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Chris Cairns Thankful For The Second Life Following Heart Surgery Says Tougher Road Lies Ahead

Chris Cairns thankful for the second life following heart surgery, says tougher road lies ahead

One of the premier former New Zealand fast bowlers Chris Cairns has finally opened up for the first time after undergoing emergency surgery after a rare heart problem. In a recent video posted on his Twitter handle, the 51-year-old all-rounder said he is grateful to be here despite the road ahead being really long indeed.

"Just about six weeks ago I suffered a Type A aortic dissection which essentially means there's a tear in one of my arteries of the heart," Cairns was quoted as saying during a video message. "I had several surgeries and grafts, and very thankfully, the specialists were able to save the heart itself,” he further added.

It has been a tough phase for Cairns. He had to undergo surgery in Canberra back in August due to a major medical issue but the seriousness of the issue was such that he needed to undergo one more operation at the St Vincent hospital in Sydney.

He had to be put on life support soon but was still able to communicate with his family as per quotes from his lawyer Aaron Llyod. However, he was left paralysed in his legs after suffering a stroke following his surgery.

"One of the complications that arose was a spinal stroke, which in itself will provide me with possibly the greatest challenge I've ever faced in rehab going forward," he said.

"Huge thanks to the team here at Canberra Hospital, to St Vincent's in Sydney, the surgeons, the doctors, the nurses, the specialists - you saved my life. Thanks also to all the well wishes that have been sent through to Mel, my wife, and I. Uplifting, humbling and so, so special,” Cairns added.

Cairns was regarded as one of the finest New Zealand all-rounders to have graced the game. He appeared for the national team in 62 Tests and 215 ODIs and was one of the chief architects in New Zealand first-ever victory in a world event. He scored a magnificent century in the final of the ICC Knockout Cup in 2000 against India to hand New Zealand a famous victory.

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CSK vs MI | Kieron Pollard leads Mumbai; Rohit Sharma & Hardik Pandya misses out on restart

Anmolpreet Singh, the Punjab all-rounder has finally got the opportunity to represent the revered Mumbai Indians as he has been drafted in the playing XI in place of injured Hardik Pandya. Anmolpreet would be making his debut under the captainship of Kieron Pollard as regular skipper Rohit Sharma is out injured as well. Anmolpreet, who is known for late order hitting abilities and also bowls right-arm off-spin, has so far played 33 T20s for Punjab and has so far hit 485 runs at a strike rate of 107 with two fifties to his credit as well. As far as Chennai Super kings are concerned, they would also miss out on the services of English all-rounder Sam Curran as he is out with some injury as well. The Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings clash, also known as El Classico would start the UAE leg of the tournament which was postponed due to Covid-19 in May 2021. MS Dhoni, the skipper of CSK won the toss and decided to bat first. This is also going to be the 100th match for Mumbai pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

IPL’s El Clásico: Lungi Ngidi, Ambati Rayudu remember the heartbreaking first-round loss against MI

It was one of the most entertaining matches in the first leg of the Indian Premier League 2021 India leg, when Kieron Pollard, single-handedly defied all odds to take Mumbai Indians to a win, chasing down 219 set up by the Chennai Super Kings. Lungi Ngidi and Ambati Rayudu, the two of the most important players from that game for the Super Kings revisited that day, just ahead of the start of the second round of Mumbai vs Chennai clash, what is also termed as El El Clásico of the IPL. “It was a run-fest I mean, 220 playing 220, I mean the batsmen were unbelievable,” said Ngidi in a video released by CSK on their official Twitter handle. “You know, the captain did say that the game was gonna go to the last ball and it did,” added the South African, who in fact bowled the last over and the last ball of the match. After some dismissive batting by Pollard, where he had scored 71 off 28 balls, the Mumbai Indians needed 16 to win from the last over and Ngidi was given the ball at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. He bowled brilliantly, executing the yorkers and giving away only eight runs off the first four balls. But as fate would have it, a low full toss down the leg and Pollard needed no second invitation to cash on. With a yorker drilled down to long-on and Pollard than running two runs with his giant steps and the match was all over. Ngidi, reflecting on that moment said, “You know, it was tough, the guys, they batted really well and we did as best as we can to try and defend it but to take the game right down to the last ball, I think, everybody got their monies worth watching that game.” On being asked what he thinks, it is going to be like this time around, the 25-year-old Proteas said, “You never know what’s gonna happen when you are playing Mumbai Indians, so it’s gonna be an exciting one. Yeah, we came out on the wrong side of the results last time, but we are definitely looking forward to rectifying that.” Rayudu, who scored a belligerent and unbeaten 72 off just 27 balls thinks that the team knew it was going to be tough and believes that Mumbai can always be a tough opponent. “MI is an important game for us, but having said that, we are also focussing on the broader picture and that is the tournament itself,” he said. The two teams clash in the opening match of the UAE leg of the season at Dubai International Cricket Stadium and nothing less than a crackerjack is expected from that game.

We have good memories of playing in UAE as a unit: Delhi Capitals' Axar Patel

The second half of the IPL 2021 is scheduled to begin on Sunday in Dubai where Mumbai Indians will lock horns with Chennai Super Kings. The teams have reached UAE for the remainder of this year’s IPL. In a video released by Delhi Capitals on their social media handle, all-rounder Axar Patel is seen talking about joining the franchise back, last year’s memories of the IPL that was held in UAE itself and how excited is he to get back on the field and don the DC jersey. “Obviously, I’m enjoying it a lot and I’m feeling really good after going with the Delhi Capitals family. I was waiting to be with the team as soon as the second leg of the IPL was announced in Dubai,” Axar said. “I would want that the excitement remains and we go into the match with equal passion,“ he added. Delhi Capitals had ended as the runners up in the last edition of the IPL after losing the final to Mumbai Indians. Mentioning about the same, Patel admitted that the memories did cross his mind and also added that he would want the side to repeat the performance again in this season. “When it was announced that the second phase will be played in UAE, the first thing that went across my mind was that we were the finalist in the last season and that was the first time when we played in the title clash. So, these are the good memories that we have. We just hope that the way we performed in the last edition, we can repeat that again this year but the result should be in our favour,” the left-hander said. Delhi Capitals will resume the campaign against Surfers Hyderabad on September 22, 2021 in Dubai.

T20 Blast Final: Jordan Cox, Joe Denly help Kent win its first T20 trophy in 14 years

It was a blast indeed on the Finals day at the T20 Blast 2021 season as Kent Spitfires went on to win their first-ever final in the last 14 years in what was also their first-ever appearance in the final in 13 years after an antagonising final loss by three runs against Middlesex in the 2008 season. Jordan Cox and Joe Denly turned out to be the heroes with the bat and ball respetc9vley for the Spitfires, who had reached the final by beating Sussex in the second semi-final of the T20 Blast Finals Day. The first semi-final was won dramatically by Somerset when they defeated Hampshire, chasing down 151 after being 34-5 to win the game by two wickets. In the final, though, nothing dramatic happened as Kent went about their defence of 167 in a very methodical way with Denly removing Tom Banton off the very second delivery of the Somerset innings. That set the tone for the Kent bowlers who then went on to pick wickets at regular intervals, eventually reducing the Taunton based side to 119-9 in the 18th over before some nice shots by Josh Davy took them to 142 at the end of the innings. Denly was the pick of the bowlers for Kent removing both the Somerset openers in Banton and Will Smead alongside Tom Lammonby. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss, Somerset invited Kent to bat first and even as the team kept on losing wickets regularly, Jordan Cox with his patient approach but very fiery innings of unbeaten 58 off just 28 balls took the Spitfires to 167-7 from their 20 overs. With this loss, Somerset have now lost four of their five Blast finals with the lone victory coming in their first-ever final appearance in 2005.