Well this is something which even the table toppers ion this year's Indian Premier Leagure namely the Mumbai Indians couldn't manage to do - getting into the semi finals of the Champions League T20 tournament. Neither could this be done by the champions of this year's IPL namely the Chennai Superkings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is seen as a captain with silver lining. However, the Chennai Superkings have yet another chance in today's encounter with the Warriors at Port Elizabeth. And, if their past record is considered, the Chennai team has not given a bad performance whatsoever.
Coming to the match, I personally think that the Royal Challengers captain Anil Kumble had a greater share in his team's win, one as a captain of the side and two for bowling the most economical over of the match let alone the Royal Challengers' bowling innings. Headlines suggest Virat Kohli's dual effort, first with the ball and then with the bat to be responsible for the Royal Challengers' victory. Scorecard suggests however that Virat Kohli bowled three overs without grabbing a wicket and giving away runs at 8 an over which was in par with the overall rate of 8.0 by the Warriors.
There were just two bowlers from the Royal Challengers' side who bowled their complete quota of 4 overs, one of them being Anl Kumble and the other one being the South African spearhead Dale Steyn. One fascinating aspect from the game would be the fact that if not for Zander de Bruyn who bowled just one over for the Warriors, the rest of them bowled either 3 or 4 overs which rarely happens in any cricket match. On the contrary, the Warriors saw three of their six bowlers bowling their complete quota over four overs. Well, that is of little importance regarding both the teams out there.
If the scorecard is given a closer look at, the pitch might rather be considered to be favoring the batsmen for, the Royal Challengers didn't have any trouble chasing down the target though a target with the expecting run rate being 8.0 an over is an easy task. The RCB didn't lose more than 4 wickets en route to their successful run chase. And, in case someone is to take the credit for bringing the game into the Royal Challengers' hands, it has to be the bowlers of the side rather than Virat Kohli who was awarded the man of the match first for his wicketless 3 overs and then for his unbeaten 49.
Well, another interesting feat being that Kohli neither got out nor did he get anyone out. Well, that happens more than often.
Showing posts with label Robin Uttappa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robin Uttappa. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Thursday, 29 April 2010
IPL 2010 - Perfectly Indian
Though the name of the multimillion dollar Indian Premier League suggests that it has more of an Indian flavor in it, this had not been the case so far in the earlier two editions that were played. Indians had to wait for three editions of the tournament to get some Indian flavor in the tournament. In both the earlier editions of the Indian Premier League, the winners happened to be the team which was captained by Australian legends namely Shane Warne who lifted the trophy in the inaugural edition in 2008 and Adam Gilchrist who held the title for Deccan Chargers in 2009.
However, as a consolation the runners up happened to be those teams which were captained by Indian players namely Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2008 and Anil Kumble in 2009 when the Chennai Superkings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore made it there in 2008 and 2009 respectively. And this time in 2010, both the winners as well as the Runners up happened to be teams which were captained by Indian players with Sachin Tendulkar captaining the Mumbai Indians side which finished as runners up and Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Superkings finishing as winners of the trophy. Likewise, it was an Indian led Chennai Superkings who reached the finals of an IPL twice.
In the earlier editions of the IPL the man with the highest aggregate of runs happened not only to be a non Indian but also was an Australia in Shaun Marsh in 2008 who amassed 616 runs and Mathew Hayden in 2009 who surpassed 500 runs. But, this time it was an Indian in Sachin Tendulkar who returned as the highest run getter in the tournament after he amassed 618 runs to become the highest run getter in the tournament. And, when it comes to the player with maximum number of wickets, India has been lucky enough when this has been owned by an Indian on two occasions.
If not for Sohail Tanvir in 2008, the remaining two editions of the Indian Premier League has seen an Indian in R P Singh and Pragyan Ojha returning as the leading wicket takers in the 2009 and 2010 edition of the IPL respectively. And, when it comes to the players who have scored maximum number of sixes in the tournament, the number stands at a mind blowing 5 among the top ten leading six hitters in the tournament with Robin Uttappa topping the charts with 27 such hits. Others who have made it there are Vinay Kumar, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Yousuf Pathan.
The batsman who has scored the fastest hundred in an IPL is yet another Indian in Yousuf Pathan who did it against Mumbai Indians when he scored the same in 37 deliveries.
However, as a consolation the runners up happened to be those teams which were captained by Indian players namely Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2008 and Anil Kumble in 2009 when the Chennai Superkings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore made it there in 2008 and 2009 respectively. And this time in 2010, both the winners as well as the Runners up happened to be teams which were captained by Indian players with Sachin Tendulkar captaining the Mumbai Indians side which finished as runners up and Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Superkings finishing as winners of the trophy. Likewise, it was an Indian led Chennai Superkings who reached the finals of an IPL twice.
In the earlier editions of the IPL the man with the highest aggregate of runs happened not only to be a non Indian but also was an Australia in Shaun Marsh in 2008 who amassed 616 runs and Mathew Hayden in 2009 who surpassed 500 runs. But, this time it was an Indian in Sachin Tendulkar who returned as the highest run getter in the tournament after he amassed 618 runs to become the highest run getter in the tournament. And, when it comes to the player with maximum number of wickets, India has been lucky enough when this has been owned by an Indian on two occasions.
If not for Sohail Tanvir in 2008, the remaining two editions of the Indian Premier League has seen an Indian in R P Singh and Pragyan Ojha returning as the leading wicket takers in the 2009 and 2010 edition of the IPL respectively. And, when it comes to the players who have scored maximum number of sixes in the tournament, the number stands at a mind blowing 5 among the top ten leading six hitters in the tournament with Robin Uttappa topping the charts with 27 such hits. Others who have made it there are Vinay Kumar, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Yousuf Pathan.
The batsman who has scored the fastest hundred in an IPL is yet another Indian in Yousuf Pathan who did it against Mumbai Indians when he scored the same in 37 deliveries.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Back to the pavilion
Well this happens every year after the Indian Premier League gets over. The duration of close to two months which hosted the Indian Premier League not only was successful in showing a spectacular cricketing action on the field but was also responsible in showing the Indian sub continent as a world rather than as a country like it is after the IPL got over. In these two months of cricket's calender, most of the international players played just for one country nevermind that they played for different Indian cities but as a country it was India for which everyone was found playing.
Now, three days after the finals of the tournament which happened to be between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Superkings the players will have to go back to their respective teams to serve their international duties. Players like Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist who were seen picking up the willow even after their retirement from international cricket a couple of years back will now have to either play for their domestic team or else get back to some stuff like commentating or coaching young legs but would rarely be seen playing for any team or coming in front of the world for what they are known and have been known in their playing days.
The Mumbai crowd who would have cheered Sachin Tendulkar for his mind blowing batting will now have to dream "had Sachin Tendulkar been around in the upcoming T20 world cup" and worse come be contented with that. So would be the fans of Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble. And, players like Robin Uttappa, Virender Sehwag and Ambati Rayudu will have to be seen next year only with the selection committee picking Piyush Chawla for reason not evident to common man and is restricted only to the BCCI. In a way, players will also be losing a lot as said above.
And, finally the Chennai crowd who would have in the two months cheered the Sri Lankan off spinner - Muttiah Muralitharan will now have to make up their mind that he gets belted by some Yuvraj Singh or Rohit Sharma when India play Sri Lanka. So would be the case regarding Australia's Shane Watson, whom the Rajasthan Royals would now want to go back without scoring when he picks up his bat against India. Other such players who'd be rejoiced after being done so for their good performance until now will be New Zealand's Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond to name a few.
Now, three days after the finals of the tournament which happened to be between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Superkings the players will have to go back to their respective teams to serve their international duties. Players like Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist who were seen picking up the willow even after their retirement from international cricket a couple of years back will now have to either play for their domestic team or else get back to some stuff like commentating or coaching young legs but would rarely be seen playing for any team or coming in front of the world for what they are known and have been known in their playing days.
The Mumbai crowd who would have cheered Sachin Tendulkar for his mind blowing batting will now have to dream "had Sachin Tendulkar been around in the upcoming T20 world cup" and worse come be contented with that. So would be the fans of Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble. And, players like Robin Uttappa, Virender Sehwag and Ambati Rayudu will have to be seen next year only with the selection committee picking Piyush Chawla for reason not evident to common man and is restricted only to the BCCI. In a way, players will also be losing a lot as said above.
And, finally the Chennai crowd who would have in the two months cheered the Sri Lankan off spinner - Muttiah Muralitharan will now have to make up their mind that he gets belted by some Yuvraj Singh or Rohit Sharma when India play Sri Lanka. So would be the case regarding Australia's Shane Watson, whom the Rajasthan Royals would now want to go back without scoring when he picks up his bat against India. Other such players who'd be rejoiced after being done so for their good performance until now will be New Zealand's Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond to name a few.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
RCB ahead of KXIP in all aspects
Well hardly anyone on earth would have anticipated the Royal Challengers Bangalore to not only win the match against the Kumara Sangakkara led Kings XI Punjab but also chase a mammoth total of 204 runs by losing just 2 wickets in the process. Such a match can hardly be found anywhere in the history books concerning cricket. The Kings XI captain Kumara Sangakkara was found bringing in 7 of his bowlers, none of whom could settle things for his team. This I heard was just the second time that the Royal Challengers have won a match against the Kings XI Punjab in the history of the IPL.
And, the way they have done it is just superb and nothing else. None of the 7 bowlers who had the the ball in their hands from the Kings XI Punjab were found bowling their full quota of 4 overs. That was the fears that Jacques Kallis injected in the minds of the bowlers of Kings XI Punjab. It was a more or less a one handed effort from Jacques Kallis that ensured not only of a Royal Challengers win but also ensured that the Kings XI Punjab team will go into the next match without a win in their hands in the current edition of the IPL.
One has to indeed raise his eyebrows for the coincidences that are found taking place in the match. If there were a team in Kings XI Punjab who are yet to win a match in the current edition of the IPL as stated above, there is a batsman in Jacques who is yet to lose his wicket in the current edition of the IPL. If at all someone os to be blamed for the debacle of the Kings XI Punjab as far as their match against Royal Challengers is to be considered, it has to be only the fortune of the KXIP team and no one else.
The Kings XI Punjab batsmen did each and everything they could to ensure that they stay on the top by piling up a mammoth 203 runs on the board losing just three wickets en-route. But, not only did they end up as the losing team but also, could not take more than two wickets off the RCB batsmen. The pitch no doubt was a paradise for batsmen but, had that been the case, the Kings XI captain Kumara Sangakkara should not have chosen to bat first after winning the toss. And, with a batsman like Kallis there in the opposition, nothing good can be guaranteed.
And, the way they have done it is just superb and nothing else. None of the 7 bowlers who had the the ball in their hands from the Kings XI Punjab were found bowling their full quota of 4 overs. That was the fears that Jacques Kallis injected in the minds of the bowlers of Kings XI Punjab. It was a more or less a one handed effort from Jacques Kallis that ensured not only of a Royal Challengers win but also ensured that the Kings XI Punjab team will go into the next match without a win in their hands in the current edition of the IPL.
One has to indeed raise his eyebrows for the coincidences that are found taking place in the match. If there were a team in Kings XI Punjab who are yet to win a match in the current edition of the IPL as stated above, there is a batsman in Jacques who is yet to lose his wicket in the current edition of the IPL. If at all someone os to be blamed for the debacle of the Kings XI Punjab as far as their match against Royal Challengers is to be considered, it has to be only the fortune of the KXIP team and no one else.
The Kings XI Punjab batsmen did each and everything they could to ensure that they stay on the top by piling up a mammoth 203 runs on the board losing just three wickets en-route. But, not only did they end up as the losing team but also, could not take more than two wickets off the RCB batsmen. The pitch no doubt was a paradise for batsmen but, had that been the case, the Kings XI captain Kumara Sangakkara should not have chosen to bat first after winning the toss. And, with a batsman like Kallis there in the opposition, nothing good can be guaranteed.
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