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Cheteshwar Pujara has said the pitch in Bengaluru gets better as the day progresses, and hence India are well in the game if they can bowl the visitors out early on the third day

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bengaluru05-Mar-2017By stumps on day two of the Bengaluru Test, Ravindra Jadeja was India’s most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 49 from 17 overs. He had, however, sent down significantly fewer overs than each of his bowling colleagues. R Ashwin had bowled 41, Umesh Yadav 24, and Ishant Sharma 23. It seemed as if Jadeja had been underbowled, a curious occurrence given India were only playing four specialist bowlers.Cheteshwar Pujara, though, suggested Virat Kohli’s sparing use of Jadeja was down to the conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.”I think there was enough help for Ashwin,” Pujara said at the post-match press conference. “When Jadeja was bowling there wasn’t enough help from the centre of the wicket. There was enough rough for Ashwin and that was the reason Ashwin had to bowl more overs.”Apart from that, as a bowling unit we had to make some changes. Fast bowlers had to bowl many overs because the ball was staying low.”Pujara said the pitch, while still offering the bowlers plenty of help, had probably been more difficult to bat on on the first day, when KL Rahul had suggested Nathan Lyon profited from early dampness to generate extra turn and bounce.”About the wicket, it got better,” Pujara said. “When I was batting yesterday Rahul told me that it was getting easier to bat on so I think that’s what we are expecting in the second innings. If the wicket gets better we will have a big total on the board.”Australia ended day two six down, with a lead of 48. Pujara felt India were still very much in the Test match, regardless, and hoped they could take the remaining wickets quickly.”If we can get them out for another 25-30 runs it will be great,” he said. “We will focus on bowling right line and length and wickets will come. I think there is enough help from the pitch for the spinners and fast bowlers.”The bowlers will have some plans tomorrow for [Mitchell] Starc and the Matthew Wade. We will think of what we could have done better but overall I feel we have bowled well.”Pujara said conceding only 197 runs and taking six wickets represented a strong showing from the bowlers.”Throughout the day we bowled very well. Especially the fast bowlers. It wasn’t easy for the fast bowlers because there wasn’t much help. Obviously there was the odd ball that stayed low but they had to put in a lot of hard work. And the spinners as well. All the bowlers [did well] – we can see the run rate, they were not able to score many runs.”In a way, it was a victory for us and we bowled tight lines. Lengths were very good from the fast bowlers. All in all, we bowled well and took six wickets but they didn’t score many runs.”On a pitch that didn’t offer too much bounce, a number of edges fell short of the slip fielders, and Pujara said they had tried moving themselves closer to the bat without much avail.India continued to have a tough time with the Decision Review System•AFP

“They [the slip fielders] were trying to adjust and stay a little up but it just didn’t carry and at times you just have to accept it,” he said. “When the bowlers were bowling well, a few were going through the slips but it wasn’t carrying. As a bowler, it is a bit frustrating. But that is something we can’t help.”Another frustration for India was their continued trouble with the Decision Review System. They failed to review a not-out decision when Shaun Marsh gloved Umesh Yadav to the wicketkeeper, had an on-field lbw decision against Marsh chalked off after the batsman reviewed, and used up two reviews speculatively late in the day.”We have been working on it,” Pujara said. “At times there were some close calls and we didn’t get it right. We will work on it more. There was one incident where Shaun Marsh was out and we didn’t take the review.”This was the time when they were already five [two] down and if we had got another wicket it would put some pressure on them. We had to take that chance but we didn’t go for it. Probably that’s something that we can work on but we are getting better with DRS.”Australia’s batsmen, particularly the half-centurions Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh, seemed to trust their defence against India’s spinners more than some of India’s batsmen had done on day one against Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe. Pujara, though, didn’t feel this was the case.”I think the most important thing was we didn’t get a good partnership. When we had partnerships, things were getting easy for us but we kept on losing wickets. I think there is nothing wrong with the Indian batting line-up and we are known to play spinners well.”Apart from last three innings, we have been batting well. So we just have to have a gameplan. We had a chat this morning. We will have a different gameplan in the second innings, and at the same time we are confident of doing well. We have to accept that we didn’t bat well in the last three innings. We will put up a better show in the next innings.”

After more than two decades and 164 Test matches, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, one of West Indies’ finest batsman, has retired

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Jan-20165:03

Holding: Chanderpaul always did what was necessary

After more than two decades and 164 Test matches, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, one of West Indies’ finest batsmen, has retired. Chanderpaul finishes as the second-highest West Indian Test run-maker, 86 runs short of Brian Lara: Lara got 11,953 (11,912 for West Indies and the rest for the ICC World XI), while Chanderpaul scored 11,867 (all for West Indies).Chanderpaul, 41, had not played for West Indies since May 2015; the West Indies selectors dropped him after a weak performance during the three-Test series at home against England. While Chanderpaul entertained hopes of a comeback, the selection panel, headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, had provided enough hints that they had moved past Chanderpaul as they ignored him for the various series in the last eight months. Chanderpaul was also not part of the 15 players handed annual contracts by the WICB in December.Last June Chanderpaul had said he would decide by the end of the year when he would exit the international scene. “Definitely, but I am on the outside, just waiting to see what is happening,” Chanderpaul told cricket365.com, when asked if he wanted to play Tests again. “Retirement isn’t on the cards at the moment. Not for now, probably the ending of the year maybe then.”That his desire to play on continued to be strong was evident from the fact that he remained part of the regional domestic tournaments and, in fact, played his last match just three days ago, in the semi-final of the Nagico Super50 one-day tournament for Guyana.The WICB said in a release that Chanderpaul formally notified the board “in an email that he will no longer be available for selection for West Indies”. “The WICB acknowledges the invaluable contribution Shiv has made to the game globally, and we wish him all the best,” WICB president Dave Cameron said.One big reason for Chanderpaul to re-think his international career could be his involvement with the Masters Champions League (MCL), a tournament for players who have left all professional forms of the game including domestic cricket, which begins on January 28 in Dubai. To participate in the MCL, players have to get no-objection certificates from their respective boards stating that they have retired from all forms of cricket. Incidentally, till Thursday the WICB had not been approached for an NOC by any player. Chanderpaul was signed for $30,000 to represent Gemini Arabians in the tournament.Chanderpaul is only the second modern-day player, after Sachin Tendulkar, whose career stretched over two decades. He might not have been as celebrated and revered as Tendulkar, but Chanderpaul had worked hard, quietly, to become one of the strongest pillars of West Indies cricket.He scored 30 Test centuries and averaged 51.37 in the format, and held numerous records that are likely to last for a long time, including batting for more than 25 hours in a Test series between dismissals – he did it against India in 2002, when he faced 1050 consecutive deliveries without losing his wicket.Unorthodox stance and great determination aside, Chanderpaul never allowed his emotions to overpower him or pour over on the outside. Perhaps that reserved nature of his explained why he led West Indies only 14 times in Tests. He also played 268 ODIs for 8778 runs at 41.60 (the last of which was during the 2011 World Cup), and 22 T20Is.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan is confident of declaring a date for the board elections within a month after getting an ICC directive

Mohammad Isam01-Jul-2013Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan is confident of declaring a date for the board elections within a month after the ICC confirms they have assessed the BCB constitution amendment. Hassan has been occupied with concerns over the World Twenty20 venues and the impending ACSU report on corruption in the BPL of late, but his inability to hold elections within 90 days of taking office, as the ad-hoc committee had promised, has also been a long-running issue.BCB’s amended constitution has been held up after the High Court in Bangladesh deemed the process of amending the draft as “illegal”. Hassan had warned last month that the ICC would cancel Bangladesh’s membership if they did not hold elections soon, but the meeting with the ICC has given him hope.”The ICC hasn’t given any timeframe for the elections, but I feel that we will declare the elections in one month’s time,” Hassan said. “We have discussed the two constitutions with the ICC. The one on which the 2008 elections were held, is no longer approved by the ICC. They don’t have a problem with the 2012 NSC-approved constitution. We will get an official letter from the ICC with their comments very soon.”Hassan also refuted claims made by former president Saber Hossain Chowdhury that the BCB is dawdling on the elections. Chowdhury had said in a TV interview recently that the delay in the Premier Division Cricket League was linked to the elections because each of the Super League teams (those who make it to the second phase of the competition) from the previous season’s league had demanded two councillorship positions (effectively voters) per club. This was approved by the National Sports Council, the regulatory body of sports in Bangladesh. Another former BCB director, Mobasher Hossain, has sent an e-mail to ICC CEO Dave Richardson complaining of the delay.”I haven’t heard what he said. If he has said this, it is completely a bogus claim,” Hassan said. “There is a specific reason to delay the elections, and I have said it publicly. There is no room for such comments. I am not concerned about who becomes president, it is unimportant to me, but I want to fix cricket in the country.”

Bangladesh have picked eight players with Test experience in a 28-member A squad that will attend a training camp on June 25 to prepare for the Shafi Dharshah Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2012Bangladesh’s selectors have picked eight players with Test experience in a 28-member A squad that will attend a training camp on June 25 to prepare for the Shafi Dharshah Trophy in India next month.Shahriar Nafees, Imrul Kayes, Nazimuddin, Naeem Islam, Raqibul Hasan, Enamul Haque jr, Shahadat Hossain and Robiul Islam will join the non-Test players at the camp at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.Bangladesh A and Sri Lanka A are the two foreign sides in the tournament that will be staged in Bangalore and Mysore. They will compete against top teams from India’s domestic first-class competition, the Ranji Trophy, including the champions Rajasthan. The final will be held on August 16.Stuart Barnes, the former Gloucestershire fast bowler, will accompany Bangladesh A as head coach for the tournament. Bangladesh A lost the unofficial Test and one-day series against West Indies A in November last year. However, they beat England Lions 3-2 in a one-day series and drew the Twenty20 series in January.Preliminary Squad: Shahriar Nafees, Nasiruddin Faruque, Imrul Kayes, Nazimuddin, Mominul Haque, Naeem Islam, Shamsur Rahman, Farhad Hossain, Marshall Ayub, Rokibul Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Mohammad Mithun, Dhiman Ghosh, Saqlain Sajeeb, Arafat Sunny, Enamul Haque, Mosharraf Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Shahadat Hossain, Robiul Islam, Mukhtar Ali, Alauddin Babu, Al Amin, Shabbir Rahman, Dollar Mahmud, Kazi Kamrul Islam, Tasamul Hoque.

Eoin Morgan will return to the IPL if he isn’t selected in the England squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2011Eoin Morgan will return to the IPL if he isn’t selected in the England squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff. On the opening day of the England Lions match at Derby he hit an unbeaten 156 but it is unlikely to be enough to earn him the No. 6 spot.His franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, are well on track to reach the play-offs and Morgan revealed he’ll be straight back on a plane to India if he isn’t needed by his country next week. The tour game against Sri Lanka ends on May 22, and the England squad will be announced the same day. So, if not selected, Morgan could make it back in time for the IPL play-offs which start May 24.”If I’m not picked I’ll make other plans,” he told reporters at Derby. “We are looking good at the IPL so if we make the final I’ll fly back out.”Morgan hasn’t made a huge impression at this year’s IPL with 137 runs from nine innings and a top score of 66. He had limited opportunities with the bat but was then moved up to open which afforded him a little more time in the middle.However, he is adamant that his experience in India has made him a better player. “The conditions out there are difficult and I’ve learnt a lot, but it was tough,” he said. “I got very few opportunities early on so it was all part of the learning curve.”Although Morgan’s return to the IPL will be with the blessing of the ECB, he is still taking a gamble because if any of England’s top six suffer an injury in the days leading into the first Test he won’t be around to take their place.

India have two games to salvage the tour, and build some confidence for the players who head to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, but Zimbabwe are the favourites

The Preview by Nitin Sundar11-Jun-2010

Match Facts

Saturday, June 12 and 13, 2010

Start time 1300 (1100 GMT)
Spin with the new ball could be India’s answer to Brendan Taylor•AFP

The Big Picture

So far this tour has been a misadventure for India. The experiment with rotation went awry during the tri-series, with the selectors sending a squad unbalanced in both experience and skill. The manner in which they lost their games, especially against the hosts, has led to doubts over the quality of India’s next line of cricketers.
The visitors have two games to salvage the tour, and build some confidence for the players headed to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup. Can their batsmen shrug away their inhibitions and hit out in IPL-like conditions that won’t test their vulnerability against the short ball? Can their inexperienced fast bowlers pull one back on the Zimbabwe top order that bullied them in the ODIs?The hosts go into the series with fewer doubts. In the Twenty20 format, against this second-string India outfit, they will believe they are favourites. From the time they shocked Australia in the inaugural World Twenty20, Zimbabwe have been regarded with caution in the shortest format.Their army of spinners has perfected the art of asphyxiation, and in recent times they have surprised West Indies, followed by victories in 2010 World Twenty20 warm-up games against Australia and Pakistan. Despite being thumped by Sri Lanka in the tri-series final, the hosts are on the ascendancy following their strong show in the league games. If they can trump India again, it will be a major boost to their ongoing quest to reclaim past glory.The forecast promises clear skies on Saturday, which also plays into Zimbabwe’s hands: their batsmen struggled in overcast conditions during the tri-series, and their spinners are most effective when it is dry. Things could get interesting on Sunday though, with a 40% chance of showers.

Form guide (most recent first)

Zimbabwe LLWWL

India LLLWW

Watch out for…

Rohit Sharma‘s twin hundreds in the ODIs have silenced some of his critics, but doubts remain over his temperament, fitness and consistency. Runs in this series could go some way in addressing them and in sealing a spot in the starting XI for the Asia Cup.Brendan Taylor was unstoppable in the tri-series, and will look to loot some more runs over the weekend. The protagonist of Zimbabwe’s finest moment in the Twenty20 format has taken a liking to India’s inexperienced fast bowlers, so the visitors may open with a spinner against him. R Ashwin was impeccable with the new ball in the IPL, and may well be India’s answer to Taylor.

Team news

Somehow, the selectors have managed to make India’s squad even more unbalanced, by including Piyush Chawla at the expense of a fast bowler. India now have four spinners to choose from, in addition to two spinning allrounders, of whom Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha will expect to make the cut. The seamers were uniformly unimpressive in the ODIs, and it could be a toss-up between Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh for two spots. Lack of options could force the side to field Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan, both notable exclusions for the Asia Cup.India (possible) 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 and 11 Two out of Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Pankaj Singh.Zimbabwe may decide to bench Chris Mpofu and resort to their spin-heavy strategy. In that event, they will like to have Andy Blignaut’s back in the scheme of things.Zimbabwe (possible) 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk) 4 Charles Coventry, 5 Andy Blignaut, 6 Craig Ervine, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Greg Lamb, 11 Ray Price.

Stats and trivia

• This will be the first clash between these two sides in the Twenty20 format. So far India have 12 wins and 11 defeats, while Zimbabwe have only played ten games, winning three of them.
• Suresh Raina is one of only four centurions in T20Is, the others being Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene. Of the four, only Raina’s did not come from the opening slot.
  

  Quotes

  “We haven’t looked good throughout the tournament. We were unconvincing and I am not happy at all.”
  
  
  “It is very satisfying to get where we have, the guys have worked hard. Everybody did well in the series and we expect to move forward step by step from here.”

He has not adequately recovered, and will now work on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2024Pakistan fast-bowling allrounder Aamer Jamal will miss the two-Test series against Bangladesh, the PCB confirmed on Monday.Two days out of the series opener in Rawalpindi, Pakistan announced their XI, with Saim Ayub, the incumbent opener, retaining his place at the top after having made his Test debut against Australia at the SCG in January earlier this year. The selectors picked Ayub for continuity, which meant Muhammad Hurraira will have to wait for his international debut.Hurraira, 22, has been a heavy scorer in domestic cricket and last month he scored 218 against a Bangladesh High Performance XI in a four-day game in Darwin.Saud Shakeel was named vice-captain while Naseem Shah was also back in the XI for his first Test match since July 2023.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

As for Jamal, he was initially selected in the squad with his participation subject to fitness clearance. He was most likely going to miss the first Test, starting on August 21 in Rawalpindi, as he hadn’t completely recovered from his back injury, but is now ruled out of the second Test starting August 30 as well.Jamal, who was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker in the away series in Australia in 2023-24 with 18 wickets in three Tests, has been dealing with lower back issues since May this year. The injury also affected and ultimately curtailed his multi-format stint with Warwickshire in England, and he last played competitive cricket in June.Related

• Shan Masood: 'We want to give Saim Ayub a fair chance'

• T20 WC blues behind them, Pakistan and Bangladesh switch focus to red-ball cricket

• Aamer Jamal leaves Warwickshire early after injury-blighted stint

• Bangladesh look to shut out the noise and find rhythm in Rawalpindi

• Pakistan set to play all-pace attack in a home Test for the second time in 28 years

Jamal was originally the lone seam-bowling allrounder in the squad, and with no replacement named, Pakistan will go into the first Test with 14 players since Abrar Ahmed and Kamran Ghulam were also released to play for the Shaheens. Pakistan are also expected to name an all-seam attack for the first Test and the other quicks in the squad are Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mir Hamza, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali.Jamal will now work on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore with one eye on regaining fitness before the Test series against England in October.

Pakistan XI for the first Test against Bangladesh

1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel (vice-capt), 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Ali Agha, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Khurram Shahzad, 11 Mohammad Ali

By the time the game begins on Sunday evening, RCB will know exactly what they need to make the playoffs

Srinidhi Ramanujam20-May-20236:00

Moody: Royal Challengers should start afresh in home return

Big Picture: Make or break for RCB

It all boils down to the final four hours. After 69 games across 52 days, the last league match will decide the identity of the players fourth team in the playoffs.The spotlight is on Royal Challengers Bangalore as they return home to the Chinnaswamy to host the Gujarat Titans after nearly a month on the road. They will know exactly what they need to qualify in the top four if net run rate becomes a factor, but the simplest route is to win. If they make it, it will be their fourth successive playoff appearance.So what’s going well for RCB? They are coming into this crucial fixture off two successive wins – against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals. Their strength is their batting, having scored more than 180 in three of their last four games. More specifically, it is their top-order batting, with Faf du Plessis (702), Virat Kohli (538) and Glenn Maxwell (389) doing the bulk of the run-scoring. The dependency on their Big Three could be a crucial factor in a crunch game.Winning at the Chinnaswamy also hasn’t been straightforward for RCB this season. While several teams have struggled to maximise their home advantage, it’s 3-3 for RCB in Bengaluru this year, and 40 wins in 83 games overall.So while RCB have everything to do to qualify for the playoffs, the Titans are already through. Hardik Pandya’s team is only the second side to finish top of the table in two successive seasons, after the Mumbai Indians in 2019 and 2020.

Team news: Will Titans rest players?

Fast bowler Josh Little had missed a few matches to play an ODI series for Ireland against Bangladesh, but he re-joined the Titans squad on May 16. Vijay Shankar had also missed the previous game after getting hit in the nets. With Titans already through to the playoffs, the big question is whether they will rest any of their players, considering they play Qualifier 1 on May 23.Du Plessis said at the toss of their previous game against Sunrisers that one of Hasaranga and Hazlewood was missing due to a niggle without specifying who it was.

The big question

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis have been prolific at the top for RCB•BCCI

Form guide

RCB WWLLW
Gujarat Titans WLWWL

Impact Player strategy

Anuj Rawat kept wickets for RCB instead of Dinesh Karthik in the last two matches and he is expected to do it again against Titans. Karthik or Mahipal Lomror could sub in and out for for left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed depending on whether they bat or bowl first.Royal Challengers Bangalore (probable XII): 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Glenn Maxwell, 4 Mahipal Lomror, 5 , 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Anuj Rawat (wk), 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Karn Sharma, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Titans had swapped Shubman Gill with fast bowler Yash Dayal in their previous game against SRH. If Little returns, Gill and Mohit Sharma could be their Impact Players depending on whether they bat or bowl first.Gujarat Titans (probable XII): 1 , 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Abhinav Manohar/Vijay Shankar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Josh Little, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12

Pitch and conditions

Bengaluru has been hot and humid this week but i rained on match eve and a couple of spells of rain is likely on Sunday as well. The average first-innings total at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is 194, so expect a run-fest.

Stats that matter

• Kohli is a beast in Bengaluru with 3106 T20s runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the most by any batter, at a strike rate of 140.82.
• Rashid Khan has dismissed du Plessis three times in eight T20s, and conceded only 32 runs in 45 balls.
• Gill has scored at 148.14 against Mohammed Siraj in the IPL, with no dismissals in six innings.

Mayank Agarwal has been drafted into the squad for the last two T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2022Opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of India’s ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka because of a wrist injury, and Mayank Agarwal has replaced him in the squad for the remaining two matches.Gaikwad had been ruled out of the first T20I in Lucknow on Thursday after complaining of pain in his right wrist joint, after which he was examined by the BCCI medical team. He subsequently underwent an MRI scan and consulted a specialist. A BCCI statement on Saturday said that he would be heading to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further management of his injury. Agarwal, meanwhile, has already linked up with the squad in Dharamsala.It was in July 2021 that Gaikwad made his T20I debut, in Sri Lanka. He played two matches in that series, after which he played the third T20I against West Indies in Kolkata last week. At the toss during the first T20I against Sri Lanka on Thursday, captain Rohit Sharma had said that Gaikwad was in line to play in that game, but the wrist issue had ruled him out.Agarwal, meanwhile, is yet to make his debut for India in the format. He was earlier called up into the ODI squad for the West Indies series in February after four India players had returned positive tests for Covid-19.India’s updated squad for the last two T20Is: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Avesh Khan, Mayank Agarwal

RCB are still No. 2, but if they lose both their remaining matches, things could get sticky for them

S Rajesh28-Oct-2020
Mumbai Indians: Played 12, Points 16, NRR 1.186

Mumbai’s fantastic net run-rate of 1.186 means they are through to the playoffs for all practical purposes. Not only that, they are also almost certain of a top two finish.Given how the points table stands at the moment, only five teams can make it to 16 or more, and one of them is the Kolkata Knight Riders, who have a terrible NRR of -0.479.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Just how far in front the Mumbai Indians are will be clear from this example: For their NRR to fall below that of the Knight Riders’, these are the results necessary in the remaining matches:

• The Mumbai Indians lose their last two by an aggregate run margin of around 190 runs (that is, the margins of the two losses add up to 190 runs)
• The Knight Riders win their last two by an aggregate margin of 200

If these improbable results take place, the Mumbai Indians will have an NRR of around 0.31, while the Knight Riders will sneak ahead on 0.32.The Mumbai Indians’ excellent NRR also means they are almost sure to finish in the top two, because the Royal Challengers have a game to play against the Capitals, which means only one of those teams can reach 18. A run-rate battle with the other teams, which will finish on 16, will have only one winner.Royal Challengers Bangalore: Played 12, Points 14, NRR 0.048

The relatively narrow margin of defeat against the Mumbai Indians means that the Royal Challengers are still second on the points table, with an excellent chance of making the playoffs if they win one of their two remaining games. If they lose both, though, then things will get sticky, as seven teams can still potentially make it to 14 or more points.