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Virat Kohli has started the season with a bang, but the likes of du Plessis and Maxwell are yet to kick into gear

Shashank Kishore01-Apr-20242:38

Time for RCB to review their overseas picks?

Match details

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) vs Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Bengaluru, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

Glenn Maxwell and Nicholas Pooran kept hitting them big. It was range-hitting like you’ve come to expect of highly-skilled professionals pushing the limits of T20 batting.Their practice sessions on Monday summed up the batting approach you’re likely to see from both RCB and LSG: fun, free and fearless. More personnel were stationed in the stands than on the field to throw balls back.Related

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Barring Virat Kohli, RCB’s top order is yet to kick into gear. Faf du Plessis hasn’t fired in the last two games after a robust opening in Chennai, while Cameron Green, their new No. 3, hasn’t found his RCB initiation to be as smooth as his Mumbai Indians entry last year.There are also concerns over Rajat Patidar’s form. A rejigged middle order needs him to be a floater, a role that hasn’t yet brought dividends, while Maxwell has found it difficult to adjust to slightly sluggish pitches.RCB’s overseas combination has also come under sharp focus. With Alzarri Joseph conceding close to 12 an over across the first three games for a solitary wicket, there’s likely to be a change with one of Lockie Ferguson or Reece Topley coming into contention, along with Akash Deep.LSG’s focus was largely inwards, much of it revolving around KL Rahul’s fitness. He only had a brief hit, after going through a series of fitness drills that they hope will be enough to get him on the field, at least as a batter.Bowling coach Morne Morkel spent considerable time chatting with Mayank Yadav, the IPL’s new pace sensation, even as Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni had extended batting sessions with just one agenda. Hit the ball long and hard.Everything points to a high-scoring contest that could boil down to which side hits more sixes.

Form guide

RCB LWL (IPL 2024, most recent match first)
LSG WLGlenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar haven’t yet fired with the bat this season•BCCI

Team news & Impact Player strategy

Royal Challengers Bengaluru
RCB brought in fast bowler Vyshak Vijaykumar as an Impact Sub for Dinesh Karthik in the previous game. But there’s a case for Vyshak to be in the first XI. He enjoyed a breakout 2023-24 domestic season as a lower-order batter, scoring a maiden first-class century and List A fifty. Patidar or Mahipal Lomror could be likely candidates to be Impact Sub when they bat, with Reece Topley likely to be subbed in when they bowl.Likely XII 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Rajat Patidar/Mahipal Lomror, 6 Anuj Rawat (wk), 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Mayank Dagar, 9 Vyshak Vijaykumar, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yash Dayal, 12 Reece Topley.Lucknow Super Giants
LSG’s Impact Strategy will hinge on Rahul’s fitness. For now, it’s likely they’ll sub in the big-hitting Ashton Turner or Naveen-ul-Haq for Rahul or another batter.Likely XII 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Ayush Badoni/Deepak Hooda, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Mohsin Khan, 10 Mayank Yadav, 11 M Siddharth, 12 Ashton Turner/Naveen-ul-Haq.

In the spotlight

Faf du Plessis was dismissed for under 20 just once in IPL 2023, where made eight fifty-plus scores. His opening partnership with Virat Kohli was the batting combination of the tournament: they scored 939 runs for the first wicket, equalling the record for any pair in an IPL season. So far, barring his powerplay torrent in Chennai, du Plessis is yet to come into his own this season. He’s retired from international cricket and only had a middling SA20 prior to the IPL. RCB will hope he comes into his own soon.Mayank Yadav has captivated IPL audiences just like Umran Malik did three years ago. Umran’s is an example for Mayank to understand the challenges of life in the fast lane. This 21-year-old from Delhi who can bowl upwards of 155kph won’t be a novelty for long and how he evolves will be intriguing to watch.1:03

McClenaghan: ‘Pooran isn’t fazed by captaincy’

Stats that matter

• RCB’s pacers have proved expensive in the powerplay, so there’s a case to potentially use a favorable match-up against Quinton de Kock. Maxwell has conceded just 45 runs in 49 balls to him in all T20s while dismissing him twice.
• KL Rahul strikes at 181.13 against Mohammed Siraj; perhaps all the more reason for LSG to bring Maxwell in early on.
• Siraj has picked up two wickets in three games so far this season, at an average of 55.00 and an economy rate of 10.00.
• Krunal has a favorable match-up against Maxwell, having dismissed him three times in 35 deliveries while conceding 42.
• Patidar’s breakthrough IPL century in the 2022 Eliminator, which shot him to instant stardom – making him the first uncapped Indian to hit a playoff ton – came against LSG.

Pitch and conditions

The curator has left more grass than usual on the Chinnaswamy surface to prevent it from breaking down. Bengaluru is reeling under a heat wave with temperatures having touched 38 degrees Celsius. Large parts of the outfield were under hessian covers on the eve of the match. RCB coach Andy Flower believes the nature of the deck won’t change, though, and expects 200 to be breached.

Quotes

“Once our big batters start scoring runs, we’ll see some of the bigger scores. Expect scores of 200 here, we’re certainly capable of that. Our top five haven’t fired yet, if they do, we’ll get there.”
“He’s been fantastic, very professional. Not just myself, but all players are comfortable with him. Looking forward to him sharing his experience and his sense of calmness as well.”

Dillon Pennington takes seven in the match to seal result after Haseeb Hameed double-ton

ECB Reporters Network13-May-2024A maiden first-class century from young wicketkeeper Matthew Hurst salvaged some pride for Lancashire but could not stop Nottinghamshire completing their first victory of the season, by nine wickets, in the Vitality County Championship match at Trent Bridge.Nottinghamshire had begun the final day of this Division One clash sniffing an innings win, holding a 72-run advantage with Lancashire six down. Yet 20-year-old Hurst defied them with an impressive 104 that included 10 fours and four sixes.Lancashire were dismissed for 252, leaving the home side needing just 81 to win with 50 overs remaining, so the result was never in serious doubt, but given that they had been 61 for 6 on the third evening, the visitors could console themselves with having put up a fight.Hurst and England spinner Tom Hartley (50) were the principal sources of frustration for Nottinghamshire, sharing a seventh-wicket stand of 116.Dillon Pennington, who delivered several spells of top-class fast bowling over both innings, was rewarded with figures of 4 for 61, his best return so far for Nottinghamshire after moving from Worcestershire over the winter, before the home side wrapped up a 22-points win in 18.4 overs with opener Ben Slater their only loss.Lancashire remain bottom of Division One after three defeats in their opening five matches, while Nottinghamshire have their first win under new red-ball captain Haseeb Hameed, whose magnificent unbeaten 247 in their first innings was the biggest component in their victory. Opener Hameed, who finished 24 not out in his second innings, was on the field for every minute of the contestWhen Hartley joined Hurst on Sunday, a target of 172 just to make the home side bat a second time was looking beyond Lancashire. But having battled through to the close, the pair set themselves again on the fourth morning, determined that those efforts would not go to waste.They began with Nottinghamshire, who had made 503 in reply to Lancashire’s first-innings 331, still comfortably ahead and at short odds to get the job done ahead of the lunch interval.But after seeing off Pennington and Olly Stone through their opening overs, the two kept their focus well enough to survive the first hour unscathed and grew confident enough as the ball began to lose its hardness to up the tempo, Hurst greeting legspinner Calvin Harrison’s appearance in the attack with a six over long-on.An on-drive for four by Hurst off Harrison took the partnership into three figures. The pugnacious right-hander was dropped by Harrison at slip off Lyndon James on 46 but quickly completed his fifty from 87 balls, bringing the scores level in the same over.Hartley’s half-century came off 98 balls with seven fours but he could not add to it before Harrison atoned for his earlier error with a fine catch at second slip as James at last achieved a breakthrough.Pennington then had too much pace for Tom Bailey, who was dismissed leg before just ahead of lunch, Lancashire heading for the dining room with a lead of just 26 and only two wickets in hand.With Phil Salt currently playing in the IPL, Hurst has made himself first-choice keeper in the Lancashire squad but would justify his place as a batter on the evidence so far.He had three half-centuries in nine first-class innings before this match and had the confidence to take on the likes of England speed merchant Stone and the similarly pacy Pennington despite suffering a painful blow on his bottom hand facing James just before lunch.After Harrison’s dismissal of Will Williams left him with last man Saqib Mahmood for company, Hurst hammered Stone over the wide midwicket boundary and cleared the rope twice in the same James over to go to his hundred, before another attempt at a maximum saw him caught at deep midwicket off Harrison.Mahmood ended Slater’s attempt to bring a rapid conclusion by having him caught behind for 31 off 32 balls but Hameed and Will Young guided Nottinghamshire to the finish line with no further alarms.

Left armer arrives to reinforce club’s bowling stocks ahead of Sri Lanka Test series in August

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2024Yorkshire have signed Sri Lanka quick Vishwa Fernando for their next three County Championship matches.The left-arm seamer, who has 64 Test wickets at 33.09 in 23 caps, is due to be available for fixtures against Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire and Derbyshire. Fernando played two matches for Durham last season, taking seven wickets at 22.42 for the eventual Division Two champions.Fernando’s acquisition will bolster Yorkshire’s bowling resources, with Matthew Fisher, Mickey Edwards and Matt Milnes all missing through injury. The club went into the latest round without a win in five matches since the start of the season – including a defeat against Middlesex – which has them sixth out of eight in Division Two.The hope is Fernando will help kickstart a much-needed tilt at promotion. He put in strong performances in Sri Lanka’s 2-0 Test series win in Bangladesh which concluded at the start of April. He finished second in the wicket-taking charts with 10 dismissals at 16.10, and will be in the mix for Sri Lanka’s tour of England later this summer, with the first of three Tests beginning on August 21 at Emirates Old Trafford.The 32-year-old has already met up with his county teammates, who are currently in action against Sussex down at Hove, and will turn out for Yorkshire next week against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Signed solely on a red ball deal, Fernando will be back in action when the County Championship returns on June 23 as the Vitality Blast takes over the calendar. Yorkshire host Gloucestershire at Scarborough for that round before Fernando’s final appearance at Chesterfield against Derbyshire, which begins on June 30.He will take Yorkshire’s second overseas in the Championship, alongside skipper Shan Masood. South African Donovan Ferreira has already been confirmed as the county’s overseas for the Blast.

Both teams have seen enough of each other in recent times to treat the contest as a serious game of cricket, and not much more

Sidharth Monga08-Jun-20244:48

Rohit: Only openers’ batting position is fixed

The 2011 ODI World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan in Mohali was such a significant occasion that the then India coach Gary Kirsten and the rest of the staff left the meeting room to give the players a moment to themselves.”After the show [a presentation by the team analyst] is over, Gary says the support staff is mostly non-Indian,” R Ashwin writes in the book . “They value this team, and it’s a big game for them too, but they can’t even begin to imagine how big playing Pakistan in a World Cup is for us players. He says they’re all leaving now, so we can be alone and conduct the rest of the meeting ourselves.”That was about two hours before the match, which was to be played in the presence of the highest political leaders of both countries, many celebrities, and packed stands. Sachin Tendulkar gave a rousing speech, about how he had been thinking for the last two-three years of facing Pakistan in the semi-final or the final and winning the trophy. Everybody left the meeting with goosebumps.Related

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2011, though, was a different world. These matches used to happen rarely and organically. Now, there’s a World Cup every year and groups are planned so India and Pakistan play in the league stage. The occasion remains significant, but the edge is taken off a little.Results in ‘big matches’ have become a millstone around the current Indian team’s neck, though they don’t necessarily play poorly in such fixtures. On the eve of the match against Pakistan, Rohit Sharma was asked whether anything was different about games where expectations and stakes are higher. Small markers such as how their brains work in the lead-up, how well they sleep, how they feel during warm-ups. Not much, said Rohit.”Nothing has changed from last seven months because we played them [Pakistan] in the Asia Cup, the ODI World Cup, and now the T20 World Cup,” Rohit said. “Earlier it was a different ball game because we used to play them every maybe once in four years, or two years, now it’s a different ball game. We literally played seven months back in Asia Cup and the World Cup and here we are again now.”So, for me, I think nothing changes. I want to approach this as another international game where I get myself collected and make those decisions on the field. I am sure everyone will have their own way of dealing with games like these, but I have my process. Being a captain, I have to make decisions on the field. So, I think what’s more important for me is to just think about what I need to do right now, or this particular over – not to even think of how much do we need to get after 20 overs, or how much we need to bowl them out for. I think it’s about that one over, how we want to finish that over, staying in the present, and literally just nailing down maybe over by over, and think about what you need to do in that particular over, and that is where the skill of captain comes into play.”I’m sure other captains think differently. Everyone has their own way but this is how I like to think about that one particular over. Because this is literally a place where you can’t think too far ahead. Game changes every over here. So, you need to think about that particular over and how you can win that one over and then move on to the next over. I know there’s a lot of thinking that needs to go in this kind of thought process, but I’m okay with that.”Gary Kirsten has been on both sides of the India-Pakistan rivalry•ICC via Getty Images

Rohit was not part of the semi-final 13 years ago but he has won a World Cup final before and a few games against Pakistan too. India’s coach in 2011 is Pakistan’s coach in 2024. A bowler who took a five-for that day in Mohali is now a selector, and Wahab Riaz couldn’t keep himself from bowling in the nets on Saturday.Not only has he been India’s coach in the past, Kirsten has also worked with players such as Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill as director of cricket at Gujarat Titans in the IPL. When asked if his experience brings valuable intel, Kirsten said Pakistan’s players didn’t need it.”That’s a good question and the way I’d answer that is I think these players have seen enough of each other and how they play,” he said. “In the end we want to make sure that we get our game right. Look at the conditions and what is required on the conditions because I think that’s going to be a big day tomorrow.”Kirsten said the vibe also felt different. “I think it is a little bit different because it’s not in India or Pakistan,” Kirsten said. “I went for a ride early this morning, which I like doing most mornings, and I certainly rode around the stadium a little bit and I kind of felt that there’s going to be a good vibe there tomorrow. So that’s going to be exciting for us all to have that many people that have come out to support the two teams.”If Rohit is going to approach it as any other international match, Kirsten’s advice is to embrace the occasion. “Well, not to hide from the fact that it’s a big game, but to treat cricket like cricket should be treated,” he said. “Every game you need to play well, you need to hit the ball in the right areas, you need to score enough runs, you need to take your catches and field well. I don’t think it’s ever changed the game. It changes a little bit because of the formats, but that’s certainly what we’re going to go out and try to do tomorrow. If we play a really good game of cricket with our abilities, we have a good chance of winning the game.”

Rohit penned a heartfelt letter to the outgoing head coach days after India’s T20 World Cup win

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2024Rohit Sharma has penned an emotional letter to outgoing India head coach Rahul Dravid, expressing gratitude for his humility and ability to make players comfortable.”Dear Rahul , I have been trying to find the right words to properly express my feelings on this but I’m not sure I ever will so here’s my attempt,” Rohit wrote on Instagram.”Since my childhood days I have looked up to you just like billions of others but I was lucky enough to get to work with you this closely. You are an absolute stalwart of this game but you left all of your accolades and achievements at the door and walked in as our coach and came on a level where we all felt comfortable enough to say just about anything to you. That is your gift, your humility and your love for this game even after all this time. I have learnt so much from you and every memory will be cherished.”