Saturday, May 30, 2009

Cool Captain Hot Team!!!


MSD has been termed as the coolest captain Indian cricket has ever produced. A lot has been written about his captaincy & man-management skills but one seldom praises his batting & wicket-keeping which is equally good. He led India to a famous win against Pakistan to lift the ICC World T20 which held in South Africa two years back. At that time, few players were known, few were famous & few were very new to international cricket. They win the world cup that time. This time also they are everyone’s favourite to lift the trophy again.

Just have a look at the formidable World T20 team that will be playing against the big powers of world cup. I am providing the IPL stats of the guys who have been selected to represent India in the biggest tournament of the shortest version starting from June 5 in England.

Captain & Wicketkeeper: M S Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)

M-13, Runs-304, HS-58*, Avg-43.42, SR-131.60, 50s-2

Vice Captain: Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils)

M-11, Runs-198, HS-50, Avg-19.80, SR-143.47

Gautam Gambhir (Delhi Daredevils)

M-15, Runs-286, HS-71*, Avg-22.00, SR-102.87

Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians)

M-13, Best Bowling-4/17, Avg-21.33, ER-5.81, SR-22.0

Ravindra Jadeja (Rajasthan Royals)

M-13, Runs-295, HS42, Avg-26.81, SR110.90, Bowling: Wkts-6, Best-3/15, Avg-25.16, ER-6.47

Zaheer Khan (Mumbai Indians)

M-6, Wkts-6, Best Bowling-3/31, Avg-23.66, SR-21.00, ER-6.76

Praveen Kumar (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

M-13, Wkts-13, Best Bowling-3/30, Avg-30.30, ER-7.93, SR-22.90

Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers)

M-15, Wkts-18, Best Bowling-3/21, Avg-19.33, ER-6.50

Irfan Pathan (Kings XI Punjab)

M-14, Runs-196, HS-39, Avg-19.60, SR-124.05, Bowling: Wkts-17, Best Bowling-3/35, Avg-22.94, ER-7.74

Yousuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals)

M-13, Runs-243, HS-62*, Avg-20.25, SR-132.78, Bowling: Wkts-7, Best Bowling-3/34, Avg-34.71, ER-6.94

Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings)

M-14, Runs-434, HS-98, Avg-31.00, SR-140.90, Bowling: Wkts-7, Best Bowling-2/17, Avg-23.42, ER-5.92

Ishant Sharma (Kolkata Knight Riders)

M-11, Wkts-11, Best Bowling-2/15, Avg-27.00, ER-6.90

Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers)

M-16, Runs-362, HS-52, Avg-27.84, SR-114.92, Bowling: Wkts-11, Best Bowling-4/6, Avg-14.63, ER-7.00

R P Singh (Deccan Chargers)

M-16, Wkts-23, Best Bowling-4/22, Avg-18.13, ER-6.98

Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab)

M-14, Runs-340, HS-58*, Avg-28.33, SR-115.64, Bowling: Wkts-6, Best Bowling:3/13, Avg-23.66, ER-7.10

Thursday, May 28, 2009

India gets benefits in World T20 group stage


India, with Bangladesh & Ireland are in group B of the World T20 tournament which is starting from June 5th in England. India has a pretty easy group as they have two ‘weak’ teams of world cricket – Bangladesh & Ireland & they should enter the 2nd round pretty easily. On the contrary, the situation of other groups is not that simple. These are the groups in the upcoming World T20 cricket world cup:

• Group A: India, Bangladesh & Ireland
• Group B: England, Netherlands & Pakistan
• Group C: Sri Lanka, Australia & West Indies
• Group D: New Zealand, South Africa & Scotland

You should expect some surprises especially in Group C. Certainly WI will have to face the pressure as both the other teams are in good form. Though Australia have looked scratchy in the past 6 months, they came strongly against the Pakistanis in the recently concluded Abu Dhabhi Series.

We have to wait for a while to see some interesting T20 cricket between the world cricketing teams.

England eyeing clean sweep


England, having won 3 out of their 5 ODIs against WI, are eyeing clean sweep. Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood & Matt Prior have been stars of the tournament. Collingwood with his all round performance, enable his side register a six wicket win in the 2nd game of the tournament, where as Prior batted superbly along with Bopara in the third one.

Windies are out of form & if they continue this kind of a show in the remaining matches they would not only go down in the ICC rankings, it will also act as a negative force in the upcoming World T20 (which is also in England, where the current series is going on). In fact, WI should try to make most of the remaining two opportunities as it will give them more insight of English conditions. Surely Bravo & Dwayne Smith will going to join them in the T20 World cup as these two were pretty successful, both with the bat & bowl

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Retired guys doing wonders





The ‘Golden player’ of the tournament – Adam Gilchrist, The best captain of the tournament – Anil Kumble, The ‘Orange Cap’ winner of the tournament – Matthew Hayden, The spirited – Shane Warne – they all have one thing in common: All of them have retired from international cricket & were the best performing players of IPL Season 2. Hayden scored 546 runs to secure the ‘Orange Cap’. He was the ‘flag-holder’ of CSK throughout the tournament; He piled on runs against every opponent.

Anil Kumble was declared as the most inspirational captain of tournament by fans & commentators. Indeed his performance & record speaks for themselves. He took 5 wickets in the first game & 4 in the finals. Though his team still lost the final by 6 runs, yet he earned ‘The Man of the Match’ award in the finals.

Shane Warne was defending his team’s title in the season 2. Though his team was unable to do that, personally he bowled really well & also played some important knocks to secure victories for his side. He took 14 wickets in the tournament was one of the difficult bowler to hit out of the park. Though he’s retired from international cricket, still it has proved true in his case that retirement doesn’t kill your game.

Adam Gilchrist – the winning captain of the tournament batted superbly to earn the ‘Golden player’ of the tournament award. He also dismissed 23 batsmen by taking some superb catches behind the wicket & by some excellent stumpings. The stumping of Virat Kohli in the finals of the bowling of Andrew Symonds can be arguably said as the best stumping of the tournament. It also turned the game in DC’s favour. Retirement hasn’t affected his game & he’s shown time & again that ‘class is for ever’. He was exceptional in the semifinal against DD & that knock of 85 off 35 deliveries was also one of the best T20 innings ever played by anyone.

Hats off to you guys!!!

RCB were brilliant


RCB won 6 of their last 8 games under the captaincy of Anil Kumble. He was very inspiring & said even young players like Van Der Merwe were also Captains! He himself bowled well & was the only bowler to take 4 wickets in a game twice! RCB must consider themselves extremely unlucky not to clinch the title. They were brilliant with the bat, exceptional with the bowl & instrumental in the fielding & catching department. Praveen Kumar, Ross Taylor, Manish Pandey, Jacques Kallis, Van Der Merwe & Anil Kumble were their key players at different junctures of the tournament. Kumble proved himself as the best captain of the tournament who inspires his team by setting examples & leading from the front.

DC – The New Nizaams of IPL


Deccan Chargers finally did it! After having the wooden spoon in the last season, they’ve struck gold this time. They defeated Dr. Vijay Mallya’s RCB by 6 runs to win the IPL Season 2. Just like the last year the game went right till the last over where R P Singh kept his cool & bowled beautifully to give just 8 runs when the requirement was 15. Robin Uthappa, just like the whole tournament, batted disastrously in the last over. He tried some cheeky shots to send the ball to the boundary, but ‘The Purple Cap’ winner, R P Singh ensured that DC wins the gold.

Anil Kumble, earlier bowled superbly to dismiss the hero of the semifinal – Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma & T Suman to restrict DC to a paltry 143. The moment of the match & probably the turning point of the game came when Gilchrist stumped Virat Kohli on the bowling of Andrew Symonds. Young Harmeet Singh & Pragyan Ojha rose to the occasion to bowl exceptionally well.

It was a team effort & DC truly deserves to be champions.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

RCB as My Favourites


RCB will play the 2nd semi final against CSK. For me, RCB will start as the favourites. Experts might say that CSK’s batting is rock solid, but I just see RCB holding an edge over CSK.



The first thing:

• They’ve win 3 out of their last four matches.

Their newly appointed captain, Anil Kumble:

• Have won 6 out of his 8 games.

Has in-form players like:

• Jacques Kallis
• Anil Kumble
• Van der Merwe
• Manish Pandey
• Ross Taylor
• Pravin Kumar
• B Akhil
• M Boucher


Fielding:

• Their fielding have been quite better than CSK, who have been very sloppy in the field.

Also, RCB will hold a psychological advantage after winning their last league game against CSK. If Matthew Hayden plays, it will be a test for RCB, otherwise, CSK sans Hayden, might just find it difficult.

Watch the Semi final for more.

I feel for DD!!!


DD played superbly to notch the top spot in the tournament to secure the 1st position after the finishing of league matches. In crunch matches like this, you’ve got to deliver the goods & this is where Gambhir & Warner lacked. They did all the good work in the league games but was unable to deliver when it was needed the most. DD should have included Glenn ‘Pigeon’ Mcgrath before this all important semi final. But Nannes just choked at the wrong time & Gilchrist with all the experience in the world, hammered him in the 1st over itself. DD must consider themselves quite unlucky not to get into the finals after 5 weeks of hard work. Though, Dilshan played superbly today, but after Sehwag got out, he couldn’t carry out the momentum with DeVilliers to post a challenging total on the board. With DC scoring 41 in the first 3 overs, the game was already over for DD. Today, it wasn’t a team which defeated Sehwag & Co., it was Adam Gilchrist

Gilly does it For DC


Adam Gilchrist hit the fatest fifty in the history of IPL to secure a place in the finals of DLF IPL 2. This has been an amazing season for DC. They started with 4 victories from 4 games. Then lost their way & struggled a lot to enter the semis. But when they entered, they defeat the favourites of the tournament with around 3 overs to be bowled. Adam Gilchrist made mockery of, what looked liked a challenging total. He scored 85 off 35 balls to make DC secure their place in the finals. It’s been an amazing comeback by DC, especially considering their last year’s performance, when they finished right at the bottom of the table. But this year, they’ve been sensational, to say the least. Adam Gilchrist with 29 sixes also snatched the ‘Orange Cap’ from Ex team mate Matthew Hayden. Learning a lesson from the last match’s defeat at the hands of RCB, Gilly decided that he will make the most of it, if not all. Then late assault from Andrew Symonds ensured that it will be DC’d night.

Earlier, T Dilshan & Sehwag played brilliant innings to rescue DD from the early shocks given by Ryan Harris. He took Gambhir & Warner in the very first overof the match. But Sehwag & Dilshan responded very well, with Sehwag hitting 39 & Dilshan scoring 64 off 51 balls. R P Singh lived up to the reputation of the ‘Purple Cap’ by taking 2 wickets & taking his tally to 22 wickets from 15 matches. He’ll carry Indian hopes in the T20 world cup in England, followed just after the IPL gets over.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sehwag Back in Form


DC might have the highest no of six hitter in their side – Adam Gilchrist, a clinical finisher – Rohit Sharma, a powerful striker of the cricket ball – Andrew Symonds, the ‘Purple Cap’ owner – R P Singh in their ranks, but there is someone who has hit his batting form; & let me tell you, if he roars then nobody else does. Yes folks, Virender Sehwag – the devastating opener from DD murdered MI’s meek bowling. Sehwag scored a brilliant fifty with a strike rate of over 180 & he makes it look very easy. Though, Harbhajan’s late strikes give MI some hope of closing this season with a win, but Amit Mishra hit 13 runs in 4 balls to finish the game before it could become a thriller.

Sehwag was instrumental today. He didn’t look like a batsman who was dismissed for a ‘duck’ in the last game & was ruthless – to say the least, on MI bowlers. DC would be praying that he again goes for a low score in the semis as he was dismissed in the last game, these two sides played.

We’ll see that & more in the semi final game between the two sides

RCB & DC Enters Semifinals


At last, RCB & DC make their way to the semis & it will now be RCB v/s CSK & DD v/s DC. RCB defeated DC by 12 runs to attain the third position in the points table. Today, a century was scored by Manish Pandey of RCB – the 1st by an Indian in IPL & second overall this season. RCB batted 1st & Pandey – who was sent to open the innings along with Jacques Kallis, straight away started the assault on DC bowlers. R P was specially treated with fours & sixes: the result – R P gave 47 in 4 overs, which was his most expensive bowling performance this season. In the last over, especially RCB won the battle by hitting him for 23 runs.

Interestingly, RCB has defeated all the other three semifinalists in their last four games!!!
This makes them a strong contender against CSK. Now, the team consisting of Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, Manish Pandey, Van Der Merwe & Ross Taylor is looking a serious contender to lift the trophy.

Watch them out battle it against the topmost team of the tournament so far !

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Chennai Beat KXIP to End 2nd in the League Table


In the second match today, Team Chennai (CSK) defeated KXIP in what was virtually a quarter final for KXIP, convincingly to notch up the second spot in the tournament’s league table. KXIP, on the other hand are almost out of the tournament. Though, they will have to wait for the encounter between RCB & DC, as the winner of this clash will take the 3rd position & either KXIP or the loser of RCB or DC will end up being the last semifinalist. But that is in truth, a distant possibility, as KXIP's run rate is far below than RCB & DC.

CSK batted first & lost their way after an impressive start provided by Parthiv Patel & George Bailey. Ramesh Powar & S Sreesanth bowled superbly to control CSK’s innings & restrict them to 135. Raina, Dhoni, Oram, Badrinath – all four of them failed to impress with the bat today. Irfan Pathan & Wilkin Mota supported Powar & Sreesanth superbly. CSK’s run rate decreased considerably after losing 4 wickets for 72 runs before going to the ‘Strategic Time Out’.

Chennai however, defended this total very well; with Murali bowling exceptionally well along with Jakati & Balaji. None of the KXIP’s batsmen impressed with the bat barring Luke Pomersbach. He batted well, but soon gave away as none of the batting mainstays for Punjab like Yuvraj, Sangakarra or Katich tried to bat smartly. More than the defeat, it could well be the run rate which could hurt the chances of KXIP. If KXIP would have won the contest then Chennai would have ended up fourth & the winner of RCB v/s DC or KXIP would have finished 2nd & 3rd.. But after losing this all important game, KXIP have to wait for the result of the match between DC & RCB.

Even, I am waiting more desperately than KXIP!!!

RR Thrown Out of IPL


As I said in one of my earlier blog, that teams like KKR & MI, who have already been eliminated from the IPL may spoil the party of any of the team which is struggling to be in the final four. That exactly happened today when KKR defeated RR to finish all their chances of making to the semis. KKR bowled superbly, with Charles Langeveldt making his dream IPL debut bowling a superb spell. Agarkar, Dinda & Shukla supported Langeveldt equally well & restricting RR to a modest total of 101. Though, this total seemed to be enough when KKR lost their six wickets to a paltry 45. Then Laxmi Ratan Shukla, along with Agarkar played a responsible knock & ensured that KKR see through their run chase.

It was a dream run for RR last year when after losing the first game against DD, they came back strongly to win the cup with 15 straight victories!!! But this year they had a rough patch as some of their players like last year’s ‘Purple Cap’ winner Pakistani Sohail Tanvir, ‘Man of the series’ Shane Watson, Pakistani batsman Younus Khan & wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were not playing this year. Still their ‘Marshal’ Shane Keith Warne led his ‘Band of Mavericks’ superbly. His immense faith in some of the youngsters like Kamran Khan, Yousuf Pathan, Ravinder Jadeja, Naman Ojha, Munaf Patel & Amit Singh has proved good for the Indian cricket – as a whole. We’ll see Ravinder Jadeja & Yousuf Pathan in the upcoming ICC World T20 in England. No one can forget their game against MI when Warne bowled an absolute beauty to get rid of long term rival Sachin Tendulkar. With this wicket, his nightmare (of Sachin stepping outside the crease & hitting him over boundary for six) finally ended. In the same match, Munaf Patel bowled a superb last over to defend just four runs. Also their match against KKR cannot be forget when Yousuf Pathan hit Ajantha Mendis for 18 runs in the first four balls of the ‘Super Over’ chasing 15 hit by Chris Gayle.

Adios Warne, you will be remembered as the most inspiring captain of this tournament...!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Final Four !!!


After watching the points table very closely after the game between RCB & DD last night, I draw a conclusion that only a huge victory of either RR over KKR & or KXIP over CSK. If both things happen, only then CSK will be eliminated from the tournament. Otherwise, DD will finish 1st, CSK(if wins against KXIP) finishes second, the winner of DC vs RCB match will finish fourth & probably the team (loser of RCB v/s DC or KXIP) will finish fourth.

And we have to take this thing into account, especially for the first match today, KKR might spoil RR's party. Better watch out RR!! Well, the second team which has been thrown out of the tournament have a game against DD & that match would be of least significance as far as the top 4 are concerned.

This is getting really hot & we are up for an exciting finish. 1 thing is for sure, more than the semis & the 'Grand Finale', it's buildup is more hotter & exciting. The format is so beautifully crafted that still u can't read the top 4 teams.

Yuvraj Takes Second Hattrick


Yuvraj Singh is King of Hattricks. He’s claimed his second hattrick of the season. It seems he is becoming used to take hattricks. Against DC, Yuvraj took his second hattrick, which has incidently made him a bowler to take two hattricks in least interval of time. His bowling has always been an X-Factor for India, but his main exploits have come in this season of IPL. Yuvraj was happier with the hattrick this time round as it came in a winning cause. His hattrick broke the middle order of DC resulting in their loss by 1 run. Also it put break on the scoring rate.

Also, it was a co-incidence that the batsman who was hitting the bowlers out of the park was also a hattrick taker in this season of IPL, Rohit Sharma. He nearly pulled the match single handedly for DC, but was not lucky this time as he was against KKR, the last time.

Monday, May 18, 2009

DD defeats RR – Ah, Nothing New !!!

Nothing much for me to write as it has been the story of the season. Just have a look at the highlights of the game:

• DD batted first – Viru & Gauti fell cheaply (as always…)
• The 3 musketeers – Dilshan, Devillers & Kartik again played superb knocks to make DD reach 150 (as always…)
• The bowlers – Nehra, Nannes, Sangwan & Mishra bowled brilliantly (as always…)

The unusual thing about the game was Smith, Ojha, Pathan, & Warne failed together. Though the gutsy, Johan Botha & the man in form for RR – Ravinder Jadeja tried very hard from the bat to secure the game for the Royals, but their effort was just not enough. In the end Munaf Patel, though tried to create a sensation by hitting 4 boundaries, but it was just a tailender’s effort which didn’t gave DD any threat.

So DD sitting pretty with 18 points in the bag & still couple of games to go!!! The tournament structure is so beautiful that it still hasn’t been decided who will join DD & CSK in the semis. Every game is crucial for the teams like DC, KXIP, RR & RCB which are still in fight for the 3rd & 4th spot.

Rohit can’t repeat it


In the last blog, I mentioned about Rohit Sharma’s heroics. He nearly did it again on Sunday against another contender for the semis – KXIP. Irfan Pathan held his nerves to bowled Rohit Sharma in that sensational last over, when it was looking DC’s game. But RP Singh wasted 2 deliveries & that cost DC dearly. On the last bowl Harris did try to slog it over for a six but could manage only a couple which meant DC was short by 1 run. This defeat can cost heavily to DC as all the four teams which I mentioned in the previous blog post, are trying very hard to secure those two places for the semis.

Earlier Chargers’ bowlers did their job brilliantly as they restricted KXIP to a modest total of 131. When they lost three quick wickets, it was almost certain that they will not collect too many runs for DC to chase. Adam Gilchrist & Gibbs again started sensationally with Gilly going after the Punjab bowlers & Gibbs was solid as ever. But once Gilly & Gibbs depart, the going got tough for the Chargers as Symonds wasn’t looking comfortable in the middle, though he scored 25 important runs. Then came Rohit ‘Saviour’ Sharma & he did exactly what he do best – hitting the bowler all over the park. He almost manage to give Gilly a smile, but was not successful this time round.

Punjab has gained two very crucial points. Every game from now on will be like a final for especially those four teams.

It’s really getting exciting. I just cannot wait to see it happen.

Rohit Strengthens DC’s chances


Rohit Sharma won the game single handedly for DC against KKR, when it mattered the most. He ‘murdered’ debutant Mortaza. He hit 2 massive sixes in the last over of the match when the game was almost gone for the DC. Mortaza bowled like a typical Bangladeshi & gave 26 runs by conceding a no ball, 2 fours & 2 sixes. He had 21 runs to defend but it was Rohit’s day. KKR was looking to spoil the party of some of the teams who are trying really hard to make it to the last four. But first against RR, it was Ross Taylor & now Rohit Sharma won the game for their respective sides.

Earlier, David Hussey & Brad Hodge batted superbly to take the KKR to a good looking score of 160. It was competitive, but Gilchrist started in his own fashion, hitting fours & sixes. Then Murali Kartik put brakes on DC’s run rate. At one stage it seemed as it is over for DC. Ajit Agarkar bowled a superb penultimate over & took the match almost beyond the Chargers’ reach, but Rohit Sharma was still their with Venu Gopal Rao & with his tremendous hitting in the last over, he took his side safely home.

Now, the 3rd & the 4th spots are to be filled by either of the four teams: Rajasthan Royal, Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab or Royal Challengers Bangalore. It will be really interesting to see which two teams make it to last four with the Delhi Daredevils & Chennai Super Kings.

Watch the DLF IPL 2 for the exciting finish

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Mumbai thrown out by Hayden...Oops Chennai !!!


Indian Premier League will be without Indian....I mean Mumbai Indians as they are thrown out from the IPL 2. Murali & Raina bowled well to restrict Mumbai to 147, despite good batting efforts from J P Duminy, Jayasuriya & Abhishek Nayar. Then 'The Man with The Orange Cap' Matthew Hayden ensured that Chennai gets through as he remains unbeaten on 60. He has further secured his 'Orange Cap'.

We feel sorry for Mumbai, specially after that heartbreaking defeat against RR. Earlier in the tournament also, Mumbai let it slip when they could have won the match. Still, MI is a far better team than KKR which has managed just three points from 11 games. We hope that Jayasuriya plays in the next edition also, Bravo fires again in 2010, Sachin becomes the highest run getter, Abhishek Nayar again bats beautifully, Zaheer, Harbhajan & Malinga again bowls well. For now, its over for them.

For now, enjoy their last game against DD.

Farewell MI !!!


Clinical Finish For Punjab


KXIP just managed to keep that beautiful smile on Preity Zinta's face by defeating the Daredevils. Though DD defended their paltry total well, but Irfan Pathan hit three massive sixes to keep KXIP in the semis hunt.

Earlier Brett 'Binga' Lee & Sreesanth came to party & restricted DD to a modest total of 120. It was nice to see Lee gaining his lost rhythm back & the yorker which cleared Maharoof was the most beautiful of all. I still believe that instead of Maharoof, Mcgrath should have been included in the DD's squad. I hope he makes his way in the next game.

Coming back to the game, Sreesanth was lucky enough to get rid of Dilshan & DeVillers, as both of them are in killer form. Still, Sreesanth, who usually loses his cool after being hit for a boundary, held his nerves & bowled very well. Pathan also bowled well & his hitting was decisive.

DD on the other hand looked scratchy, but you should allow them some leniency as they have been superb right through this tournament. I hope they'll again come back to their blasting form in the next game against RR; & let me tell you, if they bounced back severely on RR, it might dent RR's hope of making it to the semis seriously.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Now It's MI !!!

Just what I said about DC the other day, I think I should replace 'DC' with 'MI'. What a mess by them. 6 balls - 4 runs, 3 wickets: still end up on the losing side. That's MI. Till the time Sachin & Nayar was there, it was MI's game, but Warne bowled a beauty to get rid of Sachin. And when Abhishek Nayar went out, it was still their's game. Until Munaf Patel bowled a superb over. 3 wickets & suddenly MI ended up on the losing side. It's Warne's Karizma, that worked again for him. I guess, Australia wouldn't have seen a downfall, if Shane Warne would have been their captain.

Now it has become really difficult for the MI to make it to last four. Today it's DD vs KXIP. If Punjab lose today's game, they will certainly go out of the tournament & the race for the fourth place will heat up between the two Royals: RR & RCB. The battle Royale will be a feast to watch but let's hope KXIP wins today & make it a threesome!!! That might return the famous smile of Preity Zinta!!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

DC threw away the game against DD

DC threw the last night match against DD in the last three overs. When the things looked under control, thanks to an onslaught by the captain ‘Gilly’ & ‘Roy’ Symonds & some good strokes by D Ravi Teja – they lost it. Rajat Bhatia again bowled some good slow balls to ensure that DD doesn’t lose it. Its high time for DD to play the Glenn ‘Pigeon’ Mcgrath. They should give some rest to Dirk Nannes & include Mcgrath ASAP.

Gilly batted amazingly well but neither Rohit Sharma nor Smith supported him. Even the game was under DC’s control till the time Dwayne Smith played a rash shot. Apart from those two overs where DD scored 50 (24 off Suman’s over & 26 off Vaas’s last over), DC looked in control.

Earlier Dilshan & Karthik played scintillating innings which took DD to a formidable total. Dilshan was very aggressive in the early part of the innings & Karthik in the slog overs. These two along with AB Devilliers scored briskly to ensure DD gets past 170. AB was exquisite with his timing. Also his fielding skills add to DD’s benefits.

Semifinalists almost confirmed

With DD growing stronger match-by-match, CSK with its brilliant batting & DC with its all-round cricket are almost certain to grab a semifinal birth. The 4th spot could well go to either of MI, RR, RC or KXIP. MI after defeating KXIP convincingly has gained some strength, though they need to put some more spirited effort. KXIP, I reckon is a very strong team with players like Yuvraj, Katich, Sangakara, Jayawardene & Brett Lee in their side, still this side has some bad luck, some bad efforts, because of which they are looking vulnerable, however, some power packed performances could lift their spirits & enhance their chances of the final four. RR with probably the best captain of all the sides haven’t been up to the mark, still players like Warne, Watson & Pathan can bring glory to them. RC looks the weakest of these four, still Ross Taylor showed the other night against KKR, what he is capable of. The late inclusion of Mark Boucher has cost them a lot. To ensure a place in the final four, RC players have to play some extra ordinary cricket & hope that the result of other matches also suits them.

Let’s hope for the best four.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Dirk Nannes: A Dark Horse!!!

Dirk Nannes of Victoria, Australia is going strength to strength in the IPL 2. He’s been superb for DD. His brilliant performance has kept the legend of the game Glenn McGrath out of the DD playing XI. DD looks to be the strongest of the lot as mentioned by Harbhajan Singh of MI in an interview to a leading newspaper. He said, “I must admit that Delhi Daredevils is the strongest team of the IPL 2. Virender Sehwag, Daniel Vettori & Glenn McGrath are warming benches & still they are winning convincingly”. This is primarily because of the start provided by Dirk Nannes. The Victorian doesn’t used to take his cricket seriously until suggested by a friend. He might get a chance in the Aussie side after the T20 world cup scheduled to be held in England, just after a week IPL 2 finishes. Best of Luck Dirk!!!

Hyderabad Wins Convincingly

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers defeated Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs. Dwayne Smith & Rohit Sharma again comes to the party. Early loss of Graeme Smith cost Royals very much. Asnodkar, though looked to regain form, but Royal’s trump card Yousuf Pathan disappointed them in a crucial game. Rohit Sharma looks for a serious contender for the ‘Purple Cap’. Chaminda Vaas proves why experience counts in any form of the game. He bowled well, gave Deccan the much needed momentum with his lusty blows. It seems to me that he will now feature regularly in the coming games of DC. With DD sitting pretty on top of the table & DC winning yesterday looks almost certain. The third could probably be CSK which seems to regain their strength. The 4th position could well go to anyone between KXIP, RR & MI. The coming games will be very crucial for these three sides. My gut feeling says it could be KXIP. What you say????

Saturday, May 9, 2009

England Beat West Indies by 10 Wickets

There are other international games going on in the cricketing world other than IPL. Pakistan-Australia series just finished where Australia beat Pak 3:2, but were unable to keep the momentum of one day series going in the shortest version of the game.
Pakistan defeated Australia convincingly in the only T20 played between the two sides.

Also, the Frank Worell Trophy is going on between England & West Indies. England beat West Indies by 10 wickets to take 1:0 lead in the series. The 1st test marked the debut of young England bowler P. Onions. He bowled superbly & gave indication of his capabilities & talent. Chris Gayle was not very successful in both the innings, so was the English batsman Kevin Pietersen. Ravi Bopara carried his brilliant form of IPL to the test series, scoring a brilliant century. Fidel Edwards though was lethal with the ball as he was in IPL serving for DC. The English bowlers did a fantastic job of restricting West Indies to a paltry total. The West Indians just managed to save their face by managing to make England bat again.

West Indies have to work really hard to bounce back in the series. They have to focus particularly on their bowling & fielding which let them down in the first test. Senior pros like Chris Gayle have to bat for long hours. Their bowling & fielding improvement might bring England’s shaky batting out in the middle.

Man of the moment – Rajat Bhatia

Rajat Bhatia is an experienced player when it comes to domestic circuit. He plays for Delhi in Domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy & BCCI sponsored other tournaments. He’s been titled as “Mr. Dependable” for Team Delhi in yesteryears. A good middle order batsman & a medium paced bowler, Rajat Bhatia is a very useful player. Just like the last game between DD & MI, he proved that he could be very handy with the ball. There have been moments where he has proved his worth with the bat as well.

Full name: Rajat Bhatia
Born: October 22, 1979, Delhi
Current age: 29 years 199 days
Major teams: Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, Tamil Nadu
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast

Friday, May 8, 2009

Player of the day's profile - Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden
Australia

Full name: Matthew Lawrence Hayden
Born: October 29, 1971, Kingaroy, Queensland
Current age: 37 years 191 days
Major teams: Australia, Chennai Super Kings, Hampshire, ICC World XI, Northamptonshire, Queensland
Nickname: Haydos
Playing role: Opening batsman
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Height: 1.88 m

"Haydos" has been instrumental in the IPL Season 2. From the day he's won that orange cap (which is been awarded to the player with most number of runs in the con-current season), he is not giving it to anybody else, for the simple reason that he's been playing superbly in nearly every game. If CSK have to fancy their chances of winning the trophy (or at least going in-to the finals), then Hayden will have to carry the responsibility on his strong shoulders. Also he's been relaxed, for two reasons: - 1. He's retired from international cricket. (So there shouldn't be any controversy, what-so-ever: giving preference to IPL ahead of national duty or playing for his state side. 2. He's got good support from youngsters like Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath, Parthiv Patel & Other batsmen like Jacob Oram, M.S. Dhoni & Albie Morkel. He is also as fit and strong as ever.

So join me tomorrow for more...

IPL Season 2

Well Folks,

IPL Season 2 is going great guns. We've seen Batsmen taking hatricks, Captains drinking beer, Dogs running in ground. It's all out here.

IPL Season 2 is just the opposite of IPL 1 where batsmen were dominating. The bowlers are making there mark here. The world of Cricket has found some new bowlers like Yousuf Abdullah (KXIP), Dirk Nannes (DD), Sudeep Tyagi (CSK), Shadab Jakati (CSK), to name a few. Also new batsmen like Karan Goel (KXIP), Naman Ojha (RR) have gained fame with their heroics.

The last year dudes have turned in duds. Manpreet Goni (CSK), Swapnil Asnodkar (RR), Dhaval Kulkarni (MI) etc. have disappointed their fans with their bowling & batting.

Join me from time to time for cricketing news.

Bye for now !!!

Have a Nice Day