Tag: Indian Premier League

CSK players led by MS Dhoni hit nets | Cricket News – Times of India

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CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings players including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni began preparations for the forthcoming IPL, having cleared their RT-PCR tests during the stipulated quarantine period.
Apart from the legendary Dhoni, senior batsman Ambati Rayudu, Ruturaj Gaikwad and a few others are part of the camp that got underway on Monday.
Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan, R Sai Kishore and C Hari Nishaanth, who was picked up during last month’s auction, trained with the likes of Dhoni and Rayudu. Also present was medium-pacer Harishankar Reddy, another new recruit.
“The CSK players completed their quarantine requirements and began practice yesterday. Gradually, the others will join the camp after a period of quarantine,” he said.
A few others like leg-spinner Karn Sharma and Bhagath Varma, who was picked during the auctions recently are expected to arrive in the coming days, Viswanathan said.
Dhoni had arrived in the city on Wednesday last.
CSK had during the recent mini-auction picked up England all-rounder Moeen Ali for Rs 7 crore, apart from Karnataka all-rounder K Gowtham (for Rs 9.25 crore) and Cheteshwar Pujra (Rs 50 lakh).
This year’s IPL begins with a match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on April 9. Three-time champion CSK begins its campaign the next day in Mumbai against Delhi Capitals.
Interestingly, in this year’s IPL, all matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue.

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Option of skipping IPL was never on table; can’t ignore financial advantages: Jos Buttler | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: The huge financial windfall that comes with an IPL contract can’t be ignored, admitted Jos Buttler as the England cricketer on Tuesday asserted that the ECB never gave him the option of skipping the popular T20 League to be available for the Test series against New Zealand.
Buttler has been in the eye of storm for going home after the first Test against India. He is now back in the country for three months to compete in the white ball series and will stay till the end of Rajasthan Royals‘ IPL campaign.

The British media grilled Buttler on players in all likelihood skipping the Test series against New Zealand starting June 2 if their franchises get to the play-offs starting in the last week of May.
“No nothing of that sort (was discussed with me) and I don’t know about other players. I think an agreement about participation in IPL was in place well before the New Zealand Test series was announced,” Buttler said during a media conference.
However, like Sam Curran, even Buttler agreed that some players could skip New Zealand Tests if their teams go the distance in IPL.

“It could potentially (mean),” Buttler admitted on missing on the first home series in summer.
“…..but NZ tests have been added later on and there will always be a few who would be missing out on England games. You don’t know how far the players are going to go far in the tournament and miss games (for England).”
The white ball dasher didn’t hide that money is a big issue when it comes to taking a decision between club and country.

“We all know the benefits of IPL. It’s a huge tournament and monetary rewards are obvious and also the experience you gain and it has its pluses too. And it’s obvious in the upturn of white ball game in England, and the number of players participating in it and how beneficial it is to all of us,” he said.
“Of course the schedule is tough and there is no perfect balance to it and ECB and players are working closely trying to manage that.”
“Is there a perfect answer? No in the times that we are operating at the moment,” he added.

There are 12 England players, some with million dollar contracts, playing in the IPL. The players include Buttler himself, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer for Rajasthan Royals, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran for CSK, Tom Curran for DC and Dawid Malan for Kings XI Punjab.
“IPL is advantageous to a lot of people with the money that’s involved. It’s the biggest tournament in cricket in terms of money and careers can be short but we know that playing for England can be a huge draw and we are very well remunerated playing for England,” he said.
He understands that English cricket establishment is a divided house when it comes to the IPL with people forming their “own opinions one way or the other”.
“It is also a big feather in the cap for the England side that 12 players were in demand in the world’s biggest tournament,” he said in his defence.
He also spoke how this year’s IPL will help England players when they come back in October for the T20 World Cup.
“Obvious benefits of the player improvement, skills that you get to learn, especially this year playing IPL in India, where world T20 will be played.”

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Bigger pandemic squads helped boost new Indian cricket talent: Ravi Shastri | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: India’s new Test cricket heroes have pandemic-induced squad regulations to thank for getting their shot in the Australia and England series, coach Ravi Shastri said Sunday.
Given the added risk of fatigue and injuries in the “bio-bubbles” needed to stage international games during the coronavirus crisis, teams have been allowed to have larger travelling squads.
Most Indian players have been in one bubble or another, with only small breaks since the Indian Premier League in September.

“You had to dig deep and pick your best 30 players. It’s a good headache to have,” Shastri told reporters.
“It has worked well, you would have never imagined the number of players that would have played for India, six months ago.”

All-rounder Washington Sundar and paceman T. Natarajan had an extended stay in Australia as part of the travelling squad, and have since made dream starts to their Test careers.
“If you think Natarajan would have played a Test, no way. Would Washington Sundar (have) played a Test, no way. But circumstances make it happen,” said Shastri.

“And I’m glad the youngsters who got the opportunity, have grabbed it with both hands.”
India’s new talent played a key role in helping the side reach the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June.

Sundar played a gritty knock with Shardul Thakur — another bowler who got a lucky Test Down Under — in India’s historic Test series triumph in Brisbane and proved his mettle again with an unbeaten 96 against England on Saturday.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel made most of his debut in the England series with 27 wickets in three matches after replacing the injured Ravindra Jadeja.
Shastri praised the new players for playing “fearless cricket”.

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IPL 2021 Time Table: IPL Schedule 2021, Fixtures, Venues and Match Timings | Times of India | Cricket News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced the schedule for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The season 14 opener of the cricketing extravaganza will take place between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 9.
While the first match will be played in Chennai, the final will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 30.
The tournament will be initially without the spectators, the Indian cricket board said.
“The IPL this year at home will be played behind closed doors to begin with and a call on allowing spectators will be taken at a later stage of the tournament,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
“The fixtures of the tournament have been mapped in a way that every team will travel only three times during the league stage, thus reducing commute and minimising risk,” Shah said.
“After hosting the tournament safely and successfully in the UAE last year … the BCCI is confident of hosting the IPL at home with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount,” he added.
A total of 56 group matches and the knockouts will be played across six venues that include Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai.
“The season will kickstart on 9th April, 2021 in Chennai with a high-octane clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore,” BCCI said in its release.
“The world’s largest cricket stadium – Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, will host the Playoffs as well as the final on 30th May.”
The stadium will be hosting the IPL matches for the first time.
There will be a total of 11 double headers. The afternoon games are slated for a 3:30 pm IST start while the evening games will have a 7:30 pm IST start.
“Each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata & Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each,” the BCCI release further said.
“One of the highlights of this edition of the IPL will be the fact that all matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue. All teams will play at 4 out of 6 venues during the league stage.”
Last year’s edition of the popular Twenty20 competition was held in the United Arab Emirates as India grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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IPL 2021: Shahrukh Khan is in full form, he was on our radar, says Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon | Cricket News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Punjab Kings IPL franchise had been looking to strengthen their fast bowling unit for a while. They went into the IPL 2021 Player Auction with the highest purse – Rs. 53.20 crore and they got what they wanted.
They spent a whopping Rs. 22 crores on two pacers – the Australian fast bowling duo of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith.
The 24-year-old Richardson was available at the auction table at a base price of Rs.1.5 crore and hit the jackpot, eventually going for Rs.14 crore to the Punjab team. Meredith, who had a base price of Rs. 40 lakh, was also bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 8 crore.
Apart from Richardson and Meredith, English batsman Dawid Malan was a ‘bargain buy’ for Punjab Kings. The current World No.1 T20I batsman was bought at his base price of Rs. 1.50 crore.
Timesofindia.com caught up with Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon to talk about the IPL 2021 Auction, the team’s name change, world number one T20I batsman Dawid Malan’s buy and much more…
Excerpts….
What was the reason behind changing the name from Kings XI Punjab to Punjab Kings?
Like any other product or brand, refreshing becomes an important part of it. It was more of a refresher plan than anything else. Punjab Kings is a name we have been wanting to use for some time now. We wanted to use the prefix Punjab because that’s what we are. Punjab Kings is a more evolved brand name along with our new logo. It is also easier to call out and that’s the reason we went for this name.
How would you sum up the IPL 2021 Auction? Did everything go as per your plans?
More or less. There are always some hits and some misses. But if you ask me to weigh the odds, then I would say we got 90 percent of what we wanted. You always have a 10 percent miss. But we have got the backup for it. We have the backup for what we wanted.

Photo Credit: Punjab Kings
You secured Australia speedster Jhye Richardson’s services for a whopping Rs 14 crore. Was he firmly on your radar?
Of course. Jhye Richardson has always been on our radar. Last year, our biggest problem was that we didn’t have an overseas fast bowler. We needed someone who is really fast and who could put some runs on the scoreboard. He was the right choice for us.
Riley Meredith is another pacer Punjab went for and bought him for Rs 8 crore. Punjab of course had the biggest purse, but strategically was spending Rs. 22 crores on two pacers something the team was prepared to do?
Last year, we realised that our biggest problem was we needed two more extra fast bowlers. That is why we added two fast bowlers to our squad – Richardson and Meredith.
Dawid Malan has been amazing in T20s, averaging above 50 for England. Would you say getting the World No. 1 T20 batsman for his base price of Rs. 1.5 crore was Punjab’s biggest success of the IPL 2021 auction?
We were pleasantly surprised and we are more than happy to say we have got the best T20 player, Malan, at the best price that was fairly reasonable for us.
Were you prepared to spend Rs 5.25 crores on Shahrukh Khan? Why did Punjab target him?
We knew that he would be in the vicinity. He was also on our radar. There were enough teams who would have wanted him. He is young and he is one of those boys who are completely in full form. And I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t have gone for him.
Punjab Kings also bid fiercely for Chris Morris. Do you regret losing Chris Morris to Rajasthan Royals?
No. No regrets at all. Like I said we wanted certain players but we always had a backup. There were eight teams who were bidding for the same player. Other teams had 10 crores or 12 crores or 20 crores, they may need the only players they want. They can go for it. We rationalised everything. We didn’t freely just spend money. At the end of the day, we were happy that we got what we wanted outside of Chris Morris.
Punjab created quite a winning streak in IPL 2020, but still failed to make it to the playoffs. What went wrong according to you?
Luck factor.
The last season also saw youngsters like Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh perform very well. Bishnoi also got the chance to meet and learn from his idol and India legend Anil Kumble. Your take on these youngsters and the legendary Kumble’s role…
Youngsters are bound to bloom if someone like Anil Kumble is around.
The anticipation of Chris Gayle‘s inclusion in the playing XI was high in the initial stage of the tournament. Do you think his presence would have made a difference? Did Punjab miss the Gayle factor badly last season in the initial stages?
In hindsight. It is Twenty20. You can never tell.
KL Rahul finished the 2020 season as the highest run-getter. Your take on KL Rahul the batsman and captain…
I think KL is good at both ends. He has done a great job as a captain and that is why he has been made T20 vice-captain of the Indian cricket team. His bat speaks for him. He is someone who lets his bat do the talk. He is just superb.
With a strong lineup, do you think KL can take Punjab to their maiden title win this season?
I hope we will win this year. We go in there every year wanting to win which is why you see us the way we are.

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