CSK's brand value sees a sharp dip, MI ruling the charts

It felt like going into a war: Shubman Gill on making debut against Australia

India opener Shubman Gill who made his Test debut against Australia away from home revealed that it felt like he was “going into a war”. Gill scored 45 and 35* in his first assignment for India against the Aussies. “As long as the fielding lasted, I was pretty normal. But when we finally batted, and I was taking a walk down from the dressing room to the pitch with the crowd cheering (backing the Aussies, nevertheless), it was an experience of a kind! It felt like going into a war!” he told his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders’ official website. The right-handed batsman played an important role in India’s 2-1 win against Australia in the four-match series after he notched up 259 runs during the course. Gill explained what he felt when he first received the Test cap. “It’s inexplicable. At times you go through a sea of emotions which just make you go numb. It was that kind of a moment. Ravi Shastri gave a speech in the huddle and then I received the cap from him. After that we won the toss and elected to field first,” he recalled. “It was a different kind of fun to watch Brett Lee bowl or Sachin sir (Tendulkar) bat. All of a sudden, I was playing in that team and Australians were bowling at me,” he added. India have tasted success in Australia and against England at home. After beating Australia, India thumped England 3-1 at home to march into the finals of the World Test Championship slated to take place in Southampton in June.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney asked to go on leave: Report

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney has come under scanner after an investigation revealed his conduct as being ‘unsavory and against the federation’s way of leading its operations.’ According to a report in TOI, the ICC has asked Sawhney to go on a leave. “Allegations ranging from very serious to as petty as arrogance and high-handedness, to as internally serious as hiring and sacking employees at a whim are being held against this individual. Cricket administration has been in absolute disarray and ICC had to act,” TOI quoted sources in direct knowledge of developments in their report. A senior official close to the ICC board has said that there have been testimonies from the staff of his ‘abrasive behaviour’. “There have been testimonies from multiple ICC staff about his ‘abrasive behaviour’ which hasn’t been great for the morale of a very efficient group of employees,” a senior official close to the ICC Board told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Apart from this, there have been reports that some of the boards have been unhappy with him for backing interim chairman Imran Khawaja during the elections last year. “He hasn’t exactly been a favourite of a lot of cricket boards during the past couple of years. Firstly, a lot of people didn’t like his passive involvement when Greg Barclay of New Zealand and Imran Khwaja of Singapore were in contention to replace Shahshank Manohar,” a senior BCCI source privy to developments in the ICC told PTI on conditions of anonymity. If Sawhney doesn’t resign then there would be a need of 12 votes out of 17 to remove him from the post. “Manu also has support within the board which is now split into two factions of 9 and 8 members on each side. To remove Manu, one would need 12 out of the 17 votes, which is two-third of the Board of Directors since he came with the approval of a majority of the board.” “It will be interesting if the faction comprising ‘Big Three’ can get 12 out of the 17 votes required to remove him,” the source said. Sawhney took the charge as the Chief Executive after the conclusion of World Cup 2019. He replaced Dave Richardson.

Temperament of a player is more important than technique: Vikram Rathour

The Indian team has tasted success in recent times, courtesy some fine performances from the youngsters in Australia and then against England at home. Batting coach Vikram Rathour in a chat with ESPNCricinfo has said that the temperament of a player keeps more importance than his technique. Rathour further suggested that the game is about handling pressure. “Any day. Temperament combined with game plans. Technique is an important aspect, but a lot of people give it too much importance. They put everything on technique, which I don't believe in. Cricket is about handling pressure, making the right decisions, picking the right balls to play your shots, which are the bowlers you can score against, what are the areas, where are your singles, where are your boundaries… All of this comes under game plans and tactics,” he said. “Technique is important, yes. But again, if you can keep the other aspects of your batting very clear, if your mindset is clear, if you keep making the right decisions, keep picking the right balls, you can still score runs. And those are the things that are more important at this level than only technique,” Rathour further added. India were bundled out for 36 in the second innings of the first Test against Australia but then made a fine comeback in the series. The former India player revealed that the talk the coaches had with the players after the disappointing performance in the first Test was about building partnerships. “All the talk throughout, after being 36 all out [in Adelaide], or after winning the Test [in Melbourne] was only on building up partnerships, playing the sessions well, looking to score runs without taking too many risks. The message going out all the time was, let's not worry about results, results will take care of themselves if we keep batting and doing things correctly,” he said. India first won the four-match Test series 2-1 against Australia away from home and then thumped England 3-1 on the home soil recently to march into the final of the World Test Championship slated to take place in Southampton in June against New Zealand.

IPL is huge tournament & monetary rewards are obvious: Jos Buttler

England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler has said that the ECB had never given him an option of skipping the IPL and be available for the Test series against New Zealand. The right-handed batsman is now in India for the limited-overs fixtures and will stay in the country till the end of Rajasthan Royals IPL campaign. "No nothing of that sort (was discussed with me) and I don't know about other players. I think an agreement about participation in IPL was in place well before the New Zealand Test series was announced," Buttler said during a media conference. Buttler further admitted that the IPL gives you “monetary rewards” and it is an advantageous tournament to a lot of people in terms of money. "We all know the benefits of IPL. It's a huge tournament and monetary rewards are obvious and also the experience you gain and it has its pluses too. And it's obvious in the upturn of white ball games in England, and the number of players participating in it and how beneficial it is to all of us," he said. "IPL is advantageous to a lot of people with the money that's involved. It's the biggest tournament in cricket in terms of money and careers can be short but we know that playing for England can be a huge draw and we are very well remunerated playing for England," he added. The gloveman suggested that it was an achievement for the England team that 12 players were in demand for the tournament like the IPL. "It is also a big feather in the cap for the England side that 12 players were in demand in the world's biggest tournament," he said. The IPL 2021 is set to begin from April 9 with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on three-time finalists RCB in Chennai in the opening clash.