In a first - DCCI office bearers to be part of IPL 2021 inaugural match in Chennai

Sachin Tendulkar discharged from hospital, to remain under home isolation

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has been discharged and will undergo isolation at home. He was admitted to the hospital six days back as an ‘abundant precaution.’ He took to his Twitter account to extend gratitude to his fans and well-wishers who prayed for his recovery after he tested positive for the novel Coronavirus infection. "I have just come home from the hospital and will remain isolated while continuing to rest and recuperate. I would like to thank everyone for all the good wishes and prayers. Really appreciate it,” Tendulkar tweeted on Thursday. "I remain ever grateful to all the medical staff who took such good care of me and have been working tirelessly for over a year in such difficult circumstances." Notably, Tendulkar took part in the Road Safety World Series and led the Indian Legends team to the championship. Following his confirmation of contracting Covid-19, many other members of the Indian Legends team such as S Badrinath, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan tested positive for the highly contagious virus. Tendulkar had said that despite taking all necessary precautionary measures to prevent the infection of Covid-19, he had contracted the virus. The number of novel Coronavirus cases in Indian has been increasing rapidly over the last few weeks.

Expensive Riley Meredith eyeing experience playing with KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami & Chris Jordan

Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith is looking forward to learning from the likes of Mohammed Shami and Chris Jordan. Picked up by the Punjab Kings for the raw pace he offers to the team that already is rich with the presence of Mohammed Shami and Chris Jordan in the mix, Meredith, in an interview with ANI stated that he is waiting to pick the brains of top international stars. The Kings team management went for Meredith’s express pace and control in pursuit of strengthening their bowling line up after suffering blows one after another due to poor bowling last season. Meredith was bought for Rs 8 crore and it raised many eyebrows as Kings also bought the services of his compatriot Jhye Richardson, who has a similar skill set to offer. The move was a clear intent of having an aggressive bowling line up from the Kings and Meredith has arrived to provide much-needed firepower to the team in the 14th edition of the IPL. But, Meredith is not unaware of the qualities of seasoned pros in Mohammed Shami and Chris Jordan. The Australian pacer spoke highly of Shami’s versatility as a bowler who could perform various roles in a particular match while the ability to bowl particularly well in the last overs of the game has been the main point of reckoning for Jordan in Meredith’s eyes. "Obviously, Mohammed Shami is an unbelievable bowler, not just international wise, last few IPLs, he has been unbelievable and he has been taking lots of wickets. The best part of his game is that he can do the job at any point be it the start or at the death overs or during the middle. It is probably something everyone wants to do and I will try to pick his brains and learn,” Meredith told ANI. “Jordan is probably one of the better death-over bowler going around at the moment in franchise cricket. The fact that he has been able to do it all over the world across different competitions speaks about how good he is. I will definitely try to tap into what he does and hopefully, I can add a few tricks to my game.” Meredith is currently undergoing quarantine after arriving in India for the first time to play in IPL and he is eager to meet his skipper at the Punjab Kings KL Rahul, whom he rated a ‘huge figure’ in international cricket. "KL Rahul is a huge figure in cricket, not just in Indian cricket, but the world cricket. Pretty much a rockstar really. It would be interesting to get to know him a little better and see how he operates. I haven't had too many interactions with him yet, just a few messages. I would be out of quarantine soon, so I look forward to meeting him,” the 24-year old added. Meredith will have to rise through the ranks to get a place in the Punjab Kings playing XI despite a lot of promise. Or else, KL Rahul and Anil Kumble can bring him in the mix for the X-factor he can bring with his pace.

MI vs RCB | Match Preview - Mumbai begin pursuit to hattrick as Bangalore look to get off the mark

5-0. No that’s not a scoreline of a table tennis match but yes that’s a scoreline that speaks volumes about the two teams, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. While MI have been crowned champions five times and will battle it out to complete the hattrick of title wins in this year’s IPL, RCB are still wandering around in search of that first glory. Well, if you are a traveller, you have the luxury to wander around but NOT when you are featuring in the world's biggest T20 league. All said and done, we are just a few more hours away from the first encounter of the IPL 2021 that takes place in Chennai. The opening clash will see two of the most prolific batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli up against each other. While Rohit has a lot to tell about his captaincy and leadership skills especially in the IPL, Kohli is yet to leave a mark despite RCB making it to the final thrice in the earlier editions. But we can’t take away the credit from RCB as they have entertained us all through this while. From Chris Gayle record-breaking 175 to captain Kohli’s 973 runs in a single season, RCB have been there, done that, well, apart from getting their hands on the trophy of course. So here we look at both the teams, their strengths as well as the weaknesses. Squads RCB: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Washington Sundar, Pavan Deshpande, Finn Allen, Shahbaz Ahamad, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Daniel Christian, KS Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Daniel Sams, Harshal Patel MI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter Nile, Adam Milne, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar Firepower RCB RCB went all guns blazing in the mini auctions that were held in Chennai in February after they spent almost Rs 29 cr on just two players, Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson. With Maxwell in their ranks, RCB now have a pretty aggressive batting line up, especially in the top-order. Opener Devdutt Padikkal has already shown his talent and class in the previous season while the things that Kohli and AB de Villiers do is something beyond science. Adding to this unit is Maxwell’s talent of fetching runs at a brisk pace at any given stage of the match. Apart from these four, New Zealand’s Finn Allen has also been in some fine knick for quite some time now and he can too be an impact player if he finds a place for himself in the XI. RCB also have some local lads who have been pretty dominant in the domestic circuit. Sachin Baby who is back in the RCB squad, all-rounder Washington Sundar and new recruit Mohammed Azharuddeen are some names who have shown in the domestic circuit that they have ability to take on any bowling line up on their day. Bowling dilemma continues for RCB While the RCB batting has never been a major concern for them in any of the seasons, the bowling has let them down on a number of occasions. Sundar is one spinner who can be useful in the power play overs to keep the opponent silent. But seamers like Siraj and Navdeep Saini have been expensive in the past. Siraj though is in some fine form with the ball but he hasn’t been impressive in the shorter format of the game. Balanced MI One of the biggest reasons that Mumbai Indians are the most successful team in the IPL is the balance they have in the side. MI have batsmen who have proved themselves every now and then. From skipper Rohit to Quinton de Kock and from Suryakumar Yadav to Ishan Kishan, the Mumbai-based franchise has the most balanced batting order a team can ask for. While Rohit and de Kock can provide them with steady starts, SKY, Ishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya can chip in with quick-fire knocks at the end of the innings. One problem that Rohit can face is the problem of plenty of bowlers. To start the proceedings, he has Jasprit Bumrah who is the most lethal quick bowler in this generation. To share the ball with Bumrah and to compliment him, MI have Trent Boult who is equally dangerous. Apart from the two seamers, Sharma has Pollard, Hardik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Nathan Coulter Nile, Adam Milne and James Neesham in the pace bowling department while they have now recruited Piyush Chawla alongside Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya to provide more optioins to the spin bowling wing. IPL 2021, RCB vs MI: Match Details Match No.-01 Date and Time: April 9, 7:30 pm IST Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch conditions and weather report A track relatively slow in nature, might be helpful for the spinners. The fast bowlers can get some help from the track however, the bounce would be low. The sluggish nature of the pitch makes it difficult for the batsmen to get going. While the track certainly is not a 200-210 one, you can expect the average par score to be around 160 runs given this is the first match of the season. If the potential lack of runs in the spinning track has dampened your mood, well, on the bright side the Chennai weather would be pretty brisk tomorrow. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 33-degree Celsius with humidity of around 70 per cent. There aren't any chances of rainfall. TEAM NEWS RCB Fast bowler Daniel Sams who was traded from Delhi Capitals along with Harshal Patel won’t be available for the match as he had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa is also missing the first match as he is getting married. Strongest XI Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Finn Allen (WK), Sachin Baby, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal MI In form Quinton de Kock will be unavailable due to quarantine protocols which means that Chris Lynn is likely to get a shout in the first game. Also, Mumbai Indians bought former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun and the experienced spinner Piyush Chawla during the mini auctions and at least one of them is likely to play in the opening encounter. Strongest XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar DREAM XI TEAM: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, Ishan Kishan, Glenn Maxwell, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah

IPL 2021: Super Kings welcome 'ChinnaThala' Suresh Raina back to CSK 'family'

One of the mainstays of the Chennai Super Kings over the years—Suresh Raina pulled out of the tournament last year in a rather unceremonious manner. There is a lack of clarity on the causes that led to CSK’s vice-captain Suresh Raina leaving his side in a lurch just on the eve of the tournament after travelling all the way to the UAE. However, there were some reports of a tussle between him and the CSK management that led to his departure. Now, as the tournament has returned to India, Raina, too, has come back to the CSK camp and the team management has welcomed him back dearly. Replying to a question if the left-hander had any hard feelings about the franchise after the return in an interview with The Indian Express, the CEO of the franchise Kashi Vishwanathan said: “Nothing. CSK is like a family.” Adding on, he said that Raina is very keen to prove himself once again after ruling the IPL stage for a very long time. The Chennai Super Kings will start their campaign on April 10 against the Delhi Capitals and the franchise will be hoping for a stronger comeback this season after failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in the 13-year-long history of IPL.