Prince Singh, Author at Sportzwiki

Prince Singh

An avid sports lover, i always wanted to pursue a career in football. But just like the millions out there i did not put in the hard work needed to achieve my dream and now i have become a fan instead of the player. Anyway, writing for sports has kept me closer to this field. One more thing, yours sincerely is a die-hard Liverpool fan.
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Chris Lynn, Imran Tahir
Chris Lynn, Imran Tahir are yet to play any match in IPL 2020 so far (Credits: IPLT20)
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IPL 2020 Mid-Season Transfer: Rules, Eligibility For Players, Available Players And All You Need To Know

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Indian Premier League is all set to enter its business phase. Six of the eight teams have played five games so far while the other two have played two. And as the IPL 2020 approaches the mid-season stage, all the eight teams will have an opportunity to bolster their squad thanks to mid-season transfer.

Last season, the IPL governing council had allowed a five-day window for uncapped players to be loaned mid-season, subject to the player not having featured in more than two games. Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Mahela Jayawardene had supported the idea but not a single team had loaned any player.

IPL 2020 Mid-Season Transfer: Rules, Eligibility For Players, Available Players And All You Need To Know 1
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (Image Credit: BCCI/IPL)

For the upcoming season, the IPL has permitted loans of capped players too – Indian or overseas – between teams at the halfway point in the season. Teams could rope in players from other sides to bolster themselves before the second half of the season.

So as everyone waits for the IPL mid-season, here is all you need to know about it:

1. Any player whether he is capped or uncapped, Indian or overseas is eligible for mid-season transfer.

2. The only criteria for a player to be transferred is that he should not have played more than two matches till that stage.

3. The players will be eligible for mid-season transfer only after each team completes seven games in the competition.

4. The price to be paid for the players will be from outside the purse.

5. The two franchises concerned with the move and the player have to agree for the transfer to go ahead.

6. After all the parties agree for the loan move, the arrangement would be between the franchises, with the money paid from outside the auction purse. The player will be entitled to his fixed auction price and won’t benefit from such a transfer.

Here is a list of franchise-wise players who are eligible for the mid-season transfer:

Chennai Super Kings:

KM Asif, Imran Tahir, Narayan Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Monu Kumar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, R Sai Kishore and Josh Hazlewood

Delhi Capitals:

Ajinkya Rahane, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamicchane, Alex Carey, Lalit Yadav, Daniel Sams, Tushar Deshpande and Mohit Sharma.

Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane (Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.)

Kings XI Punjab:

Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkhande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Chris Gayle, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mandeep Singh, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Chris Jordan, Simran Singh and Tajinder Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Siddhesh Lad, Chris Green, M Siddharth, Tom Banton, Nikhil Naik, Ali Khan

Mumbai Indians:

Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jayant Yadav, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell McClenaghan, Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh and Prince Balwant Rai

Rajasthan Royals:

Mayank Markande, Ankit Rajpoot, Manan Vohra, Mahipal Lomroor, Shashank Singh, Varun Aaron, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Aniruddha Joshi, Andrew Tye, Akash Singh, Anuj Rawat and Yashaswi Jaiswal

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Josh Philippe, Chris Morris, Dale Steyn, Shahbaz Ahamad, Pavan Deshpande, Adam Zampa

Chris Gayle, RCB, Pune Warriors, Yuvraj Singh
Chris Gayle. Credits: IPL/BCCI.

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake, Mohammad Nabi, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddharth Kaul, Wriddhiman Saha, Vijay Shankar, Virat Singh, Bavanaka Sandeep, Fabien Allen and Sanjay Yadav

*( None of the aforementioned players have played more than two games at this stage and are thus eligible for mid-season transfer. However, some of them can become ineligible if they represent their teams before the halfway stage).

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KKR Predicted
Pat Cummins.(Credits: Twitter)
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IPL 2020: England, Australia Players Available For Selection From Match One

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England and Australia players, who are currently involved in a bilateral series in England, will be available for selection from the very first match of IPL 2020. Both the teams recently played a three-match T20I series and will now play a three-match ODI series. The series will end on September 16, just three days before IPL 2020 starts on September 19.

Recent reports suggested that players from both the teams were likely to miss the first week of action in IPL because of the mandatory six-day quarantine period. However, Venky Mysore, the chief executive of Kolkata Knight Riders, has confirmed that there won’t be such situation and players will remain available from the first game.

That means those travelling to Dubai will be available to their teams from day one – Dubai has no mandatory quarantine period unless the person tests positive. There are quarantine period rules in Abu Dhabi where KKR and Mumbai Indians are based. But even then, KKR will have the luxury of choosing their England and Australia players since their first match on September 23, six days after the players arrive in UAE.

Venky Mysore
Venky Mysore (Credits: Twitter)

Three KKR players are in England for the bilateral series – Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan and Tom Banton. Mysore also said negotiations were still on with the Abu Dhabi authorities to further shorten the six-day quarantining period. Abu Dhabi has had strict rules around people entering the emirate from outside (at present 14-day quarantines are mandatory). But the IPL authorities managed to get some relaxation for the teams.

“While they are still negotiating with the authorities, we are reconciled to the fact that we may have to quarantine our three players,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo.

“They arrive on September 17, but our first game is on September 23, by which time they would’ve finished their [concessional six-day] quarantine. So it’s worked out well, and it’s good for the tournament,” he added.

Mysore then explained how the IPL and the franchises made sure that the players won’t have to quarantine in UAE after arriving from England.

“What we did was put a plan together and shared it with the medical team at the IPL,” Mysore said.

“We told them, ‘they’re in a bio-secure bubble in UK. What if we brought them on a sanitised charter flight and we took care of all the elements of immigration, testing, contactless stuff and everything to allow them to come right into a bubble here?’ To give credit to IPL, they took it very constructively and they have a written Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for that, which says if you’re coming from a bubble to another bubble, you don’t need the mandatory quarantine period,” he added.

Here is a list of the players who are currently in England:

Rajasthan Royals: Steven Smith, Andrew Tye, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Billy Stanlake, Jonny Bairstow

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Aaron Finch, Adam Zampa, Joshua Phillipe, Moeen Ali

Chennai Super Kings: Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran

Mumbai Indians: Nathan Coulter-Nile

Kolkata Knight Riders: Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton

Kings XI Punjab: Glenn Maxwell, Chris Jordan

Delhi Capitals: Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey

Also Read: IPL 2020: Zaheer Khan Believes New Norms And Routine Are Not Difficult To Follow

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Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh. Photo Credit: Getty Images.
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Yuvraj Singh Confirms Sensational U-Turn Plan As He Expresses His Desire Of Playing Domestic Cricket

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Former India batsman Yuvraj Singh can make a sensational u-turn and return to domestic circuit if everything falls into place. He could return to action playing at least T20 cricket for Punjab when the much delayed domestic season kicks off. At present, there is very little clarity over when will the season start due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Yuvraj Singh retired from all forms of the game in June 2019 and had later obtained No Objection Certificate from the BCCI to play in Canada and Abu Dhabi. The legendary batsman has rediscovered his hunger for the game again and is now eyeing a sensational return for Punjab.

He rediscovered his hunger for batting after spending a fair bit of time in the last few months working with the young Punjab quartet of Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh and Anmolpreet Singh at the PCA Stadium in Mohali at the behest of the Punjab Cricket Association.

“I enjoyed spending time with these youngsters, and talking to them about various aspects of the game, I realised that they were able to pick up various things that I was telling them,” Yuvraj Singh said as he confirmed his comeback plans.

“I had to get into the nets to show them a few other elements, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was hitting the ball even though I hadn’t held a bat for a really long time,” he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh. Image Credits: Twitter

He revealed how he scored runs during practice matches which made PCA secretary Puneet Bali asked him to reconsider coming out of the retirement. He stated that he was initially reluctant to play in domestic cricket as he was willing to play in overseas leagues. But after a long consideration, he decided to play for Punjab again. The motivation to help Punjab win trophies was another factor behind his decision.

“I also trained for those two months, and then I started to bat in the off-season camp. I made runs in some of the practice matches. Mr Puneet Bali, the secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, approached me after one of the sessions and asked me if I would reconsider coming out of retirement,” he said.

“Initially, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to take up the offer. I was done with domestic cricket, though I did want to continue to play in other domestic franchise-based leagues worldwide if I got permission from the BCCI. But I also couldn’t ignore Mr Bali’s request. I gave it a lot of thought, for nearly three or four weeks, and it was almost as if I didn’t even have to make a conscious decision in the end.

“The motivation is to help Punjab win championships. Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), myself, we have won tournaments, but we haven’t done it together for Punjab, so that was a big factor in my final call. Obviously, Shubman is already playing for India, and I feel there’s plenty of potential in the other three boys. If I can contribute in any way to their development and to the development of Punjab cricket, then that will be wonderful. After all, playing for Punjab is what paved the way for my international career,” he added.

Once he was convinced that he still has something to offer with the bat, he did not wait in sending a mail to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, seeking their permission to come out of retirement. In his letter, he also it clear that if he can play for Punjab again, he will obviously not pursue his options of playing for India again. The BCCI is yet to respond to his letter,

“As things stand now, I will be playing only T20s if I get the nod,” Yuvraj Singh said.  “But who knows, let’s see.”

Yuvraj Singh retired from international cricket as one of India’s greatest-ever match-winners. He ended his career with an outstanding ODI record of 8701 runs — 22nd in the overall list, and seventh among Indians — at an average of 36.55 and 111 wickets.

Also Read: Every Team Has Got Equal Chances Of Winning The IPL 2020 Title: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

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Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh (Credits: Twitter)
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Yuvraj Singh Aiming To Become First Indian Player To Play In BBL: Report

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Yuvraj Singh could be soon seen playing in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) if everything falls in place. No Indian player has played in Australia’s premier T20 tournament so far but Yuvraj Singh is eyeing to ply his trade in the tournament.

The reason behind no Indian playing in the BBL so far is the BCCI’s stance on not issuing no-objection certificates for any other T20 league around the world.  However, Yuvraj Singh is retired from both domestic and international cricket and would be free to play in foreign leagues. He had retired from international and domestic cricket last year.

Soon after retirement, he played in the Global T20 Canada as well as Abu Dhabi T10 league. And if everything goes well, he could be soon seen wielding his bat in Australia. His manager Jason Warne of W Sports & Media confirmed that Cricket Australia were interested in finding the former Indian superstar a club.

“We’re working with CA to try to find him a home,” Warne was quoted as saying by The Age on Monday.

Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh. Credit: Getty Images.

Yuvraj Singh’s interest in the BBL comes just off the heels of former Australia international Shane Watson saying the league would benefit from the presence of Indian players. Watson, who is currently in Dubai preparing for the IPL 2020, said that the availability of Indian players would make a ‘massive difference’.

“There is a chance but no Indian players have been able to be released in the past to come and play at the [other] T20 tournaments so that’s a big hurdle,” Watson said.

“It would be incredible for them to be able to play in these tournaments. That is the ideal situation. There are so many world-class T20 players in India that aren’t playing for India that could be potentially available to play in the Big Bash and other tournaments around the world.

“If that’s able to happen, that would make a massive difference,” he added.

In his illustrious international career, Yuvraj Singh featured in 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is, while also playing a pivotal role in India’s two big triumphs – the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup. He ended his career with an outstanding ODI record of 8701 runs — 22nd in the overall list, and seventh among Indians — at an average of 36.55 and 111 wickets.

Also Read: IPL 2020: Rapper Accuses IPL Of Plagiarizing His 2017 Rap To Create IPL 2020 Anthem

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Sourav Ganguly, BCCI
Sourav Ganguly. Image Credit: Getty Images.
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IPL 2020: Rapper Accuses IPL Of Plagiarizing His 2017 Rap To Create IPL 2020 Anthem

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IPL has been accused of plagiarism by a rapper named KR$NA after releasing the anthem for this year’s edition. The tournament is being tipped to raise the nation’s mood in these tough times of the coronavirus pandemic. The entire nation was at standstill not very long ago and while people are now being allowed to carry out their day-to-day chores, the cases are still rising at an alarming rate.

Recently, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar had said that the nation will start looking at the statistics differently and runs and boundaries will dominate the gloomy counts of coronavirus cases. And few days before the start of the tournament, the BCCI, on Sunday, released the IPL 2020 anthem. The lyrics of the anthem reflect the same emotions.

Titled ‘Aayenge Hum Wapas’, the anthem sends out a message that the nation and the world will bounce back from the pandemic. The anthem says that all the citizens of the nation are players and a strong partnership is needed amongst them. The anthem also urges the people to not give up in these tough times. The visuals in the song make it even more brilliant.

Here is the anthem for IPL 2020:

Rapper accuses IPL of plagiarism:

Hours after IPL posted the anthem on their Twitter handle, rapper KR$NA raised a number of eyebrows by accusing the tournament of plagiarism. He took to Twitter to insist that IPL has plagiarized his song “Dekh Kaun Aaya Waapas” and created the anthem for this year’s tournament without his consent or giving him the credit. His rap was released in 2017.

“Hey guys, @IPL has plagiarised my song “Dekh Kaun Aaya Waapas” and created “Aayenge Hum Wapas” as this years anthem without credit or consent. I request my fellow artists and friends on twitter to RT this tweet for awareness, they can not get away with this. @DisneyPlusHS,” he wrote.

 

Here is the rap released by him in 2017:

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David Warner, Jonny Bairstow
David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (Credits: Twitter)
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IPL 2020: England, Australia Players Unlikely To Get Relaxation In Quarantine Rules

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The England and Australia players who are currently involved in the bilateral series in England are unlikely to get any relaxation in the quarantine protocols when they arrive in UAE for this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) later this month. Both the teams are currently playing the three-match T20I series which will be followed by three ODIs.

The ODI series will end on September 16, just three days before IPL 2020 starts in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, the England and Australia players will land in UAE on September 17. And any chances of seeing them in action straightaway is highly unlikely as they will have to be in the mandatory six-day quarantine.

There were some arguments from the franchise officials, including RCB Chairman Sanjeev Churiwala, that since the players would already be in a bio-bubble and will be arriving in UAE via a charter plane, there could be scope for relaxing the rules. But according to Cricbuzz, the chance of players getting the relaxation is unlikely.

Steve Smith
Steve Smith. Image Credit: BCCI/IPL

The report stated that the BCCI had made the schedule keeping in mind these protocols and other health measures and therefore would require all the players arriving from England to quarantine themselves for six days on their arrival to UAE. As per the league’s Standard Operating Procedures, they’ll have to test negative on Days 1, 3 and 6 to be eligible to join the team.

Thus the players will not be eligible to play before September 24. By that time, all the teams will have played a minimum of one game each, with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings playing two. Rajasthan Royals will be the most affected team with the likes of Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Andrew Tye in their squad. Royals will also have to name a new captain for the first game since Smith is their full-time captain.

Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner will also miss the side’s first game along with Jonny Bairstow.

Here are the list of the players who are set to miss the first week of IPL 2020:

Rajasthan Royals: Steven Smith, Andrew Tye, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Billy Stanlake, Jonny Bairstow

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Aaron Finch, Adam Zampa, Joshua Phillipe, Moeen Ali

Chennai Super Kings: Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran

Mumbai Indians: Nathan Coulter-Nile

Kolkata Knight Riders: Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton

Kings XI Punjab: Glenn Maxwell, Chris Jordan

Delhi Capitals: Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey

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Suresh Raina. Image Credit: BCCI.
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Preparing For IPL 2020? Suresh Raina Drops Big Hint

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Suresh Raina might be in India but it looks like the southpaw is still harbouring the hopes of returning to UAE and playing this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). The left-handed batsman sensationally returned from UAE around a week ago, citing personal reasons. Later, the franchise confirmed that the batsman has pulled out of the entire competition.

But it looks like Suresh Raina has not given up yet. Last week in an interview, he made it clear that he has not ruled out the possibility of playing IPL 2020. He also said that he has been training at home, telling Cricbuzz:

“I’ve been training even while quarantining here. You never know you might see me in the camp there again.

Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina (Image credits: Twitter)

And on Sunday, he dropped a big hint that he is preparing himself for the tournament. The former India batsman, who retired from international cricket last month, took to Instagram to post a video of himself training at a picturesque location. In the video, he could be seen sprinting and doing weight practice. What made the post even more interesting is the caption.

While he did not write anything, he dropped a big hint with the use of emojis. The emojis showed a victory sign, bat and ball followed by a tick which might be a big indication that he is well on his path to return to cricket action soon.

Here is the post from Suresh Raina:

View this post on Instagram

✌️?✅

A post shared by Suresh Raina (@sureshraina3) on

CSK would definitely love to have him back and perhaps that is the reason why they have not announced a replacement yet. Suresh Raina has been the batting mainstay of the side since the inaugural season in 2008. The left-handed batsman is their all-time leading run-scorer and is the second highest run-scorer in the history of the IPL.

Meanwhile, CSK will also miss the services of veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh who too has pulled out of entire IPL citing personal reasons. CSK will open their campaign against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the first game of the tournament on September 19.

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Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals (Credits: Twitter)
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IPL 2020: Delhi Capitals Physio Tests Positive For COVID-19

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On the day, the BCCI finally announced the schedule for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals’ Assistant physio tested positive for COVID-19. The franchise confirmed the news through a media release on Sunday (September 6).

Delhi Capitals has now become the third IPL side to report positive COVID-19 case. The first team was Rajasthan Royals. Their fielding coach Dishant Yagnik was tested positive while all the teams were in India. Chennai Super Kings then reported as many as 13 positive cases around a week ago. Out of those 13, two were players – Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Chahar.

Due to the positive cases, CSK had to extend their quarantine period and they were able to start their training on last Friday, more than a week after all the teams started their respective training. But Delhi Capitals squad is unlikely to be quarantined as the franchise confirmed that the physio had been in quarantine and not in contact with any other member of the team.

He had traveled independently to UAE earlier this week and tested negative in the first two tests, conducted on days 1 and 3 respectively after arrival. The third RT-PCR test, conducted on Day 6, has returned a positive result.

“He was isolated immediately, and is currently at the IPL Isolation Facility in Dubai for the next 14 days, at the end of which he will have to produce two negative reports for him to be able to join the Delhi Capitals squad. The franchise’s medical team is in constant touch with him, and wishes him a speedy recovery,” the release stated.

As per the tournament’s Standard Operating Procedure, other squad members will be tested on the fifth day of every week throughout the tournament. Delhi Capitals will open their IPL campaign against Kings XI Punjab on September 20, a day after the tournament starts with the mouth-watering clash between last year’s finalists Mumbai Indians and CSK.

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Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh (Credits: Twitter)
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IPL 2020: Chennai Super Kings’ Harbhajan Singh Pulls Out Of Entire Tournament

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Chennai Super Kings have suffered yet another blow ahead of this year’s Indian Premier League as their veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has decided to pull out of the entire competition, citing personal reasons. In the process, he became the second CSK player after Suresh Raina to decide against playing in the upcoming edition.

The off-spinner had also missed the pre-season camp in Chennai last month. Before leaving for UAE, CSK had a short camp from August 15 to 20. With the tournament to be played in spinner friendly conditions of UAE, missing a bowler like Harbhajan Singh will be a big blow for the three-time champions. The veteran spinner had joined CSK in 2018 after spending ten years with Mumbai Indians. In 2018, he helped CSK win their third title. Last year, he had picked up 16 wickets when the MS Dhoni-led side made it to the final where they lost to Mumbai Indians.

CSK still have a formidable spin department though. With the likes of Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma and the highly-rated Sai Kishore in their ranks, CSK have one of the most potent spin attacks in the tournament.

Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh (Credits: Twitter)

Last week, Suresh Raina had also pulled out of the competition despite travelling to UAE with the team. He returned to India and pulled out of IPL 2020 citing personal reasons. Missing Raina will be another blow for the IPL giants as the southpaw is their all-time leading run-scorer and has been their batting mainstay since the inaugural season in 2008.

Meanwhile, CSK will finally resume their training from Friday. While all the other seven teams started their preparation from last week itself, CSK had to extend their quarantine after 13 members including two players of their camp tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, no other player or member has tested positive in the latest tests and the team will finally hit the nets now.

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Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar (Credits: Twitter)
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IPL 2020: BCCI Finalise Seven Indian Commentators, Sanjay Manjrekar Misses Out

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Sanjay Manjrekar has failed to convince the BCCI to re-hire him as commentator for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the cricket board finalised seven Indian commentators for the tournament. IPL 2020 is scheduled to be played from September 19 to November 10 in UAE. But Sanjay Manjrekar will have to enjoy the tournament from India.

According to Mumbai Mirror, not much is known about Sanjay Manjrekar but the BCCI is unlikely to re-hire the former batsman-turned-commentator. Known for making bold comments, Sanjay Manjrekar was sensationally sacked by the BCCI earlier this year in March. The BCCI had removed him just before the ODI series against South Africa which was eventually called off in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A few weeks ago, Sanjay Manjrekar had requested the BCCI to take him back as a commentator for the upcoming IPL but the Indian cricket board has made it clear it is not keen on rehiring him. Not seeing Sanjay Manjrekar in the IPL commentary panel will be a new experience for the fans as the former India international was a part of the panel since the inaugural season in 2008.

Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

The Indian commentators who are part of the panel for IPL 2020 are Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle and Anjum Chopra. Dasgupta and Kartik have been placed in the panel for Abu Dhabi matches while the rest have been place in the panels for Dubai and Sharjah games.

Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai are the three venues for this year’s IPL. Dubai and Abu Dhabi will host 21 games each with Sharjah getting 14 games of the league stage. The venue for the playoff has not been finalised yet.

The commentators will be divided into three panels and will be placed in two bubbles – one in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. The commentators will leave for UAE on September 10. Dasgupta and Kartik were to leave for Abu Dhabi on Friday but with the UAE government relaxing the quarantine period from 14 to seven days, the two will fly with the rest.

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