tye has been a bit expensive in his last two outings and Manish Pandey hasn’t started the tournament well with the bat. The battle between Warner vs Ravi Bishnoi tells a compelling story as the leggie has bowled four balls conceded five runs and has got him out twice.

Delhi Capitals will be delighted that David Warner and Anrich Nortje will likely walk into the Capitals XI with the opener finally out of quarantine and the fast bowler having recovered well from a back injury. Warner will likely replace Tim Seifert while Nortje could come in place of Khaleel Ahmed, with the Capitals having played only three overseas players in their last games as the partnership of Nortje and Mustafizur will be an interesting watch, the main question would be that can they replicate the same partnership that Nortje had with Kagiso Rabada, only time will answer that question. The battle between Quinton De Kock and the DC spinners will be an interesting watch, his vulnerability against spin early on especially those that turn away from the batter, could make Kuldeep Yadav and Lalit Yadav be viable options for DC to use them in the powerplay. DC need to keep one eye on Ravi Bishnoi, as he has kept Rishabh Pant quiet, conceding only 24 runs off the 23 balls he has bowled to him, while also dismissing him once.

Pitch and weather report: The DY Patil pitch has been the most unpredictable pitch in this year’s tournament as we have witnessed runs galore as well as plenty of wickets fall. The temperature is going to hover around 32 degrees as there is no chance of rain but dew is going to play a major part in the second innings due to the humidity as the groundsmen have been using APSA-80, the chemical agent which is used to prevent moisture from forming

Interesting facts:

• The average first-innings score at DY Patil stadium in this IPL has been 174 as winning the toss doesn’t have a major effect with the results going 2-2
• Deepak Hooda is enjoying a fine start to the season as his strike rate is 86 (first ten balls), 165 (11-20 balls), 180 (21-30 balls), 186 (30+ balls).
• Since IPL 2016, David Warner averages 76.89 in the powerplay,
• Both Anrich Nortje and Avesh Khan, since IPL 2021, have taken 8 wickets in the powerplay, 7 in the middle overs and 16 in the death.
•  Rishabh Pant is set to become the joint second-most capped player for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, 
• Shardul Thakur needs 3 more wickets to reach 150 wickets in T20 cricket

Also read: Cummins equals record for fastest IPL fifty as KKR beat MI by 5 wickets

Probable XI for LSG:

1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Evin Lewis, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Ankit Rajpoot, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Avesh Khan

Probable XI for DC:

1 David Warner, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Sarfaraz Khan/Yash Dhull, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

(Cricket news) Mumbai Indians have always been slow starters to the league but this time they have played two matches and have been beaten quite convincingly. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders are riding high after Andre Russell’s show against Punjab Kings and they look to stay at the top of the table.

Mumbai Indians have made it a bad habit by starting slowly before revving up as mid-season approaches and then pouncing on teams at the back end. They have continued the same trend this season having started poorly this time also, but the margin for error could be smaller in a 10-team pool. In both their losses so far, Mumbai have failed to capitalise on their batters giving them good starts, both the left-handers in Ishan Kishan and Tilak Verma have given this Mumbai side the much needed impetus at the top but it is the middle order which is not really performing. With Suryakumar Yadav fit, he will most likely replace Anmolpreet Singh in the playing XI. Another headache for Rohit Sharma would be whether to pick Basil Thampi or Jaydev Unadkat, but the only hitch is he's nearly like-for-like to Tymal Mills, in terms of his bowling but after last match and considering Dre Russ can take the bowlers out of the park, he just might get the nod ahead of Thampi.

Kolkata Knight Riders have destroyed their opposition with their pace attack and with Pat Cummins back, their pace attack looks even meaner. Brendon McCullum always emphasised on the fact of playing an aggressive brand of T20 cricket and they certainly showcased it against PBKS last match. One problem heading into the match would be KKR’s death-overs problem with Tim Southee, Russell, Venkatesh Iyer and Shivam Mavi leaking runs in the end but the introduction of Cummins will allow Shreyas Iyer to breathe a bit easier. KKR need to be wary of Bumrah’s threat, the West Indian all-rounder has been dismissed thrice in the last 61 deliveries by Bumrah and averages just 20.33. The KKR management would also expect a lot more from the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane as they are the key to utilising the power play to the fullest. The KKR management will have a good selection headache whether to drop Billings or Southee for Cummins, both these players have been really good with bat, ball and in the field.

Pitch and weather report: The Pune pitch has been very kind to the bowlers bowling in the second innings. In the previous two matches, bowlers have been able to defend their scores as in Pune dew doesn’t play a major part because of the less humidity but the trend of winning the toss and bowling first will continue. The temperature is going to hover around 29 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Mumbai's win percentage of 75.8% is the highest win percentage for a team against an opponent in all of the IPL.
• In 16 IPL games at the MCA, pacers have picked up 3.8 wickets per innings as compared to spinners 1.6 wickets
• MI have won 22 matches against KKR in the IPL, which is the most by a team against an opposition in the league
• Rohit Sharma needs 54  runs to reach 10,000 runs in T20 cricket.
• Sunil Narine needs five more wickets to become the first player to take 150 wickets for KKR in the IPL.

Also read: Dinesh Karthik stars in RCB's come from behind win over Royals

Probable XI for MI:

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav/Anmolpreet Singh, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Tymal Mills, 10 Jaydev Unadkat/Basil Thampi, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
 

(Cricket news) The Rajasthan Royals have ticked all boxes this season as they have convincingly won their first two matches, on the other hand Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to take the confidence after their victory over KKR in the last match. Rajasthan Royals have turned it on already this IPL, winning two matches and posting mammoth scores of 193 and 210.

Last year RR finished second from bottom with just five wins from 14 matches but this year they just look like a completely different team, having fixed their gloring holes in the squad. Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson have hit a total of 16 sixes and they also have the likes of Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer who are contributing heavily with the bat as they can notch up big hits without spending too much time in the middle. While other teams have taken a pragmatic approach in the middle overs, Royals have scored at 10.07 runs per over in this phase, the highest for any team in IPL 2022. The biggest storyline will be Chahal facing his old team as he will hold the key to make breakthroughs in the slog overs. Both Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna will also play a crucial role in the powerplay and mainly stop the likes of Faf and Virat to settle in.

RCB will be without Glenn Maxwell, who will be available for selection from 9th April but will have the Australian quicks Jason Behrendorff and Josh Hazlewood available for selection. If RCB are to put on a big total or even chase a big score then Virat Kohli needs to be in form, as he has an exceptional record against Prasidh and Boult and his strike rate jumps to 140 or above against these pacers. Kohli has the edge over Ashwin as well, as he has gotten out to Ashwin only once in 20 innings and averages 162 against the offspinner and will be looking to dominate again. Hasaranga had a good start to the season with five wickets, but the key battle will be against the in-form Sanju Samson as has troubled him in the past, dismissing him thrice in four T20s in the span of 11 balls. Butler also has little success against Hasaranga, he is yet to hit a boundary in the 23 balls that he has faced from him in the T20s.

Pitch and weather report: The three games played at the Wankhede have been won by the teams chasing. There has been a lot of assistance for the pacers with Umesh Yadav (twice) and Mohammed Shami being certain examples. Any captain winning the toss will likely bowl first as the dew factor plays a vital role in the second innings. The temperature is going to hover around 30 degrees with no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• Faf du Plessis has hit 30 sixes since IPL 2021 which is the second most since last year
• Hetmyer has a strike rate of 248.14 in this years IPL,
• Chahal has picked up 23 wickets in 17 matches since IPL 2021
• Rajasthan Royals have hit 58 boundaries and 25 sixes in the two matches they have played
• Harshal Patel (69) needs four more wickets to become the second highest wicket taker for Royal Challengers Bangalore

Also read: KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda and Avesh Khan lead LSG to victory over SRH

Probable XI for RR:

1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Navdeep Saini, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 David Willey, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Akash Deep
 

Navi Mumbai, Apr 2 (Cricket News) Jos Buttler smashed the first century of IPL 2022 to power Rajasthan Royals to 23-run win over five-time champions Mumbai Indians, who slumped to their second consecutive defeat, here on Saturday.

Opening the innings after being sent into bat, Buttler hit a whirlwind 100 off 68 balls, only his second ton in the history of the IPL. He struck 11 boundaries and five sixes during his knock.

Besides Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer (35 off 14) looked in destructive form while skipper Sanju Samson (30 off 21) too got a start. Jasprit Bumrah (3/17) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.

Chasing the total, Tilak Verma smashed 61 off 33 balls, while opener Ishan Kishan made 54 off 43 balls but it was not enough to guide MI home as they finished at 170 for eight.

Yuzvendra Chahal once again shone bright with the ball picking up two wickets for 26 runs from his four overs.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals: 193 for 8 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 100, Shimron Hetmyer 35, Sanju Samson 30; Jasprit Bumrah 3/17).

Mumbai Indians: 170 for 8 in 20 overs (Tilak Verma 61, Ishan Kishan 54; Yuzvendra Chahal 2/26, Navdeep Saini 2/36). 

Also Read : Delhi Capitals win toss, opt to bowl against Gujarat Titans

News Source : PTI

Navi Mumbai, Apr 2 (Cricket News) Jos Buttler smashed the first century of IPL 2022 to power Rajasthan Royals to 193 for eight against five-time champions Mumbai Indians here on Saturday.

Opening the innings after being sent into bat, Buttler hit a whirlwind 100 off 68 balls, only his second ton in the history of the IPL. He struck 11 boundaries and five sixes during his knock.

Besides Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer (35 off 14) looked in destructive form while skipper Sanju Samson (30 off 21) too got a start. Jasprit Bumrah (3/17) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals: 193 for 8 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 100, Shimron Hetmyer 35, Sanju Samson 30; Jasprit Bumrah 3/17) vs MI. 

Also Read : Gareth Delany's quickfire fifty guides the ireland wolves to victory

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 30 (Cricket News) The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association will not be retaining the services of veteran coach Rajkumar Sharma after the senior state team's dismal show in the past two domestic seasons.

Rajkumar, a Dronacharya awardee, is best known for being megastar Virat Kohli's childhood coach.

After Delhi were handsomely beaten by Jharkhand and failed to qualify from their group, it was a foregone conclusion that Rajkumar will be sacked. The team finished last.

"The entire coaching structure of DDCA will be revamped and hence Rajkumar's contract next season won't be renewed," a senior DDCA official, who is privy to policy decisions, confirmed the development to PTI.

Rajkumar's tenure as the senior team coach is easily one of the worst in recent history of Delhi cricket.

Under Rajkumar, Delhi were outplayed in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last year, failing to reach the knockouts in both the meets.

This year was worse as Delhi were knocked out of all the tournaments at the group league stage after losing some matches comprehensively.

It is understood that the kind of playing XIs that Rajkumar picked throughout his stint has left a lot to be desired.

Giving chances to non-performers and disinterested red-ball players also did not go down well with the top brass.

Questions are being asked as to why Ayush Badoni, a very good red-ball player, was ignored, pacer Simarjeet Singh, who is on ascendancy, not picked and raw talent like Mayank Yadav not given even one chance.

Revamp planning =========== It is understood that DDCA president Rohan Jaitley is discussing with the relevant people to draw up a calender to revive Delhi's red-ball cricket.

"We have appointed a committee comprising Madan Lal, Vinay Lamba and Sunil Valson, which will help in formulating a strategy going forward," Jaitley told PTI in an interaction.

In fact, Jaitley wants to start a 100-day programme with focus on days cricket and identification of talent at the U-16 level.

"It is high time we introspect why after Rishabh Pant's elevation to Indian team and Gautam Gambhir's retirement, we haven't groomed anyone in leadership role. It starts at U-16 and it's a long-term process," Jaitley said.

It was Jaitley, who had put his foot down to the opposition that was there in blooding young Yash Dhull, who hadn't played red-ball in the run-up to Ranji Trophy.

It was the DDCA president who had asked the selectors to pick Dhull in the Delhi squad, and the India U-19 World Cup-wining skipper began his first-class career with nearly 550 runs in three games, including a double hundred and two hundreds. 

Also Read : Top overseas debutants to look out for in the Tata IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) Every year plenty of overseas players make their debut in the IPL and then play for their respective nations based on the performances in the league. The IPL is one tournament where the biggest of names play, however, what makes the  league exceptional is every year there is some debutant who manages to capture everyone's imagination by taking on the seasoned pros. Let us take a look at this years overseas debutants

1) Chamika Karunaratne (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The Sri Lankan all-rounder ever since he made his debut has impressed everyone whenever he has played and that was the biggest reason behind him being picked by KKR for a base price of Rs 50 lakh only, which could be a bargain buy in the future. Karunaratne is a proper fast bowling all rounder who can perform in all three departments of the game and mainly has the experience of finishing matches for Sri Lanka in the past. If Andre Russell gets injured, then Karunaratne will be a natural replacement. Karunaratne is a very underrated bowler as he can bamboozle the batters with his strong slower deliveries and in the IPL especially in the death when the batters are going for it, the slower ball is the best option to bowl.

2) Dushmantha Chameera (Lucknow Supergiants)

Chameera was bought by Lucknow SuperGiants for Rs 2 crore and one of the biggest reasons the LSG franchise went all out for the Sri Lankan pacers is because of the qualities he brings to the table as a quick bowler. Chameera is quite deceptive with his pace and he can beat the batters with pace as well as his slower balls. At the death, he’s a deadly sniper, bowling the yorker at will and along with being a good fast bowler he packs a few hefty blows at the end also with his bat as time and time again he has bailed Sri Lanka from precarious positions.

3) Dewald Brevis (Mumbai Indians)

Dewald Brevis took the world by storm when he had set the U19 World Cup on fire after scoring 506 runs. Labelled as Baby ABD, Brevis already has the attention of the world and one needs to see if he can actually live up to all the hype and excitement behind him. He was bought for whopping Rs 3 crore, the right-handed batter would be looking to bat at his favoured position of number 3 but the fact that only four foreigners are allowed to play makes it difficult for to straight away enter the playing XI but he's very young, the youngster might just be one for the future.

4) Odeon Smith (Punjab Kings)

Odeon Smith lit the third match of season with a blistering 25* off 8 balls to guide his side chase a mammoth target of 205 quite comfortably. Odeon Smith came into the limelight recently in the series against India as he showed the world that however big the boundaries he can hit the ball very far and no boundary is enough to sustain the batter. The right-handed batter has the experience of finishing T20I games for West Indies and this has already come in handy for Punjab Kings this season. He was bought for Rs 6 crore and along with Shahrukh Khan, with the duties of finisher as well as make important breakthroughs with his fast bowling. Someone who idolises Andre Russell's game is certainly moving in the right direction and it could be some exciting times for the Punjab fans.

5) Rovman Powell (Delhi Capitals)

In January, Rovam Powell smashed an unbelievable century against England in a T20I game and he hammered all the bowlers but what was wonderful about this innings was he read the situation really well and took control of the game. He was previously bought by KKR but never really got a game because of Dr Russ but now with age and maturity he’s become a mainstay for the West Indies team. He is a power-hitter and on his day he can take down any bowler at his own will. DC bought him for Rs 2.8 crore, as Ricky Ponting will hope that his all round skills come in handy and give DC that much needed batting all rounder that they have been searching for a long time

6) Bhanuka Rajapaska ( Punjab Kings) 

The swashbuckling left hander from Sri Lanka lit the tournament with a blistering innings of 43 from just 22 deliveries, showing the Sri Lankan selectors what they have been missing. Bhanuka was recently overlooked by the Sri Lankan selectors for the India series for apparently not being match fit but he just showed the mental temperament and big hitting skills he possesses. Bought for his base price of 50 Lakhs in the mega auction, many raised an eyebrow considering the 30-year-old has played 18 T20Is for Sri Lanka and has scored 320 runs at an ordinary average of 26.67 but he brings ample of experience playing in the different leagues in especially in the subcontinent.

7) Romario Shepherd (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Sunrisers Hyderabad shelled out a massive 7.75 cr to buy Romario Shepherd as many teams were interested in him but ultimately SRH got their man. He came into the limelight after the Caribbean Premier League where he was not only a good T20 bowler, but he proved his batting abilities in the CPL 2021. For Guyana Amazon Warriors, he scalped 18 wickets in 7 games at 7.69, with a batting strike-rate of 165.15. He single handedly won some really tough games for the Warriors as a finisher. In overall T20s, Shepherd has scalped 55 wickets in 47 games, whereas he has scored 344 runs at a strike-rate of 159.25. In the recently concluded England vs West Indies series, he won a game on his own with his death bowling and explosive batting

8) Kyle Mayers (Lucknow Supergiants)

The latest left handed power hitter Kyle Mayers is making quite a name for himself in the international circuit with some impressive performances against some big teams around the world. The 29 year old averages over 40 and has a strike rate of over 150 in T20’s as Mayers has only played 4 T20s for West Indies which indicates that he’s relatively inexperienced in T20 cricket but if given the opportunity to play he will know that a good performance will mean that he will cement that opening slot for the West Indies team heading into the World Cup. Coming into the IPL, he will be in rich vein of form as he single handedly bowled England to make his country win a historic series. 

Also read: Top 5 all rounders to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022
 

(Cricket news) Royal Challengers were left disappointed against the Punjab Kings as they couldn’t defend 205 runs, on the other hand Kolkata Knight Riders produced a clinical performance to get a victory over the defending champions CSK. Brendon McCullum, the coach of KKR and Mike Hesson the coach of RCB, the two men who orchestrated New Zealand's rise as a white-ball cricket will find themselves battling each other out when Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers Bangalore.

RCB’s first match indicated that their batting runs deep but their same problem of leaking runs in the death overs continued as last match IPL debutants Odean Smith and Bhanuka Rajapaksa had a field day batting against a very docile bowling lineup. Glenn Maxwell is often that fulcrum for this RCB side, as not only is he the chief destructor with the bat through the middle overs but more importantly his off-spin is a vital counter to opposition stacking up left-handers and something that RCB will miss considering KKR have three powerful left handers in the team. One thing the RCB camp will be really pleased with is the form of Faf Du Plessis, who just missed out on a hundred against PBKS as fans will be hoping that he leads the side from the front with his exquisite batting.

KKR ticked all the boxes against CSK in the last match as Umesh Yadav wreaked havoc in the Chennai batting line up with his early swing movement. The Knights displayed their bowling might against CSK so much so that the batters simply had to turn up and play sensibly to seal the deal, which they did quite comfortably. Since IPL 2020, KKR are one of three sides that have conceded 10+ runs an over in the death overs as the likes of Shivam Mavi and Andre Russell conceded 47 runs in the last three overs but on the contrary, Narine and Chakravarthy at the other end against Super Kings conceded 11.6 runs per over. The KKR think tank needs to figure out the best way of utilising the 8 overs from their spinners as they hold the key to their chance of victory. In the last match, we saw Nitish Rana walk ahead of Shreyas Iyer at number 3, a decision which raised many eyebrows but Rana’s role was simple as he was given licence to play free, something that will continue in this match as well.

Pitch and weather report: As we saw in the previous matches that the pitch is a good one for batting. The bounce is good, the outfield is quick, the boundaries are short and the batters can definitely score a lot of runs on this pitch. The temperature is going to hover around 38 degrees with chances of rain

Interesting facts:

• Faf du Plessis  won the Man of the match twice against KKR last season,
• Mohammed Siraj has not taken a  wicket in the PowerPlay in the last 10 IPL games
• Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have strike rates of 215.12 and 196.43 respectively.
• Russell has hit 75 sixes which are the second most in the tournament since 2019
• Ajinkya Rahane needs 15 runs to 4000 IPL runs and become the ninth Indian to do so

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 David Willey, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Sidharth Kaul

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sam Billings/Mohammad Nabi, 6 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Shivam Mavi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Also read: CSK, LSG seek improvement in top-order batting after opening losses

(Cricket news) Both the sides will desperately want to perform this season after not performing to their fullest potential in the last IPL. RR had a tremendous auction this IPL and hopefully fully capitalise on the plethora of talent they have, on the other hand SRH’s Kane Williamson, who was retained ahead of the mega auction, has the charge of the Orange Army as the franchise is trusting him to get the IPL trophy back to Hyderabad.

Sunrisers will be without Rashid Khan and David Warner for the first time since 2017 but have tried to get able replacements for those two talisman in the squad. If SRH have a fit squad then their bowling lineup looks quite potent as Washington Sundar could do a holding role with the new ball or after the powerplay as the seam trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Umran Malik can offer 12 very different kinds of overs to the oppositions. Bhuvneshwar with his  swing at the top, Natarajan with his signature yorkers at the death and Malik with his raw pace can trouble the batters. Marco Jansen, the tall, left-arm seamer, could also be an option if SRH want their lineup to be pace heavy. SRH will heavily rely on the young Indian core to perform as the likes of Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma will be open, setting a platform for Williamson and Nicholas Pooran to build upon.

Royals have perhaps the best death-bowling options in the IPL this year as Trent Boult can do a job with the older ball along with being lethal at the top with him swinging the new ball one into the right-hander. Prasidh Krishna, who over the past year has been putting brilliant performances for the Indian Cricket team will likely partner Boult in the powerplay, and hopefully build a successful partnership. Going into the tournament, RR possibly have the best two spinners in R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal and they could capitalise on it to strangle the opposition in the middle overs. They retained the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson and now have Devdutt Padikkal who is most likely to bat at No. 3. Rassie van der Dussen, who has enjoyed a purple patch for South Africa recently along with Shimron Hetmyer are probably vying for one spot in the middle order.

Pitch and weather report: The MCA Pune pitches are known for supporting batters and spinners as the game progresses but again, the trend of winning the toss and bowling first will continue as chasing teams have had an advantage here. No chance of rain is expected at the venue as the temperature would hover around 33 Degrees.

Interesting facts:

• In the IPL Sanju Samson has averaged 54.50 with a strike rate of 145.33 and Jos Buttler has averaged 43.00 with an unbelievable strike rate of 159.25) .
• Royals have the most successful IPL seamer and also spinner in the powerplays. No seamer has taken more power play wickets than Boult (21) and no spinner has taken more wickets in the phase than Ashwin (8).
• With Sunrisers retaining a similar fast-bowling unit to 2021,Padikkal has scored at a strike-rate of only 94.21 against SRH
• Boult and Krishna both last season went above 10 runs a over in the death overs
• Romario Shepherd picked up 18 wickets in 9 matches in the CPL.

Probable XI for SRH:

1 Rahul Tripathi, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5 Aiden Markram, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Marco Jansen/Romario Shepherd, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 T Natarajan, 11 Umran Malik

Probable XI for RR:

 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 James Neesham/Nathan Coulter-Nile, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Also read: Sensational Shami leads Gujarat Titans to 1st ever IPL win

New Delhi, Mar 28 (Cricket News) Punjab Kings would be "more than interested" if they are offered to own a team in the proposed Women's IPL next year, their co-owner Ness Wadia said on Monday.

In an IPL Governing Council meeting last week, a five to six team Women's IPL was proposed for next year with the existing franchises getting first preference to be part of the competition. "We would be more than interested in that (Women's IPL). IPL for women is long overdue and it would be very special when it happens. Women's cricket has really developed over the years," Wadia told PTI.

"The World Cup is going on right now and there is so much interest for the women's game. It was heartbreaking to see our team lose yesterday." Asked about the base price for owning a women's team, Wadia said: "That is for the BCCI to decide but I can tell you if we are asked to own a team we would be more than interested. I feel the league would be sustainable as well." The BCCI has been under a bit of pressure to organise the Women's IPL. Women's Big Bash in Australia has been taking place since 2015-2016 and a Women's Hundred competition was also staged in the UK last year. Cricket West Indies will organise a three-team CPL from this year onwards. BCCI pocketed over a billion dollars for selling two new men's IPL teams. The Board is expecting another windfall with the IPL media rights up for grabs. Star had paid approximately Rs 16,000 crore for the 2018-2022 cycle.

The next five-year cycle could fetch as much as Rs 40,000 crore.

"I would be surprised if it doesn't double at least. Upwards of 35000 crore for sure," said Wadia.

The IPL 2022 began in Mumbai on Saturday and the Indian national anthem was played before the start of the game between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Punjab Kings had proposed the idea to the BCCI.

"We discussed with Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly and they were more than happy to go ahead with it. The national anthem is played in sporting leagues in the USA.

"I am a die hard patriot and was overjoyed when it (National Anthem) was played. It is the Indian Premier League after all," Wadia added. 

Also Read : Newcomers Gujarat Lions take on Lucknow SuperGiants in Match no 4

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) New teams Gujarat Lions and Lucknow Supergiants face each other in a clash of the new guns as both Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul will look to get a victory for their new franchise. Both sets of owners will be extremely nervous considering it is their first match, so the onus is on the player and experienced players to step up and remove all the tension from their camps.

The Lucknow Supergiants did brilliantly in their first ever auction and have relatively ticked all the missing gaps in their squad but going into their first the only issue for Supergiants is that they will not be able to field a full-strength team as of yet. England quick Mark Wood had been ruled out of the entire season with an elbow injury, as they went with Australian Andrew Tye as his replacement. The likes of Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers are also expected to be out for the first week of the IPL due to their international commitments but they have plenty of back-ups to replace them. They do have a number of talented household IPL names in  Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan as they will this season rely heavily on their Indian core to perform big in the tournament. Their biggest strength, however, is their opening pair of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock who can wreak havoc if both start to find form in the tournament.

As for Titans, Jason Roy's withdrawal has put their plans in a bit of disarray but they have roped in Rahmanullah Gurbaz as his replacement and will most likely open with Shubman Gill at the top as they have to wait to bring in Matthew Wade to open. The one thing that theTitans put emphasis was on their bowling attack as they have the likes of Rashid Khan (who has also been named the team's vice-captain for the season), Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami and Rahul Tewatia, R Sai Kishore available to bowl when needed, they easily have one of the strongest bowling units going in the tournament. The area of concern for Hardik Pandya will be their fragile batting line up which lacks certain match winning experience and they may find it difficult to chase down big scores considering their fragile middle order.

Pitch and weather report: The pitch at the Wankhede in the season opener had evident assistance for pace, with lots of wickets falling in the first match. With a new pitch pacers will get massive assistance off the pitch and we can expect some fiery spells from both sets of fast bowlers. The temperature is going to hover around 31 degrees with no possibility of rain.

Interesting facts:

• In T20s since 2020, 14 out of 20 matches have been won by the chasing team at the Wankhede Stadium.
• Miller needs 26 more to tally 2000 runs in the IPL.
• Hardik is two hits away from tallying 100 sixes in the IPL.
• KL Rahul has the highest average of 47.43 at a strike rate of 136.37, for players who have scored more than 3000 runs in the IPL

Probable XI for GT:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Wriddhiman Saha/Vijay Shankar, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 David Miller, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami

Probable XI for LSG:

1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Manan Vohra, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Ankit Rajpoot, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Avesh Khan

Also read: Top 5 all rounders to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022
 

(Cricket news) In the 2nd match of IPL 2022, Delhi Capitals squared off with Mumbai Indians. After Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first MI managed to score 177/5 in the 20 overs. Ishan Kishan anchored the innings with his unbeaten 81 off 48 balls. Rohit Sharma scored 41 while youngster Tilak Verma played a good little cameo of 22 runs. Kuldeep who had a very unpleasant time at Kolkata Knight Riders made his IPL comeback after a long time. 

Yadav picked the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh and Kieron Pollard in quick succession to turn the innings around. Khaleel Ahmed chipped in with two wickets while Shardul Thakur, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Axar Patel were on the expensive side. MI had a good start but after the 'Kuldeep Carnage' their batters failed to stick around with Ishan Kishan which slowed the rate down. Delhi came back well in the middle overs but were again expensive towards the end.

Chasing 178, Delhi were in a bit of trouble at 32 for 3 which soon became 72 for 5. Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel showed their batting prowess lower down the order while Lalit Yadav led the chase with his unbeaten 48 off 38 balls. DC ended up chasing the total with 10 balls to spare. Jasprit Bumrah had a rare off day where he missed his lines a little and was subsequently targeted by the batters. This the 10th time in a row that MI have lost the opening game in the IPL. Delhi's team is looking strong with a few players yet to join them.

Also read: What went wrong for the Indian women's team at the World Cup?

(Cricket news) The Ireland Women’s team will become the first senior Irish side to tour Pakistan in history when they play a six-match white-ball series in November 2022. The series was confirmed jointly by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket Ireland and the announcement comes days after the Pakistan Women’s team made public their tour to Ireland in July (for a T20I Tri-Series between Ireland, Pakistan and Australia to be played at Bready Cricket Club).

Ireland and Pakistan have a 60 year old history of international cricket but this is the first time a senior men’s or women’s side will be playing in Pakistan. The Women’s team first met at the 1997 Women’s World Cup where the Irish team won by 182 runs. The two sides then met in a Test match in 2000 in Dublin and have played each other in 33 matches across all formats with Pakistan winning 24 and Ireland 9. The last match between the two teams was at the Women’s T20 World Cup 2018.

TOUR FIXTURES

6 November 2022: Pakistan Women v Ireland Women – 1st ODI (venue TBC; 10am start local time)*
8 November 2022: Pakistan Women v Ireland Women – 2nd ODI (venue TBC; 10am start local time)*
11 November 2022: Pakistan Women v Ireland Women – 3rd ODI (venue TBC; 10am start local time)*
14 November 2022: Pakistan Women v Ireland Women – 1st T20I (venue TBC; 10am start local time)
16 November 2022: Pakistan Women v Ireland Women – 2nd T20I (venue TBC; 10am start local time)
18 November 2022: Pakistan Women v Ireland Women – 3rd T20I (venue TBC; 10am start local time)
 
* The ODIs are part of the ICC Women’s Championship

Laura Delany, Captain of Ireland Women, said: “We couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2022, following the announcement of full time contracts. We have a busy summer ahead and are greatly looking forward to the prospect of playing Pakistan in an away series.

“As a squad we haven’t travelled to Pakistan before, but now having qualified for the ICC Women’s Championship we have been presented with this opportunity, one that no doubt will be a good challenge towards the end of the year. Having not played in Asian conditions for a few years now due to COVID-19, with a young squad this will be an invaluable opportunity as we are set to play more regularly in this part of the world over coming years.”

Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director at Cricket Ireland, said: “We are delighted to confirm this historic tour to Pakistan and appreciate the support of the Pakistan Cricket Board in arranging the tour. This year will be 25 years since the two women’s sides first met on the field, and will be the first time in five years an Ireland Women’s side has played in Asia. Ireland and Pakistan have a deep cricket bond in both women’s and men’s cricket – and we will be as delighted to welcome them to Ireland in July as we will be to visit Pakistan in November.”

Also read: Top 5 all rounders to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022

Pune, Mar 28 (Cricket News) A formidable squad at his disposal, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson is hoping to end his team's 13-year-long title drought in the Indian Premier League.

IPL's inaugural champions in 2008, Rajasthan Royals have built a formidable outfit this season with some big players like Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult and Yuzvendra Chahal, besides Samson himself, in their ranks.

And Samson said gelling together quickly as a unit will be key to achieving their goal.

"Our main focus is to get together as soon as possible. We have a different squad this time, some new members in the team, so it is important to come together and understand your teammates," Samson said ahead of RR's IPL opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Tuesday.

"We definitely had a lot of learning from the last 2-3 seasons. We discussed and worked on a few options and we got a really very good team in the auction," he said on Monday during a virtual press conference.

Sanju said the Royals have variety in the team this season for the nearly two-month long tournament.

"We have a lot of Indian and international strength in our team. It's a very long tournament. We need to understand the mindset and the fitness and form of all players. But we have enough options to play around," he said.

"I think this format has to be played with lot of fearless mindset and that sort of characters are there in this team this year. So we would just like to go out there and express ourselves." Lasith Malinga has recently joint Rajasthan Royals as the team's bowling coach and Samson said the Sri Lankan pace legend is adding a lot of value and making his job easier.

"It's great that people like Lasith and Kumar Sangakkara (Director of Cricket) whom we have grown up watching and whom almost every cricketer admire for whatever they had done on the field. They are now just trying to help youngsters like us to understand their game better," he said.

"Whatever chats we had with Lasith, he makes bowling look very simple and easy and that it gives a lot of clarity for every bowler in the side. He definitely is making a lot of things easier for me as a captain." 

Also Read : Top 5 all rounders to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) All-rounders have always been a crucial part of the league since the beginning of the IPL. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya were unearthed through the IPL and have since become mainstays not only for their franchises but also for the Indian Cricket team. This time around a lot of all rounders fetched a lot of money, so let us take a look at the all rounders who can light up the IPL with their performances:

• Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings)

The newly appointed captain of CSK and India’s best all-rounder has been a constant name in both the line-ups over the years and has consistently delivered. Heading into the IPL, he has been in the form of his life after his heroics against Sri Lanka and that could act as a huge boost for CSK going forward in the tournament. He is a very wily bowler, an impact batter and a gun fielder, Jadeja is well and truly a 3D factor on the field. Over the years, his batting has massively improved over the years as last season, he scored 227 runs from 12 innings at an average of 75.66 and scored at a good strike-rate of 145.51. Along with that he also picked up 13 wickets from 16 innings at an average of 26.61 and possessed an impressive economy rate of 7.06. The best part about Jadeja is that he can play any role as a batter in the team and being the captain of the side, we’ll see him batting higher up the order.

• Jason Holder (Lucknow SuperGiants)

The West Indies all-rounder stocks have risen over the last few years and at the moment playing some of his best cricket. He can hit big, bowl wicket-taking deliveries as well as keep the batsmen in check in the frugal overs. In their recently concluded T20I series against England, he took four wickets off four balls, helping West Indies clinch the series 3-2 and becoming the first West Indian bowler to register a hat-trick in international T20Is. Jason Holder was the only shining star in SRH's dismal campaign last season as he picked up 16 wickets from eight matches at an average of 15.43 with an economy rate of 7.75. 

He played some valuable cameos in the latter matches and it provided his side with a late surge lower down the order. In the last couple of years, Holder has become West Indies' joint highest wicket-taker along with Dwayne Bravo in T20Is with 26 wickets from 17 innings at an economy rate of 7.86 and SR of 14.1. Lucknow SuperGiants shelled out a massive Rs 8.75 crore for him and hope he continues his golden run of form.

• Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans)

The newly appointed Gujarat Titans’ captain Hardik Pandya will have to prove his worth this season if he wants to make into the India squad for this year's T2O World Cup. Pandya announced himself on the world stage during the IPL, portraying his ability to strike the ball big, outstanding fielding, and some street-smart bowling really helped to become a top all rounder in the world’. The captain of GT, Pandya has some big couple of matches to prove his fitness and showcase his talent for his new franchise, who have put extreme faith in him despite being out injured for such a long time and even though he is out of shape because of the injury, he has to take responsibility with great vigor. If Gujarat Titans are to make the playoffs then they need a massive season from Hardik.

• Andrew Russell (KKR)

The Jamaican cricketer who plays internationally for the West Indies has previously lit up the tournament with some swashbuckling hitting in the IPL but over the last two seasons he has struggled with a lot of injury issues and couldn’t really perform to his fullest ability. He has played in more than 300 Twenty20 (T20) matches for a number of sides in different leagues all around the world. KKR retained him as a main key player because of the all-round skills he possesses. Russell in the IPL averages a staggering strike rate of 169.8 and has become a very handy bowler in the death overs. In 2019, he won the MVP as he had scored more than 500 runs and had picked up 15 wickets in a season which actually showcased his full all round capabilities. KKR fans will be hoping that he is fit and firing because if he gets going then there is no ground big enough for him or even any bowler safe from his massive hits.

• Liam Livingstone (Punjab Kings) :

If Livingstone finds his groove, then be rest assured that there might be a lot of lost balls. He has this unique ability to hit big and make the opposition bowlers suffer. Along with being a  power-hitter, Livingstone is a handy leg spinner as well, who can provide crucial breakthroughs in the middle overs if needed.In his short T20 career, he already holds the record for the fastest century by an England batsman when he got his 100 off just 42 balls against Pakistan at Trent Bridge last year. In this year's Hundred, he scored 348 runs at a strike rate of 178.46 playing for Birmingham Phoenix. In his short career he has a strike rate of 158.33 in T20Is which is quite mindblowing considering he doesn’t have a assured batting position in the side

His number as a so-called part-time leg-spinner is also decent in T20Is, picking up 12 wickets in 17 matches that he has bowled at an average of 19.58,  with an economy rate of 7.12. He didn't have the best of times in his debut season, averaging just 8.40 with the bat from five innings playing for RR and this season he will come with a point to prove as he was bought for a whopping Rs 11.5 crore by Punjab Kings. He would certainly hope to make a mark and justify the price tag in his second season in the IPL

Also read: Top 5 bowlers to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022
 

Mumbai, Mar 26 (Cricket News) Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan showed immense maturity as he anchored Mumbai Indians innings to a fighting 177 for 5 with an unbeaten 81 against Delhi Capitals in their IPL match here on Sunday.

The 23-year-old opener, who became the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 auction when MI bought him back for Rs 15.25 crore, proved his worth as he smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his 48-ball unbeaten knock.

After playing a second-fiddle to his skipper Rohit Sharma (41) inside the Power Play, Kishan came on his own to smash his third fifty in a row for MI, and 10th overall.

Delhi put on the brakes in the middle overs, riding on Kuldeep Yadav's fine bowling effort of 4-0-18-3 which included the prized wickets of Rohit and Kieron Pollard (3).

But Kishan held fort even as wickets fell around him before exploding in the death with Mumbai scoring 59 runs in the final five overs.

Mumbai debutant Tilak Varma also impressed in his 22 off 15 balls, but it was the Jharkhand batter who stepped on the gas in the death overs and also displayed a helicopter shot to prop up the total.

Playing with just two foreigners, Delhi missed their overseas recruits like Anrich Nortje (hip injury) and Lungi Ngidi as their pace attack of Shardul Thakur (4-0-47-0), Khaleel Ahmed (4-0-27-2) and Kamlesh Nagarkoti (2-0-29-0) looked ordinary.

In a new avatar, Kuldeep bowled flat out and was spot on with his lengths and did not let the batters have a go at him.

He first had Rohit with a back of a length delivery and then got Anmolpreet holed out to long off with a tossed up delivery.

Rohit and Kishan gave Mumbai a rollicking start. The skipper smashed three boundaries and two sixes, while his left-handed partner Kishan hit three boundaries and a six as the duo raced to 53 runs in six overs.

Just when Mumbai were toying with the lacklustre Delhi pace attack, Kuldeep halted their run flow with his twin breakthroughs after the Power Play. 

Also Read : Delhi Capitals get off to a flier, stun Mumbai Indians (IPL)

News Source : PTI

Mumbai, Mar 27 (Cricket News) Lalit Yadav played the innings of his life with an unbeaten 48 while Axar Patel smashed 38 not out off just 17 balls as a depleted Delhi Capitals started their IPL campaign with a stunning four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians here on Sunday.

Chasing a challenging 178, Delhi were down 72 for 5 inside 10 overs but the lesser-known Delhi all-rounder Yadav stayed calm during his 38-ball unbeaten knock to take his side home.

India all-rounder Patel chipped in with a quick fire 17-ball 38 not out as DC overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare. Yadav smashed four boundaries and two sixes, while Patel had two hours and three maximums as the duo stitched a match-winning 75-run partnership from 30 balls for the seventh wicket.

After an ordinary day with the ball (4-0-40-0), Patel kept his best for the run chase after Delhi lost their key batters -- Prithvi Shaw (38), Rishabh Pant (1), Rovman Powell (0) -- cheaply.

Mumbai looked ordinary in their pace attack with Jasprit Bumrah returning wicketless (3.2-0-43-0).

They were also sloppy on the field as Patel made full use of his dropped catch by Daniel Sams on 15.

Sams also leaked 24 runs in the 18th over with Yadav hitting him for back-to-back four and six, while Patel hammered a monstrous six in the final ball to seal the chase, reaching 179 for 6 in 18.2 0vers.

With their star Australian recruit David Warner unavailable for initial few matches, Kiwi recruit Tim Seifert sizzled in his new opening role for Delhi.

He took on Bumrah up front, and lofted the India's pace spearhead over his head for a boundary. Seifert dished out another stunner against Bumrah, this time a lofted drive over cover in a shot that had class written all over it.

At the other end, Shaw started it off with a six off Basil Thampi as DC cruised to 30 in three overs.

Rohit introduced leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin (4-0-14-2) in the fourth over and that move paid dividends.

Ashwin deceived Seifert with a wrong one to clean up the Kiwi wicketkeeper-batter through the gate.

He next had Mandeep Singh in the space of one delivery with the batter gifting his wicket off a high full toss.

After Ashwin's twin breakthroughs, Thampi (4-0-35-3) rocked Delhi with his triple strikes -- Shaw, Rovman Powell and Shardul Thakur.

Earlier, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan showed immense maturity as he anchored Mumbai innings to a fighting 177 for 5 with an unbeaten 81.

The 23-year-old opener, who became the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 auction when MI bought him back for Rs 15.25 crore, proved his worth as he smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his 48-ball unbeaten knock.

After playing a second-fiddle to his skipper Rohit Sharma (41) inside the Power Play, Kishan came on his own to smash his third fifty in a row for MI, and 10th overall.

Delhi put on the brakes in the middle overs, riding on Kuldeep Yadav's fine bowling effort of 4-0-18-3 which included the prized wickets of Rohit and Kieron Pollard (3).

But Kishan held fort even as wickets fell around him before exploding in the death with Mumbai scoring 59 runs in the final five overs.

Mumbai debutant Tilak Varma also impressed in his 22 off 15 balls, but it was the Jharkhand batter who stepped on the gas in the death overs and also displayed a helicopter shot to prop up the total. 

Also Read : Punjab Kings win toss, opt to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore

News Source : PTI

Mumbai, Mar 26 (Cricket News) Kolkata Knight Riders' new captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl in the IPL opener against Chennai Super Kings here on Saturday.

Ajinkya Rahane, Sam Billings and Iyer himself received their maiden KKR caps.

Ravindra Jadeja is leading the CSK side for the first time after iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni relinquished the captaincy after 12 seasons at the helm of the Chennai-based side.

The Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja (c), Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tushar Deshpande. 

Also Read : IPL 2022: Erudite Pratham looking to dazzle in KKR colours

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 26 (Cricket News) Left-handed batter Pratham Singh boasts of a solid academic background having completed his engineering and cracked India's top business school, ISB, but all he is really passionate about is cricket.

The 29-year-old from Delhi has been a consistent performer for Railways in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and even though he was picked up by now-defunct IPL franchise Gujarat Lions in 2017, he didn't get any game time.

A five-year long wait followed, which finally ended when he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders at the last mega auction.

Singh is now eager to prove his mettle at the Indian Premier League, a stage where many dreams have been realised over the years.

"It is a very good opportunity for any domestic cricketer and I have been doing well for Railways. In IPL, even one innings can change your life. If you can do well, you have an opportunity to play for the country," Singh told PTI.

"I have been with the team for the past two weeks and I am learning a lot from Brendon McCullum and Abhishek Nayar sir. I am looking forward to growing as a cricketer and making an impact." In his maiden appearance at the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Singh had amassed 438 runs in 10 matches at an average of 54.75 and strike-rate of 136.02 to help Railways top the group in the league stage.

In the 2020-21 season, he smashed 299 runs at an average of 74.75 with the help of a hundred and two fifties.

"I was the second highest scorer in Syed Mushtaq Ali in my debut season and we qualified. We had defeated Mumbai and I have been the top scorer in white ball for Railways in last 3 years, so I was expecting a call every year," said Singh, who had smashed four successive fifties in the 2019 edition.

"The struggle was there for last five years as I was not getting picked up. But better late then never. I am grateful and happy that I was picked up by KKR and I am looking forward to making the most of the opportunities that come my way." This year, Singh missed two matches at the Ranji Trophy after testing positive for COVID-19, but he returned to score a 75 in the first innings in Railways' nine-wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir.

"We missed out on the qualification this year in Ranji Trophy just by one point. I was down with COVID just a day before my first Ranji game. There were only three games, so it was frustrating to miss out on two games due to COVID. I scored 75 in the last game," he said.

"We have lot of youngsters. The team is at a building stage. Batting is our strength. We are looking forward to a great campaign next year. We will be there competing against the giants next year." With sports coming to a standstill due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, it has been a difficult time for the domestic cricketers, and Singh was no exception. But he decided to utilise the time in pursuing his education.

"I have done my engineering in electronics and communication and also got admission in Indian School of Business in Hyderabad but I am planning to pursue it once I am done with cricket.

"During first lockdown when everything was shut, we had nothing to do. So I had prepared for it then. Lot of things was going on in my mind. I was 27 and there was no cricket going on and I was not in any IPL team.

"But it was a blessing in disguise. So I thought of pursing my education as there was no clarity and then I cracked ISB, Hyderabad. But when cricket resumed, I wanted to play cricket as much as possible as it is my passion," he signed off. 

Also Read : Confident India opener Shafali Verma eager to face South African pacers

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) Muthoot FinCorp, one of India’s leading non-banking financial companies and flagship entity of Muthoot Pappachan Group, also popularly known as Muthoot Blue, will continue as the title sponsor of Royal Challengers Bangalore for the third consecutive year.

“Muthoot Blue promises belief. It encourages human ambitions and empowers people to not give up. Our association with Royal Challengers Bangalore is a reflection of the common core values—grit, determination and creating limitless opportunities. RCB boasts of maximum fan base among all the T20 teams and we believe with their pan-India following, this partnership will aim to provide simple solutions to save hard earned earnings and maintain the trust of millions of fans,” said Thomas George Muthoot, Director, Muthoot Blue and Muthoot FinCorp Ltd.

“We are delighted to extend this association and continue to empower and encourage players and the fanbase, who come from various parts of the country with different backgrounds, on a huge platform like this,” he added.

As part of the deal, Muthoot FinCorp logo will be prominently placed on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s match and training jerseys and the collaboration will also look to further connect with millions of fans across the country with social media integrations as well as TV commercials featuring RCB players.

Speaking of the partnership, Rajesh Menon, Vice President; Head of Royal Challengers Bangalore, said “RCB has a prolific collaboration with Muthoot Blue so far and we are thrilled to enter the third consecutive year of partnership. We look forward to seeing this association grows further and brings great value.”

The Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will begin their campaign on March 27 against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The 15th edition of T20 is scheduled to start on March 26.

Also read: Top 5 bowlers to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022

(Cricket news) Bowlers have always played an important role in the Indian Premier League since the beginning and over the years we have seen some magical spells. In the last few seasons, the league has witnessed some stunning bowling by spinners and seamers alike. Let us take a look at the bowlers who have the ability to change the match on their own. 

Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings) 

After leading the bowling unit for four seasons for Delhi, where he also won the Purple Cap in the 2020 season, Rabada will now turn out for the Punjab Kings franchise who over the years never had a talisman leading their bowling line. KG is known for his breathtaking fast bowling and toe-crushing yorkers as South Africa's bowler Rabada has established himself as one of the best bowlers in the world. At Punjab kings camp, the 26-year-old will be the most experienced  bowler and will be expected to produce some match winning  performances with the ball in hand, which could help them win their maiden IPL title. With the Wankhede and the Brabourne Stadium offering ample bounce it is expected to give him a lot of assistance. Rabada is a proven match-winner and could prove to be lethal especially at the death. The pacer would also be keen to make up for the underwhelming season  he had last year

Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best bowlers in cricket across all formats and he’s a genuine game changer for MI, like he has done previously as well. Bumrah is a death overs specialist and probably the best T20 bowler around the world currently as he has been a consistent performer for Mumbai Indians with an ability to take wickets at any given period of the match. Since his debut in 2013, Bumrah has taken 130 wickets in 106 games at an economy of 7.42. Bumrah has been among the top 10 leading wicket-takers in every season since 2016 and will hope to continue the streak this season also. His brutal pace and movement in the first six overs, along with his accuracy at the death, makes him one of the most dangerous bowlers in the league and he is expected to continue to trouble the batters on the bouncy pitches of Mumbai and Pune.

Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans)

After being the mainstay for the Sunrisers Hyderabad since his arrival in the league in 2017, Rashid Khan will now play for new team Gujarat Titans. The Afghan leg-spinner has the best economy rate of 6.33 in the history of the tournament while also taking 93 wickets in 76 matches. He is known to choke the opposition for runs every time he has the ball in his hand, as batters often try to just play out his four overs without taking many risks. This season Rashid's role in the team will be as a potential leader as he has to spearhead the fragile bowling line up of GT. The 23-year-old is currently ranked as the fifth best T20 bowler in the world, his main skills in his variations as he can bowl flighted leg-spinners, googlies, flippers alongside other variations as well which make him a lethal player. With the league phase being played in Mumbai and Pune where the conditions might just aid the spinners considering its a subcontinent pitch, Rashid could be a lethal force to reckon with.

Yuzvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals)

In the past few years, Chahal had established himself as an integral part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore set-up as he quickly became the backbone of their bowling line-up as the same will be expected in the RR camp as well. He is ninth on the list of all-time leading wicket-takers in the IPL, having claimed 139 wickets in 114 games since his debut in 2013, as it actually speaks volumes about his skills and temperament. He enters the new season on the back of a good run of form and could be forming a match winning combination with India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the Rajasthan Royals, especially on the spin-friendly tracks in Mumbai, as the tournament progresses the tracks will get slower and spinners will get more assistance from the pitch which aid these two senior pros in the side.

Pat Cummins (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Cummins is rejoining KKR for Rs 7.25 crore and this time he will be aiming to silence critics after his below-average IPL displays last season with the ball. Fast forward to 2022, the pacer from Sydney now has gained some momentum since recently becoming the Australia Test captain and has just led the side from the front with his magnificent bowling performances. The Aussie bowler will be hoping to impress this year and continue the same form that he is in this year, the slight problem for the KKR management is that he will not be available for the first 5 matches since he’s playing the ODI series against Pakistan. The Australian test captain has to lead this young KKR bowling from the front if they are to win their 3 title this season.

Also read: Cummins, Finch will miss KKR's first five matches: David Hussey
 

(Cricket news) The Test series between Australia and Pakistan was monumental even before it started as it was the first time in 25 that the two sides had played a series in Pakistan. After drawing the first of the two Tests, the visitors won the last Test in emphatic fashion. Pakistan's approach was the thing that was questioned the most throughout the series where it looked like they were always playing for a draw. 

Overall the series didn't have a lot of excitement to offer because of flat pitches but Australia once again showed why they are a world class side. Pat Cummins led from the front as he took 12 wickets which was joint highest with Nathan Lyon. The off spinner always picked up wickets in delicate situations to give his side a breakthrough. Mitchell Starc carried on his Ashes form in the series as he perfectly used reverse swing to his advantage. 

Usman Khawaja was named the player of the series for being the highest run scorer. He scored 496 runs including 2 hundreds, he also got out in the nineties twice. Khawaja had an excellent series against in his home country and cemented his place in the Australian Test side. His extraordinary comeback is a great sign for Australia who have been searching for David Warner's partner for some while now.

The Pakistan board came under a lot of scrutiny for preparing lifeless pitches. The thought process was clear that they didn't want to give Australia any sort of advantage. The tactic did come off as gutless and eventually backfired as Pakistan lost control at a time after which they couldn't even come back. Australia now sit comfortably at the top of the World Test Championship table while Pakistan have slipped to fourth.

Also read: Top 5 batters to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022

Dubai, Mar 25 (Cricket News) South African batter Zubayr Hamza was on Friday provisionally suspended by the ICC for failing an out-of-competition dope test.

Hamza's dope sample collected out-of-competition on January 17 this year has been found to contain Furosemide, a prohibited substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency Code.

"The ICC has charged South African batter Zubayr Hamza with an anti-doping rule violation under the ICC Anti-Doping Code," the world body said in a statement.

"Hamza has been charged with the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance following the detection of Furosemide in a sample collected out-of-competition on 17 January 2022 and has been provisionally suspended pending the outcome of the disciplinary process." Furosemide is a Specified Substance contained in Section S5 of the 2022 WADA Prohibited List.

The ICC said proceedings against Hamza are ongoing and it will not make any further comment at this stage. 

Also Read : Top 5 batters to watch out in the upcoming Tata IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) With the IPL starting from tomorrow and this season there are 10 teams, which means more talented batsmen will have to step up to the mantle and prove their worth to the team. Let's take a look at the batters who have the ability to change the game single handedly. 

Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The newly-appointed Kolkata Knight Riders captain can single-handedly turn any match on its head. The Mumbaikar, has played 87 IPL matches and has scored 2,375 runs and will be eager to prove a point in his new role with his new team who have heavily invested in him. His ability to soak pressure and play a fearless brand of cricket makes him one of the best in business like we saw in the recently concluded Sri Lanka T20 series and the added fact of playing on home grounds will give him an added edge. The 27-year-old Indian batter has played 4 Tests, 26 ODIs and 36 T20s, as he is slowly proving his worth in this Indian setup. Going into the tournament he’s in terrific form and is certainly going to be in the reckoning for the orange cap.

Devon Conway (Chennai Super Kings)

Devon Conway was a very under the radar buy from the CSK management as they signed the New Zealand batter for Rs 1 crore in the mega auction. He had a terrific start to his international career as the southpaw has represented New Zealand in 7 Tests, 3 ODIs and 20 T20Is. He has since scored 767, 225 and 602 runs respectively. The southpaw has already slammed 3 centuries, 3 fifties, 1 double ton in the longest format. On the other hand, he slammed 1 century and 1 fifty in 7 ODI’s whereas he slammed 4 fifties in T20Is. He’s likely going to be Faf’s replacement at the top of the order, as he along with last year's orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad can form a formidable open partnership.

David Warner (Delhi Capitals)

Ever since his dismal IPL last year, Warner has been in terrific form especially in the shortest game as he helped Australia lift their first T20 World Cup by scoring the most runs in the tournament. The swashbuckling opener returns to Delhi Capitals, from where he started his IPL journey. His experience of playing in 150 IPL matches and amassing 5,449 runs in the tournament will play a major part in Delhi’s success. He has four hundreds and 50 half centuries in the shortest format of the game. The added advantage of not having any captaincy pressure, will be to play more freely and his role would be vital for his side. He along with Prithvi Shaw can form one of the most destructive opening pairs this season.

KL Rahul (Lucknow SuperGiants)
 
KL Rahul is set to lead one of the newest IPL teams, Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) this year. Having led PBKS in the past seasons, the captaincy is not new to Rahul. He had been leading run scorer for the PBKS in the past two seasons of the tournament. Although Rahul had been one of the most consistent hitters in the side, his inconsistent performances from the PBKS' middle-order often forced him to score big but a new season with a new team can spring some better fortune for him. This season, the LSG management have given him a very good team to captain and this will reduce the added pressure of scoring the majority of runs, this means that he can play freely and showcase his array of batting skills. He will bat alongside De Kock who over the years has become the most dependable openers for any team he has played.

Faf Du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

The newly appointed captain of RCB has a big challenge to lead the side to their maiden IPL trophy this year and will hopefully take that added pressure and score some valuable runs for his team. In IPL 2021, he ended as the second-highest run-scorer with 633 runs at a strike rate of nearly 140. Heading into the tournament, Faf has been in terrific form, scoring runs across the continent and the added fact of the tournament being held at Mumbai, a ground that he loves playing, will surely be an added advantage for this RCB side. Faf will surely be in the orange cap reckoning as he has point to prove to all those eagerly waiting RCB fans who are saying “Ee Sala cup Namde”.

Also read: What will be Ravindra Jadeja's biggest captaincy challenge?
 

(Cricket news) IPL 2022 is about to kick off in its new format. Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on last year's runner's up Kolkata Knight Riders. The match will be Ravindra Jadeja's first as a captain after MS Dhoni handed him the captaincy just one day ago. KKR will be led by new captain Shreyas Iyer who is in the form of his life. The match will take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

CSK Possible Playing XI:

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja(C), Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (WK), Dwayne Bravo, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner.

Moeen Ali is unavailable for selection due to visa issues while Deepak Chahar is injured and will miss the majority of the tournament. Rajvardhan Hangergekar was one of the most exciting talents to come out of India's under 19 World Cup win and should get his opportunity in game 1 itself. 

KKR Possible Playing XI:

Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson(WK), Andre Russell, Mohammed Nabi, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy.

Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins are playing the Test match in Pakistan and hence will be unavailable. Ajinkya Rahane will not be getting too many chances as Finch is likely to take his place after he comes back. The choice of wicketkeeper is between Sheldon Jackson and Sam Billings but the former's inclusion works slightly better for the combination.

The first few matches with a brand new squad tends to set the tone for the rest of the tournament. The clash will be crucial for both the sides and will be a good opportunity for a select few who are getting a chance before some of the foreign players become available. 

Also read: What will be Ravindra Jadeja's biggest captaincy challenge?

Mumbai, Mar 24 (Cricket News) Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday handed over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to Ravindra Jadeja ahead of IPL 2022, beginning on Saturday.

"MS Dhoni has decided to hand over the leadership of Chennai Super Kings and picked Ravindra Jadeja to lead the team. Jadeja, who has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2012, will only be the third player to lead CSK," said CSK in a statement.

"Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond," the franchise added in the statement.

Dhoni, 40, who had announced his international retirement following the 2019 World Cup, had led CSK to their fourth title last season.

CSK play KKR in the IPL opener here on Saturday. 

Also Read : England Women defeat Pakistan by nine wickets in the Cricket World Cup

News Source : PTi

Mumbai, Mar 23 (Cricket News) Lucknow Super Giants have signed Andrew Tye as a replacement for the injured England pacer Mark Wood for the upcoming Indian Premier League, it was announced on Wednesday The announcement was made via an IPL media advisory.

Wood suffered an elbow injury during England's first Test against West Indies earlier this month.

Tye has represented Australia in 32 T20Is and picked 47 wickets. The right-arm pacer, who has so far played 27 IPL matches and has picked 40 wickets, will join LSG for the price of Rs 1 crore.

LSG – who will be making their IPL debut this season – will begin their IPL 2022 campaign on March 28 when they take on Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium here.

The IPL-15 begins with a match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26.

Tye, who was with Rajasthan Royals earlier, had left the IPL midway last season due to personal reasons. 

Also Read : ICC Test Rankings: Jadeja regains top spot among all-rounders

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 23 (Cricket News) Defending champions Chennai Super Kings may miss the services of Moeen Ali for the IPL 2022 opener as the star England all-rounder is yet to receive his India visa for the 15th edition of the lucrative T20 tournament beginning in Mumbai on Saturday.

CSK, four-time IPL champions, will take on last edition's runner-up side Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening match of the this year's IPL at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

"It is learned that Moeen would need to arrive in Mumbai by Wednesday to stand a chance of playing his team's first match against 2021 runners-up Knight Riders," a report in 'ESPNcricinfo' stated.

"Considering that Moeen would need to undergo the mandatory three-day quarantine to enter the IPL bio-secure environment, Super Kings' management has accepted that the chances of him playing the opening match appear remote," the report added.

The report further states that if Moeen fails to arrive on time, New Zealand batter Devon Conway is likely to make his IPL debut.

"The Super Kings will likely feel the pinch in their first match, considering Moeen's off spin would have been handy against Knight Riders' trio of left-handers: Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine," it read.

Because of his fine all-round show which helped the team lift its fourth IPL title, Moeen was retained by CSK along side inspirational captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Moeen scored 357 runs from 15 innings for CSK in the IPL last year, while also accounting for six wickets from 15 games with his off-spin bowling. 

Also Read : Lucknow requires Rahul to be the 'batsman who leads' rather than the 'captain who bats': Gautam Gambhir, mentor

News Source: PTI

Mumbai, Mar 21 (Cricekt News) He has had his moments in IPL but Karun Nair, one of the only two triple centurions for India in Test cricket, has not quite gone on to become a T20 mainstay.

Not that his Test career took off in the manner it was expected to after the monumental 303 against England in 2016.

As far as IPL is concerned, being asked to play different roles at different teams did not help his cause, Nair reasoned.

Despite having had a great start to his IPL career, scoring 330 runs for Rajasthan Royals at a strike rate of 142.24 in 2014, and having played for a few more franchises subsequently, Nair has been unlucky when it comes to establishing himself as a mainstay in T20 cricket.

Smiling, Nair on Monday explained why he could not attain a high degree of success in the shortest format.

"In my opinion, the reason behind that is that I've never been the kind of a main player in a team in T20 cricket. If you see, whenever I score runs, there's someone else who scores better in the same match (laughs)," Nair said in a press release issued by his IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals.

"...But I'm not really bothered about that at all -- all I care about and why I play matches is to help the team win." "On a more serious note, why people don't see me as a T20 specialist is because I've been asked to play different kind of roles over the years, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I'm hoping to have a great season with the Royals and just focus on whatever I'm told to do," Nair added.

Having had a strong relationship with Rajasthan Royals over the past few years, batter Nair is back in the RR camp for IPL 2022 and is looking forward to contributing to the team's success.

"Obviously a lot of things have changed since when I was here (at the Royals) first, but this team always feels like home to me. We have a well-balanced side, and I'm enjoying getting to know all the guys here.

"It's an exciting phase in the history of this franchise and I'm looking forward to playing an exciting brand of cricket, which I know the Royals always strive to do," said 30-year-old Nair, who has also recently become a father.

Having played with Royals' skipper Sanju Samson before in the IPL, Nair is excited to play with his "good friend".

"I've always loved playing with Sanju so I can't wait to reconnect with him on the ground. We've had some really good partnerships over the years and I'm really happy to know Sanju, along with Kumar (Sangakkara) and Zubin (Bharucha), have shown the faith in me to bring me back into the team." Nair's teammate at Rajasthan Royals, spinner KC Cariappa is also chuffed to be playing alongside the phenomenal Ravichandran Ashwin in the upcoming IPL, viewing it as an opportunity to learn as much as possible from the veteran tweaker.

This time at RR, Cariappa will also have India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for company.

Cariappa, who has spent the last two seasons with the franchise, is looking forward to working with two of India's leading spinners.

"I've known Yuzi for a long time and have enjoyed interacting with him over the years. Whereas, with a legend like Ashwin bhai in the team, it's a great thing for me to learn and improve my bowling by taking inputs from him," said Cariappa.

"It's obviously good to be back at the Royals -- my second home. There's a new feeling around the camp, which is obviously also down to the fact that we've got a solid team," added the 27-year-old from Karnataka. 

Also Read : Worked on few new shots during rehab at NCA, you might see few cheeky shots in IPL: Shubman Gill

News Source : PTI

Dubai, Mar 16 (Cricket News) Fresh from his maiden Test five-wicket haul at home, Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah jumped six spots to fourth but struggling star batter Virat Kohli slipped to ninth in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday.

Bumrah, who returned with eight wickets in the Day/Night second Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, climbed past Shaheen Afridi, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, James Anderson, Neil Wagner and Josh Hazlewood in the Test rankings for bowlers.

Former captain Kohli, who continued his struggle with the bat and could not convert his starts, dropped four places, but managed to remain inside the top-10 just ahead of Rishabh Pant who remained static at 10th.

Kohli scored 45 in the opening Test in Mohali, while in the second Test he had scores of 23 and 13. He is yet to score a century since his 136 against Bangladesh in November 2019.

India skipper Rohit Sharma, however, held on to his sixth position to be the best-placed Indian in the batting charts.

The in-form Shreyas Iyer was rewarded for his match-winning 92 and 67 against Sri Lanka as he took a giant leap, advancing 40 spots to be on 37th position in the batting chart.

Sri Lanka Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne jumped up to a career best No 3 after his fighting 107 in the second innings in Bangalore.

In the all-rounders' table, Ravindra Jadeaja was displaced from the No.1 position as West Indies' Jason Holder reclaimed the top spot.

Jadeja had risen to No 1 after his 175 not out and nine wickets in the Mohali Test earlier this month.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Shakib Al Hasan and Ben Stokes rounded off the top five in the all-rounders' list.

In the bowlers' ranking, Mohammed Shami climbed up a spot to displace fellow countryman Ravindra Jadeja to 17th. Pat Cummins, Ashwin and Kagiso Rabada have retained the top three spots among the bowlers. 

Also Read : RR all-rounder Riyan Parag wants to pick Ashwin's brains in IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

Jaipur, Mar 16 (Cricket News) Excited to share the dressing room with Ravichandran Ashwin, young Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Riyan Parag said he wants to "pick the brains" of the ace Indian off-spinner in the upcoming IPL.

Ashwin has been one of the star additions to RR's squad as he was bought by the inaugural IPL champions for Rs 5 crore after an aggressive bidding war with Delhi Captials.

Playing his fourth season for the Royals, the 20-year-old Parag said he is eagerly looking forward to work with Ashwin.

"That will definitely be Ashwin... If not the best ever, he's like one of the best off-spinners going around in the world," said Parag, a spin bowling all-rounder said in a release issued by his franchise.

"I'll definitely try to carry a red ball with me in the tournament so that I can get a few tips.

"But even with the white ball, I think if I can pick his brains on the varieties and all the mysteries. I think my white-ball bowling is going to be much better after the season," he added.

The all-rounder from Guwahati already has 30 IPL matches under his belt, and is ready to make the most of his fourth season in the league.

"I started my IPL journey at the Royals, and I'm delighted that I was bought back. I know there were four teams involved in the bidding and it was nice to see that because that means I've been doing something right," said Parag, who was bought back By RR for Rs 3.80 crore.

The youngster, who has recently appeared in his graduation exams, said he always wanted to return to the Royals squad.

"Why this team means so much to me is because of the very family vibe, where everyone takes care of you, everyone is very friendly and approachable," he said while quarantining ahead of the season.

In the recent Ranji Trophy, the Assam cricketer scored 293 from six innings at an average of 48.83 with his highest being 91 (vs Uttar Pradesh). He also took seven wickets at an average of 24.42.

But Parag conceded that it was an "average" domestic season going by the standard he has set for himself.

"I missed a few 100s, I think I was in good nick and was batting well. In terms of bowling too, I got my first five-for.

"So yes, there is still huge scope for improvement. The focus now is on prepping up for the IPL as I've played less white ball cricket in the last month or so, but a few sessions of good practice should help in preparing," he said.

The youngster hopes to finish more matches for his franchise in the upcoming IPL.

"I think a lot of people will tell you this, the role that I play is the toughest one in T20 cricket, batting at 6 or 7, finishing off games.

"I know I haven't produced as many performances as I would have liked, but I think now I understand myself much better as a player and understand what my strengths are. So, I hope it's going to be my year," Parag signed off. 

Also Read : Women's WC: Inconsistent India suffer second defeat, lose to England by 4 wickets

News Source : PTI

Ahmedabad, Mar 13 (Cricket News) In his new avatar as Gujarat Titans skipper, a fit-again Hardik Pandya on Sunday claimed his bowling would be a "surprise" element in the upcoming Indian Premier League.

The ace Indian pace bowling all-rounder, who struggled to manage his bowling workload post his back surgery, will return to action in the IPL since his last appearance for India against Namibia in the T20 World Cup at Dubai on November 8.

Asked whether he would bowl again, Hardik said it would be a surprise.

"Sir, it would be a surprise, so let it be a surprise," the 28-year-old said on the sidelines of their jersey launch at their home ground Narendra Modi Stadium here.

Hardik was picked by Gujarat Titans for Rs 15 crore in the pre-auction draft and was named the captain as the former Mumbai Indians star will be seen as a new role of leading the side.

Hardik said captaincy is about man management.

"Success is theirs, failure is mine. Our role will be to make sure the players are comfortable in whatever capacity we can help them out. Clarity, honesty has to be there," he said.

"In good times they don't need any of us. But the season will test you, there will be difficult times and that's when we will be there to support them," Hardik reiterated what he had said during an earlier interaction.

The Ahmedabad-based franchise will make its IPL debut alongside Lucknow Super Giants to make it a 10-team IPL 2022 and they will take on the Lucknow franchise in their opening match on March 28.

The Gujarat Titans squad also includes India opener Shubman Gill, Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, Australia's Matthew Wade, senior India pacer Mohammad Shami and New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson.

"We want to create a culture where all the players feel at home, we want to give them a sense of security then only we can get the best out of them. We want to make them feel like they belong here. It's about creating a new culture." The team will have former India pacer Ashish Nehra as the head coach and Hardik said it's fun to work with him.

"He's the funniest guy one can come across. He will never give you the coach vibe. It was very clear with Nehraji that let all the players decide what they want to do and give them freedom. You make mistakes but eventually you learn. I'm very excited to spend time with him," he concluded. 

Also Read : We are waiting for fitness update on Ruturaj and Deepak: CSK CEO Kashi Vishwanathan

News Source : PTI

Kolkata, Mar 6 (Cricket News) Seven elite group toppers -- Bengal, Mumbai, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand -- made the cut directly to the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals after the conclusion of the league round on Sunday.

Having finished with least points among the eight elite group toppers, Jharkhand will face Plate toppers Nagaland in a one-off pre-quarterfinal here from March 12.

Group E toppers Uttarakhand and Jharkhand (group H) finished with 12 points each but the former with a better run-rate quotient of 1.424 advanced into the quarters directly.

The quarterfinals will get underway in June after the IPL 2022.

The premier domestic cricket tournament returned in February after the pandemic forced break of two years -- the longest interruption in its history. 

Also Read : Never thought of getting past great Kapil Dev's tally of wickets: Ashwin

News Source : PTI

Mohali, Mar 2 (Cricket News) Veteran batters Cheteshwar Pujara and former Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane were downgraded in the latest central contracts list of the BCCI that was ratified by the Board's Apex Council on Wednesday.

The BCCI has four categories -- A+ which has annual remuneration of Rs 7 crore while A, B and C categories are valued at Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.

Accordingly, Pujara and Rahane, who were in Grade A are now in Grade B, after a slump in form that saw them being dropped from the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

That they will be downgraded was reported by PTI on January 20.

The biggest demotion, however, was for injury-ravaged all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been shunted out from Grade A to C in the list.

Controversial keeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha, who has been dropped from the Test team, will still be richer by Rs 1 crore after being demoted from group B to C. 

Also Read : Injured Deepak Chahar set to miss half of IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 2 (Cricket News) Chennai Super Kings pacer Deepak Chahar is set to miss first half of the upcoming Indian Premier League due to a right quadriceps injury which he sustained during the third and final T20 match against West Indies in Kolkata.

According to BCCI sources, Chahar is likely to be out for eight weeks.

"Chahar is out for at least eight weeks, which means he will miss half of IPL 2022," the BCCI source told PTI.

The IPL 2022 starts on March 26 and CSK is still waiting for a final report from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru where the pacer is recuperating.

Chahar was bought by CSK for a whopping Rs 14 crore, which is the second most expensive buy in this year's IPL auction.

The 29-year-old had sustained a right quadriceps injury while playing in the final T20 against the West Indies in Kolkata on February 20 and was subsequently ruled out of the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka, which India won 3-0.

In his short international career so far, Chahar has picked up 10 and 26 wickets from seven ODIs and 20 T20 matches respectively.

Coming down the order, Chahar has also made valuable contributions for India, hitting two fifties in ODIs with 69 not out being his highest score.

The IPL 2022 is scheduled to be played in the country from March 26 till May 29. 

Also Read : Two Alpha Males and 'The Test': A day in nets for 'Centurion' Kohli and 'Captain' Sharma

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 1 (Cricket News) England's flamboyant batter Jason Roy has pulled out of the upcoming IPL citing extended stay in the tournament bubble, dealing a blow to his new franchise Gujarat Titans weeks before the event gets going.

According to a report in 'ESPNcricinfo', Roy informed the franchise of his decision last week. The Titans are yet to finalise a replacement.

The 31-year-old South African-born English cricketer was signed by Gujarat Titans for his base price of Rs 2 crore at the mega auction.

The development is a big blow to the Gujarat franchise as Roy was the only specialist opener picked by them apart from young Shubman Gill.

This is the second time the English player is pulling out of the IPL. He had earlier withdrawn from the 2020 edition due to personal reasons after being picked up by the Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.5 crore.

The 15th edition of the IPL is scheduled to begin on March 26 and will conclude in the last week of May.

Last season, Roy had represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and played a few decent knocks before carrying his form to the Pakistan Super League this year, where he turned out for the Quetta Gladiators.

The PSL too was played in a bio-secure bubble.

He played only six matches for the franchise and still ended up as their highest run-corer with 303 runs at an average of 50.50 and a strike-rate of 170.22.

Notably, Roy was blessed with his second child in January.

The IPL 2022 will be a 10-team event and will take place in Mumbai and Pune. 

Also Read : Smith eagerly waiting to play Test cricket on Pakistan soil

News Source : PTI

Dharamsala, Feb 25 (Cricket News) A reinvigorated India will look to pocket their second series win in as many weeks and build on the gains made from a drastic change in their batting approach in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka here on Saturday.

India were forced to look in the mirror after their early exit from the T20 World Cup last year but four months later, they look a transformed unit with a bunch of youngsters being tried out in various positions and roles.

It is still early days but the Rohit Sharma-led side has already figured out the core group of players that will travel to Australia for the World Cup Down Under later this year.

Young opener Ishan Kishan got a massive dose of confidence in the series opener on Thursday after his struggles against the West Indies.

Finding strike rotation tough in the preceding series, Kishan was able to overcome that weakness against the Sri Lankan bowlers besides flaunting the strokeplay he is known for in the IPL.

There is no time to settle in a T20 game and India have finally realised that, allowing them to post 180 plus totals regularly.

If it wasn't for Ruturaj Gaekwad's wrist injury, he could have opened with Kishan and Rohit would have dropped himself down the order like he did against the West Indies. The same could happen on Saturday if Gaekwad is able to regain full fitness.

Such is Rohit's class that he has not taken any time to find his rhythm after coming from an injury break. He looked in sublime touch en route to his 44 but must be disappointed to not have carried on for longer.

Shreyas Iyer made merry at number three in the absence of the rested Virat Kohli and would be aiming to repeat that for the rest of the series.

When a full strength India take the field next, he might not find a place in the playing eleven and therefore, he needs to make the most of the opportunities that come his way.

As Rohit indicated after the opening game, a fit again Ravindra Jadeja will continue to bat higher up the order as the team wants to optimise his significantly improved batting skills.

"We want more from him that is why we asked him to bat higher. You will see that happening more and more in the games that he plays for India. I want him to bat up the order more.

"He is a very improved batter, so we will try and see if we can promote him going forward. We are very clear with what we want to achieve with him in white ball cricket," said the skipper referring to the all-rounder.

Comeback man Sanju Samson did not get to bat in the opener and he will be eagerly waiting for his turn at the scenic Dharamsala ground.

India are also getting better on the bowling front. They used as many as seven options, including Deepak Hooda, on Thursday and most of them did alright. Venkatesh Iyer was a tad expensive but took a couple of wickets.

It would take a special effort from Sri Lanka to end India's 10-match winning streak in the spiritual home of Dalai Lama.

With a misfiring top-order and absence of frontline spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka struggled to compete in the first game.

Even skipper Dasun Shanaka bowling after a while did not help as Indians looked unstoppable with the bat.

The weather is expected to be much colder in the night compared to Lucknow. With only a travel day separating the two games, the players will have little time to adjust to the conditions.

Squads: ===== Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Praveen Jayawickrama, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Kumara, Danushka Gunathilaka, Ashian Daniel, Shiran Fernando, Binura Fernando.

Match starts 7PM. 

Also Read : IPL Governing Council announces format for TATA IPL 2022 Season

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) The IPL Governing Council made certain key decisions about the TATA IPL 2022 Season. The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League will be held in a bio-secure environment at a single hub to restrict as much as air travel which is considered as a major threat for the spread of COVID-19 infection.

The tournament will begin from 26th March, 2022 and the final will be played on 29th May, 2022. A total of 70 league matches will be played in four international standard venues in Mumbai and Pune. The venue for the playoff matches shall be decided later.

Below is the breakdown of matches as per the venues:

All teams will play:

4 matches each at Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil Stadium.

3 matches each at Brabourne Stadium (CCI) and MCA International Stadium, Pune.

The 10 teams will play 14 league matches in total (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totalling to 70 league matches, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away).

To decide on the above, teams have been assigned in two virtual groups based on the number of IPL Championships won followed by the number of final matches played by the respective teams.

The details of the teams having won the IPL Championships and number of times each of them has played a final match is listed below:

The virtual groups are mentioned below:

 

Each team will play twice with the teams in their group and with the team in the same row in the second group. With the rest of the teams in the second group they will play only once during the season.

For Example: In Group A, MI will play 2 matches each against KKR, RR, DC, LSG. MI will also play 2 matches against CSK and 1 match each against other teams in Group B.

Similarly, in Group B, RCB will play 2 matches against CSK, SRH, PBKS and GT. RCB will also play 2 matches against RR and 1 match each against other teams in Group A.

The schedule matrix of the TATA IPL 2022 is listed below:

Also read: Was the Indian women's approach for the New Zealand series right?

Mumbai, Feb 24 (Cricket News) Virat Kohli, who had stepped down as the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper after the 2021 IPL season, said he took that call to give himself some space and manage his workload.

Kohli had announced his decision to leave IPL captaincy after saying that T20 World Cup will be his last tournament as India skipper in the shortest format.

He was later removed as ODI captain before he quit the leadership role in five-day format. "I’m not someone who holds onto things more than I should. Even if I know I can do a lot more, if I’m not going to enjoy the process, I’m not going to do it," Kohli, one of the modern day greats, said on "The RCB Podcast" about dropping the captain’s armband.

The former RCB and India skipper asserted that it is very difficult for people to understand what a cricketer thinks while taking such decisions.

"Because it’s very difficult for people to understand your decisions unless they are in your situation. From the outside, people have their own expectations ‘Oh! How did that happen? We are so shocked'," added Kohli, who is on the verge of playing his 100th Test.

"There’s nothing to be shocked about. I explain to people, I wanted some space and I wanted to manage my workload and the story ends there." Right from the inaugural IPL till last season, RCB have never won the cash-rich tournament.

Rubbising all the conversations that people had about his decision, Kohli cleared the air saying, "There was actually nothing at all. I keep my life very simple and basic, when I wanted to make a decision, I made a decision and I announced it.

"I didn’t want to think about it and contemplate it for another year. That would’ve done nothing to me, nothing to the environment I’m part of. Quality of life is something very important to me. And the quality of cricket is something very important to me.

"Over a period of time, you want to do what you’re doing day-in-and-day-out and you want to do as much as you can, but at the end of the day, you have to realize that quality is far more important than quantity," stressed Kohli.

The elegant top order batter also stressed that he has always been himself.

"Quantity in hard work but quality in execution. That is the key. If you go for quantity in execution, then you’re going to get burnt out. If I can’t be myself in my everyday life and I can’t be myself on the field, I will change something.

"Because that is who I am. That is the reason I am where I am. And that is the reason why people can connect to me at a certain level. My loved ones, people who are close to me, my friends they connected to me because of that factor, because I’ve always been myself," he signed off. 

Also Read : Mayank Agarwal set to captain Punjab Kings in IPL 2022

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Feb 23 (Cricket News) India batter Mayank Agarwal is likely to captain Punjab Kings in the upcoming Indian Premier League. Agarwal, who is part of the Indian Test team, was one of the two players retained by Punjab Kings alongside young pacer Arshdeep Singh ahead of the mega auction earlier this month.

A formal announcement is expected soon.

"In all likelihood, Mayank will captain the side. The announcement is expected later this week," an IPL source told PTI.

Punjab, who went into the auction with the maximum purse, made good use of the money by getting the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada and buying back left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar and explosive Tamil Nadu batter Shahrukh Khan.

Dhawan's name as captain was also doing the rounds but the management was keen on Agarwal as the leader even before the auction.

"Dhawan is a welcome addition to the side and was always on the radar at the auction. He is a champion player but it seems Punjab were keen on Mayank as captain ever since K L Rahul left the team," the source added.

Agarwal and Rahul formed one of the most prolific opening pairs in the IPL over the past couple of years. Rahul will lead Lucknow Super Giants this season.

Agarwal had captained the team briefly last year when Rahul was injured. Agarwal aggregated 400-plus runs in the past two seasons. He had made his IPL debut in 2011 and has so far played 100 games.

The 31-year-old has also played 19 Tests and five ODIs for India.

With a strong squad at their disposal, Punjab Kings are aiming to end their title drought in the IPL. Their only final appearance came way back in 2014. They finished sixth out of eight teams in last three editions. 

Also Read : Jadeja and Bumrah set to return as India take on Hasaranga-less Sri Lanka

News Source : PTI

Kolkata, Feb 21 (Cricket News) Finding the perfect combination can be tricky and there is no set formula, but India head coach Rahul Dravid says he and skipper Rohit Sharma are pretty clear about the team for the T20 World Cup in Australia in less than eight months' time.

The former captain, who took over from Ravi Shastri after India's group stage exit in last year's T20 World Cup in UAE, will have his first big challenge in Australia. Dravid said he and Rohit understand what should be the team combination for the mega-event.

"I think we have got a fair idea between Rohit and myself and the selectors and the management," Dravid said after their 17-run win over the West Indies in the third T20I that ensured a 3-0 clean sweep here on Sunday.

"I don't think there's a set formula to it. But we're pretty clear about the balance and the combination (for the T20 World Cup)...We are just structuring a little bit of the team around it and also balancing individual workloads as well.

"We have got a pretty fair idea of the kind of skills we're looking for in Australia, with the kind of guys who are in running. Not everything is set in stone but we want to give everyone a fair chance to stake their claim for those spots," he added.

The T20I series against West Indies was India's first in a packed calendar in the build-up to the World Cup and they next take on Sri Lanka in an identical three-match rubber in four days' time.

In the absence of some Team India regulars like opener KL Rahul, and pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, India gave opportunities to youngsters such as Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Avesh Khan to stake their claim in the World Cup-bound squad.

With Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant being given a 10-day bio-bubble rest, India also tried out Shreyas Iyer, while Kishan doubled up as the wicketkeeper in the third and final T20I. Dravid said the whole process was about having the backups ready.

"In the times that we live in, it's never easy... I don't think there's a time-frame when you can actually say that okay, now this is the team you want to freeze on.

"You don't want to cast your net too wide. We don't also want to restrict ourselves to just 15 players. We want to give players opportunities, ensure that by the time we get to the World Cup, some of our guys have played at least 10-15-20 games," Dravid explained.

"It gives Rohit a chance to play them, bowl them in positions that he wants to, but he also has to be balanced with the fact that we need to have a few back-ups of people in case of an injury," he added.

Kishan opened in all the three matches of the series but the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter failed to impress with just 71 runs at an average of 23.66.

In the final game, Maharashtra 'run-machine' Ruturaj Gaikwad opened with Kishan as Rohit opted to bat at No.4 but the duo failed to make it big.

Dravid said the youngsters would not be judged on one series or one bad game.

"This is a tough format. We are asking them to play high risk cricket. We're asking them to play shots all the time. And we don't judge them on a few games. It's not the way, it's done.

"We try to give people as much as possible consistent runs. We're trying to give them opportunities to play and not judge them on a game to game basis or on one series." Struggling Kishan gets Dravid's support ======================== Giving full support to IPL 2022 auction's most expensive buy Kishan, Dravid said: "Ishan has been picked on his potential, his performance. Yes, you cannot specify this many games. Sometimes it's combination, sometimes it's injuries." "Never always give a player the same number of games, there cannot be a written number in stone whether it's seven or six matches." "Whether it's Ruturaj Gaikwad or Avesh Khan today. We are not judging them on one game. They're here because they perform and deserve to be here," the former captain stressed.

"We like to give the players confidence in the group in and around the squad and that they are not going to be judged on one game. It's always a tricky balance. But in the larger group, I'm not concerned about one-off series. In this format, it's going to happen," Dravid added.

Venkatesh Iyer making strides as all-rounder =========================== For long, India have been fretting over their sixth bowling option especially after the back injury to their pace bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

In the absence of an unfit Pandya, India have tried out the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Shardul Thakur and it's the former who has impressed the head coach.

"I know he plays a different role (opener) for his IPL franchise but we're very clear with what is the kind of role that we see him filling in our situation... Obviously our top three isn't really a spot, because these guys have established and have been performing very well in the top three," he said.

"So we challenged him, we gave him the role to be able to bat in that position. Every time he's improved, he's gotten better. That's really pleasing." Venkatesh scored 92 runs from three matches with a strike rate of 184.00 and also played the role of the sixth bowler taking two wickets at an average of 13.50.

In the final T20I when Deepak Chahar limped off following a hamstring injury in the third over, Venkatesh filled in and took 2/23 in his 2.1 overs.

"The role of a sixth bowler is something that you always be called upon to bowl. But in a situation like today where we unfortunately lost Deepak, you have to bowl a few critical overs," Dravid said.

"That is the role of a sixth bowler. If you are having a good game and the captain doesn't need you then he doesn't need you.

"If he needs you, he probably will need you at a critical time. And I think he's done a really good job for us, really good series he has had," he added.

100 days, a learning experience for 'the Wall' =========================== Having started off his stint as India coach with a 3-0 sweep over New Zealand last year, it's been a roller-coaster ride so far for Dravid.

Be it their back-to-back Test and ODI series defeats in South Africa, the controversy surrounding Virat Kohli's captaincy or the recent saga around Wriddhiman Saha's sacking from Test cricket, Dravid summed it all up by saying it's been a "learning experience".

"I learnt a lot. I'm not stressed too much about the results and just want the team to get better and move in the right direction," Dravid, who completed 100 days as coach on February 17, said.

"South Africa was a reality check for us, especially in the one-day format. In Tests, while it was disappointing, things could have gone our way with a bit of luck.

"From my perspective, it's really important to keep learning as a coach to keep improving. I keep learning everyday...I don't expect not to make mistakes. I'm going to make mistakes," he conceded.

"But I learn, I'll improve and get better. I hope the team wants to do that (too)...we need to keep improving. We are far from the finished product," he concluded. 

Also Read : Not hurt by Wriddhi's comments but he deserved honesty and clarity about his position: Dravid

News Source : PTI

Kolkata, Feb 19 (Cricket News) The series in their bag, India will have the liberty to experiment in the third and final T20I against the West Indies here on Sunday.

With Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant given a 10-day break, the home team is set to finally include the gifted Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad in the playing XI.

Under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, India secured their third successive series win with an eight-run win over the West Indies in the second T20I here on Friday.

With the T20 World Cup scheduled in less than eight months time in Australia, Rohit would look to try out new options, beginning with finding a reserve opener.

In the absence of KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan has failed to impress at the top of the order and his place could be given to the talented Gaikwad, who has been warming the bench until now.

Playing the series just after he became the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction -- he was bought back by Mumbai Indians for a staggering Rs 15.25 crore -- the Jharkhand left-hander has struggled to get going.

After his anxious 42-ball 35 in the first match, Ishan could manage just two runs from 10 balls in the second game.

It remains to be seen if Rohit gives one more chance to his Mumbai Indians teammate or bring in Gaikwad.

New-look middle-order sans Kohli and Pant =========================== With the Sri Lanka T20I series up next, it may not be a bad idea to give Ishan a longer run.

In the middle-order, Shreyas will replace Kohli, who has been given a much-needed break ahead of his landmark 100th Test.

The former India captain will miss the T20I series against Sri Lanka and return for the Tests against the islanders.

Shreyas, who was the third biggest buy at the IPL auction but could not fit into India's T20 combination for the first two matches against the West Indies, will be the obvious choice.

Recently appointed as Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, Shreyas had played a match-winning knock during the ODI in Ahmedabad, and he would look to grab the opportunity of playing at the Eden Gardens -- his new "home ground".

Hooda, Avesh, Siraj waiting in the pipeline ========================== Deepak Hooda also impressed after making his debut in the preceding ODI series and it remains to be seen if the big-hitting all-rounder is tried out in the T20Is.

In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, India have so far fielded the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel.

Both Bhuvneshwar and Patel have so far delivered the goods, especially in the second match when the former bowled a game-changing penultimate over before the rookie seamer defended 25 runs in the final over to secure a series-clinching win.

It remains to be seen whether Rohit would look to alter his bowling combination by bringing in Mohammed Siraj. The uncapped Avesh Khan, too, gives him an option.

Khan recently became the most expensive uncapped Indian player in the history of the IPL auction after being picked by Lucknow Supergiants for 10 crore.

The pacer has been in good form in the last 12 months, bagging 14 wickets in 16 matches at an impressive economy rate of 7.37 in IPL 2021.

In pursuit of their first win of the tour ======================= Fresh from their thrilling 3-2 victory at home over England, the Windies are yet to win a match in the ongoing tour of India, having lost the preceding ODI series 0-3.

In their favourite format, the Kieron Pollard-led side has failed to impress in the first match but, on Friday, the duo of Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran threatened to chase down India's 187 with explosive half-centuries.

Wicketkeeper-batter Pooran has been in imperious form, scoring a second successive half-century, and off-spinning all-rounder Roston Chase too has been impressive.

Teams (from): India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav and Harpreet Brar.

West Indies: Kieron Pollard (captain), Nicholas Pooran (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Kyle Mayers, Hayden Walsh Jr.

Match starts: 7 am IST. 

Also Read : Bubble Fatigue: BCCI gives break to Kohli and Pant for 4 T20Is; duo will be back for Lanka Tests

News Source : PTI

Kolkata, Feb 18 (Cricket News) Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel produced superb bowling in slog overs as India survived some anxious moments before walking out with an eight-run won over West Indies in the second T20I that handed them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here on Friday.

Chasing a stiff 187, wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran (62 off 41 balls) and Rovman Powell (68 not out from 36 balls) hit belligerent fifties to keep them in the hunt as they needed just 29 runs from the last two overs.

But death bowling specialist, Bhuvneshwar Kumar revived India's hopes by removing the dangerous-looking Pooran with a slower off-cutter.

Under pressure after he dropped Rovman Powell off his own bowling, Bhuvneshwar was brilliant and conceded just four runs in the over.

Needing to defend 25 in the final over, Patel was hit for two consecutive sixes but he held his nerves to seal the issue for India.

This was India's 100th win in T20Is as they sealed the series with one match to go on Sunday.

Earlier continuing his impressive run in his debut series, Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Brandon King (22) in his third delivery to break the second-wicket stand.

But Pooran and Powell looked without any trouble against the Indian attack.

Wicketkeeper-batter Pooran continued his impressive form to smash a second successive half-century, while Powell gave a fine support at the other end with a 28-ball 50 as the Windies recovered from being 59/3 inside nine overs.

Dropped on 21 by Bishnoi in the 10th over, Pooran brought up his fifty in 34 balls -- his second in as many games -- with a slog over off Deepak Chahar's final over.

Powell then completed a 28-ball fifty as India looked under real pressure before Bhuvneshwar turned it around.

Earlier, Virat Kohli was back among runs with a fifty while Rishabh Pant smashed a quick-fire unbeaten 52 to lift India to a challenging 186/5.

Kohli hit his 30th fifty in the shortest format, his first since the 57 versus Pakistan in the T20 World Cup on October 24 last year.

The former captain's sheer elegance was on full display as he cut, pulled and also took the aerial route en route to his 41-ball 52 that had seven fours and one six.

Luck also favoured Kohli on the day as the former skipper brought up his 30th T20I fifty with a slog over long-on after Jason Holder failed to get hold of the catch as the ball went over the boundary.

But Kohli failed to make it big and was cleaned up by Chase two balls later after the Windies off-spinner breached his gate for his third wicket.

Chase was impressive in the middle overs to return with 3/25 and which included the wickets of Rohit Sharma (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (8).

Thereafter it was Pant and Venkatesh Iyer (33 from 18 balls) show on offer as they took charge on the likes of Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd in their 76-run partnership from 35 balls.

Pant (52 off 28 balls) brought up his third fifty in T20Is with a double in the penultimate delivery of the innings, taking just 27 balls to get to the milestone.

Earlier India got off to a slow start with Sheldon Cottrell bowling four dots on the trot before dismissing Ishan Kishan in the second over of the day.

Kishan, who was the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction, looked listless and under pressure to continue his poor form and departed for two after his 10-ball stay.

But thereafter it was Kohli show at the sparsely-crowded Eden as the former India skipper delighted his fans with his elegant timing and strokeplay.

Getting off the mark with a boundary with a whip to the square leg boundary, Kohli found his timing early on and got a second boundary in the same over of Akeal Hossain.

Kohli was the aggressor and skipper Rohit was happy to play the second fiddle as the duo took India's score to almost 50 in the first six overs.

There was a clear shift in India's batting in the powerplay as the duo were not afraid to take the aerial route.

Rohit departed for 19 in 18 balls after a fine partnership with Kohli that yielded 49 runs from 36 balls before Chase gave the breakthrough in his first over removing the Indian skipper after inducing a thick leading edge to be caught at the point.

In his next over, Chase accounted for Suryakumar but Kohli ensured that there was no further damage. 

Also Read : Bihar batter Gani smashes 341, highest score on FC debut

News Source : PTI

Mumbai, Feb 14 (Cricket News) England pacer Jofra Archer, who landed a Rs 8 crore deal with the Mumbai Indians despite being unavailable for this year's IPL due to injury, says signing up with the franchise is like "starting a new chapter" in his career.

Archer was bought by the five-time IPL champions on the second day of the IPL 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru on Sunday.

He is unlikely to play in this season's IPL as he continues his recovery from elbow surgery, but was given permission to enter the auction with a view to compete in the 2023 and 2024 tournaments.

"I am super excited to be joining the Mumbai Indians. It has been a franchise that was really close to my heart and I always wanted to play for them as long as I could have remembered watching IPL cricket," he said in a video posted on Instagram handle of MI.

"I am so glad that I have finally got the opportunity to represent such an amazing franchise. I am also going to get a chance to play with some of the biggest stars in the world. So I am really looking forward to starting a new chapter. See you guys soon." Earlier on Sunday, explaining the rationale behind picking Archer, MI owner Akash Ambani had said, "... of course he (Archer) is not available this year but when he is fit and available, I believe that with (Jasprit Bumrah) he will make a formidable partnership." Former India pacer and MI's director of cricket operations, Zaheer Khan said the prospect of witnessing Bumrah and Archer bowling in tandem will be worth the wait.

"You are eagerly waiting for the partnership to go on the field and so am I," he said.

"To see two legendary fast bowlers bowling in tandem and I'm glad that it seems possible and will be worth the wait." 

Also Read : Don't think Kohli going through a lean patch: Rathour

News Source : PTI

Bengaluru, Feb 13 (Cricket News) Mumbai Indians spending Rs 8 crore on an injured Jofra Archer surprised many but owner Akash Ambani on Sunday reckoned that the England pacer would form a formidable partnership with Jasprit Bumrah once he regains fitness.

Archer was bought by five-time champions MI on the second day of the IPL 2022 mega auction here.

"We took all those into considerations. After yesterday, what the fast bowlers went at, one option became very dear to us that Jofra was the only marquee fast bowler left in the list.

"So, we had discussed his name previously also and of course he (Archer) is not available this year but when he is fit and available, I believe that with (Jasprit Bumrah) he will make a formidable partnership," Ambani said during a virtual press conference.

Based purely on a leap of faith, MI paid a whopping Rs 8 crore for Archer despite his unavailability in the 2022 edition of the cash-rich league.

Ambani also spoke highly of Tim David, whom his franchise picked at a staggering Rs 8.25 crore, terming him as one of the best finishers in the world.

"Tim is a player we have been tracking for last two or three years, you know, he was playing the associate nations and last year he got a good half a year experience with RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore), which was crucial for him to know what all goes on in the IPL and what level one does need to perform," said Ambani.

"We always believed in his skills, he is one of the best finishers in the world and as soon as we knew Hardik (Pandya) was not in our team sheet, we knew that slot had to go to a foreigner, because there is no one in India than Hardik," said Akash.

The owner hoped that the players they bought don't feel the pressure of the price tag. 

Also Read : Steve Smith suffers concussion, ruled out of remainder of T20I series against SL

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) The Lucknow franchise confirmed their three players they selected for the IPL 2022 as RPSG group had bid a record sum of INR 7090 crore to buy the Lucknow franchise. This is Goenka's  second time buying an IPL team, having previously owned the Rising Pune Supergiants franchise for two IPL seasons in 2016 and 2017. Goenka is an ambitious person and that showed when he was not shy of replacing MS Dhoni as captain with Australia's Steven Smith in 2017, after the team's below-par showing in 2016. This year again they picked three players and raised the eyebrows of the experts.

The Lucknow team have appointed former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower as head coach, and former India captain Gautam Gambhir as a mentor. Lucknow, one of the two new teams added to the IPL last October, will enter next month's mega auction with INR 59.89 crore .KL Rahul has been signed by the Lucknow IPL franchise for INR 17 crore, making him the joint-highest-paid player in the IPL across seasons, along with Royal Challengers Bangalore's Virat Kohli. Kohli was signed for the same amount by Royal Challengers in 2018, ahead of the last mega IPL auction. They also signed  Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis for INR 9.2 crore and uncapped Indian leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi for INR 4 crore. Bishnoi was the highest wicket-taker in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and was then picked by Punjab Kings, where he has been impressive over two seasons. Marcus Stoinis provides the much needed all rounder that especially Gautam Gambhir was looking for since Ben Stokes opted out of the tournament.

Gambhir, who has won the IPL previously as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, twice, said signing up Rahul was a "no-brainer". "He's a work in progress, he keeps, he opens the batting," Gambhir told Star Sports. "He consistently has been a phenomenal run-scorer. And what's better than someone who gives you three things?"

Goenka said that “the three players his franchise had picked would not only propel the team but also lay the foundation for the future. KL is not only an outstanding batsman but also a great wicketkeeper," Goenka also added by saying. "Marcus is a great finisher, a good bowler and a phenomenal fielder. Ravi brings a unique dimension to the spin department and is an exceptional fielder. We want players to be here for three-four-five-six-seven-eight years."

Also read: Ahmedabad franchise have finalized their draft picks for IPL 2022

Goenka also confirmed that Rahul would be Lucknow's captain. "Yes, KL will be the captain. I have been very impressed with not only his batting and wicket keeping, but also his leadership skills. He is evolving, growing, maturing as a leader. He is somebody I would have wanted to lead the team and I do believe that given the right atmosphere, environment, he will emerge as a remarkable leader."
 

New Delhi, Jan 22 (Cricket News) India batter Shreyas Iyer and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal along with Australoan dasher David Warner are expected to be the top draws as over 1,200 players registered themselves for the Indian Premier League mega auction scheduled for next month.

Apart from Shreyas and Chahal, the 10 teams are likely to be involved in bidding war for Indian players like senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, batter Ishan Kishan, the pace duo of Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar, the top two wicket takers of the last edition Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan, spinner Rahul Chahar and all-rounder Washington Sundar.

The above bunch of Indian players is expected to attract anywhere between Rs 7 to 15 crores (between USD 1 to 2 million) Among foreign players, Warner, South African Kagiso Rabada are likely to fetch big bucks along with England's Mark Wood, Australia's Mitchell Marsh, New Zealand's Trent Boult and Pat Cummins. Veterans Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo could still keep their franchise Chennai Super Kings interested.

"Total of 1,214 players (896 Indian and 318 overseas players) have signed up to be part of the IPL 2022 Player Auction," the IPL said in a statement on Saturday.

The two-day mega auction is slated to be held in Bengaluru on the February 12 and 13.

This is the initial list of players. All 10 teams will be sent the following which will the franchises will revert with the names of the players they are interested in.

The list will then be pruned for the auction.

A total of 33 players have been retained/picked ahead of the Player Auction. The existing eight IPL Franchises have retained a total of 27 players, including MS Dhoni by Chennai Super Kings, Rohit Sharma by Mumbai Indians and Virat Kohli by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The two new IPL teams have picked six players with Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul being named captain of the Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchise respectively.

Some of other other big names retained include Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Kane Williamson, Jos Buttler and Glenn Maxwell to name a few.

The big names to miss out are Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Mitchell Strac, Sam Curran and Chris Gayle.

First player registeration from Bhutan ======================== More than 200 players who have registered are capped international players, while 62 uncapped foreign players have also thrown their hat into the ring.

An unnamed player from Bhutan has registered for the lucrative league while a record number of 14 cricketers from USA have signed up for the auction.

Australia tops the overseas list with 59 players while 48 cricketers from South African have also put forth their names.

West Indies (41), Sri Lanka (36), England (30), New Zealand (29) and Afghanistan (20) are some of the other countries from where numerous players have registered their names.

There is also representation from Namibia (5), Nepal (15), Netherlands (1), Oman (3), Scotland (1), Zimbabwe (2), Ireland (3) and UAE (1). 

Also Read : Indian bowlers disappoint once again as South Africa seal ODI series win

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) South Africa won the 2nd ODI by 7 wickets to win the series 2-0. The entire tour has been very disappointing for India who are clearly feeling the effects of Virat Kohli not being the captain anymore. The absence of Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja doesn't help either

KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bat first. After a decent start India lost Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli in quick succession. Rishabh Pant came in to bat and had a good partnership with KL Rahul as they put together 115 runs. Pant scored 85 off just 71 balls before Tabraiz Shamsi picked up his wicket. The gloveman was the aggressor as he hit 10 boundaries and 2 maximums to get his highest ODI score. KL Rahul on the other hand was watchfull as he took 79 balls to score 55 but lost his wicket to Sisanda Mangala. Late strikes from Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur got India to 287 runs in the first innings.

South Africa got off to a flying start as Quinton de Kock and Janeman Malan put together 132 runs for the 1st wicket. De Kock scored 78 off 66 before Shardul Thakur finally got the breakthrough. Janeman Malan was dismissed just 9 runs short of his hundred by Jasprit Bumrah. Yuzvendra Chahal also got the wicket of Temba Bavuma but it was too late. Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen finished the game with 11 balls to spare. It is safe to say that the bowlers cost India the match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar in particular was very poor as he gave away 67 runs in 8 overs. Venkatesh Iyer did get a chance to bowl but failed to pick up a wicket in 5 overs.

While Indian bowlers are single handedly winning them matches in Test cricket, white ball cricket needs some sort of a change. The days of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal dismantling opposition in the middle overs look long gone. India needs a better plan. Even though the series is just the start of India's preparation for the World Cup, there is a long road for India to find the right team and strategy for the 50 over format. India will have nothing but pride to play for in the next game. It is very important for them to prevent a whitewash and end what has been a disappointing tour on a good note.

Also read: BCCI and team owners to discuss IPL 2022 back up venues on Saturday

Paarl, Jan 21 (Cricket News) South Africa beat India by seven wickets in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

India made 287 for six after opting to bat. Rishabh Pant top scored for India with 85 off 71 balls while skipper K L Rahul made 55 off 79 balls.

Spinner Tabraiz Shami was the pick of the South Africa bowlers taking two wickets for 57 runs in nine overs.

South Africa chased down the target in 48.1 overs. Janneman Malan was the home team's top-scorer with 91 off 108 while his senior opening partner Quinton de Kock made 78 off 66 balls.

For the second game in a row, the Indian bowling lacked teeth to trouble the opposition batters.

Brief scores: India 287/6 in 50 overs (Rishabh Pant 85, K L Rahul 55; Tabraiz Shamsi 2/57). South Africa 288/3 in overs (Janneman Malan 91, Quinton de Kock 78; Jasprit Bumrah 1/37). 

Also Read : BCCI and team owners to discuss IPL 2022 back up venues on Saturday

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jan 21 (Cricket News) The BCCI and IPL team owners will discuss potential back-up venues for the upcoming edition of the league in a virtual meeting on Saturday. The mega auction venue, scheduled for Bengaluru on February 12 and 13, will also come up for discussion as the country deals with the third wave of COVID-19.

"Owners have been invited for the meeting and it will be held virtual," a team official told PTI.

BCCI's first preference is to hold the event in India but if COVID situation worsens, it needs to have a back-up plan ready.

The 2020 edition was entirely held in the UAE while the second half of the 2021 edition was held across the Emirates after the event's suspension in India due to the second wave of COVID-19.

The IPL is usually held in the April-May window. 

Also Read : India score 287/6 against South Africa in second ODI

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) With the IPL mega auction set to take place in mid February, the new franchises have limited time to select their three mandatory draft picks as the Ahmedabad franchise have finalized Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill as their draft picks. Along with that the Ahmedabad team also finalized their coaching set up as they will be led by former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra and former South Africa batter and head coach Gary Kirsten. Former England batter Vikram Solanki will be the team director. This is the second instance where the trio of Nehra, Kirsten and Solanki will work together, the previous instance was at Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Ahmedabad have decided to pay both Hardik and Rashid INR 15 crore. It is most likely that Hardik will be Ahmedabad’s captain, which is going to be a first experience for the allrounder in the IPL. The third player will be Shubman Gill who will be paid INR 7 crore. The Ahmedabad franchise will go into the auction with a purse of INR 53 crore. This is the first time Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan will play for another team. 

Hardik's rise since he was bought as an uncapped player for INR 10 lakh in 2015 has been exponential. Hardik, by the time of the 2018 season had already established himself as the best allrounder in India and Mumbai Indians subsequently retained him as their second pick at the auction that year, paying INR 11 crore. In the next two seasons the Mumbai Indians won the title twice in succession as Hardik had scored 762 runs and taken 32 wickets in 29 games. He is also a four-time IPL winner, winning it in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Also read: K L Rahul set to lead Lucknow IPL franchise

For Gill, this will be his second team in the IPL, having been picked by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 auction for INR 1.8 crore after he had a terrific U19 World Cup. The 22-year old has already played 10 Tests and three ODIs and has been regarded as one of the brightest young talents of this generation who at one point it looked like he was the future captain of the Knight Riders. The Knight Riders had several other options when it came to retention and couldn’t afford to keep Gill in the squad. It will be an interesting watch to see how the new franchise comes along as they opted for youngsters rather than taking in the experienced pros. It will be also interesting to see what the other new franchises do as the Lucknow team have till now only confirmed KL Rahul as their marquee player.

New Delhi, Dec 22 (Cricket News) Former wicketkeeper-batter Vijay Dahiya was on Wednesday roped in as the assistant coach of the new Lucknow franchise ahead of IPL 2022.

The 48-year-old from Haryana is the current coach of the Uttar Pradesh team. He has earlier worked as an assistant coach of two-time IPL winning Kolkata Knight Riders.

He has also served as the talent scout for the Delhi Capitals, apart from coaching the Delhi Ranji team.

"I am delighted and grateful for the opportunity given to me to work with the Lucknow IPL franchise," Dahiya, who has played two Tests and 19 ODIs for India, said in a statement.

The Lucknow team, which is part of the RPSG Group, had earlier appointed Andy Flower as head coach and Gautam Gambhir as the mentor ahead of next year's IPL. 

Also Read : If there is one bowler who can exploit South African conditions, it is Bumrah: Elgar

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 18 (Cricket News) Former India opener Gautam Gambhir was on Saturday appointed mentor of the new Lucknow franchise ahead of IPL 2022.

The southpaw, who is also a member of parliament, had captained KKR to two IPL titles during his playing days.

"Thanks a lot to Dr Goenka and the RPSG Group for presenting me this wonderful opportunity in their setup.

"The fire to win a contest still burns bright inside me, the desire to leave a winner's legacy still kicks me 24x7. I will not be contesting for a dressing room but for the spirit and soul of Uttar Pradesh," Gambhir said in a statement.

Owner of the yet to be named franchise, Sanjiv Goenka welcomed Gambhir into the RPSG family.

"Gautam has an impeccable career record. I respect his cricketing mind and look forward to working with him," he said.

The 40-year-old played 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is for India. 

Also Read : India players warm up for South Africa Tests with footvolley

News Source : PTI

Kolkata, Dec 4 (Cricket news) Former India batting great VVS Laxman will have to come "through the process" for succeeding Rahul Dravid as the head of National Cricket Academy, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said here on Saturday.

The topmost NCA post fell vacant after Dravid took over as the head coach of Team India following team's T20 World Cup exit in the UAE last month.

"We will advertise for the NCA appointment. First, he (VVS) has to apply for the post," BCCI secretary Jay Shah told PTI after their 90th AGM here.

Indian stalwart Dravid too had to go through a similar process before becoming the India head coach.

Initially reluctant to shift base to Bangalore from Hyderabad, Laxman has already quit from his role as mentor of IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad.

He will also have to quit commentary or writing columns for newspapers to avoid conflict of interest.

Laxman's appointment was one of the points of discussion at the AGM.

On the IPL 2022 Mega Auction which is slated for next year, Shah said: "The IPL Governing council will take a call on this." The BCCI has also formed a neutral panel to investigate CVC Capital who pipped favourites Adani Group to own the Ahmedabad franchise.

The company has paid a whopping Rs 5625 Crore in the auctions, but now find itself under the spotlight for their alleged connection with some betting companies outside India.

"We have formed a committee who are investigating into the matter," Shah added.

Also Read : Shifting base got him into cricket, switching to spin made it all possible for Ajaz

News Source : PTI

Kolkata, Dec 3 (Cricket news) The fate of India's upcoming tour of South Africa amid the trepidation triggered by new COVID-19 variant Omicron will be addressed when the BCCI holds its 90th Annual General Meeting here on Saturday to discuss a host of other issues as well.

In BCCI's 24 point agenda, point (T) pertains to "Update on Future Tours Programme' and under this provision the discussion can happen.

The emergence of Omicron, which is said to spread faster than the earlier Delta variant, in multiple countries including India has triggered widespread alarm all over the world.

The variant was detected and flagged to the world by South Africa and as things stand now, there have been multiple hospitalisations in the Gauteng province, where Johannesburg, the venue of the first two Tests beginning December 17, is located.

Team India are slated to leave for Johannesburg early on December 9 but as of now, there's lack of clarity on whether the tour is on, shelved or curtailed.

India are slated for a full tour comprising three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is.

Although the series is not part of the meeting's official agenda, it can be brought up during the Future Tours Program discussion.

During their last tour to England in September, India, leading 2-1 going into the final Test in Old Trafford, could not field a side following a COVID outbreak inside the team bubble and the match had to be rescheduled to July 2022.

Taking that into account, the Board members would certainly deliberate long on the issue which has now emerged as the priority with less than a week left for the team's departure.

At present, the India A team is in South Africa and the Board is still continuing with that assignment.

Skipper Virat Kohli, who is due for his milestone 100th Test in Cape Town, sought further clarity on the tour on the eve of the second and final Test against New Zealand in Mumbai on Thursday.

"...you want to have clarity and you want to be in a situation where you know exactly what is going on. We have to be realistic as well. We cannot just ignore the things that potentially could put you in a confusing place. And no one wants to be there," he had said.

"We have been talking to the Board, and we are pretty confident that within a day or two or pretty soon we will have absolute clarity as to what is going on," Kohli said.

Apart from this, the eight Indian Premier League franchises have already released their players' retention list and all eyes will now be on the 2022 mega auction, the date of which could be announced during the AGM.

Lucknow and Ahmedabad are the two new teams for IPL 2022 and they can now pick three target players ahead of the auction.

There could also be a discussion on the approval status of the CVC Capital Partners who courted controversy after buying the Ahmedabad franchise.

CVC Capital made the second largest bid of Rs 5600 crores to pip the Adani Group for the Ahmedabad franchise but they soon came under the Board scanner for their alleged links with betting companies.

The 24-point agenda in the AGM also includes the team's poor showing in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup in the UAE, matters related to the National Cricket Academy, and renewal of selectors' contract among others.

India made a group stage exit to cap a poor show in the T20 World Cup. The Board is set to discuss the way forward given there are back-to-back World Cups in 2022 and 2023.

Following the debacle in the UAE, India have a new coaching set up in head coach Rahul Dravid who has been appointed at the helm till the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

Dravid and the new support staff took charge in the ongoing home series against New Zealand and team building would be a key focus area.

Dravid's appointment as chief coach meant that the BCCI will need someone to head the National Cricket Academy.

Dravid's former teammate VVS Laxman is the new National Cricket Academy head and his appointment with that of other NCA staff, notable among them being former Australia and England bowling coach Troy Cooley's appointment will be ratified.

Also, two representatives of the general body and one representative of the Indian Cricketers Association in the IPL Governing Council would be appointed.

Brijesh Patel, the chairman of IPL and Khairul Jamal (Mamon) Majumdar are set to be re-elected while Pragyan Ojha will continue as player's representative.

Various standing committees to be elected ========================== The appointment of Cricket and Standing Committees will also happen as it has not been in existence for the longest time. One can expect a big name to head the cricket committee.

Also Read : Afghanistan will face pressure from ICC over women's cricket: Ramiz

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 2 (Cricket news) Swashbuckling keeper-batter Sanju Samson is Rajasthan Royals' "long-term leader", the IPL franchise's director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, said on Thursday while terming his retention a "no-brainer".

Ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, the franchise retained two Indians and one overseas player in the form of their influential skipper Samson, uncapped young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal and star Englishman Jos Buttler.

"We worked really hard in terms of working with our newly-formed data analytic team, with the help of all our partners in India and in the US we finally decided, of course Sanju Samson, it was a no-brainer in terms of being our captain, number one," Sangakkara said in a video posted by RR on twitter.

"He is going to be the long-term leader of this unit of Rajasthan Royals. He is an exceptional player and he has shown time and time again what a wonderful asset he has been for RR." Having appointed Samson as their captain before the 2021 season, the Royals have chosen the batter as the first retained player for Rs 14 crore.

Their second retained player at a cost of Rs 10 crore is the ODI World Cup-winning Buttler, considered by many as one of the best T20I batters in the world currently.

The 19-year-old Jaiswal has become the second-youngest player ever to be retained across all IPL teams before the mega auction. His skipper Samson remains the youngest at 19 years and 2 months.

"We have retained Yashasvi Jaiswal, the young Indian opener, an absolute star in the making, he had a very very good season pre-retention, extremely talented. He is a very very quick learner, he is a hard worker and he will be our uncapped retention," Sangakkara said.

"In terms of the sole international retention we have gone with Jos Buttler. Again, phenomenal player. Everyone in the world knows what he can do, whether at the top of the order or middle order or wherever he plays. He is an exceptional match winner." The Lankan legend explained why they let go of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, which surprised many.

"It was quite a tough choice for all of us to sit down and run through the names, the options, the auction nitty gritty in terms of managing our retention and our purse, what the best options and permutations were.

"... once the auction rules are announced, we dig a lot deeper and we do a lot of work in terms of analytic and evaluation of what the best options are for us in terms of how many retentions, who are they, what is the ideal sweetspot in terms of an auction purse? "So on so forth, and we break it down into as much detail as possible so that we have all the tools with which to make the information as well with which to make the right decision." Both Stokes and Archer missed the UAE leg of IPL 2021 through injury, with the former also attributing his absence to issues related to his mental health.

Sangakkara was full of praise for Stokes.

"Ben Stokes - the best all-rounder I have seen in a very very long time, an absolute match winner and he has shown that for Rajasthan Royals. Absolutely brilliant as a team man, brilliant in a leadership role.

"He just brings his amazing energy to the field but of course, we had to consider the number of retentions spots, player availability.

"And we had to look at the host of other dynamics as well in terms of injuries, in terms of various other aspects, and it's always an extremely tough decision to make when we have these limited number of spots.

Talking about Archer, Sangakkara said: "...we did everything to ascertain the nature of the injury, the recovery period, his ability to come back. Once all of these dynamics come into play, it's very difficult to go into an auction with too many questions in our minds.

"I know the players themselves understand our reasoning, even though they may be disappointed. I am sure they are as we are as a franchise."

Also Read : Andy Flower steps down from coaching role at Punjab Kings

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 1 (Cricket news) Assistant coach Andy Flower has parted ways with Punjab Kings and is expected to land a role in one of the new teams ahead of IPL 2022.

Former Zimbabwe captain Flower, who worked as a coach in England for more than a decade and guided the national team there, was hired for his maiden IPL stint ahead of the 2020 season.

"He sent his resignation to the team recently. It has been accepted. There is a good chance that he goes to one of the new teams (Lucknow or Ahmedabad)," a BCCI official told PTI.

There is a good possibility that the 53-year-old is given a bigger role in his next IPL assignment.

Flower worked alongside head coach Anil Kumble for the past two seasons. The development comes at a time when K L Rahul, Punjab Kings skipper for the past two seasons, is expected to move to the Lucknow franchise.

Punjab wanted to retain Rahul but he did not want to stay.

It remains to be seen if Flower stays as head coach of CPL franchise Saint Lucia Kings, which is owned by same consortium that owns Punjab Kings. Saint Lucia finished runners-up in 2020 and 2021 season.

During his time with the England team, Flower led the side to the T20 World Cup title in 2010 and number one spot in the Test rankings.

Wasim Jaffer was Punjab's batting coach last season and Jonty Rhodes fielding coach.

Punjab have retained only two players -- Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh -- ahead of the mega auction in January. They will be eyeing a bunch of youngsters at the auction along with some established names.

Also Read : IPL retention: Few surprises as big players will appear in the auction for the first time, big teams opt for some continuity

News Source :

Dubai, Oct 25 (Cricket news) Business tycoon Sanjiv Goenka and international equity investment firm Irelia Company Pte Limited (CVC Capital) shelled out a combined Rs 12,715 crore (approx USD 1.7 billion) to win the bids for two new IPL teams, a windfall that far exceeded BCCI's expectations, here on Monday.

The BCCI was hoping for a cumulative bid in the range of Rs 10,000 crore but to their surprise, earned Rs 7090 crore from Goenka's RP-SG Group for the Lucknow franchise, while CVC capital forked out Rs 5625 crore for the Ahmedabad team. The two new sides will take part in the 2022 IPL.

PTI had reported on Sunday that Goenka was one of the favourites to win a team after having been in the IPL for two years in 2016 and 2017 when he owned the Rising Pune Supergiants.

"BCCI is pleased to announce the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed): 1. RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7090 crores). 2. Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5625 crores)," the Board stated in a press release.

The IPL 2022 season will comprise 10 teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play seven home and seven away matches, the Board added.

Goenka was delighted to be back in the IPL and this time, as a full-time owner and not a temporary one, which was the case when he ran the Pune franchise during the spot-fixing related suspension of CSK and Rajasthan Royals.

"Firstly, it feels good to be back in the IPL. But this is just the first step. Now, it's really for us to build a good team, and try and put up a good performance. So the work really begins now in terms of actually getting the coach, putting together a team," Goenka said after his company won the bid.

"IPL has created some of the biggest brands. Look at Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and look at some of the others, they are really household names, some of the biggest brands the country has," he added.

Asked if Rs 7000 crore was economically viable, Goenka reasoned: "We do believe that the valuation of this will go up in the future. And from what we invest, to what it could be over a period of 10 years would be a multiple of a few times." He was also happy to get Lucknow as the home base as RPSG group has business interests in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

"We distribute power in Greater Noida. We have a number of Spencer stores in the state. So we do believe, that will help us to connect with the state, and we look forward to this." BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was happy that IPL was spreading far and wide.

"The IPL will now go to two new cities in India viz in Lucknow and Ahmedabad. It is heartening to see the inclusion of two new teams at such a high valuation, and it reiterates the cricketing and financial strength of our cricket ecosystem," Ganguly said in a press statement.

"The ITT (Invitation To Tender) process included two interested bidders from outside of India, which strongly emphasises the global appeal of the IPL as a sports property," he added.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah also welcomed the two new companies on board.

"It is a momentous day for all of us and I formally welcome RPSG Ventures Ltd. and Irelia Company Pte Ltd. into the IPL fold. We had promised that IPL will be bigger and better from the 15th season and with Lucknow and Ahmedabad, we will take the league to different parts of India," Shah said.

It was nearly a seven-hour process that led to BCCI announcing the winners after intense scrutiny that involved technical vetting followed by opening of the financial bid documents.

The companies that cleared the final round of technical vetting to be eligible to place the bids included RP-SG, the Adani Group, HT Media Private Limited, Torrent Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, All Cargo, CVC, Kotak group in a consortium and the Glazers of Manchester United through their equity firm.

Rhiti Sports, best known for being former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's management firm, also placed the bid but was dismissed at the technical stage because official believed that it was fronting for an industrialist, whose relatives already own an IPL franchise.

Similarly, little known All Cargo company attracted a lot of interest as it was understood that it had the blessings of a powerful BCCI administrator and well-connected politician of an opposition party.

One of the major companies that lost out was Gautam Adani's Adani Group which bid around Rs 5000 crore while bids of Glazers from Manchester United and Torrent Group also fell short of the mark.

In fact, Adani group's representatives, during the bidding, were accompanied by one of the BCCI sponsors, who were then told to leave the premises as it was violation of rules.

Twenty two companies picked up the tender document worth Rs 10 lakh but with base price for new teams pegged at Rs 2000 crore, only five to six serious bidders were in the final fray.

Goenka's near USD one billion bid is an insane amount and possibly the highest in the history of the league.

"The bids were only going to shoot up once the news broke that the next cycle of broadcasting rights for next 10 years could go up to USD 5 billion (Rs 36000 crore plus) which means that from BCCI's broadcast revenue pool, each of the 10 franchises will be earning around Rs 360 crore.

"The maths is simple, the broadcast rights will increase the earnings and also the gate money for franchises in Ahmedabad (capacity of 1.2 lakh) or Lucknow (70,000) will also help them earn well. Add the money from the sponsorship pool too and it's not bad economics." Goenka has been desperate to come back to the IPL after the brief stay with RPS and during one of the two editions (2017), his team played the final and lost to Mumbai Indians by one run.

With a USD 6 billion asset base and USD 4 billion revenue, the Group's businesses include power and energy, carbon black manufacturing, retail, IT-enabled services, FMCG, media and entertainment, infrastructure and education.

They have been part of Indian Super League football from the first year as ATK and later merged with legacy club Mohun Bagan last year to play as ATK-Mohun Bagan.

Also Read : New IPL teams: BCCI expecting anything between Rs7k cr-10k cr with Adani, Goenka, Aurobindo in fray

News Source : PTI

Mumbai, Sep 14 (Cricket News) The BCCI is planning to have an e-bidding for the two new IPL teams on October 17 and the bids to buy the sides can be made till October 5.

"The Board is planning to have the bidding on 17th October and it will be an e-bidding," sources in the know of things told PTI on Tuesday.

The BCCI had on August 31 invited bids to own an IPL franchise with "Invitation to Tender" available for purchase till October 5.

"The Governing Council of the IPL invites bids to acquire the right to own and operate 1 (one) of the 2 (two) new teams proposed to be introduced to take part in the Indian Premier League from the IPL 2022 season, through a tender process," the BCCI had said in a statement.

"Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT.

"However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein, shall be eligible to bid. It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid," the cricket body had said.

Among the venues where the teams could be based include Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Pune.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with bigger capacities, could be the choice for the franchises.

Some of the business houses doing the rounds include the Adani group, RPG Sanjeev Goenka group, noted pharma company Torrent and a prominent banker who has shown active interest in buying teams.

Also Read : Unfortunate we ended up in IPL early, hopefully we can maintain strong, bio-secure environment: Virat Kohli

News Source : PTI

Dubai, Aug 31 (Cricket news) Table toppers Delhi Capitals will start the IPL from scratch, treating the upcoming second phase in the UAE as a fresh tournament in different conditions, said assistant coach Pravin Amre.

The second leg of the T20 league, which was suspended in May due to the increasing COVID-19 cases in India and multiple infections in the IPL bio-bubble, is scheduled to resume in the UAE from September 19.

The Capitals are currently perched on top of the points table with 12 points from eight matches.

"We have to look at the remainder of the season as a fresh one. There has been a long break after the first half and we will be playing in different conditions and wickets," Amre was quoted as saying in a media release.

"We are looking to start from scratch and not show any complacency after a brilliant performance in the first half of the tournament.

"We will look to play with the same intensity that we showed in our first match of the IPL 2021," he added.

The Capitals have hit the ground running in their pre-season camp overlooked by assistant coaches Amre and Ajay Ratra at the ICC Academy here.

Amre expressed that the team is looking to get used to the conditions and the wickets in the UAE.

Also read: IPL 2022: BCCI expects Rs 5000 crore windfall as base price for new teams kept at Rs 2000 crore

"It's going to be humid when the season resumes and it is important for the players to get used to the wickets and conditions here in the UAE. Credit to the DC management for sending us here early, so that we have enough time to prepare well with the conditions on offer." Star batsman Shreyas Iyer, who missed out on the first half of the season due to a shoulder injury, reached Dubai a week earlier than the rest of the team to work on his game with Amre.

Amre said that Iyer has regained his full fitness and is hitting the ball very well in the nets.

"It's always hard for any cricketer to come back after an injury. Our entire team, especially Delhi Capitals' strength and conditioning Coach Rajinikanth Sivagnanam, Assistant Physio Dhananjay Kaushik and Physio Patrick Farhart worked hard when Shreyas was undergoing rehabilitation." "Even the National Cricket Academy played an important role during Shreyas' recovery period. Getting his shoulder strength back was important for him and he has been hitting the ball as long as anybody in the nets." The Capitals are set to take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad on September 22 here. 

News source: PTI

LA MANGA CLUB, Spain(Cricket news) All-rounder Eimear Richardson from Ireland was named Player of the Tournament at the ICC T20 World Cup European Qualifier after scoring 53 and taking 1-22 as Ireland secured 2nd place in the tournament.

While only top spot in the European Qualifier progresses directly to the Global Qualifier in 2022, there is another potential opportunity available for Ireland to also progress, with the ‘next highest’ ranked side in Global ICC rankings going through. On present rankings, this would be Ireland, however this will all be confirmed after the African Regional Qualifier next month.

Ireland’s final group game was a tussle with the Netherlands. Netherlands won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Dutch bowlers delivered an early spell of economical and aggressive bowling. Iris Zwilling (3-14) dismissed Rebecca Stokell, Laura Delany and Leah Paul in quick succession.

By the halfway stage Ireland had stabilised the innings at 44 for 3, with Eimear Richardson and Gaby Lewis at the crease. The pair put on 60 runs for the fourth wicket at nearly a run a ball, until Lewis departed in the 15th over for 32 off 39 balls, which was followed by a mini-collapse which saw Ireland lose 3-2 in the space of an over.

Also read: IPL 2022: BCCI expects Rs 5000 crore windfall as base price for new teams kept at Rs 2000 crore

Despite this, Richardson looked to carry on aggressively, only departing in the final over after scoring only her second T20I half-century - a crucial 53 from 49 balls, with Ireland finishing on 111-9.

Once more Ava Canning delivered with the ball early for Ireland setting a positive tone in the powerplay, ending with figures of 1-14 from four overs. Her first tournament for Ireland saw her play three matches and finish with 3 wickets at an average of just 7 runs apiece. This opening powerplay left the Netherlands on 23-1, and as the field started to spread, Irish skipper Delany turned the spin of Richardson and Cara Murray, and her own medium-pace. Both Murray and Delany claimed three wickets each as Netherlands crashed from 50-1 to 63-8 in the space of four overs.

Robine Rijke (32) looked the most dangerous, but Murray’s intervention and Rijke’s subsequent dismissal seemed to end the Dutch chances of an outside win.

Eventually, the Dutch finished on 87-9, with Richardson taking the double honour of Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament. Richardson’s return from her four appearances was 7 wickets at 7.28 runs apiece and 76 runs at 38.00.

MATCH SUMMARY

Ireland Women v Netherlands Women, ICC T20 World Cup European Qualifier, La Manga, 30 August 2021

Ireland 111-9 (20 overs; E Richardson 53, G Lewis 32; E Lynch 4-23, I Zwilling 3-14)

Netherlands 87-9 (20 overs; R Rijke 32; C Murray 3-9, L Delany 3-17, A Canning 1-14)

Ireland Women won by 24 runs

New Delhi, Aug 31 (Cricket news) The Indian cricket board could soon get richer by at least Rs 5000 crore with the addition of two new franchises during the 2022 edition of Indian Premier League.

The IPL, which is currently an eight-team tournament, will become a 10-team affair from the next edition and during a recent governing council meeting, the modalities of the bidding process were chalked out.

"Any company can buy the bid document paying Rs 75 crore. Earlier top brass was thinking about keeping the base price for two new teams at Rs 1700 crore but later it was decided to keep the base price at Rs 2000 crore," a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

The source, who has dealt with the financial side of IPL in the past, said that the BCCI stands to gain at least Rs 5000 crore if the bids go as per plan with plenty of large business conglomerates showing active interest in bidding.

Also read: Bowlers looking to be on top in this year’s T20 World Cup (Part 2)

"The BCCI is expecting anything in the range of 5000 crore if not more. There will be 74 IPL games next season and it's a win-win situation for everyone." It is learnt that only companies with an annual turnover of Rs 3000 crore will be allowed to bid for the teams.

In a welcome news, the BCCI is planning to allow a consortium to bid for teams as it makes the bidding process more vibrant.

"I think more than three business entities won't be allowed to form a consortium but if three business come together and wants to jointly bid for a team, they are welcome to do so," he said.

Among the venues where the teams could be based include Amedabad, Lucknow and Pune.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with bigger capacities, could be the choice for franchises.

Some of the names that are doing the rounds include the Adani group, RPG Sanjeev Goenka group, noted pharma company Torrent and a prominent banker who has shown active interest in buying teams.

News source: PTI