Delhi Capitals Training Session

 Delhi Capitals just posted the pictures of their training session for the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. Recently, the team announced 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, Rishab Pant, as the team's captain after ruling out Shreyas Iyer for a shoulder injury.

The skipper will undergo surgery on the 9th of April, just a day ahead of the teams first match. He congratulated Rishab Pant and welcomed the team management decision.

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Here is the video of the first-day training session of the Delhi Capitals for the upcoming IPL.

 

Punjab Kings training camps for 2021 IPL

 Here are a few images from the Punjab Kings training camp for the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. The team is practising in Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. 

If you are following the Punjab Kings Instagram page you can see the insta stories related to these pictures. 

In one of the Insta stories, you can see that Mayank Agrawal is tracing the flower from the hotel walls to submit a picture as a part of the team activity and calls it education.

*All the Above images are from the www.punjabkingsipl.in

In the video Punjab Kings coach, Anil Kumble said that the team missed narrowly qualifying for the top four with a few bad decisions last year. This year we will keep everything aside and focus on playing the matches well and looking forward to playing this IPL.  

Delhi Capitals announce their next captain for 2021 IPL

image: Delhi Capitals

Rishab Pant will replace Shreyas Iyer as the Delhi Capitals Team captain in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League which begins on the 9th of April.

Rishab pant has captained the Delhi state team and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament in 2017. As the debut IPL captain Pant's, the first game is against Chennai Super King on the 10th of April in Mumbai.

The team announced on their website, with a note from DC chairman and co-owner saying that under Shreyas Iyer captaincy the team reached newer heights and the team going to miss him immensely.

This is a tremendous opportunity for young Rishabh, who is coming off successful stints against Australia and England which will no doubt give him the confidence needed to take on a new role that comes with a lot more responsibility, said DC coach Ricky Pointing.

As I said earlier, the team management might choose the star of the team Rishab Pant over the seniority and foreign players in my previous blog post.

In my opinion, This new post will create immense pressure on the 23-year-old wicketkeeper and batsman which might affect his own performance and the team results.

Shreyas Iyer will be undergoing shoulder surgery on the 9th of April and will need at least 5 months of rest to recover from it.

"Delhi is where I grew up, and where my IPL journey began six years ago. To lead this team one day is a dream I've always harboured. And today, as that dream comes true, I feel humbled. I am truly grateful, especially to our team owners, who considered me capable enough for this role.

"With an amazing coaching staff, and a plethora of accomplished seniors around me, I can't wait to give my absolute best for Delhi Capitals," Rishabh Pant said after being named the skipper.

"He has all my good wishes to make amazing things happen with our absolutely incredible team. I’m going to miss the team tremendously, and will be cheering for them throughout," Iyer said.

From Cricn.co.in we wish Shreyas Iyer a speedy recovery and hearty congratulations and best of luck to the debut captain of Rishab Pant for the upcoming IPL.

🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

Rishabh Pant will be our Captain for #IPL2021 ✨@ShreyasIyer15 has been ruled out of the upcoming season following his injury in the #INDvENG series and @RishabhPant17 will lead the team in his absence 🧢#YehHaiNayiDilli

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 30, 2021

List English Commentators for Indian Premier League 2021

Image: BCCI

Unlike last year, this year the IPL is played in India without spectators in the stadium with few new rules. The time limit for the 20 overs is now 90 minutes and the new soft signal rule. 

"The on-field umpire giving soft signal while referring the decision to the third umpire will not be applicable," the BCCI stated.

The broadcasting team of the Indian Premier League Just announced the list of commentators for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League who are going to entertain the viewers with their commentary. 

 Here is the list of English Commentators for the Indian Premier League 2021 edition

1. Ian Bishop 
2. Simon Dull
3. Harsha Bhogle
4. Lisa Sthalekar
5. Danny Morrison
6. Matthew Hayden
7. Murali Karthik
8. Mark Nicholas
9. Mel Jones
10. Alan Wilkins
11. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan
12. Sunil Gavaskar
13. Mark Salter
14. Kevin Peterson
15. Deep Dasgupta
16. Poomie Mbangwa

Punjab Kings unveiled their new jersey for 2021 IPL

image: Punjab Kings

In 2021, Preeti Zinta co-owned Indian Premier League franchise has got huge modifications in the team, name and jersey too.

At first, the team changed its name from Kings IX Punjab to Punjab Kings, then they brought entirely new players by spending a huge amount in the 2021 auction held in Chennai. 

Today, the team has unveiled their new jersey for the players. A video was released on the team's official handle, in it, a red jersey with golden font is shown with the captain of their team K L Rahul's name and number on it.

According to the report, the players are going to wear golden helmets along with Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore who are wearing them for the past few years.

IPL 2021: Punjab Kings squad

Retained players: KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohd. Shami, M Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, Prabhsimran Singh.

Players bought at Auction: Jhye Richardson (Rs 14 crore), Shahrukh Khan (Rs 5.25 crore), Dawid Malan (Rs 1.5 crore), Riley Meredith (Rs 8 crore), Moises Henriques (Rs 4.20 crore), Jalaj Saxena (Rs 30 lakhs), Utkarsh Singh (Rs 20 lakhs), Fabian Allen (Rs 75 lakh), Saurabh Kumar (Rs 20 lakh).

Here is the video of the New Jersey

Can Ajinkya Rahane be the next captain of Delhi Capitals?

image: DNA India

 Ajinkya Rahane, a 32-year-old Mumbai batsman with decent experience in captaincy can be the next best captain for Delhi Capitals for the upcoming Indian Premier League season.

 As the current captain, Shreyas Iyer is ruled out of the entire season due to his shoulder injury in the 1st ODI played against England in Pune.

Steve Smith can be the next good option for the captain of  Delhi Capitals, but I think the management might prefer an Indian player over an overseas player for the job. 

The management might consider Ravi Chandran Ashwin, Shikar Dhawan and Rishab Pant as their next options for the post.

R Ashwin has the experience and the talent to lead the team, he led the Punjab team for the year 2018 and 2019. In the last season, during an important match when Shreyas Iyer is injured, the captaincy weight is kept on Shikar Dhawan during death overs. He kept the team afloat till the last ball and took it to shore with a victory.

The star of the team is Rishab Pant and all eyes on him and his performance. If he was chosen, his performance might affect the matches and the team.

According to the recent poll conducted by the Times of India, 3916 votes are polled in favour of Ajinkya Rahane as the DC captain. The second most votes are polled in favour of Steve Smith at 2151. R Ashwin got 1893 votes and the Rishab Pant got 1073 votes and followed by Dhawan and Shaw at 686 and 358 votes.

In my opinion, I would choose Ajinkya Rahane, if I want an Indian player to lead the team. If not I would go for Steve Smith as he brings more energy and experience to the table compare to Ajinkya Rahane.

Adam Zampa to miss the first match of IPL

Source: BCCI

Adam Zampa 29-year old, Royal Challengers Bangalore retained leg spinner to miss the selection for the first match against Mumbai Indians on the 9th of April due to his marriage.

Royal Challengers Bangalore director Mike Henson confirmed the news via a video on the official RCB Twitter page. And also said most of the overseas player might not be available for the first match. 

You can watch the video here

RCB’s IPL 2021 Camp and Player Availability

When’s the pre-season camp starting? When are the overseas players arriving? On @myntra presents Bold Diaries, Mike Hesson leaves no room for speculations ahead of #VivoIPL2021.#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 #Classof2021 pic.twitter.com/yxBFNYVwW8

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 24, 2021

In this video, Mike Henson also explained how the overseas players and the Indian players will be joining the team after their ongoing domestic/international matches. A few of them are already quarantining in Chennai. Head coach Simon Katich's arrival from Australia has been delayed due to a documentation issue.

The Transfer of the Indian players who are playing against England in Pune in a secure bio-bubble is easy to transfer from bubble to bubble. Whereas the senior players who are coming from other countries are kind of hard to transfer.

The players will be arriving in India till April 1st in a staggered manner, as the time is shorter to prepare for the matches it's kind of hard said, Mike Henson.

Shreyas Iyer to Miss entire IPL 2021

Image: ICC

Delhi Capitals captain, Shreyas Iyer to miss the entire 14th edition of the Indian Premier League due to a shoulder injury in the 1st One Day International match against England on March 23rd.

The skipper tried to catch the ball during the 8th over of the match and fell on the left shoulder. Immidealty, he was rushed out of the field by his fellow teammates.

The scan of his shoulder shown a subluxation (partially dislocated) in his shoulder and is likely to undergo major surgery in the month of April. 

According to the reports, Shreyas might take 4-5 months of leave from the sport to heal his injury. Hopefully, he might be back by the T-Twenty world championship.

Meanwhile, the Delhi capitals need to find a new captain for their team and also a new batsman at the middle order. The question is who is going to take his position in the team and take the team towards the finals of IPL 14th edition.

Delhi Capitals extraordinarily well compared to other big teams in the season under Shreyas captaincy. This news is a big blow for the team who are looking to actually grab the cup this year.

BCCI Released the IPL schedule for 2021

On March 7th, BCCI released the schedule for India Premier League for 2021 and stated that the matches will be played behind closed door due to the ongoing pandemic.

Here are some highlights of the Schedule

The first match is played between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challenger Bangalore in Chennai M.A Chidambaram Stadium on April 9th.

The stadiums and the teams playing in the stadium are irrelevant - it is unlikely that the Chennai team will play in Chennai and other teams too, as the BCCI planned less movement to ensure the COVID protocol are in place. So each team will travel only three times during the league stage.

If you observe the IPL schedule carefully only two stadiums are used at any given point in time. After using these two stadiums, the matches are shifting to another two stadiums. So, there is no wonder why the teams are not playing on their home grounds at any given point.

Stadiums Using in the IPL 2021

Chennai - M.A Chidambaram Stadium

Mumbai - Wankhede Stadium

Kolkata - Eden Gardens

Bangalore - Chinnaswamy stadium

Ahmadabad - Motera Stadium

Delhi - Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium

Delhi and Ahmedabad host eight matches each and the remaining all stadiums host 10 matches each in the league stage.

Double Matches on weekends

There will be a total of 11 doubleheaders where 6 teams will play three-afternoon matches & two teams will play two-afternoon matches. The afternoon games start at 3:30 PM IST and the evening games will start at 7:30 PM IST.

Qualifiers

The first qualifier match is on the 25th of May, Eliminator is on the 26th, the second qualifier is on 28th and the final is on the 30th of May. All these matches are going to take place in Ahmedabad Motera Stadium.

Where to stream the matches

You can stream the matches in Disney Plus Hotstar app by paying a minimum of ₹365 per annum or you can watch it on Star Sports by paying to your DTH or cable operator.

IPL Schedule

You can download the IPL Schedule at https://hpurl.tk/IPLcal

Chances of postponement of the Tournament

BCCI successfully hosted last year’s tournament with strict protocols and bio bubbles. But the tournament is postponed as the covid cases are increasing in the country.

There is a high chance that this tournament might be postponed again this year as the Covid cases in Maharashtra are increasing. If the local government impose or the central government impose any stricter rules to seize the virus, there will be the slightest chance that these matches might take place.

BCCI can argue that there will not be any crowd involved in the entire tournament and allow them to play the matches.

Let’s hope for the best that the tournament will be played without any disturbances from the government and the virus.