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GT vs RCB: Gill pleased with improved fielding and Tewatia finish in GT’s win

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Gill celebrating with Holder and Rabada. (PC: BCCI) Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill praised his teammates for their improved fielding compared with earlier games, as well as the side’s all-round effort in handing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) a four-wicket defeat in Ahmedabad. GT’s bowlers performed exceedingly well to restrict a strong RCB batting line-up to under 160, a total that was chased down by the home side despite a few hiccups in the middle. When Gill was asked about the reason behind the team’s win, the 26-year-old said: “I think our fielding was one of the key factors. At times, we haven’t fielded that well in previous games, but today was one of those days when everyone came together. The energy in the field was very, very good, especially after the second over when Virat bhai hit us for some runs, and the way we all came back together was crucial for us. Rahul Tewatia made an unbeaten 27 in the run chase, his first match winning contribution this season. A...
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IPL 2026: Clinical GT usurp RCB

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GT vs RCB (PC: BCCI) A clinical all-round show propelled Gujarat Titans to a resounding four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Narendra Modi Stadium. GT hunted down the modest target in the 16th over. GT have five wins in nine games, with RCB winning six in as many matches. The bowlers lay the platform Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Jason Holder and Rashid Khan shared the wickets for the home side. Rabada and Arshad took the key scalps of Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar. Meanwhile, Rashid took the prized scalps of Tim David and Devdutt Padikkal. Rashid flummoxing Devdutt with the leg-break was the highlight of his spell. In other words, the left-handed batter was expecting Rashid to bowl his trademark googly. Arshad ended up with three wickets, while Rashid returned with impressive figures of 2 for 19 from four overs. The Kohli vs Rabada battle The GT-RCB contest would be fondly recalled for the rip-roaring battle between Kohli and Rabada. Kohli smac...
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Bumrah – Those four overs that capsulised malfunctioning bowling parts

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Bumrah. (PC: BCCI) Jasprit Bumrah. The name itself is enough to conjure up fond memories of a bowler who has touched fast-bowling nirvana. Lest we forget that just one month ago, Bumrah was the toast of an entire nation after his game-breaking performances in the semifinal and final of the 2026 T20 World Cup. Somehow, in a matter of just over a month, a different version of Bumrah seems to be operating in the world of the IPL. Over eight matches, Bumrah has taken only two wickets at an eye-watering average of 132. Even in the just-concluded Mumbai Indians versus Sunrisers Hyderabad game, the ace fast bowler looked well below his best, ending up with figures of none for 54 in four overs.  Just consider this: in his third over, Bumrah attempted as many as five slower ones.  Subsequently, in his final over, he once again tried a variety of slower deliveries. In the past, Bumrah has befuddled opponents with his slower-ball mastery. But he usually employed his bagful of tricks ...
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LSG’s Quiet Masterstroke: The Return of Mohsin Khan

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  Mohsin Khan for LSG. Images :X Sanjiv Goenka has been subject to a lot of trolling in recent times. If I were in his position, I’d actually use it. He is being talked about, and it will help his team on social media. These trolls don’t matter, so Dr Goenka can start to look at it as publicity. Be the leader in the troll universe and gain considerable traction. But that’s not the point here. The point is that Dr Goenka and his team, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), have given Indian cricket Mohsin Khan back. He is the only bowler to have bowled two maiden overs this IPL, one of them against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Mohsin has been sensational and can certainly push Arshdeep Singh if he can stay fit and hold things together. A lot of work is done behind the scenes. This was one such case. Mohsin was brilliant in 2022 and was later badly impacted by multiple injuries. He had to undergo surgery and went off the radar. In a ruthlessly competitive world, LSG could easily have let him...
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MI vs SRH: “Incredible to see him do it on the big stage” – Klaasen on Salil Arora

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Heinrich Klaasen with Salil Arora (PC: IPL/BCCI) Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen delivered a match-winning performance to help his side register a dominant six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their IPL 2026 clash at the Wankhede Stadium on April 30. While chasing a massive target of 244 runs, Klaasen hammered a stunning unbeaten 65 off just 30 balls. Coming in after SRH lost two consecutive wickets, he built the innings with seven boundaries and four maximums at a strike rate of 216.66. During the post-match presentation, Player of the Match Klaasen reflected on his approach during the chase. “Big gap at cow corner so had to take a risk early,” he said. “Wicket was good. They had a quality bowling attack, so had to take a chance and see if we could make light work of it. The left shoulder gave me some issues, so I am not as strong over cow corner. Slinger is feeding me a lot of balls, so it is going nicely. (On if he is feeling invincible) N...
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Travishek sets up Sunrisers win, classy Klaasen slams the door shut

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Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma ( PC: X) Until the ninth over of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings, it felt like the visitors would win this game in a canter. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head were making short work of a victory target of 244. Then, Allah Ghazanfar struck, first by dismissing Abhishek and breaking a 129-run (8.4 overs) opening partnership, and accounting for Ishan Kishan for a golden duck the next ball. In the following over, Hardik Pandya removed Head, who perished for a 30-ball 76. The spectators at the Wankhede Stadium found their voice and the game was suddenly wide open. Mumbai Indians still had to remove Heinrich Klaasen. The 12th over, bowled by Ashwani Kumar, yielded 18 runs and the equation came down to 76 off 48 balls. Hardik took responsibility and bowled an economical 13th over. Only eight runs were scored, but the asking rate was still under 10. Klaasen had a slow start to this IPL, but as the tournament approaches the business end, he is proving his Rs 23-...
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What to make of high-scoring games in the world of IPL

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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (PC:IPL/BCCI) ‘ ‘One more 200-plus total bites the dust in the 2026 IPL.’ This could very well turn out to be a catchy headline in the backdrop of Rajasthan Royals chasing down a target of 223 against Punjab Kings. Just a few days ago, PBKS themselves overhauled a record-breaking target of 265, while RR were at the receiving end of Sunrisers Hyderabad hunting down a substantial total. Just sift through more numbers and you can paint the big picture. Over 15 long IPL seasons, there were 133 instances of 200-plus scores. Between 2023 and 2026, however, there have been 163 examples of teams surpassing the 200-run mark. Interestingly, in the ongoing IPL, teams have broken the 200-run mark a whopping 33 times. The numbers continue to set a narrative. We are living in times where a team can end up with 18–20 sixes in a game. We also live in times where the total number of sixes hit could be more than the number of boundaries. To illustrate the point, in a PBKS–LSG e...
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