IPL 2020: Ricky Ponting warns MI, says best of Delhi yet to come

MI vs DC - Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

The much-awaited IPL 2020 final is here. It took 59 matches, multiple super overs, heartbreaks, a rare Chennai Super Kings off-season, and above all a league successfully run amidst a raging pandemic to get here and we cannot wait for an epic clash scheduled to be played out in the Dubai International Stadium on 10 November 2020. The two teams involved i.e. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have traveled through two very different paths to get to the same destination. While Mumbai have been clearly dominated by their opponents in most of their encounters, Delhi faltered in the latter part of the tournament losing 5 matches in a row. But having overcome the 5-match losing streak, Delhi must be credited for the courage they showed against an in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second Qualifier of the tournament. Capitals Have Nothing to Lose Delhi Capitals have made it to the IPL finals for the first time in their and the league's 13-year-old history. As Hetmyer said and most of the players would agree, this a dream come true for the Delhi Capitals. The franchise owners have shown tremendous faith in the team management and the players and have taken some superb calls to build a team around an Indian core that has reaped huge rewards this season. Most of the players in the playing XI have shown that they belong and Delhi would be very happy that they have found a good combination in both the batting and the bowling departments. Most of their players are in good form and the guys have nothing to lose as making it to the finals in itself is a huge achievement. So as Iyer had said in the post-match presentation ceremony after the SRH game, they have to play without fear, without any hesitation, and as freely as possible. That is going to be their best bet. Rohit Sharma Needs to Lead From the Front In this entire tournament, the one player that has not hit the top gear right from the start is skipper Rohit Sharma. Just when he was coming into his own, an injury kept him away from the playing XI and broke his flow of runs. He made a comeback from his injury in the first game of the playoffs stage and laughed at his luck after he was trapped in front by Ravi Ashwin in the first ball. But everyone knows that Rohit is a big game player. Hence him coming back to form and leading his team to the first-ever title defence and record the fifth season in the IPL is really important. IPL 2020 Finals- MI vs DC: Match Details Match Number - 60 Date: 10 November 2020, at 7:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 2.00 PM GMT Venue: Dubai Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report A fresh pitch is going to be used for the final in Dubai. The freshness could be used by the fast bowlers early on especially if Bumrah and Trent Boult are let loose in the game. The batsmen might find support from dew later in the second innings and if we are to believe the last couple of games on this ground, that could come in handy. However, it has rained in the past few days in Dubai, in that case, the chance of dew might be reduced as well. In this utterly confusing situation, winning the toss and chasing could be a way out if the captains are not very sure about the weather. Weather and Toss While there have been heavy showers in Dubai over the past few days, the sky is predicted to be clear for Tuesday. The chances for precipitation are 10% with a wind speed of 21km/h. The humidity has increased up to 59%, therefore, the chances of dew have decreased. Team News Mumbai Indians Mumbai played their best XI in the last game, however, Trent Boult got injured and therefore if there is a change in the squad, it would be a forced one and James Pattinson might come in place of the ace New Zealander. Expected XI Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah Delhi Capitals The Delhi team would have no change as far as the current team is concerned. All their priorities are set hence chances of expecting a change in a winning team would be zero. Expected XI Marcus Stoinis, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje Final- MI vs DC: Dream 11 team and Fantasy suggestions Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ishan Kishan(wk), Suryakumar Yadav Hardik Pandya, Marcus Stoinis (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Jasprit Bumrah Captain: Marcus Stoinis Vice Captain: Shikhar Dhawan

Virat Kohli to take paternity leave, Rohit Sharma to play only Test series

After receiving a list of injury concerns, the All-India Senior Selection Committee met today to address the issues of players’ availability for the upcoming tour of Australia. Although there were many takeaways of the meeting, captain Virat Kohli’s paternity leave which will begin after the first Test of the series starting December 17 and the addition of Rohit Sharma to the Test squad were the major developments. However, Rohit has been rested from the limited-overs leg of the tour. The selection committee has maintained its view on Ishant Sharma and said that he is still under monitoring by the BCCI medical team and his inclusion to the Test team will take place after he fully recovers from his injury at the National Cricket Academy. Addressing another injury concerns about the Test squad, the selection committee observed that Test wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has injured his both hamstrings and that a call on his availability will be taken later by the committee. A promising entry into international cricket has turned into disappointment for Varun Chakravarthy who has been ruled out of the T20 series down under due to a shoulder injury he picked up in the IPL. However, the pain of Varun has become the gain for T Natarajan who has been named as the replacement of the spinner in the T20 series against Australia. Natarajan has been hailed for his impeccable skills of bowling accurate yorkers consistently and he has been rewarded for excellent showings in the IPL 2020. Team India ODI squad Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper). Team India Test squad Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj.

IPL 2020: Abdul Samad impresses Indian legends with power-hitting, character

The emblem of Indian Premier League is ‘where talent meets opportunity’ and every year the tournament throws up some emring players who impress all including fans, experts and former cricketers. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abdul Samad is yet another talent who has caught the attention of close watchers of the game. He hails from the state of Jammu and Kashmir and his ability to go big with the bat was on full-on display in the Qualifier 2 game between the Delhi Capitals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was impressed with his hard-hitting ability against the Capitals. Samamd has shown the capability of hitting express bowlers from lengths, a skill which young Indian batsmen lack in general and Harbhajan was really impressed with the pull shot that the right hander had played against Anrich Nortje to send the ball flying over deep square leg boundary. Additionally, former Indian left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan expressed confidence in Samad’s game and said that the Sunrisers would have won the game if he could carry on hitting those big shots. Irfan commended the power hitting ability and a lot of character that Samad showed on the night against Capitals. Indian legend and one of the best limited overs batsman India has produced, Yuvraj Sing agreed with Irfan Pathan and said that Samamd has shown enough promise to become a special player in the future of Indian cricket. Samad had walked out to bat in the 12th over of the Sunrisers’ effort to chase down 190 runs set by Capitals and he got into the groove quickly. He took on Anrich Nortje for a six and two fours on three consecutive deliveries to get the chase back on track. With the Sunrisers needing 30 off the last two overs, Samad tried to take the game to Rabada but perished in the process after hitting a big six off the leading wicket taker in the IPL 2020.

"It's a dream come true," says Shimron Hetmyer on playing his first IPL final

Delhi Capitals batsman Shimron Hetmyer has expressed his excitement over playing an IPL final, in a video released by the franchise on Twitter. Hetmyer said that the feat is unbelievable and nothing short of a dream coming true for him. Hailing an all-round performance from the Capitals to get better of an-form Sunrisers Hyderabad, Hetmyer said that the team is well balanced and all are taking responsibilities by doing their parts. He credited openers for providing a ‘fantastic start’, Hetmyer said that the Capitals batting line up kept the pace of the innings going throughout the middle overs to propel the side to a high score of 189 runs. He also commended the bowlers for not allowing the Sunrisers any sniff to make a comeback in the game. He said that the initial wicket of the main batsmean of the Sunrisers lineup in the form of Waner was crucial and the team was excellent to defeat them to get into the finals. However, he added that the team needs to recuperate the same performance one more time when they will face the Mumbai Indians in the final of the IPL 2020 scheduled to be played on November 10. Hetmyer himself was at his dismissive best and played a crucial 22-ball-44 to power the Capitals to a score that put the Sunrisers were under pressure from the start. He was inducted back into the playing XI in the lace of Daniel Sams and he proved his worth by playing a match-winning inning on a very big day.