Superb Victories for CSK and DD

Not a good day for RCB in office as they lost to CSK and this is their second consecutive loss. Now they have to pull their socks by taking these two losses seriously. CSK  again back to winning ways after four consecutive losses and man who took them their was Murali Vijay. RCB started badly as this time their opening partnership didn’t click as much as it clicked in earlier matches when Manish Pandey got out cheaply. Robin Utthappa came in and got the life when he was dropped on 0 but couldn’t make much of that life and eventually got out after making quick fire 28. Jacques Kallis as usual  played the role of anchor and hit good 50 but  he was bit slow on the scoring and which finally affected the final score. Kevin Pietersen and Cameroon White tried their level best to up the scoring but it was difficult on that slow wicket. It was surprising on the part of RCB that they didn’t play left-arm spinner Van Der Merwe knowing that Chennai wicket is assisting the spinners. Both Shadab Jakati and Muralitharan bowled brilliantly on that pitch for CSK. Murali Vijay provided flying start to CSK innings and later on good hand from Suresh Raina helped CSK to win the match convincingly. RCB paid the price of not playing two spinners and lost. In match against KXIP, CSK lost the match from comfortable position because of brilliant spin bowling and RCB failed to read the pitch eventually face the defeat.Now CSK can breathe easy as their few problem will be sorted out as Michael Hussey and Bollinger join them soon and that will help them in winning more matches and help them to qualify for semis.

In another match playing at home, DD beat RR convincingly and stopped the winning streak of RR. DD started poorly and lost 4 important wickets very early including the centurion of last match David Warner. But Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik played sensibly and stop the fall of wickets and build good partnership for DD. Gambhir got out on 43 but till that time DD was in good position compared to the kind of start they got. It was Dinesh Karthik who played gem of an innings for DD and give great boost to the final score of DD and eventually DD ended on 188 which proved winning total later. For achieving this huge total it was important that RR start well but they didn’t start well and lost 2 wickets in first over itself and that didn’t help their cause. Their problem further compounded when Yusuf Pathan got out cheaply and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Amit Mishra and Farveez Maharoof did very well in bowling and David Warner failed in batting but took 4 brilliant catches for DD and that really helped DD to register 3^rd consecutive win and that have put them on second spot on points table.

Tomorrow KKR will play important match against DC. KKR is coming into this after a loss and they have to win this to lift their morale. If KKR lose tomorrow than it will not going to help their cause. Its high time for Ganguly to look at playing XI and pick the players who can deliver. He played Mandeep Singh in two matches at crucial No.3 position and Mandeep failed on both occasions. Problem for KKR is that they don’t have kind of big hitter at the top who can tonk the ball from very first over. Chris Gayle is a hitter but he takes time to go after the bowling. I think Ganguly have to promote Ajit Agarkar and give him licence to tonk the ball. In this IPL, KKR is the team which is lowest on power play score compared to other teams which don’t help them in winning matches. So KKR have lot to do for getting back to winning ways. DC lost their first match against KKR but they have come long way in this tournament and not to forget that they are defending champions. They will come very hard at KKR to win tomorrow. Symonds and Rohit Sharma are in form for DC that will make difference this time.

MI continued their winning streak as they thrashed KXIP in a thriller

When God is leading any team then very seldom that team lose. MI is one such team which is lead by God and it is continuously winning matches. MI beat KXIP in thrilling contest at CCI, Mumbai. MI won the toss and elected to field. KXIP as expected included Shaun Marsh in place of banned Sangkkara and Marsh opened with Bopara. KXIP started badly as they lost Bopara very early. After Bopara, Bisla also got out early and KXIP looked in complete disarray but Mahela and Marsh tried their best to bring the KXIP on track and they were doing good partnership but brilliant run-out saw the way of pavilion to Jayawardene. Yuvraj came into bat but his bad form continued here as well as he got out to the slower ball of Bravo and it looked like KXIP will get out cheaply but Irfan Pathan and Marsh continued their partnership and gave some respite to KXIP but that also didn’t last long too and both Marsh and Pathan got out in Malinga’s over which at the end proved turning point of the match. Piyush Chawla did his bit with the bat and gave respectability to KXIP score. MI started badly as they lost their captain Sachin Tendulkar very early but Shikhar Dhawan played exceptionally well for his 50 and gave solid platform to MI which was encashed by Saurabh Tiwary who helped MI to achieve the target with his great stroke-play. Key thing for MI in this chase was they never allowed run-rate to go beyond 10 runs and in the end match went to the last over but eventually ended in favour of MI. Points table didn’t got affected much as KXIP remained at bottom and MI at top on points table. MI is on roll and now very much in contention of semis and Tendulkar also earned the orange cap by becoming highest run-getter in this tournament.

Today 2 South Teams take on each other in first match. RCB V/s CSK. RCB is second on points table and CSK are at bottom just above KXIP. RCB is coming into this match after losing their last match and CSK also coming into this match after very poor performance.

For CSK it is very important to win today. If they don’t win today then that will not do any good to their morale which is already down. CSK have to lift themselves and they have magical captain in Dhoni who can help them but for that Dhoni have to bat up the order and lead them by example. All is not lost yet for CSK may be one win can turn things around for them as they are formidable side with Matthew Hayden and Muralitharan in their ranks alongwith MS Dhoni. For RCB, well they are on roll and their team looks solid with opening pair doing well and bowling is great as all the bowlers are in form. They also become little strong as Kevin Pietersen have joined them so their batting looks very solid. Anil Kumble is captaining them brilliantly and also bowling well so that is icing on cake for RCB.

Second match will be between resurgent RCB and flamboyant DD. Both team are coming in this match after victory but RR coming after 4 victories on trot and looks like a force without any big name in their side. DD is the side which is possessing most dangerous batsman of the world who can turn the game on their own as we saw how David Warner alone won the match against KKR even though DD lost 3 wickets early. After two consecutive victories and captain Gambhir’s return makes DD a confident side and I feel now they will enhance their reputation. On the other side Shane Warne’s RR looks in great form as they are not relying on any individuals and playing as a unit. They are very much in contention of semis if they continue their good work. I feel its difficult to predict who will win today. 

Discrimination in IPL

Harbhjan sledged T.Suman in a match between MI and DC and Harbhajan was found guilty under Level 1 offence and fined by Match Refree Gundappa Vishwanath. Now, in other match between RR and DC, Symonds sledged Yusuf Pathan  but Symonds neither found guilty nor he was punished. What a discrimination? I feel we are still living under the awe of white skin. My question is why Symonds was not reprimanded or punished when Yusuf Pathan claimed that Symonds sledged him. After that incident whatever Symonds said in media was even more shameless as he clearly said he will continue to sledge and this is the way I play my cricket but none of the authorities took it seriously and punished Symonds for his statement. I want to ask the authorities why only Indian players suffer in case of sledging or misbehaviour, why not other Australian or Englis players punished. Indian players are often punished in International matches for small mistakes while Australians always get away from harsh punishments. There are many examples where Australian players were let go by match refrees for their bad behaviour on the field but nobody speaks about that. Recently in One-Day series against New Zealand, Mitchell Johnson was involved in spat with Scott Styris but Styris was punished and Mitchell Johnson was get away with just warning. Another incident in a Test Match against West Indies recently in Australia where Sulaimen Benn of WI was punished heftily for his misbehaviour but the Australian players involved in the incident just got away with small fine. Indian authorities have to understand that we are paying money to these Australian players for playing in the league they are not obliging us, so please stop pampering them and fine them heftily for their misbehaviour. Punishment should be equal for everybody. We are already suffering at international level and clear discrimination is visible, where on small mistakes our players fined. But this is our league so why not rules are equal for every player.

Warner's Sizzling Century Leads to Delhi's Victory

Shahrukh’s Knights faltered again. Daredevils comfortably beat Knightriders at Kotla and gain the much needed momentum. DD won the toss and chose to bat and started on poor note losing 3 quick wickets but they maintained good  run-rate of over 12 runs in Powerplay the man who was responsible for this run-rate was sensational David Warner. Warner thrown away Knightriders out of the match by attacking them brutally on pitch which was bit slow and scored brilliant century and remained not-out. Paul Collingwood was replaced by AB Devilliers and change brought much needed boost to the DDs batting as Collingwood held his wicket and helped Warner to explode. Both together put up highest partnership of  IPL and gave DD a score which proved winning total. Paul Collingwood was caught by David Hussey sensationally on the boundary in last over after scoring good half century. I must say that is  catch of the tournament. Knightriders started badly losing Dada very early to Nannes who bowled superb spell up-front for DD and never allowed KKR to score freely. Knightriders lost wickets at regular intervals and lost the match in the end. Even Chris Gayle couldn’t take advantage of the reprieve he got from Virendra Sehwag when he was on 24. So DD got the much needed momentum after back to back victories and KKR now have to wait for Brandon McCullam to join them and bring some force to their batting at the top. Sportsman Spirit was also put aside by Murali Karthik when he claimed false catch of David Warner but third umpire ruled hi not-out after watching replays. Too bad for gentelman’s game.

Tomorrow MI will take on depleted KXIP. If KXIP lose tomorrow than they will be thrown out of the contention of semis. KXIP will be facing the best team MI tomorrow and it will not going to be easy for them to win. Sangakkara is already banned due to slow over-rate and that will also hurt them as they lost their captain and it will be interesting to see who will captain them Mahela or Yuvraj. Shaun Marsh is almost certain to play tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how he will play because he is also coming out of injury. For MI although they won their last match but they also showed some weakness in their middle-order and if Sachin don’t deliver on the top I think they can also lose, so MI have to take the batting debacle seriously which happened to them in last match. Everyday Harbhajan will not going to pull them back. It’s a must win situation fot KXIP and for MI victory means one more step towards qualifying for semis.

NOT A GOOD NEWS FOR CSK AND DC AS THEY LOST

Another master-piece from God and one more victory registered by MI and now MI are on top of the table and ruling the rankings with 10 points from 6 matches. If somebody only watched the end than he must have thought what a easy win but it was not actually. MI were tottering at 120 for 7 around 17^th over and Harbhajan came into the bat and suddenly MI score zoomed past 170 at the end of 20 overs. Harbhajan’s onslaught provided much needed boost to the MI innings. But I must say innings played by Tendulkar was really classy. Pitch which had little bounce and movement was enough for ordinary batsman to get out but it was genius of Tendulkar who adjusted himself to the conditions and scored brilliant 55 at more than run a ball. Other batsman were just coming and going. That’s why Sachin is God of Cricket. For DC it was very easy till 17^th over of MI innings but they lost the momentum because of onslaught from Harbhajan and those extra 50 runs played crucial role in DCs defeat. After scoring 172 MI gave immediate shock to DC by picking up Adam Gilchrist in very first over and again Harbhajan and Tendulkar were involved in that dismissal. After that some resistance came from Rohit Sharma but other batters including Symonds didn’t contribute much and faltered against the superb bowling and fielding of MIs. Here on MIs are more or less certain to qualify for the semis but now 3 teams are on 6 points and still tournament is wide open as any one can progress.

In another encounter RR defeated CSK easily and registered their fourth consecutive win. Superb turn-around for this Shane Warne led team. They lost their first 3 matches and now they are looking sure shot contenders for the semis. RR don't have any superstar except Yusuf Pathan, yet they are competing with best teams easily and winning matches. CSK which was considered one of the strongest team is now lying at bottom of the points table and they are looking completely down and out. They squandered the match to KXIP in super-over after dominating it for more than 30 overs is now proving deadly for them because they are not at all recovered from that shock and now have to wait for Hussey and Bollinger to join them which will help them in getting into winning ways. For RR, a new hero emerge in every match who takes them to the victory and yesterday it was Naman Ozha.

Coming to today’s match between DD and KKR, both teams have same story in tournament. Both teams won their first two matches then lost 3 matches and finally coming into this match by winning their last matches respectively. Hence it will be interesting to see which team will win this match. As far as I am concerned DD are favourites as they are far more formidable than KKR and David Warner is firing from top is advantage for DD. Whoever win today will gain much needed boost to their momentum and that will help them in their coming matches. Ganguly is key for KKR. Gambhir is doubtful for this match as well.

Total team-work helped KKR to register their fourth win

When Ganguly took the field today he looked very determined and confident. As I mentioned earlier that Ganguly is like ‘phoenix which can rise from ashes and conquers’. Ganguly did exactly same. Ganguly is the one sports person in this world who can claw back from any difficult situation and show his mettle to the world. He came back from the down out situation and performed in past and he did today as well and will continue to do so in future. Coming to match, It was must win situation for KXIP but they couldn’t manage it and lost badly to KKR. KXIP got early success, when the picked up Chris Gayle cheaply but Ganguly and Manoj Tiwary had other ideas. They got themselves in and played fantastic knock. Ganguly got very good half century and shut the mouth of his critics. Manoj Tiwary provided late blast to the innings and took KKR to score of 183 which is a winning total in this tournament till date. Once that score was put on board it was important for KXIP to start well so they opted for Yuvraj Singh to open the innings but they lost their most successful batsman of this tournament Ravi Bopara for duck in first over itself and that put them on back-foot. Lot was expected from Yuvraj Singh but he played like an idiot after getting 14 runs in the over he tried for another big one and lost his wicket and that was the final nail in the coffin for KXIP as Sangakkara and Mahela are not in good form in this tournament and it proved once again when both got out cheaply and helped in losing cause for KXIP. Now its almost difficult for KXIP to qualify for semis as they have to win atleast 7 matches out of 8 and that too with good margins. So all is bad for KXIP and superb turn-around for KKR.

Tomorrow will be two key contest in offer when RR take on CSK and later on MI take on DC. RR now looks resurgent side and they will be difficult to beat as all their players are contributing. CSK reached almost to the bottom of table in terms of points so they have to pull themselves against resurgent RR and make no mistake it will be going to be a cracker of the contest. For CSK Matthew Hayden will be key and for RR, Yusuf Pathan will be key player. Both sides  have limited resources on the bowling front and for CSK importantly Dhoni is back.

MI will take on DC. MI currently having fantastic run as they lost only one match so far. As far as DC are concerned they are coming after a loss in their last match against RR and now lacking bit of momentum. DC also have problems with their bowling as they have only Chaminda Vaas who made some impact in this IPL and I feel MI bowling is the strongest in this tournament along with RCB. Most importantly God is captaining MI so it will be difficult contest for DC. Watch out fireworks in this match from Symonds and Pollard, two sensational hitters.

Pathan Power Snatched Victory From Chargers

Superb and timely innings by Yusuf Pathan confirmed the victory for RR over DC in Ahmedabad yesterday. This  was the second match in this tournament after first match against Mumbai where Pathan showcased his power of big hitting and again hit 8 sixes. DC start was very bad as they lost their captain Gilchrist very early and kept losing wickets at regular intervals which never allowed them to recover and get big score. To an extent Rohit Sharma batted nicely but he did not get enough support from other end and DC got out to moderate score.Hats off to RR bowlers and fielders as they kept their bowling tight and did excellent fielding to reduce the DC for modest score. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala was the real live wire who did some breath taking fielding and played integral part for RR in fielding. After dismissing cheaply to DC, RR started very well and man responsible for that was Michael Lumb who gave them superb start and which helped Pathan to come in and throw his bat and that resulted into easy victory for RR and match ended in just 15 overs. Now RR are in top four on the points table and they are now force. Shane Watson is yet to join them and when he comes in RR will become even bigger force. Also hats off to Shane Warne who has captained this less talented players side very well and brought the best out of limited capacity players.

Today it will be a do or die match for KXIP. If they lose today they will almost lose the hopes of making further progress in the tournament and their matches will become just a formality. So its very important for KXIP to win today's match. Their task also got easier as they are playing KKR today which is also at bottom of the table after losing 3 consecutive matches. KKR started well in this tournament by beating champions and runners-up of last year but some how they lost their way and lost the momentum which they gained from the first two victories. But as we all know Saurav Ganguly, he is a like 'phoenix which can rise from ashes and conquers' and thats what make KKR a very mercurial side. Its very important match for both the teams and whichever team wins will gain some momentum and that will help them in their coming matches. At the end, I feel  KKR is making some error in picking up team. I think they must include Charl Langeveldt in their playing eleven, he is very good bowler with lot of variation. So must win situation for both teams.

DD and MI tasted sweet victories

Finally DD broke the shackles and defeated the formidable RCB at their home. DD came out with aggressive strategy and dominated the match from the beginning as David Warner executed DD's plan superbly. RCB tried to control the match by picking up wickets but debutant  Kedar Jadhav played a hurricane knock which put DD in commanding position. AB DeVilliers supported Kedar Jadhav very well and late hitting from A.McDonald ensured 180 plus score for DD. As usual RCB started well with their opening partnership putting 50 plus on the board but Kallis got out to the googly of Amit Mishra which turned the match in favour of DD. Good bowling and fielding from DD put RCB on the back-foot and they lost the match quite convincingly. RCB also have to blame their batsmen for playing wrong shot at wrong time and running between the wicket was also very poor from RCB. It is a good victory for DD as they needed it badly. I believe this will turn things around for them and they will qualify for semis if they carry the same form in coming matches.Nothing to lose of RCB yet, as they are in most comfortable position right now and one or two loss will not make difference to them. Most importantly Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor  joining them soon, so it will make them more formidable.

Well as I said in my earlier posts when GOD is captain of your team and play as opening batsman than very seldom any team lose. Exactly same happened with MI. Sachin-The God again played master-piece and achieved the victory for MI. . He is such a phenomena. MI did gave Chennai a chance by allowing them to score 180 runs. Suresh Raina and Badrinath played fantastic half century knocks to put CSK in commanding position at the end of their innings but score looked very easy when Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan started brilliantly and hitting bowlers to all parts of the ground. Tendulkar played great anchor role and took his team to the doors of victory and Dwayne Bravo finished it off in style. With this MI reached top of the table and now they can think of qualifying for semis and its more or less certain for them because God is captaining them.

Today's battle will be between two great Australian players. This is the one contest where we will see total Australian flavour as resurgent RR take on confident DC. Things went bad for RR in first 3 games but they pulled it back by winning their last two matches and now they looks like the team of confident players who can take on anybody on a given day. On the other side DC are doing well in this tournament and their star players are in superb form. Both team have superb hitters in their team. I feel nobody will start favourite in this match because both teams are coming in to this match after doing well in their last 2 matches. Indeed, it will be a clash of Titans.

Indian Cricket Team for World Cup T20

T20 World Cup is starting next month and Indian team will be selected tomorrow as per ICC deadline. I believe it is very early to select the team but ICC deadline is 28th March, 2010 so BCCI have to follow the guidelines of ICC. Many key Indian players got injured in on-going IPL circus and I feel India will pay the price at World Cup for these injuries. Last year also team went to the World Cup T20 after IPL and carried lot of injured players and that resulted into disaster for Team India as they couldn't defend their title. This year Gambhir, Dhoni, Nehra, etc.  who are key players of India got injured and I believe, by the time IPL gets over we will see few more injuries and burn-outs. It will  going to be tough for selectors tomorrow to pick the players because they will not get 100% fit players to select from. Selectors also have to look at some good performers who performed in IPL but are not in short-listed 30 players pool. Saurabh Tiwary, Robin Utthappa, and Umesh Yadav are the few who deserves chance along with Manish Pandey . There is no shortage of talent in India as far as cricket is concerned and selectors have to think wisely and pick the players who are in form and doing very well with consistency. Now its upto selectors, not to be biased towards their zones and select the players on the merit. Lastly, Indian team need services of Sachin Tendulkar very badly so I feel Sachin Tendulkar must give his consent for the selection and play in World Cup and bring the trophy.

RR gain momentum with victory over KXIP

RR are on a roll now by winning their last two matches and problems are compounding for KXIP after losing yesterday’s match. RR performed as unit in yesterday’s match against KXIP and all the players contributed to the winning cause.Now RR will be having their star all-rounder Shane Watson very soon and that will make this team very formidable. On the other side KXIP is struggling with the batting form of their star players like Sangakkara, Yuvraj Singh and Jayawardene. I think in next match they have to play Shaun Marsh who was top scorer for them in first edition of IPL and inclusion of Brett Lee will also boost their bowling considerably but I feel now it will be very tough for KXIP as they have to win 75% of their matches to qualify for semis. In yesterday’s match they were at very comfortable position but wicket of Yuvraj Singh proved turning point of that match as Yuvraj got out at the wrong time and from there on KXIP never recovered. Most important thing was Yuvraj thrown his wicket. I feel Yuvraj is not happy on losing captaincy and that is playing on his mind and that is causing problems for KXIP.

Today I think DD have to play out of their skins to beat RC which looks unbeatable under the captaincy of Anil Kumble. RC have improved their performance hugely and they are the force now as they have everything in their team which is required for becoming champion. On the other side Sehwag needs to fire from the top to ensure DD win this match which is very important for them. If they lose today than they will make their chances very slim for semis.So lot to play for DD. 

Jubilant MI will take on CSK. MI is also on a roll like RC and they are also very formidable side now with Tendulkar firing from the top and leading by example and youngsters like Tiwary, Raidu and Sathish supporting very well. On the other side CSK looks vulnerable without MS Dhoni and they have to play out of their skins to beat MI. For CSK the likes of Hayden and Raina have to bat very well and if MS Dhoni will play today than I feel they have very good chance of winning. MI starts as favourites in this match.

Easy victory for RCB over CSK

I must salute Anil Kumble, how well he adapted to T20 cricket even after retirement and the way he is captaining the side it looks he will not lose single game. Most importantly Anil Kumble himself leading from the front and his bowling has got even better after retirement. I feel he should come out of retirement and play for India in T20 World Cup.

He is legend. RCB defeated CSK easily at Bengaluru. CSK tasted the same medicine which they gave to KKR. CSK controlled game for 15 overs and in last 5 overs of RCB innings they suddenly lost the grip and allowed RCB to score above 160 runs which was 30 runs more. Finally Kallis got out in this tournament and Balaji was the bowler who dismissed Kallis so that was one of the highlight of the match. Utthappa played superb innings of 68 for RCB and it was his batting which allowed RCB to score more than 160 runs. CSK dropped Utthappa twice and Utthappa took full advantage of those two chances. When CSK came into bat they suddenly face set-back as Parthiv Patel got out very early in the innings and Matthew Hayden was also not allowed to score freely which really build the pressure on CSK and their batting collapsed badly and they lost the match very easily. I feel CSK lost the momentum after their close loss to KXIP and they are also missing captaincy and batting of MS Dhoni who is injured. At this moment RCB have some advantage as they are on the top of the table by winning 4 matches out of their 5 and they have confidence and momentum with them to do well in coming matches. Without Pietersen and Ross Taylor they are doing well Think when both of them will join this team after their international duties, how formidable RCB become.

Teams of Priety Zinta and Shilpa Shetty will clash today. At this moment both teams are in the bottom of points tally and their situation is quite identical as both teams coming to this match with a win in their last matches and it will be interesting to see which team will capitalise on the momentum. It will be also the clash between two brothers Yusuf Pathan(RR) and Irfan Pathan(KXIP). It is must win situation for both teams to progress further in the tournament but irony is that only one team will win. I feel KXIP will starts as favourites as they have quality players in their side. As far as RR are concerned they don’t have big players except Yusuf Pathan and Shane Warne.

Saturation Point is very near for IPL in big cities

Two days back two new teams added to IPL, Pune and Kochi at whopping price of 3200 crores which exceeded the price of all eight teams which are playing currently. IPL got the money, teams increased but my question is, will centres increase? This year 3 centres added but for few matches only. Currently maximum matches are happening in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai and very few matches happening at smaller centres. In this edition we have already seen the less crowds in all the matches are played. Only weekends we see packed stadiums and that too on few occasions. Take example of Ahmedabad, ticket rates were slashed by 150-200 rupees and  discount vouchers also given but yet organisers were not able to fill the stadium for the match against KKR V/s RR. So my question is when saturation is reaching in big cities why not matches played in smaller cities and why not BCCI using all the venues available in India. There are centres like Gwalior, Indore, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Surat, Baroda, Rajkot, Guwahati, Goa and many more. This will give new audience to the cricket and people will come and watch matches in these cities as not much cricket happens in these cities for years. It will also help in tapping large market and give solid boost to the IPL as well. Alongwith this advertisers and franchisees will also get larger audience which help them in increasing their profits and factor of saturation will also go out of the question. According to me this will also help in increasing infrastructure at smaller centres which will help in boosting the game at smaller centres as more people see it, more people will play it and enjoy it. I feel BCCI have to increase the centres for IPL rather than limiting it to metro cities. It is already evident that big cities are getting saturated because of too much matches played there and people will only like it once or twice as nobody will go and watch matches every day. 

God powered MI to victory against KKR

MI were favourites today to win and they did it.Since last 2 matches there is serious change in the strategy of KKR as they are preserving wickets and not going for runs. Last match against RR was evident of this when KKR lost that match by 35 runs and 5 wickets were in their hand yet they didn’t increase the run-rate and try to win that match. Again today they looked to preserve wickets and ended up with modest total of 155 and they just lost 3 wickets. Not a good strategy in T20 cricket. Chris Gayle also played very slow in first half of his innings, scoring less than balls he faced but accelerated at the end. KKR made one good change today by sending Ganguly to open the batting. I feel this is the only place where Ganguly have to bat  rather than batting down the order. Important thing to notice for KKR is that from the time they dropped Charl Langeveldt they started losing matches. Bond is not at all looking in good form and going for too many runs, so KKR needs to re-look at their bowling because Langeveldt looked far better bowler than Shane Bond. MI did very well with their strategy as they set straight field and bowled straight according to their field and didn’t allow KKR to accelerate. Sachin looks great with his captaincy  in this edition of IPL and enjoying the stint. No need to say this year Sachin is enjoying batting like anything as another master-piece was on display today from his bat. He was well supported by Shikhar Dhawan who came in the place of Sanath Jayasuriya. I feel dropping Jayasuriya didn’t cost much to MI today. Saurabh Tiwary is also looking good prospect for MI as he has scored runs in all four matches he played and needs to be looked as a prospect to play in next month’s T20 World Cup for India. I think he is good find for India. In the end captain Sachin lead his team to the victory and KKR face their third straight loss in the tournament and now things are getting tougher for KKR and Sharukh Khan. As far as MI are concerned they learnt from the last match loss and gave improved performance in this match and with Sachin-The God performing from the front I feel no team can stop MI. Last but not the least hats-off to Dada who pulled stunner today which can make Jhonty Rhodes proud after Rahul Dravid its another legend who took great catch.

Tomorrow will be the clash of two South teams RCB and CSK. After loosing their last match in super-over against KXIP, I feel CSK will go all out to win this match and I feel they have the team to do that with Matthew Hayden at the top with his Mongoose bat but RCB are looking formidable force in this tournament and they also have Kallis at the top who is still not-out in the tournament and leading the runs table. I feel RCB have better bowling than CSK on the paper so that will be an advantage for RCB and they will start as favourites.

Superb victories for DC and KXIP

Nothing going right for DD as they lost 3 consecutive matches in IPL. DC defeated them easily today at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. From the time Gambhir departed from the field, from that time to till date DD lost the games. I feel Gambhir took their luck as well alongwith him and DD missing him and his luck badly because it seems whatever Dinesh Karthik is doing is not at all working for DD.Its very important for DD to win next match and get back in to winning groove as they are the most formidable team in this IPL and if they lose matches then I feel excitement of tournament will reduce to an extent. As far as DC are concerned they are indeed playing like a defending champions and after losing their first match against KKR they never looked back and their key player Symonds is now doing well with both bat and ball which is going fantastic for DC in terms of winning matches as Symonds is match winner and he is playing like a champion. Not to forget Rohit Sharma and T.Suman both youngsters are giving more than useful contributions to the team which gives good balance to DC and it looks like DC will qualify for semi-finals easily if they continue the same performance and Gilchrist keep leading them from the front. For DD Sehwag have to come good and play responsibly till the time Gambhir returns to the team. If Viru play sensibly and hold one end till 10 or 12 overs then I feel DD have more chance of winning matches as DD have enough stroke-makers in their ranks but they need one batman as anchor. Gambhir was one such batsman but since he is injured Sehwag has to do that and I feel that will be the right strategy for them.

Coming to another match between CSK and KXIP. It was really a sensational match with perfectly scripted drama for spectators. Well batting did not click for KXIP once again and their big guns Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Bopara got out  cheaply and that put them on the back-foot. Muralitharan did fantastic job for CSK and supported well by Albie Morkel. Today KXIP experimented with their opening and sent Irfan Pathan to open the batting which almost clicked for them but they lost wickets from another end which did not help them to score big runs and they ended innings with cheap total according to T20 standards. I feel KXIP have to win atleast 8 matches out of their 10 if they want to qualify for the semi-finals. Further loss will shatter their confidence badly. They have to take clue from RC as they lost 4 matches in row last year but ended up as runners-up in last edition of IPL in South Africa and KXIP can take inspiration from that and do well in their coming matches.Hayden and Parthiv gave great start to CSK and Hayden just butchered KXIP bowling with his Mongoose bat and put them in comfortable position before getting out but turning wicket and tight bowling from KXIP made it diffcult for CSK as they lost wickets regularly and match went to the last over and decision went to the super over. Pathan bowled superb over after gving boundary on the frist ball and didn’t allow CSK to win it outright. What a cliffhanger it turned out.? First occasion of super over in this edition of IPL. This match can easily be compared by suspense thriller  of Agatha Christie. CSK set the target of 10 runs for KXIP in super over  I feel this was the best match  till date in this edition of IPL and hoping for some more in coming matches. No words  can describe this match and finally KXIP won this nail-biting encounter as Yuvraj hit winning runs with reverse sweep and finally some how KXIP opened their account of victory. But what a match it was. I feel now this win give confidence to KXIP and they will win more. Good news for Miss. Zinta.

Tomorrow will be the key contest of this tournament. KKR V/s MI. Both team lost their last match and give their everything to win tomorrow’s match. As far as KKR is concerned it is more important match for them than the MI because they lost their last 2 matches and looks like they lost some momentum. KKR is missing one big hitter in their line-up which can be overcome by playing Chris Gayle in tomorrow’s match. If we talk about MI their captain Sachin Tendulkar is in fantastic form and getting support from the youngsters in the team. Bravo and Pollard are good inclusions for MI and they will definitely prove their worth in coming matches so MI don’t have to worry much but they have to play well tomorrow because after losing two match KKR will come hard at them although MI starts as favourites. For KKR, Dada have to inspire his players to do well and as we all know Dada comes good in tough situations most times.

Royals win their matches convincingly at Motera and Brabourne

Convincing victory over KKR puts RR alive in the tournament and this victory will boost  their confidence for the coming matches. It was team performance by RR and they out-performed Shahrukh Knights. But the way match played it looked like Shilpa Shetty asked favour from Shahrukh Khan to help them register their first victory and Shahrukh obliged his  friend nicely.(Jokes apart). For KKR I feel, till the time Ganguly don't perform from the front till that time they will struggle in this tournament. Dada looked completely out of sorts against ordinary bowling, no doubt pitch was slow but Dada had scored runs on such pitches in the past and Dada have to come good in next match to turn things around for KKR. But over all good performance by RR and they turn things around with some good performances from all members of the team who chips in with runs, wickets and good fielding.Their star batsman Yusuf Pathan struggled badly in batting but he played crucial role as bowler and helped Royals to an extent. Hopefully this win will change things for RR. For KKR they have to work hard after second straight loss.

At Brabourne, MI struggled badly against RC. Although MI started favourite in this game but they lost the match. Kallis again played gem of an innings and gave great start to RC with Manish Pandey who looks like great prospect for India the way he is playing. Kallis again remained undefeated in this innings and played his role of anchor perfectly by scoring yet another half century in the tournament and holding the orange cap. What a player he is. Will he get out in any match in this tournament is a big question now? Earlier MI started badly losing wicket of Jayasuriya early who failed once again with the bat  but Tendulkar pulled things back with some gorgeous stroke-play  but Vinay Kumar turned things around of MI by picking up 3 wickets in one over including Tendulkar and dent the MI middle-order badly. Zaheer palyed little cameo in the end and took MI to score of 151. But that score didn't prove enough to stop RC from winning and RC won their 3rd match in a row. I must say the way Anil Kumble captaining and bowling, he has to come out the retirement and play for India. His googlies are coming perfectly out of his hand and he looked top class performer as he was before retirement. Talking about Rahul Dravid he pulled one -handed stunning catch today which was top effort.

Tomorrow 2 matches will be played. CSK V/s KXIP and DC V/s DD. For KXIP, its a must win situation and they have to run things around tomorrow just like RR did today. But they will be playing against one of the toughest team in the tournament, that is CSK. But I must say KXIP have good players in their ranks and they all have to come good together to register their first victory. Sangakkara have to play well tomorrow to ensure victory for CSK.

 Another match will be between defending champions DC and DD. DD lost their last two matches and it was not expected from them just because they have the best players in their team in this tournament. DD will look to win tomorrow and go for kill. DD have to improve their bowling considerably if they have to win tomorrow. On the other side DC are on high after two consecutive wins and they look like a force now with Gilchrist leading them from the front and Symomds came good in last two matches with bat and bowl. Over all both the contest tomorrow will be entertaining as all the 4 teams have some good big hitters. 

South Teams Defeated North Teams Convincingly

Two teams from South defeated two north teams  at Feroze Shah Kotla and Barabati stadiums.
Hayden powered CSK to sensational victory with his mongoose bat which was first time used on Indian soil and used effectively. Another Australian Symonds powered DC to win with his intelligent hitting and and bowling and was perfectly supported by Sri Lankan veteran bowler Chaminda Vaas who is holding purple cap currently for his superb bowling. Irfan Pathan tired his level best by hitting big blows to achieve victory but his efforts went in vain. Superb maiden IPL 50 by Irfan. Delhi tried their level best by scoring good score of 185 but that was just not enough for them because they fell short of one bowler and I feel they made mistake by dropping Maharoof who was in good form and experimented with David Warner. All in all good wins for both South teams. For North teams I must say Delhi lost its way since their captain Gambhir got injured and they lost the momentum by losing tow matches on trot after winning the first 2 match of the tournament. As far as KXIP is concerned they just lost all 3 matches they played so far in this tournament and they are sitting at bottom with RR. Tough ask ahead for Delhi and KXIP and they have pull themselves up if they wants to qualify for finals. Delhi still have fair chance but if KXIP just lose one match than their chances will become bleak to qualify for semi-finals.

Coming to tomorrow's encounters,  I feel it will be most important match for RR against KKR if RR lose here I feel they will not be able to qualify for semi-finals and this will not do any good to their confidence. Another batttle will be between MI and RC. MI looks formidable after the inclusion of Bravo and Pollard and their younger players Rayadu and Tiwary playing well in middle-order and master is also superb form.. Most importantly MI have won both their matches and they are unbeaten yet. As far as RC are concerned they are resurgent side after losing first match against KKR. They made good recovery by winning next two matches and momentum will be with them. I feel both these team will qualify for the semi-finals looking to their form  and kind of players they have in their ranks. Kallis(RC) is still undefeated in this tournament after3 matches, will he get out tomorrow?

First Week Highlights of DLF-IPL 3rd Edition

First week of DLF-IPL is over and lot of extravaganza happened in first week itself whether it is sixes or injuries or big scores. To start with:

1. RC and DC who were finalists last year lost their first match to KKR which finished at bottom in last edition  of IPL.

2. Yusuf Pathan hit the fastest century of the DLF-IPL in just 37 balls.

3. Most importantly as many as 8 players got injured in 1st week of IPL itself out of which 6 players were from India and 2 from International teams. This impact T20 World Cup heavily as more injuries will happen because of too much matches yet to be played.

4. 5 scores of more than 200 hundred scored in just 10 matches out of which MI scored 200 in twice in as many matches.

5. 102 sixes hit in just 10 matches means on an average 10 sixes approx. hit in each match.

6. Fast bowlers dominated the wicket tally but spinners dominated in containing the batters.

7. Praveen Kumar of RC picked up first hat-trick  in this edition of IPL against RR.

8. Royal Challengers chased score of 200 successfully against KXIP which is rare in T20 cricket.

9. MI came out as formidable team in this edition while RR which was champion in 1st edition is the weakest team in this edition as they lost all 3 matches and their key players got injured.

10. Key foreign players missed the first week of IPL majority of them from New Zealand, Australia and England who are engaged in international ties at this moment.

So that was eventful first week of IPL got over and I feel coming week will be more eventful than the first where we will see more sixes, more centuries, more scores of 200, probably  250 as well.

Royal Challengers resounding win over Rajasthan Royals

Once you get the team out for cheap score you are more likely on the winning side and thats what RC did to RR. RC bowled RR out for just 92 runs and the man who instrumental in dismissing RR was Praveen Kumar who picked hat trick. Great spell by him. After getting team so cheaply it becomes easy for chasing team and the same happened for RC as they chased total comfortably and winning by 10 wickets. Superb batting display by young Pandey and veteran Kallis who saw them home.. I feel RR have to blame themselves for such debacle as they banned their key player Ravindra Jadeja who was in great form and now they are struggling with injuries and not finding right replacements. RR now on the bottom of the list with 3 losses in the row and also at bottom in terms of self-belief and confidence. They need something special from Warne and Pathan to lift them otherwise they will lose all their matches.

Praveen Kumar shown what he is capable of by picking hat trick at crucial moment and put RC in commanding position. This bowler is capable of moving bowl both ways and if he is used intelligently by captain then I think can win matches alone for the team. He can also be transformed into good all-rounder if he works little more on his batting.

Two matches will be played tomorrow DD V/s CSK and DC V/s KXIP. In the case of DD they have to win this match and gain that momentum which they lost in their last match against MI. DD is having great chance to win tomorrow as CSK is become little weak in absence of their captain Dhoni and DD have to capitalize on that. As far as CSK is concerned they have to play out of the skin to beat DD who will come hard at them like hungry lions.

DC are having great chance to beat KXIP who bit down on confidence after two consecutive losses. As far as KXIP Yuvraj and Sagakkara have to fire at any cost tomorrow otherwise they will meet another defeat and that will not do any good to their progress in this tournament.

Senastional Victory Achieved By Mumbai Indians

After bolstering their team by adding two West Indian players (Pollard and Bravo) Mumbai Indians took on formidable Delhi Darevils at Kotla in Dehi. Fantastic start given by Sachin Tendulkar as master played the gem of the innings  and put MI in commanding position. Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Raidu later on capitalise on the start given by Tendulkar and took MI to formidable total of over 200.  Second time in consecutive match in this edition of IPL MI achieved score of more than 200. Form here on it was evident that DD have to bat out of their skins to win this match but they were forced on backfoot with the injury to Gambhir and have to open with Dilshan and Sehwag. Both of them started really well and gave flying start to Delhi innings but tall score took the toll of Delhi wickets as they lost wickets consistently  and eventually lost the match. DD started favourites here but I feel they gave too many runs to their liking and dropped too many catches which eventually cost match to them as they lost it by big margin. Good start to IPL for MI as their young guns are firing and giving MI formidable total.

Tomorrow's match will be between injury hit RR V/s RC who won sensationally against KXIP. Lot to play for RR as they already lost 2 matches and if they lose this match than their confidence will shattered badly. They already lost their 2 key players Smith and Mascrehans due to injury. As far as RC are concerned they got their confidence back by winning their last match and look formidable side now. I feel RC is one team which is having great players in their ranks only thing they required is application and if they apply themselves well than definitely they will be  front-runners for semi-final birth. Going will be tough for RR from here on and their only hope is Yusuf Pathan.

South Teams won their matches convincingly

Two teams from South opened their account of victory yesterday after losing their opening matches. Both won convincingly and both played  positively. As far as RC are concerned they looked little rusty in their bowling and allowed KXIP to score more than 200 runs. Ravi Bopara and Manvinder Bisla gave terrific start to them but Yuvraj again failed with the bat but Jayawardene ensured score in excess of 200 for them with good hitting. It looked uphill task for RC  but Pandey and Kallis had different ideas and they gave good and sedate start to RC and later on Utthappa ensured RC’s victory by scoring 48 runs in 15 balls and finally RC won the match by 8 wickets. Kallis played anchor role once again for RC and he looks one player who is in great form right now and playing his role to the perfection.

Coming other match KKR lost their first match at home in this edition of IPL. Mistake made by KKR was they changed their winning combination by replacing Langeveldt  to Bond. Another mistake they made was they didn’t gave bowling Brad Hodge in death overs because it was quite evident from condition of the pitch that it was supporting spinners and it was hard to score of  slow bowlers. KKR paid big price for this mistake because after controlling match for 14 overs they allowed CSK to score 164 runs which was difficult target on the pitch which was holding up. After poor bowling in last six overs it was necessary for KKR to bat well and they relied on their openers to give them great start but both fell quickly by playing bad shot and this lead to the collapse of KKR wickets as none of their batsman were able to stay on the wicket and score runs as they lost wicket regularly and cheaply. So after winning first 2 matches KKR looked confident side but after this loss they have to think on their combination and have to play well. As far as CSK is concerned they have Dhoni in command who is great captain and leading from the front. I feel yesterday he read the KKR batters mind perfectly and placed fielders exactly on the positions where KKR played shots and got out.

Today’s encounter between MI and DD will be interesting. It is the battle between Master and his student, its Sachin V/s Sehwag.  I feel DD is the best side in this tournament and they look great in their last two matches. As far as MI are concerned they will be joined by their two key players Pollard and Bravo which make their middle-order solid and also give them option to dominate the proceedings. If both Bravo and Pollard play in this contest than I feel this will be even contest. As far as DD are concerned they have to replace AB Devilliers with David Warner as AB looks bit out of form. As far as bowling is concerned both teams are having even. So it will be going to be a Paisa Vasool match.

Viru Smashed Royal Bowlers For Delhi Win

It was one such encounter which was completely one-sided and easily won. Man who made it possible for Delhi was Nawab of Najafgadh. Viru batted like Nawab and ensured easy victory for Delhi. Royals started well by smashing first over for 14 runs but they lost wickets regularly and they faced big setback when Yusuf Pathan got out for 0 after getting promotion in batting order. Royals never recovered from that shock and finished with paltry total of 142 thanks largely to Abhishek Jhunjhunwala who hit half century and took them to that total. It was smooth chase for Delhi as their openers gave them flying start and one-of their openers ensured their victory. Here on things will become tough for Royals as they rely heavily on one man Yusuf Pathan and which is not good for them. As I am quoting regularly they missing Ravindra Jadeja badly but they themselves have to blame for such situation because they did not renew contract with him and when he tried to get contract Royals banned him. Batting is the weak link for Royals and they have to work hard to win matches.

Coming to today's matches it will be KKR V/s CSK and RCB V/s KXIP. For CSK it will be important to win this encounter just to get the confidence after the loss from their first match against DC. Dhoni made a mistake in last match by going with bits and pieces players and have to correct that mistake by getting specialists in, to ensure victory for them. As far as KKR concerned their confidence is sky high after 2 consecutive victories and they will go all out to win this encounter as well. 

RCB  and  KXIP both lost their opening encounter and today one of them will start their winning campaign. As far as RCB is concerned they have great batting line-up and good bowlers in their ranks only thing required from them is application. If all of them apply  and play as a unit, I think RCB will become tough team to beat as they have all in-form battters and bowlers who performed well at domestic and international levels this season before coming to IPL.On the other side KXIP missing the services of Brett Lee and it seems Yuvraj is also struggling with his wrist injury and needs time to recover from that. So some worries for them but key will be their captain Sangakkara who is in great form currently and have to lift his team by performing from the front.

So to sum it up today we will see to mouth watering contest.

Easy Victories For KKR and DC

Team which won the toss yesterday ended up winning the match convincingly. Ganguly won the toss for KKR and opted to field first because of the slowness of the pitch. Ganguly read the pitch well and who can read better than him as he played most of his cricket at great Eden. Decision justified soon after match started as KKR picked up quick wickets early on and picked up the wickets regularly and didn't allow RCB to score freely. Kallis played sensible innings for RCB from one end but he got little support from other side. Angelo Matthews and Charl Langeveldt were heroes for KKR in bowling as they bowled with a plan and variation. Once you get the opposition out for moderate total its easy to chase the score and that was done by KKR in style as their openers gave them fantastic start by hitting half-centuries. It was good to see Manoj Tiwary playing a good knock because he is a very talented player but didn't play to his potential in whatever opportunities he got for KKR and India. In the end Ganguly did the formality by putting KKR on the doorstep of the victory and got out. Its 2 in 2 for KKR. I think RCB has to pull up their socks immediately and need to focus on improvement and come to winning ways from next match

Coming to South V/s South match DC won the toss on turning track and elected to bat first and as expected Gilchrist gave them great start as he does consistently and also completed 1000 runs in DLF IPL He became the first player to score 1000 runs in DLF IPL. laxman gave him good support but both fell quickly once their team passed 50 run mark. From here on GIbbs and Symonds played responsibly and took them to the safety. Symonds struggled early on but once the ball hit on his sweet spot of the bat it continued till he got out. Rohit Sharma played good hand at the end to put DC in strong position. Chennai started poorly as the lost both their openers cheaply on the track which was turning. Chennai kept losing wickets at regular interval only Dhoni and Albie Morkel showed some resistance but that was not enough for CSK to win the match. Vaas bowled really well and and did not allow CSK to recover by picking up early wickets. I feel in this tournament so far Sri Lankan fast bowlers have bowled well whether it is Malinga, Mattews or Vaas, so good sign for Lankans as they wil go in with formidable attack in T20 World Cup.

Coming to today's encounter, it will be match between two sides which has done consistently well in all editions of IPL and the focus will be on winning the match. For RR this is very important match and they to win it for boosting their confidence but they will be facing formidable batting line-up DD and it will be not that easy for them to overcome such batting line-up. RR will miss Ravindra Jadeja in this tournament badly. Yusuf Pathan will be the key man for RR and Gautam Gambhir will be key for Delhi. So good contest in offering today evening.

Two Thrilling Crackers Entertained Cricket Lovers

Two games played in IPL on Saturday and both were scripted like Sherlock Holmes movie where mystery unfolded in last two balls of the match and the team which held the nerves won the contest.

At Brabourne Stadium Mumbai Indians opted to bat after winning toss and they amassed huge score and looked certain to win the contest after picking up 4 quick wickets of Rajasthan Royals but Yusuf Pathan spoiled their dream of easy victory by bringing Tsunami of sixes with his bat and hit as many as 8 sixes. He got run-out in unusual fashion at wrong time and that proved costly to Rajasthan Royals. I feel Rajasthan Royals missed the services of Ravindra Jadeja in this match badly as he is in great form with the ball and a very handy lower-order batsman. As far as MI are concerned Tendulkar showed the new strategy in field placing, normally captains put fielder at deep fine-leg initially but Tendulkar started with square-leg and that save as many as 4 boundaries in initial overs which created pressure on RR and they lost 4 quick wickets. But I must say although RR lost but Yusuf Pathan entertained crowd thoroughly. Now one more debate will start who is better hitter Kieron Polard or Yusuf Pathan. Well we will get the answer in this tournament itself.

At Mohali DD started favourites they won the toss and elected to field and restricted Kings XI Punjab to a moderate score of 142 which looked easy for batting line-up like DD but they lost 2 quick wickets of their 2 powerhouse and which put them on to the back-foot but Gambhir played captain's innings and helped Daredevils to register thrilling win in last over. Interesting thing in this match was only 3 sixes hit though there were 4 powerful batsman playing which was surprising.

This edition of IPL also shows how much commercialisation of cricket has happened. Funnily now all players looks like advertising medium as they have brand logo stickers all over on their T-Shirts and trousers be it both arms, stomach, chest, back, head, front part of both thigh, only thing that is vacant is bums and I think in next edition of IPL we will see logo stickers on the bums of the players as well ha ha ha........

Today we will see 2 encounters and that is KKR v/s RCB & CSK v/s DC. It is not easy to predict who will win but I must say KKR will start as favourites because they won their last match and again we will some more DADAGIRI. As far as RCB are concerned they rely heavily on their big guns like Kallis and Dravid with support from V.Kohli who is in great form this season. RCB bowling looks formidable as they have Dale Steyn in their ranks.

Coming to other match CSK v/s DC I feel CSK start as favourite here and all eyes will be on MSD how he captains the side. Player to watch out in this encounter will be Thissira Preira who is a great hitter and handy bowler as we all saw in Tri-Series in Bangladesh. As far as DC are concerned they rely on Gilchrist and Symonds, if these 2 click together than I think DC can hope hope to win.

IPL Circus Kicked-Off To Perfection

IPL circus kicked-off with great match between KKR & DC. it was the match in which, team dominated first 10 overs of each innings lost and team which dominated last 10 overs in each innings won. I must say good start is half job done which Chargers did and good finish means mission accomplished which was achieved by Knightriders and they won the match. Sourav Ganguly showed yesterday why he is the most successful captain, its his fighting skills that makes him great. He failed with the bat but his captaincy was spot-on, right from the bowling changes to field placings and didn't panic when Gilchrist and Laxman were blazing and even they dropped few catches as well. Something which was more interesting in Ganguly was, he captained in his typical fashion, showing lot of emotions on the field which he is known for. So great win for KKR and Shahrukh Khan. As far as Chargers are concerned they have to blame themselves as they got dream start in both innings but couldn't hold their nerves till the end.

Coming to today's encounter, I think first encounter will be between two great friends off the field and great rivals on the field. Indeed its been battle between two legends of the game Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. Both are champions in their own craft and it will be the contest of the tournament and also revive the great rivalry which we saw in past. MI have two most successful bowlers of India in their ranks in Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan which gives them slight advantage over RR.

Another contest will be between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils and here I can clearly say DD are favourites simply because of their batting line-up as they have Warner, Dilshan, Sehwag and Gambhir as their top 4 batsmen. As far as Punjab s concerned they will miss the services of Brett Lee and Shaun Marsh but good news for them is Sangakkara is in great form and Yuvraj Singh has been also recovered from his injury so I feel it will be good contest with DD starts as favourites with slight edge on their batting.

'Entertainment Kaa Baap' Is On Your TV

'Entertainment Kaa Baap' started on television with extra masti and later there will be mouth-watering contest in opening match between Kolkata Knightriders and Deccan Chargers. Intial stages of this edition of IPL will miss some big names like McCullum, Gayle, Pollard, Pieterson, Michael Hussey,etc. list continues.

Today's clash is between last year's champion and the team which finished last on Podium. I feel this year Knightriders will emerge as strong contender because they have sorted out all their problems related to captaincy and coaching except fake IPL player which remained in news last year more than the team itself. On the other side Deccan Chargers are defending champions and they play hard to retain their title, so all in all good contest will be on display.

For Knightriders, Sourav Ganguly I feel will be key as he is a captain and also off late he is in great form as we all saw in domestic cricket how well played and most important, he has not lost his timing at all and still a god on off-side. For Deccan Chargers player who will be important will be Andrew Symonds. I feel he is one player who can change the course of match with-in over or two.

This IPL edition will see some change in strategy break rule and it is like 2.5 minutes break between 6th to 8th over for batting side and for bowling side it will between 14th to 16th over unlike last year breaks of 5 minutes after 10 overs in each innings. Actually these break not needed but it has more commercial interest than team strategy interest.

So get entertained for next 46 days and forget daily soaps.

IPL Circus Is Back

Yes IPL Circus is back. The event which took nation by storm is back again. I feel 3rd edition of IPL will be more exciting as no team is starting as favourites because of fresh bidding. I feel any team can win this time becasue all teams are having good match winners in their ranks. To start with :

KKR - Brad Hodge and Brendon McCullum

RRS - Yusuf Pathan & Shane Warne

BRS - Anil Kumble & Ross Taylor

MI - Sachin Tendulkar & Kieron Pollard

DC - Adam Gilchrist & Andrew Symonds

CSK - MS Dhoni & Matthew Hayden

KP - Kumar Sangakkara & Yuvraj Singh

DDS- Virendra Sehwag, David Warner & Tillakratne Dilshan

So from the above line-up of stars it is clear that competition will be tough among all teams. If I take on one team which looks more solid is Delhi Daredevils as they have very strong batting line-up compared to other teams and second team which can boast of good batting is Mumbai Indians.

I feel we will see more scores of 200 this time round and more centuries as well compared to last 2 editions as pitches will be flatter and more hard hitters are in with every team this time. So all in all great excitement begins tomorrow and it will also rule television prime-time for next 46 days, so losses for daily soaps.

PCB Shocked Cricket World

latest action taken by PCB has shocked the cricket world. I must say this will dent the confidence of youngsters but it will also send strong message to the players that they have to play for win and no indiscipline acceptable in team. Putting life-ban on 2 senior most players is just too much and also to the cricketers who holds maximum records for Pakistan in International cricket. Yousuf and Younis who are the pillars of Pakistan cricket don't deserve such exit looking at their stature in world cricket. I feel its unfortunate for both of them. I think person who deserve some ban is Shahid Afridi becasue he was found guilty many times but he's been let go with fine of 3 million. I think this decision of PCB will change the face of Pakistan cricket and I feel now onwards Pakistan team will keep distance from controversy and focus more on cricket. Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved have been also penalised too much with 1 year ban which does not justify but its PCB decision and in unfortunately Pakistan cricket run by idiots who take idiotic decisions.

To sum it I feel ban is not justified and it is too harsh on the players.

West Indies Cricket in Dire States

What a sight when Marshall, Roberts, Holding, Garner were making batsman uncomfortable with their quick and furious bowling? Followed the legacy was Patterson, Walsh & Ambrose but after that its like darkness in West Indies cricket. Likes of Franklyn Rose, Fidel Edwards, Darren Powell disappeared from the scene like egg disappears from magician's hat. Situation is pathetic for West Indies at the moment as they are losing matches like gambler loses in casino and they don't have anybody to inspire them. After humiliating defeat in Australia in all three formats of the game they hit all-time low by losing one off T-20 and One-Day match to minnows like Zimbabwe which also a weakened side after the departure of Flower Brothers, Heath Streak,etc. and eventually lost their Test Status. To get beaten by such team is in itself is a shame for the 2 time World Champions. I think they need extra-ordinary player to lift them up and they hardly have currently in the team to inspire them. Kieron Pollard promised a lot but it seems he is just don't have great temperament and stability in him to inspire the team. I think Mumbai Indians paid him highest amount just on the basis of one innings he played in Champions League last year. He is having talent but I don't think he is using it to the fullest. Some financial loss for Mumbai Indians.

This isn't happened overnight to West Indies. West Indies cricket decline started in 1993 and it seems on grass root level they just don't have much infrastructure to produce great cricketers as they get players who promises but fade away very soon. Its time for ICC to intervene into West Indies cricket and try to revive it by providing funds to them to produce players who can serve country for long time and just don't switch to Basket Ball and go to USA in order to earn their bread. If West Indies go out of cricket world then I think that will be the worst of the day.

BRADMAN v/s TENDULKAR

Debate is continuing who is greatest among the two Don Bradman or Sachin Tendulkar, ever since Don Bradman gave the below mentioned statement about Sachin Tendulkar:

“I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two".

I feel there is lot difference between the era in which Don played and Sachin playing. But looking at the records one must say it is difficult to achieve the average of 99.94% is tough by any means in this era even if Don played in this he wouldn't have ended with the same average.

To understand this we have to compare two era with following factors: Formats of the game, technology, expectations and pressure of countrymen, playing and pitch conditions , cricketing gears,variety of bowling, amount of cricket and number of countries playing cricket. If compare on above parameters I feel Sachin is far away from Don Bradman on above parameters.

1. Only Test Match format existed in Bradman's time while in Sachin's time 3 formats are existing Test Match, One-Day Cricket and T20s. So Tendulkar has to adjust different formats and have to think more about his batting to the demands of different formats which was not the case with Don. So on this parameter Sachin is greater than Don Bradman as he is successful in all formats.

2. There were no technology involved in cricket during Bradman's time so it was difficult for the bowlers to figure out the flaws in batting technique of a player. Also no third umpire existed for run-outs and close catches but in Sachin's time technology progressed very much and every team is using laptops and computer analyst to find out flaws in batting techniques, so it is easier for the bowlers to get batsman out by bowling on his weakness. Also third umpire played important role in close decisions. So after all these technological advancement Tendulkar is holding record of scoring highest runs and centuries in both Test Matches and One-Day Cricket with healthy average. So here also my judgement is that Tendulkar is greater than Don Bradman.

3.Expectations and pressure were not much from the countrymen in Bradman's era because cricket was amateur sports, While in Sachin's era cricket is religion in the country where he lives and his countrymen expects Sachin to perform in every match and win matches for India and it is professional sport with high competition. So on this front also Sachin is greatest because till now he fulfilled all the expectations of his countrymen and performed under substantial pressure.

4. If we talk about playing conditions then I feel in Bradman era cricket was played on uncovered pitches which was tough as compared to today where pitches are covered and far more batting friendly but here also one thing that comes out is Bradman played 80% of the matches against one country and that was England so he was quite aware of the conditions and pitches in England and Australia where he played his most cricket, hence he played in familiar conditions while Tendulkar played in different conditions and in more than 12 countries so he has to prepare and adjust himself extensively to score runs. So here also Tendulkar is great as he played against more than 12 different countries with different playing conditions and different pitches.

5. In Bradman era cricket gears were not advance enough to protect the body from the cricket ball so it was tough to cope with the bowlers and score runs. But in Sachin's time cricketing gears are far more protective and advance so I feel here we can say Bradman was better than Sachin as he played without helmet and proper cricketing gears like thigh-pads, hand guards,etc.

6. Bradman mostly face fast bowling in his era and he was mainly a backfoot player but Sachin has played all variety of bowling which varies from off-spin, leg-spin, swing bowling, fast bowling, left-arm spin,etc. and yet dominated all types of bowling and Sahin played greatest of the bowlers during his career like Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Waqar, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Chamida Vaas, Muralitharan, Allan Donald and list continues. So here also I feel looking at variety of attack Tendulkar faced which makes him greater than Bradman.

7. Bradman played was playing one or two series in year so it was easier for Bradman to maintain his fitness and he got good time for resting his body. Also he played only Test matches while Tendulkar is playing round the year 4-6 series including Test Match, One-Day Cricket and T20s, yet he manages himself to keep fit and played equal number cricket as Bradman played in terms years. Bradman played for 20 years and Tendulkar yet playing and is in 21st year of his International career. Important thing is Bradman got the break from cricket for few years due to World War while Tendulkar is playing continuously for 20 years. So here also Tendulkar is greater than Bradman.

So at the end I come to the conclusion that Sachin Tendulkar is greater than Don Bradman without a shadow of doubt and I feel comparison must stop here itself.

Lastly Tendulkar has to be awarded Bharat Ratna and Knighthood as soon as possible.