Rajasthan give Mumbai a Royal rollicking
Chahal gets 200 wickets, Pathirana's special CSK impact, the most efficient IPL batting lineups, & Finch looks back at his career.
Rajasthan give Mumbai a Royal rollicking
Chahal gets 200 wickets, the heartwarming sensation of watching Tamilians back a Sinhalese pacer, & should the BCCI pull Bumrah from the IPL?
The Rajasthan Royals beat the Mumbai Indians by 9 wickets. Cricket.com’s Gaurav Nandan Tripathi first wrote about the rise of RR’s Sandeep Sharma in light of his 5-18, then wrote about Yashasvi Jaiswal’s return to form with an unbeaten century.
ESPNcricinfo’s Sampath Bandarupalli has the best stats as Yuzvendra Chahal becomes the first IPL bowler to pick up 200 wickets.
ESPNcricinfo’s Deivarayan Muthu writes about Dhoni’s specified role at CSK in 2024, & Cricbuzz’s Ganesh Chandrasekaran reports that Mike Hussey is not concerned by Rachin Ravindra’s form.
ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Fidel Fernando says that watching a Tamil-majority Chennai crowd cheer on Sinhalese-origin pacer Matheesha Pathirana is a positive development considering the region’s intertwined history with the 27-year long, ethnically divided Sri Lankan civil war.
Cricket.com’s Shubh Aggarwal looks at the best death bowlers this season, while ESPNcricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi asks a few ex-cricketers if they think giving a single bowler more overs will help tip the batter-heavy scales in the IPL.
Revsportz’s Shamik Chakraborty explores the different viewpoints on whether the BCCI should pull Jasprit Bumrah from the IPL to prepare for the World Cup, and ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller suggests Jonny Bairstow be withdrawn too, as he just can’t seem to find form across any format of the game.
KKR’s Sunil Narine has ruled out a return to the West Indies team, DC’s Mitch Marsh has been ruled out from the rest of the IPL, & the KKR CEO has made it clear that he doesn’t regret buying Mitch Starc’s services for a record amount.
It’s been 35+ games in the IPL, and I was wondering which batting orders were clicking the best…
…SRH & KKR look the best, but they’re doing it in very different ways. SRH hit 14.33 6s per 120 balls, but barely clear the league average for 4s. Meanwhile, KKR score 19.02 4s per 120 balls, but barely clear the league average for 6s. Both teams preserve their wickets, but only CSK (at 4.99) lose less than 5 wickets per 120 balls faced.
Meanwhile, PBKS’ & GT’s batting orders are just a mess - the former lose wickets as frequently as they score 4s, while the latter score just 4.39 4s per 120 balls! Both are below league average when it comes to 6s scored too.
By the way, I’ve set up a Twitter and Instagram account under @BestCricStories where I post all these graphs & images, and would appreciate the support if you like them!
The pride of playing for the Railways
The rise of Tanuja Kanwar, the first ever pick-for-player BBL trade, & AUS won’t be touring Ireland anytime soon.
ESPNcricinfo’s Vishal Dikshit traces the rise of Tanuja Kanwar, from the Railways team to a INR 50 Lakh (~$60K) WPL deal. The Dhaka Premier Division Women's Cricket League is set to start on May 17 after the India-Bangladesh series.
In a Big Bash League first, the Adelaide Strikers have traded pacer Wes Agar to the Sydney Thunder in exchange for a draft pick in the BBL draft later this year. Unlike the IPL’s auction system, the BBL uses an order of selections with fixed player prices to distribute talent across the league.
Cricket Ireland have confirmed that they have indefinitely postponed their series against Australia due to financial concerns.
A net negative impact?
Finch talks the impact player rule, a County Championship roundup, & the best all-format players in the world.
Willow Talk’s Adam Peacock hosts ex-Aussie international Aaron Finch to discuss everything Australia and the IPL, from the impact player rule to Jake Fraser McGurk’s breakout year. [Apple Podcasts]
talkSPORT’s Neil Manthorp & Steve Harmison discuss Round 3 of the County Championship. [Apple Podcasts]
The Final Word’s Adam Collins & Nathan Johns talk to Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom about the ongoing financial crisis (and potential financial mismanagement) at the association. [Apple Podcasts]
Red Inker’s Jarrod Kimber, Behram Qazi & Estelle Vasudevan debate who the best all-format players in the world are. [Apple Podcasts]
Editor’s Note
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