The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is planning to revive its Twenty20 league. An emergent Apex Council meeting of the MCA has been called for Wednesday (April 24) to discuss the possibility of restarting the tournament that was shelved five years ago. According to sources in the association, the apex council will discuss the legal implications of reviving the league that was held for two years before it was discontinued in 2019. It was previously called T20 Mumbai and the association's plan is to start afresh with new guidelines. It could be called the Mumbai Premier League (MPL). Sources say the apex body will see if there will be any legal fallouts if a fresh league with a new structure is started. The organisation of the previous league was outsourced to a company called Probability Sports which held all the rights of the tournament. Said a source in the know: "At that time there were still no Lodha rules and if we were to do it now, we will have to do it all afresh and as per the Lodha recommendations. We cannot outsource the league's organisation. The MCA has to do it on its own. So we will have to look into all this." Another question before the MCA is if it were to start afresh, how can it address the previous franchises. In T20 Mumbai, there were eight teams and the MCA now wants to have only six franchises. In the fresh tenders, it may consider whether it should give the first right of refusal to the previous owners or not. The apex council will decide that aspect too. A window has been identified which is immediately after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final on May 26. The MCA window could be between the last week of May and first week of June. "It's still 50-50 whether we can hold it or not. But we will decide tomorrow itself whether we will hold it this year or not," said the source. The eight teams in the T20 Mumbai were Aakash Tigers MWs, Arcs Andheri, Eagle Thane Tigers, Namo Bandra Blasters, North Mumbai Panthers, Sobo Supersonics, Shivaji Park Lions and Triumph Knights MNE.

A superlative effort from Marcus Stoinis (124* off 63), flanked by vital cameos at the death from Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda earned LSG a famous away win at Chepauk over the defending champions. Despite a century from captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and a six-hitting show from Shivam Dube, CSK suffered their first home defeat of the season. Very little separated the two sides in all three phases. It came down to overpowering CSK's turbo-charged death-overs performance, when Stoinis gladly put his hand - and bat - up. r2wv0aZYXr While not being at the non-striker's end watching KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda take blinders to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell, the CSK captain played some gorgeous, field-piercing strokes. CSK had another poor opening stand, broken in the first over, but Ruturaj Gaikwad hit six of the seven fours in this phase. It wasn't as easy to bat on this tacky surface, and CSK didn't get a single six in this period. Change of pace was Lucknow pacers' currency as both Stoinis and Yash Thakur resorted to it. Sixes still didn't come early in this period but CSK hit at least one four in each over after the PowerPlay leading up to the 12th. Without a six, Gaikwad reached a 28-ball 50 before Mohsin Khan dismissed Jadeja for 16 off 19 off a back-of-length slower ball. Dube stepped out next, to open up the six-hitting flood gates. He got CSK started with the first of the innings in the 13th over off Stoinis. Gaikwad followed suit by hitting one off the Australian in the 15th over, which earned CSK 16 runs. And then followed the 30-ball carnage... The towering left-hander hit more sixes off three balls from Thakur than how much CSK had hit in all the overs leading up to the 16th. Gaikwad got a 56-ball century, but Dube well and truly eclipsed his captain's efforts by tonking six of the eight sixes hit in this five-over period. The bowlers just couldn't keep out of Dube's vast hitting arc and faced the music as he finished with a 27-ball 66. He and Gaikwad added 104 off 47 balls, taking CSK to 210/4 in 20 overs. Deepak Chahar finally got some swing and struck straightaway, like he's done in previous seasons. Some gentle lateral swing got Quinton de Kock to play one ball onto his stumps to rock the boat in the opening over. KL Rahul threw caution to the wind like he's done this season, but a sharp catch from Gaikwad on the edge of the 30-yards circle at cover put LSG in trouble. Stoinis and impact substitute Devdutt Padikkal dragged the team to an underwhelming score at the end of six overs. The only respite was that CSK too got a similar score in that period. It was one step forward, two steps back as Stoinis managed to tonk Jadeja and Moeen Ali, but Padikkal got stuck. It wasn't until the 11h over when Matheesha Pathirana put him out of his misery at a 19-ball 13, bringing Pooran to the middle. In the next four overs, the big-hitting batters sowed the seeds of the stirring turnaround as they went after Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman. 49 came off those four overs to keep the flame flickering on, and yet LSG needed 74 to get from the last five. Stoinis took a break briefly when Pooran decided to turn the tables on CSK in the 16th over from Thakur, hitting him for two sixes over deep extra cover and a four behind point. Pathirana took out the West Indian in the 17th - for the fourth time in T20s - to still keep the two points closer to CSK's grasp but Stoinis didn't give up. He and Hooda hit a six each off Mustafizur and picked 15 of the over to take the equation down to 32 off 12. Stoinis welcomed Pathirana in the 19th over with a crunching drive through extra cover for four, followed by two boundaries for Hooda - one off the outside edge of his bat. Pathirana went for 15 in the over, leaving Mustafizur to defend 17 in the last. Stoinis needed just three legal and one no-ball to wrap that up in style, as he went 6 4 4 4 to cap off a memorable night on the road for his team. Chennai Super Kings 210/4 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108*, Shivam Dube 66; Matt Henry 1-28) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 213/4 in 19.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 124*, Nicholas Pooran 34; Matheesha Pathirana 2-35) by 6 wickets CSK have a four-day gap before hosting the free-spirited SRH on Sunday (April 28). LSG host the table-toppers RR on Saturday (April 27).

In a season that has shone the high merit of batters gaining success through an all-out attack approach, the hundreds in the revealed that there is still some room in a corner for some old-fashioned methods in this IPL, albeit with contrasting efforts at the other end. Both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Marcus Stoinis were put in situations where their teams had lost an early wicket and responded to it with some degree of caution early on, but yet managed to keep their scoring rate up with some calculated assaults. Stoinis, who has had top-order batting experience in T20s, found himself thrust at the No. 3 spot - a problem area (56 off 55, six dismissals, Avg: 9.33, SR: 101.81) for LSG so far - for the first time this season and produced one of the more memorable knocks that acted as a gut-punch for CSK and their traditional home advantage. With Deepak Chahar being hit for two fours in the powerplay and Tushar Deshpande being driven and pulled and Shardul Thakur cut for back-to-back boundaries, Stoinis unveiled an array of shots that did not allow the pressure to be thrust on LSG despite losing both the openers cheaply. That success of execution early against well-laid plans redeemed the powerplay period for LSG, with Stoinis contributing 26 off the 45 runs scored. With the conditions in his favour, the spin-threat too was nullified with both Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali being powered away for sixes giving him momentum through the middle overs. Another round of smart assault followed with Tushar Deshpande's wide lines being put away for 15 runs in an over. These assaults allowed him to breathe easier against CSK's biggest threat of the night, Matheesha Pathirana. Stoinis managed to face 10 balls out of Pathirana's 24 and picked up just two boundaries - a neat upward steer past backward point, and powerful drill through extra cover. As Stoinis would say later, "It's not just go go go, there were some bowlers we wanted to target and some bowlers we wanted to be more cautious against." The degree of planning was dictated by LSG's not-so-powerful middle order barring Nicholas Pooran. For a while though, it seemed that this approach could still cost LSG dearly for they were left with needing to chase down 87 in the last six overs. Timely cameos from Pooran and later Deepak Hooda gave Stoinis some much-needed breathing space in the death overs where he could later unleash his own power-game, not too dissimilar to earlier this season. Without adequate grip and with an increasingly wet ball, Mustafizur Rahman's effectiveness had come down a few notches and it played into Stonis' hands. Three of his six maximums came at the back-end against Rahman with him being able to stay back and power the ball over the fence. Stoinis' 124 had a few firsts attached to it - the highest-ever in an IPL run-chase and the highest-ever against CSK, his own highest score in the tournament, and it earned LSG a double over CSK this season bringing about praise from the opposition as well. "He's got power but he's also got really good batsmanship," said CSK's head coach Stephen Fleming in praise of Stoinis. "Today he quietly went about his work, think his fifty came in up in mid-20 balls, and then he just controlled the innings. What more can you ask from your top three," felt Fleming. "They needed someone to answer what Ruturaj did and Stoinis did that beautifully."

Just past the halfway mark in IPL 2024, defending champions Chennai Super Kings find themselves in the mid-table, and their first loss at home of the season has revealed some chinks in the armour. Having built a reputation of playing with a fixed eleven over the years, this season has seen a change in the action-plan with the likes of Rachin Ravindra being dropped and Daryl Mitchell finding himself in and out of the team, and up and down the order. They've also had to contend with some injury concerns but all of it has led coach Stephen Fleming to admit that they're not fully there yet with regards to their best combination. "It's a mix of trying to find that [the best XI], and also a bit of form. We are little bit uncomfortable with some areas, so we're just trying to find not a quick fix but try and find the right combination," said Fleming after their on April 23. "And who are the players that are going to contribute in the back-end of the tournament the most, we've got another change coming up with Mustafizur in a couple of games. So we're just trying to prepare a side that will give us a run home. We have had injuries, we have been a little bit unsettled. But main thing is getting guys in key areas and in form. And sometimes that will take a bit of time. Yeah, there has been some change - some of it has been forced upon us and some of it has been form," he said. Mitchell was sent in at No. 3 today after being used in the middle-order on previous occasions without much success. "There's a lot of pressure obviously. But getting him [Mitchell] up the order is more comfortable for him I think, or me putting him down the order in a hitting role wasn't his best position. So we're looking to redefine that and put him up the order where his best performances have been internationally. And that might take a little bit of time. But certainly, the top three need to contribute the majority of the runs. Ruturaj did that today, so hopefully if he can continue his form and the other guys can pick that up...we're in each game, we're not firing in all cylinders in any means but we're in each game," said Fleming. Compounding their woes has been the lack of adequate support for spinners on their home turf, according to Fleming. While they've won their three previous games at the MA Chidambaram stadium this season, the dew-factor coupled with a true surface nullified CSK's spinners against LSG which left Fleming ruing. "We've had one pitch which was an excellent one I think, it turned and we won comfortably. Yeah, I'd like more synergy between the pitch and what we're trying to do. And I'd unashamedly say that it's your home ground, you got to defend and you pick teams accordingly. So when it's out of sync, you find it very difficult. It's not quite right yet but you just got to be good enough to play what's in front of you. We know that we can be stronger if conditions were a little bit different. "If you look at that we've got spinners in the side, Theekshana as well. But it nullifies that when there's nothing really going on and then there's the dew as well makes it very difficult. We can wish for it, but if we don't get it we just have to get on with it. So that's what we're doing. But it does take a key component out of our attack. We've got Pathirana who's a weapon, Fiz has done well when it's slow but the spin department has been made redundant and I'd love it to change," he added.

Zimbabwe have recalled Tadiwanashe Marumani and Faraz Akram for the upcoming five-match T20I series in Bangladesh. Sikandar Raza will continue to lead the 15-member group that also has an uncapped player Johnathan Campbell, who is the son of former captain Alistair Campbell. The rest of the squad is the same as the one that toured Sri Lanka in January this year where they won a game to level the series before losing the decider. Campbell played a role in the Zimbabwe Emerging Players squad winning the gold medal in the African games last month and has been rewarded. Clive Madande and Brian Bennett were also present in that Emerging Players squad and have retained their spots in the senior side as well. Former player Stuart Matsikenyeri will be in charge of Zimbabwe for this series in the absence of a head coach. The series will kickstart on May 3 with the first three games scheduled to be held in Chattogram. The final two games will be played in Dhaka. The series will serve as the ideal preparation for Bangladesh ahead of the T20 World Cup in June. However, Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the global event. Sikandar Raza (C), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Johnathan Campbell, Craig Ervine, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Clive Madande, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Ainsley Ndlovu, Richard Ngarava, Sean Williams

"TV umpire to director, we have a review for ..." It's a step in the process that starts when players are dissatisfied with the on-field umpires' decision. Or when those umpires are unsure. So the umpire upstairs, using video evidence and gizmos, takes a look and hands down the verdict. The mechanism has become an integral part of the modern game. Many sports have embraced electronic officiating, but none has done so as well as cricket. Crucial to the system's integrity is trust in the technology, credible, confident communication, and transparency. The original electronics were vetted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and relaying the relevant information and umpires' deliberations to the watching public is a matter of connecting the officials to screens and speakers. What matters more than anything, then, is the human element: what umpires say and how they say it. "The two biggest skills required in TV match officiating are composure and effective communication," Simon Taufel, the former elite umpire, told Cricbuzz before plucking an analogy from the skies: "Businesses that need to focus on communicating effectively, something like air traffic control, use agreed terminology and work with non-English speaking people. "We have to work with the lowest common denominator. While that might seem too basic, if we don't do that we don't have effective communication. We run an international game, and English is not something that comes easily to a lot of people." Umpires' familiar DRS script makes them sound as if they're on autopilot, but consistency is part of the point. To be believable and believed, what they say must be repeatable. And understood by all involved and by all who have an interest in the outcome. "It can come across as robotic, but when you have very clear, agreed communication phrases of introduction, identification, requests and acknowledgement, then you leave very little room for human error and misunderstanding," Taufel said. He knows what he's talking about. Having built a sterling reputation as an international umpire from January 1999 to August 2012 - he was awarded the David Shepherd Trophy a record five times consecutively - Taufel served as the ICC's umpire performance and training manager from November 2012 to August 2016. His tenure at the ICC coincided with those of senior administrators David Richardson, Geoff Allardice and Vince van der Bijl. With the input of leading umpires of the era like Steve Davis and Ian Gould, they transformed what had arrived in November 1992 as basic electronic umpiring and was first deployed as DRS in July 2008. The joke inside the ICC in the early days was that DRS stood for "the David Richardson System" because of the then chief executive's drive to improve and refine it. The tinkering continues. In March 2022 it was decided the television umpire would keep an eye on no-balls. That meant part of the DRS script became "I have checked the front foot and it is a fair delivery". The change saved time and allowed on-field umpires to keep their eye on the action unfolding in front. As logical as that update to the playing conditions is, it shuttled between various committees of the ICC and the MCC - the custodians of the "laws" - and back for years before it was adopted. A previous major step was taken in November 2014, when communication between umpires and broadcasters was first relayed to television viewers. "We held off on doing that for a long time on the basis that, quite often, a good decision can be ruined by a poor explanation," Taufel said. "You become protective of your match officials to ensure you don't fall over in that space." There were two challenges, Taufel said: "Number one was for the match officials to clearly articulate what they wanted, why they were making the decision, and to sell the decision verbally. The second was getting the commentators to shut up and let the TV match official talk and explain what they're doing and why they're doing it. It was a leap of faith but it worked." Spectacularly well, as was proved again in a game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens on Sunday. Virat Kohli felt the slow full toss he had slapped to Harshit Rana for a return catch had reached him above his waist, and was thus high enough to be ruled a no-ball. The on-field umpires, Akshay Totre and Vinod Seshan, deemed that a possibility, and - before Kohli demanded they do - asked television official Michael Gough to investigate. Replays showed Kohli was correct about the ball's height. But they also proved he was well outside his crease when he met the delivery, which made his argument irrelevant. As "law" 41.7.1 makes clear: "Any delivery, which passes or would have passed, without pitching, above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease, is unfair. Whenever such a delivery is bowled, the umpire shall call and signal no-ball." Kohli's front foot was the best part of a metre in front of the crease. His back foot was also out of his ground. The gizmos produced data that said the ball would have reached him a dozen centimetres below his waist had he been "standing upright at the popping crease". Gough rightly gave Kohli out, triggering enough fury from the batter to cost him half his match fee. Much of the subsequent heat has been aimed, unfairly, at the umpires. Instead, Kohli should have been upset with himself for falling prey to Rana's canny sucker punch - and for his own lack of knowledge on what constitutes a waist-high no-ball. Kohli was wrong. The officials were correct, and they had the data to prove it. "The biggest challenge with the television umpire role is that once a decision is referred or reviewed, we never get it wrong," Taufel said. To that end, Taufel - who now manages umpires in franchise leagues - foresees a category of officials who make their decisions from behind a screen exclusively. "In the ILT20 this year we had two specialist television officials, who did 17 matches each. We had not only live comms to air, but two video cameras in the box so that people could see what they were doing as well as hear what they were doing. They were also able to have the odd exchange with the commentator. "Matching the best people with the best technology to get the best outcomes is a must. We need to move past this assumption that the best on-field match officials are also your best television match officials. I think that's incorrect. I worked in printing before I became an umpire and my best printer didn't make my best foreman." Clearly, technology isn't done with umpiring. So far cricket has managed the relationship better than sports like football, which is frequently mired in Video Assistant Referee controversies. Nottingham Forest were denied what they considered three clear penalties in their 2-0 EPL loss to Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday. Forest alleged publicly that the VAR official, Stuart Attwell, supported Luton Town - who like Forest are struggling to avoid relegation. "If we were in another country we'd start speaking about conspiracy," Nuno Espirito Santo, Forest's manager, said. In cricket, Kohli's futile rant - routine by football standards - is as bad as it gets. "We're lucky that we have a lot more line decisions than most other sports," Taufel said. "Rugby is a very technical game, even soccer. But we still have a lot of ... you use the term controversy. I use differences of opinion because people see things from their own perspective. When we talk about clean catches or obstruction, we're talking about wilful intent or a definition." And talking in clear, consistent, credible, confident communication.

RCB have suffered six defeats on the trot now in IPL 2024. All six would have hurt without a doubt. But the most recent one, against Kolkata Knight Riders, would have stung a bit more. A stunning run chase saw them almost gun down 223, only to fall one run short. For a team that badly needed a win, this was a dagger straight to the heart, almost like a final blow. In such a scenario, the last team one would want to run into in this year's edition of the IPL is Sunrisers Hyderabad. But here we are, less than ten days after that never-seen-before carnage at the Chinnaswamy. left, right and center and the RCB bowlers know that a repeat cannot be ruled out given what has transpired so far. If they do manage to stop Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, they will still have to contend with Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy. Even Shahbaz Ahmed slammed a quickfire fifty in the last game. One thing RCB can take solace from is the fact that the SRH bowling attack has also leaked plenty. They haven't been able to breathe easy after posting 277, 287 and most recently 266. But first thing's first, the focus will once again be on that SRH opening pair. If RCB can find a way to get rid of them both in the powerplay, it will be a big step towards ending their miserable streak of results. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore,April 25, 2024 at 19:30 IST Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad We have had two games in Hyderabad so far this season. One witnessed over 500 runs and the other was a moderate one with CSK making just 165, which was chased down with ease. SRH do not have any injury concerns at the moment. Jaydev Unadkat, Pat Cummins and Mayank Markande have a pretty good record against Virat Kohli in the IPL. SRH will be better served using this trio against the current orange cap holder. On the other hand, Heinrich Klaasen has a terrific record against the majority of the RCB bowlers. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan [Impact sub: Washington Sundar/Jaydev Unadkat] If Glenn Maxwell continues to sit out, Cameron Green will get another opportunity in the middle order considering how well Will Jacks played the other night against KKR. On the other hand, if RCB opt to strengthen the bowling attack against this rampaging batting lineup, Alzarri Joseph might be in line for a recall. Faf du Plessis may have had an underwhelming IPL so far but his record against the likes of Bhuvneshwar, Cummins, Unadkat and Shahbaz works in his favour. Most of the bowlers from that SRH camp have a poor record against DK. Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Karn Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj The last time these two teams met in Hyderabad, Virat Kohli scored a century in a successful run chase. The batting strikes in the powerplay of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in IPL 2024 is 234.54 and 232.87 respectively.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering increasing the remuneration for domestic players, and Ajit Agarkar's selection committee has been tasked with making suggestions on how to implement this idea. While an immediate announcement of increased match fees is unlikely, the national selection committee has discussed the proposal. The aim is to ensure that domestic players not participating in the IPL do not feel deprived. It is understood that different plans are under consideration but there is unanimity among all concerned in the BCCI that the fees for the domestic cricketers has to be doubled at least. There is also a line of thinking that the domestic players should be in position to earn between INR 75 lakh to INR 1 crore annually if he has played 10 Ranji Trophy games. The BCCI currently pays INR 60,000 a day to a player who has played more than 40 Ranji games, INR 50,000 to those who have played between 21 and 40 games and INR 40,000 for those who've featured in 20 games, with the reserves earning INR 30,000, INR 25,000 and INR 20,000 in the respective categories. On this scale of payment, a senior cricketer would be earning up to INR 25 lakh if his side reaches the final with others in the side making between INR 17 lakh and INR 22 lakh. Proportionately, the players will also earn from other BCCI events - like white-ball tournaments such as Vijay Hazare and Mushtaq Ali -- and there is every chance the remuneration for the players will be increased from the next season. The BCCI is planning on how to maximise the earnings of domestic players. The plan is aimed at encouraging the domestic players to take part in the Ranji Trophy. A section of the players avoided playing red ball cricket last season to protect themselves from injury risk so that they can stay fit for the IPL. The idea is also in line with the BCCI target of encouraging red ball cricket. It may be recalled that the BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced higher match fees for those playing Test matches. Welcoming the Jay Shah announcement, Sunil Gavaskar had suggested that fees for domestic cricketers be doubled or tripled. "If the Ranji Trophy fees can be doubled or tripled, certainly there'll be a lot more people playing the Ranji Trophy, and a lot less pullouts from the Ranji Trophy, because if the fees of playing a Ranji Trophy match are a good fee, there will be fewer people pulling out for various reasons," the cricket legend had stated last month.

Delhi Capitals rode on their captain's incredible knock of 88 from 43 balls to eke out a narrow four-run victory over Gujarat Titans, despite the best efforts of Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Rashid Khan to stop the hosts from doing the double over them. Pant's knock, alongwith Axar Patel's essay (66 off 43) and Tristan Stubbs's late cameo (26 off 7) turbo-charged DC's innings well past the 200-run mark, and yet proved to be just about enough to pick the two points in the end. GT started the game better and matched DC through the middle overs, but the backend carnage that saw DC smash 11 sixes in the last five overs made the difference. 22 off the 19th over and 31 off the last pushed DC to a total they weren't even close to getting just a few overs before. GT fell short despite smashing at 14.6 in the last five overs, reiterating the importance of the finish DC got with the bat on the night. Ze99veBnr8 Jake Fraser-McGurk flirted with danger like he always does, and succeeded until the fourth over when his big flick went straight to Noor Ahmad at deep square leg. Three balls later, Prithvi Shaw went for a pull and was sent back by Noor's incredible forward-diving catch at the same position. Sandeep Warrier bowled a third over to close out the PowerPlay and had his third wicket as Shai Hope mistimed a big hit and Rashid Khan ran in from deep point to complete another sharp catch. Warrier ended the phase with 3 for 15 in 3 overs, and DC limped to 44/3. The move to promote Axar to No.3 worked well for DC as he joined forces with his captain to take down spin in the middle overs. Between them, Rashid and Noor conceded 57 off 6 overs. They constantly resorted to wrong 'uns but both Axar and Pant read them well. Mohit Sharma's slower ones didn't work either as runs came off the quicks too. Both the batters targetted the leg side boundary against the slower bowlers, with Axar reaching 50 off 37 balls in this phase. Pant kickstarted the death-overs proceedings with a helicopter-like whip for a six off Mohit. He tonked one over extra cover in the same over, which fetched 16 runs. Noor was trusted to bowl in the death and Axar welcomed it with two big sixes, but also fell in the 14-run over, for an excellent 66 off 43 balls. Stubbs walked out with a similar wavelength, adding to the six barrage. He smashed two fours and two sixes off R Sai Kishore, who intriguingly bowled his first over of the match in the 19th and gave away 22 runs. Pant then demolished Mohit in the last, taking 31 off it. The GT pacer finished with the most expensive bowling figures in IPL history - 0 for 73 - with Pant smashing 62 of those in 18 balls. The DC captain finished with a whirlwind knock of 88* from just 43 balls, including 5 fours and 8 sixes. Wriddhiman Saha made the most of a fast outfield to hit five fours to get 33 off 15 in this phase. DC made the big early incision with the wicket of Shubman Gill, but Sai Sudharsan - their impact substitute, started with a six and kept up the tempo. He hit another six and added four fours by the end of the phase. He also had the rub of the green on his side as Axar dropped a simple catch at mid-on to let the left-hander off. This was GT's second best PowerPlay score in their brief existence. Two splendid catches put the brakes on GT's progress in the middle-overs. First, Axar atoned for his earlier drop with a well-timed jump to take a sharp catch at cover to end Saha's innings. Then, Fraser-McGurk took a Noor-like blinder - running in from deep square leg and diving forward to see the back of Azmatullah Omarzai. Sudharsan however, kept his foot on the pedal, getting a 29-ball half-century. Medium-pacer Salam, DC's impact sub, clipped the southpaw's wings, as Sudharsan holed out to Axar at long-off. Great reflexes from Pant sent Shahrukh Khan packing and GT five down in Salam's next over, leaving GT to chase 78 in the final five overs. Kuldeep added an extra mile to GT's big climb at the death as he conceded five and took out Rahul Tewatia in the 16th over. David Miller, however, narrowed the gap between balls remaining and runs required by taking 24 off his national side compatriot Anrich Nortje. DC could feel the pressure as Abishek Porel spilt a tough catching chance at deep square leg off Rashid Khan, but Salam did well at long on to end Miller's flying knock - of 55 from just 23 balls. That wicket was expected to end GT's chase but it didn't. Sai Kishore swung for the fences and connected each time, smashing two sixes off Salam before getting bowled by the same bowler. Rashid brought the equation down from 19 off 6 to 5 off 1, but couldn't get his team over the line despite some fabulous hitting. Delhi Capitals 224/4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 88*, Axar Patel 66; Sandeep Warrier 1-15) lost to Gujarat Titans 220/8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 65, David Miller 55, Rashid Khan 21*; Rasikh Salam 3-44, Kuldeep Yadav 2-29) by 4 runs Delhi Capitals next host the Mumbai Indians at home on Saturday (April 27). GT welcome a struggling RCB for an afternoon fixture in Ahmedabad on Sunday (April 28).

High-scoring games in which 400-plus runs are scored, with the matches going down the wire, have become commonplace in IPL 2024 and it was no surprise that the Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium adhered to the trend. The game on Wednesday was the 10th instance of a 400-plus aggregate in this edition of the tournament. And in this match, the left-handers from both teams turned out to be the primary source of entertainment. Axar Patel had come in at No.3 for only the second time in 108 innings in the IPL. A scoring rate of seven an over at the end of seven overs wasn't the brightest of starts for DC, who had already lost three wickets inside the powerplay. Axar struck just one four in the first 11 balls he faced and managed only 9 runs off his first 15 balls. His promotion didn't seem logical at that point but the meaning behind it unfolded as the innings progressed. Axar's innings lasted until the end of the 17th over, by which time he faced 43 deliveries. Of those, 25 were from the Afghanistan spin duo of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad as Axar expertly negated their threat and ensured quick runs too. Rishabh Pant was scoring off them as well, getting 24 off 17 - with two fours and a six off the wrist spin pair. But Axar's role in their takedown was more prominent as he took 46 runs off them in 25 deliveries and contributed 62 off only 36 in the 113-run fourth wicket stand with Pant. "My role was to take on the spinners. The talk with Rishabh was that we should take the partnership as deep as possible and aim for a good finish. It was a sticky wicket, some balls were skidding and some were slow," said Axar in his chat with the broadcasters during the innings break. "The mindset is very important, you can't think about playing off a bowler, and attack another. The approach was to attack if it was in our area, if not then take the singles and twos and rotate the strike. We kept an attacking mindset." Axar also felt 170-180 would have been a good score when the fourth wicket pair went about building a platform for the team. But it became 224 thanks to a special innings from Pant which in turn led to a few ignominious records for Mohit Sharma. At the end of the 15th over, Pant had scored 34 off 26 but had sized up Mohit by then, having struck a couple of boundaries off him in the 12th. In the 16th over, Pant whacked two sixes off the pacer. His fifty also came in Mohit's over when he struck his third six off him. But the maximum damage was done in the last over as the DC skipper thumped four sixes and a four off Mohit who ended up with 0-73, the most expensive figures in the IPL. Mohit gave away 31 in the 20th over, the joint third-most expensive final over and it was also the seventh time that Mohit went for 50-plus runs in an IPL game, most by a bowler. More than 70 percent of the runs scored by Pant in his innings came off Mohit. Nearly 85 percent of the runs conceded by Mohit came off Pant's bat. lwPODno9nE Towards the end stage of the first innings, there was also a matchup-based calculation that went awry for the Titans. R Sai Kishore, who bagged four wickets in their last game, wasn't brought on to bowl for the first 18 overs. With two left-handers in the middle for more than 11 overs, GT felt it wouldn't be an ideal matchup using the left-arm finger spinner. He was, however, brought on for the 19th over, and that too when the right-handed Tristan Stubbs would first take strike. But the move backfired spectacularly. Sai Kishore was clubbed for two sixes and two fours by Stubbs before Pant unleashed mayhem in the final over. They finished with an unbroken 67-run stand in just 18 deliveries. Their run-rate of 22.33 made it the third best scoring rate for a fifty-plus stand in the IPL. 3OLllK9ley "You have to put yourself in the shoes of the captain and the coach, and how they'll be thinking," said Sai Kishore who tried to defend the team's predisposition to matchups. "If I was leading the side and if there was some other spinner or some other bowler whom you feel there could be an extra chance for scoring, maybe you'll be slightly hesitant (to use the bowler)." Has too much been made of matchups? "It's a very dicey question," replied Sai Kishore. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work. It also depends on the ground dimensions. Say we are playing on a slightly slower wicket with bigger boundaries. Last game (against Punjab Kings) I bowled the 19th over with two lefties... I really felt it was not a thing to be worried about. Ashish Nehra is big on having no egos in the side. And every call is taken for the team's success and as a player you should also be able to take it." It was also the left-handed ensemble that got Gujarat Titans within striking distance of DC's total, only to fall short off the final ball. The two fours and the six that Rashid scored off Mukesh Kumar in the last over brought it down to 5. But before that, Sai Kishore hit two maximums off Rasikh Salam in the 19th to keep them in the hunt. Speaking of, David Miller's 23-ball 55 was crucial in the Titans still having a chance. And much earlier, it was Sai Sudharsan's 39-ball 65 that kept them going in the chase. Kuldeep Yadav's spell (2 for 29 off 4 overs), Axar's 1-28 to go with three catches, Pant's sharp takes behind the stumps - DC had the left-handedness going in their second innings too. And at the end of it, they left GT behind them on the points table.

Dinesh Karthik has thrown his hat in the ring to be considered for selection to the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. The 38-year-old keeper-bat has enjoyed an excellent first half of the IPL 2024 season with the bat in an underperforming RCB side with his performances throwing himself into the selection consideration for a finisher's role in India's lower middle-order. "At this stage in my life, it would be the greatest feeling for me to represent India [at the T20 World Cup]. I'm very, very keen to do so. There is nothing bigger in my life other than representing India in this T20 World Cup," Karthik said on Saturday (April 20) on the eve of RCB's clash against his former employers, Kolkata Knight Riders. "I also feel there are three very, very stable, honest people who are at their helm to decide what should be the best Indian team for the World Cup. Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma, and Ajit Agarkar. And I'm completely with them. I respect any decision that they take. But all I can say is I'm 100% ready. And you know I'll do everything I can to be on that flight to the World Cup," he added. Karthik started the last T20 World Cup in Australia but was left out in India's final two games of the competition, including the semifinal, in favour of the left-handed Rishabh Pant. He has not featured for the national team since that tournament and after an underwhelming campaign with the bat in IPL 2023 - 140 runs in 13 innings at 134.61 SR - speculation was rife that the stalwart from Tamil Nadu, who had also transitioned into broadcast, would bring the curtains down on a stellar career at the end of this 2024 season. Playing in a familiar hyper-specialist role, Karthik has found a fresh lease of form in an otherwise forgettable campaign so far for RCB, scoring 226 runs from 6 innings at an outstanding strike-rate of 205.45. This included a 35-ball 83 in RCB's most recent game, against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru. Other options in front of India's team management for the keeper-bat's role include the returning Pant (210 runs at 156.71 SR), who has found his touch despite missing nearly 13 months of action while KL Rahul (286 runs at 143.00 SR), Sanju Samson (276 runs at 155.05 SR) and Ishan Kishan (192 runs at 172.97 SR) have shown good form at the top of order in the ongoing IPL. Among keeper bats in the lower middle-order position, Jitesh Sharma, who featured in the last international T20 assignment for India, has had something of a downturn in batting fortunes with his seven trips to the crease bringing only 90 runs at 127.77 SR. Karthik, who has a very specific training regimen with long-time coach Abhishek Nayar, opined that he was enjoying his role as a finisher for RCB. "Look, I think these days as a player, you need to understand your strengths. I'm not [Andre] Russell or [Kieron] Pollard who can mishit a ball and get a six for it. So I need to understand how I can beat gaps, what sort of balls I can hit for boundaries. "And I realised there was a certain pattern in which bowlers were bowling to me. So, I needed to try and work out a solution for that. And hence, when I practice, I try to understand, okay, this is what they're going to bowl at me. How am I going to get a boundary visualizing a field that is going to be in place for me? So I worked like that, and I worked backwards, and that's helped me, you know, really learn a couple of shots more, you know, at the back end. It's been great to go out there and express myself, and it's been thoroughly enjoyable to do what I'm doing for RCB as a finisher."

Eight years ago, around the same time, Chris Gayle's temporary absence paved the way for a young 22-year-old South Australian to get his first taste of IPL cricket. Travis Head managed to get two more games that season before returning 12 months later. This time, he received a handful of opportunities in what turned out to be a poor season for Royal Challengers Bangalore. It's never easy for a young overseas player who had just made his international debut, to walk into a dressing room filled with stars, in alien conditions, to get going straight away. "Walking into that dressing room was crazy," Head looks back. "I was young and it feels like a long time ago. And I probably didn't understand myself enough around off field stuff or even game stuff and I was watching how AB (de Villiers) went about and Gayle went about. "Every guy went differently and every guy had certain things that they excelled at or were great at. AB's understanding of the game was incredible. Virat's (Kohli) preparation was second to none. And the way Chris went out and performed on match day was just outrageous. So each guy had those things that I sort of drew upon and understand a blueprint." Fast forward eight years, Travis Head is now one of the most feared batters in the tournament in 2024. And for good reason. He marked his return to the IPL after seven years with a terrific 24-ball 62 that saw Sunrisers Hyderabad break several records. And then he went on to smash the fourth fastest ton ever in the tournament's history. "I just feel like there's a lot more experience and there's a lot more understanding around my game and there's probably a lot more belief around what I can achieve or what I can do," Head says while comparing his current version to the one in 2016. "I don't sort of try, there's always doubts and there's always things you go through in mind I guess. Seven or eight years has passed, (I've) achieved a few things in international cricket you can draw back on. "So yeah back then I didn't have I guess the blueprint or the runs behind me but I feel like I still had some really good performances when I was here last time and I definitely drew back on them by that experience. But that whole IPL all those two years with RCB was just a bit of a whirlwind. I was sort of 22-23 playing with the players that we've spoken about. Didn't feel like I really fitted in terms of my game at that stage so yeah learned a lot." In between these two stints in the IPL, Head went unsold a couple of times and didn't even feature in the auction on other occasions. He managed to make his Test debut for Australia in this period and also featured regularly for Australia in ODI cricket. However, in T20 cricket, Head's opportunities were limited for the national side and only very recently, he managed to cement his place and is now all set to feature in his first ever T20 World Cup. arNAYzmewz4 "I put a big emphasis around Test Cricket at that time," Head says without any regrets. "I was in the auction last year, but previously I spent a couple years playing county cricket and then a couple years obviously around Australia. So yeah, I had a massive eagerness to excel and play well with Test cricket. "I think I felt like I had to work very hard at my game and do the things that I needed to do to perform in Test cricket. I feel like the T20 stuff and IPL was great at an earlier age, but it definitely gave me the understanding what that tournament looks like. I tasted it in the past and felt that when the time is right then hopefully I could come back and experience that again and I feel like now having gone through all those moments and play really well in Test Cricket for a period of time and experience all those things, I felt like it was the right time to come back. "I was in the auction last year, but had a wedding, got married on the 15th April which sort of restricted my availability which meant that it was this year and very pleased in where I ended up at Hyderabad and very pleased in the environment and felt like was the right time not only in my career but off field and everything was sort of mirrored into being available again but in the back of my mind always wanted to have another chance at it. There are things I would like to do differently since the last time I've been here. I was a lot younger back then so very pleased how everything has worked out so far." At 30, Head now walks out to open the innings with young Abhishek Sharma who has also been very impressive this season. While he reserves rich praise for Abhishek, Head was also impressed by Nitish Reddy's talent. "I feel obviously different coming from somewhere like RCB," he says. "When I was there, (they had) obviously a strong international contingent, but also strong Indian players like KL Rahul, (Yuzvendra) Chahal, guys that were probably well known. And coming here, I didn't know a lot about some of the guys but yeah, Abhi (Abhishek Sharma) has been incredible. Opening the batting with him, he's excited me probably the most. "Nitish has probably struck the ball better than anyone in training. I know he had limited opportunity in the past but the practice games and the training days that we've had it was quite amazing to know that he hadn't had much experience in the IPL yet and he probably wasn't gonna start in the IPL so the conversations around him and the game he played against the Punjab Kings was incredible. "But I just feel like Abhi's probably been the standout for me. I know he had come through a really good under 19's program and a couple of guys who have excelled and gone on and played and obviously Shubman (Gill) he's really close with. But the way he learns, the way he adapts and his confidence and all those things that I guess you see a lot of that now in the Indian teams, which comes off the back of how Virat has gone about things in that environment and what younger guys are seeing when they come through, but he's very very exciting." 2BVwZ7NYnZ While his own form has been great, Head also credits national teammate Pat Cummins for playing a huge role in SRH's turnaround this season. "I think a lot of guys obviously asked about him leading into this," he recalls. "The Indian guys when I got here (asked) what he's gonna be like and I said, he'd be really relaxed to be really calm, who talked through a lot of sense and he's very measured and understands the game and he's just really really well rounded off the field. He's really enjoyable to be around. He creates a really really good environment that's very inclusive that's very enjoyable, that's very relaxed. "And I think you're seeing that in the way we're playing that game style about being aggressive and relax, but I think you'll also be seeing guys play with a smile on their face and really stepping forward into that pressure. I think being asked to play this style is I guess a little bit foreign for some guys, some guys I guess if I've seen around in the IPL sometimes worried about the negative side of things and 'what happens if I don't get runs could I find myself out of the team' and I think you'll never ever see Pat not back you or not have a smiley face. "He's been really vocal about that in the last couple of weeks with the batting line up like 'this is how we want to play, yes, we're doing it if it doesn't come off I will 100% back you' and always do it with a smile and always enjoy it if we win a game, we lose the game it's exactly the same and I think that gives good confidence to the team especially for an international player to come into environment and do that. So I feel like he's given great confidence to the young Indian players." Apart from turning things around at SRH, Cummins has had a role in Head's revival as well, according to the left-hander. Despite not getting a CA contract in 2021, Head managed to get back into the Test team later that year and marked his return in Cummins' first stint as Australia's new Test captain with a blistering hundred. He hasn't looked back since and has been in prolific form, helping Australia win the World Test Championship and regain the ODI World Cup title last year. "I played a lot with Pat before he was a captain so our relationship is very good," he says. "In terms of leadership it was around the Ashes series where I guess he sort of linked in with everyone as a captain and sort of that new approach and conversation with me around how he wanted to see me play and how he wanted me go about it. "It's been documented around the conversations I had with Pat and so the change in guard with him being captain and I guess the confidence he gave me to go out and play the way I do in domestic cricket. It's (success) never guaranteed but I was able to go out and get runs in that Test match and sort of kickstart what has been the last sort of three years. Still worked hard on my technique and a few things but sort of hit a moment in the road where it didn't really matter if I didn't play for Australia again. Yeah, I understand I would love to but if it wasn't to be then it wasn't to be and it probably gave me a bit more of that more relaxed comfortable sort of environment and attitude around things."

Sunrisers Hyderabad have made it a habit of setting new batting records in IPL 2024 and it continued against Delhi Capitals. Sent in to bat first, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma went on a boundary-spree. - The fastest 100 for a team in T20s as SRH got it in just five overs - The highest-powerplay score in any T20 as the duo raised a massive 125! - Travis Head recorded the joint-fastest fifty of IPL 2024 as he got it off 16 balls. It's a record he shared with his opening partner, Sharma who got that landmark against Mumbai Indians earlier this season - Travis Head scored 84 runs in the powerplay, and only Suresh Raina who once hit 87 was above him in the individual list in IPL By the end of the innings, SRH became only the second team to cross 250 three times in a T20. What's more? They've done it all in just one season. The 22 sixes they hit was also an IPL record, equaling what they did against Royal Challengers Bengaluru earlier in this season.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed on Saturday (April 20) umpire Tanveer Ahmed will not officiate in the five-match T20I series against India Women's team. Tanveer was a protagonist in the acrimonious 2023 series between the two sides that saw India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for two matches after her altercation with the umpire in the final ODI. Harmanpreet smashed the stumps with her bat and had a heated exchange with the umpire after being given out leg-before. Later in the presentation ceremony, she lashed out at the officiating in the game. Cricbuzz learnt that BCB decided not to include Tanveer to prevent him from being targetted again by the visitors. "I think if he is included in the upcoming home series against India women's team there is a possibility he can again be at the receivers end considering Indian women cricketers might target him and we don't want that to happen and as a result we decided not to include him for the series involving Bangladesh and India women's team," a BCB official told Cricbuzz on request of anonymity. However, the board's umpire's committee chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu told Cricbuzz that the decision was made so as to have Tanveer feature in the home series against Zimbabwe that follows the assignment against India. "Yes, Tanveer is not included in the list of match officials for the home series against India women's team as we want him to be involved in the home series against Zimbabwe and both the series will be played side by side," said Iftekhar. Bangladesh have already reached Sylhet for preparation while their counterparts are expected to arrive on April 23 to take part in the series.

In the summer of 2019, in the press conference room of Kolkata's Eden Gardens, Andre Russell was facing the cameras and in an unrestrained rant went after questioning the decisions of his then-captain, Dinesh Karthik, who had come under fire following his team's six-match losing streak in the season. Four years later, in the same room, Karthik put up a brave front for his teammates. Even after swapping the purple for red, the position isn't too different for him with Royal Challengers Bengaluru going down five games in a row. So what has experience of all these years taught Karthik? How does a team get out of this quicksand of defeats? "You need a lot of character in players," was his simple response. The fault, again, isn't with Karthik's performance. If anything the last time he was at a ground, he was walking back to a standing ovation from the crowd despite his team's loss. The last time he was in front of the mic, he was asked of his aspirations to play for India again. But much like it was in 2019, the performances of his teammates aren't helping the side much. Glenn Maxwell had opted out of the previous game, the middle order isn't able to control the games and the bowling lot despite all the combinations tried out hasn't been able to deliver. After having bled a record 287 in the previous game, they now march to a ground which had the highest total chased down in its previous game. With the Impact Substitute rule, there has been no mercy shown on the bowlers this season, and RCB's batters - barring Karthik and to an extent Virat Kohli - just haven't inspired enough confidence to be up with those high scores that the oppositions are posting and chasing down. To add to it, they are coming up against a side that currently boasts of the best Net Run Rate, if not taking the top position on the points table. KKR are adding the finishing touches to all their departments that have been dominating this season. However, for as well as KKR have played this season, the last-ball defeat to Royals in their previous game did rankle them. The question is - are RCB ready to pounce on that loss of momentum or are they too busy fixing their own problems? Sunday, April 21, 2024, 3:30 PM IST KKR vs RCB, IPL 2024, Eden Gardens, Kolkata Even as both teams would be coming into the game well rested, they will be up against gruelling conditions. There is a heat wave sweeping Kolkata with an 'orange alert' alarmed. Excessive humidity will only make it more challenging for both teams in the afternoon game. Bowlers are going to have a tough time, so don't be surprised if the captain winning the toss opts to bat. Nitish Rana, who was out due to an injury for the early part of the tournament, is yet to play for KKR this season. Rinku Singh, who had a few niggles and played as an impact substitute in the previous game, had promised that he would be fielding in Sunday's clash. Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell have been tied down by Sunil Narine. If they do manage to get through the powerplay safely, they will need to find a way to ensure that they are not stagnated through the middle overs. Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer/Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy [Impact Substitute: Vaibhav Arora] Glenn Maxwell had opted out of the previous game citing mental fatigue. Whether he is fresh to return remains unknown. Mohammed Siraj has had the upper hand against Sunil Narine, dismissing the southpaw twice in 11 balls and conceding only 12 runs. He will hold the key for RCB upfront, especially given that Narine has had the better of Yash Dayal and Alzarri Joseph in the IPL. Siraj also has dominated the battles against Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell. Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Alzarri Joseph, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj [Impact Substitute: Yash Dayal] 8MVMJOJW9kB VNm27RbnRaB 06emGQEMemW "The belief is definitely there. If there is no belief, there is no point playing in a tournament like the IPL. Every year, there have been teams at this stage, trying to find their feet, haven't had a great tournament. But there have been so many instances where they have picked up and won matches. We believe that if we can do something special, there have been a few matches, where we can get the momentum and use that to our advantage." - "In the last match, we didn't bowl well in the death overs. But before that, against LSG, we had done well. We had done our planning well, but need to improve on our execution. If we do that, we will get better [in the death overs]." - on KKR's bowling.