One-time Indian T20 League champions Hyderabad had the biggest squad in the lead up to the 2021 mini-auction. The David Warner-led side has been one of the most consistent franchises in recent times and they have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last five seasons.

Hyderabad had more or less settled core as they released only five players in the lead up to the auction. Under coach Trevor Bayliss, Hyderabad went into the player auction with a purse of 10.75 crore and they made their first bid of the day for Jagadeesha Suchith as he joined them for Rs 30 lakh. The team also added India batsman Kedar Jadhav (for Rs 2 crore) and Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman (for 1.5 crore) to add more depth to their settled squad. 

#WelcomeToSRH Jagadeesha Suchith, @JadhavKedar and @Mujeeb_R88! #IPLAuction #OrangeArmy #IPL2021 #SRH pic.twitter.com/jqE8evn072

�?SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) February 18, 2021

Players Bought: Jagadeesha Suchith (30 lakh), Kedar Jadhav (2 crore) and Mujeeb ur Rahman (1.5 crore) 

Welcome aboard @JadhavKedar @Mujeeb_R88 and J. Suchith to @SunRisers, he’s to a successful 2021 campaign #OrangeArmy #IPLAuction2021

�?Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) February 18, 2021

Team Hyderabad Full Squad: David Warner, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb ur Rahman

Feature image courtesy: IPL, BCCI 2021

Three-time Indian T20 League champions Chennai, who finished seventh last year, have started their rebuild by retaining veteran Suresh Raina for the upcoming season and releasing spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The former Indian spinner took to social media to thank the team management by saying, "As my contract comes to an end with Chennai, playing for this team was a great experience. Beautiful memories made and some great friends which I will remember fondly for years to come."

As my contract comes to an end with @ChennaiIPL, playing for this team was a great experience..beautiful memories made &some great friends which I will remember fondly for years to come..Thank you @ChennaiIPL, management, staff and fans for a wonderful 2years.. All the best..

�?Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 20, 2021

Chennai's decision to retain Raina was a surprise for many after his shocking departure from the team camp in Dubai last year. Raina had left the Chennai bubble even before the tournament kicked off, sending shockwaves amongst the management and the fans alike. The all-rounder boarded a flight out of the UAE to return to India, citing nothing but personal reasons for his departure.

One of team Chennai's officials, however, has confirmed that despite the previous disagreement, Raina - who is Chennai's most successful batsman with 4,527 runs - will be retained.  

“Yes, we will retain Raina and Dhoni will be the captain. Apart from Harbhajan Singh, we might release a few more players,�?the CSK official told The Indian Express.

"Harbhajan has been released as you are aware and Watson has retired. Apart from that, don't see any big name missing out. Bravo and du Plessis will be with us," a Chennai spokesperson was quoted by ANI.

The other players to be released by Chennai are Piyush Chawla, Kedar Jadhav and Murali Vijay. Chawla was the most expensive Indian player at the 2020 auction (6.75 crores), but the spinner picked a mere six wickets in seven games. Jadhav and Vijay scored 62 (five games) and 32 (three games) runs, respectively.

Releasing as many as four players and the retirement of Shane Watson means the team now has 22.7 crores in their purse ahead of the Indian T20 League 2021 auction.

Released: Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Monu Singh

Retained: Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Josh Hazlewood, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Sai Kishore

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Sajjad Hussain

Chennai lost their fifth game on the trot, this time finishing as the second best against Rajasthan by seven wickets. Chennai, in all fairness, never looked in control. Right from the very first over, Chennai lacked the cutting edge, and they did try to salvage something out of it, but could only manage to post 125/5 in 20 overs.

As their top order crumbled, the onus came on the likes of MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and later Kedar Jadhav. And while Dhoni and Jadeja were decent at their best, Jadhav once again failed to do the talking, scoring a mere four runs off seven deliveries. the 35-year-old, this season, has scored just 62 runs from eight matches, and the fans seem to have enough of him. The faithful are taking to social media to express their discontent over his performance, urging the three-time Indian T20 League winners to replace him with someone who can deliver results consistently.

Chennai, as one would have expected, failed to defend their measly total as Rajasthan rode a 98-run fourth-wicket stand between Jos Buttler and Steve Smith to finally climb up in the standings. Meanwhile, this is what the fans are saying about Jadhav:

Kedar Jadav is back in the team, beating Undertaker's record for the highest number of lives!#CSKvsRR #IPL2020 #IPL

�?Ajay Samson (@ajaysamson) October 19, 2020

*Jadhav comes in to bat*

CSK fans: pic.twitter.com/ML2xxKlbCH

�?The Meme Makers (@the7mememakers) October 19, 2020

Kedar Jadhav in his short stay of 4 from 7 deliveries tonight tried to played Upper Cut, Sweep shot, aerial shots but connected nothing.

�?Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 19, 2020

Kedar Jadhav exists in CSK only to make Dhoni look good in comparison

�?The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) October 19, 2020

If someone tell u it's Fleming decision to play K.Jadhav just laugh at their innocence about d game,
Dhoni decision making power is much above everything within CSK, so decision to play #Jadhav completely is MSD decision.. May b it's his ego to prove everyone wrong but he failed.

�?Naganathan (@Nn84Naganatha) October 19, 2020

Honestly, how much worse could Jagadeesan or Ruturaj do than Jadhav?
If nepotism exists anywhere in cricket then it has to be CSK.

�?The Joker (@Joker122018) October 19, 2020

Jadhav isn't playing right from the first match clearly can see him struggling but in Team repeatedly. Csk management should go with some Youngster's next time

�?ᴠɪʀᴀ�?ᴠᴇʀɪʏᴀɴ (@White___Devil18) October 19, 2020

Kedar Jadhav is the only player who plays for 7 different IPL teams in the same season of IPL. #CSKvsRR pic.twitter.com/JCgNuCryQ0

�?Satyam Singh (@satyam_2044) October 19, 2020

As a true CSK fan we should point out their mistakes. Jegadeesan, highest run scorer in TNPL, not even given opportunity despite of performing well in one inning. Even Sam Curran is tested for opening slot, but Jegadeesan being an opening batsman not even tested. Jadhav

�?Izhaan ul huq (@izhantweetz) October 19, 2020

A sensational bowling display followed by an assured performance with the bat saw Rajasthan register a comfortable seven-wicket win over Chennai.

Here are the key talking points from the contest:

Chennai Jos-tled

Defending a modest total of 126, Chennai were in the hunt for early wickets and managed to get them, picking up three wickets in a space of two runs to reduce Rajasthan to 28/3. However, their hopes were quickly squashed by a sensational batting performance from Jos Buttler, who in his new role as the #5 batsman scored 70 off 48, seemingly batting on a different surface and guiding Rajasthan to a comfortable seven-wicket victory. 

Faf, Ambati, Jadeja and who?

Chennai's struggles with the bat continued as only one of the eight batsmen that had the opportunity to bat managed to score over 30 runs in the contest. Outside of Faf Du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu at the top of the batting order and Ravindra Jadeja towards its end, Chennai's batsmen are in horrible form. When at least two of these three fail to score well, Chennai usually finish with a rubbish score. While their bowling hasn’t been top-notch, it is their batting that has let them down miserably this season.

• Fans want Kedar Jadhav out of Chennai's starting XI

Rajasthan's rampant spin duo

While it was Chennai's spinners who were touted to bamboozle Rajasthan, the latter’s spin duo of Shreyas Gopal and all-rounder Rahul Tewatia flipped the script, bowling sensational spells that restricted Chennai to just 125 runs in their batting effort. Gopal was the pick of the bowlers on either side, giving away just 14 runs in his four overs while also dismissing the set Sam Curran. Tewatia, who has been Rajasthan's MVP this season, couldn’t play hero with the bat in this contest, but bowled a terrific spell of 1-18 in his quota of four overs.

Sanju Sam-sunk?

Rajasthan's Sanju Samson started the season with a 74 followed by an 85 and was seemingly poised to have a huge season. However, in the subsequent eight matches, Samson has scored 77 runs at a miserable average of 9.63, further illustrating how his inconsistency has hindered his progress and curbed his chances of playing for the Indian team. Samson has four games to redeem this season, however, given his current form, it seems far-fetched that he'd able to finish the campaign the way he kicked it off.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @IndianT20League

Bits and pieces all-rounders are a thing. Ask New Zealand. Ask Chris Harris. Ask Craig McMillan. India went into the World Cup with one such player �?Kedar Jadhav. A handy batsman down the order, and a partnership breaker with his slingers, Jadhav received some flak for his inclusion and role in the ODI setup.

That he could bowl and none of the others in the top 6 could made Jadhav a permanent feature in India’s ODI setup. He was quite functional with the ball, flashy, yet unassuming with the bat and did what was expected of him. 

Now, there are two sides to the Jadhav debate.

Read | Kohli returns to lead India T20 squad against West Indies

The one argument is that he was never a good enough ODI player. But that isn’t entirely true. For batting all-rounders with a minimum of 1000 runs and 10 wickets since Jadhav’s debut, only three players �?Angelo Mathews, Shakib Al Hasan, Tillakaratne Dilshan �?have a better difference between their batting and bowling averages than Jadhav.

Jadhav averages 42.96 with the bat and has 27 wickets at an average of 37.37 in his ODI career. The fact that he also strikes at a rate of 101.49 made him quite an asset in the lower middle-order, particularly with MS Dhoni’s prowess on the wane.

India’s batting stocks are thin when it comes to players who can also bowl a bit. Run through the list of batsmen who were at the time waiting to enter the ODI team and none of them were regular part-timers �?Shreyas Iyer, Mayank Agarwal, Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav are all plain batsmen.

With India have an overdose of mainstream batsmen not capable of bowling, it made sense to play someone like Jadhav who can fill in as a sixth bowling option. Furthermore, Jadhav was a lower-order batsman with a high-efficiency rate, thus making him an ultra-utility player before the World Cup.

Read | India in the World Test Championship- dominating or just an easy draw?

None of India’s back-up players were lower-order batsmen at the time except Karthik, who was a keeper. So at least then, it made sense to have Jadhav in the side. So, what has changed between then and now �?a period of roughly 3-4 months?

Nothing at all is the simple, straightforward answer. Jadhav remains a quality option in the lower middle-order and might even do well in the upcoming series against the Windies. But what value does he add to the bigger picture �?say the T20 World Cup in 2020 or the ODI World Cup in 2023?

Jadhav is almost 35 years old now and will be 39 by the time the next ODI World Cup arrives. The in-between ODIs happening now are mere bilateral with no context and it is ideally useful for India to test their domestic players who have been in-form. With the inclusion of someone like Shivam Dube, India have arguably included someone who can bat and bowl in the top seven. 

Jadhav’s age and the fact that he adds little to the bigger picture makes his inclusion post the World Cup bizarre. Before the ODI World Cup, he was an all-important filler for the big tournament. Now, with younger guys waiting in the wings and opportunity rife to test newer talent, the inclusion of Jadhav in the ODI setup is a huge backward step.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan

India team bosses on Monday defended M.S. Dhoni after the wicketkeeper-batsman came under fire for slow batting towards the end of his side's World Cup defeat to England.

Chasing a stiff target 338 to win, previously unbeaten India needed 71 runs from the last five overs of Sunday's match at Edgbaston, with veteran big-hitter Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav at the crease. 

But the pair added just 39, scrambling singles but failing to find the boundary regularly, to finish on 306-5. Dhoni was unbeaten on 42 off 31 deliveries while Jadhav was 12 not out off 13 balls.

The two batsmen were criticised in the Indian press and on social media, with pundits labelling their approach as "baffling".

But assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said the criticism levelled at the former captain surprised him, adding that 37-year-old Dhoni was "doing the job for the team".

"Except for one odd innings, he has done the role always. Five out of seven games he has done the job for the team," said Bangar.

"If you see the earlier games, against South Africa he stitched together a partnership of 70 (the partnership was 74) with Rohit (Sharma). After that, what was required of him against Australia he did that.

"In Manchester on a difficult track (against West Indies) he got a vital fifty for us. Here also he was striking the ball really well. I'm surprised that this question continues to come up every now and then."

A powerful middle-order batsman who led India to World Cup glory at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium in 2011, Dhoni's finishing prowess has recently been questioned.

Earlier in the current tournament he faced flak for his slow knock against Afghanistan, when he scored just 28 off 52 deliveries.

Bangar said England's excellent bowling was the reason for India's struggles in Birmingham, rather than Dhoni's alleged lack of intent.

"If you look at the way they bowled towards the end, they used the dimensions really well and created difficult angles for our batters to hit," said Bangar.

"In those large boundaries and with the type of balls they were bowling -- slower bouncers, a lot of into-the-wicket deliveries, slower balls, I just felt maybe last one or two overs, the difference between runs required and balls left were a bit too much."

Rising star Rishabh Pant impressed with his cameo at number four and Bangar said the young batsman would keep his place in the side for Tuesday's match against Bangladesh, also at Edgbaston.

“I felt he had a decent innings,�?Bangar told reporters at Edgbaston. “He got 32 and played a couple of god shots, got a partnership going (with Hardik Pandya), so we’re going to persist with him.

“The team management was feeling the absence of a left-hander since Shikhar got injured,�?Bangar said, explaining the decision to send Pant ahead of Pandya on Sunday.

“It was a ploy to use right-left combination in the middle overs to upset the bowling plans. I feel because of that Adil Rashid could not bowl the number of overs he’d have usually bowled.�?/p>

The 21-year-old Pant, who joined the team in the middle of the tournament after an injury to opener Shikhar Dhawan, made 32 off 29 balls. 

India need one win from their remaining two matches to guarantee a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

With the rain gods transpiring in the cities of Bristol, Hampshire and Nottingham alike, the ICC Cricket World Cup has taken a halt to an extent that three of the last four matches have been abandoned due to rain.

This has led to the fans being devoid of any action they were bracing themselves for, and the points tally has been affected to extent as well. One of the casualties of the termination of the games have been Sri Lanka, who have seen their last two games being washed out. And the recent victim�?The Men in Blue as well as the Kiwis.

A game which could have seen India topping the chart �?if only they had conquered the Kiwis �?saw not even the toss being scheduled and the stakes were shared, leaving New Zealand on the top while India now acquire third due to incessant rain.

Haha Kedar Jadhav asking rains from England to shift to Maharashtra ❤️ #INDvNZ #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/ZcdoKcypkT

�?Saurabh (@Boomrah_) June 13, 2019

Reacting to all the hustle, Indian all-rounder Kedar Jadhav decided went out his solicitation by making a humble plea to the rain gods, asking them to travel all the way from England to his home state of Maharashtra, as it continues to face drought. It is believed that only 7 per cent of water is available for consumption as of now.

Fans and players alike, let’s just hope the demigods do listen to the Indian all-rounder.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Ishara S. Kodikara

Chennai all-rounder Kedar Jadhav has been all but ruled of the Indian T20 League after sustaining a shoulder injury during his team’s six-wicket defeat to team Punjab on Sunday, coach Stephen Fleming has confirmed.

"Kedar Jadhav's getting an x-ray and a scan tomorrow. I don't think we'll see him again in this tournament for us. He's in some discomfort. Fingers crossed that it is nothing too serious but it didn't look that good," Fleming said.

Jadhav, 34, sustained the knock while saving an overthrow near the boundary line and was forced to leave the field in the 14th over. The all-rounder was attended by the Chennai’s physio Tommy Simsek and didn’t field for the rest of the innings, with Murali Vijay being called as a substitute.

With World Cup just a month away, BCCI are expected to inform the franchises to not to take any noteworthy risks with the World Cup-bound players. As far as Jadhav is concerned, he is no stranger to injuries, having played just a single game in the 2018 edition of the Indian T20 League owing to a hamstring injury.

This season, he failed to assert any kind of authority whatsoever, having managed mere 162 runs in 14 games at 18.00. Furthermore, he didn’t bowl during the tournament as well.

Meanwhile, Chennai are scheduled to play  Mumbai, who recently defeated Kolkata by nine wickets, on May 7 for the first playoffs.

It couldn’t have been a better birthday present for Chennai all-rounder Kedar Jadhav. Facing a Delhi side which demolished Mumbai in the previous fixture, Chennai, on Tuesday, continued their defending campaign by winning the second game on trout. 

While Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo proved out to be the cult figures, the post-match celebration was all about Kedar Jadhav, who celebrated his 34th birthday on the day. In a video posted by the Chennai team, the players were seen in a joyful mood, high in spirit and left stones unturned while celebrating the birthday.

CSK / Twitter

Chasing a mere 148 on the night, Jadhav played a decent knock, scoring 27 off 34 deliveries before being dismissed by Rabada; caught behind by Rishabh Pant.

Jadhav, who has played with Bengaluru and Delhi in past, remains a crucial entity in MS Dhoni’s blueprint for Chennai. Coming down the order, his ability of playing pivotal knocks in crunch situation coupled with his aptness in bowling comes handy.

The next task for Chennai is now a visit of Rajasthan on March 31.