Page 42 - The Indian EYE 032522

SpORTS MARCH 25, 2022 | The Indian Eye 42

IPL 2022

Ahead of kick-off, teams train hard

and get ready for tough games

On March 26, Delhi Capitals will take on Mumbai Indians in their first match of the
season; No strong or weak team in T20 cricket believes Ajit Agarkar

OUR BUREAU
Mumbai
ormer India pacer and Delhi
Capitals assistant coach Ajit
FAgarkar feels that there is no
clear favourite in the T20 format and
more so in the Indian Premier League
(IPL) as anyone can be a winner.
Putting forward Rajasthan Roy-
als’ maiden triumph in the inaugu-
ral edition of the IPL as a case study
Agarkar commented on the glorious
uncertainties of cricket. “In T20 crick-
et there is no strong or weak team, I
wish it were true and you could pick
one or two teams but that’s not the
case. We have enough of evidence
throughout the editions of IPL that no
team is easier to beat,” Agarkar said
during the IPL gameplan show on
Star Sports.
“If you see Rajasthan Royals in
the first edition of IPL, everyone was
having a laugh at the team they picked
in the auction, but they went on to win
the trophy,” he added.
On February 23, IPL franchise Hardik Pandya playing a shot
Delhi Capitals announced the ap-
pointment of Ajit Agarkar as the ly after securing a full-fitness certifi- this task will be the likes of Shane “I am quite happy with the team,
team’s new assistant coach. cate from BCCI’s NCA. The 12-day Bond, Robin Singh, Kiran More, Ra- it is a new team. To be honest, we are
Agarkar joined the Delhi Capi-
tals coaching staff of Ricky Ponting strength and conditioning pre-season hul Sanghvi, Vinay Kumar, TA Sekar, not here to prove anything, we are
camp, ahead of Mumbai Indians’ first
Paul Chapman and data analyst CKM
here to play good cricket. We are here
(Head Coach), Pravin Amre (Assis- match, is being held at their in-house Dhananjai - who have a proven record to make sure the environment is right
tant Coach) and James Hopes (Bowl- training facility at the Reliance Jio Sta- of nurturing the likes of Suryakumar, and players can flourish. There is no
ing Coach). dium, Navi Mumbai. Mumbai Indians Bumrah, Ishan, Pandya brothers and expectation as such, we are going to
The 44-year-old, with 288 ODI
and 58 Test wickets to his name, has will also play a couple of inter-squad many more in the past. be a team which will make sure that
it keeps improving,” said Gujarat Ti-
practice matches towards the second
represented Kolkata Knight Riders week of the camp. not here to Prove tans captain Hardik Pandya in a video
and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
The first-day training session was anYthIng: harDIK PanDYa posted on IPL’s Twitter handle. Hardik
rohIt sharma, bumrah joIn preceded with player assessment anal- All the teams have started to Pandya will be seen in action for the
ysis by the coaching staff led by the
first time since November 2021 as the
mI squaD director of cricket Zaheer Khan and train ahead of the IPL 2022 starting 28-year-old was out due to a back inju-
Mumbai Indians have begun their coach Mahela Jayawardene. from March 26. Like all the IPL debu- ry. It will be interesting to see whether
preparations for the Indian Premier Over the next 11-weeks, Mum- tants Gujarat Titans are also gearing he will bowl or not or he will play only
League (IPL) 2022 campaign. bai Indians coaching staff will look up ahead of the high-profile league as a batter for Gujarat Titans. This
Earlier, captain Rohit Sharma ac- at upskilling the young domestic and and they have started their training. franchise will play their first match
companied by speedster Jasprit Bum- international recruits through individ- The Gujarat franchise will be led by of the IPL against the other debutant
rah moved from the bubble to join ual sessions, game situations, mental all-rounder Hardik Pandya who is Lucknow Super Giants on March 28
the squad late last night, while Ishan aspects and physical fitness. captaining an IPL side for the first at the Wankhede Stadium and they
Kishan flew from Bengaluru separate- Joining Zaheer and Mahela in time. Continued at next page... >>

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