Rohit calls for leniency during IPL on-field banters

The Mumbai Indians skipper believes the umpires should not intervene in on-field altercations as long as the players remain in their boundaries

            Rohit Sharma has urged umpires not to intervene in player altercations as long as it's in limit

 Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is hoping the umpires adopt a more restricted behavior when it comes to interfering in on-field altercations during the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. Rohit, who on Saturday, attended the three-day workshop conducted by the BCCI in Mumbai, was seen interacting with several match officials and said that as long as the players don't cross their limits, the umpires should not intervene much.


"It has to work that way. If you want to see an improvement in the game and in the field, you have got to say what you really think. Only then will this exercise make a difference," Rohit told IPLT20.com. "I said everything I wanted to say because I knew this was my best chance to get my thoughts across to the officials and tell them what happens on the other side of the official-players spectrum.

"When people watch the game on TV, they should feel happy about it. They shouldn't have to see people having a go at each other. This is one step towards it a captain coming and sharing his views with the umpires and the umpires telling their side of the story. You never get to see these two sides of the game together the players and the officials. What happens on the field stays there and these two parties never get to share their thoughts with each other in such an open manner."

According to the Indian opener, this was the first time he had an open discussion with the match officials, calling it a valuable experience. Rohit also praised the BCCI for its initiative and believed such workshops will uplift the spirit of the game. "This was the first time that I interacted with the umpires and referees like this. And it was a good experience," Rohit said. "It was good to share thoughts with the umpires from the player and captain's perspective. This is a very good initiative from the BCCI because it is for the betterment of the game."

The workshop includes 26 match officials, 17 of whom are Indians. Simon Taufel, one of ICC's senior umpires spoke on a variety of issues ranging from supporting Rohit's idea to the what and what not an umpire should do in pressure situations. "There is so much for the umpires to know. We went through a few codes today and the playing conditions code was a big part of the discussion," Taufel said. "One thing we try is to align the interpretations of the playing conditions as closely to international cricket as we can but also realize that IPL is a domestic tournament and hence we apply a lot of our common understandings as well. There are a lot of small twists here and there but on the whole when a player goes on the field, he understands exactly what the rules are regarding the playing conditions.

"I think the IPL playing conditions are at par with the international standard. One great thing about the IPL is this consultation process between the IPL management and the ICC. We work through some of the differences and we make sure we are at the same level."

Taufel also lauded the fact that more and more Indian umpires are coming to the fore, many of whom he believes are close to making the cut for the elite club. "It takes a long time to produce Test level and elite umpires. It takes a lot of investment, support programmes and development, just like it takes to produce top-level cricketers," Taufel added. "I cannot tell you why we haven't had many Indian umpires in the ICC Elite Panel but I know that we are close. I am pleased to see that the BCCI is producing a really, really strong pool of first-class umpires. We will see the cream rise up to the top-level.

"There is no doubt that more and more Indian umpires are getting opportunities at the highest level. We have undertaken exchange programmes with them, they are getting opportunities at World T20 events and we have had them in the World Cup as well. Last year we had an Indian umpire officiating in the IPL final for the first time. We are making progress. All the work we are putting in is producing results, and that is important."

Mumbai Indians strike right balance for IPL 2015

                                              INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2015

    Majority MI's success will still revolve around the quartet of Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson, but Aaron Finch brings in the X-factor to the team
    Mumbai have a squad that can succeed in any conditions and with ample bench strength they should not have any problems even if they lose a few players to injury

MI's success will revolve around the quartet of Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson.

 Traditionally Mumbai Indians always had balanced squads in terms of their local talent and overseas recruits, but in 2014 the think-tank erred and found themselves short of quality uncapped Indian players. They were found wanting big time when the marquee players too failed to deliver early in the tournament. But they did manage to script remarkable turnaround to make it to the knockout stages of IPL 7 and heading into the eighth edition of the tournament, they have built a squad that has the potential to beat the best.


Last season, Mumbai had failed to find a solid opening pair and this year they have included Aaron Finch and Unmukt Chand to go with retained players - Lendl Simmons and Aditya Tare, giving MI solidity at the top. MI's trump card Lasith Malinga was not in good form in IPL 7 and losing Zaheer Khan early came as a major blow, and this year they have opted to reinforce their bowling unit by adding domestic heavyweights Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun. New Zealander Shane Bond has joined the star-studded MI support staff of Ricky Ponting, Rahul Sanghvi and Robin Singh. And with a host of exciting young talents like Siddhesh Lad, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mitchell McClenaghan and Hardik Pandya to go with T20 powerhouses Kieron Pollard, Corey Anderson, Finch and Simmons, MI seem to have got their combination right this time around.

Captain:Rohit Sharma

Coach:Ricky Ponting

Previous IPL standings: 2008 5th, 2009 7th, 2010 Runners-up, 2011 Playoffs, 2012 Playoffs, 2013 Winners, 2014 Playoffs

How they fared in IPL 7:

After starting their IPL 7 campaign on a disastrous note that saw the 2013 IPL winners losing their first four games in UAE, MI came back strongly during the Indian leg of the tournament notching up seven wins in nine games to make it to the knockout stages. However, they failed to sustain the momentum, losing the Eliminator to CSK. It seemed Mumbai had missed a trick during the 2014 auctions, letting go of big names like Dwayne Smith (CSK), Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson (Kings XI Punjab), but a smart-mid season inclusion in the form of Simmons rejuvenated their campaign and despite lack of support from the local players and losing Zaheer to injury early on and Malinga after ten games, the Rohit Sharma-led team scrapped through to the knockouts courtesy an unbelievable chase of 190 in 14.4 overs in their last league game against Rajasthan Royals.

New Additions:

Aaron Finch, Unmukt Chand, Mitchell McClenaghan, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Nitish Rana, Jagadeesha Suchith, Hardik Pandya.

Key Players:

Without doubt majority MI's success will still revolve around the quartet of Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson, but Finch brings in the X-factor to the team. MI had struggled with their opening pair last season and Finch will have a big role to play at the top of the order, even though that means Simmons might have to warm the benches. With Malinga looking out of form in the World Cup, MI have got able replacements in Josh Hazlewood and McClenaghan and additions of Vinay and Mithun to go with Harbhajan and Shreyas Gopal means they have one of the best domestic bowling units.

Chances for IPL 8:

Mumbai have a squad that can succeed in any conditions and with ample bench strength they should not have any problems even if they lose a few players to injury. The best part of MI squad is that they have got quality replacements for batting and bowling position. Finch and Chand are likely to be first choice openers with Simmons and Tare as back-ups, while they have Blizzard and Pandiya for the middle-order and Mithun and Jaspreet Bumrah as back-up fast bowlers.

Predication:

Looking at the squad, Mumbai have all their bases covered and they should make it to the playoffs with ease.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Corey Anderson, Aiden Blizzard, Jasprit Bumrah, Unmukt Chand, Marchant de Lange, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Siddhesh Lad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Hardik Pandya, Parthiv Patel, Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu, Lendl Simmons, Jagadeesha Suchith, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare, Vinay Kumar, Akshay Wakhare
 

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2015

 RCB Coach Vettori Satisfied With Team Make-Up

The former New Zealand international said there was a buzz in the air, even though training in the Bangalore heat didn't make things easy.

                    RCB coach Daniel Vettori attends a practice session in Bengaluru on Friday

 Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Daniel Vettori, who took charge of the squad's preparatory camp on Friday, expressed satisfaction with the new additions to his ranks after the Indian Premier League auction earlier this year.

RCB play their first match of the season away against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders next week and the former New Zealand international said there was a buzz in the air even though training at the M Chinnaswamy stadium got tougher each day.

"I'm very excited about it," Vettori said about the team for the eighth edition of the tournament. "We managed to pick up some personnel in the auction that we really needed, like some allrounders, some fast-bowling cover and some good young Indian batsmen. We're satisfied with what we've got," he said.

While South Africa allrounder David Wiese was the latest arrival in the city, the Australian duo of Nic Maddinson and Sean Abbott was expected later in the evening. The big guns - AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle ­ will join the team in Kolkata along with skipper Virat Kohli and the other foreign recruits.

Vettori insisted his players had the experience to smoothly make the transition into Twenty20 mode after an emotional World Cup.

Narine checks in, but skips practice

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine checked into the city but did not come for the IPL franchise's first practice session here for the apparent reason that he is yet to get a BCCI go-ahead for his suspect bowling action. "Narine checked in late last night but he did not come for the practice," a KKR official said on Friday.

Narine appeared for a retest for the suspect bowling centre at Sri Ramachandra Universtity, an ICC-accredited centre, in Chennai on Thursday as the report is still being awaited.

Kings XI Punjab begin training in Pune

Kings XI Punjab, aiming for their maiden IPL title after reaching the final last season, began training on Friday in the absence of their World Cup winning stars Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson, who will arrive in time for their opening game on April 10. Captain George Bailey, who could only play a single game for Australia in the World Cup, will too be here by next week.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2015

         David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Dale Steyn will be key for  SRH.                                                                                       Rejigged Sunrisers look to go the distance

    SRH were one of the few sides that did a major overhaul to their squad, replacing quite a few big names ahead of the eighth edition
    The fifth player to captain the SRH team, David Warner is also the third Australian to be leading a franchise in the 2015 edition
    While they made it to the play-offs in their maiden IPL outing in 2013, SRH finished sixth in the previous season
    With a quality line-up that they possess and a think-tank made up of renowned former cricketers, SRH would be disappointed if they fail to finish among the top four

 Sunrisers Hyderabad were one of the few sides that did a major overhaul to their squad, replacing quite a few big names ahead of the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League. The Sun network-owned franchise, which replaced Deccan Chargers in 2013, flattered to deceive in the past two seasons. Under a new skipper and a rejigged unit, SRH will be looking to go the distance in IPL 2015.

Captain

Leadership has been a game of musical chairs when it comes to the SRH team. Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White handled the captaincy duties during their inaugural edition in 2013 while Shikhar Dhawan captained Sunrisers for a few games in the 2014 season before being replaced by Darren Sammy. With the West Indian all-rounder not finding a place in the squad for the current edition, Australia's World Cup winning opener David Warner was given the responsibility of leading the Hyderabad team. The fifth player to captain the SRH team, Warner is also the third Australian to be leading a franchise in the 2015 edition, joining George Bailey and Shane Watson in the leadership capacity.

Coaches

Tom Moody, who has been with the franchise since its inception, remains head coach of the Hyderabad side. Former India players Kris Srikkanth and VVS Laxman will continue to play the role of mentors while Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has been roped in as spin coach of the side for 2015.

Previous IPL standings

While they made it to the play-offs in their maiden IPL outing in 2013, the previous season turned out to be an average one for Sunrisers as they failed to go past the group stage, finishing sixth.

How they fared in IPL 7

They won only two of their five matches in the UAE leg of the tournament in 2014 while the Indian leg also turned out to be poor for Sunrisers as they could only win four out of nine matches. With six wins overall, SRH finished sixth, just above Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils, who won five and two apiece.

New Additions

Aaron Finch, Amit Mishra, Darren Sammy and Irfan Pathan were some of the big names Sunrisers let go when they released as many as 11 players ahead of the auction. At the conclusion of the bidding wars, SRH made up for releasing prominent names by getting hold of the services of quality international players like Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan as well as experienced Indian players like Praveen Kumar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Kevin Pietersen, who was also bought in the auction, was later released by the franchise to enable the England cricketer take part in the county competition. However, as per the terms of Pietersen's contract with the franchise, he would join the SRH team in case they make it past the play-offs.

Key Players

David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan: It was double delight for Australian opener David Warner as he was part of a World Cup winning team and was also named skipper of the SRH team. With greater powers mean more responsibility and it will be interesting to watch if Warner can lead from the front. Warner's opening partner Shikhar Dhawan had a superb World Cup as the highest run-getter of the Indian team. With the burden of captaincy off his shoulder for the upcoming season, Dhawan has all the freedom to express himself.

The pace attack:New Zealand left-arm quick Trent Boult had a memorable World Cup as he finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament along with Mitchell Starc and he will play a key role in reviving the fortunes of the SRH side. A pace attack that boasts of Steyn and Boult also has quality Indian seamers like Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, making it a formidable attack that opposition teams will be wary of.

Chances for IPL 8

Sunrisers have a well-rounded squad for the upcoming edition of the IPL, with quality international names in both the batting and the bowling department along with promising domestic players. Inconsistency hurt them in the previous season and they will be keen to overcome that. Their strengths lie in their quality pace attack along with world-class batsmen making up the top order. As far as weaknesses go, SRH have a brittle middle order and there is a dearth of quality spinners apart from Karn Sharma. It's an experienced and well-settled unit overall and Sunrisers do have the ability to make it to the final stages. However, they have to guard against complacency and not let the momentum slip when they get it going.

Prediction

With a quality line-up that they possess and a think-tank made up of renowned former cricketers, SRH would be disappointed if they fail to finish among the top four.

Squad: David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Lokesh Rahul, Eoin Morgan, Ricky Bhui, Kevin Pietersen, Ashish Reddy, Moises Henriques, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Ravi Bopara, Hanuma Vihari, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Padmanabhan Prasanth, Naman Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chama Milind, Praveen Kumar, Trent Boult, Siddarth Kaul

Guptill recalled for Test series against England

 Martin Guptill has been recalled to the New Zealand test squad for the two-match tour of England after the top-order batsman finished top scorer at the recent 50-over cricket World Cup.

Guptill, whose last test was also in England two years ago, scored 547 runs in nine matches at the event co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, earning him a place in the squad announced by selectors on Saturday.

New Zealand lost to Australia by seven wickets in the World Cup final on March 29.

"This is a stable, established test side but there will be opportunities for contenders," coach Mike Hesson said.

"Martin's a classically styled batsman and there's really no reason why he can't be as influential in the longer game as he is in the short," Hesson added of a player who averages just 29.62 in 31 test appearances.

Brendon McCullum has been named captain of the 15-player squad but will miss the two warm-up matches ahead of the opening test at Lord's on May 21 due to domestic cricket commitments, with wicketkeeper BJ Watling taking charge of those contests.

Paceman Matt Henry is the only player in line to make his test debut on the tour, the right-armer called up to replace injured all-rounder Jimmy Neesham after also impressing at the World Cup as a late replacement.

"It's another step up for Matt but we've been impressed by the maturity and skill-set he's already shown in the ODI format," Hesson added.

Fast bowler Adam Milne, who was ruled out of the World Cup due to a heel injury and replaced by Henry before the semi-final against South Africa, has been picked in the limited-overs side along with uncapped all-rounder Mitchell Santner.

Headingley will host the second test from May 29 before a five-match one-day series begins on June 9, ahead of the only Twenty20 game of the tour at Old Trafford on June 23.

Test squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

ODI and T20 squad: McCullum (captain), Anderson, Boult, Grant Elliott, Guptill, Henry, Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Southee, Taylor, Williamson. (Writing by John O'Brien; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma stay away from Suresh Raina’s wedding?

 Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma and her cricketer boyfriend Virat Kohli were in the capital till a few days back and it was even reported the star couple would attend Raina’s wedding.

Indian star left-hander Suresh Raina tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart Priyanka Chaudhary in New Delhi on Friday, an evening filled with glitz and glamour, and one that saw in attendance the bigwigs from all walks of life. The wedding reception was attended by everyone from the Indian cricket team, but India’s swashbuckling batsman Virat Kohli along with girlfriend Anushka Sharma were nowhere to be seen.

Bollywood actress Anushka and her cricketer boyfriend Kohli were in the capital till a few days back and it was even reported the star couple would attend Raina’s wedding.

What raised eyebrows even more was the fact that both Anushka and Kohli were seen in attendance during the engagement ceremony on Wednesday but reportedly, Anushka and Virat gave the star-studded wedding amiss and instead flew back to Mumbai the very same day. They were spotted at the Mumbai Domestic airport, both in black.

It was reported that Anushka, while she was in the capital, met Virat’s family at their Meera Bagh residence and spent quality time with them. The couple, who arrived in Delhi on March 30, was even photographed after they had dinner at a high-end restaurant.

The lovebirds faced a lot of public criticism after India’s defeat at the World Cup recently and the NH10 actress was even blamed by many ridiculous fans for this defeat. But that certainly did not stop them from getting clicked together.Suresh Raina, who plays for the Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings will kick-start their campaign in the eighth edition on April 9 when they take on the JP Duminy-led Delhi Daredevils, barely six days after his wedding.

Kohli, on the other hand will feature for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they face defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on April 11.

Team India members arrive home after World Cup campaign

                                                            viar-anushka-getty

While Dhoni landed in Delhi, Kohli, along with his actress girlfriend Anushka Sharma, touched down at the Mumbai International Airport. (Getty Images)

Mumbai: The Indian World Cup team members, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and star batsman Virat Kohli, arrived home from Australia in batches and left for their respective destinations, Cricket Board sources said.
While Dhoni landed in Delhi, Kohli, along with his actress girlfriend Anushka Sharma, and five players besides Team Director Ravi Shastri, touched down at the Mumbai International Airport.
Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel also returned to Mumbai from Australia after India's semi-final loss in the cricket's showpiece event on March 26, the sources said.
"By tonight all others, who have remained behind, would be back in India," they informed.