RCB were humbled by the Sunrisers on Saturday and Virat Kohli’s men will be very eager to turn their fortunes around. We pick out three key battles on the field that you just cannot miss. #1 Sanju Samson vs Umesh Yadav Sanju Samson, who scored a fine century against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad last week, only to be overshadowed by a brilliant run chase by the ‘Eagles,’ will be keen on getting another big score in the tournament....
Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and decided to field first. It was a great start by SRH openers David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha who just took on Kings XI Punjab bowlers. At the end of six overs, they scored 77 for 0. After the power play overs, Murugan Ashwin struck by dismissing Saha for a quick-fire 28. Warner and Saha had added 78 runs for the opening wicket....
With five wins from 10 games, the Sunrisers Hyderabad are now in the fourth position on the IPL points table. The Kings XI Punjab also have five wins from the same number of matches, but a lower net run rate means they are one rung below SRH, in the fifth spot. After three defeats on the trot against the Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals, the SRH came roaring back with two consecutive wins against the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders....
While Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals are placed at the top of the points table, Chennai Super Kings are placed third with two wins in two matches. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals must have realized that they need to turn the corner as they are yet to register a point this season. The tournament began with a low scoring encounter between CSK and RCB when Virat Kohli’s men folded up for a paltry total of 70 runs....
Hence, analyzing what these teams have done in the past could reveal what they should look to do in the future if they are to inch closer to their first IPL win. By analyzing areas where they need to improve on, we can determine the type of players they should target heading into this year’s auction. We would also love to hear what you (the readers) think, so please feel free to voice your own opinions in the comments section below....
The Background Having signed several quality talents from overseas as well as the domestic circuit, the Royal Challengers seemed like one of the strongest teams on paper before the 12th season of the IPL kicked off. But while many expected the Virat Kohli-led team to dominate right from the word ‘go’, that was far from the case. It was a disappointing first half for RCB to say the least. They lost all of their first six matches before registering the first win of the season against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali....
After making a stunning comeback in the IPL in 2018, where the team emerged victorious in the final by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad, CSK faltered in the final last year against Mumbai Indians. CSK will need to rectify the errors committed last season to give themselves the best chance in the upcoming season. Despite not winning the title last season, CSK did not make too many changes to their squad. The team management have reinstated faith in Dhoni’s leadership and the old guns of the side to deliver the goods....
Mystery spinners and a bucket load of slower-ball variations have come into the picture. The emphasis is on death bowling and the ability to restrict the opposition batting. But time and again it has been proved that cricket in any form is more about doing the basics right, irrespective of the format. A batsman batting with the right technique can still be as effective as a batsman with typical T20 shots....
Over the years, we have seen quite a few players move from one team to another during the window, and it was no different this year. Some big players have moved on from one franchise to another. Let us look at the teams who have been actively trading their players in the current trading window. Do note that Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Royal Challengers Bangalore have not traded any players....
While all IPL teams have a mix of both youth and experience, some franchises tend to lean more towards one type. In this list, we rank the average age of all 8 teams in descending order. #8 Chennai Super Kings: Average age 30.54 years Nicknamed The Dad’s Army, Chennai Super Kings chose to bank heavily on experienced players upon their comeback to IPL in 2018. While social media decided to make fun of them, their performances spoke for themselves....
Brad Hogg believes that like last year, SRH still depend heavily on Jonny Bairstow and skipper David Warner to score the bulk of runs for them and if the duo fails, the team gets into a lot of trouble. SRH were cruising to victory with just 43 runs required off the last 5 overs. However, as soon as Yuzvendra Chahal was brought back into the attack, he struck twice in two balls....
The wicketkeeper-batsman was recently announced as the leader of Delhi Capitals for the upcoming IPL season. Regular captain Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury. Iyer is likely to undergo a surgery on April 8, according to reports. Taking to his official Twitter account, Kaif wished Iyer a speedy recovery and also wrote about his expectations from Rishabh Pant, the captain. He tweeted: Rishabh Pant has been in amazing form with the bat in international cricket over the last few months....
RCB haven’t had a set batsman for their No. 3 position throughout the eight matches played so far. After Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar in the India leg, wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat became the latest holder of the slot in RCB’s nine-wicket loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday (September 20). Could they have brought Kohli down to his familiar No. 3 position and made Devdutt Padikkal open with Bharat, who anyway opens for Andhra in T20s?...
There have been numerous occurrences of bowling attacks being ruthlessly taken apart in the IPL. 200+ scores are not uncommon in the competition. To date, there have been 17 team scores of over 225 runs. The list is dominated by RCB, who have breached the 225-run mark on as many as five occasions. As we inch closer to IPL 2021, let’s take a look at the highest team totals in IPL history....
Prithvi Shaw smashed 82 runs off just 41 deliveries to help the Delhi Capitals (DC) chase down the 155-run target with seven wickets in hand and 21 deliveries to spare. The knock was studded with eleven fours and three sixes. While talking about the Delhi Capitals’ run-chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Prithvi Shaw’s onslaught in the first over made a mockery of the slightly below-par target....
The Punjab Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2020. They released a few of their big-ticket players like Glenn Maxwell and Sheldon Cottrell ahead of the IPL 2021 auction and invested heavily in a couple of Aussie pacers in the form of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith. Aakash Chopra went with KL Rahul and Chris Gayle as the openers in his ideal Punjab Kings XI, while hoping that they field Moises Henriques as a seam-bowling all-rounder....
Now, it’s up to the individual players’ whether to take part or not. This won’t be much of an issue either. Australian players like Glenn Maxwell and David Warner opted out of international tours to be available for IPL 2021 while the ECB shifted its international tour of Bangladesh to make space for the tournament. Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of Chennai Super Kings, confirmed receiving communication from the BCCI to Cricbuzz....
The seasoned campaigner shares a close relationship with several players in the side. During a recent interaction with cricket.com.au, Ponting shed light on his relationship with dynamic all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. He labeled the right-hander a very deep thinker, which is why he does not want to feed him too much information. Ponting opined that Stoinis has been in and out of Australia’s national side and has been unable to find space in their batting line-up....
Marnus Labuschagne expressed concern for his compatriots who are part of IPL 2021. The 26-year-old went on to add that not many Australian players feel unsafe in bio-bubbles, and hoped they get back home safely whenever they do. Currently, around 30 Australians are part of IPL 2021 as players, coaches and commentators. Recently Chris Lynn suggested Cricket Australia should arrange for a charter flight to bring its players home after the conclusion of IPL 2021....
The Delhi captain talked about Morris on the sidelines of Star Sports’ Game Plan. “Morris is a quality all-rounder and a better and much quicker bowler than Russell. Russell is a little bit of a better batsman, he can change the game more consistently with the bat. But with Morris, I felt he has batted lower than he should have. He hasn’t had enough opportunity,” Gambhir said. “But for a game changer to make a change in the game you need to give him enough opportunity as well....
