An in-form Delhi Capitals will fancy their chances of securing a play-off berth when they face Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League in Sharjah on Tuesday.
The IPL is likely to start in the second week of April and its knockout matches may stretch till early June, potentially clashing with New Zealand's first Test in England
New Zealand Cricket has indicated that it may not block its players from fully participating in the upcoming IPL if the knock-out phase matches of the lucrative league clash with the Test series opener in England beginning on June 2.
Fast bowler Tim Southee will lead the Black Caps in the five matches against England starting in Christchurch on November 1.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be striving to turn around their fortunes in IPL 2021 after a below-par showing last season.
Punjab, who are on eight points from 11 games, need to win the match to keep their play-offs hopes alive, while KKR (10 points from 11 games) also need a victory to boost their hopes.
Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner are among 10 New Zealand players in the different franchises of the IPL.
Pakistan will have 'revenge' on their mind for a recent off-field snub when they take on New Zealand in the T20 World Cup in Sharjah on Tuesday.
The New Zealand government tightened border restrictions and stating that all those entering the country from Australia would be subjected to a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period. The new restrictions, which come into from Sunday midnight, would have led to the New Zealand team being quarantined if it stayed back to complete the assignment.
Following is the list of players who have been released by the different franchises ahead of the auction for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.
The third and final T20 International between New Zealand and West Indies was abandoned due to rain at the Bay Oval, in Mount Maunganui, on Monday.
Their opponents New Zealand, who effectively knocked India out of the World Cup, have reached Jaipur on a chartered flight from Dubai with little time to reflect on their loss to Australia in the title clash.
The onus would be on their famed batting line-up of Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell to start firing once again and put pressure on the KKR batsmen.
To India's comfort, New Zealand's tournament has gone on a downward spiral during their last three games but their initial good work helped them beat Pakistan to a last four spot.
Captain David Warner single-handedly scripted the turnaround with an unbeaten 47 from 33 balls and somehow forced the game into the Super Over, which gave Sunrisers Hyderabad another shot at victory despite being so behind in the race at one point.
Having already won the series, Rohit and Dravid will now like to maintain a fine balance between winning and also trying out all their available resources to see how each and every individual is placed.
When was the last time we saw an IPL top 50 table without the names of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, M S Dhoni, and with Rishabh Pant getting almost the last empty seat? ask Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji as they list the 50 Most Valuable Players after the first 29 IPL 2022 games.
Eyeing a maiden IPL title, the fancied Delhi Capitals will face another litmus test in the form of a Kolkata Knight Riders unit brimming with optimism when the two sides lock horns in the Qualifier 2 match in Sharjah on Wednesday.
'We leave it up to the players to decide whether or not they want to participate and request NOCs'
In India, 29 positive cases have been reported so far, including 16 Italian tourists. New Zealand Cricket said that the cricket board is in constant touch with the country's health, foreign affairs and sports ministry to get regular updates which will ensure health safety for its players.
Starc took his tally to 19 wickets in the tournament so far.
Coming into the series at the back of a convincing series win over Pakistan, Australia will look to seal their seventh day-night Test win when they face New Zealand in the opening Test beginning in Perth on Thursday.
KKR did not win the mini-battles in the game and 172 eventually proved too little.
Karthik will be surrounded by cricketing brains all around him with the 2019 England World Cup winning skipper as his deputy, and New Zealand great Brendon McCullum as the head coach.
Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, have done an excellent job in restricting the oppositions but KKR's top-order batting has hurt them the most.
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
KKR have so far failed to come together as a unit and slipped to sixth in the table after starting the tournament on a high against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's astute captaincy will be Chennai Super Kings' biggest weapon against a clinical Kolkata Knight Riders, whose troika of top-notch spinners promise to hold the aces in the high-octane Indian Premier League final in Dubai on Friday.
Injuries to frontline fast bowlers have forced New Zealand to opt for fresh blood in their pace attack for the three-match ODI series against India starting February 5 in Hamilton. Kyle Jamieson could be in for a potential debut, while Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett return to the squad after a long absence. Injury has meant the likes of Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are unavailable for the series.
Morgan's astute captaincy in using his bowling resources was the highlight as KKR had bowled out MI for a modest 152.
New Zealand's worst peacetime mass killing rippled through the country's top-class sports on Saturday with two high profile events cancelled and the first class cricket title being decided without a ball being bowled in the final round of matches.
The Black Caps were also scheduled to travel to Australia for an ODI series but the fixture was on Friday postponed to next summer (2021-22) due to the pandemic.
Pakistan will not only have to win the remaining three matches, starting with New Zealand, but also hope that the results in other matches favour them to salvage any hopes of a semi-final berth.
An unwell Trent Boult skipped the New Zealand cricket team's training session at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Monday, staying away from the squad as a precautionary measure. The left-arm pacer is among eight players including Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, who are attending the first half of the camp that started on Sunday.
Rahul Dravid's reign as head coach and Rohit Sharma's as T20I captain got off to a winning start as India defeated New Zealand by five wickets in a thrilling finish in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2021's 50 Most Valuable Players.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12s match between India and New Zealand, in Dubai, on Sunday.
Images from the third T20 International between India and New Zealand, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on Sunday.
Both India and New Zeland have not lost any of their matches in the tournament as of now
Fresh from their clinical display against Sunrisers Hyderabad, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will look to set the record straight against nemesis Mumbai Indians in their second IPL match in Chennai on Tuesday.
