The Indian Premier League IPL) throws up surprises every season, with underdogs rising to challenge established powerhouses, new players emerging as key contributors, or teams overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. Every match days, the record books are rewritten as players consistently strive to push their personal bests and achieve new heights.
AB de Villiers has said the Indian Premier League (IPL) should do away with large fines for slow over rates and shorten innings breaks to 10 minutes
Rahane set for county stint with Leicestershire post-IPL
Images from Monday's IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, in Jaipur.
In David Warner's absence, Shikhar Dhawan lead from the front.
No one in his right senses will expect Ajinkya Rahane to bat like Sachin Tendulkar or make thousands of runs and own a plethora of records. But the right-hander guarantees to carry forward the rich legacy of the fabled Mumbai school of batting.
Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, the two franchises that returned to the IPL after serving bans in the aftermath of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, will come face to face for the first time in the ongoing edition, keen to regain lost momentum in Pune, on Friday.
Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal shone with the ball as Rajasthan Royals finally won their first game of this IPL season after outclassing Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in Jaipur on Tuesday.
Sanju Samson's breathtaking strokeplay formed the cornerstone of Rajasthan Royals' 19-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high-scoring Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals will look to extend their four-match winning streak.
With both sides without a victory in their first three matches, it was the Royals who broke their duck with a seven-wicket win in Jaipur, spearheaded by Shreyas Gopal's 3-12 with his leg-spin and a 59 from Jos Buttler's bat.
Ajinkya Rahane said he enjoys opening the batting in the shortest format but he is also ready to explore a potential "finisher's role" with Delhi Capitals having several options at the top of the order during the upcoming Indian Premier League in the UAE.
Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their play-off hopes alive by pulling off a well-deserved seven-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling Indian Premier League match that went to the wire at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Australian James Faulkner's superb all-round show helped Rajasthan Royals outclass Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs in their opening Indian Premier League match in Pune.
Australia's batting sensation Steven Smith tells Harish Kotian switching over from the Test and One-day mode to T20 will not be a problem for him in the upcoming eighth edition of the IPL.
Chennai Super Kings will look to step up the pace in the middle overs and hope their inspirational skipper M S Dhoni takes the field despite a knee niggle against fierce rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eagerly awaited Southern derby in the IPL, in Bengaluru, on Monday.
Rajasthan Royals are in a similar situation like last year when they were one win away from qualifying for the play-offs of Indian Premier League but were knocked out by Mumbai Indians and the team members have talked about it, said Stuart Binny in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians lock horns with an out-of-sorts Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match in which home skipper Rohit Sharma's return from injury will also be awaited, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Skipper Virat Kohli blasted his second successive fifty and pacer Mitchell Starc picked up three wickets as Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL encounter in Ahmedabad.
'We played pretty well against Mumbai (Indians at Delhi on April 23). We have another chance to play in Mumbai (at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, after the loss to Royals at the Brabourne Stadium) and against Mumbai. We need to win and keep in contention'
Dhoni and Raina accumulated runs in singles and twos early in the partnership, then accelerated the scoring after the 10th over.
Chennai Super Kings will look to avenge their first leg loss against Rajasthan Royals.
Shane Watson claimed a hat-trick as Rajasthan Royals restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 134 for 9 in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday. However, his effort was in vain as Hyderabad came back with a vengeance to dismiss the former champions for 102 and win by 32 runs for only their third victory this season.
He has taken guard in different positions and came at seven in India's latest World Cup victory against Pakistan. But key batsman Ajinkya Rahane does not mind being shuffled in the batting order.
Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin believes his team bounced back in the tournament at the right time and lavished praise on young pacer Arshdeep Singh for taking two crucial wickets in his IPL debut.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, in Jaipur.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team comes into the match with two wins on the bounce and, like always, will be tough to beat at their 'den'.
Brendon McCullum struck a quickfire fifty before Ravindra Jadeja produced a brilliant spell of 4-11 as Chennai Super avenged its defeat over Rajasthan Royals with a 12-run win to virtually secure its place in the play-offs of the Indian Premier League in Chennai on Sunday.
CSK, coming off consecutive losses to Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings, will be aiming to bounce back against Lucknow Super Giants.
The M Chinnaswamy stadium saw a record-equalling 33 sixes being hammered during the CSK-RCB game as Devon Conway and Glenn Maxwell put up sizzling shows for their sides.
The big-hitting Rajasthan Royals batsman Deepak Hooda credits his IPL success to mentor Rahul Dravid, and teammate Steven Smith. Rediff.coms Harish Kotian caught up with the youngster to figure out his success mantra.
The Ashwins had near identical figures; R Ashwin taking 2/24 while M Ashwin claimed 1/24.
Guilty of making too many changes at the top, Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to find a winning combination against Rajasthan Royals and snap their five-match losing streak in the IPL, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on Monday.
Delhi Daredevils skipper Jean-Paul Duminy blamed poor batting and fielding as well as lack of intensity for his team's 14-run loss to Rajasthan Royals In an IPL match at the Brabourne Stadium.
In a relief to CSK, Stokes, who was suffering from a toe injury and missed three IPL matches, took part in the net practice on Wednesday
'I think it is great opportunity for every single country look into its own backyards and think the way they want to play cricket and for what we stand for, including the Australians. Otherwise this opportunity would go'
The Indian team for Australia classified by IPL franchise.
Ambati Rayudu blasted a quickfire half-century to help Mumbai Indians overcome Rajasthan Royals by eight runs in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Friday.
Having gone through a testing time as captain of Rajasthan Royals when the spot-fixing scandal broke two seasons ago, team mentor Rahul Dravid called for stricter laws, even criminal, to be put in place by the country's lawmakers to deal with this issue in IPL.
Both teams head into their IPL game on Sunday on the back of defeats in their previous matches. While CSK fell short by 32 runs against Rajasthan Royals, PBKS lost to Lucknow Super Giants by 56 runs.
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