Well as I have written in most of my earlier posts related to India's recent tour of South Africa which South Africa win with a lot of ups and downs, South Africa have only managed to take home the series and emerge as official winners of the bilateral series. But, as most of them have out it, it was India who took home more benefits from the tour compared to South Africa if not the series. A series that South Africa should have won 5-0 was won by a 3-2 margin. Had this been a 3 match bilateral series, India would have won 2-1.
There should have been no reason for South Africa to have lost both the second as well as the third one dayer with the expectations being so low. Chasing down a mere total of 191 on the board should have been no big task and, with 8 wickets in hand that too obtained at crucial moments of the match, defending 220 in the 3rd One dayer was also not acceptable at any cost. Things are worse for the feat happened to be achieved by South Africa at home. So, one can imagine what might happen when South Africa tour for the world cup with India being one of the hosts.
This has been realized earlier by Dale Steyn prior to other members of the South African team. South Africa, as said above will be heading towards the sub continent shortly for the mega event and unluckily, they are grouped with none other than India, the team which tested its guts on home soil. But, once again, luck stays in favor of South Africa this time with Nagpur being set to host the India - South Africa match, the venue where South Africa claimed an innings win in the first test in early 2010. And adding to that, though South Africa have been unlucky in world cups, they are not as unlucky in the pool stages.
South Africa have managed 5/5 in the group stage of the 1996 world cup, 4/5 in the 1999 world cup. However, though RSA won just 1/2 in 2007, Australia was a better team than RSA. So was the case in 2003 where New Zealand and West Indies both beat RSA before they tied with Sri Lanka. And, in case South Africa lose to India, they have matches against England and West Indies, against which winning can be considered to be easy for South Africa. But, Dale Steyn has to be careful about his team's performance with Smith having decided to quit as captain after the world cup.
Showing posts with label Yousuf Pathan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yousuf Pathan. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Unbelievable!
Well once again, you readers might go misled by the title which might make you think that the post is written regarding India's comeback in yesterday's match against South Africa after at one stage of the game reeling at 119 runs on the board losing 8 wickets leaving the tail enders a rather impossible job to accomplish. But, my post is regarding the man of the match award going in favor of Hashim Amla and the man of the series award favoring Morne Morkel, both of which were not justified. Of course, it was Amla who did a fab job for his team which emerged victorious.
My man of the match would have been none other than Yousuf Pathan who not only took the match from nowhere towards the target but was also speed in doing so. People might have come across batsmen who would have seen their team victorious after seeming to be impossible at one stage, losing quick wickets in important stages of the match and with limited overs to play. But, the pace at which they would have scored the winning runs would be nowhere close to what Yousuf Pathan was seen doing yesterday. Of course, Zaheer Khan gave him a good support from the other end.
I can recall the semi finals of the world cup in between Australia and West Indies in 1996 and against South Africa in 1999, both matches which Michael Beaven set right for his team. But, the rate at which Beaven scored his runs was very careful unlike a 68 ball hundred by Yousuf Pathan yesterday. Another match that I would like to cite here is the one between India and Australia at Hyderabad played in October 2009 where Sachin Tendulkar scored 175 runs while chasing a target of 350 and eventually falling short by 3 runs. In that match though India lost, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the man of the match.
And coming to the man of the series award, Morne Morkel stood no chance with the likes of Hashim Amla, Yousuf Pathan being right there. Morkel was not even the highest wicket taker in the series but rather comes in the 2nd place with 12 scalps after Tsotsobe who had 13 of them against his name. Likewise, Hashim Amla topped the charts for the highest run getter in the series amassing 250 runs from the five games he played. Also, Duminy was a contender with 244 runs from 5 matches. But, Morkel stood nowhere for the award with Yousuf Pathan also well in the race.
My man of the match would have been none other than Yousuf Pathan who not only took the match from nowhere towards the target but was also speed in doing so. People might have come across batsmen who would have seen their team victorious after seeming to be impossible at one stage, losing quick wickets in important stages of the match and with limited overs to play. But, the pace at which they would have scored the winning runs would be nowhere close to what Yousuf Pathan was seen doing yesterday. Of course, Zaheer Khan gave him a good support from the other end.
I can recall the semi finals of the world cup in between Australia and West Indies in 1996 and against South Africa in 1999, both matches which Michael Beaven set right for his team. But, the rate at which Beaven scored his runs was very careful unlike a 68 ball hundred by Yousuf Pathan yesterday. Another match that I would like to cite here is the one between India and Australia at Hyderabad played in October 2009 where Sachin Tendulkar scored 175 runs while chasing a target of 350 and eventually falling short by 3 runs. In that match though India lost, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the man of the match.
And coming to the man of the series award, Morne Morkel stood no chance with the likes of Hashim Amla, Yousuf Pathan being right there. Morkel was not even the highest wicket taker in the series but rather comes in the 2nd place with 12 scalps after Tsotsobe who had 13 of them against his name. Likewise, Hashim Amla topped the charts for the highest run getter in the series amassing 250 runs from the five games he played. Also, Duminy was a contender with 244 runs from 5 matches. But, Morkel stood nowhere for the award with Yousuf Pathan also well in the race.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Is India Lucky or Australia?
Well since last night when the match between India and Australia was abandoned owing to rain, most of the tongues are wagging in either of the team's favor. Some say that it was India who was lucky to have escaped yet another defeat at the hands of the Aussies and keep their fingers crossed when it comes to predicting the semi final spot atleast as far as India is concerned. So is Australia. Needless to be said, India had lost their first match to arch rivals Pakistan by 54 runs at Centurion. Had India lost the one to Australia, their hopes of making it to the semi finals would have surely been shattered.
And, when it comes to Australia, one has to recall the way the Aussies entered the finals of a tri nation tournament way back in 2004 that involved Pakistan and India by not even bowling a single delivery. India had lost their first match to Pakistan and then the match against Australia was forced to be abandoned after being hit by rain (like in the ongoing Champions Trophy). Finally, Australia won the match by 17 runs in a low scoring encounter where Australia successfully defended 192 runs. And this time also, Australia are bound to enjoy the same luck which can see them through to the semis.
Anyway coming to the match between India and Australia, one has to really appreciate the Aussies who were comfortable at 234/4 at the end of the 40th over despite at one point of time being at 7/1 at the end of the fifth over. Hardly anyone would have expected the Australians to come back so strongly after their initial debacle. The Indian players seemed not to have learnt any lessons from their first defeat to Pakistan when they allowed a 202 run partnership. The match was more towards Australia that that when India is considered. The Australian batsmen got decent and important partnerships whenever they needed.
There was Ishanth Sharma whose bowling is compared by Australian greats to that of Glenn McGrath. And then there was Harbhajan Singh as well along with Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. No doubt that Ashish Nehra was comparitively impressive with the ball in both the games that India played. Its a wonder as to why someone like Virat Kohli is still making it to the playing eleven when the place of whom can be replaced by a decent all rounder? There was Yousuf Pathan whose luck could well balance between batting and bowling. It looks like India is more desperate to lose matches and get back home as soon as possible.
And, when it comes to Australia, one has to recall the way the Aussies entered the finals of a tri nation tournament way back in 2004 that involved Pakistan and India by not even bowling a single delivery. India had lost their first match to Pakistan and then the match against Australia was forced to be abandoned after being hit by rain (like in the ongoing Champions Trophy). Finally, Australia won the match by 17 runs in a low scoring encounter where Australia successfully defended 192 runs. And this time also, Australia are bound to enjoy the same luck which can see them through to the semis.
Anyway coming to the match between India and Australia, one has to really appreciate the Aussies who were comfortable at 234/4 at the end of the 40th over despite at one point of time being at 7/1 at the end of the fifth over. Hardly anyone would have expected the Australians to come back so strongly after their initial debacle. The Indian players seemed not to have learnt any lessons from their first defeat to Pakistan when they allowed a 202 run partnership. The match was more towards Australia that that when India is considered. The Australian batsmen got decent and important partnerships whenever they needed.
There was Ishanth Sharma whose bowling is compared by Australian greats to that of Glenn McGrath. And then there was Harbhajan Singh as well along with Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. No doubt that Ashish Nehra was comparitively impressive with the ball in both the games that India played. Its a wonder as to why someone like Virat Kohli is still making it to the playing eleven when the place of whom can be replaced by a decent all rounder? There was Yousuf Pathan whose luck could well balance between batting and bowling. It looks like India is more desperate to lose matches and get back home as soon as possible.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Drop Yuvraj Singh For the Series Against England
With India beating Australia 2-0 in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy, several questions were being raised about India's would be dominance in the all three formats game of cricket.But,as I've stated in most of my earlier posts regarding Border-Gavaskar trophy,it was partly due to the depletement of the Australian test team that landed in India,and partly for some superb performances from the likes of Ishanth Sharma and Zaheer Khan-who bowled splendidly in the series,and some blistering fireworks from the blades of V V S Laxman, M S Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir-who made most out of the flat tracks that suited the Indian style of batting.No marks to the spinners what-so-ever.
Now,team India is found to overwhelm England-the starters of cricket in the 18th century.Now,with the recent past of England cricket team's performance taken into consideration,they had defeated South Africa 4-0 in the one day series that were held in September after being defeated 2-1 against the same in the test series.And before that, there was New Zealand's tour of England,in which England won the test series and lost the one day series.But,these defeats were not that embarrassing as they are in the current tour of India.For,atleast team England were found giving a tight reply to the visitors.No matter..the England were hosting these teams,which is not the case here.With England being hosts,when the results are so horrible,one can imagine the fate when England is hosted and that too in a sub continent nation?
Irreective of the match result,what matters is the way the teams out there play the game of cricket with full spirit and never-say-die attitude.But,England was never found doing it.In the first ODI,England captain won the toss and chose to put India into bat,thinking that the pitch would be a batting heaven (which it was) and chasing any total would not be difficult.The decision was right although, but,things were not made use of by the England batsmen.When India made a score of 387,a score of atleast 300+ would have made the viewers take to guessing.But,a score of just 229 in just 37 overs is something that a non-test playing nation would be found doing.And in the 2nd ODI,despite having India reeling at 29/3 in 7.3 overs,England not only allowing India put up a big total,but lost wickets in quick succession to someone like Yuvraj Singh-who is not a bowler by anymeans.I wouldn't even give him the tag of part-time-bowler.
Whether England wins or loses the series is a different issue altogether,but,if there is to be some enthusiasm for viewers to go and watch the match in the stadium,I wish there should be atleast some restriction from the opposite team,which would make the match interesting.With the Australian team that toured India not being able to take none other than a man of the match award in the last test,I feel the die hard fans in India would be thinking twice before going out to watch a cricket match if this continues.Just imagine the fate of the sponsorers who have invested millions of dollars in IPL & ICL (keeping in mind the craze for cricket in the country),if the fans-who give their life for cricket, get bored of cricket and give up watching.
It never looks as though the England team will atleast now wake up to put up a though fight against an in-form Indian team.A solution to this would be to reduce the strength of the current Indian team to be in par with the opposition it is facing,so that the matches would be a bit more interesting with lesser one sided games.Else,be prepared for empty stands.
Now,team India is found to overwhelm England-the starters of cricket in the 18th century.Now,with the recent past of England cricket team's performance taken into consideration,they had defeated South Africa 4-0 in the one day series that were held in September after being defeated 2-1 against the same in the test series.And before that, there was New Zealand's tour of England,in which England won the test series and lost the one day series.But,these defeats were not that embarrassing as they are in the current tour of India.For,atleast team England were found giving a tight reply to the visitors.No matter..the England were hosting these teams,which is not the case here.With England being hosts,when the results are so horrible,one can imagine the fate when England is hosted and that too in a sub continent nation?
Irreective of the match result,what matters is the way the teams out there play the game of cricket with full spirit and never-say-die attitude.But,England was never found doing it.In the first ODI,England captain won the toss and chose to put India into bat,thinking that the pitch would be a batting heaven (which it was) and chasing any total would not be difficult.The decision was right although, but,things were not made use of by the England batsmen.When India made a score of 387,a score of atleast 300+ would have made the viewers take to guessing.But,a score of just 229 in just 37 overs is something that a non-test playing nation would be found doing.And in the 2nd ODI,despite having India reeling at 29/3 in 7.3 overs,England not only allowing India put up a big total,but lost wickets in quick succession to someone like Yuvraj Singh-who is not a bowler by anymeans.I wouldn't even give him the tag of part-time-bowler.
Whether England wins or loses the series is a different issue altogether,but,if there is to be some enthusiasm for viewers to go and watch the match in the stadium,I wish there should be atleast some restriction from the opposite team,which would make the match interesting.With the Australian team that toured India not being able to take none other than a man of the match award in the last test,I feel the die hard fans in India would be thinking twice before going out to watch a cricket match if this continues.Just imagine the fate of the sponsorers who have invested millions of dollars in IPL & ICL (keeping in mind the craze for cricket in the country),if the fans-who give their life for cricket, get bored of cricket and give up watching.
It never looks as though the England team will atleast now wake up to put up a though fight against an in-form Indian team.A solution to this would be to reduce the strength of the current Indian team to be in par with the opposition it is facing,so that the matches would be a bit more interesting with lesser one sided games.Else,be prepared for empty stands.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Same Faces Again And Again
Well the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals as usual,not to mention..well I guess the result has already been guessed.Thats true..Well lets forget that.There's lots and lots that we can talk about the match.So lets not get our moods rotten by talking about Royal Challengers and their plight in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League.
It is once again Shaun Marsh who was the match winner in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore too as he was in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Some things-some good and the rest of them bad can and will never change. With the same people emerging as the match winners in each and every game they face.Some examples being Yousuf Pathan,Shane Watson,Brendon McCullum,Goutam Gambhir ...While there are some like Virender Sehwag,Sanath Jayasuriya,Adam Gilchrist etc who are good only on their particular days...while the third category which includes the likes of Rahul Dravid,Shahid Afridi,V V S Laxman..who are never found to fire what so ever.
It is once again Shaun Marsh who was the match winner in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore too as he was in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Some things-some good and the rest of them bad can and will never change. With the same people emerging as the match winners in each and every game they face.Some examples being Yousuf Pathan,Shane Watson,Brendon McCullum,Goutam Gambhir ...While there are some like Virender Sehwag,Sanath Jayasuriya,Adam Gilchrist etc who are good only on their particular days...while the third category which includes the likes of Rahul Dravid,Shahid Afridi,V V S Laxman..who are never found to fire what so ever.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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?
Monday, May 12, 2008
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!!!
Bottom To Top & From Top To Bottom
Well when the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League started,the Kolkata Knight Riders started it all with a bang by beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by a whooping 140 runs-which is till the highest margin of victory for any team against any opposition.But,the victory streak was limited it looks.Because,after winning the forst two matches,the Kolkata Knight Riders had nothing at their end but defeat.Likewise on the other hand,the Kings XI Punjab has had a steady progress as they were found to win the rest of the games with much ease compared to the way they lost their opening encounter against Rajasthan Royals-which is famous for the Sreesanth-Harbhajan incident.
And if there was Yousuf Pathan for the Royal Challengers making news for all the good reasons,his younger brother Irfan is not too far behind as even this man was found to put up an all round performance by capturing two crucial wickets and scoring 24 runs (lets not take into account the strike rate).And much to my surprise,it was unimaginable to see Piyush Chawla belt the ball like an Indian Shahid Afridi.The tail end batsman scored a 7 ball 21 at a strike rate of 300 which included 3 hits to the fence and one huge six.
And the match was such a close encounter that it kept the audience always guessing out there for every ball that was bowled.The Kolkata Kinght Riders captain was once again a great flop as he could only manage to come out of a duck and get struck at 5.Atleast some blistering knock of 71 saw some face saving work for the Kolkata Knight Riders.And after a series of losses,it looks like the Kolkata knight riders are going the Royal Challengers and the Deccan Chargers way.
And if there was Yousuf Pathan for the Royal Challengers making news for all the good reasons,his younger brother Irfan is not too far behind as even this man was found to put up an all round performance by capturing two crucial wickets and scoring 24 runs (lets not take into account the strike rate).And much to my surprise,it was unimaginable to see Piyush Chawla belt the ball like an Indian Shahid Afridi.The tail end batsman scored a 7 ball 21 at a strike rate of 300 which included 3 hits to the fence and one huge six.
And the match was such a close encounter that it kept the audience always guessing out there for every ball that was bowled.The Kolkata Kinght Riders captain was once again a great flop as he could only manage to come out of a duck and get struck at 5.Atleast some blistering knock of 71 saw some face saving work for the Kolkata Knight Riders.And after a series of losses,it looks like the Kolkata knight riders are going the Royal Challengers and the Deccan Chargers way.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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!!
Friday, April 25, 2008
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).
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