A total of 4 franchises entered the bidding war for Livingstone in the auction but it was RCB who eventually ended up acquiring the player’s services.

After completing his move to the Bengaluru-based franchise, Livingstone gave a rather blunt statement and said that he expects to perform better for RCB than what he did for PBKS.

“The fan base is very passionate. It’s probably one of the biggest franchises in IPL… It’s a bit of a fresh start for me,” Livingstone told Reuters.

“I think Bangalore is going to be very good for my game. It’s a little bit smaller than some of the stadiums in India, certainly better than what Punjab was for me. Hopefully, my game should suit that place well,” Livingstone added.

The all-rounder also praised RCB’s work at the auction and added that he can’t wait to play alongside the likes of Virat Kohli.

“I think we had a really good auction. We’ve got some good players, we picked up quite cleverly. There’s a few people in that team I know really well, so I’m pretty excited to get out there as a group. Playing with the likes of Virat is going to be really cool,” Livingstone said.

The post “Better than Punjab…”: England star gives HUGE statement after switching from PBKS to RCB appeared first on Cricket Country.

Hazlewood, who was last part of the RCB squad in 2021, will once again the leading the pacers in the upcoming IPL season. After securing his services, RCB’s batting coach Dinesh Karthik acknowledged the importance of Hazlewood to the team.

“Everybody from RCB and and all the fans have all said let’s go for Josh Hazlewood and here we have him. Josh Hazlewood, it was all about who can we get and we got Josh Hazlewood. I think all Bengaluru should be smiling at that option because we have seen what he can do in the year that he came, we qualified and he was such a major and integral part of that attack,” Karthik said.

RCB’s other buys of the first day included England all-rounder Liam Livingstone for INR 8.75 crore, young Indian wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma for INR 11 crore and explosive England batter Phil Salt for INR 11.5 crore. Karthik was excited about signing Jitesh and Salt for their explosive batting styles.

”He (Jitesh) is a very explosive middle -order batsman. We wanted someone who is on the fringes of the Indian team and he is right there. We have seen what he can do in the IPL. Has got areas that he can hit and RCB being a ground where you can play spin well, he comes as a very, very good option,” Karthik said about Jitesh.

“Phil Salt, what have I got to say? He is explosive. He is someone who can take on in the power play. Great attitude. Nice guy to have around in the team. Everything about him says he is the kind of guy that RCB would love to have,” Karthik said about Salt.

RCB also made an investment in youth by securing Rasikh Salam Dar, the promising fast bowler from Jammu & Kashmir, for INR 6 crore. The final acquisition of the day came in the form of young leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, bought for INR 2.6 crore.

The post “All Bengaluru should be smiling”: RCB coach Dinesh Karthik delighted with the return of THIS player appeared first on Cricket Country.

even though the franchise entered the auction with the second-highest purse remaining, they did not go all guns-blazing for players such as Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Mitchell Starc. The franchise only went for Liam Livingstone, which has left former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa quite surprised.

“Three are my favourite sides are KKR, CSK and RCB. I have played for all three sides. I am telling you as a local Bengaluru boy, I am confused. I genuinely do not understand how you have the second-biggest purse and how you do not go for the big players in the marquee sets,” Uthappa said.

“You did not make more than one pick. When you are trying to rebuild your side, when you are looking for a new direction, you have got the fans backing you year after year, they put their emotions, they are thronging the stadium year after year. When you go through social media, it seems they are let down. I, as a fan of RCB and former player, I feel like they missed a trick. You just wonder where they are heading,” he added.

“They haven’t gone after Mitchell Starc as they are looking for a gun bowler in those conditions. They should have gone after KL Rahul, they haven’t gone after even Rishabh Pant or Shreyas Iyer. You got that purse. You could have gone for Rs 23 crore for one of those players. They didn’t go that far,” he concluded.

RCB’s picks in Auction Day 1
On the first day of the mega auctions, RCB bought a total of six players- three overseas, one capped, and two uncapped players. The most expensive player for the franchise was Josh Hazlewood at Rs. 12.5 crore. England wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt was second-highest at Rs. 11.5 crore.

The post ‘I don’t know how…’: Ex-Indian cricketer criticises RCB for not buying captain candidate KL Rahul appeared first on Cricket Country.

After England lost the ODI series 1-2 under the leadership of Liam Livingstone, they would be looking to gain a crucial and confidence-boosting series win over the Windies.

“All sorts of things run through your mind. I think you try and work through everything,” Buttler said speaking about his return from injury.

Brendon McCullum, England’s Test coach, is set to take over as the team’s white-ball coach in January 2025. The development has given Buttler a new lease of life. The pair have been friends for a long time and Buttler revealed that he has also had some chats with McCullum about how he can get the most rewards from his career at the stage that he is currently in.

“I had some chats with Baz (Brendon) about how this stage of your career can actually be the most rewarding. He spoke about his own experiences as captain in the last few years of when he was playing, it is not about you at all, it is about creating that environment and letting people flourish and how seeing them go to the top of the mountain was some of the happiest times of his career as a player. And that is exactly what I want to get out of them,” Buttler said.

The 34-year-old also opened up on how time away from the game gave him a new perspective on the game and the desperation, motivation to come back to the field.

“You get a nice perspective of, when cricket has taken away from you (during time spent away from game), how great it is, how important it is and how much you enjoy it. It is all the little things that you sometimes take for granted that you really miss the most, like being around the changing room, pulling the shirt on. When you start to think about it, it gives you a lot of hunger and motivation to get back, put the work in and get playing again,” Buttler said.

“When you get an injury like that it makes you realise how desperately you want to get back, and the stuff that you really enjoy doing, so that is the mindset of however long I have got back,” Buttler added.

“I think throughout the three ODIs (against West Indies), Jacob Bethell scoring his maiden fifty, Dan Mousley [also] in the last game, you see those guys getting that opportunity and grabbing it which is incredibly exciting. And whatever that means in terms of squads, that is exciting for English cricket,” Buttler concluded.

The post “Gives you a lot of…”: Jos Buttler opens up on taking break from the game appeared first on Cricket Country.

Buttler was originally included in the squad for the West Indies tour, but it was due to his ongoing recovery that he had to miss the ODI series. However, he is supposed to be back by the time the five-match T20 series begins in Barbados on November 9.

Lancashire made this news official as they announced Livingstone as the official leader of the squad for the West Indies tour.

“Liam Livingstone will step in as captain for the ODI series with the Lancashire all-rounder set to lead England for the first time whilst Jos Buttler continues his recovery from injury,” read the statement from Lancashire cricket.

The post As Jos Buttler is Ruled out of West Indies series, ECB names Liam Livingstone as new ODI captain appeared first on Cricket Country.

Hardik first bowled a decent spell of 1/26 before playing a match-winning knock of 39 runs off just 16 deliveries. The flamboyant all-rounder was in his zone with the bat and played a few nonchalant shots to blow away the visitors. 

His brilliant performance in Gwalior saw him move to the third spot, only behind England’s Liam Livingstone (First) and Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee (second). Hardik will be looking to continue this form in the remaining 2 T20Is against Bangladesh as well.

On the other hand, Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh returned to the top 10 on the bowling charts. His fantastic bowling spell of 3/14 against Bangladesh in Gwalior saw him jump 8 spots and take the eighth position on the rankings. He is lone Indian bowler in the top 10. He also achieved a new career-high rating of 642 after an impressive display in the series opener.

Indian all-rounder Washington Sundar gained 4 places in the bowler rankings after picking up a wicket against Bangladesh in the first T20I and moved to the 35th position.

The post Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh see major gains in latest ICC T20I rankings appeared first on Cricket Country.

As they were on chase of a massive target, Australia started with a good note but then continued on to suffer a collapse in their batting.The whole team was bowled out for 126 in just 24.4 overs.

In the run chase, Travis Head was going through his game as usual. He took on Brydon Carse and hit 3 fours and a six. Carse came back strong and took out Travis Head.

In the next over, Steve Smith became the victim to Matthew Pott. Jofra Archer then knocked over Marsh Who with his pace.
Marnus Labuschagne was given an early responsibility, but he could not handle what was given to him. He got dismissed by Carse in 15th over, along with being dismissed with Josh Inglis.

Maxwell also could not do well and fell to Archer. After a few quiet overs, Sean Abbott scored 10 runs and got beat by Pott, who also broke Alex Carey in the very next over. Finally, Hazlewood got dismissed by Adil Rashid in 25th over, which resulted in Australia being bowled out for 126.

The post After England’s Jaw-Dropping batting display, Australia gets Bundled out for Only 126 Runs appeared first on Cricket Country.

Liam was included in the squad as a replacement for Jos Buttler. He brightened the atmosphere of the whole place with his aggressive batting, especially against Mitchell Starc. Liam came to the crease after Harry Brook got dismissed by Adam Zampa. That point onwards, Livingstone started playing freely, and showed his aggressive playing power with his free shots.

In the final over of the innings, Liam continued to put pressure on Mitchell Starc, and so he scored 28 runs in a single over. Beginning with a massive six, Liam’s onslaught continued as he hit the boundaries again on the third, fourth ball and fifth ball. This evidently put Mitchell in a lot of pressure. Liam finished the last ball of the over and the innings with a four, asserting his dominance over the Aussie bowler.

The post 6,0,6,6,6,4: Liam Livingstone destroys Mitchell Starc- 28 runs in a single over appeared first on Cricket Country.

After being put in to chase the big target of 305, England’s opening batters, Ben Duckett and Phil Salt departed cheaply before Will Jacks (84) and Harry Brook (110*) formed a 156-run partnership to get England into a strong position.

Brook would go on to score a sensational century before some big shots from Liam Livingstone saw England reach the total of 254/4 in 37.4 overs as the rain stopped play.

England benefitted from the Duckworth-Lewis method

But, the Three Lions were 46 runs ahead of where they needed to be under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method for weather-affected matches and, with a downpour preventing any further play, England managed to end Australia’s run of 14 consecutive ODI wins with a 46-run victory.

Brook was awarded with the Player of the Match award for his heroic century and the 25-year-old was absolutely elated to score his maiden ODI ton in 18 matches.

“It’s nice to get the first one on the board and hopefully plenty more to come. We just have to keep doing what we said we are going to do (in Friday’s fourth ODI at Lord’s) and keep being positive, take the game to them (Australia),” Brook said in the post-match presentation.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh reflected on the disappointing defeat against their arch-rivals.

“I thought we did extremely well to get the 300 with conditions early on, a lot of seam and it was hard work. In one-day cricket with a big partnership you can set the game up for yourself, fair play to them (England),” Marsh said.

The fourth ODI of the series will be played at Lord’s on September 27.

The post Harry Brook’s maiden ton keeps England alive in ODI series against Australia appeared first on Cricket Country.

1. Liam Livingstone (England) – 129 runs

The English batter has played against Rashid on 14 occasions and most of the times has done well. Livingstone is a hard-hitter of the ball who always plays with an aggressive approach. The batter has an impressive strike rate of 167.5 against the spinner. Rashid has managed to dismiss him 4 times.

2. Kieron Pollard (West Indies) – 125 runs

The West Indian has faced Rashid on 25 occasions. They have mostly faced off against each other in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rashid has managed to dismiss Pollard thrice. Though, Pollard hasn’t let Rashid take his wicket on most occasions, he hasn’t been able to score a lot of runs against the spinner either. That is why he only has a strike rate of 94.0 against Rashid.

3. Sanju Samson (India) – 116 runs

The Indian wicketkeeper batter has faced Rashid on 14 occasions most of which have come in the IPL. The Afghanistan spinner has found it quite hard to dismiss Samson and he has been able to do so on just 1 occasion. On the other hand, Samson has done pretty well against Rashid scoring at a strike rate of 113.7.

4. AB de Villiers (South Africa) – 114 runs

Out of the 5 batters who have scored the most runs against Rashid, de Villiers has arguably been the most dominant one. He has faced Rashid on 10 occasions and though the Afghanistan spinner has managed to clinch his wicket thrice, the South African has most done quite well. He also has the best strike rate in comparison to the other 4 batters at 156.2.

5. Rishabh Pant (India) – 114 runs

Another Indian wicketkeeper batter who has caused problems for Rashid. The players have faced-off on 15 occasions and the Afghanistan spinner may have been able to dismiss him thrice, but Pant has looked good while batting against the spinner. The left-handed batter has a strike rate of 110.7 against Rashid.

The post Top 5 batters who have scored the most runs against Rashid Khan in T20s appeared first on Cricket Country.