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IPL 2022: The BCCI, in a letter to the franchises, confirmed that the existing 8 teams will be allowed to retain a maximum of 4 players between November 1 and November 25. The two new teams can pick a maximum of 3 players before the mega auction. BCCI confirms IPL 2022 retention rules in a letter to franchises (Courtesy of BCCI) HIGHLIGHTSA maximum of 4 players can be retained by exisiting franchises before mega auctionExisiting teams can retain players between November 1 and 30New teams allowed to pick maximum of 3 players before auction Indian Premier League teams can retain up to 4 players in the lead up to the mega auction for IPL 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has conveyed in a letter to the franchises. The two new teams who will be part of the next season will be allowed to pick 3 players before the auction. A source close to the board confirmed the developments to India Today on Saturday. The existing 8 franchises will be allowed to retain their playe...

India take on New Zealand in one of the most crucial Super 12 matches in Group 2 of T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, October 31. Both the teams are heading into the crunch contest on the back of defeats to Pakistan who are running away at the top of the group with 3 wins from as many matches. India captain Virat Kohli looked calm and composed when he was addressing the media on the eve of the big-ticket contest in Dubai. While he was condemning the online abuse of Mohammed Shami in strongly-worded statements, there were a few important statements that the skipper made that gave us a sneak peek of his mindset in the lead up to what is going to be a stiff test of his character. The team that loses on Sunday is likely to find it difficult to progress to the semi-final stage. Quite a few have labeled India vs New Zealand as a virtual quarter-final but Afghanistan’s hammering of Scotland and their spirited performance against Pakistan have added an int...

Babar Azam added another feather to his T20I cap on Friday as Pakistan beat Afghanistan to stretch their unbeaten streak in the Unite Arab Emirates on Friday. Babar Azam scored 51 off 45 balls in Pakistan’s 5-wicket win over Afghanistan in the Super 12 (AP Photo) HIGHLIGHTSPakistan (148/5) beat Afghanistan (147/6) by 5 wickets in DubaiBabar Azam completed 1000 T20I runs as Pakistan captain in 26 inningsVirat Kohli had achieved the feat for India in 30 innings to break Faf du Plessis’s record Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Friday broke Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest skipper to complete 1000 runs in the shortest format of international cricket during the match against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup in Dubai. Babar Azam shattered the previous record held by the Indian skipper by achieving the feat in 26 innings as compared to 30 taken by Kohli. South Africa’s Faf du Plessis (31), Australian Aaron Finch (32) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (...

Major decisions were taken on Thursday’s session of the Assam Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma including that Olympian Lovlina Borgohain will be appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police on probation. Lovlina Borgohain became only the third Indian boxer to finish on the Olympic podium in Tokyo this year (AFP Photo) The Assam government on Thursday decided to approve the appointment of Olympic medal-winning boxer Lovlina Borgohain as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Assam police. The decision was taken in the Assam cabinet meeting held in Guwahati under chairmanship of Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma and the state cabinet decided that Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina Borohain to be appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police on probation. Announcing the cabinet decision, Assam Education minister Dr Ranoj Pegu said that, after Lovlina Borgohain created a history in Tokyo Olympic, the Assam government had announced that, like as Hima Das, Lovl...

Kidambi Srikanth played his heart out to match Kento Momota and also held two-point lead towards the end of the decider but ended up losing the men’s singles second round of the French Open on Wednesday. Kidambi Srikanth won the first game but ran out of steam towards the end of the match to crash out of French Open (AFP Photo) HIGHLIGHTSKento Momota beat Kidambi Srikanth 18-21 22-20 21-19 in a 79-minute matchSrikanth had lost to Momota last week also at Denmark Open but he produced a much better display hereSatwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa made it to the mixed doubles second round Kidambi Srikanth suffered a heartbreaking defeat against top seed Kento Momota to make a second round exit but India’s mixed doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa advanced at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Paris on Wednesday. The Rio quarterfinalist played his heart out to match the Japanese and also held two-point lead towards the end of ...

All-rounder Hardik Pandya’s inability to bowl due to his recurring back injury has hampered the balance of the Indian team in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Hardik Pandya last bowled for India in a T20I match against Sri Lanka in July (AP Photo) HIGHLIGHTSHardik Pandya or a short span during India’s training session in DubaiHardik Pandya hasn’t been bowling this year due to a recurring back injuryIndia will take on New Zealand in their second Super 12 clash on Oct. 31 at the T20 World Cup in Dubai India all-rounder Hardik Pandya started bowling in the nets on Wednesday ahead of the team’s Super 12 clash against New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Hardik rolled his arm over for a short span of time before switching to batting in the training session in Dubai. Visuals of Pandya bowling in the nets along with Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were shown on air just before the match between Scotland and Namibia began in Abu Dhabi. India had no six...

Controversies around the high-voltage India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match on October 24 refuse to die. Former Pakistan cricketer Waqar Younis sparked a fresh controversy on Tuesday, October 26, when he said on a Pakistani news channel that watching Pakistani opener Mohammad Rizwan offering namaz “in front of Hindus was very special to him”. Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar was also on the show. However, this did not go down well with Indian sports commentator Harsha Bhogle. He called the statement “dangerous” and said that the cricket world needed to be united and not divided by religion. Bhogle said: “For a person of Waqar Younis’ stature to say that watching Rizwan offering namaz in front of Hindus was very special to him, is one of the most disappointing things I have heard. A lot of us try hard to play such things down and talk up sport and to hear this is terrible.” For a person of Waqar Younis’ stature to say that watching Rizwan offering namaz in front of Hindus...

Unvaccinated athletes will be able to take part in next year’s Australian Open after undergoing 14 days of quarantine, the WTA Tour has told its players, according to an email leaked to U.S. media. The email, obtained by freelance tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, contradicts a statement made last week by Australia’s immigration minister that players would need to be double vaccinated to get a visa to compete at the Grand Slam. A significant proportion of players on the women’s WTA and men’s ATP tour remain unvaccinated, and men’s world number one Novak Djokovic has declined to disclose his vaccination status. In the email, the WTA said it wanted to “clear up false and misleading information” about the conditions players would face at the Australian Open. The WTA said the information came from organisers Tennis Australia, who had requested players keep it confidential for “a few days” as they were still discussing the details wit...

India vs Pakistan: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya reassured the fans that he would soon be seen bowling in the latter stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup. India vs Pakistan: Want to be able to bowl eventually, closer to T20 WC knockouts, says Hardik Pandya (Reuters Photo) HIGHLIGHTSHardik did not bowl for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021I won’t be bowling for now: India all-round Hardik Pandya India start their T20 World Cup campaign against Babar Azam’s Pakistan Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya said that he wants to be able to bowl eventually, closer to T20 World Cup knockouts, while adding that he won’t be bowling for now. Pandya’s comments came ahead of the India-Pakistan clash, which is being played at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday evening. Notably, Pandya bowled a bit during India’s tour of Sri Lanka but he represented Mumbai Indians as a specialist batsman in the entire UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021). “The back is fine,...

England captain Eoin Morgan said his team’s campaign-opening win over defending champions West Indies was the perfect start in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai on Saturday. The Windies suffered one of their biggest defeats in the shortest format after getting bowled out for their second lowest T20I score of 55 in just 14.2 overs on a slow and turning pitch in Dubai. England needed just 50 balls to chase down the paltry target, although even they struggled to cope with the pitch conditions and lost 4 wickets in the process. ENG vs WI, T20 World Cup: Highlights | Report Batting fireworks were expected in the repeat of the 2016 final but England made it a one-sided affair with their bowlers running amok at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Moeen Ali (2-17) wrecked the West Indies top order before Adil Rashid ran through rest of the line-up to skittle out the Caribbean side for a paltry 55 inside 15 overs. England, bidding to become the first side to hold the 20-overs ...

T20 World Cup: Aaron Finch said that the general trend in the IPL and the warm-up matches has been that the team which wins the Powerplay overs end up winning matches, regardless of how much dew comes into play. David Warner was dropped by SRH during the IPL this season. (Reuters Photo) HIGHLIGHTSAustralia got a taste of the dew factor in their warm-up match against New ZealandFinch had no doubt it would be a headache for the teams Australia will need David Warner to rediscover his form to make the powerplay count Australia captain Aaron Finch backed his opening partner David Warner to come good in the first match of the T20 World Cup after the latter carried his poor form in the Indian Premier League into Australia’s warm-up match against New Zealand. “I’m backing Davey’s ability, I’m backing his judgement. If you look at these World Cup history, it’s bloody good,” Finch said. “Would he have liked more runs? Absolutely, everyone woul...

Former Australia pacer Brett Lee has backed India’s KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami to emerge as the top run-getter and the leading wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup Super 12s. “I think India are probably the favourites with their top four or five batters and their bowling attack. I have KL Rahul down as the top run-scorer in the tournament and Mohammed Shami to be the leading wicket-taker, purely going on the last few months,” Lee wrote in his column for ICC. “So if they deliver and India have one of the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers, it’s a good start.” Talking about Australia, Lee said that even though David Warner’s confidence may have taken a beating after the harsh treatment meted out to him by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, the dashing opener is a big stage player, who will be key to the team’s success in World Cup. SRH removed Warner from the captaincy in the first leg of the IPL this year and when the league resumed in th...

From top to bottom, the current Indian cricket team is full of match-winners. In fact, the current Indian team’s bench strength is so powerful that even with a second-string playing XI, they can beat top teams. Even India’s T20 World Cup lineup of 15 is missing two of their most experienced players in Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal. India’s young cricketers are strong and fearless in this regard. Despite having a 15-man roster, the BCCI had announced three reserve players. However, just days before the T20 World Cup began, Shardul Thakur, a reserve, was promoted to the final 15 while Axar Patel was downgraded to a reserve. And it’s easy to understand why. Thakur was the highest wicket-taker for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2021 season, with 21 scalps, and has been outstanding for India with both bat and ball in the past year. Former England captain Michael Vaughan lavished praise on Thakur, comparing him to the legendary Ian Botham. Vaughan believes it...

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer clarified his comments on Marcus Rashford, saying it was taken out of context. The under-pressure manager had told Rashford “to maybe prioritise his football and focus on football”. We’re so unbelievably proud of what Marcus has done off the pitch: Solskjaer (Reuters Photo) HIGHLIGHTSOle Gunnar Solskjaer said his comments were taken out of contextSolskjaer’s comments did not sit well with Rashford, according to British mediaWe’re so unbelievably proud of what Marcus has done off the pitch: Solskjaer manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer clarified his comments on Marcus Rashford after it was reported that the star forward was unhappy with the manager telling him to “prioritise his football”. Solskjaer said he is proud of Rashford’s off-field contributions and took a dig at the media for making headlines without context. Rashford earned widespread praise for his efforts to end child fo...

Pakistan made a statement of intent as they hammered defending champions West Indies by 7 wickets in a warm-up match of the T20 World Cup at the ICC Cricket Academy Ground in Dubai. Pakistan gunned down a 131-run target in just 15.3 overs to begin their campaign on a winning note. Pakistan looked pumped up both on the field and the bat as they dominated the warm-up match against holders West Indies. T20 World Cup 2021: Full Coverage Having won the toss and opting to bat, West Indies struggled to get any momentum into their innings. Hasan Ali gave Pakistan an early breakthrough as he removed Andre Fletcher for just 2 runs. Chris Gayle, who had pulled out of the latter part of IPL 2021 to prepare for the World Cup, walked in at No. 3 and joined Lendl Simmons. However, with Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi operating in tandem, both Simmons and Gayle found the going tough. West Indies reached only 30 at the end of the powerplay and Shaheen got the big wicket of Simmons with th...

Shakib picked up the wickets of Richie Berrington and Michael Leask to surpass Malinga and become the highest wicket taker in the shortest format of international cricket. Shakib Al Hasan struck twice for Bangladesh (AFP Photo) HIGHLIGHTSShakib Al Hasan currently has 108 wickets from 89 matches,Lasith Malinga was the leader up until now with 107 wickets from 84 T20IsAll-rounder Shakib has been in brilliant form with the ball off late in T20 cricket Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan on Sunday became the leading wicket taker in T20 international cricket by going past Lasith Malinga on the overall list with 108 scalps in the ongoing T20 World Cup match against Scotland. Shakib picked up the wickets of Richie Berrington and Michael Leask to surpass Malinga and become the highest wicket taker in the shortest format of international cricket. Shakib currently has 108 wickets from 89 matches, which is one more than Malinga’s tally of 107 from 84 T20Is for Sri Lanka. New Zeal...

SAFF Championships: Sunil Chhetri led from the front once again as India defeated Nepal 3-0 to win a record-extending 8th title. Coach Igor Stimac won his first trophy with the senior national team after taking over in 2019. Chhetri, Suresh and Sahal scored for India as they defeated Nepal 3-0 on Saturday (Photo Courtesy: Indian Football Team Twitter) HIGHLIGHTSSunil Chhetri top scored with goals as India won SAFF Championships 2021 in MaldivesChhetri, Suresh and Sahal scored for India as they defeated Nepal 3-0 on SaturdayThis was also coach Igor Stimac’s first trophy with the senior national team Sunil Chhetri led from the front once again as India overcame an ordinary first-half to defeat Nepal 3-0 in the final and win the SAFF Championships for a record-extending 8th time. Goals from Chhetri, Suresh Singh Wangjam and Sahal Abdul Samad gave the Blue Tigers a convincing victory at the National Stadium in Male, Maldives. Head coach Igor Stimac was not on the sidelines due to ...

Chennai Super Kings’ road to redemption ended with a fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in Dubai to emerge champions once again after 2010, 2011 and 2018. From not making it to the playoffs in IPL 2021 to lifting the title the next year, CSK turned their fortunes around once again under MS Dhoni with consistent performances throughout the duration of the 14th edition. In the final, CSK posted 192 for 3 on the board thanks to a brilliant 86 from Faf du Plessis and then restricted KKR to 165 for 9 to win their third match in succession against the two-time champions. CSK vs KKR, IPL 2021 Final: Highlights | Report The cricketing fraternity stood up to applaud Dhoni’s CSK on social media for winning their fourth title with Sunrisers Hyderabad opener David Warner leading the way. Congrats to @chennaiipl a great win. What can you say about this man @mahi7781 ?? Unbelievable #ipl #cricket #india https://t.co/27OkoRw8lg — Da...

WhatsApp has finally started rolling out its much-awaited end-to-end encryption to WhatsApp chat backups. The encryption is being rolled out to WhatsApp users on both Android and iOS platforms around the globe. As expected, the new security feature will ensure an extra level of privacy to WhatsApp chats that will now extend right from your device to the cloud. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had first hinted at the new security feature last month in a post on the social media platform. Zuckerberg has now confirmed the rollout in yet another post, stating that the feature will bring more security to your private WhatsApp conversations.The company will initially roll out the chat backup encryption slowly to people on iOS and Android around the world, in order to ensure there are no bugs. The rollout will pick up pace in the following weeks. Once available on your device, here is how the feature can help you, and how you can activate it for your WhatsApp account.WhatsApp chat backup encrypt...

A new report indicates that Apple has cut down its expectations on the iPhone 13 production this year due to the ongoing chip shortage. Sources indicate that the company has conveyed the same to its manufacturing partners as well. iPhone 13 Pro Max (Image: India Today Tech)HIGHLIGHTSApple hoped to produce 90 million iPhone 13 units by this year’s end.It is likely that it will not meet this target with the ongoing chip shortage.The supply shortage is being experienced from two major suppliers of Apple.It seems like the ongoing chip shortage is going to have a major impact on the iPhone 13 production this year. While Apple had expected to produce 90 million new iPhone models in the last three months of the year, it might have to cut this projection down by as many as 10 million units. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that Apple is the latest victim of the supply constraints on chipsets used in smartphones. The sources suggest that the projected iPhone produ...

Apple has sent out invites for the October 18 event, which is likely to see the launch of the MacBook Pro with M1X. The invite doesn’t say much, but the tagline reads, “Unleashed”, hinting at the company’s all-new chipset, which is likely to be the successor to the M1 chip. Apple is expected to launch all-new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models at the special launch event on October 18. However, the most important thing to look out for will be the M1X processor, which will be the successor to the M1 chip that debuted last year.The new MacBook Pro is likely to feature a mini-LED display and come with an HDMI port as well as an SD card slot. Apple is expected to remove the touch bar and bring back the traditional function keys. The new MacBook Pro models are not likely to see a major design overhaul, but we will have our fingers crossed. Apart from the MacBook Pro, Apple is also likely to announce the macOS Monterey release date.While there aren’t too man...

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante have been named on the 30-man shortlist for the men’s 2021 Ballon d’Or award. They are among the leading contenders for the prize handed out by France Football. Other superstar footballers to get the nod include Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and Romelu Lukaku. Six-time winner Messi and Megan Rapinoe grabbed the awards the last time they were held in 2019. Last year the Ballon d’Or event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. While upstaged recently by FIFA’s own awards, the Ballon d’Or, whose first recipient was Stanley Matthews in 1956, remains one of the most coveted individual awards in football.The prestigious Ballon d’Or will be awarded on November 29 in Paris, event organiser France Football magazine had confirmed. Five Chelsea players are included in the 2021 Ballon d’Or list whilst Tottenham’s Harry Kane has also been nominated.Messi ...

Instagram down? It seems that the photo-sharing platform owned by Facebook is again facing an outage. Downdetector confirms the outage with a massive spike. HIGHLIGHTSInstagram is again down within a week of the massive six-hour outage that knocked off all popular Facebook properties.Facebook service is also reported to be having issues though not a major one.In India, Instagram and Facebook are working fine at the time of writing this article.Instagram is again down for several users within a week after the photo-sharing platform faced a massive outage late on Monday. At the time of writing this article, Downdetector confirmed the Instagram outage with a sharp spike where around 10,400 users reported issues related to the app while some with the server connection.In India, both Instagram and Facebook are working fine as the services haven’t stopped working. But, some users are facing issues with posting photos on the platform.Facebook has now confirmed the outage, and here...

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma said he felt a little disappointed that the 5-time champions were not able to qualify for the play-offs of IPL 2021 but said the franchise can hold their heads high for their performances over the last 5-6 years in the cash-rich T20 league. Mumbai Indians gave it their all to make the most of an outside chance to reach the play-offs in their final league stage match on Friday in Abu Dhabi. MI headed into the match, knowing they had a mountain to climb as they needed to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 171 runs.SRH vs MI, IPL 2021: Highlights | ReportIshan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav sent the Sunrisers Hyderabad on a leather hunt as they hitting 84 and 82, respectively in quick time as Mumbai Indians posted 235, their highest total in the history of the tournament. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad came up with an impressive chase, hitting 193 and falling short of the total by only 42 runs, ending Mumbai’s hopes of a miracle.With the defeat, Mumbai Indian...

Satta Matka or  Satta King  online is a kind of wagering or lottery that started before India’s independence. Satta Matka is an obvious lottery game that began during the 1950s. As of now, it is an especially notable game. Anyway wagering is unlawful in India, numerous people really take an interest to make an effort. There are a couple of lotteries and horse racing games that are genuine in the country. What is Satta King?  Satta King is a wagering game that is played by more than one person. Today, Matka wagering or  Satta King  is a lottery game ward on hypothesizing numbers to win a prize. Satta is illegal in the country. In any case, online Satta Matka is authentic. The Satta Matka was known as ‘Ankada Jugar’ earlier during the 1950s. How to play Satta King or Matka game? In Satta King, there are many numbers created on slips through a Satta Matka, out of which the lottery comes out only a solitary surprising number. People bet bets on the picked number some...

CSK vs PBKS IPL 2021 Live Streaming: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are looking to finish the league stage at the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table while Punjab Kings (PBKS) face an uphill struggle in trying to seal a spot in the play-offs. Today IPL LIVE Streaming: When and where to watch Live Telecast of CSK vs PBKS. (Courtesy of BCCI)Eyeing a top-two finish, Chennai Super Kings will be the firm favourites when they lock horns with Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team, despite two straight defeats prior to the final round-robin match, will have its nose ahead against an inconsistent Punjab outfit that is all but out of the play-offs race. The Super Kings batsmen are in superb nick, especially the stylish Ruturaj Gaikwad, and they will be eager to continue the good work. Gaikwad and veteran South African Faf du Plessis have been good at the top while Ambati Rayudu has shown in the middle-order. Moeen Ali has done what has...

Assured of a play-off berth, Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to inch closer to a top two finish in the league stage when they play Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Wednesday. Eyeing their first IPL title triumph, RCB are currently placed third in the pecking order with 16 points from 12 games. Delhi Capitals are leading the standings ahead of Chennai Super Kings. A win on Wednesday will definitely boost RCB’s confidence ahead of their final group game against DC on Friday. If RCB win both their remaining two games, they will move to 20 points and have a chance of finishing in the top two. After suffering two defeats – against Kolkata Knight Riders and CSK at the start of the second leg, RCB bounced back in style, registering a hat-trick of wins to seal their place in the play-offs.And the Virat Kohli-led side would look to keep the juggernaut rolling in the competition. Even though he is yet to make a big score post the tournament’...

Controversial Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal has left the country to play league cricket in the United States. Akmal had recently completed his ban for breaching PCB’s anti-corruption code. Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal (Image Courtesy: Reuters)HIGHLIGHTSUmar Akmal has left Pakistan to explore cricketing future in the USAAkmal recently completed his ban for breaching PCB’s anti-corruption codeAkmal has featured in 16 Tests, 121 ODIs and 84 T20s for PakistanUmar Akmal has left Pakistan to explore his cricketing future in the USA. Akmal had recently completed his ban for breaching PCB’s anti-corruption code.Espncricinfo reported that the explosive has signed a short-term contract with Northern Cricket California Association and is open to exploring a long-term future which will sever his ties with Pakistan cricket.The 31-year-old had scored 0, 14, 7, 16 and 29 for the Central Punjab Second XI in the PCB Cricket Associations T20 tournament before deciding to go to Califor...

WhatsApp is down. Yes, and primarily all Facebook properties, including Instagram, Messenger, Oculus, and Facebook social media platforms, have been down for over two hours when writing this article. While we still wait for what Facebook says about this massive outage which is about to hit the two-hour mark, there are speculations on the Internet about a cyber attack. However, it is too early to say that. Most importantly, several cyber experts have pointed to a possible DNS issue that may have caused the entire ecosystem of Facebook apps to crash on Monday. In particular, there are two terms coming up again and again: DNS and BGP.Also read: WhatsApp down: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger down in global outage, company working on a fixOn social media — for now, which is mostly Twitter given that the whole of Facebook and company is down — users are saying that Facebook servers have been hacked, that hackers have brought down WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, that hackers h...

Glenn Maxwell’s (57 off 33b; 3×4, 4×6) six-hitting prowess and Yuzvendra Chahal’s (3/29) impressive display helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Punjab Kings in Sharjah on Sunday. With this win, RCB joined Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals in the playoffs. For the fourth place, it will be a four-way battle between Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals.For the second consecutive season, Virat Kohli-led RCB has qualified for the playoffs.Opting to bat, RCB suffered a middle order collapse after openers Devdutt Padikkal (40; 38 balls, 4×4; 2×6) and Virat Kohli (25; 24 balls, 2×4; 1×6) added 68 runs for the first wicket.But Maxwell, who is in the midst of one of his best IPL seasons, hit four sixes and three fours, to complete 50 off 29 balls.He and AB De Villiers (23 off 18 balls; 1×4; 2×6) put on a 73 run partnership fo...

IPL 2021: Skipper Rishabh Pant said that Delhi Capitals registered a hard-fought victory in Sharjah to complete the league double over Mumbai Indians. Pant further stated that Avesh Khan is the find of the season for DC. Shreyas Iyer held the fort while R Ashwin chipped as DC beat MI in Sharjah. (Courtesy by BCCI)HIGHLIGHTSIt’s a hard-fought victory: Rishabh Pant after DC beat MI in SharjahDelhi Capitals beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets in SharjahAvesh Khan is the find of the season for us: Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh PantAn elated Rishabh Pant opened up on Delhi Capitals’ 4-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in a low-scoring Indian Premier League thriller in Sharjah, saying it was a hard-fought victory for DC. Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin’s calm 39-run stand helped DC chase down a target of 130 with five balls to spare after Avesh Khan and Axar Patel led the way in restricting Mumbai Indians to 129/8 with three wickets each. Iyer top-sco...

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will look to ride on their winning momentum when they take on an inconsistent Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a must-win match at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday. KKR are ranked fourth with 10 points in the table and will look to retain their position in the top half, while PBKS, with just two points, will be desperate to win its remaining three matches. Considering the teams, Prasidh Krishna may be the only change with Sandeep Warrier looking the only out-of-line KKR bowler in the current line-up. Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, skipper Eoin Morgan, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik and Rahul Tripathi will be responsible for posting a good total while the likes Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson and Krishna will take the mantle of bowling.For PBKS, Chris Gayle won’t be available for PBKS’ remaining IPL 2021 matches and as it looks like Moises Henriques should get his first match in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Mayank Agarwal, who missed the ...