Anuj Rawat and Shahbaz Ahmed Haven’t Been Able to Capitalise": Sanjay Bangar Criticises RCB Youngsters
Veteran Spinner completes 500 First-class wickets
IPL 2022 | Ice cool DK and Shahbaz finish off in style as RCB hand RR their first defeat of the season
Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of entire Ind-Eng Test series: Reports
India’s dynamic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out for the entire India-England Test series. If reports are to be believed, Jadeja’s injury, suffered during the third Aus-Ind Test in Sydney has not healed till now. Stationed at the National Cricket Academy, it is almost certain that Jadeja, who was ruled out of the first two Tests wouldn’t be moving to Ahmedabad for the third and fourth Test reported Cricbuzz. It would be interesting to see if the 32-year-old would get fit by the time of the limited-overs series in March. With Jadeja unavailable, either one between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel might get a long run of three Tests. This is mainly due to the fact that Shahbaz Nadem couldn’t deliver as per expectations in the first Test and skipper Kohli wanted variation in his attack. "There are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. Moving forward, we will think of the combinations which bring us variety as a bowling attack, and not one dimensional, turning away from the bat," Kohli said in the presentation ceremony of the first Test.
Another setback for Kuldeep, fit Axar likely to replace Nadeem in second Test
Indian chinaman Kuldeep Yadav might have to face yet another setback in the second Test in Chennai. With rumours flying around that Shabaz Nadeem might be benched for the next game, Axar Patel might get a nod for debut ahead of the left-arm wrist spinner. Yadav despite picking up a 5-wicket haul in his last Test, back in 2019 might get snubbed once again for a better combination. It needs to be noted that Axar Patel was originally slated to make his debut in the first Test in Chennai but was ruled out due to injury. “Axar had a minor niggle in the knee and has already started batting in the nets. He is expected to start bowling in the next couple of days,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying to PTI. “He was always the first choice for the opening Test, but a lot will now depend on skipper Virat Kohli, bowling coach Bharat Arun and Ravi Shastri on who finally makes the cut,” the source added, indicating that as and when Nadeem is replaced, the chances of Axar playing his first Test would be more than Kuldeep getting a callback. In First-Class cricket Axar has 134 wickets in 39 games at a good enough average of 27.38. At the same time, he is handy with the bat as well having scored 1665 runs at an average of 35.42 with 13 fifties and one hundred to his credit. Nadeem picked up only four wickets in the first Test and bowled nine no balls to wreck his chances of playing another game. The second Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, same venue as the first one would start from 13th February.
Bullish Kohli justifies overlooking Kuldeep Yadav, backs Rahane as 'important Test batsman'
India were handed out a massive drubbing in the opening Test of the four-match Test series against England in Chennai, but for the skipper Virat Kohli, it was just a game where they failed to execute their plans. He downplayed the magnitude of their first loss at home in four years and appeared bullish on the prospect of a comeback in the series from his side which he said has been doing great things in the recent past. The team selection, especially picking the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem in the place of Kuldeep Yadav who has been warming the bench for a very long period of time raised many questions about the consistency in decisions over team selection. Kuldeep last played a Test match against Australia in 2019 where he picked up a five-wicket haul at the SCG and his performance earned high praise from the head coach Ravi Shastri who called him the number one spinner in overseas conditions. Two years later, Kuldeep can’t find a place in the team even in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja or both Jadeja and Ashwin (in Brisbane). Kohli was asked whether he considered in the hindsight, playing Nadeem who could not provide control to him and leaked too many runs from one end over Kuldeep who could have been more lethal in terms of wicket-taking options was a mistake. Kohli freed himself and the team management from any regret of preferring Naddem over Kuldeep and he asserted that the team always knew the combination it wants to play with and that the result of the first Test won’t make much difference in the thought process of the team. "Not really, not at all. When you playing two off-spinners, Kuldeep becomes more or less same kind of spinner taking the ball away. We were quite clear on what we wanted to play, what combination we wanted to play. There are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. Moving forward, we will think of combinations, which brings us variety as a bowling attack. And not one dimensional, turning away from the bat. These things are very important,” Kohli said in the post-match press conference. The onus of saving the game was on the Indian batsmen on the fifth day but the lack of runs from the senior players such as Rahane, and Rohit along with a rare failure for Pujara in terms of staying st the crease made the case very weak for the hosts on the fifth-day pitch. His deputy Rahane got a lot of flakes for getting out cheaply on the fifth day and failing in yet another home Test match. Rahane was bowled neck and crop by James Anderson for a two-ball-duck and social media was flooded with people questioning his place in the Indian Test team, especially at home. Kohli was belligerent in his defence of Rahane and rated him along with Pujara as the mainstays of the Indian Test team. He said that the team has trusted the qualities of Rahane and he has been an impact player for the side in the past in tough conditions. Kohli was unapologetic about the infinite backings Rahane has received from the team management over the last three-four years even while the Rahane has not been able to put brilliant performances on a consistent basis. "Ajinkya Rahane is, I have said this many times in the past as well, along with Cheteshwar Pujara is our most important Test batsman and he is going to continue to be. We believe in his abilities, we have believed in his abilities for a long time now. He is an impact player,” Kohli added. He reminded that Rahane stood up tall to lead the Indian batting order in the Boxing Day Test against Australia with a fighting hundred which eventually turned out to be a turning point of the series. "In the MCG Test, he stood up and scored a hundred for his team when we wanted it the most. You can look at the number of innings and what happens from there on, the reality of the situation is we won the series in Australia,” Kohli further said. “And here, there is just one test, two innings. Today, yes, you can put that innings aside. In the first innings, he wanted to score a boundary. It was a brilliant catch by Joe Root that got rid of him. If that had gone for a boundary and he had scored runs, we are not having this conversation.” Kohli was asked how he could manage to bat so confidently and comfortably against the English bowlers in the second innings when his teammates struggled to cope up with the pitch conditions. He picked up a comment about Gill’s batting where it was said that the batsman from Punjab struggled in the second innings. Kohli has always been appreciative of Gill’s batting abilities and he did not let the opportunity of appreciating the class of Gill go by this time either. He asserted that the right-hander was the best batsman for Indian in this Test match. The second Test of the series is slated to be played at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai only and will begin on February 13. Kohli will be looking to bounce back strongly from this defeat and he has expressed full confidence in his team on doing so.
19 so far: Shahbaz Nadeem explains Team India’s problems with 'No-Ball'
The Indian team has so far conceded 19 no-balls in the first Test going on at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. It is the highest number of no-balls conceded in an innings in the last 11 years in international cricket. Six out of those 19 no balls were conceded by the left-arm orthodox Shahbaz Nadeem. Nadeem said that the main reason behind him conceding so many no balls was the fault in his jump. “I think I am jumping a bit late. I should be jumping much before the crease,” said the 31-year-old during the virtual press conference. Explaining as to why India bowled a defensive line, Nadeem said, “The plan was to bowl in the right areas. Going for a wicket meant that we risked going for runs. So the plan was to bowl in the right areas and let the batsmen make the mistake while going for big shots.” Reassuring that Indian batsmen would score big in the first inning, the Jharkhand born confirmed that the pitch is still very good to bat on. “The wicket is still the same, there hasn’t been much change in it. There is a rough patch on the left side of the batsman which could be dangerous. But the middle is still the same, quite good for batting,” said Nadeem. Nadeem got both the danger men, Joe Root and Ben Stokes out on the second of the game.
IND v ENG | 1st Test Day 2 Report: Red-hot Joe Root marshals his troops to punish India
If India were hoping for a better result on the second day of the ongoing first Test in Chennai, England skipper Joe Root, partnered with other batsmen made sure the misery got only deeper for the hosts. The pitch at Chepauk played a little better for the bowlers on the second day, but it turned out to be too little and too late as Joe Root had already got his eyes in and other English batsmen got the platform to unleash attacking game against the Indian bowlers. But, the blame for being inconsistent with their lines and allowing batsmen to get away with hittable balls must lie with them. The long and hard toil of Ishant Sharma finally paid dividend to him and the side as he saw the back of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer on consecutive balls but the tourists had the game firmly in their control to suffer any sort of setbacks from the pacer. At the end of the day’s play, England were eight down for 555 and the batting tactics in the late phase of the day clearly established the approach the tourists are having at this point in time. They are clearly looking to make the most out of the pitch when it has been least conducive to any form of bowling. Later, they will rely on the likes of Jack Leach and Dominic Bess to bundle India twice as the pitch will start showing signs of wear and tear starting the third day. All Indian pacers were guilty of not finding a perfect rhythm and bowling run-up as they came running on a spree of no-balls. The left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem who was considered as a safe option instead of Kuldeep Yadav by the team management was the biggest culprit with four no-balls as the hosts gifted as many as 19 no-balls in 180 overs. All including Ravichandran Ashwin who bowled the very first no-ball of his Test career contributed to that unwanted stats on the second day of the Test. The scorecard might give the impression that the Indian bowlers bowled poorly against the tourists, but that was not the case completely as all of Ishant, Bumrah, and Washington showed signs of wo0rking well with the line that troubled the Englishmen. The fact that the tourists had such a big platform behind them, that the hosts were already chasing the game, and the lack of consistent support from the pitch made their case quite difficult. Nevertheless, Kohli would have backed his bowling attack to bowl with much better control than they actually did and the skipper was clearly not impressed with bowlers, especially Washington and Nadeem not committing to larger plans set by the management. In his 44 over so far, Nadeem has already conceded 167 runs, while off-spinner Washington too was indisciplined and let go 98 runs from his 26 overs. On the pitch that was offering assistance very far and few in between periods of no help at all, Kohli clearly looked running out f options and the absence of Ravindra Jadeja was clearly telling on his face, along with the situation of the game. Earlier at the start of the play, India were hoping for striking early t check England’s momentum throughout the day, and the new man at the crease, Ben Stokes also provided them opportunities with his usual aggressive style of batting. The all-rounder looked like a man on a mission of taking his team to a position of strength that India could never come back from. When Kohli brought Nadeem to exploit the rough building outside his off stump, the left-hander went berserk against the left-arm spinner, and India were put on the back foot fairly early on the second day as well. Stokes was clearly looking to dismiss India with his aggressive strokes and he was successful as well, but he could not carry along long enough to push India on the brink. Methods that reaped success for him ultimately sent him back to the pavilion as his attempt to despatch Nadeem over the keg side fence from the rough finally led to his downfall and the plan finally proved successful for the hosts. At the other end of the pitch, Joe root was carrying on his merry way with a role reversal from the first day where he had to play the role of an enforcer with Sibley protecting wickets from one end to stabilizing the innings with Stokes taking the game to India. He marched along to complete his second double century in the third Test this year and became the only batsman in the history of the game to reach the milestone n his 200th Test. He was outed to be the man who will make the difference for the tourists in this series, and if his concentration and technique of playing spin bowling are the indicators of what has to come ahead in the series, Kohli and company have their task cut out if they want to defeat this England side which clearly looked like a side which has learned some tough lessons in the subcontinent. Root’s picking of length against spinners and being decisive with his feet movement stood out but he too would admit being surprised facing Ashwin and co. on a road, that too at Chepauk. The next man in after Stokes, Ollie Pope was making his way back into the Test team after missing the series against Sri Lanka due to injuries and the lack of game time in the middle was clearly visible in his struggle to time the ball. Nadeem was equally inconsistent against him, but he could not utilize the short and wide deliveries and kept on finding fielders instead of gaps. Although he stitched a vital partnership with the skipper, he never looked like batting with the fluency he has been known so far in his career. It would have been frustrating for the wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler to be sitting for such a long time in the dressing room and the way he got out will not improve his feeling either. He has been rested in the series after this Test, and it clearly appeared that he will have only one shot at winning his critics in the series against India. As the ball got older, it was the time for Ishant Sharma to bag some wickets and earn redemption after toiling so hard on the first and the early part of the second day. He honed in around the off stump of Buttler, and in the end, the right-hander was flummoxed with the one that came back off the pitch and rattling his stumps. Jofra Archer would not buy the argument of the pitch at MA Chidambaram being a flat one as the very first ball he faced off Ishant cut him into half and rattled his tumps to put Ishant on the verge of a Test hattrick. Ishant had a [erfect rhythm going and the spinning pair of Jack Leach and Dominic Bess who have to play an instrumental role for the tourists to win this game, were tested around their off stump. At the end of the day, Indian bowlers finished the day on a frustrating note with many hits and misses from the English spin twins. England’s approach of taking the game deeper and coring as many as they can pile on has raised some eyebrows among the commentariat but they can be forgiven for being wary of the Indian batting line up and learning the lessons from their last tur of India when they were defeated even after scoring more than 400 runs in the first innings. Root and the England team management is clearly looking to eliminate any chance of an Indian win with a mountainous score and lack of time in the Test.
IND vs ENG | 1st Test day 1 report: Sweeping Root, defiant Sibley lead England's dominance
A splendid century from captain Joe Root and defiant innings by Dominic Sibley have put the England team in a position of real strength in the first Test against India in Chennai. The duo put on a show of completely different bating styles with Sibley holding on the one side of the wicket, while Root liberated his team on the back of his usual sweep and river sweeps. Root was coming into this Test match with a huge round of expectations from him as he was in terrific form against Sri Lanka on the pitches where his teammates were clearly searching for answers. His team was looking at him to get them out to a good position in yet another game, and the English skipper was not in any mood to waste his good form. On the other hand, Sibley was the symbol of resistance for the tourists on the first-day pitch at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium. Indian bowlers were bowling accurate lines and lengths to him for the large part of the day before their discipline and patience were worn down by Sibley who denied them the chance to dismiss him and get an opening into the middle and lower order. The pair stretched their partnership to 200 runs in the fag end of the day’s play as the tourists piled on the misery of hosts’ bowlers on a placid Chepauk pitch that offered them very little, and Root’s primitiveness clearly exposed the lack of reliable options for skipper Kohli who must have missed the services of Ravindra Jadeja. Root has been guilty of throwing his starts and form in the past, but he has already faced more deliveries this year than his batting stays at the crease in the last year although he has played five fewer matches this year. Root is the leader of the English batting line up, other than being the captain of the side, and by the end of the first day in Chennai and Sri Lanka series that preceded this Test, he has now started to blossom as the leader of the attack. A little ray of hope came after the partnership for Kohli and India on the back of Jasprit Bumrah who was making his debut on Indian soil and had no other options but to make his own luck. He banked on the old-aged formula of taking the pitch out of the equation by bowling really full deliveries as both his scalps – Dan Lawrence and Sibley were results of surprising batsmen with really full-deliveries and catching them rooted in the crease. Joe Root remained not out at the end of the first day’s play and he will be the massive thorn in the flesh of Indians come the second day in the Test as Kohli and his team face the prospect of batting last in the game, albeit the pitch is appearing to be an absolute road. Earlier in the day, Joe Root had a fascinating start to the series as he won the very essential toss as an Indian batting order batting on this pitch would have sent the tourists so far back in the game. Kohli was not hiding his point of view and expressed clearly his eagerness to bat first and make the most of the surface that had nothing in it for any form of bowlers. Indian pacers started on the disciplined note, but the English openers Sibley and Rory Burns were watchful to start off the innings. Bumrah looked threatening while Ishant clearly looked rust having not played a long-form game in a very long time. With no clear sign of swing or any other form of assistance to his pacers, Kohli turned to his trump card in Ashwin in the seventh over, and while he bowled with his absolute control over his dip and flight, the surface left him disappointed and toothless and the solitary wicket he got of Burns was more the case of the left-hander scripting his own demise than the off-spinner actually getting better of him. Although the script on the field changed from the triumph in Brisbane, the of-filed loggerheads and headaches around finding the perfect balance of the playing XI did not leave India in their own backyard as well. Just before the start of the match, the BCCI issued a statement notifying of Axar Patel’s knee injury who was touted to be the man who could be a like for like replacement for Jadeja, and his absence combined with the effects Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya had on the English batting line up was too tempting an option for the Kohli-led management to overlook Shahbaz Nadeem. Along with that, to make things more complicated for the hosts, Axar was also set to bat at the number seven position ahead of Ashwin and the team management could not take a brave call on having a slightly longer tail with Kuldeep Yadav batting just at the eighth position and rather banked on Washington Sundar to provide all-round performance at his home ground as well. Kuldeep Yadav was all but certain to play before the injury to Axar threw all the team combination in disarray and India went to a defensive option of the deeper batting line up instead of bolstering the bowling line up which in the hindsight, they clearly missed on a flat Chepauk pitch. Needless to say, Kohli missed Jadeja’s control on the first day with both Washington and Nadeem struggling for control and providing boundary balls to the English batsmen. They had a tough competitor in Root who really played well to their mindset as the English skipper clearly walked out with clear tactics of not attacking any of Ashwin, Ishant, and Bumrah while charging towards both Washington and Nadeem. It was a clear case of Root asking the depth of their prowess and at the end of the first day’s play, Root emerged as the clear winner. At the end of the day’s play, England was 263/3 and while Root will be looking forward to taking the innings deeper and bat India out of the game, for the hosts the morning session tomorrow will be the most vital if they have to come back in the game.
Twitter criticises Indian management for not playing Kuldeep Yadav in first Test
The Indian Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav once again found himself out of favour as he was not selected in the playing XI for the first match against England. The match is taking place in Chennai and even after being fit, Yadav got a cold shoulder in favour of Shahbaz Nadeem. The Twitterati didn’t find it pleasing one bit and then there was a flood of memes related to Kuldeep’s non-selection in the side. Even former cricketers and cricket commentators were shocked by Indian team management’s decision of not playing the Uttar Pradesh born a Chennai wicket which is known for favouring spinners. Kuldeep, 26, has so far played six Tests and taken 24 wickets in them with an average of 24.12 and a brilliant strikerate of 51.2. However, the last time he played a test match was when nobody had heard of covid-19 and shining the balls with saliva was still permitted.
Standby for England series, Shahbaz Nadeem compares Dhoni, Kohli captaincy traits
Veteran Jharkhand spinner Shahbaz Nadeem who played just one Test for India before getting overlooked has been included in the standby players for the upcoming England series. The BCCI had earlier announced the squad for the first two Tests. In an exclusive chat with OneCricket, the left-arm spinner talks about his India debut, IPL and much more. How are you feeling to be included in the squad? I have just got the call-up and my only focus is to go there and be with the team. I want to give my best in whatever the opportunities I get from the management. Talk to us about IPL. All the players are very excited and they are striving to give their best. We have been away from cricket for quite a long time now so we are pretty excited to get back in action. How did you keep up your fitness game during COVID-19? As you know there wasn’t any cricket going on so all of us were putting in an extra effort towards our fitness. I used to workout at home and running in the nearby campus. Talk to us about your journey before getting the India cap. Look some players play for the country early while some have to struggle a bit. My debut took time but that has actually helped me to be matured enough with my bowling. The experience of playing at the domestic level for so long has helped me in a different way. When I made my debut, I was not that nervous because I had been playing cricket for a very long time. I was more of excited to represent my country. How is David Warner as captain? David Warner is someone who always gives his best. He used to be in the game earlier when he just played as a pure batsman and now leads from the front after donning the captain’s hat. He interacts with all the players and gives his input to one and all. It feels good when you see that your captain is pretty involved in the game. You get that confidence. What difference do you feel between MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Warner’s captaincy? Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have different ways of expressing themselves. While Virat plays more aggressive cricket, Dhoni is calm but both the players are committed towards the team they play whether IPL or India. Talking about the captaincy of these three players Dhoni keeps himself cool, Kohli is a bit aggressive and wants his team to dominate the opposition. Warner is also pretty aggressive and wants to remain ahead of the opponents in the game. Talk to us about your Vijay Hazare record of 8/10 vs Rajasthan Actually, I didn’t realise that I have achieved that milestone. I was bowling good and got wickets gradually. In fact I didn’t even realise that I have taken a hat trick because two wickets came on the last two balls of an over and the third one on the first ball of the next over. The scorer later told me about the feat at the end of the match. Competing with other left-arm spinners Honestly, it’s a good competition. Now we all know that we have to keep our game a level up. All of us have the realisation that we have to perform consistently. It is a healthy competition and helps us grow as a player. Are you focusing on batting as well? Yes, I’m also concentrating on my batting. My mind setup is to to stay at the crease for a longer time and negotiate as many deliveries as I can while being in the middle. How did you feel about India’s famous Gabba win? It was a great win for the team especially after the struggles that the side had to face on the tour. The players were young but showed good character. The players who won the match have played with us in India A, so it feels really good. It’s a good win for sure.
SRH vs MI: Hits & Flops as Saha-Warner special knocks KKR out of tournament
It was a special act on the part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad openers in Wriddhiman Saha and captain David Warner, who put on an unbeaten partnership of 153 runs to see their team home by 10 wickets in Sharjah against the Mumbai Indians, and in the process knocked out Kolkata Knight Riders who were harbouring hopes of making it to the playoffs, if Hyderabad lost. This is the second time in a row that Kolkata has had to miss out on a Playoffs birth because of the Sunrisers as last year too, the Orange brigade qualified even after having equal points as Kolkata, just on the basis of run rate. The same has happened this year as well. Earlier in the day, Sunrisers’ bowlers choked the Mumbai Indians batting, stopping them at just 149 in the 20 overs. Shahbaz Nadeem and Jason Holder along with Sandeep Sharma were the main wreckers. On that note, let’s look at the Hits and Flops from the game. Hits #1 David Warner The Sunrisers captain was on the money in this game as he not only built a strong and unbeaten partnership and batted at the strike rate people generally associate with him, he also rotated his bowlers very well while in the field. With this knock of 85, he also reached the 500 run mark in this season, carrying on from the last one. In his knock of 85, which came off just 58 balls, Warner hit 10 fours and one six and did not give any opportunity whatsoever for the bowlers to get his wicket. Finishing the match was something that has been on his mind ever since the SRH were robbed of two points by Kings XI as Warner had failed to finish it. #2 Shahbaz Nadeem Nadeem was excellent as he made the best of the opportunity that he got and took two quick wickets of a settled Suryakumar Yadav and a newcomer in Krunal Pandya. He was economical as well and played a perfect role in keeping things tight. In his four overs, the Jharkhand lad gave away just 19 runs at even less than 5 an over. This was the first big performance of the left-arm orthodox spinner as before that, he had not been able to pick more than one wicket in this entire season. For his role of containment of runs and still being able to pick two crucial wickets, Nadeem was also rewarded with the Man of the Match award. #3 Wriddhiman Saha Since the time Saha has taken the place of Jonny Bairstow, not only the team balance has become better but the Sunrisers are now also able to play a proper foreign all-rounder in Jason Holder as well. And Saha has not merely taken Bairstow’s place but in spirit has delivered as well. The Siliguri born showcased his range of shots in this game as well, hitting a brilliant 58* off 45 balls. In the partnership with Warner, Saha was initially the aggressor taking pressure off his captain and this is the role that has made him the automatic choice in the 11. In the last three games, all of which the Sunriseers has gone on to win; it was Saha who has played the anchor roles, aggressively and quite well too. Flops #1 Rohit Sharma Coming back from the hamstring injury, it wasn’t easy for the Hitman to start hitting right from the word go. He couldn’t rally middle the ball and while trying to hit one over mid-off, got caught by his opposite number David Warner. Rohit could only score four runs off seven balls. Moreover, as he said in the presentation ceremony, it was a match that he and his team would like to forget as soon as possible. #2 Krunal Pandya The senior of the Pandya brothers haven’t really got going in this year’s league, although he has remained the part of the team’s playing XI in all the matches, (god knows why?. Krunal in the last 10 matches has scored only 95 runs with a dismal average of 9.5. The Baroda born hasn’t even been able to cross the single-digit mark on five occasion s in his last 10 innings. All this shows his struggle with the bat. This continued today as well as he marched out of the ground on a duck as well. However, his bowling isn’t much promising either. The 29-year-old has gone wicketless in his last seven innings, including this one. In fact, in this entire season, Krunal has picked up just three wickets. For Mumbai, it was an eye-opener and they must open their eyes before being robbed by Delhi in the first qualifier. Hyderabad on the other hand would go in as the favourites against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore.
SRH vs MI: What experts said as Hyderabad punish Mumbai to march into playoffs
All hopes hung by a thread in the final game of the round-robin stage of the Indian Premier League 2020 as not only Sunrisers Hyderabad but also Kolkata Knight Riders and their fans eagerly awaited the fates of their individual teams. But the Sunrisers got the better of the situation as a second-string Mumbai was no match to the powerhouse performance from the Hyderabad unit, winning the Sharjah encounter by a mammoth 10 wickets. While Shahbaz Nadeem and Jason Holder were the pick of the blowers with their tantalising and fruitful spells, Sandeep Sharma got the bulk of wickets, utilising his skillset in a sluggish track and the pressure built by these bowlers. Forced to bat first after losing the toss, Mumbai, who were back with their original captain after a gap of four games, couldn’t do much and get up to only 149 in their allotted 20 overs. Chasing was going to be easy courtesy of the dew factor, but not as easy as Wriddhiman Saha and David Warner made it look. They chased the target in just 17.1 overs, without losing even a single wicket. Forget about losing a wicket, they hardly even gave any chance to the Mumbai lineup. Captains’ Viewpoints Speaking at the presentation ceremony after the victory, Sunrisers captain David Warner said that It felt good to him and the team that they have qualified, especially after the dreadful loss against KXIP. Acknowledging that it wasn’t the first side of the Mumbai Indians, Warner said that even after that his bowlers deserved the credit for restricting the blue brigade under 150. “They rested a few players but to hold them to 150 on this ground was great. A lot of credit goes to the bowlers, Nadeem was superb,” he said. Impressing upon the fact that the attempt was always to be clinical in their performances, Warner said that the never say die attitude stems from the franchise owners. “We were trying to be as clinical with the bat then, and it feels good. We try and put our best foot forward, and that stems from the franchise owners. They are great people and it is like a family. We have a never say die attitude and that is how we approach each game,” he added. Mentioning the injuries that the Sunrisers have had to make their way with, the 33-year-old said that all those players might not be here in person, but in spirit, they were supporting the Orange brigade from wherever they were. “We had a couple of injuries but they are here in spirit and we are doing it for them. Kane missed out due to injury last year and Jonny took his place and was absolutely fantastic. But that happens in franchise cricket, we can play only four overseas players,” the Australian said. Sending out a strong but subtle message to his opponents, Warner said, “We looked at 2016; we were in the same situation where we had to win every game to win the title.” If we can take this performance and momentum into the next game we'll be really happy,” he concluded. Rohit Sharma, back after a hamstring match, ended up on the losing side and said that the humiliating defeat was ‘not the day to remember’ for the team, categorizing it as ‘probably the worst performance of the season so far.’ Justifying the changes, Rohit said, “We wanted to try a few things but unfortunately it didn't go our way. Losing wickets at the top doesn't help.” He further said that he knew that dew was going to play a big part, and therefore they wanted to take the toss out of consideration. Updating on his injury, Rohit said, “The hamstring is absolutely fine. I am happy to be back on the park. Looking forward to a few more games here and see how it goes.” Talking about the dew and how it might impact the upcoming games as well, Rohit said that they would not like dew to be the excuse for anything what so ever. “We play at Wankhede, which always has dew. So we don't want to be de-motivated when we lose the toss,” said the Mumbai captain. Further owning up the responsibility, he said, “We didn't have enough runs on the board to put any pressure on them. If you take wickets in the Powerplay, even if there is dew, it can put pressure on them.” Talking about the qualifier, Rohit said that they could think of all the wins that they have had over Delhi Capitals including the two this year, yet that would not serve any purpose as every day is different. “It is a funny format. I know you want to remember those two wins against DC but you have to stay in the present and keep doing the small things and keep ticking the boxes. You want to leave tonight behind as quickly as possible. We will get back to the drawing board tomorrow,” concluded the 33-year-old. Expert Opinion The experts were all awed by the sheer professionalism shown by the Sunrisers in a must-win game. Most of them also rated the orange brigade as the team to beat going into the Playoffs. Former cricketer turned cricket expert Aakash Chopra said that Sunrisres bossed the game and Mumbai not playing their main players can in no way rob off the Hyderabad side of the credit that they played superbly. Statistician Seervi Bharath picked out some very unique points from the tournament so far, trying to convey that it was the most interesting tournament and yet the most boring one as well. For Harsha Bhogle, the senior cricket analyst, SRH winning the way that they did without needing anybody or any other situation's support was an achievement that sets them apart and make them deserving of the applauses that they have got. Broadcast cricket journalist Vikrant Gupta praised Wriddhiman Saha saying that nobody at the start of the season would have imagined him to be the X factor for the Sunrisers. Kolkata-based veteran journalist Joy Bhattacaharjya was impressed with the way Sunrisers performed in their last three games and said that the teams facing them in the Playoffs would be worried. Gaurav Klara, as always suggested a very unique but innovative idea of putting Cameras in Kolkata Knight Riders' common room so that a Live Feed of their reactions regarding this match could also be shown to the viewers to make the experience more enriching. Hyderabad would look to carry the same momentum going into the Playoffs, while Mumbai would look for a change for sure.
IPL 2020 | RCB vs SRH: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks
As the tournament is coming near to its climax, the road to the playoffs is getting more interesting and exciting. The next game in the league between the two Deccan rivals will be an ultimate clash as both the teams would be looking to enter the playoffs. While Sunrisers would be looking to gain another two points to boost their chances of qualifying, RCB would be looking to straightway enter the Playoffs with a win. SRH’s balance looking solid The Hyderabad team for the first time looked balance as they played both David Warner and Kane Williamson in one game and at the same time had an all-rounder in Jason Holder as well. Along with this, they preferred to play an extra spinner with Rashid Khan in the form of Shahbaz Nadeem. With Wridhiman Saha opening the innings, the scope playing Vijay Shankar and Holder down the order as specialist finishers also make the team look dangerous in the death. Worrying signs for RCB as it starts looking like the old self The Royal Challengers Bangalore have started to falter at the business end of the tournament, giving signs that it is getting back to its much-known version of choking at the important phases. In the last two games, it lost to Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians by huge margins. The team hasn’t found the solution of how to beat in the death if either de Villiers or Kohli get out and neither do they have a solution on how to bowl in the death if two set batsmen are batting. In Washington Sunder and Yuzvendra Chahal, they have two very good spinners no doubt, but they are rendered useless if the fast bowlers don’t capitalize on the players built by their economical spells. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Details Match Number- 52 Date: 30th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 2.00 PM GMT Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitches all across the UAE have behaved in identical ways but in two phases. While in the first phase it was about high scores in the first innings and then the chasing team being unable to cross that in most cases. In the second phase, it has been about low scores in the first innings with dry pitches helping spinners and the dew helping the chasing team to cap off a win. Weather and Toss The weather in Sharjah would be good for cricket as humidity will be low and dew would be high, helping the chasing team. Also, the fact that the ground is too small, dew really becomes a huge factor. In such a scenario, the team winning the toss would look to bowl first. Team News Royal Challengers Bangalore The team is in dire need of changes. There is no clue as to why a winning combination in which Isuru Udana played the role of good fast bowlers and a lower-order hitter. Instead of playing him, the idea to play Moeen Ali or Dale Steyn could still not be fathomed by many. So the changes that can be seen in the next game are Udana coming into the team in place of Steyn. Expected XI Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Sunrisers Hyderabad The Hyderabadis look all settled finally and hence disturbing that combination would not be considered ideal. Left-arm spinner and leg spinner are the way to go against the likes of de Villiers and Kohli. Expected XI David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Dream 11 and team suggestions David Warner (c), Devdutt Padikkal (vc), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Washington Sundar, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan, Isuru Udana Captain: David Warner Vice-captain: Devdutt Padikkal