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5 BBL players who could get a IPL 2021 contract

Debashish Sarangi

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February 12, 2021 at 12:45 pm

5 BBL players who could get a IPL 2021 contract | 5 players who could get an IPL contract after impressing in the Big Bash League

The tenth edition of one of the grandest T20 leagues, the Big Bash League, concluded recently with the Sydney Sixers lifting the trophy for the third time in the history of the league.

There were several players who mesmerized cricket lovers across the world with their spectacular performances in the BBL. As the IPL auction is coming up, there is a great chance for some of them to be picked and become a part of the most lucrative T20 league in the world. In this article, I am going to mention five such players those could be picked by several IPL teams basing on their impressive outing in the BBL. Here we go.

5. Dan Christian

5 BBL players who could get a IPL 2021 contract | 5 players who could get an IPL contract after impressing in the Big Bash League | Which BBL players could feature in the IPL? | BBL players that IPL teams could look to buy — 5 BBL players who could get a IPL 2021 contract: Worth a try to get Dan Christian?

Eyebrows were raised when the defending BBL champions picked up a 37-year old all-rounder. However, Dan Christian proved to be a superb pickup for the Sydney Sixers, as he played a central role in the franchise winning its third title.

Christian’s age may put some franchises off bidding for him in the IPL 2021 Auction, but looking at his tremendous form, you could get some fine value from the all-rounder in the upcoming season. In the recently-concluded BBL 10, Christian slammed 272 runs at an average of 34.00 and strike rate of 182.55, which included some extraordinary match-winning knocks. Also, his 15 wickets at an average of 26.53 and economy rate of 8.84 rounded off a superb tournament.

With nine T20 Titles to his name, Christian could be a fine pickup for most franchises in IPL 2021.

4. Riley Meredith

A bowler having sheer pace, Riley Meredith is gradually getting popular among global cricket fans because of his fiery spells in the BBL. Playing for the Hobart Hurricanes, Meredith took 16 wickets from 13 games at an average of 24.62 and a SR of 18.87, but it was his scorching pace that made him popular among the masses.

Meredith made it tough for the batters to score against him, which is well evident from the fact that his economy was under 7 runs per over on five occasions out of the eleven times he bowled his full quota of four overs. Apart from troubling the batsmen with his pace, he sometimes got the ball to bounce from an awkward length as well. So, a bowler of his kind can be a hot buy in the IPL and I think there will be many eyes on him in the upcoming mini auction.

3. Jhye Richardson

After recovering from a terrible shoulder injury, Jhye Richardson was superb in the BBL this year and played a big part in the advancement of the Perth Scorchers towards the final. He took the most number of wickets in the tournament, i.e. 29 wickets from 17 matches, at a very good average of 16.31 and an extremely good SR of 12.72. He took 8 wickets in the powerplay with an impressive economy of 6.88, whereas he took 13 wickets (almost 45 percent of his total wickets) in the death overs with a decent economy of 8.58.

He bowled with good pace and troubled the batters with his accuracy as well. Considering these factors, I really believe that there is a high chance of Jhye Richardson getting an IPL contract for the very first time in the upcoming mini-auction.

2. Nathan Ellis

Nathan Ellis was a very crucial part of the Hobart Hurricanes and turned out to be their highest wicket taker with 20 wickets from 14 matches in the BBL this year. He was mostly used in the death overs (bowled almost half of his total overs at the death) and did exceptionally well as his numbers suggest. He took 13 wickets out of his 20 wickets only in the death overs and had a good economy of 8.28 in that particular phase.

He impressed the cricket fraternity with his good variations and therefore has presented a very strong case for himself prior to the IPL mini auction. As there is a huge demand for the death specialists in the IPL, it is very likely that Ellis would get an IPL contract for the very first time in 2021.

1. Alex Hales

Although Alex Hales started the campaign in a disastrous manner by making two consecutive golden ducks, he soon got back his mojo and went on to become the highest run-getter in the BBL this season. Hales scored 543 runs at a very healthy average of 38.79 and a prolific SR of 161.61. He played some really blistering knocks including the crazy innings of 71 off just 29 balls against the Melbourne Stars and a magnificent innings of 110 runs from 56 balls against the defending champion Sydney Sixers. Moreover, he scored 72.92 percent of his total runs from boundaries alone. So, he is surely a great option for the teams having issues at the top of their batting order and might get a recall into the mega event.

So, this is my list of five players who might fetch a deal in the IPL mini auction because of their excellent performances in the recently concluded BBL. Do any other players come to mind? Have your say!

Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today.

5 reasons why England won the first Test against India

Vaibhav Tripathi

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February 11, 2021 at 10:17 pm

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5 reasons why England won the first Test against India | How did England manage to pull off such a good win in Chennai?

The Joe Root-led England side romped to their biggest Test win on Indian soil as they won by 227 runs in Chennai to take a 1-NIL lead in the four-match Test series.

England has improved their chances of securing one of the three series results in their favour that could see them through to the final of the WTC. Before the series started, not many gave the visitors a chance to win against India in their backyard. The reason was India’s home dominance since the beginning of the last decade, as well as question marks about England heading into the series.

Only one team managed to win a series in India in the bygone decade and coincidentally it was England who did this in 2012-13. With the berth of WTC finals at stake, the English team will give it all to win the series. They’ve started the long tour on a sound note by winning the first Test comprehensively as they outplayed the Indian team in all three departments. Here we look at 5 major reasons behind England’s winning start at the Chepauk.

1. Coin Toss is more important than ever:

It all started with the coin toss in Chennai. The value of winning the toss could well be known by the number of runs scored by the visitors in the first 2 days of the Test. England’s decision to bat first on a fresh wicket was the right one as they put on a mammoth 578 runs in the first innings.

Skipper Joe Root had challenged his team to get to 600-700 in the first innings. In hindsight, it was a very crucial toss to win for Root and the decision was perfectly balanced with the conditions on show. The wicket was relatively flat with not much assistance for the seam bowlers or slower bowlers for the first two days of the Test match.

2. Inexperienced spin twin troubled Indian batsmen

5 reasons why England won the first Test against India | How did England manage to pull off such a good win in Chennai? | IND vs ENG Analysis — 5 reasons why England won the first Test against India: Jack Leach was excellent.

In general, Asian batsmen in the subcontinent conditions are considered to be very good players of spin bowling. In that context, both Dom Bess and Jack Leach, who were touring India for the first time, did an appreciable job. While the former bowled well in the first innings, the latter one turned up in the second dig. Bess and Leach took more than half of England’s wickets, sharing 11 across both innings.

The pitch was offering a slow turn before it deteriorated in the last two days. Both of them leaked runs by giving away some loose deliveries, but it can’t take away anything from the way both of them bowled throughout the match. Rishabh Pant dominated Jack Leach in the first innings of India. Leach identified the struggles of bowling in India and quickly identified the lengths to bowl in the fourth innings. He suddenly got into a groove, where every delivery either whistled or nested past the bat and found the batsmen second-guessing. Together Bess and Leach created enough doubts and opportunities throughout the course of the Test match.

3. Pace has its worth in Asia

While the tracks in the subcontinent are more suited for the spinners, pace bowlers have to adjust and adapt to create any sort of impact in the match. England’s pace duo, James Anderson and Jofra Archer, had found a way to use the conditions and the SG ball to a great effect. On a pitch that was slow and where the edges weren’t carrying, Archer not only bowled with rapid pace but he also got a disconcerting bounce from the surface. Archer used his subtle variations to keep a check on the Indian batsman. Whereas his senior pro Anderson made the ball talk on the last day of the first Test by bowling an exceptional spell of reverse swing bowling. Both played a second fiddle to the spinners, bowled short spells but the most impressive thing was they were economical and applied pressure with the new and old ball.

4. England let the pitch deteriorate

The first hour-and-a-half’s play on day 1 suggested that the pitch is a belter to bat on and if the batsman can apply themselves, then they can go on to cash in with a big score.

The tourists went about their business sensibly in their first innings. Openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley set the platform with 63 runs for the first wicket. Once Burns and Dan Lawrence got out in quick succession, Root and Sibley joined forces to put on 200 runs for the third wicket. Root then added 124 runs with Ben Stokes for the fourth wicket. Their efforts were supported by other useful contributions from Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, and Dom Bess.

England batsman stuck to their game plan of putting a big first-innings total. The batters didn’t give many chances to the Indian bowlers as they played the ball on its merit. England made the most of the best batting conditions, batted for a longer period (190.1 overs) in their first dig which later helped their bowlers get more out of the pitch. The first innings efforts of the English batting line-up allowed the pitch to deteriorate to a great extent. It was quite evident as the hosts failed to bat for 60 overs in their second innings. The oddballs were staying low and for spinners, the pitch was turning square in the fourth innings.

5. James Anderson “Reversed” it for England

The ageless James Anderson was the star of the show on day five in Chennai. The veteran seamer dished out an incredible display of reverse swing bowling to bowl opener Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane within four balls with unplayable deliveries.

The most prolific seamer in the history of Test cricket twice sent the Indian off-stump cartwheeling with perfectly-pitched deliveries that hooped late to burst through the defenses. He might not have the same pace he had as a younger bowler, but Anderson showed that he can be lethal in any given scenario and any conditions.

Often he prefers to take the new ball but had to wait for 14 overs to get his chance on day 5. At his age one may take a back seat and let others do the bulk of the job but Anderson, having sensed the ball was ready to reverse, engaged in outright destruction. His first spell last day morning proved to be a key difference in the match. The Lancashire pacer was responsible for wrecking Indian hopes and winning the game for his country as he has often done in the past.

Written by Vaibhav Tripathi. Follow Vaibhav on Twitter today.

PAK vs SA 1st T20I Preview Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report

Shekhar Singh

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February 11, 2021 at 4:31 pm

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PAK vs SA 1st T20I Preview Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | PAK vs SA 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Today | Pakistan vs South Africa 1st T20I Key Players| Gaddafi Stadium Pitch Report

The first of three Pakistan vs South Africa T20Is gets underway in Lahore on Thursday with the Proteas sporting a new-look squad.

South Africa comes into the series as clear underdogs having opted to leave out their multi-format stars, originally to prepare for the now-canceled Test series against Australia.

Pakistan will aim to capitalize on its 2-0 victory in the Test series against South Africa but won’t repeat the mistake of underestimating them like they did against Srilanka in 2019 at the same stadium and ended up losing the series 3-0 which also led to the sacking of their captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.

The series does present opportunities for young players to impress and for some of the fringe players to establish themselves as key members of the group.

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

Pakistan:

Babar Azam: Pakistan welcome back captain Babar Azam to the fold after the ace batsman missed the New Zealand series in December last year. The Pakistani Skipper has been the most consistent batsmen in the format for several years and would like to start on a high and take a lead in the series. He has played three T20Is and got scores of 90, 38, and 23.
Mohammad Rizwan has been in fine touch; coming off a century in the second Test.
Hasan Ali: Hasan Ali returned with a ten-wicket haul earlier in the week and will be keen to make the transition into the T20Is as well.
Usman Qadir took eight wickets in three T20Is against Zimbabwe in late 2020. He was quite dangerous as he turned the ball both ways.

South Africa:

David Miller is the only proteas player in the squad who has got some experience of playing in Pakistan. Miller toured Pakistan in 2017 with a World XI side which played three-match Twenty20 series. In the absence of several Proteas T20 stars, Miller would love to stand up and take the charge. He has made 202 runs from 13 matches which includes three World XI matches as well.
Tabraiz Shamsi has come on in leaps and bounds to establish himself as the Proteas leading white-ball spinner. He has only picked 2 wickets from 3 games and will improve the numbers.
A year ago, Heinrich Klaasen was in superb form against Australia in white-ball cricket. South Africa will be hoping he produces that sort of form here.

Underrated Players who can up the Ante!

Hussain Talat has been recalled into the T20 squad and should get a chance to play in place of the Pakistani Veteran Hafeez who is not available for the series. Talat has played three games and scored 55, 40 and 3.
Junior Dala has played three T20Is against Pakistan and gone wicketless and would be keen to perform to improve his numbers in the absence of Rabada, Ngidi, and Nortje.

Stats and Facts

South Africa are 4-4 from their last 8 away T20Is.
Babar Azam has scored six 50s from nine T20Is as captain.

Possible Playing 11

Pakistan: 1. Babar Azam (c), 2. Haider Ali, 3. Hussain Talat, 4. Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5. Asif Ali, 6. Iftikhar Ahmed, 7. Mohammad Nawaz, 8. Hasan Ali, 9. Haris Rauf, 10. Shaheen Afridi, 11. Usman Qadir

South Africa: 1. Reeza Hendricks, 2. Janneman Malan, 3. Heinrich Klaasen (c & wk), 4. David Miller, 5. JJ Smuts, 6. George Linde, 7. Andile Phehlukwayo, 8. Tabraiz Shamsi, 9. Bjorn Fortuin, 10. Junior Dala, 11. Lutho Sipamla

Gaddafi Stadium Lahore Pitch Report and Weather

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore usually offers a competitive track and either side will want to chase upon winning the toss with 160-170 being a decent score at this venue.

The weather forecast reads a top of about 24 degrees and no rain. Dew, however, may be an issue, so the team who wins the toss could look to chase.

Also read: PSL 2021: Complete schedule, squads and team information

Dream11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

Match Prediction

It’s always hard to predict Pakistan as no one knows which Pakistan side will turn up on the day but as they are playing at home, they stand favourites.

Written by Shekhar Singh. Follow Shekhar on Twitter today.

PSL 2021 – Complete Schedule, Venue Details, Teams Squad Players List

Charbel Coorey

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February 11, 2021 at 2:41 pm

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PSL 2021 – Complete Schedule, Venue Details, Teams Squad Players List | PSL 2021 Squad of all Teams | Everything you need to know

As of late, there have been a lot of Test matches going on. India vs Australia ended recently along with England vs Sri Lanka and Pakistan vs South Africa. Now, England and India are battling each other in a 4-match Test series, and Bangladesh are looking to level their series after a miracle Windies win at Chattogram.

That being said, it is not long when the T20 action comes back to life. T10, on the other hand, is going on in the UAE, but soon one of the best T20 leagues is about to begin. Yes, the tournament under consideration here is none other than the Pakistan Super League.

PSL 6 will be beginning shortly after the T20 series between Pakistan and South Africa concludes. The entire PSL schedule is already out which you can go through below. Since, the current year, 2021, is when the ICC T20 World Cup takes place, so the teams are focusing more and more on playing those T20 matches. As for the Pakistan Super League, it has always been great and many expectations are there this year as well. The whole tournament will be played in the home country and the venues are mentioned later in the article too. The fans are hoping this season to be the best as compared to all the previous ones, and undoubtedly, PSL has got that capability to give tough competition to all the top T20 leagues like the IPL, BBL, or Natwest T20 Blast, etc.

Below, in this article, you can read all you need to know about the Pakistan Super League 2021. Its complete schedule, venue details, and lastly, full teams squad players list are mentioned. So, without any further ado, let’s begin!

PSL 2021 Complete Schedule/Time Table

Just like last year, this time around as well, there will be 34 matches played in the league. The tournament is set to begin from the 20^th of February, six days after the South Africa tour of Pakistan ends. The Pakistan Super League 2021 will continue up till the 22^nd of March when the final will be played in Lahore.

The first match begins at 7 PM PST on Feb 20^th. It will be between the defending champions Karachi Kings, and the 2019 PSL winners, and two-time finalists, Quetta Gladiators. There isn’t a better way to start the tournament than by a match between two champion teams.

All in all, the following is the complete schedule of Pakistan Super League 2021.

PSL 2021 Teams Squad Players List

Below you can go through the complete players’ list of every PSL 6 team. Moreover, the categories of players are also mentioned alongside.

Karachi Kings

PSL 2021 – Complete Schedule, Venue Details, Teams Squad Players List | PSL 2021 Squad of all Teams | Everything you need to know — PSL 2021: Will Karachi Kings defend their crown?

Although KK didn’t get any Platinum pick, their team is still more than capable of defending the crown.

Retained: Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Colin Ingram, Imad Wasim, Amir Yamin, Sharjeel Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal

Platinum: None

Diamond: Mohammad Nabi, Dan Christian

Gold: Chadwick Walton

Silver: Joe Clarke, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Ilyas, Zeeshan Malik

Emerging: Qasim Akram

Supplementary: Noor Ahmad

Quetta Gladiators

There’s just absolutely no doubt that Quetta has got the most destructive batting line-up this year. Imagine Gayle and Banton opening, with Azam Khan and Ben Cutting coming in later on to finish the innings. Absolute fireworks expected!

Retained: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Azam Khan, Naseem Shah, Zahid Mehmood, Anwar Ali

Platinum: Chris Gayle, Tom Banton

Diamond: None

Gold: Usman Khan Shinwari

Silver: Cameron Delport, Qais Ahmed, Abdul Nasir

Emerging: Saim Ayub, Arish Ali Khan

Supplementary: Dale Steyn, Usman Khan

Peshawar Zalmi

Peshawar Zalmi picked the South African middle-order batsman David Miller in their platinum pick, and have got a pretty balanced team.

Retained: Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Liam Livingstone, Haider Ali

Platinum: David Miller

Diamond: Mujeeb ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford

Gold: Amad Butt

Silver: Umaid Asif, Saqib Mehmood, Imam-ul-Haq, M Imran Randhawa, Mohammad Irfan Sr

Emerging: Ibrar Ahmed, Mohammad Imran

Supplementary: Ravi Bopara, Amir Khan

Lahore Qalandars

LQ have retained most of their players as compared to the other teams. Moreover, they have got the “T20 Cricketer of the Decade”, Rashid Khan in their squad.

Retained: Mohammad Hafeez, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, David Wiese, Ben Dunk, Sohail Akhtar, Haris Rauf, Dilbar Hussain

Platinum: Rashid Khan

Diamond: None

Gold: Samit Patel

Silver: Tom Abell, Zeeshan Ashraf, Salman Agha, Mohammad Faizan

Emerging: Maaz Khan, Zaid Alam

Supplementary: Joe Denly, Ahmad Danyal

Multan Sultans

Multan Sultans also didn’t have many changes from the last season, except for the fact that they have got Chris Lynn at the top-order now.

Retained: Shahid Afridi, Rilee Rossouw, Sohail Tanvir, Imran Tahir, Khushdil Shah, James Vince, Shan Masood, Usman Qadir

Platinum: Chris Lynn

Diamond: None

Gold: None

Silver: Sohail Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohaibullah, Adam Lyth

Emerging: Shahnawaz Dhani, Muhammad Umar

Supplementary: Imran Khan Sr, Carlos Brathwaite

Islamabad United

Another excellent squad in the PSL 6. IU has always relied on their local talents and this year as well; they haven’t got many big names. They have Hasan Ali in the ranks now, and Alex Hales will be opening the batting who was in a red-hot form in the BBL recently.

Retained: Alex Hales, Shadab Khan, Colin Munro, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Musa Khan, Zafar Gohar

Platinum: Hasan Ali

Diamond: Lewis Gregory

Gold: Phil Salt

Silver: Rohail Nazir, Reece Topley, Iftikhar Ahmed

Emerging: Mohammad Wasim Jr, Ahmed Saifi Abdullah

Supplementary: Chris Jordan, Akif Javed

PSL 2021 Venue Details

Pakistan Super League 2021 was initially planned to be played across six different venues. The venues were Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, and in addition, Peshawar. However, due to the Covid-19 measures, the Pakistan Cricket Board opted not to play the tournament across so many venues. Rather, they reduced the venues to only two, and those two include Karachi and Lahore.

So now, the first 20 group matches of the 2021 PSL will be played at the National Stadium, Karachi. The stadium recently hosted the first Test match between Pakistan and South Africa, which the home team won by 7 wickets. Secondly, the remaining matches, including all the knockout ones, will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Furthermore, Gaddafi Stadium will also host all the three T20I matches of the Pakistan vs South Africa series.

BAN vs WI 2nd Test Preview Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report

Charbel Coorey

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February 10, 2021 at 10:09 pm

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BAN vs WI 2nd Test Preview Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | BAN vs WI 2nd Test Dream11 Prediction Today | Bangladesh vs West Indies 2nd Test Key Players | Dhaka Pitch Report

One team dominated the other for four days. With nearly 400 runs to defend, and with the opposition decimated by absenteeism, it looked like only one result was possible. Surely.

But, as has been the case in a superb 2021 so far for Test cricket, West Indies, courtesy of one of the all-time great debuts by Kyle Mayers, pulled out all the stocks to achieve a memorable victory. As a result, Kraigg Brathwaite’s men travel to Dhaka full of confidence, as their opponents also have to recover from the physical and mental scars of Chattogram.

So, how do Bangladesh bounce back from that? Especially without their main man, Shakib Al Hasan? Bangladesh’s spin-first (and often only) strategy is looking one-dimensional and limited, as Mominul tried to keep faith in three finger spinners and a solitary seamer in the absence of Shakib on the final day at Chattogram. Questions continue to arise about Bangladesh’s ability to win on pitches that don’t spin miles, and that notion will be put to the test in a game they must win to avoid a harrowing series defeat.