IPL 2019 schedule announced, Oman dismissed for 24 and more - Cricket News Today, 19th February 2019 

It's Dhoni vs Kohli in IPL opener

IPL 2019 will kick-start with a mouthwatering south derby between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on March 23. The schedule for the first two weeks of the tournament was announced on Tuesday.

Over the first couple of weeks, 17 matches will be played. Six of the teams will lock horns across four games during this period.

Virat Kohli's RCB and Delhi Capitals will play five of their games in these two weeks while all the teams will feature in two home fixtures. Delhi, being the exception, will host three IPL games.

The traditional double-headers will be played on the weekends. Three of those will take place in the first two weeks.

There has been a talking point regarding the timing of the games as it has been listed as afternoon, evening in the fixture details.

There are still clouds hovering around the proceedings due to the 2019 general election clashing with the IPL window.

"Once the election dates are released we will address any issues with the first two weeks and also prepare a schedule for the remainder of the season working with the local authorities around the polling dates," a statement on the IPL website said.

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India can win the World Cup without facing Pakistan: Harbhajan

Harbhajan Singh has urged the Indian team not to play against Pakistan in the upcoming 2019 World Cup

Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has urged the Indian team not to play against Pakistan in the upcoming 2019 World Cup. A terror attack in Pulwama shook India as 44 personnel of the CRPF were killed.

According to Harbhajan, India are good enough to win the World Cup without facing Pakistan in the group stages. “India should not play Pakistan in the world Cup. India are powerful enough to win the World Cup without having to play Pakistan,” the spinner told Aaj Tak.

He said all ties with the neighboring nation should be cut-off else nothing will change. There have been strong reactions to the recent event.

“This is a difficult time. The attack that has happened, it was unbelievable and it’s very wrong. Strict action will surely be taken by the government. When it comes to cricket, I don’t think we should have any relations with them otherwise they will keep treating us like this." he added.

On whether India should compete with Pakistan if both the teams make it to the knock-out stage, Harbhajan said that it is up to the concerned persons and there is time to think over it.

Youngsters are missing guidance of Smith and Warner: Hazlewood

According to Test vice-captain Josh Hazlewood, the youngsters are missing the guidance of Smith and Warner

The Australian Cricket team faced some hard times in the recent past. They lost an important series against India at home and struggled to find their feet on foreign soil. The side clearly missed the banned duo, Steve Smith and David Warner.

The defending 50-over World Cup champions suffered from a string of loses and both Test skipper Tim Paine and limited-overs captain Aaron Finch were found wanting.

According to Test vice-captain Josh Hazlewood, the youngsters are missing the guidance of Smith and Warner.

He said that the presence of coach alone can't help the rookies and that having the experienced campaigners would have helped the side perform better. The duo was banned for a year after been involved in a ball-tampering scandal last year.

"It's just so important to have those couple of senior guys when you bring those couple of young guys into the top six to learn from. You just can't teach a few things as coaches. You have to learn out in the middle batting with a senior person. I think the other young batters will really feed off having them back," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.

Oman get floored for 24, Scotland win with 280 balls to spare

Oman hosted Scotland in the first unofficial ODI and suffered a humiliating loss

In an interesting turn of events, the Oman national cricket team were floored for mere 24 runs by Scotland. Oman hosted Scotland in the first unofficial ODI and suffered a humiliating loss.

33-year-old Khawar Ali top-scored for the hosts with 15 while his teammates failed to trouble the scorers.

Had this been an ODI game, the 280-run loss margin would have been the heaviest in the history of cricket. Oman Cricket is yet to earn international status and therefore the game hasn't been considered as an international one.

Scotland was right on the money from the very start. Ruaidhri Smith and Adrian Neil shared eight wickets between them as the game got over in quick time.

Chasing 24 to win, Scotland whacked a few to clinch the game under four overs. Openers MH Cross and KJ Coetzer stayed unbeaten and took to the side over the line.