Sunrisers Hyderabad dealt Nehra blow

Ashish Nehra will miss Sunrisers Hyderabad's next two matches, against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at home, due to a groin injury. Nehra picked up the knock during Sunrisers' 45-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, hobbling off the field after just 2.1 overs in the first innings.

"Nehra has hurt his groin. He will be out for a couple of games," David Warner, Sunrisers' captain, said after the game. "We have to look back and look at positives and turn it around. We have a good batting track at Hyderabad. We should not lose wickets in clumps.

"When you look at the outcome of the game, it really hurts when the bowler goes down. You have to reassess you plans and when two batsmen are going hard here, it's very difficult to stop them. One bowler going down really hurts and you plans are thrown off the track."

Nehra was one of India's standout performers at the recently-concluded World T20, picking up five wickets from five matches at an impressive economy-rate of 5.94.

Chinaman bowler Brad Hogg has said he regrets having given up international cricket in 2008, just when it looked like he might have a good run in Test cricket given Shane Warne's first-class career was at an end then. Hogg gave up ODIs and Tests in February 2008 soon after his 37th birthday due to issues on the personal front, before making a T20I comeback in early 2012 at 40.

"I do regret retiring back in 2008. I had a Test berth for Australia at that stage but I had some personal issues with family and yes, I retired there," Hogg was quoted as saying by PTI, on the eve of Kolkata Knight Riders' game against Mumbai Indians. "I wish I didn't, because the marriage did not survive. Luckily it did not, because I met a new partner and she's someone who supports me. There's talk about me when I'm going to stop and she just says play as long as you possibly can. We're going to try get there to fifty."

Hogg said he still looks forward to playing every game, and that keeps him going at 45. "I think it's just having the passion of wanting to play. Everyone knows I retired in 2008, had about two-three years out of the game. To have an opportunity [to do] what you love, I don't take it for granted. I just love it, I still have the passion of a five-year-old kid, when I first had that dream of playing for Australia. The game has changed, it has evolved. It has given a new lease of life to cricket and it has given a new lease of life to me."

Kings XI co-owner keen to help out drought victims
Ness Wadia, one of the co-owners of Kings XI Punjab, has said he is willing to shift his franchise's matches out of Maharashtra, given the drought issues in the state. He also said he was willing to help out those affected by the drought, if directed how to.

"IPL is about enjoyment and fun. But where's the fun when there's death and malnutrition and basic facilities like water are unavailable? The IPL is important in its own way, but the matches can always be shifted," Wadia told the Times of India. "If we're told in whichever way we can contribute, we're willing to participate. Whether it's contributing to the chief minister's fund or adopting villages in the region or anything else that would help us do something to help."

The case relating to holding IPL games - which require large amounts of water to maintain the grounds, etc - in the drought-hit Indian state is ongoing in the Bombay High Court, with the court yet to make a final ruling.