KL Rahul’s century sails victory for Kings XI Punjab against Royal Challengers Bangalore!

Happy Kings XI dugout for beating RCB with a huge margin of 97 runs.

Kannur Lokesh Rahul. What an innings by this young man! He stole the show with his KLassic power strokes making 132* off 69 balls. After putting on to bat first by Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul played an anchor role to take his team towards victory.

KL Rahul opened the innings alongside Mayank Agarwal. Both of them got to a decent start. They batted throughout the power play and built a partnership of 57 runs in 7 overs after which Agarwal was bowled out by Yuzvendra Chahal. Agarwal contributed 26 runs off 20 balls.

Chahal strikes early, dismissing Agarwal

Picture courtesy : Instagram/@iplt20

Another partnership was built up between the skipper and the left handed Nicholas Pooran. They added 57 runs off 37 balls. This gave Pooran the license to hit biggies but failed terribly as the ball safely landed in Ab de Villiers’ hands at mid-off. Pooran badly executed the over pitched delivery by Shivam Dube.

Glenn Maxwell came in at number 4. Chahal was put to bowl for an interesting contest between the two lads. Maxi and Chahal have played 8 innings against each other out of which the leggie has dismissed Maxi on 5 occasions. However, Maxwell sneaked a single of Chahal’s only delivery to him, which was also Chahal’s last over for the innings. Anyway, Maxwell had to walk back cheaply in the next over off Dube. The Australian batter scored just 5 runs off 6 balls before he was caught by Aaron Finch at covers.

Karun Nair was the new man to support his captain playing beautifully on the other end. Nair scored 15 off 8 balls that he faced, for he gave maximum strike to his Kannada companion.

Rampant Rahul was playing exceptionally well. He hit his 17th IPL 50 in 36 balls, 68% of those runs came in 4s and 6s. Being the quickest runner that he is, he took runs in singles and doubles without getting tired. His performance on Dubai’s batting pitch was above par. The RCB bowlers struggled to dismiss him for when he played a loose shot, he was dropped by Virat Kohli twice (83 and 89 respectively) at the boundary between 6 balls.

Quite honestly I was nervous but I knew if I spend time in the middle, hit a few balls from the middle of the bat, it will all settle down. – KL Rahul at the post match presentation ceremony.

A few more stylish shots kept the scoreboard ticking. The Kings XI touched 150 runs in the 18th over. And then it was KL’s show for he scored his 2nd IPL century with a boundary over short third man. He took off his helmet and appreciated the applauses from his team mates and owners and did the “I don’t hear anything” celebration. KL Rahul has certainly, shut the noise with his hundred.

KL Rahul celebrating his century in style

Picture courtesy : Business Standard

Consequently, the wicket-keeping opener set a standard for all batsmen. KL completed 2000 IPL runs in 60 innings beating master blaster Sachin Tendulkar (63), which is the fastest by any Indian batsman. KL’s 132* is the highest score in IPL by any Indian and any Captain. The rightly admired leader of the pack is also the current holder of the orange cap with 153 runs, given to the batsman with highest runs in the tournament.

Playing with a strike rate of over 190, KL Rahul made sure that all the bowlers are punished and made RCB pay the price for winning the toss. While Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn were brutally punished, the young boys Dube and Navdeep Saini controlled the run rate. Chahal gave his best giving away just 25 runs and picking a wicket of Mayank Agarwal in his quota of 4 overs.

Yet, the Royal Challengers had a mammoth total of 207 runs to chase.

The second innings started with left handed Devdutt Padikkal and right handed Aaron Finch. After a great debut in the first match, Paddikal was caught out after making just one run from 2 balls in the first over by Sheldon Cottrell. The new batsman Joshua Philippe was plumbed for a duck in the next over by Mohammed Shami. Virat Kohli, in at 4, fell prey in the 3rd over. The pressure built up on the skipper made him play big shots leading to mistakes. He was caught by Ravi Bishnoi after making just 1 run from 4 balls.

Virat Kohli’s early dismissal turned out to be fatal for RCB

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@RCBTweets

A partnership was forming between ABD and Finch. Finch was caught leg before wicket but a review by RCB at the right time changed the original decision by the on-field umpire. With 2 great batsmen at the crease, the pressure was on the young bowler Bishnoi. His first over turned out to be very expensive for he gave 2 extras and 3 boundaries, totaling at 15 runs. Perhaps, Bishnoi with a big heart came back stronger and bowled Finch for 20 runs off 21 balls. Murugan Ashwin on the other end dismissed ABD for 28 runs off 18 balls. Both these batsmen were looking very dangerous but the spinners had their work done.

Ravi Bishnoi celebrating Finch’s wicket.

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@KingsXIPunjab

The score was 60 for 5 at the end of 9 overs. The next 5 wickets also fell down in the following 8 overs. The total was too big for the tailenders to chase down. After ABD was dismissed, just three 4s were hit by the RCB batsman. Whereas, KL Rahul had single handedly hit thirteen 4s and four 6s in his innings. He never lost his balance in doing so.

All in all, a very bad day for RCB especially the skipper for dropping catches and getting dismissed for just a run. Virat will have a few things to think about before his next game against Mumbai Indians, who are returning after a huge win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

I take brunt of it, I dropped some chances. Maybe if we had restricted them under 180, we would not be under pressure from ball 1 in the chase. – Virat Kohli at the post match presentation ceremony

With Anil Kumble alongside, the Kings XI Punjab are on top of the points table with +2.43 net run rate. Special mention to the captain for hitting in the gaps and playing with a straight bat, rousing us with the sweet noise of the bat and ball. Rightly deserved, he was lauded with awards at the post match presentation including the Man of the Match award.

Mohammad Shami and KL Rahul posing with their coloured caps for taking highest wickets and scoring highest runs, respectively, in the tournament so far.

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@KingsXIPunjab

Match Summary :

Kings XI Punjab 206/3 (20)

Playing XI – KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwali, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 109/10 (17)

Playing XI – Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Josh Philippe (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Winning team – Kings XI Punjab (by 97 runs)

Man of the Match – KL Rahul

Dream11 Game Changer – KL Rahul

Altroz Super Striker of the Match – KL Rahul

Unacademy Let’s Crack it Sixes – KL Rahul

CRED Power Player of the Match – Sheldon Cottrell

Unquestionably, a perfect day for the Preity Zinta owned Kings XI team. But, it also happened to be one of the darkest days for the entire cricket fraternity. We lost Dean Jones earlier in the day. All the players wore a black band on their sleeves to show respect to our beloved Prof. Deano. The cricket world will never forget Australia’s greatest batter and fielder who set the bar for generations to come.

As the showman Prof. Deano was, the show must go on. With just a few hours remaining for another interesting match between the experienced, Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings and the youngest captain Shreyas Iyer’s Delhi Capitals.

Dean Jones

Picture courtesy : The Indian Express

Who’s your pick for tonight? Let us know in the comments below!

Setting the sun of the Risers, RCB won by 10 runs.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini changed the game for RCB.

The third match of Dream11 IPL 2020 played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) took-off in Dubai on 21st September. A happy day for all the RCBians! The team had a very difficult start last season but they bounced back starting with a winning match this year.

Taking a perfect estimation of the new ground, the Sunrisers chose to bowl first. However, they had a bad start amidst power play when they saw an astonishing opening partnership between Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch.

Aaron Finch was supposed to take the pressure off the young debutang. But no, it was the other way round. Hitting a huge six on Abhishek Sharma’s ball, Padikkal made his first half century at IPL in 37 balls. Sunrisers bowler Vijay Shankar came back into the attack by taking the wicket of unstoppable Padikkal and breaking the partnership.

Devdutt Padikkal said, “It was great to get the half century out of the way. It was the first game and I wanted to start of well. I am happy to have done that. So happy to be training with Kohli. I was just eating his ears trying to pick up as much as possible. He said who you face doesn’t matter as long as you have confidence in yourself. I enjoyed batting with finch. I was comfortable from the word go batting alongside with him.”

Picture courtesy: Sportsgrasp.com

The match was taken ahead by the fastest run taker AB de Villers and RCB captain Virat Kohli. Taking the responsibility of the team, De Villers scored his half century in 30 balls later hitting two sixes back to back on Sandeep Sharma’s over and setting a higher score for the Risers to chase. ABD also hit 200th six for the Royal Challengers.

Bowlers from Sunrisers were bowling pretty well after the power play. When Abhishek Sharma took wicket of Finch and Rashid Khan got the catch of the skipper Virat Kohli, the Risers built a little pressure on Challengers.

The conditions would have best suited the Sunrisers bowler Mitchell Marsh but succumbed to injuries, he had to walk-off the ground due to a limp in his leg. This brought a twist into the match and affected the best bowling side lethally.

Royal Challengers set a target of 164 which looked 20 runs short until Yuzi Chahal and Navdeep Saini came as a savior with their fantastic bowling. This match has given a feeling that RCB is now a well balanced side with the likes of 4 good batsmen in the top and middle order and a great mix of spinners and pacers in their team.

With the opening partnership of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, Sunrisers were all set to chase the score made by the Royal Challengers. In the very first over by Dale Steyn, Warner started-off the chase by hitting a boundary.

RCB bowler Umesh Yadav who wasn’t bowling good, fortunately ran-out Warner at the non-strikers end. Bairstow who scored a half century, managed to do that because of the weak fielding by RCB where he got saved thrice from a catch out. Manish Pandey and Bairstow had built a good partnership which could have led to a win.

However, it was then the RCB’s bowlers show. Yuzvendra Chahal came into the picture by taking Manish Pandey’s wicket in his 3rd over and stumped Bairstow and Vijay Shankar back to back. Another bowler from RCB, Navdeep Saini who stumped Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan one after the other.

With the never say die attitude, Mitchell Marsh came to bat but his injured leg did not allow him to stay on the pitch for long. He got a catch out by Virat Kohli after hitting the first ball. Pulling up the score to 146 SRH needed 18 runs in the last 6 balls. But with a brilliant show put up by RCB bowlers, the tailenders were dismissed soon and consequently lost all 10 wickets.

Picture courtesy: Moneycontrol.com

The man of the match award was given to RCB spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for taking 3 wickets and giving just 18 runs in his spell of 4 overs.

Yuzi Chahal said, “When I bowled my first over, I realized I need to bowl stump-to-stump line and backed myself. When Vijay came Virat and AB told me to go for a googly and it worked. I put some mud on my hands to make sure there is no dew.”

THE WAIT IS OVER!💙💛

Just one day to go for the inaugural match of Dream11 IPL 2020!

The stage is set. The pitch is unrolled. Pads on. Bats held high. We are less than 24 hours away from the inaugural match of Dream11 IPL 2020. The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The rivalry between MI and CSK makes the match all the more intense. The two teams and their jersey colours give us a feeling of the clash between India and Australia. And what better way to start the 13th edition of Indian Premier League?😍

Both the franchises have the title trophies on their rack. The Dhoni-led Super Kings have been the most consistent of the tournament for they’ve reached the playoffs stage for all the 10 seasons they played. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians team have won 4 titles including Vivo IPL 2019 trophy.

Mumbai and Chennai have competed in the final stage multiple times. The final match from last season also took place between these two magnificent teams with MI winning the watch after Shardul Thakur (CSK) was stumped by Lasith Malinga (MI) on the last ball.

It’s a usual misfortune of Mumbai Indians of losing the initial matches in the league stage. And magically, we see the MI paltan lifting the trophy at the end of the 60th match of the tournament. The blue army tend to leave no stone unturned in the second half of the tournament and are supported by sheer dedication by their owner Nita Ambani who is always found praying in the stands.

Perhaps, according to a statistics report released by the Times of India (TOI – leading national daily in english), CSK has the highest winning percentage of 60.61. Just after them is Mumbai Indians, with 57.22% winning ratio.

A twist to this interesting contest is that from this IPL season onwards, we will have the third umpire checking the front foot no-ball. An off-field umpire will use technology to judge when bowlers overstep their front-foot on the crease. A trial for these has been conducted and passed by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.

This advancement in technology will prove to be very crucial because when we date back to one of the matches played between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2019, the result of the match could have been the other way round. Lasith Malinga from MI had bowled the last ball a front foot no-ball. What’s important is that, that overstepped delivery turned the tables. It stopped RCB from winning the match and in turn, taking away their chance in going to the play offs.

Coming back to the teams that will play tomorrow, here are the squads :

Mumbai Indians – Rohit Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Nathal Coulter – Nile, Quinton de Kock, Digvijay Deshmukh, Ishan Kishan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chris Lynn, Mitchell mcClenaghan, Mohsin Khan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Kieron Pollard, Prince Balwant Rai, Anukul Roy, Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary, Jayant Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav.

Chennai Super Kings – MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, M Vijay, Josh Hazlewood, Kedar Jadhav, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Monu Kumar, Shane Watson, Sai Kishore, Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif.

The delay of the tournament and with rumours on IPL getting cancelled, the fans are overwhelmed when it is finally commencing. No matter which team wins, both MI and CSK have massive fan following and we can say with confidence that we will have a thriller tomorrow.

Team 30Yards is having a battle of it’s own between TeamBlue and TeamYellow. What’s your pick for tomorrow? Let is known in the comment section below!

Will Thala and Co. roar in UAE?

Dream opportunity for CSK to level up with MI for who knows that this season might be the last IPL under Mahi’s captaincy.

On the eve of India’s 74th Independence Day, Mahendra Singh Dhoni put up a video on his Instagram and announced his retirement. Without any media outrage, without any press conference, without a farewell speech, M.S. Dhoni finished off in style. The video consisted of images of him along with his teammates throughout his cricketing career with his favourite song as background – “Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon” from the movie “Kabhi Kabhie”.

Picture courtesy: Monster.com/

From 19 hours 29 mintues on 15th August’20, time stopped for the entire cricketing fraternity. Even though everyone knew Dhoni’s retirement is around the corner, but when that moment arrived, every human who’s associated with cricket be it as a player or a fan felt a huge void in their heart.

Our Captain cool has been the most successful captain for India. He has brought back home all the ICC (International Cricket Council) trophies.

“And as a captain, he is quite conservative in his tactics. But he waits for you to make a mistake and then the cobra goes for the squeeze. People will always remember what he has done. He will be in my top five Indian players of all time,” said Dean Jones, former Australian cricketer in a recent episode of Star Sports’ chat show Cricket Connected.

Dhoni is popularly known as the finisher when it comes to chasing the scoreboard. We already miss his aerial shots especially his helicopter shot. One of the biggest coincidences of Dhoni’s career is that he was run out in his debut as well as in the last One Day International (ODI) match that he played.

“Dhoni finishes off in style. India lifts the World Cup after 28 years of long wait” – Ravi Shashtri, the then commentator.
Picture courtesy : Scoopwoop.com/

Following the footsteps of Thala, Chinna thala, also announced his retirement from international cricket minutes after Dhoni. Since then everyone is eager to watch Suresh Raina play alongside Mahi for Dream11 IPL 2020, which according to sources, might be the last IPL for M.S. Dhoni.

“I think this tournament will be extra special for everyone – the players as well as the audience…watching Dhoni back on the pitch is sure to be a delight. There’s so much in store, need I say more?” Virender Sehwag said.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/ChennaiIPL

IPL is just another national festival for all the crazy cricket fans in the country. Although the tournament is shifted to UAE, we are on the edge of our seats. But as good things are momentary, CSK received a big blow when 13 members from their management including Deepak Chahar, a very crucial pacer for the Super Kings, were tested positive for COVID-19.

Just when they managed to balance the team, Suresh Raina, middle order batsman and a terrific fielder, and Harbhajan Singh, spinner, pulled themselves out from the tournament owning to personal reasons.

“We will miss our senior players but at the same time, it is an opportunity for others to stand up and prove themselves. We are confident of doing the job well with what we have,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told PTI.

After recovering from coronavirus, Deepak Chahar has started training again. He had to undergo a cardiovascular test as per BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) procedures and after BCCI’s nod, he has entered the bio-bubble as of 9th September’20. He also furnished certificates of two COVID-19 negative test results.

“He will start training from today (10th Sept’20). He has got necessary clearance from BCCI. The team is training hard and in good shape. We are looking forward to our first game,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told PTI.

The Super Kings maintaining social distance during team discussions

Picture courtesy: Twitter/ChennaiIPL

As per IPL statistics report of the Times of India (TOI), Chennai Super Kings has has the highest winning percentage of 60.61 for the 10 seasons that they played.

Chennai Super Kings is a synonym for consistency. The yellow brigade is the most consistent team in the Indian Premier League, reaching the play-off stage in every season they have been a part of.

Super Kings have lifted the IPL trophy 3 times in the years 2010, 2011 and 2018. They were the first runners-up last year for the 5th time. They are the only team to earn the Purple Cap (given to the bowler who has taken highest number of wickets in the tournament) four times in IPL history.

Winners of Vivo IPL 2018
Picture Courtesy :

Picture courtesy: DNA India

With just 2 days left, M.S. Dhoni led CSK and Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians (MI) are gearing up for an interesting contest. Will the yellow army lift the Dream11 IPL 2020 trophy or will MI be the defending champions?

Our emotions are running high. Are you on the same page? Let us know in the comment section below!

Top Debutants to watch out for Dream11 IPL 2020!

The field where opportunity meets talent.

Being a part of our Indian Cricket Team has always been a dream of every cricketer and to support this honorable moment, the Indian Premier League has always acted as a milestone for all the young around the world. Be it the fast bowler Umesh Yadav (debuted in 2010) or youngest debutants in the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant who made sprawling entries in the Indian Cricket Team, IPL has always been a great platform for youngsters.

Left to right : Umesh Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw
Picture courtesy: Maalaimalar news website

Here are the top debutants for Dream11 IPL 2020 who are sure to win our hearts :

● Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals) –
Coming from a substandard background in Uttar Pradesh, this 18 year old boy is now a part of the Royal family. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a left handed batsman signed by Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 2.4Cr. He is the youngest (age of 17) cricketer in the world to score a double century List A cricket. He scored 203 vs Jharkhand during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20. He was also the highest run scorer for the Under- 19 World Cup in 2018. It will be exciting to watch Yashasvi play alongside the veterans in UAE.

Yashasvi jaiswal at post match ceremony after scoring an century against pakistan in U19 Worldcup 2020.

Picture courtesy: TOI website

● Devdatt Paddikkal (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – A 20 year old cricketer from Kerala, Devdatt Paddikkal is known as the run machine in the Indian Domestic Cricket teams. In the last seasons of Vijay Hazare trophy and Syed Mushtak Ali trophy, no batsman scored more than Devdatt Panddikkal. He was the highest scorer in the Karnataka Ranji trophy as well. Devdatt was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for 2019 Indian Premier League. Succumbed to injuries, Devdatt couldn’t play in the last season. Coming in at number 4, we hope to see Devdatt play and contribute along with star batsmen Ab de Villiers, Aaron Finch Finch the skipper Virat Kohli.

● Ravi Bishnoi (Kings XI Punjab) – Ravi Bishnoi, last seen in the U-19 World Cup in 2018 where he took the highest number of wickets, could become a key weapon for Kings XI on the slow UAE wickets. Bishnoi was bought by the Mohali franchise for a massive amount of Rs.2 Crore to add this 20 year old youngster to thier side. While the IPL is a different level of competition that adds a lot of pressure on players, Bishnoi can be a very valuable addition to the Kings XI den if he creates the same magic as he did in South Africa. “I will take whatever comes. But yes, I would like to get Steve Smith out. He is the No1 Test batsmen and he plays spin very well.” said Ravi Bishnoi.

Ravi bishnoi while bowling.

Picture courtesy : Sportzwiki

● Tom Banton (Kolkata Knight Riders) – Tom Banton, the 22year old English player is supposedly inpired by Kevin Pietersen’s game who loves to play a variety of unorthodox shots. Banton is a wicket keeper batsman bought by the Knight Riders for a whopping Rs.1Cr. With Chris Lynn gone, Baton shall play a crucial role opening the innings for KKR. Baton represented Brisbane Heat for Australia’s Big Bash League last year. He scored 223 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 177, with 3 half-centuries to his name. “England batsman Tom Banton is very exciting to watch and can be the X-factor for his side in IPL 2020” said KKR mentor David Hussy.

● Daniel Sams (Delhi Capitals) – As a replacement Jason Roy, Daniel Sams was picked up by Delhi Capitals on 27th August’20. Sams had picked up 30 wickets for Sydney Thunders in the last season of Big Bash League. After Rashid Khan, Sams was the highest wicket taker in the 2019-20 edition.

● Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Kolkata Knight Riders) – After playing a very important role in India’s U-19 World Cup win in 2018, Nagarkoti had got a chance to make his debut in IPL in 2018 when KKR bought him for Rs.3.2 crores. Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury and had to leave the team. This 20 year old all-rounder is most likely to make his debut this year with KKR. In an interview he spoke about his injury, comeback and his relationship with U-19 batchmates and the overwhelming support that he has received from the Kolkata franchise.

Flying Nagarkoti.

Picture courtesy: Times now

Some more players making their IPL debut this year are :

Indians : Priyam Garg and Virat Singh for SRH, Darshan Nalkande for Kings XI Punjab, Sai Kishor and Ruturaj Gaikwad for Chennai Super Kings, and Kartik Tyagi for Rajasthan Royals.

U19 Worldcup 2018 champions with their trophy.

Picture courtesy: Times of india.

Australians – Alex Carey for Delhi Capitals and Chris Green for Kolkata Knight Riders.

West Indies – Sheldon Cottrell for Kings XI Punjab.

There will be competition. There will be pressure. There will be opportunities but jumping on the right opportunity at right time will decide the destiny of the players.

Let us know who are your favourite debutants for the upcoming edition of Dream11 IPL 2020!