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IPL 2021: MI skipper Rohit Sharma optimistic of making a hat-trick of titles

 With the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to commence in a few hours time, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is confident of their chances ahead of the extravaganza and said that the feeling in the camp is absolutely electric and all the players are upbeat and raring to go in a bid to win their 6th IPL title and a make a hattrick of IPL trophies. 

"The feeling in the camp is absolutely electric and upbeat. It is the start of the new season, we all know that. The guys are very excited to get going. We've got some new faces in the squad as well which is exciting. IPL is always an exciting time and coming off from playing a lot of cricket as well. So, looking forward to get going. I think it is going to be a good one this year as well. Hopefully, we can do the right things. We can continue from where we left in Dubai," Rohit was quoted as saying during a video interview for the Mumbai Indians which was posted on Twitter. 

Mumbai Indians had a dream run in the 2020 edition where they dominated like kings and were way ahead of any other teams all through the tournament. They played some exceptional brand of all-round cricket and eventually managed to seal their 5th IPL title and second on a trot. Trent Boult alongside Jasprit Bumrah proved to be a match-winning combo with the ball in hand. MI have two more players from New Zealand this time around in the form of Adam Milne and Jimmy Neesham. 

Speaking on the New Zealand trio of Boult, Milne and Neesham who recently got out of quarantine after landing in India last week, Rohit Sharma said that both Milne and Neesham are great additions to the squad and is expecting the same things from Boult this season. 

"I'm pretty sure they all are excited to just get out on the park. They have been in quarantine for seven days and I know how it feels when you come out the first day. It is nice just to get to breathe fresh air and get to be on the park and do what you love. So. I'm sure those three guys are feeling the same. It is good to have Jimmy Neesham for the first time in the MI squad and Adam Milne, who's been part of the MI before. Good to have him back as well. Of course, Trent who played a big part last season for us, we expect nothing less from him this year as well," Rohit said.

Veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was snapped up by the Mumbai Indians in the auctions and Rohit feels that the induction of Piyush Chawla will give his side the variety which they are looking for. Chawla has been around the IPL circuit ever since its inception and it will be interesting to see how he shapes up in MI colours.

"He is quite experienced in terms of playing IPL games. He has been around for a number of years now and knows exactly what this team expects him to do. I'm pretty sure that he is going to able to live by that because of his experience and the number of wickets he has taken in the IPL. He brings the variety in our squad which were looking for. I've played with him since my U-19 days so I know him pretty well, he knows me well. It is going to be good camaraderie between both of us on the field," he concluded.

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We will never be ready for it unless we do it: Harsha Bhogle, Ben Stokes advocate 8-team women’s IPL

There has been a long pending demand of starting an IPL style Women’s T20 league in a country that’s mad about cricket, to say the least. But the board has been relentless in not heeding to those demands year after year as well. However with the success of the WBBL and Women’s Super Smash along with the advent of The Hundred Women’s, an innovative tournament in the shortest format of the game, the voices demanding the Women’s IPL are getting stronger, louder and are increasing in number. The latest edition in those voices is of Indian star batsman KL Rahul, English all-rounder Ben Stokes and ace commentator Harsha Bhogle. Speaking on the Redbull’s podcast ‘Decoding Athletes’ with Isha Guha, Stokes, while speculating about the possibility of a Women’s IPL in near future said, “Yes, I think when you see where the women’s game has gone to, especially over the last four to five years. It has gone from strength to strength and it’s great how it is filtering into the men’s game in terms of [parallel] competitions and things like that.” The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder stated that there was no place better than India to grow the women's game. Putting the onus on BCCI, he said that he is hopeful that one day there will be women side associated with every franchise. “I’m very hopeful there’ll be a women’s franchise side associated with every men’s franchise side. To be able to grow the women’s game even bigger, what better place to do it than out here in India?” Stokes said. Stokes was not alone in his hopes, Rahul, one of the most followed members of the Indian national team also agreed to the Englishman. “I totally agree with Ben. I have been following the Indian women’s team for a few years now and the kind of performances they have been putting up in the last three-four years is amazing.” Making it a matter of nurturing talent as well as giving a proper platform to the girls, who have made it to the big stage, fighting innumerable battles, socially as well as psychologically, Rahul believes an IPL like tournament is the need of the hour for women’s cricket in India. “I have seen a lot of young players coming through, a lot of them from Karnataka who always used to practise with us as junior cricketers. Great to see how they are playing. Would love to see Punjab Kings women’s team as well,” added the 28-year-old Punjab Kings’ skipper. Smriti Mandhana, the Indian women’s team icon, has also raised a prospect of playing for Mumbai Indians, as mildly as she could, after all, it is almost felt a taboo to demand equal rights ( in terms of the pay scale at least) for Women cricketers in India as they believe whatever they are getting is more than they deserve, a perfect case of self-pity. Mandhana, 24, speaking on the same podcast said, “it’s the right time to start a women’s league”. She also said that she would like to be part of the Mumbai Indians, considering that it is the team representing her home state of Maharashtra. But there was also an earnest gaze, a kind of yearning to have something like an IPL for women’s cricketers when she said, “But all the teams are so good in the IPL, they look after all the players so well.” Mandhana also put forward the case of how the IPL has helped men’s cricketer develop so much that even in their debut innings they are facing the fury of pace with so much ease (Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav in recent England series). The strongest of the voices, supporting the Women’s IPL is that of Commentator, Harsha Bhogle. Speaking on the Sportstar podcast on how Women’s cricket in India can grow, Bhogle said, “I think the best way to grow the game is by creating an eight-team women’s IPL as early as possible.” “The only reason I say this is because if KKR or MI or RCB have a women’s team, they will put a lot of resources behind the teams and that’s exactly what is needed,” he further added, reasoning why franchises must be bound to have women’s teams. He further went on to add, “A lot of people tell me, we are not ready for it. [But] We will never be ready for it unless we actually do it.” Speaking on the Women’s Challenge (a three-team tournament that runs parallel to IPL playoffs), Harsha said, “These three-four games are not going to take us anywhere. We (Indian Women’s team) have made it to the finals of a T20 world Cup and we have reached the finals of 50 over World Cups. This is enough to warrant an IPL like league for Women’s.” “If we are not getting there, I think, India runs a risk of being left behind (in competition with England, Australia and New Zealand) if we do not grow our own Women’s IPL.” Will these pleas or advice or warnings, whatever they may be termed, fall to deaf ears all over again, or will Sourav Ganguly and his men in the BCCI office pay heed it to it remains to be seen. Only time can tell us the results because as far as BCCI’s instincts are concerned, it seems least bothered about the women’s game, having just organised one domestic and one international tournament in the entire pandemic ridden time.

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Bangladesh include 3 uncapped pacers in 21-member preliminary squad for Sri Lanka series

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) named a 21-member preliminary squad on Friday for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka which comprises of a two-match Test series. BCB have named three uncapped players in the squad in fast bowlers Mukidul Islam, Shahidul Islam and Shoriful Islam. Meanwhile, players like Shuvagoto Hom, Nurul Hasan and Khaled Ahmed returned to the Bangladesh squad after a hiatus. Three members including the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Hasan Mahmud who were part of the squad for the two-match Test series against West Indies has been excluded. Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan who had to miss the second Test against West Indies owing to an injury has made himself unavailable for the series against Sri Lanka to ply his trade for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. He was given a NOC by the BCB and so was Mustafizur Rahman. As per reports in the Cricbuzz, it is learnt that the BCB has decided to send some additional bowlers to Sri Lanka as the home board won’t provide any net bowlers for the practice sessions. As per schedule, Bangladesh will play a two-day practice game before the two-match Test series kicks off on 21st April. "We have formed an extended squad as we will not have net bowlers while we will also play an intra-squad practice match," BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin was quoted as saying by the Cricbuzz. "We will announce the Test squad after the practice game, and the cricketers failing to make a spot in the Test squad will return home in due time. In order to get acclimatised to the conditions, Bangladesh will play a two-day intra-squad warm-up match which is slated to be played on 17th and 18th April at CMC in Katunayake. While the opening Test will be played from 21st April, the second Test will start on 29th April with both the matches slated to be played in Pallekele. Minhajul Abedin said that the youngsters has been picked on the basis of their performance in the domestic circuit. He backed the three uncapped pacers to come good in the upcoming two-match Test series. "They (Shoriful, Mukidul and Shohidul) have been in our HP setup and have impressed in whichever version they have played in. Mukidul and Shahidul in particular, have caught the eye in domestic first-class cricket this season and are future Test prospects. They all have age on their side and are talented. "Shuvagata is coming back after a while but he has been a consistent performer in first-class cricket. We have considered him as a batting all-rounder but his off-break is pretty handy also and gives us an option in the spin department," he added. This two-match series was originally slated for July last year but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. An attempt was made again to stage the series in October-November last year but it couldn’t quite materialise as the visiting team weren’t ready to comply with the 14-day quarantine rules in the Island nation. Bangladesh Test squad: Mominul Haque (c), Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Khan, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Mohammad Hasan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Shahidul Islam, Nurul Hasan.

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Had told the management before auctions that I would open this time: Virat Kohli

The Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore begin their IPL 2021 campaign against Mumbai Indians on Friday in Chennai. In a recent video posted by the franchise on their social media, skipper Kohli talks about opening the innings in this edition, how AB de Villiers has helped him regain his confidence and his long association with the franchise. Kohli opened the innings for India in the recently-concluded T20I series against England and got some fruitful results during the course. The right-handed batsman has now confirmed that he will be opening the innings for RCB as well in this IPL. “I had communicated it to the management even before the auctions that I would open the innings. I had a chat with Mike Hesson and Simon Katich after the last season that I would take up the role of the opener in the next edition. Luckily, for me, things happened in such a way that I got to open for India in the last game against a quality bowling attack and I ended up scoring runs that gave me confidence. Heading into this IPL, I know that I have done it in the past and for the Indian team so I’m in the groove and can provide that balance to the team” he said. Kohli further revealed that he had a chat with ABD when he faced some problems with his batting during the England series at home. The RCB skipper said that the former South Africa captain gave him one of the simplest pieces of advice and that helped him eventually. “Having played for so long, you can still have that doubt when you are not scoring runs. There are too many thoughts going which are due to external factors. So, I thought that I will just take another point of view about all this because I have seen AB play and how consistent he is. I asked him what to do when you are in doubt and I got the simplest of the answers from him. He said just watch the ball,” Kohli further told. Kohli has been with the RCB franchise right from the start where he has been a part of three IPL finals and one Champions League final. Talking about the same, the skipper said that it is a special feeling to be a part of such a team. “It is a very special feeling. You have to realise as an individual that we have reached the IPL final thrice and have featured in one Champions League final. We have played four finals and two-three semi-finals as well. Although we haven’t been able to go on and finish the job in the IPL, we are one of the most loved teams across the tournament,” the skipper said. “We are a team that gets a lot of support because we play a certain brand of cricket and play our heart out. There has never been a shortage of passion, commitment and intensity and me as an individual, I have never felt that I need to move away from the team because I haven’t won the title,” Kohli concluded.

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IPL 2021 | CSK rope in Jason Behrendorff in place of Josh Hazlewood

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have roped in Australian pacer Jason Behrendorff in place of Josh Hazlewood. Behrendorff has previously played for Mumbai Indians in five matches and picked up five wickets. The left-arm quick bowler has played 11 ODIs and 7 T20Is for Australia. He has scalped 16 wickets in the ODIs so far while has a tally of 7 scalps in the T20Is. Behrendorff was a part of the recent Big Bash League runner ups Perth Scorchers and picked 16 wickets from 16 matches. 'Droff's inclusion in the Chennai setup comes after fellow Aussie pacer Hazlewood had earlier decided to skip the cash-rich league. "It's been a long 10 months in bubbles and quarantine at different times, so I decided to have a rest from cricket and spend some time at home and in Australia in the next two months," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. The left-arm pacer further said that with the packed calendar ahead, he wanted to prepare himself for the national duty. "We've got a big winter ahead. The West Indies is going to be a long tour, with Bangladesh (T20 tour) potentially thrown on the end of that. Then potentially the T20 World Cup leading into the Ashes, so it's a big 12 months,” he said. "As it always is with Australia, and I want to give myself the best chance to be mentally and physically ready for that," he added. CSK will begin the IPL 2021 campaign against Delhi Capitals on Saturday in Mumbai. The MS Dhoni-led team had a forgettable last season when they bowed out of the tournament in the group stage itself. This was the first time when CSK failed to qualify for the playoffs.