Top Stories: Things that made news in the cricket world today

IPL 2019: BCCI announces Schedule and Fixtures, all league matches to be hosted in India

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today (March 19) announced the schedule for all the league matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) season 12.
• Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will host Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2019 season opener on March 23 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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Vijay Shankar could be India’s surprise weapon at no.4 during the World Cup 2019

• The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14 and will see 10 of the top ODI teams battle it out in a round robin format.
• Every team plays each other once and the top four teams after the completion of the league stage will play in the semi-finals.
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‘Hardik Pandya has to be monitored’- Zaheer Khan on all-rounder’s back-injuries

• Hardik Pandya has carved a reputation as an effective all-rounder in all the formats ever since he made his debut for India way back in 2016.
• However, he hasn’t had the best of times ever since the 2018 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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IPL 2019: Chennai to host the tournament final on May 12

• The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin from March 23 and will see Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) taking on defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the latter’s home ground of MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the schedule for the league stages of the IPL 2019 and Chepauk will host all the Chennai Super Kings matches.
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BCCI refuses to play political adverts during IPL 2019 matches

• The new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is due to kick off on March 23.
• Also, this is the season of the general elections in India and chances of cricket and politics blending together are high.
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Ashes 2019 may see players wearing names and numbers on back of whites

• The Ashes rivalry later this year is set to witness something unprecedented in the history of Test cricket.
• In the series scheduled in England in August-September, the players of England and Australia will be seen donning shirts displaying names and numbers on their backs.
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Ganguly and Ponting believe Ishant Sharma fits right into the Indian limited-overs set up

• There’s no doubt to the fact that Ishant Sharma is a red-ball specialist in the Indian team but over the years his limited-overs career has lost its prominence.
• However, with just two months to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the 30-year-old seamer is still in hopes of a World Cup spot.
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COA in no hurry to refer the S Sreesanth case to BCCI Ombudsman

• Former India cricketer S Sreesanth got a huge relief from the Supreme Court of India, as it removed the life ban imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on March 15 and also directed the Indian cricket board to reconsider the quantum of punishment on Sreesanth in 90 days’ time.
• To recall the events, S Sreesanth along with his Rajasthan Royals’ teammates Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila were all found guilty by police for spot-fixing in a match in IPL 2013 and spent time in Tihar Jail in Delhi.
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“Bring on the World Cup, we fear no one”- Rashid Khan before the tournament

• Afghanistan found themselves on cloud nine as they created history by winning their maiden Test during the one-off encounter against Ireland at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium in Dehradun.
• Afghanistan, who were playing their second Test, defeated Ireland by seven wickets.
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Dimuth Karunaratne in talks for the Sri Lanka captaincy position in the World Cup

• Back in December 2018, fast bowler, Lasith Malinga was appointed as the captain of the limited-overs side for Sri Lanka.
• Despite the change in leadership, the team hasn’t been able to emerge victorious in even a single match.
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IPL 2019: Will Rohit Sharma rest during the tournament? He himself answers

• The timing of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year has raised a lot of questions.
• The all-important World Cup is set to follow the tournament and the fitness of the players, especially the Indian, has become the topic of debate.
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ICC World Cup 2019: Sanjay Manjrekar picks India’s Number 4 and 5

• India has already finished playing their last international fixtures before the World Cup, which commences on May 30 in England and Wales.
• However, the Men in Blue slumped against Australia 3-2 in their last bilateral series against Australia after going 2-0 up in the five-match series.
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IPL 2019: Gautam Gambhir predicts the top four teams of the season

• The World Cup is still some months away. While the cricketing world is gearing up for the mega event, there is another big tournament which is coming up before that and it is the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• The tournament is kicking off on March 23 with a game between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at MA Chidambaram Stadium and the experts are already busy making predictions about the probable winners.
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IPL 2019: KXIP coach Mike Hesson is impressed with an Indian bowler ahead of the season

• It’s another few days before the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off.
• The tournament is being held early this year because of the ICC World Cup and all the eight franchises are eager to prove a point or two this season. One of the teams that will look to make an impact is Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
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ICC CEO reveals why India-Pakistan clash at World Cup will go ahead as scheduled

• There are dark clouds hovering over the upcoming India-Pakistan clash in the ICC World Cup.
• The already poor bilateral relationship between the two nations has further deteriorated in the wake of the Pulwama attack last month that claimed the lives of 44 CRPF personnel.
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