Heena Sharma Blog

  In the finale of Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020), Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals will lock horns for the coveted trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. Orange and purple caps holder in 2020 IPL PLaying its yet another IPL final, Mumbai will be upbeat as the side has fared   better in the league stage too while pressure will be on Delhi as the side is playing its maiden IPL final. MI vs DC final playing 11 prediction and head to head Mumbai didn't face much resistance to reach the final of IPL 2020 while Delhi suffered a few setbacks but it bounced back in time to seal its berth in the final. Mumbai will have a psychological advantage as it has defeated Delhi in all the three matches in the tounament so far, with all being a one-sided affair.   Read More

  The much-awaited franchise-based cricket tournament, Indian Premier League, will begin on Saturday, almost six months after its scheduled start due to coronavirus imposed hiatus. In the IPL 2020 opener, defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabhi in an empty stadium, a sight unusual for the world’s richest cricket league. Covid-19 has introduced a new normal to the world and empty stadiums for sporting events are now the norm as part of this new normal. IPL 2020 opening ceremony and cheerleaders This year’s IPL would be all about cricket as opening ceremony will not take place due to Covid-19 pandemic. Also cheerleaders won’t be the present owing to social distancing norms which means IPL 2020 will be all about cricket with no glamour. Read More

India's swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma was on Wednesday named the ICC's ' 2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year ' for his incredible run of form through, while English all-rounder Ben Stokes walked away with the overall honours. Indian skipper Virat Kohli was named captain of both the ICC's Test and ODI teams of the year besides winning the 'Spirit of Cricket' award for his gesture of trying to stop the fans from booing Steve Smith during a World Cup match. Smith was returning to international cricket from a one-year suspension for ball-tampering at that time. England's World Cup-winning all-rounder Stokes got the biggest prize -- the 'Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy' for Player of the Year, while Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins was named the Test Player of the Year. India seamer Deepak Chahar won the T20 International Performance of the Year, Australia's Marnus Labuschagne was named as Emerging Cricketer of the Year, while Scotland...

What do you do when you have enormous shoes to fill? For one, you steer clear of blunders. Not Rishabh Pant . Widely seen as a natural successor to MS Dhoni in the India cricket team, Pant in 2019 got a great opportunity to prove his mettle and seal his place in the squad. But, given his many misses, he has yet to give the team management enough confidence. As Dhoni made himself unavailable for selection after the ICC Cricket World Cup earlier in the year, all eyes were on the Delhi southpaw who is known for his power-hitting abilities and a decent fare behind the stumps. However, as a batsman he squandered many a good start, and as a wicket-keeper he did little to stand out. Doubtless, the youngster would have been under immense pressure of expectations. There are no two thoughts about his abilities as a young player and the backing of seniors and former players. Even the recently-appointed president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly heaped p...

India's Rohit Sharma on Sunday broke Sanath Jayasuriya's 22-year-old record for most runs in a calendar year by an opener across formats while skipper Virat Kohli reaffirmed his supreme status by finishing as the leading run-getter in 2019. Kohli amassed 2455 runs across formats as his 85 helped India beat West Indies by four wickets in the series-deciding third ODI here on Sunday. His limited overs deputy Rohit shattered another record in the run chase. Coming into the third and final ODI against the West Indies here, Rohit was only nine short of eclipsing the former Sri Lankan swashbuckler, who tallied 2387 runs in 1997. When the Mumbaikar got out for a run-a-ball 63 at the Barabati Stadium, Rohit aggregated 2442 runs. The batsman scored 10 hundreds across formats and as many half centuries in the year, averaging 53.08 in 47 innings. Read More

Indian Premier League (IPL) defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have released 12 of their players from last season ahead of IPL 2020 players’ auction, to be held in Kolkata on Dec 19. They have retained 18 players. The Mumbai franchise retained their core team, including veteran Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga, despite his fitness issues. Among the 12 released players, Evin Lewis, Jason Behrendoff and Alzarri Joseph were the most prominent ones as they made some match-winning contributions last season. Lewis had given a flying start to the team during the powerplay in several matches, while Behrendoff had taken 6 wickets against Rajasthan Royals in a low-scoring game to provide his team a crucial win last season. Yuvraj Singh, who retired from all forms of cricket, including IPL, earlier this year, has also been released by MI. New Zealand pacer Trent Boult, West Indian Sherfance Rutherford and Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni were traded in by the franchise, owned by...

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has backed India's limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma to be a part of the playing XI for the opening Test against West Indies and feels that not picking the batsman will be 'wrong. Speaking on his official Youtube channel, Akhtar said that since Rohit was a part of the squad for the two-match Test series against the Windies, it was important that he should also be given a chance in the XI to go out and grab his opportunity. "I know Rohit has been given chances to play in the Test format earlier and he has not been able to grab on to the opportunity. But I believe he should be included in the team. He is a big match-winner, and not including him will be wrong. He is in good form and he should be given a chance right away," the 44-year-old expressed. "When you have selected him in the squad, leaving him out of the playing XI should not be an option. I believe he will showcase his talent in the longest format of the ga...

India's ouster from 2019 World Cup triggered many controversies and murmuring about the mistakes the team committed during the tournament and also a possible way ahead by making right decisions. And one of the many was - Is it the time for split captaincy? Well, in cricket, the characteristic of a team is, more or less, defined by its leader. Be it New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who showed calm on and off the field despite umpiring blunders, or Virat Kohli, whose 'exaggerated' emotions on the field give camerapersons and viewers a reason to smile. Williamson's measured approach always looks good but Kohli's aggression, sometimes, sends cricket fans into tizzy. However, Kohli's animated aggression, to an extent, has borne fruit for Team India in Test matches. But his defensive tactics in limited over cricket has been widely criticised. India will have to start preparing for mainly three major tournaments - T20 World Cup in Australia next year, ...

Umpire Sundaram Ravi , whose no ball howler cost Royal Challengers Bangalore heavily in an IPL match and led to an angry outburst by RCB skipper Virat Kohli, is unlikely to be sanctioned due to lack of officials with international experience on the BCCI roster. Currently there are only 11 Indian Umpires allotted for on-field and TV duty for 56 IPL games, which means Ravi might get negative marking from the match referee but BCCI can hardly take any corrective measures beyond that. "Currently we have only 17 umpires assigned on-field and for third umpires' duty. Out of them 11 are Indian and six foreigners from the Elite Panel. Apart from them, we have six more Indians as fourth umpires," a member of the now defunct Umpiring sub-committee, who is privy to allocation of assignments, told PTI on Friday. Ravi, the only Indian in the ICC's Elite Panel, failed to spot an obvious no ball from Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga as RCB lost by six runs under controv...

India batsman Rohit Sharma will miss the fourth Test against Australia in Sydney to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby girl in Mumbai on Sunday. Rohit has flown back from Melbourne and will rejoin the squad on January 8 ahead of the three-match ODI series beginning January 12 in Sydney. "India batsman Rohit Sharma left for Mumbai on the 30th of December to attend to his wife who has delivered a baby girl. The BCCI congratulates Rohit on the beginning of a new chapter in his life," the BCCI said in a statement. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), however, has not named any replacement for Rohit for the final Test beginning on January 3. India lead the four-match Test series 2-1 after winning the Melbourne Test by 137 runs. Read More Business Standard