Shades of match fixing in IPL

Well this has been the news that has been making rounds since the latter part of the third edition of the Indian Premier League wherein the match fixing issue has taken precedence. This is after a decade that someone is charged with a match fixing offense or more than less atleast hinted to be one such thing. And, if this edition of the IPL is considered, as a cricket blogger, I can sense some hints which suggests that match fixing has indeed taken place especially after I suggested some major turnarounds in few of my earlier posts wherein most of the teams have lost after betters had their say on the losing team.

To start with, the major shocking news in this edition of the IPL was the defeat of the Mumbai Indians in the finals of the tournament to the Chennai Superkings by a margin which is needless at the moment. When most of the betters having their money invested in favor of the Mumbai Indians to win the trophy, a major blow would have been received after the same team crashed out in the finals much to anybody's surprise. One side of the coin comes in for all praise towards the Chennai Superkings for winning the trophy when all odds had termed them off after most of their key international players like Flintoff, Oram and Mike Hussey bowed down to injuries.

The other side of the coin suggests that may be the Mumbai Indians intentionally lost the game in the finals and also the Deccan Chargers might have intentionally lost to the Chennai Superkings in the semi finals. Semi finals was the third encounter between the Chennai and Hyderabad team which Chennai was playing after losing to them earlier twice. Of course, Chennai had beaten Mumbai earlier in the league stages but, odds always supported Mumbai which no one can deny. Anyone there to say that they expected the Chennai Superkings to return victorious? May be if your heart goes towards Chennai.

So was the case in the match which was played as a third off stand which would decide as to which team would make it to the Champions Trophy this year due in South Africa. Once again, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were facing a Deccan Chargers team which had beaten them convincingly in the earlier two encounters played in this edition. And, if one looks at the way the Deccan Chargers lost that important match when they failed to cross the 100 run mark, shades of match fixing has to be there. One has to decide as to how can a team play for 18+ overs and still score less than 100.

These are just a few points which suggest that matches might have been fixed in this year's IPL. Similar such cases exist in the earlier two editions as well.

Is Lalit Modi really interested in saving test cricket?

Well news on cricinfo cites that the IPL chairperson - Lalith Modi assures that the IPL will not last for more than 7 weeks despite there being a great hunger for the same. The reason he cites being that in case the IPL moves on further, there will be little or no scope for the remaining two formats of the game namely the test and the one day formats. But, if the ICC test calender for the year in given a close look at, the naxt time after the IPL) that team India will be playing a test series would be somewhere after 2011.

The sport's leading website- the cricinfo shows no tours featuring India even until the Ashes 2010 which will be heppening later this year. One can take a look at the test series' that are scheduled by the ICC until 2011, which would show the Ashes 2010-11 as the last test series that would be scheduled. This was the main reason for the BCCI to think over the fact that "how long can India retain their recently acquired number 1 rankings in test cricket?". And, if Lalith Modi is concerned about the players from overseas, one has to wonder what made him restrict the number of foreign players in the playing XI to just 4.

Is Lalith Modi interested in backing the domestic cricket that mainly involves test cricket in tournaments like the Ranji trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani trophy? Then, what makes the BCCI play such matches on grounds located in lesser known places like Mysore when the same can be played either at Eden Gardens or the Firozshah Kotla? And, as far as my knowledge regarding these tournaments goes, all these test series' are being allowed to be watched free of cost. So, which revenue was Lalith Modi talking about? So, according to Lalith Modi, it has to be test cricket that attracts more viewership than the other two formats.

I remember people coming back cursing after being denied a ticket for a one dayer with the status of the same being house full or tickets being sold out. But, that has not been the case with test matches where fans are found leaving the stadiums the moment they get to know that there can be no more excitement expected from the match. If Modi is really interested in bringing crowds back to test cricket why doesn't he insist that there be a tournament similar to the Sheffield Shield tournament which features players from all over the world which is a 4 day tournament? The only reason why the IPL cannot last 7 weeks is bacause that is the fastest duration within which a tournament can be finished with 2 games being played daily and no as Lalit Modi says.

Will Ijaz Butt allow Pakistan to feature in the 2011 WC for matches scheduled in India?

The dates for the Champions' League T20 tournament 2010 are yet to be decided and so are the venues where the world's best T20 domestic teams will fight it out. But, a news prior to all these has already taken precedence when the PCB chief Ijaz Butt says that no teams from Pakistan would be participating in the Champions League 2010. But, there is just a hint that it will be held in India in 2010 which is yet to be decided. There should be no reason as to why any team from Pakistan should not participate in the Champions League though there is a more probability of the same being held in India.

Pakistan had no problems when the international hockey team is going to take part in the world cup that is scheduled in India. Is the frustration of the Pakistani players restricted only to cricket and no other game? The reason need not be cited specially that it is due to the backing out of the IPL sponsors who turned down on bidding on a Pakistani player that Ijaz Butt has come to such a decision regarding its participation in the Champions League. Would this be the decision if at all by freak chance, the tournament is held outside India by the committee members?

Is it a sort of revenge from the Pakistani side for the humiliation that its players had to bear when they were not picked up by any of the 8 IPL team sponsors? Or is protest a better word than revenge for Ijaz Butt's decisions? If any of the above reasons are anywhere to go by, Pakistan will be missing out on an opportunity to showcast its talent in T20 cricket, which has seen Pakistan giving its best since the inaugural world cup held in South Africa. The PCB chief has hardly taken any sort of responsibility for the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus and reacts in an unexpected way regarding the behavior of IPL sponsors.

One has to think whether the PCB chief would stand by his decision in case the Champions League is held outside India for the venue is not yet decided. And another issue to think over is that the world cup in 2011 is to be held in the sub continent minus Pakistan, wherein Pakistan will have to play matches in India as well. If that is the case, will Ijaz Butt rule out the players from Pakistan from participating in the world cup as well or boycott the matches that are due in India? If given a chance, Ijaz Butt would see to that the ICC scrap India also from hosting the world cup in 2011.

Something Else Haunting Team India?

Well this has been the debate of all news channels not only regarding the shocking exit of team India from the T20 world cup, but also losing all the three matches that the team faced. Adding to that was the fact that Virender Sehwag's shoulder injury was not well dealt with by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This was confirmed when Dhoni publicly admitted of having the fact that the services of Virender Sehwag is bould to miss the T20 world, indicating that his injury was a serious one. This just added fuel to fire and nothing else. Anyway, Dhoni did no good by keeping the Sehwag issue secret. And it is still not clear as to what was going on in the minds of Dhoni when he included Sehwag despite being aware of his injury.

Even without Virender Sehwag, the Indian team could have made it to the semi finals. And if this would not have been the case as some may think it to be, they should not have lost all the three matches they played. There was Yuvraj Singh, Rohith Sharma, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni himself who could have made for the absense of Virender Sehwag. And on the other hand, there were also decent bowlers like Harbhajan, Irfan Pathan and R P Singh. Having such players in his team, the absense of Virender Sehwag would have hardly made any difference I guess.

I wish one take a glance at the Australian team way back in 2003 when they lost key players like Steve Waugh (who retired months b4 the WC), Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Shane Watson and still not only won the world cup but also won all the 11 matches they played. And if one blames the Indian Premier League for this debacle of the team, I say that it is nothing but foolishness. Had IPL been the reason behind India's downfall, then wasn't there anyone in India who got that idea before the IPL began? And had anyone knew that before hand, any reason for their silence? I say that the IPL provided some match practice for the Indian players (in particular) prior to the world T20.

News channels suggested us that the Indian players were reluctant to go out and practice cricket prior to matches against England and West Indies. Perhaps! This might to a greater extent have taken a toll on the performance of the Indian team. Anyway, the reason for that is not the disscussion at the moment. However, I feel that it was the bad grouping of teams that to some extent led to the bad performance of team India. India were grouped along with Ireland and Bangladesh against whom winning was not a big task. If the reason of Australian early elimination was due to the fact that they were grouped along with strong teams viz West Indies and Sri Lanka, so was India who were grouped along with minnows.

It looked as though India never needed a tough match practice before facing either Ireland or Bangladesh. Their entry into super eights was confirmed and so was their wins against both the teams. Had India faced any strong team, even a loss would have gived them a wake up call regarding the way they were supposed to approach a tournament that featured all the major cricket playing nations of the world. So is ICC the new culprit???

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.

Vow! From Position 8 To Position 3-RCB

This regarding the Royal Challengers Bangalore, I just can say that is a miracle and nothing else. Might be because as I have stated in one of my earlier posts, might be due to the change in the number behind the T-Shirt of the Royal Challengers' captain Anil Kumble. However, forget about making it to the semis, it would have been a sigh of relief for the franchisee of the Royal Challengers Vijay Mallya in case the Royal Challengers didn't finish at the bottom of the table. Thanks to the Kolkata Knight Riders who made that spot theirs. At one stage of the tournament, the RCB saw themselves at position number 8.

And look what they are at present!!! Position number 3. OMG! This is just unbelievable. The Royal Challengers have shown us how to make 8 into 3. I remember in my school days where I had scored 13 out of 25 marks in a test and had to go for unfair means to make that score of 13 as 18. And I did it by stretching the curves at the left end which makes 3 look like 8. But, until the Royal Challengers jumped from position 8 to position 3 in the points table, I was unaware as to how to make 8 as 3. For, it is not easy to rub off the extra curves in an attempt to make it number 3.

And the RCB can also boast of having the only Indian and the second player in the tournament to have scored a century though Suresh Raina of the CSK came close to that score when he scored 98. Adding to that was the fact that he is the youngest player to do so and also this is the highest score made in this particular tournament. Despite the 114 runs scored by Manish Pandey, the RCB settled for a score of just 170 losing just 4 wickets. Cooool! This is not the case of the KKR where they neither lose wickets nor put up a mammoth total on the board.

It had to take the RCB franchisee-Vijay Mallya the tour of England over the West Indies to inevitably go in for Anil Kumble to captain the team and this really worked out well. Just imagine had the England players been available for the entire tournament like the players from New Zealand and South Africa were available? Then, still Kevin Pietersen would have captained the side and continuing the good work he was doing until then. Losing matches and helping the betters not to bet on RCB. If not for Gibbs, none of the Hyderabad players really stood upto the challenge. But, still, their partly contribution could bring them close to the score of 170 despite losing the match by 12 runs.

The day however belongs to Manish Pandey, for if not for his dominance with the bat, the score of 170 would not have been possible and thanks to the drop catch when Manish was on 2.

Same Score But A Different Approach

Approaches are the stepping atones of results one can say. A bad approach would definitely lead to a very bad result and a good one ensures a good result provided good luck prevails or bad luck doesn't overpower. The example for the same was given by the Mumbai Indians in their second encounter against the Kings XI Punjab at Centurion. The Kings XI Punjab team ended their batting innings by scoring exactly the same score that they did in the first encounter against the Mumbai Indians. But, the result was not the same for either teams out there whatsoever. And that too this was not the close encounter that it was on the other day.

The fifth over of the second innings when the Mumbai Indians' side was batting can never be forgotten especially by Sreesanth who once again proved that he is known only for wrong reasons on and off the field and not when the ball is given into his hands. The fifth over of the innings went for 21 runs with Bravo belting Sreesanth for two sixes and a boundary followed with 2 couple and a single. May be this was the over that bought confidence in the Mumbai Indians' batsmen who until then had scored just 14 runs from the first 4 overs. It is a comeback for Sreesanth that the Kings XI team have started going from bad to worse since his introduction.

A hint was given by Sreesanth when he played the first match of the series and giving away 23 runs in the 19^th over of the Rajasthan Royals' innings which helped them go past the 200 run mark for the first time ever in the series. There was no Sreesanth in the earlier encounter between these two teams, which the Kings XI team won in a close affair. And another thing that turned out to be costly for the Kings XI team was the dropping of Yousuf Abdullah who was the architect in the Punjab team's victory in the first encounter returning with figures of 2/19 off the allotted 4 overs.

Yuvraj Singh going in for Brett Lee and Sreesanth made things worse for his team. This showed the consequence of disturbing the winning combination and Yuvraj Singh did that exactly at a time when his team required desperately to win incase his team had some chance of making it to the semis. But, even the Mumbai Indians' side have their last chances of making it to the last four of the Indian Premier League and why will, and why should they compromise? In addition to the bowlers' debacle, the batsmen never seemed to provide any sort of support to their bowlers. If not for Sohal's 43 runs at the top, none of the batsmen really stood to the challenge. Yuvraj Singh is still of the mindset that he is a batsman and will probably take time to realize that he is a captain too and would be responsible for his team's progress.

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.

A Wise Thinking From Brendon McCullum

The Kolkata Knight Riders have to consider themselves very lucky for not having to care about their future in the tournament anymore. I congratulate them on being the first team to be knocked out of the tournament. It is not clear as to which team will make it to the semi finals but, it is now confirmed that the Kolkata Knight Riders will never make it there. When they have lost the chance of making it to the semis a couple of matches back, why the hell should the KKR captain ever think of winning its further games? This is mateur thinking.

But, this move would not be welcomed by either the Royal Challengers or the Mumbai Indians, for they would have been interested in the Delhi Daredevils' loss rather then a Kolkata Knight Riders' win. A loss to the Delhi team would have made them come down in the latest rankings following which the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers would have an easier task in front of them. But, however, that was not to be at Johannesburg whatsoever. The Kolkata Knight Riders lost this match as well in the same spirit as they lost their earlier ones. This perhaps by a better margin compared to their earlier loss to the same team.

The Kolkata Knight Riders did not lose all the ten wickets and played the allotted 20 overs despite at one stage being at 88/7 at the end of the 11^th over. This is one thing that the Kolkata Knight Riders can feel happy about. I think that all is not lost for the Kolkata Knight Riders as well despite they not being able to make it to the semis anymore this season. For, this is not the end of the world. They can start practicing for the next edition the the Indian Premier LEague which would probably be held in India in 2010.

Like, the Indian team had thought to have started its plans for the 2011 world cup after they lost to Bangladesh in the first round of the tournament itself, which ended their world cup dreams for 2007. IN the particular match against the Delhi Daredevils, the Kolkata Knight Riders fell into the fourth and the last category by neither baing able to post a big total and on the otherhand even losing wickets at regular intervals. For the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sourav Ganguly has done a fair job compared to other team mates and has all reasons to regain the lost captaincy in the next edition. And if Ganguly is not made to lead the KKR team next time, I wish one is aware of the consequences. Ha ha ha...

T-Shirt Number Working Perfectly For Anil Kumble

Both the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers had their lat chance of making it to the last four which includes a lot of ifs and buts. But, the most important thing for both the teams is to ensure that they do not lose matches anymore. Well, the Mumbai Indians were a bit unlucky when they had to draw a point in one of their earlier games. At the same time, they were reluctant in defending a decent target against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the same when they could not chase a small target against the Kings XI Punjab.

On the other hand, the Royal Challengers Bangalore never played upto their expectations and the exit of Kevin Pietersen paved the way for Anil Kumble to take over the captaincy. It looked for a while that the number games were working for Anil Kumble. A couple of days back, I had written a post regarding the action of the number on the back of Anil Kumble's T Shirt. The number ensured a win against the Mumbai Indians and the Kings Xi Punjab from a nowhere situation. There I had also cited the result of a match as a result of change in the T-Shirt number. And it exactly happened the way I thought it to be.

The RCB lost the match against the Mumbai Indians which meant the exactly opposite of what happened in their earlier meeting. So, they next go to meet the KKR who are at the bottom of the table. And losing to the hands of the KKR would prove too costly for the RCD though a loss might not be of much importance for the KKR. The RCB have won their last encounter with the KKR. So, it would be a bit wise if Kumble revert back to number 8 behind his T-Shirt to avoid any complications. May be this time also the RCB might end up victorious for, even in the previous game against the KKR, Kumble's number read 37 and not 8. So, a different result might not be witnessed.

Coming to the match between the Mumbai Indians and the RCB, it was really difficult to tell whether the pitch favored the bowlers, owing to which the MI batsmen played cautiously by not losing wickets. The MI lost only 2 wickets and didn't even post a big total and whats more? They won the match at the end of the day. Had Harbhajan been sent at number 2, 20 more runs might have been added to the MI total. Much to the surprise, Anil Kumble was rated second in the match as far as his bowling figures were considered. After this particular match, the MI are just a step ahead compared to the RCB and are a step behind w.r.t the Kings XI. If any one or both the MI as well as the RCB have to make it the semis, in addition to them winning, they have to ensure that none of the teams win anymore games. At the moment, only the KKR are found to co-operate.

Captain's Knock For Losing Cause

It was the captain of the Rajasthan Royals-Shane Warne with a last moment aggression when he scored 21 runs off just 11 deliveries equipped with 1 six and two hits to the fence. But, this was only to cross the 140 run mark and in the process maintain s run rate of just over 7.0 an over. And what more can Shane Warne do when the rest of the team deceive him so badly? The top scorer for the Rajasthan Royals-Greame Smith scored 30 runs but with a strike rate of just 90. And then there were Asnodkar and Ravindra Jadeja who saw to it that their team didn't lose out on their face.

The target never looked to trouble the Chennai Super Kings and neither did the opponents-Rajasthan Royals seem to be a cause of concern for the Chennai team despite losing to them in the finals of the first edition of the Indian Premier League. For the second time in this tournament, the Chennai Super Kings defeated the Rajasthan Royals and this time victory was even more convincing one. I just could not stop watching the orange cap holder- Mathew Hayden swing his bat to loft the ball all over the ground. This was the continuation of the punishing mood where he had left in the last match against Kings XI Punjab.

The spinners from the Rajasthan Royals viz Shane Warne and Yousuf Pathan were found getting some turn. There was a ball from Shane Warne that spun so much that the umpire had no other choice but to term it as a wide ball. This showed that there was much scope for the spinners in the game. But, none of the spinners could make use of the advantage. The Rajasthan Royals' bowlers made no impact on the Chennai batsmen. Mathew Hayden was found repeatedly stepping out of his crease in an attempt to loft the ball. May be that he was not able to connect it everytime. But, what difference does it make when they show no signs of pressure on their faces?

This time there are five contenders for the semis berth viz Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. Out of these five, the Rajasthan & the Chennai team are found playing good cricket. Despite a respctful class, the Kings XI Punjab jave lost 3 of their last 4 games. And the Deccan Chargers & the Daredevils are found winning only when the day favors them. Or else no.

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).

Is This Also A Target???

Well the other day, the Mumbai Indians lost to the Deccan Chargers by giving a part time bowler in Rohith Sharma 4 wickets out of the eight wickets that fell and that too in just 2 overs that he bowled. I just imagine what would have happened had Rohith Sharma was asked to bowl a quota of 4 overs. Perhaps! All the recognized bowlers would have cursed themselves for not having got such a weak batting line up and secondly for not being able to do what a part time bowler was found doing. I still don't know what all surprises regarding the Mumbai Indians is reserved!!!

If one goes by the tournament, there have been different contests for the teams like the purple cap for the highest wicket taker in the series, the orange cap for the highest run getter, fair play award and lot many in addition to the age old man of the match and the series. Now, it would not be wrong to introduce one more award named funny play award for taking unusual decisions and ending up on the wrong side of the match. If this is introduced, I bet, the Kolkata Knight Riders would bag this for sure. For, despite having lot of wickets in hand, they often end up losing. Most of the batsmen in the KKR side end up being unused.

The second on the list would be the Mumbai Indians, who the other day couldn't chase a modest total of 119 against the Kings XI Punjab. Had the pitch been tailor made for the bowlers, that should have been understood by the lower order as wickets started falling. In the next instance, against the Deccan Chargers, regarding which nothing more needs to be said. Then in the match against the RCB, it was a one sided affair meaning the Mumbai Indians had no intention in making it to the next round. Now, after the loss against the Delhi Daredevils, the Mumbai Indians' consecutive loss is now at 4.

There was no Sanath Jayasuriya and neither was Sachin Tendulkar found opening the innings. As a result, both the openers were out for a duck. I wonder this is why the BCCI selectors never went in for Sachin Tendulkar as captain for team India for more than a decade. Sachin last captained regularly for India in 1997 for the Sahara cup in Canada. Sachin's captaincy is exactly opposite to his batting one can say. Usually, people drop rest their key players only when the team is in a comfortable position in the series. But, how come Sachin dropped Sanath Jayasuriya when the team had lost their earlier 3 matches? Now, I wish Sachin is one such captain who must be dropped and the reins of the MI be handed over to Jayasuriya.

Kings XI: Lost The Match But Not The Class

One has to indeed praise the Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for being lucky enough for not losing the match to Kings XI Punjab. This particular match I can say is one of the rarest of match that the current edition of the Indian Premier League has witnessed so far. There has not been a single match wherein a team puts up a momoth total and still has to hold its nerves until the last ball is bowled. There might have been last ball finishes but not where there is a huge total. This I guess is the second highest total in this edition of the IPL after the Rajasthan Royals posted 211 runs against the same Kings XI Punjab.

The other fact regarding the match being that the innings lasted only for 18 overs unlike the usual contest that is held for 20 overs a side. As long as I was watching the match, the match was favoring the Chennai Super Kings. But, it was after I went to bed that things turned the other side. Thank God that it was not the ultimate thing that happened there. After I turned off the television sets, the Kings XI Punjab never lost another wickets. Rather they had come close to winning the match with just 12 runs behind. Both the teams out there lost just three wickets and were able to completely their full quota of 18 overs.

Then it was sure that the pitch was a batsmen's paradise and the Kings XI Punjab made full use of the same. They never got the fever of the big total that they were exposed to. This also showed the class of the Kings XI Punjab team, making it more rigid that they deserve the spot in the semi finals. They are one of the four teams out there who have showed their class on the field irrespective of the match result. With such a class, the team can bounce back into the series at any point of time. A loss today might also ensure a win in the very next match. Class never goes waste.

The Kings XI Punjab are one of the three teams who are found showing their class in the tournament. The other two teams that are having an unbeatable class are the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. Teams like Delhi Daredevils have been able to win matches. But, as far as their class is concerned, they are way behind the aforementioned teams. Teams like the Daredevils and the Deccan Chargers can win as long as a bunch of their players fire. As long as their bowlers continue taking wickets. As long as they ensure that they hardly err on the field. In case of a huge target imposed upon them or incase they finish with a moderate total, then they are sure to be in trouble.

Did Anil Kumble Change Back His Number Back To 8?

I happened to read it in the Bangalore Times the reason for the Royal Challengers' success after Anil Kumble took over the reins from Kevin Pietersen. The reason if Anil Kumble's wife is to be believed is all owing to the number on the back of his team shirt. The number until he took over as captain was 8. After that, it seems that Anil Kumble changed the number on the back of his T-shirt to 37 which was the main reason for the Royal Challengers' success. This was done upon consulting a known numerology expert I suppose. How coool!!!

Well we believe that the number behind his T-shirt was mainly responsible for his team's success as well as Anil Kumble's success as a captain. After Anil Kumble took over as the skipper of the Royal Challengers, the team won matches against the Kings XI Punjab and the Mumbai. The former one was a close encounter and the latter was a one sided affair. May be that it was the luck that Kumble had acquired by changing the number on the back of his T shirt that the team won marginally against the Kings XI Punjab despite the Kings' team having enough number of wickets and the target not being too much appealing.

Finally, the Royal Challengers have got back to their routine not for losing matches but for giving a hopeless performance. Or else, where did the determination that was found in the first encounter against the Rajasthan Royals' go? The Royal Challengers defeated the Rajasthan Royals by bowling them all out for 58 with Kumble taking 5 wIickets. Perhaps, now I realize that the change in number behind his T-Shirt means the opposite result of what happened in the first meeting with the same opponents. Had the RCB won the first encounter against the Rajasthan team, then this time they end up losing. On the otherhand, they had lost the first one to team Punjab and later won the second encounter.

It is a wonder of the tournament that a new comer becomes successful. This we had on two occassions. First, the Kings XI Punjab medium pace bowler in Yousuf Abdullah who is now one of the leading contender for the purple cap. And then in this match, the man belonging to the Rajasthan Rouals' team Amit Singh who was playing his second match of the series took 4 wickets and with it the man of the match as well. Well..Robin Uttappa would be enjoying for being the highest run getter in the match by scoring 17 runs. So, the next encounter for RCB is against the Mumbai Indians. If things go they way as said, then they'll have to lose this match. I wish that Kumble revert back to number 8 failing which, he might loe the game as well.

God Has To Save The Mumbai Indians

The ongoing second edition of the Indian Premier League has witnessed some of the most amazing facts in the cricketing world. One aspect being that the well known names like Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya etc have got only initial knocks that were limited to just one or a couple of games. While on the other side, batsmen like Abhishek Nayar, Yousuf Pathan and Suresh Raina have displayed rather decent knocks almost in every match that they have played. And no recognized bowler has been able to take a hattrick so far in this tournament. But, lesser known part time bowlers like Rohith Sharma and Yuvraj Singh have done it despite it not being their cup of tea.

And one can imagine the caliber of the team that provided full support for a part time bowler like Rohith Sharma not only take a hattrick but also capture 4 wickets giving away just 6 runs in the two overs he bowled in the match. Even Rohith Sharma would be thinking how stupid was the team against which he had played? There was a rare distinction that the Mumbai Indians had. That was the fact that they are the only team that are gifted with openers in Sanath Jayasuriya & Sachin Tendulkar, who have been doing the job for one and a half decades for their respective teams.

No other team in the IPL has this benefit. The top scorer of the match was J P Duminy but to no avail. He was also the lone half century scorer in the match. The Mumbai Indians side lost 8 wickets at the end of the day. Out of those 8 wickets, 4 were bagged by Rohith Sharma meaning half the wickets were named against Rohith Sharma. From this I recall the group stage match between India and Namibia in the 2003 world cup where Yuvraj Singh ended up with the same figures of 4/6. From this , atleast on that particular day, the Mumbai Indians were like a Namibia team that went through the world cup without even a single win.

If there can be a Yuvraj Singh and Rohith Sharma who can come out successful with the ball and someone like Robin Uttappa who is found to keep wickets for his team despite that not being their cup of tea, it would not be wrong for one to expect someone like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, R P Singh and other lower order players to come and score a hundred. For that matter, similar for a team not to have had any recognized bowlers to take a hattrick, no well known batsmen if not for A B Devilliars has scored a hundred in this tournament. So, just imagine a team losing 7 to 8 wickets within the first 6 overs and the tail enders scoring a century.Awesome isn't it?

KKR Just Not Willing To Learn To Learn From Their Mistakes

I have cited this point a number of times in more or less every post that I write on this blog regarding the batsmen willing to take risks and in the process either throw his wicket away like Shahid Afridi usually does or else if luck is in favor put some extra runs on board that could be the difference between a win and a defeat. This could also be the difference between getting qualified to the next round and getting eliminated fro the tournament once for all and thus playing the remaining matches just for the sake of it. But, I wounder whether there is anyone out there to tell the Kolkata Knight Riders' players.

Atleast, the Kolkata Knight Riders' coach John Buchanan should have realized this point if not anybody else. In the eitire quota of their 20 overs, the Kolkata Knight Riders lost just three wickets, with the scoreboard reading 58/1 from the first 6 overs at more than 9.0 an over, and then 98/2 in the 14th over at just over 7.0 an over. The third wicket fell just 4 balls prior to winding up the Kolkata Knight Riders' innings which finished at 154. The third wicket fell when the score was 147. Due to this, the KKR could not utilize the precense of Sourav Ganguly and Ajith Agarkar-two decent hitters of the ball.

I wonder as to what made the team owner go in for Brendon McCullum as a skipper, when McCullum has hardly captained his national side? On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly had done a fabulous job as a captain for team India only to be sacked as a skipper by the KKR team owner. So far, the Kolkata Knight Riders could win just one game and that was against the Kings XI Punjab which was intervened by Duckworth Lewis and the Kolkata Knight Riders' innings lasting just 8 overs. Despite repeated failures by the Kolkata team, it is a surprise that both the team owner as well as the coach have maintained silence over the same.

This is found happening only with the Kolkata Knight Riders and no other team. And another important fact regarding the Kolkata Knight Riders when it comes to their bowling is that their main strike bowlers viz Ishanth Sharma, Murali Karthik and Henriques who bowled their full quota of 4 overs were the maximum run donors returning with bowling figures of 10.75, 4.50 and 9.0 respectively. The other bowlers might not have done a fab job but, a thorough check is needed by the team manager and coach for repeated failures whatsoever. After this match between the Delhi Daredevils and the Knight Riders, the former team has popped to the top most position and the latter has dropped to the bottom most one. What a gesture!!!!

Rajasthan Royals Out Of Reach

The IPL match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals was just out of reach for the Kings XI Punjab for, the only thing left after the Rajasthan Royals' batting was over was that by how many runs would they win this contest? How many wickets would the Kings XI Punjab lose enroute to their unsuccessful run chase? And finally, how many over would the Kings Xi Punjab team take to lose all their ten wickets? The only positives for Yuvraj Singh was that his team didn't lose all ten wickets despite having been at one stage at 87/6 and played all 20 overs.

As a fan of IPL and cricket, it was wonderful to watch atleast one match so far in this season that saw the scoreboard recording a total of 200+ coming from just one innings. The Kings XI Punjab were found following the footsteps of the Royal Challengers Bangalore when they lost their first wicket of Sohal when their team were yet to open their account. Perhaps! The Royal Challengers are not found doing this after the captaincy has bee transferred to Anil Kumble. So, a better sentense would be that the RCB have transferred their trademark to the Kings XI Punjab temperorily I believe.

Someone like Greame Smith, who until then amassed just 65 runs from his previous matches was amazingly found scoring runs that overtook the entire aggregate of his previous games. Well Smith, now I agree that even you are a member of the current edition of the Indian Premier League and the Rajasthan Royals in particular. I think that Smith's logic is true. For, when there are other players in the team scoring runs heavily, why the hell should Smith take the trouble of sweating it at the nets and on the pitch?In case the team loses, either the entire team would be held responsible for it like it happened in the match against the RCB. Smith could be just another version of Robin Uttappa and Parthiv Patel.

Sreesanth has to be proud about himself after he gave away 23 runs from one of his overs for not making it to the record books for the wrong reasons. Sreesanth's efforts included a back top back no-ball. Feel good that there was no rule of a double free hit for back to back over stepping which may make it to the law books in a year or two. The best bowling performance came from Piyush Chawla who took figures of 2/30 which was the second best bowling figures of the match. Well I wish such miraculous escapes for the Kings XI Punjab might have made them feel easy and cool. Or else, God knows what Sreesanth might have done with such aggression.

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.

When Will Vijay Mallya Play Sunil Joshi?

I had never thought the Uttappa would do this. After a series of ugly performances in the past, he had been the reason for raising many eyebrows for what made the RCB team owner Vijay Mallya go in for Robin Uttappa by exchanging him for Zaheer Khan. Well, the fact is that even Zaheer Khan is of little use to his native Mumbai not for his performances but due to the fact that he has been prone to injuries off late. This was evident from the fact that he despite being the main spearhead was given just 2 overs to bowl which was rather economical giving away just 6 runs an over and taking the only wicket of Wassim Jaffer.

It looked as though Vijay Mallya was himself not interested in his team making it to the last four. Otherwise, can anyone of you cite me the reason for including Wassim Jaffer? As expected, Wassim Jaffer just did what best he could do. Either keep on ducking like in a test match or go for a bad shot selection and in the process throwing away his wicket. Some positives for Wassim Jaffer include a four that he was able to hit and the other was the fact that he was a part of the RCB team that won the match against the Mumbai Indians.

If today it was Wassim Jaffer's turn to play in the XI, the next time it would not be surprising if someone like Sunil Joshi, the selection of whom would be critisized by none other than Joshi himself is included in the playing XI. I wonder as to why Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not being made to take the crease when the likes of Uttappa, Praveen Kumar are included despite repeated failures? Every selection step is found to yield a mistake. Not only the team selection but also the man of the match was a wrong judgement. The pitch was a heaven for batsmen and a debutant in Dillon du Preez could take three wickets.

The intelligent work done by Sachin Tendulkar in one of the previous matches, where he sent in pinch hitter Harbhajan Singh to just go and slog it out, was found lacking in this match. I wish Harbhajan Singh would have done a better job than Rahane who took 6 balls to score a run. Very rarely, the Mumbai Indians team were never in the hunt since the beginning of the RCB's chase began. Taking the wicket of Wassim Jaffer is no big deal I suppose. Sachin bought on 8 of his players who could bowl as well to try things that might favor his team but to no avail. And what more can anyone do when all odds are against you???