The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against England. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Ishank Kishan and Varun Chakravarthy have been handed major call-ups, the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns to the squad after a lengthy period on the sidelines due to injury.

Virat Kohli will lead the Indian side in the five-match T20I series against England, scheduled to start from March 12. All the matches of the T20I series will be played at the world's largest stadium - Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.&nbsp;

While some fresh faces have been added to the T20I squad, the likes of Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey missed the cut. Rahul Tewatia, who shot to fame in IPL 2020 where he whacked West Indies pacer, Sheldon Cottrell, for five sixes has been brought into the squad. Whereas Suryakumar Yadav, who has been in menacing form in the Indian domestic circuit and IPL for a few seasons now, finally gets rewarded. Varun Chakravarthy, who was originally drafted into the Indian squad for the T20I series against Australia but missed the series due to injury, gets another call-up.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/will-take-a-call-on-county-stint-after-ipl-says-csks-latest-recruit-cheteshwar-pujara-365075" hreflang="en">Will take a call on county stint after IPL, says CSK's latest recruit Cheteshwar Pujara</a>

Jasprit Bumrah has been rested given the hectic schedule of the Indian team in the year 2021 with the likes of Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan forming up the Indian pace battery. Axar Patel, too, has been included in the T20I side after a good outing in IPL 2020.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/felt-like-the-loneliest-guy-virat-kohli-opens-up-on-battle-with-depression-364757" hreflang="en">'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression</a>

<h2>India squad for England T20I series:</h2>

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur.

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Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur. <a href="https://t.co/KkunRWtwE6">https://t.co/KkunRWtwE6</a>
— BCCI (@BCCI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1363143754807316487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<table border="4" width="619">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="4" width="425">
			England’s tour of India, 2020/21 – T20I series
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="63">
			Sr .No.
			</td>
			<td width="112">
			Date
			</td>
			<td width="106">
			Match
			</td>
			<td width="144">
			Venue
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="63">
			1
			</td>
			<td width="112">
			12th&nbsp;March
			</td>
			<td width="106">
			1st&nbsp;T20I
			</td>
			<td width="144">
			Ahmedabad
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="63">
			2
			</td>
			<td width="112">
			14th&nbsp;March
			</td>
			<td width="106">
			2nd&nbsp;T20I
			</td>
			<td width="144">
			Ahmedabad
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="63">
			3
			</td>
			<td width="112">
			16th&nbsp;March
			</td>
			<td width="106">
			3rd&nbsp;T20I
			</td>
			<td width="144">
			Ahmedabad
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="63">
			4
			</td>
			<td width="112">
			18th&nbsp;March
			</td>
			<td width="106">
			4th&nbsp;T20I
			</td>
			<td width="144">
			Ahmedabad
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="63">
			5
			</td>
			<td width="112">
			20th&nbsp;March
			</td>
			<td width="106">
			5th&nbsp;T20I
			</td>
			<td width="144">
			Ahmedabad
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

&nbsp;

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against England. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Ishank Kishan and Varun Chakravarthy have been handed major call-ups, the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns to the squad after a lengthy period on the sidelines due to injury.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against England. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Ishank Kishan and Varun Chakravarthy have been handed major call-ups, the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns to the squad after a lengthy period on the sidelines due to injury. Virat Kohli will lead the Indian side in the five-match T20I series against England, scheduled to start from March 12. All the matches of the T20I series will be played at the world's largest stadium - Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. While some fresh faces have been added to the T20I squad, the likes of Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey missed the cut. Rahul Tewatia, who shot to fame in IPL 2020 where he whacked West Indies pacer, Sheldon Cottrell, for five sixes has been brought into the squad. Whereas Suryakumar Yadav, who has been in menacing form in the Indian domestic circuit and IPL for a few seasons now, finally gets rewarded. Varun Chakravarthy, who was originally drafted into the Indian squad for the T20I series against Australia but missed the series due to injury, gets another call-up. ALSO READ: Will take a call on county stint after IPL, says CSK's latest recruit Cheteshwar Pujara Jasprit Bumrah has been rested given the hectic schedule of the Indian team in the year 2021 with the likes of Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan forming up the Indian pace battery. Axar Patel, too, has been included in the T20I side after a good outing in IPL 2020. ALSO READ: 'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression India squad for England T20I series: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur. Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur. https://t.co/KkunRWtwE6 — BCCI (@BCCI) February 20, 2021 × England’s tour of India, 2020/21 – T20I series Sr .No. Date Match Venue 1 12th March 1st T20I Ahmedabad 2 14th March 2nd T20I Ahmedabad 3 16th March 3rd T20I Ahmedabad 4 18th March 4th T20I Ahmedabad 5 20th March 5th T20I Ahmedabad

India announce squad for England T20I series as Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan get call-ups

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday said that the pitch for the second Test played against England in Chennai was not "dangerous" at all while adding it&nbsp;players find it difficult to score runs when the ball spins. Pujara was even asked about the IPL 2021 auction, where he was signed by Chennai Super Kings.

India defeated England by 317 runs in the second Test in Chennai to level the series 1-1. Now the focus shifts to Ahmedabad, where the last two Tests of the series will be played at the world's largest stadium –&nbsp;Motera.&nbsp;

While there are still a few days to go before one could&nbsp;analyse&nbsp;the pitch in Ahmedabad, former players like Michael Vaughan and Mark Waugh termed the Chennai pitch as poor.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Sometimes you know when you are playing on a turning track, you find it difficult but at the same time, it was not a dangerous pitch at all. When the ball spins you know people find it difficult to score runs, especially the overseas teams. When we go overseas and we play on seaming tracks, the game finishes in three or four days. We still have to play on such wickets where there is a lot of grass or seam movement,"&nbsp;Pujara told&nbsp;a virtual press conference on Saturday.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/whopping-inr-6144-crore-in-14-years-of-ipl-auction-salary-money-spent-across-cricketers-globally-365017" hreflang="en">Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally</a>

"In turning tracks, one cannot define how much the ball can spin. It is a very thin line in that way. I do not think it was a bad pitch, it always becomes difficult in the second innings, this is how it is. When we play in Australia, there are cracks on day four and five, it is a little dangerous, the oddball hits the crack and it might take off. As a team I do not think we had any issues, once opposition teams start playing more on these pitches, they will be fine," he added.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Pujara was recently signed up by Chennai Super Kings for the 14th&nbsp;edition of the Indian Premier League for his base price. However, Pujara was all set to play County cricket in a bid to prepare for India's tour of England later this year. Now, with both IPL and County season clashing, Pujara&nbsp;said that he always wanted to play the shorter format of the game and will take a call on County cricket once the IPL gets over as he will have a small window to play some matches in England after the end of the cash-rich tournament.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"First of all, I am really glad to be a part of the IPL, it is good to be back again. I would like to thank the CSK team for picking me, but at the same time, when I am talking about county cricket, I still think I will have enough time before we play England in England. Once IPL gets over, there will be a window for me to play county games. That call I will take once IPL gets over. There will be enough time to play some county games. We also have a couple of practice games in England once the Test series begins there," said Pujara.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/proud-of-your-success-sachin-tendulkar-reacts-after-virat-kohli-opens-up-about-battle-with-depression-365026" hreflang="en">Proud of your success: Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Virat Kohli opens up about battle with depression</a>

"There is plenty of time to play county cricket but it is good to be back in the IPL. You know, I always want to play the short format of the game, IPL has produced so many great cricketers, some young talent we have got through the IPL, it has helped the Indian team. My focus once this Test series gets over will be on the IPL and once IPL gets over, I will think about county games and then there is a big series coming up against England. I am very hopeful that we will play the World Test Championship final as well which is in June," he added.&nbsp;

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday said that the pitch for the second Test played against England in Chennai was not "dangerous" at all while adding it players find it difficult to score runs when the ball spins.

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday said that the pitch for the second Test played against England in Chennai was not "dangerous" at all while adding it players find it difficult to score runs when the ball spins. Pujara was even asked about the IPL 2021 auction, where he was signed by Chennai Super Kings. India defeated England by 317 runs in the second Test in Chennai to level the series 1-1. Now the focus shifts to Ahmedabad, where the last two Tests of the series will be played at the world's largest stadium – Motera. While there are still a few days to go before one could analyse the pitch in Ahmedabad, former players like Michael Vaughan and Mark Waugh termed the Chennai pitch as poor. "Sometimes you know when you are playing on a turning track, you find it difficult but at the same time, it was not a dangerous pitch at all. When the ball spins you know people find it difficult to score runs, especially the overseas teams. When we go overseas and we play on seaming tracks, the game finishes in three or four days. We still have to play on such wickets where there is a lot of grass or seam movement," Pujara told a virtual press conference on Saturday. ALSO READ: Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally "In turning tracks, one cannot define how much the ball can spin. It is a very thin line in that way. I do not think it was a bad pitch, it always becomes difficult in the second innings, this is how it is. When we play in Australia, there are cracks on day four and five, it is a little dangerous, the oddball hits the crack and it might take off. As a team I do not think we had any issues, once opposition teams start playing more on these pitches, they will be fine," he added. Pujara was recently signed up by Chennai Super Kings for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League for his base price. However, Pujara was all set to play County cricket in a bid to prepare for India's tour of England later this year. Now, with both IPL and County season clashing, Pujara said that he always wanted to play the shorter format of the game and will take a call on County cricket once the IPL gets over as he will have a small window to play some matches in England after the end of the cash-rich tournament. "First of all, I am really glad to be a part of the IPL, it is good to be back again. I would like to thank the CSK team for picking me, but at the same time, when I am talking about county cricket, I still think I will have enough time before we play England in England. Once IPL gets over, there will be a window for me to play county games. That call I will take once IPL gets over. There will be enough time to play some county games. We also have a couple of practice games in England once the Test series begins there," said Pujara. ALSO READ: Proud of your success: Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Virat Kohli opens up about battle with depression "There is plenty of time to play county cricket but it is good to be back in the IPL. You know, I always want to play the short format of the game, IPL has produced so many great cricketers, some young talent we have got through the IPL, it has helped the Indian team. My focus once this Test series gets over will be on the IPL and once IPL gets over, I will think about county games and then there is a big series coming up against England. I am very hopeful that we will play the World Test Championship final as well which is in June," he added.

Will take a call on county stint after IPL, says CSK's latest recruit Cheteshwar Pujara

A host of Bangladesh cricketers and support staffers including the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Russell Domingo have been administered COVID-19 vaccines in Dhaka, ahead of the team's departure for New Zealand&nbsp;for their limited-overs international series.&nbsp;

Star player Soumya Sarkar was the first&nbsp;Bangladesh&nbsp;cricketer to be vaccinated at the&nbsp;Kurmitola&nbsp;General Hospital and was followed by the likes of&nbsp;Mehidy&nbsp;Hasan, Mohammad Naim and Taskin Ahmed. They were followed by support staffers as special arrangements were made for the overseas coaches. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)&nbsp;director Jalal Yunus was also among those vaccinated as he will be travelling with the team for the New Zealand tour, according to&nbsp;ESPNCricinfo.&nbsp;

Whereas some more Bangladeshi cricketers who will be travelling to New Zealand will be vaccinated on February 20 and the BCB will make further arrangements for more vaccines to be administered following the tour, if needed.&nbsp;

"The thing about vaccinations is that if you know how helpful it is for you then I think your fear will go. I will not deny that I was afraid.&nbsp;I was not sure whether to take it or not. But after talking to the BCB and finding out that it is normal to have symptoms, it made sense to take it,” Tamim Iqbal said.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/proud-of-your-success-sachin-tendulkar-reacts-after-virat-kohli-opens-up-about-battle-with-depression-365026" hreflang="en">Proud of your success: Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Virat Kohli opens up about battle with depression</a>

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Alhamdulillah, I am grateful to Allah, as I have just taken the first doze of Covid-19 Vaccine. Thanks to BCB and the Government of Bangladesh as well. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vaccine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vaccine</a> <a href="https://t.co/QfM51hc4RQ">pic.twitter.com/QfM51hc4RQ</a>
— Tamim Iqbal Khan (@TamimOfficial28) <a href="https://twitter.com/TamimOfficial28/status/1362295047173984262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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National Team Players and Coaching Staff take COVID-19 Vaccine today.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BCB</a> <a href="https://t.co/6fhm7cDxRE">pic.twitter.com/6fhm7cDxRE</a>
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) <a href="https://twitter.com/BCBtigers/status/1362407326729314306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The&nbsp;Surokkha&nbsp;app was also launched at the same time in the presence of health minister Zahid&nbsp;Maleque&nbsp;and BCB president Nazmul Hassan, and Sarkar was the first to use it.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/whopping-inr-6144-crore-in-14-years-of-ipl-auction-salary-money-spent-across-cricketers-globally-365017" hreflang="en">Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally</a>

Taskin&nbsp;Ahmed&nbsp;said:&nbsp;&nbsp;"I am feeling quite good after being inoculated," he told Prothom Alo. "There's no physical problem yet. I would like to thank the&nbsp;honourable&nbsp;prime minister and BCB for making it so easily available for us. I urge everyone to be vaccinated. The&nbsp;Surokkha&nbsp;app has also made it a simpler process."&nbsp;

With the Bangladesh government rolling out the vaccination drive earlier in February, more than one million Bangladeshis have taken the vaccines as of now. Notably,&nbsp;India had gifted Bangladesh&nbsp;2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in January.

The Bangladesh team will depart for New Zealand on 23 February to play three ICC Cricket World Cup Super League ODIs and three T20 internationals

A host of Bangladesh cricketers and support staffers including the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Russell Domingo have been administered COVID-19 vaccines in Dhaka, ahead of the team's departure for New Zealand for their limited-overs international series.

A host of Bangladesh cricketers and support staffers including the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Russell Domingo have been administered COVID-19 vaccines in Dhaka, ahead of the team's departure for New Zealand for their limited-overs international series. Star player Soumya Sarkar was the first Bangladesh cricketer to be vaccinated at the Kurmitola General Hospital and was followed by the likes of Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Naim and Taskin Ahmed. They were followed by support staffers as special arrangements were made for the overseas coaches. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director Jalal Yunus was also among those vaccinated as he will be travelling with the team for the New Zealand tour, according to ESPNCricinfo. Whereas some more Bangladeshi cricketers who will be travelling to New Zealand will be vaccinated on February 20 and the BCB will make further arrangements for more vaccines to be administered following the tour, if needed. "The thing about vaccinations is that if you know how helpful it is for you then I think your fear will go. I will not deny that I was afraid. I was not sure whether to take it or not. But after talking to the BCB and finding out that it is normal to have symptoms, it made sense to take it,” Tamim Iqbal said. ALSO READ: Proud of your success: Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Virat Kohli opens up about battle with depression Alhamdulillah, I am grateful to Allah, as I have just taken the first doze of Covid-19 Vaccine. Thanks to BCB and the Government of Bangladesh as well. #vaccine pic.twitter.com/QfM51hc4RQ — Tamim Iqbal Khan (@TamimOfficial28) February 18, 2021 × National Team Players and Coaching Staff take COVID-19 Vaccine today.#BCB pic.twitter.com/6fhm7cDxRE — Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) February 18, 2021 × The Surokkha app was also launched at the same time in the presence of health minister Zahid Maleque and BCB president Nazmul Hassan, and Sarkar was the first to use it. ALSO READ: Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally Taskin Ahmed said: "I am feeling quite good after being inoculated," he told Prothom Alo. "There's no physical problem yet. I would like to thank the honourable prime minister and BCB for making it so easily available for us. I urge everyone to be vaccinated. The Surokkha app has also made it a simpler process." With the Bangladesh government rolling out the vaccination drive earlier in February, more than one million Bangladeshis have taken the vaccines as of now. Notably, India had gifted Bangladesh 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in January. The Bangladesh team will depart for New Zealand on 23 February to play three ICC Cricket World Cup Super League ODIs and three T20 internationals

New Zealand-bound Bangladesh cricketers, staff administered COVID-19 vaccines

As the much-anticipated Indian Premier League auction took place in Chennai on 18th&nbsp;February 2021, Delhi Capitals went all out to ensure their fans felt like an integral part of the crucial evening for the team.

Continuing with last season’s initiatives to involve fans directly, the team launched an array of innovative engagement initiatives, taking another decisive step towards further cementing a loyal fandom for the Delhi-based franchise.

In the build-up to the auction,&nbsp;community polls&nbsp;were hosted on social media and in-person vox populi was conducted with fans at different locations in the city to get their opinion on preferred picks for the auction. The team’s official fan club, the&nbsp;DC Toli, also shared a customised digital filter to enable fans to send in digital vox populi.

The team’s buys reflected popular fan choice as Steve Smith and Umesh Yadav had emerged as the most wanted batsman and bowler, respectively.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-auction-2021-complete-players-list-of-all-eight-squads-364617" hreflang="en">IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads</a>

On the day of the auction, the team organised a live, virtual “DC Watch Party” hosted by renowned RJ Rahul Makin from Fever 104 FM. The party gave fans an auction experience like never-before, with real-time discussions with fellow fans, welcoming new players, celebrating the team of 2021 as well as technical discussions utilizing stat screens, recent performances, and insightful analyses. The various fans that participated in the live watch party included international fans from countries like Canada and Scotland, budding school and college-level cricketers from the city, influencers like Sam Kachru and Gaurav Sethi, as well fans from other IPL teams who were invited as special guests for an exchange of views.

The lucky fans also got a surprise visit from DC spinner Amit Mishra, who candidly answered their questions and joined them in cheering on the franchise at the auction.

Hosted live across Facebook, Youtube and Delhi Capitals’ website, the Watch Party garnered more than 1.8 lakh views.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-auction-highlights-from-chris-morris-to-glenn-maxwell-all-the-details-from-mini-auction-364497" hreflang="en">IPL 2021 Auction, Highlights: From Chris Morris to Glenn Maxwell - all the details from mini-auction</a>

Another social media initiative that caught the fans’ eyes, was Delhi Capitals own version of Dude with The Sign – “DC Fan with A Sign”. Dressed in the team jersey, the fan travelled to various iconic locations across the city and held placards featuring tongue-in-cheek messaging reflecting real-time updates from the auction, be it poking fun at the intense bidding wars or hailing the new additions to the team.

The “DC Reporter” series, which enables young and energetic fans from across the city to create content by the fans and for the fans, also released 5 special episodes covering all aspects of the auction such as fan reviews, welcoming new players and interviewing DC academy players.

Along with various micro-engagement activities, these initiatives further cement Delhi Capitals’ commitment towards bringing the fans closer to the team as they gear up to clinch their elusive first IPL crown.

<h2>DELHI CAPITALS, IPL 2021 SQUAD:</h2>

Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk),&nbsp;Shimron&nbsp;Hetmyer, Marcus&nbsp;Stoinis, Chris&nbsp;Woakes, R Ashwin,&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso&nbsp;Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman&nbsp;Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings&nbsp;

As the much-anticipated Indian Premier League auction took place in Chennai on 18th February 2021, Delhi Capitals went all out to ensure their fans felt like an integral part of the crucial evening for the team.

As the much-anticipated Indian Premier League auction took place in Chennai on 18th February 2021, Delhi Capitals went all out to ensure their fans felt like an integral part of the crucial evening for the team. Continuing with last season’s initiatives to involve fans directly, the team launched an array of innovative engagement initiatives, taking another decisive step towards further cementing a loyal fandom for the Delhi-based franchise. In the build-up to the auction, community polls were hosted on social media and in-person vox populi was conducted with fans at different locations in the city to get their opinion on preferred picks for the auction. The team’s official fan club, the DC Toli, also shared a customised digital filter to enable fans to send in digital vox populi. The team’s buys reflected popular fan choice as Steve Smith and Umesh Yadav had emerged as the most wanted batsman and bowler, respectively. ALSO READ: IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads On the day of the auction, the team organised a live, virtual “DC Watch Party” hosted by renowned RJ Rahul Makin from Fever 104 FM. The party gave fans an auction experience like never-before, with real-time discussions with fellow fans, welcoming new players, celebrating the team of 2021 as well as technical discussions utilizing stat screens, recent performances, and insightful analyses. The various fans that participated in the live watch party included international fans from countries like Canada and Scotland, budding school and college-level cricketers from the city, influencers like Sam Kachru and Gaurav Sethi, as well fans from other IPL teams who were invited as special guests for an exchange of views. The lucky fans also got a surprise visit from DC spinner Amit Mishra, who candidly answered their questions and joined them in cheering on the franchise at the auction. Hosted live across Facebook, Youtube and Delhi Capitals’ website, the Watch Party garnered more than 1.8 lakh views. ALSO READ: IPL 2021 Auction, Highlights: From Chris Morris to Glenn Maxwell - all the details from mini-auction Another social media initiative that caught the fans’ eyes, was Delhi Capitals own version of Dude with The Sign – “DC Fan with A Sign”. Dressed in the team jersey, the fan travelled to various iconic locations across the city and held placards featuring tongue-in-cheek messaging reflecting real-time updates from the auction, be it poking fun at the intense bidding wars or hailing the new additions to the team. The “DC Reporter” series, which enables young and energetic fans from across the city to create content by the fans and for the fans, also released 5 special episodes covering all aspects of the auction such as fan reviews, welcoming new players and interviewing DC academy players. Along with various micro-engagement activities, these initiatives further cement Delhi Capitals’ commitment towards bringing the fans closer to the team as they gear up to clinch their elusive first IPL crown. DELHI CAPITALS, IPL 2021 SQUAD: Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings

Delhi Capitals’ fans take centre-stage at IPL auction 2021

Former Indian cricketer and a legend of the game,&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Tendulkar on Saturday reacted to Virat Kohli opening up about his battle with depression, where the Indian captain also revealed how a conversation with the Master Blaster&nbsp;"opened up" his mindset.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Tendulkar took to social media platform Twitter as he wrote he is proud of his success and decision to share personal experiences. The former Indian cricketer added that these days youngsters are&nbsp;relentlessly&nbsp;judged on social media while adding we need to listen to them and help them flourish.&nbsp;

".@imVkohli, proud of your success &amp; decision to share such personal experiences.&nbsp;These days youngsters are constantly judged on social media. Thousands speak about them but not to them.&nbsp;We need to be able to listen to them and help them flourish,” Tendulkar tweeted.&nbsp;

<img alt="Sachin Tendulkar tweet on Virat Kohli" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a4c7c830-eb3d-4d46-bd5e-48f0c139740d" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Sachin.JPG" />

Kohli, on Mark Nicholas’ podcast 'Not Just Cricket' said that he felt depressed during India's tour of England in 2014 – when he went through the worst form of his life – but said that a chat with Tendulkar helped him&nbsp;during that phase.&nbsp;

"I did have a chat with him about the mental side of things as well and the thing that he told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass. If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on," Kohli told renowned broadcaster Mark Nicholas on the latter’s podcast ‘Not Just Cricket’.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/felt-like-the-loneliest-guy-virat-kohli-opens-up-on-battle-with-depression-364757" hreflang="en">'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression</a>

The Indian skipper further revealed he failed to understand how he would get over the phase while adding he felt like he was the "loneliest guy" in the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"I did (feel depressed). It's not a great feeling when wake up knowing that you won't be able to score any runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage or the other that you are not in control of anything at all. And you just don't understand how to get over it. I think when you look back at a very difficult phase, you&nbsp;realise&nbsp;that you had to go through that phase fully to be able to understand what is wrong and rectify and move forward and open yourself up for change. That was a phase where I literally couldn't do anything to overturn what I was going through. I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world," said Kohli, recalling the England tour back in 2014.&nbsp;

Kohli had averaged a mere 13.50 in India's tour of England in 2014 where he failed to even register a half-century in 10 innings.&nbsp;&nbsp;

He also said: "For me, personally, that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you a part of a big group. I won't say I didn't have people that I could speak to but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor. I think I would like to see it change. Someone that you can go to at any stage, have a conversation around, and say 'Listen this is what I am feeling, I am finding it hard to even go to sleep, I feel like I don't want to wake up in the morning. I have no confidence in myself, what do I do?'"&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/whopping-inr-6144-crore-in-14-years-of-ipl-auction-salary-money-spent-across-cricketers-globally-365017" hreflang="en">Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally</a>

Kohli will be seen in action against England when both teams take the field for the third Test in Ahmedabad from February 24.&nbsp;

Former Indian cricketer and a legend of the game, Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday reacted to Virat Kohli opening up about his battle with depression, where the Indian captain also revealed how a conversation with the Master Blaster "opened up" his mindset.

Former Indian cricketer and a legend of the game, Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday reacted to Virat Kohli opening up about his battle with depression, where the Indian captain also revealed how a conversation with the Master Blaster "opened up" his mindset. Tendulkar took to social media platform Twitter as he wrote he is proud of his success and decision to share personal experiences. The former Indian cricketer added that these days youngsters are relentlessly judged on social media while adding we need to listen to them and help them flourish. ".@imVkohli, proud of your success & decision to share such personal experiences. These days youngsters are constantly judged on social media. Thousands speak about them but not to them. We need to be able to listen to them and help them flourish,” Tendulkar tweeted. Kohli, on Mark Nicholas’ podcast 'Not Just Cricket' said that he felt depressed during India's tour of England in 2014 – when he went through the worst form of his life – but said that a chat with Tendulkar helped him during that phase. "I did have a chat with him about the mental side of things as well and the thing that he told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass. If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on," Kohli told renowned broadcaster Mark Nicholas on the latter’s podcast ‘Not Just Cricket’. ALSO READ: 'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression The Indian skipper further revealed he failed to understand how he would get over the phase while adding he felt like he was the "loneliest guy" in the world. "I did (feel depressed). It's not a great feeling when wake up knowing that you won't be able to score any runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage or the other that you are not in control of anything at all. And you just don't understand how to get over it. I think when you look back at a very difficult phase, you realise that you had to go through that phase fully to be able to understand what is wrong and rectify and move forward and open yourself up for change. That was a phase where I literally couldn't do anything to overturn what I was going through. I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world," said Kohli, recalling the England tour back in 2014. Kohli had averaged a mere 13.50 in India's tour of England in 2014 where he failed to even register a half-century in 10 innings. He also said: "For me, personally, that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you a part of a big group. I won't say I didn't have people that I could speak to but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor. I think I would like to see it change. Someone that you can go to at any stage, have a conversation around, and say 'Listen this is what I am feeling, I am finding it hard to even go to sleep, I feel like I don't want to wake up in the morning. I have no confidence in myself, what do I do?'" ALSO READ: Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally Kohli will be seen in action against England when both teams take the field for the third Test in Ahmedabad from February 24.

Proud of your success: Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Virat Kohli opens up about battle with depression

The Indian Premier League (IPL), hailed as the best T20 tournament in the world, on Thursday surpassed the INR 6000 crore mark of spending in auctions and salaries&nbsp;following the completion of mini-auction ahead of IPL 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;

At the IPL auction 2021, franchises spent heavily in a bid to bolster their respective squads as the likes of&nbsp;Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals&nbsp;signed up as many as 57 players.&nbsp;

According to a report in&nbsp;Insidesport, the IPL franchises have now spent a total of INR 6144 crore across 14 seasons with the 2021 auction seeing the amount locked at INR 145.30 crore. Since IPL started in 2008, a total of 789 players have seen their lives changed having earned lucrative IPL contracts.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-auction-2021-complete-players-list-of-all-eight-squads-364617" hreflang="en">IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads</a>

While naturally, Indian players have earned the majority of the chunk from IPL auctions, Australian and South African players follow them with the likes of West Indies, England and New Zealand players next in the list.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-yuvraj-singh-to-chris-morris-most-expensive-buys-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh to Chris Morris: Most expensive buys in every IPL auctions</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{ff839fe7-07c8-4301-8418-6cca28b1ec04}{255}" paraid="2091365710" >Let us take a look at how the distribution of IPL auction and salary&nbsp;money across players from different countries have happened over the years:&nbsp;</h2>

India: Indian domestic players have earned a staggering INR 3433 crore from 14 IPL seasons.&nbsp;

Australia: With 94 Aussie cricketers having played in IPL in 14 years, they have bagged INR 905.9 crore.&nbsp;

South Africa: The players from the rainbow nation are third on the list. As many as 56 Proteas players have participated in IPL while earning INR 539 crore from the cash-rich tournament.&nbsp;

West Indies: The&nbsp;Windies&nbsp;players have earned INR 458 crore with a total of 33 West Indies players having played in the IPL in 14 seasons.&nbsp;

England: A total of 33 English players have participated in the IPL while earning a mammoth INR 285.96 crore.&nbsp;

New Zealand: A total of 31 players from New Zealand have played in IPL, earning INR 211.6 crore.&nbsp;

Sri Lanka: Despite no players participating in IPL 2021, the Islanders have earned INR 195.93 after participation of 27 players in the tournament over the years.&nbsp;

Afghanistan: Only four Afghani players have played in IPL thus far having earned INR 58.4 crore.&nbsp;

Bangladesh: Only six Bangladesh players have participated in IPL in 14 editions with their earning standing at INR 34.78 crore.&nbsp;

Pakistan: While Pakistan players were only allowed in the IPL during the initial phase of the tournament, a total of 11 players played in the tournament, earning INR 12.84 crore.&nbsp;

Netherlands: Only two players have made the cut from the Netherlands in IPL while&nbsp;earning INR 5.27 crore.&nbsp;

Zimbabwe:&nbsp;Just three players have played in IPL from Zimbabwe, earning INR 1 crore.&nbsp;

The Indian Premier League (IPL), hailed as the best T20 tournament in the world, on Thursday surpassed the INR 6000 crore mark of spending in auctions and salaries following the completion of mini-auction ahead of IPL 2021.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), hailed as the best T20 tournament in the world, on Thursday surpassed the INR 6000 crore mark of spending in auctions and salaries following the completion of mini-auction ahead of IPL 2021. At the IPL auction 2021, franchises spent heavily in a bid to bolster their respective squads as the likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals signed up as many as 57 players. According to a report in Insidesport, the IPL franchises have now spent a total of INR 6144 crore across 14 seasons with the 2021 auction seeing the amount locked at INR 145.30 crore. Since IPL started in 2008, a total of 789 players have seen their lives changed having earned lucrative IPL contracts. ALSO READ: IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads While naturally, Indian players have earned the majority of the chunk from IPL auctions, Australian and South African players follow them with the likes of West Indies, England and New Zealand players next in the list. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh to Chris Morris: Most expensive buys in every IPL auctions Let us take a look at how the distribution of IPL auction and salary money across players from different countries have happened over the years: India: Indian domestic players have earned a staggering INR 3433 crore from 14 IPL seasons. Australia: With 94 Aussie cricketers having played in IPL in 14 years, they have bagged INR 905.9 crore. South Africa: The players from the rainbow nation are third on the list. As many as 56 Proteas players have participated in IPL while earning INR 539 crore from the cash-rich tournament. West Indies: The Windies players have earned INR 458 crore with a total of 33 West Indies players having played in the IPL in 14 seasons. England: A total of 33 English players have participated in the IPL while earning a mammoth INR 285.96 crore. New Zealand: A total of 31 players from New Zealand have played in IPL, earning INR 211.6 crore. Sri Lanka: Despite no players participating in IPL 2021, the Islanders have earned INR 195.93 after participation of 27 players in the tournament over the years. Afghanistan: Only four Afghani players have played in IPL thus far having earned INR 58.4 crore. Bangladesh: Only six Bangladesh players have participated in IPL in 14 editions with their earning standing at INR 34.78 crore. Pakistan: While Pakistan players were only allowed in the IPL during the initial phase of the tournament, a total of 11 players played in the tournament, earning INR 12.84 crore. Netherlands: Only two players have made the cut from the Netherlands in IPL while earning INR 5.27 crore. Zimbabwe: Just three players have played in IPL from Zimbabwe, earning INR 1 crore.

Whopping INR 6144 crore in 14 years of IPL: Auction, salary money spent across cricketers globally

Wolves made it three wins in four Premier League matches as an own goal from Leeds keeper Illan Meslier handed the hosts a 1-0 victory on Friday.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side took the points in the second half at Molineux when Adama Traore's shot hit the bar and bounced into the net off Meslier.

Leeds pushed hard for an equaliser but Mateusz Klich hit a post and Patrick Bamford had a goal ruled out for offside.

Wolves moved above Leeds into 11th place after extending their recent upturn in form, while Leeds have lost three of their last four league games.

"Players like Adama, when they have the ball and start running, are really dangerous. It was a beautiful strike," Nuno said. "It is a hard moment for their keeper.

"We still have some issues to assess but the approach that we have during these tough moments, always believing, always committing.&nbsp;

"You can't say anything about the attitude of the players. We chase the high standards we have and let's keep on doing that."

The tone for an entertaining encounter was set when Raphinha slipped in Klich and the midfielder's low effort ricocheted off the near post.

Pascal Struijk's follow-up was saved by Rui Patricio and Raphinha eventually fired wide.

Wolves responded and Meslier had to parry Nelson Semedo's angled effort.

Meslier needed to be alert to deny Semedo again just before the break.

Wolves forward Pedro Neto seized on Jack Harrison's loose pass to fire over early in the second half.

Raphinha's whipped delivery was met by Liam Cooper and his header was parried by Patricio, with Bamford's follow up smuggled away.

That save proved crucial as Wolves instantly regrouped to snatch their fortuitous 64th minute winner.

Traore collected the ball on the left and shrug off Luke Ayling as he surged towards the Leeds area.&nbsp;

The winger's 25-yard drive rattled the underside of the bar and the ball bounced out, hit Meslier on the back and rolled across the line.

Patricio saved from Cooper as Leeds sought a quick response and Bamford had an emphatic finish ruled out for offside.

Yet a leveller never came thanks to two smart stoppage-time saves from Patricio, who denied Helder Costa and turned away Raphinha's header.

Wolves made it three wins in four Premier League matches as an own goal from Leeds keeper Illan Meslier handed the hosts a 1-0 victory on Friday. Nuno Espirito Santo's side took the points in the second half at Molineux when Adama Traore's shot hit the bar and bounced into the net off Meslier.

Wolves made it three wins in four Premier League matches as an own goal from Leeds keeper Illan Meslier handed the hosts a 1-0 victory on Friday. Nuno Espirito Santo's side took the points in the second half at Molineux when Adama Traore's shot hit the bar and bounced into the net off Meslier. Leeds pushed hard for an equaliser but Mateusz Klich hit a post and Patrick Bamford had a goal ruled out for offside. Wolves moved above Leeds into 11th place after extending their recent upturn in form, while Leeds have lost three of their last four league games. "Players like Adama, when they have the ball and start running, are really dangerous. It was a beautiful strike," Nuno said. "It is a hard moment for their keeper. "We still have some issues to assess but the approach that we have during these tough moments, always believing, always committing. "You can't say anything about the attitude of the players. We chase the high standards we have and let's keep on doing that." The tone for an entertaining encounter was set when Raphinha slipped in Klich and the midfielder's low effort ricocheted off the near post. Pascal Struijk's follow-up was saved by Rui Patricio and Raphinha eventually fired wide. Wolves responded and Meslier had to parry Nelson Semedo's angled effort. Meslier needed to be alert to deny Semedo again just before the break. Wolves forward Pedro Neto seized on Jack Harrison's loose pass to fire over early in the second half. Raphinha's whipped delivery was met by Liam Cooper and his header was parried by Patricio, with Bamford's follow up smuggled away. That save proved crucial as Wolves instantly regrouped to snatch their fortuitous 64th minute winner. Traore collected the ball on the left and shrug off Luke Ayling as he surged towards the Leeds area. The winger's 25-yard drive rattled the underside of the bar and the ball bounced out, hit Meslier on the back and rolled across the line. Patricio saved from Cooper as Leeds sought a quick response and Bamford had an emphatic finish ruled out for offside. Yet a leveller never came thanks to two smart stoppage-time saves from Patricio, who denied Helder Costa and turned away Raphinha's header.

Meslier's own goal lifts Wolves above Leeds

England pacer Mark Wood reckons that his side, boasting one of the devastating pace attacks in the cricket world, can be upbeat about their chances in the upcoming pink-ball Test against India, scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad from February 24, given the ball moves around.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The four-Test series is firmly locked at 1-1 after the end of the first two Tests. The final two Tests of the series will be played at the new 110,000-capacity Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.&nbsp;Wood is hopeful of a seamer-friendly pitch.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"As soon as the ball moves, we know how good our seam bowlers can be. We've got good depth there, good skills and two of the best-ever (James Anderson and Stuart Broad).&nbsp;

"Hopefully, if the ball does move and it is seamer-friendly we can be very confident going into the game," Wood said during a virtual interaction on Friday.&nbsp;

Wood joined the England squad, along with Jonny Bairstow, ahead of the third Test. While spinners have dominated the first two Test matches, pacers are expected to pick the majority of wickets in the day-night Test in Ahmedabad.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"We've been bowling with them in the nets - they have swung quite a bit and they've lasted longer which was interesting to see," said Wood.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tempo-drivers-son-chetan-sakariya-mourns-brothers-loss-after-landing-inr-120-crore-ipl-deal-364891" hreflang="en">Tempo driver's son Chetan Sakariya mourns brother's loss after landing INR 1.20 crore IPL deal</a>

"With the ball, as soon as it moves, every one of the bowlers from the past couple of months is dying to get it in their hand. I'm not the only one who's trying to get hold of it.&nbsp;

"The wickets in the nets have been a bit green and had good pace and carry too. I don't know if that's anything to go by or whether it's a bit of a trick."&nbsp;

Recently, Wood pulled his name out of the IPL 2021 auction due to family reasons. However, the English paceman called it "very difficult decision" but the one he is comfortable with.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Obviously there have been some big names going for big money and it's great for them. It's life-changing money which is why it was such a difficult decision for me," he said.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/felt-like-the-loneliest-guy-virat-kohli-opens-up-on-battle-with-depression-364757" hreflang="en">'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression</a>

"First and foremost, it was for my family. I'm going to spend six weeks here in India and it would have been another eight weeks on top of that. The second reason, of course, is being ready for England.&nbsp;

"I don't want my body to fail me or be a bit bruised mentally or physically for the back end of the year when it's the World Cup and Ashes, or in the summer when it's a big series against India at home.&nbsp;

"Although it's life-changing money and an opportunity, I'm comfortable with my decision and I hope it serves me well in the long term."&nbsp;

&nbsp;

England pacer Mark Wood reckons that his side, boasting one of the devastating pace attacks in the cricket world, can be upbeat about their chances in the upcoming pink-ball Test against India, scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad from February 24, given the ball moves around.

England pacer Mark Wood reckons that his side, boasting one of the devastating pace attacks in the cricket world, can be upbeat about their chances in the upcoming pink-ball Test against India, scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad from February 24, given the ball moves around. The four-Test series is firmly locked at 1-1 after the end of the first two Tests. The final two Tests of the series will be played at the new 110,000-capacity Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. Wood is hopeful of a seamer-friendly pitch. "As soon as the ball moves, we know how good our seam bowlers can be. We've got good depth there, good skills and two of the best-ever (James Anderson and Stuart Broad). "Hopefully, if the ball does move and it is seamer-friendly we can be very confident going into the game," Wood said during a virtual interaction on Friday. Wood joined the England squad, along with Jonny Bairstow, ahead of the third Test. While spinners have dominated the first two Test matches, pacers are expected to pick the majority of wickets in the day-night Test in Ahmedabad. "We've been bowling with them in the nets - they have swung quite a bit and they've lasted longer which was interesting to see," said Wood. ALSO READ: Tempo driver's son Chetan Sakariya mourns brother's loss after landing INR 1.20 crore IPL deal "With the ball, as soon as it moves, every one of the bowlers from the past couple of months is dying to get it in their hand. I'm not the only one who's trying to get hold of it. "The wickets in the nets have been a bit green and had good pace and carry too. I don't know if that's anything to go by or whether it's a bit of a trick." Recently, Wood pulled his name out of the IPL 2021 auction due to family reasons. However, the English paceman called it "very difficult decision" but the one he is comfortable with. "Obviously there have been some big names going for big money and it's great for them. It's life-changing money which is why it was such a difficult decision for me," he said. ALSO READ: 'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression "First and foremost, it was for my family. I'm going to spend six weeks here in India and it would have been another eight weeks on top of that. The second reason, of course, is being ready for England. "I don't want my body to fail me or be a bit bruised mentally or physically for the back end of the year when it's the World Cup and Ashes, or in the summer when it's a big series against India at home. "Although it's life-changing money and an opportunity, I'm comfortable with my decision and I hope it serves me well in the long term."

IND vs ENG 3rd Test: England's Mark Wood upbeat about solid outing if ball moves around in Ahmedabad

Rajasthan Royals wrapped up the signing of left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya for a whopping INR 1.20 crore during the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction. While Chetan Sakariya admits&nbsp;his life will change after the auction, he has an empty space in his heart after losing his younger brother last month.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Chetan's younger brother had committed suicide in January. While RR's latest recruit said the absence of his younger brother still haunts him, he said his brother would have been&nbsp;happier&nbsp;than him after being guaranteed a part of IPL 2021 for Rajasthan Royals.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“My younger brother committed suicide in January. I wasn’t at&nbsp;home,&nbsp;I was playing Syed Mushtaq Ali at that time. I didn’t know he had passed away until I returned home. Even then, my family didn’t share the news with me. I used to ask them about Rahul’s whereabouts and they would tell me 'he has gone out’.&nbsp;Sometimes,&nbsp;they would say he had ventured out to buy groceries. This absence is a big void for me. Had he been here today he would have been&nbsp;more happy&nbsp;than me,”&nbsp;Chetan Sakariya, the 28-year-old left-arm pacer from&nbsp;Saurashtra, told the Indian Express.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-yuvraj-singh-to-chris-morris-most-expensive-buys-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh to Chris Morris: Most expensive buys in every IPL auctions</a>

Chetan's father Kanjibhai was driving a tempo to keep up with daily life until two years ago. However, his father&nbsp;never wanted him to play cricket until his uncle came in between.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I never wanted him to work, I told him, I will take care of my family. People are asking me, what I will do with so much money, I said, let the money come first. I always wanted to shift to Rajkot,&nbsp;somehow,&nbsp;I didn’t have decent money to buy a good house. Now, the first thing I will do is buy a house in a good locality,” he said.&nbsp;

Sakariya was with Royal Challengers Bangalore as a net bowler in IPL 2020. While RCB went hard for the left-arm pacer, it was Rajasthan Royals who signed him up after an intense bidding battle.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/zaheer-khan-mahela-jayawardene-open-up-on-mumbai-indians-signing-arjun-tendulkar-364740" hreflang="en">Zaheer Khan, Mahela Jayawardene open up on Mumbai Indians signing Arjun Tendulkar</a>

“I was hoping that this time I will be there because when I went as a net bowler for RCB during IPL in UAE, RCB coach Mike Hesson and Simon Katich had told me that I have ticked all boxes to be part of any IPL team. RCB did try for me but getting picked for any team makes me happy,” Sakariya said.&nbsp;

Sakariya was vital to&nbsp;Saurasthra's&nbsp;maiden Ranji Trophy triumph last year when they defeated Bengal in the summit clash. After playing 15 First-Class and 16 T20 matches, Sakariya will now&nbsp;look to impress the cricketing world in IPL 2021.&nbsp;

Rajasthan Royals wrapped up the signing of left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya for a whopping INR 1.20 crore during the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction.

Rajasthan Royals wrapped up the signing of left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya for a whopping INR 1.20 crore during the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction. While Chetan Sakariya admits his life will change after the auction, he has an empty space in his heart after losing his younger brother last month. Chetan's younger brother had committed suicide in January. While RR's latest recruit said the absence of his younger brother still haunts him, he said his brother would have been happier than him after being guaranteed a part of IPL 2021 for Rajasthan Royals. “My younger brother committed suicide in January. I wasn’t at home, I was playing Syed Mushtaq Ali at that time. I didn’t know he had passed away until I returned home. Even then, my family didn’t share the news with me. I used to ask them about Rahul’s whereabouts and they would tell me 'he has gone out’. Sometimes, they would say he had ventured out to buy groceries. This absence is a big void for me. Had he been here today he would have been more happy than me,” Chetan Sakariya, the 28-year-old left-arm pacer from Saurashtra, told the Indian Express. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh to Chris Morris: Most expensive buys in every IPL auctions Chetan's father Kanjibhai was driving a tempo to keep up with daily life until two years ago. However, his father never wanted him to play cricket until his uncle came in between. “I never wanted him to work, I told him, I will take care of my family. People are asking me, what I will do with so much money, I said, let the money come first. I always wanted to shift to Rajkot, somehow, I didn’t have decent money to buy a good house. Now, the first thing I will do is buy a house in a good locality,” he said. Sakariya was with Royal Challengers Bangalore as a net bowler in IPL 2020. While RCB went hard for the left-arm pacer, it was Rajasthan Royals who signed him up after an intense bidding battle. ALSO READ: Zaheer Khan, Mahela Jayawardene open up on Mumbai Indians signing Arjun Tendulkar “I was hoping that this time I will be there because when I went as a net bowler for RCB during IPL in UAE, RCB coach Mike Hesson and Simon Katich had told me that I have ticked all boxes to be part of any IPL team. RCB did try for me but getting picked for any team makes me happy,” Sakariya said. Sakariya was vital to Saurasthra's maiden Ranji Trophy triumph last year when they defeated Bengal in the summit clash. After playing 15 First-Class and 16 T20 matches, Sakariya will now look to impress the cricketing world in IPL 2021.

Tempo driver's son Chetan Sakariya mourns brother's loss after landing INR 1.20 crore IPL deal

Cricket South Africa has lodged an official dispute with the International Cricket Council over Australia’s decision to withdraw from a scheduled tour of South Africa.

CSA interim board chairman Stavros Nicolaou told a press conference on Friday that the board was "extremely disappointed" over what he described as a unilateral decision by Cricket Australia.

Nicolaou said CSA had worked for many months to satisfy Australian concerns over Covid-19 and it came as a shock to receive a letter from the Australians on February 2 citing an "unacceptable risk" because of Covid.&nbsp;

The decision came just 22 days before the tour was due to start.

CSA's complaint to the ICC is understood to seek World Test championship points for the series on the grounds that it cannot be re-scheduled before April 30, the deadline for championship matches, as well as financial compensation.

"We don't know what the prospects of success are because there are provisions in the rules that relate to Covid for postponements to take place," said Nicolaou.&nbsp;

"But that's not the main issue. One needs to assess what these cancellations and postponements mean to the smaller nations or the poorer nations with less resources. I think there is a recalibration that needs to take place in cricket."

Nicolaou said the reasons advanced by Australia were not convincing.&nbsp;

They had claimed that South Africa was experiencing a peak of Covid infections with a more virulent strain of the virus and that there were concerns that Australian players might be stranded in South Africa should there be infections in their camp.

"This really confused us because the day we received the letter South Africa was on a very significant downward trajectory of the pandemic."&nbsp;

He said infections had declined from a peak of 22,000 a day to a current average of between one and two thousand a day.

"We also don't agree that there is a more virulent strain. We know there is a more contagious strain but it is not more virulent."

Nicolaou said CSA had secured assurances from the government that would enable anyone from Australia who contracted the virus to be able to fly home. Arrangements had also been made with private hospitals to accommodate any of the tourists if they should fall ill.

"It is a unilateral decision," said Nicolaou.&nbsp;

"Our preference would be to pick up the phone, set up a call and go through the various details."

<h2>- New board -</h2>

Nicolaou provided an update on the interim board's progress towards setting up a new board, with a majority of independent directors, following the resignation of the previous board last year.

He said a special general meeting would be held next month to approve recommendations for a new structure and he expected that CSA's annual general meeting, which was postponed from last October, would be held between April 10 and 17 to appoint a new board.

Former CSA and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, a member of the interim board, said CSA’s "internal challenges" had been damaging to the organisation’s reputation and international standing.

"It is no surprise that we were not able to focus and establish ourselves at the ICC and from my experience that allows an imbalance in the world of cricket."

Lorgat said there had been a resurgence in the dominance of the so-called Big Three of world cricket – India, England and Australia.&nbsp;

"We have seen a lot of fixtures between those countries to the detriment of the others. Cricket South Africa truly needs to get its house in order to play a meaningful role around the table at the ICC."

Cricket South Africa has lodged an official dispute with the International Cricket Council over Australia’s decision to withdraw from a scheduled tour of South Africa.

Cricket South Africa has lodged an official dispute with the International Cricket Council over Australia’s decision to withdraw from a scheduled tour of South Africa. CSA interim board chairman Stavros Nicolaou told a press conference on Friday that the board was "extremely disappointed" over what he described as a unilateral decision by Cricket Australia. Nicolaou said CSA had worked for many months to satisfy Australian concerns over Covid-19 and it came as a shock to receive a letter from the Australians on February 2 citing an "unacceptable risk" because of Covid. The decision came just 22 days before the tour was due to start. CSA's complaint to the ICC is understood to seek World Test championship points for the series on the grounds that it cannot be re-scheduled before April 30, the deadline for championship matches, as well as financial compensation. "We don't know what the prospects of success are because there are provisions in the rules that relate to Covid for postponements to take place," said Nicolaou. "But that's not the main issue. One needs to assess what these cancellations and postponements mean to the smaller nations or the poorer nations with less resources. I think there is a recalibration that needs to take place in cricket." Nicolaou said the reasons advanced by Australia were not convincing. They had claimed that South Africa was experiencing a peak of Covid infections with a more virulent strain of the virus and that there were concerns that Australian players might be stranded in South Africa should there be infections in their camp. "This really confused us because the day we received the letter South Africa was on a very significant downward trajectory of the pandemic." He said infections had declined from a peak of 22,000 a day to a current average of between one and two thousand a day. "We also don't agree that there is a more virulent strain. We know there is a more contagious strain but it is not more virulent." Nicolaou said CSA had secured assurances from the government that would enable anyone from Australia who contracted the virus to be able to fly home. Arrangements had also been made with private hospitals to accommodate any of the tourists if they should fall ill. "It is a unilateral decision," said Nicolaou. "Our preference would be to pick up the phone, set up a call and go through the various details." - New board - Nicolaou provided an update on the interim board's progress towards setting up a new board, with a majority of independent directors, following the resignation of the previous board last year. He said a special general meeting would be held next month to approve recommendations for a new structure and he expected that CSA's annual general meeting, which was postponed from last October, would be held between April 10 and 17 to appoint a new board. Former CSA and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, a member of the interim board, said CSA’s "internal challenges" had been damaging to the organisation’s reputation and international standing. "It is no surprise that we were not able to focus and establish ourselves at the ICC and from my experience that allows an imbalance in the world of cricket." Lorgat said there had been a resurgence in the dominance of the so-called Big Three of world cricket – India, England and Australia. "We have seen a lot of fixtures between those countries to the detriment of the others. Cricket South Africa truly needs to get its house in order to play a meaningful role around the table at the ICC."

South Africa complains to ICC over cancelled Australian cricket tour

Virat Kohli, who is regarded as one of the best batsmen to have ever played cricket, has opened up about his battle with depression during India's tour of England, where the swashbuckling batsman went through the worst form of his life.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Indian skipper has revealed how he felt he was the "loneliest&nbsp;guy in the world" as he&nbsp;narrated&nbsp;his struggle during India's tour of England in 2014, where he averaged a mere 13.50 in 10 innings – his lowest in a series with more than three&nbsp;Tests.&nbsp;&nbsp;

When asked&nbsp;by former England first-class cricketer and a renowned commentator Nicholas on his 'Not Just Cricket' podcast, whether he had suffered from depression during India's tour of England in 2014, Kohli answered "Yes, I did".&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kohli had returned with scores of&nbsp;1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0,7, 6 and 20 in five Tests, averaging 13.50 in his 10 innings.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/zaheer-khan-mahela-jayawardene-open-up-on-mumbai-indians-signing-arjun-tendulkar-364740" hreflang="en">Zaheer Khan, Mahela Jayawardene open up on Mumbai Indians signing Arjun Tendulkar</a>

"...it's not a great feeling to wake up knowing that you won't be able to score runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage that you are not in control of anything at all," he recalled.&nbsp;

However, showing his class, Kohli roared back to form in India's next immediate assignment – a tour of Australia – where he hammered 692 runs in the Test series.&nbsp;

"You just don't understand how to get over it. That was a phase when I literally couldn't do anything to overturn things...I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world," he said of the England tour.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Personally, for me, that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you a part of a big group. I won't say I didn't have people who I could speak to but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-auction-2021-complete-players-list-of-all-eight-squads-364617" hreflang="en">IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads</a>

"I think I would like to see it change,” Kohli responded as he said that mental health issues should be an important topic in everyone's life.&nbsp;

"Someone whom you can go to at any stage, have a conversation around and say 'Listen this is what I am feeling, I am finding it hard to even go to sleep, I feel like I don't want to wake up in the morning. I have no confidence in myself, what do I do?'&nbsp;

"Lot of people suffer with that feeling for longer periods of time, it carries on for months, it carries on for a whole cricket season, people are not able to get out of it," Kohli said.&nbsp;

"I strongly feel the need for professional help there to be very honest," he added.&nbsp;

(With PTI inputs)&nbsp;

Virat Kohli, who is regarded as one of the best batsmen to have ever played cricket, has opened up about his battle with depression during India's tour of England, where the swashbuckling batsman went through the worst form of his life.

Virat Kohli, who is regarded as one of the best batsmen to have ever played cricket, has opened up about his battle with depression during India's tour of England, where the swashbuckling batsman went through the worst form of his life. The Indian skipper has revealed how he felt he was the "loneliest guy in the world" as he narrated his struggle during India's tour of England in 2014, where he averaged a mere 13.50 in 10 innings – his lowest in a series with more than three Tests. When asked by former England first-class cricketer and a renowned commentator Nicholas on his 'Not Just Cricket' podcast, whether he had suffered from depression during India's tour of England in 2014, Kohli answered "Yes, I did". Kohli had returned with scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0,7, 6 and 20 in five Tests, averaging 13.50 in his 10 innings. ALSO READ: Zaheer Khan, Mahela Jayawardene open up on Mumbai Indians signing Arjun Tendulkar "...it's not a great feeling to wake up knowing that you won't be able to score runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage that you are not in control of anything at all," he recalled. However, showing his class, Kohli roared back to form in India's next immediate assignment – a tour of Australia – where he hammered 692 runs in the Test series. "You just don't understand how to get over it. That was a phase when I literally couldn't do anything to overturn things...I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world," he said of the England tour. "Personally, for me, that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you a part of a big group. I won't say I didn't have people who I could speak to but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor. ALSO READ: IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads "I think I would like to see it change,” Kohli responded as he said that mental health issues should be an important topic in everyone's life. "Someone whom you can go to at any stage, have a conversation around and say 'Listen this is what I am feeling, I am finding it hard to even go to sleep, I feel like I don't want to wake up in the morning. I have no confidence in myself, what do I do?' "Lot of people suffer with that feeling for longer periods of time, it carries on for months, it carries on for a whole cricket season, people are not able to get out of it," Kohli said. "I strongly feel the need for professional help there to be very honest," he added. (With PTI inputs)

'Felt like the loneliest guy': Virat Kohli opens up on battle with depression

The last name at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction was of young all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Tendulkar. As the name of the 21-year-old popped up, Mumbai Indians held their paddle up to sign the youngster for&nbsp;the base price of INR 20 lakh.&nbsp;Mumbai Indians’ Zaheer Khan and Mahela&nbsp;Jayawardene&nbsp;expressed their opinion on the young Arjun Tendulkar after the southpaw was roped in by MI for IPL 2021.&nbsp;

While social media came up with all sorts of theories, many missed the fact that Arjun has been part of the Mumbai Indians set-up for a couple of years as a support bowler and recently made the cut in the Mumbai state team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he made two appearances.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"I would like to thank the coaches, owners and the support staff for showing faith in me." 🙌💙 
 
Arjun Tendulkar shares his thoughts on joining MI 👇<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneFamily?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneFamily</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MumbaiIndians?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MumbaiIndians</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://t.co/fEbF6Q1yUF">pic.twitter.com/fEbF6Q1yUF</a>
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) <a href="https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1362444650653511686?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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"I have spent lots of time with him in the nets, trying to teach&nbsp;him a few tricks of the trade. He is a&nbsp;hard-working&nbsp;kid and he is keen on learning. That's the exciting part. The added pressure of the name&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Tendulkar is always going to be there with him, something he will have to live by. But the environment&nbsp;we have around the team is certainly going to help him become a better cricketer with the likes of Shane Bond and Mahela around. I wish him the best,” Zaheer Khan told a press conference following the IPL 2021 auction.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-yuvraj-singh-to-chris-morris-most-expensive-buys-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh to Chris Morris: Most expensive buys in every IPL auctions</a>

"We are looking at things under a very simple&nbsp;lense. He is just a youngster coming into the side. But he has to prove himself, has to show the coaching staff and the think tank of the team that he has got the goods to belong there.&nbsp;So&nbsp;what he does at the highest level in&nbsp;his hands,"&nbsp;Zaheer added.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"It's very important that his process and his progression happens as any other young cricketer." 
 
Akash Ambani shares his thoughts on signing Arjun Tendulkar 🎙️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneFamily?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneFamily</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MumbaiIndians?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MumbaiIndians</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://t.co/qUy5lqDcKz">pic.twitter.com/qUy5lqDcKz</a>
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) <a href="https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1362463020408922115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Whereas former Sri Lanka captain and MI head coach Mahela&nbsp;Jayawardene&nbsp;said that Arjun has great potential and the franchise wanted to invest in that.&nbsp;Jayawardene&nbsp;further said that it would be exciting for&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Tendulkar to see his son in the Mumbai Indians jersey.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-auction-2021-complete-players-list-of-all-eight-squads-364617" hreflang="en">IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads</a>

MI head coach Mahela&nbsp;Jayawardene&nbsp;said that the MI management saw potential in Arjun - who had been bowling to the MI batsmen in the nets and was rewarded for his hard work. Mahela went on to add that it would be a proud moment for&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;to see Arjun wearing MI jersey.&nbsp;

"He has worked hard for a couple of years now, coming to the nets and bowling to the guys, he especially worked very hard in UAE with us. Not only Arjun, but we also picked Yudhvir as well who was one of our bowlers who came to the nets.&nbsp;Whenever we see guys are working hard, we try and invest in that. It's great to have Arjun and it would exciting times for&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;as well to see Arjun wearing the Mumbai T-shirt and be a part of the squad," said Mahela.&nbsp;

The last name at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction was of young all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar. As the name of the 21-year-old popped up, Mumbai Indians held their paddle up to sign the youngster for the base price of INR 20 lakh.

The last name at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction was of young all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar. As the name of the 21-year-old popped up, Mumbai Indians held their paddle up to sign the youngster for the base price of INR 20 lakh. Mumbai Indians’ Zaheer Khan and Mahela Jayawardene expressed their opinion on the young Arjun Tendulkar after the southpaw was roped in by MI for IPL 2021. While social media came up with all sorts of theories, many missed the fact that Arjun has been part of the Mumbai Indians set-up for a couple of years as a support bowler and recently made the cut in the Mumbai state team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he made two appearances. "I would like to thank the coaches, owners and the support staff for showing faith in me." 🙌💙 Arjun Tendulkar shares his thoughts on joining MI 👇#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/fEbF6Q1yUF — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 18, 2021 × "I have spent lots of time with him in the nets, trying to teach him a few tricks of the trade. He is a hard-working kid and he is keen on learning. That's the exciting part. The added pressure of the name Sachin Tendulkar is always going to be there with him, something he will have to live by. But the environment we have around the team is certainly going to help him become a better cricketer with the likes of Shane Bond and Mahela around. I wish him the best,” Zaheer Khan told a press conference following the IPL 2021 auction. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh to Chris Morris: Most expensive buys in every IPL auctions "We are looking at things under a very simple lense. He is just a youngster coming into the side. But he has to prove himself, has to show the coaching staff and the think tank of the team that he has got the goods to belong there. So what he does at the highest level in his hands," Zaheer added. "It's very important that his process and his progression happens as any other young cricketer." Akash Ambani shares his thoughts on signing Arjun Tendulkar 🎙️#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/qUy5lqDcKz — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 18, 2021 × Whereas former Sri Lanka captain and MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that Arjun has great potential and the franchise wanted to invest in that. Jayawardene further said that it would be exciting for Sachin Tendulkar to see his son in the Mumbai Indians jersey. ALSO READ: IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that the MI management saw potential in Arjun - who had been bowling to the MI batsmen in the nets and was rewarded for his hard work. Mahela went on to add that it would be a proud moment for Sachin to see Arjun wearing MI jersey. "He has worked hard for a couple of years now, coming to the nets and bowling to the guys, he especially worked very hard in UAE with us. Not only Arjun, but we also picked Yudhvir as well who was one of our bowlers who came to the nets. Whenever we see guys are working hard, we try and invest in that. It's great to have Arjun and it would exciting times for Sachin as well to see Arjun wearing the Mumbai T-shirt and be a part of the squad," said Mahela.

Zaheer Khan, Mahela Jayawardene open up on Mumbai Indians signing Arjun Tendulkar

England's Sam Curran will no longer rejoin the squad in India for the fourth Test as originally planned, the England and Wales Cricket Board said Thursday, citing potential health fears associated with the trip.

Curran was rested following last month's tour of Sri Lanka as part of England's ongoing rotation policy, with a view to bringing the 22-year-old left-arm seamer back for the final Test in India and the subsequent limited-overs section of the visit.&nbsp;

But it has since become apparent that a journey from Britain to Ahmedabad would involve more than one commercial flight, increasing the prospects of Curran's exposure to the coronavirus.

As a result, team management have decided the best course of action is for Curran to join England's white-ball players for their already-organised private charter flight on February 26.

An ECB statement said: "Originally it was planned the Surrey all-rounder would fly to Ahmedabad in time to be available for the fourth Test in the city, starting on 4 March.

"However, in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, making secure arrangements for such a journey proved too great a logistical challenge."

Chris Woakes will leave the squad as planned after the third Test, a vacancy Curran had been expected to fill.

England, however, still have plenty of pace-bowling options in James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Olly Stone, with Ollie Robinson in reserve.

The four-Test series is level at 1-1 after India's 317-run win at Chennai on Tuesday.

The final two matches will both be played in Ahmedabad, with the third Test scheduled to start on February 24.

England's Sam Curran will no longer rejoin the squad in India for the fourth Test as originally planned, the England and Wales Cricket Board said Thursday, citing potential health fears associated with the trip.

England's Sam Curran will no longer rejoin the squad in India for the fourth Test as originally planned, the England and Wales Cricket Board said Thursday, citing potential health fears associated with the trip. Curran was rested following last month's tour of Sri Lanka as part of England's ongoing rotation policy, with a view to bringing the 22-year-old left-arm seamer back for the final Test in India and the subsequent limited-overs section of the visit. But it has since become apparent that a journey from Britain to Ahmedabad would involve more than one commercial flight, increasing the prospects of Curran's exposure to the coronavirus. As a result, team management have decided the best course of action is for Curran to join England's white-ball players for their already-organised private charter flight on February 26. An ECB statement said: "Originally it was planned the Surrey all-rounder would fly to Ahmedabad in time to be available for the fourth Test in the city, starting on 4 March. "However, in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, making secure arrangements for such a journey proved too great a logistical challenge." Chris Woakes will leave the squad as planned after the third Test, a vacancy Curran had been expected to fill. England, however, still have plenty of pace-bowling options in James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Olly Stone, with Ollie Robinson in reserve. The four-Test series is level at 1-1 after India's 317-run win at Chennai on Tuesday. The final two matches will both be played in Ahmedabad, with the third Test scheduled to start on February 24.

England's Sam Curran out of fourth Test in India over virus concerns

As many as 130 players, out of 298,&nbsp;went under the hammer&nbsp;in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, which was held in Chennai on Thursday. While South African all-rounder Chris Morris shattered the record of being the most expensive player in an IPL auction, the likes of&nbsp;Jhye&nbsp;Richardson,&nbsp;Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson&nbsp;Krishnappa&nbsp;Gowtham&nbsp;lit the stage up as franchises got involved in intense bidding wars in a bid to bolster their&nbsp;squads ahead of IPL 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;

After the end of mini-auction for IPL 2021, let us take a look at the&nbsp;full&nbsp;list of&nbsp;sold and unsold players:&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-auction-2021-complete-players-list-of-all-eight-squads-364617" hreflang="en">IPL Auction 2021: Franchise wise complete players list of all eight squads</a>

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/shahrukh-khan-and-arjun-tendulkar-all-that-turned-ipl-auction-into-a-memefest-364608" hreflang="en">Shahrukh Khan and Arjun Tendulkar: All that turned IPL auction into a memefest</a>

<h2>Here is the full list of players at IPL Auction 2021:</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Karun Nair - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹50 lakh</li>
	<li>Alex Hales - Unsold</li>
	<li>Jason Roy - Unsold</li>
	<li>Steve Smith - Delhi Capitals - ₹2.2 Crore</li>
	<li>Evin Lewis - Unsold</li>
	<li>Aaron Finch - Unsold</li>
	<li>Hanuma Vihari - Unsold</li>
	<li>Glenn Maxwell - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹14.25 crore</li>
	<li>Kedar Jadhav - Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹2 crore</li>
	<li>Shakib Al Hasan - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹3.2 Crore</li>
	<li>Moeen Ali - Chennai Super Kings - ₹7 crore</li>
	<li>Shivam Dube - Rajasthan Royals - ₹4.4 crore</li>
	<li>Chris Morris - Rajasthan Royals - ₹16.25 crore</li>
	<li>Dawid Malan - Punjab Kings - ₹1.5 crore</li>
	<li>Glenn Phillips - Unsold</li>
	<li>Alex Carey - Unsold</li>
	<li>Sam Billings - Delhi Capitals - ₹2 crore</li>
	<li>Kusal Perera - Unsold</li>
	<li>Adam Milne - Mumbai Indians - ₹3.2 crore</li>
	<li>Mustafizur Rahman - Rajasthan Royals - ₹1 crore</li>
	<li>Jhye Richardson - Punjab Kings - ₹14 crore</li>
	<li>Nathan Coulter-Nile - Mumbai Indians - ₹5 crore</li>
	<li>Sheldon Cotrell - Unsold</li>
	<li>Umesh Yadav - Delhi Capitals - ₹1 crore</li>
	<li>Adil Rashid - Unsold</li>
	<li>Rahul Sharma - Unsold</li>
	<li>Mujeeb Ur Rahman - Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹1.5 crore</li>
	<li>Harbhajan Singh - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹2 crore</li>
	<li>Ish Sodhi - Unsold</li>
	<li>Piyush Chawla - Mumbai Indians - ₹2.4 crore</li>
	<li>Qais Ahmad - Unsold</li>
	<li>Himanshu Rana - Unsold</li>
	<li>C Hari Nishaanth - Unsold</li>
	<li>Sachin Baby - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Rahul Gahlaut - Unsold</li>
	<li>Rajat Patidar - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Himmat Singh - Unsold</li>
	<li>Vishnu Solanki - Unsold</li>
	<li>Atit Sheth - Unsold</li>
	<li>Ripal Patel - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Shahrukh Khan - Punjab Kings - ₹5.25 crore</li>
	<li>Ayush Badoni - Unsold</li>
	<li>Venkatesh Iyer - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Vivek Singh - Unsold</li>
	<li>K Gowtham - Chennai Super Kings - ₹9.25 crore</li>
	<li>Vishnu Vinod - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Sheldon Jackson - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Kedar Devdhar - Unsold</li>
	<li>Mohammed Azharuddeen - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Avi Barot - Unsold</li>
	<li>Mujtaba Yousuf - Unsold</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Ankit Rajpoot - Unsold</li>
	<li>Lukman Meriwala - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Chetan Sakariya - Rajasthan Royals - ₹1.2 crore</li>
	<li>Kuldeep Sen - Unsold</li>
	<li>Riley Meredith - Punjab Kings - ₹8 crore</li>
	<li>Tushar Deshpande - Unsold</li>
	<li>M Siddharth - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Karanveer Singh - Unsold</li>
	<li>Jagadeesha Suchith - Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹30 lakh</li>
	<li>KC Cariappa - Rajasthan Royals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Sandeep Lamichhane - Unsold</li>
	<li>Midhun Sudhesan - Unsold</li>
	<li>Tejas Baroka - Unsold</li>
	<li>Rovman Powell - Unsold</li>
	<li>Shaun Marsh - Unsold</li>
	<li>Corey Anderson - Unsold</li>
	<li>Devon Conway - Unsold</li>
	<li>Darren Bravo - Unsold</li>
	<li>Rassie van der Dussen - Unsold</li>
	<li>Cheteshwar Pujara - Chennai Super Kings - ₹50 lakh</li>
	<li>Martin Guptill - Unsold</li>
	<li>Pawan Negi - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹50 lakh</li>
	<li>Kyle Jamieson - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹15 crore</li>
	<li>Ben Cutting - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹75 lakh</li>
	<li>Tom Curran - Delhi Capitals - ₹5.25 crore</li>
	<li>Gurkeerat Singh - Unsold</li>
	<li>Marnus Labuschagne - Unsold</li>
	<li>Moises Henriques - Punjab Kings - ₹4.2 crore</li>
	<li>Varun Aaron - Unsold</li>
	<li>Oshane Thomas - Unsold</li>
	<li>Mohit Sharma - Unsold</li>
	<li>Billy Stanlake - Unsold</li>
	<li>Mitchell McClenaghan - Unsold</li>
	<li>Jason Behrendorff - Unsold</li>
	<li>Naveen Ul Haq - Unsold</li>
	<li>Karan Sharma - Unsold</li>
	<li>Utkarsh Singh - Punjab Kings - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>KL Shrijith - Unsold</li>
	<li>Jalaj Saxena - Punjab Kings - ₹30 lakh</li>
	<li>Vaibhav Arora - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Ben Dwarshuis - Unsold</li>
	<li>G Periyasamy - Unsold</li>
	<li>Fabian Allen - Punjab Kings - ₹75 lakh</li>
	<li>Daniel Christian - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹4.8 crore</li>
	<li>Liam Livingstone - Rajasthan Royals - ₹75 lakh</li>
	<li>Thisara Perera - Unsold</li>
	<li>Ben McDermott - Unsold</li>
	<li>Matthew Wade - Unsold</li>
	<li>Sean Abbott - Unsold</li>
	<li>Siddhesh Lad - Unsold</li>
	<li>Tejinder Dhillon - Unsold</li>
	<li>Prerak Mankad - Unsold</li>
	<li>Suyash Prabhudessai - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>KS Bharat - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Josh Inglis - Unsold</li>
	<li>M Harisankar Reddy - Chennai Super Kings - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Simarjeet Singh - Unsold</li>
	<li>Kuldip Yadav - Rajasthan Royals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Scott Kuggeleijn - Unsold</li>
	<li>James Neesham - Mumbai Indians - ₹50 lakh</li>
	<li>Wayne Parnell - Unsold</li>
	<li>Reece Topley - Unsold</li>
	<li>Chris Green - Unsold</li>
	<li>Isuru Udana - Unsold</li>
	<li>George Linde - Unsold</li>
	<li>Chaitanya Bishnoi - Unsold</li>
	<li>Yudhvir Charak - Mumbai Indians - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Ajay Dev Goud - Unsold</li>
	<li>K Bhagath Varma - Chennai Super Kings - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Jack Wildermuth - Unsold</li>
	<li>Harsh Tyagi - Unsold</li>
	<li>Gerald Coetzee - Unsold</li>
	<li>Tim David - Unsold</li>
	<li>Marco Jansen - Mumbai Indians - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Pratyush Singh - Unsold</li>
	<li>Saurabh Kumar - Punjab Kings - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>C Hari Nishanth - Chennai Super Kings - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Akash Singh - Rajasthan Royals - ₹20 lakh</li>
	<li>Arjun Tendulkar - Mumbai Indians - ₹20 lakh</li>
</ul>

As many as 130 players, out of 298, went under the hammer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, which was held in Chennai on Thursday. While South African all-rounder Chris Morris shattered the record of being the most expensive player in an IPL auction, the likes of Jhye Richardson, Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson Krishnappa Gowtham lit the stage up as franchises got involved in intense bidding wars in a bid to bolster their squads ahead of IPL 2021.

As many as 130 players, out of 298, went under the hammer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, which was held in Chennai on Thursday. While South African all-rounder Chris Morris shattered the record of being the most expensive player in an IPL auction, the likes of Jhye Richardson, Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson Krishnappa Gowtham lit the stage up as franchises got involved in intense bidding wars in a bid to bolster their squads ahead of IPL 2021. After the end of mini-auction for IPL 2021, let us take a look at the full list of sold and unsold players: ALSO READ: IPL Auction 2021: Franchise wise complete players list of all eight squads ALSO READ: Shahrukh Khan and Arjun Tendulkar: All that turned IPL auction into a memefest Here is the full list of players at IPL Auction 2021: Karun Nair - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹50 lakh Alex Hales - Unsold Jason Roy - Unsold Steve Smith - Delhi Capitals - ₹2.2 Crore Evin Lewis - Unsold Aaron Finch - Unsold Hanuma Vihari - Unsold Glenn Maxwell - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹14.25 crore Kedar Jadhav - Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹2 crore Shakib Al Hasan - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹3.2 Crore Moeen Ali - Chennai Super Kings - ₹7 crore Shivam Dube - Rajasthan Royals - ₹4.4 crore Chris Morris - Rajasthan Royals - ₹16.25 crore Dawid Malan - Punjab Kings - ₹1.5 crore Glenn Phillips - Unsold Alex Carey - Unsold Sam Billings - Delhi Capitals - ₹2 crore Kusal Perera - Unsold Adam Milne - Mumbai Indians - ₹3.2 crore Mustafizur Rahman - Rajasthan Royals - ₹1 crore Jhye Richardson - Punjab Kings - ₹14 crore Nathan Coulter-Nile - Mumbai Indians - ₹5 crore Sheldon Cotrell - Unsold Umesh Yadav - Delhi Capitals - ₹1 crore Adil Rashid - Unsold Rahul Sharma - Unsold Mujeeb Ur Rahman - Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹1.5 crore Harbhajan Singh - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹2 crore Ish Sodhi - Unsold Piyush Chawla - Mumbai Indians - ₹2.4 crore Qais Ahmad - Unsold Himanshu Rana - Unsold C Hari Nishaanth - Unsold Sachin Baby - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh Rahul Gahlaut - Unsold Rajat Patidar - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh Himmat Singh - Unsold Vishnu Solanki - Unsold Atit Sheth - Unsold Ripal Patel - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh Shahrukh Khan - Punjab Kings - ₹5.25 crore Ayush Badoni - Unsold Venkatesh Iyer - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹20 lakh Vivek Singh - Unsold K Gowtham - Chennai Super Kings - ₹9.25 crore Vishnu Vinod - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh Sheldon Jackson - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹20 lakh Kedar Devdhar - Unsold Mohammed Azharuddeen - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh Avi Barot - Unsold Mujtaba Yousuf - Unsold Ankit Rajpoot - Unsold Lukman Meriwala - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh Chetan Sakariya - Rajasthan Royals - ₹1.2 crore Kuldeep Sen - Unsold Riley Meredith - Punjab Kings - ₹8 crore Tushar Deshpande - Unsold M Siddharth - Delhi Capitals - ₹20 lakh Karanveer Singh - Unsold Jagadeesha Suchith - Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹30 lakh KC Cariappa - Rajasthan Royals - ₹20 lakh Sandeep Lamichhane - Unsold Midhun Sudhesan - Unsold Tejas Baroka - Unsold Rovman Powell - Unsold Shaun Marsh - Unsold Corey Anderson - Unsold Devon Conway - Unsold Darren Bravo - Unsold Rassie van der Dussen - Unsold Cheteshwar Pujara - Chennai Super Kings - ₹50 lakh Martin Guptill - Unsold Pawan Negi - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹50 lakh Kyle Jamieson - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹15 crore Ben Cutting - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹75 lakh Tom Curran - Delhi Capitals - ₹5.25 crore Gurkeerat Singh - Unsold Marnus Labuschagne - Unsold Moises Henriques - Punjab Kings - ₹4.2 crore Varun Aaron - Unsold Oshane Thomas - Unsold Mohit Sharma - Unsold Billy Stanlake - Unsold Mitchell McClenaghan - Unsold Jason Behrendorff - Unsold Naveen Ul Haq - Unsold Karan Sharma - Unsold Utkarsh Singh - Punjab Kings - ₹20 lakh KL Shrijith - Unsold Jalaj Saxena - Punjab Kings - ₹30 lakh Vaibhav Arora - Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹20 lakh Ben Dwarshuis - Unsold G Periyasamy - Unsold Fabian Allen - Punjab Kings - ₹75 lakh Daniel Christian - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹4.8 crore Liam Livingstone - Rajasthan Royals - ₹75 lakh Thisara Perera - Unsold Ben McDermott - Unsold Matthew Wade - Unsold Sean Abbott - Unsold Siddhesh Lad - Unsold Tejinder Dhillon - Unsold Prerak Mankad - Unsold Suyash Prabhudessai - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh KS Bharat - Royal Challengers Bangalore - ₹20 lakh Josh Inglis - Unsold M Harisankar Reddy - Chennai Super Kings - ₹20 lakh Simarjeet Singh - Unsold Kuldip Yadav - Rajasthan Royals - ₹20 lakh Scott Kuggeleijn - Unsold James Neesham - Mumbai Indians - ₹50 lakh Wayne Parnell - Unsold Reece Topley - Unsold Chris Green - Unsold Isuru Udana - Unsold George Linde - Unsold Chaitanya Bishnoi - Unsold Yudhvir Charak - Mumbai Indians - ₹20 lakh Ajay Dev Goud - Unsold K Bhagath Varma - Chennai Super Kings - ₹20 lakh Jack Wildermuth - Unsold Harsh Tyagi - Unsold Gerald Coetzee - Unsold Tim David - Unsold Marco Jansen - Mumbai Indians - ₹20 lakh Pratyush Singh - Unsold Saurabh Kumar - Punjab Kings - ₹20 lakh C Hari Nishanth - Chennai Super Kings - ₹20 lakh Akash Singh - Rajasthan Royals - ₹20 lakh Arjun Tendulkar - Mumbai Indians - ₹20 lakh

IPL 2021 Auction: Complete list of sold and unsold players

In what could be described as an exhilarating day, the auction for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was held in Chennai on Thursday as all eight franchises bought players in a bid to strengthen their&nbsp;respective&nbsp;teams for the upcoming IPL 2021.&nbsp;

While records were shattered on some of the biggest names in the cricketing world, some of the&nbsp;lesser-known&nbsp;names&nbsp;saw their lives changed after being bought by franchises in IPL 2021 auction.&nbsp;The likes of Chris Morris, the most expensive signing in IPL history, Kyle Jamieson,&nbsp;Jhye&nbsp;Richardson were roped in for hefty price while all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham became the most expensive uncapped player. The likes of Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed&nbsp;Azharuddeen, Jalaj Saxena, Sheldon Jackson among others were rewarded for their great performances during the IPL 2021 auction.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{4bf913da-3def-4620-8b55-f2520e6a1b44}{190}" paraid="2059793526" >Here's the complete updated squad list of all eight IPL 2021 teams:&nbsp;</h2>

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/shahrukh-khan-and-arjun-tendulkar-all-that-turned-ipl-auction-into-a-memefest-364608" hreflang="en">Shahrukh Khan and Arjun Tendulkar: All that turned IPL auction into a memefest</a>

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-auction-complete-list-of-sold-and-unsold-players-364604" hreflang="en">IPL 2021 Auction: Complete list of sold and unsold players</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{ef5b2bca-660d-4bbc-9114-a724c63befb0}{20}" paraid="239540240" >CHENNAI SUPER KINGS&nbsp;</h2>

Faf&nbsp;du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N. Jagadeesan (wk), Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni (c&amp;wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, R. Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Josh&nbsp;Hazlewood, KM Asif, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Harisankar Reddy, K. Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishanth&nbsp;

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New entrants into the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperFam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SuperFam</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhistlePodu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhistlePodu</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yellove?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Yellove</a> 🦁💛 <a href="https://t.co/sSLqD0jESp">pic.twitter.com/sSLqD0jESp</a>
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChennaiIPL/status/1362426543973130241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>MUMBAI INDIANS&nbsp;</h2>

Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary,&nbsp;Anmolpreet&nbsp;Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Jasprit&nbsp;Bumrah, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar&nbsp;

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Total players bought: 7⃣ 
Overseas slots filled: 4⃣ 
Total money spent today: 1⃣1⃣.7⃣0⃣ CR<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneFamily?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneFamily</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MumbaiIndians?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MumbaiIndians</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://t.co/Iu5ylotFOS">pic.twitter.com/Iu5ylotFOS</a>
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) <a href="https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1362420324608868356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE&nbsp;</h2>

Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt&nbsp;Padikkal, Josh Philippe (wk), AB de Villiers (wk), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel&nbsp;Sams,&nbsp;Yuzvendra&nbsp;Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell,&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed&nbsp;Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat&nbsp;

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And that's that! 
 
Leave us with your best gifs to describe how you're feeling about our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClassOf2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClassOf2021</a>, 12th Man Army! 
 
We'll begin...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PlayBold?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PlayBold</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreChallengers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreChallengers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://t.co/B1SP7wnRYc">pic.twitter.com/B1SP7wnRYc</a>
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1362413058115657730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>DELHI CAPITALS&nbsp;</h2>

Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk),&nbsp;Shimron&nbsp;Hetmyer, Marcus&nbsp;Stoinis, Chris&nbsp;Woakes, R Ashwin,&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso&nbsp;Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman&nbsp;Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings&nbsp;

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Very happy with how things panned out for us <a href="https://twitter.com/DelhiCapitals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@delhicapitals</a> tonight, rounded out our squad strongly in all areas. Can't wait to get the group together and underway.
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) <a href="https://twitter.com/RickyPonting/status/1362411888945029126?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>SUNRISERS HYDERABAD&nbsp;</h2>

David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey,&nbsp;Sreevats&nbsp;Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha&nbsp;Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WelcomeToSRH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WelcomeToSRH</a> Jagadeesha Suchith, <a href="https://twitter.com/JadhavKedar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JadhavKedar</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Mujeeb_R88?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mujeeb_R88</a>! 🧡<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPL2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPL2021</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SRH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SRH</a> <a href="https://t.co/jqE8evn072">pic.twitter.com/jqE8evn072</a>
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) <a href="https://twitter.com/SunRisers/status/1362417793593794565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>PUNJAB KINGS&nbsp;</h2>

KL Rahul (c&amp;wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh,&nbsp;Prabsimran&nbsp;Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan&nbsp;Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan,&nbsp;Jhye&nbsp;Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian&nbsp;Allen,&nbsp;Saurabh Kumar&nbsp;

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5 ✈️ 
4 🇮🇳 
 
A good day at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction2021</a> for us! 😁<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaddaPunjab?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaddaPunjab</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PunjabKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PunjabKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/AUQ4ZpBO7B">pic.twitter.com/AUQ4ZpBO7B</a>
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/PunjabKingsIPL/status/1362431331905376257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS&nbsp;</h2>

Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh&nbsp;Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi

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Welcome to the knighthood <a href="https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@harbhajan_singh</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ShelJackson27?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShelJackson27</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Cuttsy31?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Cuttsy31</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Sah75official?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sah75official</a>, Vaibhav Arora, <a href="https://twitter.com/karun126?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@karun126</a>, Venkatesh Iyer &amp; Pawan Negi. 
 
Looking forward to play together in <a href="https://twitter.com/KKRiders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KKRiders</a> 💪🏻<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPL2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPL2021</a>
— DK (@DineshKarthik) <a href="https://twitter.com/DineshKarthik/status/1362420578334822401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>RAJASTHAN ROYALS&nbsp;</h2>

Sanju Samson (c&amp;wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul&nbsp;Tewatia, Mahipal&nbsp;Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank&nbsp;Markande, Jofra Archer, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris,&nbsp;Mustafizur&nbsp;Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh&nbsp;

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Most expensive video you'll see on the internet today..😉 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HallaBol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HallaBol</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoyalsFamily?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoyalsFamily</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction2021</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Tipo_Morris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tipo_Morris</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZG8nMoEfKH">pic.twitter.com/ZG8nMoEfKH</a>
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) <a href="https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1362418297493327879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

In what could be described as an exhilarating day, the auction for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was held in Chennai on Thursday as all eight franchises bought players in a bid to strengthen their respective teams for the upcoming IPL 2021.

In what could be described as an exhilarating day, the auction for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was held in Chennai on Thursday as all eight franchises bought players in a bid to strengthen their respective teams for the upcoming IPL 2021. While records were shattered on some of the biggest names in the cricketing world, some of the lesser-known names saw their lives changed after being bought by franchises in IPL 2021 auction. The likes of Chris Morris, the most expensive signing in IPL history, Kyle Jamieson, Jhye Richardson were roped in for hefty price while all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham became the most expensive uncapped player. The likes of Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Jalaj Saxena, Sheldon Jackson among others were rewarded for their great performances during the IPL 2021 auction. Here's the complete updated squad list of all eight IPL 2021 teams: ALSO READ: Shahrukh Khan and Arjun Tendulkar: All that turned IPL auction into a memefest ALSO READ: IPL 2021 Auction: Complete list of sold and unsold players CHENNAI SUPER KINGS Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N. Jagadeesan (wk), Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, R. Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, KM Asif, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Harisankar Reddy, K. Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishanth New entrants into the #SuperFam! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/sSLqD0jESp — Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) February 18, 2021 × MUMBAI INDIANS Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar Total players bought: 7⃣ Overseas slots filled: 4⃣ Total money spent today: 1⃣1⃣.7⃣0⃣ CR#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/Iu5ylotFOS — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 18, 2021 × ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Philippe (wk), AB de Villiers (wk), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat And that's that! Leave us with your best gifs to describe how you're feeling about our #ClassOf2021, 12th Man Army! We'll begin...#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/B1SP7wnRYc — Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 18, 2021 × DELHI CAPITALS Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings Very happy with how things panned out for us @delhicapitals tonight, rounded out our squad strongly in all areas. Can't wait to get the group together and underway. — Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) February 18, 2021 × SUNRISERS HYDERABAD David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman #WelcomeToSRH Jagadeesha Suchith, @JadhavKedar and @Mujeeb_R88! 🧡#IPLAuction #OrangeArmy #IPL2021 #SRH pic.twitter.com/jqE8evn072 — SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) February 18, 2021 × PUNJAB KINGS KL Rahul (c&wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar 5 ✈️ 4 🇮🇳 A good day at the #IPLAuction2021 for us! 😁#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/AUQ4ZpBO7B — Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021 × KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi Welcome to the knighthood @harbhajan_singh, @ShelJackson27, @Cuttsy31, @Sah75official, Vaibhav Arora, @karun126, Venkatesh Iyer & Pawan Negi. Looking forward to play together in @KKRiders 💪🏻#IPL2021 — DK (@DineshKarthik) February 18, 2021 × RAJASTHAN ROYALS Sanju Samson (c&wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Jofra Archer, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh Most expensive video you'll see on the internet today..😉 #HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | #IPLAuction | #IPLAuction2021 | @Tipo_Morris pic.twitter.com/ZG8nMoEfKH — Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 18, 2021 ×

IPL Auction 2021: Complete players list of all eight squads

IPL 2021 Auction Highlights: The likes of Chris Morris, Jhye Richardson, Krishnappa Gowtham went for whopping amounts. Here's how the IPL 2021 Auction panned out!

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{fa47ec30-0a50-4c9a-802b-8336a1baa830}{26}" paraid="1801703399" >IPL 2021 mini-auction: Highlights</h2>

- Arjun Tendulkar sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakh

- Akash Singh sold to RR for INR 20 lakh

- Pawan Negi to KKR for INR 50 lakh&nbsp;

- Venkatesh Iyer sold to KKR for INR 20 lakh

- Hanuma Vihari - Unsold

- Jason Beherendorff - Unsold&nbsp;

- Pawan Negi - Unsold

- Ben Cutting sold to KKR for INR 75 lakh

- C Hari Nishaant sold to CSK for INR 20 lakh

- Harbhajan Singh sold to KKR for INR 2 crore!

- Sam Billings sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore

- Kedar Jadhav sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 2 crore

- Karun Nair sold to KKR for INR 50 lakh

- Saurabh Kumar sold to Punjab Kings for INR 20 lakh

- Marco Jansen sold to MI for INR 20 lakh

-&nbsp;Tim David - Unsold

- Yudhvir Charak goes to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakh

- George Linde - Unsold

- Isuru Udana - Unsold

- Chris Green goes to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 30 lakh

- Reece Topley - Unsold

- Wayne Parnell - Unsold

- James Neesham sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 50 lakh

- Scott Kuggeleijn - Unsold

- Kuldip Yadav sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 lakh

- Simrajeet Singh - Unsold

- M Harisankar Reddy sold to CSK for INR 20 lakh

- KS Bharat to RCB for INR 20 lakh

- Suyash Prabhudessai sold to RCB for INR 20 lakh

- Prerak Mankad - Unsold

- Tajinder Dhillon - Unsold

- Siddhesh Lad - Unsold

- Matthew Wade - Unsold

- Thisara Perera - Unsold

- Liam Livingstone to Rajasthan Royals for INR 75 lakh

- Dan Christian to RCB for INR 4.80 crore!

- Fabian Allen to Punjab Kings for INR 75 lakh

- G Periyasamy - Unsold

- Ben Dwarshuis - Unsold

- Vaibhav Arora to KKR for INR 20 lakh

- Utkarsh Singh to Punjab Kings for INR 20 lakh

- Jalaj Saxena goes to Punjab Kings for INR 20 lakh

- Naveen ul Haq - Unsold

- Jason Beherendorf - Unsold&nbsp;

- Mitchell McLenaghan - Unsold

- Billy Stanlake - Unsold&nbsp;

- Oshane Thomas - Unsold

- Varun Aaron - Unsold&nbsp;

- Moises Henriques sold to Punjab Kings for INR 4.20 crore

- Marnus Labuschagne - Unsold

- Gurkeerat Singh Mann - Unsold

- Tom Curran goes to Delhi Capitals for INR 5.25 crore

- Ben Cutting - Unsold&nbsp;

- Kyle Jamieson sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 15 crore

-&nbsp;Midhun Sudhesan - Unsold&nbsp;

- Cheteshwar Pujara to Chennai Super Kings for INR 50 lakh

- Rassie van der Dussen - Unsold

- Darren Bravo - Unsold

- Devon Conway - Unsold

- Corey Anderson - Unsold&nbsp;

- Shaun Marsh - Unsold

- Rovman Powell - Unsold

- Tejas Baroka - Unsold

- Midhun Sudhesan - Unsold

- Sandeep Lamichhane - Unsold&nbsp;

-&nbsp;J Suchith moves to Sunrisers Hyderabad&nbsp;for INR 30 lakh

- Karanveer Singh - Unsold

- M Siddharth sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh

- Tushar Deshpande - Unsold

- Riley Meredith sold to Punjab Kings for INR 8 crore!

- Kuldeep Sen - Unsold

- Chetan Sakariya sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 1.20 crore

- Lukman Meriwala goes to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh

- Ankit Rajpoot - Unsold&nbsp;

- Mujtaba Yousuf - Unsold&nbsp;

- Avi Barot - Unsold&nbsp;

- Mohammed Azharuddeen goes to RCB for INR 20 lakh

- Kedar Devdhar - Unsold&nbsp;

- Sheldon Jackson goes to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 lakh

- Vishnu Vinod goes to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh

- Vivek Singh - Unsold

- Krishnappa Gowtham sold Chennai Super Kings for INR 9.25 crore

- Ayush Badoni - Unsold

- Shahrukh Khan sold Punjab Kings for INR 5.25 crore!

- Ripal Patel sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh

- Atit Sheth - Unsold

- Vishnu Solanki - Unsold

- Himmat Singh - Unsold

- Rajat Patidar sold for INR 20 lakh to RCB

- Rahul Gahlaut - Unsold

- Sachin Baby sold to RCB for INR 20 lakh!

- C Hari Nishant - Unsold

- Himanshu Rana - Unsold&nbsp;

- Qais Ahmad - Unsold

- Piyush Chawla sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 2.40 crore

- Ish Sodhi - Unsold&nbsp;

- Harbhajan Singh - Unsold&nbsp;

- Mujeeb Ur Rahman - Unsold

- Rahul Sharma - Unsold

- Adil Rashid - Unsold

- Umesh Yadav sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 1 crore!

- Sheldon Cottrell - Unsold

- Nathan Coulter-Nile sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 5 crore

- Jhye Richardson sold to Punjab Kings&nbsp;for INR 14 crore

- Mustafizur Rahman sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 1 crore!

- Adam Milne sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 3.20 crore

- Kusal Perrera - Unsold

- Sam Billings - Unsold&nbsp;

- Alex Carey - Unsold&nbsp;

- Glenn Phillips - Unsold

-&nbsp;Every team uses their players differently and we expect Maxwell to contribute in all departments on the field: Mike Hesson on buying Glenn Maxwell.

-&nbsp;Moeen is a good buy according to me. He always contributes with both bat and ball and we are happy with the buy: L Balaji on CSK buying Moeen Ali

- David Malan sold to Punjab Kings for INR 1.50 crore

- Chris Morris goes to Rajasthan Royals for INR 16.25 crore. He is now the most expensive IPL player ever!

- Shivam Dube sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 4.40 crore

- Moeen Ali sold to Chennai Super Kings for INR 7 crore!

- Shakib Al Hasan sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 3.20 crore

- Kedar Jadhav - Unsold

- Glenn Maxwell sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 14.25&nbsp;crore

- Hanuma Vihari - Unsold

- Aaron Finch - Unsold

- Evin Lewis - Unsold

- Steve Smith sold&nbsp;to Delhi Capitals for INR 2.2 crore

- Jason Roy - Unsold

- Alex Hales - Unsold

- Karun Nair - Unsold

- IPL 2021 Auction: Remaining purse, no. of players, available slots and more.

<table border="4" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="336pt">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="7" height="20" width="448">IPL 2021/ Squad Size/Salary Cap/Available Slots</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="78">Franchise</td>
			<td>No of Players</td>
			<td width="64">No of Overseas Players</td>
			<td width="64">Total&nbsp; money spent (Rs.)</td>
			<td width="64">Salary cap available (Rs.)</td>
			<td>Available Slots</td>
			<td>Overseas Slots</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">CSK</td>
			<td>19</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>65.1</td>
			<td>19.9</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>1</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">DC</td>
			<td>17</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>71.6</td>
			<td>13.4</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">KXIP</td>
			<td>16</td>
			<td>3</td>
			<td>31.8</td>
			<td>53.2</td>
			<td>9</td>
			<td>5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">KKR</td>
			<td>17</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>74.25</td>
			<td>10.75</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">MI</td>
			<td>18</td>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>69.65</td>
			<td>15.35</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">RR</td>
			<td>16</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>47.15</td>
			<td>37.85</td>
			<td>9</td>
			<td>3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">RCB</td>
			<td>14</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>49.6</td>
			<td>35.4</td>
			<td>11</td>
			<td>3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">SRH</td>
			<td>22</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>74.25</td>
			<td>10.75</td>
			<td>3</td>
			<td>1</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

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-&nbsp;England players in IPL 2021 Auction: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Nayan Doshi, Sam Billings, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Tom Curran, David Willey, Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingston, Ravi Bopara, George Garton

- Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting shares his thoughts ahead of IPL 2021 auction:&nbsp;

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Looking forward to the IPL auction tonight with <a href="https://twitter.com/DelhiCapitals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@delhicapitals</a> and filling out our squad for the season. Hope moneybags <a href="https://twitter.com/Bazmccullum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bazmccullum</a> doesn't outbid me again though.
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) <a href="https://twitter.com/RickyPonting/status/1362325150163607555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
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- CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan has already confirmed that head coach Stephen Fleming and skipper MS Dhoni will not attend the IPL 2021 mini-auction but the duo will join virtually.

- England pacer Mark Wood has pulled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction. Wood is currently involved with the England Test squad for the ongoing Test series against India.

- Check out the list of all 292 players listed for IPL 2021 auction:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-auction-full-list-of-292-players-set-to-go-under-hammer-364384" hreflang="en">IPL 2021 Auction: Full list of 292 players set to go under hammer</a>

IPL 2021 Auction Highlights: The likes of Chris Morris, Jhye Richardson, Krishnappa Gowtham went for whopping amounts. Here's how the IPL 2021 Auction panned out!

IPL 2021 Auction Highlights: The likes of Chris Morris, Jhye Richardson, Krishnappa Gowtham went for whopping amounts. Here's how the IPL 2021 Auction panned out! IPL 2021 mini-auction: Highlights - Arjun Tendulkar sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakh - Akash Singh sold to RR for INR 20 lakh - Pawan Negi to KKR for INR 50 lakh - Venkatesh Iyer sold to KKR for INR 20 lakh - Hanuma Vihari - Unsold - Jason Beherendorff - Unsold - Pawan Negi - Unsold - Ben Cutting sold to KKR for INR 75 lakh - C Hari Nishaant sold to CSK for INR 20 lakh - Harbhajan Singh sold to KKR for INR 2 crore! - Sam Billings sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore - Kedar Jadhav sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 2 crore - Karun Nair sold to KKR for INR 50 lakh - Saurabh Kumar sold to Punjab Kings for INR 20 lakh - Marco Jansen sold to MI for INR 20 lakh - Tim David - Unsold - Yudhvir Charak goes to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakh - George Linde - Unsold - Isuru Udana - Unsold - Chris Green goes to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 30 lakh - Reece Topley - Unsold - Wayne Parnell - Unsold - James Neesham sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 50 lakh - Scott Kuggeleijn - Unsold - Kuldip Yadav sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 lakh - Simrajeet Singh - Unsold - M Harisankar Reddy sold to CSK for INR 20 lakh - KS Bharat to RCB for INR 20 lakh - Suyash Prabhudessai sold to RCB for INR 20 lakh - Prerak Mankad - Unsold - Tajinder Dhillon - Unsold - Siddhesh Lad - Unsold - Matthew Wade - Unsold - Thisara Perera - Unsold - Liam Livingstone to Rajasthan Royals for INR 75 lakh - Dan Christian to RCB for INR 4.80 crore! - Fabian Allen to Punjab Kings for INR 75 lakh - G Periyasamy - Unsold - Ben Dwarshuis - Unsold - Vaibhav Arora to KKR for INR 20 lakh - Utkarsh Singh to Punjab Kings for INR 20 lakh - Jalaj Saxena goes to Punjab Kings for INR 20 lakh - Naveen ul Haq - Unsold - Jason Beherendorf - Unsold - Mitchell McLenaghan - Unsold - Billy Stanlake - Unsold - Oshane Thomas - Unsold - Varun Aaron - Unsold - Moises Henriques sold to Punjab Kings for INR 4.20 crore - Marnus Labuschagne - Unsold - Gurkeerat Singh Mann - Unsold - Tom Curran goes to Delhi Capitals for INR 5.25 crore - Ben Cutting - Unsold - Kyle Jamieson sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 15 crore - Midhun Sudhesan - Unsold - Cheteshwar Pujara to Chennai Super Kings for INR 50 lakh - Rassie van der Dussen - Unsold - Darren Bravo - Unsold - Devon Conway - Unsold - Corey Anderson - Unsold - Shaun Marsh - Unsold - Rovman Powell - Unsold - Tejas Baroka - Unsold - Midhun Sudhesan - Unsold - Sandeep Lamichhane - Unsold - J Suchith moves to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 30 lakh - Karanveer Singh - Unsold - M Siddharth sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh - Tushar Deshpande - Unsold - Riley Meredith sold to Punjab Kings for INR 8 crore! - Kuldeep Sen - Unsold - Chetan Sakariya sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 1.20 crore - Lukman Meriwala goes to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh - Ankit Rajpoot - Unsold - Mujtaba Yousuf - Unsold - Avi Barot - Unsold - Mohammed Azharuddeen goes to RCB for INR 20 lakh - Kedar Devdhar - Unsold - Sheldon Jackson goes to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 lakh - Vishnu Vinod goes to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh - Vivek Singh - Unsold - Krishnappa Gowtham sold Chennai Super Kings for INR 9.25 crore - Ayush Badoni - Unsold - Shahrukh Khan sold Punjab Kings for INR 5.25 crore! - Ripal Patel sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakh - Atit Sheth - Unsold - Vishnu Solanki - Unsold - Himmat Singh - Unsold - Rajat Patidar sold for INR 20 lakh to RCB - Rahul Gahlaut - Unsold - Sachin Baby sold to RCB for INR 20 lakh! - C Hari Nishant - Unsold - Himanshu Rana - Unsold - Qais Ahmad - Unsold - Piyush Chawla sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 2.40 crore - Ish Sodhi - Unsold - Harbhajan Singh - Unsold - Mujeeb Ur Rahman - Unsold - Rahul Sharma - Unsold - Adil Rashid - Unsold - Umesh Yadav sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 1 crore! - Sheldon Cottrell - Unsold - Nathan Coulter-Nile sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 5 crore - Jhye Richardson sold to Punjab Kings for INR 14 crore - Mustafizur Rahman sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 1 crore! - Adam Milne sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 3.20 crore - Kusal Perrera - Unsold - Sam Billings - Unsold - Alex Carey - Unsold - Glenn Phillips - Unsold - Every team uses their players differently and we expect Maxwell to contribute in all departments on the field: Mike Hesson on buying Glenn Maxwell. - Moeen is a good buy according to me. He always contributes with both bat and ball and we are happy with the buy: L Balaji on CSK buying Moeen Ali - David Malan sold to Punjab Kings for INR 1.50 crore - Chris Morris goes to Rajasthan Royals for INR 16.25 crore. He is now the most expensive IPL player ever! - Shivam Dube sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 4.40 crore - Moeen Ali sold to Chennai Super Kings for INR 7 crore! - Shakib Al Hasan sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 3.20 crore - Kedar Jadhav - Unsold - Glenn Maxwell sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 14.25 crore - Hanuma Vihari - Unsold - Aaron Finch - Unsold - Evin Lewis - Unsold - Steve Smith sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2.2 crore - Jason Roy - Unsold - Alex Hales - Unsold - Karun Nair - Unsold - IPL 2021 Auction: Remaining purse, no. of players, available slots and more. IPL 2021/ Squad Size/Salary Cap/Available Slots Franchise No of Players No of Overseas Players Total money spent (Rs.) Salary cap available (Rs.) Available Slots Overseas Slots CSK 19 7 65.1 19.9 6 1 DC 17 5 71.6 13.4 8 3 KXIP 16 3 31.8 53.2 9 5 KKR 17 6 74.25 10.75 8 2 MI 18 4 69.65 15.35 7 4 RR 16 5 47.15 37.85 9 3 RCB 14 5 49.6 35.4 11 3 SRH 22 7 74.25 10.75 3 1 - England players in IPL 2021 Auction: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Nayan Doshi, Sam Billings, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Tom Curran, David Willey, Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingston, Ravi Bopara, George Garton - Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting shares his thoughts ahead of IPL 2021 auction: Looking forward to the IPL auction tonight with @delhicapitals and filling out our squad for the season. Hope moneybags @bazmccullum doesn't outbid me again though. — Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) February 18, 2021 × - CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan has already confirmed that head coach Stephen Fleming and skipper MS Dhoni will not attend the IPL 2021 mini-auction but the duo will join virtually. - England pacer Mark Wood has pulled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction. Wood is currently involved with the England Test squad for the ongoing Test series against India. - Check out the list of all 292 players listed for IPL 2021 auction: IPL 2021 Auction: Full list of 292 players set to go under hammer

IPL 2021 Auction, Highlights: From Chris Morris to Glenn Maxwell - all the details from mini-auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction is set to take place on Thursday in Chennai and the franchises will go toe to toe for the all-rounders as they are the hottest property of T20 cricket.&nbsp;

It is that time of the year when 292 cricketers from around the world will go under the hammer at the IPL auction.&nbsp;

Apart from the big names in the fray, there are two domestic uncapped players with famous names are catching people's attention this year.&nbsp;

The young wicket-keeper batsman from Kerala,&nbsp;Mohammed Azharuddeen (base price Rs 20 lakh)&nbsp;scored a scintillating century against Mumbai in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He scored 214 runs from just five matches playing for Kerala.

Tamil Nadu's batting allrounder, Masood Shahrukh Khan&nbsp;(base price Rs 20 lakh), lit the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament with his brilliant performance that helped Tamil Nadu lift the title. A clean-hitting batsman, who can also bowl off-spinners. His 19-ball unbeaten 40 took his side to the quarterfinal of the tournament. The proven match-winner is indeed a young talent on which franchises will put their money.&nbsp;

A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and 3 players from associate nations will be up for grabs in the mini-auction.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction is set to take place on Thursday in Chennai and the franchises will go toe to toe for the all-rounders as they are the hottest property of T20 cricket.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction is set to take place on Thursday in Chennai and the franchises will go toe to toe for the all-rounders as they are the hottest property of T20 cricket. It is that time of the year when 292 cricketers from around the world will go under the hammer at the IPL auction. Apart from the big names in the fray, there are two domestic uncapped players with famous names are catching people's attention this year. The young wicket-keeper batsman from Kerala, Mohammed Azharuddeen (base price Rs 20 lakh) scored a scintillating century against Mumbai in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He scored 214 runs from just five matches playing for Kerala. Tamil Nadu's batting allrounder, Masood Shahrukh Khan (base price Rs 20 lakh), lit the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament with his brilliant performance that helped Tamil Nadu lift the title. A clean-hitting batsman, who can also bowl off-spinners. His 19-ball unbeaten 40 took his side to the quarterfinal of the tournament. The proven match-winner is indeed a young talent on which franchises will put their money. A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and 3 players from associate nations will be up for grabs in the mini-auction. (With inputs from agencies)

Azhar and Shahrukh can make it big in IPL auction 2021

South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris on Thursday became the most expensive player bought for the Indian Premier League when Rajasthan Royals paid $2.25 million for him.

The fee smashed the record $2.2 million paid for Yuvraj Singh by Delhi Daredevils in 2015.

South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris on Thursday became the most expensive player bought for the Indian Premier League when Rajasthan Royals paid $2.25 million for him.

South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris on Thursday became the most expensive player bought for the Indian Premier League when Rajasthan Royals paid $2.25 million for him. The fee smashed the record $2.2 million paid for Yuvraj Singh by Delhi Daredevils in 2015.

South Africa's Morris smashes IPL auction record with $2.25m fee

A total of 292 players are set to go under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. While all the eight franchises will look to bolster their respective squads, players can expect a good payday.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Among all the eight franchises ahead of IPL 2021 auction, Kings XI Punjab – now Punjab Kings – have the highest purse remaining at a massive INR 53.20 crore, closely followed by Rajasthan Royals, who have INR 37.85 crore&nbsp;at their helm. Fans can expect both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals to spend heavy and sign some big-name players.&nbsp;

Ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, let us take a look at the remaining purse of all the eight franchises and number of slots they need to fill. Here's all you need to know about IPL 2021 auction.

<table border="4" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="336pt">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="7" height="20" width="448">IPL 2021/ Squad Size/Salary Cap/Available Slots</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="78">Franchise</td>
			<td>No of Players</td>
			<td width="64">No of Overseas Players</td>
			<td width="64">Total&nbsp; money spent (Rs.)</td>
			<td width="64">Salary cap available (Rs.)</td>
			<td>Available Slots</td>
			<td>Overseas Slots</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">CSK</td>
			<td>19</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>65.1</td>
			<td>19.9</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>1</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">DC</td>
			<td>17</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>71.6</td>
			<td>13.4</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">KXIP</td>
			<td>16</td>
			<td>3</td>
			<td>31.8</td>
			<td>53.2</td>
			<td>9</td>
			<td>5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">KKR</td>
			<td>17</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>74.25</td>
			<td>10.75</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">MI</td>
			<td>18</td>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>69.65</td>
			<td>15.35</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">RR</td>
			<td>16</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>47.15</td>
			<td>37.85</td>
			<td>9</td>
			<td>3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">RCB</td>
			<td>14</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>49.6</td>
			<td>35.4</td>
			<td>11</td>
			<td>3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td height="20">SRH</td>
			<td>22</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>74.25</td>
			<td>10.75</td>
			<td>3</td>
			<td>1</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

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📸📸 Snapshots from the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣ VIVO IPL Player Auction Briefing here in Chennai. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://t.co/U41oDD2bfp">pic.twitter.com/U41oDD2bfp</a>
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<h2>1) Mumbai Indians&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 7&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 4&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 15.35 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare,&nbsp;Anmolpreet&nbsp;Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit&nbsp;Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan&nbsp;

Released players: Prince Balwant Rai, Digvijay Deshmukh, Lasith Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson,&nbsp;Sherfane&nbsp;Rutherford, Mitchell&nbsp;McCleneghan&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-to-yuvraj-singh-costliest-picks-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{bf21ac71-a6bc-466e-a162-d41a525b2374}{14}" paraid="675925591" >2) Chennai Super Kings&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 6&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 1&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 19.90 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo,&nbsp;Faf&nbsp;du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, Josh&nbsp;Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore, Robin Uthappa (traded)&nbsp;

Released players: Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Monu Singh, Shane Watson&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-malan-to-smith-five-overseas-players-to-lookout-for-in-ipl-2021-auction-363192" hreflang="en">From Malan to Smith: Five overseas players to lookout for in IPL 2021 auction</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{bf21ac71-a6bc-466e-a162-d41a525b2374}{122}" paraid="197945189" >3) Kolkata Knight Riders&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 8&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 2&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 10.75 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Kamlesh&nbsp;Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Tim Seifert&nbsp;

Released players: Chris Green, Harry Gurney, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad, Tom Banton&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{bf21ac71-a6bc-466e-a162-d41a525b2374}{230}" paraid="578989930" >4) Royal Challengers Bangalore&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 11&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 3&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 35.40 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt&nbsp;Padikkal, Md. Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar,&nbsp;Yuzvendra&nbsp;Chahal, Joshua Phillipe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson,&nbsp;Daniel&nbsp;Sams (traded), Harshal Patel (traded).

Released players: Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi,&nbsp;Isuru&nbsp;Udana, Gurkeerat Mann&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d4fbed22-5c68-4cc1-8b14-93bcb1c73370}{83}" paraid="124434173" >5) Kings XI Punjab&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 9&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 5&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 53.20 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan&nbsp;Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohd. Shami, M Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan,&nbsp;Prabhsimran&nbsp;Singh&nbsp;

Released players: Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb Zadran,&nbsp;Hardus&nbsp;Viljoen, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Jagadeesha&nbsp;Suchith, Tejinder Singh Dhillon&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d4fbed22-5c68-4cc1-8b14-93bcb1c73370}{191}" paraid="2137865764" >6) Delhi Capitals&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 8&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 3&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 13.4 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan,&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso&nbsp;Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan,&nbsp;Shimron&nbsp;Hetmyer, Marcus&nbsp;Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey, Chris&nbsp;Woakes

Released players: Alex Carey, Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohit Sharma, Jason Roy&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-mohammed-kaif-reveals-delhi-capitals-strategy-ahead-of-mini-auction-364354" hreflang="en">IPL 2021: Mohammed Kaif reveals Delhi Capitals' strategy ahead of mini-auction</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{009a2904-5c3a-4741-86a3-9e986d089084}{44}" paraid="951538923" >7) Rajasthan Royals&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 9&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 3&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 37.85 crore&nbsp;

Retained players: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal&nbsp;Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank&nbsp;Markande, Rahul&nbsp;Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, David Miller, Andrew Tye&nbsp;

Released players: Steve Smith, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Tom Curran, Varun Aaron&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{009a2904-5c3a-4741-86a3-9e986d089084}{152}" paraid="2123861351" >8) Sunrisers Hyderabad&nbsp;</h2>

Available slots: 3&nbsp;

Overseas slots: 1&nbsp;

Remaining purse: Rs 10.75 crore&nbsp;&nbsp;

Retained players: David Warner, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem,&nbsp;Shreevats&nbsp;Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad&nbsp;

Released players: Billy&nbsp;Stanlake, Sandeep&nbsp;Bavanaka, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav, Prithviraj&nbsp;Yarra&nbsp;

A total of 292 players are set to go under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. While all the eight franchises will look to bolster their respective squads, players can expect a good payday.

A total of 292 players are set to go under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. While all the eight franchises will look to bolster their respective squads, players can expect a good payday. Among all the eight franchises ahead of IPL 2021 auction, Kings XI Punjab – now Punjab Kings – have the highest purse remaining at a massive INR 53.20 crore, closely followed by Rajasthan Royals, who have INR 37.85 crore at their helm. Fans can expect both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals to spend heavy and sign some big-name players. Ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, let us take a look at the remaining purse of all the eight franchises and number of slots they need to fill. Here's all you need to know about IPL 2021 auction. IPL 2021/ Squad Size/Salary Cap/Available Slots Franchise No of Players No of Overseas Players Total money spent (Rs.) Salary cap available (Rs.) Available Slots Overseas Slots CSK 19 7 65.1 19.9 6 1 DC 17 5 71.6 13.4 8 3 KXIP 16 3 31.8 53.2 9 5 KKR 17 6 74.25 10.75 8 2 MI 18 4 69.65 15.35 7 4 RR 16 5 47.15 37.85 9 3 RCB 14 5 49.6 35.4 11 3 SRH 22 7 74.25 10.75 3 1 📸📸 Snapshots from the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣ VIVO IPL Player Auction Briefing here in Chennai. #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/U41oDD2bfp — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 17, 2021 × 1) Mumbai Indians Available slots: 7 Overseas slots: 4 Remaining purse: Rs 15.35 crore Retained players: Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan Released players: Prince Balwant Rai, Digvijay Deshmukh, Lasith Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell McCleneghan ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions 2) Chennai Super Kings Available slots: 6 Overseas slots: 1 Remaining purse: Rs 19.90 crore Retained players: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore, Robin Uthappa (traded) Released players: Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Monu Singh, Shane Watson ALSO READ: From Malan to Smith: Five overseas players to lookout for in IPL 2021 auction 3) Kolkata Knight Riders Available slots: 8 Overseas slots: 2 Remaining purse: Rs 10.75 crore Retained players: Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Tim Seifert Released players: Chris Green, Harry Gurney, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad, Tom Banton 4) Royal Challengers Bangalore Available slots: 11 Overseas slots: 3 Remaining purse: Rs 35.40 crore Retained players: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Md. Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Joshua Phillipe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams (traded), Harshal Patel (traded). Released players: Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Gurkeerat Mann 5) Kings XI Punjab Available slots: 9 Overseas slots: 5 Remaining purse: Rs 53.20 crore Retained players: KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohd. Shami, M Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, Prabhsimran Singh Released players: Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb Zadran, Hardus Viljoen, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Jagadeesha Suchith, Tejinder Singh Dhillon 6) Delhi Capitals Available slots: 8 Overseas slots: 3 Remaining purse: Rs 13.4 crore Retained players: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey, Chris Woakes Released players: Alex Carey, Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohit Sharma, Jason Roy ALSO READ: IPL 2021: Mohammed Kaif reveals Delhi Capitals' strategy ahead of mini-auction 7) Rajasthan Royals Available slots: 9 Overseas slots: 3 Remaining purse: Rs 37.85 crore Retained players: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, David Miller, Andrew Tye Released players: Steve Smith, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Tom Curran, Varun Aaron 8) Sunrisers Hyderabad Available slots: 3 Overseas slots: 1 Remaining purse: Rs 10.75 crore Retained players: 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 Released players: Billy Stanlake, Sandeep Bavanaka, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav, Prithviraj Yarra

IPL 2021 mini-auction: Remaining slots, available balance, retained and released players - All you need to know!

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction is all set to be held on Thursday (February 18)&nbsp;in Chennai. With as many as 292 players set to go under the hammer, franchises are expected to bolster their squad in a bid to boost their chances of winning the coveted IPL trophy.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Among all the eight franchises ahead of IPL 2021 auction,&nbsp;Punjab Kings have the highest purse available at INR 53.20 crore, followed by Rajasthan Royals, who have INR 37.85 crore.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Fans can expect both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals to spend heavy and sign some big-name players.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-to-yuvraj-singh-costliest-picks-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions</a>

Ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly reflected back on the success of IPL 2020, which was held in the UAE amid the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;

"It`s a small auction but I think a lot of teams will have a lot of work to do. It was unbelievable the way it went in the UAE amid all the Covid scare in the months of October and November," Ganguly told Star Sports.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-malan-to-smith-five-overseas-players-to-lookout-for-in-ipl-2021-auction-363192" hreflang="en">From Malan to Smith: Five overseas players to lookout for in IPL 2021 auction</a> 
&nbsp; 
"It got amazing ratings, the best in the last 13 years. This year it is going to be big as well. We`ll see if we can get crowds back into the IPL. That`s a decision we will have to take shortly," he said.&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{1677e56f-8abd-4e85-840e-f836052127f6}{36}" paraid="528024278" >When will the IPL 2021 auction take place?&nbsp;</h2>

The auction for IPL 2021 will take place in Chennai on February 18.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-auction-full-list-of-292-players-set-to-go-under-hammer-364384" hreflang="en">IPL 2021 Auction: Full list of 292 players set to go under hammer</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{686602c0-efcf-4336-bc0d-63fbd7fbbef7}{227}" paraid="1364479027" >How can I watch the IPL 2021 auction?&nbsp;</h2>

The auction for IPL 2021 will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network from 3 pm IST.&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{5724bd26-0ccb-492b-8249-0f5d4ce8b2d5}{8}" paraid="462547556" >How can I watch live-streaming of&nbsp;IPL 2021 auction live?&nbsp;</h2>

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-mini-auction-remaining-slots-available-balance-retained-and-released-players-all-you-need-to-know-364374" hreflang="en">IPL 2021 mini-auction: Remaining slots, available balance, retained and released players - All you need to know!</a>

The auction for IPL 2021 can be live-streamed&nbsp;on Hotstar from 3 pm IST.&nbsp;

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction is all set to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. With as many as 292 players set to go under the hammer, franchises are expected to bolster their squad in a bid to boost their chances of winning the coveted IPL trophy.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction is all set to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. With as many as 292 players set to go under the hammer, franchises are expected to bolster their squad in a bid to boost their chances of winning the coveted IPL trophy. Among all the eight franchises ahead of IPL 2021 auction, Punjab Kings have the highest purse available at INR 53.20 crore, followed by Rajasthan Royals, who have INR 37.85 crore. Fans can expect both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals to spend heavy and sign some big-name players. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions Ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly reflected back on the success of IPL 2020, which was held in the UAE amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "It`s a small auction but I think a lot of teams will have a lot of work to do. It was unbelievable the way it went in the UAE amid all the Covid scare in the months of October and November," Ganguly told Star Sports. ALSO READ: From Malan to Smith: Five overseas players to lookout for in IPL 2021 auction "It got amazing ratings, the best in the last 13 years. This year it is going to be big as well. We`ll see if we can get crowds back into the IPL. That`s a decision we will have to take shortly," he said. When will the IPL 2021 auction take place? The auction for IPL 2021 will take place in Chennai on February 18. ALSO READ: IPL 2021 Auction: Full list of 292 players set to go under hammer How can I watch the IPL 2021 auction? The auction for IPL 2021 will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network from 3 pm IST. How can I watch live-streaming of IPL 2021 auction live? ALSO READ: IPL 2021 mini-auction: Remaining slots, available balance, retained and released players - All you need to know! The auction for IPL 2021 can be live-streamed on Hotstar from 3 pm IST.

IPL 2021 Auction, Live streaming: When and where to watch Indian Premier League mini-auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 players auction is all set to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. As many as 292 players will go under the hammer&nbsp;with&nbsp;all eight IPL franchises&nbsp;looking to strengthen their squad ahead of the IPL 2021 season.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While big-name players like Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell,&nbsp;Jhye&nbsp;Richardson, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali among many others are available to be roped in by franchise during IPL 2021 auction, domestic players&nbsp;like Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed&nbsp;Azharuddeen&nbsp;are also expected to have a big day at IPL 2021 auction.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2021-mini-auction-remaining-slots-available-balance-retained-and-released-players-all-you-need-to-know-364374" hreflang="en">IPL 2021 mini-auction: Remaining slots, available balance, retained and released players - All you need to know!</a>

Ahead of the IPL 2021 mini-auction, let us take a look at the list of all 292 players available.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-to-yuvraj-singh-costliest-picks-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions</a>

<ul>
	<li>Aaron Finch</li>
	<li>Alex Hales</li>
	<li>Evin Lewis</li>
	<li>Karun Nair</li>
	<li>Jason Roy</li>
	<li>Steve Smith</li>
	<li>Hanuma Vihari</li>
	<li>Shakib Al Hasan</li>
	<li>Moeen Ali</li>
	<li>Shivam Dube</li>
	<li>Kedar Jadhav</li>
	<li>Dawid Malan</li>
	<li>Glenn Maxwell</li>
	<li>Chris Morris</li>
	<li>Sam Billings</li>
	<li>Alex Carey</li>
	<li>Kusal Perera</li>
	<li>Glenn Phillips</li>
	<li>Sheldon Cottrell</li>
	<li>Nathan Coulter‐Nile</li>
	<li>Adam Milne</li>
	<li>Mustafizur Rahman</li>
	<li>Jhye Richardson</li>
	<li>Mark Wood (OPTED OUT)</li>
	<li>Umesh Yadav</li>
	<li>Qais Ahmad</li>
	<li>Piyush Chawla</li>
	<li>Mujeeb Ur Rahman&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Adil Rashid</li>
	<li>Rahul Sharma</li>
	<li>Harbhajan Singh</li>
	<li>Ish Sodhi</li>
	<li>Sachin Baby</li>
	<li>Rahul Gahlaut</li>
	<li>C.Hari Nishaanth</li>
	<li>Rajat Patidar</li>
	<li>Himanshu Rana</li>
	<li>Himmat Singh</li>
	<li>Vishnu Solanki</li>
	<li>Ayush Badoni</li>
	<li>K Gowtham</li>
	<li>Venkatesh Iyer</li>
	<li>Shahrukh Khan</li>
	<li>Ripal Patel</li>
	<li>Atit Sheth</li>
	<li>Vivek Singh</li>
	<li>Mohammed Azharuddeen</li>
	<li>Avi Barot</li>
	<li>Kedar Devdhar</li>
	<li>Sheldon Jackson</li>
	<li>Vishnu Vinod</li>
	<li>Tushar Deshpande</li>
	<li>Riley Meredith</li>
	<li>Lukman Hussain Meriwala</li>
	<li>Ankit Singh Rajpoot</li>
	<li>Chetan Sakariya</li>
	<li>KuldeepSen</li>
	<li>Mujtaba Yousuf</li>
	<li>Tejas Baroka</li>
	<li>K.C Cariappa</li>
	<li>Sandeep Lamichhane</li>
	<li>M Siddharth</li>
	<li>Karanveer Singh</li>
	<li>Jagadeesha Suchith</li>
	<li>Midhun Sudhesan</li>
	<li>Corey Anderson</li>
	<li>Darren Bravo</li>
	<li>Devon Conway</li>
	<li>Martin Guptill</li>
	<li>Shaun Marsh</li>
	<li>Rovman Powell</li>
	<li>Cheteshwar Pujara</li>
	<li>Rassie Van Der Dussen</li>
	<li>Tom Curran</li>
	<li>Ben Cutting</li>
	<li>Moises Henriques</li>
	<li>Kyle Jamieson</li>
	<li>Marnus Labuschagne</li>
	<li>Pawan Negi</li>
	<li>Gurkeerat Singh</li>
	<li>Mitchell McClenaghan</li>
	<li>Varun Aaron</li>
	<li>Jason Behrendorff</li>
	<li>Mohit Sharma</li>
	<li>Billy Stanlake</li>
	<li>Oshane Thomas</li>
	<li>Finn Allen</li>
	<li>Harpreet Bhatia</li>
	<li>Shivam Chauhan</li>
	<li>Naushad Shaikh</li>
	<li>Pratham Singh</li>
	<li>Apoorv Wankhade</li>
	<li>Atharva Ankolekar</li>
	<li>Prayas Barman</li>
	<li>Jalaj Saxena</li>
	<li>Karan Sharma</li>
	<li>Utkarsh Singh</li>
	<li>R Sonu Yadav</li>
	<li>Dhruv Jurel</li>
	<li>Arun Karthick</li>
	<li>Nikhil Naik</li>
	<li>Smit Patel</li>
	<li>K.L Shrijith</li>
	<li>Wesley Agar</li>
	<li>Vaibhav Arora</li>
	<li>Akash Deep</li>
	<li>Ben Dwarshuis</li>
	<li>Ali Khan</li>
	<li>Kulwant Khejroliya</li>
	<li>Arzan Nagwaswalla</li>
	<li>G Periyasamy</li>
	<li>Akash Singh</li>
	<li>Prithviraj Yarra</li>
	<li>Noor Ahmad Lakanwal</li>
	<li>Karthik Meiyappan</li>
	<li>Prince Balwant Rai</li>
	<li>Pardeep Sahu</li>
	<li>Sagar Udeshi</li>
	<li>Kushaal Wadhwani</li>
	<li>Akshay Wakhare</li>
	<li>Fabian Allen</li>
	<li>Daniel Christian</li>
	<li>Colin De Grandhomme</li>
	<li>Liam Livingstone</li>
	<li>Thisara Perera</li>
	<li>Mohammad Shaifuddin</li>
	<li>David Willey</li>
	<li>Matthew Wade</li>
	<li>Ben Duckett</li>
	<li>Sean Abbott</li>
	<li>Matt Henry</li>
	<li>Chemar Holder</li>
	<li>Alzarri Joseph</li>
	<li>Obed Mccoy</li>
	<li>Liam Plunkett</li>
	<li>Tim Southee</li>
	<li>Rajesh Bishnoi</li>
	<li>Abhimanyu Easwaran</li>
	<li>Rohan Kadam</li>
	<li>Amandeep Khare</li>
	<li>Siddhesh Lad</li>
	<li>Mohammed Taha</li>
	<li>Khrievitso Kense</li>
	<li>Prerak Mankad</li>
	<li>Shams Mulani</li>
	<li>Ansh Patel</li>
	<li>Suyash Prabhudessai</li>
	<li>Parth Sahani</li>
	<li>Ankit Sharma</li>
	<li>Dhruv Shorey</li>
	<li>K.S Bharat</li>
	<li>Josh Inglis</li>
	<li>Aryan Juyal</li>
	<li>Sadiq Kirmani</li>
	<li>Rohit Sharma</li>
	<li>Sandeep Kumar Tomar</li>
	<li>Stephen Cheepurupalli</li>
	<li>Aniket Choudhary</li>
	<li>Mukesh Choudhary</li>
	<li>Nathan Ellis</li>
	<li>Sayan Ghosh</li>
	<li>Ronit More</li>
	<li>M Nidheesh</li>
	<li>M Harisankar Reddy</li>
	<li>Simarjeet Singh</li>
	<li>Kuldip Yadav</li>
	<li>Zeeshan Ansari</li>
	<li>Jon Russ Jaggesar</li>
	<li>Kevin Koththigoda</li>
	<li>Tanveer Sangha</li>
	<li>Maheesh Theekshan</li>
	<li>Vijayakanth Viyaskanth</li>
	<li>Lewis Gregory</li>
	<li>Wanindu Hasaranga</li>
	<li>Karim Janat</li>
	<li>Scott Kuggeleijn</li>
	<li>James Neesham</li>
	<li>Wayne Parnell</li>
	<li>Keemo Paul</li>
	<li>Dushmanta Chameera</li>
	<li>Fidel Edwards</li>
	<li>Beuran Hendricks</li>
	<li>Abhimanyu Mithun</li>
	<li>Reece Topley</li>
	<li>Saahil Jain</li>
	<li>Subhranshu Senapati</li>
	<li>Ravi Thakur</li>
	<li>Jake Weatherald</li>
	<li>Shubham Agrawal</li>
	<li>Rajjakuddin Ahmed</li>
	<li>Baba Aparajith</li>
	<li>George Garton</li>
	<li>Chris Green</li>
	<li>Kartik Kakade</li>
	<li>Shoaib Khan</li>
	<li>Dhruv Patel</li>
	<li>Latest Kumar Patel</li>
	<li>Arjun Tendulkar</li>
	<li>Varun Choudhary</li>
	<li>Prathamesh Dake</li>
	<li>Baltej Dhanda</li>
	<li>Brendan Doggett</li>
	<li>Saurabh Dubey</li>
	<li>Fazalhaq Farooqi</li>
	<li>Matt Kelly</li>
	<li>Chama Milind</li>
	<li>Jayden Seales</li>
	<li>Mark Steketee</li>
	<li>Tanveer Ul Haq</li>
	<li>Carlos Brathwaite</li>
	<li>Rishi Dhawan</li>
	<li>Mohammad Mahmud Ullah</li>
	<li>Andile Phehlukwayo</li>
	<li>Sherfane Rutherford</li>
	<li>Dasun Shanaka</li>
	<li>Isuru Udana</li>
	<li>Jacob Duffy</li>
	<li>Daryn Dupavillon</li>
	<li>Shannon Gabriel</li>
	<li>Morne Morkel</li>
	<li>Joel Paris</li>
	<li>Blair Tickner</li>
	<li>Subodh Bhati</li>
	<li>Jay Bista</li>
	<li>Aamir Gani</li>
	<li>Karanveer Kaushal</li>
	<li>Anustup Majumdar</li>
	<li>Dikshanshu Negi</li>
	<li>Kshitiz Sharma</li>
	<li>Shubham Singh</li>
	<li>Shashank Singh</li>
	<li>Milind Tandon</li>
	<li>Ravi Bopara</li>
	<li>George Linde</li>
	<li>Kyle Mayers</li>
	<li>Daryl Mitchell</li>
	<li>Colin Munro</li>
	<li>Dwaine Pretorius</li>
	<li>Romario Shepherd</li>
	<li>Sandeep Bavanaka</li>
	<li>Chaitanya Bishnoi</li>
	<li>Arun Chaprana</li>
	<li>Yudhvir Charak</li>
	<li>Ajay Dev Goud</li>
	<li>Umran Malik</li>
	<li>Ravi Teja Telukupalli</li>
	<li>Tanay Thyagarajan</li>
	<li>N.Tilak Varma</li>
	<li>K.Bhagath Varma</li>
	<li>Stuart Binny</li>
	<li>Hilton Cartwright</li>
	<li>James Faulkner</li>
	<li>Akeal Hosein</li>
	<li>Parvez Rasool</li>
	<li>David Wiese</li>
	<li>Jack Wildermuth</li>
	<li>Arshdeep Brar</li>
	<li>Digvijay Deshmukh</li>
	<li>Aakarshit Gomel</li>
	<li>Anirudha Joshi</li>
	<li>Azim Kazi</li>
	<li>Rahul Singh</li>
	<li>Ajay T</li>
	<li>Harsh Tyagi</li>
	<li>Nachiket Bhute</li>
	<li>Josh Clarkson</li>
	<li>Gerald Coetzee</li>
	<li>Tim David</li>
	<li>Deeparaj Gaonkar</li>
	<li>Aaron Hardie</li>
	<li>Marco Jansen</li>
	<li>Nathan McAndrew</li>
	<li>M Mohammed</li>
	<li>Govinda Poddar</li>
	<li>Pratyush Singh</li>
	<li>Jacques Snyman</li>
</ul>

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 players auction is all set to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. As many as 292 players will go under the hammer with all eight IPL franchises looking to strengthen their squad ahead of the IPL 2021 season.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 players auction is all set to be held on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. As many as 292 players will go under the hammer with all eight IPL franchises looking to strengthen their squad ahead of the IPL 2021 season. While big-name players like Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali among many others are available to be roped in by franchise during IPL 2021 auction, domestic players like Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed Azharuddeen are also expected to have a big day at IPL 2021 auction. ALSO READ: IPL 2021 mini-auction: Remaining slots, available balance, retained and released players - All you need to know! Ahead of the IPL 2021 mini-auction, let us take a look at the list of all 292 players available. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions Aaron Finch Alex Hales Evin Lewis Karun Nair Jason Roy Steve Smith Hanuma Vihari Shakib Al Hasan Moeen Ali Shivam Dube Kedar Jadhav Dawid Malan Glenn Maxwell Chris Morris Sam Billings Alex Carey Kusal Perera Glenn Phillips Sheldon Cottrell Nathan Coulter‐Nile Adam Milne Mustafizur Rahman Jhye Richardson Mark Wood (OPTED OUT) Umesh Yadav Qais Ahmad Piyush Chawla Mujeeb Ur Rahman Adil Rashid Rahul Sharma Harbhajan Singh Ish Sodhi Sachin Baby Rahul Gahlaut C.Hari Nishaanth Rajat Patidar Himanshu Rana Himmat Singh Vishnu Solanki Ayush Badoni K Gowtham Venkatesh Iyer Shahrukh Khan Ripal Patel Atit Sheth Vivek Singh Mohammed Azharuddeen Avi Barot Kedar Devdhar Sheldon Jackson Vishnu Vinod Tushar Deshpande Riley Meredith Lukman Hussain Meriwala Ankit Singh Rajpoot Chetan Sakariya KuldeepSen Mujtaba Yousuf Tejas Baroka K.C Cariappa Sandeep Lamichhane M Siddharth Karanveer Singh Jagadeesha Suchith Midhun Sudhesan Corey Anderson Darren Bravo Devon Conway Martin Guptill Shaun Marsh Rovman Powell Cheteshwar Pujara Rassie Van Der Dussen Tom Curran Ben Cutting Moises Henriques Kyle Jamieson Marnus Labuschagne Pawan Negi Gurkeerat Singh Mitchell McClenaghan Varun Aaron Jason Behrendorff Mohit Sharma Billy Stanlake Oshane Thomas Finn Allen Harpreet Bhatia Shivam Chauhan Naushad Shaikh Pratham Singh Apoorv Wankhade Atharva Ankolekar Prayas Barman Jalaj Saxena Karan Sharma Utkarsh Singh R Sonu Yadav Dhruv Jurel Arun Karthick Nikhil Naik Smit Patel K.L Shrijith Wesley Agar Vaibhav Arora Akash Deep Ben Dwarshuis Ali Khan Kulwant Khejroliya Arzan Nagwaswalla G Periyasamy Akash Singh Prithviraj Yarra Noor Ahmad Lakanwal Karthik Meiyappan Prince Balwant Rai Pardeep Sahu Sagar Udeshi Kushaal Wadhwani Akshay Wakhare Fabian Allen Daniel Christian Colin De Grandhomme Liam Livingstone Thisara Perera Mohammad Shaifuddin David Willey Matthew Wade Ben Duckett Sean Abbott Matt Henry Chemar Holder Alzarri Joseph Obed Mccoy Liam Plunkett Tim Southee Rajesh Bishnoi Abhimanyu Easwaran Rohan Kadam Amandeep Khare Siddhesh Lad Mohammed Taha Khrievitso Kense Prerak Mankad Shams Mulani Ansh Patel Suyash Prabhudessai Parth Sahani Ankit Sharma Dhruv Shorey K.S Bharat Josh Inglis Aryan Juyal Sadiq Kirmani Rohit Sharma Sandeep Kumar Tomar Stephen Cheepurupalli Aniket Choudhary Mukesh Choudhary Nathan Ellis Sayan Ghosh Ronit More M Nidheesh M Harisankar Reddy Simarjeet Singh Kuldip Yadav Zeeshan Ansari Jon Russ Jaggesar Kevin Koththigoda Tanveer Sangha Maheesh Theekshan Vijayakanth Viyaskanth Lewis Gregory Wanindu Hasaranga Karim Janat Scott Kuggeleijn James Neesham Wayne Parnell Keemo Paul Dushmanta Chameera Fidel Edwards Beuran Hendricks Abhimanyu Mithun Reece Topley Saahil Jain Subhranshu Senapati Ravi Thakur Jake Weatherald Shubham Agrawal Rajjakuddin Ahmed Baba Aparajith George Garton Chris Green Kartik Kakade Shoaib Khan Dhruv Patel Latest Kumar Patel Arjun Tendulkar Varun Choudhary Prathamesh Dake Baltej Dhanda Brendan Doggett Saurabh Dubey Fazalhaq Farooqi Matt Kelly Chama Milind Jayden Seales Mark Steketee Tanveer Ul Haq Carlos Brathwaite Rishi Dhawan Mohammad Mahmud Ullah Andile Phehlukwayo Sherfane Rutherford Dasun Shanaka Isuru Udana Jacob Duffy Daryn Dupavillon Shannon Gabriel Morne Morkel Joel Paris Blair Tickner Subodh Bhati Jay Bista Aamir Gani Karanveer Kaushal Anustup Majumdar Dikshanshu Negi Kshitiz Sharma Shubham Singh Shashank Singh Milind Tandon Ravi Bopara George Linde Kyle Mayers Daryl Mitchell Colin Munro Dwaine Pretorius Romario Shepherd Sandeep Bavanaka Chaitanya Bishnoi Arun Chaprana Yudhvir Charak Ajay Dev Goud Umran Malik Ravi Teja Telukupalli Tanay Thyagarajan N.Tilak Varma K.Bhagath Varma Stuart Binny Hilton Cartwright James Faulkner Akeal Hosein Parvez Rasool David Wiese Jack Wildermuth Arshdeep Brar Digvijay Deshmukh Aakarshit Gomel Anirudha Joshi Azim Kazi Rahul Singh Ajay T Harsh Tyagi Nachiket Bhute Josh Clarkson Gerald Coetzee Tim David Deeparaj Gaonkar Aaron Hardie Marco Jansen Nathan McAndrew M Mohammed Govinda Poddar Pratyush Singh Jacques Snyman

IPL 2021 Auction: Full list of 292 players set to go under hammer

Former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday. The South African batsman took to Instagram to share this news with his fans.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/jasprit-bumrah-most-likely-to-be-rested-for-white-ball-series-against-england-reports-364183" hreflang="en">Jasprit Bumrah most likely to be rested for white-ball series against England: Reports</a>

"My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter," du Plessis wrote in his post.&nbsp;

"It has been a year of refinement in the fire for us all. Uncertain were the times, but they brought clarity for me in many respects. My heart is clear and the time is right to walk Into a new chapter. It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket," du Plessis wrote in his retirement statement.

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"If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captain the side, I wouldn't have believed them. I stand in a place of utmost gratitude for a test career full of blessings bestowed on me. Every high and low has shaped me into the man I am proud to stand as today. In all things, those instances worked towards the good of who I believe I am today."

According to du Plessis, the cricketer has decided to retire from the longest format to focus on upcoming editions of the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022.

"The next two years are ICC T20 World cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be. I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does not mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans, I'm just making T20 cricket the priority in the short-term," wrote du Plessis.

"I will be in conversation with CSA over the next couple of months on what the future might look like for me over the next year to find a solution that works for both of us.

IN PICS|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-to-yuvraj-singh-costliest-picks-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions</a>

"For now, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who had an influence on my Test career. I would like to single out my wife and family in particular - I would not have been able to do without their support during the unforgettable journey that Test cricket has taken me on, To my coaches, teammates and support staff over the years, I would you like to give a note of thanks and of course, to Cricket South Africa for the opportunity to be able to represent and lead my country in the pinnacle of the game we all love. It has been an incredible journey, with many stories that I look forward to one-day sharing."

Faf featured in 69 Tests for his country, where he scored 4,163 runs at an average of 40. The former skipper also has 10 centuries and 21 half-centuries in the format.&nbsp;

His highest individual score in Test cricket came against Sri Lanka, last year, where the Proteas scored 199 runs.

Former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday. The South African batsman took to Instagram to share this news with his fans.

Former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday. The South African batsman took to Instagram to share this news with his fans. ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah most likely to be rested for white-ball series against England: Reports "My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter," du Plessis wrote in his post. "It has been a year of refinement in the fire for us all. Uncertain were the times, but they brought clarity for me in many respects. My heart is clear and the time is right to walk Into a new chapter. It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket," du Plessis wrote in his retirement statement. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Faf du plessis (@fafdup) × "If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captain the side, I wouldn't have believed them. I stand in a place of utmost gratitude for a test career full of blessings bestowed on me. Every high and low has shaped me into the man I am proud to stand as today. In all things, those instances worked towards the good of who I believe I am today." According to du Plessis, the cricketer has decided to retire from the longest format to focus on upcoming editions of the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022. "The next two years are ICC T20 World cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be. I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does not mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans, I'm just making T20 cricket the priority in the short-term," wrote du Plessis. "I will be in conversation with CSA over the next couple of months on what the future might look like for me over the next year to find a solution that works for both of us. IN PICS| From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions "For now, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who had an influence on my Test career. I would like to single out my wife and family in particular - I would not have been able to do without their support during the unforgettable journey that Test cricket has taken me on, To my coaches, teammates and support staff over the years, I would you like to give a note of thanks and of course, to Cricket South Africa for the opportunity to be able to represent and lead my country in the pinnacle of the game we all love. It has been an incredible journey, with many stories that I look forward to one-day sharing." Faf featured in 69 Tests for his country, where he scored 4,163 runs at an average of 40. The former skipper also has 10 centuries and 21 half-centuries in the format. His highest individual score in Test cricket came against Sri Lanka, last year, where the Proteas scored 199 runs.

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis retires from Test cricket

Delhi Capitals have made giants strides under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer under head coach Ricky Ponting. While the Delhi franchise is yet to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, they have one of the best squads in the cash-rich tournament and would be looking to bolster their squad when players go&nbsp;under the hammer during IPL 2021 auction on February 18 (Thursday) in Chennai.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ahead of the much-awaited IPL 2021 auction, Delhi Capitals assistant coach&nbsp;and former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif has revealed DC's plan during Thursday's mini-auction. Kaif has said that Delhi Capitals will look to get back-up players in the IPL 2021 auction in a bid to bolster their bench&nbsp;strength&nbsp;for IPL 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-to-yuvraj-singh-costliest-picks-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions</a>

"We have released a few players, so we will be looking to fill those gaps. I think flexibility is the key in the auction. One can have all the plans for the auction, but things can change on the auction table," Kaif said.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
"We have to take spontaneous decisions. Our main players have been playing continuously and there are no fitness issues as well. So, we'll be looking to acquire some back-up players in tomorrow's auction," he added.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-malan-to-smith-five-overseas-players-to-lookout-for-in-ipl-2021-auction-363192" hreflang="en">From Malan to Smith: Five overseas players to lookout for in IPL 2021 auction</a> 
&nbsp; 
Commenting on the current squad, another assistant coach Pravin Amre said, "To be honest, if we are asked to play tomorrow also, we have a playing XI ready with us, so I think that's the successful planning, and that's what we learned from other teams also, who back their core for a long time."&nbsp;

Overall, Delhi Capitals&nbsp;have&nbsp;eight spots open, including three overseas slots.&nbsp;However, a thin purse of INR 13.4 crore, could make things tough for them if they want to sign big-name players.&nbsp;

Delhi Capitals have made giants strides under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer under head coach Ricky Ponting. While the Delhi franchise is yet to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, they have one of the best squads in the cash-rich tournament and would be looking to bolster their squad when players go under the hammer during IPL 2021 auction on February 18 (Thursday) in Chennai.

Delhi Capitals have made giants strides under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer under head coach Ricky Ponting. While the Delhi franchise is yet to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, they have one of the best squads in the cash-rich tournament and would be looking to bolster their squad when players go under the hammer during IPL 2021 auction on February 18 (Thursday) in Chennai. Ahead of the much-awaited IPL 2021 auction, Delhi Capitals assistant coach and former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif has revealed DC's plan during Thursday's mini-auction. Kaif has said that Delhi Capitals will look to get back-up players in the IPL 2021 auction in a bid to bolster their bench strength for IPL 2021. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions "We have released a few players, so we will be looking to fill those gaps. I think flexibility is the key in the auction. One can have all the plans for the auction, but things can change on the auction table," Kaif said. "We have to take spontaneous decisions. Our main players have been playing continuously and there are no fitness issues as well. So, we'll be looking to acquire some back-up players in tomorrow's auction," he added. ALSO READ: From Malan to Smith: Five overseas players to lookout for in IPL 2021 auction Commenting on the current squad, another assistant coach Pravin Amre said, "To be honest, if we are asked to play tomorrow also, we have a playing XI ready with us, so I think that's the successful planning, and that's what we learned from other teams also, who back their core for a long time." Overall, Delhi Capitals have eight spots open, including three overseas slots. However, a thin purse of INR 13.4 crore, could make things tough for them if they want to sign big-name players.

IPL 2021: Mohammed Kaif reveals Delhi Capitals' strategy ahead of mini-auction

England head coach Chris Silverwood&nbsp;on Wednesday&nbsp;apologised&nbsp;for the way Moeen Ali's exit from the ongoing Test series against India was communicated by captain Joe Root but said the team management is "happy to own that decision".&nbsp;&nbsp;

Root, in a post-match press conference, had said that Moeen had "chosen" to leave the India tour after the completion of second Test in Chennai, which was the all-rounder's first appearance in 18 months.&nbsp;&nbsp;

However, Moeen had actually taken up a pre-planned period of rest, allocated to all of England's multi-format players.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“First of&nbsp;all&nbsp;we’re sorry if the impression we gave yesterday was that Moeen’s being treated different to other people,”&nbsp;Silverwood&nbsp;said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“He isn’t, I can guarantee you of that; the decision was ours, as it was with Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood. We’re happy to own that decision.”&nbsp;

The England head coach further admitted that staying out for the remainder of the Test series against India was discussed with the all-rounder but accepted that Moeen's personal circumstances made it tough.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/india-announce-squad-for-last-2-tests-vs-england-as-shami-jadeja-miss-out-364265" hreflang="en">India announce squad for last 2 Tests vs England as Shami, Jadeja miss out</a>

Notably, Moeen had spent 20 days inside a room for quarantine since the start of the Sri Lanka tour, having tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Sri Lanka in the month of January.&nbsp;

“The question was posed to him. He was asked, but ultimately we felt it was the right decision for him to go home,” he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It was a unique situation with&nbsp;Mooen, he’d spent so long in isolation, getting Covid out in Sri Lanka, and with how he just broke back into the team.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“We touched base with Mo last night, as did Joe. He’s fine, he understands that we’ve got his best interests at heart and we’re trying to look after him, the same as the other players. These are strange times we’re in and we have to look after our players.”&nbsp;

Former England cricketers like Sir Ian Botham, Kevin Pietersen, and Michael Vaughan have criticised the&nbsp;rotation policy employed by the Three Lions.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ravichandran-ashwin-and-rohit-sharma-jump-in-icc-test-player-rankings-after-england-win-364249" hreflang="en">Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma jump in ICC Test Player Rankings after England win</a>

"I think the rotation policy is something we need to get on with and make it work as best as we can. People do need to see their families, we are trying to make life for our players as comfortable as possible. We just need to make it work, people need to spend some time with their families. We prioritise Tests and T20s equally, T20 World Cup is here in India, but we need to make sure that everyone stays in top form, and in order to do that, we need to rotate players and look after them. I can guarantee you we are not prioritising anything above Test cricket," said Silverwood.&nbsp;

"We have to rotate people, that's why we are working so hard in order to have a big group of players we can work with. We have seen some players who we might have not seen normally. We understand that we need to do it. We also need to make sure that when we arrive at the Ashes, we have a healthy group of players that are all capable of performing. This all started for me one year ago, we have some great Test cricket between now and then, and we want to win everything," he added.

Meanwhile, England have announced the squad for the third Test against India, scheduled to be played from February 24.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood have been included in the squad, Moeen will head back home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2 aria-level="2" lang="EN-US" paraeid="{eb18ab91-3fd9-45ef-b0cc-d0235be50b9b}{69}" paraid="945405439" role="heading" >England squad for third Test:&nbsp;</h2>

Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris&nbsp;Woakes, Mark Wood.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

England head coach Chris Silverwood on Wednesday apologised for the way Moeen Ali's exit from the ongoing Test series against India was communicated by captain Joe Root but said the team management is "happy to own that decision".

England head coach Chris Silverwood on Wednesday apologised for the way Moeen Ali's exit from the ongoing Test series against India was communicated by captain Joe Root but said the team management is "happy to own that decision". Root, in a post-match press conference, had said that Moeen had "chosen" to leave the India tour after the completion of second Test in Chennai, which was the all-rounder's first appearance in 18 months. However, Moeen had actually taken up a pre-planned period of rest, allocated to all of England's multi-format players. “First of all we’re sorry if the impression we gave yesterday was that Moeen’s being treated different to other people,” Silverwood said. “He isn’t, I can guarantee you of that; the decision was ours, as it was with Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood. We’re happy to own that decision.” The England head coach further admitted that staying out for the remainder of the Test series against India was discussed with the all-rounder but accepted that Moeen's personal circumstances made it tough. ALSO READ: India announce squad for last 2 Tests vs England as Shami, Jadeja miss out Notably, Moeen had spent 20 days inside a room for quarantine since the start of the Sri Lanka tour, having tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Sri Lanka in the month of January. “The question was posed to him. He was asked, but ultimately we felt it was the right decision for him to go home,” he said. “It was a unique situation with Mooen, he’d spent so long in isolation, getting Covid out in Sri Lanka, and with how he just broke back into the team. “We touched base with Mo last night, as did Joe. He’s fine, he understands that we’ve got his best interests at heart and we’re trying to look after him, the same as the other players. These are strange times we’re in and we have to look after our players.” Former England cricketers like Sir Ian Botham, Kevin Pietersen, and Michael Vaughan have criticised the rotation policy employed by the Three Lions. ALSO READ: Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma jump in ICC Test Player Rankings after England win "I think the rotation policy is something we need to get on with and make it work as best as we can. People do need to see their families, we are trying to make life for our players as comfortable as possible. We just need to make it work, people need to spend some time with their families. We prioritise Tests and T20s equally, T20 World Cup is here in India, but we need to make sure that everyone stays in top form, and in order to do that, we need to rotate players and look after them. I can guarantee you we are not prioritising anything above Test cricket," said Silverwood. "We have to rotate people, that's why we are working so hard in order to have a big group of players we can work with. We have seen some players who we might have not seen normally. We understand that we need to do it. We also need to make sure that when we arrive at the Ashes, we have a healthy group of players that are all capable of performing. This all started for me one year ago, we have some great Test cricket between now and then, and we want to win everything," he added. Meanwhile, England have announced the squad for the third Test against India, scheduled to be played from February 24. While the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood have been included in the squad, Moeen will head back home. England squad for third Test: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

'We’re sorry': England apologise to Moeen Ali after India Test series exit

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has tipped franchises to sign the "next Andre Russell" as the southpaw made predictions about which players can become big-money signing in the IPL 2021 auction.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Gambhir has named New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson as the "next Andre Russell" while terming him as a future asset&nbsp;around whom a franchise can build their core for the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Jamieson made his mark in Super Smash and went on to make his debut against India where the all-rounder&nbsp;wreaked havoc&nbsp;with both bat and ball.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Kyle Jamieson is not a big name at the moment, but he will turn out to be a superstar. This is probably the right auction for all franchises to get a hold of him. And because he is someone whom you can keep for a longer period of time. He is seven&nbsp;feet,&nbsp;he is that tall. He can bowl 140 and can hit the ball long. He probably could be the next Andre Russell in the making," Gambhir said on Star Sports.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/kings-xi-punjab-changes-name-to-punjab-kings-ahead-of-ipl-2021-auction-new-logo-unveiled-364270" hreflang="en">Kings XI Punjab changes name to Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2021 auction, new logo unveiled</a>

"Yes, he's not a finished product and everyone knows about it but is someone who is probably young and you can have that core built around him. A franchise like Kings XI (Punjab Kings) who are looking for that all-rounder or some other franchise, they can think of someone like Jamieson.&nbsp;

"Even Sunrisers, because he is someone who can bowl with the new ball, and can bat at No. 6 and 7 and can hit the long ball against spin and fast bowling. He's a great asset and he's going to get better from here,” the former Indian batsman added.&nbsp;

Jamieson had registered himself at a base price of INR 75 lakh for the IPL 2021 auction and is expected to trigger a bidding war among the franchise. Gambhir, who said Jamieson is not yet a finished product, tipped the Kiwi star&nbsp;to be the one for the future.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-ms-dhoni-to-yuvraj-singh-costliest-picks-in-every-ipl-auctions-364071" hreflang="en">From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions</a>

"It's not as if he's reached his peak. There are players like Russell and Morris, who have already reached their peak. They can't get better than this. But with Jamieson, there will always be this thing where he'll keep improving. This is his first experience in India, he'll only start getting better from here on.&nbsp;So&nbsp;it will be a great addition if someone can pick him and keep him for a long time," the former KKR captain added.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has tipped franchises to sign the "next Andre Russell" as the southpaw made predictions about which players can become big-money signing in the IPL 2021 auction.

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction, former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has tipped franchises to sign the "next Andre Russell" as the southpaw made predictions about which players can become big-money signing in the IPL 2021 auction. Gambhir has named New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson as the "next Andre Russell" while terming him as a future asset around whom a franchise can build their core for the future. Jamieson made his mark in Super Smash and went on to make his debut against India where the all-rounder wreaked havoc with both bat and ball. "Kyle Jamieson is not a big name at the moment, but he will turn out to be a superstar. This is probably the right auction for all franchises to get a hold of him. And because he is someone whom you can keep for a longer period of time. He is seven feet, he is that tall. He can bowl 140 and can hit the ball long. He probably could be the next Andre Russell in the making," Gambhir said on Star Sports. ALSO READ: Kings XI Punjab changes name to Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2021 auction, new logo unveiled "Yes, he's not a finished product and everyone knows about it but is someone who is probably young and you can have that core built around him. A franchise like Kings XI (Punjab Kings) who are looking for that all-rounder or some other franchise, they can think of someone like Jamieson. "Even Sunrisers, because he is someone who can bowl with the new ball, and can bat at No. 6 and 7 and can hit the long ball against spin and fast bowling. He's a great asset and he's going to get better from here,” the former Indian batsman added. Jamieson had registered himself at a base price of INR 75 lakh for the IPL 2021 auction and is expected to trigger a bidding war among the franchise. Gambhir, who said Jamieson is not yet a finished product, tipped the Kiwi star to be the one for the future. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions "It's not as if he's reached his peak. There are players like Russell and Morris, who have already reached their peak. They can't get better than this. But with Jamieson, there will always be this thing where he'll keep improving. This is his first experience in India, he'll only start getting better from here on. So it will be a great addition if someone can pick him and keep him for a long time," the former KKR captain added.

IPL 2021 Auction: Gautam Gambhir tips franchise to sign 'next Andre Russell'

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the Team India squad for the last two Tests against England, scheduled to be played at the&nbsp;Motera&nbsp;Stadium in Ahmedabad. The All-India Senior Selection Committee on Wednesday met to pick the squad with the team being the same for the much-awaited pink-ball Test against England.&nbsp;

Interestingly, senior pacer Umesh Yadav will join the Indian squad in Ahmedabad following his fitness assessment and will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Moreover, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja continue to remain absent from the Indian squad and are still recovering from their injuries, picked up during the Australian tour.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ravichandran-ashwin-and-rohit-sharma-jump-in-icc-test-player-rankings-after-england-win-364249" hreflang="en">Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma jump in ICC Test Player Rankings after England win</a>

Indian squad for last 2 Tests vs England:&nbsp;Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav,&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit&nbsp;Bumrah, Md. Siraj.&nbsp;

Net Bowlers:&nbsp;Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar&nbsp;

Standby players:&nbsp;KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar.&nbsp;

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal have been released for Vijay Hazare Trophy.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/bcci-contemplating-allowing-fans-for-ipl-2021-sourav-ganguly-364234" hreflang="en">BCCI contemplating allowing fans for IPL 2021: Sourav Ganguly</a>

The four-Test series is firmly locked at 1-1 following India's brilliant 317-run win in the second Test in Chennai. England started the series with a superb win in Chennai but fell short in the second Test as Virat Kohli and Co. made a great comeback in the series.

However, with the third Test being a pink-ball Test, the odds hang in balance. While England will look to unleash their pace battery against India, the hosts will look to continue their home domination.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the Team India squad for the last two Tests against England, scheduled to be played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the Team India squad for the last two Tests against England, scheduled to be played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. The All-India Senior Selection Committee on Wednesday met to pick the squad with the team being the same for the much-awaited pink-ball Test against England. Interestingly, senior pacer Umesh Yadav will join the Indian squad in Ahmedabad following his fitness assessment and will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. Moreover, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja continue to remain absent from the Indian squad and are still recovering from their injuries, picked up during the Australian tour. ALSO READ: Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma jump in ICC Test Player Rankings after England win Indian squad for last 2 Tests vs England: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj. Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar Standby players: KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar. Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal have been released for Vijay Hazare Trophy. ALSO READ: BCCI contemplating allowing fans for IPL 2021: Sourav Ganguly The four-Test series is firmly locked at 1-1 following India's brilliant 317-run win in the second Test in Chennai. England started the series with a superb win in Chennai but fell short in the second Test as Virat Kohli and Co. made a great comeback in the series. However, with the third Test being a pink-ball Test, the odds hang in balance. While England will look to unleash their pace battery against India, the hosts will look to continue their home domination.

India announce squad for last 2 Tests vs England as Shami, Jadeja miss out

A delighted BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday announced that all tickets for the pink ball Day/Night Test between India and England in Ahmedabad have been "sold out", adding that a call on entry of spectators in the upcoming IPL will also be taken shortly.

The pink ball Test between India and England is slated to begin at the Motera, the the world's biggest cricket stadium, in Ahmedabad from February 24 and the authorities have decided to allow 50 per cent spectators.

"Ahmedabad is completely sold out. Happy to see normalcy back," Ganguly told Star Sports in an interview.

"I spoke to Jay Shah and he's very keen on these Test matches. Just for him also cricket is coming back to Ahmedabad after six-seven years because they built the new stadium," former India captain said.

The fixture will be the second time India host a Day/Night Test. The first was played in Kolkata against Bangladesh in 2019.

"I have told him we have set an example with pink-ball Test last year in Kolkata, so it cannot go beyond that and we want to see every seat and stand full. And that's what it is, the tickets have gone, as well as for the T20s which will follow the Tests," Ganguly said.

The second Test between India and England in Chennai marked the return of spectators for an international match in India after COVID-19 outbreak forced a complete shutdown of sporting activity in March last year. The BCCI is also contemplating allowing spectators in the IPL, which is slated to begin in the second week of April.

"This year is going to be big as well because of what it is. We'll see whether we can get the crowd back into the IPL, it's a decision we'll have to take very shortly. But it's going to be another great tournament," Ganguly said.

Talking about the IPL mini-auction, to be held on Thursday, Ganguly said:

"It is not a big auction but a lot of teams will have a lot to fill. Specially Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super King's will have a lot of work to do in the auction. The former Indian skipper added that a pink ball Test will be a permanent fixture in every home series.

"Absolutely. One pink-ball Test in a series is ideal. Every generation goes through changes, pink ball is one of the main changes for Test match cricket, and to keep Test match cricket alive. "I think with packed Ahmedabad stadium the next week will be another great sight for everyone."

On the personal front, Ganguly, who underwent two rounds of angioplasty last month, said he is feeling 'fit and fine.'

"I'm feeling absolutely fine. Yes, there was a bit of scare but luckily it wasn't as scary as everyone thought. I'm fit and fine and I'm back to work."

A delighted BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday announced that all tickets for the pink ball Day/Night Test between India and England in Ahmedabad have been "sold out", adding that a call on entry of spectators in the upcoming IPL will also be taken shortly.

A delighted BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday announced that all tickets for the pink ball Day/Night Test between India and England in Ahmedabad have been "sold out", adding that a call on entry of spectators in the upcoming IPL will also be taken shortly. The pink ball Test between India and England is slated to begin at the Motera, the the world's biggest cricket stadium, in Ahmedabad from February 24 and the authorities have decided to allow 50 per cent spectators. "Ahmedabad is completely sold out. Happy to see normalcy back," Ganguly told Star Sports in an interview. "I spoke to Jay Shah and he's very keen on these Test matches. Just for him also cricket is coming back to Ahmedabad after six-seven years because they built the new stadium," former India captain said. The fixture will be the second time India host a Day/Night Test. The first was played in Kolkata against Bangladesh in 2019. "I have told him we have set an example with pink-ball Test last year in Kolkata, so it cannot go beyond that and we want to see every seat and stand full. And that's what it is, the tickets have gone, as well as for the T20s which will follow the Tests," Ganguly said. The second Test between India and England in Chennai marked the return of spectators for an international match in India after COVID-19 outbreak forced a complete shutdown of sporting activity in March last year. The BCCI is also contemplating allowing spectators in the IPL, which is slated to begin in the second week of April. "This year is going to be big as well because of what it is. We'll see whether we can get the crowd back into the IPL, it's a decision we'll have to take very shortly. But it's going to be another great tournament," Ganguly said. Talking about the IPL mini-auction, to be held on Thursday, Ganguly said: "It is not a big auction but a lot of teams will have a lot to fill. Specially Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super King's will have a lot of work to do in the auction. The former Indian skipper added that a pink ball Test will be a permanent fixture in every home series. "Absolutely. One pink-ball Test in a series is ideal. Every generation goes through changes, pink ball is one of the main changes for Test match cricket, and to keep Test match cricket alive. "I think with packed Ahmedabad stadium the next week will be another great sight for everyone." On the personal front, Ganguly, who underwent two rounds of angioplasty last month, said he is feeling 'fit and fine.' "I'm feeling absolutely fine. Yes, there was a bit of scare but luckily it wasn't as scary as everyone thought. I'm fit and fine and I'm back to work."

Pink-ball Test between India and England 'sold out', confirms BCCI president Sourav Ganguly

Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini are likely to join the Indian squad from the third Test in England, scheduled to be hosted by Ahmedabad from February 24. Both Shami and Saini were out of the Indian squad for the first two Tests due to injuries but have now recovered.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Indian selectors are all set to announce the squad for the last two Tests against England soon and could also announce the team for the five-match T20I series that follows the longest format of the game, according to a report in TOI.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Shami had returned to India after fracturing his right arm during the first Test in Adelaide while Saini injured his groin in the final Test in Brisbane.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Saini is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He has bowling at full tilt. The Delhi selectors wanted to have his services for the Vijay Hazare Trophy but Saini was asked to stay back at NCA as he is likely to join the team in Ahmedabad,” a BCCI source told TOI.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/indians-never-crib-about-overseas-conditions-r-ashwin-shuts-down-chennai-pitch-critics-364029" hreflang="en">Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics</a>

Shami had resumed bowling a week ago and is nearing full fitness whereas Umesh Yadav has started bowling at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after recovering from a calf injury. According to the report in TOI, the Indian team management is keen on keeping Saini fresh for the T20I&nbsp;series.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The report adds that Rishabh Pant is also likely to return to the Indian limited-overs squad after his great run of form in Test cricket whereas Suryakumar Yadav could be added to the T20I squad.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The BCCI is also keen on making an "A" pool ahead of the T20I World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by India later in the year with the likes of Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan and Siddharth Kaul in the fray.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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“This is the reason they were asked to report NCA for fitness tests. These players have been informed that they will be in standbys for the India T20I team. This is the reason why Rana wasn’t made the captain of the Delhi team for the Vijay Hazare tournament. These players could be called into Indian team anytime. They will be essentially appearing for trials,” the BCCI source added as quoted by TOI.&nbsp;

Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini are likely to join the Indian squad from the third Test in England, scheduled to be hosted by Ahmedabad from February 24.

Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini are likely to join the Indian squad from the third Test in England, scheduled to be hosted by Ahmedabad from February 24. Both Shami and Saini were out of the Indian squad for the first two Tests due to injuries but have now recovered. The Indian selectors are all set to announce the squad for the last two Tests against England soon and could also announce the team for the five-match T20I series that follows the longest format of the game, according to a report in TOI. Shami had returned to India after fracturing his right arm during the first Test in Adelaide while Saini injured his groin in the final Test in Brisbane. “Saini is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He has bowling at full tilt. The Delhi selectors wanted to have his services for the Vijay Hazare Trophy but Saini was asked to stay back at NCA as he is likely to join the team in Ahmedabad,” a BCCI source told TOI. ALSO READ: Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics Shami had resumed bowling a week ago and is nearing full fitness whereas Umesh Yadav has started bowling at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after recovering from a calf injury. According to the report in TOI, the Indian team management is keen on keeping Saini fresh for the T20I series. The report adds that Rishabh Pant is also likely to return to the Indian limited-overs squad after his great run of form in Test cricket whereas Suryakumar Yadav could be added to the T20I squad. The BCCI is also keen on making an "A" pool ahead of the T20I World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by India later in the year with the likes of Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan and Siddharth Kaul in the fray. ALSO READ: From MS Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh: Costliest picks in every IPL auctions “This is the reason they were asked to report NCA for fitness tests. These players have been informed that they will be in standbys for the India T20I team. This is the reason why Rana wasn’t made the captain of the Delhi team for the Vijay Hazare tournament. These players could be called into Indian team anytime. They will be essentially appearing for trials,” the BCCI source added as quoted by TOI.

Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini likely to join Indian team for 3rd Test vs England

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday announced a 17-member squad for the third Test against India, scheduled to be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Moeen Ali will miss the last two Tests against India with the English&nbsp;all-rounders&nbsp;set to return to England for a break whereas wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow and pacer Mark Wood join the squad after being rested for the first two Tests.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The third Test in Ahmedabad is set to be a pink-ball Test and English seamers would be upbeat about their chances under the lights. The introduction of Mark Wood can be pivotal to England's chances of doing well against India after getting hammered in the second Test in Chennai.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Even speedster Jofra Archer, who missed the second Test due to an elbow injury, is also expected to return to the playing XI along with veteran pacer James Anderson, who was rested in the second Test.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/indians-never-crib-about-overseas-conditions-r-ashwin-shuts-down-chennai-pitch-critics-364029" hreflang="en">Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics</a>

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{872a8690-8c59-488c-9520-273439f882f9}{224}" paraid="1178146138" >England squad for Third Test:</h2>

Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris&nbsp;Woakes, Mark Wood.&nbsp;

After the 317-run hammering in the second Test against India, England skipper Joe Root said: "Credit to India, they outplayed us in all three departments. It has been an education for us, you could come up with conditions like these and we have to learn from this and find a way to score runs. We need to learn to build pressure and bowl six balls at one batsman.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/icc-world-test-championship-india-jump-to-2nd-place-after-chennai-test-win-check-updated-points-table-364014" hreflang="en">ICC World Test Championship: India jump to 2nd place after Chennai Test win - Check updated points table</a>

"On day one we could have been a bit tighter, squeeze the game a bit more and make it harder for them to score. From day two it was a very difficult wicket to bat on. But we have got to be smarter about how we're building an innings. We are 1-1 and we are excited about the next two games given the way we played in the first game."&nbsp;

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday announced a 17-member squad for the third Test against India, scheduled to be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday announced a 17-member squad for the third Test against India, scheduled to be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24. Moeen Ali will miss the last two Tests against India with the English all-rounders set to return to England for a break whereas wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow and pacer Mark Wood join the squad after being rested for the first two Tests. The third Test in Ahmedabad is set to be a pink-ball Test and English seamers would be upbeat about their chances under the lights. The introduction of Mark Wood can be pivotal to England's chances of doing well against India after getting hammered in the second Test in Chennai. Even speedster Jofra Archer, who missed the second Test due to an elbow injury, is also expected to return to the playing XI along with veteran pacer James Anderson, who was rested in the second Test. ALSO READ: Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics England squad for Third Test: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. After the 317-run hammering in the second Test against India, England skipper Joe Root said: "Credit to India, they outplayed us in all three departments. It has been an education for us, you could come up with conditions like these and we have to learn from this and find a way to score runs. We need to learn to build pressure and bowl six balls at one batsman. ALSO READ: ICC World Test Championship: India jump to 2nd place after Chennai Test win - Check updated points table "On day one we could have been a bit tighter, squeeze the game a bit more and make it harder for them to score. From day two it was a very difficult wicket to bat on. But we have got to be smarter about how we're building an innings. We are 1-1 and we are excited about the next two games given the way we played in the first game."

Bairstow, Wood IN, Moeen Ali OUT as England announce squad for 3rd Test vs India

The Indian cricket team on Tuesday recorded their biggest-ever Test win against England in terms of runs as the Virat Kohli-led outfit defeated the visitors by 317 runs in the second match of the four-Test series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The 317-run margin is also India's fifth-highest ever win by runs as the hosts&nbsp;topped&nbsp;their previous biggest win against England (279-run win) at the&nbsp;Headingley&nbsp;in 1986.&nbsp;Overall, against all the opponents, India's 337-run win against South Africa in Delhi in the 2015-16 series remains the biggest followed by a 321-run win over New Zealand in Indore in 2016-17.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Third in the list remains India's massive 320-run win against Australia in Mohali in the 2009 series followed by a 318-run win over the West Indies in North Sound, Antigua in 2019.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/indians-never-crib-about-overseas-conditions-r-ashwin-shuts-down-chennai-pitch-critics-364029" hreflang="en">Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics</a>

Notably, India's five of India's top six highest margins of wins (in terms of runs) have come under the leadership of Virat Kohli.&nbsp;

<h2 lang="EN-US" paraeid="{48739035-a540-4aef-bf1d-0534550b9036}{168}" paraid="1341085606" >Biggest Test wins for India (by runs)&nbsp;</h2>

337 vs SA Delhi 2015/16&nbsp; 
321 vs NZ Indore 2016/17&nbsp; 
320 vs Aus Mohali 2008/09&nbsp; 
318 vs WI North Sound 2019&nbsp; 
317 vs Eng Chennai 2020/21&nbsp; 
304 vs SL Galle 2017&nbsp;

&nbsp;England lost the second Test&nbsp;in Chennai&nbsp;by 317 runs as India drew level in the four-match series.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"It was a bit strange in the first game to be playing at home with empty stands. We were pretty flat on the first two days over there to be pretty honest, myself included, didn't pick up energy on the field. But from the second innings onwards in the first game, we picked up and were on the money in terms of our body language,” skipper Virat Kohli told host broadcasters in the post-match presentation.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/icc-world-test-championship-india-jump-to-2nd-place-after-chennai-test-win-check-updated-points-table-364014" hreflang="en">ICC World Test Championship: India jump to 2nd place after Chennai Test win - Check updated points table</a>

"The crowds make a big&nbsp;difference,&nbsp;this game was an example of the grit and determination this side shows and the crowd is a big part of that. Chennai crowd are very intelligent, they understand their cricket really well. In a&nbsp;15-20 minute&nbsp;period where the bowler needs the support of the crowd, it is my responsibility to involve everyone and bring in the crowd. If I am running in to bowl in this heat, I need people to motivate me. It is a perfect game for us,” he added.&nbsp;

The Indian cricket team on Tuesday recorded their biggest-ever Test win against England in terms of runs as the Virat Kohli-led outfit defeated the visitors by 317 runs in the second match of the four-Test series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The Indian cricket team on Tuesday recorded their biggest-ever Test win against England in terms of runs as the Virat Kohli-led outfit defeated the visitors by 317 runs in the second match of the four-Test series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The 317-run margin is also India's fifth-highest ever win by runs as the hosts topped their previous biggest win against England (279-run win) at the Headingley in 1986. Overall, against all the opponents, India's 337-run win against South Africa in Delhi in the 2015-16 series remains the biggest followed by a 321-run win over New Zealand in Indore in 2016-17. Third in the list remains India's massive 320-run win against Australia in Mohali in the 2009 series followed by a 318-run win over the West Indies in North Sound, Antigua in 2019. ALSO READ: Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics Notably, India's five of India's top six highest margins of wins (in terms of runs) have come under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Biggest Test wins for India (by runs) 337 vs SA Delhi 2015/16 321 vs NZ Indore 2016/17 320 vs Aus Mohali 2008/09 318 vs WI North Sound 2019 317 vs Eng Chennai 2020/21 304 vs SL Galle 2017 England lost the second Test in Chennai by 317 runs as India drew level in the four-match series. "It was a bit strange in the first game to be playing at home with empty stands. We were pretty flat on the first two days over there to be pretty honest, myself included, didn't pick up energy on the field. But from the second innings onwards in the first game, we picked up and were on the money in terms of our body language,” skipper Virat Kohli told host broadcasters in the post-match presentation. ALSO READ: ICC World Test Championship: India jump to 2nd place after Chennai Test win - Check updated points table "The crowds make a big difference, this game was an example of the grit and determination this side shows and the crowd is a big part of that. Chennai crowd are very intelligent, they understand their cricket really well. In a 15-20 minute period where the bowler needs the support of the crowd, it is my responsibility to involve everyone and bring in the crowd. If I am running in to bowl in this heat, I need people to motivate me. It is a perfect game for us,” he added.

India's 2nd Test win in Chennai is their biggest win against England by runs

India on Tuesday completed a massive 317-run win over England in what was the second Test of the four-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. India with the win, levelled the series 1-1 with the next two Test scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad. There were plenty of opinions and debate surrounding the Chennai pitch in the second Test as the ball spun from Day 1 with Indian spinners and batsmen dominating the proceedings from the word go.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While Indian batsmen showed how to bat on a 'rank-turner', the Chennai strip irked some of the former cricketers as they expressed their displeasure surrounding the spinning track in the second Test. Veteran Indian spinner&nbsp;Ravichandran Ashwin, after the match&nbsp;said while everyone is within their rights to give their opinions, legends like Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri never cribbed or complained about the conditions when Team India played overseas tours.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The likes of Michael Vaughan, Matt Prior, Mark Waugh had earlier said that the Chennai pitch for the second Test wasn't prepared to play for five matches thus terming it as a 'beach'. However, Indian batters, over the course of two innings, scored two centuries (Rohit Sharma and Ashwin), and three half-centuries (Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli).&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Spot on Junior .. 👍 <a href="https://t.co/jZpsZoQQ3E">https://t.co/jZpsZoQQ3E</a>
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1360912714353287173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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It’s entertaining cricket as things are happening all the time but let’s be honest this Pitch is a shocker .. Not making any excuses as India have been better but this isn’t a Test Match 5 day prepared Pitch ... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvENG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvENG</a>
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1360843448639778818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/as-an-8-year-old-emotional-r-ashwin-shares-childhood-tale-about-chepauk-stadium-364027" hreflang="en">'As an 8-year-old...': Emotional R Ashwin shares childhood tale about Chepauk stadium</a>

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Thank you, Chennai 🙏🙏<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvENG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvENG</a> <a href="https://t.co/3AOPyyD7h2">pic.twitter.com/3AOPyyD7h2</a>
— BCCI (@BCCI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1361623073800163328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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"Everyone is entitled to their opinion and whoever is giving an opinion is well within their rights of giving an opinion.&nbsp;It's&nbsp;us who are reading into it and&nbsp;seeing if&nbsp;it is working or not.&nbsp;As cricketing fraternity or&nbsp;as a country dealing with such accusation (regarding the Chennai pitch)&nbsp;seems to get a little better. We must hold pride in how we are playing our cricket&nbsp;and obviously, Test matches are won over a period of time. You play a lot of overs and win matches,” Ashwin, who was named the Man of the Match for his eight wickets and century.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

"When people give their opinions and I am fine with it. We also give our opinions when we tour abroad.&nbsp;But we don't complain or crib, we just get on with it. We haven't seen our greats be it Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri, they have been on a&nbsp;lot of tours. I haven't seen them complain about a lot of grass or something like that.&nbsp;It's&nbsp;more of a mentality. When&nbsp;people come with such opinions, we should magnanimously deflect it,” he added.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/icc-world-test-championship-india-jump-to-2nd-place-after-chennai-test-win-check-updated-points-table-364014" hreflang="en">ICC World Test Championship: India jump to 2nd place after Chennai Test win - Check updated points table</a>

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💯 in the second innings 
8⃣ wickets in the match<a href="https://twitter.com/ashwinravi99?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ashwinravi99</a> is the well-deserved Man Of The Match in the 2nd <a href="https://twitter.com/Paytm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Paytm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvENG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvENG</a> Test for his incredible all-round performance at Chepauk. 👏👏 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a> <a href="https://t.co/5v0FhxfwB1">pic.twitter.com/5v0FhxfwB1</a>
— BCCI (@BCCI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1361600888834461700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Ashwin&nbsp;dismissed England's talisman Ben Stokes both the times in the second Test in Chennai with the veteran Indian spinner showing his class with the ball. While it was an unplayable, loopy off-spinner to get rid of the all-rounder in the first innings, Ashwin bowled a straighter one to find the edge of Stokes’ bat in the second innings.&nbsp;After the match, he shed light on how he planned Stokes’ dismissal.&nbsp;

"We all know what a fine player Ben (Stokes) is. It is more about trying to change angles against him. There was a lot of deviation&nbsp;from&nbsp;the surface.&nbsp;They&nbsp;weren't amazing balls that got wickets, it was&nbsp;more of the mind games that were being played. It was about staying positive. It was about bowling in the right areas, some of the balls got massive deviation, some of the balls were dying. In the first innings, I wanted to push the ball up&nbsp;so that I can get him to play an aggressive shot. In this innings, he was defending a lot. There was a bit of cross breeze so I tried to change my load-up,” Ashwin explained.&nbsp;

Ashwin was paired up against the likes of&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;Patel – a debutant – and&nbsp;Kuldeep Yadav, who was playing the first Test since January 2019. While&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;was the one who bowled in tandem with Ashwin for the majority of the match, Kuldeep also chipped in and ended up with two wickets in the second innings.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ravichandran-ashwin-is-one-of-the-greatest-stats-prove-it-363775" hreflang="en">Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest - stats prove it!</a>

"Jaddu&nbsp;(Ravindra Jadeja)&nbsp;is a massive presence in the team. I have been playing with him for years. I don't&nbsp;know how many matches we have played without each other in India but I thought&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;bowled beautifully, in the second innings he got his rewards. One of the ends was a touch slower, the other end had a bit of pace.&nbsp;Th end from which I was bowling was slow.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"We believed Kuldeep might be&nbsp;effective from the other end. I thought Kuldeep bowled beautifully today. Sometimes as a spinner, when you are bowling after a long time&nbsp;and are wanting to get that confidence, early wickets become important. And the moment, he started to get the batsmen driving, he was always going to be effective.&nbsp;Axar&nbsp;did his role. He played his role to perfection,” Ashwin concluded.&nbsp;

India and England will now head to&nbsp;Ahmedabad for the last two Test of the series with the third match being the pink-ball Test, starting from February 24.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;

India on Tuesday completed a massive 317-run win over England in what was the second Test of the four-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. India with the win, levelled the series 1-1 with the next two Test scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad.

India on Tuesday completed a massive 317-run win over England in what was the second Test of the four-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. India with the win, levelled the series 1-1 with the next two Test scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad. There were plenty of opinions and debate surrounding the Chennai pitch in the second Test as the ball spun from Day 1 with Indian spinners and batsmen dominating the proceedings from the word go. While Indian batsmen showed how to bat on a 'rank-turner', the Chennai strip irked some of the former cricketers as they expressed their displeasure surrounding the spinning track in the second Test. Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, after the match said while everyone is within their rights to give their opinions, legends like Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri never cribbed or complained about the conditions when Team India played overseas tours. The likes of Michael Vaughan, Matt Prior, Mark Waugh had earlier said that the Chennai pitch for the second Test wasn't prepared to play for five matches thus terming it as a 'beach'. However, Indian batters, over the course of two innings, scored two centuries (Rohit Sharma and Ashwin), and three half-centuries (Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli). Spot on Junior .. 👍 https://t.co/jZpsZoQQ3E — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 14, 2021 × It’s entertaining cricket as things are happening all the time but let’s be honest this Pitch is a shocker .. Not making any excuses as India have been better but this isn’t a Test Match 5 day prepared Pitch ... #INDvENG — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 14, 2021 × ALSO READ: 'As an 8-year-old...': Emotional R Ashwin shares childhood tale about Chepauk stadium Thank you, Chennai 🙏🙏#TeamIndia #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/3AOPyyD7h2 — BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2021 × "Everyone is entitled to their opinion and whoever is giving an opinion is well within their rights of giving an opinion. It's us who are reading into it and seeing if it is working or not. As cricketing fraternity or as a country dealing with such accusation (regarding the Chennai pitch) seems to get a little better. We must hold pride in how we are playing our cricket and obviously, Test matches are won over a period of time. You play a lot of overs and win matches,” Ashwin, who was named the Man of the Match for his eight wickets and century. "When people give their opinions and I am fine with it. We also give our opinions when we tour abroad. But we don't complain or crib, we just get on with it. We haven't seen our greats be it Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri, they have been on a lot of tours. I haven't seen them complain about a lot of grass or something like that. It's more of a mentality. When people come with such opinions, we should magnanimously deflect it,” he added. ALSO READ: ICC World Test Championship: India jump to 2nd place after Chennai Test win - Check updated points table 💯 in the second innings 8⃣ wickets in the match@ashwinravi99 is the well-deserved Man Of The Match in the 2nd @Paytm #INDvENG Test for his incredible all-round performance at Chepauk. 👏👏 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/5v0FhxfwB1 — BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2021 × Ashwin dismissed England's talisman Ben Stokes both the times in the second Test in Chennai with the veteran Indian spinner showing his class with the ball. While it was an unplayable, loopy off-spinner to get rid of the all-rounder in the first innings, Ashwin bowled a straighter one to find the edge of Stokes’ bat in the second innings. After the match, he shed light on how he planned Stokes’ dismissal. "We all know what a fine player Ben (Stokes) is. It is more about trying to change angles against him. There was a lot of deviation from the surface. They weren't amazing balls that got wickets, it was more of the mind games that were being played. It was about staying positive. It was about bowling in the right areas, some of the balls got massive deviation, some of the balls were dying. In the first innings, I wanted to push the ball up so that I can get him to play an aggressive shot. In this innings, he was defending a lot. There was a bit of cross breeze so I tried to change my load-up,” Ashwin explained. Ashwin was paired up against the likes of Axar Patel – a debutant – and Kuldeep Yadav, who was playing the first Test since January 2019. While Axar was the one who bowled in tandem with Ashwin for the majority of the match, Kuldeep also chipped in and ended up with two wickets in the second innings. ALSO READ: Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest - stats prove it! "Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is a massive presence in the team. I have been playing with him for years. I don't know how many matches we have played without each other in India but I thought Axar bowled beautifully, in the second innings he got his rewards. One of the ends was a touch slower, the other end had a bit of pace. Th end from which I was bowling was slow. "We believed Kuldeep might be effective from the other end. I thought Kuldeep bowled beautifully today. Sometimes as a spinner, when you are bowling after a long time and are wanting to get that confidence, early wickets become important. And the moment, he started to get the batsmen driving, he was always going to be effective. Axar did his role. He played his role to perfection,” Ashwin concluded. India and England will now head to Ahmedabad for the last two Test of the series with the third match being the pink-ball Test, starting from February 24.

Indians never crib about overseas conditions: R Ashwin shuts down Chennai pitch critics

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