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IPL 2022: Itinerant cricketers Karthik, de Kock, Miller, Saha relishing new challenges at new teams

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3 years ago

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It’s never easy for a cricketer to join a new team and start performing straightway especially in a high-pressure and competitive tournament like IPL but there are exceptional players like Dinesh Karthik, Quinton de Kock, Mitchell Marsh and others, who have adjusted to the new environment quite nicely and have become a vital cog in the success of their respective franchises.
hree big superstars of Indian cricket — Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore), MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) are players who have been synonymous with their respective IPL teams and they have also made immensense contribution in the growth and popularity of the leagues.

However, there are many players who have not been able to find permanent homes for themselves in the cash-rich league. Usually, they have moved from one team to another after a season or two due to various reasons like poor form, injury or because of not fitting in the scheme of things.

Most often, these cricketers have found it difficult to adjust to the new management, culture, environment and different playing conditions. But like every other thing, there are few exceptions here as well. In the ongoing season of IPL 2022, there are many experienced campaigners, who are representing new teams, but in a very short span of time, they have become match winners for them.

A look at the brief journey of these players at the IPL:

Dinesh Karthik

The 36-year old Karthik, is a veteran campaigner in the IPL and has been involved in all the editions of the league since the inaugural 2008 season.

The wicket-keeper batter has represented six teams over the course of his IPL career. He started off with Delhi Daredevils in 2008 before moving to Kings XI Punjab in 2011. He spent the following two seasons with Mumbai Indians before going back to Delhi in 2014. RCB bagged him in 2015 and he played for Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017 before spending four seasons with KKR.

Ahead of the 2022 edition of the league, Karthik was released by KKR and was bought by RCB for Rs 5.5 crore in the mega Auction. This will be Karthik’s second stint with RCB after the 2015 season and it seems, he was saving his best for IPL 2022. When the wicket-keeper was playing for RCB in 2015, it was a completely different set-up and Karthik too has upgraded his batting style since then.

The veteran, who has IPL career tally of 4320 runs in 225 matches, is doing a finisher’s job for the RCB and scored 274 runs in 12 matches with an superb strike-rate of 200.00, this season. Cricket fans are highly impressed by Karthik’s heroics with the bat and want him to be a part of the Indian team for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. If RCB manage to reach the playoffs and eventually want to win the title, they would certainly ‘DK’ at his best in the upcoming matches of the IPL 2022.

Quinton de Kock

De Kock, one of the most exciting wicketkeeper-batters in world cricket, started his IPL journey with Sunrisers Hyderabad and then played for Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the next few seasons. However, his best in IPL came with the Mumbai Indians, where the Proteas cricketer played quickfire knocks at the top and also did a solid job behind the wickets, helping MI win back to back titles in 2019 and 2020.

Despite his impactful contributions, five champions MI, didn’t retain de Kock and even didn’t buy him in the auction. Mumbai’s loss became Lucknow Super Giants’ gain after the new franchise bought the left-hander for Rs 6.75 crore in the IPL 2022 mega auction.

In the ongoing season, de Kock has scored 355 runs in 12 matches and given LSG solid starts along with skipper KL Rahul. His explosive hitting is making things easier for Rahul partners and putting pressure on the opposition.

David Miller

After playing for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) over a number of years, Miller was bought by Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2020. Despite playing just one game in the IPL 2020, the franchise retained him for the IPL 2021 and he had an average season with the bat.

Known for his ability to single-handedly change the course of the match by hitting huge sixes, Miller was far from his best in the last couple of IPL seasons. But, new franchise Gujarat Titans, who bought him for Rs 3 cr in the mega auction, seem to bring the best out of the Proteas batter.

Gujarat has become the first team to qualify for the playoffs and Miller certainly played a vital role in that. The left-hander has scored 332 in 12 matches and finished matches for GT at most occasions under tremendous pressure. The Hardik Pandya led side would certainly want Miller to maintain his brilliant form in the play-off matches.

Mitchell Marsh

Marsh, who is known for his hard-hitting skills and pace bowling prowess, has played for multiple franchises — Deccan Chargers, Rising Pune Supergiants, Pune Warriors (all three defunct now) and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the previous editions of IPL. However, the Australian has never played for the full season either because of his injuries or bad-form. So, in a way, Indian fans haven’t seen Marsh at his best consistently in the IPL.

The star all-rounder was bought by Delhi Capitals for 6.50 cr in the mega auction and once again he missed half of matches in the IPL 2022 for the franchise due to hip flexor injury and Covid-19. But in his limited number of outings (6 matches), Marsh has scored 188 runs with an strike rate of 134.28 and picked 4 wickets for the DC.

On Wednesday, nearly six months after that surreal innings in the 2021 T20 World Cup final in Dubai, Marsh played a match-winning knock of 89 runs for Delhi against Rajasthan Royals. The Rishab Pant led side have two more league matches to play and inform Marsh could play a pivotal role in their campaign.

Wriddhiman Saha

Athletic wicketkeeper and a more than handy contributor with the bat, Saha has displayed his skills for Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in earlier editions of IPL. His glovework is second to none and the veteran has tried to make the most of his opportunities with the bat as well while turning up for his respective franchises.

He has been used as an opener in the past by the franchises and Saha has notched up some breezy half centuries in the process, scoring 2324 runs in 140 IPL matches.

A new challenge awaited Saha in Gujarat Titans and so far he has passed the test with flying colours. In the ongoing season, Saha has scored 214 runs in 7 matches, which includes two fifties while batting at the top-order.

Aaron Finch

Kolkata Knight Riders signed Aaron Finch as a replacement for England batter Alex Hales for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. The Australian batter, who has played 92 IPL games and has 2091 runs, joined KKR at the price of Rs 1.5 crore.

When it comes to IPL, Finch is no stranger having played for eight other franchises — Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Pune Warriors India, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore — since his IPL debut in 2010. KKR is Finch’s ninth IPL franchise and despite his vast experience, the attacking batter has never been consistent with his performances and has most often disappointed the cricket fans and experts.

In the ongoing IPL 2022 as well, Finch has scored just 86 runs in five matches and was dropped for the KKR’s last game against Mumbai Indians.

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Champions Trophy: Ben Duckett’s record-breaking 165 propels England to 351/8

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10 hours ago

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February 22, 2025

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Lahore, Feb 22: Opener Ben Duckett smashed a magnificent 165 – the highest individual score in the history of Champions Trophy – as England posted a mammoth 351/8 against Australia in their Group B match of 2025 Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

Pushed into batting first, Duckett hit shots all over the park to hit a career-best 165 off 142 deliveries, and setting a new record for the best individual score previously held by former New Zealand great Nathan Astle. Duckett’s knock, laced with a whopping 17 boundaries and three maximums, is also the first instance of a batter scoring 150 in the tournament’s history.

By the time he was dismissed by Marnus Labuschagne in the 48th over, Duckett had done his job of holding England’s innings together. He got good support from Joe Root, who hit 68, and added 158 off 155 balls with Duckett for the third wicket to ensure England have a huge total on board.

For Australia, pacer Ben Dwarshuis was the standout bowler with 3-66, while Adam Zampa and Marnus Labuschagne took two wickets each and Glenn Maxwell had one scalp to his name. Left-arm pacer Dwarshuis struck twice in the first ten overs to take out Phil Salt and Jamie Smith, with Alex Carey taking two sensational grabs as a fielder.

With Duckett flaunting his ability to find the boundary, Root hit a patient 68 of 78 deliveries and was looking on course to get his first ODI hundred in almost six years till he was trapped lbw by Zampa, who would later remove Harry Brook quickly as Carey took another stunning catch.

England skipper Jos Buttler also didn’t last long as Maxwell had him holing out for 23, but Duckett continued to keep the scoreboard ticking at the other end to go past 150. Jofra Archer’s late cameo of 21 not out off 10 balls was also handy in England making their highest ever total in the Champions Trophy. Australia will now be hoping that dew comes in time to help them chase down 352 on a very placid pitch.

Brief Scores: England 351/8 in 50 overs (Ben Duckett 165, Joe Root 68; Ben Dwarshuis 3-66, Marnus Labuschagne 2-41) against Australia

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Champions Trophy: ‘…try mystery spinner Chakravarthy vs Pak’, suggests Manjrekar

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12 hours ago

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February 22, 2025

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New Delhi, Feb 21: Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed his opinion on the potential playing XI for Sunday’s blockbuster clash with Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, proposing for skipper Rohit Sharma to use Varun Chakravarthy as a mystery spinner to outsmart the arch-rivals.

India, winner of the 2013 edition of the Champions Trophy, head into Sunday’s game having comfortably defeated Bangladesh whereas it will be a must-win game for Pakistan, the defending champions having won the title in 2017 when the event was last held, who lost slumped to a 60-run defeat to New Zealand in the tournament’s opening match in Karachi.

Asked about any potential changes that India should make for the high-pressure clash with the arch-rivals, Manjrekar suggested that although India ticked many boxes in the win against Bangladesh, the only potential change would be the introduction of Varun Chakravarthy as a mystery spinner.

“I think India were pretty good, they ticked most of the boxes. I don’t see them making any changes unless the pitch is drastically different than the last one. The only change that could happen is to try Varun Chakravarthy against Pakistan as they would not have seen him after the T20 clash in Abu Dhabi,” Manjrekar told IANS during the Star Sports Press Room programme.

Chakravarthy was a part of the Indian playing XI that lost against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 group stage match but it was the only time he played against them.

However, with Kuldeep Yadav remaining absent from the squad for several months because of hernia surgery, the left-arm wrist spinner may need to be given more game time in hopes of getting ready in time for the knockout stages. Kuldeep has recently returned to the squad for the ODI series against England.

“I think Kuldeep Yadav needs a little more game time so they might continue with him. KL Rahul also got some runs so if anyone was thinking of a new wicketkeeper-batter coming in then that may also not happen,” Manjrekar added.

Chakravarthy made his debut in ODIs against England at Cuttack, where he took 1-54. But he possesses an impressive List A record, having claimed 60 wickets in 24 matches at a spectacular average of 14.8.

All of this was enough for Chakravarthy, the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy with 18 scalps, to be included in the Champions Trophy squad at the last minute at the expense of Yashasvi Jaiswal. But he was not called upon in the opening game with Yadav, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja being used ahead of him.

Yadav was not able to contribute to any of the ten Bangladesh wickets that fell in the opening game as he ended with figures of 0-43 in his ten-over quota.

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Champions Trophy: Major blunder as India’s national anthem played ahead of Aus-Eng game

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13 hours ago

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February 22, 2025

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Lahore, Feb 22: In a major blunder ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy match between Australia and England at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday, the Indian national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was played instead of ‘Advance Australia Fair’ (Australia’s national anthem).

As has been the case in ICC events, national anthems of both teams are played before the commencement of every match. After England’s national anthem, ‘God Save The King’ was played, it was supposed to be followed by ‘Advance Australia Fair’.

But to everyone’s surprise at the venue, the Indian national anthem was played for two seconds, before the mistake was rectified immediately and ‘Advance Australia Fair’ was played. It led to a huge backlash from cricket enthusiasts on social media, who couldn’t stop themselves from laughing over this big blunder.

The national anthem blunder ahead of the Australia-England game is something which the host body Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) will have to explain in due course of time, as well as the action they will take against the concerned people.

Coming to the match, Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bowl first against England in their first Group B game of the eight-team tournament. Both teams came into Saturday’s match on the back of ODI series defeats in the subcontinent. While England suffered a 3-0 loss in India, Australia lost both of its ODIs in Colombo to Sri Lanka, a side who aren’t part of the ongoing Champions Trophy.

Both England and Australia need at least two wins from their Group B matches, also featuring South Africa and Afghanistan, to progress to the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. The two sides last met in ODIs last year in England, with Australia winning the series 3-2.

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