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Ipl 2021 Nathan Coulter Nile Feels Safer To Stay In Mi Bio Bubble

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.

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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.

IPL 2021: Kane Williamson laments losing another super over despite batting master-class

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson once again showed why he is rated among the very best in the world after his fighting knock against the Delhi Capitals. Williamson carried his bat through the run-chase and remained unbeaten on 66 of 51 deliveries as the match ended in a tie. Eventually, the Delhi Capitals scraped through a victory in the final delivery of the super over. It was indeed a special innings from Williamson. When he came into the crease, SRH had just lost the wickets of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow and needed someone to steady the ship. He played the situation to perfection and just when his team needed the boundaries he provided them with some shots which oozed class and clarity. However, his efforts weren’t enough as SRH couldn’t get past the target. Williamson was the captain of New Zealand when they lost the 2019 World Cup final by the barest of margins. The tied match was followed by a tied super over with England scraping through by the virtue of scoring more boundaries. "I am getting tired of coming second in the Super Overs," Williamson said at the post-match press conference. "Throughout the game, whenever there is a Super Over, as a batting side chasing a score that was very competitive, there are a lot of positives to take out of it." "It is really uncanny in game of cricket that things can end in a tie but I suppose it is very, very exciting. A lot of positives, we move on really quickly to Delhi," he added. Cricket is a game of very small margins and the match between SRH and DC exactly resembled that. Williamson played some delightful shots en route to his knock of 66. His wide array of shots were out in the display as he weaved his magic with the bat. "It is a game of very small margins and I think, if we are being honest, we just want to do different aspects of our game a bit better. This game, if you are able to do it, then the result can change quite quickly." Williamson said. "I suppose when it ends in a tie, you can look at the one run throughout the whole innings. I think, on the whole, a lot of positives," he further added. Riding on the back of a sensational half-century from opener Prithvi Shaw and some able support by skipper Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals reached a competitive score of 159 in their allotted 20 overs. On a relatively difficult Cheapuk pitch the target never seemed easy. The match looked like going in DC’s favour until Williamson and Jagadeesh Suchith changed the complexion of the match with their hitting prowess in the last two overs. Williamson said that it was a good feeling to be there till the end but he would have been happier had he managed to get his side over the finishing line. "It was nice to be there at the end, it would have been a lot nicer if I was there at the end and we were at the right side of the result. You know there were a lot of valuable partnerships in the innings and we lacked a bit of momentum because that was the nature of the surface." Williamson spoke about the conditions at Chepauk. "We got very close, some positives to build on. We do not know how the surfaces will be in Delhi," the Kiwi skipper stated about their next league in the league. The Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently occupying the 7th position just ahead of the Kolkata Knight Riders. With 5 matches under their belt, the Orange Army has just managed to win a solitary match. They will next play against the Chennai Super Kings on 28th April at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals seek loan from other teams after window gets activated

Rajasthan Royals who are currently dealing with a scarcity of players have written to the other IPL franchises seeking player loans. It must be noted that the Rajasthan Royals who recently defeated Kolkata Knight Riders has been badly affected. While some of their main players including Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer has been forced to return to their country after injuries, some of the players including Liam Livingstone and Andrew Tye has left the team bubble citing fatigue issues. Hence they are currently left with only four foreign players and they are in urgent need of some players to fulfil their duties atleast for this season. Jos Buttler, Chris Morris, David Miller and Mustafizur Rahman are the only four foreigners available for selection at the moment. Royals are currently ranked 6th in the points table with two victories in five matches. A sense of tension has crept in after the second wave of COVID-19 has taken India off guard and the players are also feeling the tension. Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson and Ravichandran Ashwin among others have also pulled out of the tournament. While Ashwin hopes to come back if the situation improves, both Zampa and Richardson has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. The IPL playing condition states that the loan window will start at 9 am IST on the day after the completion of the 20th league game. It will end on 12 noon IST on the day following the conclusion of the 56th match, which is the final group game of the competition. " It means the window got activated at 9 am on Monday (April 26) after the doubleheader on Sunday night. "We have received a request from them a couple of days ago and we have not decided on it. The team management will take a call," a CEO of a southern-based franchise was quoted as saying by the Cricbuzz. "We will consider if we can loan them a player or two from our surpluses," another CEO confirmed. As per the IPL regulations, a player at the start of the loan period played either in the XI or a concussion replacement must have been part of the XI in less than two matches of the season to get loaned to another team. A player can be loaned only once in the season and it has to be for the remainder of the tournament. However, the rules don’t allow the player to take the field against his home franchise. The rules also suggest that "each franchisee may loan no more than three of its players to the same franchisee during the season."