Suryakumar Yadav likely to get picked for England limited-overs fixtures: Reports

Bhuvneshwar Kumar likely to comeback for Eng ODIs, T20Is, Bumrah to be rested

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is likely to be rested for the limited-overs fixtures against England while Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has been out of the side for quite sometime due to injury issues will probably be included. "Jassi has already bowled close to 180 overs, including nearly 150 overs (149.4 overs) in four Test matches (till first Test versus England) since the start of the Australian tour. "Add to that, the number of hours spent on the field. It is only logical that after these two Tests in Motera, where he will have a big role to play, he should be given rest for white-ball leg," a senior BCCI official, privy to the developments, was quoted as saying by PTI on condition of anonymity. Apart from Kumar, Mohammed Shami, T.Natarajan and Navdeep Saini would also be back. "Bhuvneshwar Kumar might make a comeback and Mohammed Shami after a break will play a few white-ball games. Nattu (T Natarajan) and Saini will also come back in the white-ball teams. As far as Jassi is concerned, he can well get ready playing 14 to 16 high-intensity IPL games for Mumbai Indians," the source said. Talking about Ashwin's inclusion in the T20I side, the source said that including the off-spinner in the squad if Jadeja is not fit won't be a bad idea. "Chahal is a certainty among slow bowlers across two formats but in case Jadeja is not fit in time for the white ball games, it won't be a bad idea to test Ashwin," the source further explained.

Time to rebrand: KXIP are now Punjab Kings

The Kings XI Punjab have changed their name to Punjab Kings ahead of the IPL 2021 mini auctions and have rebranded their team logo. Going into the IPL mini auction scheduled to be held on 18 February 2021, the Punjab franchise has the highest purse remaining with an amount of Rs 53.20 Cr. They had earlier released Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb Zadran, Hardus Viljoen, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Jagadeesha Suchith and Tejinder Singh Dhillon. Mohit Burman, who is vice-chairman at Dabur India Pvt. Ltd said that the plans for changing the name of the franchise has been in works for one year. "We put it to research, both with fans and with closed groups and have finally arrived at the new name," Burman told ESPNcricinfo. "The idea behind the new name is to add a fresh look and a fresh feel to the franchise. As with any product/service, everything has its own life cycle and we believe given the changing ethos and the audience taste we thought it was apt for the brand to go through a complete new refresh." Speaking about the new brand identity, team CEO Satish Menon said: “Punjab Kings is a more evolved brand name, and we understand it was a right time for us to move focus on the core brand itself.” “The change in brand identity is not about changing our brand ethos but celebrating our one-ness as we stand in unit like a family. The new logo honors the liveliness and vibrancy of the brand and provides modern elements, while we stand out from rest of the teams.”

RR SWOT Analysis: With new skipper, Royals should inject pack of Indian players

What comes in your minds first up when you hear Rajasthan? Traditions? Yes. Heritage? Yes. Folktales? Yes. But if you are a cricket lover, your mind will ring the bell and the first thing that would cross your mind would the IPL franchise team Rajasthan Royals. Just like the state has stories to narrate, the Rajasthan franchise too have scripts to talk about. But the only difference is that RR have had mixed affairs. They can be proud of some but some are really forgettable ones. Well what has gone is gone and what RR need to look at is the future prospects and whom do they need to produce some positive results. The Royals took a bold step ahead of the auctions after letting go of captain Steve Smith and handing the skipper’ arm band to Sanju Samson while trading Robin Uthappa to the Chennai Super Kings. But what led to Smith’s omission from the setup? RR ended their 2020 IPL campaign at the bottom of the points table. RR began the proceedings well but lost the momentum soon after the second match. After winning the first two clashes, the Royals suffered defeats in the next four and eventually ended the edition with 8 losses to their name. What are the changes required? Well looking at the retained list of the team, the Rajasthan team seems to have a balanced side and have very few traits missing in their ranks. They have a couple of front line wicket-keeper batsmen, a proper all-rounder, leg-spinners, two aggressive batsmen and a huge arsenal of fast bowlers. But few of the major genres that have gone missing in the RR line up is a genuine off-spinner. Purse remaining Rajasthan Royals have a total of Rs 37.85 Cr under their belt. Players retained Rajasthan Royals have retained Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra Alternates The one thing that Rajasthan Royals need to target is having an off-spinner in their attack. The problem can be solved if they go for someone line K Gowtham who can also bat and can score runs in a brisk manner if required. More than alternates, RR need like for like replacements. To start with, RR should seek few Indian batsmen. Someone like Mohammad Azharuddin, Avi Barot, Rahul Singh can solve the issue for the franchise. All the three batsmen have made a name for themselves in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Another name that can nullify the issues for RR is Shahrukh Khan. But the way he has fared in the SMAT 2021, the franchises might go for a bidding war for him and this RR might have to go over budget. Coming to the overseas players, RR only have three slots and can target someone like Jason Roy. Roy has been known for his aggressive hitting in international cricket and can open the batting too if required. The bowling department is more or less sorted for RR but as we mentioned they would need to build a squad with players who have similar sorts of game play. Let’s first have a look at the available Indian players who can be picked by RR in the mini auctions. To start with, they can opt for uncapped bowlers. The side can go for someone like Lukman Meriwala who scalped 15 wickets in 8 matches at an impressive economy of 6.52 while playing for Baroda in the SMAT 2021. While the franchise can get Meriwala, they can also bid for Chetan Sakariya of Saurashtra who bagged 12 wickets in 5 matches. Coming to the overseas pick and the amount RR have in their kitty, the team can easily go in the bidding war for Riley Meredith while can have Chris Morris as another fast bowling all-rounder in the ranks. What to spend and how? RR have a remaining purse of Rs 37.85 Cr with 9 slots to be filled. Out of these 9, six slots will go to the Indian players while three to overseas. Now if RR go for Jason Roy (Base Price- Rs 2Cr), Chris Morris (Base Price- Rs 75L) and Meredith (Base price- Rs 40L) and fetch the three at a sum of around Rs 17 Cr, they are still left with more that Rs 20Cr to pick six Indian players. With Rs 20Cr in their purse, the Rajasthan franchise will be able enough to go into a bidding war for Azharuddin, Meriwala and Gowtham. If the franchise is able to get these three within Rs 10-12 Cr, getting, Rahul, Barot and Sakariya won’t be much of a problem for the side. Predicting XIs Sanju Samson (C/WK), Jasiwal, David Miller, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Kartik Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat

Sri Lanka announces full-fledged tour to West Indies

International cricket is set to make a return to the Caribbean after the covid-19 as Sri Lanka has agreed to tour the West Indies for a full-fledged three T20Is, three One-Day Internationals and two Tests series. All the matches would be played in a bio-secure environment in Antigua from March 3 to April 2 behind closed doors. The two grounds chosen for the tour are Coolidge Cricket Ground, which will host an international match for the first time in its history and Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua. "We are pleased to be able to finally confirm this tour. We have a full schedule featuring all three formats, which is sure to attract lots of attention from our fans, especially following on from the terrific Test Series win in Bangladesh. A lot of detailed planning has gone into the hosting of this tour and we are confident it will be a success," CWI CEO Johnny Grave told the press. The ODI matches will be part of the ICC Super League. While this will be the first tour to West Indies, the team has so far toured England, New Zealand and Bangladesh during the pandemic. Sri Lanka tour of West Indies schedule March 3: 1st T20I at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua March 5: 2nd T20I at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua March 7: 3rd T20I at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua March 10: 1st ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua March 12: 2nd ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua March 14: 3rd ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua March 17-18: two-day warm-up match at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua March 21-25: 1st Test at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua March 29 to April 2: 2nd Test at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua