Coach Simon Katich commends maturity of Glenn Maxwell after win over Sunrisers Hyderabad

IPL 2021: Shahbaz Ahmed has proved his worth in the team says Mohammed Siraj

Royal Challengers Bangalore speedster Mohammed Siraj hailed Shahbaz Ahmed for his match-winning performance and feels that the all-rounder has done enough to justify his selection in the playing XI. His three-wicket overturned the game on its head and eventually helped RCB win a cliffhanger by just 6 runs. With SRH requiring 35 in the last 4 overs, captain Virat Kohli handed over the ball to Shahbaz Ahmed. It was a brave call from Virat Kohli and Shahbaz repaid the faith showed in him by his skipper. Jonny Bairstow who is a sensational striker of the ball was at the crease with a well set Manish Pandey. Shahbaz Ahmed was not overawed with the decision and gave the ball a rip and bagged three wickets in the over. He bamboozled Bairstow and Manish Pandey in successive deliveries and then bagged the wicket of hard-hitter Abdul Samad which tilted the scales in favour of Bangalore. “Both Shahbaz Ahmed and Rajat Patidar (who played the last game as Devdutt Padikkal was unavailable) have been brilliant in the practice games,” Siraj said in the post-match press conference. Shahbaz, as an all-rounder, gives us that extra option with his left-arm spin. The wicket was slow and turning also. Shahbaz Ahmed fitted into it for this game and did the job for us,” he added. Siraj said that with two right-handers in the middle Virat Kohli decided to give the ball to Shahbaz Ahmed despite an experienced Washington Sundar having some overs up his sleeve. That call proved to be a masterstroke as RCB eventually won a nail-biter by just 6 runs. “We had overs left of Washington Sundar too. But Virat bhai thought with two right-handers at the crease, a left-arm spinner could be brought." “He created a chance with Manish Pandey in his first over, and that”s why he bowled another, and that changed the game for us,” said Siraj. Mohammed Siraj was himself quite impressive during his four-over spell bagging two wickets conceding just 25 runs. He had a sensational start to his spell beginning with a maiden and followed it up with another tight over. However, he was taken to the cleaners in his 3rd over but came back well in his final over after getting smashed for a six by Rashid Khan. “I just try to swing the ball with the new ball. I got swing the first ball and I thought to do more of that and get a couple of wickets." Siraj said. “The dew factor is also there and we have to overcome that. I always aim to hit back of length and let the batsmen make mistake,” he added.

Supreme Court adjourns proceedings in matter related to Sourav Ganguly -Jay Shah role in BCCI

The Supreme court on Thursday, April 15 adjourned the hearing in the case related to BCCI officer bearers such as president Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah and Joint Secretary Jayesh George. A two-judge bench comprising of Justice Justice L Nageshwara Rao and Justice Vineet Saran adjourned the proceedings as the Amicus Curiae of the case PS Narasimha failed to submit his report and sought more time. The case pertains to BCCI’s appeal in the Supreme Court to waive off the ‘cooling period’ clause in the constitution adopted by the Apex court on the recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee in 2018. According to the constitution, the trio of Ganguly, Shah and George were to go through a cooling period of three years as having served as cricket administrators at the BCCI or at the state level for six continuous years. Their tenure had ended in mid last year, but BCCI knocked on Apex court’s door to allow continuity in administration. Recently, Sourav Ganguly had said in an interview that he will decide his next career move on the basis of the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter pertaining to his eligibility as the BCCI president. Notably, Justice Rao has overseen the departure of N Srinivasan and Anurag Thakur from the post of BCCI president in the past and if Ganguly is shown the exit door, he will be the third boss of Indian cricket to have his fate settled by India’s top court.

IPL 2021: Virat Kohli reprimanded for breaking IPL Code of Conduct

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli got reprimanded by the match referee Vengalil Narayan Kutty during the 6th match of the Indian Premier League against the Sunrisers Hyderabad for breaching IPL’s Code of Conduct on Wednesday. Kohli who is always animated on the field was charged with a Level 1 breach of clause 2.2 which relates to "Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a Match". The match looked done and dusted with SRH looking well on course for a convincing victory until a major collapse allowed RCB to claw their way back into the game and in the end, they registered a 6 runs victory. Meanwhile, television cameras caught Kohli kicking an advertising cushion and also knocking down a chair beside the dugout after he was dismissed by Jason Holder after making 33. It must be noted that former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir also did a similar thing in 2016 against a match against RCB and was docked 15 per cent of his match fees. Royal Challengers Bangalore won their second successive game in the competition after beating SRH by 6 runs. They started off the tournament with a victory against the Mumbai Indians in the curtain-raiser and continued their winning streak against SRH. The victory was largely possible due to a magnificent half-century by Glenn Maxwell and some exceptional bowling by Shahbaz Ahmed and Harshal Patel in the final few overs.

Ben Stokes named Wisden Cricketer of the Year for the second successive year

One of the finest cricketers of the modern generation, Ben Stokes has been named as Wisden’s leading cricketer of the year award for the second consecutive year on Thursday. Just like in 2019, Stokes had a stupendous time with the bat and ball. Ben Stokes has been quite exceptional in the all-round development which have England dominate world cricket, especially in the shorter formats. In 2020, Stokes scored 641 runs in 7 matches at an impressive average of 58.27 against Pakistan and West Indies. With the ball in hand, Stokes also bagged 19 wickets in the longest format. Stokes bowled his heart out during the Test series against India in testing conditions. However, his performances in India wasn’t calculated as the series took place in early 2021. Besides his Test performances, Stokes also scored 126 runs in 6 T20i’s besides bagging six wickets. "Ben Stokes becomes the first England player to be named Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World more than once, retaining the title he claimed in 2020," Wisden's editor, Lawrence Booth said. "He did it all against a backdrop of personal tragedy: his father, Ged, died in December at the age of 65." It must be noted that Stokes was also named as the leading cricketer of the year for 2019 after his heroics in the 2019 World Cup final. His sensational knock helped England tie the game and eventually won by the barest of margins. Just after his World Cup special knock, Stokes smashed a monumental innings against Australia at Headingley to take them to a magnificent victory. His innings will definitely be regarded as one of the finest Test innings of all time. Stokes had become the first English player to bag the prestigious award after all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who bagged the prize back in 2005. Before Stokes, it was Indian skipper Virat Kohli who won the award for three consecutive times. Meanwhile, Stokes’ vigil at the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League came to an end when he was ruled out of the entirety of the tournament owing to a suspected broken arm. Meanwhile, Wisden has named Australian women cricketer Beth Mooney as the leading woman cricketer for 2020. Mooney played a major role in Australia winning the T20 World Cup in 2020. She was also the leading run-scorer in the Women’s Big Bash League.