Andre Russell's wonderful five wicket haul

 

image: BCCI

Andre Russell took a 5 wicket haul in the 5th match of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League against Mumbai Indians.

He came to bowl the 18th and 20th over against, he took 2 wickets in the e18th over,  Keiron Pollard 5 (8), Kurnal Pandya 15 (9) just by giving 5runs in that over.

Then he bowled again in the 20th over and took 3 wickets, Marco Jansen 0(1), Rahul Chahar 8(7) and Jasprit Bumrah 0(1) by just giving only 10 runs in the final over of the first innings.

This made clear that the Mumbai Indians are not playing well in the death overs like they used to in the previous editions of the IPL. 

Eventhough, Mumbai Indians scored less, they managed to win the match by showing excellent bowling and fielding in the match.

Watch the massacre of wickets taken by Andre Russell in the 5th match against Mumbai Indians.

The new celebration of Nitish Rana indicates friendship

image: BCCI

After scoring his 12th IPL 50, Nitish Rana gestured something different to celebrate his half-century and unseen before in the Indian Premier League history.

Later on, in the match, he played wonderful innings and scored 80 runs in 56 balls before giving a catch to Vijay Shankar in Mohammed Nabi's 18th over.

If a player scored a half-century, each player has a different style of celebration according to the moment. Jadeja does his sword with the bat and I have seen Tendulkar lifts his bat and helmet while looking up to the sky. 

In an interview with Harbajan Singh After the completion of the match, Nitish Rana said, that he made the gesture to show the bond between their friends, and he has also sung the song for their friendship.

You can watch the video here.

How to watch IPL in India?

Image: BCCI

The fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League is going to start from tomorrow, this festival for fans going to last till 30th May.

As the coronavirus cases are spring in the country, the BCCI has announced the matches will be played behind closed doors without spectators in the stadium. 

This is the second year in a row that the fans are not allowed into the stadiums. Last season the entire IPL is played in Dubai.

England tour of India is the last time when the audiences are allowed into the stadiums to watch the matches at limited capacity in Motera Stadium, Ahmadabad.

So where to watch this festival of Sixes in India which lasts for almost two months?

Television

The first option is television, if you are having a DTH connection or cable connection to your house, you can tune your TV sets to Star Sports.

Star Sports have multiple channels with numbering for multiple language broadcastings. For English, tune to Star Sports 1, for Hindi, tune to Star Sports 2. For the regional languages, tune to respective channels.

The cost of these channels for both HD and SD will cost you around ₹23 for a month, so you can enjoy the whole IPL for just ₹46 for two months.

Mobile

The other option is Disney Plus Hotstar for watching on your mobile or on your laptop. Just for ₹399 a year you can get the Disney Plus Hotstar VIP subscription. 

With this subscription, you can watch the live cricket matches in your favourite language and you can also watch the latest Disney Plus only Marvel TV series that is going to release an episode a week.

How to buy the subscription?

1. You can just head to the Disney Plus Hotstar and buy a subscription by entering the required details and choose your preferred payment option to pay.
2. You can also buy the subscription on Paytm, Amazon Pay, Mobikwik and Phone Pe.
3. Recharge a data pack from your cellular provider that gives you a free Disney Plus Hotstar VIP subscription.

 For more details on the packs visit your cellular provider website.

1. Airtel
2. Jio
3. V!

A young bowler from Afghan bowled good balls to seniors

image: Twitter

Fazalhaq Farooqi, a 22-year old young Afghan left-arm pacer is brought by the Chennai Super Kings in the auction. He just played a single international T-20 match against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi and took a wicket by giving just 27 runs in four overs.

As the IPL matches are just two days away, the teams are playing practice matches among themselves by dividing up into two teams. The youtube is full of them in the last 48 hours. 

In the CSK practice sessions, Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled a few excellent balls to MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. At first, he balled short balls to Suresh Raina, his weakest zone and then he balled wide yorkers for MS Dhoni.

Both the senior player found hard to send his balls to boundaries in the practice match. They just managed to rotate the strike between them with singles.

Josh Hazelwood opted out for the entire season and Lungi Ngidi will be unavailable for the next few matches due to mandatory quarantine.  Fazalhaq Farooqi will be the best option for the Chennai Super Kings for their pacer position.

This 22-year-old can do wonders in the forthcoming Indian Premier League edition if he played well and under MS Dhoni captaincy.

Here is the video of the Fazalhaq Farooqi bowling to Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni

Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi Bowling to Captain @msdhoni & @ImRaina During Practice Game 🔥#WhistlePodu #CSK #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/Jwm0CMeV0C

— Chennai Super Kings FC (@TeamSuperKings) April 6, 2021

Few overseas players to miss their first match

image: ICC

A few of the South African players to miss their first match. As they have just arrived in Indian after completing the first two ODI matches against Pakistan. According to the BCCI guidelines, the players have to be quarantined for a certain period of time.

If the quarantine period is two weeks, the players are going to miss at least three to four matches in this period. Most of these players are very important for the teams to win matches on the league stage.

I think the players will be under quarantine just for a week, to see whether they have developed symptoms and test regularly for the virus.

The list of players includes 

• Quinton de Kock, wicketkeeper and the opener of Mumbai Indians, 
• Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, wicket-taking bowlers from Delhi Capitals, 
• David Miller, a middle-order batsman from Rajasthan Royals, 
• Lungi Ngidi, pacer from Chennai Super Kings.

With this list, Delhi Capitals have to lose the most. As the team already missing their star captain Shreyas Iyer due to shoulder injury, Axar Patel Tested Positive for the coronavirus and the two most important bowlers will be missing their first match.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock can be easily replaceable by Ishan Kishan. But you can't replace the reliable opener batsman Quinton de Kock. He has played a few wonderful innings in that position.

I think Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan will open the first match followed by Chris Lynn/ Anmolpreet Singh.

For Rajasthan Royals, David Miller is an option for the squad but not the only choice for the top-middle-order. For Chennai Super Kings, Lungi Ngidi is also an option as they use their new recruits to fill the seamer position in the team.

Star Sports broadcast crew tests positive

image: Getty Images, Philip Brown  

The Star Sports crew of fourteen members staying in bio-bubble at the four-season hotel tests positive for coronavirus. This crew is responsible for producing the world feed from 9th April on behalf of BCCI.

This list includes the cameraman, producer, directors, video editors and EVS operators (people who provide slow and ultra-motion replays and instant graphics). 

As per the reports by Outlook India, the BCCI is in charge of creating the bio-bubbles for the teams and the staff.

As the cases in the state of Maharashtra are rising at an alarming rate, the ground crew from the cricket stadium tested positive along with few players and a few IPL managers.

Recently, the state government announced partial lockdowns in the state to restrict the spread of the virus. At that time, everyone's eye is the IPL but, the government did not place any restrictions on the matches. With this decision, BCCI felt some relief for few hours.

That relief is spoiled with this news but, still, the BCCI is confident that the IPL will be played as planned. 

Star Sports is also managing another crew securely in bio-bubble at the JW Marriot hotel. These guys are responsible only for the customized feed for regional language. 

Sourav Ganguly said, “Once you are in a bubble nothing happens. Even in the UAE last season, there were a few such incidents in the lead-up to the event but once the tournament started everything was fine."

The Indian Premier League will be played without any changes, as per the assurance from the government and with the confidence of BCCI. 

Matches in Mumbai will be played as per schedule

image: IPL

According to the Cricbuzz report, the 10 matches which are scheduled at Mumbai will be played as per the schedule without any interruption. Despite the government's partial lockdowns at night and at weekends. 

As long as the teams maintain their bio-bubbles for the players and supporting staff, there will not be any restrictions on the Indian Premier League matches played in Wankhede stadium said Police Commissioner to MCA official.

image: ECB

In other news, Moeen Ali, the 33-year-old English player, who will be playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the 14th edition of IPL, refuses to wear the team jersey promoting the alcohol company. 

The team management respected and accepted his choice and made a special jersey without the alcohol company logo just for him.

As the player is from a religious family, he keeps his distance from alcohol even during the champagne popping celebrations after winning a match.

Chennai Super Kings paid seven crores for the player in the Auction.

New ICC rules for Umpires call

image: r/cricket 

To know about the Umpires Call, first, you need to know about LBW. If the batsmen use his leg to stop the oncoming ball hit the stumps behind him, it's declared as OUT by the onfield Umpire stating Leg Before Wicket as the reason.

The ball hitting the leg pads need to be in line with the wickets and the batsmen should miss hitting the ball before touching the pads, then only the umpire will state his decision as OUT.

These decisions can be wrong sometimes due to the error of the umpires in the international matches. So, the International Cricket Council, the apex body which sees and makes cricket rules, introduced a Decision Review system.

In this system, a captain of the team can challenge the decision taken by the on-field umpire. A player can challenge a limited number of times in a match or in an innings depending on the format. 

How DRS works in Cricket?

For an LBW appeal, when a captain signals for a third umpire by making a T shaped gesture using his hands, the on-field umpire makes a rectangle or TV shaped gesture asking for a DRS.

Then, the Third umpire checks for the ball legality, and then, checks if the bat touches the ball before hitting the batsmen pads. If there is no bat involved then, he/she checks for the line.

If the ball is in line, then he uses ball tracking to check whether the ball is hitting the wickets by plotting the ball's trajectory and angle using the software. 

With the help of the high-speed cameras placed on the ground pointing at the batsman from four directions. The software interpolates the path from the point of hitting on pads to the wickets behind the batsmen.

If more than 50% of the ball is hitting any part of the wicket, the TV umpire will give the decision as out. If not, the final decision will be the ground umpires decision, which is known as umpires call. If the decision is umpires call, the review is not struck from the limited number.

Change in Rules

After backlash from the players, the ICC has made a few rules back in 2016 by increasing the wicket zone from inside of the leg and off-stump to outside of the leg and off-stump. Now, this wicket zone has increased from the bottom of the bails to the top of the bails.

Even now the ball has to hit more than 50% to change the decision made by the on-field umpire.

New Replacements in KKR and SRH

image: RCB

In KKR, Gurkeerat Singh will be replacing Rinku Singh for the forthcoming 14th edition of IPL, which will begin on the 9th of April.

Rinku Singh, the 23-year-old Uttarpradesh batsmen, will be unavailable for the entire season due to his knee injury. Kolkata Knight Riders issued the statement on Saturday. He made his debut in IPL in 2017 and played a total of 11 IPL games.

Gurkeerat Singh, the 30-year-old Punjab all-rounder, played 41 IPL matches since his debut in 2012. In his IPL career, he played for King XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

KKR acquired Gurkeerat Singh for 50 Lakhs, his base price. He played at least two matches a season, except in 2018. In which, he scored 511 runs including two half-centuries and he also picked two wickets in 2016.

image: SRH Twitter

Jason Roy, a 30-year-old, English batsmen signed up for Sunrisers Hyderabad replacing Mitchel Marsh. Marsh opted out of IPL due to personal reasons.

Jason Roy made his debut in 2017 with Gujarat Lions in IPL and later joined the Delhi Daredevils in the 2018 edition. During the Auction, no team bid for him. During the England tour of India, he played beautiful innings and made the limelight again fall back on him.

In IPL, Roy has played a total of eight matches and scored 179 runs. He signed Sunrisers Hyderabad for his base price of two crores.

Axar Patel tests positive for coronavirus

image: ESPNcricinfo

Axar Patel, a 27-year-old Delhi capitals all-rounder in the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League tests positive for the coronavirus today.

On his arrival, the player submitted a negative test report before joining the team in Mumbai for practice sessions. But on the second test after arrival, he tested positive for the virus. The player is in a secure bio-bubble during his sessions over time.

The player is currently in isolation according to the BCCI procedure and the players who are in contact with him will be tested again for the virus. 

The team has already missed their captain due to a shoulder injury in an ODI match against England and they also miss their star all-rounder who performed well in the previous season.

Currently, the team is practising in Barbourne Stadium, Mumbai. The stadium officials have barred access to outsiders in the areas where the team is accessing.

Axar Patel is the second player after Kolkata Knight Riders player Nitish Rana contracted the virus in Mumbai. Rana went into twelve days of extended quarantine and joined the team later after testing negitive.

The Delhi Capitals team is going to miss two important players ahead of the IPL. These players helped the team to win crucial matches in the last two year and took the teams to qualifiers and finals. The team might struggle to fill the gap with other players.

Here is the official announcement from Delhi Capitals

🚨 UPDATE 🚨

Delhi Capitals all-rounder #AxarPatel has tested positive for COVID-19. He had checked into the team hotel in Mumbai on Mar 28, 2021, with a negative report. His report from the second COVID test, came positive. pic.twitter.com/CjRKlfzvWR

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 3, 2021

RGIC Stadium as backup option for BCCI

image: NDTV

As the coronavirus cases are soring in Maharashtra, BCCI has already kept the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (RGIC) at Hyderabad as the backup option in case if necessary, reported CricTracker.

If you carefully observe the IPL schedule, the teams only need to travel thrice during the tournament. The schedule is designed in such a way that teams require to move less compared to normal IPL.

As of now, no team has received a message from BCCI to move from Mumbai to Hyderabad, reported by ESPNCricinfo.

The coronavirus cases are rising daily in Maharashtra, during the press meet, Chief Minister said, complete lockdown of the state is inevitable if, the COVID-19 cases are increasing at an alarming rate with no alternate solution in sight.

BCCI is confident that players will be fine under the protocols and bio-bubbles. Even though the matches will be played behind closed doors, the state government might object to the match being played if, the state is in lockdown.

If any of the state government is forced to cancel the matches at any of the venues in the schedule, the matches are immediately shifted to Hyderabad.

Eight groundsmen at Wankhede Stadium test positive

image: BCCI

Sports Star reported that eight groundsmen at the Mumbai Wankhede Stadium tested positive for the coronavirus just a week ahead of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League.

Out of 19 members who are tested, eight of them were tested positive. Three of them were confirmed on March 26th and the remaining five members tested positive on the 1st of April.

Recently, the Maharastra government announced that the Lockdown is imminent if the coronavirus cases are continued to surging in the state.

In this situation, the BCCI has to take stricter action towards the virus protocols of the players. Even though the spectators are not allowed to watch the game, the threat of virus contracting to the players is high.

In my view, the matches will be played as planned with a lot of caution towards the virus. If the Maharastra government forced BCCI, the matches will be played elsewhere with the same schedule.

Watch RCB Head Coach Simon say about his role in auction

During the IPL auction time, the Australian government and Indian government requires a two-week mandatory quarantine on each side. So the RCB management and the team head coach Simon worked online during the auction times.

 He shares, how his family appreciated the efforts of the team management by allowing him to take part in crucial team meeting through zoom calls from Australia even in awkward timings.

And he explained how the team got ready for the auction by placing the scouting team to search the players for the Auction.

You can watch the video here.

AB de Villiers joins the RCB team in Chennai

 AB de Villers joins the team just before a week for practice sessions in Chennai. The team is scheduled for their first match on the 9th of April 2021 against the Mumbai Indians.

Royal Challengers Bangalore qualified for the semi-finals despite losing to Sunriser Hyderabad, an important match on the league stage and lost again to the same team in the eliminators.

This year the is expected to do well unlike the previous year. 

Mr. 360 has posted on his Instagram saying that he is joining the team.

Loving the form @imVkohli .. I’m all packed to join the team pic.twitter.com/6rBIV3T3EH

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) March 29, 2021

The Royal Challengers Bangalore team released a video of the skipper joining them in Chennai.

Josh Hazelwood to stay out of 14th edition of IPL

image: CSK twitter

Australian cricketer, Josh Hazelwood has dropped out of the 14 edition of IPL. The player supposed to play for Chennai Super Kings for this season has taken this decision, as he is in either bio bubble or quarantine for the last 10 months playing cricket for CSL or for his country.

He said I want to get ready physically and mentally at home for the next year to cricket.com.au. As there is a T- Twenty world cup and Ashes tournament ahead for the player for 12 months after completing the IPL.

Hazlewood didn't play many matches for the Super Kings last year. He just played in only three matches as they lined up their bowling with domestic options alongside all-rounders Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo for the most part.

He joined the list of players who are missing the tournament.

 Chennai Super Kings official Twitter page tweeted that he would be missed this year.

Will be missing some Josh this #Summerof2021! Hoping for some aussome action soon in #Yellove! #WhistlePodu 💛 🦁 pic.twitter.com/cTRGbFvHP7

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 1, 2021

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

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.