IPL 2021: ECB still not mulling to withdraw players despite huge spike in COVID cases

IPL 2021 | DC vs RCB: Brutally hurt Challengers look to regroup against Red-hot Capitals

The Royal Challengers Bangalore were looking like a team to beat before they met Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in their last match of the Mumbai leg. They were not only defeated but thrashed brutally with all their confidence taking a tumble. Their main bowler, Harshal Patel was taken to the cleaners and all their strike batsmen including Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were tossed up like minions in the sky under the Chennai storm. It is under these circumstances that the red and gold would take the field against a team that is oozing with confidence under a young skipper and with a super over victory under their belt. Delhi Capitals by any means are not an easy opponent for the pride hurt Challengers. Could Ashwin's absence be a blessing in disguise for DC? Ravichandran Ashwin, one of the major part of a Delhi Capitals outfit decided to quit the IPL midway to be with his family which is fighting Covid-19. In any circumstance, Ashwin, 34, is an asset for any team with his ability to provide so many variations with the ball, especially in the powerplay. However, in this IPL, Ashwin hasn’t really been that effective. The spinner has got only one scalp in the 19 overs of the five games that he has bowled in. His economy rate of 7.74 isn’t the best either and it could be said that with the comeback of Axar Patel, Ashwin’s absence could pretty much solve the jigsaw puzzle for the Capitals. Lalit Yadav, who has been in great touch with both bat and ball could now be included in the side without compromising on anything. In the three matches that he has played, Yadav, 24, has scored 54 runs and has got dismissed only once. With the ball too, he has been successful in picking a wicket and has generally been economical only. With Amit Mishra, Axar, Lalit, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan and Marcus Stoinis as bowling options, the Capitals have a more than good enough chance of trouncing any opponent. Getting the loss out of system should be RCB's priority The RCB unit must take the defeat at the hands of CSK as an off day which any team could have had in a season. Instead of drawing too many conclusions Virat Kohli and his men must let that defeat sink in and redraw the lessons from their previous wins to focus on the next game. The fact that their prime bowler, who has so far taken 15 wickets in just five games of the tournament, went for 37 runs in the last over, was not a mistake on the part of his skills. Rather they should take it on the face value that the batsman at the other end was too brave, too skilful, too lucky at times to do what he did in that game. Similarly with their batsmen including the skipper himself failing in the face of the adversity should not demoralise themselves. Instead, they should go chin up and trust their skills with which one Devdutt Padikkal scored a hundred, another Maxwell showed that he could be consistent and an ABD demonstrated that winning games were still a trick he could pull easily. It is only this attitude that could lift up the morale of the team and could lead its comeback. Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Match Details Match Number-22 Date and Time: April 27, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The newly built Motera Stadium has several strips which could be used as the pitch for the game and fortunately or unfortunately, all the strips do not behave the same way. This means that a game could be as high scoring affair as a team getting 224 and the second team could close it down as well, or it could be as low scoring as the team bundling out for 124. But with the experience of the India-England T20I series and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy knockouts, it could be reasoned that the square won’t be super quick and thus expecting runs in access of 170 might be too much. Weather and Toss With clear skies and temperatures getting better for playing cricket with each passing hour, Motera could be a better place to play with three fast bowlers and two spinners. It would surely be better than Chennai and the western part of India is prone to dew in this period of the year. Hence, a skipper winning the toss and deciding to field first shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Team News Delhi Capitals With Ashwin leaving the field and no signs of Nortje’ full recovery, the only change possible in the team seems the coming back of Lalit Yadav in place of the off-spinner. Strongest XI Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan Royal Challengers Bangalore The idea of pushing Dan Christian ahead of Daniel Sams is beyond logic, especially with the fact that Sams has so far been untested. Moreover, since Motera has been pace friendly, playing Sams with an option of left-arm angle for the left-handed Delhi batters would be an interesting approach. Also, the fact that Sams in the past had been part of the DC camp could also come as an advantage for the RCB unit, giving all the more reasons as to why he should play. Shahbaz Ahmed should also get back his place in place of Navdeep Saini. Strongest XI Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Sams, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Dream XI Predictions / Fantasy XI Suggestions AB de Villiers (wk), Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Glenn Maxwell, Devdutt Padikkal (vc), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Amit Mishra, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan.

IPL 2021: Nathan Coulter-Nile feels safer to stay in MI bio-bubble

Australian fast bowler and currently a part of the Mumbai Indians squad in the ongoing IPL Nathan Coulter-Nile has decided to be part of the MI bio-bubble despite some of his national teammates leaving the tournament midway. The second wave of COVID-19 is creating a ruckus in the country with a record number of cases each day. While players like Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa and Andrew Tye has decided to leave the tournament midway, Coulter-Nile feels it safer for him to be part of the Mumbai Indians bio-bubble. Tye had returned home fearing that he may be “locked out” of his own country due to the massive surge of the deadly virus. Coulter-Nile who is yet to get a game for the MI this season was bought by the defending champions for Rs 5 crores in the February auction. Coulter-Nile was surprised to see three of his countrymen leaving midway through the tournament. "Everyone's got their own opinions on it and different situations for them," Coulter-Nile told cricket.com.au. "I was surprised to see AJ go home, and then Zamps and Richo, but when you speak to them, you definitely understand where they're coming from. I spoke to Zamps a little while ago and he made a very compelling argument for going home. But for me, I feel like it's safer for me to stay in the bubble than try and get home at the moment," he added. Meanwhile, there are several Australian players plying their trade in the ongoing IPL. While David Warner is leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad, players like Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins and Steve Smith are also part of the tournament. It will be interesting to see if they also follow the same path of their three other countrymen in the next few days. "...I feel like something's got to give for getting home. I'm just going to wait and see how that plays out." "Worst comes to worst, we'll have to quarantine in Dubai for a couple of weeks before we can fly home. But I'm sure it will get sorted," said Coulter-Nile. Coulter-Nile is regularly tested three times a day. The fast bowler said that he has astute faith in the bio-bubble created by the Mumbai Indians for the IPL. "We have a rapid response test in the morning ahead of another test later in the day, and then one at night as well. And that's for everyone players, staff, the people who do laundry, cleaners, everyone," he further added. "In terms of testing, they are pretty onto it. I'm as confident (in the bubble) as you can be. All the protocols and measures are in place, I can't think of anything more we could be doing. As long as everyone follows them that's the hardest bit, there's a lot of moving parts but if everyone does the right thing, we should be fine," concluded Coulter-Nile.

I was the one who asked Pant to give me the Super Over: Axar Patel

In the first-ever Super Over of this season of the Indian Premier League, Delhi Capitals defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The victory came courtesy of some very tight bowling by the DC left-arm spinner AAxar Patel who was making a comeback in the IPL. But Patel wasn’t the first choice of the skipper Rishabh Pant or coach Ricky Ponting. It was only when he insisted that a spinning option would be a better one against the SRH’s left-right combination, that Gujarat born was trusted with the ball. "When I came out of the dressing room, the coach and everyone was talking to go with a fast bowler - Avesh Khan - because they would send a left-right combination,” Axar told in the post-match virtual press conference. "When we were just stepping onto the ground, I thought a spinner would be more effective. So I told Rishabh that I could also bowl the over. Then he spoke to Ricky [Ponting], and it was decided at the last moment that I would bowl," the 27-year-old explained. Axar who ended the regular game with figures of 2-26, conceded just seven runs in the Super Over, giving his team a more than good enough chance to chase the target down. This was the first IPL game for the Delhi all-rounder. Talking about his time while recovering from Covid, Axar said, "Even before Covid I was bowling well, in Test matches, and then I bowled in the T20Is too. So, I was carrying the same confidence.” The breakout star from the England Test series further divulged how he did not let Covid-19 rule over his instincts and his love for the game. "I wasn't thinking much that I have had Covid. After recovering from Covid, if I still keep thinking about it that I lost 20 days…obviously it was frustrating but I wasn't thinking much about it,” he said.

India along with seven nations qualify as cricket makes comeback to Commonwealth Games

Cricket became the first discipline to announce their qualifying teams for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced the list of six nationals and one spot confirmed for one nation from the Caribbean for the multi-sport event scheduled from 28 July to 8 August next year. Along with hosts England, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan made it to the list based on the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings on 1 April 2021. Once a team from the West Indies is decided then the last participating team will be decided through a qualifying tournament to be held by 31 January 2022. West Indies participates as one team representing a cluster of nations in the ICC tournaments, but in a multi-nation medal vent such as the Commonwealth Games, only individual nations could take part. The iconic Edgbaston Stadium will host the games which would involve eight women teams. The tickets are set to go on sale later this year. This would be the second time in the history of the Commonwealth Games that cricket would be a part of the games. An only men’s ODI event was held during the 1998 Kualalampur Games where South Africa won the Gold medal. ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice, while speaking on the occasion of the announcement of the decision said, “We are incredibly proud and excited to be part of Birmingham 2022 and it is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to grow the women’s game globally.” India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur was also excited about cricket coming back to the global event and said, “It’s great to be confirmed a place in the Commonwealth Games.” We are raring to go, confident of doing well after having made the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia last year,” she added.