Cricket

Ex-captain Dean Elgar feels backstabbed by CSA, blames Test coach for cutting his international career short – India TV

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

Image Source : GETTY Former South Africa Test captain Dean Elgar has criticised the cricket board and the red-ball coach after his premature retirement With his contract with Cricket South Africa (CSA) ending, former Test captain Dean Elgar has opened up on the toxicity in the team environment and the politics of it all. Elgar, who was reportedly forced into retirement by red-ball coach Shukri Conrad since the senior opener wasn’t in his future plans for Proteas, in a revelation has spoken about his captaincy stint, the sudden removal and the premature retirement saying that his hard work wasn’t recognised. Elgar in a conversation with Rapport Newspaper mentioned that he wasn’t aware of what he was getting into as cricket took a backseat when he was named the skipper and he became a full-time politician and an administrator. “I became a part-time cricketer and full-time politician, something that I never want to go through again,” Elgar said. “I am a sportsman, not a politician or a cricket administrator, but I was thrown into a cauldron in which I had to be all three. If I had known that before, I would never have accepted the captaincy.” Elgar felt backstabbed by the Cricket South Africa (CSA) after he was sacked from the top job. It was on the horizon after South Africa lost to Australia 3-0, however, under Elgar, South Africa had a more than a decent shot at qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final after beating India, Bangladesh and West Indies. “It felt as though they did not recognise all my hard work over the previous year-and-a-half, that they didn’t realise how much we had improved as a team,” Elgar added. “From being sixth or seventh in the world we became a team with the potential to play in the World Test Championship final.” Elgar mentioned that the new red-ball coach was better aligned with Temba Bavuma as the skipper. Even though there was no bad blood with Bavuma, Elgar didn’t hold himself back on blaming Conrad. “Shukri Conrad is the reason why my Test career was cut short,” said Elgar who admittedly held himself back from criticizing his earswhile employees with the contract still being on till the end of April. Elgar retired from international cricket on a high as a captain after Bavuma was injured for the second Test against India. Even though the Proteas lost the second Test in Cape Town, his 185 in the opener in Centurion was the main reason why the hosts could draw the series 1-1. The 36-year-old has signed a three-year deal with Essex and already has two fifties and a century to his name.

Kylian Mbappe And PSG Aim To Seize Moment In Champions League Semi-Final

Danijones6 months ago07 mins

Paris Saint-Germain are bidding to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and beat Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League semi-final return match on Tuesday, with the aim of bringing the curtain down on the Kylian Mbappe era at the club in the final at Wembley. The only time PSG have previously appeared in the biggest match in club football turned out to be a depressingly flat occasion, with the French side losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich behind closed doors in Lisbon in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Reaching the June 1 showpiece in London, and playing before a crowd of 90,000 against either Real Madrid or Bayern again, would be a different occasion entirely. Getting there would give Mbappe the chance to end his seven-year stay with the Qatar-owned outfit in the best possible way, as they look to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, and just the second time for a French club after Marseille in 1993. Mbappe informed PSG in February of his intention to depart the Parc des Princes when his contract expires at the end of the season, ending a prolific association with his hometown team which began when he signed from Monaco in 2017. Now 25 and the captain of France, Mbappe has become the Parisians’ all-time top scorer with 255 goals in 305 appearances so far, including 43 this season alone. He has 48 in the Champions League — a tally which includes six with Monaco in his breakthrough 2016/17 campaign — and Tuesday’s second leg against Dortmund would be the ideal time for him to bring up the half-century. Luis Enrique’s team did not produce their best performance in losing 1-0 in Germany last week, and the pressure is on them as favourites to turn the tie around at home. However, a repeat of what happened when they hosted Dortmund in the group stage last September will suffice — on that occasion they won 2-0, with Mbappe netting the first goal from the penalty spot. “We are sure we are going to turn it around and qualify for the final,” Mbappe told several media including AFP on Sunday on the sidelines of an event on the French capital’s famed Champs-Elysees. “There is a lot of pressure on us, which is normal because there is a place in the Champions League final at stake. “All the more so when you know about this club’s past in the competition.” Defensive dilemma PSG were not necessarily expected to get as far as the semi-finals this season, with the squad undergoing a major overhaul following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar at the end of the last campaign. They had gone out in the last 16 in five of the last seven seasons, frequently failing in spectacular fashion in that time. Before this season, and since the Qatari takeover of the club in 2011, PSG had won nine Champions League knockout ties in total. Five of those came behind closed doors in the Covid era, including two ties played as one-off games on neutral turf in Lisbon in 2020. This season’s draw has been as kind as it could be, with Real Sociedad ideal opponents in the last 16 and Dortmund the best they could have wished for in the semi-finals. However, their performance in overturning a first-leg deficit to defeat Barcelona in the last eight is not to be dismissed. While all eyes will, as usual, be on Mbappe, the key to PSG’s chances of recovering from another first-leg loss when they face Dortmund may be in defence. They suffered a huge blow when Lucas Hernandez ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while trying to stop Niclas Fuellkrug’s goal in Dortmund. He is set to be out for many months. In addition, left-back Nuno Mendes, who has himself not long returned from a lengthy spell out, had a torrid time up against Jadon Sancho at the Signal Iduna Park. Mendes will still almost certainly start at the Parc des Princes, while Danilo Pereira looks the most likely option to partner skipper Marquinhos at centre-back. “We know how strong we are at the Parc. Nothing is finished, everything is open,” Marquinhos said after the first leg. One other factor in favour of PSG, who have already wrapped up the French title, might be freshness — their weekend league game at Nice was postponed to help them prepare. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Topics mentioned in this article

KKR do not have any doubts on Mitchell Starc's quality: Harshit

Danijones6 months ago01 mins

KKR do not have any doubts on Mitchell Starc’s quality: Harshit

Mohammed Siraj’s form crucial for RCB: Griffith | Cricket News

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

BENGALURU: It wasn’t a typical M Chinnaswamy stadium strip on Saturday night — the wicket was two-paced, and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru‘s bowling too wasn’t akin to their display in the Indian Premier League thus far.Their bowling attack, pace in particular, was characterised by discipline, lengths were rarely off the mark and the lines spot on.Most importantly, their lead bowler, Mohammed Siraj, was back in the groove, tormenting the hapless Gujarat Titans batters in the powerplay.Siraj was dropped for the run-fest against Sunrisers Hyderabad last month and the 10-day break seems to have rejuvenated the 30-year-old. The World Cup-bound pacer has found his rhythm and although RCB are seventh on the points table with three games in hand, it isn’t out of place for them to fancy an outside chance of making the playoffs.In the last two wins — both coming against Gujarat — the bowling in powerplay has been the key for Faf du Plessis and his men. Admitting that the team has been able to address the problem area, Adam Griffith, the RCB bowling coach, said, “The start of the tournament wasn’t great for us, especially in the powerplay and that is something we focused a lot on recently to make sure we work really hard to get better starts. It was good to see the hard work pay off.”Siraj, at the start of the day, was a doubtful starter.“I wasn’t feeling well. When I woke up in the morning, I thought I wouldn’t be able to play and should rest. But I manifested what I wanted to do and that’s exactly what happened,” he said after the four-wicket win.The Bengaluru-based franchise headed to Goa for a break after their nine-wicket win over the Titans in Ahmedabad last week and the rest seemed to have worked well for the team.Outlining the shift in the bowling approach, Griffith revealed, “We’ve swung the ball all tournament upfront. What we’ve done in the last couple of games is we’ve bowled a better line. We talked a lot about bowling straighter and attacking the stumps as much as we can to challenge the batters’ defence and make them play aggressive shots. If they want to come hard at us, it’s a challenge for them to do. The boys put it exactly where we wanted them.”While RCB’s spin attack is undercooked and the pacers have been under the pump, Griffith said Siraj’s form was crucial for the team.“He’s the leader of our group. He’s our most experienced bowler and played a lot for India over the last few years and done really well. It’s not just him bowling well but it’s his aggression, it’s his body language and it’s his taking the batters on to try and get wickets. He’s such an important part of what we’re trying to do. So, having him up and going, swinging the ball again, bowling with good pace is important,” pointed out the 46-year-old.

Security concerns rise after terror threat alert to Cricket West Indies for T20 World Cup 2024: Report – India TV

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

Image Source : WINDIES CRICKET X Cricket West Indies has assured safety amid security threat to the T20 World Cup Cricket West Indies (CWI) has acknowledged a security threat alert received with respect to the T20 World Cup set to take place in the Caribbean and the USA from June 1 to 29. However, CWI has assured safety amids the security risks and mentioned that it will work closely with the island nations across the Caribbean to mitigate any such threat for smooth scheduling of the marquee event. As per a Cricbuzz report, the threat came from Pakistan to the Caribbean Islands with IS trying to incite violence and disrupt sporting events for the fulfilment of their agenda. “Pro-Islamic State (IS) media sources have launched campaigns inciting violence against sporting events, which included video messages from the Afghanistan-Pakistan branch, ISKhorasan (IS-K) which highlighted assaults in numerous countries and urged supporters to join the battlefield in their countries,” the security threat was quoted in the report. CWI CEO Jonny Graves assured the safety and security of every stakeholder at the T20 World Cup saying that they have an elaborate security plan in place for the tournament. The report further stated that the intelligence of the security threat came from IS propaganda channel Nashir-e-Pakistan. The tournament is set to take place at six venues in the Caribbean namely, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Guyana, Trinidad, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados along with three venues in the United States of America, Dallas, Florida and New York. The threat is limited to the Caribbean islands. The US venues share the hosting duties with the Caribbean islands for the group stage featuring 20 teams in four groups of five each before the latter take over completely for the Super Eight and semis and the final. Guyana and Trinidad will host the two semi-finals on June 26 and 27 before the final in Barbados on June 29.

“Better To Include A Fast Bowler Than Playing MS Dhoni”: Harbhajan Singh

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

Harbhajan Singh slammed MS Dhoni’s decision to bat at No. 9 spot© BCCI/Sportzpics MS Dhoni batted at No. 9 for the first time in his T20 career but his decision ultimately backfired as he was dismissed for a golden duck during the IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings on Sunday. Dhoni has assumed the role as a finisher for CSK this season and he mostly comes to bat with 1-2 overs to go in the matches. Against PBKS, he allowed both Mitchell Santner and Shardul Thakur to bat ahead of him before coming out in the 19th over. Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh was not impressed by the decision and he said that if Dhoni is going to bat at No. 9, CSK should add another pacer in their ranks instead. “MS Dhoni shouldn’t play if he wants to bat at the number 9 slot. It is better to include a fast bowler than him in the playing XI. He is the decision-maker and has let down his team by not coming out to bat.” “Shardul Thakur came ahead of him. Thakur can never hit shots like Dhoni and I don’t understand why Dhoni made this mistake. Nothing happens without his permission and I am not ready to accept that this decision to demote him was taken by someone else.” “CSK were in a need of quick runs and Dhoni has done that in the previous games. It was shocking that he stayed back in the important contest against Punjab Kings. Even if CSK win today, I will still call out Dhoni. Let people say anything. I will say what is right,” Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports. Coming to the match, Chennai Super Kings rode an all-round show from Ravindra Jadeja to register a crucial victory over Punjab Kings. They are third in the IPL 2024 points table thanks to this win. “Everyone believed the wicket was slow. Even low bounce. Just that the start we got, we were thinking of pushing till 180-200. After losing wickets, thought 160-170 was a good score. Don’t know what he’s doing, but even in preseason he was clicking 150kph (on Simarjeet). He didn’t get too much chances, but it’s never too late. Were thinking of going with impact batter, but then we thought the batter will give 10-15 runs, but he could give 2-3 wickets. Some of the guys were struggling with flu. Weren’t even sure till the morning who’s playing or not. To get the win, really happy with that,” Ruturaj said after the match. Topics mentioned in this article

IPL: Rohit Sharma’s form a concern for India and Mumbai Indians ahead of Sunrisers Hyderabad clash | Cricket News

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

MUMBAI: In an IPL where arguments and counterarguments about Virat Kohli’s strike rate have hogged the limelight, the patchy form of Team India captain Rohit Sharma has flown under the radar.Going into the T20 World Cup next month, Rohit is aware that he could do with some runs and time in the middle under his belt, starting with Monday night’s tie for the Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium.When he was removed from MI captaincy before this season, head coach Mark Boucher had hoped that the decision would allow Rohit, who was in fine touch going into IPL, to “play more freely and take his team to the playoffs.”However, things haven’t exactly panned out the same way for the man who led MI to five IPL titles, but whose IPL form has been a concern for a few years now owing to his tendency to be over-aggressive from ball one. Since he slammed a century (105 not out off 63 balls) — his first in the IPL in more than a decade — against the Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on April 14 in a 20-run defeat — Rohit’s scores have been 36, 6, 8, 4 and 11. Before that, his sequence of scores in the tournament read 43, 26, 0, 49 & 38. Overall, the 37-year-old has managed 326 runs in 11 [email protected] so far in IPL-2024.In his last match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Rohit didn’t even field due to a mild back issue and only came to bat as an ‘Impact Player.’There is a fair chance that given that the T20 World Cup is around the corner, the veteran opener would again turn out for MI as an ‘Impact Player’- ironic since he himself has been critical of the rule!At the selection presser, India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar had made it clear that his committee pitched in for “experience” while picking the World Cup-bound squad, but Rohit’s poor IPL form does present a concern. If Rohit finds his form, it will help MI, down and knocked out of the competition, salvage some of their battered pride. Although they lost their first eight matches on the trot in 2022, this somehow feels the worst season for MI in their history. Having suffered as many as eight defeats — four on the trot going into this game — in 11 matches, they languish at the last spot in the 10-team tournament.While rumours and talk of their dressing room not being a happy place refuse to die, their big guns, barring pace ace Jasprit Bumrah (17 wickets in 11 [email protected]) have failed to fire right through.Placed far better at No 4 with 12 points in 10 matches (six wins and four defeats), the Sunrisers will eye another win which strengthens their playoff hopes.For perhaps the first time since they reached the final in 2018, SRH, the 2016 IPL winners, are looking impressive.Led astutely by Pat Cummins, they possess the tournament’s most dangerous batting line-up in openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, followed by Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy (smashed 76 not out off just 42 balls in the last match). Head’s contest with Bumrah has the potential to light up this game. Between them, Klaasen (31) and Abhishek (28) have smashed as many as 59 sixes in IPL-2024 so far-the maximum by anyone in the competition so far.

“Couldn’t Handle Pressure”: After Defeat Against KKR, LSG Captain KL Rahul’s Direct Blame

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul didn’t hold back while talking about their shortcomings following their biggest defeat by runs in the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. LSG were outplayed by the Knights in all facets of the game which led to a 98-run defeat and possibly putting their hopes of a spot in playoffs in jeopardy. Rahul’s decision to bowl after winning the toss backfired quickly as Sunil Narine went all guns blazing against the LSG bowling unit. The inexperienced ones succumbed to the pressure, leaked runs at a staggering rate and allowed KKR to set the platform for a mammoth total of 235/6. Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh combined for 98 runs in just eight overs. “It was a lot of runs to be scored in the second innings. When you are chasing a big total, you are trying to go too hard and you end up losing wickets. Just a poor performance overall. We didn’t (hit our lengths consistently), just had a poor performance overall with bat, ball and in the field. Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, in the powerplay, we’ve seen how they bat and they do put a lot of pressure on the opposition. Our young bowlers couldn’t handle that kind of pressure and he hit some really good shots,” Rahul said after the game. While LSG looked clueless against hard-hitting Narine, Rahul stated that they had plans to deal with KKR batters but got the execution part wrong. “We prepare well in advance and talk about the opposition batters, we know our conditions here and we do spend a little bit of time talking to the bowlers and talking to the batters trying to see what kind of plans we need to come up with. Once we come here, it’s about execution and we went wrong in that part. Bowlers tried their best but the young group really … the sooner you learn, the better it for the team,” Rahul added. Coming to the game, LSG opted to field first after winning the toss. Narine’s 81, combined with solid knocks from Phil Salt (32 in 14 balls, with five fours and a six), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32 in 26 balls, with three fours and a six) and Ramandeep Singh (25* in six balls, with a four and three sixes) took KKR to 235/6 in their 20 overs. Naveen-ul-Haq (3/49) was the pick of the bowlers for LSG. Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi and Yudhvir Singh got a wicket each. In a run chase of 236, Lucknow lost wickets at regular intervals. Marcus Stoinis (36 in 21 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and skipper KL Rahul (25 in 21 balls, with three fours) were the top scorers as LSG bundled out for 137 in 16.1 overs. Harshit Rana (3/24) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/30) were the top wicket-takers for KKR. Sunil Narine took home the ‘Player of the Match’ for his one wicket and 81-run knock. After the defeat, LSG dropped out from the Top-4 spot with a negative net run rate of 0.371. While KKR dethroned Rajasthan Royals to take the top spot with 16 points. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Topics mentioned in this article

IPL 2024 match today, MI vs SRH: Check likely XIs, head-to-head record, pitch report, and fantasy XI

Danijones6 months ago07 mins

It has been contrasting returns in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The two teams came into the season with opposing moods around them. While SRH fans were feeling good about their side going all out to get World Cup-winning Australian captain Pat Cummins and then making him skipper, MI fans were dumbfounded by five-time title-winner Rohit Sharma being suddenly replaced by the returning Hardik Pandya in the position The way MI handled the situation with regards to stopping certain questions from being asked angered fans even more and this led to boos ringing out around the stadium almost every time the focus fell on Pandya. Hardik Pandya cut a rather beleaguered and frustrated figure at the end of MI’s loss to KKR in their previous match. (AFP) A number of key players, including Pandya himself, have been woefully out of form for MI. In fact, it could be argued that only pace maestro Jasprit Bumrah has delivered for the five-time champions consistently in every match. And yet, MI seem determined to give Bumrah just one over in the first 10 overs, thus often allowing opposition teams to recover from any damage that he did in the middle overs and often running away with the game. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! ALSO READ: KL Rahul laments LSG’s ‘poor performance overall’ after Lucknow Super Giants script embarrassing record vs KKR in IPL Pandya cut a rather beleaguered and frustrated figure at the end of MI’s stunning defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last game. It marked the first time since 2012, and just the second time in the history of the IPL, that MI had lost to KKR at the Wankhede Stadium. KKR have been one of the teams to beat this season and now, MI face yet another well-oiled machine in the form of SRH. The Sunrisers come into this match on the back of a thrilling one-run win over the Rajasthan Royals, thus condemning the latter to just their second loss of the season. LSG’s loss to KKR on Sunday meant that SRH have climbed up to fourth on the league table going into this match. Meanwhile, MI are languishing at the bottom of the table. MI likely XI (if batting first) Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah MI likely XI (if bowling first) Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara Impact players: Nehal Wadhera, Nuwan Thushara SRH likely XI (if batting first) Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins (capt), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan SRH Likely XI (if bowling first) Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins (capt), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan Impact Players: Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Anmolpreet Singh Head-to-head There is very little to separate the two sides with MI leading the head-to-head 12-10. MI also hold a 5-2 edge at the Wankhede Stadium. All of it may not matter though considering how this season has gone for both sides. Pitch Report The Wankhede Stadium is famous for high-scoring matches in limited-overs cricket. However, we saw a different side to it in the last match that happened here, with both MI and KKR’s spinners coming to the fore. Piyush Chawla picked up 1 for 15 in three overs, while Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy returned identical figures of 2/22 in four overs for KKR. Fantasy XI Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Gerald Coetzee, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah.

Amid Sunil Gavaskar Criticism, Wasim Akram’s Striking Verdict On Virat Kohli’s Scoring Rate

Danijones6 months ago5 months ago03 mins

Already selected for India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad, Virat Kohli continues to remain a big subject of chatter among fans and pundits over his strike-rate in T20 cricket. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter has been crucial to his team’s victories this campaign on multiple occasions, but analysts have also blamed his poor strike-rate behind certain defeats. Sunil Gavaskar was one of those critics who questioned Kohli’s intent but Pakistan legend Wasim Akram doesn’t feel there’s anything wrong that the RCB star has done. Kohli, a few days ago, himself responded to the critics, hitting them back over the criticism of his strike-rate and struggles against spinners, prompting a fiery rant from Gavaskar on Saturday. Akram, however, isn’t in agreement with Gavaskar. “What criticism is he getting? That his team is losing. If the guy is scoring 100 at 150 strike rate, isn’t it fine? If the team had won, there wouldn’t have been criticism. Kohli was under pressure when he was captain, and he is under pressure even now. He is scoring, but one player cannot win the match. Criticising him unnecessarily… it’s not fair. In the long run, Kohli has a lot of cricket left, RCB will have to think why their performances were so inconsistent even after 16 years. Their batting is still fine, but their bowlers are weak,” Akram told Sportskeeda. “Some people say that the ground is short. But you know that already. Pick players according to that only. It is the same ground where I played a Test in 1987. It’s the same ground now,” he added. Akram also shared his opinion on the role of an ‘anchor’ in T20 cricket, saying going by the way this IPL has gone, that profile seems to be done and dusted. “If you look at this IPL, it feels like it’s over. The way teams are scoring 270s, it looks like it. People are calling an anchor slow even when the strike rate is 150. When you look at the pitches and the performances, it looks like it. You got to hit from the first ball, you can’t stop,” said Akram.