With the second COVID-19 wave rampant across the country and Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing a ban on passenger flights from India till May 15, rumours started doing the rounds that Australian players don’t wish to stay until the end of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Some outlets in the Australian media also started speculating that all their players involved in the IPL wanted to come back immediately via charter flights and they were in touch with the Australian government. However, sources in the know of developments in Cricket Australia have ended the speculation by saying that these are nothing but rumours and the players involved in the IPL want to compete in the league till the end.

“The players are intending to remain until the end of the tournament unless something changes dramatically. The media reports citing otherwise are incorrect,” the CA source told ANI.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians batsman Chris Lynn had informed that he requested Cricket Australia (CA) to arrange a charter flight so that the Australia-bound players can fly home safely after the end of the tournament.

“I texted back that as Cricket Australia make 10 per cent of every IPL contract, was there a chance we could spend that money this year on a charter flight once the tournament is over?” Lynn told News Corp media.

“I know there are people worse off than us. But we are going from a really tight bubble and are getting vaccinated next week, so hopefully, the government will let us get home on a private charter,” he added.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said the Australian cricketers taking part in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will have to arrange flights “under their own resources” if direct flights from India to Australia is suspended when the tournament gets over on May 30.

On Monday, Australian pacer Pat Cummins also donated USD 50,000 to aid India’s fight against Covid-19. He made a donation to the PM-Cares Fund for the purchase of oxygen supplies for Indian hospitals.

FC Bayern on Tuesday appointed Julian Nagelsmann as their new head coach.

The Bavarian-born 33-year-old will move to Munich from RB Leipzig on July 1, 2021, ahead of the new season, signing a five-year contract with the German record champions until June 30, 2026. “This comes after FC Bayern agreed to current head coach Hansi Flick’s request to have his contract terminated on June 30, 2021, two years earlier than its original expiry date,” Bayern Munich said in its official statement.

Under Hansi Flick, Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and UEFA Champions League in the 2019-20 season, and as a result, the side completed the continental treble for the second time in the club’s history.

He was also named as the German Football Manager of the Year by sports magazine kicker and he also won the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year Award.

The following season, he led Bayern to win the 2020 UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla.

Bayern Munich is currently at the top of the Bundesliga standings with 71 points from 31 games and the side is seven points ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on bottom-placed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Wednesday. This will be the first match here in the country’s Capital which has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases.

CSK are yet to lose a match. They have won four out of five matches. After losing their first game of the season to Delhi Capitals, the Chennai franchise has not lost a single game. SRH, however, have won only one out of the five matches they have played.

SRH’s win came in the April 21 match against Punjab Kings. That win came after three successive losses and was also followed by a loss against Delhi Capitals on Sunday.

The big concern for SRH has been their middle-order. While bringing in Kane Williamson to the squad has brought in some stability as the New Zealand captain helped solidify the line-up a bit at No. 3 like in the last match, SRH still haven’t sorted out batsmen between No 4 and 6.

SRH could look to bring in Manish Pandey instead of Virat Singh as the India international has more experience and has played some decent innings in the season.

A good performance will be key against CSK whose bowling hasn’t looked very strong.

However, CSK’s batting is very strong and the big challenge for SRH will be to get rid of openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad to expose the middle order to spinner Rashid Khan.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Strengths:

• Good opening of Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad

• Ravinder Jadeja’s all-round form has returned

Weaknesses:

• Deepak chahar & Shardul Thakur are inconsistent

• Dhoni`s form is not good as it was in the previous year

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

Strengths:

• Rashid Khan is very consistent.

• Good top order.

• Jagdeesha Suchith proved to be a good All-rounder.

Weaknesses:

• Bhuvneshwar`s absence.

• Middle- order not performing well

Mohammed Siraj defended 14 runs in the final over as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered a thrilling one-run win over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday here at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

With this win, RCB has moved to the top spot in the IPL standings with 10 points from six games. On the other hand, Delhi Capitals is at the third spot with 8 points from 6 games. Chasing 172, Delhi Capitals got off to bad start as the side was reduced to 28/2 in the fourth over. Shikhar Dhawan (6) was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson while Steve Smith (4) was sent back to the pavilion by Mohammed Siraj. Rishabh Pant next joined Prithvi Shaw formed a 19-run stand for the third wicket, but it was cut short by Harshal Patel as he dismissed Shaw (21) in the eighth over, reducing Delhi Capitals to 47/3.

Marcus Stoinis next joined skipper in the middle and the duo mixed caution with aggression to form a 45-run stand for the fourth wicket but as soon as Delhi started gaining an upper hand, Bangalore struck back as Harshal Patel dismissed Stoinis (22) in the 13th over, reducing Delhi to 92/4.

Shimron Hetmyer next came to the crease and he gave the much-needed impetus to Delhi’s innings and he along with Pant ensured that their side stays in the game. In the final three overs, Delhi required 46 runs for the win. Hetmyer smashed Jamieson for 21 runs in the 18th over and as a result, Pant’s side needed just 25 runs from the final overs. In the end, Siraj defended 14 runs in the final over as RCB edged past DC to register a victory.

Earlier, AB de Villiers’ unbeaten knock of 75 runs off just 42 balls helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) post a score of 171/5 in the allotted twenty overs. Along with de Villiers, Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell also chipped in with knocks of 31 and 25. For Delhi Capitals, all the five bowlers used by skipper Rishabh Pant ended up taking one wicket each.

Asked to bat first, RCB lost its skipper Virat Kohli (12) in the fourth over of the innings as he was sent back to the pavilion by Avesh Khan. In the very next over, Devdutt Padikkal (17) was bowled by Ishant Sharma, and this reduced RCB to 30/2. Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar then came together at the crease and the duo formed a 30-run stand for the third wicket, but the partnership was broken by Amit Mishra in the 9th over as he dismissed Maxwell (25).

The right-handed batsman was looking to go for a maximum, but he ended up handing a simple catch to Steve Smith, reducing RCB to 60/3. AB de Villiers next joined Patidar in the middle and the duo increased the tempo of run-scoring. Both batsmen mixed caution with aggression and stitched together a stand of 54 runs. Axar Patel finally ended Patidar’s (31) innings in the 15th over and RCB was reduced to 114/4.

De Villiers carried on his own in the final overs and helped RCB score 32 runs in the final two overs, taking the score past the 170-run mark.

BRIEF SCORES: RCB 171/5 (AB de Villiers 75*, Rajat Patidar 31, Avesh Khan 1-24); Delhi Capitals 170/4 (Rishabh Pant 58*, Shimron Hetmyer 53*, Harshal Patel 2-37).

After opting out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals pacer Andrew Tye revealed that several Australian players are worried about the Covid-19 situation in India at the moment. Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday had informed that pacer Andrew Tye flew back to Australia due to personal reasons. In a tweet, RR said, “AJ Tye flew back to Australia earlier today due to personal reasons. We will continue to offer any support he may need.” “There was a number of reasons for leaving, but the main one was with the situation that has started to happen back home in Perth with a lot of cases in hotel quarantine coming out of India.

Now there’s been a community case in Perth governments are trying to restrict numbers coming back in, especially Western Australia. I just thought to try and get on the front foot and get home before I got locked out of the country. It’s been a long time in bubbles and hubs — doing the calculations earlier, think I’ve had 11 days at home out of the bubble since August, so for me I just wanted to get home,” Tye told SEN Radio, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. “There’s definitely concerns from the Australians. A lot of guys have been in touch today once they realised I was leaving. Some of the guys are very interested in what route I took home and other guys are just happy to make sure I’m okay. Not sure if I’ll be the only one,” he added. Further talking about the Covid-19 situation in India, Tye said: “They are having over 300,000 cases a day and they are only the ones being reported, we know there’s probably a lot more than that number who can’t get tested. Yes, the IPL and BCCI have done an amazing job of keeping us safe but at the same time it’s tough and you also feel bad for the amount of people out there with Covid and we are still able to play cricket.”

Tye is the fourth overseas player for the Royals to pull out of the IPL. Earlier, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer pulled out of the IPL due to injuries while Liam Livingstone flew back home due to bubble fatigue. With this, Rajasthan is now left with only four overseas players. Tye did not play in any game of the season for Rajasthan.Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday confirmed that its two Australian players — Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson — will be heading back for personal reasons.

Indian archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari won the recurve men’s and women’s individual gold medals to cap an incredible first stage of the 2021 Archery World Cup in Guatemala City on Sunday. While Deepika won her third World Cup gold medal, Atanu secured the first international gold of his career in the tournament. Atanu defeated Spain’s Daniel Castro in the latter’s international circuit debut.

The Indian archer shot sets of 28, 29, and a closing excellent 30 points in a four-set victory. “It feels amazing. It’s like dreams are coming true. I’ve worked so hard for so many years, and now this is paying off,” the World Archery website quoted Atanu as saying. “It’s beautiful. It’s a big boost for me. The Olympics are this year, and I’m working in the right way,” he added. Both Indian archers have now automatically qualified for this season’s Archery World Cup Final.

The Indian women’s team defeated Mexico in the final to bag the gold medal for the country. Indian trio shot 27 to edge out their Mexican rivals by one point and claim their first World Cup team gold after seven years.