With Gill’s 70*, KKR register their first win at Dream11 IPL 2020 against SRH!

Shubman gill and Eoin Morgan uplifted the Knight Riders and settled Sunrisers at the bottom of the points table.

The eighth match of Dream11 IPL 2020 took place between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Shaikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Skipper David Warner choosed to bat first for sunrisers. The dew was a concern for both teams plus the ground has long boundaries, so bowlers were sure to benifit as compared to the other grounds in UAE.

Picture courtesy: Outlook India

Dinesh Kartik, captaining KKR decided couple of changes for his team. He brought in debutant Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Varun in place of Sandeep and Nikhil respectively. In SRH, Wridhhiman Saha came in for Vijay shankar as the latter had tweaked his back. Nabi came in for Marsh and Khaleel came in for Sandeep Sharma.

Both the teams had a poor start this season so both were here to claim their first victory under the moon. Perhaps, we had only one winner – Knight Riders. SRH had given a target of 143 to chase which the Kolkata franchise did it convincingly, at the loss of 3 wickets and 12 balls to spare.

SRH’s Warner and Bairstow opened the game as KKR’s Narine bowled the first over. First wicket fell for SRH at 3.6 over. Birthday boy Bairstow returned after scoring just scoring 5 runs from 10 without hitting any boundaries.

KKR after getting first wicket of SRH.
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@IPL

After the opener departed, Manish Pandey came in and built a decent partnership of 35 runs with Warner who later was dismissed by Chakravarty. Warner scored 36 runs off 25 balls which included two boundaries and a maximum. As Saha joined Pandey, they added another 60 runs for the total. Manish Pandey hit his half century but was caught and bowled by Andre Russel in the next few deliveries itself. He scored 51 runs off 38 balls. He hit three 4s and two 6s. We should even appreciate Manish Pandey’s half century as he is one of most underated player.

Manish Pandey after scoring an fifty.
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@SunRisers

The pace of the game slowed down. The Sunrisers had just 121 runs at the end of 17 overs. After Pandey, Nabi came in to bat. Unfortunately, Saha was run out on the second ball of the 19th over by the the wicket keeper Karthik. Saha had scored just 30 runs off 31 balls which included a 4 and a 6. Young man Abhishek Sharma came in to bat. He scored just 2 runs from the 3 balls he faced while Nabi scored 11 runs in 8 balls with two boundaries. The final score was 142 for 4.

We can say bowlers of Knight Riders did a good job of controlling the run rate which put pressure on the opponent. Cummin’s spell was the best amongst KKR’s bowling. His figures were 4-0-19-1.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/@KKRiders

In second innings KKR’s Shubman gill and Narine gill opened as SRH’s Bhuvneshwar kumar bowled the first over. First wicket fell for KKR in the second ball of the second over by Khaleel Ahmed. Narine went out for a duck, caught by Warner. Nitish rana came in to bat to support Gill. Rana’s wicket fell in 4.4 over caught by Saha which was bowled by T Natarajan. Rana scored 26 runs of just 13 balls in which he hit 6 boundaries. Skipper Dinesh Kartik also went out for duck. He was caught leg before wicket by Rashid khan at 6.2 overs. But the opener Shubman Gill was still batting on other side, playing shots on all sides of ground. After the skipper, Eoin stayed with Gill.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/@IPL

On the third ball of 13th over, our young man Gill scored his half century and on second ball of 15th over, partnership between Gill and Morgan reached 50 runs. At this stage, KKR had put up 102 runs on the score board. Gill-Morgan now had the license to play a destructive innings especially in the death overs. The completed the team’s target on the last ball of 18th over. Morgan hit a boundary to do and celebrated in style!

Winning Scenes…
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@IPL

SRH’s two bowlers bowled decently which were Rashid khan with bowling figures of 4-0-25-1 and Mohammad nabi with bowling figures of 4-0-23-0. But all of their efforts went in vain.

Shubman Gill made 70 runs off 62 balls with five boundaries and two maximum. Keeping his wicket safe, he showed his patience and calmness. Eoin Morgan also played a great innings, giving his quickest cameo of 42 runs from 29 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes.

Gill and Morgan together paved an easy way for victory of KKR. It was a low scoring match and keeping seven wickets in hand, they registered their first two points for this season.

“We have been working really hard. I think one of the advantages of having all-rounders and it is a privilege to use them whenever I can. The fact that we have been able to groom the youngsters is pleasing It feels good to see the youngsters doing well”. – Winning captain Dinesh Kartik in post-match speech.

Shubman Gill was given a Man of the match award as he pulled victorious innings for KKR.

I think the ball wasn’t spinning much and was easy to hit down the ground. I have practised power hitting in the last couple of years. I think it was important for us to win. There weren’t any long conversations with Morgan. We were just trying to anticipate what the bowlers can try and do. As an opener it is my duty to see my team through. – Man of the match Shubman Gill

MI wipe out KKR with all-round performance, register first win in UAE since 2014

After losing their first game this season, MI pulled out all stops and outdid KKR in every department in a hard fought contest.

On 23rd September 2020, Mumbai Indians took on Kolkata Knight Riders in the fifth match of Dream 11 Indian Premier league (IPL). Team MI led by Rohit Sharma won against KKR by 49 runs. It was MI’s first win this season.
KKR won the toss and chose to field while the Rohit Sharma along with Quinton De Cock decided to open for MI. De Cock exited the pitch after Shivam Malvi dismissed him in second over.

SKY’s the limit was the word going around after MI’s Suryakumar Yadav (SKY) came in bat blazing and fired off four fours in the third over. He settled in to score a breezy 90 runs, laying the foundation for a big total.

Picture courtesy : NDTV sports

In the fifth over, MI captain Sharma
lit up the stands and punted KKR’s Pat Cummins for two sixes. Sharma then went off on Russell, firing off a four and a six. A strong partnership was led by Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav resulted as fifty run partnership.

By the eighth over, team MI hit 80 runs with Kuldeep Yadav bowling at Suryakumar. MI was reaching 100 runs with this spectacular partnership, until Suryakumar got knocked out. Rohit then brought up his 37th IPL fifty in the IPL before MI moved past hundred in the twelfth over. Till the fourteenth Over, MI had completed their more than 140 run. Later on Sharma went onto hit super sixes twice, which made his record of 200 sixes in IPL. Saurabh Tiwary was on the pitch, looking good, scoring 21 in 13 balls before getting out off Sunil Narine’s bowling.

After Tiwary’s dismissal, Hardik Pandya carried MI past the 150-run mark in 17th over. Rohit Sharma’s stellar innings came to an end in the 18th over after scoring 80 off 54 balls, hitting 3 fours and 6 sixes, as Mavi picked up his second wicket of the match.

In the 19th over, Kolkata got their hands on the game as Hardik got knocked out by Russell’s outstanding bowling. It was hit wicket. Scoring 13 runs in the final over, MI’s total score was 195/5.

Kolkata Knight Riders needed 196 to win against the Mumbai Indians. But none of the KKR batsmen could get going, and their only hope faded when Jasprit Bumrah clean-bowled Andre Russell.

Starting with first wicket in third over itself, Shubham Gill was dismissed by Trent Boult.

Picture courtesy: Hindustan Times

But as the match proceeded, the KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik hit a couple of spectacular sixes. De Cock in the field chased the fine ball hit by Narine, got it caught and made it a wicket. It was in fifth over MI got their second wicket.

KKR got their powerplay in place when Nitish Rana got on field. KKR lost their third wicket in the 11th over as Rahul Chahar trapped Karthik before the wickets for 30.
As the game went on, in the 18th over, Cummins scored three sixes on Bumrah’s bowling. In the final over, the MI sealed the win as Mavi was stumped on the final ball of the innings.

Post the innings, Rohit Sharma was titled ‘Man of the Match’. Rohit, who did not get his timings right against CSK in the first match of this IPL, still looked slow in running between the wicket, but showed glimpses of his old self as he almost single-handedly took MI to a position of strength. He was supported well by Suryakumar Yadav.
Now it would be interesting to see how tomorrow’s match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore turns.

Experimenting didn’t pay well for CSK skipper MS Dhoni.

Chennai Super Kings fall short of 16 runs.

Dhoni & Smith are the two most successful captains in IPL with win% of 65.5 and 60 respectively, competed with their teams yesterday. It was high scoring match which Chennai super kings (CSK) fought till end. Rajasthan Royals (RR) had Scored 216 runs and CSK tried their best and reached till 200 & fallen short for just 16 runs. Sanju samson played destructive innings with fastest fifty of this IPL and also did great job with wicketkeeping . Jofra came out to be the game-changer with his batting and even bowling too which lead royals to win.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah it’s significant as that place has been very important for Indians. Because in 1980s and 1990s a lot of ODIs were played there and most of them against Pakistan and Australia. Sharjah’s ground is smaller than the other two grounds at UAE. So hitting boundaries will be easy but as the ball gets old, the pitch will grip it so a total like 160 could also be defendable. It’s totally different surface to Dubai or Abu Dhabi in terms of runs and the size of the venue. It is challenging situation for bowlers. As an high-scorer game is on the cards.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Picture courtesy: Gulf news .

“We saw grass at Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is no grass on this wicket. I can’t predict any sideways movement. You will be thinking low bounce when you prepare to play on this wicket. Once you get a pace of the wicket, you can score quickly. So, the guy who wins the toss will like to chase,” reads Kevin Pietersen.

Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and have opted to field first, “due to dew as one of the factors,” as skipper MS Dhoni said.

Jaiswal and Smith were at the crease to open the game. No sooner then they were ready for the chase, Chahar broke the partnership by taking a wicket of Jaiswal. Later Samson coming into the picture who gave a hitting start supported by Smith. Samson completed his half century in 19 balls which made him the Man of the Match.

Picture courtesy: IPL twitter handle.

“50 from just 19. Such pure, clean, elegant hitting. I could watch Sanju Samson bat all day, every day.” – Harsha Bhogle.

Stats time:
Fastest 50s for RR in IPL
18 J Buttler v DD Delhi 2019
19 O Shah vs RCB Bengaluru 2012
19 S Samson vs CSK Sharjah 2020

After time-out Jadeja came back into attack and compensated for his last over by giving just 4 runs in this over. Here come one more big over by chawla giving 19 runs and got hit couple of six by Samson-Smith. Samson was unstoppable even Jadeja’s good bowling couldn’t stop him from hitting maximum. Ngidi came back into attack in 12th over and here he takes wicket of Samson who was ruthlessly playing. Miller, who came in to bat got run out without even playing a single bowl. It was 134-3 after 12 overs. Robbin uthappa stepped in to bat. Chawla who had given 47 runs in two overs was back and this time he compensated a bit by giving just 3 runs. It was 147-3 after 14 overs and here was the time for a strategic break. Chawla was back into attack and with first ball of the 15th over and he took uthappa’s wicket by bowling decently.

Yashasvi jaiswal after watching cricketing legend MS Dhoni in front of him.

Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

Ngidi came into attack and was beaten with a couple of fours. It was 166-4 after 16 overs. Sam curran was back and he took a couple of wickets in this over and bowled a decent over by giving just 7 runs. Chahar was back into attack in the 18th over and played in a fantastic manner in his bowling by giving just 3 runs in an over. After 18 overs it was 177-6. Now Sam curran was back into attack and he managed to get the big man Smith out by giving his efforts for the team He contributed 69 runs in 47 balls. It was 186 for 7 wickets after the 19th over and here was the batsman Jofra archer on strike with Ngidi bowling into attack but this over changed everything thing for Rajasthan Royals from 186 to 216 runs with the help of Ngidi and Jofra.

Some interesting stats of this innings were

17 sixes were now most hit by rajasthan royals.
This was the fourth highest total for RR in IPL.

Picture courtesy: ESPNCRICINFO twitter handle.

Then came the second innings, where Watson and Vijay were in the crease for opening and Unadkat was opening for the attack.
The 1st over was a decent one with 5 runs for unadkat as CSK needed to start hitting from the start to chase this huge run total. 2nd over by Jofra was again a great over in terms of bowling giving just 3 runs. Second over for Unadkat and Murli vijay opened with back to back boundaries and it was a decent over for CSK to be in the game. In the 4th over Jofra archer was welcomed by the maximum from Watson but other 5 balls were dot deliveres and Jofra compensated in this over itself. Shreyas gopal came into attack for 5tg over he gave 11 runs in this over. Hence it was 5 overs 36-0 Vijay was on 19 runs and Watson was on 16 runs. Watson hits a couple of sixes and one boundry for tom Curran’s over. 17 runs from 6th over was an hope for CSK to fight and be in the game strongly. Here comes first wicket taken by Rahul tewatia in 7th over of Watson who was at 33 runs. 8th over by Gopal got another shock with wicket of another opener vijay who scored 21of 21 balls. Du plessis was on the crease with Sam curran on the other end started hitting those risky shots. Where sam Curran scored quick 17 runs from just 6 balls and Tewatia took his wicket in the 9th over and there was a time out after 8.5 overs. Rituraj gaikwad a debutant came in to bat and went for a duck. Then shreyas gopal put a very decent over by giving just 5 runs. It was just 82-4 after 10 overs and all hopes were going away but there was one big hope alive as the skipper of CSK was yet to come.

Sanju samson flying to take catch.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter

Even Du plessis was settling down with kedar jadhav. Here comes the hatrick boundaries by kedar jadhav to bowler Shreyas gopal. It was 101-4 after 12 overs but had long way to go.

The Game was going away as there were a few dot balls poured. In the 14th over tom Curran took kedar Jadhav’s wicket who had scored 22 runs of 16 balls. But making the way for captain itself, MS Dhoni comes in and hopes rise again. In the 6th ball of 14th over Dhoni took his first run in the international cricket since the worldcup2019 semi-final.

It was 14 overs 115-5, And now Du plessis started hitting sixes to the stands in 15th over. Dhoni started batting without helmet which means he wanted to go for some big hits with Du plessis. 16 runs from 15th over showed some hopes alive for CSK. Again Jofra came into attack with his brilliant bowling figures giving only 7 runs in 16th over. 17th over Du plessis welcomed Unadkat with maximum and ended hitting two more sixes. It was 14th fifty for Faf duplesis, he was at 55 runs made by just 29 balls.

Faf du plessis hitting the ball.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

Needed 58 runs from 18 balls and Tom curran was back in to attack. He did decent bowling by giving 10 runs during death over. Here comes the star player Jofra into attack, giving just 10 runs and taking the wicket of another star player Du plessis. This stretched the game more towards rajasthan royals. Jadeja come to bat and 38 runs were needed from 6 balls which was impossible. Tom Curran was back in to attack but now Dhoni settled and started hitting biggies. 2runs in two balls and then Dhoni hits 3 back to back sixes from which one of it went out of the park. It was a 92 meters long six. He finished with single run and CSK fell short of just 16 runs.

Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

That 30 runs in last over of first innings, given by Ngidi to Royals, later took toll on CSK. Although the match results gone into hands of RR but CSK gave their 100% efforts and reached till 200 runs. As Dhoni’s experimental efforts with batting order didn’t showed results as he thought but learnings are the part of game and as we know CSK is such team they can come back stronger whenever they want.

“Steve and Samson batted very well. Need to give credit to their bowlers. I haven’t batted for a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn’t help (why he isn’t batting higher). Also wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam. Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to your strengths.” – skipper of CSK MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni during post match presentation.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

Man of the match was given to Sanju samson for his extraordinary innings.

Sanju samson during post match presentation.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

“My game plan is stand and deliver. I’ve been working hard on my fitness, diet and training, and on my strength, because my game relies a lot on power hitting. I had time to work out in these 5 months, and I think I’ve increased that ability. We are happy to bring smiles on the fans’ faces and we hope to continue doing so.” – Man of the match Sanju samson.

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!

Dream11 IPL – the trailer to a bigger picture

We’ve got ‘behind the scenes’ for WCT20 2021!

Cricket fanatics all over the world are going crazy with the delayed, yet, upcoming edition of Dream11 IPL 2020 which is all set to begin in just 3 days. Well, this must be the greatest news in the year of unprecedented times, but what’s more to come will blow your mind. (Time to flip our calendars!)

We all know that due to upsurge in COVID-19 cases across our country, the Indian Premier League is shifted to UAE (United Arab Emirates). In fact, it’s not just IPL. A lot more tournaments have been either postponed or called off. One of the major cricketing events i.e. ICC Men’s World Cup T20 has also been postponed ‘and shifted’.

Originally scheduled from 18th October’20 to 15th November’20, the 7th edition of the WCT20 was to be played in Australia. However, a change in plans has led to the tournament to be hosted in India! (You heard that right!) WCT20 is likely to commence on 14th October’21 and go on till mid November.

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@ICC

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We now have absolute clarity on the future of ICC events enabling all of our Members to focus on the rescheduling of lost international and domestic cricket. We will now proceed as planned with the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in India and host the 2022 edition in Australia”.

Having said that, IPL in UAE will prove to be an interesting contest. The change of host countries will benefit a lot of players. This is one chance for all the players – be it Indian or overseas, to fix their spot in the squad way before the World Cup.

IPL’s 13th edition may look just like any other T20 tournament. Perhaps, avid followers like our team of #30Yards know how crucial this upcoming league will be. We understand the importance of the upcoming events. We see the bigger picture and that’s exactly why we are here today. To share the deets with you! 😉

Let’s take a look at the ways in which IPL in UAE will be very crucial from the World Cup perspective:

1. Climatic conditions : The weather in UAE is hot and humid. The lowest average temperature (as of 16th Sept’20) of Abu Dhabi is 27°C and highest average temperature is 39°C. As per the tentative schedule of WCT20 in India in 2021 (October to November), the average temperatures will more or less be similar to that of Abu Dhabi currently. Playing in UAE in such kind of weather will prepare the players for the World Cup. They will understand their body needs and increase their water intake accordingly to ensure that their performance is unaffected.

2. Pitch : Those 22 yards on the field decide the course of the game. Each pitch has its own nature which tells us whether that rectangular yield will be batsmen-friendly or bowler-friendly. The dusty pitch, which is soft and unrolled is best suited for spin bowlers because it offers extra turn. In the beginning of the innings, dusty pitches are very difficult to bat on. This is the kind of pitch Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah will have; very similar to most grounds in India. In comparison to green pitches in England, Australia and South Africa which offer a lot of help to seamers, dusty pitches are a treat to spinners. This is one reason why we have the world’s greatest pacers in the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Mitchell Starc and Dale Steyn coming from western countries. Matches in UAE will be an amusing battle for batsmen as well to know which one will be the most suitable choice for their respective national teams.

R Ashwin and R Jadeja inspecting the pitch at Vishakhapatnam ahead of T20 match with South Africa in September’19

Picture courtesy : The Hindu

3. Last T20 league : As per the schedules lined up, IPL 2020 is probably the last T20 league all the players shall play before the World Cup. Except for the Big Bash League (BBL), Australia’s franchise T20 league, all other T20 tournaments are cancelled due to rise in coronavirus cases around the world. BBL’s 10th season will be played between 3rd December’20 and 6th February’21.

With all due reasons, this might be the last chance for players to mark their names. Cricketers who suffered injuries, were out of form or were dropped out of their national sides have now got the luxury of time to prove their mettle. All national selectors will watch IPL with a keen eye to help them decide the kind of talent they want to nurture for the next 10 months.

Furthermore, there are some notable players which we would like to observe as well. After M.S. Dhoni hanged his boots, India certainly needs a good wicket-keeping batsman. KL Rahul from Kings XI Punjab tops our list. We are excited to see how the debutant captain will play his game for there will be competition with Rishabh Pant from Delhi Capitals. If KL Rahul fixes his spot, he can either open with Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) who’s a prolific T20 batsman or with Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi Capitals) to create the left-right batting combination. Another problem India has had since a long time is the conundrum with no. 4 batsman but with Shreyas Iyer (captaining Delhi Capitals) stepping into the shoes, India looks ready. Perhaps, with the delay in the tournament, other players might be eyeing that position too.

Picture courtesy : DNA India

Coming down the order, Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians) is sure to book his seat. His brother from the same franchise, Krunal Pandya is a terrific spin – all rounder but Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) has an upper hand at the moment. Shivam Dube (Royal Challengers Bangalore), pacer all-rounder also has his chances as the 3rd all rounder in the squad. Moving on to bowlers, Navdeep Saini playing for RCB will have to prove himself to get selected for the WCT20 squad.

When it comes to overseas players, Ab de Villiers from Royal Challengers Bangalore looks solid for South Africa. ABD has always been a match winner be it with his magnificent strike rate or top-notch fielding. He was the top-scorer for SA at ODI (One Day International) World Cup 2015 and also had the highest strike rate of 144.31. After losing the 2019 World Cup on a low, the Proteas need a player like him to strengthen their batting order. Dale Steyn also playing for RCB shall need to take some quick wickets to book his seat.

Picture courtesy : The Indian Express

Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see if these players are able to handle their nerves and play their cards right when needed. Time will tell us who will get selected and who will miss out a major opportunity to represent their national sides. There are many more such questions, and if not all, most of them would be answered in the upcoming season of Dream11 IPL 2020.

Which player you feel will surprise us the most this IPL? Let us know in the comments below!