Players may withdraw from tours if bio-secure bubble takes a toll on mental health - Eoin Morgan

IPL 2020: Veteran all-rounder set to fly back home, reveals CSK CEO Viswanathan

Chennai Super Kings are more or less out of the reckoning for a playoff berth, having lost seven out of the 10 matches so far. MS Dhoni and Co. might well end up as the wooden spoon holders for the first time in more than a decade. The three-time champions have suffered yet another blow in the face of all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who has been ruled out due to a groin injury. CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told ANI that the West Indies cricketer will fly home in a few days time and will play no further role in IPL 2020. “No, Bravo isn’t playing any more part this time around and the groin injury has ruled him out. He will be flying back in a day or two,” the CEO said. On the absence of key players like Suresh Raina and spinner Harbhajan Singh, Viswanathan stated that the duo is crucial in Chennai’s scheme of things. But the franchise acknowledged the personal decisions made by the cricketers. “Undoubtedly Raina and Harbhajan are both vital cogs in the CSK unit and they were missed. But you have to respect personal decisions and that is how we function irrespective of whether it is a senior or junior player,” he opined. CSK will next take on Mumbai Indians on Friday at Sharjah Stadium.

Australia vs India 2020/21: Sydney, Canberra in the race for hosting white-ball matches

The much-anticipated India’s tour of Australia is likely to commence on November 27 with a 3-match ODI series, followed by as many T20I matches. Sydney and Canberra are currently ahead in the race for hosting the white-ball matches. An agreement between New South Wales and Cricket Australia is set to take place at the earliest which will pave the way for the hosts. Meanwhile, New South Wales is likely to allow hotel quarantine along with training sessions during the quarantine period. “Cricket Australia has approached the New South Wales government about quarantining the Indian cricket team and returning Australian cricketers in Sydney,” Ayres was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo. “That proposal is currently being assessed by NSW authorities including health and police. Fixtures for the Indian tour will be determined by Cricket Australia and won’t impact our assessment of the quarantine proposal,” the sports minister added. It’s learned that while Sydney will play host to as many as four games, Canberra comes into the picture for two matches. Furthermore, the Women’s Big Bash League is set to start on Sunday, October 25. Sydney will host the entire tournament but SCG has not been picked as a venue.

IPL 2020 | KXIP vs DC: Hits and Flops as Shikhar Dhawan’s historic hundred goes in vain

It’s not often that a player from one team hits a hundred and the team could manage to score only 164 runs in its 20 overs. However, playing for Delhi Capitals, Shikhar Dhawan scored a brilliant 106* off just 61 balls, but his team ended up scoring only 164 off their 20 overs, giving the opposition Kings Xi Punjab, a comparatively easier total to chase and they grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The Punjabis didn’t mess this one and beat the table-toppers Capitals by five wickets in Dubai with one over to spare. While Shikhar Dhawan was the hero of the game for Delhi, the men who brought victory to the Punjab camp included the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell. There were a lot of failures on Delhi’s end although, for Punjab too, quite a few senior pros failed to adapt to conditions. On that note, here is the list of players that made it to the Hits and Flops of the game. Hits #1 Shikhar Dhawan While wickets kept falling at one end, it was Dhawan who held his fort to get Delhi to the target that was above par. If you minus the 106 of Dhawan’s from Delhi’s total of 164, what’s left is a dismal show of batting from the rest of his teammates. It was a historic moment for Dhawan when he hit the hundred as he became the first player in IPL’s history to have hit back to back hundreds. Although his team lost quite comprehensively, just for sheer brilliance, Dhawan was awarded the Man of the Match for that game. In his knock of 106, Dhawan hit 12 fours and three sixes, scoring at a strike rate of 173.77 #2 Nicholas Pooran When the big guns like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and even Chris Gayle were back in the hut by the end of the sixth over, it was hard to believe that Kings XI would actually go on to clinch the match, especially after the kind of goof ups they have had throughout the tournament. But Caribbean Nicholas Pooran said enough is enough as he took the opposition bowlers the cleaners shifting the entire pressure back on the fielding team. His counter-attacking innings of 55 from 28 balls at a strike rate of more than 189 was the impetus that was required for even an out of form Maxwell to feel that he belonged to the ground as the pair put on a match-winning partnership of 69 runs off just 40 balls. The only thing faulty in Pooran’s inning was him throwing away his wicket instead of finishing the game. #3 Glenn Maxwell Having failed in the last nine matches, whispers of taking Maxwell out of the team had now become a loud noise. But the Aussie took this opportunity in the 10th game to silence those noises at least for the next game. Maxwell scored a well compiled 32 off 28 balls which was according to the demand of the situation. Not only that he also bowled a full quota of four overs and took a wicket of Rishabh Pant as well, giving just 31 runs. Flops #1 Rishabh Pant Coming back from injury, Pant was looked rusty while batting as he could score only 14 runs off 20 balls, slowing down the progress of the game for the Capitals, above that, he gave his wicket to a part-timer Maxwell. Pant’s wicket-keeping has been under scrutiny as well, and in this game too, he remained under scanner as he missed a golden opportunity to run out Nicholas Pooran very early in the Punjab innings. However, this wasn’t the first time that Pant has had such a torrid outing. In the seven matches that he has played in the tournament so far, Pant hasn’t been able to go past 40 in any of them. #2 Prithvi Shaw Having started the IPL season on a promising note, Shaw seems to be getting alienated as he has now missed three opportunities in a row. Having had two ducks and a one-digit score in his last three outings, Shaw once again failed as he got out of 7 from 11 balls off Jimmy Neesham’s bowling. But that is not the only problem, apart from failing as a batsman, Shaw seems to be having some problems in the field as well. Yesterday too, Shaw couldn’t save a few boundaries in the outfield as well. While the Delhi team as per their captain would take this game as a wake-up call and try and sort things out before they head in for the playoffs, Punjab would take this as an opportunity to eye one of the spots in the Playoffs. Powered by Froala Editor

IPL 2020 | KXIP vs DC: What Experts said as KL Rahul and Co. continue marching on the comeback trail

The comeback story that people were looking for, finally seems to be hitting the nail on its head in this IPL as Kings XI Punjab defeated table-toppers Delhi Capitals by five wickets in a largely one-sided affair in Dubai to gather their third win in a row. The best part of the wins has been the way they have approached the games in the last three matches as the teams that they have defeated are all in the top three of the table right now. Things have started to click finally for the Kings from Punjab as even Glenn Maxwell, who had for the last nine games been a mute spectator with the bat showed glimpses of hitting form as he made 32 of 28 deliveries. More importantly, he is bowling some crucial overs at the start as well, becoming the utility player that the Punjab team required. Captains’ Viewpoint Reacting to the win, Kings’ skipper KL Rahul was happy that Nicholas Pooran batted the way he did and said, “When you play with 6 batters and one all-rounder, one of the top four had to do the job.” He further praised his bowlers saying, “Shami was coming in after some confidence from the last game. Arshdeep bowled two overs in the powerplay and one over at the death. And he nailed 6 yorkers.” Maxwell finally seemed to have found form and the 28-year-old skipper was also pleased with it. “Glenn has been batting well in the nets. He is a great team man and we know the balance he brings to the table,” Rahul said about his Australian match-winner. Having won three games against the table toppers, Rahul revealed the strategy that the team has been following saying, “The talk before the last couple of games was to beat two teams that were at the top of the points table.” Talking about the last game in which Kings played not one but two super overs, Rahul said, “I couldn't sleep after the last game. We could have finished it before and not allowed it to go into the super over.” “The game reminds us to stay humble. We would want to take the momentum forward and take it one game at a time,” he added underlining the importance of playing with gratitude and respect for the game. Losing captain, which Shreyas Iyer hasn’t been referred to as much this IPL as KL Rahul, felt that his team was about 10 runs short. “We fell around 10 runs short, but we got a lot of learnings from this game,” he said. Praising Dhawan, Iyer further said, “Shikhar's batting was positive. He read the wicket well, adapted to the situation, he went hard from Ball 1 and passed the message onto the youngsters that the wicket is stopping. He acclimatized to the conditions quicker than the others.” Further, to make sure that all the players feel positive after the game, Iyer also had a chat with domestic lads like Tushar Deshpande. “Tushar leaked runs but that happens to the best of us. I'm sure he will come back well,” hoped Iyer. “The good thing is that the boys will be charged up for the next game. We weren't up to the mark, but I'm sure we will be next time,” he concluded. Expert Opinion Reacting to the three back to back wins for the King, the experts predicted a comeback for the Kings Xi, and most of their comments were directed towards that only. Few also chose to highlight Shikhar Dhawan's amazing feat of back to back hundreds. Cricketer turned commentator and cricket expert, Aakash Chopra believes that this loss to Delhi Capitals has come at the right time for them to tighten up the screws, where it's loose. Harsha Bhogle, a senior cricket analyst and commentator compared Kings XI's comeback to a car other cars' rearview mirror suggesting that it is now becoming a threat for everyone to buckle up. Senior Broadcast Journalist, Vikrant Gupta while talking about the progress of the Punjab team was happy with their three back to back wins, but also sounded the warning bell for them as the day's job was almost over. Former India coach and currently the coach of the Zimbabwe team, Lalchand Rajput was awed by Shikhar Dhawan's back to back hundreds at the same time also showered his praises to Punjab's Nicholas Pooran for the breathtakingly fast half-century. Sambit Bal, another senior journalist enlisted the KXIP as a serious outside contender and he did it because the Punjab team has its matches against teams of lower half now. Whether Punjab manages to travel from the last position to the playoffs is still to be seen, but with performances like these, they have surely created a buzz for themselves,