‘Working incredibly hard,’ Morgan hopes for Russell’s return in the playoffs

IPL 2021| CSK vs PBKS | Gambhir impressed with KL, places him above Rohit and Virat.

KL Rahul’s 98 off 42 balls that included 7 fours and 8 massive sixes against CSK while chasing 135 has impressed former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir called KL as talented as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are. He feels that Rahul has more shots than anyone else in India. “If you can bat like this, why don’t you bat like this? If he can bat like this, he probably has more ability than Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. I am not saying it just because I have seen KL Rahul doing it today, he just has it. He has got more shots than anyone else in India. And he showed that again,” Gambhir said on ESPNCricinfo. Gambhir felt that it was the overburden of captaincy that affected his batting when he said, ‘Had he played like this, Punjab Kings would’ve qualified by now. It is probably the pressure of captaincy, I don’t know what it is, but the team management can answer.” Although Punjab Kings cannot qualify now, KL Rahul is the leading run-scorer of this edition of IPL. He has scored 626 runs in 13 innings with an average of 62.60. KL has consistently performed in the last four seasons of IPL and has scored above 500 runs in each of those seasons.

Nathan Lyon expects England to send a full-strength team in Ashes

As Ashes 2021-22 is scheduled to start in December this year, speculations have started doing the rounds on England’s decision of touring Australia amid growing bio-bubble fatigue and quarantine rules. While the England cricket board is yet to take a call on the squad, Australian spinner Nathan Lyon expects England to send a full-strength team. "I'm expecting England to come out pretty well full-strength. Ashes series make people's careers, so if people don't come out and someone comes out and has an absolute blinder of an Ashes series, that really sets their careers up. I know if I was in their shoes I'd be putting both hands up for selection and coming on that tour," Lyon said, as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald. Talking about the importance that this series holds for the two nations, Lyon said, "I think that shows the passion between the two nations, and it's the pinnacle as an Australian cricketer to play in the Ashes series. So no doubt there will be some comments flying around and creating a bit of theatre, which I'm all for, so it should be good fun." Some of the key players like Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes are expected to miss this series due to injury.

Can’t tolerate online abuse: Wasim Akram on coaching Pakistan

Former Pakistan pace bowler Wasim Akram said that he doesn’t have patience to deal with the online hate that is spewed against coaches if the team doesn’t do well. He cited this reason for his not opting for a permanent coaching assignment. He said that the hate was ‘scary’. Speaking with CricketPakistan.com.pk YouTube channel, Akram said: “I can’t stand misbehavior from anyone and I am not stupid I see how people misbehave and insult coaches/seniors on the social media if the team is not doing well. I don’t think I have the patience for that. I just think we need to ponder on the fact that whatever we say on social media reflects on what we are.” “Sometimes you do well, sometimes you lose. But tell me, do we see this sort of extreme reaction or misbehavior in other countries? Have you seen Ravi Shastri being treated this way on social media? It is pretty scary for me the way people behave on social media,” Wasim added. Wasim said that people should realise that whatever they write on social media platforms reflects on who they are. The legendary Pakistani bowler who took more than 900 international wickets retired in 2003.

IPL 2021 | KKR vs RR: Hits & Flops as Knight Riders demolish Royals, dash MI's playoffs hopes

It was a perfect performance by Kolkata Knight Riders as they demolished Rajasthan Royals by 86 runs in their final league match to almost book their place in the IPL 2021 Playoffs. Almost has been prefixed to their Playoffs qualification status because mathematically Mumbai Indians still have a chance of qualification, if they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by more than 171 runs in their last match which takes place on October 08. Speaking realistically though, it has been a fairy tale comeback for the Knight Riders who were languishing at the bottom of the points table with only four points from their first seven games during the India leg of the competition. But as soon as it moved to UAE, the Brendon McCullum managed and Eoin Morgan captained the side, infused with the introduction of enigma called Venkatesh Iyer, surpassed all hoped to win five of their last games and take themselves in a position where qualification to the Playoffs seems like the only possible outcome. This game was just way too much for a Rajasthan batting side which was humbled very easily. There were many players who were impressed with their performances while some continued to disappoint. All of them shall be discussed in Hits and Flops. Hits Shivam Mavi Brought into the playing after continuous failures of Prasidh Krishna, Mavi really didn’t pick pace early and it wasn’t until this game that his election could have been really justified. In his first game of the UAE leg, the Uttar Pradesh born bowled full tosses in critical situations and was somewhat responsible for a tricky loss against Punjab Kings. But instead of rebuking him, the management trusted the young pacer and played him the next two games as well. While he picked two wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad, today he was just unstoppable with the ball. The 22-year-old picked up four wickets in this game and alongside Lockie Ferguson, broke the back of the Rajasthan batting lineup. What started with the precious wicket of Royals skipper Sanju Samson, went on to finish with the last wicket of Royals in the form of Rahul Tewatia. His figures of 4/21 in this game are now also his best figures in IPL and T20 cricket. He was also declared Player of the Match in this game. Shubman Gill If peaking at the right time was an exam, Shubaman Gill would be acing it now. Having been out of touch for most of this IPL season, the 22-year-old seemed to have just at the right time. Scoring back to back fifties, Gill has shown the class because of which he was backed by the franchise even after continuously giving poor returns. The right-hander today was once again at his visual best, playing shots all along the ground as well as hitting it in the air occasionally, on what was a fairly improved Sharjah wicket from what it has been throughout the second leg so far. Gill was first of all instrumental in setting up a solid foundation, registering a 79 run partnership with Iyer in just 65 balls. Given the fact that Kolkata were scoring at five runs per over for the first four overs, it was a huge improvement that they touched 80 in the 11th over and then 100 in the 13th. In his innings of 56 off 44 balls, the Punjab born hit four fours and two sixes, taking his total for this season past 350. Lockie Ferguson After missing three games on the trot, a fit Lockie Ferguson announced his arrival with a bang, picking three crucial Royals wickets to make sure they were bundled out for a meagre 85. A master of raw pace and the ability to then bowl drastically slower with the same action, helped Lockie today as he was able to deceive batters with his change of pace. The wickets of Liam Livingstone and Anuj Rawat were nothing but the brilliance of Ferguson to keep changing his pace bowl according to the situation. As a result, he finished with figures of 3/18 in his four overs, to get the much-needed practise before the Playoffs. Flops Shivam Dube If there is anyone that is harming the career of Shivam Dube, it is Shivam Dube himself, with his non-learning from his mistakes. While in the last game he was out being unable to move his legs, in this game, it was the same kind of dismissal, showcasing that he learned nothing from the last game. While his abetting flopped on a comparatively difficult wicket and understandably so, he was also given an opportunity to bowl earlier in the game and he failed over there too. In his two overs, the 28-year-old gave away 18 runs. And with the bat also he could score only 18 runs off 20 balls. Sanju Samson If flops are to be searched from the Rajasthan Royals unit for this game, all except Tewatia and Sakariya might fit the bill, but the captain has been chosen especially because of his inability to adapt to situations. There seems to be no difference between this game and the last one as Samson was out in both of them trying to play such shits, which were not at all plausible seeing the nature of the wicket. In the post-match presentation, Samson himself said that it wasn’t as much the wicket as the fault in their batting that resulted in two below 100 total in consecutive games. Playing four balls, he could only score a solitary run. The skipper was also at fault in the field, making unbelievable bowling changes and showcasing some very poor wicket-keeping skills. The fact that Tewatia bowled only one over even after picking a crucial wicket in that over was beyond imagination for anybody. Now that a season has come to end, whether or not Sanju would be retained as skipper is yet to be seen, but it surely was a bitter pill to digest that they hended up with scores of 1 and 3 even after having a stellar season with the bat, scoring 484 runs, but once again missing out on that precious 500 runs in a season landmark.