Newsfile: April 27

Theron happy to get a game: In what was Deccan Chargers seventh match of the season, South Africa fast bowler Rusty Theron finally got a game, and he said he was pleased to be back amid the action. “I have been feeling good in the nets and I just needed to play in the middle to get [back] my confidence,” he told IPLT20.com. “You’ll get four yorkers right and miss one, which will go for six, whereas if you spend some time in the middle you will get the fifth one also right. I am pretty happy. It was a bit of mixed bag but I am playing in the middle after a long time and it’s good to be back again.” Theron was expensive, but claimed the wickets of Manish Pandey and Steven Smith, in what was Chargers’ first victory. A big talking point was their decision to replace Dale Steyn with Theron, who said he felt the pressure of taking Steyn’s place in the XI. “I had some big shoes to fill. I spoke to him [Steyn] before the game, he asked me to go there and enjoy my game. I could feel a little bit of match jitters ...”

Not worried about Harbhajan – Pollock: Mumbai Indians’ bowling coach, Shaun Pollock, has said team captain Harbhajan Singh’s lack of wickets is not an issue of concern. "Harbhajan sets very high standards for himself and his performance hasn't been that bad,” he told PTI. “Obviously, he hasn't got a lot wickets but that is not something we are worried about. There is no doubt about the fact that he has played a lot of cricket here and knows the conditions very well." In seven matches (six innings) Harbhajan has taken only one wicket, and conceded 7.45 runs an over, but Pollock said this was not because of his tendency to bowl flatter trajectories in the tournament – at times, the situation dictated that Harbhajan didn’t flight the ball, he said. "There are times when he is coming to bowl with two set batsmen at the crease. It is difficult to throw the ball up in these situations."

Smoking lands Shah Rukh in trouble: Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who also co-owns Kolkata Knight Riders, has been directed by a Jaipur court to appear before it on May 26, in relation to his flouting of local smoking laws – Shah Rukh was seen smoking at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium during Kinght Riders game there on April 8. The complaint, according to newspaper reports, was filed on April 9 by Anand Singh, who runs the Jaipur Cricket Academy. In his complaint, Anand had sought action against the actor under Rajasthan’s Prohibition of Smoking Act of 2000, which forbids smoking in public places.

T20 is slow for umpires – Rauf: Twenty20 may be all about frenetically paced cricket for the players and spectators, but for the on-field umpires, it’s rather “slow”, according to Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf. “People don’t understand this, but in this format very few decisions come to the on-field umpires and the ones that do come to us are usually straightforward,” Rauf told IPLT20.com. “The bowlers generally bowl a bit wide of the off-stump which is relaxing for the umpires.” However, Twenty20 and the shots it has inspired from batsmen leave the umpires more vulnerable on the field, he said. “The kind of shots that batsmen play these days, we’re seriously thinking of demanding protective gear for the umpires.”