T20 cricket world cup

Having found guilty of chopping and changing far too many times, Punjab Kings will be relying on World Cup winning coach Trevor Bayliss and new skipper Shikhar Dhawan to shed their perennial underachievers tag this IPL season. The reputed Australian coach knows a thing or two about winning, having guided England to the 2019 ODI World Cup and KKR to titles in 2012 and 2014. Punjab Kings owners have roped him in with the sole objective of lifting the elusive IPL trophy.

Inconsistency has hurt Punjab badly over the years and Bayliss will have to find a way to optimise the performance of a squad that looks formidable on paper. Punjab finished sixth in the past four seasons and reached their only final in 2014.

Punjab went into the 2023 mini auction with the maximum purse and spent most of their money on England all-rounder Sam Curran , making him the costliest buy in IPL history at Rs 18.50 crore.

The other players they bought were Sikandar Raza (Rs 50 lakh), Harpreet Bhatia (Rs 40 lakh), Vidwath Kaverappa (Rs 20 lakh), Mohit Rathee (Rs 20 lakh) and Shivam Singh (Rs 20 lakh).

Matthew Short has been drafted into the squad as a replacement player for the injured Jonny Bairstow .

Strengths

Punjab have plenty of firepower in the batting unit despite the absence of Bairstow. The presence of Dhawan, Liam Livingstone , Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma , Curran, Short, who impressed in the latest Big Bash edition, make them a force to be reckoned with.

Curran, player of the 2022 T20 World Cup, is expected to play every game and contribute in both the departments.

The core group remains the same as last year and that gives them much needed balance in the bowling department. Curran, Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh can do the job both with the new ball and death overs while Rahul Chahar and left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar are capable of striking in the middle overs.

Weakness

The team needs to finalise Dhawan’s opening partner in Bairstow’s absence. Sacked skipper Mayank Agarwal had pushed him down the order to accommodate Bairstow at the top last year.

Dhawan will have the option of choosing between Short, Prabhsimran Singh and Curran, who opened for the franchise back in 2019.

Chahar is their frontline spinner and if he and Brar have a couple of bad games, Punjab will not have a lot to choose from.

Opportunities

Dhawan, who was among the consistent performers of the team last year, has been handed the leadership responsibility. The southpaw will be aiming to revive the fortunes of his team as well as himself.

A good IPL with the bat and as captain can pave the way for a national comeback though the 37-year-old finds himself on the wrong side of 30s. He being handed a BCCI contract on Sunday will also give him hope. Tamil Nadu batter Shahrukh Khan is yet to prove himself in the middle-order and will be itching to do that in his third season.

Threats

Liam Livingstone, who has not played any competitive cricket since December 1 due to a knee injury, can change the game with his big hitting. Punjab will be hoping he has fully recovered from his injury. His spin, both leg break and off-spin, has also proved to be handy.

Sri Lankan Rajapaksa is another one who can take the game away from the opposition and he showed glimpses of that last year. He will be looking to build on that performance.

Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sikandar Raza, Raj Bawa , Rishi Dhawan , Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide , Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis , Baltej Singh , Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Mohit Rathee.

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Among Indian Premier League’s nine teams, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) remain sentimental favourite of the fans, primarily because of the man at the helm. The 41-year-old Dhoni, with his bulging biceps and never diminishing flash reflexes, remains a top draw even though his batting prowess hasn’t got requisite return. Yet, having led the team to four titles and nine finals, his mere presence makes the opposition try to think out of the box.

No one knows what to do with the tangibles as much as the man from Ranchi does and in what could be his last season as a professional cricketer, he might still have some aces up his sleeves.

With IPL returning to its familiar home and away format, CSK will get to play seven games at “Fortress Chepauk” this season. After failing to qualify for the play-offs last season, Dhoni, who took back the captaincy from an angry Ravindra Jadeja , would certainly like to go out on a high. If he plans to quit also, one can never be sure about ‘Captain Marvel’.

In IPL, it will always be foolhardy to keep CSK out of contention and this edition will be no different. And with star England all-rounder Ben Stokes in their ranks, CSK will have an imposing look.

STRENGTH

The presence of Ben Stokes will give CSK a different look as his power-hitting could change complexion of any game. Also, on slow Chepauk track, he can produce a magical over or two and at times hurry the batters with his effort deliveries.

Seven home games at Chepauk where a Ravindra Jadeja or a Moeen Ali could prove to be very effective on tacky tracks where run-scoring could be difficult.

Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad look one of the most settled pairs among all teams. Ambati Rayudu , Stokes, Dhoni and Jadeja will form a solid batting core and for low-scoring games, they have Ajinkya Rahane , who could be used as an ‘Impact Player’.

WEAKNESS

Mukesh Chaudhary being ruled out of the tournament due to injury is a big setback for CSK after his fine performance last season. Deepak Chahar , who has also had recurring back and hamstring issue, remains untested in match conditions, having missed the entire domestic season.

Chahar’s last injury was a grade 3 quadriceps tear and it is difficult to know how well his rehabilitation has been unless he is tested in match situation. He will also be a contender for ODI World Cup but Chahar, at this point, won’t be thinking that far ahead and would like to have a good IPL tournament.

OPPORTUNITY

In the fast bowling department, young Simarjeet Singh , who is deceptively quick, and Lasith Malinga ‘s ‘action doppelganger’ Matheesa Pathirana will get a chance to stamp their class.

Pathirana briefly showed that his slinging action could create trouble for the batters. Of late, he hasn’t been a part of the Sri Lankan squad and has been playing domestic cricket after ILT20 in UAE.

But in CSK, it is about players Dhoni believes could do the job for his side and Pathirana, if fit, seems to be one of those.

Dhoni, a master strategist, could also use ‘Impact Player’ rules better than many in case of overseas recruits. He could easily field three foreign players during batting innings and then include the fourth during bowling innings.

In that case, someone like a Mitchell Santner might prove to be a handful on Chepauk track.

THREAT

The biggest threat for CSK is their ageing unit and Dhoni hasn’t yet produced any second line of potent Indian batters. Players like Rayudu or Rahane might just find it difficult to up the ante in high-scoring games.

The other issue will be lack of quality Indian spinners that will be a worry for Dhoni. One of the reasons is Jadeja’s slightly underwhelming T20 record in recent times. While Jadeja has been a revelation at No. 5 or 6 in Test matches, the same can’t be said about his left-arm spin as far as T20 cricket is concerned.

If one checks the records, there are innumerable examples where Dhoni hasn’t used Jadeja’s quota of overs. There are a few left-arm spinners like U-19 World Cup winner Nishant Sindhu and Chattisgarh’s Ajay Mandal but it is unlikely that Dhoni will try a rookie in a high-pressure tournament if he is not convinced.

Last year, Dhoni did give Mumbai leg-spinner Prashant Solanki a couple of games but his state side played him in only two Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 games since that and he is out of quality match-practice.

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In absence of Quinton de Kock , either West Indies southpaw Kyle Mayers or the flamboyant Deepak Hooda is likely to open the innings with skipper KL Rahul during Lucknow Super Giants’ first two games in this edition of the IPL. With the South African team playing two ICC World Cup qualifier 50-over games against the Netherlands on March 31 and April 2, none of their top players will be available for their respective IPL sides in the first couple of games.

Hence, LSG will be missing their regular opener de Kock, while their first match opponents Delhi Capitals will be without the services of Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi .

LSG will take on DC on April 1 in Lucknow and then fly to Chennai for their next game against Chennai Super Kings.

“In case of De Kock, the best option is Kyle Mayers, who is also a left-hander and has a decent strike rate of close to 135 in T20Is. On Sunday, he was brilliant against South Africa during his 27-ball-51. So Mayers is favourite to partner Rahul in first two games,” a source privy to developments in LSG camp told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

In case, LSG wants to beef up their middle-order or bowling arsenal with overseas recruits, then there is a case for talented Hooda to face the new ball alongside his skipper.

Hooda has already scored a century for India opening the innings in T20 cricket and has shown that he can be an enforcer in the Powerplay overs with his improvisation skills.

Mohsin Khan, who is currently doing his rehabilitation with LSG’s strength and conditioning unit, is expected to miss at least first leg of the tournament but team think-tank feels he might be available for the second phase.

Jaydev Unadkat is the closest like-for-like replacement of Mohsin, although the Saurashtra veteran neither has the pace nor the lethal blockhole delivery like the UP man.

During the course of the tournament, Jammu and Kashmir’s Yudhvir Singh Charak or Vidarbha’s Yash Thakur , both of whom have made an impression at training sessions might be tried out depending on team’s situation and pitch conditions.

DC to miss all foreign pacers in 1st two games

In case of the Capitals, they are likely to miss their entire foreign pace unit during the first two games as Mustafizur Rahaman will also be unavailable due to Bangladesh’s ongoing series against Ireland.

Nortje and Ngidi are in the Proteas squad to play the Netherlands, while Kagiso Rabada will also be absent for Kings XI Punjab as he will also be on national duty.

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New Zealand and Sri Lanka looked to square off in the second match of the ODI series in Christchurch on Tuesday but the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain. The Kiwis went 1-0 up in the series after a comprehensive 198-run victory in the first match on Saturday. After New Zealand put a total of 274 runs on the board, the Lankans were bowled out for just 76 runs. Henry Shipley was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts, picking up 5 wickets for just 31 runs in the match ( Scorecard )

Here are the Highlights of the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI from Christchurch:

2nd ODI, Sri Lanka in New Zealand, 3 ODI Series, 2023, Mar 28, 2023

Match Abandoned without toss

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NZ

SL

Hagley Oval, Christchurch

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