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I Asked Dravid Who Is This Guy When Billings Saw Young Pant Destroying Morris And Coulter Nile In Nets

I asked Dravid, who is this guy?: When Billings saw young Pant destroying Morris and Coulter-Nile in nets

English wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings feels lucky to be back at Delhi Capitals from where he started his IPL career. Remembering the time when he first saw Rishabh Pant, now the captain of the side, Billings said, “We had a hit in the middle in my first season here. I had never heard of Rishabh before. He hit [Chris] Morris, [Nathan] Coulter-Nile and lots of people everywhere.” “I asked [Rahul] Dravid, ‘who is this guy?’ Well, now we all know who Rishabh Pant is.”

The 29-year-old further went on to say that he had called Rishabh Pant the best young cricketer that he had ever seen. Billings is one of the three English players in the side alongside Chris Woakes and Tom Curran. He felt overwhelmed by how the team has been welcoming of him and Curran, the two new foreign signings alongside Steve Smith.

“It’s great to be here in Delhi. Obviously, I started my IPL journey here[in 2016 with Delhi Daredevils]. There is a great group of players and obviously, they have all been welcoming of me and TC (Tom Curran),” said Billings who has so far scored 334 runs in 22 matches with three fifties and at a strike rate of 133.

Billings who is a big FIFA and Twitch gaming fan have started his video channel and also uploads there, his adventures with the drone. But all that has not distracted him from the task at hand he can’t just wait to get on the field.

“I love the IPL. It’s one of the great competitions in the world. There is so much enthusiasm and buzz around the IPL, you can’t get it anywhere else. I am very much looking forward to it and offering as much as possible to the team, whether or not I am in the team or not,” said the Kent cricketer.

The Capitals start their IPL campaign against the Chennai Super Kings on April 10 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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Sanju Samson would be good enough: Rajasthan skipper shrugs of the title Captain Cool 2.0

Rajasthan Royals would be entering the Indian Premier League 2021, with a new captain, new coach and newer possibilities. Sanju Samson, the leader of the Royals though is not afraid of taking on the challenge of captaincy and carrying a million Rajasthani dreams on his shoulders. Being a wicket-keeper batsman who is calm in the field and aggressive with bat, comparisons with legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni were natural. However, Samson, 26, refused to be compared to the CSK skipper saying, “I don’t think anybody could be like MS Dhoni. I would like to be myself, Sanj Samson would be good enough.” Talking about the opportunity to be coached by the legendary Sri Lankan skipper and wicket-keeper batsman Kumara Sangakkara, Kerala born said, “This is a dream come true and it was very exciting to know that I will be working so closely with a legend like Kumar Sangakkara.” “My first memory of Sanga is definitely his cover drive and I loved his batting,” he added. Sanju was announced captain of the side s the team decided to let go of the former skipper Steve Smith and have a new beginning. Talking about the leadership challenge and how did he land the role, he said, “To be very honest, till last year, I didn’t possibly felt that I would be leading the Royals.” “Our lead owner Manoj Badale told me that our franchise wants me to lead the team and asked me to take up the role.” Rajasthan open their IPL campaign against the Punjab Kings on April 12 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Watch: What happened when Dhoni of 2005 met Dhoni of 2021

One of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team and arguably of the entire world, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the hope that all Chennai Super Kings fans would be clinging on to ahead of the IPL 2021. To boost those hopes, MSD of 2021-the calm, composed and enigmatic personality had a meeting with the Mahi of 2005, the long brown-haired flamboyant Dhoni that hit sixes for fun and didn’t care about the situation or the opposition. All of this took place in an advertisement for an engine oil brand. In the ad, the Dhoni of yesteryears, a bit shy, with a teasing smile is conversing with a Dhoni of 2021, bulkier, probably with experience and the burden of carrying the most loved team in the world and the most loved club in the IPL on his shoulders for more than 13 years now. The 2005 Dhoni is surprised to know that he would be winning two World Cups, a Champions Trophy and three IPL titles along with a Champions League. He also comes to know that he would be giving up on his favourite things like Butter Chicken. It is the chemistry between the two Dhonis that would pull viewers towards the video. At one instant, the 2005 version Dhoni says, “I am learning a lot from seniors and the coaches and trying to improve my game and slowly and steadily I will catch up,”. There is tension in his eyes and evidently in his sly smile, to which Dhoni of today replies, “Just relax a bit” and the 2005 Dhoni says, “Thank You Sir.” The innocence with which he says that 'Thank You Sir' will transfer you back in time and take you to the Jaipurs, the Vishakhapatnams and Rawalpindis where we saw that raw Dhoni for the first time. CSK plays its first encounter of the IPL 2021 against Delhi Capitals on 10th April at the Wankhede.

BCCI plans Men’s U-19 tournament for June-July; Women’s cricket still out of focus

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to stage the Men’s U-19 domestic tournament in the months of June-July this year. All the junior tournaments of the Board were suspended citing covid earlier. But in a fresh letter to all associations, Sourav Ganguly the President of the Board has informed the future plans. The shocking part is that after ignoring the women’s cricket developments in both the domestic and international circuits for a long time during the first wave of Covid-19 and afterwards, the BCCI has no plans for streamlining the women’s domestic structure. “In this season, the BCCI has endeavoured to organize as much domestic cricket as possible. We are further looking to host the U-19 domestic season for men in the month of June/July 2021, subject to any Covid related disruption,” Sportstar quoted the letter written by Ganguly to all Associations. Although in his letter Ganguly says that “All international and domestic players deserve immense credit for staying in a bio-secure environment for such a long period of time and yet delivering such high quality and wonderful cricket,” there is no mention of whether or not women’s cricket will follow suit as far as domestic tournaments are concerned. There is long-pending demand for hosting a full-scale IPL style competition for women. But forget that, there is no information on whether the Women’s Challenger tournament involving three sides, staged every IPL season for the past three seasons during the Playoffs, will be played this season or not. Also, the men’s team did a tour of Australia and had England coming over alongside domestic T20 and 50 over competitions, the women have had just one international series since the T20 World Cup in Australia and domestically too, only the senior Women’s tournament of the 50 over has been the only competition that they have played.

IPL 2021: CSK batting coach Michael Hussey feels they have got all the bases covered

Three-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings will look to bounce back in the upcoming edition after a relatively under-par performance in the last edition and their batting coach Michael Hussey feels that the yellow brigade has got all their bases covered. For the first time in 13 years, CSK failed to reach the playoffs in the 2020 edition and despite winning their last 3 matches, they were the first team to get knocked out from the playoffs race. “I feel we have a very balanced squad that has most bases covered and with depth in most areas. The guys are in really good spirits and have been preparing extremely well, he was quoted as saying by the CSK website.” Hussey also feels the inclusion of experienced campaigners like Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa will keep them in good stead. Moeen Ali had a good time with the ball in particular during the recently concluded India-England series and will look to make his presence felt whenever given an opportunity. Uthappa on the other hand has been treaded from Rajasthan Royals and will look to shine in the yellow jersey. “I think they are all excellent additions. Moeen is an excellent all-rounder, Robin has a lot of experience and has been a quality performer in the past and Gowtham has some genuine talent that we can look to develop further,” Hussey said. The three-time champions snapped up six players in the IPL mini auctions including the likes of Moeen Ali and Krishnappa Gowtham. Hussey feels that a good start to the tournament is key as it allows the team to relax and play the brand of cricket which they are known for. “A good start would be nice because the players will then relax and hopefully play their best cricket with confidence, otherwise the pressure can build up on everyone involved,” the former Australia batsman said. Hussey said playing a block of matches would help the players settle and build confidence early in the tournament. “I think playing a block of matches in Mumbai will help the players settle and build confidence early in the tournament,” he added. “The conditions at Wankhede are generally very good for both batsmen and bowlers, so hopefully we can start well and players can feel good about their games,” he said. CSK are currently training at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where they are slated to play their first 5 matches. The 14th edition of the tournament kicks off on 9th April with CSK slated to play their opening game against the Delhi Capitals the following day (April 10).