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IPL 2025: Sai Sudharsan, Prasidh Krishna consign MI to big defeat

Published

10 months ago

2025/03/30

Priyan

Sai Sudharsan goes up, over and behind [BCCI]

On a black-soil pitch in Ahmedabad where 180 was expected to be the par score, Gujarat Titans (GT) posted 196 for 8 after being put in. It proved to be 37 too many for Mumbai Indians (MI) who, despite Hardik Pandya’s return after an over-rate ban, were found lacking in all three departments.

While it was not a perfect game for GT either, they did most things right, including selecting a slow surface for this game, as their assistant and batting coach Parthiv Patel revealed during an in-game interview. Their main concern seemed to be Sai Sudarshan, leaving the field clutching his left hamstring after a diving effort. But Shubman Gill later said that it was merely a cramp.

Before the start of the season, Gill said he wanted GT to maximise the powerplay; they were the slowest side in that phase last season with a run rate of 7.72. Both Gill and Sudharsan did their best to improve that number. Each scored 32 off 18 balls in the first six overs and took the side to 66 for no loss. It was their third-highest powerplay score in the IPL. For Gill and Sudharsan, it was their fifth 50-plus stand in five innings they have opened together in T20s.

Once the field restrictions were relaxed, MI pulled things back. They conceded only 13 in the next three overs and dismissed Gill. It was a short ball from Hardik Pandya and Gill pulled it straight to Naman Dhir at deep square leg. Hardik has now dismissed Gill four times in 18 balls in T20s while giving away just 11 runs.

Jos Buttler ended the boundary drought by hitting Mitchell Santner for a six and a four off successive balls in the tenth over. He hit a boundary in each of the next four overs as well but Mujeeb Ur Rahman ended his stay on 39.

udharsan kept GT going for a while. He brought up his second fifty in as many games, off 33 balls, and took the side to 170 for 3 after 17 overs. But GT collapsed after that. On the last ball of the 18th over, Trent Boult trapped Sudharsan lbw with a yorker, Rahul Tewatia was run out on the first of the 19th, and Sherfane Rutherford holed out to deep extra cover the following ball. Despite Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada hitting a six each, GT could manage only 26 in the last three.

Coming into this game, Mohammed Siraj had conceded 74 runs off 55 balls to Rohit Sharma in ten T20 innings without ever dismissing him. Rohit looked set to extend that record when he hit Siraj for two fours in the first three balls of the chase. But Siraj finally had his man two balls later with a scrambled-seam delivery. It cut Rohit in half and went on to hit the stumps.

Tilak Varma attacked straightaway and hit Kagiso Rabada for 4, 4, 6 off successive balls in the next over. But Ryan Rickelton was struggling at the other end. In the fifth over, he tried to smash Siraj only to get an inside edge onto his stumps. MI ended the powerplay on 48 for 2.

After that blazing start, Tilak slowed down considerably, but Suryakumar Yadav kept MI in the game. Facing just his second ball, he brought out the supla shot and hit Siraj over fine leg for a six. Not long after, he meted out the same punishment to Ishant Sharma.

R Sai Kishore was not spared either. He beat Suryakumar in the flight but the batter still hit him over extra cover for a six. Suryakumar and Tilak added 62 off 42 balls for the third wicket in which the latter’s contribution was 21 off 22.

MI needed 100 from the last nine overs with eight wickets in hand – far from an unachievable task. But the slower balls were gripping into the surface. Hardik had used this ploy in the first innings, and Prasidh Krishan did the same for GT. Introduced in the 12th over, he had Tilak caught at wide long-on with a slower short ball. When Suryakumar tried to counter that tactic with the supla shot, he gloved it onto his helmet.

Hardik was booed at this very venue last season for leaving GT for MI. Tonight, when he came out to bat, the crowd chanted his name. But it was not easy for a new batter to score freely. With Hardik struggling and the asking rate climbing, Suryakumar decided to attack Prasidh but holed out to long-off. This, too, was a slower ball. How slow? Just 97.1 kph.

When Rabada dismissed Hardik in the next over, which went for just four, MI’s hopes were buried. They needed 73 from the last three overs. While Naman Dhir and Santner hit four fours and two sixes between them, the task was virtually insurmountable.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 196 for 8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 63, Joss Buttler 39, Shubman Gill 38, Sherfaine Rutherford 18; Trent Boult 1-34, Deepak Chahar 1-39, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-28, Hardik Pandya 2-29, Satyanarayana Raju 1-40) vs Mumbai Indians 160 for 6 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 48, Tilak Varma 39, Hardik Pandya 11, Naman Dhir 18*, Mitchell Santner 18*; Prasidh Krishna 2-18, Mohammed Siraj 2-34, Kagiso Rabada 1-42, Sai Kishore 1-37) by 36 runs

[Cricinfo]

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The RAPP sheet: Steve Smith, Daryl Mitchell, Umesh Yadav among over 1300 players

Published

2 mins ago

2026/01/28

Priyan

Smith headlines a star-studded overseas list available to come in as replacements if needed [Cricbuzz]

RAPP may not exactly be a popular term in the Indian Premier League (IPL) lexicon, but it is a seminal one in the post-auction activity for the franchises. The Registered Available Player Pool or RAPP is a list from which franchises can pick replacement players.

The BCCI recently shared a long list of 1,307 players with the franchises. The list includes players who had enrolled for the auction and did not withdraw from the process – in short, this is the list of players who remained unsold at the December 16 auction in Abu Dhabi.

Steve Smith, Reece Topley, Jamie Smith and Jonny Bairstow are among the names who could be available as replacements for franchises. Even Daryl Mitchell, a perennial tormentor of the Indian team in the internationals, features on the list – No 98 on the sheet, with a base price of Rs 2 crore. He was the Player of the Series in the recent ODI series between India and New Zealand.

The capped Indians include Mayank Agarwal, KS Bharat, Deepak Hooda, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya, Sandeep Warrier and Umesh Yadav – all with a base price of Rs 75 lakh each.

As per BCCI instructions, a franchise cannot sign a player from the RAPP for less than his auction reserve price. Normally, franchises call upon players from the RAPP as net bowlers, and the BCCI has made it clear that a franchise will have no rights over a player should another franchise wish to recruit him.

ALL ABOUT THE RAPP

The RAPP list contains the names of Players who were registered for the Player Auction for the relevant Season subject to the player
(a) not having been taken in the Player Auction and
(b) not having withdrawn from the Player Auction process.

To act as a Replacement Player the player’s name must have been included on the RAPP list for the relevant Season and his League Fee for the full Season – assuming 100% availability – must not be less than the reserve price set by the Player as documented on the RAPP list.

Franchisees who separately contract with players on the RAPP list to act as net bowlers during the Season shall have no prior call on that player if another Franchisee wishes to take that player as a replacement pursuant to this paragraph 6 and must immediately release him if he agrees terms to be a Replacement Player for another Franchisee.

[Cricbuzz]

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U19 World Cup: Pakistan overcome New Zealand by 8 wickets

Published

13 mins ago

2026/01/28

Priyan

Abdul Subhan wrecked New Zealand [Cricinfo]

New Zealand continued to remain winless in the Super Six after getting swatted aside by Pakistan in Harare. In a contest that lasted less than 50 overs combined, New Zealand ended up losing by 8 wickets that kept Pakistan’s semifinal hopes alive ahead of their next clash against arch-rivals India.

New Zealand began in a poor manner losing Marco Alpe for just 2. However, the second wicket partnership carried them to 59/1 inside 8 overs to give New Zealand an excellent platform. From thereon, New Zealand lost their last 9 wickets for just 51 runs in quite an extraordinary manner. The well-set Hugo Bogue’s dismissal triggered the collapse as Abdul Subhan and Ali Raza tormented New Zealand. The duo combined to pick seven wickets as the New Zealand innings came to an end as early as in the 29th over.

Chasing just 111, Pakistan were always in command despite losing their opener Hamza Zahoor for just 8. Sameer Minhas starred once again by doing the bulk of the scoring. He hammered a couple of sixes and 10 fours in his unbeaten 76 as the Asian champions took just 17.1 overs to wipe out the target.

Brief scores:
New Zealand Under 19s 110 in 28.3 overs (Hugo Bogue 39; Abdul Subhan 4/11, Ali Raza 3/36) lost to Pakistan Under 19s 112/2 in 17.1 overs (Sameer Minhas 76*; Mason Clarke 1/34) by 8 wickets

[Cricbuzz]

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U19 World Cup: Vihaan Malhotra ton headlines India’s massive win

Published

25 mins ago

2026/01/28

Priyan

Vihaan Malhotra celebrates his hundred against Zimbabwe U19 [Cricbuzz]

A brilliant century from Vihaan Malhotra headlined India’s massive 204-run win over hosts Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in their Super Six fixture of the U19 World Cup. India’s openers, Aaron George and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, raced to 44/0 in the first four overs before the partnership was broken. But Suryavanshi continued to make merry to bring up a quickfire half-century. Zimbabwe then picked up three quick wickets, including that of Sooryavanshi, to reduce India to 130/4 but couldn’t capitalise from that point.

Malhotra joined forces with Abhigyan Kundu to resurrect India with a century stand. While Kundu hit a half-century, Malhotra batted deep into the innings alongside the lower order. Eventually, he finished unbeaten on 109 but it was Khilan Patel’s 12-ball 30 that actually helped India breach 350 to set a daunting target for the Zimbabweans.

While Zimbabwe were never really expected to mount a challenge, losing an opener off just the second ball only compounded matters. Three out of the top four failed to cross double digits as RS Ambrish and Henil Patel made early inroads. Leeroy Chiwaula stood tall with a fighting half-century but apart from him, only two more batters managed to touch double digits. Even skipper Ayush Mhatre had a great time with the ball as he picked three wickets before Udhav Mohan’s double strike put Zimbabwe out of their misery in the 38th over.

Brief scores:
India Under 19s 352/8 in 50 overs (Vihaan Malhotra 109*, Vaibhav Sooriyawanshi 52, Abhigyan Kundu 61; Panashe Mazai 2-86, Tatenda Chimugoro 3/49, Simbarashe Mudzengerere 2-51) beat Zimbabwe Under 19s 148 in 37.4 overs (Leeroy Chiwaula 62; RS Ambrish 2-19. Ayush Mhatre 3-14, Udhav Mohan 3-20) by 204 runs[Cricbuzz]