WBBL 2021 | Adelaide Strikers on a roll, dismantle Harmanpreet Kaur’s Renegades to march into Final

IND vs NZ | 1st Test Day 1: Honours split as debutant Iyer, Jadeja resist Kyle Jamieson and company

A well-measured unbeaten 75 from Shreyas Iyer and a resilient fifty half-century from Ravindra Jadeja kept an under-strength India in commanding position at the end of the first day’s play in the first Test in Kanpur. At stumps, India were 258/4 with both Iyer and Jadeja looking hungry for more runs as the umpires decided to call off the day due to poor lighting conditions. The surface at the Green Park Stadium offered both uneven bounce and a bit of spin to spinners and erratic movement to pacers when they bowled in good length areas. The surface was tricky and both sides played a spin-heavy attack to establish what they expected the pitch to do. New Zealand’s brave call, India go for the kill New Zealand made a big and brave call of leaving out their workhorse Neil Wagner, who could have been handy on the surface where there was uneven bounce and his bouncers could have been tough to handle. The Blackcaps opted to play with an extra spinner in the form of William Somerville, who at best, could provide control with his off-spin. India had to make an easy call of selecting their third spinner in Axar Patel over an extra seamer who could have been Mohammed Siraj. However, his overwhelming numbers in the first series against England and the absence of key batsmen in the team tilted the balance heavily in favour of the left-arm spinner. Kyle Jamieson proves his credentials Kyle Jamieson has been one of the top performers for the Blackcaps in their journey to become the world champions in the longest format. He has been a revelation with the ball and has silenced many critics who first dismissed him as a bowler just of seamer-friendly conditions. He first proved his credentials in England, where swung the ball appreciably, to an extent that flummoxed many batsmen including the Indian skipper. He came into the series against India, having already proven his versatility as a seam bowler but Indian pitches have not been the best of friends of many overseas pacers in the past. He seemed prepared though and he extracted more swing than Tim Southee, who has been one of the pronounced exponents of the swing bowling in the morning session of the first day to keep Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill at bay. He was at the batsmen with almost every delivery in and around off stump and finally got the edge of Mayank’s bat, who could not become too sure of the balls he could leave due to Jamieson’ bag full of tricks. Gill scores, but pattern emerging Shubman Gill was unlikely to open the batting in the series and instead was to compete with Shreyad Iyer for a place in the middle order for the first Test. However, the injury to KL Rahul opened the door for him and he did not look out of place completely. There was obvious tentativeness on balls around off but that can be forgiven for any opening batsmen. As he got his eyes in and started to move his feet, the crisp drives which have become his signature shots started to flow off his bat and he reached his fifty without making a fuss. However, like it was in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and in the Test series against England, he lost his control all of a sudden and poked at a ball outside off stump in a quite uncharacteristic manner. The manner of his dismissal was not uncharacteristic though as he has shown signs of losing it all after making a great start and it could well be highlighted in the fact that he has not reached the three-figure mark in the eight Tests before the ongoing one in Kanpur albeit he has weathered the new ball storm on multiple occasions with strong defence and classy shots. Iyer’s nervy, but a strong start Shreyas Iyer has been known for his aggressive approach in batting as he has amassed his runs in first-class cricket at a strike rate in excess of 80 runs per 100 balls. The story was not quite different for him as his first scoring attempt was a lofted shot off Ajaz Patel on the eighth ball of his innings. He was lucky to get away with that miscued attempt but he never looked back on the shot and moment thereafter. He was severe on anything bowled at his pads by the pacers while his best game came against the spin trio of Patel, Somerville and Ravindra. He was nimble-footed and did not get deceived even once in flight as he was quick to rock to the backfoot and use the depth of the crease to punish anything bowled slightly shorter in length. He was dominating spinners for fun and played some high-risk shots with remarkable ease to turn the clock back on how Indian batsmen used to play spinners in the previous generations. He was not over the top in aggression though and presented his dead bat defence too whenever he was asked some tough questions, which largely came only from the pace duo of Tim Southee and Jamieson. He is unbeaten on 75 and did not look fussed about scoring in a desperate fashion that could jeopardize his chance of scoring a big one in his first outing in the longest format. If he goes on to score a big score tomorrow, it would augur well both for him and India in the Test match and the near future. Looking ahead to the second day India have formed a stable base on the back of fifties from Iyer, Gill and Jadeja and they are out of the woods they found themselves in when Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed by Jamieson. However, the job is not fulfilled yet and either one of Iyer or Jadeja or both of them will have to convert their fifties into a big century for India to drive home the advantage and bat New Zealand to the brink of the game. New Zealand, on the other hand, should not be down and out in the game and a couple of breakthroughs in the first hour or session without too many runs will turn the tide in their favour. Neither team has lost control or gained unassailable heights in the game so far and it is a fitting start to a series that promised close contests but faded off in terms of interests due to the absence of some of the superstar players on both sides.

Possible four retentions by IPL teams ahead of the Mega Auction 2022

The Indian Premier League would have a mega auction in the year 2022 and because of the introduction of two new teams, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL Governing Council (IPL GC) decided to do away with the Right to Match (RTM) cards and for this auction. The existing franchises were given an option to retain a maximum of four players among which a maximum of three Indian players and two foreign players could be retained. The last date to announce the retained players for the existing franchises has been set by the BCCI as November 30 2021. Post the November 30 retention announcements, the remaining players will be available for the two new franchises of Lucknow and Ahmedabad to book a maximum of three players, in which one foreigner and two Indians are allowed to be booked. Thus, here is the last of the possible retained players that each team can have on November 30th. Chennai Super Kings As far as the defending champions are concerned, they would obviously retain MS Dhoni and Ruturaj Gaikwad as their two Indian retentions. Firstly Dhoni wants to finish his playing career at Chennai and secondly, Ruturaj is in form of his life and hence utilising him is the way out for any franchise. The last Indian retention could be Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali could be the foreign retention for the yellow brigade considering his form. Possible Retentions MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali Mumbai Indians The five-time champions did not have a good season in the 2021 edition, but they are a franchise that likes to have faith in their players, in that case, they would want to go with the trust of having Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah as their main Indian retentions and Kieron Pollard as their main foreign retention. These are the players who have won the franchise its five titles. The last Indian retention could be one among Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. Possible Retentions Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan/ Suryakumar Yadav Kolkata Knight Riders Two times champions and finalists of the 2021 season, Kolkata Knight riders would be looking to bank on its West Indian import of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine and play one final bet on the old warhorses. Apart from these two veterans, Shubaman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer could be KKR’s Indian bet. Possible Retentions Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer Sunrisers Hyderabad The 2016 champions, Sunrisers Hyderabad have been one of the most consistent units. However, the 2021 season was the worst for them, not only as a team in terms of wins and losses but also as a unit as the treatment meted out to David Warner, their most reliable player and known face was the talk of the town. Hence Warner would not be retained is a foregone conclusion. Thus the possible retentions could be Kane Williamson for his captaincy ability, Rashid Khan because he is the best in the business. Apart from these two, Jonny Bairstow seems like the only possible retention that SRH can make. Possible Retentions Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan Royal Challengers Bangalore The biggest battle in terms of retention would have to be fought by RCB, one of the best looking and most followed franchises, but also the one that has very little in terms of its potential. Since AB de Villers has already announced his retirement, in the foreign quota, Glenn Maxwell can be retained easily while Virat Kohli and Harshal Patel remain obvious Indian choices, Patel mostly because of the form he has shown. It would be interesting to see if they retain one among Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal and Mohammad Siraj because they are the three possible contenders. Possible Retentions Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel Delhi Capitals Delhi Capitals have now made three back to back Playoffs and look like a side in progress and might win their first-ever title in the very next year. But for that to happen, they have to make the right decisions in terms of who they are retaining. Shreyas Iyer might not want to be retained as the leadership has been forwarded to Rishabh Pant, thus the Capitals might just want to retain Prithvi Shaw, Pant and Axar Patel as three Indians in the outfit. In terms of foreigners, One among two South Africans in Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada might get the go-ahead. Probable Retentions Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada/ Anrich Nortje Punjab Kings The rumours at the time of the end of the IPL were ripe that KL Rahul, the top run-scorer for Punjab for the last three seasons does not want to be at the franchise anymore. In that case, it would only be beneficial that Punjab retain the ones that want to be there. Thus, retaining Mayank Agarwal as a batter could be the best choice and then try and find others to build a team around him. In terms of bowlers, Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi look like players who can serve well for the side in near future and if they let them go, they might have to pay big bucks to get them back. Possible Retentions Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi Rajasthan Royals For the Royals, it had been a very tough two seasons. Thus to make maximum out of the next season, they would want their English stars to be available without injury and Sanju Samson to perform consistently. Among the English players, only two can be retained by the franchise and hence Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes could be the two retentions. Possible Retentions Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes.

SL vs WI | 1st Test: Embulduniya takes Lanka to victory after great resistance by Bonner and Da Silva

Lasith Embuldiya was able to break the resistance of the Windies lower order as he slid past the tail after breaking through two crucial partnerships involving Nkrumah Bonner, who eventually remained unbeaten on 68 off 20 balls. West Indies started positively from their overnight score of 52-6 and both Bonner and his partners at the other end, Joshua Da Silva played some beautiful shots indeed 66 runs to their existing 34 run partnership to complete a 100 run partnership for the seventh wicket, taking West Indies from 18-6 to 118. However, Lasith Embulduniya broke through just ahead of the Lunch and git Da Silva out for 54 off 129 balls. Bonner then tried to stick together yet another partnership with Rahkeem Cornwall. The two added 31 runs for the eighth wicket but most importantly played out 14 overs and were threatening to take the game to a draw especially with the clouds around the stadium darkening with each passing ball. But even under threat of rain and the dogged approach by Cornwall and Bonner, the left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, who hadn’t picked nay wicket in the fourth innings till then, got Cornwall caught by Suranga Lakmal and thus broke the partnership. Post that, Embulduniya picked the last two wickets of Jomel Warrican and Shanon Gabriel to get West Indies all out for 160. Courtesy of the last two wickets Embulduniya completed his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. The 25-year-old also equalled Ajanatha Mendis’ record for the second-fastest 50 wickets in test cricket for a Sri Lankan bowler as he reached the milestone in this Test, only his 12th of the career. Dilruwan Perera is the fastest Sri Lankan to reach 50 wickets as he reached the milestone in 11 Tests. The second Test between the two nations will begin on November 29 at the same venue. Sri Lanka would look to do a clean sweep and strengthen their position in the World Test Championship 2021-23.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 1: Shreyas Iyer hits fifty on Test debut to keep India ahead

Shreyas Iyer announced his arrival on the big stage with a hardworking fifty on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur. He walked out bat in the middle when Cheteshwar Pujara was edged behind by Tim Southee and he stitched valuable partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja. He got off the mark on the eight ball with a lofted shot that has been his trademark in the shortest formats of the game but quickly settled his nerves to play some crips shots off the spinners. He was not afraid to take on the bowing and was particularly severe against the left-arm spin of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel. His unbeaten partnership so far with Jadeja has taken India beyond the 200-run mark in the first innings of the first Test. He was introduced to the Test squad as India were without their skipper Virat Kohli for the first Test and the injury to KL Rahul and shifting of Shubman Gill to the top of the order opened the door for him.