Wicket-keeper batsman Dhruv Jurel proved that he is one for the future, as he made a superb run-out during India’s second T20I against Zimbabwe. What made it even more special was that Jurel’s genius run-out happened on the birthday of perhaps India’s greatest ever wicket-keeper batsman, MS Dhoni. After a shocking loss to Zimbabwe in the first of five T20Is, a youthful India side needed to bounce back. And so they did, with moments like Jurel’s run-out played a crucial part.

After Abhishek Sharma‘s swashbuckling ton guided India to a mammoth 234 in 20 overs, the Zimbabwe run chase never got going. With the opposition stuck at 76/6, Jurel grabbed his moment to shine on the first ball of the 12th over.

Watch: Dhruv Jurel’s sensational run-out

Only hits no misses for @dhruvjurel21 #SonySportsNetwork #ZIMvIND #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/3XxkMT6W5B

— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) July 7, 2024

Zimbabwe batsman Wellington Masakadza played it to the leg side and hoped to sneak a quick single. Not under Jurel’s watch, though. The 23-year-old ran to fetch the ball, turned around and threw it all the way to the non-striker’s wicket. He hit bullseye, and Masakadza was well short.

It is a run-out that MS Dhoni would’ve certainly been proud of. The former India captain turned 43 on July 7, and celebrated his birthday in the company of Bollywood icon Salman Khan.

After the game, Jurel took to X to wish Dhoni on his birthday.

Happy birthday, Mahi bhai. Thank you for inspiring millions around the world (including me) to take up the sport pic.twitter.com/oAAY2qSMqe

— Dhruv Jurel (@dhruvjurel21) July 7, 2024

Jurel, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, is making his first T20I appearances in the tour to Zimbabwe. After the 2024 T20 World Cup win – and the retirement of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja from T20Is – Shubman Gill is leading a young Team India..

Earlier this year, Jurel had made his mark in red-ball cricket, playing the final three Tests in England’s tour of India. He impressed, winning the Player of the Match award as India won the fourth Test of the series.

Although Rishabh Pant is the undisputed first-choice wicket-keeper batsman for India, performances like these could help Jurel establish himself as a regular in blue.

Receiving the iconic blue Team India cap for the first time is an honour very few get to experience. But the moment was made even more special for Riyan Parag, as he was presented his first India cap by his own father, before making his debut in India’s first T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare. Riyan Parag’s father, Parag Das, is a former first class cricketer for Assam. Riyan also became the first-ever player from Assam to play for the Indian cricket team.

Parag finished as the third-highest run-scorer in IPL 2024, with 573 runs for the Rajasthan Royals, who finished third. His tremendous season, batting at no. 4, made it impossible for the selectors to ignore him, as a young India squad was picked for the five-match T20I tour to Zimbabwe.

Watch: Riyan Parag receives his debut India cap from his father

A son’s dream takes flight, and a father’s heart swells with pride! Riyan Parag, you’ve made Assam proud!

And what makes it even more special is receiving his Cap from the person who inspired him the most – his father!#TeamIndia #ZIMvIND #RiyanParag pic.twitter.com/PedtOTn3Z7

— Assam Cricket Association (@assamcric) July 6, 2024

Parag wasn’t the only one to make his debut in the first T20I, as Abhishek Sharma and Rajasthan Royals teammate Dhruv Jurel also received their first T20I caps.

Parag will have to make a stellar impression in the Zimbabwe series to remain a fixture in India’s T20I setup. This is because the world’s no.2-ranked batsman Suryakumar Yadav currently holds the no. 4 spot in India’s batting lineup in the shortest format.

India vs Zimbabwe

This is India’s first series after their historic 2024 T20 World Cup victory in the Caribbean and USA. After the tournament, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from T20Is, leaving the door open for youngsters to stake a claim as a regular part of India’s T20I XI.

Shubman Gill will be captaining Team India for the first time. It’s his first taste of international captaincy, having already become Gujarat Titans’ captain ahead of IPL 2024.

Three players from India’s T20 World Cup-winning team also feature in the Zimbabwe tour squad: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube.

As India’s five-match T20I tour to Zimbabwe gets underway on Saturday, July 6, three stalwarts – Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube – are not playing in the first T20I despite being part of the squad. The reason for their absence is that the trio were part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad, which caught stuck in Barbados till Wednesday due to Hurricane Beryl, and then spent the entire Thursday celebrating in Delhi and Mumbai. The trio have departed for Zimbabwe capital Harare in the early hours of Saturday morning, and are expected to feature from the third T20I.

The first two T20Is of the tour to Zimbabwe take place on back-to-back days, on July 6 and 7, meaning that Samson, Jaiswal and Dube won’t get enough time to prepare before the second T20I, instead expecting to play from the third T20I on July 10.

The T20I series is crucial for Samson and Jaiswal, who did not play a single game in the T20 World Cup. On the other hand, Dube was included in the squad for the Zimbabwe tour despite playing every game of the T20 World Cup, as a replacement for the injured Nitish Reddy.

Samson enjoyed the best IPL season of his career in 2024, scoring 531 runs, but had to play second-fiddle to Rishabh Pant for the wicket-keeper spot in Team India. Jaiswal also had to accept a back-up role to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, despite piling up more than 1,000 runs in the two most recent IPL seasons.

With Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja retired from T20Is, impressing across five games in the Zimbabwe tour could pave the pathway to a regular Team India spot for some of the youngsters.

Shubman Gill, who narrowly missed out on India’s T20 World Cup squad, is leading Team India in Zimbabwe. Samson’s Rajasthan Royals teammates Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel made their T20I debut in the first Zimbabwe game, as did Abhishek Sharma.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 concluded on an extraordinary note, with the Kolkata Knight Riders clinching their 3rd title while the Sunrisers Hyderabad could only settle for the runners-up medal. With the win, KKR also bagged a whopping prize money of INR 20 crore, while SRH were given Rs 13 crore. The total prize money IPL had reserved for the occasion was INR 46.5 crore, which wasn’t only distributed among the winners and the runners-up.

Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who finished 3rd and 4th in the points table respectively, also took home a fair amount of prize money. Sanju Samson‘s side were given Rs 7 crore for finishing third while Faf du Plessis‘ team got INR 6.5 crore.

RCB’s talisman Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap while the Purple Cap went to Punjab Kings pacer Harshal Patel. Both fetched a prize money of Rs 10 lakh each for their accomplishments this season.

Kohli scored 741 runs in 15 matches at an average of 61.75, with a century and five fifties. His best score was 113* and his strike rate stood at 154.69, the highest it has ever been for Kohli in a single IPL season.

Crafty pacer Harshal concluded the tournament with 24 wickets in 14 matches at an economy of 9.73 and an average of 19.87.

Sunrisers’ Nitish Kumar Reddy was named the Emerging Player of the Season for his all-round show while KKR veteran Suil Narine got the Most Valuable Player of the Year award.

Full List Of Prize Winners In IPL 2024:

Orange Cap: Virat Kohli – 741 runs (Rs 10 lakh)

Purple Cap: Harshal Patel – 24 wickets (Rs 10 lakh)

Most Valuable Player of the season: Sunil Narine (Rs 12 lakh)

Ultimate Fantasy Player of The Season: Sunil Narine

Most 4s: Travis Head (64)

Most 6s: Abhishek Sharma (42)

Striker of the season: Jake Fraser-McGurk (234.04)

Emerging Player of the season: Nitish Kumar Reddy (Rs 20 lakh)

Catch Of The Season: Ramandeep Singh

Fair Play Award: SRH

Pitch and ground award: Hyderabad Cricket Association

Runners-up award: SRH

Winners: KKR

Virat Kohli slammed 741 runs including a century and five fifties in IPL 2024.© BCCI

Sanju Samson walking back to the pavilion during RR’s IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 match vs SRH.© BCCI

Tom Moody slammed Sanju Samson over his “tactical blunder” against SRH.© BCCI

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson had special praise in store for Sandeep Sharma after witnessing an inspirational performance from the pacer. Rajasthan’s campaign ended on a heartbreaking note after their hopes of reaching the final ended with a 36-run defeat. Despite Rajasthan’s shortcomings, Sandeep stood out with his precise swinging deliveries. On a night when spinners reigned supreme, the 31-year-old speedster left his impression with a performance soothing to the eyes.

His performance summed up the season he enjoyed. Samson has closely witnessed Sandeep do his magic throughout the season and named him the “next guy” after stalwart speedster Jasprit Bumrah.

“I am happy for him. By not being picked in the auctions and coming back as a replacement. The way he bowled, he has delivered. If we look at the numbers, Sandeep Sharma in the last two years, he (Sandeep) will be the next guy after Bumrah. He has done a great job,” Samson said after the game.

During the game, he picked up two crucial wickets of SRH’s power-hitting duo of Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen. He ended the game with 2/25 in his four over spell.

In the previous edition of the tournament, Sandeep went unsold in the IPL auction. He was signed by the Royals as a replacement for Prasidh Krishna.

From that moment, he has emerged as a crucial figure for Rajasthan in their pace bowling set-up.

Sandeep ended the season with 13 wickets under his belt in 11 matches at an economy of 8.18 and a strike rate of 17.54.

Apart from Sandeep, Rajasthan enjoyed the presence of youngsters Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag.

Both players were instrumental in their batting set-up throughout the season. When the majority of the batters perished, Jurel took the fight to the opposition with his knock of 56*.

“We have had some brilliant games not only this season but from the last three years, it has been a great project for our franchise. We have found some great talent for the country. Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and a lot of them are looking exciting not only for RR but definitely for the Indian cricket team. We have had some great seasons from the last three years,” Samson added.

While Rajasthan fell short in booking their berth for the final, Samson is optimistic about enjoying a great final between Sunrisers and Kolkata Knight Riders.

“The condition suits both of them, so let’s see how they come back again in the powerplay. SRH batsmen are very interesting, they can take the game away. KKR also will be confident, they look very exciting. It’ll be a great game, that’s what IPL has been giving us for the last 16 years,” Samson concluded.

Recapping the match, after winning the toss, Samson decided to bowl. Heinrich Klaasen’s 50-run blitz helped Sunrisers post 175/9 on the board.

In reply, the spin duo didn’t allow Rajasthan to stay close to the asking rate. The pacers did their job and kept the batters at bay. Rajasthan succumbed to 139/7 and suffered a 36-run defeat.

Sunrisers will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the ongoing edition at Chepauk on Sunday.

Rajasthan Royal’s Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket Qualifier-2 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at M.A Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai on Friday.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara has admitted that fatigue played a big part in their poor run at the back end of the ongoing IPL, which possibly derailed their campaign.

RR, who won eight out of their opening nine matches, were firmly in contention to finish in the top two.

But, the Sanju Samson-led side endured a four-match losing streak besides a washout tie, which forced the side to settle for a third-place finish.

Although they bounced back with a win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator, Sunrisers Hyderabad got the better of RR in Qualifier 2 here on Friday.

“I think it was a great season for us. We started well, and then we lost a close game to SRH in Hyderabad and (in) Delhi also, we put ourselves in winning positions,” he said during the post-match media interaction after their 36-run loss to SRH.

“Sometimes you have streaks. RCB lost almost every game at the start and then caught up. That’s how T20 goes. All we can do is put ourselves in positions of playoffs and vying for finals, which we did.”

“I think all the guys throughout the season played phenomenal cricket. There was a little bit of fatigue at the back end, but it doesn’t matter when you’re in games like this. You gotta turn up and perform.”

Chasing a target of 176, RR were 65 for two by the eighth over, but kept on losing wickets in clusters thereafter, leading to their downfall.

Commenting on the defeat, Sangakkara felt the middle-order could have done better.

“It was just a case of being smart and keeping our composure. Unfortunately, when you lose wickets in clusters, it becomes hard,” he said.

“Even in the RCB chase, if you lose wickets, it gets tense and close. Unfortunately, we needed a little bit more from our middle-order.”

RR were also without Jos Buttler, who has been a force for the team in the top order.

While Sangakkara said that international scheduling was something that they couldn’t control, he felt that other batters should have stepped up.

“We always say that the best ability is availability, and unfortunately, we lost Jos. He is a big loss, without a doubt,” he said.

“When you’re in a playoff like this, and you’ve got that start without Jos, we expect the other batters to also step up.” RR have a few players travelling to the Americas for the T20 World Cup next month, namely Avesh Khan, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Avesh has been the side’s highest wicket-taker for the season, with 19 wickets in 15 innings at an economy of 9.59, and Sangakkara was all-praise for the fast bowler.

“We traded Devdutt Padikkal (to Lucknow Super Giants) for Avesh because we knew how good he was, and he’s shown that throughout this tournament. And, that’s why he’s a travelling reserve as well for the World Cup for India,” he said. “He’s got a great presence and good clarity. He’s very good at finishing off in the death. I think he’s been phenomenal for RR.

“And, we couldn’t ask for a better trier. He bowls a lot in training. He’s always up for a game. I thought again today he was outstanding.”

“Don’t have time to commit full-time to an India coaching job”

Sangakkara clearly refused any intention of applying for the India head coach’s job, citing time issues.

“I have not been approached, and I don’t have time to commit full-time to an India coaching job. Happy with my stint with Royals, and let’s see how it goes,” he concluded.

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins said on Friday that it was a gratifying experience to see the team turn around its fate and reach the IPL final after a disastrous 2023 season. SRH had finished at the last spot in 2023 but Cummins, who was roped in for a whopping Rs 20.50 crore, scripted a sensational turnaround for the franchise, taking the team to the final with a 36-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on Friday. “The boys have been fantastic all season. There’s a great vibe in the squad as you can see and the final was the goal at the start of the season and we made it,” Cummins said at the post-match presentation.

“It is for the whole franchise, probably 60 or 70 of them who put their heart and soul into this. It is really gratifying and hopefully one more left.” Sent in to bat, SRH posted 175 for nine, riding on Heinrich Klaasen’s 34-ball 50 and contributions from Travis Head (34) and Rahul Tripathi (37).

The spinners then joined the party with Shahbaz Ahmed (3/23) and Abhishek Sharma (2/24) sharing five wickets as RR could manage just 139 for 7 in 20 overs. Cummins (1/30) and T Natarajan (1/13) also scalped one each.

“We knew our strength was our batting and we wouldn’t underestimate the experience we have in this squad, it’s a dream having Bhuvi, Nattu and Unadkat, makes my job easy.

On Abhishek’s bowling, Cummins said: “That was a surprise, tried to stick one out of him with a couple of right-handers and he bowled beautifully and those two won it with their bowling in the middle overs.

“170 was a tough chase and had we got a couple of wickets we knew we had a chance.” Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson rued that his batters couldn’t find a way to tackle the spinners.

“It was a big game. I am really proud of the way we bowled in the first innings. We were found short of options in the middle overs against their spin, that’s where we lost the game,” he said.

“It’s very hard to guess actually when we are expecting some dew or when we are not. The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, they used that advantage really well.

“They bowled their spin in the middle overs against our right-handed batsmen, that’s where they were one-up against us.” Samson said the batters could have tried something different to upset the spinners.

“Against their left-arm spin, when the ball was stopping, we could have tried a bit more reverse-sweep or maybe use of the crease a bit more. They also bowled really well.” On Sandeep Sharma, who bowled beautifully on the slow track in the middle overs, Samson said: “I am really happy for him. From not being picked in the auctions and coming back as a replacement, the way he bowled, he has definitely delivered.

“If we look at the numbers, Sandeep Sharma in the last two years, he will be the next guy after Bumrah. He has done a great job.” He also lavished praise on the young players of his side.

“We have had some brilliant games not only this season but from the last three years, it has been a great project for our franchise. We have found some really great talent for the country.

“Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and a lot of them are looking really exciting not only for RR but definitely for the Indian cricket team. We have had some great seasons from the last three years.”