Two teams who’ve won one out of two games would be battling out with each other to get above the other on the points table!
A battle between the captain and the vice captain of the Indian team on the cards tonight!

Virat hasn’t been in the best of form with the bat which has put a higher dependence on ABD for the time being, but we all know Virat’s abilities and he could fire anytime! But he’d still have a bowler in front of him who has troubled him in every format, and as expected it’s yet another left arm seamer, that is, Trent Boult! It will be a battle between ABD and Virat against Bumrah and Boult! Finch has looked good for the Challengers and Phillippe at No.3 could be a great advantage for them. Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn have also been off colours, which surely is a cause of concern for the Challengers. Dubey has somehow been one of the stars of the team!

Coming on to the Mumbai Indians, Pollard’s bowling could’ve been an indication of an injury to Krunal who got hurt while batting. Haardik’s precaution has lead to a lesser bowler in their side and he’s currently being used as a batsman only. Suryakumar has looked in good touch and could be the game changer for the MI. T20I ranked 1&2 bowlers bowling in tandem is surely the most dangerous threat for the oppositions. Rohit played an excellent knock in the previous game and he’d target the not-so-effective Challengers’ bowling attack, hopefully this time getting a good supportive knock from his opening partner QDK.

Head to Head –

Both have played each other 27 matches, out of which 18 of them have been won by the Mumbai Indians. In 2019, both matches were won by MI and RCB would want to comeback this year, especially after the disappointing defeat against the Kings XI in their previous game. Virat and ABD have played outstandingly against this side and would want to have another great game together.

Probable XIs and why –

RCB – Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Joshua Phillippe(Wk), Virat Kohli(C), AB De Villiers, Shivam Dubey, Washington Sundar, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal

If they persist with the same XI, the best combination could be having Phillippe open the innings the way he does for the Sydney Sixers in BBL, and having Finch at 3 giving a solid middle order. Umesh Yadav’s place is still in danger after two consecutive expensive spells, but who’d replace him is still the question, with Siraj and Morris both said to be injured.

MI – Rohit Sharma(C), Quinton De Kock(Wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Haardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Keeping Ishan Kishan on the bench would be something MI would also be looking at. Though they aren’t likely to make any changes to their winning combination, the only possibility is Kishan coming in for Tiwary. Krunal’s hand injury from the previous game would also be assessed before the game, otherwise Kishan could come in his place having Pollard as their 5th bowler after his previous spell.

Pitch Report –

We’re back to Dubai where we witnessed RCB collapsing like a pack of cards, but have played both their games here. On the other hand, Mumbai would be playing their first game on this ground and that could be a blessing in disguise for the Challengers. Expect a good batting innings of a score of 160+. Taking out the initial overs with swing would be a concern for both teams as well as show the way their innings would be shaped up.

My Safe XI – QDK, Rohit, Finch, Padikkal, ABD, Surya, Pollard, Dubey, Boult, Bumrah, Chahal

Options – Virat against Boult could mean another failure for the former. But he is still one of the best batsmen in the world, so managing credits would be the biggest problem. Haardik not bowling is a huge factor as to why is he not in my safe team but he can be destructive on his day and his performances last year against RCB had also been great.

GL Picks – Players who are not being taken by many people and can be your punt picks – Phillippe, Steyn, Sundar, Krunal, Pattinson

Safe C/VC choices – ABD, Rohit, QDK

Other C/VC choices – Finch, Virat, Surya

It’s finally time for the First T20 league tournament after the lockdown, and it’s one of the most destructive and aggressive T20 League in all of world, the Caribbean Premier League 2020!

The tournament starts with Trinbago Knight Riders taking on Guyana Amazon Warriors on 18th August, at 7:30PM.

Probable XIs –

TKR – Colin Munro, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Tim Seifert (Wk), Dwayne Bravo, Fawad Ahmed, Ali Khan, Kharry Pierre, Anderson Phillip

On Bench – Tion Webster, Amir Jangoo, Akeal Hosein, Pravin Tambe, Javon Seales

GAW – Brandon King, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmeyer, Nicholas Pooran (Wk), Ross Taylor, Sherfane Rutherford, Chris Green, Keemo Paul, Imran Tahir, Romario Shephard, Ashmeade Nedd

On Bench – Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Jasdeep Singh, Naveen Ul Haq, Odean Smith, Kissoondath Magram

Analysis –

1. Pravin Tambe becomes the first Indian player to be drafted in a CPL team, but with the likes of some amazing spinners, i.e., Narine, Pierre and Fawad already there in the lineup, he might have to wait to get a chance to be in the Playing XI.

2. Kissoondath Magram replaced Qais Ahmed in the squad for this season. He is a right arm fast bowler who has just played one first class match till date in his career where he picked up 3 wickets. He won’t be in the radar for the team and might only play if any of the seamers get injured or are rested.

3. All eyes would be on Brandon King since he was the leading run scorer in the previous edition of CPL, and Sunil Narine who was the most economical bowler in the same.

4. Guyana Amazon Warriors came 2nd in the previous edition of the CPL, whereas Trinbago Knight Riders ended up 3rd. So, this contest might get really interesting to kickstart this year’s tournament!

5. There’s a rule to play 1 Emerging player in the playing XI for a side in CPL 2020. From TKR, Anderson Phillip would have a go. On the contrary, from GAW, it would be a toss up between Ashmeade Nedd and Kevin Sinclair against Ross Taylor and Naveen Ul Haq.

6. It will be a battle between Narine and Hemraj who both are opening batsmen for their respective teams as well as two off spinners who both tend to bowl economically.

7. Both teams have some like to like players in terms of their battles … Pollard vs Rutherford, Seifert vs Pooran, Fawad vs Tahir, Simmons vs Hetmeyer, Pierre vs Green, Dwayne Bravo vs Keemo Paul. It will be an equal contest between the two and it could end up in a nail biting encounter in the very first game of the tournament!

Pitch Report –

The pitch is a balanced wicket suited more towards batsmen. From the bowling perspective, Spinners are more likely to get success as compared to seamers.

Avg 1st Innings score – 170

Fantasy Picks –

As C/VC – Sunil Narine, Imran Tahir, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmeyer, Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons

Welcome to the 2020-22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League!!
The first series of this Super League is going to be held between England, who have come up with a completely different team than the one that recently won the test series against the Windies due to the covid protocols, and Ireland who are ready to go and are excited to be part of the first series under the scheduled Super League!

Both teams have played a few warm up matches before this battle and it will be interesting since both teams are geared up for this encounter, to be held tomorrow, i.e., on 30th July 2020!

Probable XIs

Eng – Jason Roy, Johnny Bairstow (Wk), James Vince, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Tom Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood/Reece Topley

On Bench – Tom Banton, Reece Topley/Saqib Mahmood, Sam Billings.

Reserves – Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingstone, Richard Gleeson

Ire – Paul Stirling, Gareth Delany, William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie (C), Lorcan Tucker (Wk), Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Andy McBrine, Boyd Rankin, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young

On Bench – Joshua Little, Curtis Campher, Harry Tector

Analysis

1. I would personally prefer Curtis Campher to play over Gareth Delany on the basis of the warm up matches they’ve played and open with Porterfield and bring Campher in the middle order. He’s a reliable bowler as well as a handy batsman, but somehow the team’s preference might be Delany.
2. Joe Denly has been specially called for this ODI series after being replaced by Joe Root in the test squad after the first game itself, so him being called out of the blue without even playing any warm-up matches might just give him that edge to be in the XI above Tom Banton.
3. It’s a toss-up betwen Craig Young and Joshua Little for the 11th spot in the team but somehow Young has been better than Little in the recently concluded warm up matches so he might be given the chance to play before the latter.
4. Reece Topley has been given a chance to play for England after 4 years of struggle and even though he should be looking forward to being in the playing XI, Saqib Mahmood might have a better chance than him to make it to the XI, unless and until both of them are played and Liam Dawson makes way.
5. England holds a convincing edge over Ireland in ODIs, with eight wins in nine completed fixtures. Their only defeat against the Irish came during the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India. Both the sides have never faced each other at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

Pitch Report

The overall pitch will be a balanced one with a slighter advantage to seamers than the spinners. So, even though both teams will go with around 2-3 spinners each in their XIs, the seamers might play a more important role on this pitch in terms of maintaining the pressure on the batsmen, but the wickets might end up with spinners.

Avg first innings score on the basis of the last 5 matches is 240, and avg score (inclusive of both innings) is 181.

Weather Report

It’s going to be a clear sky throughout with no chances of rain, and should be a great day for a game of cricket!

Prediction

England would win the match and the players to look out for would be Johnny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie

With the first match going in favour of the Windies, the second test match of this 3-match series will be underway tomorrow, i.e., 16th July, 3:30PM (IST) onwards.
While the Windies would wanna clinch the series victory by winning the next game, England on the other hand would try to keep the series alive for the last match by making it 1-1 here.

Probable XIs –

Eng – Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Dominic Bess

Bench – Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Joe Denly, Jofra Archer, James Anderson

WI – Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Raymon Reifer/Rakheem Cornwall, Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Shannon Gabriel

Bench – John Campbell, Raymon Reifer/Rakheem Cornwall, Nkrumah Bonner, Chemar Holder

Changes in lineups –

Eng –

Mark Wood wasn’t very impressive with the ball in terms of taking wickets, or with the bat to score runs, and England would like to increase their batting depth with someone like Stuart Broad or Chris Woakes in their lineup. So, a slight probability of this change happening.

Also, Joe Root has joined the squad as a backup for Joe Denly who was off colors in the first game and high chances of an experienced batsman like Root coming into the playing XI to give the newly appointed captain Stokes the confidence on ground.

James Anderson and Jofra Archer are also reported to miss out on this test match with Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson added to their squads as their replacements and both being highly likely to play in the game

WI –

As for the Windies, they’d stick with their winning combination, but John Campbell was retired hurt, tho he came out to score the finishing runs towards the end, he could be given rest for this game with one of Raymon Reifer or Rakheem Cornwall who could get a chance. A very small probability of this to happen, but one never knows.

Weather Report –

The weather prediction is that in the early stage of Day 1, it’ll be a cloudy weather, with less chances of rain, followed by a sunny and warm weather on Day 2. Repeated showers are expected on Day 3, again followed by a sunny and warm weather on Days 4 and 5.

Pitch Report –

It is traditionally renowned for being a good batting track with some extra zip off the deck to give the benefit to the pacers. In fact, it is known as one of the fastest tracks in England. I’m sure both the teams with that furious pace attack would take advantage of these conditions

Prediction –
England would give it their best in this game and hence likely to win this game.

The last International Cricket game happened between Australia and New Zealand on 13th March 2020, and after exactly 137 days, the next International match is going to happen between England and West Indies, on the 8th of July, 2020!
Due to the pandemic of Covid-19, all sporting events were on hold, and gradually resuming in the countries where the situation is normal.

We resume international cricketing action with a 3 match Test series between England and West Indies, the first of which is to be held at Southampton between the two sides, both with the most furious seam bowling attack!

Probable XIs –

Eng – Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Ollie Pope, Joe Denly, Zak Crawley, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, James Anderson

On Bench – Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes

WI – Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich, Jason Holder, Rakheem Cornwall, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph

On Bench – Raymon Reifer, Chemar Holder, John Campbell, Nkrumah Bonner

Pitch Report –

The Rose Bowl was traditionally best suited for spinners, but looking at both squads, i figure that the surface has turned out to have that extra zip in it, due to the absence of matches over the past few months, for the seamers to take advantage of.

Analysis –

1. The batting of both teams just have one experienced player each, i.e., Hope and Buttler, while the remaining are newcomers and haven’t had a lot of International experience, so it would be great watching them take on the amazing seam attack of the opponent team.
2. Both teams have some quality All Rounders in the form of Stokes and Chase who are reliable batsmen as well as wicket taking bowlers, and a battle between them would be great to watch!
3. With the experienced seam attack and a comparatively inexperienced batting lineup, this test match might turn out to be a great game for the bowlers to shine.
4. England have NEVER lost a Test Match out of the Three they’ve played at this venue, and definitely seem to be the favourites for this battle as well.

Prediction –

England would win the first test match, and the top 2 players for both teams would be Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Roston Chase and Jason Holder

A new tour gets underway tomorrow, i.e., the South Africa tour of India, 2020!

The Proteas are coming off with a whitewash victory against the mighty Aussies. On the contrary, India are coming off with a whitewash loss by the Kiwis.

Where India, on one hand is looking for a win in the ODI format, South Africa would look forward to continue their winning streak.

No.1 Ranked ODI Batsman and No.1 Ranked ODI Bowler, Kohli and Bumrah are both off colors and are still trying their best to get back to their proper match-winning forms. On the other hand, Bhuvi and Pandya are back into the ODI squad after successfully getting healed from their injuries.

South Africa has a team filled with 11 batsmen (inclusive of 3 all rounders) in their squad of 15 and lack a quality bowling attack in the absence of Steyn, Rabada, Shamsi, Pretorius and Morris.

Pitch Report

The match is happening in the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, at Dharamsala.

The pitch is best-suited for pacers and both teams would like to capitalize on their respective bowling attacks restricting their oppositions to a modest total.

According to the last 5 ODIs on this ground, the Average Total score here is 208.

The teams chasing have won 75% of the matches here.

Whichever team wins the toss would opt to bowl undoubtedly.

Probable XIs

IND – Shubham Gill, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wk), Manish Pandey, Haardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

SA – Quinton De Kock (C&Wk), Temba Bavuma, Faf Du Plessis, Jon Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaassen, David Miller, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje

It’s difficult to predict what the exact batting lineup of SA would be with Malan, Verryene and Van Der Dussen also in the lineup, and they only have one spinner in their team, i.e., Jon Jon Smuts, so he’d be a surety to play at 3/4. 5 seamers to go with and batting till 8 should be the balance they’d opt for. India is always prone to Left Arm Seam and hence SA could give Beuran a chance to play here, over Sipamla.

On the other hand, Shubhman Gill can earn his maiden ODI cap since Prithvi Shaw wasn’t a huge success in the last ODI series and we saw Rahul playing at 4/5 so that can be something which the team continues, and bring Gill in place of Shaw as the opener, alongside Shikhar. 3 seamers and 2 spinners with batting till 10 is a good balance for them to go with.

It’s the Legends battling it out this time under the Road Safety World T20 Series 2020!

5 nations take on each other before the beginning of IPL 13, i.e., India, West Indies, Australia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.

The first battle happens tonight between India and the Windies at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai!

This tournament is gonna be a treat for all the cricket fans who have missed these legends playing!

Probable XIs

India – Virendra Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar (C), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Sameer Dighe (Wk), Irfan Pathan, Sanjay Bangar, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Manpreet Gony, Munaf Patel

West Indies – Ridley Jacobs (Wk), Ricardo Powell, Brian Lara (C), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Daren Ganga, Danza Hyatt, Tino Best, Samuel Badree, Suleimann Benn, Adam Sanford

India seem to be the favorites for this battle and it will be great to watch players like Sachin and Lara leading their respective sides in this T20 match!

The match is being telecasted on Colors Cineplex from 6 PM onwards! Tune into it to watch these legends playing a T20 match after such a long time!

After a 5-0 whitewash by India in the T20I series, the Kiwis will be looking forward to turning their game around in the ODIs with quite a few players coming in to the ODI squad who weren’t a part of their T20I squad. On the contrary, India would love to continue with their winning streak against the Kiwis and be the dominant side in the ODI series as well.

Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the entire ODI series as well as the Test series with a calf injury. Mayank Agarwal has been called in as his replacement

Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the first 2 matches of the ODI series. Mark Chapman has been called in as his replacement.

Players to watch for –

Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw – A completely new opening pair for the Indian team. Both players being capped tomorrow for both of them are playing their debut game. These 2 have been great talents for India and would love to grab this opportunity to do well.

Jimmy Neesham and Kyle Jamieson – 2 players who’ve earned a place in the NZ squad after continuously performing exceptionally well in the domestic tournaments for their respective teams. Now, they would like to take their form to the international level.

Mark Chapman – Called in as a replacement for Kane Williamson for the first two ODIs. He has been a constant performer for Auckland in their domestic circuit. Although, it’s just for the first two matches, he would try to grab his opportunity as well and score well.

Pitch Report –

The 3rd T20I was played on this ground, i.e., Seddon Park, Hamilton. Both teams scored 179 each in the 20 overs. It is expected to give a total score of more than 250 but not more than 300, since it’s not considered to be a batting wicket due to the difficulty in hitting the lofted shots on this ground.

Team batting 2nd has won 5 out of the last 5 ODI games played on this ground. Hence, the team which wins the toss would mostly opt to bowl.

Probable XIs –

India – Shaw, Mayank, Kohli (C), Shreyas, Rahul (Wk), Pandey, Jadeja, Shardul, Bumrah, Shami, Chahal

New Zealand – Guptill, Nicholls, Chapman, Taylor, Latham (C&Wk), Neesham, Santner, Grandhomme, Southee, Jamieson, Sodhi

India take on Sri Lanka in Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on 5th January, 2020.

It’s the first match of the 3-match T20I series between the two teams.

Both the teams would want to kick-off this year with a win, but India, even with the absence of Rohit Sharma, Haardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, definitely look like the favorites for the battle tomorrow.

Players to watch out for –

Jasprit Bumrah is back into the squad after a long time and is surely raring to be back into action!

Shikhar Dhawan is also back from injury and now has to ensure a spot in the 15 for the T20I World Cup since Kl Rahul has made it really tough for him and has proved himself in his absence. Hence, he definitely has to give his best in this series!

Angelo Matthews is drafted into the Sri Lankan T20I squad who wasn’t a part due to injury, for the first time after August 2018. He is a 32-year old veteran and the most experienced player in the Sri Lankan side other than Lasith Malinga.

Pitch condition –

Expect a flat pitch with high scoring possibilities. Chasing team will have an advantage.

Probable XIs –

IND – Rahul, Dhawan, Kohli(C), Pant(Wk), Iyer, Dube, Sundar, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Thakur, Bumrah

SL – Avishka, K Perera(Wk), Gunathalika, Rajapaksa, Matthews, Shanaka, De Silva, Udana, Malinga(C), Kumara, Sandakan

Bench –

IND – Pandey, Saini, Samson, Chahal

SL – Oshada, K Mendis, Dickwella, Hasaranga, Rajitha

This is the 2nd match in the 4-match test series between South Africa and England.

The Proteas have taken a 1-0 lead in the series and England would surely wanna make a comeback in the match on Saturday, 3rd Jan’20.

England have a 19-player squad which makes it difficult to predict whether there would be any kinds of changes in the playing XI or whether they go with the same XI for another match knowing that it’s their best possible XI to play with.

South Africa have gone on a winning note against the team who had a dream cricket run in 2019!

Stats –

Quinton De Kock and Joe Root are the only two players from these two teams to feature in the Top 10 Batsmen of the ICC Test Rankings.

Kagiso Rabada is the No.3 All Rounder in the ICC Test Rankings.

In terms of the bowlers, Vernon Philander and Chris Woakes feature in the Top 10 of the same.

Probable XIs –

SA – Elgar, Malan, Du Plessis(C), Hamza, Dussen, De Kock(Wk), Pretorius, Philander, Maharaja, Nortje, Rabada

Eng – Burns, Pope, Denly, Root (C), Bairstow, Buttler (Wk), Stokes, Curran, Archer, Broad, Woakes

Possible Replacements –

SA – Peter Malan in place of Aiden Markram who’s injured and ruled out. They would otherwise prefer to stick with the winning combination. But, there is a possibility of Andile Phehlukwayo coming into the XI in place of Anrich Nortje.

Eng – Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes in place of Dominic Sibley and James Anderson are possible replacements even though they can stick with the same XI and try to get back on the winning momentum with the XI they played the first match with.