Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff's first Most Valuable Player Index for IPL 2025.
A weakened South African batting line-up has been 'crippled further' by the sudden retirement of the seasoned Quinton de Kock, said the country's former star batter Hashim Amla.
As the auction approaches, here are the 10 wicketkeeper-batters who are poised to attract significant attention making them among the most sought-after players for IPL 2025.
Cricket South Africa are waiting for Quinton de Kock to explain his motives for pulling out of the Twenty20 World Cup win over West Indies on Tuesday as his future with the team hangs in the balance.
Opener Reeza Hendricks smashed 117 runs from 63 balls to guide South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second Twenty20 International at Centurion Park on Friday as they claimed the three-match series 2-0 with a game to spare.
Quinton De Kock said former captain Faf du Plessis' comeback after being rested for the Australia series, will hold the visitors in a good stead in the upcoming ODIs.
Since first opening the batting together in January 2023, the duo has been prolific in 50 overs cricket.
Every over had a boundary while the singles and twos came at will.
'It was more about taking it step-by-step, not just throwing out what I think straight away to the team. We are busy rebuilding as a limited overs team, especially ODIs. Twenty20 I think we know what is going on.'
South Africa won their T20 series against world champions West Indies and Ireland, and will once again be captained by Temba Bavuma in both formats.
South Africa's Quinton de Kock rediscovered his batting form with a career best 141 not out as the tourists seized control of the first Test against a wilting West Indies at the close of play on day two in Saint Lucia on Friday.
Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock on Thursday said the players feel "very safe" inside the IPL bio-security bubble, two days after leg-spinner Adam Zampa called it one of the "most vulnerable" as he returned back home to Australia.
On a night packed with drama, milestones, and momentum swings, five batters rose above the rest to set Eden Gardens alight.
Cricket fans, critics and some former players have pointed out that de Kock "deliberately misled" Zaman into believing the ball was at the non-strikers end and then ran him out.
All about IPL 2025 which kicks off on March 22, Saturday.
South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock skipped Tuesday's Twenty20 World Cup match against West Indies citing "personal reasons" after the team were directed to take a knee in their remaining matches in the tournament.
IMAGES from the IPL 2022 game between Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune on Saturday.
Images from the third One-Day International between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Sunday.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram applauded his bowlers for sealing a thrilling seven-run victory over England in a T20 World Cup Super Eight Group 2 match in St Lucia on Friday, saying they did not wilt under pressure.
South Africa are hoping for the return of star opener Quinton de Kock, who has not played since the first T20I in Delhi due to a wrist injury.
'It could have been a closer game and we could have got over the line.'
James Anderson marked his 150th Test and return to the England attack with the first-ball wicket of home opener Dean Elgar, and Sam Curran also grabbed four wickets before Quinton de Kock rallied the Proteas. Images from Day 1 of the opening Test played between South Africa and England at Centurion on Thursday.
Quinton de Kock has apologised for pulling out of Tuesday's Twenty20 World Cup match against the West Indies after rejecting a Cricket South Africa (CSA) directive that players must "take a knee" in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before the game.
David Warner (4 off 12), returning to the franchise where he made his IPL debut back in 2009, struggled in his first innings of the season.
Shaun Pollock says the ICC Cricket Committee is working towards giving bowlers "bit more leeway on wides" as the current rule is "very strict on them"
Aiden Markram conceded that Andries Gous made life difficult for his side after the United States put the seasoned South Africans under tremendous stress in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match.
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar says he was initially "shocked" at Quinton de Kock's sudden retirement from Test cricket, but insisted that the team will take the setback in its stride and strive to level the ongoing series against India.
England batters look to tame strong South African bowling
Quinton de Kock was a surprise pick for the South African summer, only because both he and director of cricket Graeme Smith have previously said the burden of captaincy across all three formats would be too much for the wicketkeeper.
Playing down comparisons drawn with Australian wicket-keeping great Adam Gilchrist, South Africa batting mainstay Quinton de Kock has insisted that he just focuses on playing his own game.
Buttler believes the Twenty20 series, in particular, is important for England to work through their selection permutations.
Proteas skipper said that the match getting called off was not ideal as every game is crucial heading into next year's T20 World Cup in Australia.
Bought back by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping Rs 23.75 crore at the IPL mega auction in Jeddah on Sunday, Venkatesh Iyer said he would be "more than happy" to take on the captaincy challenge and step into Shreyas Iyer's shoes.
Does Rahul get your vote? Or did you prefer Dhoni's cameo?
His experience and mastery with the ball shone through as he single-handedly restricted LSG to their lowest-ever Powerplay score -- a paltry 27 for 2. This early stranglehold effectively stalled LSG's batting momentum and set the tone for the entire match.
Besides thanking the LSG fans for their support, he admitted that he also tries to help the team by imparting his knowledge of the sport as and when required.
'We know that he's a quality player and there's a good innings around the corner for him. He has been given the extra burden of being captain and that can be tough and something he's not used to.'
South Africa's limited over skipper Quinton de Kock didn't want Test captaincy as "extra pressure" of leading the team in traditional format would have been "too much stress". The 27-year-old had replaced Faf du Plessis as ODI skipper in January this year with South Africa's director of cricket Graeme Smith announcing in April that De Kock would not be elevated to Test captaincy.
India's Arshdeep Singh is in the race for the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year along with Pakistan's Babar Azam, Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza and Australia's Travis Head, the ICC revealed on Sunday.
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