Chris Gayle pulls out of IPL 2021

Vijay Dahiya roped in as Uttar Pradesh coach for upcoming domestic season

Former India wicket-keeper and more recently, assistant coach of Delhi Capitals, Vijay Dahiya has been roped in as the new head coach of the senior Men’s Uttar Pradesh team for the upcoming domestic season, which begins with Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy scheduled to start on November 4. Gyanendra Pandey, who was coaching the UP team has stepped down from the post. Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association made the announcement through their Twitter handle and hoped for a fantastic journey with the former Delhi coach. Apart from working with Delhi Capitals and Delhi in the IPL and domestic circuit, Dahiya was also involved with the Kolkata Knight Riders for a sling period of time. It is this wealth of experience that UP would like to use as they get ready to claim their first domestic title after the 2015-16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win. As far as Dahiya is concerned, the 48-year-old played two Tests and 19 ODIs for India between November 2000 and April 2001. He has also played 83 First-Class games and scored 3532 runs with three centuries and 24 fifties to his name.

IPL 2021 | SRH vs CSK: What Experts said after 'vintage' Chennai qualify for playoffs

Chennai Super Kings became the first team in this edition of the IPL to qualify for the playoffs after they continued their form in the competition. CSK defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets in Sharjah on Thursday night. Chasing 135 runs in 20 overs, the Super Kings were off to a flying start, courtesy some good batting from openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis. The two batters put up 75 runs for the first wicket before Gaikwad departed for 45 off 38. Faf was then joined by Moeen Ali in the middle and the left-right batting duo then stitched a partnership of 28 runs for the second wicket. The SRH side got the breakthrough after Rashid Khan cleaned up Moeen Ali for run-a-ball 17. Moeen’s scalp saw a couple of more wickets falling at a quick interval that included the dismissal of Suresh Raina and Du Plessis as CSK were reduced to 108/4. Later, captain MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu took the onus on themselves and steadied the ship for the side to bring down the equation to 16 runs required off the last two overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar who was bowling the penultimate over was hit for 13 runs and CSK then needed three off the last six deliveries. Dhoni, eventually concluded the match with a maximum. Jason Holder scalped a three-wicket haul at the cost of 27 runs in 4 overs. Earlier, in the day, SRH suffered a batting collapse and were reduced to 117/7 and ended the innings at 134/7 in 20 overs. Wirddhiman Saha top-scored with a 46-ball 44. Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with figures of 3/24 in 4 overs while Dwayne Bravo scalped a couple of wickets for 17 runs in 4 overs. SRH captain Kane Williamson admitted that the side was 10-15 runs short. “Not quite enough runs. It wasn't an easy surface and although we didn't get enough we showed a fighting spirit in the last quarter with the ball. We need 10-15 extra runs with the bat though and we need to make those small changes,” Williamson said during the post-match presentation. CSK skipper MS Dhoni talked about the last edition’s elimination and what it means to qualify for the playoffs in this season. “It means a lot, because the last time, we said we wanted to come back strong. We are known for that and there was a lot at stake. You won't always win games and a lot didn't go our way last time, and it's important not to make excuses and we have done that this year. The boys did well to keep the momentum going, and they've taken responsibilities to keep all departments,” Dhoni said. Experts’ Opinion Commentator Harsha Bhogle mentioned about CSK’s win, courtesy the maximum from MS Dhoni to finish off the things. “Dhoni and a six to finish. The story isn't over yet…..,” Bhogle tweeted. Former India opener Aakash Chopra lavished praise on CSK and the way they fared in this IPL edition especially after failing to qualify for the playoffs in the last season. “Comeback Super Kings. First team to qualify for the playoffs after missing out on qualification for the first time last season,” he wrote on Twitter. Former India bowler Irfan Pathan lauded CSK for becoming the first team to qualify for the playoffs. “Vintage CSK and Qualifying to play offs. Good old story!” Pathan tweeted. Former India pacer RP Singh praised the Super Kings for carrying the form. “Pre- corona( CSK always in top form in IIPL . Post-corona- (Theme hasn't changed.) Something never changes in Dhoni life!” He wrote on Twitter. CSK will now play RR in Abu Dhabi on Saturday while SRH will be up against KKR in Dubai on Sunday.

MS Dhoni becomes first player to complete 100 catches for single IPL team

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni became the first man in Indian Premier League history to complete 10 catches for a single team. He reached the milestone in the 44th game of the IPL against Sunsrisers Hyderabad. The former India captain caught three players in this match and the third catch of Wriddhiman Saha became his 100th for CSK. In total, MSD has taken 119 catches, 19 of which have come for Rising Pune Super Giants, the side which he represented in the two years of 2016 and 2017 when CSK was banned from participation after the spot-fixing saga in the IPL. In terms of dismissals, the 40-year-old has 158 of them to his credit, 37 of which are standings and he stands 12 clear of second-placed Dinesh Karthik in the list of total dismissals by a wicket-keeper in the IPL. As far as most catches are concerned, both wicket-keeper and fielders combined, there is no one other than MSD to have completed 100 catches for a single team. His vice-captain, Suresh Raina is closest to him with 109 total catches playing for both CSK and Gujarat Lions.

Etiquette doesn’t equal laws: Jimmy Neesham supports Morgan-Southee in Ashwin incident

New Zealand all-rounder, Jimmy Neesha, who is also part of the Mumbai Indians squad for the Indian Premier League 2021, has said that he would support Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee in the recent incident involving Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Stating that ‘etiquette doesn’t equal laws’, the Kiwi supported his compatriot Southee and his teammate Morgan, both of whom were playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in a match against Delhi Capitals of which Ashwin is an integral part. In a series of Twitter posts, Neesham clarified why he has taken the stand, even as Ashwin was not wrong in the laws of the game. A Twitter user asked as to why there was no uproar when Ben Stokes got four runs when the ball ricocheted off his bat in the World Cup final 2019, but only one run taken by Ashwin is being seen as a ‘disgrace’. Answering him, Neesham said, “Because they’re runs if the ball crosses the boundary. But the etiquette of the game is that you don’t run if you’ve caused the deflection. It’s just one of those unspoken spirit of the game things.” Earlier, the 35-year-old Indian spinner in a long thread clarified as to why he was not wrong in taking the extra run when the ball had hit Rishabh Pant and that he would always take the stand without putting anybody on a higher moral ground pedestal. The incident took place in the 41st match of the IPL which was eventually won by KKR by three wickets to deny Capitals an entry into the Playoffs on that day.