IPL 2021 | Kohli discusses quitting captaincy, de Villiers backs move citing immense pressure

Virat Kohli has decided to relinquish captaincy of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and India T20I side after the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League and upcoming T20 World Cup respectively, and he has discussed his decision-making process in a candid manner with his teammate AB de Villiers in an RCB Bold Diaries video with Star Sports.

Kohli conceded that he can’t “go on and on captaining India across all three formats and the RCB for two months” and he had to take that call somewhere down the line. However, he did not term it a decision taken due to ongoing challenges with respect to COVID-19 containment measures and subsequent biosecure environment.

His mate in the RCB, AB de Villiers said that the decision to quit captaincy came just at the right time for Virat as he is not accepting the immense workload and pressure he has been absorbing in the last so many years.

The duo also discussed the rise of the RCB as they are all set to face the Kolkata Knight Riders in the eliminator of the tournament. They had started off really well before losing their way in the middle and then finally correcting their course to finish third on the points table.

Kohli looked back the journey in the ongoing edition as a challenging one as most teams were competing for the last two spots among the top four finish on the points table. However, he was ecstatic the RCB got back in the groove and sealed their place in the playoffs way before the other teams except for the Chennai Super Kings and the Delhi Capitals.

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IPL 2021 | 'Rather you should have been dead,' Varun Chakravarthy opens up social media abuse

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy has opened up on the impact on his mental health after he was tested Covid-19 positive in the first phase of the Indian Premier League. Recalling that phase Chakravarthy said that he was “shattered” after knowing the status of his infection and he used to get a lot of hateful messages on social media and some of them went as far as blaming his illness for the postponement of the IPL 2021 and wishing his death. “I remember when Dr. Srikanth just called and I still remember the words he told me, it’s unfortunately positive Varun. So that just shattered everything. I really didn’t know that it is going to blow up so much. I even got emails and messages on Instagram where people told me. Rather you should have been dead,” Varun Chakravarthy said in a video posted by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Notably, He and his teammate Sandeep Warrier were the first set of players to have reported Covid-19 as the wave of the disease spread quickly across other franchises. His senior teammate Dinesh Karthik also highlighted the uglier side of social media and said that people find it very easy to pass sweeping judgments on people without considering the way the concerned person can take it. He urged social media users to make those platforms a “kinder place”. “And that’s where I feel sometimes social media needs to be a kinder place. People don’t realize the gravity of what they say. Be it memes, be it videos, be it you know just the use of words. It is a spur of the moment thing for them at that point of time instinctively what they feel, they just put it out there, not realizing what the person reading it will go through,” Dinesh Karthik added. Chakravarthy has been excellent with the ball in both the India and UAE leg of IPL 2021 and he has also been selected in India’s World T20 squad.

Tom Moody eyes Indian coaching job

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody is expected to apply for the job of coaching team India as India’s current head coach Ravi Shastri is all set to vacate the position after the conclusion of the T20 world cup. "It's understood the former World Cup-winner and well-travelled coach is eyeing the Indian coaching job, which is set to be vacated by (Ravi) Shastri following the impending T20 World Cup," Foxsports.com.au reported. Tom Moody, who is currently the coach of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and is also the director of Sri Lanka cricket, has applied for this job three times including in 2017 and 2019 but has not been considered. Ravi Shastri has not sought to extend his tenure and has confirmed that he will not be continuing as the head coach after the T20 world cup. Report also suggests that Moody’s aspiration to coach Team India led to the decision to strip Warner from captaincy earlier this season and then drop him from the playing XI in the last few games. "It's believed the Sunrisers' owners are influential figures in the BCCI, which could explain the decision to leave Warner out for their past half-a-dozen matches and turn to youth. Warner, too, has been approached by a number of other IPL franchises, who have been shocked by the run-scoring machine being sidelined," the report stated.

‘Changing room got emotional after Dhoni’s innings,’ tells coach Fleming

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man.’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni found his lost touch when the team needed it the most. A contest that was inclining towards Delhi Capitals was pulled off by Dhoni in his typical ‘Mahi way’. Coach Stephen Fleming addressed the media after the match and said that it was indeed an emotional moment. "It was emotionally great for us. We wish him (well) every time he goes out, we know the pressure that he is under and the expectations that is on him every time he goes out and once again he came up trumps for us. It was emotional in the changing rooms, that's very important. But also, the captain had an opportunity to do that for us," said Fleming in the post-match press conference. He also hinted that the decision of promoting Dhoni ahead of Jadeja wasn’t just a random call but was taken after a long discussion. "There was a lot of chat. I think we spoke more in these 20 overs than we have for a long time. Just a lot of technical discussion, maneuvering how to work out how it was going to unfold.” Dhoni came in to bat when CSK were 149-5 with Moeen Ali at the non-strike. Dhoni’s 18 runs off six balls that included three boundaries and a six helped CSK make its place in the final for the 9th time.

‘Smriti Mandhana to lead India soon,’ feels coach Powar

Head coach of India’s women cricket team Ramesh Powar feels that India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana is all set to wear the cap of captaincy in the near future. However he said that he was not sure of the format that she will lead to. "We are always looking at her (Mandhana) as leader. She has been the vice-captain and some day she will lead this side. I don't know which format. BCCI, selectors and I will discuss it and decide," said Powar after the Australia tour that ended with India losing the T20 series. He also said that he wasn’t setting any timeline for the change in leadership. "There was no doubt she had the talent. The only thing we told her was to spend time in the middle and she performed very well. We take pride in the way she played in the pink-ball Test as it inspires a lot of girls in the team who look up to her," he added. India lost the ODI series by 1-2 and the only Test ended in a draw. India also failed to win the T20 series and lost it by 0-2. However, Mandhana was the highest scorer of the side on this tour. She scored a magnificent century (127 runs off 216 balls) in the first inning of the only Test played.