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Mohit, Gill guide Gujarat to a six-wicket victory

Thursday’s victory is Gujarat’s third win of the ongoing season and takes them to third place on the points table, while Punjab were handed their second loss of the tournament….reports Asian Lite News

Opener Shubman Gill notched up his second half-century of IPL 2023 while fast bowler Mohit Sharma marked his comeback in the tournament with a stellar spell to lead the way for Gujarat Titans to beat Punjab Kings by six wickets at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium on Thursday.

Thursday’s victory is Gujarat’s third win of the ongoing season and takes them to third place on the points table, while Punjab were handed their second loss of the tournament. Mohit, a previous Purple Cap winner in the IPL, was a net bowler for Gujarat in clinching their maiden title last year.

On Thursday, he shone through with his 2-18 in four overs, bowling slower balls and maintaining tight lines. Mohit also bowled 12 dot balls, as he led a clinical bowling performance from Gujarat to restrict Punjab to 153/8.

The defending champions were on course for a comfortable chase, thanks to Gill’s serene 67 off 49 balls, laced with seven fours and a six. With seven runs needed off the final over, after Arshdeep Singh conceded only six runs in the 19th, Gill survived a run-out chance, before Sam Curran uprooted his off-stump on the very next ball, bringing sudden tension into the match.

After Curran nailed two back-to-back yorkers, David Miller completed the second run with a desperate dive. With four runs needed off the last two balls, Rahul Tewatia calmly finished off the chase by moving across and scooping a full ball from Curran over short fine leg for four to seal the deal for Gujarat with a ball to spare.

Gujarat were off to a flier as Gill eased into a cover drive off Arshdeep for four. Wriddhiman Saha launched into Arshdeep by driving, whipping, pulling and slicing with disdain to take four boundaries in the third over.

But a bouncer from Rabada in the fifth over saw Saha pulling straight to deep square leg, giving the fast bowler his 100th IPL wicket. Sai Sudharsan immediately got going with a delightful punch through point for four.

Sudharsan and Gill kept the scoreboard ticking through strike rotation, with the latter taking two boundaries off Rahul Chahar through a cut and lofting inside-out over extra cover. But Sudharsan fell in the 12th over, pulling straight to deep fine leg. Three overs later, Hardik Pandya holed out to long-on off Harpreet Brar.

Gill brought up his fifty in the 16th over with a nonchalant lofted cover drive off Chahar. He left fans astonished by playing a tennis-like forehand that flew past the non-striker off Curran for four and stood tall to pull Rabada nonchalantly over a deep square leg for six. Though he fell in the final over, Tewatia ensured Gujarat got over the line.

Earlier, at the end of the powerplay, Punjab were cruising at 52/2. But Gujarat’s bowlers, led by Mohit, gave away only 42 runs in the middle overs and picked four wickets in the last five overs to keep Punjab to a below-par total. 50% of the deliveries bowled by Gujarat’s fast bowlers were on short/back-of-length regions, thus limiting Punjab’s run flow as they played 56 dot balls in their innings.

Prabhsimran Singh fell for his second consecutive duck, flicking to mid-wicket off Mohammed Shami. Matthew Short got going by striking Shami for back-to-back fours through punch and pull shots.

Shikhar Dhawan looked majestic in slicing and driving Joshua Little through the off-side. But the left-arm pacer had the last laugh, as Dhawan danced down the pitch for a flick, but ended up skying to a backtracking mid-on.

Short looked glorious in driving Shami twice through cover, while glancing and pulling off Alzarri Joseph for four and six. He ended the power-play with a straight drive down the ground off Little. His knock came to an end when he missed a googly from Rashid Khan and saw the ball crashing into stumps.

With Gujarat tightening the run-flow through consistent hitting of length balls, Jitesh Sharma used Rashid’s pace to pull twice and paddle sweep once to get three boundaries. He welcomed Shami with a straight drive down the ground and survived an inside edge to get a brace of fours in the 12th over.

Jitesh fell in the 13th over off Mohit, missing a punch against a back of the length ball which just moved away a little. Saha, who caught the ball and was the only one appealing, managed to convince Hardik to take a review, which showed a thin outside edge.

Four overs later, Rajapaksa’s painful stay at the crease ended when he chipped a full toss from Joseph straight to deep mid-wicket. Curran went for a pull off an off-cutter from Mohit, but found deep mid-wicket.

Shahrukh Khan got some cheer from the Mohali crowd by pulling Joseph over deep midwicket for six, before lofting a low full toss from Shami over long-on for same result. He ramped a slower ball from Mohit over short third, before Harpreet’s straight six down the ground took Punjab above 150.

Brief scores:

Punjab Kings 153/8 in 20 overs (Matthew Short 36, Jitesh Sharma 25; Mohit Sharma 2-18, Rashid Khan 1-26) lost to Gujarat Titans 154/4 in 19.5 overs (Shubman Gill 67, Wriddhiman Saha 30; Harpreet Brar 1-20, Sam Curran 1-25) by six wickets

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Rinku pulls off miracle for KKR

Kolkata’s Rinku Singh smashed five successive sixes on the last five balls of Yash Dayal to complete an improbable heist in the history of IPL…reports Asian Lite News

With five balls left in the final over, Kolkata Knight Riders needed 28 runs, with a victory for Gujarat Titans looking imminent, especially after stand-in captain Rashid Khan took a hat-trick.

But Rinku Singh smashed five successive sixes on the last five balls off Yash Dayal to complete an improbable heist in the history of IPL and give Kolkata a memorable three-wicket victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Fifties from B Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar, including him smashing Lockie Ferguson and Shardul Thakur for five sixes and two fours in the 19th and 20 overs, yielding 45 runs overall, took Gujarat to 204/4 in 20 overs.

In reply, Venkatesh Iyer smashed 83 off 40 balls and shared a 100-run partnership off 55 balls with captain Nitish Rana to take Kolkata to victory. But ‘ashid’s hat-trick in the 17th overturned the game in G’jarat’s favour before Rinku brought in another twist through his unbeaten 48 in a jaw-dropping display of strokeplay to seal a Kolkata win.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell to a short ball from Mohammed Shami in the third over, with short leg holding on to the catch and avoiding a collision with substitute keeper KS Bharat. Josh Little sent back N Jagadeesan in the fourth over by having him pull straight to deep square leg.

Iyer, coming in as an impact player for Suyash Sharma, got off the mark with an upper cut over the third man for six. Every shot coming from his bat was finely middled – like the punch off Shami, executing a deft shot off Alzarri Joseph and pulling off Dayal to hit a boundary each in the last three overs of power-play.

After the field restrictions were lifted, Iyer pulled Dayal for a four and six in the seventh over. In the next over, Rana pulled and cut off Alzarri Joseph for two sixes. Rashid brought himself on in the ninth over, but Iyer slog-swept him for six, followed by Rana pulling for four more in the 11th over.

In the next over, Iyer reached his fifty in 26 balls by flicking Dayal past short fine leg for four, followed by hitting a brace of sixes over square leg and long-off. Boundaries continued to flow as Rana brought out the sweep and reverse-sweep against Rashid. But Joseph broke the century-partnership in the 16th over as Rana chipped straight to mid-off.

Iyer continued to keep Kolkata in the hunt, hitting Little for two fours in the 15th over, before ending the over with a clean swing over long-off for six. His blistering knock came to an end in the next over when he holed out to long-on off Joseph.

The crowd suddenly found its noise back and that got louder in the 17th over when Rashid had Andre Russell caught behind off an inside edge, Sunil Narine caught at deep mid-wicket and trapped Shardul Thakur lbw with a googly to complete a sensational hat-trick.

But Rinku had other ideas – hitting Little straight down the ground for six and pulling him through square leg for four in the 19th over. With 29 needed off the final over, Rinku feasted on poor balls from Dayal by smashing a hat-trick of sixes over wide long-off, backward square leg and long-off. He then hit successive sixes over long-on fence to give Kolkata an unimaginable victory.

Earlier, Sudharsan smashed his second successive half-century of the tournament through 53 off 38 balls while Shankar slammed a sensational 63 not out off just 24 balls to take Gujarat above 200.

Wriddhiman Saha fell in a bid to go big against Narine, top-edged a slog sweep, and Jagadeesan running backwards to take a brilliant over-the-shoulder catch. While Sudharsan got off the mark with a late cut against Narine for four, Shubman Gill was pristine in successive driven fours off Varun Chakaravarthy.

The duo took to attacking the spinners in their 67-run stand – Gill used his feet to loft for boundaries, while Sudharsan was superb in holding his shape and dancing down the pitch for his lofted shots.

Gill tried to loft off Narine in the 12th over but holed out to long-on. Abhinav Manohar began his promotion to number four by hitting a hat-trick of fours off Umesh, but his innings was cut short by a deceptive googly from Suyash, which spun back to beat his inside edge and crashed into the stumps.

Sudharsan pulled Thakur through mid-wicket for four, before getting his fifty in 34 balls. But in the 18th over, he holed out to long-off against Narine. With the score at 158/4 in 18 overs, Shankar provided for the finishing touch, as a top-edge on his pull went for six.

He followed it up by flaying a wide delivery over the short third man for four and ended the 25-run over of Ferguson with a clean loft over long-off for six. Shankar notched up his fifty in 21 balls with a hat-trick of sixes off Thakur through pull, loft and slog in the final over, to take Gujarat above 200, which turned out to b’ insufficient in front of Rinku’s unforgettable heist.

Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 204/4 in 20 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 53, Vijay Shankar 63 not out; Sunil Narine 3-33, Suyash Sharma 1-35) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 207/7 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 83, Rinku Singh 48 not out; Rashid Khan 3-37, Alzarri Joseph 2-27) by three wickets

ALSO READ: Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets 

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A grand homecoming for Chennai Super Kings

Nicholas Pooran threatened to drive Lucknow to a late win, but Tushar Deshpande took him out as the visitors ended up at 205/7, with Chennai pocketing vital two points in a high-scoring entertaining game…reports Asian Lite News

It was a day that fans of Chennai Super Kings eagerly awaited in IPL 2023: the grand homecoming of M.S. Dhoni & Co to Chepauk after 1427. In front of a packed home crowd wearing yellow, CSK didn’t disappoint as they emerged victorious by 12 runs in a run-fest against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday night.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway shared a blistering 110-run opening stand while Ambati Rayudu and captain M.S. Dhoni, along with Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube, propelled CSK to reach 217/7.

In reply, Kyle Mayers had threatened to steal their thunder with a 22-ball 53.

His efforts meant Lucknow reached 73/0 in five overs. But Moeen and Santner struck as LSG slipped to 82/3 in the eighth over. Moeen, who picked 4-26, and Santner, who returned with 1-21, kept things tight to bring Chennai back into the game.

Nicholas Pooran threatened to drive Lucknow to a late win, but Tushar Deshpande took him out as the visitors ended up at 205/7, with Chennai pocketing vital two points in a high-scoring entertaining game.

Both Gaikwad (57) and Conway (47) played some outstanding shots to smash 79 runs in the Power-play, which became CSK’s highest-ever score in this phase at Chepauk. Conway got off to a flier by slamming Avesh Khan for back-to-back boundaries in the second over.

Gaikwad took over with a superb square drive off Mayers, before pulling Krunal Pandya over mid-on for a brace of boundaries. He then welcomed K Gowtham with two sixes straight down the ground; followed by a beautiful lofted inside-out six over extra cover.

Conway tore into Mark Wood with an uppish drive and pull for a brace of boundaries while Gaikwad gently flicked over deep backward square leg for six to notch up his fifty in 25 balls. Conway slammed two elegant sixes over long-on off Krunal to bring up the century of the opening partnership in eight overs.

Lucknow finally had a breakthrough in the tenth over as Gaikwad went for a drive off Ravi Bishnoi, but the leading edge flew to short third man. In the next over, Conway again went for a pull off Wood but was caught by a diving deep backward square leg.

Dube then boosted Chennai’s innings with three gigantic sixes, including a 102-metres maximum, apart from one four. But when trying to get a big shot off Bishnoi, he gave a top edge to the short third man.

Moeen gave further impetus to Chennai’s innings with a hat-trick of fours through the off-side against Avesh, before being stumped off Bishnoi. Though Ben Stokes and Ravindra Jadeja fell cheaply, Ambati Rayudu applied finishing touches by dancing down the pitch to hit a brace of sixes off Wood while sweeping off Bishnoi and slicing over leaping short third man to get two boundaries.

The crowd truly went berserk in the final over when MS Dhoni slammed back-to-back sixes off Wood — a big slash over wide third man was followed by a huge hook into the upper tier at deep square leg fence. Though Dhoni sliced to the third man and depart for 12, the crowd was treated to a short yet crisp cameo from their beloved leader which was worth their money.

In reply, Mayers welcomed Stokes with successive fours through the off-side, followed by a clean 86m six over long-off. Mayers made strokeplay look ridiculously easy, punching, pulling and driving against Deepak Chahar in the next over.

Mayers then put Tushar Deshpande under the pump, lofting over mid-off and muscling over long-on for four and six respectively as Lucknow reached their fifty. Chahar was again taken to the cleaners as Mayers and Rahul took 17 runs off the fifth over, as the former reached his fifty in 21 balls for the second time in as many matches.

But Moeen provided the breakthrough as Mayers slog-swept straight to deep mid-wicket. In the next over, Deepak Hooda couldn’t time his slog-sweep and holed out to long-on. Rahul went for slog-sweep too and picked out deep mid-wicket.

Pandya and Marcus Stoinis tried to resurrect the chase, but the former miscued the slog to long-on off Moeen while the latter saw his leg-stump being rattled by the off-spinner. Pooran kept the chase alive with a six and two fours off Rajvardhan Hangargekar.

He then flat-batted a six over extra cover off Ravindra Jadeja and followed it up by reverse-sweeping over the point for another six. Pooran’s blitz came to an end when his lofted drive was caught by long-off against Deshpande. The pacer would take out Ayush Badoni in the final over though he gave away 15 runs, but by then the match was in Chennai’s favour.

Brief scores:

Chennai Super Kings 217/7 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 57, Devon Conway 47; Ravi Bishnoi 3-28, Mark Wood 3-49) beat Lucknow Super Giants 205/7 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 53, Nicholas Pooran 32; Moeen Ali 4-26, Tushar Deshpande 2-45) by 12 runs

ALSO READ: A thumping win for RR against SRH

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A thumping win for RR against SRH

Chasing a big total of 204, Sunrisers got early blows as Trent Boult dismissed opener Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi for ducks….reports Asian Lite News

Impressive half-centuries from top-order batters — Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson — followed by Yuzvendra Chahal’s superb four-fer (4/17) powered Rajasthan Royals to a thumping 72-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Sunday.

Riding on fifties from Buttler (54 off 22), Jaiswal (54 off 37) and Samson (55 off 32), RR posted a massive total of 203/5 on the board. In response, SRH suffered early batting collapse as they managed to score 131/8 in their 20 overs with Abdul Samad top scoring with unbeaten 32.

Chasing a big total of 204, Sunrisers got early blows as Trent Boult dismissed opener Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi for ducks. Abhishek was completely outplayed by Boult’s sizzling yorker as the ball flattened the off stump in the third delivery of the innings.

A dot ball later, the Kiwi pacer struck again to remove Tripathi, who got caught at the slip by Jason Holder. But Tripathi went for a review, thinking that he had not nicked it at all. However, the replay confirmed that Tripathi had nickled the ball and he had to walk back.

Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal cautiously took the innings forward with RR bowlers keeping a tight leash on SRH’s run-rate as the Bhuvneshwar-led side managed to score 30 for a loss of two wickets in the powerplay.

After the powerplay, Sunrisers kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Yuzvendra Chahal put another dent on SRH’s batting in the seventh over as he cleaned up debutant Harry Brook and the hosts went into deep trouble in the ninth over when Jason Holder removed Washington Sundar for 1.

In the next over, Ravichandran Ashwin too joined the party and sent Glenn Philips back to the hut with Sunrisers reeling 48 for 5 after 10 overs. Chahal struck again in the 11th over to dismiss Agarwal, who holed out to long-on for a six where Buttler completed the catch comfortably.

It almost became an impossible task for the Sunrisers to pull off a win with half of their side heading back to pavilion. At the end of the 14th over, SRH lost Rashid, who went down the track and missed Chahal’s slower ball by some distance and Samson did the rest behind the stumps to leave SRH seven down.

Chahal picked up his fourth in the 18th over as he cleaned up skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With some late hits, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik stitched an unbeaten 36-run partnership to take SRH to a respectable total of 131 in 20 overs.

Earlier, a minute of silence was observed to mourn the loss of the legendary all-rounder Salim Durani, who passed away at his residence in Jamnagar after a prolonged battle with cancer at the age of 88.

When the game started, the opening duo of Buttler and Yashaswi Jaiswal gave RR a strong start with 85 coming off the first six over for the loss on one wicket after they were invited to bat first.

Buttler completed his fifty off just 20 balls with two boundaries in the sixth over. But Fazalhaq Farooqi didn’t let Buttler extend his stay on the crease as he sent the attacking batter back soon after his half-century, ending the 85-run opening partnership at the end of the powerplay.

After Buttler’s dismissal, SRH run rate slowed down a bit but the skipper took over the aggressor’s role and went for two boundaries in the eight over as RR crossed the 100-run mark. SRH bowlers were seen struggling to pick up wickets while Jaiswal continued to go on his merry way, putting the loose balls away. Halfway through the innings, Royals were 122 for 1.

Jaiswal brought up his fourth IPL fifty off 34 deliveries in the 12th over. In the 13th over, Jaiswal’s inning came to an end as he fell to Farooqi while going for a big shot but did not get hold of it and the ball went to Mayank Agarwal at deep mid-wicket.

Very soon, Umran Malik picked up his first as he cleaned up Devdutt Padikkal cheaply for 2, pushing RR to 151/3 14.1 overs.

After his expensive first over, Natarajan came into attack again in the 17th over to dismiss Royan Parag just after the timeout. Then, Shimron Hetmyer came in and started off with a single. The next ball Samson completed his 28-ball fifty with a single.

Natarajan got his second in the penultimate over by dismissing Samson, who went for a maximum but Abhishek Sharma was there on the edge of the cushions to complete the brilliant catch while juggling his left-foot to not touch the skirting.

With 10 runs coming off the final over, Royals posted a total of 203 for the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 203/5 in 20 overs (Yashaswi Jaiswal 54 off 37, Jos Buttler 54 off 22 and Sanju Samson 55 off 32; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/41, T Natarajan 2/23) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 131/8 in 20 overs (Abdul Samad 32 off 32, Mayank Agarwal 27 off 23; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/17, Trent Boult 2/21) by 72 runs

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Kohli, Du Plessis steer RCB to victory against Mumbai

As RCB took the field in Chinnaswamy Stadium after 1247 days, chants of the franchise engulfed the whole arena. ..reports Asian Lite News

Scintillating half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2023 match, marking a happy homecoming at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Sunday.

As RCB took the field in Chinnaswamy Stadium after 1247 days, chants of the franchise engulfed the whole arena. To their credit, RCB didn’t disappoint at all, as bowlers got wickets in power-play and middle overs to keep Mumbai to 171/7, though young Tilak Varma shined with an outstanding 84 not out off just 46 balls.

In reply, du Plessis and Kohli put out an exhibition of majestic strokeplay and rattled Mumbai’s bowling attack to enthrall home fans. While du Plessis made 73 off 43 balls, including five fours and six sixes, Kohli was in sublime touch to be 82 not out off 49 balls, laced with six fours and five sixes to chase 172 in 16.2 overs to get their IPL 2023 campaign off to a winning start.

In defence of 171, Mumbai brought in Jason Behrendorff as an impact player in place of Suryakumar Yadav to share the new-ball with Arshad Khan. After making a watchful start, du Plessis cut down on the swing by dancing down the pitch to hit a four and two sixes on both sides of the wicket off Behrendorff.

Jofra Archer put down Kohli on his first ball of the match. Kohli then followed it up by placing a steer between backward point and short third man for four, and smacked a six over long-off. Kohli and du Plessis took a boundary each off Piyush Chawla and Archer to bring the fifty of their opening partnership in the power-play.

Du Plessis continued to be unstoppable — timing his drives through the off-side against Cameron Green twice and ended the over with a scooped six to take 17 runs off the eighth over. He welcomed off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen with consecutive sixes over mid-wicket and long-on, first of which took him to his fifty in 29 balls.

Kohli then danced down the pitch to whack Chawla over long-on for six, and bring up the century of the opening partnership in the 11th over, before reaching his fifty in 38 balls. He then welcomed Behrendorff with a pull through cow corner for four, before du Plessis pulled and flicked for four and six respectively.

Kohli hammered sixes off Archer and Arshad through the leg-side to keep Mumbai under the pump. They had a breakthrough when du Plessis holed out to long-on, breaking the 148-run opening partnership. After Dinesh Karthik fell for a three-ball duck, Glenn Maxwell slapped sixes over extra cover and fine leg, with Kohli whipping and lofting for four and six respectively to complete Bangalore’s chase with 22 balls remaining.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 171/7 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 84 not out; Karn Sharma 2/32) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 172/2 in 16.2 overs (Virat Kohli 82 not out, Faf du Plessis 73; Arshad Khan 1/28, Cameron Green 1/30) by eight wickets.

ALSO READ: Punjab Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 runs

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‘No one can fill Pant’s shoes in team’

Axar will play the role of vice-captain of DC while David Warner was named as captain in absence of Pant this season….reports Asian Lite News

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Delhi Capitals vice-captain Axar Patel has a special message for wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who is currently recovering from injuries sustained in a horrific car accident last year and will miss the upcoming tournament.

Delhi Capitals will kickstart their IPL campaign against Lucknow Super Giants from April 1 onwards.

Delhi Capitals on Wednesday posted a video in which Axar Patel said, “I am continuously in touch with him. I told him, ‘Bhai dekh, apna toh dil se rishta hai (We have a deep bond). Whether I come to see you or not, I’m there for you.”

Axar will play the role of vice-captain of DC while David Warner was named as captain in absence of Pant this season.

“Our main leader is injured. We will miss you a lot bhai. Recover quickly, we’ll take care of the upcoming season but we’ll always need you. No one can take your place. The entire Delhi team and support staff is praying for his quick recovery and that he returns to cricket soon,” Patel further added.

Axar has been in good form in 2023 with both bat and ball. He has slammed 444 runs across 13 innings in all formats for India this year so far.

“I was feeling very good when I joined, met Ricky (Ponting) and everyone else. I’ve been with the franchise for 3-4 years now. It’s a new role for me. In my view, if you get this role it means you’re growing as a senior player. It matters for all you’ve done for the team. You’re getting rewarded for your performance. I’m excited about it and we know that our team is mostly the same as it has been for the last 3-4 years. With Davi(d Warner), my responsibility will be to get the best out of players,” Axar said on being appointed as the vice-captain.

Delhi squad for IPL 2023: Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Axar Patel, Rovamn Powell, Ripal Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Lungi Ngidi, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey and Vicky Ostwal. (ANI)

ALSO READ: ‘Dhoni still has a few seasons left in him’

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‘Dhoni still has a few seasons left in him’

Dhoni is still considered as one of the fittest players among all the Indian cricketers….reports Asian Lite News

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma believes that former Indian captain MS Dhoni still has a few seasons left in him.

Rohit Sharma and Mark Boucher addressed the media in a press conference on Wednesday. During this press conference, Rohit was asked about how long will the Chennai Super Kings skipper continue to play in the IPL.

With a smile on his face Rohit said, “I don’t know if this is his last season, I have been hearing this for the last 2-3 years and I think he is fit still playing, I think he will consider to play,” Rohit Sharma said at Mumbai Indians press conference.

Dhoni is still considered as one of the fittest players among all the Indian cricketers. While there have been speculations about his retirement. He still goes on to defy the odds and grace the field of cricket with his presence.

Former Australian cricketer and CSK player Shane Watson also expressed his views on Dhoni’s upcoming IPL plans.

“I heard that this is the last IPL of MS Dhoni but I don’t think. MS Dhoni can continue to play for the next three to four years. He is still very fit and batting and wicket-keeping really well. His leadership is something that is as good as his game. His fitness and mind-reading of the game make him a good leader. His skills on the ground are awesome. He is one of the main reasons that CSK is successful,” Watson said to ANI.

Dhoni is regarded as a cricketing legend. Dhoni retired as one of India’s most successful captains, having captained the team for decades and winning three ICC titles. The Ranchi-born cricketer is still active in the Indian Premier League (IPL), captaining the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Dhoni, also known as ‘Captain Cool,’ has been a member of the CSK team since the first IPL season in 2008 and has led the franchise to four titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021. Dhoni has also played for the Rising Pune Supergiant from 2016-17.

MSD will lead CSK in their campaign opener against Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. (ANI)

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