Sports
Rising Pune Supergiants vs Delhi Daredevils: DD looking to book place in last four
Having been elbowed out of the top four following their overwhelming 80-run loss to Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils will be eager to regain their footing when they take on the struggling Rising Pune Supergiants in the latter’s penultimate home game, at Visakhapatnam, on Tuesday.
The Daredevils would realise the importance of a victory in the business end of the tournament which would keep them in the reckoning in the close race for the playoffs. On the other hand, the bottom-placed Supergiants, having already been knocked out of the tournament, have nothing to lose and they will be eager to have a say in how their opposition would eventually finish at the end of the group stage of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016.
On a slow track, Daredevils went in with three spinners against the defending champions on Sunday, but the move did not yield them the desired result as a Krunal Pandya special took them by surprise, powering Mumbai Indians to a 200-plus total. Daredevils’ batting too was a disappointment as most of the batsmen, barring Quinton de Kock, did not perform to potential. Having taken positive strides at the start of the season, Daredevils have suffered a few reversals in their past few matches. They will be eager to brush that aside and come back in a strong fashion when they face off against the other ‘hosts’.
For the Supergiants, it has been a season filled with injuries and poor form. Despite having MS Dhoni at the helm, the IPL debutants find themselves at the bottom of the table. With nothing left to play for, Supergiants are now keen to try out new combinations and identify a solid team for the next season. A win or two would do them a world of good and might even help them avoid the ignominious ‘wodden spoon’.
Teams:
Rising Pune Supergiants (From): Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, George Bailey, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni(w/c), Thisara Perera, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, Murugan Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Albie Morkel, Ishant Sharma, Peter Handscomb, RP Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Ankit Sharma, Scott Boland, Ishwar Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Rajat Bhatia
Delhi Daredevils (From): Quinton de Kock(w), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Jean-Paul Duminy, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Zaheer Khan(c), Imran Tahir, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sam Billings, Pawan Suyal, Jayant Yadav, Carlos Brathwaite, Akhil Herwadkar, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi, Chama Milind, Shreyas Iyer, Pratyush Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Khaleel Ahmed
Home
Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.