Posts

The past week in the IPL has also seen some tremendous drama. From DC capitulating against Kings XI Punjab, where Sam Curran took the first hat-trick, to the demolition of RCB by Jonny Bairstow and David Warner, to Mumbai Indians dominating CSK in the El Classico, week two had its fair share of drama and thrills. The week gone by had some outstanding batting performances with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers playing at their best against KKR, to Prithvi Shaw’s fluent 99 and Sanju Samson’s brilliant century, which made Gautam Gambhir proclaim on social media that he is the best wicket-keeper batsman currently and that he should be India’s number four for the World Cup....

There have been numerous individual performances as well as team performances that have stood out. The highlights of the week have been Sanju Samson’s brilliant century, Ravichandran Ashwin’s mankading controversy, Lasith Malinga’s no ball controversy, David Warner’s return to form and Russell’s extraordinary hitting power and an excellent super over which the whole of 2018 didn’t offer to the fans. The week has had its share of disappointments too especially in the first match of the season which turned out to be very anti-climatic....

Many had a difference of opinions regarding team selection. Some were surprised and a few were upset since some big names had been excluded from the World Cup squad, which included the likes of Ambati Rayadu and Rishabh Pant. In this IPL, some World Cup players are showing their value meanwhile, some seem to be out of order. We have also seen players like Pant showing their value match after match and causing doubts in the minds of the selection committee since he was axed from the squad....

The teams will also start to know the results of their exploits at the auction and whether the deals have paid off or not. A few have been great while few have been receiving the flak. Players like Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan have proved to be fruitful acquisitions for their sides. Of the teams participating in the league, RCB had the worst season as they were the first team to be knocked out of the tournament....

Apart from the two finalists, the other six teams also made sure that there was healthy competition in the league. The points difference (1) between the number 4 team and the number 8 team in the league indicates how competitive the tourney was. It is said that the season does not commence when the first ball is bowled, but when the first player is up for grabs in the IPL auction....

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, nine capped players have put their base price to the maximum possible value. Here are the capped players who have added themselves to the Rs. 2 crore base price: #1 Corey Anderson Part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in the IPL 2018 season, he did not have a great year and played only 3 games. He picked up only three wickets and bowled at an economy of 13....

But there are still four teams that are in the race for that last playoff berth. Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab all have a chance to qualify for the playoffs. So let us look at the different scenarios under which each team can qualify. For Sunrisers Hyderabad to qualify Sunrisers Hyderabad could have been in a better position had they won the Super Over battle vs Mumbai Indians....

Such has been the aura of the sport that even in this unprecedented chaos when the country is slowly crawling back to normalcy, the tournament has provided the people with plenty of reasons to celebrate. Despite the lack of crowds, the games have gone down to the wire keeping the fans glued to their television sets rooting for their favourite team. And, as we head into the penultimate clash of the league phase between the Delhi Capitals and the Royal Challengers from Bangalore, we take a look at the possible concerns in the DC camp ahead of their much-awaited clash....

The auction will take place in Kolkata on the 19th of December, while the trade window will be active till the 14th of November. In addition to the budget remaining after last year’s auction, teams will be given an extra ₹3 crore to bolster their squads. The trade window has so far seen Delhi Capitals trade Sherfane Rutherford for Mayank Markande from Mumbai Indians. RCB finished rock-bottom in the table last season, but the difference between them and the 4th placed team (SRH) was just one point....

Several franchises have traded and released players before the closing of the transfer window, keeping all the fans of the league on their toes. IPL 2019’s Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin moving to Delhi Capitals was one of the biggest pre-auction moves. Ashwin has become part of Delhi Capitals in a trade deal which gave Kings XI Punjab Rs. 1.5 crore as well as spinner Jagadeesha Suchith. Also see - England New Zealand schedule...

The IPL is no different, and the teams, this year went all out to strengthen their respective batting units. Players like Shimron Hetmyer (DC - ₹7.75 crore), and Glenn Maxwell (KXIP - ₹10.75 crore) received lofty bids in the auction. On that note, let’s take a look at the batting line-ups of the 8 teams and rank them based on their strength. Note: The list contains batsmen who bat till No....

SRH and RCB would go into the opening match of this year’s edition with contrasting fortunes. Ever since Sunrisers made their IPL debut in 2013, they have been among the most impressive sides in the tournament. They emerged as champions in 2016, finished runners-up in 2018 and made the top four last year. On the other hand, RCB have been ranked 8th, 6th and 8th in the three most recent editions of the IPL....

Eoin Morgan’s men fell to their fifth loss in seven matches after their batsmen again failed to show much intent and only managed to score a below-par 154/6 in the first innings against Delhi Capitals (DC). Explaining how difficult it would be for KKR to turn things around from here due to the lack of ‘class’ in their batting line-up, Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports: None of KKR’s top three batters - Nitish Rana (15 off 12 balls), Shubman Gill (43 off 38 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (19 off 17 balls) - had a strike-rate of over 125 against DC....

Chopra also backed the pacers to pick up over four wickets in the contest. He feels spin will play a big factor as well and expects Varun Chakravarthy and Yuzvendra Chahal to collectively scalp more than three wickets. While making his predictions for the clash, Chopra said: RCB have had the better of KKR in the recent past. They completed a double over the franchise in a convincing fashion during the last edition in the UAE....

The Rajasthan Royals cricketers have checked into Mumbai before they fly out to the UAE. The likes of Jaydev Unadkat and young all-rounder Riyan Parag, among others, have assembled in Mumbai. Meanwhile, the franchise posted a funny caption to welcome Sanju Samson to the team hotel. Sharing a couple of pictures on social media, the Rajasthan Royals wrote: Incidentally, Sanju Samson, who hails from Kerala, is a big fan of Indian Super League franchise Kerala Blasters....

Both DC and RCB have four wins in five games, but come into this encounter on the back of contrasting results. While Virat Kohli’s men lost their unbeaten streak in embarrassing fashion against the Chennai Super Kings, last year’s finalists edged the Sunrisers Hyderabad in a thrilling Super Over. DC’s squad for IPL 2021: Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Anrich Nortje, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Lukman Hussain Meriwala, M Siddharth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Pravin Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Aniruddha Joshi...

The accolade, which was previously called the Man of the Tournament award, has seen three players claim it on more than one occasion - Shane Watson, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Last year, the Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer claimed the prize for his lethal bowling and destructive batting lower down the order. In this article, we list 5 dark horses who could defy the odds and claim their first-ever IPL MVP award....

The Royal Challengers Bangalore made some big-ticket buys in the form of Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson at the IPL 2021 auction. They will hope that the duo do the star turn for the franchise with their all-round skills. While Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli is the expected opening combination in Aakash Chopra’s ideal RCB XI, he opted for the uncapped Rajat Patidar to bat at No. 3. The former India cricketer pointed out that the Royal Challengers Bangalore does not have any recognised Indian lower middle-order batsmen and will thus require Glenn Maxwell and Dan Christian to perform that role....

RCB side suffered their first defeat of the season in their previous match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell failed with the bat while chasing a target of 192 as RCB fell short by 69 runs. Poor performances from the three leading batsmen led to a collapse in the middle-order and resulted in a comprehensive win for the Chennai Super Kings....

Both the teams are at opposite ends of the points table. DC is in second place with six wins from eight games, only behind CSK on Net Run Rate. The Capitals’ last result was a 7-wicket win over the Punjab Kings. The big news from their camp is that Shreyas Iyer will be a part of the team for the rest of the season, but Rishabh Pant will continue to lead the side....