After the first qualifier ended in Dubai on Sunday, players from the Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings caught up with their mates from the opposing side.
The first ODI of the three-match series will be played on July 30 followed by the other two on August 1 and 4.
England name their 16-member squad for T20Is against India
RCB on paper look like a team that can make it to the playoffs and with Dinesh Karthik playing his last IPL, Faf turning 40 and Kohli and Maxwell in their mid-thirties, the Challengers will be determined to win it for the veterans of the team.
England also named their final one-day squad before the World Cup, with fast bowlers Tom Curran and David Willey returning to a unit who defeated Sri Lanka 3-1. Tom replaces brother Sam as Liam Dawson and Olly Stone also miss out.
The Bengaluru outfit will hope for a reversal at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, a venue that carries similar traits as RCB's home -- Chinnaswamy Stadium -- in terms of a smooth pitch and a blistering outfield adding value to the batters' shots.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's fairytale resurgent run will be up against the might of five-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the weather gods when the two sides clash in an epic do-or-die match to decide the fourth and final team for the IPL play-offs, in Bengaluru on Saturday.
More than Mahendra Singh Dhoni wielding his magic with the bat, it was young Rishabh Pant's captaincy which left everyone bewildered.
Despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, Rajasthan Royals struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine against Punjab Kings in their IPL match in Guwahati on Wednesday.
All-rounder Ben Stokes on Thursday was not included in England's 15-man preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup as he continues to take a break from cricket to focus on his mental health, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said.
How the IPL teams have shaped up after the auction.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to unleash their brute batting power on struggling Royal Challengers Bengaluru when the two teams face off in their return-leg fixture of the IPL in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Rajasthan Royal Ben Stokes is to completely recover from jet lag after a long journey from New Zealand.
Jonny Bairstow's half century helped England beat West Indies by four wickets in St Lucia on Tuesday in the opening Twenty20 international of their three-match series.
South Africa needed three off the last two balls but Tom Curran, who had just been smashed for 12 runs in three by Dwaine Pretorius, got him lbw then had Bjorn Fortuin caught off the final ball to cap off a day of almost unrelenting excitement and set up a thrilling decider in Centurion on Sunday.
Dhoni's wife Sakshi shared her feelings on an Instagram story, which was later deleted.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been left out the Twenty20 squad to face Australia and India due to injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
Gujarat Giants will be wary of Royal Challengers Bengaluru's newfound firepower in the middle-order when the teams clash in the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Having shown exceptional consistency in both red and white-ball cricket for Team India, Pant will now look to recreate the same magic for his franchise.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL campaign that began with optimism has melted into chaos. Their bowlers require a drastic transformation in mindset against Sunrisers Hyderabad for them to register an elusive win in Bengaluru on Monday.
Robin Uthappa's drop catch costs KKR the match!
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.
Former South African quick Dale Steyn opined that MI's frontline pacers Bumrah and Coetzee need support from other bowlers, given the rigours of the IPL. He hinted that an off-colour Pandya was not helping MI's bowling department.
From a maths perspective, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans can still reach the IPL playoffs, but they need to ward off inner gremlins on Saturday to notch a mandatory win to keep that dream flickering.
'The World Cup squad will fly to the Caribbean on May 31 ahead of England's opening group match against Scotland at the Kensington Oval, Barbados, on Wednesday, June 4.'
Opening batsman David Warner enjoyed a gift-wrapped century after being reprieved on 99 as Australia endured a meandering first day of the Boxing Day Test against England on Tuesday.
Harshal finished with 2/28, taking his wicket tally to 22 in 13 games and overtake Jasprit Bumrah for the most wickets in IPL 2024. The pacer is way ahead of everyone when it comes to bowling in the end overs, with 16 wickets between the 16th and 20th overs -- the most by any bowler this season so far with Bumrah a distant second on 11 wickets in the death overs.
Desperate Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be under tremendous pressure to get their act together against an equally struggling Mumbai Indians when the two teams face-off in an Indian Premier League match in Mumbai on Thursday.
'We want to give multi-format players some opportunity to rest and refresh, while still selecting strong squads for every series.'
Once again, RCB are looking on course to finish without a trophy after losing six out of their first seven games.
With five consecutive defeats, bottom-placed RCB have the daunting task of winning their remaining seven games to keep their play-off prospects alive.
England's director of cricket Ashley Giles says the ECB would like to stay away from any conflict with players on their participation in the IPL as it could well mean losing the top ones if they are forced to choose between franchise and national duty.
New Zealand clinched a remarkable comeback win as they defeated England by 14 runs in the third T20I on Tuesday.
Kaif said he was expecting that Delhi Capitals would have to spend more money in order to buy Smith
The 24-year-old, born in Barbados and who represented West Indies at Under-19 level, was not in England's provisional squad and only made his ODI debut little over a fortnight ago.
The England players are all set to be allowed to take part in the remainder of the cash-rich Indian Premier League after the postponement of their limited overs series in Bangladesh in September.
Pushed into a tight corner, Royal Challengers Bengaluru rose above their frailties to notch four wins on the trot and stay alive in the race to play-offs. However, a volatile Delhi Capitals offer them a different challenge in their penultimate IPL league match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
An inconsistent Royal Challengers Bengaluru would be eager to hit the turnaround button when they host Lucknow Super Giants, who will keep an eye on regular skipper KL Rahul's fitness, in the IPL in Bengaluru on Tuesday
Rajasthan Royals' Robin Uthappa admitted that the batters in the side could have taken more time to adjust to the wicket of Dubai.
