'Shubman Gill is a great thinker and player, but man management will be key to his leadership success.'
Captain is confident of RCB going the distance this season
Tributes poured in for AB de Villiers after the South African batter on Friday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, with Indian maestro Virat Kohli aptly summing up his greatness by calling him the "best player of our times".
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL 2024 campaign is just one-match old, but it has already exposed their biggest chink. It's fragility in bowling, and they need better returns from bowlers against a confident Punjab Kings at an unforgiving M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Monday.
Even as the dust settles down on IPL 9, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com presents his Dream XI.
Punjab Kings would be sweating over skipper Shikhar Dhawan's injury at a time when they need all their firepower against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Jansen -- who will turn 22 on Sunday next, May 1 -- had wiped out du Plessis, Kohli and Rawat -- three key batters in the RCB top order -- and in the process, helped facilitate an epic batting collapse that would make it in the record books -- for all the wrong reasons.
Kohli seemed delighted to see his India teammate make an excellent return after a long injury layoff.
'Virat suffered a neck sprain during an IPL match in Jaipur.'
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has picked young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as the best young talent from the just-concluded IPL-9, terming the Royal Challengers Bangalore player the best in terms of talent and temperament. 25-year-old Chahal took 21 wickets from 13 matches to finish IPL-9 as second highest wicket taker behind pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 23 from 17 games. "I am considering those who have temperament and not just talent. Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya are the top three. I will pick Chahal at the top as he has got the right temperament," Gavaskar said. "He (Chahal) is not afraid of tossing up the ball and he kept on doing that. When there is some turn on the pitch, there have to be big edges from the batsmen's bat. Chahal also has a big heart and he is not afraid of a big hit. On many occasions, he came back after being hit for sixes to claim wickets," he told NDTV.
Harshal Patel and Glenn Maxwell led a clinical bowling performance to help Royal Challengers Bangalore register a 13-run win over Chennai Super Kings, pushing the defending champions to the brink of elimination.
For KKR, the biggest cause of concern will be the availability of big-hitter Andre Russell, who hurt his knee when he dived into the advertisement boards after missing a catch on Saturday.
India skipper Virat Kohli and his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among the top players who are retained by their respective Indian Premier League franchises, Royal Challengers Bangalore and comeback outfit Chennai Super Kings respectively.
Images from the IPL 2023 match between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday.
"There's nothing to do with the pitch but both the teams bowled well. We did well in both spin and pace departments. But then it's part of the game. One day you do well and on another day nothing goes your way," Negi said at the post-match news conference on Sunday.
CSK coach Stephen Fleming differed with Gautam Gambhir's viewpoint that one can't say Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the same breath, as India's captain has not won the tournament.
India and Maharashtra batter Kedar Jadhav on Monday announced his retirement from international cricket, four years since his last appearance for the national team.
After completing his first assignment as coach of the Indian team by winning the 4-match Test series 2-0 in the West Indies, Anil Kumble has a special praise for his captain Virat Kohli and ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Having witnessed Kohli's progress since his formative years, Kumble admits he's extremely impressed by the dedication of India's star batsman. "The last time I saw him closely was in 2012 (with Royal Challengers Bangalore)," Kumble said, referring to the Indian Premier League franchise he captained and then later mentored.
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli says the team has to take responsibility for the defeat to Kings XI Punjab in the IPL match in Sharjah on Thursday.
Both Jaiswal and du Plessis, the leading run-getters in IPL 2023 so far, are in scintillating form. While du Plessis is leading the scoring charts with 576 runs from 11 innings, including six half centuries and a best of 84, Jaiswal is a close second with 575 runs from 12 matches, which includes four fifties and a 124-run knock.
Delhi are enduring a poor start to the season as they have lost all their four games in IPL 2023 so far.
Australia's World Cup winning captain Michael Clarke feels the Indian skipper should fly back from Surrey to play the historic one-off Test in Bengaluru.
Right now, our mindset is very similar, to go out there and enjoy our cricket, which we have done in the past few years, says Kohli at a press conference before the defending champions' departure to England for the Champions Trophy. Rediff.com's Harish Kotian listens in as the young Indian captain speaks.
Virat Kohli called his bowlers' profligacy 'criminal' after Chennai Super Kings chased down a steep target of 206
Royal Challengers Bangalore's Chris Gayle may have flopped one more time but bowling hero Chris Jordan on Saturday said the big-hitting opener is just one good innings away from regaining his touch in the Indian Premier League.
In an effort to enhance communication skills of the umpires, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, as part of the Umpire Development Program has decided to host an English language upskilling course.
Warner and Bairstow put on 185 in just 16.2 overs in a 118-run victory over Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore, surpassing Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn's opening stand of 184 against Gujarat Lions in the 2017 season.
Till the time I play sport, I'll train like a maniac, the Indian cricket captain tells national football skipper Sunil Chhetri in an Instagram Live chat, credits trainer Shanker Basu for his physical transformation.
If MI have their problems to sort out, having lost at the death in all three games so far, RCB too have their own shortcomings to address with only one win in three games under their belt.
Images from the IPL 2023 match between Royal Challengers and Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday
Kohli and de Villers -- the two talismans had raised the batting standards in the IPL year after year and shattered numerous records along the way.
Assured of a play-off berth, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to quickly recover from their loss in the previous game and finish the league phase on a high when they take on table-toppers Delhi Capitals in their final IPL round-robin game in Dubai on Friday.
A look at the various batting records in the IPL over the years.
Dhoni has earned over Rs 137 crore by playing the IPL.
David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan have all led from the front in IPL 9.
Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back from a four-match losing streak as they outclassed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 21 runs.
Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya landed up at a 'charity dinner' organised by Virat Kohli's foundation in London on Monday but the national cricket team including the skipper maintained a safe distance from him.
Victorious Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner with all humility hailed Virat Kohli as a 'great leader' as he termed it a total 'team effort'.
'Very excited, have got butterflies in my stomach, we have worked so hard'
Stung by a batting debacle, Royal Challengers Bangalore have the onerous task of picking up pieces when they face defending champion Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, with a singular aim of keeping their hopes alive in the Indian Premier League.
