Being a neutral IPL Fan

 

Yes, I am a neutral IPL fan.

It simply means that I don't root for any club. I don't swear allegiance to any IPL franchise. I used to tell myself that I like Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), because I am from Delhi. But, over time I realized that I didn't really root for them.

Cricket has traditionally been a inter-country sport. It has been very different from football, where fans have die hard allegiance to clubs and players' identities are primarily linked to their clubs. The idea of loyalty to clubs or franchise, is relatively new to cricket. How did people, then, become die hard fans of CSK, or Brisbane Heats? Well, as far as my understanding of cricket goes, its for two reasons : Either they are from the geography of the club or that their favourite cricketer plays from that club. Most MS Dhoni fans over the country would testify to that.

That's exactly the reason why I don't find myself rooting for a club. I am amazed by a lot of players. Now picture this - I am a fan of Virat Kohli's consistency and aggression, and I am fan of Rohit Sharma's elegance. In a game between RCB and MI, how can I root for one of them? It's not that simple also. I love Shubman Gill's promise, Warner's bludgeoning shots, Iyer's controlled madness, Bumrah's deadly yorkers, Buttler's innovative cameos, ABD's 360 degree fireworks, Dhoni's lightening stumpings, and KL Rahul's poise.

Doesn't that spread my loyalty all over the entire IPL- like butter over bread. How difficult does it become to chose one! Welcome to neutral fan club.

Well, there's another reason why a neutral IPL fan stands to enjoy the game. How often do you find yourself wanting to get a player out when he is playing an innings of his lifetime, but against your favourite team. What you are wishing for - is basically to end a magic just because it's not helping your team. Well it turns out, a neutral fan can enjoy 40 overs of batting, and 40 overs of bowling in a T20 game. Exactly double of a loyal cricket fan who can only love 20 overs of batting and 20 overs of bowling. Even a marketing campaign analyst would tell you its a better return on investment!

The best way to know if you indeed are a neutral cricket fan is to watch a nail biting thriller and check if you find yourself favouring one side! Well, that's one way. The other is to not feel something amiss if one team wins the game. Easier said than done, right? I know. But in case your favourite cricketers are straddling across all IPL franchises, you won't find it that difficult.

Go Delhi Capitals! Err, I mean go IPL!

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IPL 2020 - Withdrawn players and replacements

This space will keep all the replacements logged for Dream 11 IPL 2020. 

12-Sep-20

Kolkata Knight Riders: Harry Gurney( Eng) ruled out from IPL on 27-Aug-20 due to shoulder injury.Ali Khan(USA) named replacement on 12-Sep-20

4-Sep-20

Chennai Super Kings: Harbhajan Singh (Ind) pulled out from IPL on 4-Sep-20 due to personal reasons. Replacement yet to be named.

2-Sep-20

Mumbai Indians: Lasith Malinga ( SL) pulled out from IPL on 2-Sep-20 due to personal reasons. James Pattinson( Aus) named replacement on 2-Sep-20

31-Aug-20

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Kane Richardson Aus) pulled out from IPL on 31-Aug-20as Kane and his wife are expecting the birth of their child. Adam Zampa( Aus) named replacement on 31-Aug-20.

29-Aug-20

Chennai Super Kings: Suresh Raina( Ind) pulled out from IPL on 29-Aug-20 due to personal reasons. Replacement yet to be named.

27-Aug-20

Delhi Capitals: Jason Roy( Eng) pulled out from IPL on 27-Aug-20 due to personal reasons. Daniel Sams ( Aus) named replacement on 27-Aug-20

18-Aug-20

Delhi Capitals: Chris Woakes( Eng) pulled out from IPL on 6-Mar-20 to focus on international matches. Anrich Nortje( SA) named replacement on 18-Aug-20

27-Feb-20

Kolkata Knight Riders: 48-year old Pravin Tambe( Ind) disqualified from IPL on 27-Feb-20 as he had featured in the T10 league in Sharjah in 2018. Replacement yet to be named. 

Dream 11 IPL 2020: Dream 11 wins IPL 2020 Title Sponsor Rights

Fanatsy gaming platform Dream 11, had the winning bid of INR 250 crores that landed it the IPP Title Sponsor for 2020.

BCCI had earlier invited for EOIs ( Expression of Interests) in which Unacademy, Byjus, Tata, Dream 11 and Patanjali were reportedly interested. Tata was the front runners as per all the reports but Dream 11 sprung a surprise.

The next highest bid was from Edtech company Unacademy for 210 crore, and Tata for 180 crore iNR. Byju's bid was at INR 125 crores.

Due to border tensions between India and China, Vivo had pulled out of the title sponsor this year and apparently it's a mutual pause and will be re looked next year. Vivo was paying BCCI INR 440 crores and the current bid is almost the half of it( by Dream 11)

Dream 11 IPL 2020: Full Squads List of All Teams, Schedule, Dates, Stadiums

Dream 11 IPL 2020 - the 13th edition of Indian Premier League has finally been scheduled despite the challenges the world has faced because of COVID-19 Pandemic. But although at a delayed date, IPL 2020 will take place in UAE from 19th September 2020 to 10th November 2020.

Schedule

19th September 2020 to 10th November 2020.

Venues

Dubai

Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Sharjah

Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Abu Dhabhi

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium

Chennai Super Kings IPL 2020 Squad (CSK)

PC: The Economic Times

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Coach Stephen Fleming

Home Ground M. A. Chidambaram Stadium

IPL Wins : 3 

MS Dhoni (Captain)

Suresh Raina

Ravindra Jadeja

Kedar Jadhav

Harbhajan Singh

Murali Vijay

Faf Du Plessis

Imran Tahir

Piyush Chawla

Ambati Rayudu

Deepak Chahar

Lungi Ngidi

Dwayne Bravo

Karn Sharma

Shane Watson

Shardul Thakur

Mitchell Santner

KM Asif

Narayan Jagadeesan

Monu Kumar

RutuRaj Gaikwad

R. Sai Kishore

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2020 Squad (RR)

Captain Steve Smith

Coach Andrew McDonald

Home Ground Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

IPL Wins : 1

Steve Smith (captain)

Jofra Archer

Jos Buttler 

T.Curran

Ben Stokes

A.Tye 

Samson

Ankit Rajpoot

Rahul Tewatia

Robin Uthappa

Jaydev Unadkat

Varun Aaron

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Mayank Markande

Kartik Tyagi

Anuj Rawat

David Miller

Oshane Thomas

Shashank Singh

Mahipal Lomror

Manan Vohra

Riyan Parag

Shreyas Gopal

Aniruddha Joshi

Akash Singh

Kings XI Punjab IPL 2020 Squad(KXIP)

Captain KL Rahul

Coach Anil Kumble

Home Ground PCA Stadium, Mohali

IPL Wins :0

KL Rahul(captain)

Sheldon Cottrell

Chris Jordan

Glenn Maxwell  

Krishnappa Gowtham

Karun Nair

Mohammed Shami

Nicholas Pooran

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Chris Gayle

Ravi Bishnoi

Mandeep Singh

Mayank Agarwal

Hardus Viljoen

Prabhsimran Singh

Deepak Hooda

Jimmy Neesham

Darshan Nalkande

Sarfaraz Khan

Arshdeep Singh

Harpreet Brar

Jagadeesha Suchith

Murugan Ashwin

Tajinder Singh

Ishan Porel

Delhi Capitals IPL 2020 Squad(DC)

Captain Shreyas Iyer

Coach Ricky Ponting

Home Ground Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

IPL Wins :0

Shreyas Iyer (captain)

Alex Carey

Jason Roy

Marcus Stoinis,

Rishabh Pant

Shimron Hetmyer

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ajinkya Rahane

Shikhar Dhawan

Axar Patel

Kagiso Rabada

Amit Mishra

Chris Woakes

Prithvi Shaw

Ishant Sharma

Avesh khan

Keemo Paul

Mohit Sharma

Harshal Patel

Sandeep Lamichhane

Tushar Deshpande

Lalit Yadav

Mumbai Indians IPL 2020 Squad(MI)

Captain Rohit Sharma

Coach Mahela Jayawardene

Home Ground Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

IPL Wins :4

Rohit Sharma(captain)

Coulter -Nile

Chris Lynn

Aditya Tare

Anmolpreet Singh

Anukul Roy

Dhawal Kulkarni

Hardik Pandya

Ishan Kishan,

Jasprit Bumrah

Jayant Yadav

Kieron Pollard

Krunal Pandya

Lasith Malinga

MItchell McClenaghan

Quinton de Kock

Rahul Chahar

Sherfane Rutherford

SuryaKumar Yadav

Trent Boult

Saurabh Tiwary

Digvijay Deshmukh

Prince Balwant Rai Singh

Mohsin Khan

Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2020 Squad(KKR) 

Captain Dinesh Karthik

Coach Brendon McCullum

Home Ground Eden Gardens Stadium

IPL Wins :2

Dinesh Karthik(captain)

Pat Cummins

Chris Green

Harry Gurney

Eoin Morgan

Tom Banton  

Andre Russell

Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Kuldeep Yadav

Lockie Ferguson

Nitish Rana

Prasidh Krishna

Rinku Singh

Sandeep Warrier

Shivam Mavi

Shubman Gill

Siddhesh Lad

Sunil Narine

Varun Chakravarti

Rahul Tripathi

Nikhil Naik

Pravin Tambe

M Siddharth

Royal Challengers Banglore IPL Squad (RCB)

Captain Virat Kohli

Coach Simon Katich

Home Ground M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

IPL Wins :0

Virat Kohli(captain)

AB de Villiers

Chris Morris

Yuzvendra Chahal

Shivam Dubey

Aaron Finch

Umesh Yadav

Kane Richardson

Washington Sundar

Navdeep Saini

Mohammed Siraj

Dale Steyn

Moeen Ali

Parthiv Patel

Pawan Negi

Gurkeerat Mann Singh

Isuru Udana

Devdutt Padikkal

Shahbaz Ahamad

Joshua Philippe

Pavan Deshpande

Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL Squad(SRH)

Captain David Warner

Coach Trevor Bayliss

Home Ground  Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

IPL Wins :1

David Warner(captain)

Kane Williamson

Manish Pandey

Rashid Khan

Bhuvneshwar kumar

Siddarth Kaul

Shahbaz Nadeem

Vijay Shankar

Sandeep Sharma

Khaleel Ahmed

Jonny Bairstow

Mitchell Marsh

Priyam Garg

Virat Singh

Wriddhiman Saha

Mohammad Nabi

Shreevats Goswami

Basil Thampi

Abhishek Sharma

Billy Stanlake

Fabian Allen

T Natarajan

Sandeep Bavanaka

Sanjay Yadav

Abdul Samad

Updates on BCCI's hunt for the title sponsor for IPL 

After Vivo pulled out for the 2020 rights, BCCI invited expression of interest for this year's IPL title rights. As of 16th August, several companies have expressed their interest including Tata Sons, Patanjali, Byju's, Jio, Unacademy and Dream 11. The bidding amount is expected to less than Vivo's INR 440 crore. The speculations are 150-200 crore of winning bid on the 18th of August. Vivo exit happened in the wake of anti Chinese sentiments coming out of border tensions. EOIs don't mention bidding amount, so the final deal would be revealed by 18th. 

Update- On 18th August, Dream 11 has been awarded the IPL title sponsorship for 2020 at a bid of nearly INR 250 crore. Dream 11 is a fantasy sports platform and they would looking to promote their fantasy sports platform during this mega event of cricket. So here is the name for this year

Dream 11 IPL 2020

Cricket Daily : MS Dhoni and Raina retire

In a instagram post, MS Dhoni shared a video with montage of pictures of his playing career. It brings down curtains to an illustrious career with many jewels in his crown. He leaves behind a legacy as a World Cup winning captain, a successful IPL captain, a unconventional yet effective batsman, and a tactician. 

Although his legacy was bigger than numbers, but the numbers signified the magnitude of contribution to Indian cricket over the years. Here is a snapshot of his statistics

Few minutes later, Suresh Raina joined Dhoni and announced his retirement. He posted on Instagram "It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781 . With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey."

More to follow...

Cricket Daily : 12 Aussies to miss IPL First week, Tata Sons submit EOA, Rizwan fights for Pakistan

Here is our new addition to the cricket content. Had a busy day? Or missed your cricket updates of the day? Look no far. At On a Good Length, we'll cover daily updates for you. 

England vs Pakistan

Southampton Test, Aug 13-17 2020

At Ageas Bowl on Day-2, Pakistan's Md Rizwan made a valiant half century to take his team to a respectable score of 223/9 at the end of a rain affected 2nd Day. Along with the last batsman Naseem Shah at the crease, Rizwan was undismissed at 60*. English bowlers had earlier reduced Pakistan to 155/5. Broad and Anderson led the wickets' tally with 3 wickets a piece.

Image courtesy: ESPNcricinfo

12 Australian players set to miss the first week of IPL 2020 in UAE

Following players named in the Australia's squad for a limited over series against England might miss the first week of IPL 2020 in UAE.

Aaron Finch (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Pat Cummins (Kolkata Knight Riders),  David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Steven Smith (Rajasthan Royals), Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab), Mitchell Marsh (Sunrisers), Josh Phillipe and Kane Richardson (Royal Challengers), Alex Carey and Marcus Stoinis (both Delhi Capitals), Josh Hazlewood (Chennai Super Kings) and Andrew Tye (Rajasthan Royals).

IPL starts Saturday, 19th September.

Tata Sons enters the IPL Title Sponsor Bid after Vivo exits

Friday 14th August had been announced as the last day to submit expression of interest for IPL title sponsor rights, by BCCI. Surprisingly, Tata Sons joined Unacademy, Byju's, Patanjali and Dream 11. BCCI might announce the title sponsor by 18th August. This void was created when Vivo pulled out for this year's IPL in the wake of India China border tensions.

OAGL Exclusive Interview - Ankit Bawne

It is rare to have achieved so much and yet be hungry for so much more. Those who follow Indian Cricket closely, know what a performer Ankit Bawne has been for Maharashtra across the years. It is only a matter of time that gets the big call and we all hope that day isn't far.

On A Good Length got the honour of interviewing Ankit, and he was humble enough to accept the request.

Before we share his responses, here is a reflection of how much he has already achieved so far, and don't miss that average! ( Image from Cricinfo)

PC: Cricinfo

OAGL: How have you kept your batting practice going during the lockdown? Also, how are you spending your lockdown besides cricket? 
Ankit : Honestly I have not been batting in the nets because of the lockdown, all I am doing is fitness and strength training. I stay in Pune, and situation here is not getting better and it would be foolish to step out side of the house for batting practice so I am doing shadows and hanging ball practice at home. Also, I am watching my previous batting videos and going through some of my best knocks during the career and understanding my process and my game plan during those knocks( great learning experience) .So in the lockdown, I am trying to get into a great routine life, where I am waking up early, doing yoga and breathing exercises, short and intense workout session 6 days a week ,then following a good and healthy nutrition throughout the day, reading books, playing games on PS, watching movies and discovery documentaries

PC: Cricket Country

 OAGL: At 27, you have established yourself as a linchpin of Maharashtra batting order with your consistent performances in multiple editions of Ranji Trophy now, which reflects in your first class average of over 51.  Do you feel stronger than ever that a chance to wear Indian jersey is in sight now? 

Ankit :Absolutely. I feel great to see my first class numbers but  I am not satisfied, I know I can achieve more and there is no limit to improve yourself in the game, I got a chance to play for Ranji team at the age of 15 and very thankful to Maharashtra Cricket association for giving me that opportunity, so every time i play for Maharashtra i make sure I am giving my 100 percent and helping my team mates at the same time, as far as India call i know I am somewhere close, all I need is one brilliant season and then my previous performances can back up, as a Cricketer you cant keep thinking about India call, staying in the present and enjoying every game is very important

"As a Cricketer you cant keep thinking about India call, staying in the present and enjoying every game is very important"

OAGL. In 2016, Swapnil Gugale and you recorded the highest partnership in the history of Ranji Trophy. Please narrate how the two of you planned, and went about it to register a stand of unbeaten 594 against Delhi.

Ankit:  Record partnership with Swapnil is one of the great moment in my career and also in Maharashtra Cricket history, when we both were batting at no point it felt like we are going to get out, Wankhede stadium pitch is usually great for batting, we stayed to our game plan, we played positively throughout the partnership, we both had couple of big partnership together playing in age group Cricket earlier so we knew each others game and we trust each others running between the wicket, we never thought about the record at any point we just kept playing and kept scoring runs, we took session by session, we wanted to post more than 600 runs on that pitch against team like Delhi, so that was our primary focus. We kept batting and then our personal milestones followed

"We kept batting and then our personal milestones followed"

OAGL Ankit, what have been your best knocks so far – and why do you feel so? Does the 162 against NZ A at Vijayawada feature in that list? 

Ankit :  Yes surely, 162* in  India A vs NZA game is one my favourite hundreds among 19. scoring a century at international level gives you great satisfaction and you understand where you stand in the circuit. also i would like to mention a 204* which i recently got against Odisha in my 100th first class game, this double hundred is very close to my heart, as i was playing my 100th game, association honoured me with a trophy and cake cutting ceremony before the game, so in return I wanted to give them one of the best inning of my career and batted throughout the innings and stayed unbeaten on 204*, also we went on to win the game so it was a really special inning for me

OAGL In the 2019-20 Ranji season, you batted at number 5 for Maharashtra. Do you feel that any particular batting spot suits your game best? 

Ankit: I bat mostly Number 4 or 5, I have batted number 3 also in in the past, I don't think batting number describes anything about the batsman, i think its more to do with what team wants from you and what role they want you to play, i play good with tail-enders and i have experience on my side so may be that is one reason my team wants me to bat 4 or 5 so i can take control of the innings, but as a batsman i feel you should be able to bat at any number.

OAGL. An advice Ankit Bawne of 27 years age would give to his 17-year old younger self?   

Ankit : I am very happy the way im taking things up and running so far, I would just say that there is no substitute for hardwork and always keep pushing your limits, there is long road ahead

OAGL. Lastly, a quick rapid-fire 

Your favourite cricketer? MS Dhoni
Your favourite movie? Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
How many hours do you spend daily on fitness?  2 hours everyday
You favorite cheat meal? Cheesecake
A cricketer you would love to chat for hours with? Gautam Gambhir
If you hadn’t become a cricketer, you would have probably been into which profession? Maybe into Boxing

Rise of Women's Cricket: Micro Blog

As India and Australia women teams fight for the T20 World Cup 2020, it is worth reflecting on how the game has had a meteoric rise in all aspects - stardom, brand associations, quality of coverage, broadcast, brand associations, stadium attendance and the recognition at large. 

One would hope that few things improve with time, like the remuneration in top flight cricket and the development of game at the grass root level. Not to mention, the domestic calendar and the opportunities talented women cricketers get in terms of gametime and quality.

Whichever team wins tomorrow in the final, this is a huge milestone for women's cricket to have a bigger footprint than ever. It is only justified that it will be International Women's Day to mark this milestone.