RCB ready to test jittery KXIP in must-win game

Agencies
May 13, 2018

Indore, May 13: Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter here tomorrow.

RCB got some breathing space after their five-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils while Kings XI Punjab, after a brilliant run at the initial stages, are currently struggling with back to back defeats.

Despite losses to Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, KXIP are in the top half of the league with 12 points while RCB are still languishing at the second last place in the table.

However in IPL, strange things have happened at the business end of the tournament and RCB, under Virat Kohli, are likely to put a lot of pressure on the slipping KXIP.

While Kohli and AB de Villiers anchored an easy chase against Daredevils with stylish half-centuries, KXIP bowlers were under the pump, being taken to cleaners by Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik as KKR scored a mammoth 245 in the last game.

Both the teams are overtly dependant on their batting with Kohli and De Villiers holding forte for the RCB while Preity Zinta co-owned outfit looks up to KL Rahul (537 runs) and Chris Gayle (332 runs) for inspirational performances.

Such has been the gulf in performance between skipper Kohli and other batsmen in the team, despite blowing 'hot and cold' throughout the season, he is team's top scorer by a distance with 466 runs from 11 games. De Villiers (358 runs) is 108 runs behind his skipper, although he has played two games less. Mandeep Singh (245 from 11 games) is third in the list and is another 200 runs (221 runs) behind Kohli.

For KXIP, Rahul has been in a different league with five half-centuries and a strike-rate of 162 plus and an average of nearly 60. Rahul will be desperate to get some support from Gayle, who has gone quiet after initial carnage. A quickfire 50 from Gayle can change the complexion of the game.

However, it is the bowling which has let both RCB and KXIP down on many occasions.

For KXIP, the standout bowler has been Andrew Tye with 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8 per over while teenage mystery spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman has been exceptional with 14 wickets at a miserly rate of 6.99 per over.

The problem area has been skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's inability to get breakthroughs with only six scalps from 11 games at 8.13 runs per over. 

Axar Patel, the only player retained by the franchise, has fared even worse. He has got chance in only five of the matches with only three wickets in his kitty at an economy rate of 8.73.

Tye's back-up pacers Barinder Sran (4 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.40) and Mohit Sharma (6 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.88) have been disappointing and this is where the runs have been leaked.

In case of RCB, Kohli's propensity to tinker with bowling combinations after almost every game has had an impact on the performance. Only India internationals Yuzvendra Chahal (10 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 7.57) and Umesh Yadav (14 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 8.23) have played all the games.

The next specialist bowler who got to play more than five games is Mohammed Siraj (8 wickets from 8 games at an economy rate of 9.13). 

Save Chahal, the spinners have been a big flop. Washington Sundar's inexperience (economy rate of 9.60 with 4 wickets from 7 games) and Pawan Negi's profligacy (economy rate of 12.25 in 2 games) have hurt Kohli and Co's chances.

Chris Woakes got 8 wickets from five games but an economy rate of 10.36 meant that the skipper had to use Tim Southee (5 wickets from 5 games at an economy rate of 8.42).

The Teams (From): 

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, 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, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(C), Quinton de Kock(w), Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Tim Southee.

Match Starts at 8 pm.

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News Network
April 9,2020

New Delhi, Apr 9: The legendary Kapil Dev on Thursday slammed Shoaib Akhtar's idea of a made-for-television three-match ODI series between India and Pakistan to raise funds for the Covid19 pandemic, saying "India doesn't need the money" and it is not worth risking lives for a cricket match.

Speaking to news agency, Akhtar on Wednesday proposed a closed-door series to jointly raise funds to fight the deadly virus both in India and Pakistan. Dev said the proposal is not feasible.

"He is entitled to his opinion but we don't need to raise the money. We have enough. For us, what is important right now is how our authorities work together to deal with this crisis. I am still seeing a lot of blame game on television from the politicians and that needs to stop," Dev said.

"Anyway, the BCCI has donated a hefty amount (Rs 51 crore) for the cause and is in a position to donate much more if the need arises. It doesn't need to raise funds.

"The situation is unlikely to get normal anytime soon and organising a cricket game means putting our cricketers at risk which we don't need to," said the World Cup-winning former captain.

Dev said cricket should not even matter for at least the next six months.

"It is just not worth the risk. And how much money can you make from three games? In my view, you can't even think of cricket for the next five to six months," he said.

Dev said the focus, at the moment, should only be on saving lives and taking care of the poor who are struggling to make ends meet in a lockdown situation.

"Cricket will resume when things get normal. The game can't be bigger than the country. The pressing issue is to look after the poor, the hospital workers, the police and all other people who are on the frontline of this war," said the 61-year-old.

As an Indian, Dev feels proud that his country is in a position help other nations including the United States.

President Donald Trump has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping the United States with the supply of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug being touted as a potential cure for Covid19 patients.

"Helping others is in our culture and I feel proud about that. We should not seek credit after helping others. We should strive to become a nation which gives more and more rather than taking from others," he said.

Like everyone else, Dev is at home and practising social distancing.

Asked how he views the current situation, he said: "Nelson Mandela stayed in a tiny cell for 27 years. Compared to that, we are in a privileged position (that we just have to stay at home for sometime)."

"There is nothing bigger than life at the moment and that is what we need to save."

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: As India continues its fight against coronavirus, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly pledged to donate rice worth Rs 50 Lakhs to the needy people.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), in its statement, said Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice will provide rice to people who have been put in government schools for safety and security.
"#Sourav to provide Free Rice to the Needy It is heartening to note that Sourav Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice has come forward to provide free rice worth Rs 50 lacs to the needy people who have been put in government schools for safety and security. Hope this initiative of Ganguly would encourage other citizens of the state to take up similar initiatives to serve the people of our state. #CAB," CAB said in a statement.
CAB President Avishek Dalmiya has also lent support to the needy people as he donated Rs 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund.
"CAB President donates 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund to fight against #CoronaVirus/#Covid19," CAB said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day nation-wide lockdown to contain coronavirus.

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