IPL 2021 | Day after announcing resignation from captaincy, Virat Kohli plays 200th game for RCB

AUS W vs IND W | 1st ODI: India Women begin search for stable XI before World Cup

The Indian Women’s team is in Australia and after a less than satisfactory performance in England in the three-match ODI series in June-July early this year, they would be hoping for certain changes. Although the team lost the warm-up game against the Aussies only a few days ago with skipper Mithali Raj and opening sensations Smiriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma failing, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia and Deepti Sharma gave an account of themselves with the bat. Poonam Yadav was as always brilliant with the ball, even as other spinners in Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Ekta Bisht were taken to the cleaners. The Australian team on the other hand looked extremely settled, both with the bat and ball. Although they were playing cricket after quite a long time, it didn’t really reflect in their performances with batters Rachael Hynes and Beth Monney getting fifties alongside skipper Meg Lanning. Bowling wise too, they were right on the money with Ellyse Perry and 19-year-old uncapped Stela Cambleel wrestling havoc on the Indian batting lineup. Apart from inconsistent form, another major roadblock for Team India is the absence of vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur who is out with an injury. However, pacer Shikha Pandey, who too didn’t appear in the Warm-up game, is fit for selection for the first match. Australia Women vs India Women: Details Match Number- 01st ODI Date and Time: September 21, 2021, 05:35 am IST, 10:05 am Local, 12:05 am GMT Venue: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay Broadcast and Live Stream in India: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV Pitch Report As far as the first images from the centre are concerned, the pitch at Mackay is going to be fast and bouncy and with a strip of light grass left on it, it would surely be a hard time for the team batting first. Weather Forecast and Toss According to the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, the weather at Mackay will remain mostly Sunny on Tuesday, September 21. Some Light winds blowing from west to northwesterly at around 15 to 20 km/h will accompany the sun in the morning. In the afternoon, the air stream will shift southerly 15 to 25 km/h, thereby assisting the bowlers with the swing. A skipper winning the toss should undoubtedly choose to bowl first. Probable XI Australia Women Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Redmayne, Darcie Brown, Stella Campbell India Women Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mithali Raj (c), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana/ Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Poonam Yadav Dream XI Team Wicketkeepers Alyssa Healy Batters Rachael Haynes, Meg Lanning, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia All-rounders Deepti Sharma, Ellyse Perry Bowlers Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav, Stella Campbell Vice-Captain Deepti Sharma Captain Ellyse Perry Chasing Record If Australia Women win this game, they would become the first team male or female to win straight 25ODIs on the trot.

IPL 2021 | PBKS vs RR: Inconsistent Kings, underachieving Royals seek flourishing finish

When the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League was halted in awake of multiple Covid-19 cases in more than one franchise, there would have been two sides if not more that would have welcomed a break although it came in an unwanted manner. Both the Punjab Kings and the Rajasthan Royals would not have hated the prospect of a reset earlier in May and more so, the Royals would have hoped to use the break for better and get things in order. They also suffered from severe inconsistency and did not play like a team and hence the break would have rejuvenated the players. The Royals would have also hoped for getting their trump cards in Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes back in the camp with a long layoff. However, instead, their problems in terms of having England superstars have only been compounded as Jos Buttler has pulled out of the league. The Kings too suffered a similar fate with their skipper KL Rahul getting ruled out of the tournament and if it would not for the Covid disruption, they would have had to manage without their batsmen in the critical juncture of the competition. Now, as the Kings and the Royals come head to head in the second game of the revamped IPL 2021, both KL Rahul and Sanju Samson would be looking forward to putting inconsistency behind them and embark on a clinical journey to ensure a smooth path towards the play-off. Rahul and Samson: Similar fortunes, different processes Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson has not been named in India’s squad for the upcoming World T20 and he would like to put on performances to establish what he brings to the table. Although he rated the mindset of having an eye on India selection while playing in IPL a “wring mindset”, he would be the first to admit that it is the larger picture that every young Indian player has in their minds. Samson has been there on the IPL stage for a long time now and he has earned the reputation of being both an extraordinary striker of the ball, who times the ball imperiously as well a batsman who fail to see the larger picture on most occasions and throws his wicket away. Maybe, it’s his quality of overlooking the larger picture that allows him to go for the full glory which produces match-winning innings. The Royals will need their skipper to put his hands up in the absence of marquee players if they have to stand chance to get through the first stage of the league. The Kings’ skipper KL Rahul has been scrutinised for contrasting bit of frailties. He has been found out batting conservatively and not attacking the ball enough to propel the sides. He has been criticised for not scoring quickly in the last few seasons of the IPL and his intent has been in question by fans and watchers. His case is exactly opposite to Samson but where do they live similar lives is that both of them form the core and the determining factor of the batting orders of their respective sides. Samson has not let the responsibility affect his game in terms of losing his batting temp while Rahul has gone in with the attitude of shielding his team first before taking the game to the opposition camp. If either of the sides has to go past the first round, they will have to show better consistency and team performance than they did in the first half of the tournament or else they will be forced to pack bags very soon with the level of competition heating up in the desert. Match Details Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Match no.: 32 Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Time: 19:30 IST (14:00 GMT), 18:00 Local Broadcast: Star Sports network, Disney +Hotstar Pitch and weather There was pace and bounce on the pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the last game played at the venue between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings and there is little to no evidence that it won’t be the same for the next game. Both the sides have able bowling attacks that can take advantage of pace and bounce with the new ball however it could also start to slow down in the second innings and the Kings will have more variety and flair in the bowling attack with two leg spinners in the squad to cover for both scenarios. A high level of humidity in the first game helped the pacer generate swing and the trend of high humidity is likely to be continued. Team News Punjab Kings The Kings will miss the Australian pace duo of Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson on the surface priming ample assistance to pacers but the introduction of Nathan Ellis should serve their purpose. India’s Mohammed Shami could offer new ball opportunities for KL Rahul while Chris Jordan can also help the Kings with death bowling. They also have a highly experienced and successful bowler of this format in Adil Rashid and the Kings might pull a rabbit out of the hat by teaming him with the rookie Ravi Bishnoi. The batting order looks settled with the skipper Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and the “universe boss” Chris Gayle forming the top order and the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan providing the X-factor to the middle order. Probable XI KL Rahul (C &WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh RR The men in pink will be hoping that Evin Lewis would not let them miss the firepower of Jos Buttler and the left-hander has been in the form of his life to promise just what the Royals are expecting of him. The young Yashasvi Jaiswal has not cracked the IPL code yet but the Royals are not likely to give up on him midway through the season. The skipper Samson will have to take the bulk of the responsibility of the Royals’ batting fortunes in the remaining eight matches of the season. Chris Morris was in great batting and bowling form in the first half and they would be expecting nothing less than match-winning performances every now and then of him. The Royals signed up the number one bowler in the ICC T20 Rankings, Tabraiz Shamsi and he is most likely to play ahead of Mustafizur Rahman at least at the start of the competition. He has been flummoxing batsmen all across the world with his variations and the Royals would love to throw him against the bullish stroke-making batting lineup of the Kings. Probable XI Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C &WK), David Miller, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Tabraiz Shamsi, Chetan Sakariya PBKS vs RR: Fantasy XI Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Chetan Sakariya Captain: KL Rahul Vice-captain: Sanju Samson

India’s home season announced, Men in Blue to play South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka

The Indian Men’s cricket team would be welcoming New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa and Sri Lanka in what is going to be a heavy home season of 2021-22. The Board of control for Cricket India took the decision in the Apex Council meet on Monday, September 20 and announced the home season would begin with a tour of New Zealand to India where they will be playing three T20Is and two Tests starting November 17. The T20Is will be played in Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata respectively, Kanpur and Mumbai would host India’s Tests against New Zealand. Right after the concussion of the New Zealand series, men in maroon from the West Indies will travel to India and play three ODIs and three T20Is in February, starting from 06th Feb. Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata have been chosen for the three ODIs respectively while Cuttack, Vizag and Trivandrum will host the three T20Is respectively. Soon after the island neighbours from down South will be touring the country and they will be playing two Tests and three T20Is from February 25th to March 22 before the Proteas come over. While Bengaluru host the first Test, Mohali would host the second Test as well as the first T20I against Sri Lanka with the rest of the two T20Is going to Dharmashala and Lucknow. The South African team will play five T20Is, starting with the first one on June 9 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The rest of the four games will be played in Bengaluru, Nagpur, Rajkot and Delhi.

BCCI increases match fees for domestic cricketers, announces compensation for Covid marred 2020-21 season

Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced an increase in the match fees of the domestic cricketers starting from the season of 2021-22. He also went on to announce the compensation for the Covid-19 marred 2020-21 domestic season which was long overdue and a long term demand of state boards and players for their financial assistance. According to a Twitter post by Shah, the players who participated in the 2019-20 domestic season will get a 50 per cent additional match fee as compensation for season 2020-21 lost due to the Covid-19 situation. The decision was taken in the BCCI Apex council meet held on Monday, September 20. According to the increase in the match fees, the domestic senior players, who have played more than 40 matches will be getting Rupees 60,000 per day for a First-Class game, which would mean that they in total would earn Rupees 1.8 lakhs per completed First-Class match. This increase in match fees is a huge increment considering that their previous pay was Rupees 35,000 per day for a First-Class game. Although it hasn’t yet been clarified as to what will the players, who have played less than 40 First Class games would be getting. As for the Under-23 players, they will be getting Rupees 25,000 per day for a First-Class game and the Under-19 players will be getting Rs 20,000 per day. The domestic season of India kicks off in full swing with the Senior Indian Women’s ODI league from September 21. A photo shared by the Times of India on Twitter claims that the match fees of domestic women players have also been increased by BCCI. The Senior women players, from receiving 12,500 per match (there is no case of per day, as women cricketers don't have a permanent first-class set up), would now be receiving Rupees 20,000 per match. As far as the U-23 and U-19 women players are concerned, their match fees has been increased to Rupees 10,000 per day from Rupees 5500.