ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
'Narine's absence is a big loss for us'
Kolkata Knight Riders may have the home advantage going into the openng game against Mumbai Indians, but it's the rival skipper Rohit Sharma, who oozed confidence, terming that his team feels equally at home, having won their maiden Indian Premier League title at this venue two years ago.
The art of Chinaman bowling is becoming a rarity in the world of cricket, but ask Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Kuldeep Yadav and he would tell you that after seeing him perform, many would take u to this extremely tough art of bowling.
'The main motivation when I get a game is to perform for the team and help the team win'
Bollywood superstar and principal owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday cheered for Kolkata Knight Riders from the stands even as his new-look team, under new skipper Dinesh Karthik, looked to regain some lost ground in the post-Gautam Gambhir era at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Kolkata Knight Riders will have to break the agonising sequence of debacles when they clash with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL eliminator, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
While KKR suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game, Pune looked to have found their mojo in the business end of the tournament having registered consecutive wins in their last two matches.
India retained the No 1 spot in the latest Reliance ODI team rankings while Virat Kohli maintained the number two position with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni static at the seventh place in the batting chart released in Dubai.
Two Indian batsmen are now in the top five of the ICC ODI rankings, with Virat Kohli remaining at number three and opener Shikhar Dhawan climbing up the ladder to fifth after earning four places in the latest list issued on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in their Indian Premier League match, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
India remained third, while star batsman Virat Kohli maintained his second spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings released on Sunday.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has attributed his side's splendid run in the Champions League Twenty20 to collective effort, saying that his team has done well in all departments of the game en route to the final.
His two half-centuries this IPL season may have come in his favoured opening slot but Shubman Gill has defended Kolkata Knight Riders' debatable decision to use him as a floater.
Kolkata Knight Riders, who have lost their last four games, need to get back to winning ways and keep their hopes alive of making it to the play-offs.
India have managed to retain their third spot among T20 teams while Virat Kohli has held on to his sixth spot in the ICC rankings for Twenty20 batsmen issued in Dubai on Sunday.
Kolkata Knights Riders captain Gautam Gambhir expressed confidence that his side can put up an impressive performance in their IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, notwithstanding their loss to Mumbai Indians earlier.
Jason Holder's men drew a five-match ODI series against top-ranked England 2-2 at home recently, in a timely boost before the May 30-July 14 showpiece event.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator in New Delhi on Wednesday. Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate. But going into the do-or-die game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage. KKR thrashed Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.
India's Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina were involved in a heated on-field argument over a dropped catch during India's tri-series match against the West Indies on Saturday.
'This time around, I want to work on this. I want to continue the kind of form I have started in till the end of the tournament'
Senior batsman Ramnarseh Sarwan has been dropped from the 13-member West Indies cricket squad for the first three matches of their ODI tri-series against India and Sri Lanka starting June 28.
IMAGES from IPL Qualifier 2 played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday
Uncapped Evin Lewis has been named to replace the injured Lendl Simmons in the West Indies squad for the World Twenty20 in India. The experienced Simmons was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. "The 24-year-old left-handed batsman will join the team ahead of the start of the global event," the West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement. Lewis has represented Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean T20 and the Champions League and impressed chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd, who led West Indies to two 50-over World Cup triumphs. "Evin Lewis a young and exciting batsman who we believe he will fit into the team set-up very well. He has the ability to perform at this level of the game," Lloyd said. "His selection is in keeping with our policy to give exposure to young, talented players we believe will help to carry West Indies cricket forward," he added. All-rounder Kieron Pollard was ruled out of the World Twenty20 due to a knee injury, spinner Sunil Narine is still working to fix his illegal bowling and all-rounder Darren Bravo has opted to focus on the longer formats of the game.
Curtly Ambrose, the West Indies pace legend and the team's bowling consultant, backed it to win the ICC World Twenty20 2016. The squad, he said, had numerous match-winners suited for the format. The West Indies is currently ranked No. 3 in the ICC rankings for T20s and won the ICC World T20 2012 in Sri Lanka. It is placed in Group 1 for the 2016 editionalong with Sri Lanka, England, South Africa and the top team from Group B. "Look at the team that we have, half of the team are in demand across the world for different T20 leagues," Ambrose was quoted as saying by the Antigua Observer. "So you may find one guy here, maybe two in this league and two in another league, but we have all at once so we have a great chance of winning this T20 tournament, just look at our squad." Ambrose, who picked up 630 international wickets, called on the West Indies' senior players to raise their games and guide the juniors. The West Indies will be without Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine but has enough experience and firepower in Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy.
Virat Kohli was on Monday rewarded for his stupendous performance in India's clean sweep against Australia in the T20 internationals as he replaced Aaron Finch as the top-ranked batsman in the International Cricket Council list for the shortest format.
Krunal Pandya's all-round exploits and Rohit Sharma's characteristically sublime half-century powered India to a series-clinching 22-run win over West Indies in the rain-affected second T20 International
Navdeep Saini led an impressive bowling display and managed to beat West Indies by four wickets in their first T20 International match
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be in a tight corner without their 'mystery spinner' Sunil Narine, reported for chucking, as they gear up to face Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens. Beginning with Rajasthan, Kolkata will go on to complete all their remaining five home outings by May 9.
A resurgent Delhi Daredevils squad will look to continue with their winning momentum when they take on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the team's fifth match of the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi on Monday.
Every person was tested 72 hours before they travelled in order to ensure that all members of the party were travelling virus free.
For the Gujarat Lions to roar, their top-heavy batting order must first win in unison against a consistent KKR bowling attack.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's Paisa Vasool Players.
India's left-arm spinner Axar Patel jumped 20 places to his career-best ranking of 13 in the International Cricket Council's Rankings for ODI bowlers while Jasprit Bumrah and Dhawal Kulkarni also made progress after conclusion of the three-match series against Zimbabwe.
Rishabh Pant of the Delhi Daredevils, with a most valuable player index of 897, is the most valuable player of IPL 11.
Players have been embroiled in contractual disputes with Cricket West Indies (CWI) for several years, with the team even abandoning a tour of India midway through their 2014 series over a payment structure row.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse Week 3 of IPL-11 in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
Kolkata Knight Riders snapped their six-match losing streak with a 34-run win over Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring IPL game.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the best performing players in IPL-11 in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
Kolkata Knight Riders may be having a good time in the ongoing IPL season, having registered six victories from nine matches, but head coach Jacques Kallis warned against complacency, saying the team had slipped out of contention from a similar position last season.
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