Murali Vijay aims for consistency
Sharjah: Opening batsman Murali Vijay is slowly finding his feet in the colours of his new IPl team Delhi Daredevils and he says he wants to be consistent and finish off more games. After playing for IPl's most decorated team Chennai Super Kings for five years, Vijay changed sides this season to open for Delhi and after three quiet innings, he has slowly started to make a mark with solid scores of 52 and 40, which helped his side beat Mumbai Indians in their last match on Sunday.
"I want to be more consistent in my performances. I am working on that aspect. As far as my batting is concerned, I have been batting well. Once I get consistency in my batting, I will get going," said Vijay, talking about his experience so far in the Delhi side.
"I have been batting pretty well in the domestic season and have been hitting the ball really well. I just want to carry forward my good form to this IPl season. I am happy that my contribution has helped my team win (against Mumbai)," he said.
Vijay found his rhythm against Mumbai but got out while unnecessary trying to slog Rohit Sharma. Not surprisingly, he was disappointed. "I should have won the match from there. There was no pressure on the team and on myself. I know I should have finished the game being the set batsman. I knew the batsmen coming in would find it difficult. I will try and finish the next game for the team," the Tamil Nadu batsman was quoted as saying by IPl official website.
Daredevils likely to rope in Tahir
New Delhi: With their spin cupboard almost bare in the ongoing Indian Premier league, Delhi Daredevils in all likelihood will rope in South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir to bolster their slow bowling department after paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile got injured.
Currently the Daredevils have only two specialist spin bowlers in left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma.
Tahir was not picked at the auctions but had a fantastic ICC World T20 in Bangladesh where he was one of the top wicket-takers with 12 scalps in the tournament at a very economical average. Also Tahir's experience of having plied his trade in T20 cricket in England and South Africa will also come in handy. He has played 12 T20 Internationals, taking 21 wickets. He has also played 91 T20 matches, taking 99 wickets with a decent economy rate of 6.42.
Coultier-Nile got injured while fielding in Daredevils' match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) three balls into the match. He was subsequently ruled out for the entire edition of the tournament.
"Tahir is the likely choice as DD is desperately short on their spin department. There were talks of him joining the team in UAE but it has been delayed. Hopefully, it will be cleared in a day or two," a BCCI official involved with IPl activities said.
KP's calmness has rubbed off: Parnell
Sharjah: Delhi Daredevils pacer Wayne Parnell is all praise for his skipper Kevin Pietersen, saying that the Englishman's calmness has rubbed off on his team-mates in their IPl campaign so far. "Pietersen brings his own energy to the team and his calmness rubs off on the other players. If you have a calm captain, you have a calm team as well," Parnell said after his side's six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians.
"Having confidence helps you and having the backing of the support staff and the captain is massive for any cricketer. Everyone wants to be backed by the leaders, and I feel I have that backing," he said.
Parnell (1/17) played a big role in Delhi restricting Mumbai to a modest 125 for 6 in their IPl match on Sunday, a total which they overhauled in 18.5 overs. The left-arm pacer, however, insisted that it's all about teamwork. "I was actually speaking to one of the owners the other day. He mentioned to me that the Delhi Daredevils play for the badge and not for themselves. As a collective bowling unit, we share information. The constant sharing of information between us helps us perform well as a unit," he said.
With three losses and two wins, Delhi are at the lower half of the IPl table but Parnell said that the team morale was still high after the win over Mumbai. "It’s nice to get some momentum going in to India. I feel we’ve been playing really good cricket over the past few games. Most of our losses in the tournament have been close, barring the game against CSK where we’re outplayed," he told iplt20.
Rossouw replaces Maddinson in RCB
Dubai: South African batsman Rilee Rossouw has replaced injured Nic Maddinson in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad, the IPl technical committee announced on Monday. left-handed Australian batsman Maddinson, 22, opened the batting for Bangalore in two games, scoring 4 and 12 respectively but was forced to fly out due to injury.
Roussow, 24, has been a regular in the South Africa A squad since 2010 and has been a heavy scorer in the domestic circuit as well.
The IPl Event Technical Committee had approved the replacement of injured players in this edition after Maddinson, Delhi Daredevils pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile and Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwayne Bravo had to opt out of their respective teams.
Chennai may also seek a replacement for Dwayne, who hurt his shoulder while attempting a catch on the boundary in the team's first match against KXIP. According to the IPl player regulations, the three franchises can choose replacements from among the players who registered for the 2014 auction but were not bought.