Could not have been better for Kochi

They took four long years to make it to the Indian Premier League and it should be as mindblowing as it can get when they beat the former runners-up and along with it the number one team in last year's edition of the same. Howver, I am aware that my words make little sense for it is only the Kochi Tuskers Kerala who as a team are making their first appearance in the IPL and not its players especially in the game of cricket. Players like Sreesanth, Jayawardane and McCullum along with Muralitharan know what it takes to be the best.

If Sachin Tendulkar is someone who can do miracles with the bat, Muralitharan is another similar chap who can do the same with the ball. Someone like Sreesanth can play well for his home team-Kochi rather than some Kings XI Punjab needless to be said. But, much to anyone's surprise the same man from the same town was found to lack his place in the playing eleven. However, that should not be the matter to think about when it was the time to rejoice after Kochi handed Mumbai a 8 wicket defeat yesterday at Mumbai. Defeating a lion's team on its own den is better relished than missing out on a local lion.

The Kochi Tuskers Kerala team has been the pick of this edition of the Indian Premier League not only for their on field performance but also for the team that they have chosen to head with. They have batsmen of the likes of Brendon McCullum who is a hard hitting player famous for his 158 off just 74 balls in the inaugural edition and the inaugural match of the IPL when he blasted the RCB bowlers all over the stadium to score the only 150+ individual score of the IPL which stands even today. Other mad names include Muralitharan, John Hastings and Brad Hodge.

The highlight of the day was the hundred by Sachin Tendulkar which was I guess the first in his T20 career if the IPL is considered as a tournament. Otherwise, Sachin Tendulkar has hardly any T20 games behind him. For a change, he was not awarded the man of the match despite scoring a hundred which brigs up another rarity in cricket. That hundred according to me should have been the innings bestowed compared to McCullum's 81. When Sachin Tendulkar could have been given the man of the series last year despite being on the losing side, one has to wonder what deceived him yesterday.

KKR never bound to improve

Well if one goes through yesterday's match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians, once again the Kolkata Knight Riders were sen getting to their old tactics when they retained as many as 7 wickets by the end of the 20th over yet again putting up a modest total of just over 150 on the board. None of the three batsmen who made it to the crease had their strike rates more than even 140 when a strike rate of 150 is said to be ideal in the T20 match. The KKR innings was more or less like a test innings where wickets are kept intact.

No matter that all three batsmen from the Kolkata Knight Riders namely Chris Gayle, SouravGanguly and Owais Shah came up with decent scores when they scored 75 and 31 each. But, what is the use of the same when that could hardly guarantee them a face in the match let alone a victory. They had to be specially reminded that they were facing a team that is at present positioned at the top of the points table. Nothing special could have been expected from SouravGanguly and Owais Shah taking into account their hard hitting capabilities. But, Gayle is known for his hard hitting abilities.

Chris Gayle was the first batsman in the history of the T20 game to have scored a century when he belted the South African bowlers for a 57 ball 117 in the first match of the inaugural T20 world cup held at South Africa. But, the way he was found batting in the game against the Mumbai Indians once again showed the pressure which he was supposed to be having that was imposed by his team and not by the opposition. If this is the way the KKR are found playing repeatedly, it shows what the coaches are upto. When an ordinary cricket enthusiast like me can find the drawback the KKR are facing, it is confusing why the coach has not been able to do?

On the otherhand, even the Mumbai Indians lost not more than 3 wickets like the KKR to overtake the total of 155 to win. More than the effort by the Mumbai team on the field, it was their game planning which saw them victorious at the end of the day. They were well aware of the team strategy of the KKR that they would not get into a good score despite having so many wickets in hand. This was evident when Sachin Tendulkar bought in just 5 bowlers who bowled their complete quota of 4 overs each. No matter if they couldn't get wickets but were successful in restricting the opposition to a below par total.

Just one man extra

Well as the game of the T20 cricket goes, just one solid batsman is more than enough for the opposition to start thinking what to do next. And, this time it was Yousuf Pathan who did the job for Mumbai Indians (the job of evoking panic among the Mumbai Indians). Everything was going on smoothly until Yousuf Pathan stepped in and tried to do a Virender Sehwag Shahid Afridi when he scored the fastest hundred in ODIs the Indian Premier League by consuming the same number of balls as that of Shahid Afridi in ODIs. Unfortunately, Pathan couldn't do what Afridi could do when he scored the world's fastest hundred.

It was a team effort from the Mumbai Indians' part wherein, as many as 6 batsmen who took to the crease scored double digit scores and all of them had their strike rates above hundred with only two of them ending upo scoring at a strike of less than 150. There were 7 bowlers from the Rajasthan Royals side who tried to stop the team work of Sachin Tendulkar's men which was finally valiant. A score of 200+ on the board could not be stopped from scoring despite the efforts of Shane Warne and Shaun Tait who were the only well set bowlers from the Rajasthan Royals' side.

Rajasthan Royals never ever deserved to win despite the top class batting of Yousuf Pathan for the sole reason that cricket is a team sport and not an individual's game like table tennis and badminton for just one player to outplay the other. If Yousuf Pathan's score of 100 is deducted, the score from the remaining 8 batsmen from the Rajasthan Royals' side including the extras comes up to be 108 runs from 13.5 overs. Yousuf Pathan's score of 100 was close to 50% of the team total excluding the extras which accounted for just 5 runs. It was a mistake from Shane Warne when he bought on Amit Uniyal when Shaun Tait could have done a better job with the bat.

Had there been one man in addition to Yousuf Pathan, Rajasthan Royals would have made the match as theirs. Though there was Paras Dogra who scored 41 runs that was bettered by only Yousuf Pathan, the players who followed Pathan's dismissal could not support him from the other end and under pressure, Dogra had to sacrifice his wicket by getting out in the same fashion as Yousuf Pathan. One thing that can be noticed from the scorecard is that the two batsmen who had taken the Mumbai bowlers' for a run could not be claimed by any bowler and had to make a mistake on their own which saw them get out. But, a team effort always pays which is once again evident from the Mumbai Indians.

Why Is Dravid Being Made The Scapegoat?

The picture is right in front of us, after the first inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last but one, only ahead of Deccan Chargers. This would obviously hurt, irritate and even make the sponsorer go mad, after investing the second highest amount in the tournament/league. For, Vijay Mallya invested a huge 442 crores for Royal Challengers team, that was just one crore less than that invested for the Mumbai Indians which was 443 crores. Well, that is not the discussion of the hour. All that Vijay Mallya could do was to sack the team manager Charu Sharma. Not a bad move, though not a good one.

And the recent news was that Rahul Dravid would no more be leading the side. In other words, Rahul Dravid's credibility in taking his team forward is being questioned by the owner. And more over, its been a buzz that Rahul Dravid has even been put up for sale. No idea regarding how true the story is. However, this is not good news and not fair on the part of Vijay Mallya. For, it was only because of Dravid that Royal Challengers ended a place above the Deccan Chargers. Else, the team would have been placed at the last position. No doubt that Dravid's style of play is more suited for the test cricket and not for T20 game which is the one concerned.

But, if Dravid can adapt himself to this format of the game, which is not considered his cup of tea, it really deserves much applause for it. I think it is still in the memories of Vijay Mallya the way Rahul Dravid snatched victory against the runners up of the tournament- Chennai Superkings, when all would have thought otherwise. And the way he belted an unbeaten 75 off just 35 balls against the champions- Rajasthan Royals is something noteworthy. All these with the above mentioned fact that he is a test player basically. Still if Vijay Mallya thinks of axing Dravid and even tries to get rid of him by auctioning him, I feelt that Mallya's cricketing knowledge has to be reconsidered.

If Dravid has to be axed, if Vijay Mallya is to be believed, so should be Wassim Jaffer and Sunil Joshi. And god knows as to what made Vijay Mallya think of having Zaheer Khan sacked inspite of him being among the leading wicket takers in that edition? And how successsful was Robin Uttappa in the Mumbai Indians' side? Why doesn't Vijay Mallya curse himself for bidding money on players like Sunil Joshi, Virat Kohli and Wassim Jaffer who don't even have the ability to stand for a long time like in test matches, forget about a T20 bash? If this is the way someone like Vijay Mallya thinks, I wish even the IPL chaiman Lalit Modi should consider sacking Mallya as a sponsorer who does not know to pick the right players for the game. But, money makes many things.

Unofficially,Kolkata Knight Riders Lose..

With the match between Delhi Daredevils and the Kolkata Knight Riders being washed out due to rain,I feel it is a wrong statement to cite rain as a factor for shattering the dreams of the Kolkata Knight Riders' of entering the semi finals of the Indian Premier League.Even if there were no rains,a Kolkata win was just an illusion I feel.All that they could do was to start with a bang in the first encounter against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and continue with a series of losses to all the major teams.

Had the match between the Delhi Daredevils and the Kolkata Knight Riders been played,all eyes would have been on Delhi Daredevils team that was charging forward compared to the Kolkata Knight Riders.Well,amazingly,rain has favoured the perfect team.And the Delhi Dare Devils seem to be the team that has the capacity to make it to the last four.But,still my vote would go in the favour of the Mumbai Indians-for they seem to be playing better cricket compared to someone like Chennai Super Kings.

Of the four so called icon players,two of them have given up the hopes of making into the big stage.Only two others in Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians are proving something worth.It would be worth noting the soft target provided for the Kolkata knight Riders by Royal Challengers Bangalore,which saw Brendon McCullum making most of them.But,when it comes to the really mattering stage in Delhi Daredevils and the Kings XI Punjab or even the Rajasthan Royals,sorry to say this.The Kolkata Knight Riders are no where near the mark of victory.

And what much difference would have it made,had the match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Delhi Daredevils been played.Another loss for the Kolkata Knight Riders and a disappointment for Kolkata Knight Riders' fans.Alas!the fans have something to take home though if not the memories of the match.Guess what?Exactly!The cheerleaders.Ha ha ha..

A Second nightmare For the Mumbai Indians?

Well everyone knows the spat that happened in the clash between the Mumbai indians and Kings XI Punjab.That was the spat between Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth (where Sreesanth was slapped by Harbhajan Singh which in turn led to Harbhajan Singh being suspended for the rest of the IPL matches).And this time also the result was the same as long as the clashing teams in Mumbai Indians and kings XI Punjab were considered.

Well the only thing that was different when compared to the earlier clash was that, this time the Mumbai Indians were seen putting up some sort of effort as against last time where,Mumbai Indians could manage to score only 116 for the loss of 9 wickets in response to Kings XI Punjab's 182.However this time,the match came close until the last ball was bowled.Unfortunately,the first bowl out of the tournament never happened till date.

But,as far as the Kings XI Punjab team were considered,it was only two men who took charge of their batting.Shaun Marsh and Pomersbach who when their scores were totaled in addition to the extras (12) summed to 172 out of the team total of 189. Meaning only 17 runs being scored by the remaining batsmen.But,what more could have been done with the Mumbai Indians reluctantly not being able to let-alone chasing down,but also failing to break the long standing partnership between the two.

Some patience in the last over by the Mumbai Indians would have helped solve matters to a greater extent I believe.As many as 4 run-outs,out of which two happened in the last over.One of Ashish Nehra (who risked by converting an impossible two into a three) and that of Chitnis (who hurried in taking a double when only one was on the cards).All these happening when a waist high full toss was bowled in the first ball of the last over.Still,the opportunity could not been utilized by the Mumbai Indians despite a handy half century from Sachin Tendulkar and the blistering works of Sanath Jayasuriya.

The only positives being that the audience who had gathered out there were able to watch some thrilling encounter.Still,we miss you "HARBHAJAN SINGH".

A Prefect Team Effort

Some occasions occur rarely.And in cricket one of the rare occasions is the one match in which there is a team effort as against a cricket game in which even in the winning team there is only a one man show.And this is most of the case in a losing team.But,in the game involving Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers,one could see a team effort on the part of the Mumbai Indians,as all of the known batsmen were found to make a mark in the match.Starting from Sanath Jayasuriya,until Shah,almost everyone did what best they could have done with the bat.

Sanath Jayasuriya became the highest six hitter in the tournament with 20 big hits so far.The top scorer in the Mumbai Indians side was Abhisheik Nayar who scored only a handy 38 runs off 24 balls.But,the overall scorecard of the Mumbai Indians read 178/7 at the end of their alloted 20 overs.The run rate being almost 9.0 runs an over.Which is decent a decent one in the T20 format and that too in a team where none of them could manage a 50+ score.And when it came to the batting of Deccan Chargers,it was as usual.Lose couple of quick wickets and then towards the fag end of the innings,the prevailing batsmen can be seen only as though trying to draw a test match.

Shahid Afridi couldn't continue the good work he was found doing in the first three overs in the fourth over.It would raise eye-brows if one hears that Afridi's first three overs cost just 9 runs until he was blasted by Bravo for 14 runs in his fourth and the 16th over of the match.And when it came to his batting,the scoring was only in the minds of the fans of Shahid Afridi who are so far almost dejected.

An all round performance from Dwayne Bravo who scored a handy 30 off 17 balls with a couple of boundaries and an equal number of sixes.And in the second innings when it was his turn to take the ball into his hands,he never did a Virender Sehwag (who cost 22 runs in his only over against Kings XI Punjab).But,took 3 wickets giving away
24 runs from 4 overs.

The last time when the same two teams faced each other,the ball was on the Deccan Chargers' court owing to which Adam Gilchrist blasted a 42 ball hundred which was the then fastest hundred of the tournament.There it was a one man show unlike in the second round.But,Mumbai should have found it relaxing after it gave back Deccan Chargers what they (Deccan Chargers) had given them in the first meeting.

30+ Players Bowl Out kolkata Knight Riders For a Mere 60+

If people's memories are short,here is once again a reminder for the team that was selected for the Common Wealth Bank series in which senior players of the likes of Sourav Ganguly,Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman were left out owing to the false illusion of the fact that the team needs young legs (god knows why) and finally even stood by their selection when the team won the Common Wealth bank series 2008 in the first two of the three finals.Adding to that there was even the World Cup winning T20 side.And no credits to Sachin Tendulkar.

But,people,just take a look at yesterday's match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.There was Sachin Tendulkar who took 4 catches to become the highest catch taker in a match,and then there was Shaun Pollock who took match winning figures of 3/12 and last but not th least Sanath Jayasuriya who had to sadly miss out on scoring the fastest 50 of the tournament.For he scored 48 of just 17 balls.But,some relief as he became the highest six hitter in the tournament by hitting 18 sixes to surpass David Hussey's tally of 17.

All of whom are aged 30+.Well on the other hand we even have players like Rahul Dravid,V V S Laxman,Ricky Ponting,Sunil Joshi etc who are found to prove these above written articles wrong.But,what about people like Robin Uttappa,Graeme Smith,A B Devilliars and few others who despite having young legs are yet to fire.Some firing young legs that I can show is Rohith Sharma & Goutam Gambhir.And there are even players like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthick who can score a six only if the ball is extremely fast and hits the top edge.Congrats "Parthiv" on that(match against Delhi Daredevils in the first round).

Finall The Mumbai Drought Ends

Last night was a relief for most of the Mumbai fans out there not for on, but for many reasons.The first being the return of the local hero in Sachin Tendulkar,whose introduction would be foolish thing to do.And then,there was one batsmen from Mumbai Indians' side who finally came out with a classical knock when the fans witnessed the second fastest hundred in the tournament from the blades of Sanath Jayasuriya.

11 sixes by Sanath Jayasuriya on a ground where he was found blasting an unbeaten 151 to carry his team (the then world champions) to the finals of the Pepsi Independence Cup and eventually win the series.This is the second time that I know that Sanath Jayasuriya hit 11 sixes after the first instance against Pakistan in the Singer Cup 1996-where he blasted 134 off just 65 deliveries.And if this chance was let off by Jayasuriya,it would mean the end of hopes for the Mumbai Indians as well. Thank god he didn't let that happen.

His knock against the Chennai Super Kings reminds me of the knock played by Adam Gilchrist when he was found smashing the Mumbai Indians repeatedly over the mid on side.And Sanath Jayasuriya's knock was something similar to that.Don't know as to what might happen in future regarding either Sanath Jayasuriya or Mumbai Indians,after even the same Adam Gilchrist had nothing to prove after his fastest hundred.As far as this math went out,it was a treat to watch as i-a huge fan of Jayasuriya could see him blast the bowlers,though there was a superb bowling performance when he took 3/19 and also 2 catches to empower his team to victory against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The last time I saw Sanath Jayasuriya play a splendid innings was in the T20 game against New Zealand-where he scored 61 runs off just 42 deliveries.Well if this is the way people like Sanath Jayasuriya,Shahid Afridi,Adam Gilchrist...so on and so forth (who are known for their big hitting) goes,it would be a real success for a tournament where players are paid astronomical sums.

Upsets After Upsets?

Well if there was Channai Super Kings in the last match,this time it was Rajasthan Royals who proved to be deceiving as good as a Shane Warne delivery that does to most of the English batsmen.The Rajasthan Royals lost the game to the Mumbai Indians- who were at the receiving end for most part of the tournament.But,now after the match against Royals,even Mumbai Indians have shown us what they are capable of doing.

A mean total of just 103?Is this the caliber of the team that has gone too forward in the tournament?Well I just couldn't believe in my own eyes!And some praise for Asish Nehra-who I'm seeing come up with a splendid performance only after a span of five long years.The last time I saw Ashish Nehra put up such a performance was in the league stage of the ICC world cup 2003 at South Africa where he came out with figures of 6/23 in a day-night encounter against England.

Only two out of eleven were able to put up a score of over 10+.And on the other side there was Robin Uttappa for the Mumbai Indians who took charge of their batting and put up a score of 34 unbeaten in 21 balls.And none the less for Shaun Pollock,Kulkarni and Bravo.

At the end I would like to say the the loss at the hands of the Mumbai Indians was only a strict reply to the ego of the Rajasthan Royals.

Mumbai Indians: From Rags To Riches

The icon player of the tournament is a gone case I guess.With Sachin Tendulkar postponing his debut in the Indian Premier League every match,it is high time that the fans give their hopes of watching the magic of this Mumbai lad in this form of the game too.But,the Mumbai Indians don't seem to put it in front of them like it was apparent from the way they started their T20 League.It was some relief for the Mumbai Indians' fans for they were found to beat the in form Delhi Daredevils who have had a great start.

And even this time there was a little bit of disappointment for Jayasuriya fans out there because,though he got onto a great start as he always does,he could not get the momentum going.He was found to blast the bowlers all over the fence,but the innings life didn't last too long.The batsman scored 34 runs off 16 balls which included 6 hits to the fence followed up by one six.It is really disappointing to see the batsman who has held the record for the maximum sixes in one day internationals,is finding it hard to even pound one or a couple of them over the fence.

But,Shaun Pollock was delightful to watch as he had put up an all round performance by picking up 2 important wickets and also blasting a 15 ball 33 to see his side through.Well the funny aspect of the match being that Virender Sehwag was unable to get the strike.The man was found face just seven deliveries from the first six overs.For the last two matches,the Mumbai Indians have been able to find one or the other inform player.If it was Sanath Jayasuriya in the last game,it was Pollock in the match against Delhi Daredevils.

Sanath Jayasuriya:A Balanced Cricketer

Well,all of you Jayasuriya fans would be rather disappointed when one saw the batting debacle the Sri Lankan dasher was found going through since the start of the Indian Premier League.But,guys..please relax!!There was something from this great hearted man on the cricket field.The man was found taking the best bowling figures of the tournament until date.The figures of 3/14 off his alloted four overs is still the best by any bowler in the tournament till date.And not to forget the two awesome catches that were taken by this 39 year youth,followed by 10 ball 18 that included 1 six along with two hits to the fence if not something more.

But,the highlight of the day being the stump breaking delivery off Ishanth Sharma to dismiss this left handed opener,not long before he had the initial damage done.And coming to the match,it looks like the Kolkata Knight Riders are second best to the Royal Challengers Bangalore when it comes to making a mess of their cricket,and also do not deserve to be there.A fact that even I recently came to know,the Kolkata Knight Riders have so far had only 1 batsman who has scored a fifty runs of more innings.The only edge that I can see in them is that of Ishanth Sharma and Brendon McCullum.The rest viz Ricky Ponting,Sourav Ganguly etc proving nothing worth.

Some handy contributions from the Mumbai Indians include the Shaun Pollock's 2 wicket first over and Dwayne Bravo's 65* which is the best score by Mumbai Indians till date.Some cheers for Mumbai fans eh?

And even Brendon McCullum is got to leave to fulfill his national commitment.God knows as to what will happen to the fans who have had so much expectations from these Kolkata Knight Riders,unlike Royal Challengers,for whom the fans have already called it off.Great going!!!

A Rcord Overtaken In Just Two Days

Well the very first match of the Indian Premier League saw some blistering sixes from the blades of the New Zealand dasher Brendon McCullum,who score the fastest hundred of the tournament in just 53 balls,only three days later to be seen losing to Australian effortless hitter Andrew Symonds,but even this feat didn't seem to last long as well,as the feat was once again overtaken by his Australian team mate-Adam Gilchrist,who made the fastest hundred in just 42 balls,overtaking Andrew Symonds' 47 ball feat.

It was nice to see the stroke play of Andrew Symonds,for he was found plundering the ball all over,unlike Brendon McCullum-who just blasted a weak bowling line up in Royal Challengers,who were babies when it came to the T20 format of cricket.And taking Adam Gilchrist's knock,almost all of them were targeted towards the mid wicket.This could rather be referred to his day.At the end,it was a treat to watch as the Aussie was back to his firing ways.But,god knows as to how long this will go on?

Which Format of Cricket Were the Mumbai Indians Playing?

More Money,more disappointment?

Hmm..with Mumbai being one of the four metropolitan cities in India,one difference if someone asks me is this..With the rest of the metropolitan cities namely Delhi Daredevils,Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Superkings being in a dominant position from the beginning of this tournament,the Mumbai Indians (sad to say) have so far just made a mess of their game.

Boasting of having an icon player in Sachin Tendulkar-who is still yet to turn up for his team and even if he does,god knows what would he be upto..And then the great Sanath Jayasuriya who has a record in ducks when it comes to the ODIs,also a responsible batsman for Sri Lanka.Some hopes of the Mumbai Indians that one can see is that of Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock.It would be nice if these two are made to handle the entire 20 overs slot.

At the end of the Mumbai Indians' innings,the run rate read 5.8.Something rare in the present one day internationals also.And a common gesture in tests involving Australia against Bangladesh & West Indies.And Sanath Jayasuriya's score reading "1 run from 7 balls at a strike rate of 14.28".Then we have Robin Uttappa who has so far recorded two scores above 40.But,at a strike rate of just above hundred,when the series has witnessed strike average rates of 150+,and some of them crossing even the 200 mark.

A less experienced like Piyush Chawla picking up 2/16 from 4 overs.Khote's hit wicket-which is a rare manner of getting out.With teams like Mumbai Indians getting filtered so easily,it looks the multi million dollar Indian Premier League is becoming more and more predictable.