Andrew Tye was a frustrated bystander for his first two seasons in the Indian Premier League but the Australia paceman grabbed his chance when it came on Friday, taking five wickets including a hat-trick to set up a first win for the Gujarat Lions.
Forced out of grounds, tracks and courts by the coronavirus pandemic, sports events may help in the long run, but medical experts on Wednesday warned that resuming anything this year could mean putting lives at risk. When sporting events do eventually make a comeback, which some of the region's top doctors believe is not going to happen until at least the next six months or may be nine, it may not be the same initially.
Their confidence restored after a bumpy start, a transformed Delhi Daredevils will look to stretch Kings XI Punjab to the limit when they face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Pant had so far scored 222 runs in the IPL compared to a mere 93 by Karthik, but the latter's experience helped tilt the scale in his favour for the mega-event, starting in England from May 30.
Former Test umpire and Hampshire cricketer John Holder is among those who have called for an independent inquiry into the dearth of non-white match officials in English cricket.
With a "no-vacancy" sign plastered on India's top order and his utility in the middle questioned by his own captain, Ajinkya Rahane suddenly finds his consistency with the bat means very little. The 27-year-old Mumbai batsman has forced his way into the final 15 for next month's World Twenty20 on home soil but is unlikely to play a major role in the hosts' bid for a second 20-over World title under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The left-right combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have locked up the opening slots, followed by batting mainstay Virat Kohli and limited-overs specialist Suresh Raina. An industrious accumulator in a lineup teeming with swashbuckling power-hitters, Rahane can only hope for a middle order slot but Dhoni, forthright as ever, has virtually dismissed the possibility. Dhoni insists Rahane, as evident from his consistent performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition, is at his best as an opener and lacks the muscle power to excel as a lower-order slogger.
The Lions from South Africa will look ride on the performance of their captain Alviro Petersen to guide them to a better finish.
The Delhi Daredevils franchise has decided against retaining Kevin Pietersen, their skipper in the last edition, Dinesh Karthik, the costliest buy, and Test specialist Murali Vijay for the eighth season of the Indian Premier League.
While the two T20 matches will be a precursor to the ODI series, vice-captain Rohit Sharma is likely to be given a short break to rejuvenate and come back fresh for the ODIs.
They are the team's leading performers, but Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle's batting in the Powerplay overs was one of the "massive problems", opined Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin after team failed to make it to the play-offs in Season 12 of the Indian Premier League.
Veteran India seamer Ashish Nehra underwent a surgery to treat a 'high-grade tendon injury' he had suffered on his right knee during an Indian Premier League match earlier this month.
'As a cricketer I don't believe that anyone is a specific player for T20s, ODIs or Test cricket.' 'As a player you need to react and play according to situations.'
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com takes a look at some players Indian fans will miss following their exploits in the Indian Premier League.
These are rumours and I will let it go: Prithvi on 'indiscipline' speculations
'It has been a quick evolution.' 'That is because he saw the big names playing in the IPL and he played alongside them; that transformed him as a batsman.' 'I would say now he is perfect.'
The third umpire ruled Jadeja out after which Kohli looked miffed and rose from his seat before having a word with the fourth umpire Anil Choudhary. However, he did not enter the field of play.
A young squad, full of Indian Premier League performers, will represent India 'A' in the T20 warm-up against South Africa at the Air force Ground, in Palam, on September 29.
Zaheer Khan feels the more pressure you put on the umpires, more difficult it is going to get.
It is understood that barring captain Virat Kohli, almost all the Test team regulars will be in action in the one-off Test against Afghanistan.
Images from 1st ODI between India and West Indies in Chennai on Sunday.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
Uncapped spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were named in South Africa's squad for next month's three-match test series in Australia on Monday as the Proteas seek to exploit a perceived weaknesses in their hosts' batting. Faf du Plessis will again captain the team in the absence of injured AB de Villiers after leading the side in the two-test series against New Zealand last month, which they won 1-0. "Basically, we are following a horses for courses policy as we feel that spinners who turn the ball away from the right-hander are going to be particularly useful under Australian conditions and against the test batsmen we are likely to face," selector Linda Zondi said in a statement.
Suresh Raina's quickfire half-century went in vain as Chennai Super Kings went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets in a thrilling finish in the Indian Premier League in Ranchi.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha is hoping to continue his good form in the Indian Premier League with 'priceless inputs' from Kings XI Punjab's chief of cricket operations Virender Sehwag.
Rahul Dravid has no qualms conceding that he wouldn't have survived international cricket of today by batting at the pace he did at his prime but neither does he believe that defensive technique will become redundant even though the "value is decreasing". Dravid said the likes of Virat kohli and Rohit Sharma "have blown the ODI paradigm to an all new level" but someone like Cheteshwar Pujara will also always be needed in Test cricket. As for himself, he doesn't mind being called defensive as he always wanted to be a Test player.
Iyer's 147 is the highest T20 score by an Indian and in the process he surpassed wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who had scored an unbeaten 128 for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
Ashwin, Jadeja likely to be rested; Team selection on Aug 13
India showed commendable character in Rajkot to level the series, proving that the panic buttons were pressed prematurely following the 10-wicket loss in Mumbai.
Selectors once again ignored Ashwin and Jadeja for the 3-match T20 series against Australia.
Their nothing to lose attitude has kept them afloat for a play-off berth and Kings XI Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha said his team will look to employ a similar approach in their do-or-die IPL encounter against Rising Pune Supergiant.
India's young guns will get an opportunity to fire on the big stage and carry forward the team's exceptional dominance over England when they clash with the visitors in the three-match Twenty20 series, starting in Kanpur on Thursday.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has withdrawn Sunil Narine from the upcoming tour of India after the spinner was banned from bowling in the Champions League Twenty20 final for an illegal bowling action.
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday.
'Dhoni was the captain and everyone else was battling for the second wicket-keeper's slot.' 'I was fighting with myself, always thinking of improving my game, getting better personally, not comparing myself with anyone else.'
Kohli, who was named man-of-the-match for the 2nd Test that India won against Sri Lanka in Nagpur on Monday, will play the third and final Test in New Delhi.
Ravindra Jadeja will have to improvise.
Akram explained that Shami's erratic strides at times hinder his consistency level.
Ruled out of the Test series against England, Indian batsman Rohit Sharma on Friday said he could be out for as long as three months if the doctors decide to operate on his injured thigh. "I don't know (how much time I will miss cricket) our BCCI medical team is in touch with doctors, the scans we have got till now have been sent to doctors, we are waiting for their opinion, whether to do surgery or not, if we do the surgery then how much time is needed," Rohit told reporters at a promotional event in suburban Bandra. "The picture is fully not clear. I think in one or two days the picture will be clear, whether it (surgery) is happening or not. It is an important decision if we do surgery. If I do the surgery, I cannot play for 3 to 3 and half months. We are waiting for the doctors' opinion, let's see what happens," the Mumbai player added.
Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter in Indore on Monday.
New outfit Gujarat Lions have witnessed a dream start to their debut Indian Premier League season and the team's head coach Brad Hodge feels they have plenty of match-winners who can help them continue in the same vein in the remainder of the tournament.
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