Pujara's daughter readies unique remedy on father's gladitorial return

IPL 2021: Franchises release 'overpriced' players, retain players to form core of future

All the franchises participating in the Indian Premier League have related a certain set of players while retaining what they believe will form the core of their team in the next edition of the league. Here’s how teams stack after the latest round of retention and release Kolkata Knight Riders Released players: M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad, Chris Green, Tom Banton Retained players: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy Purse left: Rs 10.85 cr Mumbai Indians Players released: Lasith Malinga, Coulter-Nile, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rutherford, Pattinson, Dig Vijay, Prince Balwant Players retained: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, de Kock, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohsin Khan, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy Purse left: Rs 15.35 cr Chennai Super Kings Players released: Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson (retired), Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Monu Kumar, Harbhajan Singh Players retained: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravi Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Imran Tahir, R Sai Kishore, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi Purse left: Rs 22.9 cr Rajasthan Royals Players released: Steven Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Akash Singh and Shashank Singh Players retained: Sanju Samson (Captain), Manan Vohra,David Miller,Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Robin Uthappa, Anuj Rawat, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande Purse left: Rs 34.85 cr Delhi Capitals Players released: Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane, Alex Carey, Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Jason Roy Players retained: Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Chris Woakes, Harshal Patel Purse left: Rs 12.8 cr Royal Challengers Bangalore Players retained: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Philippe, Mohammad Siraj, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pawan Deshpande, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson. Players retained: Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Isuru Udana, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Mann. Purse left: Rs 35.7 cr Sunrisers Hyderabad Players released: Sanjay Yadav, Sandeep Bhavanka, Billy Stanlake, Fabian Allen and Yarra Prithviraj Players retained: David Warner, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, W Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Purse left: Rs 10.75 cr Kings XI Punjab Players released: Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mujeeb UR Rahman, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen and Karun Nair Players retained: KL Rahul, Gayle, Pooran, Shami, Jordan, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Ravi Bishnoi, Prabhsimran, Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, M Ashwin Arshdeep, Porel, Harpreet Brar Purse left: Rs 53.2 cr

Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of Test series against England

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against England scheduled to start from February 5. Jadeja had dislocated his thumb in the third Test against Australia at the SCG and later underwent surgery that required a resting period of six weeks to heal. According to a report by The Indian Express, Jadeja’s injury will take more time than the previous estimated period of six weeks and hence he has been ruled out of the series. A call for his availability and selection for the limited-over series that will follow the Test series will be taken later by the national selectors. “He is out of Test series and he will take more than six weeks to recover completely. The selectors will take a call later, whether to include him in the team for the shorter formats,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express. Notably, Jadeja was excluded from the squad picked by the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee for the first two Tests of the series. His absence will hurt India by disturbing the balance of the team and his left-arm spin will also be missed by captain Kohli. He was an instrumental figure in India’s 4-0 win over England in the last series that took place in India in 2016.

BBL10 | Preview: Heat face Strikers in the make or break game for both sides

It is going to be a big day for both the Brisbane Heat as well as the Adelaide Strikers, both of whom, for now, occupy the third and second last positions in the league table respectively. With Melbourne Renegades' win over the Stars, the door which was just ajar for these two teams have now been opened slightly more and it now depends on their own skills and ability to win if they want to make it to the Playoffs. Both these teams have lost their last encounters and hence calling one better than the other would not be right as only one point separates the two in the points table as well. But all that would mean nothing when the two teams face each other in a high voltage clash at the Adelaide Oval. Strikers try to cash-in home advantage Although it hasn’t really been a great home season for the Strikers with three wins and two losses in five previous games of the BBL 2020-21, the team would still like to believe that home advantage would work in their favour, especially in a pressure game as they know the ground inside out. The fact that they have either won it big or even when they lost, it wasn’t because they played really well, rather because the opposition was far superior on that day. With Travis Head, the captain back in the side and Alex Carey, the former captain and current deputy in sizzling form, the fans, and even the team would be hoping to tighten the screws on the Heat bowling and get runs on the board to try and defend with the bowling of Wes Agar, Danny Briggs, and a fitter Peter Siddle. Heat must play as if they have 'nothing to lose' The Brisbane Heat have now lost too many close matches to be afraid of losing any more. The only way out for Chris Lynn and his men would be to go for the kill without caring for the result. They must take lessons from their previous game against Scorchers where they messed up a fairly easy chase. Players like Marnus Labuschagne and most importantly spinner Mictdhell Swespon would be back for the Heat and they would make the Playing XI without any doubt. It is with these players alongside the already present Joe Denly, Joe Burns, Lewis Gregory, and Morne Morkel that the team needs to bank on to get them through the toughest test that they face this season so far. Strikers vs Heat: Match Details Match Number- 46 Date and Time- Jan 21, 2021, 1:45:00 pm IST, 06.45 pm Local, 08.15 am GMT Venue- Adelaide Oval Broadcast- Sony LIV, Sony Sports Network Pitch Report The pitch in Adelaide has been on a slower side as compared to Perth or an MCG or for Hobart or Carrara. But along with it, it offers true bounce too, so if a batsman is in touch, there shouldn’t be a problem in scoring runs. But the fact that you can’t start slogging right from the ball go must also be adhered to. One must get their eye in to utilize the pitch to the fullest. Weather and Bat Flip With no chances of rain whatsoever and the temperature also remaining favourable for playing cricket, the captain winning the toss would like to have a target to chase. But this is pressure and in pressure games, there is nothing better than a few runs on the board. Hence in this situation, it might not be a bad option to lose the toss. But whoever wins, will have a really tough decision to make. Strikers Strongest XI Alex Carey (c & wk), Matt Renshaw, Jonathan Wells, Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Ryan Gibson, Michael Neser, Daniel Worrall, Danny Briggs, Wes Agar, Liam O Connor Heat Strongest XI Chris Lynn (c), Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Denly, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Lewis Gregory, James Bazley, Jack Wildermuth, Mark Steketee, Morne Morkel, Mitchell Swepson

RCB very happy with the 12 players retained; Mike Hesson explains why

The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson said that he was happy to have retained the 12 players that the franchise did for the upcoming 2012 season. “We made it to the semi-finals for the first time in three years in the 2020 season and on the basis of that thought of rewarding the players. We are very happy to have retained the 12 members,” he said. Reflecting upon the decision of whom to retain and whom not to Hesson, 52, said, “We knew that we had some gaps in certain areas of the game. Obviously, the middle overs were a concern for us so we have retained the 12 players only as few are unavailable also due to retirement and other things.” The former New Zealand coach also said that the focus of the team was to give more chances to young players and hence a lot of retainers are young players. “Our focus was young players as we gave game time to young guns in the last season in the form of Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, and Shahbaaz Ahmed,” he said. Two big names in the form of Aaron Finch and Chris Morris were released from the team. Speaking about that, Hesson said, “With Chris Morris, he has been injured and hasn’t played a lot of cricket at the highest level, so there is a bit of risk there. With Finch, it did not work out the way we wanted it to.” RCB Retained Players: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Md. Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Joshua Phillipe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson RCB Released Players: Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Gurkeerat Mann