Indian Cricket Team Updates

Jharkhand pacer Rahul Shukla was over the moon when he claimed the wicket of Jacques Kallis in his second game for the Rajasthan Royals. The wicket was a crucial breakthrough and helped the fight back and was also a personal triumph for the young pacer to be able to pocket the scalp of one of the best batsman in the world.  Defending 144 runs, the youngster dealt a double blow in the third over of the Kolkata Knight Riders innings after they had got off to a flying start. The pacer castled Manvinder Bisla and a ball later sent back Kallis, caught behind, to give his team a chance to fight back.  His fellow pacers then picked wickets at regular intervals and did not let the opposition recover and ensured a victory for the Rajasthan Royals in their first home game of the season.  Shukla who has been in good form in domestic cricket, came into the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013 and has turned out to be one of the key wicket-takers for his team. Encourage...

Kolkata Knight Riders lost to the Rajasthan Royals in an exciting game of cricket. With the kind of batting line-up the defending champions have, it was a game that few would have thought KKR would lose after restricting the home team to 144 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.  However, a sudden middle-order collapse after milking the first over for 14 runs changed the tone of the game as the match slipped away from the Gautam Gambhir-led side.  Left floundering on 20 for two, Manoj Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir added 20 runs before both departed in the seventh over. And although Eoin Morgan held up one end and capitalised on the life he had got early on, he kept losing partners at the other end and was unable to revive the innings. While speaking to iplt20.com, Tiwary analysed the defeat and said that lack of partnerships cost them match and the team would regroup and iron out the crease going ahead in the tournament.  Excerpts from the brief interview: ...

Match Report: Rajasthan Royals continued their winning form with a convincing 19 run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Defending a modest 144, the RR bowlers put on a good show to bowl out KKR for 125 to script their second win of the tournament. The Match coin used for the toss during match 8 of the the Pepsi Indian Premier League ( IPL) 2013 between The Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on the 8th April 2013 Chasing 145, KKR started off briskly with Gautam Gambhir giving the charge to Sreesanth and depositing him for a six in the very first over. Rahul Shukla struck twice in the third over, first bowling Manvinder Bisla (1) before having Jaques Kallis (0) caught behind. Siddharth Trivedi then further sunk KKR dismissing Gambhir (22) and Manoj Tiwary (14) in quick succession. Yusuf Pathan (0) fell the very next over to Kevon Cooper leaving KKR reeling at 44 for 5. Laxmi Sh...

A calm head under pressure, Rajat Bhatia has a knack for getting his team breakthroughs at critical junctures in a contest. The all-rounder dealt telling blows in the first game of the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013 while Sunil Narine ran through the rest of the line-up. The 33-year old Kolkata Knight Riders ’ player brings a wealth of experience with him when he turns-up of the field for the franchise.  Bhatia has been plying his skills efficiently and effectively on the domestic circuit and also led his state side to the domestic one-day title earlier this year. A thinking cricketer, he has been using his vast experience of the grounds around the country and of playing with and against Indian players to the team’s advantage when he dons the purple attire. Aware of his strengths and weakness the medium-pacer has worked towards turning things around in his favour through diligent hard work.  Ahead of KKR’s game against the Rajasthan Royals , iplt20.com caught u...