BCB allows Shakib to skip Test series vs Sri Lanka to play in the IPL

When Kyle Jamieson woke up to see himself as the highest-paid Kiwi in IPL history

When Kyle Jamieson went to sleep at around 10.30 pm New Zealand time, he was sure of the chances that he would be picked for the IPL, but could never have guessed that he would wake up to become the highest-earning Kiwi in the IPL’s history. The 6’8” was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for 15 crore Indian rupees. "I woke up around midnight and decided to check the phone - just trying to embrace the whole experience," Jamieson said in a video uploaded by his new team the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 26-year-old further expressed how former New Zealand quick and currently the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians, Shane Bond explained to him the enormity of the amount he was going to get. "I had a message from Shane Bond as it was going and he was saying, 'How good is this'. I didn't actually know what the amount of money how that translated to New Zealand dollars. It was quite cool to share that moment with him and ride that two or three minutes with him,” said the Auckland born. "I actually called my partner and actually woke her up. She was asleep. I then called mum and dad, they were up as well. I did that, then turned the phone off and tried to get some sleep," he added. Speaking about the expectations that might rest on the broad shoulders of the tall Kiwi, Jamieson said, "To be fair, I don't think a whole lot changes to me.” “There's so many cool experiences to be had over there and learning opportunities. That's the thing that excites me the most is being able to rub shoulders with these guys,” he added hoping to enjoy his time in India in the coming summers.

Shocked about how he went only for Rs 2.2 crore: DC co-owner on Steve Smith

Delhi Capitals bought former Australia captain Steve Smith at a price of Rs 2.2 Cr in the IPL 2021 mini auctions on Thursday. The DC co-owner Parth Jindal has said that he is “shocked” to get Smith in “only Rs 2.2 Cr”. "It was just incredible to get Steve Smith. We are shocked about how he went only for Rs 2.2 crore, but to get a player of the calibre of Steve Smith, it's going to add a lot to our squad, a lot to our balance. His leadership, his batting, his experience, everything. Everyone associated with Delhi is just thrilled. We discussed Smith's name before the auction and we thought that he would go for much higher, so we had thought that if an opportunity arises, we will go for him, but we never anticipated actually getting him," Jindal said. Jindal also talked about the squad and praised the domestic players like Meriwala. "I think it's a very exciting squad yet again. Meriwala has been doing really well in the domestic tournaments and he's an Indian left-arm quick which we didn't have in our squad last year. He gives us an added variation and Tom Curran has the cutters, the slower ones, the quick ones and he's very good with the bat as well, so he gives that added balance to the squad,” Jindal said. Apart from Smith, DC bought Umesh Yadav, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Lukman Meriwala, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod and Manimaran Siddharth. Delhi Capitals Retained players: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav, Avesh Khan, Praveen Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes.

Sam Curran ruled out of remainder of Test series against India

England all-rounder Sam Curran has been ruled out of the remaining Test series against India after having some difficulties of travelling solo during COVID-19. The ECB has told that the initial plan was to make Curran available for the fourth Test scheduled to begin from March 4. "On the basis of the above, and to give Sam the best chance of minimising his risk of exposure to the virus, it was decided to delay his return so that he could travel on the charter flight with the white-ball squad members due to fly on 26 February," an ECB spokesman said. Wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow also explained the difficulties faced by the players while travelling. "The journey [home] was fine, we just flew into Heathrow," Bairstow said. "The journey back out was four hours down to Heathrow where we nearly broke down, which was interesting. Then we had the flight out to Bangalore. We arrived there, had our tests and had to wait in the airport for our results to be negative. "Then we had a seven-and-a-half-hour bus journey across India to Chennai. We weren't allowed to stop on that journey either, which was interesting.” The England team is in India for a full tour. The two teams will now take on each other in the Day-Night Test in Ahmedabad slated to begin from February 24. The four-match series is presently leveled at 1-1.

Arjun Tendulkar has been picked purely on skill basis: Mahela Jayawardene

Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakhs during the IPL 2021 mini auctions on Thursday in Chennai. MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene has said that Arjun has been picked purely on skill basis but admitted that the youngster would have a “big tag” behind him. "We've looked at it purely on a skill basis. I mean, there is going to be a big tag on his head because of Sachin. But, luckily, he's a bowler, not a batsman. So I think Sachin will be very proud if he could bowl like Arjun," ESPNcricinfo quoted Jayawardene as saying. The former Sri Lankan captain further said that it is going to be a learning curve for Arjun and he shouldn’t be put under any sort of pressure. "I think it's going to be a learning process for Arjun. He just started playing for Mumbai, and now the franchise. He will learn the ropes; he will evolve. He's still young. A very focused young man," he further said. "We have to give him time and hopefully not put a lot of pressure on him either. Just let him evolve and work his way up, and that's what we're there to help him to do," Jayawardene added. MI bought Adam Milne for Rs. 3.2 crore, Nathan Coulter-Nile for Rs. 5 Cr, Piyush Chawla for Rs. 2.4 Cr, James Neesham for Rs 50 lakhs, Yudhvir Charak for Rs 20 lakhs, Marco Jansen for Rs 20 lakhs apart from Arjun.