What is the point of bilateral T20 matches questions Ravi Shastri

IPL 2021 | Rajasthan Royals Road to UAE: Glimpses of brilliance overpowered by consistent inconsistency

Newly signed Tabraiz Shamsi of the Rajasthan Royals feel that the 2021 Indian Premier League season is yet very open for his team, especially going into the UAE leg and seven matches still left to play. To Shamsi, the situation is ‘glass half full’ instead of ‘half empty’. Surely, if nothing, this attitude will certainly boost the morale of the troops. But, will only morale-boosting be able to get the Royals to their first Finals in the last 12 years or even their first Playoffs since 2018? Well, time would have the best of the answers, but for the time being, they have surely great some replacements for after their most expensive players pulled out ahead of the UAE leg. But before getting to what would be up for them in the UAE leg, it would be only apt to know what transpired in the seven matches that they played during the India leg of the competition. Journey so far The Royals started on a really tantalising note with their skipper Sanju Samson hitting a century in their very first match of the season against Punjab Kings, even though they remained four runs short of the target and the controversial turn down for a single by Samson to all-rounder Chris Morris became the talk of the town, especially when Morris went on to single-handedly win the next game for the Royals against the Delhi Capitals by hitting 36 off 18 balls. After being on both sides of the extreme in their first two games, the Royals got a thrashing in their next two games from Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Banglore. While against Super Kings they were reduced to 143-9 chasing 189, against the RCB, they along with the audiences were treated to a masterclass from Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli, especially Padikkal as he registered his first-ever IPL century and the Challengers Routed the Royals by 10 wickets chasing a target as big as 178. Not getting demoralised by those two maulings, the men from the pink city came back well in their fifth game of the season to defeat a struggling Kolkata knight riders team by six wickets, having reduced them to 133 in the first innings. Morris was on fire in that match as he finished with figures of 4-23 from his four overs. Just as it seemed they have got back on the plot, they lost it once again after a seven-wicket defeat by Mumbai Indians. Quinton de Kock was the heor of that game with his 70 off just 50 balls, anchoring the chase throughout as he remained unbeaten. But then came the Jos Buttler show in what would be the last game of the season so far for the Royals as it was after this game only that the league was postponed. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Jos Buttler scored one of the most well-complied hundreds. He not only took his time at the start but was scoring below run a ball for the first 30 balls of his innings. In the next 34 balls that he played, the Englishman went berserk as he unleashed what was a beast on the ground, hitting Mohammad Nabi and Sandeep Sharma for more than 20 runs in consecutive overs. Courtesy of this ravaging innings, the Royals scored 220 and then bundled out the Hyderabad side for 165. Thus, the Sanju Samson led side would be heading into the UAE leg of the IPL on a winning note. New signings: A bag of players in red hot form If there is one side that has been dealt the heaviest of the blows with players pulling out, it is the Rajasthan Royals. First, they lost Jofra Archer in the pre-season itself and then they lost Ben Stokes midseason during the India leg of the league, and now they do not have the services of even Jos Buttler and Australian Andrew Tye, who was first thought of as the genuine replacement for Archer. But what this has done is, it has brought in fresh faces who always wanted to nake it to an IPL squad but couldn’t. They are the players who are in form and are hungry for success so that they can grab this opportunity and cement their places, not only in an IPL side in the mega auction happening next year, but in their national sides for the upcoming T20 World Cup as well. Shamsi, the replacement for Archer is currently the number T20I bowler and is very hard to play during any part of the match. Glenn Philipps, the replacement for Stokes is in a scintillating form and confidence-wise rates very high having got himself a place in the Kiwi T20 World Cup squad. He performed decently in The Hundred as well as CPL 2021 and hence is bankable. The biggest asset however are Liam Livingstone and Evin Lewis, two in-form men who haven’t really get a chance to showcase their mettle in IPL so far. They would be craving this opportunity. Lewis was roped in Buttler while Livingstone came back having missed the entire first round unable to get into the playing XI first and then living the league midway. Oshane Thomas, the tall fast bowler from Barbados has been signed as a replacement for Tye. Final Rajasthan Royals Squad Batsmen: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Glenn Phillips, Evin Lewis All-rounders: Liam Livingstone, Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror Bowlers: Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, Tabraiz Shamsi, Oshane Thomas, K.C. Cariappa, Kuldip Yadav, Kartik Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Akash Singh What to expect in the UAE leg? To be honest, the Royals look like the slickest of all sides with its four probable playing XI foreigners firing all cylinders. Mustafizur Rahman was having a gala time in his home conditions making the Aussies and Kiwis dance to the tunes of his cutters. Livingstone and Shamsi have been in phenomenal form as well and one can never rule out Chris Morris. Thus, the lineup is so strong and inform that players of the sort of Lewis and Phillips are unable to even fit in. If Sanju Samson could just hit the consistency button hidden somewhere in his brain and the likes of Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag chip in, Royals could very well turn Shamsi’s hopes of reaching the Playoffs true.

'Little disappointed' to miss out from World T20 squad, Shardul 'surprised' by Kohli's decision

It has been a dream run of form for Shardul Thakur in the recent past as he has stood up tall both with the bat whenever India have needed him to deliver. He has hit three half-centuries in his first five Test innings and has also picked up big wickets in crucial junctures of the game to lift India. In the limited-overs cricket, he comes in handy with the ability to hot long shots in the end overs of the game while he also has a happy nack of picking up big wickets against run of play. However, when India announced their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, his name was missing from the first fifteen players on the list. He could only earn a place among reserves for the tournament and although he expressed “little disappointment’ for not making it to the main squad, he said that the preparation will be on to be ready in case India need him once again in the big tournament. Calling the chance to play for India a dream for everyone, Shardul chose to be optimistic about getting a chance in the main event. “Yes, I am a little disappointed. It’s everyone’s dream to play and win the World Cup for your country. If you talk about the Oval Test, then yes, it (my performance) was (in) red-ball format. But if you see, I have done well in both the departments in white-ball cricket too over a period of last two years. Now I’m a part of the reserves for the World Cup, so I guess I have to be ready. I can get a call-up at any moment,” Shardul said to TOI. Earlier this week, in a remarkable turn of events, Virat Kohli announced that he will step down from captaincy in the format after the completion of the world cup and it was “quite surprising” for Shardul who has played most of his cricket at the international level under the leadership of Virat Kohli. He could not make up his mind on the reasons that would have led Kohli to give up captaincy but said that he will congratulate him over his captaincy after India will lift the T20 World Cup starting next month. “It’s quite surprising. I wish he had continued (as captain after the T20 World Cup too), but he has done the job for India since the past few years. So according to him, maybe it's time to move on as the India T20 captain. I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to him. I would like to congratulate him on his time as the India T20 captain, but only after we win this World Cup. Till then, he is still our captain,” Shardul added. Shardul has come back to the Chennai Super Kings where he will play an important role for the MS Dhoni-led side. He will have one final chance to prove his worth in the shortest format before the T20 World Cup and stake claim to any future opening in the team for the marquee global event.

Ravi Shastri doesn't regret hosting book launch, says overachieved as India's coach

Having defeated Australia on two occasions and given England a tough time as well defeating all teams in white-ball cricket in their own backyards, which he calls “ultimate” achievement, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri has said that he has decided it is a perfect time to move on from Team India. He went a step further and rated the past few years when the men in blue rose to new heights in international cricket amid turbulent times of the Covid-19 pandemic as the “most satisfying moment” of his four-decade-long career in the game. He said that those triumphs in testing circumstances make him feel that he has "overachieved" as the coach of the Indian cricket team. However, he was cognizant of the fact that India have not won an ICC trophy under his watch and said that a triumph in the upcoming T20 World Cup will be an “icing on the cake”. “I believe so because I’ve achieved all I wanted. Five years as No 1, to win in Australia twice, to win in England. I spoke to Michael Atherton earlier this summer and said: ‘For me, this is the ultimate – to beat Australia in Australia and win in England in Covid times.’ We lead England 2-1 and the way we played at Lord’s and the Oval was special,” Shastri said in an interview with The Guardian. “We’ve also beaten every country in the world in their own backyard in white-ball cricket. If we win the [T20] World Cup that will be the icing on the cake. There is nothing more. I believe one thing – never overstay your welcome. And I would say that, in terms of what I wanted to get out of the side, I’ve over-achieved.” Shastri has been a bullish character all his life be it as a cricketer, commentator or coach. He has given the very famous mantra of “take the pitch out of the equation” and doesn’t believe in holding back either in terms of playing fire with fire in tactics or opening up with his perspective in the press. The 59-year-old got into the eye of a storm as he was the first one among Indian support staff to contract Covid during the fourth Test of the series against England at the Oval. When the development was discovered and it created a big issue as India pulled out of the last Test scheduled to be played at Old Trafford, British papers and journalists ran for his head and pinned the blame on him for hosting a book launch of his upcoming book titled Stargazing. The man who doesn’t live his life with half measures has no 'regret' for hosting the event and instead ruled out the possibility of contracting the virus during the book launch. He also said that the playing conditions were not exclusive for the players and hence pointing fingers at his book launch was not sustainable. “I have absolutely no regrets because the people I met at that function were fabulous. And it was good for the boys to get out and meet different people rather than constantly being in their rooms. At the Oval Test, you were climbing stairs used by 5,000 people. So to point a finger at a book launch?” Shastri asked. He also conceded that he was aware that his book launch will be made a scapegoat of India’s pull out but he speculated that he might have got infected in Leeds as he said that there were no restrictions and segregation in place for the players and general public after the country opened up with normal lives. “They tried to make it that way but I wasn’t worried because incubation probably takes weeks. There were about 250 people there and no one got Covid from that party. I’ve not got it at my book launch because it was on the 31st [August] and I tested positive on 3 September. It can’t happen in three days. I think I got it in Leeds. England opened up on 19 July and suddenly the hotels were back, lifts were back. No restrictions,” Shastri asserted. The coach was asked about his involvement in India’s decision to not play in the final Test. He cited his non-involvement as he was not there in the dressing room in Manchester after testing positive in London. “No, because I was in isolation. I was in London,” he argued. However, he said that the players became reluctant to play as the second physio of the side Yogesh Parmar had treated some five or six players and as soon as he tested positive, the fear gripped the team. “I didn’t know who had got it. I didn’t know [the physio] got it suddenly and tested positive. He physically treated five or six players. I think that’s where the issue started. We were aware that the incubation period meant that someone might get it in the middle [of the Test]. A lot of players had their families there. So it became a situation where you don’t know what that player is thinking. He’s got a young kid, you know, he’s got to think of them. It was a little, I would say, touchy,” Shastri reasoned. Ravi Shastri is all set to leave the Indian side after the upcoming ICC World T20 but he along with Virat Kohli have led a paradigm shift in Indian cricket. Yes, a bare cabinet in terms of an ICC trophy would be hurting both of them but their achievements in terms of the overall development of the team can’t be downplayed.

Four years after Kohli questioned his 'style', BCCI approaches Anil Kumble for head coach position

Four years after his unceremonious departure, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering approaching former Indian captain Anil Kumble to replace Ravi Shastri as the head coach of India post the upcoming T20 World Cup, The Indian Express reported. Kumble was the head coach of the side before Shastri and had resigned from his post after India lost the ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan in 2017. He had resigned citing a lack of respect in the difference of opinion, followed by complaints about his “style” of functioning by the captain Virat Kohli. The report also suggests that the BCCI also approached former Sri Lankan captain and the current head coach of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, Mahela Jayawardena to join Team India. However, the stylish right-handed batsman was not interested in giving up the coaching of the Mumbai side which he would have had to do for the conflict of interest clause in function at the BCCI. The current stint of India’s head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and the fielding coach R Sridhar is set to end after the 2021 T20 World Cup and none of them is likely to stay with the team after the global event. If Kumble is reinstated after T20 World Cup, it will be sort of overruling by the BCCI over Virat Kohli’s captaincy as he had clearly objected to his methods in 2017 and preferred Ravi Shastri in the coaching role. Kohli has already announced that he will no longer be the captain of the T20 side after World Cup but is likely to continue captaining the side in the ODIs and Tests and the move of bringing Kumble back in the fold could well lead to another friction between them.