CPL 2021: Dwayne Bravo leaves Trinbago Knight Riders, to join St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

The Trinbago Knight Riders have accepted the request of Dwayne bravo for his transfer to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots starting the upcoming season of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He will be replaced by Dinesh Ramdin in the TKR team.

Dwayne Bravo said that the request for transfer was made by him in search of new challenges but thanked the TKR franchise for all the support and work for Trinidad and Tobago in general.

"At this stage of my career, I needed a new challenge, which is to work with the young talent for the benefit of Cricket West Indies. Also becoming part of a new franchise SNKP will provide me with a new challenge in CPL. I want to thank TKR for respecting my wishes and for all their support over the years. I also appreciate everything they've done for Trinidad and Tobago in general,” Bravo said in a statement.

Notably, Bravo had led the team for three CPL titles in the 2015,2017, and 2018 edition before being the deputy of Kieron Pollard in the last season.

The TKR director Venky Mysore expressed sadness over Bravo’s departure from the side and also recognised his role in team-building and leadership to three CPL titles.

"DJ Bravo has been instrumental in not only building TKR into a champion team but also captained the team which earned three championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018. We are sad to see him leave but we respect his wishes,” said team director Venky Mysore.

The ninth edition of the CPL is scheduled to start on August 28 and the whole tournament will be hosted at St Kitts & Nevis' Warner Park.

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Was looking to bowl dot ball to De Villiers but ended up getting him out: Harpreet Brar

Punjab Kings Harpreet Brar had a superb outing against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday in Ahmedabad after he first chipped in with a brisk and unbeaten 25 off 17 and then scalped three wickets that included the dismissals of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers during the course. The left-arm spinner cleaned up Kohli and Maxwell on consecutive deliveries while removing ABD after the former South African cricketer was caught by PBKS captain KL Rahul at short cover. Explaining about ABD’s dismissal, Brar said that he was more looking to bowl a dot ball but managed to get a wicket instead. “My plan against De Villiers was to bowl a touch wider outside off-stump and out of his slot since the ball was gripping a bit. That’s why I brought in a slip and had covers to come up slightly. I wanted to bowl a dot but also managed to get a wicket. I am blessed,” Brar said. The spinner also explained the strategy that he executed against Kohli. “My strategy was to hit the right length and not worry even if he hits me for a boundary. If the batsman charges down the track then you alter the length,” Brar said. Punjab finally tasted some success in the IPL 2021 after they were able to defend a target of 180 after restricting RCB to 145/8 in 20 overs. Bangalore’s middle order was rattled by the spin duo of Brar and Ravi Bishnoi as the two bowlers shared a total of five wickets among themselves. Earlier, Rahul cored an unbeaten 91. Punjab Kings will now take on Delhi Capitals on Sunday in Ahmedabad.

We are as safe as possible: Australian cricketer backs IPL’s continuation

The Indian Premier League carrying on amidst the thousands of deaths and lakhs of Covid-19 cases is causing problems in not only the host country but at many cricket-loving places including Australia. Players like Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa have pulled out of the tournament owing to travel restrictions placed at the moment. However, an unnamed Australian cricketer, currently playing in the IPL, though has favoured the continuation of the league as it gives hopes and positivity to the people. “When we signed up for the IPL, we all knew there was a global pandemic running,” the cricketer, on the accounts of anonymity was quoted as saying to Sydney Morning Herald. “We knew India was likely to get a second wave like everywhere else. Just because it’s happened and it’s on such a massive scale, this doesn’t change the commitment we made to people in India. I’m happy to stay,” he added. Countering the argument that cricketers moving out of the IPL should be placed on a higher pedestal, the Aussie said that they went out mainly because they didn’t find a place in the XI rather than the fact that they felt something extra for the people suffering from the pandemic. “We are as safe as we can possibly be. The guys who are leaving, you’ll see that most of them are not playing much cricket anyway,” he said. Three Australians including RCB’s Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson and Rajasthan Royals’ Andrew Tye moved out of the country and among them they had played just one game. Saying that ‘everyone who is here wants to be playing’, the anonymous IPL player reasoned, “It’s frustrating for those who are not. That also might be playing into their motivation for leaving.”

Kane Williamson to lead SRH for remainder of IPL 2021

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will be taking over the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captaincy for the remainder of the IPL 2021. The franchise released an official statement about the same that said, “Sunrisers Hyderabad would like to announce that Kane Williamson will be taking over the captaincy for tomorrow’s match and for the remainder of the IPL 2021.” SRH have had a dismal run so far in the competition having lost five out of the six matches that they have played and are placed at the bottom of the table. The Chennai game proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the prolific SRH captain who scored a woeful 57 runs off 55 balls, an innings that halted SRH's momentum in the game. Williamson who led New Zealand to the World Cup 2019 final has played 56 IPL matches and has scored over 1700 runs at an average of 42.1 and a strike rate of over 134 during the course. The right-hander is in some brilliant form in this edition of the IPL. He has a half-century in the three matches that he has featured in for the SRH and is yet to get dismissed in the competition. On the other side, despite being among runs, Warner has been struggling to give any fruitful results with his captaincy. The Hyderabad-based franchise was thumped by CSK by 7 wickets in their last encounter after they failed to defend a target of 172 in Delhi. Warner though had led SRH to the title win in the 2016 edition where they defeated RCB in the final.

Won't say Yuzvendra Chahal's spot is under scanner: Simon Katich

RCB and India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has been facing some issues with his form in the on-going IPL season. He didn’t really have an impressive outing against the Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad on Friday either as the right-arm leggie returned with figures of 1/34 in 4 overs. But head coach Simon Katich has cleared that Chahl’s spot in the side isn’t under scanner. “We won't say his spot is under the scanner. Obviously, their spinners bowled a much better length than we did. I guess how the wicket played, it got slower and slower and they assessed it well and bowled a very good length," Katich said. Katich further explained that despite having a disappointing start, Chahal made a comeback in the match against Punjab Kings while credited left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed for his bowling. Yuzi fought back well but got off to a slow start in that first over, it's never easy to play catch up when you have been hit in your first over. I thought Shahbaz (Ahmed) bowled well in trying to claw things back but in the end but 180 was too many on that wicket," he added. RCB failed to chase down a target of 180 runs in 20 overs after they were restricted to 145/8 to suffer a defeat by 34 runs. Punjab’s Harpreet Brar ripen through the RCB batting line up and scalped a three-for that included the dismissals of captain Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers. RCB will now play Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad on Monday.