A soft target for Bangalore

Well as long as there are teams like the Rajasthan Royals, teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore have hardly any sort of problem. Can anyone of you imagine a total of just 130 in a T20 game and that too by a team that involves a batsman who has set the record for scoring the fastest hundred in the IPL? Can anyone of you imagine a team to have 4 wickets in hand at the end of their 20^th over and yet end up scoring just over six runs an over? Yes, that is the Rajasthan Royals for you. The team which won 11 out of the 14 games scheduled and the title a couple of years back.

The eitire innings of the Rajasthan Royals had only one hit out of the stands when Abhishek Raut hit the lone six of the innings. Coincidentally, he was also the top scorer of the match when he score an unbeaten 32 runs to push the run rate past 6 an over. All the Royal Challengers Bangalore required was just 5 bowlers all of whom bowled their full quota of 4 overs each. This can happen only when the opposition batsmen offer no resistance and challenge as well. If not for Anil Kumble, all other bowlers returned with wickets against their names.

However, this doesn't matter much for cricket is a team game unlike badminton or tennis that is played between two individuals. Luckily, there was also an over maiden which belonged to Pankaj Singh. Overs rarely go maiden as far as a T20 game is concerned. However, one cannot blame it completely on the Rajasthan Royals' batsmen for their debacle, for even the Royal Challengers Bangalore followed a callous approach when they lost 5 wickets enroute to their successful run chase of 131 runs. Nevermind that the Bangalore team reached the winning run in just over 15 overs, but it is the approach which makes the difference.

It is such games that come crucial in terms of a tie breaker when two or more teams end up with equal number of points. One fascinating thing about the Rajasthan Royals bowlers was that they never bowled an extra delivery for an innings that lasted close to a hundred deliveries long. Even the Rajasthan Royals followed their opposition when even they like their opposition never handed the ball to a sixth bowler with 3 of the 5 bowlers set to bowl their complete quota of 4 overs. Yousuf Pathan would have come in handy in such cases and Adam Voges being given another chance would not have proved costly.

At the end of the day, there was a bad match for cricket fans who want some decent action from the batsmen especially.

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.

Rajasthan Royals Do It One More Time

The Rajasthan Royals entered the second edition of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions and also had a decent run in the tournament if not for some ups and downs, one of them being the collapse of their batting line up for the lowest total of the tournament when they were bowled out for a partly score of just 58 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Entering the tournament as the defending champions, as the tournament progressed, they were not even the team to beat and likewise didn't even make it to the last four of the series. However, yesterday's win over Middlesex team in the British Asian cup at Lord's.

It was indeed a good show by Shane Warne and his team that included the likes of Sohail Tanvir who was not available for the second edition of the Indian Premier League held at South Africa earlier this year. In the T20 format 0f the game of cricket, it is evident from most of the matches that there can be one good or bad over that can change the fortunes of the match. And this match was no exception either. It was the 32 runs that Dimitri Mascarenhas scored towards the end of the Rajasthan Royals' innings at a strike rate of 200.0 that made a difference for the Royals.

It was as good as that the Rajasthan Royals who were equipped with star international players like Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir, Justin Langer and others were facing the minnow team in Middlesex who were having just a bunch of eleven players, majority of whom have an experience of playing just domestic tournaments. With most of the English international players playing for the coming Ashes, hardly any international player could be seen in the Middlesex squad and some relief for the Middlesex team was in the form of Murali Karthik and Owasis Shah who atleast could be of some international standards.

However, if the scorecard is given a look, Murali Karthik had a decent run when he returned up with figures of 1/18 from his allotted 4 overs. But, with regards to Shah's performance, there was nothing different from other domestic cricketers who could do just that. This I guess should be a welcome victory for the Rajasthan Royals who had upset their fans by not even making it to the semi finals of the second edition of the Indian Premier League. One must consoder the Rajasthan Royals to be lucky enough for having a series eith just one match to go, winning which would see them emerge as champions irrespective of anything else.

Yousuf Pathan Again!

Well it looked as though Sourav Ganguly couldn't get out of the first meeting with the Rajasthan Royals-the captain of whom slammed Ganguly of sacrificing the spirit of the game when he appealed against a suspicious catch claimed to have been taken by Greame Smith.Congrats! Ganguly won that encouter.And once again "ONLY THAT ENCOUNTER".Lets not talk or cast our eyes on the result of that match.This was what happened in the first meeting between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals.

This devil never stopped the Kolkata Knight Riders for the second time as well as the Kolkata Knight Riders though this time not owing to any controversial appeals,but some self destruction by them when they missed two run out chances in the Rajasthan Royals' innings.And this time Ganguly had no one to take the blame.Some though not good batting,it was a good recovery from the Kolkata Knight Riders.From 59/2 after 10 overs to 147 at the end of the innings.

But,one familiar face and name continues to hit our senses is that of Yousuf Pathan.I feel that he's probably the best bargain in the IPL.Bought for $0.475M,this amount never went to drains. Rather it was returned with compound interest I believe.Once again failing to break his own record of scoring the fastest fifty for yet another time.And this time another big one would have seen the record bettered by 2 balls.And before this,the same chap was found to take a crucial wicket of David Hussey (who enjoyed the distinction of being the highest six hitter until Sanath Jayasuriya overtook his tally )

After this match,the one name that would be in the betters' as well as the cheering fans would be Yousuf Pathan.

Too Much For The Royal Challengers' Team

This is the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals which the Rajasthan Royals as expected thrashed the Royal Challengers Bangalore by some relief serving 65 runs (compared to their crushing defeat in the previous matches).The first time when the two teams met in the first round robin stage,the Royal Challengers were royally thrashed by 7 wickets with 17 balls remaining.A modest total of 135 that would hardly worry the team consisting of players of the batting caliber of Yousuf Pathan,Swapnil Asnodkar,Justin Langer,Kamran Akmal and Shane Warne who did wonders in the first match against the Deccan Chargers.

This I bet would have been the worst defeat that Rahul Dravid would have had to think over,for it came despite a mind blowing innings of a 36 ball unbeaten 75.And who wouldn't be? With as many as 6 huge sixes and an equal number of boundaries. Isn't this an almost impossible task as far as Dravid's batting style is taken into consideration?

The bowling done by the Royal Challengers team was all the most fascinating.If not all of them,I bet most of them were full-tosses.None of the bowlers really bothered about maintaining any line or length.Just like the Sehwag saying "If the ball is there to be hit I will go for it"...something like..and the bowlers were just like that..."If the ball is there to be bowled we'll go for it"..no matter what length or line.

Congrats Anil kumble on taking the first wicket of the tournament!And the rest of the Royal Challengers' batsmen failing to cross the two digit mark and my goodness 4 ducks!!Good bowling or poor batting?Well you readers choose..

The next time a team takes on the Royal Challengers Bangalore,I would suggest that the team rest most of its frontline bowlers.Atleast then can the match be interesting?Well not!

If Not For Shane Watson

Well the scorecard at the end of the match between the Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan read "Rajasthan Royals won the match by 3 wickets".It would be nice if one could consider the effort put up by both teams out there which could tell us as to who the real winner was.Well according to my opinion I would cast my vote in the favour of neither Rajasthan Royals nor Delhi Dare Devils.But,my choice would be the man of the match "Shane Watson".

If not for this gentleman from Australia,the match would have never been juicy as it proved out to be.However there has to be one winner after the end of each and every match played out there.And every match has only a couple of match winners.But, support for the match winner on that particular day-be it a bowler (who expects support from his other end partner and the fielders),or a batsman (who seeks the support of the non striker).

But,in case of the Rajasthan Royals,it was frustrating to see that there was hardly anyone in the batting who could support Shane Watson who led a lone battle to see his team through.Three run outs in the Rajasthan Royals' team exposed the weak running and understanding between the batsmen.Only two of them including Shane Watson could get into double figures.With Shane Watson's score of 74 sidelined,the Rajasthan Royals' score would have been 85 for the loss of 6 wickets needing 74 runs from 40 balls at 11.5 runs an over.

But,for the Delhi Daredevils,there is always a Gautam Gambir who is so far been in the best of his form with the bat.I guess he is the best bargains of the Indian Premier League.So,are the Delhi Dare Devils lucky to have a match winner in Goutham Gambhir?

Same two Teams,Same Result,Same Man

Well the last time when the Deccan Chargers met the Royal Challengers,they were outplayed by the latter despite the then fastest hundred from the blades of Andrew Symonds.The match was outplayed by another man from Rajasthan Royals who notched up the fastest fifty of the tournament.And the same story repeated once again when the same two teams met each other at Jaipur.

This time there was no Andrew Symonds,but off course there was Yousuf Pathan who was once again found to trouble the Deccan Chargers' bowlers with his power shots.Off course the main culprit being the hopeless batting display by the Deccan Chargers-which also included Adam Gilchrist's 49 ball 61 for that he could not result in the momentum going.If it was at the top of the batting order that saw some stroke play from the blades of Adam Gilchrist,the next such show came towards the end when Venugopal Rao blasted a 11-ball 23.The team whose score was 74/1 at the end of 10 overs,were found to pile up just 66 runs in the next slot losing 7 wickets.

And this was in no way found to trouble the Rajasthan Royals.And how would it ever do-when a target of over 200 didn't fount to in the first encounter,how come a target that was some 60 runs short compared to the first?That too without the power of Andrew Symonds?With Smith and Pathan almost getting the job done,the next who came in (Kaif and Watson) had nothing much to do but to give a perfect finish to their team.

God knows as to when will there be a BOOM BOOM AFRIDI?

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.

Rajasthan Royals' Journey From Bottom To The Top

In the beginning of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League,the Rajasthan Royals were considered to be the modest of all opposition.And much to the amazement of the viewers out there,it looked the same for the Rajasthan Royals team were found to lose the first two matches of the tournament.But,it was also the same surprise when the same team is now the top team even ahead of the Chennai Superstars-who started their games with a bang by winning most of their games.

But,today if the Rajasthan Royals are compared to what they were in the beginning of the tournament,it looks really fantastic and also one of the best contenders for the tournament.And something to be noticed is that the Rajasthan team have a different match winner out there every time they take on the field.Some names include Yousuf Pathan,Shane Warne,Shane Watson,Asnodkar and this time it was Sohai Tanvir.And just take a look at the bowling figures.My God!!It is the third time that the record has been broken after Sanath Jayasuriya and Glenn McGrath hod it against their names a week ago.

Only Morkel could post a 40+ individual score,and that too with a modest strike rate (when it comes to T20 cricket) of 127.Only four of them posting totals of over 10.The batsmen belonging to the Rajasthan Royals had absolutely nothing to do but just keep the score board ticking by rotating the strike as it is done in test cricket.Finally a look at Sohail Tanvir's feat on youtube.NJOY!!!

Rajasthan Royals All The Way..

The awe inspiring role by Shane Warne would not be a wrong statement as the legendary Aussie is once again proving his caliber by taking on the role of captain,a frontline bowler and a coach as well.The Australian Cricket Board would have taken a harsh decision against Warne by not giving him the captaincy despite his abilities,and later withdrawing his vice captaincy too.But,thank god that the Rajasthan Royals didn't commit the same mistake.

Warne could get most from even the new comers viz Yousuf Pathan,Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja and Mahesh Rawat.If not all,three of the aforementioned could prove their worth on the cricket field.And this time the jack pot winner being Swapnil Asnodkar who belted the Knight Riders' bowling along with Yousuf Pathan who both of them notched 29 ball half centuries.A rare feat that one comes across I can say.

And this time,for a change Sourav Ganguly was found to go the Dravid way by scoring a half century as a one day batsman does.But,even that in vain as Dravid's went.If there were some batting in Yousuf Pathan,Ravindra Jadeja and Swapnil Asnodkar,the second innings was dominated by the bowling department of Rajasthan Royals which included the likes of Shane Watson,Sohail Tanvir and Trivedi,all of whom took 2 wickets each.And a trmendous support from captain-coach Shane Warne.

Well..this is the kind of motivation one needs.Full marks to u!!

Royal Challengers Or Royal Losers?

After some consolation win against Mumbai Indians at Mumbai,there was some relief for the Royal Challengers team.Though the win not being a convincing one as far as the Royal Challengers were concerned,it could have been a motivation for the upcoming matches involving tough teams like Kings XI Punjab,Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Superstars.But,as a Banglorean,it was once again disappointing for me especially since the Royal Challengers were back to their routine of losing matches. And this time they did just the same,by forfeiting the match to Rajasthan Royals.The word Royal being common to both the teams out there.But,only one team emerged as Royals,and that being the Rajasthan team.

If not for Ross Taylor who scored 44 runs off 20 balls,it was as though the rest of them were playing a one day match over there.Most of the strike rates falling between 100 and 150 and some even in the range of less than 100.And as it usually happens with the Royal Challengers,six out of ten batsmen had strike rates of less than 100.And our gr8 Rahul Dravid could score nothing but a golden duck.It looks like the Wall has mistaken the word Golden duck with that of a goose that lays golden eggs.Ha ha Just kidding!!!

Rajasthan Royals:Deserving Winners

If one could take a look into the Thursday's match between Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers,one comment that I could see was that "it was really disappointing to see the Deccan Chargers end as losers despite the fastest century by Andrew Symonds",also not to mention the maximum number of sixes hit by the same Andrew Symonds.Now,I wonder as to weather it was only Andrew Symonds who was supposed to do all the hitting work,while the rest of the Deccan Chargers' men just feeling charged rather than proving themselves to the name-Chargers?

With Andrew Symonds scoring at a rate of about 12 per over,the rest of the Chargers's team score was believe it or not just above 8 per over compared to the overall run rate of 10+.After Symonds' score of 117,the second best score of the Royals' team being 36 off 30 balls by Rohith Sharma.And with only 5 out of 7 batsmen playing,what better result does the Deccan Chargers' team deserve?

On the other hand,taking into account the performance of the Rajasthan Royals',first of all I would go in for all praise for Shane Warne,who is lesser known as batsmen,but could still see his team through by blasting 19 runs off the last over.This is what a responsible captain is supposed to do.And not only that..the team saw atleast 5 batsmen contributing to their side.The man who proved a point being off course Yousuf Pathan.Some positives that I could also witness is that for Shahid Afridi-who known for his batting poweress,but was found to dominate with the ball.

And one more thing that needs to be highlighted is that the match witnessed both the fastest hundred (by Andrew Symonds) and the fastest fifty by Yousuf Pathan(in 24 balls).