With a power-packed batting line-up, match-winning spinners and a solid pace attack, champions KKR are once again the team to beat.
The South African's blistering 52 off 25 balls not only augurs well for him personally but for the franchise who are aiming to build a team from scratch for the next season.
If Punjab goes for a flat deck, there is no guarantee that the bowling unit can defend anything in the 220 range, especially when KKR have the likes of Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, and Venkatesh Iyer in their ranks.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad find themselves in troubled waters, having lost two of their last three games
For KKR, IPL 2025 is slipping away rapidly. They need more than just a few tactical tweaks - they need clarity of leadership and bold but sensible changes in their playing XI.
After waiting nearly three years for a first-class hundred, Iyer's form has surged; his century in October broke that dry spell, and now he's added two more in quick succession.
Prithvi Shaw's inclusion comes as a fresh lease of life for the explosive batter who found himself out of reckoning in the Ranji Trophy.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will seek home comfort in their bid to return to winning ways when they face a depleted Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Sunday.
With five consecutive defeats, bottom-placed RCB have the daunting task of winning their remaining seven games to keep their play-off prospects alive.
With all hopes faded, coming in to bat with 89 needed off 7 overs, the 32 year old revived the team's fortunes.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will expect a lot more from their top-order as they aim to get their campaign back on track against a power-packed Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL match in Chennai on Monday.
The Indian Premier League governing council revealed changes ahead of the IPL mega auction, which is likely to be scheduled for November.
KKR will look to iron out their flaws and get the better of a misfiring Mumbai Indians during their IPL match on Friday.
The KKR think-tank might not be unduly worried as their campaign is still at a nascent stage, but they would like to see the first-choice pacer and spinner finding their range at the earliest.
Tactician par excellence Gautam Gambhir couldn't have envisaged a battle of brains with a more different kind of adversary than the smiling yet ruthless Pat Cummins as Kolkata Knight Riders face a spirited Sunrisers Hyderabad in a mega IPL final in Chennai on Sunday.
KKR's most successful leader Gautam Gambhir is back in his second innings as a mentor. His partnership with head coach Chandrakant Pandit, a shrewd tactician in domestic circuit, will be the key to their revival.
COVID-hit India will be bolstered by the return of key players when the four-time champions meet holders Bangladesh in the third quarter-final of the Under-19 World Cup in Osbourn, Antigua on Saturday.
Siddarth Yadav is the only player who has a confirmed positive RT-PCR report while Dhull, Rasheed, and Aaradhya Yadav tested positive in Rapid Antigen Tests.
The opening round of Ranji Trophy matches will begin from February 17 following a five-day quarantine and the squad size, including support staff, has been capped at 30.
With all their top players recovering from COVID-19, a confident India will take on Australia in a blockbuster semi-final of the Under-19 World Cup in Coolidge, Antigua, on Wednesday.
A youth was arrested and arms and ammunition were recovered from his possession in Mumbai on Thursday, police said. Acting on a tip-off, Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad arrested 28-year-old Kailash Singh from suburban Chembur and recovered 10 pistols, one carbine and 68 cartridges from his possession, Anti-Terrorism Squad chief K P Raghuvanshi said.
India look on course for a record-extending fifth title given the depth of talent and form but standing in the way is a driven English team, chasing its own piece of history in what promises to be an enthralling final.
Skipper Yash Dhull gave a glimpse of his rare talent with a well-paced hundred which guided powerhouse India into its fourth consecutive Under-19 World Cup final.
India will begin their campaign against South Africa at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on January 15.
Skipper Yash Dhull was all praise for his boys after India romped into the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup, saying the team stuck together to tide over a tumultuous phase following multiple COVID positive cases in the squad.
'It will not make any difference to our war against terror. Those persons ought to be extradited, questioned and tried over here in our courts,' says Mumbai ATS Chief K P S Raghuvanshi.
India has a talented squad of young players who have played exceptionally throughout the course of the tournament
'The Force One team has given the ATS a big boost. There are several commandos who are trained to fight terrorist groups and equipped with state-of-the-art arms and ammunition. We do not want this force to be lacking in anything. They are being constantly trained,' says ATS Chief K P S Raghuvanshi.
Faisal Sheikh, Tanvir Ahmed, Kamal Ansari and Ehtesham Siddiqui were booked under MCOCA
The Mumbai anti-terrorist squad has nabbed two persons, who were plotting a terror strike on Oil and Natural Gas Corporation installations in the city.
Claiming to have some 'vital' clues in the Pune blast case, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has sought the help of auto rickshaw drivers, asking them to share information about suspicious passengers who might be linked to the terror attack."I have appealed through radio to auto rickshaw drivers, who might have ferried passengers with suspicious behaviour to the eatery or anywhere else on the day of the blast, to share the information with me," said ATS chief.
Mohammed Omar Madni, a suspected aide of Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed, is likely to be questioned by the Mumbai police in connection with the July 11, 2006 serial train blasts case. "We are in touch with Delhi police authorities and after getting more information from them, we will send a team to interrogate him," Additional Director General (Anti-Terrorism Squad) K P Raghuvanshi said.
Fake Indian currency notes of Rs 1,000 seized in Mumbai recently were unlikely to have been made in a small private press, a senior police official said on Friday.
All I have to say is that the narco-analysis reports came in very late and by the time we started to look into it, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. We however got to know that those involved in the Nanded blast were also part of the Parbhani blasts case, says K P S Raghuvanshi, former chief of the Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad
Vijay Taneja stages Bollywood events abroad.
Four persons, including a woman, who were held in Surat on Friday on suspicion of being terror suspects wanted by the Mumbai police, were released on Tuesday after it was verified that they were not the same whose sketches were released last week.
Raghuvanshi said that some of the detained are said to be from Lucknow, but refused to give further information on them saying the process of ascertaining their identity is underway.
7/11: Home secy given evidence of Pak hand
Interpol's website has a picture of the 33-year old Dawrey and lists counterfeiting and terrorism as the list of offences registered against him.
