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In-form Virat Kohli Gears For Another Run Feast Against Delhi

Virat Kohli has always been a force to reckon with no matter what format he plays. Kohli has shown unprecedented consistency in the T20 format, and IPL is no different. The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper has been in fine nick this season too, having scored two half-centuries already.

Come Saturday, RCB will face Delhi Daredevils at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Kohli will be looking to get some more runs under his belt, and most importantly get a win for his team.

Stats show that the 29-year-old has been ruthless against Delhi in the past. He is one of the leading run-getters against DD in the IPL with 661 runs. He is 27 runs behind the current leading run-getter Rohit Sharma, who has scored 688 runs. This will be another opportunity for him to improve his record against the opposition.

Among the active IPL teams, he has the best average against DD. Kohli averages 73.44 in 16 innings against them. Not only that, Kohli has 7 half-centuries against DD, the most by any batsman. The next in the list is Ajinkya Rahane with 6 fifties.

Here are some other stats that’s show Kohli’s domination against Delhi:

—Kohli has scored 83 boundaries against DD (65 fours and 18 sixes), most against any active IPL opposition.

—Kohli has a strike rate of 138.28 against DD, which is his 2nd best strike rate in the IPL against active teams.

As far as the match is concerned, currently languishing at the bottom of the points table, both Delhi and Bangalore will be aiming to return to their winning ways. Both the teams have two points each currently.

April 21, 2018
Former RCB Players Lighting up the League While Virat Kohli & Co Look to Kick-start Campaign Against DD

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore players have been in sublime form in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), while at the same time, Virat Kohli and his boys are once again struggling at the bottom half of the table, in the early stages of the tournament.

While on one hand, stars like KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Shane Watson have been tearing the bowlers apart for their respective teams in the cash-rich league, RCB’s new recruits haven’t been able perform at their optimum levels as they have once again started ever so slow in the league.

RCB opted to retain the likes of Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan ahead of the auction, and while the choice of picking the first two was a no-brainer, same thing certainly cannot be said about the youngster Sarfaraz, who has scored just 11 runs in three innings so far.

Kings XI Punjab’s Rahul and Gayle have been one of the top batsmen in the league and are scoring runs for fun. While Chennai Super Kings’ Shane Watson showed in their last match against Rajasthan Royals that he is still a force to be reckoned with in the shortest format of the game.

KL Rahul – M:4, R: 153, HS: 51, SR: 171.9

Rahul started off the campaign with a stunning onslaught against Delhi Daredevils in Mohali and went up to notch the fastest IPL fifty as well. Rahul has been instrumental is providing his team with ideal starts and has scores of 51, 47, 37 and 18 in four match, thus far.

Chris Gayle – M:2, R: 167, HS: 104*, SR: 167.0

After being snubbed early on in the auction, KXIP took a punt with Chris Gayle, acquiring his services for his base price of Rs 2 Cr, and boy the decision to do so has paid dividends for the team. Gayle had a point to prove and in just two matches, he seemed to have done that by slamming a fifty and a century.

Shane Watson – M:4, R: 175, HS: 106, SR: 176.7, W: 6, ECON: 7.3

All-rounder Shane Watson too has shown that despite not playing international cricket, he still has a lot to offer in the IPL. With the help of his 51-ball ton against Royals, Watson has become one of the leading run-getters in the league, while with 6 wickets in his kitty already, Watson is amongst the top wicket-takers as well.

To make matters worse of RCB, their batting line-up hasn’t fired on all cylinders, despite having so many big names, and they have had to rely on skipper Kohli to provide respectability to the score after losing wickets in a heap in almost every game that they have played so far.

Apart from their match against KXIP, where the likes of De Villiers and Quinton de Kock fired them to their only win of the tournament so far, their batting have been found wanting on most occassion. Mandeep Singh has also shone in bits and pieces but overall, it hasn’t been a magnificent campaign for him either. Brendon McCullum failed on couple of occasions after scoring 43 in the first match and was dropped from side while his replacement Corey Anderson was dismissed for a duck in the first match that he played.

Kohli and his boys will look to make amends in their next game against Delhi Daredevils but even if they do so, RCB fans will still be left pondering of stars like Rahul, Gayle and Watson had turned up in their colors once again this season.

April 21, 2018
Virat Kohli at the Launch of the Audi RS5

Virat Kohli at the Launch of the Audi RS5 Interview. Recently Indian cricketer Virat Kohli launched the second generation Audi RS 5 Coupe in Bengaluru and we caught up with Virat Kohli for a quick conversation that was not on cricket but automobiles. Here is Virat Kohli talking about his love for automobiles, his driving style and more.

April 19, 2018
Chris Gayle Has Special Plans for SRH After CSK Blitz

Kings XI Punjab batsman Chris Gayle was mighty effective against Chennai Super Kings at Mohali on Sunday, where he scored a blistering 63 runs from just 33 balls.

His innings included four sixes and seven fours. Considering that it was his first match against in this edition of IPL, he showed the world why he is still the most destructive in the world.

Come the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, Gayle would be looking to continue his sublime form. But looking at his record against SRH in the previous editions, he hasn’t fared very well. He boasts of a strike-rate of 151.72 in nine innings, but has only managed to score 220 runs at an average of 24.44.

This in fact is Gayle’s one of the worst performance in the IPL, against any opposition. His best performance is against his current team KXIP, against whom he had scored 797 runs at an average of 53.13.

As far as the match is concerned, Kings XI Punjab’s batting will be up against the effective bowling of Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game between two in-form teams here.

While Punjab have registered two wins in three matches so far, Hyderabad have won three games in a row, as both the teams registered crucial wins at the beginning of the tournament.

The match at the Punjab Cricket Stadium pits a home side that has a lot of batting firepower against a Hyderabad side that is very balanced and their bowling line-up one of the best in the tournament.

April 19, 2018
A Battle Between KXIP Batting and SRH Bowling

Mohali: Kings XI Punjab’s batting will be up against the effective bowling of Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game between two in-form teams here on Thursday.

While Punjab have registered two wins in three matches so far, Hyderabad have won three games in a row, as both the teams registered crucial wins at the beginning of the tournament.

The match at the Punjab Cricket Stadium pits a home side that has a lot of batting firepower against a Hyderabad side that is very balanced and their bowling line-up one of the best in the tournament.

Punjab’s top-order batsmen Lokesh Rahul, Karun Nair — both from Karnataka — have delivered in the first three matches.
One thing that will please the northern outfit is the return to form of West Indian marauder Chris Gayle, who blasted 63 off 33 deliveries during their four-run win over Chennai Super Kings in their last match.

However, Punjab will want another veteran, Yuvraj Singh, and Mayank Aggarwal to also be among the runs as the home batsmen will require to be on top of their game against the Hyderabad bowlers.

SRH’s strength lies in their bowling which has a lot of variety. They have restricted their opponents in three matches within the 150-run mark.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who bowled 18 dot balls against Mumbai Indians, is a prime example. Besides Rashid, the likes of Billy Stanlake, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shakib Al Hasan, Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul provide a lot of options.

Bhuvneshwar did not play against MI due to back pain but came back strongly to pick up three wickets for 26 runs against KKR, which must have relieved the Kane Williamson-led side.

Also, one cannot underestimate SRH’s batting might. Hyderabad’s all three wins have come while chasing.
Shikhar Dhawan, with 130 runs so far, has continued his superb form in the limited-overs cricket.
With two crucial knocks of 50 and 36, Williamson has sent a message that the pressure of captaincy even in T20 cricket doesn’t overpower him. Williamson has been a class act for New Zealand and continues to be so here, ensuring that the side doesn’t miss the leadership shown by former captain David Warner.

Hyderabad may continue to use wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha as a top-order batsman even if he has not cashed in on the opportunities so far.

Apart from him, the likes of Shakib, Manish Pandey are proven performers and will look to showcase their talent again, especially against Punjab bowlers who have proved to be expensive, barring young Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Captain Ravichandran Ashwin will hope fellow bowlers like Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma and Barinder Sran restrict the Hyderabad line-up.

April 19, 2018
Virat Kohli Had the Hunger to be Great: RCB Batting Coach Gary Kirsten

Having made his international debut in 2008, Virat Kohli has moved up the charts in leaps and bounds to become one of the world’s leading batsmen. For Gary Kirsten, India’s coach when Kohli started out with the national team, it was always a question of when and not if when it came to Kohli achieving great things.

Kirsten, who has been roped in as batting coach by Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, said: “It is great to be working with Virat again because he started when I was the coach. We had a lot of conversations early in his career about how he needs to set up his game. We knew he was going to be a great player, it was just a question of when he was going to get there. How he needed to play to be able to achieve the consistency in his game.”

Kohli, 29, had spoken glowingly about Kirsten at the time of announcing his appointment, and Kirsten is happy to be able to take their relationship forward.

“A lot of those conversations have in many ways given him some of the thinking around how he needs to build his game. That has been fun. To come back and start working with him again, to see how he is going, we are just kind of building that relationship again. I am really enjoying it,” said Kirsten.

Kohli, the No.1-ranked ODI batsman in the ICC Player Rankings – and No.2 in Tests – currently sits at the top of the run-scoring chart in the IPL this season.

“Any guy with half a cricket eye would have known that he was going to be a great player. His hunger for runs, his ball-striking ability – we are talking 2008; he hit the ball to all parts of the ground, he had natural power,” pointed out Kirsten.

“He had all the makings of a great player in terms of ball-striking ability and talent. And then, the determination to go with it. The hunger to be great. It was all there. That’s one of the easier recruitments you could make, that was not going to be difficult to work out. I wouldn’t be only one who would have seen that, I think everyone would have seen that.”

Since becoming the full-time India captain across formats, Kohli has stacked up remarkable numbers. Most recently, in 2017, he scored 1464 ODI runs at 76.84 and 1059 Test runs at 75.64.

With India embarking on tough away tours of England and Australia later this year, Kohli’s form is going to be crucial.

“We know what he is now and what he looks like. It has been an amazing natural progression. Importantly for him now, as he moves into this next phase – he has gone from the prodigious talent to the high performer. The challenge now is to maintain that for a long period of time, to grow his leadership base, and he is doing that because I think it is an ongoing process,” Kirsten said.

“He seems to be in a space where he is really willing to take on the learning that needs to be taken, like we all need to in whatever phase we are in our lives. Take the learning on board to get even better.”

April 19, 2018
Can Topedo Rashid Stop Gayle-force?

Kings XI Punjab’s batting will be up against the effective bowling of Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game between two in-form teams here on Thursday. The live telecast of the IPL 2018 match between Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad will start at 8 PM on April 19th (Thursday). Today’s IPL live match can be seen on the Star Sports network and IPL online free live streaming will be available on hotstar.com and Jio app. You can also follow our live blog for ball-by-ball updates and analysis on cricketnext.com. While Punjab have registered two wins in three matches so far, Hyderabad have won three games in a row, as both the teams registered crucial wins at the beginning of the tournament. The match at the Punjab Cricket Stadium pits a home side that has a lot of batting firepower against a Hyderabad side that is very balanced and their bowling line-up one of the best in the tournament. Punjab’s top-order batsmen Lokesh Rahul, Karun Nair — both from Karnataka — have delivered in the first three matches. One thing that will please the northern outfit is the return to form of West Indian marauder Chris Gayle, who blasted 63 off 33 deliveries during their four-run win over Chennai Super Kings in their last match. However, Punjab will want another veteran, Yuvraj Singh, and Mayank Aggarwal to also be among the runs as the home batsmen will require to be on top of their game against the Hyderabad bowlers. SRH’s strength lies in their bowling which has a lot of variety. They have restricted their opponents in three matches within the 150-run mark. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who bowled 18 dot balls against Mumbai Indians, is a prime example. Besides Rashid, the likes of Billy Stanlake, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shakib Al Hasan, Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul provide a lot of options. Bhuvneshwar did not play against MI due to back pain but came back strongly to pick up three wickets for 26 runs against KKR, which must have relieved the Kane Williamson-led side. Also, one cannot underestimate SRH’s batting might. Hyderabad’s all three wins have come while chasing. Shikhar Dhawan, with 130 runs so far, has continued his superb form in the limited-overs cricket. With two crucial knocks of 50 and 36, Williamson has sent a message that the pressure of captaincy even in T20 cricket doesn’t overpower him. Williamson has been a class act for New Zealand and continues to be so here, ensuring that the side doesn’t miss the leadership shown by former captain David Warner. Hyderabad may continue to use wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha as a top-order batsman even if he has not cashed in on the opportunities so far. Apart from him, the likes of Shakib, Manish Pandey are proven performers and will look to showcase their talent again, especially against Punjab bowlers who have proved to be expensive, barring young Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Captain Ravichandran Ashwin will hope fellow bowlers like Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma and Barinder Sran restrict the Hyderabad line-up. The squads: SRH: Kane Williamson (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan Arman, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Sandeep Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Billy Stanlake, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Shreevats Goswami, Basil Thampi, T. Natarajan, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Ricky Bhui, Sachin Baby, Tanmay Agarwal. KXIP: Ravichandran Ashwin (Captain), Axar Patel, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, David Miller, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Manoj Tiwary, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Zadran, Barinder Sran, Andrew Tye, Akshdeep Nath, Ben Dwarshuis, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar, Manzoor Dar.
IPL 2018 Full Schedule
IPL 2018 Points Table

April 19, 2018
Record-breaking Virat Kohli Becomes Highest Run-scorer

Indian Virat Kohli did not begin the current season of the IPL in the way he would have liked, but over the last couple of games, first against Rajasthan Royals and then against the Mumbai Indians he has come into his own.

While the Royal Challengers Bangalore have had no results to write home about, Kohli has been the silver lining for the otherwise floundering side. The captain who scored an unbeaten 92 right at the top of the order was the only major contributor as they tried to chase down the target of 214.

RCB may have lost once again after conceding more than 200 runs for the second consecutive game, but Kohli’s knock means he is now the highest scorer in the ongoing season. Kohli has amassed a total of 201 runs in four innings at an average of 67 and a strike rate of 143.

Against Mumbai, Kohli scored more than 55 percent of the runs for his team and face more than half the balls bowled by the opposition too on his way to recording the second highest individual score (92*) of the season so far. Co-incidentally, the highest individual score so far this season was also scored in Tuesday’s match by Rohit Sharma (94).

Kohli, who is well known for his batting prowess and how he can dismantle opposition bowling attacks with utmost ease is the only person to have breached the 200 run mark this season. He has managed it in four games.

The Indian captain who has many batting record to his name, is now also the highest run scorer across all seasons of the IPL. Kohli’s knock against Mumbai took him past his India teammate and Chennai Super Kings man Suresh Raina. Behind the duo is another Indian batsman – Rohit Sharma.

April 18, 2018
Virat Kohli Rues the Lack of Partnerships Against Mumbai Indians

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was extremely disappointed and unhappy with his batsmen against Mumbai Indians and believes they squandered a chance to make a statement. RCB who were chasing 214 against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai fell 46 runs short of the target, with Kohli being the lone warrior with a strokeful unbeaten 92.

“We just threw it away, and must reflect on our dismissals. Few good partnerships would’ve done the trick for us. Not the 40-45 scores but 80-85 one. But credit to Mumbai who bowled really well,” Kohli said post the defeat.
With his swashbuckling knock, Virat Kohli is now the highest scorer in this season’s IPL and is also the current owner of the orange cap. Kohli’s run tally after four games stands at 201.

“I don’t really want to wear the orange cap right now. Mumbai played well, we didn’t get any chances, and when you have your back against the wall – like they did – they could play fearlessly. We tried our hardest but couldn’t get the breakthroughs in after the two early wickets,” a dejected Kohli added.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma though was pleased with his team’s performance as they broke a run of defeats in their fourth game.

“It wasn’t the ideal situation and I thought Umesh bowled in the right areas. There’s always something for the seamers in the first six overs, but the wicket was still soft when I came in, so just wanted to assess the situation and pace my innings. Always easier when you spend some time in the crease. This is a perfect game for us,” Rohit said after the win.

Mumbai’s batting, especially the captain has come under some scrutiny in the early stages of the IPL this year, but Rohit who will feel better after the 94 run knock says he is likely to bat at number four for Mumbai to give support to middle order.

“We can take lot of confidence from this game and move ahead. Yes, we lost the last three games, but we’ve played some good cricket. It was all about putting a collective performance. The idea behind me at No. 4 is to give the team some support towards the middle. That’s why it’s important to have an experienced player in the middle. Whatever I need to do for the team,” he said.

Rohit also showered high praise on the West Indian opener Evin Lewis who saw two of his teammates dismissed of their first ball at the beginning of the innings before going on to score an important half century.

“Lewis is very hard to bowl at once he gets in. The other day he played a crucial knock as well, but we did a mistake of not finishing off against Delhi Daredevils. If he continues to bat this way, then life will be much easier for our other batsmen,” he said.

April 18, 2018
Five Indian Players Who Made it Big After Shining in the IPL

The Indian Premier League has over the years been a breeding ground for talented youngsters who have honed their skills by rubbing shoulders with the big international cricketers. Many of them have gone on to carve a niche for themselves in international cricket as well. Cricketnext takes a look at five Indian players, who hit the big league after their eye-catching performances in the IPL.
1) Yusuf Pathan

The senior Pathan brother had made his international debut in the 2007 ICC WT20 final, but had not hit the big league yet. He was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals in the auction ahead of the maiden season of the league as an all-rounder who had the ability to whack the ball a fair distance. Pathan repaid that faith shown in him by the team management by becoming one of the pillars of the team, which went on to beat more fancied rivals to become champions of the inaugural season. Pathan was immediately included in the Indian team and had a fairly successful stint for a while. He was part of the 2011 ICC World Cup winning squad as well. Pathan played a total of 57 ODIs and 21 T20Is before fading away from the international scene. He went on to become an important part of the new-look Kolkata Knight Riders team, with who he won two IPL titles. Currently playing in the league for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

2) Ravindra Jadeja

A talented left-arm spinner who could use the long handle, Ravindra Jadeja was part of India’s U-19 World Cup winning team of 2008 and was picked up by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL auction. While he played his part in the championship winning season of 2008, Jadeja was banned from the IPL for a season after trying to secure a move to Chennai Super Kings against the rules. Jadeja turned out for CSK in the 2011 season and had an immediate impact with both bat and ball. CSK went on to win back to back titles the same season and Jadeja became an important part of MS Dhoni’s plans even on the international scene. ODI, T20I and Test debuts followed respectively as Jadeja became an integral part of Team India. He has since gone on to become the top rated Test bowler in ICC rankings, but the rise of wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has seen him lose his position in the limited overs team after the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

3) Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane was for long one of India’s most talented young batsmen who had to wait in the wings as the fab four continued to rule the roost in Test cricket. He made his ODI and T20I debut for India in the year 2011 but was yet to cement his place in the team. The year 2012 saw Rahane open the innings in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals and play some scintillating knocks through the season. He displayed great technique and his strokeplay had a degree class in it, as the Mumbaikar went on to score three half-centuries and a century in the campaign and finished with 560 runs. This performance catapulted Rahane to stardom and he soon made his Test debut in 2013. Rahane has since gone from strength to strength in the longest format, becoming a mainstay in the middle order. While he is yet to cement a permanent spot in the limited overs team, he remains an integral part of the Indian team set-up ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup.

4) Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal’s stocks have sky-rocketed ever since he became a potent weapon in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chahal has taken his skills to the next level and become a wicket-taking bowler not just for his franchise but for India as well. His breakthrough season came in 2015 as RCB, under the leadership and batting might of Virat Kohli, launched a bid for their maiden title in the 2015 season. Chahal was outstanding as he outfoxed top batsmen with his guile and ended the season with 23 wickets. RCB lost the second qualifier after finishing third in the points table. Chahal followed that season with another great campaign in 2016, finishing with 21 wickets as RCB this time lost in the final. An India cap followed in early 2017 and Chahal played a pivotal role as India defetaed England in the T20I series. Chahal’s great T20I form landed him an ODI debut and his form in limited overs cricket has been top notch. His wicket-taking ability has turned him into Team India’s premier bowler and his performance in England could be the key to India’s chances in the ICC World Cup.

5) Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya made his presence felt in the Mumbai Indians team in his debut season of 2015 as he belted some big sixes lower down the order to catch everyone’s attention. His numbers weren’t eye-catching but his performance and energy on the field was. Team India was looking for a pace bowling all-rounder and Hardik fit the bill as he was handed a high-profile T20I debut ahead of the 2016 WT20. He showed his maturity on the big stage as he bowled the crucial final over in the match against Bangladesh and took India home. He has since made his debut in ODIs and Test matches and made an instant impact in all three formats.

April 18, 2018