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Tag: Michael Vaughan

  • CSK to win IPL 2021 final, Ravindra Jadeja will be Man of the Match: Michael Vaughan

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan on Friday predicted that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will win the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 and Ravindra Jadeja will be the Man of the Match.

    CSK will square off against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2021 final later on Friday at the Dubai International Stadium. “As all my predictions this year have been spot on .. I think @ChennaiIPL will win the Final today .. Man of the match will be @imjadeja #IPL2021Final,” tweeted Vaughan.

    As all my predictions this year have been spot on .. I think @ChennaiIPL will win the Final today .. Man of the match will be @imjadeja #IPL2021Final
    — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 15, 2021
    The IPL 2021 has been played in two parts this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after a long wait, the final is finally here. The summit clash will see MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings clash with Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

    MS Dhoni-led CSK has won the IPL title thrice and after putting on a dismal show in the 2020 season in UAE, the side made a remarkable comeback this year and some fearless cricket from the franchise has seen Dhoni’s men reach the finals.

    Dhoni might have managed to score just 114 runs from 15 matches this season, but he rose like a phoenix when the team needed him most and his best knock came in Qualifier 1 against Delhi Capitals. He scored 18 runs from six balls, rolling back time, giving fans a perfect nostalgia trip as the Chennai franchise roared into the final. His innings even got Virat Kohli to label Dhoni as the “greatest finisher ever”.

    Moving to KKR, Eoin Morgan’s side was completely down and out in the India leg as the side had won just two games out of seven. However, travelling to the UAE brought about a change in fortunes.

    Venkatesh Iyer’s inclusion provided the much-needed boost to the batting lineup and the Kolkata-based franchise has been playing fearless cricket. Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, and Rahul Tripathi have done their job too this season.

    Squads: Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood, Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir, Jason Behrendorff, Krishnappa Gowtham, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Hari Nishanth, N Jagadeesan, KM Asif, Harishankar Reddy, Dominic Drakes, Bhagath Varma, Karn Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara.

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harbhajan Singh, Tim Southee, Andre Russell, Ben Cutting, Karun Nair, Pawan Negi, Kuldeep Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sheldon Jackson, Sandeep Warrier, Tim Seifert, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vaibhav Arora. (ANI)

  • England vs India: Manchester Test cancellation all about money and IPL, says Michael Vaughan

    By ANI

    MANCHESTER: Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said the Manchester Test between India and England was cancelled because players were petrified of catching covid and missing the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    The fifth and final Test between India and England was cancelled on Friday after the visitors’ assistant physio tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

    “Let’s be honest, this is all about money and the IPL. The Test has been cancelled because players were petrified of catching covid and missing the IPL,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

    “In a week or so we will be watching the IPL and the players will be running around smiling and happy. But they should have trusted the PCR tests. We know a lot about this virus now. We know how to manage and handle it better. Players are double vaccinated and biosecurity can be raised very quickly,” he added.

    Vaughan also said that he finds it hard to believe that India found it tough to find 11 players for the final Test against England.

    “The game of cricket needed this Test match. The series was brilliantly poised. It just does not sit comfortably that a Test match can be cancelled 90 minutes before the toss. It is completely disrespectful towards the paying public,” said Vaughan.

    England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Tom Harrison said that it was frustrating to see the fifth Test between England and India being cancelled and the board tried its best to avoid this outcome.

    “A huge amount has happened over the last 24 hours, and from one cricket lover to another, I want to say how sorry I am for all the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of this Test match. We were all looking forward to what promised to be the culmination of this brilliant Test Series, and I’m so disappointed at not being able to get the match played,” said ECB chief Harrison in an official statement.

    “I have heard many stories today of people who planned for months or saved hard during this pandemic to have a special day out with friends and family. To not see that happen is hard to take. Today’s news will have been so frustrating, especially given the short notice. Please know that we worked through the night to find solutions and avoid this outcome,” he added.

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled 5th Test match which was scheduled to be played at Manchester from Friday. The BCCI and ECB held several rounds of discussion to find a way to play the Test match, however, the outbreak of COVID-19 in the Indian team contingent forced the decision of calling off the game.

  • CSK should build their team around Ravindra Jadeja: Former England captain Michael Vaughan

    By IANS
    MUMBAI: Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should build their team around Ravindra Jadeja considering his all-round abilities.

    “You may say that Dhoni will play for 2-3 more years but let’s be honest, he’s not gonna play a great deal after that. So you’ve got to start looking at who you can build a team around and to me, Ravindra Jadeja is the kind of cricketer that I would build my team around. I just think he’s that good with the ball, in the field, with the bat in hand, his mindset, his mentality is very good,” said Vaughan on Cricbuzz.

    Jadeja played a crucial role in CSK’s win over Rajasthan Royals on Monday. He took two wickets, including the all-important scalp of opener Jos Buttler and took four catches.

    “Jadeja for me is the kind of player to whom you can say ‘You’re going to bat at No.4 or 5, get in there early. We might even open the bowling with you, depending on who is batting We’ll put you in key fielding positions.’ He is ready for that. I think he is that good a cricketer,” Vaughan said.

    While there have been talks of CSK considering using England all-rounder Sam Curran as the focal point to build their future teams, Vaughan feels that Curran is too young for that kind of responsibility.

    “We were talking the others that are they (CSK) trying to build a team around Sam Curran but I think Sam’s too young and he’s not quite ready for that kind of mantle yet. 4-5 years down the line maybe but I think Sam Curran’s a better cricketer when he is under the radar. Just let him be. Don’t need to put too much pressure on him, he’ll deliver,” Vaughan said.

  • Glenn Maxwell might just end up being player of IPL 2021: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan feels Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell might end up as the player of the tournament in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

    Maxwell might have a bad season last year in the 13th edition of the IPL but the Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) batsman has been in sensational form.

    In Chennai, where most of the batsmen have struggled to get going, Maxwell has come out firing on all cylinders. In the ongoing match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Varun Chakravarthy had put RCB on the back foot with two wickets in the second over but Maxwell fired a sensational half-century to put the Virat Kohli-led side on top.

    “Love watching @Gmaxi_32Bat. He might just end up being the player of the tournament .. slightly under the radar in the same team as @imVkohli& @ABdeVilliers17!!! @RCBTweets looking the strongest I have seen them … #IPL2021,” Vaughan tweeted.

    Kohli and Rajat Patidar both went for a single-digit score but the Australian all-rounder made sure RCB were right on track after the early blows.

    Maxwell is also the leading run-scorer in the ongoing tournament and has been a standout performer for RCB in this year’s IPL.

    Earlier, RCB won the toss and opted to bat against KKR here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    RCB made one change to their lineup as the side brought in Rajat in place of Daniel Christian. On the other hand, KKR did not make any change to their playing XI from the last game.

    RCB has won both its opening two games this season while KKR have managed to win one game and lose another.

  • Australia will easily win Test series without Virat Kohli: Michael Vaughan

    Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels that if Virat Kohli does not play the last three matches of the four-Test series, Australia will win the Border-Gavaskar series with Asseni.

    Kohli’s wife, actress Anushka Sharma, is scheduled to become a mother in January and Kohli sought leave from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which she has got. On Monday, the board announced that captain Virat had been discharged and that he would return to India after the first Test match starting in Adelaide on 17 December.

    Michael Vaughan tweeted, ‘Virat Kohli is not in the team for three Tests in Australia … Going back to India for the birth of his first child is the right decision … but it means that Australia win the series very comfortably Kohli, however, will play in the series of three ODIs and three T20 T20 Internationals. Apart from this, the first match of the Test series which will be the Pink Ball Test – Kohli will also be a part of it.