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Pakistan to get visas for T20 World Cup in India
Pakistani cricketers will get visas to play in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India next October.
Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Friday informed the Apex Council about the government's decision on giving visas to the Pakistan players, reports PTI.
Shah spoke to the council in a video conference meeting, where it was also decided that the mega-event – which will complete seven editions this year – will be staged across nine venues.
Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium will host the final; the other venues are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Dharamsala and Lucknow.
Also read: Former skipper Faruque's mother dies with Covid-19 symptoms
"The visa issue of the Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear," a council member told PTI.
"It will be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it would be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting."
India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket for almost a decade now due to diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Pakistan last toured India for a bilateral series in 2012.
Former skipper Faruque's mother dies with Covid-19 symptoms
Noorjahan Akhter, mother of former Bangladesh National Cricket team captain and chief selector Faruque Ahmed, passed away early Saturday at a city hospital with Covid-19 symptoms.
Noorjahan, 83, breathed her last at around 4:30am at United Hospital. But Faruque, who is in Dubai now, failed to return home due to the cancellation of flights from the UAE to Dhaka.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board expressed deep sorrow at the passing of the former top order batsman's mother and extended heartfelt condolences and sympathies to his family.
Faruque played ODIs between 1988 and 1999 and served as chief selector from 2003 to 2007 – a period when the national team made good progress.
Who will win the IPL 2021? The favorites, underdogs, and outsiders
The IPL of the 2021 season kicked off on April 9th. The final match of the IPL 2021 will be played on May 30 at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad after a month and a half of the competition. Mumbai Indians have won the last two editions of the IPL and they are again a strong contender for the title this year. However, other teams are determined to dethrone Mumbai and win the IPL but which team has more chance to win the trophy? In this article, we discussed who will win the IPL 2021? The favorites, underdogs, and outsiders.
Who are the favorites to win the IPL 2021?
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians are now the most confident team in the league after winning the previous two IPL tournaments.So they were not seen to be very active in this year’s IPL auction. Mumbai have complete trust in their IPL-winning squad in the search for a hat-trick title. There are a handful of match-winning players in the squad who can decide the outcome of a match on their own.
Top five players of Mumbai Indians:
Rohit Sharma (captain, batsman), Kieron Pollard (all-rounder), Hardik Pandya (all-rounder), Trent Bolt (pacer), Jasprit Bumrah (pacer)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders have not won an IPL tournament since 2014. So, Kolkata have put together a very strong team for the 2021 season in order to reclaim the title.After a three-year absence, Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan is back in the Kolkata squad this season. The squad also has a number of spinners. As a result, Kolkata Knight Riders are the strongest spin-reliant team in this year's IPL. Ian Morgan-led Kolkata Knight Riders have a genuine chance to win the IPL 2021 if they can stay consistent in the final part of the season.
Top five players of Kolkata Knight Riders:
Ian Morgan (captain, batsman), Andre Russell (all-rounder), Shakib Al Hasan (all-rounder), Sunil Narine (all-rounder), Pat Cummins (pacer)
Read: BAN vs SL Cricket Test series 2021: Expected personal milestones to achieve
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Every year, Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore enter the IPL as a tournament favorite. However, they are yet to win an IPL tournament. As always, Bangalore have put together a formidable squad for the 14th edition of the IPL. Australia's Glenn Maxwell has been added to their squad for the 2021 IPL campaign. In addition, the squad contains a number of star cricketers. Let's see if team Bangalore can change its IPL fortune this time!
Top five players of Royal Challengers Bangalore:
ViratKohli (captain, batsman), Glenn Maxwell (all-rounder), AB de Villiers (batsman), Kyle Jamieson (pacer), YuzvendraChahal (spinner)
Read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Analysis of Bangladesh’s Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad haven't won the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2016. Sunrisers Hyderabad have been led by Australian David Warner for the past few years and they have consistently made it to the knockout stages of the tournament. Sunrisers have some great t20 format players. As a result, they are one of the favorites of this year's tournament like every time.
Top five players of Royal Challengers Hyderabad:
David Warner (captain, batsman), Rashid Khan (spinner), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (pacer), Jonny Bairstow (wicket-keeper), Kane Williamson (batsman)
Who are the underdogs to win the IPL 2021?
Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings have always been considered a favorite, but they are labeled underdogs this season. Dhoni's team has a number of world-class cricketers, but most of them are over 30 years old. With such a team, the odds of winning the IPL are slightly lower than with other teams. So it would not be right to expect much from team Chennai this time.
Top five players of Chennai Super Kings:
MS Dhoni (captain, wicket-keeper), Faf du Plessis (batsman), Suresh Raina (batsman), Moeen Ali (all-rounder), Sam Curran (all-rounder)
Read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Five Things Bangladesh Cricket Team Must Do To win the Test Series in Sri Lanka
Delhi Capitals
Many people are betting on Delhi Capitals to win the 14th edition of the IPL since they were runner-up in the previous edition. While Delhi have some talented players, their lack of experience may lead them to fall behind other teams. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will take over as captain in place of the injured ShreyasIyer. It will be interesting to see how far Delhi will go under his leadership.
Top five players of Delhi Capitals:
Rishabh Pant (captain, wicket-keeper), ShikharDhawan (batsman), Marcus Stoinis (all-rounder), Tom Curran (all-rounder), Steve Smith (batsman)
Who are the outsiders to win the IPL 2021?
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals have a number of outstanding T20 cricketers, among them is South African all-rounder Chris Morris. He was the most expensive player in the 2021 IPL auction. Rajasthan paid $ 2.3 million for Morris at auction. Rajasthan is predicted to do well in this year's IPL under the leadership of CaptainSanju Samson. However, they are currently regarded as one of the outsiders to win the trophy.
Top five players of Rajasthan Royals:
Sanju Samson (captain, batsman), Chris Morris (all-rounder), Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Ben Stokes (all-rounder), Mustafizur Rahman (pacer)
Read: T20 World Cup 2021: Five Things the Bangladesh Team Needs To Address Before the World T20 2021
Punjab Kings
PreityZinta's team will compete in the IPL 14 under the new name Punjab Kings this year. Although the squad has some talented players, it is not particularly strong in comparison to other teams. As a result, dreaming of winning the championship right now would be wrong. Punjab will have to maintain continuity at the league level in order to secure a spot in the top four of the points table.
Top five players of Punjab Kings:
KL Rahul (captain, wicket-keeper), Riley Meredith (pacer), Jhye Richardson (all-rounder), Chris Gayle (batsman), Mohammad Shami (pacer)
Verdict
We have analyzed the strengths of the teams to identify who will win the IPL 2021? And also to find out the favorites, underdogs, and outsiders of the tournament. After assessing each team's strengths, it is apparent that the Mumbai Indians are once again the hot favorite. In addition, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Sunrisers Hyderabad all have an equal chance of winning the IPL in 2021. However, teams in good form at the end of the tournament would have a great chance of winning the trophy. Overall, we expect the tournament's best team will win the trophy.
Read: How to Become a Cricketer in Bangladesh: An Overall Guideline
Only 8 games but plenty at stake in La Liga this weekend
Eight of the games in a slightly truncated Matchday 31 of La Liga will be played on Sunday due to the final of the Copa del Rey between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao on Saturday night.
Barca will play their league game corresponding to Matchday 31 at home to Granada on April 28 while Athletic Club takes on Valladolid in a very relevant match to the visitors' struggle against relegation on the same day.
The round of matches kicks off on Sunday lunchtime with Real Sociedad at home to Sevilla in a game with a lot to say in the race for the title and the battle to qualify for Europe.
Sevilla's thrilling 4-3 win away to Celta Vigo on Monday means they are just six points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid. A run of 13 points from a possible 15 means they have to be seen as outsiders in the race for this season's La Liga title.
Real Sociedad, meanwhile, are fifth and locked in a battle with Villarreal and Betis for a place in next season's Europa League (a battle that will become harder if Athletic Club qualifies by winning the Cup on Saturday).
Atletico Madrid has been dropping points at a worrying rate and now holds just a one-point lead over Real Madrid, with Barca another point behind, but they have to favor their home game against the bottom of the table Eibar.
Eibar visits the Wanda Metropolitano bottom of the table with just 23 points and after 13 league games without a win after their home defeat to Levante last weekend. Even though Luis Suarez and Joao Felix are out for Atletico, Diego Simeone's men are still clear favorites.
Real Madrid makes the short visit to play Getafe, who are not safe from relegation yet after a home defeat to Cadiz last weekend. Madrid goes to the south of the capital after assuring their place in the Champions League's semi-finals on Wednesday. Although they will still be without Lucas Vazquez, Sergio Ramos and probably Raphael Varane, they have every reason to be confident.
The last time Getafe beat Real Madrid was in 2012, and the last time Pepe Bordalas' side scored against them was in March 2018, and it looks as if tiredness with being the main rival for Zinedine Zidane's men.
Elsewhere the battle against relegation takes center stage, with Javier Calleja making his home debut as coach at second from bottom Alaves when they face Huesca. Calleja's side held on for a 0-0 draw in Bilbao last weekend, and with Lucas Perez back after the ostracism he suffered under Abelardo Fernandez, they have more threat in attack.
Rafa Mir will be the main threat for Huesca, who have improved hugely with Pacheta in the dugout, and their 3-1 win at home to Elche last weekend saw them leapfrog Elche to escape the bottom three for the first time in 22 weeks.
That defeat ended Elche's positive trajectory under Fran Escriba. They need to recover from that defeat when they visit Osasuna, who are probably one win from assuring their survival for another year.
Elsewhere Betis takes on Valencia, looking to keep their efforts to qualify for Europe on track after a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid last week. Valencia striker Maxi Gomez is suspended after his sending off against Real Sociedad a week ago.
An always entertaining Celta Vigo will test Cadiz's solid defense. There is also an east-coast derby as Levante entertains Villarreal, three days after Villarreal qualified for the Europa League's semi-finals.
Tension growing around Haaland
The future of Dortmund's goal-machine Erling Haaland remains uncertain.
While the Black and Yellows are hoping to move up the league table and bag a Champions League spot, the Norwegian's entourage is working on a transfer this summer.
The club's aim to keep Haaland until at least 2022 seems to be on collision course with the plans of the 20-year-old and his advisors as they are increasing efforts to join a new club after Borussia's quarterfinal exit from the Champions League against Manchester City.
Reports speak of agent Mino Raiola and father Alf-Inge having lost confidence in Dortmund, saying it is no longer the right choice for the highly-valued striker.
Dortmund officials such as CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc claim to be in charge of any developments as the striker's exit clause in his contract until 2024 is only valid for 2022.
"Without our approval, nothing will change. We intend to keep him no matter whether we qualify for the Champions League or not," Zorc and Watzke commented.
Watzke and Zorc have indicated that they have delivered their message to Haaland's management.
But things don't appear to be working that smoothly.
"The team around Haaland is always looking for the best club for him in which to develop. If a Champions League place and a realistic chance of winning the league title are vital, then Dortmund isn't the best choice at present," Norwegian football legend Jan Aage Fjortoft said.
Several top European giants like as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United and City are said to be interested in signing the forward.
Due to the financial losses caused by the COVID-pandemic, a suitable transfer fee seems one of the crucial points. Reports speak of up to 150 million in summer 2021 while the 2022 exit-clause is worth 80 million.
Considering the long list of interested clubs, it seems an option to take a financial risk to outpace competitors and sign Haaland one year in advance.
Dortmund officials spoke about a financial shortage of up to 100 million due to games behind closed doors.
Next to Paris attacker Kylian Mbappe, the Norwegian has developed into football's hottest property having scored 33 goals in 34 games this season.
Recently Raiola and father Haaland went on a promotion tour in Spain, visiting Real and Barca officials for brief talks.
"We accept the club's announcement telling us they want to keep him, but that doesn't mean we have the same opinion," Raiola said.
In Dortmund, they hope their spearhead can quickly get over the Champions League's disappointment and continue to deliver goals to enable the club to qualify for Europe's top club competition. It won't be easy as they need to make up a 7-point deficit in the remaining six games of the season.
His uncertain future seems to be affecting Haaland's performance. The striker hasn't managed to score for the last 7 games, including 3 internationals for Norway.
Tensions seem to be growing as Watzke said he is annoyed by false reports and rumors.
"Last summer, everybody was speaking about Jadon Sancho leaving and joining United. He is still around. Now they speak of Haaland as a done deal. I know where he will be playing next season," the 61-year-old said.
‘The benchmark’: Tuchel’s admiration for Guardiola remains
Thomas Tuchel has long admired Pep Guardiola, from his early coaching days watching the great Barcelona team from afar to the night in 2014 when the pair — then rival Bundesliga managers — talked tactics for hours in a Munich restaurant using salt-and-pepper mills as props.
With Tuchel now a world-class manager in his own right, Guardiola might no longer be on that same pedestal.
The admiration hasn’t disappeared, though, ahead of their first meeting in English soccer. It’s a big game, too: Guardiola’s Manchester City vs. Tuchel’s Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
“The benchmark,” Tuchel said in reference to Guardiola and the City team he has rebuilt this season and that is still on course for an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies.
The two teams reached the Champions League semifinals this week — Chelsea after getting past Porto and City by outlasting Borussia Dortmund — but Tuchel said there remains a gap between them.
After all, City, the Premier League leader, is 20 points ahead of fifth-place Chelsea and Tuchel still sees his team as a work in progress after joining in January as the replacement for Frank Lampard.
That does not mean, he said, that Chelsea should have an inferiority complex going into the cup semifinal. The teams will also meet in the league before the end of the season, and maybe in the Champions League final, too.
“It’s important that we accept this without making ourselves too small,” Tuchel said. “From next year on, from day one of next season, we will hunt them, we will try to close the gap between us.
“We have to admit there is a gap but, for 90 minutes, we are very self-aware and very self-confident that we believe we can close the gap tomorrow for one game. And this is the target for tomorrow. I arrive happy to compete against the benchmark in England and Europe.”
In that well-documented meeting of minds in Munich seven years ago — when Guardiola was with Bayern Munich and Tuchel was between jobs at Mainz and Dortmund — waiters reportedly were too afraid to interrupt the two animated coaches, who were using objects from neighboring tables to demonstrate their tactical ideas.
Tuchel has established a reputation as something of a thinker, just like Guardiola, but he doesn’t see their meeting on Saturday turning into a chess match.
More a physical battle.
“We need to be on them every minute,” Tuchel said, “not allow easy chances and exploitation of spaces between our lines. We need to be very brave, play with courage, be adventurous and do what’s needed.
“It’s a big challenge and it’s the right moment for us to face a challenge like this.”
Indeed, Chelsea has lost only two of 18 games in all competitions under Tuchel, the latest — 1-0 at Porto, courtesy of a last-minute goal — not being enough to stop the London club advancing to the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2014.
Tuchel has rotated his squad heavily amid the fixture pile-up but appears to have landed on a preferred forward line in recent weeks — of Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount — that leaves high-profile and expensively purchased attackers like Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner looking on from the bench.
“We have no promises to make, no gifts to give,” Tuchel said. “Everybody has to fight hard for their place.
“Once you get any minutes, you fight hard to make the coach make a change. This is the life for a player at Chelsea. It’s big fun and you have to embrace the situation even if it’s a bit harder for some players.”
Pulisic, the U.S. international, is finally getting a run of games near the end of another injury-affected season and has three goals in his last two league matches.
“He made huge progress, he was fantastic in the last games,” Tuchel said.
“He has a huge impact physically and in terms of quality, dribbling runs, arriving in the box in crucial moments. He stepped up and this is what I know from him.”
Leicester plays Southampton in the second semifinal match on Sunday, when there will be 4,000 spectators inside Wembley, drawn from local residents as opposed to fans from each club. There will be no spectators for Chelsea-Man City.
Mehidy optimistic about good performance in Sri Lanka
Bangladesh allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz has said that they hope to deliver a good performance in the Sri Lanka series and are optimistic about a positive result this time for the Tigers.
Bangladesh national team are currently touring Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series which is part of the World Test Championship. It is the first overseas Test series for the Tigers in the pandemic.
After reaching Sri Lanka on April 12, the Bangladesh team maintained a three-day quarantine in the team hotel. They started training on Thursday.
Also read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Analysis of Bangladesh’s Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series
“Whenever we came to Sri Lanka, we played well. We narrowly failed to lift the Nidahas Trophy. We ended the ODI series 1-1, and in the Test series, we also ended up winning a match,” Mehidy told the media in a video message from Sri Lanka on Friday.
“According to our performance in Sri Lanka during the last three-four years, I think we're not behind them. If we can stay firm and fight hard, I believe we’ll be able to bring a positive result this time,” he added.
Akram hospitalised with Covid-19 symptoms
Former Bangladesh captain and current director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Akram Khan, has been admitted to a hospital in the capital with Covid-19 symptoms.
Akram remained in isolation at his home as had tested positive for Covid-19 on April 10.
On Thursday, the former captain was admitted to the hospital out of precaution, Debashis Chowdhury, the chief physician of BCB, said.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh shatters single-day fatalities record with 101 deaths
One of Akram's family members told the media that the former captain had been suffering from a cough for the last few days. After carrying out his Covid-19 tests, the doctors advised him to get admitted to a hospital.
Due to the surge of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, the National Cricket League has been postponed after the first two rounds.
Also read: South Asia fast becoming new global epicentre of Covid-19: IFRC
The country is now undergoing a week-long "strict" lockdown to curb the transmission of Covid-19. The new restrictions will continue until April 21.
Earlier, the government had imposed another week-long lockdown from April 5.
Rajasthan taste first win with much-improved bowling performance
Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman took 2/29 as his team Rajasthan Royals bounced back with a much-improved bowling performance to score their first points in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Thursday.
Chris Morris hit an 18-ball 36 with four sixes to lead the team to a three-wicket win over Delhi Capitals.
In their first outing, Mustafiz returned unflattering figures of 0/45 off 4 overs, as Rajasthan's bowlers were flayed around the park as KL Rahul's Punjab Kings piled on 221/6 off their allotted overs. Rajasthan ended up losing a high-scoring thriller by just 4 runs.
In Thursday's game, Rajasthan won the toss and opted to bowl first again.
As part of a new gameplan that clearly seemed to work better, Mustafiz didn't take the new ball, instead coming on to bowl right after the Powerplay. By then, Delhi were already rattled, having fallen to 3/36 as Jaydev Unadkat, introduced into the team today as a third left-arm seamer, ran through the Delhi top order with the new ball. He finished with immaculate figures of 3/15 off 4 overs.
Mustafiz too had an immediate impact, taking a wicket in his first over - Australian Andrew Stoinis all at sea against an old special, the off cutter, looping an easy catch to mid-off. His second scalp would come at the death, with Englishman Tom Curran playing all over another delivery that seemed to take forever to arrive, beating everything but the stumps.
Delhi were restricted to a sub-par 147/8 off their 20 overs. In a remarkable turnaround from the game against Punjab, no Rajasthan bowler conceded a single 6.
In reply however, Rajasthan lost four wickets for just 36 runs, and looked set to make a meal of the relatively small chase. Chris Woakes removed the openers – Jos Buttler and Manan Vohra – in three balls of the third over. Number five batsman David Miller smashed a 43-ball 62 with seven fours and two sixes to keep the dream alive for Rajasthan.
In the last three overs, Rajasthan needed to score 34 runs to seal the game. Tom Curran conceded only seven runs off the 18th over, and Rajasthan needed 27 off the last two overs. That was the cue for Chris Morris to now step up to the plate, which he did with aplomb, facing the next 10 balls and hitting 4 of them for 6.
Kagiso Rabada gave away 15 runs in the 19th over as Morris hit two big sixes.
In the last over, Curran failed to defend 12 runs as Morris hit two more sixes to seal the game with two balls to play.
It was a win set up by the bowlers however, and Unakat deservingly got the man of the match award.
Saif Hassan eager to prove himself
Right-handed top-order batsman Saif Hassan said he is eager to do well for the national team in Sri Lanka series if he gets the chance to play.
The Bangladesh team are now in Sri Lanka to play a two-match Test series against the hosts starting from April 21 at Kandy.
Also read:Saif Hasan steals the show as 2nd round NCL begins
Bangladesh team reached Sri Lanka on April 12 and maintained a three-day quarantine before taking the field for the first practice session on Thursday.
“We’re prepared well ahead of the West Indies series at home. We played well against the Ireland Wolves as well, and after that, we played in the first two rounds of the games in the National Cricket League. I think that preparation will help us in Sri Lanka,” Saif told the media in a video message on Thursday.
In the first round of the National Cricket League, Saif hit a ton for the Dhaka Divison. He smashed a century against Ireland Wolves as well.
“When you score runs you get more confidence to do well. I’m confident to replicate those performances for the national team. If I get selected in the playing XI, I’ll try to do well,” Saif added.
Also read:National Cricket League: Saif Hassan hits double ton, Abu ...
Ahead of the series, the Bangladesh team will play a two-day intra-squad game. The 22-year-old batsman said this match will be a good chance for the Tigers to adapt to the condition.
“The practice match is very important for us. I think it’s a good chance for us to adapt to the condition and get some ideas about the wicket,” Saif said.
After the practice match, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will announce the final squad for the Test series. It had earlier announced a 21-member preliminary squad.
This series is part of the World Test Championship. Bangladesh played five matches of this event and failed to win any of them. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played 10 matches and won only one with six defeats and three draws.
In Sri Lanka, Bangladesh played a total of 12 Tests and won one of them, which was Bangladesh’s 100th Test match. They lost 10 matches and another one ended in a draw.