Three years back in 2008 when the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League kick started, all eyes were glued to the television sets as though a major encounter would happen in the days to come. During that time, the sport was at its peak with the T20 version of the game having a high run with things like the ICL and the ICC world T20 having their say. Things remained the same until last year when there were takers for almost every game. But, the spirit happens to be no more or rather has got faded to a great extent.
There were players like Mathew Hayden, Sanath Jayasuriya, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne etc who had retired from international cricket but could be seen in tournaments like the IPL then. But slowly and steadily, all the aforementioned players started departing from the tournament one by one. And people like Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne have lost their glorious days. Someone like Mathew Hayden played his last game in IPL 2010 which was famous for his mongoose bat. Glenn Mcgrath has been shown the gates from Delhi Daredevils after the inaugural edition when his style of play suited only the longer formats of the game.
Sanath Jayasuriya, despite his fireworks was forced to warm the benches in last year's IPL and has never been chosen by any franchisee in this year. Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Brendon McCullum etc are not the big hitters of the ball once they were. There were hardly any century scorers in the tournament though there were three batsmen who had amassed more than 500 runs. Only players from India are showing the spirit and enthusiasm since 2008. The list includes Sachin Tendukar, Suresh Raina, Dhoni etc to name a few. Overseas players include Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh and Chris Gayle.
The first blow came when Anil Kumble pulled himself out of the tournament. Added to that would be the fact that players have changed sides after they were picked up by a different franchisee. Chris Gayle had earlier played for Kolkata while Dravid played for Bangalore. So would be the case with Gilchrist, Gambhir, Ganguly, Muralitharan. Top spinners like Shane Warne and Muralitharan have been just ordinary players. In the years to come, there will be players like Gilchrist, Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar etc who will be missing from action. Shane Warne has already called it a day. With all these, will the IPL still be accepted by all?
Showing posts with label Adam Gilchrist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam Gilchrist. Show all posts
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Dare to chase 198!
Well needless to be said, whenever a team scores 198 on the board, it is well understood that majority of the bets would fall in favor of that particular team. Any something more is that majority of the times that particular team wins the contest and yesterday was no different when the Deccan Chargers simply crushed the Kings XI Punjab by 82 runs at Dharamsala. Something more special would be that someone like Shikar Dhawan made his presence count in the playing XI. Until then, Shikar Dhawan was there in the team just because the rules of the tournament had forced his inclusion.
As all of us know, there is a restriction on the number of foreign players that a team can have in the playing eleven and Shikar Dhawan being an Indian makes his move faster into the playing in the XI member squad. Now, anybody who would have thought of dropping Shikar Dhawan upon the slightest of all opportunities will have to think many times I suppose. However, in addition to Dhawan, there was Ravi Teja who became another master piece in the IPL scoring 60 when until then all he was expected to was to strike the ball blindly to gain some extra runs.
The tough job of laying a foundation to their team is held by experienced people like Adam Gilchrist, Paul Valthaty, Chris Gayle etc and someone like Ravi Teja is expected to just continue the good work initiated by them. In case the top order fails, the middle order is bound to fail majority of the time. Coming to the match, two batsmen were more than enough to belt the bowling of the Kings XI Punjab. In the Kings XI side, if not for Adam Gilchrist, no other batsmen stood up to the occasion. The pitch was a batsman's paradise which is evident from the scorecard.
However, in addition to Shikar Dhawan and Ravi Teja, there was Amit Mishra who once again had a magical spell scalping 4 wickets giving away just 9 runs from his quota of 4 overs at 2.25 runs an over that included one over maiden as well. In my opinion, it should have been Amit Mishra who should have been awarded the man of the match and not Shikar Dhawan. But, it looks like the organisers of the tournament hardly cast their eyes on bowling department and are focused on the batting department alone. Restricting someone like Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh etc is tougher than belting some Bhargav Bhatt and Piyush Chawla.
As all of us know, there is a restriction on the number of foreign players that a team can have in the playing eleven and Shikar Dhawan being an Indian makes his move faster into the playing in the XI member squad. Now, anybody who would have thought of dropping Shikar Dhawan upon the slightest of all opportunities will have to think many times I suppose. However, in addition to Dhawan, there was Ravi Teja who became another master piece in the IPL scoring 60 when until then all he was expected to was to strike the ball blindly to gain some extra runs.
The tough job of laying a foundation to their team is held by experienced people like Adam Gilchrist, Paul Valthaty, Chris Gayle etc and someone like Ravi Teja is expected to just continue the good work initiated by them. In case the top order fails, the middle order is bound to fail majority of the time. Coming to the match, two batsmen were more than enough to belt the bowling of the Kings XI Punjab. In the Kings XI side, if not for Adam Gilchrist, no other batsmen stood up to the occasion. The pitch was a batsman's paradise which is evident from the scorecard.
However, in addition to Shikar Dhawan and Ravi Teja, there was Amit Mishra who once again had a magical spell scalping 4 wickets giving away just 9 runs from his quota of 4 overs at 2.25 runs an over that included one over maiden as well. In my opinion, it should have been Amit Mishra who should have been awarded the man of the match and not Shikar Dhawan. But, it looks like the organisers of the tournament hardly cast their eyes on bowling department and are focused on the batting department alone. Restricting someone like Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh etc is tougher than belting some Bhargav Bhatt and Piyush Chawla.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Blame it all on Chris Gayle
There was a time in Indian cricket when the absence of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar would mean a massive loss for the team. That was in the 90s where Sachin Tendulkar used to be the key man for his team's success in at least 75% of the games India played. Now, the same problem is found to haunt the Royal Challengers Bangalore who can hardly come close to winning in case Chris Gayle fails with the bat. Yesterday's game was the best example in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab. Bangalore lost to Punjab by 111 runs.
Chris Gayle's score in that game was nothing but zero. This was the match that all RCB fans would have been looking forward to having very high expectations from Chris Gayle. And, one cannot just blame Gayle for disappointing his fans. Chris Gayle has been entertaining his fans ever since he entered the contest after his national duty involving the series against Pakistan. However, what if Chris Gayle didn't score a ton; There was Adam Gilchrist who did everything that was expected from Chris Gayle. Adam Gilchrist scored a hundred when he ended his innings at 106 from 55 balls.
This was more than enough to ascertain that the viewers were not deceived from any sort of cricketing action on the field no matter from which team it comes. Any Indian fan would have loved to see the entertainment on the field irrespective of which city or state is playing. One can take a look at the scorecard to see 9 sixes hit from the blades of Gilchrist which I'm afraid whether any batsmen has been able to overtake. I might just have to take time to see whether the total of 232 is the highest by any team in the IPL.
Of course, 232 is the highest team total in this year's IPL. Chasing this big total would have been possible only had Chris Gayle continued from where he had left it in his previous game. But, that very busy man had no time to help his team mates in this game. And, what better treatment can one get when he hands over the ball to Virat Kohli? Making it his day, it was Gilchrist who took the catch of Chris Gayle behind the stumps. Likewise, another major contribution that needs to be applauded is that of Piyush Chawla who ended his spell with 4 wickets.
Chris Gayle's score in that game was nothing but zero. This was the match that all RCB fans would have been looking forward to having very high expectations from Chris Gayle. And, one cannot just blame Gayle for disappointing his fans. Chris Gayle has been entertaining his fans ever since he entered the contest after his national duty involving the series against Pakistan. However, what if Chris Gayle didn't score a ton; There was Adam Gilchrist who did everything that was expected from Chris Gayle. Adam Gilchrist scored a hundred when he ended his innings at 106 from 55 balls.
This was more than enough to ascertain that the viewers were not deceived from any sort of cricketing action on the field no matter from which team it comes. Any Indian fan would have loved to see the entertainment on the field irrespective of which city or state is playing. One can take a look at the scorecard to see 9 sixes hit from the blades of Gilchrist which I'm afraid whether any batsmen has been able to overtake. I might just have to take time to see whether the total of 232 is the highest by any team in the IPL.
Of course, 232 is the highest team total in this year's IPL. Chasing this big total would have been possible only had Chris Gayle continued from where he had left it in his previous game. But, that very busy man had no time to help his team mates in this game. And, what better treatment can one get when he hands over the ball to Virat Kohli? Making it his day, it was Gilchrist who took the catch of Chris Gayle behind the stumps. Likewise, another major contribution that needs to be applauded is that of Piyush Chawla who ended his spell with 4 wickets.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
RCB - KXIP = 85 runs
What better results can be expected from a team which is at one of the highest position in the points table plays a team at equal places counted from the bottom of the same? And that was what the spectators at the Chinnaswamy stadium witnessed yesterday with the Royal Challengers Bangalore piling up 205 runs on the board and the Kings XI Punjab losing the plot at 120 with 85 runs still being needed to at least snatch a tie. A fascinating aspect of the game was the the Kings XI Punjab didn't lose all ten wickets despite the pressure.
There was one man in Chris Gayle who scored 13 runs less than what the entire Kings XI Punjab team could manage in 20 legal overs excluding the extras in just 8.1 overs. There can be nothing said about this great man whose introduction into the IPL is as good as the entry of a hero in a James Bond movie. It was as though a shadow of Brian Lara and Vivian Richards was out there batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This was an innings one of its kind needless to be said. The entire team can be dedicated to Gayle alone.
Having Chris Gayle in the team, the RCB captain can experiment with at least five of his batsmen provided Chris Gayle continues in this form. Looking at the scorecard it is unbelievable that he remaining scores put together comes up to 98 runs with not other batsman daring to cross more than 27 runs. I could just remember a match in which Sehwag scores 80 runs to see the Delhi team through earlier in the tournament. This was a similar match with Gayle replacing Sehwag. As usual, both captains didn't ever experiment with their bowlers with 8 bowlers in the game finishing their quota.
This should not be a cause of worry for the Royal Challengers but a point to think about for the Kings XI Punjab. If one side of the coin is considered, even Gilchrist has a point when nothing could be done as long as Chris Gayle was there batting and the remaining bowlers were enough to contain the rest of the batsmen from the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Eventually, a bunch of players from the Kings XI Punjab that includes Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh, Abhishek Nayar and Dinesh Karthik could not score at over 6.0 runs an over which was aided by 5 extras.
There was one man in Chris Gayle who scored 13 runs less than what the entire Kings XI Punjab team could manage in 20 legal overs excluding the extras in just 8.1 overs. There can be nothing said about this great man whose introduction into the IPL is as good as the entry of a hero in a James Bond movie. It was as though a shadow of Brian Lara and Vivian Richards was out there batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This was an innings one of its kind needless to be said. The entire team can be dedicated to Gayle alone.
Having Chris Gayle in the team, the RCB captain can experiment with at least five of his batsmen provided Chris Gayle continues in this form. Looking at the scorecard it is unbelievable that he remaining scores put together comes up to 98 runs with not other batsman daring to cross more than 27 runs. I could just remember a match in which Sehwag scores 80 runs to see the Delhi team through earlier in the tournament. This was a similar match with Gayle replacing Sehwag. As usual, both captains didn't ever experiment with their bowlers with 8 bowlers in the game finishing their quota.
This should not be a cause of worry for the Royal Challengers but a point to think about for the Kings XI Punjab. If one side of the coin is considered, even Gilchrist has a point when nothing could be done as long as Chris Gayle was there batting and the remaining bowlers were enough to contain the rest of the batsmen from the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Eventually, a bunch of players from the Kings XI Punjab that includes Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh, Abhishek Nayar and Dinesh Karthik could not score at over 6.0 runs an over which was aided by 5 extras.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
How can 1 win over 11
Well it is obvious that a team where 11 players contribute to their team would walk out with all the applause the match can bring in. And, yesterday as well things were hardly different in the game between the Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at Mumbai. Well it should not be confused with the fact that Mumbai won because they were playing on their home soil. This could be the match for all people who would like to find flaw in Sachin Tendulkar who scored an individual 51 at the cost of his team's total. After Jacobs, Sachin Tendulkar had the least strike rate.
Sachin Tendulkar played 45 balls before getting out on 51 at a strike rate of 137.83 while Ambati Rayudu scored the same amount of runs playing 8 balls less than what Sachin Tendulkar took. Both have to come under the scanner for, the innings didn't include a quickfire that is quintessential in a T20 game especially the IPL for in addition to the team losing the match, the audience would be deceived of an action on the field. Though the batsmen who came in next didn't play a long innings like Sachin Tendulkar and Rayudu, they added to the entertainment.
Kieron Pollard and Rohith Sharma despite getting out on low scores of 20 and 18 respectively did the same at strike rates of 181 and 163 respectively. The next to have come in were Andrew Symonds and Suman. Well not having our discussion regarding Suman, Symonds would have well been an asset with him being the biggest of all the hitters out there in the Mumbai Indians side. Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga would also have added to the action. Had Sachin Tendukar and Ambati Rayudu thought otherwise, the score towards the end would have shot past 180 or may be even more.
Speaking team work, it was evident why the Kings XI Punjab despite the presence of Adam Gilchrist, David Warner, David Hussey etc ended up on the losing side for their lack of team work. All those aforementioned players were among the top big hitters in IPL but not yesterday at Mumbai. If not for Shaun Marsh who scored 61, no other batsmen showed any toughness on the crease. One can sense the selfishness of Paul Valthaty who scored 33 runs at a strike rate of 86.87 when the situation demanded 150+ runs for every 100 legal deliveries. Finally, lack of team work saw he team lose and viceversa.
Sachin Tendulkar played 45 balls before getting out on 51 at a strike rate of 137.83 while Ambati Rayudu scored the same amount of runs playing 8 balls less than what Sachin Tendulkar took. Both have to come under the scanner for, the innings didn't include a quickfire that is quintessential in a T20 game especially the IPL for in addition to the team losing the match, the audience would be deceived of an action on the field. Though the batsmen who came in next didn't play a long innings like Sachin Tendulkar and Rayudu, they added to the entertainment.
Kieron Pollard and Rohith Sharma despite getting out on low scores of 20 and 18 respectively did the same at strike rates of 181 and 163 respectively. The next to have come in were Andrew Symonds and Suman. Well not having our discussion regarding Suman, Symonds would have well been an asset with him being the biggest of all the hitters out there in the Mumbai Indians side. Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga would also have added to the action. Had Sachin Tendukar and Ambati Rayudu thought otherwise, the score towards the end would have shot past 180 or may be even more.
Speaking team work, it was evident why the Kings XI Punjab despite the presence of Adam Gilchrist, David Warner, David Hussey etc ended up on the losing side for their lack of team work. All those aforementioned players were among the top big hitters in IPL but not yesterday at Mumbai. If not for Shaun Marsh who scored 61, no other batsmen showed any toughness on the crease. One can sense the selfishness of Paul Valthaty who scored 33 runs at a strike rate of 86.87 when the situation demanded 150+ runs for every 100 legal deliveries. Finally, lack of team work saw he team lose and viceversa.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
A perfect T20 game
Well, when all of us were cursing regarding the tournament being as dull as it can get with the very first encounter being a close encounter with Chennai Super Kings drawing it towards them by just two runs, here was a treat for all those action crazy fans who could see a score of 188 being chased. The run rate was well above the landmark of 9.0 an over. I just can't remember when last was a mammoth score chased down in a T20 game-be it in the IPL or international cricket. But, speaking latest, the Kings XI Punjab have done it.
And, with a team like the Kings XI Punjab doing it against a defending champions-Chennai Super Kings should add another boost to the Kings XI cap who are now without their flop captain-Yuvraj Singh. The team is now headed by the player who took his team to victory in the 2009 edition at South Africa. The player is none other than Adam Gilchrist who was also awarded the man of the match and was instrumental in bringing his team from number 7 position to position 1 in that year's IPL. Yesterday, it was no Gilchrist who did the show with his bat.
Instead, the batsman could manage only 19 runs which should not matter when there was some Paul Valthaty who scored the tournament's maiden century when he ended his individual score at 120 off 63 balls. If I have to use the word "fastest" of a "quickfire" innings, that would suit only for the one day format and not regarding the T20 format. There have been repeated scores of 100 runs off 40 and 50 balls in one edition itself. If at all some bad performances are to be spoken about, then we have Anirudh from the Chennai Super Kings and Abhishek Nayar from Punjab both who got out without scoring.
Both teams lost just four wickets and, if team work needs to be spoken about, then one has to give full marks to the Chennai Super Kings with three of the four batsmen scoring decent scores compared to only one from the Kings XI Punjab. If not for Paul Valthaty, no other batsman really stood upto the challenge.The remaining scores read 20, 21, 12 and 19 from Sunny Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh respectively. Vaklthaty's score accounted upto 60% of the total of Punjab's score of 193. The highlight of the match was that a six was scored off the winning ball from Dinesh Karthik.
And, with a team like the Kings XI Punjab doing it against a defending champions-Chennai Super Kings should add another boost to the Kings XI cap who are now without their flop captain-Yuvraj Singh. The team is now headed by the player who took his team to victory in the 2009 edition at South Africa. The player is none other than Adam Gilchrist who was also awarded the man of the match and was instrumental in bringing his team from number 7 position to position 1 in that year's IPL. Yesterday, it was no Gilchrist who did the show with his bat.
Instead, the batsman could manage only 19 runs which should not matter when there was some Paul Valthaty who scored the tournament's maiden century when he ended his individual score at 120 off 63 balls. If I have to use the word "fastest" of a "quickfire" innings, that would suit only for the one day format and not regarding the T20 format. There have been repeated scores of 100 runs off 40 and 50 balls in one edition itself. If at all some bad performances are to be spoken about, then we have Anirudh from the Chennai Super Kings and Abhishek Nayar from Punjab both who got out without scoring.
Both teams lost just four wickets and, if team work needs to be spoken about, then one has to give full marks to the Chennai Super Kings with three of the four batsmen scoring decent scores compared to only one from the Kings XI Punjab. If not for Paul Valthaty, no other batsman really stood upto the challenge.The remaining scores read 20, 21, 12 and 19 from Sunny Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh respectively. Vaklthaty's score accounted upto 60% of the total of Punjab's score of 193. The highlight of the match was that a six was scored off the winning ball from Dinesh Karthik.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
A totally flawless final
Well I just cannot recall a finals between two teams captained by played who also keep wickets for their side. This time I saw it when Kumara Sangakkara for Sri Lanka and Mahendra Singh Dhoni did it for India in the finals. On one side, being an Indian I was rejoicing the Indian victory which came home after 28 years surpassing a silver jubilee in between and on the other hand, I had complete pity for Mahela Jayawardane to have ended on the losing side despite scoring a century. No one scored a century for India despite them being victorious.
This was a rare finals not only because it was India who won the trophy but for the fact that both teams fought it out hard to win the trophy which was eventually awarded to one team that played a slight better cricket. Sri Lanka did well to pileup 274 runs on the board which should have been a winning total for sure. But, needless to be said, Dhoni and team had different plans. I just cannot forget the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the team for the sixth world cup. Someone like Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Inzamam Ul Haq never enjoyed this.
Despite being extraordinary players of their era, they never got to lift the world cup. One can look into the last three world cup finals which were all won by Australia and were one sided games. It would not have been a prized prediction for anyone who would have bet on Australia after Pakistan were bowled out for 132 in 1999. And then in 2003, a total of 359 would have never be chased even with ten Sachin Tendulkars in the side against a team with McGrath and co bowling. If McGrath stuck to his line and length, Lee did the damage.
Exactly four years later in the Caribbean, India was replaced by Sri Lanka and Ricky Ponting was replaced by Adam Gilchrist. Every world cup final set up a new record for Australia. In 1999, Pakistan were bowled out for the lowest total in a world cup final. Then in 2003, Indian bowlers were belted for the highest total, the largest margin of victory and the fastest hundred in a world cup final. Four years later, Adam Gilchrist blasted the fastest hundred in a world cup finals bettering Ponting's record by 2 balls and the highest individual score in a world cup final.
This was a rare finals not only because it was India who won the trophy but for the fact that both teams fought it out hard to win the trophy which was eventually awarded to one team that played a slight better cricket. Sri Lanka did well to pileup 274 runs on the board which should have been a winning total for sure. But, needless to be said, Dhoni and team had different plans. I just cannot forget the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the team for the sixth world cup. Someone like Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Inzamam Ul Haq never enjoyed this.
Despite being extraordinary players of their era, they never got to lift the world cup. One can look into the last three world cup finals which were all won by Australia and were one sided games. It would not have been a prized prediction for anyone who would have bet on Australia after Pakistan were bowled out for 132 in 1999. And then in 2003, a total of 359 would have never be chased even with ten Sachin Tendulkars in the side against a team with McGrath and co bowling. If McGrath stuck to his line and length, Lee did the damage.
Exactly four years later in the Caribbean, India was replaced by Sri Lanka and Ricky Ponting was replaced by Adam Gilchrist. Every world cup final set up a new record for Australia. In 1999, Pakistan were bowled out for the lowest total in a world cup final. Then in 2003, Indian bowlers were belted for the highest total, the largest margin of victory and the fastest hundred in a world cup final. Four years later, Adam Gilchrist blasted the fastest hundred in a world cup finals bettering Ponting's record by 2 balls and the highest individual score in a world cup final.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Delhi yet to find a platform
Delhi daredevils are the team who have the hardest hitting batsmen in Virender Sehwag, the batsman who scored the maiden century of the tournament in 2008 in David Warner and the first century scorer in the second edition of the same last year in South Africa. Sad that they are found gasping for a win even against an average team in Deccan Chargers who have to depend upon just one or a couple of their batsmen in case they have to see their team victorious. But, if yesterday's game is considered, the stats look to be reversed for both the Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils as well.
Out of the 8 batsmen who took to the crease from the Deccan Chargers side, as many as five of them were worth the money what they were paid and also worth the hope their captain showed in them when they were selected in the playing eleven. All the five batsmen who came out scoring double figure scores had their strike rates above hundred. This was one of the rare occasions of the Deccan Chargers' innings not being dominated by Adam Gilchrist alone or by Andrew Symonds alone. Instead, in addition there were players like Herschelle Gibbs and Rohith Sharma as well who contributed.
Much to the surprise of everyone, all these five batsmen under discussion had a six to their credit and moreover, all the sixes hit in the Deccan Chargers' innings came from the bats of these five batsmen only with the share of the remaining batsmen beingnegligible zero. So has been the story regarding the number of boundaries hit in the Deccan Chargers' innings. And, this has to be obvious when no other batsman from the Deccan Chargers' side had their individual score go past 3 runs. And if the bowling of the same is considered, 4 out of 5 bowlers who could have bowled their full quota of 4 overs were found doing the same.
Only the remaining four overs were divided between R P Singh and Rohith Sharma. On the Delhi Daredevils side, there were just three of them who could do the job as batsmen with Sehwag surprisingly not being listed. Whenever the Delhi Daredevils' batsmen take to the crease, all eyes would be on Virender Sehwag who in the current edition is found to disappoint either as captain or as batsman. 7 of the 11 batsmen from the Delhi Daredevils side returned back to the pavilion scoring single digit scores and one batsman in Moises Henriques was quite intelligent when he didn't fall into that category of batsmen who scored less than 10 runs when he got out scoring 11 runs so that no fingers point towards him.
Out of the 8 batsmen who took to the crease from the Deccan Chargers side, as many as five of them were worth the money what they were paid and also worth the hope their captain showed in them when they were selected in the playing eleven. All the five batsmen who came out scoring double figure scores had their strike rates above hundred. This was one of the rare occasions of the Deccan Chargers' innings not being dominated by Adam Gilchrist alone or by Andrew Symonds alone. Instead, in addition there were players like Herschelle Gibbs and Rohith Sharma as well who contributed.
Much to the surprise of everyone, all these five batsmen under discussion had a six to their credit and moreover, all the sixes hit in the Deccan Chargers' innings came from the bats of these five batsmen only with the share of the remaining batsmen being
Only the remaining four overs were divided between R P Singh and Rohith Sharma. On the Delhi Daredevils side, there were just three of them who could do the job as batsmen with Sehwag surprisingly not being listed. Whenever the Delhi Daredevils' batsmen take to the crease, all eyes would be on Virender Sehwag who in the current edition is found to disappoint either as captain or as batsman. 7 of the 11 batsmen from the Delhi Daredevils side returned back to the pavilion scoring single digit scores and one batsman in Moises Henriques was quite intelligent when he didn't fall into that category of batsmen who scored less than 10 runs when he got out scoring 11 runs so that no fingers point towards him.
Friday, 12 March 2010
Does Gilchrist wants ICC taken over by the BCCI?
It is really hard to decide whether as an Indian to feel good that there are players who support the BCCI though they once belonged to a different nation. And, this is what Gilchrist has to offer off late when he wants the IPL window to be included in the ICC international schedules table. Reason: The players no matter from which countries can feature themselves in the IPL and at the same time, needless to be said earn big bucks in addition. This, even though is not Gilchrist's personal problem with him already retired from all forms of international cricket.
It would not be a million dollar guess that if the IPL schedule is included in the ICC table, as a captain of the Deccan Chargers, Gilchrist can hope to have a lot and better choice of selecting the playing XI. However, this is not a problem when it comes to selecting 7 players with the rule that there should be atleast 7 players from India featuring in the playing XI. But, the question would obviously be the remaining 3 players if Gilchrist himself is excluded. And, there is Andrew Symonds who is at present not been found making it to the Australian squad and may be by the next year after the 2011 world cup he might retire as well.
However, coming to the point, irrespective of what plans Gilchrist has got in his mind, having IPL as a part of ICC international tours table would no doubt be a sort of putting pressure on the world governing body. Had the IPL been named as WPL then, may be the suggestion can be thought of seriously. But, the IPL has got to do a lot with India alone and not the world. Like, restrictions have been made regarding the number of players from outside India that can be included in the playing XI and also the venue where the tournament is held is India.
So, what has the ICC got to do with India alone with 8 other teams being a permanent part of it? And, if the IPL window is thought about, in what way does it make justice by keeping similar leagues held by other cricketing nations out of the ICC tours table? Is it for the sole reason that the IPL can guarantee great money for all players of the world that Gilchrist joins his hands for such an appeal? The BCCI has in the past as well been adamant on its issues though other boards have given their nod for the same. The best example for this would be the clauses put forward by the WADA that was accepted by all nations except India.
And, if the IPL window is given a nod, no doubt it would surely make the BCCI decide the international tours for the year and not the ICC.
It would not be a million dollar guess that if the IPL schedule is included in the ICC table, as a captain of the Deccan Chargers, Gilchrist can hope to have a lot and better choice of selecting the playing XI. However, this is not a problem when it comes to selecting 7 players with the rule that there should be atleast 7 players from India featuring in the playing XI. But, the question would obviously be the remaining 3 players if Gilchrist himself is excluded. And, there is Andrew Symonds who is at present not been found making it to the Australian squad and may be by the next year after the 2011 world cup he might retire as well.
However, coming to the point, irrespective of what plans Gilchrist has got in his mind, having IPL as a part of ICC international tours table would no doubt be a sort of putting pressure on the world governing body. Had the IPL been named as WPL then, may be the suggestion can be thought of seriously. But, the IPL has got to do a lot with India alone and not the world. Like, restrictions have been made regarding the number of players from outside India that can be included in the playing XI and also the venue where the tournament is held is India.
So, what has the ICC got to do with India alone with 8 other teams being a permanent part of it? And, if the IPL window is thought about, in what way does it make justice by keeping similar leagues held by other cricketing nations out of the ICC tours table? Is it for the sole reason that the IPL can guarantee great money for all players of the world that Gilchrist joins his hands for such an appeal? The BCCI has in the past as well been adamant on its issues though other boards have given their nod for the same. The best example for this would be the clauses put forward by the WADA that was accepted by all nations except India.
And, if the IPL window is given a nod, no doubt it would surely make the BCCI decide the international tours for the year and not the ICC.
Monday, 15 February 2010
The fate of batting records these days...
In today's world of cricket, it would not be wrong to say that records are created rather than achieved by anyone. The latest one would be the 47th test hundred by none other than SachinTendulkar. Until a decade back, there was only Sunil Gavaskar who had scored more than 30 centuries in test cricket. But, today, there are five others excluding Gavaskar namely SachinTendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Steve Waugh and Mathew Hayden who have scored 30+ hundreds in international test cricket. It was somewhere in late 80s when Gavaskar achieved this feat.
But, the remaining six have done it in the past decade. It took 36 years for someone like Brian Lara to break Gary Sobers' record for the highest test score of 365* and just 6 months to break Mathew Hayden's score of 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003. There was a time when the bowler used to bowl the ball at the batsman the way he liked, with no restrictions upon the number of bouncers that a bowler can bowl in an over unlike it is today. There was no rule of a bowlers being prohibited to bowl further incase he bowls a dangerous delivery that is referred to as beamers in today's cricket.
Gone are the days when a test match used to yield results despite a team putting up a 700+ total. Yes, it is possible in today's cricket provided the team should be facing either the West Indies or Bangladesh for that to happen. One has to indeed thank the ICC for banning Zimbabwe from paying test cricket. In today's cricket, a total of 700+ on the board needs no further reason for it to be termed a draw in most of the cases. In today's cricket, a bowlers' main idea is to just bowl maiden overs than to get the opposition out.
No blaming the bowlers when the life for a batsman is made so easy that even tail enders like Harbhajan Singh & Mitchell Johnson can boast of 50+ scores and a debutant like Ravindra Jadeja can take the opposition bowlers for a ride. Batsmen need not bowl if they don't feel like. But, as the team loses wickets, bowlers will have to get in and take to the crese irrespective of whether it is his cup of tea or not. Finally, the bats that are available today can be considered to be those made of springs than willow that was the case a decade ago. The bats have so much power in them that a solid defence can find the ball go past the boundary.
Added to these would be the extended powerplays, batsmen friendly pitches, a free hit off a no ball and the advent of the T20 cricket. This can give rise to a lot of Sachins and Sehwags and less McGraths and Kumbles. Thanks for the entertainment ICC!
But, the remaining six have done it in the past decade. It took 36 years for someone like Brian Lara to break Gary Sobers' record for the highest test score of 365* and just 6 months to break Mathew Hayden's score of 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003. There was a time when the bowler used to bowl the ball at the batsman the way he liked, with no restrictions upon the number of bouncers that a bowler can bowl in an over unlike it is today. There was no rule of a bowlers being prohibited to bowl further incase he bowls a dangerous delivery that is referred to as beamers in today's cricket.
Gone are the days when a test match used to yield results despite a team putting up a 700+ total. Yes, it is possible in today's cricket provided the team should be facing either the West Indies or Bangladesh for that to happen. One has to indeed thank the ICC for banning Zimbabwe from paying test cricket. In today's cricket, a total of 700+ on the board needs no further reason for it to be termed a draw in most of the cases. In today's cricket, a bowlers' main idea is to just bowl maiden overs than to get the opposition out.
No blaming the bowlers when the life for a batsman is made so easy that even tail enders like Harbhajan Singh & Mitchell Johnson can boast of 50+ scores and a debutant like Ravindra Jadeja can take the opposition bowlers for a ride. Batsmen need not bowl if they don't feel like. But, as the team loses wickets, bowlers will have to get in and take to the crese irrespective of whether it is his cup of tea or not. Finally, the bats that are available today can be considered to be those made of springs than willow that was the case a decade ago. The bats have so much power in them that a solid defence can find the ball go past the boundary.
Added to these would be the extended powerplays, batsmen friendly pitches, a free hit off a no ball and the advent of the T20 cricket. This can give rise to a lot of Sachins and Sehwags and less McGraths and Kumbles. Thanks for the entertainment ICC!
Friday, 15 January 2010
It is always trouble with Australian cricketers
Well the news this time has its say that Australian players may have to boycott this year's edition of the Indian Premier League which would get underway from March 12th onwards. But, once again as usual, there has been problems regarding players not being satisfied with the security arrangements in India. This became more serious when they were threatened not to play in Maharashtra state by shivsainiks, who are citing the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia since the past one year or so. Otherwise, no other players from any other country had any sorts of problems till now.
However, one has to ask himself regarding the worst place for any player to tour other than Pakistan in today's world. And the answer to this question would be obviously Australia and no other country. It is no terror threat from any terror outfit that is targeting players in Australia. But, the crowds have so far been the worst in the world. But still, one has to wonder as to how come no player from any country has had a problem touring Australia when Australia can seriously make statements blow out of proportion? This has been the case with almost all nations.
One has to recall the egg throwing incident where Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan was greeted with an egg prior to the start of the Commonwealth bank series in 2007-08. And then what happened to India during the Border-Gavaskar trophy prior to that is well afresh in people's minds when Harbhajan Singh had a spat with Symonds on the field which was in no way justified by any Australian player. Then, in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series between India and Australia, there was a streaker who made way into the ground. Perhaps! This in no way troubled any of the cricketers. But, does the ACA approve of such incidents?
And whatever, despite their interest to participate in the IPL, they have their tour of New Zealand in progress which will keep most of the players from Australia busy until the end of this month. However, that should mean that the players from Australia are not welcome to India. A couple of years back, there was a serial blast in Jaipur which had shook the Rajasthan Royals' captain. But, at the same time he had nothing to lose and only to gain when he lifted the trophy. Australians are just creating a mess by taking such issue that far which is needless to be said.
However, one has to ask himself regarding the worst place for any player to tour other than Pakistan in today's world. And the answer to this question would be obviously Australia and no other country. It is no terror threat from any terror outfit that is targeting players in Australia. But, the crowds have so far been the worst in the world. But still, one has to wonder as to how come no player from any country has had a problem touring Australia when Australia can seriously make statements blow out of proportion? This has been the case with almost all nations.
One has to recall the egg throwing incident where Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan was greeted with an egg prior to the start of the Commonwealth bank series in 2007-08. And then what happened to India during the Border-Gavaskar trophy prior to that is well afresh in people's minds when Harbhajan Singh had a spat with Symonds on the field which was in no way justified by any Australian player. Then, in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series between India and Australia, there was a streaker who made way into the ground. Perhaps! This in no way troubled any of the cricketers. But, does the ACA approve of such incidents?
And whatever, despite their interest to participate in the IPL, they have their tour of New Zealand in progress which will keep most of the players from Australia busy until the end of this month. However, that should mean that the players from Australia are not welcome to India. A couple of years back, there was a serial blast in Jaipur which had shook the Rajasthan Royals' captain. But, at the same time he had nothing to lose and only to gain when he lifted the trophy. Australians are just creating a mess by taking such issue that far which is needless to be said.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
No Jai For Viru
How many of us would have thought that a team that ended high in the points table with 10 victories in its kitty to crash out so badly in the tournament? How many of us would have thought the team that beat the Deccan Chargers on both occasions to lose out to the same Deccan Chargers so badly in the semi finals of the tournament? How many of us would have thought the return of Virender Sehwag back to form would be of no use to his team? How many of us thought the number 1 team to lose so badly to the number 4 team in the tournament? But, these were witnessed by the helpless fans out there in Centurion.
The total of 153 was neither a bad one nor a good one for that matter. And defending the same by the Delhi team or chasing the same by the Deccan Chargers would not have raised many eyebrows. But, the moment the first over of the Deccan Chargers' batting ended, the result was well in front of us. The first over went for 22 runs with Adam Gilchrist striking 5 boundaries. And how does it matter if the other opener Gibbs gets out for a second ball duck as long as there was Gilly to solve the matter? The only disappointment that Gilchrist gave was that he couldn't score a hundred. Perhaps, that I think would have been the fastest of the IPL so far-including the earlier season in 2008.
After the Delhi team's loss in the first semi finals of the Indian Premier League, I was reminded of the South African disappointing exit of the 1996 & 1999 world cup. In 1996, the Proteas won all of their 5 league matches only to lose against the West Indies in the quarter finals. There too, it was a victory of team 4 versus team 1, with the South Africa on number 1 (Group B) and West Indies being number 4 (of Group A). In 1999, the South Africans won all the matches if not for their loss against Australia in the super sixes, only to lose the semis to the Aussies by zero runs.
This was the third encounter between the Delhi team and the Hyderabad team, and after every match, the match has been found closing in on the Deccan Chargers. The first match between these 2 teams was washed off by the Delhi team, the second match though being won by the Delhi team yet again, the Chargers gave the Delhi team a tough fight and lost out only in the end after being in the match for so long. And this time in the third encounter, the Delhi team was nowhere in the picture. It was a clean sweep by the Deccan Chargers and Adam Gilchrist in particular.
So, after the first semis, the IPL which consisted of entire India has now dropped to only South India, with the East, West and the North crashing out. Now the fight is between the three South Indian states in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
The total of 153 was neither a bad one nor a good one for that matter. And defending the same by the Delhi team or chasing the same by the Deccan Chargers would not have raised many eyebrows. But, the moment the first over of the Deccan Chargers' batting ended, the result was well in front of us. The first over went for 22 runs with Adam Gilchrist striking 5 boundaries. And how does it matter if the other opener Gibbs gets out for a second ball duck as long as there was Gilly to solve the matter? The only disappointment that Gilchrist gave was that he couldn't score a hundred. Perhaps, that I think would have been the fastest of the IPL so far-including the earlier season in 2008.
After the Delhi team's loss in the first semi finals of the Indian Premier League, I was reminded of the South African disappointing exit of the 1996 & 1999 world cup. In 1996, the Proteas won all of their 5 league matches only to lose against the West Indies in the quarter finals. There too, it was a victory of team 4 versus team 1, with the South Africa on number 1 (Group B) and West Indies being number 4 (of Group A). In 1999, the South Africans won all the matches if not for their loss against Australia in the super sixes, only to lose the semis to the Aussies by zero runs.
This was the third encounter between the Delhi team and the Hyderabad team, and after every match, the match has been found closing in on the Deccan Chargers. The first match between these 2 teams was washed off by the Delhi team, the second match though being won by the Delhi team yet again, the Chargers gave the Delhi team a tough fight and lost out only in the end after being in the match for so long. And this time in the third encounter, the Delhi team was nowhere in the picture. It was a clean sweep by the Deccan Chargers and Adam Gilchrist in particular.
So, after the first semis, the IPL which consisted of entire India has now dropped to only South India, with the East, West and the North crashing out. Now the fight is between the three South Indian states in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Symonds & Sreesanth Targetted By Bad Luck
Just two posts back, I had stated regarding the class of a team that could help the team in getting itself into better position despite a loss. The Kings XI Punjab once again proved this by pulling off a last ball victory against the Deccan Chargers and restrict their successive loss to 3 at the moment. Still, the Kings XI Punjab are not placed in the top four of the IPL. But, if they continue to show the same class as they showed in their games so far, they can make it to the semis this time as well. One view would place them even higher compared to the Deccan Chargers who at the beginning of the tournament were one of the undefeated teams in this series.
In today's cricketing world, a last ball victory is no longer a subject of thrill. Not even a last ball six when the situation demands the same is enough to thrill the audience who are watching the feat being achieved almost once a year. It was the time when Javed Miandad hit a last ball six at Sharjah when the team required 4 runs off the last delivery. That feat made him be alive in the hearts of many cricket fans over the world. After this, there have been a number of such feats. But, the concern is that, they are found repeating itself recently after 2005.
I still remember Inzamam Ul Haq scoring a boundary against India in the last ball of the match when Pakistan required 1 run off the last ball. Then, in a match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe won the match when one of its batsmen hit a last ball six. Also, West Indian Shivnarine Chanderapaul scored a last ball six to see his team through against Sri Lanka last year. So, now a days incase the match is to be considered as a last ball gasp, the team should emerge victorious scoring something like 24 runs off the last over. This should happen once in a bluemoon incase the fans have to rejoice the moment.
Anyway, in the match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Deccan Chargers, the degree of bad luck of Andrew Symonds was evident when despite him scoring the lone half century of the match had to compromise with the losing side. On the other, another entry in Brett Lee had a wonderful day not with the ball but with the team, for he belonged to the winning team. Even last year, Andrew Symonds was in the losing in the match against the Rajasthan Royals despite him scoring a hundred. In the sense, the hundred scored by Symonds was the fastest one till date, until Adam Gilchrist overtook the same against Kings XI (I guess).
In today's cricketing world, a last ball victory is no longer a subject of thrill. Not even a last ball six when the situation demands the same is enough to thrill the audience who are watching the feat being achieved almost once a year. It was the time when Javed Miandad hit a last ball six at Sharjah when the team required 4 runs off the last delivery. That feat made him be alive in the hearts of many cricket fans over the world. After this, there have been a number of such feats. But, the concern is that, they are found repeating itself recently after 2005.
I still remember Inzamam Ul Haq scoring a boundary against India in the last ball of the match when Pakistan required 1 run off the last ball. Then, in a match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe won the match when one of its batsmen hit a last ball six. Also, West Indian Shivnarine Chanderapaul scored a last ball six to see his team through against Sri Lanka last year. So, now a days incase the match is to be considered as a last ball gasp, the team should emerge victorious scoring something like 24 runs off the last over. This should happen once in a bluemoon incase the fans have to rejoice the moment.
Anyway, in the match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Deccan Chargers, the degree of bad luck of Andrew Symonds was evident when despite him scoring the lone half century of the match had to compromise with the losing side. On the other, another entry in Brett Lee had a wonderful day not with the ball but with the team, for he belonged to the winning team. Even last year, Andrew Symonds was in the losing in the match against the Rajasthan Royals despite him scoring a hundred. In the sense, the hundred scored by Symonds was the fastest one till date, until Adam Gilchrist overtook the same against Kings XI (I guess).
Friday, 8 May 2009
East London Prefers The CSK Over Deccan Chargers
There was a time in the start of the second edition of the Indian Premier League where the Deccan Chargers along with the Delhi Daredevils were at the top of the points table having beaten almost all the teams out there convincingly. However, as time passed by, both these teams started losing games in the very same manner as they used to win previously. It all started with the Delhi Daredevils losing their first match to the Chennai Super Kings and the Deccan Chargers losing out at the hands of Delhi Daredevils. Now, it is rather doubtful whether the Deccan Chargers would make it to the last four or not.
Owing to the fact that the Royal Challengers Bangalore have realized to start winning matches before all becomes lost for them. The only team at the moment who are yet to make a come back are the Kolkata Knight Riders, regarding whom the discussion for the moment is just a waste of time. Let us leave the discussion of the KKR to the team owner himself. Otherwise, the remaining teams are faring better than they used to in the beginning of the tournament. The other exception being the Mumbai Indians. But, I don't think that all is lost for them as well for the moment.
When fate doesn't want something to happen, all effort goes fruitless. This was what happened to the Deccan Chargers at East London. Explosive openers namely Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs who set up the match in the first encounter against the same CSK were found getting out for a golden duck at East London. Of course, VVS Laxman is new to this format of the game and is suitable for only test cricket. I wish to ask the DC captain-Adam Gilchrist a concrete reason for the inclusion of VVS LAxman who is not believed to even be included in the ODI squad for the past four years.
Despite giving the Deccan Chargers lives after lives by the CSK the Deccan Chargers' score never went past 100. Just imagine had these chances not been wasted the the CSK fieldsman? Anyway, ifs and buts can change the entire story. One has to salute the way the Deccan Chargers' batsmen Rohith Sharma and Dwayne Smith put on a 50 run partnership after losing the first three wickets for just 3 runs on the board at the end of the second over. One must indeed appreciate the guts that Dwayne Smith showed when he pulled off 19 runs from the over bowled by Albie Morkel and maintained a strike of 213 when he got out. The 50 run partnership mentioned above took just 21 balls.
This is no joke, for the pressure that mounts with the initial loss of wickets cannot be overcome by many. And such a thing to have been done by the two deserves much applause. The knock shows the class of the Deccan Chargers, which will help the team in a match or two.
Owing to the fact that the Royal Challengers Bangalore have realized to start winning matches before all becomes lost for them. The only team at the moment who are yet to make a come back are the Kolkata Knight Riders, regarding whom the discussion for the moment is just a waste of time. Let us leave the discussion of the KKR to the team owner himself. Otherwise, the remaining teams are faring better than they used to in the beginning of the tournament. The other exception being the Mumbai Indians. But, I don't think that all is lost for them as well for the moment.
When fate doesn't want something to happen, all effort goes fruitless. This was what happened to the Deccan Chargers at East London. Explosive openers namely Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs who set up the match in the first encounter against the same CSK were found getting out for a golden duck at East London. Of course, VVS Laxman is new to this format of the game and is suitable for only test cricket. I wish to ask the DC captain-Adam Gilchrist a concrete reason for the inclusion of VVS LAxman who is not believed to even be included in the ODI squad for the past four years.
Despite giving the Deccan Chargers lives after lives by the CSK the Deccan Chargers' score never went past 100. Just imagine had these chances not been wasted the the CSK fieldsman? Anyway, ifs and buts can change the entire story. One has to salute the way the Deccan Chargers' batsmen Rohith Sharma and Dwayne Smith put on a 50 run partnership after losing the first three wickets for just 3 runs on the board at the end of the second over. One must indeed appreciate the guts that Dwayne Smith showed when he pulled off 19 runs from the over bowled by Albie Morkel and maintained a strike of 213 when he got out. The 50 run partnership mentioned above took just 21 balls.
This is no joke, for the pressure that mounts with the initial loss of wickets cannot be overcome by many. And such a thing to have been done by the two deserves much applause. The knock shows the class of the Deccan Chargers, which will help the team in a match or two.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Misfields & Drop Catches Make Their day
It was really unbelievable for most of us for, one could not think as to how come the Rajasthan Royals could manage a win against the Deccan Chargers at the end of the day when the Deccan Chargers held the upper hand for most part of the innings. First by putting a decent total (if not a satisfactory one) of 141 and later by destroying the top order of the Rajasthan Royals' batting by reducing them for 58/5 at the end of the 10th over. Was it the strategic break that comes after every 10 overs responsible for the Royals' comeback? Well not really!!!
If at all anyone has to take the credit for the Rajasthan Royals' win against the Deccan Chargers, it is the Deccan Chargers team itself. For, without the co-operation of the Deccan Chargers' fielders the task would have been just impossible. At the fag end of the Rajasthan Royals' batting, when the team needed 10 runs off an equal number of deliveries, Dwayne Smith fumbled a run out chance. Well it could be said that by bthat time the Rajasthan Royals were well in control with a victory just a stone's throw. The other mis field includes the one by Rohith Sharma who didn't collect the ball and the missed runout off Edwards in the penultimate ball.
Shane Warne was dropped in the second ball of the 11th over after he had hit the previous ball for six and then another maximum one the very next ball after he was dropped. This was more than enough for any team to win a match, when one drop catch in a super six game of the 1999 world cup saw Steve Waugh winning the same. So, one can imagine the result of a match that has had as many as five mis fields and drop catches altogether. However, the fighting spirit of the Rajasthan Royals have to be appreciated here for, normally a team in such a situation would have lost all its wickets for just another 10 to 20 runs after being 57 for the loss of 5 wickets.
However, it looks like after the match against Rajasthan Royals that the Deccan Chargers have got back to where they had left in the first edition of the IPL in 2008, where they finished at the bottom of the points table, spoiling the hard work of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This time, they might have won the fist four matches of the series but, this loss could never be forgiven though the one earlier to this against the delhi Daredevild could be given a pass, for even the Daredevils have maintained a winning run similar to the Deccan Chargers. So, if it is assumed that the DCs to be favourites, better think again before betting!!!
If at all anyone has to take the credit for the Rajasthan Royals' win against the Deccan Chargers, it is the Deccan Chargers team itself. For, without the co-operation of the Deccan Chargers' fielders the task would have been just impossible. At the fag end of the Rajasthan Royals' batting, when the team needed 10 runs off an equal number of deliveries, Dwayne Smith fumbled a run out chance. Well it could be said that by bthat time the Rajasthan Royals were well in control with a victory just a stone's throw. The other mis field includes the one by Rohith Sharma who didn't collect the ball and the missed runout off Edwards in the penultimate ball.
Shane Warne was dropped in the second ball of the 11th over after he had hit the previous ball for six and then another maximum one the very next ball after he was dropped. This was more than enough for any team to win a match, when one drop catch in a super six game of the 1999 world cup saw Steve Waugh winning the same. So, one can imagine the result of a match that has had as many as five mis fields and drop catches altogether. However, the fighting spirit of the Rajasthan Royals have to be appreciated here for, normally a team in such a situation would have lost all its wickets for just another 10 to 20 runs after being 57 for the loss of 5 wickets.
However, it looks like after the match against Rajasthan Royals that the Deccan Chargers have got back to where they had left in the first edition of the IPL in 2008, where they finished at the bottom of the points table, spoiling the hard work of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This time, they might have won the fist four matches of the series but, this loss could never be forgiven though the one earlier to this against the delhi Daredevild could be given a pass, for even the Daredevils have maintained a winning run similar to the Deccan Chargers. So, if it is assumed that the DCs to be favourites, better think again before betting!!!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
No One Is The Best
Until the match between the Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils, there was atleast one team that remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and that was Deccan Chargers. But, after that particular match, even the Deccan Chargers joined the party that included the rest of the 7 teams who have lost atleast one match in the series. However, the Deccan Chargers can still continue to rejoice for, they along with the Delhi Daredevils are the only team to have at present lost just one game so far. While the Deccan Chargers lost their first game against Delhi Daredevils, the Delhi Daredevils lost a game to the Chennai Superkings.
It looks like both the Deccan Chargers as well as the Delhi Daredevils have made it to the semi finals of the IPL already. Well lets wait until the semi finals line is up officially. But for now, the match between the Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils is something that matters us the most. If not for the openers who made way for early breakthroughs for the opposition team, the rest of the Deccan Chargers' batsmen showed good amount of resistance by all of them scoring in double figures. This feat might not be too satisfactory but, this happens very rarely where five consecutive batsmen score double figures in succession.
For a moment, the Deccan Chargers' batsman Dwayne Smith threstened the Delhi Daredevils team to take the game away from them but not too longer after Daniel Vettori has him in his hands in the deep off Ashish Nehra. Though a total of 148 was not too convincing and more so in this particular format of the game, there have been many instances where a modest total have been difficult to chase. But, this particular total was easily chased by the Delhi Daredevils batsmen more so by Tilekeratne Dilshan. Finally, I was delighted that atleast there was one team in the tournament to beat the Deccan Chargers.
I was really fed up by watching Australia being unbeaten unbeaten throughout the 2003 as well as the 2007 world cups, by winning all 11 matches that they played. Atleast in the match against in the 2003 world cup, the Australia were on the verge of losing but, it was Michael Beaven who spoilt the party and in the match against New Zealand where they were 84/7 ended up winning the match by 96 runs. And in the 2007 world cup, there was not even a single close encounter that the Aussies faced. From the match one against Holland until the finals where they played Sri Lanka all the matches were taken for granted by Australia. Thank God that it was not the case in this IPL as well.
It looks like both the Deccan Chargers as well as the Delhi Daredevils have made it to the semi finals of the IPL already. Well lets wait until the semi finals line is up officially. But for now, the match between the Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils is something that matters us the most. If not for the openers who made way for early breakthroughs for the opposition team, the rest of the Deccan Chargers' batsmen showed good amount of resistance by all of them scoring in double figures. This feat might not be too satisfactory but, this happens very rarely where five consecutive batsmen score double figures in succession.
For a moment, the Deccan Chargers' batsman Dwayne Smith threstened the Delhi Daredevils team to take the game away from them but not too longer after Daniel Vettori has him in his hands in the deep off Ashish Nehra. Though a total of 148 was not too convincing and more so in this particular format of the game, there have been many instances where a modest total have been difficult to chase. But, this particular total was easily chased by the Delhi Daredevils batsmen more so by Tilekeratne Dilshan. Finally, I was delighted that atleast there was one team in the tournament to beat the Deccan Chargers.
I was really fed up by watching Australia being unbeaten unbeaten throughout the 2003 as well as the 2007 world cups, by winning all 11 matches that they played. Atleast in the match against in the 2003 world cup, the Australia were on the verge of losing but, it was Michael Beaven who spoilt the party and in the match against New Zealand where they were 84/7 ended up winning the match by 96 runs. And in the 2007 world cup, there was not even a single close encounter that the Aussies faced. From the match one against Holland until the finals where they played Sri Lanka all the matches were taken for granted by Australia. Thank God that it was not the case in this IPL as well.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Dhoni's Never Give Up Attitude Yet Again
In the match between the Deccan Chargers and the Chennai Super Kings at Durban, the Chennai Super Kings might have lost out on the match but not on the hunger to win. The Chennai Super Kings were on the hunt until the Deccan Chargers scored their last winning run of the match. It was not an easy task to chase down the target of 169 imposed by the Chennai Super Kings. The target was however not an ordinary one. But, if one took a close look at the way the openers Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs, it was as though the match would be over with as many as five overs to spare.
But, whenever a team loses, it is completely owing to some or rather most of the bad decisions that the losing captain has taken in the match. And this time, the Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni despite not losing out on the hunger to make things difficult for the opposition batsmen, also made some mistake by having Parthiv Patel opening the batting despite failing miserably in all of the previous games that the Chennai Super Kings played. And just imagine when someone like Rohith Sharma who is less known with the ball was found taking a wicket as to what sort of batting the CSK displayed.
The target could have been even more challenging had Mathew Hayden not mistaken the Ohja delivery and all this despite a drop chance when the batsman was on 17. Anyways, such things keep happening and it is not Dhoni's fault either. But, I wish Manpreeth Gony should have been given another chance rather taking him off just one bad over that cost the Chennai Super Kings 20 costly runs. Just take a look at the batsman whom Gony bowled at. This would have been the case irrespective of the bowler who was bowling for that was the caliber of Adam Gilchrist. Perhaps, the result might have been even more embarrassing for other bowlers for they might have gone in for more than 20 runs.
But, all it took the Chennai Super Kings to get back into the game was the wicket of Adam Gilchrist. The opening pair added 60 runs in just 4 overs and I wish one can get the picture had the rest of the batsmen followed in the foot steps of Adam Gilchrist or had Gilchrist not been out. If the CSK bowlers are to be blamed for the match debacle, then the match should have got over in just 10-15 overs and not until the last over. If one argues that the situation never demanded a hurry from the Deccan Chargers' batsmen, then the scoreboard suggests that the remaining batsmen went for quick runs and in the process threw their wickets. It was all because of Gibbs' presense that the Deccan Chargers were able to convert the solid start into a smooth finish.
But, whenever a team loses, it is completely owing to some or rather most of the bad decisions that the losing captain has taken in the match. And this time, the Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni despite not losing out on the hunger to make things difficult for the opposition batsmen, also made some mistake by having Parthiv Patel opening the batting despite failing miserably in all of the previous games that the Chennai Super Kings played. And just imagine when someone like Rohith Sharma who is less known with the ball was found taking a wicket as to what sort of batting the CSK displayed.
The target could have been even more challenging had Mathew Hayden not mistaken the Ohja delivery and all this despite a drop chance when the batsman was on 17. Anyways, such things keep happening and it is not Dhoni's fault either. But, I wish Manpreeth Gony should have been given another chance rather taking him off just one bad over that cost the Chennai Super Kings 20 costly runs. Just take a look at the batsman whom Gony bowled at. This would have been the case irrespective of the bowler who was bowling for that was the caliber of Adam Gilchrist. Perhaps, the result might have been even more embarrassing for other bowlers for they might have gone in for more than 20 runs.
But, all it took the Chennai Super Kings to get back into the game was the wicket of Adam Gilchrist. The opening pair added 60 runs in just 4 overs and I wish one can get the picture had the rest of the batsmen followed in the foot steps of Adam Gilchrist or had Gilchrist not been out. If the CSK bowlers are to be blamed for the match debacle, then the match should have got over in just 10-15 overs and not until the last over. If one argues that the situation never demanded a hurry from the Deccan Chargers' batsmen, then the scoreboard suggests that the remaining batsmen went for quick runs and in the process threw their wickets. It was all because of Gibbs' presense that the Deccan Chargers were able to convert the solid start into a smooth finish.
Monday, 27 April 2009
From Bottom To Top:Deccan Chargers
In the last and the first edition of the Indian Premier League, it was the Deccan Chargers who ended up as the last team on the points table even rivaling the Royal Challengers Bangalore whom most of them thought to make it to the last position. But, it is indeed a dream to even imagine a team which was positioned last in the previous edition to emerge as first in this edition. This happening despite any changes hardly being made to the team. The only change that the Deccan Chargers team has undergone since its launch is that the side has been captained by Adam Gilchrist which was until then done by VVS Laxman.
However, I don't give much cheers to the Deccan Chargers team for topping the charts this year. Instead I blast them for being the chokers in the first edition of the same for the team was gifted with players like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs to mention a few. And on the bowling side, they had the likes of Pragyan Ohja, Lasit Malinga and Dwayne Bravo head the list. With such players, there was absolutely no reason whatsoever for the Deccan Chargers to put up such a dismal performance. Of course, Royal Challengers could be given an excuse for the players that were chosen were Sunil Joshi, Wasim Jaffer whose abilities need not be mentioned specially.
I still remember Deccan Chargers losing the match against the Rajasthan Royals despite Andrew Symonds notching up a century. Perhaps this was until then the fastest century of the tournament until Adam Gilchrist overtook the same. However, it is indeed nice to see the same Deccan Chargers come back to claim the top position that was thought to be dominated by Rajasthan Royals or the Chennai Super Kings like last year. At the same time, this could not have been possible without the support of Mumbai Indians in the match for they succumbed from a score of 86/1 to 92/4. If this is the batting display of any team, i wonder whether it is difficult for any opposition to win the match from there onwards?
Well I think that a clear cut picture would not be available right now for there is one more round to go after this once, with the present round yet to go. May be that Deccan Chargers might go down as well and like last year, Royal Challengers might just miss out on being in the last position like they did last year by claiming the second spot if the list is viewed from the bottom to top. Or, there are other teams like Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians who have the potential in them to make it to the top. Of course, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers are a gone case.
However, I don't give much cheers to the Deccan Chargers team for topping the charts this year. Instead I blast them for being the chokers in the first edition of the same for the team was gifted with players like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs to mention a few. And on the bowling side, they had the likes of Pragyan Ohja, Lasit Malinga and Dwayne Bravo head the list. With such players, there was absolutely no reason whatsoever for the Deccan Chargers to put up such a dismal performance. Of course, Royal Challengers could be given an excuse for the players that were chosen were Sunil Joshi, Wasim Jaffer whose abilities need not be mentioned specially.
I still remember Deccan Chargers losing the match against the Rajasthan Royals despite Andrew Symonds notching up a century. Perhaps this was until then the fastest century of the tournament until Adam Gilchrist overtook the same. However, it is indeed nice to see the same Deccan Chargers come back to claim the top position that was thought to be dominated by Rajasthan Royals or the Chennai Super Kings like last year. At the same time, this could not have been possible without the support of Mumbai Indians in the match for they succumbed from a score of 86/1 to 92/4. If this is the batting display of any team, i wonder whether it is difficult for any opposition to win the match from there onwards?
Well I think that a clear cut picture would not be available right now for there is one more round to go after this once, with the present round yet to go. May be that Deccan Chargers might go down as well and like last year, Royal Challengers might just miss out on being in the last position like they did last year by claiming the second spot if the list is viewed from the bottom to top. Or, there are other teams like Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians who have the potential in them to make it to the top. Of course, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers are a gone case.
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