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 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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CricN (@cricn2)

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.