Mahmudullah tests positive for COVID-19; set to miss PSL play-offs

'Loss of steam' key reason for RCB exit - Simon Katich

Calling the lack of steam in the batting department of the Royal Challengers Bangalore unit as the main reason for the team’s exit from the tournament and also for its continuous losses, coach Simon Katich said that the team lost the plot after the early brilliance. "We felt we were on track till the 10-game mark heading into the last four blocks of games. Looking back, we think we ran out of a bit of steam probably with the bat and that's one area that faded a bit after a really good start to the tournament," Katich was quoted as saying by PTI. The Australian further credited his opponents in Sunrisers Hyderabad for playing outstanding cricket and making RCB look clueless. "Credit to Sunrisers, they squeezed us beautifully, and then we were always playing catch-up. We felt if we could get 150, we could be in the game with two leggies (Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa) in the team,” said Katich. “The wicket was slow and offering a bit of turn. To stack our batting and get 130 was disappointing," he added. Explaining why Virat Kohli opened the innings even when Aaron Finch was available and why did RCB chop and changed, Katich said, "Look, it was settled (batting line-up). Aaron Finch didn't get dropped till the 11th game,” he said. “But then he didn't get the runs we expected. Josh Phillippe came in, got an opportunity, and going into play-offs we thought Virat will open, and unfortunately, it didn't work," Katich added. Praising the young Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 473 runs in this season, Katich said that he was one for the future. "A great sign for the future is Devdutt Padikkal. He was magnificent at the top of the order. He played some great knocks to set us up," said Katich.

Jason Holder always in reckoning for T20I spot in Windies Team: Phil Simmons

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has cleared the air around Test captain’s Jason Holder’s chances of playing T20 cricket for the Caribbean National Team. Simmons said that Holder has had two very good seasons with the CPL franchise Barbados Tridents and this year’s IPL has also come as a revelation for Barbados born. However, Holder not being included in the T20I squad against New Zealand came as a surprise to many. But the coach confirmed that since the gap between the Tests and the T20I series is hardly a few days, therefore he wanted the Test captain to be fully committed to red-ball cricket. "Jason is always in consideration for T20s. He had two good years at the CPL and now he is having a good tournament at the IPL," he said. "Let me just clear it up here. This is an odd tour here. The T20 series finishes a day or two days before the first Test match and [Holder] being captain of the Test team, a decision was taken by us as a selection panel that Jason will not be considered for that part. Seeing that he is coming from IPL, he will have one chance to play in the four-day game before the Test match,” added the coach. Holder indeed had a great season for the Tridents team where he scored 192 runs averaging a modest 21.33 but striking at 140.14. The fact that he also took ten wickets at an economy of 6.63 raises his importance in the team. In IPL too, the 29-year-old has been a jubilant performer taking 13 wickets and playing two match-winning knocks as well.

IPL 2020: Alyssa Healy trolls Boria Majumdar for putting RCB’s failure on AB de Villiers

Cricket expert Boria Majumdar was trolled brutally by Australian women’s team wicket-keeper batsman Alyssa Healy for blaming the great South African cricketer AB de Villiers for the failure of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League’s 13th edition, held in the United Arab Emirates. The Australian all-rounder mocked Majumdar for his insensible comments on the RCB veteran. Replying to a tweet in which a video of Boria ranting out on ABD was uploaded with the caption, “Final nail in the coffin for me. I am team @ahealy77 forever! Can't believe what this guy keeps saying...” In the caption, Healy was tagged since both Healy and Boria have had a Twitter banter earlier this August when the Women’s Challengers (3- team 4-match tournament played during IPL, was announced). During that banter, Healy had called Boria Dumb. In this one too she hit the full toss thrown by Boria through his almost irritating rant out of the park as she sarcastically pointed out the fact that Boria was a PhD. in cricket. “But he has a Ph.D.....,” wrote Healy. In the video, Boria can be heard blaming de Villiers for the RCB’s loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator. He says that de Villiers should have batted throughout the innings instead of getting out on 56 and should have scored at least 80 runs. He also said that de Villiers can’t be called great as he has not been able to win any major trophy, either with his national team or the IPL with RCB. In fact, de Villiers has scored 454 in the IPL for RCB and is just 19 behind the leader Devdutt Padikkal, but has a better average than both Padikkal and skipper Virat Kohli.

IPL 2020 | Qualifier 2: DC vs SRH - Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

After two contrasting results in their respective last games, both Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad would be on their toes to secure a spot in the final. For Delhi it would be even more intense as the franchise would be trying to make it to the finals for the first time in 13 years, while Hyderabad has been able to do it twice before, winning once and losing the other time. Delhi Capitals looked totally out of sorts in their qualifier against Mumbai Indians as neither the bowlers nor the batsmen were able to cope up with the pressure built by the opposition. Hyderabad on the other hand have been able to transcend into the best version of themselves in the past four games and look like the only team that can challenge the might of Mumbai Indians. Rabada-Nortje-Dhawan: Three Musketeers on whom Delhi’s hopes lie In the entire tournament, Delhi have been able to win games in which the three have been able to perform to their potential or at least two of them have been able to hit the rhythm. The initial phase of the IPL saw Kagiso Rabada hit form while Anrich Nortje helped in the middle phase of the game. Shikhar Dhawan did well in the middle as well. So these are the three people that Delhi would have to back on to deliver for them. While Dhawan is among the top run-getters, Nortrje and Rabada to are among the leaders in the bowling table, therefore they have the potential to win it for the team. Holder-Williamson would have the SRH baton in their hands In the last few matches, Jason Holder has proved those correct who picked him as the best bet to replace Mitchell Marsh. Holder has picked up 13 wickets and has also played crucial innings in the chases. Kane Williamson in the last game did what he has been known the best for – keeping calm in pressure situations and finishing the chase. Hyderabad would be happy to see him in form and do the best for the team. Qualifier 2 - DC vs SRH: Match Details Match Number- 59 Date: 07 November 2020, at 7:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 2.00 PM GMT Venue: Abu Dhabi Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitch in Abu Dhabi performed not at all in the way it has been expected. It not only offered swing to the pace bowlers in the first innings but was two-paced right from the start as well. In this case, it would be hard to predict how the pitch would play in this game. In such situations, the best thing for a captain is to lose the toss. Weather and Toss: The weather in Abu Dhabi has been ideal for playing cricket as it has remained precipitation free and the humidity has gone down as well. The toss becomes crucial in the sense that the team fielding first would at least have a target in front of themselves, which is always ideal in a situating as tough as qualification, especially on a wicket that the team is not sure about and dew anticipated. Team News Delhi Capitals The Delhi Capitals could not deliver with probably their best team in the tournament. In such a scenario, it seems highly unlikely that they would change. However, the change that seems possible is Daniel Sams and Prithvi Shaw getting out and Harshal Patel and Shimron Hetmyer coming to the team in their place. Expected XI Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Harshalo Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje Sunrisers Hyderabad Sunrisers have been playing their best form of cricket so far and in such a situation, they would obviously not change the team. If Wriddhiman Saha is fit by game time, he is a natural selection in the team in place of Sreevats Goswami. Expected XI David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan Qualifier 2 - DC vs SRH: Dream 11 team and suggestion Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Jason Holder (vc), Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje Captain: David Warner Vice- Captain: Jason Holder Powered by Froala Editor Powered by Froala Editor