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In case you didn’t know? Royal Challengers Bangalore had another season to forget in the IPL and ended up with the wooden spoon with 11 points. On the other hand, Rohit and Dhoni faced off in the title clash with Mumbai Indians claiming their fourth title with a tense one-run win over Chennai Super Kings. Gambhir has criticized Kohli’s captaincy in the IPL in the past as well, saying that Virat was lucky to continue as RCB captain despite not being able to lift the trophy even once in the past 7 years as captain....

Since the inception of the IPL, the Royals have always had an upper hand over Punjab, and the same is expected to continue tonight as well. This year, despite Australian Steve Smith being back in the squad, Rahane will lead the Royals’ team. Coming into the match against the Kings XI, the Rahane-led side will to keep their good track record going. The Punjab side will be led by Ravichandran Ashwin, who has a great opportunity to impress the selectors and get into the reckoning for a spot in the World Cup....

The background With plenty of matches and nonstop traveling, the IPL can lead to a lot of workload. Many players also wander off and try new things in the IPL such as batsmen trying multiple fancy or unorthodox shots. The mindset with which an IPL match is played is a lot different than that required for an ODI, especially during a World Cup. The positive thing about the IPL is that the players get a lot of game time and also get to share the dressing room with some of the best International talents....

The most prominent of these names is of course Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib has been a consistent performer for SRH over the last three seasons, but the ICC recently imposed a two-year ban (one year suspended) on him for breaching ICC’s anti-corruption code. That means Shakib will not be able to play any form of cricket for one year and is not eligible to be a part of the IPL....

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has opined that the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Delhi Capitals (DC) should go without Chris Gayle and Ajinkya Rahane respectively in today’s IPL clash between the two teams. He made this observation while previewing of the second encounter of IPL 2020 in a video shared on his YouTube channel. While talking about Kings XI Punjab, Aakash Chopra suggested that the Punjab-based franchise should leave out Chris Gayle from their playing XI....

The Capitals do not have an excellent head-to-head record (6-10) against the Orange Army. The last time these two teams battled in IPL 2020, the 2016 champions emerged victorious by 15 runs. DC’s batting unit has not fired in the last three matches. Barring Shikhar Dhawan, none of the batsmen have been able to dominate the bowlers. Since SRH have a stellar bowling lineup, Shreyas Iyer’s men will have to lift their game....

On a Chennai pitch where run-scoring was difficult except in the early stages, it was the international class of Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Rishabh Pant that dragged SRH and DC to respectable totals after the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Jonny Bairstow had maximised the powerplays. SRH desperately needed to win - after just one win from four games, they were rooted near the bottom after three failures at chasing down targets....

SRH won the toss and elected to bat first in Dubai. In the Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings match played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, both teams scored more than 180 runs. However, the Hyderabad-based franchise managed only 134 runs in their first innings against DC. The Top 5 batters of the SRH lineup had a strike rate of less than 110. Commenting on the way the SRH batters played in their first game of IPL 2021 UAE leg, Virender Sehwag said on Virugiri Dot Com:...

Naturally, all the franchises were active in the auction for IPL 2021, which was held on February 18 in Chennai. Teams were keen on plugging the holes in their rosters, but not all of them were successful. With a few franchises having large purse amounts, we saw prices skyrocket as teams attempted to rope in their first-choice targets ahead of next year’s mega-auction. While you can never really predict how a player may do after moving to a new franchise, we look at 3 expensive players from the 2021 IPL auction who may fall short of the expectations that their price tag brings....

With the ICC T20 World Cup set to be held later this year in India, the selectors will keep a check on the performances of the players in the IPL. While a lot of Indian players have cemented their place in the XI with solid accomplishments over the recent past, some of the slots in the squad are uncertain. Here, we take a look at those players whose places are still uncertain and the upcoming IPL season will play a huge role in determining their selections for the forthcoming World Cup....

CSK and RCB have arguably been the two best teams in the competition so far. While MS Dhoni’s men have overcome a loss to the Delhi Capitals in stellar fashion, RCB are unbeaten despite being faced with unfamiliar conditions in Chennai. CSK’s squad for IPL 2021: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Harisankar Reddy, K Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore, Jason Behrendorff...

This is not the first time Kieron Pollard is leading the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. The Caribbean all-rounder had captained MI in a few matches during the previous season in the United Arab Emirates as well. Overall, Kieron Pollard has led Mumbai Indians in five matches, where the Mumbai Indians have won four and lost one. The lone defeat came against the Rajasthan Royals during IPL 2020 in the UAE....

Wicket-keeping is the most thankless job in cricket. It is one of the most challenging tasks in cricket. Wicket-keeping requires an immense amount of concentration, sharpness, and flexibility. A quality wicket-keeper can lift up his side not only with his batting but also with his sharp and smart wicket-keeping. Hence, whatever may be the format, the wicket-keeper is a vital cog in any team. Thus, let us now have a look at the performances of the wicket-keepers of each IPL franchise so far....

MI won the toss and elected to field first. RCB lost the wicket of Quinton De Kock early but Manan Vohra, Brendon McCullum and Virat Kohli’s cameos kept them alive in the game. Hardik Pandya’s 3-wickets over completely outcasted RCB but all thanks to CDG blitz, RCB were able to put up a respectable score of 166 runs in 20 overs. MI were not off to a good start as they lost their top 3 early....

Several players have left their mark on this year’s tournament, and the bowlers in particular have turned in quite a few match-turning performances. There have also been a few young Indian bowlers who have made their teams proud, and here we take a look at the three most impressive of them: 1. Shreyas Gopal (Rajasthan Royals) The right-arm leg-break bowler from Karnataka has been excellent throughout the season for the Rajasthan Royals....

There has been a long followed tradition in the IPL. It has provided younger players an opportunity to learn from the seniors and get better at the game. The seniors have always been mentors for talented young players. This culture is set to be seen in this IPL as well. However, there are many legendary veterans, who are struggling to get their touch back. And this IPL is probably the last chance for all such players to prove their mettle....

It was an amazing bowling performance the tall right-handed bowler from West Indies who ripped the backbone of Sunrisers Hyderabad batting line up. The Background In March 2019, Joseph was named in Mumbai Indians squad as a replacement for Adam Milne. He has played so far 9 Test matches with 25 wickets and 16 ODI matches( 15 innings) with 24 wickets. He took 13 wickets in the ICC Under 19 World Cup with best figures of 4/30....

CSK have had their fair share of injuries hampering the team combination as the tournament progressed. But the quality of the bench strength in CSK meant that the players replacing the injured one have stood up brilliantly, with Mitchell Santner’s 4.0.13.2 being a classic example. They take on a Delhi Capitals side, who are high on confidence and in fine form. It must have been a rather tiresome experience being a Delhi fan all these years....

Last year’s champions, the Chennai Super Kings, will hope to get off to the best possible start and defeat their rivals at their home stadium. Led by MS Dhoni, CSK will look to continue their fine run of form from last year. On the other hand, the Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to turn things around after a couple of poor seasons. While they finished 6th on the table last time around, they had a disastrous campaign in 2017, which saw them finish at the bottom of the table....

Nevertheless, SRH return to their famed fortress as they look to set things right by posting their first win on to the IPL Points Table at the expense of the Royals, who look to bounce back from the ‘mankading’ controversy, at the centre of whose attention is star batsman, Jos Buttler. With a golden opportunity to trigger their challenge for the IPL trophy this year, here are a few tips to help you sort out your fantasy dilemmas for this match....