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DIRE KINGS XI ALREADY IN MUST-WINTERRITORY SPORTS DESK This is a game between sides that played the most positive Twenty20 cricket over the last two IPLs. In 2013, Mumbai Indians by playing five specialist bowlers, five specialist batsmen and a wicketkeeper-batsman. If six can’t score the runs in 20 overs, seven won’t make a big difference. No specialist was sacrificed for a bits-andpieces players. In 2014 Kings XI Punjab didn’t think of what-ifs, and put their best batsmen at the top. Twenty overs is a short time, make use of it. This year is proving it is easy to implement such idyllic plans only if your players are in form. Kings XI have two wins from eight games, and Mumbai are only slightly better at three. Mumbai have lost two overseas players, and Lasith Malinga is no longer the threat he was two years ago; Kings XI’s top order can’t buy a run, and Mitchell Johnson and Glenn Maxwell haven’t quite warmed up yet. If Kings XI win this game, they might just sink both the teams. To end up in the top four you roughly want to want half your matches; if Kings XI make it three wins each for these teams, both will need to win each of their last five games. Suffice to say Kings XI can’t afford to lose this one. Form guide
Sunday, 3 May, 2015
‘A very big turning point for b’desh cricket’
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SPORTS DESK
HEN asked how he rated Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah as wicketkeepers, Mushfiqur Rahim joked that both looked awkward behind the stumps. The pair had to step in after Mushfiqur hurt his right ring finger on the second day. But he hailed their effort, particularly that of Imrul who kept wickets from the 37th over of the Pakistan innings on the second afternoon till the fourth morning. “I think his keeping was disgusting,” Mushfiqur said giggling. “But seriously, it was extraordinary of him. In this heat, he didn’t back down. We tried to support him, and motivate him. He did it with an open heart.” After his 120-over stint behind the wicket, Imrul asked Mahmudullah if anyone else could take over as he felt faint. Mahmudullah then took the gloves for the first time in his cricket career, and even effected a stumping, albeit the ball coming off his pad, making the dismissal look unintentional. “He has great football skills. He did a
decent job. It looked like a giant was standing behind the wicket. But really, it was good,” Mushfiqur said Mushfiqur Rahim has said that drawing the first Test in Khulna was as big as a win for Bangladesh, while the coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes the result was proof of the team’s competitiveness in the longest format. This was the first time Pakistan failed to win a Test match against Bangladesh, who continued to stay on top of the visitors after their complete domination in the limited-overs leg of the tour. “We had plans to declare but for that we needed a safe score,” Mushfiqur said. “We thought about giving them something in the mandatory 15 overs but we needed enough time to bowl them out too. We dominated this draw and it was nothing less than a win, against such a team and with 296 runs behind. Such a performance gives you belief as a group that we can overcome future goals.” Hathurusingha said the 312-run opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, now the highest opening stand in the second innings of a Test match, was a performance worth being called a watershed moment.
“I think it is a very big turning point in Bangladesh cricket. We recently made some history but it is mostly beating our own records. The significance here is the biggest opening partnership in the second innings. “We have really made a mark in the international stage that we have come of age. The last two days have proved that we are a very competitive side,” he said. Hathurusingha added that the on-field performance was also a result of the Bangladesh players’ clarity of communication with themselves and the coaching staff. He had talked during and after the World Cup about how he was willing to give the batsmen more freedom. “You need to have clarity in whatever you say to the players. They are talented enough to take their own decisions,” Hathurusingha said. “My job is to be clear and give them freedom to make decisions in the middle. As long as they do that, it makes me happy. What you see in the middle is the clarity of what we are talking about in the dressing room,” .
ROYALS DESPERATE TO END WINLESS RUN Form guide: Rajasthan Royals lllWW (last five completed matches, most Recent fiRst) delhi daRedevils WlWlW
Kings Xi punjab lllWl (last five matches, most Recent fiRst) mumbai indians WWlWl
Watch out For… The Vs of Kings XI. Virender, Vijay and Vohra. None of them have had a big innings with more than half the competition over. Look no further for the main source of trouble. Their power-packed middle order has hardly had a hit without having to worry about rebuilding. Whichever of the two play on Sunday will have to give Kings XI a decent start to build on from. Ambati Rayudu finally came good for Mumbai Indians in their win over Rajasthan Royals, but one in eight for a batsman who doesn’t bowl and is not asked to take the responsibility of batting in the top four can’t be good enough. Rayudu will have to kick on for Mumbai to have a chance of progressing from here. StatS and trivia: With 93 wickets, R Vinay Kumar is the secondmost-successful quick, and fifth-most overall, in IPL. Team-mate Lasith Malinga leads the tally with 129, with three spinners Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh in between. Kings XI’s opening partnership has averaged 13.87 this IPL. No other team has had such poor starts. M Vijay has been run out 11 times in the IPL, the joint-highest with Gautam Gambhir and Venugopal Rao.
He also pointed out the crucial moments that Bangladesh overcame in the Test, particularly since the fourth morning, to ultimately find the desired result. “I don’t think the wicket helped us draw the game. The batters’ skills helped us, so hats off to them. Even Taijul took six wickets so we didn’t leave anything in Pakistan’s hand to make a declaration. So little things like that helped us to draw the game.” Despite all the records, though, Mushfiqur felt Bangladesh still had to bowl better in order to take 20 wickets. “There is no end to improvement,” Mushfiqur said. “We should have scored more runs in the first innings because you won’t be making 550 in the second innings. We must give less runs, maintain a good economy rate, and we also need to take the chances. “You need 20 wickets to win a Test match. We bowled better on the fourth day than we did on the third day. Taijul bowled very well. We have to plan according to the pitch in the next game. Hopefully it will have some help for the bowlers to take 20 wickets.”
SPORTS DESK From being homeless, Rajasthan Royals have gone winless in no time. Delhi Daredevils, on the other hand, seem to have started getting it right, with their first-choice eleven finally available for selection. After winning their first five matches of the season, Royals have failed to win any of their last five. With two of those games washed out, Royals have seen an addition of two points to their kitty. That has helped them retain their top-two standing. But with just four matches remaining, Royals would know they are running out of time to get back to winning ways.
Delhi Daredevils have no such problems. After a slowish start, they have started appearing as a more consistent unit and have moved from the bottom of the pile into the Playoffs cut-off. A win against a higher-ranked team would bolster their chances to make the cut. It is supposed to be a home game for the Royals but the Brabourne Stadium will see its first game of the season. Royals may hold the edge, not just because of a strong presence of Mumbai players in their squad, but also due to the fact that they had a pre-tournament camp at Cricket Club of India. Delhi would also be far from alien to the conditions, with Mumbaikars Zaheer Khan, Shreyas Iyer and Pravin Amre being vital cogs in their set-up.
Watch out For… It took him seven innings to score his first fifty of the season but Sanju Samson would still be cursing himself for having failed to see his team through against Mumbai Indians on Friday night. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been shuffled in the batting order as much as Steven Smith’s horizontal movement at the crease. Samson appeared comfortable at No. 3 and would look to build on his good form. Zaheer Khan was considered to be more of a bowling coach rather than being a player. But the injury-prone bowler made his presence felt in the first game he played for a year by dismissing Virender Sehwag off his second ball. If Zaheer can keep himself fit, Daredevils would have a lethal pace combo in him and an in-form Nathan Coulter-Nile. StatS and trivia: Ajinkya Rahane is six runs shy of becoming the 20th batsman to tally 2000 IPL runs. With 1846 of his 1994 IPL runs having been scored for Royals, Rahane sits behind Shane Watson (2197 runs) in leading scorers for Royals in IPL. Amit Mishra needs one wicket to become the first bowler to earn 50 wickets for Delhi Daredevils in IPL. Rajasthan Royals are one win away from joining Chennai Super Kings (75) and Mumbai Indians (60) to join the 60-win club in IPL. QuoteS: “In our team even if you don’t do well you can see so many people coming to you and talking positive things to you.” Sanju Samson on being a part of Rajasthan Royals “We now have to win 4 out of the remaining 6 games. That’s how we are looking at it.” Zaheer Khan spells out Daredevils’ target of winning eight games to progress
Beginning to see merits of england players in ipl: Butcher COURTESY CRICINFO Former England batsman Mark Butcher believes people are beginning to “see the merits” of ensuring more England players are involved in future editions of the IPL. Butcher, who is India on assignment with British broadcaster Sky Sports, told ESPNcricinfo that watching games from the grounds has been like “nothing else I’ve ever seen at cricket grounds around the world.” “It’s quite remarkable, the fervour for the game and the atmosphere and the skill level,” he said. “When the IPL first began, it was more about what was happening off the field; giving the older players a bit of a pay day. In the last three-four years, though, the standard of cricket and the way that the game is being taken a lot more seriously and the way that the skills have been elevated to a new level has
made it a wonderful combination. I have no doubt whatsoever that any players whether they being young or old - will only improve by experiencing it and playing it.” Butcher is convinced that young England players, especially those identified as key to their limited-overs plans in the years ahead, such as Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Chris Woakes and the likes, will benefit immensely from playing in the IPL. However, he said, they can only hope to attract interest from franchises if they are available to participate in the entire season and not for a short period, as is the case currently. “At the moment, because English players initially couldn’t stay for the entire duration of the tournament which meant that their price was not worth paying, people are not even looking at English players to play in the competition,” he said. “So, that’s going to change. I
have no doubt about that. It will take us a little while because it always takes us a little while to catch up with things but people are now beginning to see the merits.” England’s shocking early exit from the World Cup has led to considerable churn in the country about how to bridge the gap with other countries in the limited-overs formats. Butcher believes that outcome has put “more pressure” to try and find ways to get more English players involved in the IPL. “If you play all your domestic cricket in one country, you do not know how cricketers do it in other countries like Bangladesh or India or South Africa,” he said. “Everybody has their own different things that they bring to the table. What we’re seeing with these players is that with them being exposed to more leagues around the world, it is no longer difficult for a New Zealander
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to come out and play brilliantly on slow Indian pitches. They know how to do it. That’s the learning curve you get by being here for six weeks.” While Butcher didn’t think it was possible to tweak the county season to allow English players to play the IPL, he advocated considering what he described as a “short-term loss” over “long-term gain”. “I think what the ECB and the counties have to look at is how much we gain in the long run by exposing some of our brightest and the best to competitions like the IPL,” he said. “You might lose out a little bit in the short term by missing your best players but what you will gain in the long term is the knowledge of playing under pressure when they come back which will pay dividends later on in the long run. So, you have to speculate a little bit to accumulate.” Former England batsman and coach
David Lloyd, who also had his first firsthand experience of the IPL as a commentator this season, was equally enthused after his stint. Writing in his blog on Skysports.com, Lloyd conceded that while cricket won’t enjoy the same following in the UK as India, a template similar to the Big Bash League in Australia should be considered by the ECB. “We can certainly stage something very similar to the Big Bash. That would be our template - have eight teams, who play everybody twice,” Lloyd wrote. “If we could find a three-to-four-week window and block it off - that’s what all the players want but you’ve got to sell that idea to 18 counties so there’s got to be a will to do it that way. You’d have to play it alongside Test-match cricket - as they do in Australia - to fit it into the schedule and you’d have to try to attract the best players in the world and make it a real event.”