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  By K.R. Nayar The edge-of-the-seat thrilling Rajasthan Royals Bangalore-Mumbai Indians match makes one wonder whether such thrillers can happen in T20 too as UAE presents the second Super Over finish in ten matches If the oncoming matches continue to happen as it has been in the first ten matches of this Indian Premier League (IPL) edition, it is very likely to become the best of all editions in the history of this event. Following Royals Challengers Bangalore’s nail-biting Super Over win over Mumbai Indians on Monday night at the Dubai International Stadium, this is the second match of the ten matches so far in this edition that has ended in a tie and the winner decided through the Super Over. A new record for the highest run chase has already been registered from Sunday’s match between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. In the same venue, on September 22nd, the record for the highest number of sixes in an IPL match too has been recorded. Neve...

By K.R. Nayar Kings XI Punjab did everything to win the match but Sanju Samson and a little known Rahul Tewatia turn the tables It was nothing but fireworks on Sunday night at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Boom Boom went all the sixers and transformed the contest into a six-hitters match. Kings XI Punjab did everything possible to win the game but it was Rajasthan Royals that emerged the winners.  It is unimaginable that a team that posted a 183 -runs opening wicket partnership with their opener Mayank Agarwal cracking a century could end up as losers. This is why IPL is a tournament that fans enjoy watching and is the best among the T20 tournaments in the world. Add to that, when the contest happens at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, a venue known for producing spectacular and stunning results, IPL blossomed to its full glory. What was offered to the fans on Sunday night was one of the phenomenal run chases in T20 and the highest in the IPL history.  This is a venue that had on...

 By K.R. Nayar Kolkata restricted Hyderabad to a small total through their bowlers giving their best to ensure Gill and Morgan steer them to victory. Comment in Gulf News IPL special page  Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner became the first captain in this edition of the IPL to elect to bat after winning the toss. It was a brave decision taken with the hope that his team would post a big total and put Kolkata Knight Riders under pressure. For a big score, Warner himself should have given a good start along with his opening partner Jonny Bairstow. However, both failed. After that, it looked like Hyderabad was not keen to go for a big score. Although Manish Pandey got a half -century, the Hyderabad innings needed big shots from their batsmen. In the end one wondered what was the logic behind keeping wickets intact, losing just four wickets and scoring a mere 142 runs. The Kolkata bowlers maintained an excellent line and length. Their skipper Dinesh Karthik introduced s...

By K.R. Nayar This piece is based on my personal interactions with Dean Jones, whose sudden demise has shocked me. During the cricket season in the UAE for the last few years, we used to meet almost every day either in the press box when he donned the hat of a commentator or during interviews when he had taken the role of a coach of a team in the Pakistan Super League and T10 League that were held here. During one of my chats with Dean Jones  Former Australia batsman Dean Jones, who had once predicted in an interview to Gulf News over a decade ago that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will go on to become the biggest Asian event, passed away on Thursday in Mumbai following a massive heart-attack before commentating on Thursday’s IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.  Jones, 59, who is part of the Star Sports commentary team for the IPL, has been a regular visitor to the UAE, not only as a commentator but also as head coach of the Pakistan Supe...

  By K.R. Nayar A Rajasthan team without their star players was not expected to get off to a winning start but a shower of sixes upset Chennai's plans. Read my comment in full here that appeared in Gulf News  Rajasthan Royals were hardly the favourites to emerge winners over a spirited Chennai Super Kings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the third match of the Indian Premier League. But in cricket, especially in a T20, format anyone can be a winner. To add to it, over the years, this venue, which has hosted the most number of limited over cricket matches in the world, also has a reputation for producing the most unexpected results. So Rajasthan’s stunning 16-runs victory is just an extension of history. Every time an unexpected team has won here, there has been a hero, and Tuesday’s hero was Sanju Sasmon. It was just his day. Playing his first match after Mahendra Singh Dhoni had announced his retirement from international cricket, this wicket-keeper batsman has played a ...

By K.R. Nayar Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Sunrisers Hyderabad was another well contest match. Read my c0mment in full that appeared in Gulf News Sunrisers Hyderabad’s performance resembled the South African team in their first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They choked when sailing towards victory after restricting the mighty Bangalore batting to 163 for 5, and lost by ten runs. It was nothing but hara-kiri as Hyderabad crashed from 121 for 2 to 153 runs. They did everything right after Bangalore’s 20-year-old Devdutt Padikkal surprised them with a brilliant half-century knock. This Kerala-born Karnataka Ranji Trophy cricketer made even the experienced Aaron Finch play second fiddle to him. Bangalore was riding high at 90 for no loss but it was the tight bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Thangarasu Natarajan, and Sandeep Sharma that restricted them to 169. Even the mighty Virat Kohli could muster only 14 runs. AB De Villiers, refe...

  By K.R. Nayar Chennai Super Kings win over Mumbai Indians is an example of how to win Twenty20 matches through focus as guided by Captain Cool Dhoni. Read my match analysis in full that appeared in Gulf News on match one of the IPL Dale Carnegie, author of some of the popular self-improvement books like 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' as well as 'How to Stop Worrying and Start Living' would have been delighted to watch Chennai Super Kings' victory over Mumbai Indians. It was an example of how to start off by conquering challenges and following the basic rules of this format of the game. This match is also an illustration of how Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as a captain, could inspire everyone in the team to focus on victory. Chennai Super Kings had 12 of their staff members and one player tested positive for Coronavirus soon after their arrival in UAE. They saw their star performer Suresh Raina rush back home and then their experienced bowler Harbhajan Singh ...

By K.R. Nayar Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Surinder Khanna, who is an IPL Governing Council member, was the first cricketer to bag a man of the match and man of the series award in the first international cricket match in the UAE at Sharjah in 1984. Read here the full the interview that appeared in Gulf News   A fan lifts Surinder Khanna's bat after his match-winning knock in Sharjah in 1984 Surinder Khanna, the former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman, who is a member of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council as representative of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA), has arrived in the UAE for the league. Speaking to Gulf News from the Oberoi Hotel where he is undergoing the mandatory quarantine, he said: “This is one tournament that the entire cricketing fraternity of the world, especially youngsters, hopes to play for the glamour, fame, and money. This is also a competition where cricket is the theme of a three-hour drama where there is a lot of action h...

  By K.R. Nayar Freddy Sidhwa celebrates his 78th birthday today with memories of dismissing IPL stars Brendon McCullum and Dale Steyn at the Lord's Cricket ground. Read here in full my IPL Diary that appeared in Gulf News . Freddy Sidhwa wins a caught behind decision against Brendon McCullum at Lord's UAE’s veteran cricketer celebrates his 78th birthday  (September 19) with the honour of having once bagged the of Indian Premier League’s first century-maker Brendon McCullum at the Lord’s Cricket Ground four years ago. This septuagenarian who has never stopped playing cricket had even three months ago bagged a man of the match award in a domestic tournament. He is happy that his birthday coincides with the start of the 13th edition of the IPL, and that too in the UAE. Sidhwa got McCullum, who had scored an unbeaten 158 runs for Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening match of the IPL in 2008, caught behind with his accurate left-arm spin in the annual JP Morgan tournament at t...

By K.R. Nayar Delhi Capitals and India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin celebrated his birthday on September 17 th in UAE. Ramesh Ramakrishnan, a family friend of the spinner reveals the ability in Ashwin to inspire people  through his motivational talks. Read my IPL Diary which appeared in Gulf News Ravichandran Ashwin selfie with  Ramesh Ramakrishnan Among the first people to wish Delhi Capitals’ Ravichandran Ashwin a Happy Birthday on September 17 was UAE based Ramesh Ramakrishnan, a family friend of the legendary Indian off-spinner. Ashwin has been a frequent visitor to UAE for the last few years and the reason behind it is Ramesh’s long-standing relationship with him that lead to a tie-up between Ashwin’s Gen-Next cricket academy and UAE based Leap Sports Management firm, run by Vinayy Premkumar and Anusha Ramesh, with Ramesh as a mentor.  Ramesh always makes it a point to be among the first to wish him on his special day, and hence he wished Ashwin at midnig...

By K.R. Nayar Tariq Butt, one of UAE’s most experienced umpires, hails from Pakistan but has closely interacted with the two Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in various roles. Read my IPL Diary which appeared in Gulf News  During the Sharjah Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) tournaments, he used to be in charge of the team dressing rooms. That is when he catered to Tendulkar's favourite food habits. The legendary batsman used to crave for the egg parathas that he used to get for him from a local eatery. “Years later, during the 2011 World Cup when I met Tendulkar in Mohali, he came and hugged me and invited me for breakfast the next day,” recalls Butt. Butt, who was tall and hefty, has lost weight since he got a heart attack while umpiring a match in 2015. West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd addresses him as “Big Butt”  With regards to Kohli, during the 2014 IPL in the UAE, Butt gave the Indian captain out 'caught- behind' in a warm-up match that he was of...

By K.R. Nayar   UAE opener Chirag Suri, who played in the 2017 IPL edition, recalls his experience with West Indies players who made him believe that every day is an opportunity to become a hero.  Read my IPL Diary which appeared in Gulf News.  Chirag Suri with Dwyane Bravo  ‘Play, enjoy, and forget it’. That is the West Indies' way of cricket. This was revealed to Gulf News by UAE opener Chirag Suri who was a member of the Gujarat Lions team in the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League. He carries with him great memories of being part of that team and recalls how much he enjoyed with and learned from West Indies players like Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith. “Bravo is full of energy. He is competitive but full of fun. The music he plays on the bus while travelling, the songs he sings, everything he does relaxes everyone. It was a special experience for me. I've never played in such an atmosphere.” Suri also learned a lot from Dwayne Smith. “Bravo and Smith believ...

By K.R. Nayar Sunil Gavaskar, who showed the way to shatter records, wants bowlers to get more chances and not have everything going the batsman’s way. Read my interview with Gavaskar in the Gulf News IPL supplement in which he recalls the 2014 IPL edition in the UAE when he played the role of President of the BCCI. The legendary Indian batsman and former captain Sunil Gavaskar, through a thought-provoking interview to Gulf News, has suggested a few changes in support of the bowlers to make cricket battles more exciting. Responding to a query on changes that he would like to see being introduced in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gavaskar, who bravely faced the fearsome pacers without a helmet and became the first batsman to reach the 10,000 run mark in the history of the game, said: “I want the umpires to be a little relaxed about the bouncers. Today what happens is that if the bouncer is even a couple of inches above the batsman’s helmet they call it 'wide'.  I think it ...

By K.R. Nayar Former Indian captain calls for the IPL to increase boundary distance to back spinners and believes more Indian coaches must be hired by the IPL teams. Read my interview with Dilip Vengsarkar in Gulf News IPL Supplement published on September 14.   Legendary Indian batsman and captain Dilip Vengsarkar would like the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is set to commence from September 19 in the UAE to back spinners by increasing the distance to the boundary. He also feels that it’s time Indian coaches should be coaching the IPL teams instead of foreign coaches. Speaking to Gulf News from Mumbai, Vengsarkar, said: “It is important to allow spinners to play a role in this league. So, instead of a 60-yard boundary, one should have a 70-yard boundary so that a mishit can have a batsman get caught in the deep. We've seen a top edge go for a six even in a 65-yard boundary. Spinners become useless under these circumstances and it is important to be fair for spinners to...

By K.R. Nayar Today’s blog is about being successful by overcoming odds. The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed people to tight situations, and there are many who are low in confidence these days. I hope this read motivates people to begin a new phase in life by merely telling yourself that you have it in you what it takes to be successful.  While I enjoy writing stories related to cricket, I also aim to convey an inspiring message through those stories. We are now passing through a phase that is challenging to most people, be it health or work-related, especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This pandemic has shattered the lives of many people. Many have lost jobs, some have had their business coming crashing down, and there are numerous stories of people being forced to lead a lonely life, unable to meet their dear ones. I believe the solution to most problems lies in ourselves. It is for each one of us to identify the problem and work towards finding a solution and move ...