QPlay: Pune Grabs Dhoni; Ashwin & Jadeja in Top Five ICC Rankings
All the latest sports news in The Quint’s morning wrap.
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1. Dhoni & Ashwin Joined by Rahane in Pune, Rajkots Get Raina & Jadeja
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin will continue to play for the same IPL franchise, but not be Chennai Super Kings, for the next two years at least.
In the blink-and-you-miss IPL draft on Tuesday morning in Mumbai, the Indian limited-overs skipper along with R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith and Faf du Plessis have been picked by Sanjeev Goenka’s yet-unnamed Pune franchise.
The other new team in the league – Intex’s Rajkot franchise started their draft process with CSK players Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja. However, their other three picks were all overseas players as they next added Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo to their line-up of five.
2. FC Goa Thrash Delhi Dynamos 3-0 to Breeze into ISL Final
Producing an inspirational performance, FC Goa decimated Delhi Dynamos 3-0 in the second leg semi-final to breeze into the summit clash of the Indian Super League (ISL) in Margao on Tuesday.
On their entry into the final, FC Goa recorded a better goal aggregate of 3-1 after the two semi-final legs.
After having lost the first leg semi-final in Delhi by a solitary goal, Zico’s boys came out all guns blazing against Roberto Carlos’s out-of-sorts outfit.
Joffre and Rafael Coelho put Goa 2-0 up within the first half-an-hour of the match while Dudu Omagbemi’s opportunistic strike in the 84th minute was like the final nail in the coffin for Robin Singh and Co.
3. Ashwin, Jadeja in Top-5 of ICC All-Rounders’ Rankings
Ravichandran Ashwin held on to his top spot, while Ravindra Jadeja rose to the fifth spot in the all-rounders’ chart of the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Tuesday.
However, no Indian found a place in the top-10 of batsmen’s rankings while Ashwin (2nd) and Jadeja (8th) represented the country in the bowlers’ list.
4. Bopanna Shines With Two Wins in Indian Aces’ Impressive March in the IPTL
India’s Rohan Bopanna won his singles as well as doubles match as Indian Aces extended their domination in the IPTL. They won against Philippine Marvericks comfortably 30-17 in Dubai on Tuesday.
In a surprise move, Bopanna was fielded in the legends singles and he came out all gun blazing against the American James Blake 6-0.
Agnieszka was her usual fighting self and edged Ajla Tomlajanovic 6-4 to help Indian Aces consolidate its lead.
5. IPL Chairman on Road Ahead for Players Not Picked in Draft
India’s limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the first pick in Tuesday’s IPL draft on Tuesday with the new Pune franchise opting to snap him first for the stipulated price of Rs 12.5 crore.
The remaining 40 players from the two dissolved IPL franchises will now have to wait till February 6 for the IPL auction, where they will go on the block for all 8 teams.
The 10 players drafted on Tuesday will also not be allowed to be traded when the window between teams opens early next year.