File photo of Delhi Capitals’ spinner Kuldeep Yadav. He has been advised rest as precautionary measure for a groin niggle which he picked up during his team’s second game of the season against Rajasthan Royals.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav is nursing a groin niggle and has been advised rest as a precautionary measure by the Delhi Capitals team management in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

The 29-year-old left-arm spinner picked up the niggle after Delhi Capital’s second game of the season against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, which the team lost.

The player was forced to miss out on the next couple of contests where veteran pacer Ishant Sharma returned to the playing XI.

“It will take some time for him to be match fit,” an IPL source told PTI when asked about Kuldeep’s status.

Since he is a centrally-contracted player and a T20 World Cup hopeful, National Cricket Academy’s sports science and medical team will have a big say in Kuldeep’s injury and rehab management.

It is mandatory for franchises to report niggles and injury concerns of an India player to the NCA.

Although he has been travelling with the side for all the clashes, his participation in DC’s upcoming tie against Mumbai Indians on Sunday remains doubtful.

Kuldeep has picked up three wickets in two matches at an economy of 7.62.

He has been on a wicket-taking spree, coming off a great performance in the five-Test series against England that concluded last month, where he claimed 19 wickets in four meetings at an average of 20.15.

Fans will be expecting a feast of runs when Rajasthan Royals will be hosting Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Jaipur on April 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The hugely popular franchise has gone for a slight name change this season, but there has not been much of a change when it comes to the tradition of disappointing its fans, in the early stage of this IPL. Royal Challengers Bengaluru must be desperate to give their loyal supporters something to cheer about and put their campaign back on track when it takes on a confident Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on April 5.

Sanju Samson’s men have won all their three games so far. That they have done it without their formidable opening duo of Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal making much of a contribution says a lot about the way they have performed thus far.

The captain himself has had a couple of disappointing knocks after his unbeaten 82 against Lucknow Super Giants in the opening match. But Riyan Parag’s consistency has made up for the lack of runs at the top of the order.

Promoted to No. 4, he has been a revelation with scores of 43, 54 n.o. and 84 n.o. The bowling attack, in the form of Trent Boult, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, R. Ashwin and Avesh Khan, has been sharp, too.

The visitors, on the other hand, have to come up with improved shows with both bat and ball. Virat Kohli has scored 203 runs, with a couple of fifties, but the other batters, including skipper Faf du Plessis, need to deliver. More is also expected from the bowlers, especially the likes of Mohammed Siraj.

Teams (from):

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Keshav Maharaj, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger.

Match starts at 7.30 PM.

File photo of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya.
| Photo Credit: AP

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on April 2 asserted that the former champions will not give up and will continue to fight in the ongoing IPL despite slumping to a hat-trick of defeats.

“If there’s one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep going,” Hardik posted on X.

Hardik has been facing the ire of fans since replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain. The all-rounder was booed in the team’s opening two matches and the crowd hostility was at its peak in MI’s first home game of the season on Monday.

To add to the woes, under his captaincy MI’s campaign at the 2024 IPL got off to a disastrous start as they sit at the bottom of the table following three losses on the trot.

However, MI are known to be perennial slow starters. In 2015, they lost the first four games before going on to win the title.

Hardik’s poor captaincy calls have also been questioned — whether it was not giving Bumrah the new ball or sending Tim David ahead of himself against Gujarat Titans.

The change in captaincy has not sat well with the legions of MI supporters. On Monday, chants of ‘Rohit Rohit’ filled the Wankhede with the Indian captain himself asking the crowd not to jeer Hardik.

Mumbai Indians will next face Delhi Capitals at home on Sunday.

Gujarat Titans’ Umesh Yadav and skipper Shubman Gill after their win against Mumbai Indians’ in the Indian Premier League cricket match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Shubman Gill passed his first captaincy test as Gujarat Titans eked out a nervous six-run win over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.

Pursuing 169, MI was coasting along at 107 for two after 12 overs. But Sai Kishore trapping Rohit Sharma (43, 29b, 7×4, 1×6) leg-before and Mohit Sharma sending back Dewald Brevis (46, 38b, 2×4, 3×6) and Tim David triggered a scarcely believable downturn.

It wasn’t as if there was no life left in MI. When 27 runs were needed from 12 balls, Tilak Varma sent Spencer Johnson soaring over long-on to raise hopes only for the left-armer to account for both Tilak and Gerald Coetzee the same over.

With 19 needed from six, Hardik Pandya — who was mildly booed on the day by the 80,000-strong crowd — appeared to have turned the tie when he smashed Umesh Yadav for a six and a four. But he holed out to long-on off the next ball to effectively hand GT the win.

Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah’s sensational return to IPL (3/14) had ensured that GT would end up with only a moderately challenging score. He prised out Wriddhiman Saha (19, 15b, 4×4) with a splendid yorker; foxed David Miller with a slower delivery before sending back the set B. Sai Sudharsan (45, 39b, 3×4, 1×6).

But a blazing start from Saha and Gill (31, 22b, 3×4, 1×6), some middle-order consolidation from Azmatullah Omarzai and Sai Sudharsan and an end-overs flourish from Rahul Tewatia (22, 15b, 2×4, 1×6) kept GT in the hunt.

There was a time when GT seemed set to finish with an under-par total as Sai Sudharsan couldn’t accelerate, Miller was dismissed and the side was reduced to 134 for five. With not many boundaries, it was a canine intruder that held up play for nearly five minutes in the 14th over that received the loudest cheers.

But Tewatia ensured it was not all gloom, caning left-arm pacer Luke Wood for a six and two fours in the 18th over. A stunning diving catch in the deep from Naman Dhir sent him back but not before the southpaw had done his job.