Absence of Gilchrist felt greatly

Well this year's IPL has seen a lot of changes with the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya missing out from the tournament and lots of players like Adam Gilchrist, Gautam Gambhir shifting from their original teams. The list also includes Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. However, in the second game of the tournament itself, the Deccan Changers have lost to the Rajasthan Royals with the Deccan Chargers team now being captained by Kumara Sangakkara. However, Kumara Sangakkara is also a decent captain but not a better batsman compared to Adam Gilchrist. The hard hitting Australian wicket keeper is second to none.

One has to decide the fortune of the team which has its captain out for a duck. Despite eight batsmen making it to the crease, the team total towards the end of the first innings of the Deccan Changers read 137 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. In my last post I had cited that a run rate below 9 an over is as good as a below par total equivalent to a total of just over 200 in a one day match. A minimum run rate in a T20 game needs to be 180 at 9 runs an over.

Had Adam Gilchrist been there, then may be the total would have touched that figure. I used the word "may be" because, Adam Gilchrist has last played cricket somewhere one year down the lane in last year's IPL where his performance was also below par. In the edition before that, at South Africa, Adam Gilchrist was awarded the man of the series award for his splendid performance both the the bat and behind the stumps. Added to that was the fact that he guided his team to victory beating Anil Kumble led Royal Challengers Bangalore. But, as time goes by, body fades.

Someone like Mathew Hayden, Glenn McGrath and others have been opted out for the same reasons we guess. Despite being the highest run-getter in the 2009 edition, Hayden was hardly preferred in the playing XI a year later. But, that was not the case with the Rajasthan Royals with someone like Ross Taylor and Johan Botha around. They did most of the scoring for the Jaipur team with Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Warne and Amit Singh doing the damage with the ball. One has to see the way Shane Warne has made his presence felt despite his age deafening.So, lets look at other games as well.

Is The Color Change Behind The Deccan's Success?

Recently, after a thorough consultation from a known numerologist, Anil Kumble changed the number on the back of his T-Shirt to number 37 which until then read 37, following which there has been a change in the match result against the team which he was supposed to face off late. The change in the number on the back of his T-Shirt meant in the change in the fortune of his teak in the series itself. Similarly, there has been another team in Deccan Chargers who after finishing last in the last and the first edition of the IPL in 2008 have been one of the front runners to claim the last four spot in the current edition.

One thing that the Deccan Chargers have done in this edition compared to the previous edition is that they have changed the color of their team shirt that previously was somewhat a coffee color. And this time it has been changed to a navy blue shade. Otherwise, there has not been any major changes as far as the team be it its players, captain is concerned. This time, the Deccan Chargers were not with their top players like Andrew Symonds and Chaminda Vass who were a hit in the first edition. But, still, they were one of the favourites to lift the trophy in the beginning of the tournament. And even today if not for some mishaps, they still lead the race.

This time, the Rajasthan Royals could not snatch the game away from the Deccan Chargers like they did in the previous game against the same Deccan Chargers. In the first encounter between the Deccan Chargers and the Rajasthan Royals, the Rajasthan Royals came back from nowhere to end up victorious at the end of the day. But, this time the Rajasthan Royals were nowhere in the run chase. The Rajasthan Royals' batsmen were bowled out for a score similar to telephone numbers, with each batsman spelling out a digit. And, Symonds is proving out to be the best bargain for the Deccan Chargers.

Color change was not only reason for the success of the Deccan Chargers. It was a team effort by the Deccan Chargers wherein almost every batsman came out and did what he could have done best. Some batsmen might not have got a big score but, their readiness to take risks have to be given much applause. The Deccan Chargers used 9 of their batsmen unlike in most of the cases where at the end of the 20 overs as I usually point out, a team is found using only 2 to 3 batsmen. Kolkata Knight Riders have a greater share in such stats. The Deccan's innings was not dominated by a single batsmen but at the end, it was a decent total on the board that saw them through.

And one moe thing that is found regarding the color of the teams' T-Shirt is that out of the existing 8 teams there are 3 teams who are in with the color blue may be of different shades. If this saga continues, it would be no better than a test match where teams wear no other color but for white. C'mon guys, the world is no less of colors.