Desperate Mumbai Indians Look For Solutions Against Rampaging Kings XI Punjab

Agencies
May 4, 2018

May 4: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will be aiming to sort their 'opening woes' in both departments of the game when they take on a rejuvenated Kings XI Punjab in a must-win Indian Premier League (IPL)  encounter. The three-time IPL champions are staring at an inglorious exit having brought up the rear so far, with only two wins in their kitty from eight games. On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab, under Ravichandran Ashwin's leadership, have won five out of their seven games, slowly but surely inching towards the Play-Offs. A week off has certainly helped the likes of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul recharge their batteries and they will be aiming to come out all guns blazing at their adopted home.

Kings XI Punjab's season has been about collective performance. They don't have the 'Orange Cap' or 'Purple Cap' holders in their ranks but everyone has chipped in with impactful performances as and when required.

'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle (252 runs) came into the tournament with a bruised ego and battered the bowlers into submission with two half centuries and a hundred. Rahul (268 runs) also showed why he is rated so highly with the fastest ever 50 in IPL.

Afghanistan's rookie mystery spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman, with an economy rate of 6.51 and seven wickets, has been nurtured well by skipper Ashwin, who has marshalled his resources well.

The pace duo of Ankit Rajpoot (7 wickets at 6.27) and Andrew Tye (9 wickets at 7.78) have also done the job for the Preity Zinta co-owned outfit.

For Mumbai, the primary reason for six defeats in eight matches has been poor start by openers along with new ball bowlers leaking too many runs in Powerplay overs.

While Suryakumar Yadav, with 283 runs from eight games, has performed decently after being promoted up the order, Caribbean left-hander Evin Lewis (194 in 7 games) has not been able to replicate his form in international matches.

Skipper Rohit Sharma (196 in 8 matches) has shuffled his own batting position but his inconsistency has also hurt Mumbai Indians big time.

The opening stands in eight games has so far yielded: 7, 11, 102, 0, 1, 12, 69, 5.

A look at the statistics will reveal that they have got solid foundation in only two games of which they won the match against CSK.

The other problem that has plagued Mumbai has been the performance of their two all-rounders -- Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya.

With Pollard not fit enough to bowl, his contribution of 76 runs in 6 innings has been an issue. Hardik has also blown hot 'n' cold during the season with 111 runs, including a toiling 50 in the last game along with 11 wickets.

Left-arm pacers Mustafizur Rahaman (7 wickets) and Mitchell McLenaghan (9 wickets) have both been expensive at the start and back-end of the opposition innings with unimpressive economy rates of 8.34 and 8.66 respectively.

That has put immense pressure on Jasprit Bumrah (9 wickets at an economy rate of 7) and Hardik (11 eickets at 8.74).

The only silver lining for the Mumbai Indians this season has been the emergence of young leg-spinner Mayank Markande (11 wickets) . The teenager has shown admirable temperament against the biggest names.

However it will depend on the big guns as to whether IPL's most successful franchise makes it to the Play-Offs this time.

Squads:

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul (wk), Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Axar Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Manzoor Dar Pandav, Pardeep Sahu, Ben Dwarshuis, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar.

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McLenaghan, Mustafizur Rahaman, Jasprit Bumrah, Akila Dananjaya, Ben Cutting, JP Duminy, Rahul Chahar, Sharad Lumba, Adam Milne, Siddhesh Lad, Md Nidheesh, Mohsin Khan, Anukul Roy, Pradeep Sangwan, Tajinder Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Saurabh Tiwary.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be played on November 20, the sources within the BCCI confirmed on Sunday.

The IPL's governing council met earlier today, and it has also been decided that the evening matches will start at 7:30 pm, half an hour earlier than usual.

Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and Arun Dhumal, treasurer of BCCI did not attend the IPL's governing council meeting.

"The tournament will run for 51 days, usually the IPL should go on for 49 days as per the constitution, however in the meeting it has been decided that we will go to Supreme Court for conducting the IPL in 51 days," sources within the BCCI said.

"As the tournament is running for 51 days, we will get the chance to play fewer doubleheaders, there would be just 10 double headers, evening matches will start at 7:30 and the afternoon matches will start at 3:30. 

The matches will be played across three venues at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah as travelling here by road is easier and bio-secure environment can be maintained," he added.

The IPL's governing council also confirmed that Women's IPL will also go on and four teams would be participating in it.

"When it comes to women's IPL, there would be four teams and the matches would be played at the time of playoffs for men's IPL," the source said.

The source within the BCCI also said that the governing council would be meeting again to discuss the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all the franchises that need to be followed in the IPL.

The governing council meeting discussed the quarantine measures along with the standard operating procedures (SOP), bio bubble training facilities, stay and travel of the players.

Issues related to the broadcaster, shifting, and scheduling of the tournament, and DXB app to be downloaded for players and other officials were also discussed as well.

A few days earlier, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had also confirmed receiving the official Letter of Intent from the BCCI to host the 2020 edition of the IPL.

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News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday called the 1983 World Cup win as the 'landscape' changing moment for the game of cricket in the country.

Today, India is celebrating the completion of the 37 years of the maiden World Cup triumph under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

"Today 37 years ago, changed the cricketing landscape in India. Thank you @therealkapildev and team for making the game a career for many of us today. Deeply indebted," Ashwin tweeted.

In 1983, in the finals between India and West Indies, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first.

The Kapil Dev-led side managed to score just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes picked up two wickets each.

Defending 183, India did a good job of keeping a check on the Windies run flow, reducing the side to 57/3.

Soon after, the team from the Caribbean was reduced to 76/6 and India was the favourites from there on to win the title.

Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket of Michael Holding to give India their first-ever World Cup title win.

In the finals, West Indies was bowled out for 140, and as a result, India won the match by 43 runs.

Kapil Dev lifting the trophy at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground still remains an image to savour for all the Indian fans.

In the finals, Mohinder Amarnath was chosen as the Man of the Match as he scored 26 runs with the bat and also picked up three wickets with the ball.

India has been the regular participant in the World Cup from its beginning to the latest edition. The first edition was held in 1975 and from there on, it has taken place after a span of every four years.

West Indies won the first two World Cup titles (1975, 1979) and was the runner-up in 1983. India has won the title two times, in 1983 and in 2011.

MS Dhoni captained the 2011 team to win their second title after 28 years. Australia has won the tournament five times (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015).

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