BCCI to launch search for IPL broadcaster from 2023 edition next month

IPL 2021 | Last two league games to be played at same time, announces BCCI

The last league games of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League will be played simultaneously at different venues, the IPL governing council said in a statement. The last two games of the first stage of the tournament are scheduled to be played on October 8 and both the matches will start at 7.30 PM. In the first game of the final league stage, the defending champions Mumbai Indians are slated to play the Sunrisers Hyderabad while the second game of the day is scheduled for a contest between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Capitals. The move could be seen as a step taken to provide a fair chance to all the sides competing for the first four spots. And the lack of clarity about the name of the four teams for the playoff stage makes it more interesting for the teams and the fans who ardently follow the competition. The BCCI and the IPL governing council could well have taken the decision to stop teams having an unfair advantage of knowing the margin of victory they require to achieve to make it through. The Chennai Super Kings and the Delhi Capitals have won eight matches this season and appear set to advance to the next stage while there is stiff competition between other sides such as Mumbai, RCB, Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders for the other two spots.

Watch | Rishabh Pant almost smashes Dinesh Karthik's face

KKR wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik was saved by some centimetres from getting hit on his face during the match against Delhi Capitals in Sharjah. The incident happened on the first delivery of the 17th over which was being bowled by Varun Chakravarthy when the DC captain tried to slash the delivery aggressively but the ball took the inside edge and was going towards the stumps when the left-hander wildly swung his bat in order to keep it away. But Pant totally missed the ball and almost hit Karthik who had stepped up a couple of yards with his bat. It fortunately didn’t hit the KKR wicket-keeper and Pant was quick enough to make the apologies. The Kolkata side defeated DC by three wickets while chasing a target of 128 runs in 20 overs. The Knight Riders lost wickets at regular intervals but it was Nitish Rana who held the fort from one end and was later joined by Sunil Narine in the middle as the team score read 96/5. The two batsmen then stitched an important partnership of 26 runs for the sixth wicket before Narine was undone for a 10-ball 21. Rana remained unbeaten at 36 off 27 to take his side home and give them an important win. For Delhi Capitals, it was Avesh Khan who was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with a three-wicket haul at the cost of 13 runs in 3 overs. Earlier, DC were restricted to 127/9 in 20 overs. Opener Steve Smith scored 39 off 34 while captain Pant also struck 39 in 36 deliveries while Shikhar Dhawan was the third batter to cross the double-figure mark. Lock Ferguson, Narine and Venkatesh Iyer picked up a couple of wickets each during the course. KKR now have 10 points from 11 matches that they have played so far.

KKR vs DC: What Experts Said after KKR turn 'heat on their mid-table challengers' with win over DC

Kolkata Knight Riders stole away crucial two points after etching a three-wicket win against Delhi Capitals in Sharjah on Tuesday. Chasing 128 in 20 overs, KKR lost Venkatesh Iyer early in the innings for 14 off 15 after he was cleaned up by Lalit Yadav. The Knight Riders kept losing wickets at regular intervals while Nitish Rana held the fort from one end and the Kolkata side was in a spot of bother when Rana was joined by Sunil Narine in the middle. Narine’s quick-fire 10-ball 21 which included a couple of maximums and a boundary provided the much-needed resistance to KKR. The two batsmen put 26 runs for the sixth wicket before Narine departed. Rana remained unbeaten at 36 off 27 as Kolkata went over the line in the penultimate over. Avesh Khan was the pick of bowlers for DC after he returned with figures of 3/13 in 3 overs. Earlier, the KKR bowlers dominated the Capitals’ batting line up and restricted them to 127/9 in the allotted 20 overs. The Delhi side had a decent start to the proceedings with openers Steve Smith and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 35 runs for the first wicket in 5 overs before Dhawan was sent back in the hut for 24 off 20 deliveries. Later, Shreyas Iyer followed Dhawan in a short span of time after he was undone for 1 by Narine. Smith was then joined by captain Rishabh Pant and the two batsmen stitched a stand of 37 runs for the third wicket. Smith eventually departed for a 34-ball 39 by Lockie Ferguson. While Pant scored runs from one end, the left-hander kept losing partners at the other and was finally sent back in the hut for 39 off 36 after he was run out. Iyer, Narine and Ferguson returned with a couple of wickets each for KKR. DC captain Rishabh Pant admitted that they were 10 runs short at the end of the innings. I think we were 10 runs short, not much. We knew that the wicket would slow down in the second innings. But at the end of the day each and every team is trying to win the match and we just want to give our 100% on the given day,” he said in the post-match presentation. Experts’ Opinion Commentator Harsha Bhogle lauded KKR for the performance against DC and added that the Knight Riders’ win at this stage of the tournament has turned the “heat on their mid-table challengers”. “Huge result for KKR   . They have turned the heat on their mid-table challengers. It makes the MI vs PK a virtual must-win game for the two teams,” he tweeted. Journalist Ayaz Memon hailed Sunil Narine for his cameo that brought KKR back into the game. “Sunil Narine tearing into Rabada has brought KKR to the doorstep of win. If that happens, big pressure on MI and PBKS in the second match,” he wrote on Twitter. Former India opener Aakash Chopra brought up an innovative way of appreciating KKR for the way they fared against DC. Former India bowler Irfan Pathan lavished praise on Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill for showing some good intent. “Clear intent from Rana and Shubman sees KKR thru. Beating DC with current form is surely big boost for KKR,” he tweeted,

IPL 2021 | RR vs RCB: It’s now or never for Rajasthan as they fight batting demons against Challengers

After the first match, in which Kartik Tyagi won it with the ball for them, the Rajasthan Royals have not been able to sync themselves and have lost two on the trot to put themselves on the verge of getting out of the Playoffs race if they lose their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bangalore on the other end have bounced back from two defeats and beat Mumbai Indians in their last game to get loser to Playoffs qualification with 12 points from 10 games. Parag-Tewatia must either go or find form If the Rajasthan side wants to get back to winning ways, it must either get away from at least one of the two among Rahul Teati and Ryan Praag, especially now that they have a batting all-rounder in Mahipal Lomror who has performed well in the last three games. By removing either of them, the Royals could bring in a specialist spinner which they are lacking a lot in the spinning conditions of UAE. Although they have Tabraiz Shamsi as a wrist spinner, with only one specialist spinner, they are lagging behind and it is pretty clear. Considering the form of both Parag and Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal definitely deserves a chance. Shivam Dube can be tried as well in place of either of the players considering he can bat really well and can bowl in tough situations too. Whatever might the selection be, but both non-performing assets in Parag and Tewatia can’t go together. Challengers need consistency The RCB did well to win by a huge margin against Mumbai. But their major problem of being unable to score quickly post the powerplay with AB de Villiers out of form still persists. Their last match was basically won by the bowling brilliance of Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel and Glenn Maxwell. Thus, the team from Bangalore is still are suffering from their inconsistent returns with the bat and skipper Virat Kohli and opener Devdutt Padikkal need to step in and sort this out. de Villiers getting in form would be another improvement. Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Details Match number: 43 Date and Time: Sept 29, 2021, 07:30 pm IST (10:00 GMT), 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitches throughout UAE haven’t really been supportive of batting as it was the last time around in 2020. The squares have dried up with a lot of cricket having been already played. Thus in this game also, any score around and above 150-160 would be par. Weather Forecast The temperatures would be in the mid-thirties and humidity would keep on increasing as the match progresses. There might be dew later on and thus, any team winning the toss would look to bowl first. Team News Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan would look to bring in Shreyas Gopal in place of Tewatia. Even Shivam Dube can be tested in place of Parag so that two fresh players come in with a fresh approach and try and win the game. With Kartik Tyagi fit and ready to go, he would replace Unadkat. Probable XI Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB wouldn’t be looking to make any changes in the playing XI as they have finally landed a victory. Probable XI Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Dream XI team Wicketkeepers Srikar Bharat, Sanju Samson Batters Virat Kohli, Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror All-rounders Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell Bowlers Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman Vice-Captain Glenn Maxwell Captain Sanju Samson