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Gautam Gambhir’s Left Fuming As Rinku Singh Fails In 1st Match After T20 World Cup Snub. Video

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

Rinku Singh scored just nine runs in eight balls, despite a promising start.© X (Twitter) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh failed to impress on his first outing after being left out of India’s 15-man T20 World Cup squad. Rinku’s exclusion from the team has sparked a debate with fans and experts suggesting that the explosive batter should’ve been part of the 15-man squad. Rinku is one of the four travelling reserves for the tournament in the West Indies and USA. The 26-year-old, however, had a horror outing in his first IPL match after the unfortunate T20 World Cup snub. On Friday, during KKR’s game against the Mumbai Indians (MI), Rinku scored just nine runs in eight balls, despite a promising start where he hit Hardik Pandya for two boundaries. However, he was dismissed by Piyush Chawla in the veteran’s first ball of the match. Chawla deceived the youngster with a wrong’un, with Rinku chipping the ball straight back to him. Rinku’s dismissal, however, left KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir visibly frustrated in the dug out. Watch: Rinku Singh’s dismissal leaves Gautam Gambhir fuming https://t.co/r3JFmqLhmO — VEDANT BLANCO (@MrTrequartista7) May 4, 2024 Coming back to the match, Mitchell Starc picked up four wickets as a disciplined bowling performance helped KKR beat MI for the first time in 12 years at the Wankhede Stadium. Chasing a below-par 170, Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 145 off 18.5 overs at the Wankhede Stadium. Suryakumar Yadav raised hopes with a 35-ball 56 but his dismissal in the 16th over tilted the scales in favour of Kolkata. Earlier, Kolkata lost five quick wickets including that of the prolific Phil Salt (five) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (six) after being put in to bat. Tottering at 57-5, Venkatesh Iyer (70) and impact sub Manish Pandey (42) steadied Kolkata with an 83-run stand and ensured a respectable total on the board. Iyer, who hit a century at the same ground last season, hit three sixes and six fours in his fighting 52-ball knock. (With AFP Inputs) Topics mentioned in this article

Irfan Pathan’s Epic Rant Goes Viral. Conclusion: “MI’s Story Ends Here”

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

Following Mumbai Indians’ (MI) loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan suggested that there is a lack of respect in the dressing room for captain Hardik Pandya. With eight defeats in 11 matches, Hardik has endured a disastrous first season in IPL as MI captain. Irfan, who has been critical of Hardik since the start of the season, once again questioned the tactics of the MI captain. He pointed out how Hardik gave the ball to Naman Dhir when KKR were tottering at 57/5. Irfan said that Hardik’s decision allowed KKR to rebuild their innings with the help of Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, who was playing his first game of the season. “Mumbai Indians’ story ends here. This team was so good on paper, but it wasn’t managed. The questions that were raised on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy were absolutely right. When you’ve restricted KKR to 57/5, you didn’t have to give Naman Dhir three successive overs. You had to bring your main bowlers, and you gave your sixth bowler three overs. Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer posted a strong partnership. You could’ve bowled them out on 150 instead you let them score 170,” Irfan said in a viral video. Irfan Pathan exposes Hardik Pandya Captaincy – “Mumbai Indians solid team on paper not managed well by their captain again. This Complete team failure on this loss.” pic.twitter.com/oIdW97Chao — (@rushiii_12) May 3, 2024 Irfan further suggested that the MI players don’t respect Hardik as captain, which has further hampered the team this season. “Captaincy has a big impact in the game. Mumbai Indians don’t look like a united team, and management needs to consider this. Players need to respect and accept the captain, and we didn’t see that on-field. They have to improve in that aspect,” he added. The win helped KKR retain their second position in the table but now with 14 points to their credit from 10 games. Meanwhile, MI remained at the 9th spot with 6 points after playing 11 games. However, mathematically Mumbai Indians are still alive in the race to playoffs. They need to win their remaining three matches and hope for favourable results from other games to end at top 4. MI remaining games are against SRH, KKR and LSG on May 6, 11 and 17, respectively. Topics mentioned in this article

“If This Was Virat Kohli….”: Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif Slam Critics’ Double-Standard With SRH Star’s Example

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli has been piling up runs in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), despite criticism over his strike-rate. The former RCB captain is second in scoring charts with 500 runs in 10 matches, only nine runs behind current Orange Cap holder Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, his knocks have been often overshadowed by his debatable strike-rate. Amid criticism, Kohli has found the backing of former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Mohammad Kaif. Irfan and Kaif slammed his critics for showing double standards with the interesting example of SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Travis Head. For the unversed, Head has been in sensational form in the IPL himself. The Australian opener has scored 396 runs in nine matches, striking at over 194. However, during SRH’s game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, even Head struggled to time the ball. At one point, he was batting on 25 off as many deliveries, and ended up scoring 58 off 44 balls with a strike-rate of 131.8. Speaking on Head’s knock, Irfan and Kaif suggested that if Kohli had played a similar knock, everyone would have been talking about his strike rate for days. “According to his ability, you have never seen him play like this. No matter what you say that there was good bowling and everything, but every cricketer should be treated equally,” Irfan said on Star Sports. Kaif echoed his sentiments, and added: “You are right, if this was Virat Kohli, I can guarantee that people would have said only 58 runs in 44 balls? What is this? They would say it is low and there would have debates about his strike rate. But I believe that this was a good innings by Head.” Irfan further explained how Kohli has been carrying RCB with his batting, especially with the franchise languishing at the bottom of the points table. “But if there was Virat Kohli instead, people would have stuck to the strike rate but here we are talking about taking responsibility for team’s victory, so please treat everyone equally,” Irfan added. Kohli had also addressed the debate surrounding his strike-rate. He had taken a swipe at his critics after the match against Gujarat Titans and said: “All the people who talk about [my] strike rate and me not playing spin well are the ones who love to talk about these things. But for me, it is just about winning the game. There’s a reason why you do it for 15 years. Because you do this day in and day out and won games for your team,” said Kohli after the Gujarat Titans game. “I am not sure if you haven’t been in that situation, to sit and speak about the game from the box. I don’t think it is the same thing. I am just doing my job. People can talk about their own ideas and assumption on the game (sic),” he added. Kohli will have the chance to reclaim the Orange Cap when RCB take on GT on Saturday. Topics mentioned in this article

“Virat Kohli Should Open, Rohit Sharma Goes Back”: Ex-India Star On T20 World Cup Combination

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

Ajay Jadeja believes Rohit Sharma should bat at no. 3 and promote Virat Kohli.© BCCI Former all-rounder Ajay Jadeja believes that India skipper Rohit Sharma should push himself to the number three spot and promote Virat Kohli to the opening position during next month’s T20 World Cup in the Americas. India announced their 15 for the marquee tournament earlier this week and will open their campaign against Ireland on June 5. “For me, Virat Kohli opens. Who goes back? Rohit Sharma bats at three. He gets a little cushion and gets to understand the game, he has so much going on, in his mind as a captain,” Jadeja told Jio Cinema. “If you have Virat in your side, you know consistency is the one thing you will get, so, might as well use him. He’s best at the top and the powerplay allows him to settle in,” he added. Jadeja backed the selection of a currently off-colour Hardik Pandya in the squad, describing him as special. “The spotlight is on him for obvious reasons. He’s a special player, a rare commodity you find in our country where somebody bowls seam-up and can make it to the side with his batting,” he said referring to the furore caused by his elevation to Mumbai Indians captaincy replacing Rohit. Pandya, who is enduring a poor run in the IPL, will be Rohit’s deputy during the T20 World Cup. “The selection has not been on form, there’s no doubt about it. It depends on how you want to play. It’s one of the things I look at this team and think they don’t have many options. “You have established players in the side, everybody is so solid with the numbers that they play at, and what stage they play. It will all depend on what Rohit thinks,” Jadeja said. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Topics mentioned in this article

Hardik Pandya Has “Lot Of Questions” With MI All But Out Of IPL, Puts Blame On…

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

All but out of play-off contention after eighth defeat in 11 games, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya seemed as if he was groping in the dark for replies to all the unanswered questions hounding the five-time champions in yet another disastrous IPL season. Pandya was handed over the captaincy after the franchise removed national captain Rohit Sharma, something that the fans didn’t really embrace with the colourful Baroda all-rounder being booed every time he entered the pitch. “There are a lot of questions that will take time to answer. But for now, not much to say. Obviously, we couldn’t form partnerships and kept losing wickets. Bowlers did a fantastic job on this track,” Pandya said after his team failed to score 170, losing to KKR at home for the first time in 12 years. Pandya felt that it was better to bat late evening once dew set in but MI failed to capitalise. “The wicket got better if I’m not wrong. Dew came in the second innings. Will go through the game and see what we can do better,” he said. Pandya tried to put up a brave front as he spoke about fighting till the last match. “You keep fighting, that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s challenging, but you take the challenges.” His opposite number Shreyas Iyer was delighted that his team is on the cusp of a play-off berth. “We are (knocking at the door) at the moment. Lot of thinking would have gone behind that (had we lost today). Just got to know about the stat (of KKR not winning at Wankhede for 12 years)… ” The “Impact Player” rule did help KKR as Manish Pandey, who came in at the fall of the fifth wicket, contributed 42 priceless runs. “This Impact Player rule specifically helped us in this game. Manish has being eyeing an opportunity from the first game. We got to a commendable total. I told the boys that if we have got here, we can defend it,” Iyer said. He was all praise for the performances from spin twins Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, both of whom returning with identical figures of 2 for 22. “Spinners were unreal, absolutely spot on in executing their lines and lengths as discussed in team meetings. Kudos to them,” Iyer said. (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

Gautam Gambhir Names Only Batsman He Has “Feared”. It’s Not Gayle, De Villiers, Dhoni Or Kohli

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

As Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) look to take on Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the mentor of the 2-time champions, Gautam Gambhir, opened up on his respect for Rohit Sharma. While Gambhir has come up against some of the finest batters in the game during his active days as a cricketer, especially as the KKR skipper, there is no batter he has “feared” the most than Rohit Sharma. In a candid chat with the IPL broadcaster, Gambhir revealed that he often had to come up with multiple plans to stop Rohit from scoring runs. Gambhir, during his cricketing career, had to plan for marquee batters like AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, etc. But, it’s Rohit against whom he had the most difficult times. “The only batsman that I’ve feared is Rohit Sharma. The only batter who has given me sleepless nights… No Chris Gayle, no AB de Villiers, only Rohit. I always knew I had to have a Plan A, a Plan B and probably a Plan C as well, because if Rohit is in, I don’t think anything can control him,” Gambhir told Star Sports. Game recognises game “The only batsman I feared in IPL was @ImRo45“, @GautamGambhir praises the Indian captain’s batting prowess! Will he lead #TeamIndia to glory in the #T20WorldCup2024? | #MIvKKR | TODAY, 6:30 PM | #IPLOnStar pic.twitter.com/eEav5GbKG5 — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 3, 2024 “I’ve never planned for any other batter in the IPL except Rohit Sharma. There has been times where I had seen visuals and I said, ‘Fair enough. Plan A is fine’. But for Rohit, one night before I used to think, if this doesn’t work I have to get the other plan,” he further added. In IPL 2024, Sunil Narine has emerged as a consistent performer for KKR, both with the bat and the ball. While admitting that Narine vs Rohit is a battle that he has his eyes on, Gambhir also asserted that he needs more than just the 4 overs from the West Indian to keep Rohit in check. “If Sunil bowls his four over, then who is going to bowl the next 16? And if I finish off Sunil early and Rohit is there, he can hit 30 off one over. Probably, he was the only batter I feared as a captain,” he added. Topics mentioned in this article

All-Rounder Saad Bin Zafar To Lead Canada In T20 World Cup 2024

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

Canada will make its maiden appearance in the Men’s T20 World Cup with all-rounder Saad Bin Zafar, a player of Pakistani origin, set to lead the side in the showpiece event to be held in the Americas. The side, comprising mostly of Indian and Pakistani origin players, is placed in Group A alongside co-hosts USA, India, Pakistan and Ireland. Canada will play its first match against the US in Dallas on June 1, with the side then set to face Ireland on June 7, Pakistan on June 11, and India on June 15. Canada had defeated Bermuda in October last year in the ICC T20 World Cup Americas Region Final, a double round-robin format, for a berth in the T20 World Cup. The Canadians had failed to make it to the global event in the eight previous editions of the T20 World Cup. Saad, 37, who is also a left-arm spinner and has played 38 T20I, is one of the most experienced players in the Canadian side, with top-order batter Aaron Johnson and left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana also expected to feature heavily in the playing XI. The side is coached by former Sri Lankan and Canadian international Pubudu Dassanayake, who took over the reins in 2022. Harsh Thaker, Nicholas Kirton, and Dilpreet Bajwa are the only three players in the side under the age of 30. “Aaron Johnson’s explosive hitting will be critical at the top of the order, as will Kaleem Sana’s pace bowling when Canada is in the field. The all-round skills of Bin Zafar, Thaker, and Dilon Heyliger will be vital to Canada’s hopes of winning on the biggest stage,” said a Cricket Canada statement. Squad: Saad Bin Zafar (C), Aaron Johnson, Dilon Heyliger, Dilpreet Bajwa, Harsh Thaker, Jeremy Gordon, Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur (wk), Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh, Ravinderpal Singh, Rayyankhan Pathan, Shreyas Movva (wk). Reserves: Tajinder Singh, Aaditya Varadharajan, Ammar Khalid, Jatinder Matharu, Parveen Kumar. PTI AM AM APA Topics mentioned in this article

'Some Players Going To T20 World Cup On Reputation': Ex-India Stars Unhappy Over Rinku Singh's Snub

BCCI Breaks Silence On Rinku Singh’s T20 World Cup Exclusion, Says “He Has Done…”

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

There has been a lot of discussion over BCCI’s decision to not include Rinku Singh in the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. The explosive batter showed brilliant promise in IPL 2023 and then followed it up with impressive performances for the Indian cricket team in T20Is. However, he was included in the reserves and Shivam Dube was rewarded for his form in the ongoing IPL 2024. BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar finally opened up about the decision and said that it is not because Rinku did anything wrong. In the press conference held on Thursday, Agarkar said that the decision was taken keeping the team composition in mind and as a result, an all-rounder like Axar Patel was preferred. “”It’s probably the toughest thing we have had to discuss. He has done nothing wrong, not even Shubman Gill for that better. It’s about combinations. There are a couple of wrist spinners included to give Rohit more options. It’s just unfortunate. He’s in the reserves, so that tells you how close he came into being in the 15. But at the end of the day you can only pick 15 players in the squad,” Agarkar said. Agarkar also opened up about Hardik Pandya’s role as well as his appointment as vice-captain. “Nothing discussed regards to vice captaincy. He has come agfter a longish layoff. He has gotten through all the games for MI and we have got another month and a little bit till we play our first game. Hope is that he builds on that form. There’s no replacement on what he brings to the team, especially with the ball. His fitness is critical and so far he has gone well in the IPL,” the BCCI chief selector explained. India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2024:Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah. Reserves:Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan Topics mentioned in this article

SRH vs RR Live Score, IPL 2024: Yuzvendra Chahal Close To Becoming First Indian Bowler To Achieve Massive T20 Feat

Danijones6 months ago01 mins

SRH vs RR Live: Squads – Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj. SunRisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav (wk), Umran Malik, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Travis Head, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan.

“This Is Rubbish”: India Great Slams Ajit Agarkar In Fiery Rant Over Rinku Singh’s Snub

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

Former India cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth hit out at the Indian selection committee for not keeping Rinku Singh in the 15-member squad for the upcoming World Cup 2024 and said that the 26-year-old batter was made the “scapegoat”. Rinku made his T20 debut in 2023 against Ireland, following that he has played 15 matches and 11 innings in which he scored 356 runs at a strike rate of 176.24. The left-handed batter played his last 20-over match for India against Afghanistan in January 2024. India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 05, 2024, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 09, 2024 at the same venue. India will then play the USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively. While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Srikkanth pointed out Rinku’s unbeaten 69-run knock against the Afghan side in the 3rd T20I. He also slammed the Indian selectors and called it a “rubbish” selection. “He has played match-winning knocks in South Africa. Remember the game against Afghanistan in which Rohit scored a hundred? India were 22 for 4, from there, they scored 212. Rinku played a crucial Knock. He has given his all whenever he played for India. This is rubbish, rubbish selection. Why do you need 4 spinners? All of them have to go? You have made the selection to please a few people and you have made Rinku Singh a scapegoat,” Srikkanth said. The former India skipper further added that Rinku performed well at every opportunity he has got and he should have been there in the 15-member squad. “I am not at all happy. Come on all of you. Rinku Singh has been spoken about all over the world. He has performed in each and every opportunity he has got. How can you drop Rinku Singh? You drop anyone else, it doesn’t matter. In my view, Rinku Singh should have been there, even if that meant you had to drop Yashasvi Jaiswal,” he added. India have added two wicket-keepers, including Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, to their squad. Star batter Virat Kohli, who has been slamming runs in the ongoing IPL 2024 has also been added into the squad. Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan have been named as reserved players. India are placed in Group A of the ICC tournament alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA. India Squad:Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (Wk), Sanju Samson (Wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. (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