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The 2019 IPL auction will be a sort of minor restructuring phase for the respective franchises ahead of the upcoming edition of IPL. The trades/releases taking place will also play a good part in the teams’ strategies at the 2019 IPL auction. A purse of INR 3 Crore, along with the unspent amount from the previous IPL auction, will be available to all the eight franchises. Thus, each piece would have to spend their amounts judiciously while restructuring their squad in the 2019 IPL auction....

This IPL, the highest number of overseas players are from West Indies and Australia, 12 each, followed by England (11). Out of the 11 English players, 6 are all-rounders and 3 are wicket-keeper batsmen. Rajasthan Royals, with 4, have the most English players. England’s domestic circuit is very well organised, and they have always produced talented and dynamic cricketers. There are some new English faces who will make their IPL debut this year....

CSK often cites the experience of their players as a key reason for unparalleled success in 2018. However, they fell one inch short this season. There is a bit of skepticism surrounding their future as most of their players are aging and nearing retirement. MS Dhoni as a captain had been the main reason for CSK to reach the playoffs every year and win the title thrice. It’s unsure at this point whether he would play the next season or not....

Several players have displayed scintillating performances in the tourney and the one name that has made most of it is Reeza Hendricks, the Jozi Stars opener. The right-handed batsman has so far made 346 runs in the six matches at a whopping average of 115. He currently leads the top scorer’s list of the tournament. Reeza, just some days back, joined an elite list of players to have scored two consecutive hundreds in the T20 cricket....

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked all the franchises to submit the list of traded and released players by mid-November. Mumbai Indians have already made their first trade as they signed Quinton de Kock from Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have already released a couple of prominent players, Akila Dananjaya and Mustafizur Rahman. Mumbai Indians have three more weeks to trim their squad and get ready for the 2019 auction, which is expected to happen mid-December in Goa....

Apart from this, IPL 2019 has been a quite controversial affair as compared to its previous seasons. There have been few eyebrows raising moments this year that became a talking point and a matter of debate for everyone not only in the cricketing world but also among the media and fans alike. Here are some of them: #5 Poor Umpiring Decisions The umpiring decisions have been questionable in this year’s IPL....

Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore also have four wins from the same number of matches. A comparatively better net run-rate is the only reason why KKR have maintained their 6th position. In the match against RR yesterday KKR batted first and lost Chris Lynn before opening the account. Lynn played a delivery on to the stumps off Varun Aaron, who had come into the playing XI after a long time....

Nitish Rana of Kolkata Knight Riders, who was batting on 68, took guard when it resumed. He was trapped leg before wicket off the very first ball that he faced from Rashid Khan of Sunrisers Hyderabad after the “forced” break during the second encounter of IPL 2019. “I didn’t know this could happen. My gameplan got interrupted. I lost my momentum when I came to the dressing room. The atmosphere also became a bit relaxed....

It has been a tournament of contrasting fortunes for both sides. MI has comfortably moved into the finals with a confident display in the league stages and also a thumping display in Qualifier 1 against CSK at Chepauk Stadium. CSK on the other hand have had a mixed campaign with their skipper MS Dhoni and Imran Tahir being the star performers and an occasional burst of brilliance from Faf Du Plessis or Shane Watson easing things for the three time champions....

Kings XI Punjab have had a forgettable campaign so far in this edition of the Indian Premier League. After a promising start in the tournament, the hosts are struggling to finish in the top four. With five wins and seven defeats in their twelve league fixtures, Kings XI Punjab is languishing at the second last spot on the points table. Ashwin and Co will be hoping to land a counterpunch when they take on the Knight Riders tomorrow night....

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, who had walked out to start the proceedings for SRH, adapted to their roles very fastly. From one end, Bairstow farmed the strike whilst from the other end, Warner took the charge and started to do the damage. The opening duo stitched together a partnership of 118 runs. Bairstow was then dismissed by Piyush Chawla in the 13th over. However, the damage didn’t stop even then as Warner kept hitting the ball....

After attaining the topmost position, Rohit Sharma’s men will now have two opportunities of making it to the grand finale. The first team in their road to the finale will be MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings. Chennai will even enjoy the home advantage while playing in the first Qualifier. However, Mumbai defeated them twice in the league encounters and thus, they will have the upper hand heading into Qualifier 1....

In the group stage, both teams won nine matches and lost five. MI finished as table toppers on the basis of having a better net run rate, while CSK were second in the IPL points table. Ahead of their meeting tomorrow, let’s take a look at the head-to-head stats between the two franchises and the probable playing XIs for the match. Head-to-head record The CSK vs MI rivalry has seen 28 matches being played so far....

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and decided to field first. It was not a great start for Kings XI Punjab as Sandeep Warrier took the big wickets of KL Rahul and Chris Gayle cheaply. Nicholas Pooran came to the crease and put pressure on the KKR bowlers with his aggressive batting. At the end of six overs, KXIP were 41 for 2. After the power play, Pooran and Mayank Agarwal showed their class with some big hitting....

Kane Williamson and co. engineered a fine comeback after losing their first game to KKR, as they beat RR by five wickets on Friday. They chased down a huge score of 198 with relative ease and their top order seems really strong and it has surpassed the strength of its highly-rated bowling attack. David Warner is in the form of his life, having mustered 2 consecutive half-centuries, while Jonny Bairstow has played a good supporting hand....

Looking back, Dhoni’s run out proved to be the turning point of the match. The TV umpire Nigel Llong conveniently forgot the cardinal rule of cricket that benefit of doubt should always go to the batsman. In this case, at no angle, there was conclusive proof that Dhoni’s bat was out of the crease. If that had been the case, the TV umpire would not have taken that much time to arrive at a decision....

The Kerala batsman, however, has been iconsistent in the Indian Premier League over the years. Every season, Sanju Samson comes up with some excellent performances by scoring heavily in at least two to three games and puts on quite a show. As for IPL 2020, Sanju Samson came up with a special knock against the Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday night. He was at the top of his game with some breath-taking shots and treated the CSK bowlers like club cricketers....

The background Every year, all the franchises taking part in the IPL come together for an auction event to pick the players. Franchises usually leave out the players who they feel wouldn’t be useful for them or they can acquire at a lower price. These players will be put back into the pool and will be up for the grabs. Apart from these cricketers, several new and exciting prospects will be up for the takings....

Iyer revealed that the KKR coach does not put a lot of pressure on the team. Moreover, he allows players the freedom to express themselves, which is beneficial as well. Speaking of McCullum’s aggressive approach, the 26-year-old mentioned that the cricketer-turned-coach is aware of how to tackle different situations and manage players in an efficient manner. Iyer believes he lets everyone be themselves, which could yield positive results for the team....

He made the observation after the announcement of Rishabh Pant leading Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021 sparked the latter’s comparisons with Dhoni. Apart from their attacking playing styles, Dhoni had also started his captaincy tenure out of the blue and at a young age. Speaking on the Star Sports show Game Plan, Parthiv Patel said that Rishabh Pant would be a key player for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021. He observed in this regard:...