Gujarat Lions would look to better their debut season's success and aim for a winning start against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League match, in Rajkot on Friday.
Bolstered by Shreyas Iyer's return, Delhi Capitals will look to maintain the form they showed in the first half of the season as they resume their IPL campaign against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Batsman Suresh Raina was on Sunday rewarded for his recent domestic performance with a recall to the Indian Twenty20 squad for the three-match series against South Africa, starting February 18.
CSK will be eliminated if they lose to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.
Suresh Raina has been named captain of the India Blue team for the Duleep Trophy, which will be held in Kanpur and Lucknow from September 7 to 29, providing him a platform to make a return to the Indian team.
Kulkarni was part of the commentary team of the official broadcaster before being approached by the five-time champions.
Skipper Sanju Samson will look for support from his batsmen as Rajasthan Royals aim to return to winning ways against laggards Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Monday and keep their play-offs hopes alive.
How Rishabh Pant performs as skipper will be watched with interest
Assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak believes the present Gujarat Lions line-up is much more balanced as compared to last year as the Suresh Raina-led team looks for a good showing in the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League starting next week.
Cheteshwar Pujara made 49 and 43 in his two innings as Saurashtra lost to Haryana by four wickets.
Operating like a well-oiled unit, Chennai Super Kings will start as overwhelming favourites when they clash with struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL match in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Delhi Capitals will have their fortune in their own hands as they aim to pull all stops against Mumbai Indians in what will be a virtual quarter-final clash for Rishabh Pant's men as far as their IPL 2022 play-offs hopes are concerned.
It has been a rollercoaster ride for SRH who won five games in a row before losing the next five.
Kolkata Knight Riders resemble a sinking ship ahead of a rather inconsequential IPL-15 match against bottom-placed Mumbai Indians who, even if already out of reckoning, will have their tails up in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
The likes of skipper Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, who had produced stellar performances and played a key role in GT's success so far, have floundered against Punjab.
While Rajasthan, placed second in the standings, have lost only two games and won six, Mumbai are already out of contention for a play-off berth
Much was expected from a revamped Kolkata Knight Riders set-up but it seemed Dinesh Karthik did not learn from his past mistakes
Star batter Suryakumar Yadav urged one and all to show patience with an out of sorts Mumbai Indians, saying the five-time champions are currently undergoing a transition phase.
If Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, then Mumbai Indians may find it very difficult to qualify for the play-offs even if they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in their final league match.
For the Gujarat Lions to roar, their top-heavy batting order must first win in unison against a consistent KKR bowling attack.
Captain Kane Williamson, all-rounder Vijay Shankar and comeback man Wriddhiman Saha will look to score in the key match.
Dhoni's men will be slight favourites as it will be Bairstow's last game
KXIP got its campaign back on track with three consecutive wins -- over mighty Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore and the KL Rahul-led side would be hoping to carry the winning momentum forward to break into top four.
CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (since inception) have traditionally been two of the most balanced sides in most IPL editions but both have ensured scratchy starts this year
For MP, Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya and Anubhav Agarwal also took two wickets apiece. MP got seven points from the win. The outright-winning team gets six points while a victory of an innings or 10-wickets fetches seven points.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will start as firm favourites against bottom-placed SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL match in Delhi on Tuesday.
RCB will be strengthened further when the immensely-talented Devdutt Padikkal makes the team after his recovery from COVID-19.
Cheteshwar Pujara continued his good form in Ranji Trophy as he slammed his second successive century as Saurashtra dominated their Elite Group A match against Manipur.
If RCB win their remaining two games, they will move to 20 points and have a chance of finishing in the top two.
Almost out of reckoning for a place in the play-offs, bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to play party-poopers when they take on an equally struggling Punjab Kings in the battle of laggards in the IPL in Sharjah on Saturday.
Former captain Vinay Kumar hit an unbeaten 83 and shared a crucial 97-run stand for the last wicket Ronit More (10) to help Karnataka take a 39-run first innings lead against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Here's the full list of players sold on Day 1:
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani grabbed a match haul of 10 wickets as Mumbai defeated Andhra by 10 wickets to secure a successive bonus-point victory in the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai on Monday.
For Hyderabad, KXIP encounter is the last game where they can avail the services of Warner before he leaves home for Australia's World Cup preparations alongside Steven Smith and Marcus Stoinis.
Royals are more affected than Sunrisers with the absence of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Joffra Archer, who have left for England to join the World Cup camp.
Ambati Rayudu will be aiming to make a statement when a marauding Chennai Super Kings take on a desperate Sunrisers Hyderabad
A win against Mumbai Indians should be enough to send Sunrisers into the final-four.
Seamers Shivam Dube (4/10) and Royston Dias (3/35) powered Mumbai's outright win over Bihar by an innings and 51 runs in their Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season opener in Patna on Monday.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals will aim to get back to winning ways against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Warner would be looking to make the most of the early start and put runs on the board again.
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