India's tour of Australia is set to begin with white-ball series

IPL 2020: I haven't got a whole lot of opportunities so far - Glenn Maxwell

Kings XI Punjab batsman Glenn Maxwell responded to the criticism that he has been facing due to his poor string of scores in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2020. The hard-hitting batsman said that he hasn’t spent much time at the crease this season. Maxwell's failure has played a major part in KXIP’s slump in this year’s IPL. The batter has registered scores of 10*, 7, 11, 13*, 5 and 1. A total of 58 runs in seven innings. "If you look at our batting order, three of the guys batting ahead of me are among the top-10 run-scorers in the tournament. It doesn’t leave a whole lot of runs for the guys batting below.” he told Hindustan Times. Maxwell isn’t sweating much as he believes that a good knock is around the corner. He also added that in certain situations, his role was to provide strike to the well-set batsman during the slog overs. "I have been not out three times. Probably it shows how little amount of balls I am getting at the end of the innings. I am still trying to do the best I can. I am still batting well. Lot of the time I am trying to get the player who has been batting longer on strike.” he added. "Yeah, I haven’t got a whole lot of opportunities so far and people will look at the amount of runs I have scored. With the limited opportunities I have got, I still feel I am hitting the ball really well," the Australian cricketer opined. Maxwell also shed light on KXIP’s poor show in the tournament. He said that fortunes would turn in the second half of the league. Punjab will face Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sharjah on Thursday. They will have to win at least six off the remaining seven games in order to make a bid for a place in the playoffs.

IPL 2020: Sairaj Bahutule laments lack of partnerships in Royals' chase

Rajasthan Royals erred in their chase against Delhi Capitals, resulting in yet another loss - their fifth of the season. In pursuit of 162, the side got off to a quick start and at one stage they brought the equation down to 39 needing off last five overs. However, indecisive running between the wicket and poor shot making bottled up their chances of grabbing two vital points. Royals’ spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule stated that the team frittered away from a dominating position by losing too many wickets in the chase. He said that the lack of partnerships led to the defeat. "I think partnerships were very important. I don't think we needed to lose that many wickets after the start Buttler and Stokes gave us and especially that run out." The former India cricketer added that Ben Stokes’ wicket and Riyan Parag’s run-out derailed their chase and it hurt them bad. "I think the most important part was Stokes' wicket and I think the run out also was very crucial, which we probably could have avoided." The coach defended the move to send Stokes as an opener. He opined that both Steve Smith and the England all-rounder are fine players and hence they should bat at the top. According to him, a good start at the top will help the middle-order breathe easy. The Royals currently sit at the seventh spot with five defeats and three wins. They carry the same number of points as Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad but with an inferior net run-rate.

IPL 2020: I will discuss my role with the management - Ben Stokes

England’s Ben Stokes was away from the game for a fair amount of time. Firstly due to the Covid-19 outbreak which shut all cricketing affairs across the globe. Afterwards, once cricket resumed the all-rounder had to rush back to New Zealand to be alongside his ailing father. By the time Stokes reached UAE to take part in the Indian Premier League 2020, his side Rajasthan Royals had snatched two wins and ended up on the receiving end quite a few times. The experienced campaigner underwent a six-day quarantine period after which he was straight away drafted into the side as an ‘opener’. The southpaw faced half a dozen deliveries and made 5 runs apart from bowling one over. The Royals did win the game but Stokes’ role in the team lacked clarity. He hit a 35-ball 41 in yesterday’s match against Delhi Capitals. While the quickstart provided by Stokes and his fellow England teammate Jos Buttler was a positive takeaway for the Royals, it makes more sense to have the proven middle-order batter get back to his usual batting slot. "I'll have some discussions with the management for my role in the upcoming games. I want to come in and make a difference, hopefully, I can play a role and impact the game in a positive way for Rajasthan Royals.” the 29-year-old said.

IPL 2020 | RR vs DC: Fiery Anrich Nortje leaves Rajasthan gasping for breath

Delhi Capitals extended their purple patch with a nourishing 13-run triumph against Rajasthan Royals in the 31st match of the Indian Premier League. Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan mustered brisk half-centuries before an otherwordly bowling performance spearheaded by Anrich Nortje saw RR lose the plot in response on Thursday, October 15 at the Dubai International Stadium. Though life isn't always sunshine and butterflies. Iyer popped his shoulder while diving across and had to be rushed off the field with physio Patrich Farhart. However, Dhawan offered a soothing balm in the post-match presser, "He's in pain but his shoulder is moving. We'll get the X-ray report tomorrow." Dhawan-Iyer steady DC's ship DC bestowed Tushar Deshpande his debut at the expense of all-rounder Harshal Patel. And even though it were batsmen from his own team at the receiving end, the youngster must've been chuffed to bits after watching firebrand Jofra Archer wreak havoc. He bowled some serious gas, rupturing through Prithvi Shaw's hesitant defensive prod the first ball of the game before hurrying Ajinkya Rahane late on the pull. However, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer forged an enterprising 69 to ensure DC stay ahead of the eight-ball despite the early jolts. The closest RR came to snapping the association was when Rahul Tewatia fancied a shy at the non-striker's end, but couldn't hit the bullseye otherwise Dhawan would have been gone for all money. Dhawan leaves DC in the lurch, once more Having malfunctioned to put his vehicle into overdrive in the previous outing, Dhawan left a lot to be desired yet again post notching his fifty. Not an unconventional stroke-maker by any means, he chanced his arm with an utterly farcical reverse-sweep to lob a dolly to short third man. Much to DC's respite, Iyer cleared his front leg and winched a couple of sweetly-timed maximums in Jaydev Unadkat's 15th over, the latter even involving an unsuccessful boundary-teasing effort from Ben Stokes. Looking to go down town, the skipper eventually diced a hoick to long-on off Kartik Tyagi, who really cut the mustard with excellent figures of 4-0-30-1. The well-set enforces walking back in short order was directly proportional to DC making a meal of the slog overs. That a trivial 32 runs were squirted at the cost of 4 wickets in the last five romps the point home. A proper game of cat and mouse The PowerPlay in RR's chase was a gale of high-octane cricketing entertainment at its riveting best. Stokes elevated to the top, kicked off proceedings in splendid fashion, clipping Kagiso Rabada tastefully to the square leg fence. He then zapped in quest of a non-existent single, only to heave a sigh of relief as Ajinkya Rahane missed the target by a hair's breadth. Jos Butler welcomed Anrich Nortje into the attack with a meaty blow over long-on before unfurling from his treasure trove a pair of fearless scoops. Albeit the under-fire paceman stuck to his guns, releasing a freakish 155kmph missile to leave Butler's stumps in disarray. Steve Smith fell prey to a soft dismissal off Ravichandran Ashwin, elbowing RR in a spot of bother at 40/2. DC keep needling fresh scars All this while, Stokes had proved a thorn in DC's flesh, whacking half a dozen boundaries to go along with lung-burning dashes between the wickets. But the snowball effect gripped him nonetheless, as Tushar Deshpande bagged his maiden IPL scalp, an off-cutter yanked to long-on for 41. And boy what a jackpot that was, a moment that he savoured with a raucous celebratory jig. Sanju Samson took a particular liking towards Axar Patel, schooling him for two maximums and a four. Yet, the astute left-arm emerged roses in the battle of wits, darting in a slider to castle the right-handed dynamo for 25. Robin Uthappa selling Riyan Parag down the river yielded DC the license to ride roughshod from thereon. Uthappa plays possum to RR's chagrin Despite Nortje gobbling a sitter at fine-leg to reprieve Tewatia on nought, DC enjoyed the wood on the match. And Uthappa cops the fair share of the blame for eating up way too many deliveries in a bid to anchor the chase before quitting just when the team needed him to go bonkers, knocked over by Nortje's gun-barrel yorker. Safe to say, his vapid 27-ball 32 did more harm to RR's prospects than good. 25 now sought off the final two, Jofra Archer flashed his rapier-like blade to no avail, with an atrocious splice travelling at a comfortable height to Ajinkya Rahane at backward point. Rahul Tewatia drilled a single off the last ball of the penultimate over to retain strike as the atmosphere rumbled with anticipation galore. So near, yet so far The stand-in captain, Dhawan backed rookie Deshpande whole nine yards and entrusted him with the responsibility to defend 22 off the final over. As if the pressure cooker environs weren't lending enough drama, he strayed to a wide first up to raise plenty of eyebrows. The next delivery was bang in the slot, as Tewatia packed a punch to hoist it towards long-on but Ajinkya Rahane displayed admirable presence of mind on the rope to parry the ball back in the playing area in the nick of time. Though it was a tough nut to crack that both batsmen got busy in witnessing the heroics on the boundary line and actually forgot to jog an easily available second run, which could've brought Tewatia back in the scheme of things. Shreyas Gopal did jam a single right away, but Despande passed the test with flying colours regardless, nailing the block-hole to relent a meagre eight, capping off a near-perfect slog-operation from the DC pace cartel. What's next in store? Duty calls again for both the franchises on a weekend bonanza. Bottom-dwellers RR have teetered to the edge of the cliff and ought to peel a win by hook or by crook versus Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first of Saturday's double-header. Ruling the roost, DC have nothing more than a few injury concerns to worry about as they aspire to complete a double against Chennai Super Kings under floodlights.