Auqib Nabi is one of the pacers who has made a name for himself in domestic cricket. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer's services were acquired by the Delhi Capitals (DC) for Rs 8.4 crore in the IPL 2026 auction. DC began their IPL 2026 campaign by securing a win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by six wickets at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow. The Capitals are all set to lock horns with the Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 4 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Ahead of the match, DC's pacer Nabi revealed that South Africa's legendary pacer Dale Steyn inspired him to become a fast bowler. "I used to watch Dale Steyn a lot when I was young. The way he swung the ball at such high pace inspired me to become a fast bowler and hopefully, play for India one day," he told JioHotstar. Further speaking, he said that former Team India cricketer Irfan Pathan helped him to make his debut for Jammu and Kashmir's senior team by giving him tips. "I used to get scolded a lot by my father for constantly playing cricket because I didn't have his support. He wanted me to become a doctor. When Irfan bhai joined as mentor of Jammu and Kashmir, I was in the Under-23 team and my performances there got his attention. He helped me make my debut for the Jammu and Kashmir senior team. He used to guide me a lot by giving me tips and was very helpful," said Nabi. IPL 2026, Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians: Full Squads Delhi Capitals: David Miller, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, KL Rahul (WK), Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Ben Duckett (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Ajay Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari. Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (WK), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Corbin Bosch, Hardik Pandya (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Mayank Markande, Sherfane Rutherford, Raghu Sharma, Atharva Ankolekar, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (WK), Allah Ghazanfar, Naman Dhir, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar. (With PTI Inputs)
03 April,2026 04:41 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) began their IPL 2026 campaign with a dominating win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets. The defending champions will now lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 5 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Ahead of the match, RCB's Jitesh Sharma said that the team is aiming to dominate again and prove that the triumph in the previous edition was not a one-off. "This is not a one-year thing. We are here to dominate. I want to prove that what happened last season was not a one-off. Winning the first trophy for RCB was a magical feeling. The biggest satisfaction was knowing that I had contributed to it. That is a moment I will always be proud of," he said. The cricketer then said that he is proud that his father saw him don the Indian colours. "When you lose your father, that void never really goes away. I am not trying to forget it. I want to carry that emotion with me and keep moving forward. I am proud that my father saw me wear the India jersey and saw me lift the trophy for RCB. That means everything to me," said Jitesh. Further speaking about his game, he credited former Team India cricketer Dinesh Karthik by saying he made him understand his game better. "When I walked back into Chinnaswamy and saw the red and blue again, I felt reborn. Being back in that environment made me feel like myself again. A lot of the credit for my growth goes to DK 'anna'. He helped me understand my game better, use my strengths properly and improve mentally. DK asked me to take a break, put the bat away for a while and spend time with my family and friends. That helped me reset," said the 32-year-old cricketer. IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings: Full Squads Royal Challengers Bengaluru's squad: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal. Chennai Super Kings's squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar. (With ANI Inputs)
03 April,2026 02:47 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe IPL 2026 is all set to witness the battles between the Kings! The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are ready to take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Chennai will enter the clash on the back of one loss, which they suffered against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). On the other hand, Punjab will look to continue riding on its winning momentum. The side registered a victory by three wickets in the previous match against the Gujarat Titans (GT). IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: Head-to-head record So far, both teams have clashed against each other on 32 occasions and have registered 16 victories each. It will be interesting to see which team takes a lead by securing a victory in Chennai tonight. IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: Record Alert! Ahead of the match, PBKS' Arshdeep Singh will be eyeing a huge feat for the franchise. He is three wickets shy of becoming the first bowler to complete 100 scalps for Punjab. So far in 83 IPL matches, Arshdeep has bagged 97 wickets, with the best bowling figures of five wickets for 32 runs. IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: Players to watch out for from the clash Sanju Samson will be an exciting player to watch out for from Chennai's dugout. In the previous match, he managed to score just six runs in seven balls, including a boundary. The right-handed batsman will be looking to deliver a big knock tonight in front of the home crowd. Punjab's think tank will expect Cooper Connolly to replicate his performance from the previous match. In the match against Gujarat, he delivered a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 72 runs off 44 balls, with the help of five boundaries and the same number of maximums. IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: Full Squads Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar. Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shashank Singh, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Shreyas Iyer, Ben Dwarshuis, Vishnu Vinod (WK), Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Harpreet Brar, Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Cooper Conolly, Mitchell Owen, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Vishal Nishad.
03 April,2026 01:10 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentIn the IPL 2026 match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) emerged victorious by 65 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. During the match, SRH's Nitish Kumar Reddy showcased a fearless approach as he scored 39 runs in 24 balls. He also smashed four boundaries and a maximum. Later, he also claimed two wickets by conceding 17 runs in two overs. Speaking about his contributions, South African legendary pacer Dale Steyn said that it was a complete all-round performance. "I love seeing this, youngsters showing the veterans how it’s done! Nitish Kumar Reddy has been impressive and deserves this. He’s been performing consistently, and even when given the responsibility with the new ball recently, he handled it well. Tonight, he picked up a wicket early, contributed with the bat, and was sharp in the field, it was a complete all-round performance," said the former pacer on JioStar. In the second essay of the match, KKR's Angkrish Raghuvanshi delivered a glorious knock of 52 runs off just 29 deliveries, which was laced with six boundaries and two maximums. Following his knock, the 21-year-old cricketer earned praise from former Team India player Cheteshwar Pujara. He said that Raghuvanshi made full use of field restrictions and maintained the tempo well throughout his innings. "Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been batting brilliantly, but today he looked class apart. Walking in early after Finn Allen’s wicket, he showed fearless intent in the powerplay and made full use of the field restrictions. Even when Ajinkya Rahane had a few dot balls at the other end, Ankrish kept the momentum going. Usually, there can be a dip in strike rate when they bat together, but today there was clear communication and he maintained the tempo really well," said the veteran of 103 Test matches. IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad: Upcoming fixtures SRH will lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 5 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. On the other hand, KKR will now gear up to clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 6 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
03 April,2026 01:07 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are all set to lock horns with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2026 match on Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Ahead of the match, CSK's skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad stated that it is necessary to allow the inexperienced players to make mistakes. He also said management needs to ensure they are in a good headspace. "Not forcing it [captaincy], to be honest. Looking at this team now, it is a very young team. The excitement is there but at the same time, there's a lot of difference between experienced players and inexperienced players. So, you have to allow them to make mistakes. You have to allow them to express themselves. You have to make sure that they are in a good headspace," he said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. The Super Kings suffered a loss by eight wickets in their first match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Despite the loss, the skipper was not fussed and said that the players need to embrace the opportunity to play for Chennai and try giving their best for the team. "I mean, [there is pressure to perform] from families, from the media, from team members, everyone [in the IPL]. So to cope with that and to just get into that IPL performance mode, sometimes it takes time. You try and share your experience with them, [but] it should not make them cautious. It should not make them go into a negative frame of mind. Making their debut for a franchise like CSK - it is a huge achievement for them. So, first thing is to enjoy it, embrace it and give your best, whatever it is there. If it happens, well and good; even if it does not happen, it is still a long journey for them," said Gaikwad. "They are still at the start of their careers. It is just about managing what are their strengths, and just navigating them to be fearless and not have any doubts about it," he signed off. IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: Full Squads Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar. Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shashank Singh, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Shreyas Iyer, Ben Dwarshuis, Vishnu Vinod (WK), Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Harpreet Brar, Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Cooper Conolly, Mitchell Owen, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Vishal Nishad. (With ANI Inputs)
03 April,2026 12:36 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentKolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday said that people talking about his strike rate in the IPL have "certain agenda" against him and are "jealous" about the amount of success he has achieved. Rahane's strike rate has been a talking point, more so as he opens for KKR in the IPL. "My strike rate, I think I have one of the best strike rates so far from 2020. People who are talking about me, probably not watching the game or they have certain agenda against me. They don't like me playing," the 37-year-old Rahane said at the post-match press conference after KKR lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 65 runs. "They don't like to watch me play. The amount of success which I got, I guess they are jealous about me. I am not too worried," said Rahane who made 8 off 10 balls in KKR's 161 all out in 16 overs while chasing 227. Rahane made 67 off 40 balls in KKR's opening match on March 29 when they lost by six wickets to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede. "You guys know what I am doing. Just one bad innings. Not a bad innings, but my intent was that sometimes as a batter you don't get that rhythm, you don't get that flow. "People who are talking, they don't understand the game and I think they want me to play a different kind of inning. They didn't expect that Ajinkya Dhane will basically improve his game this much. So I am happy they are talking about me, negative or positive either way. "I am really happy that they are talking, let them talk. But batting-wise, partner-wise, it's been amazing. We have a very good partnership in Mumbai." He said playing aggressive cricket in power play is risky but he knew what he was doing. "For six overs, you always look to go fearless cricket. Play fearless cricket with freedom. At times, you will struggle. That's okay. It's important to accept. But I know what I am doing. "I know what I did in the past and I back myself rather than thinking about it. Whoever is talking about me, let them talk," said the former India Test vice-captain. Rahane also captained KKR last season. He had a strike rate of 147.73 last season, scoring 390 runs from 13 matches. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:52 AM IST | Kolkata | PTINitish Kumar Reddy, who played a key role in Sunrisers Hyderabad's 65-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders, said he had been waiting for such a performance for a long time after his all-round show helped his side register their first win of the IPL season here on Thursday. Heinrich Klaasen (52) and Reddy (39) provided the late charge as SRH posted a challenging 226 for 8. Reddy (2/17) also chipped in with the ball as KKR were bowled out for 161 in 16 overs. "It's the match-winning performance I was waiting for a long time. Thankfully it came at the right time, and even my bowling, it's given me confidence. Just trying to be positive," Nitish said at the post match presentation. "There have been too many negative thoughts in my mind because the last season didn't go my way and I couldn't bowl last season. "I've worked really hard on my bowling and it's paying off, and that really makes you feel happy and I am happy now. Thanks to the trainers and physios, my body is fully fit now." Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan lauded the team effort but said fielding remains an area of concern. "Not happy with the way I played but really happy the team was committed. Everyone was putting in the energy they put that I asked for. I don't think the pitch was that good to be honest. "Head and Abhishek played a beautiful knock out there. The powerplay made the game easy for us because every batter got time to take singles and get a feel of the pitch. Great effort from them and Klaassy at the end. Team effort. "We all know Finn is dangerous but Harsh just bowled that ball and we were lucky to get that wicket." On Harsh Dubey and Shivang Kumar, Kishan said: "Harsh has been doing well for his domestic team and keeping his nerves down and keeping calm in tough situations. "I would like to talk about Shivang. Coming here, small ground. But his hard work paid off. He was in touch with all the coaches and trying to understand what works. You saw him bowl with big heart against someone like Rinku." On areas of improvement, Kishan said: "I think we are getting to know about the areas with each game. Fielding is an area. We can't give 20 runs in extras. We'll work on it as a team." KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said his team failed to build partnerships and hinted at a possible change in combination. "Yeah I thought we needed a couple of big partnerships. Guys who were set needed to take it deep. With the ball I thought we came back really well. In batting, when you are chasing a target, you need that partnership but we didn't get that. Second innings, I felt the ball was slightly stopping. Slower balls were gripping a lot more than first innings," he said. "We thought the wicket would get better but it got slower. But not making excuses. SRH did good use of the slower balls and the angles they used were really good. "Winning home games is really important so we have to go back to the drawing room and think about our combination, if we need an extra batter. But we don't need to think too much. Just one bad day." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:47 AM IST | Kolkata | PTINew Zealand T20I skipper Mitchell Santner on Thursday joined the Mumbai Indians squad here ahead of their Indian Premier League match against Delhi Capitals. The five-time winners Mumbai Indians will take on the Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Santner and England all-rounder Will Jacks were the only two players left to join Mumbai Indians, who had convincingly won their season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders last Sunday in Mumbai. The two overseas players, who had featured prominently for their respective teams in last month's T20 World Cup, had asked for an extended period before joining the MI squad. MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene had confirmed giving these two players extended time off for personal reasons. "With the guys who are joining (late are) obviously Mitch (Mitchell Santner) and Jacksy (Will Jacks). Both (had) asked for a slightly extended time for personal reasons and we were quite happy to go with that. But they will join the team pretty soon," Jayawardene told reporters on eve of the game against KKR. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:45 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndia T20I skipper and Mumbai Indians star Suryakumar Yadav showed off his dance moves at the recent MI Stage Show, mimicking the iconic steps pulled off by the character Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna) to the song FA9LA in the superhit Bollywood film Dhurandhar. As seen in this series of screengrabs from MI’s recent Instagram post, Yadav rocks as he steps onto the stage with the same swagger that Dakait oozed in the hit flick. MI captioned the post: “Ye dada ka style hai, full Dhurandhar mode.” The post received a whopping 3.5 million views. and over three lakh ‘likes.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mumbai Indians (@mumbaiindians)
03 April,2026 10:08 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentMumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ajinkya Naik, who has had multiple meetings with government officials in recent times, has revealed that the proposed new cricket stadium near Navi Mumbai International Airport will be up and running within three years. “I have met CIDCO Managing Director Vijay Singhal yesterday [on Thursday], we’ve had multiple meetings earlier also. It will take six months for the paperwork and planning and we are expecting the new stadium to be built within the next two-and-half to three years. The stadium will have an indoor cricket academy and multiple grounds for local club cricket within the stadium premises,” Naik told mid-day on Thursday. When Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis named some of the Wankhede stands after India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma, former Test skipper Ajit Wadekar and ex-ICC, BCCI and MCA chief Sharad Pawar last May, he had promised that his government would allot land to MCA to build a new stadium in the city which will accommodate one lakh spectators. “MCA’s new stadium will have a capacity of one lakh. It’ll be the second biggest stadium in the country [after Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad which has a capacity of 1,30,000] and built across 60 acres. The location is ideal as it will be just 25 to 30 minutes away from the new Navi Mumbai International Airport and will take just 20 minutes from Thane and around 40 minutes from Mumbai to reach,” added Naik. 60 acresArea allotted for new stadium in Navi Mumbai
03 April,2026 09:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureAjit Puthran, a former Dadar Union Sporting Club pace bowler, passed away on Thursday. Puthran, 62, was a terrific Kanga League bowler and teamed up well with the late Ramesh Rajde in the 1980s, tormenting the best sides in the premier division of the monsoon league. Both were bespectacled. He was also known for his exploits in tennis ball cricket.
03 April,2026 09:43 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentADVERTISEMENT
