Sikandar Raza suffers bone marrow infection; long recovery process to follow

IPL 2021: T Natarajan unable to go for scans due to quarantine rules

The rise of Thangarasu Natarajan at the highest level has been quite phenomenal. However, it has been a lingering knee injury that hasn’t allowed the left-arm pacer to settle into the Sunrisers Hyderabad outfit especially in this edition. Despite his troublesome knee, he hasn’t left the bio-bubble to have a scan yet. If he leaves the bubble then he will need to quarantine for atleast seven days to re-enter the team’s bubble. As Natarajan missed his second game of the tournament against the Punjab Kings, SRH skipper David Warner said that Natarajan has got a sore knee and the physios and the trainers are trying their level best to analyse by looking at it. However, he also added that Natarajan has to go for scans at some point or the other. "He obviously has got a sore knee," Warner said at the post-match press conference. "Given the circumstances in these bubbles, if he goes and gets a scan, he obviously has to sit out for seven days; he has to go back into quarantine. We are just monitoring at the moment. The physios are doing their best to analyse from a face point of view. But he obviously has to go and have a scan at some point." Khaleel Ahmed was brought into the XI to replace Khaleel Ahmed and the left-arm pacer had an impressive outing. He bagged 1/24 in his four overs spell against the Mumbai Indians while picking 3 wickets for just 21 runs against the Punjab Kings. The knee trouble had kept him out of the first three T20I’s against England as well. He played in the final encounter bagging a wicket for 39 runs and also played the final ODI in Pune bagging a wicket and conceding 79 runs in his 10 overs spell. Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be missing Natarjan’s services who has emerged as a great bowler in the death. He made his national debut across formats in Australia not long ago and will look to return to the team at the earliest. SRH managed to win their first match of IPL 2021 when they defeated Punjab Kings quite convincingly by 9 wickets in the 14th match of the competition.

IPL 2021: Eoin Morgan fined for slow over rate during match against CSK

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan has been docked his match fees after the World Cup-winning skipper maintained a slow over-rate in the 15th game of the tournament. Morgan has been fined INR 12 lakh for slow over-rate. Meanwhile, it must be noted that it was the first offence from the two-time champions this season under the new IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to a minimum over-rate offences. As per the new IPL guidelines laid down by the IPL governing council the captain of the team having bowled lesser overs during a stipulated period of time will be fined INR 12 lakh for the first instance. If the team is charged for the second time, the fine is doubled (INR 24 lakh). Meanwhile, every other member of the franchise is fined 25 per cent of the match fees of INR 6 lakh which is lesser among the two. If a team fails to bowl their quota of overs in the stipulated time for the third time in the season, the captain has to pay a fee of INR 30 and will be suspended for a match. Meanwhile, the rest of the members of the playing XI will be levied with a fine of INR 12 lakh or 50 per cent of match fees whichever is lesser. Coming back to the match, it was a thriller of a contest with CSK piping past KKR by 18 runs. Chasing a mammoth target of 221, the Gold and the Purple brigade needed to get off to a flying start but wickets kept falling at regular intervals and out of nowhere they were tottering at 31/5. The match looked done and dusted before Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik shared a 81 runs stand and brought KKR back into the game. After Russell’s and Karthik’s dismissal in quick succession, it seemed a mere formality for CSK to finish things off. However, Pat Cummins who is no mug with the bat suddenly changed the complexion of the game by smashing Sam Curran for 30 runs in the 16th over. KKR were back in the game but in the end, the loss of wickets proved to be vital as they were bowled out in the final over. A heartbreak for KKR but CSK was overjoyed to get out of a corner. Courtesy the victory, CSK go atop the points table with a better Net run-rate than the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

IPL 2021 | KKR vs CSK: Hits & Flops as Russel, Cummins fail in muscling Knight Riders past Super Kings

When Kolkata Knight Riders were struggling at 31-5 at the end of the fifth over, nobody even in their wildest of dreams would have thought that they would be trying to get 20 of the last over with a certain Pat Cummins batting at 65 off 33 balls. It wasn’t only Cummins that was an unlikely hero with the bat for KKR, but Andre Russell also finally paid dividends with the willow in his hand, scoring a 22 ball 54 and getting out in the unlikeliest of fashion, bowled from behind the legs. Dinesh Karthik was the third KKR batsman to eke out any sort of resistance. However, he too got out leaving Cummins alone in the middle. The Aussie did hit Sam Curran for 30 runs in one over to get the equation in his favour with 45 needed off the final four. In the end, though, it was too much to ask for Cummins as he ran out of partners and the last man, Prasidh Krishna couldn’t support him by completing a two of the first ball of the last over, getting run out in the event and wasting away five precious deliveries. Earlier in the evening, MS Dhoni, the skipper of the Super Kings had surprisingly decided to bat first after winning a toss at Wankhede. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad made full use of the decision, getting back in form, with two scintillating half-centuries for both the openers. This firebrand batting helped Super Kings reach a huge total of 220 runs. The game had a lot of heroes and villains too. Let’s have a look at them in the segment called Hits and Flops Hits Faf du Plessis The CSK opener was on a roll with the bat, especially in the second half of the Yellow Brigade’s innings. At the time of the other opener, Gaikwad’s wicket in the 13th over, du Plessis was hardy in the limelight, just going about things lacklustre. He hadn’t even completed his fifty back then. But once the fifty was completed in 36 balls, the 36-year-old utilised the next 24 balls to hit 43 runs and remain unbeaten at 95 with the help of nine fours and four giant sixes. It was with the help of the South African’s innings only that CSK, after being 165-2 in the 17th over, were able to get to 220 at the end of the 20th. The importance of this innings could be gauged from the fact that it was also du Plessis’ first-ever fifty-plus score in his last 10 innings across formats. Pat Cummins It would be hard to believe, if someone reads this piece a few years down the line that Pat Cummins would feature as a hit in a T20 game, not for his bowling, but rather for his batting. The New South Wales born was able to keep his team the Knight Riders in the game even after all their batting superstars had walked off to the dressing room when 75 runs needed off just 30 balls. Cummins hit Englishman Curran, who had got dangerous Russell bowled around his legs, for 30 runs in the 16th over and brought down the required rate from 15 runs per over to just over 11, with 45 needed from 24. He then took 13 runs off a Shardul Thakur over to bring the equation down to 27 from two overs. But with wickets falling regularly at the other end, it wasn’t easy for the paceman to keep going at the same rate. Eventually, it came down to 20 off the last ball and well rest of it has already been told. Deepak Chahar Chahar was back to his very best once again for MSD’s calling. Swinging the ball left-right and centre and forcing the batsmen to commit mistakes. Most of his wicket-taking deliveries were actually lucky escapes for the bowler and unlucky for the batters. Only Eoin Morgan’s wicket came off a delivery that had genuine merit for taking a wicket. But what should not be forgotten is the fact that Chahar was able to get those four wickets because of the better 16 balls that did not fetch him a wicket, but did force the batsmen to take different recourse and thereby making him commit the mistake. This was Chahar’s second four-wicket haul this season and he has now reached the joint second place in the list of most wickets, just one behind leader Harshal Patel of the RCB. Flops Eoin Morgan The KKR skipper has failed continuously this season, having not been able to play even one good innings in the four matches so far. Today was no different either. Trying to get to up the ante, and reasonably so, he was going for the boundaries. But the manner in which he played an outside off delivery from Chahar to get run out at, was silly, to say the least. It was not at all becoming of a World Cup-winning captain. With just 45 runs so far in the four innings, it is high time for Morgan, 33, to get his act together and lead by example for others to follow. Ireland born was not at his usual best in terms of bowling changes as well as this was the second game in a row that KKR conceded more than 200 runs. Prasidh Krishna The lanky fast bowler was guilty, of not only wayward bowling, but also of committing cardinal sins like bowling not just one but two no-balls in a T20 game. The Karnataka bowler went on to concede 49 runs in his four overs without getting even a single wicket. Krishna was not able to keep the ball in the right areas and was also missing his wide yorkers. His length was so much aloof that du Plessis was able to scoop him. Further, Krishna was guilty of ball watching in the final over of the game when KKR desperately needed a double in the first ball of the final over to get Cummins back on strike. Replays were not kind to Krishna when they showed how the player hadn't moved an inch off his crease despite Cummins' straight drive going well past him. This resulted in a runout in the bowlers' end and robbed KKR off what potentially could have been a match deciding five deliveries. Special Mention: Andre Russell Andre Russell, as a bowler has been pitiable, to say the least apart from his five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians. But as a batsman, the Jamaican has showcased, in this game, as well as in the last one that he is still a force to reckon with. When most people lost hope of any comeback from KKR, just the presence of Russell was more than good enough to keep that one flame, even a flicker of it burning, in the hope that the game might change. It did change eventually as well when the 32-year-old started swimming against the tide. He was supported well by Karthik and who knows, if that unfortunate manner of getting out would have been averted somehow, Wankheded might have witnessed another Andre Russell special (People wouldn’t have forgotten his 2016 T20 World Cup semis knock against India). While CSK one more game at Wankhede (vs RCB) before moving to Delhi, Kolkata find themselves up against Rajasthan in the next encounter.

IPL 2021 | KKR vs CSK: What Experts Said as clinical Super Kings punish erratic Knight Riders

The ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League has not fallen short of providing close encounters and collapse but the contest between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders could just be the game of the season so far. It had everything in it from excellent batting performances followed by a fantastic piece of bowling with the new ball and then an unlikely comeback that fell agonisingly short of achieving the goal. At first, the Super Kings openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis batted with the intention of taking the game to the Knight Riders camp and posted a mammoth total. The Super Kings followed a superb batting effort with another spell of superlative bowling by Deepak Chahar who took another four-wicket haul to set up the game. Then, when all looked doomed for the Knight Riders, first Andre Russell and then, Pat Cummins came back with two of the best counter-attacking innings in the history of IPL to inject some hope in an otherwise hopeless Knight Riders camp. Captains’ viewpoints The winning captain MS Dhoni was calm as ever after the win over the Knight Riders however he said that the contest had reached 'it's either you or it's me' level between the pacers and the batsmen. He said that had the Knight Riders would have sustained their aggression till the end of the innings, the match would have ended up looking more closely than they actually finished. “I think it's easy in a game like this because from the 15th and 16th over onwards, the contest was between the fast bowler and the batsman [laughs]. It was you vs me. The side that won was maybe the one that executed it better. If 20 overs had been completed, it would have been more closer,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation. The Super Kings had a huge score on the board and the new ball too produced too many wickets for the Knight Riders to have it easy. However, Dhoni said to his teammates that the Knight Riders, like all other IPL teams, have big-hitters hence staying humble and in the moment was desirable. “It's important to be humble and give respect to the opposition. Every IPL team has big-hitters. I told them we have good runs on the board, but we need to stay humble,” Dhoni added. After Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi reduced the Knight Riders to 31/5 inside the powerplay, Andre Russell appeared to be emerging from the struggles he has had in recent years and started putting bowlers to the sword. Discussing what he could have done more to stoop carnage at the hands of Russell, Dhoni said the only option he had in his hands was to employ Ravindra Jadeja as the ball was spinning and stopping off the surface. Ultimately, after Russell elongated his onslaught to a 22-ball 54 runs, the Super Kings finally got the better of him in an unusual manner. However, Dhoni said that it was a plan to get him bowled behind his legs. Bowlers have come to the party till now in the season for the Super Kings, but batting has been able to set off a good base for the bowler to challenge batsmen. Dhoni commended Ruturaj Gaikwad who came back to form and hit an impressive half-century to establish his quality and justify his selection. “The batting has been really well. Rutu showed his class in the last IPL. We always need to assess where he is mentally. He doesn't seem rattled and he has the basics to make it big. What would've helped him is the last few games last year when he wasn't successful,” Dhoni concluded. The defeated captain Eoin Morgan hailed Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Dinesh Karthik for making it ‘one hell of a game’ from a situation where all looked lost. He said that the match turned out to be a pulsating one on the back of brilliant fightback from the Knight Riders middle and lower order. “It's (pulse) quite high at the moment. One hell of a game. Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik put a partnership together and following that Pat Cummins gave us every chance towards the end. Tremendous fight from the middle and lower order. You ride the emotions throughout the day,” Morgan said to host broadcaster Star. Morgan conceded the game almost slipped out of the team’s hand after the Super Kings sent back the top half of the batting order by the end of the powerplay. However, Morgan said that the team adapted to the new ground and the subsequent challenges after coming to Mumbai from Chennai. “The first five overs of batting didn't go our way. We didn't play as well as we would've liked. We can be happy with (adaptation) new ground, different challenges,” Morgan added. The bowling attack conceded a lot of runs, especially at the back end of the innings, but Morgan asserted that not accepting the lack of room for the bowlers will be unkind to them. Morgan hailed Russell for putting his hands up once again but rued lack of performances from others and supporting act to the right-hander. “Going back to it, I don't think there was any margin for error for the bowlers. We need to be kinder to the bowlers. You really need to be on the money. I tend to stay away from Dre after he gets out. It's great he's in this sort of form. Disappointing that the rest of us couldn't help him out,” Morgan said. Experts’ views Harsha Bhogle, a ‘voice of cricket’ reaffirmed the point Dhoni made about the game going much closer than it actually ended as the Knight Riders stretched their innings to the last ball. Earlier, when the Knight Riders pacers were taken to the cleaners by the Super Kings batsmen, Bhogle opined that they were missing the track of not taking the pace off the ball. He also asserted that the Super Kings had enough runs in the bank to stop the Knight Riders. Bhogle was impressed by the clinical performance of the Super Kings and said that the game against the Knight Riders was one of the best performances they have put out in the recent past. He also lauded the Super Kings management for trusting a player and allowing them to flourish before giving up on them with respect to Ruturaj Gaikwad. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra welcomed Gaikwad’s return to form with a swashbuckling innings against the Knight Riders. Having faced turbulent times against the batsmen from either side, Aakash Chopra came with some words of appreciation for bowlers and said that there was not enough they could have done to stop batsmen from hitting sixes with ease. He said the game between the Knight Riders and the Super Kings provided a ‘PG Certificate’ for budding bowlers that things will not come their way on certain days. Cricket analyst Ben Jones said that the Chennai Super Kings are far from a perfect team to become a certainty for a playoff spot although he loves watching players such as Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar. He also spoke highly of Moeen Ali who has emerged as one of the MVPs for the Super Kings in this season. He expressed amusement over him not getting a place in the top six of the England T20I side. The Super Kings have not covered all their bases and plugged all the holes that the skipper MS Dhoni referred to in the last season. However, they are being helped by individual players putting their hands up in critical moments of the game to keep them going upward and forward. On the other hand, the Eoin Morgan-led Knight Riders have appeared to be a toothless side in spite of having many x-factor players in the form of skipper himself, Andre Russell, and Pat Cummins. The Knight Riders need their star players to shine through more often than not while younger players will have to step up their game and support big players if the team is looking to get back to winning ways.