Tag: Indian Premier League

  • Dale Steyn says PSL is ‘more rewarding’ than IPL

    Dale Steyn says PSL is ‘more rewarding’ than IPL

    Former South African pacer Dale Steyn, who is playing for Quetta Gladiators in the ongoing sixth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is less rewarding compared to other leagues in the world.

    Speaking to an online publication, Steyn said that cricket gets forgotten, amid money talks, in the IPL which is why he decided to skip the last season.

    “I wanted some time off. I found that playing in these other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player. I think when you go to IPL, there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on maybe the amount of money players earn and everything like that, so sometimes, somewhere down the line, cricket gets forgotten,” said Steyn.

    “When you come to like a PSL or the Sri Lankan Premier League (SPL), for that matter, there is an importance on the cricket. I have only been here for a couple of days and I have had people in and out of my room, just wanting to know about where I have played and how I went about it. Whereas, when I go to something like IPL that gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money did you go for in this IPL?”

    “That’s just me being brutally honest,” he added.

    “I wanted to stay away from that and really put more emphasis on playing and bringing good vibes to good cricket teams and tournaments I feel are worth it,” said the cricket star.

    Read more – Daren Sammy recalls being called ‘kalu’ by Indian cricketers during IPL

    Steyn also praised the “breeding machine” of Pakistan’s fast bowlers and called Babar Azam “a wonderful player”.

    “There is a breeding machine of fast bowlers here in Pakistan, which is great to see because the wickets are not conducive to fast bowlers,” said the South African great. “I had a chat with Shaheen [Afridi] last year – I think he broke his thumb. He was down but he was amazing. At Melbourne Stars, I had Haris Rauf with me, and I was really impressed by him. Not long after that, he played for Pakistan.”

    “Babar is a great player and it would be a great opportunity to get him out or bowl against him. But you never know, I might not get to bowl against him because it’s only four overs or he might get out for a duck. But he’s been fantastic [in] the last couple of years,” said Steyn.

    Meanwhile, Indians are not happy with Steyn’s statement and are criticising him on social media.

    https://twitter.com/jokn17611521/status/1366721056812113922?s=20

    https://twitter.com/svnvdr08/status/1366720983667597316?s=20

    https://twitter.com/karthik_jammy/status/1366654766630137868?s=20

    According to Cricinfo, Steyn’s “career trajectory has coincided with the rise of the IPL and has seen him become one of the more prized assets for any IPL franchise, and has consistently seen heavy competition for his signature. The highest auction price for the fast bowler came in consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015, when Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped him up for INR 9.5 crore (approx. USD 1.3 million today). He has taken 97 IPL wickets at 6.91, making him, by some distance, the most economical fast bowler among players with over 50 wickets in the league.”

  • VIDEO: Virat Kohli breaks the internet with dance moves on field

    VIDEO: Virat Kohli breaks the internet with dance moves on field

    Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli won the internet with his dance moves in a video that instantly went viral on social media. The video which was recorded during his pre-match warmup shows the skipper dance around the field without any inhibitions.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    While Kohli has offered no explanation, it is believed that he was celebrating his 200th match for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Out of the 200 matches, Kohli has played 184 matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) while the rest he has played for RCB in the Champions League.

    Meanwhile, Twitter thoroughly enjoyed Virat’s moves, as evident by their reactions. Check them out below:

    https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/1316734914541350913?s=20
  • Daren Sammy recalls being called ‘kalu’ by Indian cricketers during IPL

    Daren Sammy recalls being called ‘kalu’ by Indian cricketers during IPL

    Former West Indies captain and honorary citizen of Pakistan Darren Sammy has revealed that he was subjected to racial abuse in the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) dressing room when he played for the franchise in the 2013-14 editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    After watching Hasan Minhaj’s latest segment, in which the comedian talks about anti-blackness in South Asian, the cricketer expressed his anger upon realising the meaning of the word ‘kalu’ which he says was used to refer to him and Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera when the pair played for SRH. However, he did not reveal who used to direct these slurs at him.

    Following that, on Tuesday, Sammy released an Instagram video, saying those slurs came from players within the SRH camp and that he will be messaging them all to provide clarification and issue an apology.

    “Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant, I need some answers. So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there’s another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love,” read the post along with the video.

    “I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all the dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people,” Sammy said in the video.

    “This does not apply to everybody but I say this because of what I’ve experienced. After I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013-14, I was being called the exact the same word which is degrading to us black people,” he added.

    Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn’t know the meaning and he thought it was not degrading as his teammates used to laugh every time whenever he was called with that name.

    “I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are. I must admit at that time when I was being called using that word, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is and I saw no problem. I did not know what it meant. Every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at the moment. Me being a team man, I thought hey teammates are happy, so it must be something funny,” Sammy said.

    “So now you can understand my frustration and my anger when it was pointed out to me that it wasn’t funny at all. It was degrading. I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or in a degrading way? You repeatedly called me that word over and over again, to the point that I was even saying, that’s my name,” he continued.

    Sammy said he expects an apology from all those who called him that because he considered them his brothers and friends.

    “I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to call me with that word, think about it, let’s have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed,” he added.

    “I have always been one to build up the relationship or build up a team, not bring it down,” he concluded.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBL-fuglF6o/

    Meanwhile, an old social media post of India pacer Ishant Sharma has surfaced which has confirmed Sammy’s allegations.

    Ishant had shared a group picture also featuring Sammy, on May 14, 2014, and used the word ‘kalu‘ for him.

    https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1270297785917517824?s=20

    The reaction from the West Indies all-rounder has come following the death of George Floyd, an African-American who last month died in police custody in the United States. Floyd, aged 46, died on May 25 after a police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” and “please, I can’t breathe”.

  • Coronavirus: IPL likely to begin without foreign players

    Coronavirus: IPL likely to begin without foreign players

    Chennai Super Kings Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kasi Vishwanathan has made it clear that the fresh visa advisory from the Indian government has made it almost impossible for foreign players to join their respective teams in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) before April 15 unless the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gets special permission.

    According to Indian media reports, the CEO said that most of the foreign players were booked on business visas and in such a scenario the fresh advisory sent out by the government on Wednesday said that they won’t be allowed entry till April 15, despite the cricketing tournament beginning later this month.

    “Most of the players are travelling with business visas and that is how they come and play in the IPL. So, it will be impossible for them to join the teams unless the BCCI gets special permission. As of now, it is not possible as the diktat is pretty clear and we cannot go against the government,” he said.

    Asked what could be the best way forward, he said, “The BCCI needs to sit down with the government and I mean both the central and the state governments across the board and get to some understanding on how they need to go forward. Unless special permission is given, it will not be possible for foreign players to join the teams.”

    A second meeting of the Group of Ministers — Cabinet Committee — on Wednesday had cancelled all visas, except for a few official categories, till April 15 in the wake of the growing coronavirus scare.