Anand Mahindra fulfils promise; gifts T Natarajan 'Thar' commemorating historic triumph

No one talked about fat percentage before Virat Kohli: Ishant Sharma

India captain Virat Kohli has been known for his fitness regime and the way he has brought the transformation in the team as well. Talking about Kohli’s role in enhancing the fitness of the Indian players, fast bowler Ishant Sharma has credited the skipper. Ishant further added that a player could make it into the side only on the basis of skill but there is an additional requirement of being fit. “He [Kohli] has set an example for everyone. Take the case of fat percentage – before him, I had never heard of it being spoken about in the Indian team. It was totally about skill. But now, along with skill, it is also about fitness,” said Ishant while talking to ESPNCricinfo. “So if you eat well, you stay strong in the field, maintain your fitness, your energy. After what he did for himself, totally changed the system in the Indian team.” The right-arm pacer also shared his diet plan during the matches.“While playing I just have a normal protein shake. If I have normal lunch then I just have water, but if I haven’t had lunch, I will add nuts, almond milk, banana, and protein,” he said. Ishant would be now in action for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2021 while Kohli will lead RCB. DC is slated to begin their IPL 2021 campaign against CSK in Mumbai on April 10. The franchise appointed Rishabh Pant as the new skipper of the side after Shreyas Iyer injured himself during the England series at home and will be unavailable for the major part of the tournament. RCB on the other side will start the proceedings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Chennai in the opening clash of the tournament.

Great chance for England players to get used to Indian conditions in IPL 2021: Ben Stokes

All-rounder Ben Stokes has reckoned that the participation of the England players in the upcoming IPL will benefit for the World T20 slated to take place later this year in India. There are as many 14 English players who are in the IPL this year. The tally includes prominent names like captain Eoin Morgan, Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, SRH new recruit Jason Roy, , Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone. “Yes – the percentage of English players in the IPL has probably grown in the last five or so years,” Stokes told ‘Sky Sports’. “Not only is that great for the individual but it is also great for the players involved in the England set-up; it gives them experience in the most high-profile competition in the world but not only that – you are under constant pressure to perform,” the imposing all-rounder added. Stokes further added that the cash-rich league is an opportunity for the players to prepare themselves and get in the groove for the World T20 this year. “t’s a great chance for the English guys to get more experience in these conditions,” Stokes said. Stokes is a part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise. RR will begin their IPL 2021 campaign on April 12 against Punjab Kings in Mumbai. The Royals lifted the trophy in the inaugural edition of the IPL but haven’t won it after that. They would be looking to turn tables for themselves with the new captain in the ranks. RR released Steve Smith ahead of the mini auctions that were held in Chennai in February and named Sanju Samson as the new skipper.

Jofra Archer Birthday: Rajasthan Royals players wish Archer a special 'Happy Birthday'

Rajasthan Royals Jofra Archer received best wishes on his 26th birthday from his Rajasthan Royals teammates. Archer was born on April 1, 1995, in Barbados, West Indies. Archer’s teammates such as Shreyas Gopal, Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes, Chris Morris and the new skipper Sanju Samson wished well for him in a video released by the franchise on its Twitter timeline. The video also showed some emotional moments of Archer’s life with his parents. Notably, Archer is currently in the UK and is certain to miss at least four games for the franchise in the 14th edition of IPL. He has undergone surgery on the finger he had injured while a fish tank at his hours before the tour of India. Archer’s absence will hurt the Royals’ chances in the initial stage of IPL as he is a reliable force with the ball, both in the early and later phase of the game. He is also capable of providing flourish with the bat in the end overs and was rated the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the franchise in the last season. In the last season of the league held in the UAE, Archer was phenomenal with the ball and picked up 20 wickets at a resounding average of 18.25 runs per wicket and an impressive economy rate of only 6.55 runs per over. With the bat in hand, Archer batted with a strike rate of 179.36 and hit 10 sixes to provide a flourishing end to the Royals in games they won.

New Zealand romp Bangladesh to complete 3-0 clean sweep win

RCB’s new recruit Finn Allen showed his impeccable hitting capabilities during New Zealand’s third and final T20I against Bangladesh in Auckland. A rain-affected match that was reduced to 10-over a side witnessed some fireworks from Allen and his opening partner Martin Guptill took the visitors to cleaners, sending them in a shell-shocked state. Allen took on the Bangladesh bowlers and hammered them all around the park to score 71 off 29 balls that included three maximums and 10 fours while Guptill struck 44 off 19 as the home side posted 141/4 in 10 overs. The visitors had a dismal start to the chase after losing a couple of early wickets before getting reduced to 60/7 and eventually getting bundled out for 76 to suffer the defeat by 65 runs. Todd Astle and captain Tim Southee ripped apart the Bangladesh batting line up as the two picked up a total of 7 wickets in the second half of the game. Only three Bangladesh batsmen managed to reach the double-figure mark with Mohammad Naim top-scoring with 19. The Blackcaps had earlier taken an unassailable lead after beating the Bangla Tigers in the first two T20Is. Allen who was adjudged Man of the Match for his brisk knock talked about his partnership with Guptill. “It was good fun and batting with Guptill is nice. Thought we'd give ourselves a bit of a chance and play our shots up front. It was excited to get out here, it's a bit intimidating, but it was fun to be talked through every ball and to watch Guptill hit everything out of the park,” he said. Bangladesh captain Liton Das expressed disappointment on a 0-3 loss and admitted that the batting and fielding haven’t been up to the mark and which costed the Bangladesh team the series. “First of all, our batting and fielding haven't been great. That has costed us. We need to think on how to play in bouncy tracks, gotta play smart cricket. We have played World Cups, so we aren't a young bunch,” Das said.