Markable

Virender Sehwag has said Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Suryakumar Yadav has the talent to play for India in the future.

"More than the batsmen, it's the bowlers," Sehwag told iplt20.com, when asked which players have impressed him during this IPL season. "Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma are the two guys who have impressed me the most. As far as batsmen are concerned, I really like the look of Suryakumar Yadav. He seems like a very good talent and if he continues to focus, he has the ability to score a lot of runs in the future and also maybe play for India one day.

"I like the fact that Sandeep can swing the ball in as well as take it away. Also, he has tremendous control over his bowling. For us, he has been very vital because he gives us early breakthroughs, in the first or second over, which is very important in this format."

'Opening is my bread and butter' - Uthappa

Since moving up to the top of the order, Robin Uthappa has been in roaring form, his three innings as opener bringing him scores of 47, 65 and 47 at a strike rate of 128.23. Uthappa says he told the Kolkata Knight Riders team management he was at his most comfortable while opening the batting, and they gave him the opportunity to do so.

"I am loving it!" he told iplt20.com, when asked about the move up the order. "It is where I feel at home; that is my bread and butter. So, I just love opening the batting. I think that's where I do the best and that is something I was telling the support staff and Gautam, and I had a conversation with them about it. I am glad that they gave me an opportunity and that I have been able to utilise that opportunity in a way that has been meaningful for the team."

'Bowlers should work on outwitting batsmen' - Srinath

Javagal Srinath says bowlers are becoming too dependent on batsmen's mistakes to get their wickets, and aren't able to outwit them on their own.

"What concerns me is the fact that the wicket-taking ability of a bowler is now directly linked to batsmen making mistakes in their desire to look for big scores," he writes, in his column for the Hindustan Times. "I think it is about time the bowlers started to think harder on what they can do not only to restrict the scoring, but also pick up wickets.

"So where do the bowlers go from here? That is the challenge ahead of the specialist coaches and the sports psychologist who travel with most teams. It's time for them to focus on giving bowlers confidence and in coming up with something that will help their discipline. Unlike batsmen, bowlers are a lot more apprehensive about what the day holds. Agreed that at the end of the day, it's the wickets that matter, but there is a huge difference between a batsman getting himself out and a bowler outwitting a batsman."

Ravi Shastri, the former India allrounder and IPL governing council member, has warned that a repeat of altercations such as the one involving Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc could result in much stiffer penalties for the players, including "double" their match fee or even a ban. 

"They should be given a fine and then a stern warning stating that (if) once more then it could be double the penalty and even a match ban," Shastri told ESPNcricinfo. When asked whether increasing monetary sanctions alone could prevent a breach of the IPL's rules, Shastri remained confident. "It could. It is in the hands of the match referee. But I would tell the player that next time if you even come close (to a breach) you will face serious consequences."

Shastri provided the example of the "stiff" $50,000 fine imposed on then Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne during the 2011 IPL for breaching the playing contract. Warne had allegedly verbally abused the then Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Dixit, and a disciplinary panel comprising former IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and Shastri imposed the penalty. "The penalties can be pretty stiff. We penalised Warne an amount which amounted to his match fee for a match. He was on a $700,000 contract with Rajasthan Royals. Tell me one player who has been fined $50,000 anywhere."

Shastri, who also sits on the IPL's code of behaviour committee and the technical committee, said that no advisory has been issued to match referees in light of the Pollard-Starc incident since the officials were aware of the rules. "That is the match referee's jurisdiction. Only after they take a decision do we have a right to comment."

The IPL's handling of the incident has once again reopened the debate about whether slow over-rates are more important to the league than bad behaviour and attract more fines because of the impact on TV programming. Shastri rubbished the notion and said that the IPL had set a better example than anybody else, including the ICC, when it came to penalizing tardy over-rates. "Slow over-rates slow the pace of the game and captains are appropriately fined. No other cricket body in the world takes so strong (an action) as the IPL. Even the ICC can take a leaf out of the IPL."

Shastri had earlier expressed his annoyance at Pollard and Starc's behavior in his Times of India column. "This one went beyond bad behavior," Shastri wrote. "You can joust, tease, stare, have a spat, give a send-off and all that can still be tolerated, but you can't almost come to blows. It bordered on violence, luckily without anything untoward happening. Both aimed to hurt each other with bat and ball. The faults by both are many - disrespect to umpires, abuse of equipment, utter disregard for the name of their employers, contempt for sponsors and injuring the spirit of the game itself.

"Starc likes to provoke. We all watched him give a mouthful to Virender Sehwag after his short ball had rammed the opener on the helmet and gone to the fence. Even that is tolerable in small doses. Pollard was nothing if not physical. Both need to be spoken to with a stern warning and not just a fine."

The altercation began with an exchange of words after Starc bowled a bouncer to Pollard in the 17th over of Mumbai Indians' innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pollard pulled away as Starc ran in for the next delivery, but the bowler continued and bowled the ball at Pollard's body. In response, Pollard threatened to throw his bat at Starc, but it fell close to the batsman. Andy Pycroft, the match referee, fined Pollard 75% and Starc 50% of their match fees.

The bad behaviour in the match, Shastri wrote, wasn't just confined to Pollard and Starc.

"In the same game, [Yuzvendra] Chahal was also involved in a pronounced send-off to the batsman he dismissed," Shastri wrote. "It was Chahal's good luck that Yuvraj Singh was at hand to humour the offended on-field umpires. Mostly it's the bowlers who are stepping out of line.

"All the stakeholders must clamp down on such behaviour. It doesn't improve you as a cricketer much less as a human being. It's been a splendid IPL so far and it deserves better from its performers."

Thursday, May 8, 2014
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT) 

Last season, consistency was one of the characteristics that defined Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad - their scrappy, minimal-fuss brand of cricket making them popular with fans. This season, however, while Royals have hit on a winning patch and surged to the top half of the table, Sunrisers, despite big additions to their batting, are faltering lower down.

In Sunrisers last game, AB de Villiers played the kind of innings few teams could have done anything about, but their two victories have shown how critical it is for their top order to fire. Perhaps the best example was their victory against Delhi Daredevils in the UAE, where Aaron Finch and Shikhar Dhawan added 56, the best opening stand for the side so far - which set the base for a score of 184. Compare that to their losses in which their highest total has been 155.

Like their batting, the Sunrisers bowling also relies heavily on two individuals - Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn. While Steyn will have recovered from the mauling by de Villiers, Sunrisers could bring back Mishra on a track that can be expected to be a little slower.

Royals settled into their new home ground with a win and they would like to keep that form going. They don't have a stellar away record in the IPL and with their next fixtures against Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings, a win here could give them a buffer.

Rajasthan Royals: WWWWL Sunrisers Hyderabad: LWLWL

Rajasthan Royals: 3rd, with 10 points from seven games
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 7th, with 4 points from six games

The teams opened their IPL 2014 campaigns against each other, with Royals huffing their way to a four-wicket win in the last over in Dubai. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner got starts but Sunrisers were restricted to 133. The Royals reply, meanwhile, revolved solely around a fifty from Ajinkya Rahane and an unbeaten 48 from Stuart Binny, who rescued the chase from a position of 31 for 3.

Karun Nair played a valuable hand in Karnataka's Ranji Trophy title win this season and he seems to have found his feet for Royals too. He takes his time at the start, but once settled he has been unafraid to switch gears, even going after the faster bowlers in the opposition.

Batting at positions between No. 5 and 7, Darren Sammy has come in quite often with Sunrisers stuck in a rut. As the most important batsman in the lower order, his form has denied Sunrisers a final push, putting even more pressure on the top order.

"I just try to pick the best batsman in the team, preferably the one that generally bats at the death and is used to facing yorkers, slower ones and slower bouncers. I try and pair up with him when I can."
James Faulkner gives an insight into his death-bowling preparations.

Fayyaz Ahmed and Mohammad Naveed hold nerve with unbeaten 36-run stand as UAE wins its first match of ACC Premier League by two wickets

Craig Wright will take charge of the coaching responsibilities until Grant Bradburn takes the reins in July

 

The Scotland selectors today named its 13–man squad to face England in the ODI match between Scotland and England on 9 May at Mannofield, Aberdeen.

Kyle Coezter will lead his team out in front of a sell-out crowd in Aberdeen to play England for the first time since 2010 in Scotland’s marquee match of the year.

Aberdeen born Josh Davey, who is now with Somerset, has earned a place in the squad. He last featured in an ODI for Scotland against Pakistan in May 2013. Since making his debut, the all-rounder has played in 11 ODI matches scoring 254 runs at an average of 25.40 and taken 15 wickets at 21.33. He is a like-for-like replacement for the injured Richie Berrington (hamstring).

Some impressive performances by seam bowler Alasdair Evans has earned him a spot alongside Aberdonian’s Michael Leask and Matthew Cross who along with Davey and Coetzer mean that the host city has produced nearly a third of the national squad.

Craig Wright will take charge of the coaching responsibilities until Grant Bradburn takes the reins in July, after which Wright will continue as his assistant.

Wright commented, “The match against England is a wonderful opportunity for us to continue the progress which the team made in New Zealand earlier this year.  The challenge for us regardless of the opposition is to continue to display the strong, positive mentality which was the cornerstone of our recent success.

With the World Cup to look forward to in under a year, this game will be a great chance for us to test ourselves at the type of level we want to be successful at moving forward.  I hope the occasion is a memorable one for Scottish cricket”.

Scotland Squad in full:

Kyle Coetzer (Captain), Freddie Coleman, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Majid Haq, Michael Leask, Matt Machan, Calum MacLeod, Preston Mommsen, Safyaan Sharif, Rob Taylor, Iain Wardlaw.

Born on 6 December 1988 in Navagam Ghed, Gujarat, Ravindra Jadeja belongs to a modest family.

His father was a watchman in a security agency. He lost his mother at the age of 17. He has been the targets of many critics just a year back.

He was the butt of all jokes — tagged with the popular but condescending moniker ‘Sir’. Some questioned his cricketing credentials too.