Riyan rescues the Rajasthan Royals
RR beats Delhi, how Andre Russell got his groove back, & high schooler Kwena Maphaka’s Covid-like study schedule during the IPL.
The Rajasthan Royals beat the Delhi Capitals by 12 runs, on the back of Riyan Parag’s unbeaten 45-ball 84-run innings.
Cricket.com’s Aakash Sivasubramaniam writes that Parag has learnt not to get too high or low after four years of the IPL, and about how Rajasthan revolutionised R. Ashwin’s contributions with the bat after 15 years in the IPL.
Former KKR Team Director Joy Bhattacharjya has a fascinating tweet (which is essentially an article) on what the support staff sees during the “four to five ball battles” that make the difference in every IPL match.
ESPNcricinfo’s Hemant Brar writes about the changes KKR’s Andre Russell has made to get back into form this year, while his colleague Shashank Kishore interviewed Rajasthan’s Nandre Burger about he only got into cricket to pay his school fees!
Cricbuzz’s Telford Vice has a fantastic look at how 17-year old Kwena Maphaka is keeping up with his studies everyday as he learns to adjust to playing in the IPL.
Injury updates: KKR have brought in teenage prodigy, 16-year old Allah Ghazanfar, to replace Mujeed Ur Rahman. Rajasthan have drafted in Keshav Maharaj to replace Prasidh Krishna. It also looks like Suryakumar Yadav will be out for a few more matches.
Disney Star reported 170 million TV viewers on Day 1 of the IPL, while JioCinema has reported 113 million streaming viewers on the same day.
Exchange4Media’s Kanchan Srivastava reports that startups have returned to the IPL as the funding winter starts to recede, with the number of startup sponsors across the league jumping from 20 (2023) to 30 (2024).
I looked up the results of the closest games in the IPL the other day, so I thought I should also look up the most one-sided games…
…Gujarat, Chennai & Mumbai - the most dominant trio in recent years - are unsurprisingly at the top of the pile here. The Delhi Capitals are truly abysmal though - not only do they have the worst record for games that go down to the last ball, but they’re also on the wrong end of the most one-sided games in IPL history!
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!
Time for Hanuma to stand his ground
Andhra serves their ex-captain Vihari a show cause notice, IND women’s domestic red-ball cricket returns after 6 years, & Babar Azam might become PAK captain (again).
The Andhra Cricket Association has served former Ranji captain Hanuma Vihari a show cause notice to get into the details of his accusations around political interference in the Ranji team.
With the return of Women’s domestic red ball cricket in India for the first time in six years, ESPNcricinfo’s Srinidhi Ramanujam asks if this is enough of a step in the right direction.
ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew McGlashan & Alex Malcolm analyse the players who got the most recent central contracts by Cricket Australia.
The Pakistan Cricket Board are looking into re-hiring Babar Azam as captain, after he was unceremoniously dumped after the ODI World Cup in November.
Charlotte aims to win the Charlotte Edwards Cup (again)
Dominating a trophy named after you ft. Charlotte Edwards, how the IPL began, & the life and times of Marais Erasmus.
The Analyst Inside’s Simon Hughes & Melissa Story talk to Charlotte Edwards - the winningest female player ever - who’s getting ready to coach the Southern Vipers to a third straight Charlotte Edwards Cup! [Apple Podcasts]
Jarrod Kimber has a fascinating look back at how the IPL began for his YouTube channel.
The BBC’s Stumped podcast welcomes on recently retired umpire Marais Erasmus to talk about the future of the game, whether umpires should be mic’d up, and what it’s like to officiate some of cricket’s biggest games like the World Cup finals and the Ashes Tests.
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