Indian pacer Umran Malik said that he feels better after recovering from dengue and is focused on preparing for the Duleep Trophy, which will start from September 5 onwards. Umran has finally recovered from the disease and has joined the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, where he is going to prepare for the upcoming domestic season. Speaking to ANI, Umran said, “I am feeling better and now I am fully focused on the preparation of the Duleep trophy at NCA. I hope, I will be doing good in this season for my team.”

Umran made his international debut for India in 2022 and since then, has played 10 ODIs and eight T20Is for India, picking up 13 and 11 wickets respectively in both formats. His best bowling figures across both formats is 3/48.

Having made his first-class cricket debut in 2021, Umran has taken 16 wickets in 12 games at an average of 44.62, with the best figures of 3/25.

Umran rose to fame with his fantastic bowling performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, taking 22 wickets in 14 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at an average of 20.18, including a five-wicket haul. He was the team’s leading wicket-taker and overall fourth-highest wicket-taker that season.

The Duleep Trophy, which marks the beginning of red-ball cricket in the domestic season, will feature top India stars from the international circuit and emerging talents competing at the highest level.

The tournament is set to begin on September 5, 2024, in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

The four squads for the first round of the tournament:

Team A: Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK).

Team C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Umran Malik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier.

Team D: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar.

Indian Premier League (IPL) has produced a lot of domestic talent for Team India. From the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, IPL is highly responsible for taking Indian cricket to new heights. One such talented cricketer, who rose to fame through IPL is pacer Umran Malik. The Jammu and Kashmir based pacer, who played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, took everyone by surprise as he troubled the batters with his blistering speed in IPL 2022. His performance even led to his Team India debut in June 2022 against Ireland.

However, the 24-year-old pacer also proved to be really expensive as many batters found numerous ways to score runs against him. As a result of that Umran lost his charm and featured in only eight matches in IPL 2023, followed by only one match in 2024.

Umran recently revealed that he would be missing out on the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament in Tamil Nadu, due to dengue.

“I would have loved to play in the tournament, but I’m just recovering from dengue,” Umran was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

Umran, who worked with former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan during the Ranji Trophy, stated that the less domestic appearance has resulted in his poor form.

“I was fully prepared that season, but the weather didn’t help. Then I was really looking forward to the IPL as I’d gained a lot in the months preceding the IPL. Unfortunately even that didn’t go the way I wanted. But it also gave me the time to work on things I wanted to in the practice sessions. I’ve definitely become a better bowler if you ask me. After the IPL, I injured my hamstring and just as I recovered I’m down with dengue,” said Umran.

“These days I’m bowling a lot with the new ball because I believe swing can make a huge difference at my pace. I want to learn a few things, especially how to formulate a plan and execute it. If you have that, then you will be better prepared to handle the challenges. When I’m bowling in a match, it is not about myself or what I do. I’ve to fit into the bowling group and their plans and compliment them,” he added.

Indian Premier League franchise Punjab Kings is not likely to renew the contract of head coach Trevor Bayliss, as per a report. The Australian cricket coach took over the duties from Anil Kumble at PBKS ahead of the 2023 IPL season. Bayliss’ two-year contract with the side has ended now and the franchise is unlikely to continue with him, said the report. It added that PBKS are in hunt for an Indian coach. If this turns out to be true, Bayliss would be the second Australian coach after Ricky Ponting to be removed this month.

Indian coaches and mentors in IPL, of late, have given good results to different franchises.

“PBKS are on the lookout for an Indian coach to guide the team. Whether they will ultimately choose an Indian coach remains to be seen, but they are believed to be considering several options with one of them being Sanjay Bangar,” stated a report in Cricbuzz.

Apart from PBKS, Bayliss has also coached teams like Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Under his coaching, PBKS finished at the eighth and ninth spots in IPL 2023 and 2024, respectively, which seems to have played a significant role in his potential ouster.

The same report added that PBKS owners did not have any complaint with the coaching style of the Australian but it is the result of the team’s performance that has forced them to come to the decision.

Around a week ago, Delhi Capitals parted ways with head coach Ricky Ponting after seven unsuccessful years in their quest for an elusive IPL silverware, the franchise announced on social media.

While it is still early days, there is every possibility that Sourav Ganguly, the current team director of DC, could double up as the head coach next season.

“As you move on as our head coach, we are finding it incredibly difficult to put it down in words. The four things that you told us about in every huddle — care, commitment, attitude and effort, they sum up our seven years together,” DC posted on their official ‘X’ handle.

Andhra Pradesh and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy opened up on the emotional moment when he received his Indian jersey last month and how much it meant to him considering that his father risked his own career for sake of his son’s cricket. Nitish was called-up to the Indian squad after a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with SRH, for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Though he could not play due to a sports hernia injury, he has created an impression strong enough to be considered for future series with a ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ award worthy performance in this year’s IPL, scoring 303 runs in 11 innings with two fifties at a strike rate of 143 and taking three wickets with his seam bowling.

The 21-year-old is now working his way back to full fitness as the new domestic season starts on September 5 with Duleep Trophy.

Reddy recalled that when he received his Indian kit, the people who often ridiculed and questioned his father for risking his career to help his son become a player, also got very emotional. In 2016, when Nitish was 13 years old, his father Mutyalu, working for Hindustan Zinc Limited in Visakhapatnam, was to be transferred to Jodhpur, but he decided to quit in order to focus on his son, who had been picked by the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) for district trials. He instead started his own business, which did not do well and everyone started to taunt him, including his extended family.

“Fame is a funny thing. After the IPL, the same people who told my father how he was foolish to risk his career for me started praising him for his foresight. I remembered they got emotional when my India kit arrived,” said Nitish, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“He quit and invested the corpus he received into a microfinance business in Vizag [Visakhapatnam]. But unfortunately, when the business did not do well, our own extended family, society – everyone else started taunting him for his decision. As much as he tried not to let that filter through to me, eventually he could not help it.”

“I saw how people’s attitudes towards him changed from when he had a job to after he quit. They would disrespect him, he would be ignored.”

“I could not take it. That spurred my motivation to give it my all, because my father had given up everything for me. Until then, I had played for fun, but from there on, everything changed,” Nitish concluded his point.

The 13-year-old left home to move 700 km to a residential academy of ACA, where he attended middle school and trained. He learned the basics of fast bowling there under local coaches. Nitish recalled that when he had joined the academy, his bowling was no good and he used to “throw”.

“Only after I began regular training, I understood biomechanics, how your action impacts different parts of your body, and I worked on correcting it,” he added.

Nitish started making waves Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy when he scored a triple ton against Tamil Nadu and 190 against a strong bowling attack of Karnataka and a quadruple ton against Nagaland, finishing the 2017-18 edition of the tournament with 1,237 runs.

But these early successes turned out to be a false dawn as he admitted being “carried away” by his success and flopped in the U19 level.

“I thought I was naturally good. Everyone spoke highly about my technique, and I was flying. The following year, when I graduated to U-19s and flopped, I initially brushed it aside, thinking it was a bad patch. But when I had a second bad season, it gave me a reality check,” he added.

Frustrated by his poor performances, in 2019, Nitish decided to play solely as a batter, but Srinivas Reddy, one of his coaches, encouraged him to continue as a bowler, pointing out the rarity of pace bowling all-rounders in India.

After that, Nitish was picked up for an ACA camp to pick up a pool of players for the 2019-20 domestic season. The all-rounder said that he was initially picked up as an understudy in the larger squad but the skipper, Hanuma Vihari, was impressed and pushed for his inclusion in the Ranji squad. He went on to make his Ranji debut against Kerala in January 2020.

“I quickly understood that if in the age group I got two loose balls in an over, in first-class, I would get two in a session. I learned a lot quickly.”

Reddy was picked up SRH ahead of the 2023 IPL but got to play only two games in which he did not get to bat. In July last year, he was called up to India’s Emerging Players squad for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka but did not get to bat there either.

Nitish said that ahead of IPL 2023, his bowling was better than his batting. He was asked to stay ready for game time by the team management, but he just could not fit into the squad, he added.

“At the Asia Cup too, when I was in the XI, our top order did so well that I could not get a chance in the first three games. In the fourth game, when I was left out, everyone batted. It was on live TV, and it stressed me out quite a lot that I missed a chance. I wondered if Sunrisers would even retain me,” he added.

Nitish faced another setback when he injured his ankle that year, ruling him out of an all-important Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which could have decided his fortunes for next year’s IPL. The all-rounder recalled being so dejected that he did not even go to the ground even when he regained full fitness.

But one day, he called up ACA and arranged for himself a net practice session against fast bowlers to show everyone that he belonged to the top order while batting. By the time 2024 came and it was time for the IPL, Nitish had developed a solid game against pace, which impressed the SRH skipper and Australian superstar Pat Cummins.

“Then one day, I just called up ACA and requested them to help arrange a few side-armers who would hurl the ball [to me] at 140 clicks from 18 yards. I did not want anyone to tell me I am a lower-order batter. I wanted to show I have it in me to bat in the top order.”

“They bowled bouncers. I got hit everywhere initially, but I told myself: come what may, I am going to face up and fight, build character and develop that no-defeat attitude. I continued this routine whenever I was training back home. That is perhaps why, coming into IPL 2024, I felt so confident playing at a proper pace. In the nets when Pat Cummins saw me react to pace, he was very impressed,” he added.

After SRH paid Rs 20.5 crore for Pat Cummins, KKR splashed Rs 24.75 crore on Mitchell Starc.© BCCI

IPL 2024 Emerging Player of the Year Nitish Kumar Reddy has said that he is preparing to perform in the “Hardik Pandya-role” for Team India in the near future. After amassing 303 runs in the IPL at a strike-rate of 142, Reddy was set to make his debut in India’s post-T20 World Cup tour to Zimbabwe, but had to pull out at the last minute due to an injury. However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad star is certain that he will make his India debut soon.

“There’s a chance I’ll get to play at no. 7 or no. 6, most likely a Hardik Pandya role. I’m flexible to bat wherever I’m asked to, but as of now I’m preparing for the role that Hardik Pandya is playing,” said Reddy.

Reddy has showcased his ability as both a batsman, and lately as a handy pace bowler, and recently became the most expensive player in the Andhra Premier League.

The 21-year-old showed maturity beyond his years, and was realistic about the chances he would get in the India setup.

“If you ask me to open, I’ll open as well. In the near future, I won’t be getting the chance at the top order because there are more experienced players,” said Reddy. “I have to adapt to whatever role I’ll get, and I’ve been prepared to adapt this way by domestic cricket,” he added.

Reddy was selected for the five-T20I Zimbabwe tour alongside a bunch of new faces, in a side that will be led by Shubman Gill.

“I’m happy that there is a progression for youngsters who are performing well. After Rohit bhai (Rohit Sharma), Virat bhai (Virat Kohli) and Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja)’s retirements, there will be opportunities for youngsters. We need to grab them,” said Reddy.

At just 21, Reddy already has the world at his feet, and expressed delight to become a brand ambassador for Puma, the same brand as his idol, Virat Kohli.

“My inspiration is Virat Kohli, so I’m really proud to be a part of Puma. Puma really supported me through the IPL, and the greatest thing is that they’re providing opportunities to youngsters like myself and Riyan Parag,” Reddy said.

Nitish Kumar Reddy is expected to be retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of next year’s mega auction, after a successful IPL 2024.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir believes while there is no such thing as an ‘unplayable’ delivery, he feels that Mitchell Starc managed to fire one in the IPL 2024 final against SunRisers Hyderabad. KKR pacer Starc bowled the ball of the tournament to dismiss SRH opener Abhishek Sharma in the IPL 2024 final last week. While Starc had a below par season with the ball for KKR, he managed to perform in the key matches for KKR, including the final.

KKR bought the veteran Australian pacer for INR 24.75 crore at the auction, making him the costlies ever buy in the IPL.

During a recent interaction, Gambhir labelled Starc as an X-factor, saying that players like him save their best for the big games.

“We always knew he was the X-Factor and he will become one at the right time. I mean, what other big matches could be there in the IPL? It was the Qualifier 1 and the Final. That is why I say that the big players wait for such occasions, they thrive on these occasions. Money is irrelevant. What Starc brings to the team was more important,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.

Starc’s out-swinger to Abhishek in the IPL 2024 final kickstarted the downfall of SRH, who were bowled out for 113 after batting first. Gambhir termed the delivery as nearly ‘unplayable’.

“You expect a bowler of this quality to bowl this kind of a delivery. When you bring these kinds of players, they step up when you need them the most. KKR needed Mitchell Starc in the Qualifier 1 and the Final, and he put his hand up and he delivered. I don’t know whether I should say that was an unplayable delivery or not, because we were taught that no delivery is unplayable, but it was certainly very close to unplayable,” he added.

SRH was magnificent at the business end of the tournament as he ended up with 17 wickets, including five in the two knock-out games, to engineer a dominant title-triumph for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team.

He was named Player of the Match in the final as KKR lifted their third IPL trophy, and first after a decade’s wait.

Former Australia World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting predicted that Baggy Greens star opener Travis Head will be the highest run-scorer of the upcoming T20 World Cup. Ahead of the marquee event starting on June 1 in the USA and the West Indies, Travis Head has been enjoying a purple patch with the bat. Ponting has backed Head to emerge as the top run-getter in the highly anticipated tournament. He believes that the southpaw’s performance over the past couple of years in all formats of cricket has been of the highest quality.

“My prediction for the leading run-scorer will be Travis Head. I just think everything he’s done, whether it be red-ball or white-ball in the last couple of years, has been of the highest quality. I think he’s playing fearless cricket at the moment,” Ponting said in the ICC Review Podcast.

In last year’s ODI World Cup, Australia showed faith in him by including Head in the squad despite carrying an injury. Head was added to the playing XI when he regained fitness and repaid the management’s faith by scoring a ton in his comeback match. He also won the Player of the Match award in the semi-final and the final of the tournament.

In the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), Head featured for Sunrisers Hyderabad and emerged as the highest run-scorer for the franchise.

Overall, he was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the tournament with a whopping tally of 567 runs in 15 matches scoring at an average of 40.50 and a mouth-watering tally of 191.55. En route to the final, SRH were buttressed by Head’s explosive start in the opening slot.

He struggled to put up runs at the backend of the tournament but overall showed his destructive potential in the opening front of the shortest format of the game. In the final three games, he registered two ducks and a 34-run knock.

Despite his sub-par performance towards the end of the cash-rich league, Ponting expects fireworks from Head’s bat in the World Cup.

“His IPL had its ups and downs, but when it’s been good, it’s been very good. And it has won games of cricket for his team,” Ponting noted.

“And it’ll be exactly the same for Australia. So, look, he might not be the most consistent on the way through this tournament, but he’ll be right up there, I’m sure, with the leading run scorers. And as I’ve said, if he spends any amount of time at the wicket for Australia, he’ll win more games than ever,” Ponting added.

Australia are placed in Group B alongside England, Namibia, Oman and Scotland. They will begin their campaign against Oman on June 6 at the Kensington Oval, Barbados.

Celebrations are not stopping anytime soon in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp as the Shreyas Iyer-led side lifted the coveted IPL 2024 trophy. The Kolkata-based franchise played phenomenal cricket throughout the season, bringing out some extraordinary knocks and breathtaking spells. In the summit clash, they easily dominated Sunrisers Hyderabad with both bat and ball and registered a big eight-wicket victory. After waiting for a decade, KKR finally added the third IPL trophy in their cabinet. They earlier clinched the title in 2012 and 2014.

Amid all the celebrations, KKR batter Rinku Singh gave fans a hilarious moment to cherish. As everyone from the KKR camp was celebrating at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, Rinku tried his hands at vlogging.

In a video going viral on social media, Rinku welcomed his viewers and requested them to subscribe his channel and press the bell icon. However, he fumbled while saying all this, which left Nitish Rana, his wife, and Anukul Roy in splits.

“Hello guys, welcome to new vlog. Subscribe kar lo. Ghanta button daba do. We have won the final trophy. My dream has come true. This my didi (Rana’s wife), bhaiya (Rana) and Anukul,” Rinku said. 

Rinku singhpic.twitter.com/3LC7WVH39B

— Gambhir (@Karn975) May 26, 2024

“Outstanding feeling right now. Dream has come true – I have been here for 7 years and we are so happy. Credit to GG sir. I will finally lift the IPL trophy. It was God’s plan,” said Rinku after KKR’s victory.

As the IPL 2024 has ended, everyone’s eyes are now set on the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will kick-start from June 1, co-hosted by United States and the West Indies.

Rinku, who stunned everyone with his blistering knocks in IPL 2023, had an average outing with the bat in this edition. Resulting which, he was snubbed from Team India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup.

However, Rinku has been named as the travelling reserve, along with Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed.

First batch of the India squad reached New York on Monday, where they will be squaring off against Ireland in their campaign opener on June 5.

Kolkata Knight Riders clinched the IPL 2024 title after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the summit clash by eight wickets. Asked to bat first, SRH had a horrendous day as they were bundled out for 113 with Andre Russell and Mitchell Starc scalping three and two wickets respectively. Later, KKR chased down the target in just 10.3 overs and lifted their third IPL trophy. After the victory, celebrations began in camp KKR but the mood was exactly opposite in camp SRH as their owner Kavya Maran could not hide tears.

Kavya, who always supported SRH with a beautiful smile on her face, left many hearts broken with her crying face. 

As soon the video of her crying went viral on social media, many memes started circulating. However, few fans shared some posts, apologizing her for SRH’s defeat. 

Will never forgive KKR for making Kavya Maran Cry

pic.twitter.com/wbswAh0Vrn

— Mohit (@mohit12j) May 26, 2024

Sorry Kavya Ma’am But This Was About Silencing Pat Cummins Again pic.twitter.com/zeDnzwe576

— Dr Khushboo (@khushbookadri) May 26, 2024

Feeling sad for her #kavyamaran pic.twitter.com/Dlz4gOchuI

— VIKAS JHA (@vikasnisu_007) May 26, 2024

“They bowled fantastically. Unfortunately, old mate Starcy turned it on again. Not enough tonight, totally outplayed. You hope you get a few boundaries away but they bowled fantastically well, didn’t really give us anything. Similar to last week in Ahmedabad where they bowled really well, so full credit. It was a bit of a tricky wicket. If we got 160, it would have felt we were in the game. Didn’t feel like a 200+ wicket,” said SRH skipper Pat Cummins after the heartbreaking loss. 

“Great season. It was fantastic, hadn’t worked with many of the guys before at all. It was a real pleasure to work with some of the older, experienced guys like Bhuvi. Bhuvi, Nattu, Jaydev were great and lots of young talent throughout. Really great squad, the support staff were amazing, had a great couple of months. We play a lot over here in India but it’s normally a sea of blue,” he added.