Ravindra Jadeja puts Harshal Patel to his sword; hits 37 runs in one over to power Super Kings

Andrew Tye becomes latest RR member to pull out of IPL 2021

After Liam Livingstone pulling out of the current season of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals have another blow as their Australian recruit, fast bowler, Andrew Tye has pulled out of the IPL as well. With this pull out their foreign reserves have had a serious jolt considering the fact that Ben Stokes, their prime all-rounder and Jofra Archer, their prime pacer have been ruled out of the IPL already due to injury. At the time of Livingstone’s decision to leave the bubble, Rajasthan Royals in a statement said, “Liam Livingstone has flown back home late last night, due to bubble fatigue accumulated over the past year. We understand and respect his decision, and will continue supporting him in any way we can.” Although RR have called in South African Rassie van der Dussen as Liam Livingstone's replacement as far as Tye, Stokes and Archer is concerned, the team hasn't found any replacement as of now. Tye, 34, has 40 IPL dismissals to his credit in 27 games where he represented several reams including Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Lions alongside Royals.

IPL 2021: Virender Sehwag questions Sanju Samson's attitude on the field

Rajasthan Royals finally returned to winning ways against the Kolkata Knight Riders thrashing them by 6 wickets to win their second game of the tournament. Coming into the match on the back of three consecutive losses, Rajasthan had to turn their fortunes around and for that to happen their skipper Sanju Samson needed to lead from the front. Despite playing brilliantly and carrying his bat, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag feels that there are still issues lingering which the franchise need to address as quickly as possible. He further added that it is important for the captain to be more proactive on the field. He feels that Samson is lacking positive body language and it seems that his teammates are not too happy with him being named the captain. "Looking at his body language, his teammates don't appear too happy with him being the captain. But this is a fact that if a player remains in his own and suddenly, he is made the captain, it takes him time to talk to players, mix with them. So that I fell is proving to be difficult for Sanju Samson," Sehwag said about Samson on a video in Cricbuzz. Despite the victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sehwag feels that Samson can do little things, making a huge difference at the top level. He also explained fact that how it is very important to bring every player together and make them gel as a unit. Samson was named the skipper of the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the tournament. “When a bowler gets taken for runs, it is important to see how the captain responds. I have noticed this with Rishabh Pant that he goes and keeps his hands on the bowler's shoulders and goes 'It doesn't matter. You'll get hit for 40-50. But bowl according to your field'," added Sehwag. "This helps the bowler retain his confidence in captain. Irrespective of what the result it, the captain should continue showing confidence of a bowler who is being taken for runs or even a batsman who isn't scoring runs,” Sehwag added.

Sunrisers' Tom Moody laments 'big loss' of T Natarajan, commends Khaleel Ahmed for stepping up

The Director of Cricket Operations of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tom Moody has lamented the injury to T Natarajan, who has been ruled out of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League as a big loss. He said that the left-armer had burst onto the scenes well last year and rose to shine for the Indian international side as well. Moody praised Natarajan for bringing ‘specific skills’ such as yorkers and slower ones to defeat batsmen in the end overs of games. “Obviously, Natarajan is a big loss to us as a whole. His IPL career really took off last year and also he did well when represented India last year. He is an asset to any side, particularly he brings specific skills to the team. He is really good with his closing skills with yorkers and slower balls. However, Moody said that the injury to Natarajan has opened the door for someone like Khaleel Ahmed who has risen to the occasion of bowling in tough circumstances. He was brilliant with the ball in the last game against the Punjab Kings and picked up three wickets. “Khaleel continues to impress, picking up three wickets and bowled exceptionally well, also bowling in challenging times. He has been asked to bowl in tough conditions and he has done exceptionally well,” Moody said. The Sunrisers tasted their first success in the tournament in their fourth game and Moody said that the win was crucial for the men in orange in order to lift the morale and spread positivity among the player groups. “The game against the PBKS was obviously a very very important for us to firstly get our first win also just to get out game plan sorted with regards to how we playing in Chennai. It has been a challenging venue for us and for every team that has played there. Very unique conditions and it seems like it is only getting worse. It was nice to put up a good performance with the bat and ball to secure the all-important first now,” Moody said. Now, the Sunrisers are eager to get on the Delhi Capitals in their upcoming contest at the same venue in Chennai where pitches have been challenging as suggested by Moody.

A much-needed win: Sangakkara reflects on RR victory against KKR

Rajasthan Riyals finally shrugged off the losing trail as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede on Saturday to ensure their second victory of the season so far. Speaking on the occasion of the six-wicket win, RR coach Kumara Sangakkara lauded the bowling and the fielding unit. “Yeah, it was a much-needed win,” Sanga said in a video uploaded by the official Twitter handle of the Rajasthan Royals. “I think the bowling and fielding had the highest intensity and most clinical execution of all the games in the entire tournament so far,” he added. The former Sri Lanka skipper was however sceptical of the batting performance but chose to overlook it in the face of a win. “Both batting sides KKR and RR looked a bit gun shy. For KKR it was during the powerplay and for us during the middle part of the innings and later in the day. But overall a win is a win,” the 43-year-old said. Saying that there are a lot of positives from this and a lot to build on, Sanga signed off with the team chant, “So well done to the team and Halla Bol.” The Royals now move to Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi where they will face Mumbai Indians in their next clash on a double header’s day on April 29.