In focus: The speculation surrounding Hardik’s future had gathered momentum even before the conclusion of IPL 2026.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

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| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY

Chennai Super Kings players M.S. Dhoni and Noor Ahmad during a practice session. File
| Photo Credit: R. Ragu

File picture of Royal Challengers Bangalore players Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik
| Photo Credit: Sportzpics for IPL

Premier India batter Virat Kohli has paid tribute to Dinesh Karthik after his retirement at the end of RCB’s IPL campaign, describing the veteran wicketkeeper-batter as a wise and honest person who lifted his spirits during a phase of struggle in the league’s 2022 season.

The 38-year-old, who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru from Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022 for his second stint after 2015, played his last IPL match on Wednesday when RCB were eliminated by Rajasthan Royals in the playoffs.

“Off the field, I have had some really nice and interesting conversations with him. He is a wise man, and has great knowledge about a lot of things, not just cricket,” Kohli said in a special tribute video posted by RCB.

The little over 11-minute video features tributes from Karthik’s wife, Dipika Pallikal Karthik; his personal mentor, Abhishek Nayar; RCB assistant coach, Malolan Rangarajan; and fitness coach, Shanker Basu.

Kohli recalled the 2022 season when he averaged just 22.73 scoring 341 runs from 16 matches as they missed the final bus losing to Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my conversations with him. Even in that phase in 2022 when I did not have a great IPL season, I was really struggling for confidence,” he recalled.

“He sat me down a couple of times and just gave me a very honest explanation of how he saw things and maybe I am not able to see them myself,” Kohli added.

A veteran campaigner in the IPL, Karthik has been involved in all the editions of the league since the inaugural 2008 season and has represented six franchises, including leading KKR to the playoffs in 2018.

He ended with 4,842 runs in 257 matches with 22 fifties.

“I just like his honesty, his courage to go and speak to anyone about things that he really feels about. And that, I think, is the most special thing for me when it comes to Dinesh.

“And that’s something that I’ve always cherished about him. And that’s why we get along really, really well.”

‘A correct player’

Kohli also hailed Karthik as a technically “correct” and versatile batter.

“I always looked at Dinesh and felt like he was such a correct player technically that he could adapt to any kind of role that’s been given to him, and I remember watching him in the 2013 season where he got 600 runs or something and he batted brilliantly at three.

“I saw him play shots which were like ‘wow’. I think he’s done brilliantly to switch and become a renowned finisher.

“…I wish him all the very best for all his future endeavours moving forward.” Kohli hoped that Karthik would stay connected to the RCB franchise in some capacity.

“…because his expertise when it comes to cricket is priceless. I think he’s of great value to this franchise,” he said.

‘Hyperactive, confused person’

Recalling his first meeting with Karthik during India’s tour of South Africa in 2009, Kohli said at first, he found him to be a hyperactive and confused person moving all over the place.

“The first time I met him, I remember we were playing in South Africa if I am not wrong in the Champions Trophy 2009. It was the first time I shared the change room with Dinesh, and I found him to be very amusing, very… I would say hyperactive, confused person.

“Most of the time, he was moving all over the place, never stopping. That was my first impression of Dinesh.

“He is an outstanding talent, brilliant batter to watch and my first impression and the present-day impression are not far apart — just that he has become wiser and calmed down a lot,” Kohli added.

File picture of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Dinesh Karthik acknowledging the crowd during an IPL game.
| Photo Credit: AP

Royal Challengers Benglauru’s star finisher Dinesh Karthik might well have had played his last game in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 38-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was given a guard of honour by his teammates after RCB’s fairytale run ended in disappointment when the side crashed out of the tournament in the second eliminator on May 22.

After Rajasthan Royals inflicted a four-wicket defeat on Bengaluru in the Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Karthik took off his gloves and acknowledged the fans who were on their feet to applaud the veteran for his contributions throughout the season.

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Soon a moment to savour for the RCB fans unfolded, as the franchise’s marquee star and modern-day cricketing icon Virat Kohli embraced Karthik as he struggled to fight back his emotions.

While Karthik hasn’t yet officially announced his retirement from the IPL, he dropped hints during the tournament that the current season could be his last.

As he walked back towards the dressing room, Karthik received a guard of honour from the RCB players. He was a crucial figure for RCB, especially in the death overs in a turbulent season. His influential cameos at the end played a role in inspiring the team to an unprecedented spot in the playoffs.

If this season ends up as the last one for Karthik, he will finish his IPL career with 4,842 runs in 257 matches, studded with a whopping 22 fifties.

In his illustrious IPL career that spanned over 17 years, Karthik featured for six franchises. He made his debut in the inaugural season in 2008 with the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). He made a switch to Punjab in 2011 and, thereafter, went on to play for the Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders and the RCB.

He ended the 2024 season with 326 runs in 15 matches at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 187.36.

File picture of Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer
| Photo Credit: PTI

Justin Langer is unlikely to apply for India’s head coach job despite having quite an impressive resume in international cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is on the lookout for a new head coach with incumbent Rahul Dravid deciding to step down at the end of India’s T20 World Cup campaign in June.

While there have been several names doing the rounds — including that of Gautam Gambhir — there was speculation that Langer might also throw his hat in the fray.

However, the Australian coach indicated on Friday that he may not be in the race.

Biggest job

“It would almost be the biggest job in cricket being the head coach of the Indian cricket team because of the huge volume of cricket, the huge expectation. It would be a great challenge, it would be great fun. It would be a wonderful opportunity to win ICC titles, but with all these things, the timing has gotta be right,” Langer said.

“I did four or so years with the Australian cricket team. It’s all-encompassing. It is exhausting and I think someone else like Rahul Dravid will probably tell you the same thing, Ravi Shastri will tell you the same thing.

“The pressure on winning for the Indian team is massive.

“So. I’m sure the next person who gets the job will be really looking forward to the project,” Langer, who coached Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL this year, said.

It would be a great challenge, it would be great fun… the pressure on winning for the Indian team is massive.

Lance Klusener responded to the Goenka-Rahul video, saying he did not see “any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers”
| Photo Credit: JioCinema screengrab

Lucknow Super Giants assistant coach Lance Klusener on Monday played down team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s public outburst on their skipper K.L. Rahul, terming it “storm in a tea cup” and said he didn’t find any issue in a “robust discussion between two cricket lovers”.

Social media has been abuzz after Goenka was seen having an animated chat, purportedly reprimanding Rahul after LSG’s record demolition at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, last Wednesday.

There have been speculations about Rahul’s future as LSG skipper also, but Klusener said there has been “certainly no discussions around” the matter.

“I don’t see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. So for us, I guess it’s just a storm in a teacup. We love a robust discussion. I think that’s how teams get better. So, it’s not a big thing for us,” the South African said during the pre-match press conference.

“This IPL has been tough for Rahul”

Opening the batting, Rahul has scored 460 runs but his strike-rate reads 136.09, and it has put pressure on the LSG middle-order comprising Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Klusener, however, backed the senior batter.

“KL has got his own unique style which has made him a fantastic player and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we’ve kept losing wickets at stages which hasn’t allowed him to kick on where he likes. He probably feels like he’s always having to rebuild.

“I think as a batting unit around KL, we haven’t been as good as we should. It’s just been extremely tough conditions for him. That’s something we’ve chatted about as well — we’ve just kept losing wickets at tough times.”

However, Klusener said a big knock from Rahul was just around the corner.

“Then batters coming in, seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So, I think by KL’s standards, he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games.

“Probably (he) would have liked to have at least one or two hundreds that haven’t worked out for him. But there’s still a couple of games left. He’s in a good space. So, we’ve got our fingers crossed again for him,” he said.

LSG bowling unit was at the receiving end of a brutal onslaught from SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who racked up a record 167 in 9.4 overs.

“By the bowling unit’s high standards, they didn’t execute as well as they would have liked to on that surface and then you mix in two players who played absolutely beautifully and quite often that ends in a poor result for the team that doesn’t bring their best skills,” Klusener said.

“It was just a mix of some exceptionally hard batting and I don’t think we executed our skills as well as we should have and you mix that together, it doesn’t normally end well.”

LSG are currently at the seventh spot with 12 points, making the remaining two games a must-win contest to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“I think we’ve been just a little bit inconsistent by our own high standards. We just need to deal with the fact of where we are now and make sure that we become consistent.

“As a team, we want to win the IPL, we probably need to win five in a row, which I think RCB has just done five in a row.

“So that’s just proved that for us it’s absolutely possible, but that’s just the big picture. We need to get over the line tomorrow before we can have any other aspirations.”

Security personnel tussle with a pitch invader who embraces Chennai Super Kings’ MS Dhoni during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A 21-year-old man has been arrested for criminal trespass after he breached the tight security cordon to enter the field to meet cricketer MS Dhoni during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Narendra Modi stadium in Gujarat, police said on May 11.

The incident occurred during the match between the Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans at the stadium in the Motera area of the city on Friday night, an official said.

Jaykumar Jani, a native of Rabarika village in Bhavnagar district, has been arrested under section 447 (criminal trespass) of the IPC, Assistant Commissioner of Police DV Rana said.

Jani informed the police that he was Dhoni’s fan and wanted to meet him, he said.

He jumped the barricades and ran towards the cricketer who was batting, the official said.

In a video of the incident that surfaced on social media, Jani is seen bowing at Dhoni’s feet near the pitch and hugging him before security personnel take him away.

“Jani and his brother Parth travelled from Bhavnagar to watch the match. During a DRS (decision review system) break, Jani first jumped the metal barricades near the black screen and ran towards the pitch. He was quickly apprehended and taken to Chandkheda police station,” Rana said.

He was formally arrested on Saturday after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him, the official said.

This is the second such incident at Narendra Modi stadium in six months.

In November 2023, Wayne Johnson, an Australian national of Chinese-Filipino origin, breached the security cordon to enter the field to hug Virat Kohli during the World Cup final between India and Australia.

File picture of Kolkata Knight Riders players Sunil Narine and Andre Russell during a practice session ahead of an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

Kolkata Knight Riders will look to extend its recent run of success when it returns home after securing two emphatic away wins.

KKR hosts Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 11. The faceoff against MI assumes more significance as a victory will ensure a play-off spot for the Knight Riders.

The spate of success, highlighted by the fact that the team has won four of its last five outings, puts KKR on top of the league table with 16 points from 11 matches. This also makes it the favourite against the struggling MI, currently lying in the eighth spot (with eight points from 12 matches). MI is out of the race for a spot in the playoffs.

The opening partnership of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt has been a crucial factor in KKR’s consistent performance. Narine’s belligerence with the bat has been a key element in KKR amassing 200-plus totals in six of the eight innings where it has batted first.

Narine, who has scored 461 runs with a strike rate of 183.67, is in exceptional form that has propelled him as the team’s most successful all-rounder. As a bowler, which is his primary vocation, Narine has been outstanding with an economy rate of 6.61.

Salt, having scored 429 runs with a strike rate of 183.33, has proved to be the right companion for Narine. KKR, which beat MI by 24 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, will be banking on its key players to come good again.

Teams

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Allah Ghazanfar and Phil Salt.

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai (wk), Nehal Wadhera and Luke Wood.

Match starts: 7.30 p.m. on May 11, 2024