CBTFJSK Prediction

Remember those childhood days of yore with cricketing jousts in narrow lanes and dusty grounds? The boy who owned the bat could never get out. Often the petulant willow owner would leave with what he possessed. Just because everyone needed their turn at the crease, the despot’s blatant dismissals would be overturned until he was adequately satiated with runs. Pampered batters, hapless bowlers Cricket may have that sobriquet of being a ‘Gentleman’s Game’, but in this age of Twenty20, we may well call it a ‘Batter’s Game’. Be it those contests when we were young or the ones witnessed now at the ground and on television, the holder of the bat is always pampered, as fielding restrictions ensure that the rival attack is virtually running in with one hand tied. Endangered species: With the dice loaded so heavily against bowlers in Twenty20 cricket, R. Ashwin put out a social media post about the need to save his tribe. | Photo credit: Getty Images During childhood, there was that saving grace of a one-pitch catch and instant dismissal if the ball landed in the neighbour’s terrace, but no such fine print exists at the highest level. And you cannot blame R. Ashwin when he put out a social media post about the need to save bowlers. With the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 17th edition merrily chugging along, the heat on the hapless bowlers is truly on. W.G. Grace, one of cricket’s greats with a mythical allure, once famously said: “They came to see me bat.” He then refused to depart on being dismissed. Perhaps his spirit has been allowed to waft into the air blowing across cricketing turfs. India has proved it is no exception and the latest IPL has again witnessed a batting carnage as maximums, to borrow a commentator’s cliche, or sixes, to be more direct, have rained across venues spread on the coast, across the Gangetic Plains and on either side of the Vindhyas. Last Sunday, Will Jacks smashed a 41-ball ton for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. It does sound like a knock marinated with Muhammad Ali’s muscle and a cheetah’s speed. But please go easy on the superlatives, it is actually the fifth fastest IPL hundred. ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, who carved one off a mere 30 deliveries back in 2013, leads the charts. For those interested in trivia, Gayle was turning out for RCB too. However, what defined Jacks and his foray at the crease was the manner in which he progressed from 50 to 100. Like a wry RCB post on X mentioned, at 6.41 p.m., Jacks was on 50, and at 6.47 p.m., the England star had galloped to his three-figure mark. Spinner Rashid Khan, seamer Mohit Sharma and the rest were put to the sword. Earlier this IPL season, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Travis Head struck a 39-ball century against RCB! Through the roof: The strike-rates this IPL season are so high that they could give any Mumbai skyscraper an inferiority complex. Travis Head, for instance, clocks 193.62. | Photo credit: Getty Images Rocketing strike-rates Batting strike-rates have gone through the roof. Veteran M.S. Dhoni’s 229.16 may be a reflection of the great traction he gains while facing just a few deliveries at the death, but even among top-order batters, the strike-rates are so high that they could give any Mumbai skyscraper an inferiority complex. Head, for instance, clocks 193.62. It is not as if the IPL has suddenly put cricket on the fast and furious lane. This has been a work in progress ever since Kerry Packer unveiled pyjama cricket under lights in Australia in the late 1970s. Cricket was no longer just about its classical avatar of Tests, as limited-overs cricket, offering floodlit instant gratification, blended entertainment into sport. As marketing departments gazed at the appeal of cricket and the way its newest variants pulled a fresh set of fans into the grounds, corporates jumped in. This was heady, as product launches were in sync with the sporting calendar, money flowed, and cricketers became instant celebrities. Bring on the over-sized sunshades, low-slung caps, ears glued to music and that wave of the hand. Branding was a part of the game and cricket played along. Tests continue and till date remain the game’s finest exposition, but ODIs and T20s bring in the commerce. Be it the dollar, rupee or taka, cricket’s abridged versions haul in the moolah, and interestingly this is linked with the manner in which batters wield their blades. The laws were tweaked, field restrictions were enforced, bowlers could only peddle a given set of overs, and it meant batters found a sense of liberation. “Runs, as long as they come, are welcome, it doesn’t matter how they come,” became a subtext in commentary boxes. Edges flew thick and fast through vacant slips, skiers skimmed the turf in no-man’s land, and batters knew that their weaknesses could be camouflaged. The shorter the game, the more difficult it is to target a batter’s weak traits. In Tests, place a forward short-leg, have an expansive slip-cordon and give the spearhead an extended run. In ODIs and T20s, no such luxury exists for the fielding captain. The latest IPL, with its impact-player substitution, has further emboldened batting units. There is always one extra player to fall back upon. Batters hit through the line, there is a certain golfing skill at play too as they tee off, and then add the feather-bed pitches. Global warming, meanwhile, has been frying the earth, and in India even the summer showers have proved elusive. Nature has presented a hot and sultry cauldron, and as pitches bake, underlying moisture escapes and the grass wilts, batters find more allies in the playing surface. Loaded dice In Bengaluru, IPL matches tended to get moisturised by impromptu rains. The game’s tenor changes, one-sided scripts alter, and everyone is in with a chance. This year, though, has been a dry affair in the Deccan Plateau. The only…

File photo of Deepak Chahar. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak Chennai Super Kings pacer Deepak Chahar will miss the next game against Punjab Kings in Dharamshala on Sunday. The pacer had picked up a groin injury in the match against Kings at Chennai on Wednesday. The 31-year-old, who walked off in pain in the third ball of the Kings’ chase, stayed back in the city and underwent a scan on Thursday. “We are waiting for reports, and he might travel to Ahmedabad, where we will assess him. At present, we are not ruling him out of the tournament,” said the CSK CEO K.S. Viswanathan. Coach Stephen Fleming had indicated the injury was concerning in the post-match press conference. Deepak had already missed a games against Mumbai Indians due to a niggle.

Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly speaks during unveiling of Champions Trophy of Bengal Pro T20 League, in Kolkata, on May 3, 2024. | Photo Credit: PTI Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on May 3 rated the T20 World Cup-bound Indian team as a strong one. Assessing the 15-member Indian team for the iconic event to be held in the USA and West Indies from June 2 to 29, Ganguly said the Rohit Sharma-led side was packed with match-winners. “They are a very strong team. All the 15 were good enough to be selected,” said Ganguly on the sidelines of the trophy unveiling event of the inaugural Bengal Pro T20 League here. “They are all match winners – (Virat) Kohli, Rohit (Sharma), (Rishabh) Pant, Sanju Samson, I am very happy to see Sanju Samson, (Shivam) Dubey. They are a very strong team.” India will play its group matches against Ireland, Pakistan, USA and Canada in the USA. From Super Eight Stage onwards, the matches will be played in the West Indies. Ganguly said spinners would play an important role in the West Indies. “They are playing in the West Indies, where the pitches will spin and will be slow and (will keep) low and big grounds. Spinners will be important.” Ganguly saw logic in selecting an additional spinner ahead of finisher Rinku Singh. “They wanted to go with another spinner. He has not got a place, but it’s just the beginning for Rinku.” About the tight race among teams for playoff berths in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Ganguly, who is the team director of Delhi Capitals, said, “Everybody is on the same boat.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad players celebrate after their win over Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Nitish Kumar Reddy opened about his side’s thrilling one-run win over Rajasthan Royals. Changing momentum “T-20 is all about changing the momentum. So, we actually believed that somehow we will take one or two wickets which we got of the well-set Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag,” Nitish said on Thursday. Nitish said Sunrisers had the confidence that seasoned campaigner Bhuvneshwar Kumar would win it for them. The Andhra all-rounder who scored his second IPL fifty this season, said his role was to just build the innings after wickets fell early. “I just wanted it to build the innings and had planned to attack one over and change the momentum which happened when I saw [Yuzvendra] Chahal coming in to bowl. I was backing myself to go after him and that went pretty well,” he said.