Chennai Super Kings thrashed Kings XI Punjab by a huge margin of 97 runs, extracting a sweet revenge for a string of three losses to them in the last season of the Indian Premier League.
Indian opener K L Rahul hit pay dirt with a Rs 11 crore deal with Kings XI Punjab, while controversial England all-rounder Ben Stokes also triggered a bidding war before going to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12.50 crore at the IPL auctions, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Losing half a dozen of matches in one go did hurt Kohli's team's pride
Both KXIP and the Royals would look to build a winning momentum after starting the tournament as underdogs.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers hit half-centuries to overshadow Chris Gayle's unbeaten 99 as Royal Challengers finally snapped their six-match losing streak with a eight-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab.
Some teams have completely overhauled their squads. Others retained their core at the IPL Players Auction.
It is learnt that all eight captains will do a special video shoot on April 6 and leave for their respective cities that very evening itself.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's aim was to take the game against Kings XI Punjab deep and ensure a top-two finish for defending champions Chennai Super Kings once he realised that Lokesh Rahul's blitzkrieg has sealed the deal for the home team, in Mohali, on Sunday.
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming conceded on Friday that the spin department of his side hasn't been as effective as compared to previous IPL seasons, but denied that the team management has lost confidence on its slow bowlers.
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.
Ravichandran Ashwin came up with an unique suggestion to stop batsmen from leaving their crease early, by awarding a 'free ball' for bowlers similar to the 'free hit' delivery which is given to batsmen when the bowlers overstep.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the important numbers after the fourth week of IPL 2020.
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the just concluded IPL-12.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
Ravichandran Ashwin played down the animated reaction from his Royal Challengers Bangalore counterpart Virat Kohli after taking his catch
Liam Livingstone and Evin Lewis's explosive batting will meet its match in Chris Gayle's power and KL Rahul's finesse when Rajasthan Royals lock horns with Punjab Kings to improve upon their mid-table position in the Indian Premier League in Dubai on Tuesday.
Season 9 of the IPL has seen many youngsters punch above their weight. Some of them make Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com's Young Guns XI.
The pressure was on AB to do the job and boy, did he do it in style!
The match, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, will also be a face-off between skippers KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, both seen as future India captaincy material.
Here's a look at the biggest disappointments of IPL 2025 -- the players who've cost crores but delivered crumbs.
Wrist spinners have become the toast of the Indian Premier League (IPL) so much so that a successful off-spinner like Ravichandran Ashwin, too, has been keen to try bowling leg breaks, feels cricket legend Kapil Dev.
Captain KL Rahul has been one of the few consistent performers in the formidable-looking Punjab batting unit and he once again led by example against MI
Three consecutive defeats have more or less sealed their fate and for things to turn around for the Royals, every aspect of their game needs to improve and click for them.
Inexperience cost England, feels Morgan
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be without captain Virat Kohli for at least the initial phase of the Twenty20 tournament as the India skipper recovers from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the series-sealing final test win over Australia in Dharamsala.
A charged up Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on their minds when they face an in-form Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Former India opener and two-time IPL champion skipper Gautam Gambhir believes Virat Kohli's non-performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain should lead to his removal from the hot seat as it is now a question of accountability.
Rahul, 27, has overcome probably the toughest phase in his life and career
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the first 8 games in IPL-12.
Afghanistan mystery spinner Mujeeb Zadran says tricks of the trade learnt from Ravichandran Ashwin in this season's Indian Premier League will come in handy during his team's inaugural Test against India, starting in Bengaluru from Thursday.
On a roll after three consecutive wins, a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad will start as overwhelming favourites against struggling Rising Pune Supergiants in an Indian Premier League match, in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) have acquired the services of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) pacer Shardul Thakur for the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League.
Gujarat left-arm spinner Akshar Patel was recalled to the Indian squad for the last two One-Day Internationals against West Indies, while senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continues to be rested.
Ashwin, a key member of the Indian team across all formats, will have to be 100 percent fit in time for the upcoming Champions Trophy starting June 1.
Focus will now be on how Rabada would fare against the likes of Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and David Miller.
Delhi Capitals have made the perfect start to IPL, with two morale-boosting victories, while SunRisers Hyderabad are the only side yet to register a win in the tournament, having lost both their games.
'With the way we were going, we came to run-a-ball and to lose from there, really disappointing. We didn't play smart cricket.'
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Buttler has been 'Mankaded' twice
Will get money's worth if Gayle, Yuvi can win even two games, says Sehwag
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