Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
IPL Season 3 - Halfway
All 8 teams have played 6 matches except MI and DC, who have played 5 matches. The positions of different teams and how they have played till now gives a inkling of how they are likely to perform in future.
MI and RCB are looking settled and they are likely to go through to semis. MI, with Tendulkar at helm, is looking formidable to go all the way through. But one can never safely predict in this fickle format. Remember what happened to DD in the last season.
DC are doing OK. They are not performing as well as last year as bowling attack is missing sharpness.
CSK, as in last 2 seasons, is without good bowling attack but their batting line up is extremely good. They may have lost few matches in a row but they still are contenders for semis spot.
At the start of season 3 DD were looking very powerful as their team was settled but injuries to Nehra and Gambhir have cost them dearly. The balance is missing but somehow they are still perfoming well. Gambhir's return may augur well for them.
RR is looking more weak then it was in last 2 seasons. Watson is playing to Australia, Smith and Dmitri are injured and Jadeja is not playing. But still they have started gelling well as team.
KKR is looking better than they were in the last year. Unnecessary controversies were very costly. They, in all probability will do much better than last spot of IPL season 2.
KXIP are a poor shadow of first two seasons. Neither their batting order nor their bowling is looking settled. It looks as if Sangakara's captaincy is brewing unrest in the team.
The best thing is India can look forward to new breed of talented youngsters.
MI and RCB are looking settled and they are likely to go through to semis. MI, with Tendulkar at helm, is looking formidable to go all the way through. But one can never safely predict in this fickle format. Remember what happened to DD in the last season.
DC are doing OK. They are not performing as well as last year as bowling attack is missing sharpness.
CSK, as in last 2 seasons, is without good bowling attack but their batting line up is extremely good. They may have lost few matches in a row but they still are contenders for semis spot.
At the start of season 3 DD were looking very powerful as their team was settled but injuries to Nehra and Gambhir have cost them dearly. The balance is missing but somehow they are still perfoming well. Gambhir's return may augur well for them.
RR is looking more weak then it was in last 2 seasons. Watson is playing to Australia, Smith and Dmitri are injured and Jadeja is not playing. But still they have started gelling well as team.
KKR is looking better than they were in the last year. Unnecessary controversies were very costly. They, in all probability will do much better than last spot of IPL season 2.
KXIP are a poor shadow of first two seasons. Neither their batting order nor their bowling is looking settled. It looks as if Sangakara's captaincy is brewing unrest in the team.
The best thing is India can look forward to new breed of talented youngsters.
A logical deduction - DD is the best team of IPL Season 2010
Indian squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2010:
MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma
There are 4 players from DD, 2 each from CSK, KXIP, RCB, MI & RR (if Jadeja is still considered part of RR) and 1 from DC. There is no player from KKR.
By sheer numbers, it seems that, DD has best Indian lineup. Unfortunately 2 out of 4 are not playing in IPL 3 due to Injuries and DD is not doing as well as last year.
Does it mean KKR is the worst team in the competition?
MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma
There are 4 players from DD, 2 each from CSK, KXIP, RCB, MI & RR (if Jadeja is still considered part of RR) and 1 from DC. There is no player from KKR.
By sheer numbers, it seems that, DD has best Indian lineup. Unfortunately 2 out of 4 are not playing in IPL 3 due to Injuries and DD is not doing as well as last year.
Does it mean KKR is the worst team in the competition?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Why is Rajasthan team called Rajasthan Royals?
Read it on Cricinfo
Rajasthan Royals at their globalising best today. An Englishman born in South Africa is opening with a batsman from Madhya Pradesh. The players who follow represent the following teams: Vidarbha, Baroda, Western Australia/Notts, Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Hampshire/Victoria, Mumbai, Gujarat and South Australia. Now someone please tell me why they are called the Rajasthan Royals?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
And the winner of wooden spoon is
IPL Season 3, 2010
It looks as if there is tough contention between KXIP and RR to get the woosen spoon. KXIP has lost 3 out of 3. Apart from few individual brilliances, they are yet to play as a team.
As for RR, check my earlier post Or is it Royals are doing the KKR?
It looks as if there is tough contention between KXIP and RR to get the woosen spoon. KXIP has lost 3 out of 3. Apart from few individual brilliances, they are yet to play as a team.
As for RR, check my earlier post Or is it Royals are doing the KKR?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Alas! DD lost but it not so sad
IPL Season 3, 2010
DD v. MI Ist Match
I am a staunch DD supporter having stayed most of my life in Delhi. I was definitely sad when DD lost yesterday. Winning is never easy when opposition posts 200+ total on the board. Moreover DD lost one of the best T20 batsmen and their captain right at the starting of the match; it made the arduous task much more difficult.
But like every SRT fan, I was more than pleased to his batting. It is true that he plays for MI but he is an icon of our age. He took the game away from DD; bowlers just didn't have answer to his range of shots. His batting was riskfree to the extent of being faultless. May he do even better in forthcoming days but not at the expense of DD.
Signed
Confused SRT and DD fan...
DD v. MI Ist Match
I am a staunch DD supporter having stayed most of my life in Delhi. I was definitely sad when DD lost yesterday. Winning is never easy when opposition posts 200+ total on the board. Moreover DD lost one of the best T20 batsmen and their captain right at the starting of the match; it made the arduous task much more difficult.
But like every SRT fan, I was more than pleased to his batting. It is true that he plays for MI but he is an icon of our age. He took the game away from DD; bowlers just didn't have answer to his range of shots. His batting was riskfree to the extent of being faultless. May he do even better in forthcoming days but not at the expense of DD.
Signed
Confused SRT and DD fan...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Or is it Royals are doing the KKR?
IPL Season 3
This is in continuation to my last post KKR is doing the Royals
RR has lost 2 games in a row and they seem to lack energy. Except for Pathan's 100, their bith batting or bowling looks wobbly. To add to this there are some unhappy surprises - Smith and Dmitri are injured and unlikely to play further.
This is in continuation to my last post KKR is doing the Royals
RR has lost 2 games in a row and they seem to lack energy. Except for Pathan's 100, their bith batting or bowling looks wobbly. To add to this there are some unhappy surprises - Smith and Dmitri are injured and unlikely to play further.
Monday, March 15, 2010
KKR is doing the Royals
IPL Season 3, 2010
It is still early days this season; both KKR and Royals have played 2 matches each. But it looks, as if KKR is following the footsteps of Royals of 2008.
In 2008 Royals were written off before the tournament started as they didn't have star power. They were ably led by an inspirational captain who won them the tournament. Can KKR repeat the history with Saurav Ganguly?
It is still early days this season; both KKR and Royals have played 2 matches each. But it looks, as if KKR is following the footsteps of Royals of 2008.
In 2008 Royals were written off before the tournament started as they didn't have star power. They were ably led by an inspirational captain who won them the tournament. Can KKR repeat the history with Saurav Ganguly?
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Delhi Daredevils - Would they be third time lucky?
IPL Season 3, 2010
I sincerely hope so. And I will passionatley root for them. There are no points for guessing which team do I support. :) Still the question is can they go all the way?
They have the team, tenacity, brilliance and above all pedigree to win the tournament. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Some of the the things that may go against them this season:
1. There is o Glenn McGrath
2. There is a new bowling coach as TA Sekar over to Mumbai. This one and the point above may not have direct bearing on the team as a coach works at the back end while McGrath didn't even get a game in IPL season 2. But things change when 2 senior bowling experts leave the camp. I hope the change is not too bad as the new coach is extremely good.
3. The other teams, especially DC, MI and RC are more formidable & settled then before.
4. DD's best spinner (in fact the world's best), Daniel Vettori, is on national duty.
I sincerely hope so. And I will passionatley root for them. There are no points for guessing which team do I support. :) Still the question is can they go all the way?
They have the team, tenacity, brilliance and above all pedigree to win the tournament. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Some of the the things that may go against them this season:
1. There is o Glenn McGrath
2. There is a new bowling coach as TA Sekar over to Mumbai. This one and the point above may not have direct bearing on the team as a coach works at the back end while McGrath didn't even get a game in IPL season 2. But things change when 2 senior bowling experts leave the camp. I hope the change is not too bad as the new coach is extremely good.
3. The other teams, especially DC, MI and RC are more formidable & settled then before.
4. DD's best spinner (in fact the world's best), Daniel Vettori, is on national duty.
It is so unlike last year
IPL season 3 - 2010
1. Ex-ICL players are part of the tournament.
2. The tournament is happening in India despite security concerns and subtle threats from foreign players and Federation of International Cricketers' Associations(FICA).
3. No Pakistan cricketer is playing. There are many theories doing the rounds for their non-participation but that is part of another story
4. All teams look formidable to go through to semis - It is still early days but last year you could still count out few teams.
Like last year there is still lot of buzz and moolah. Let the best team win...
1. Ex-ICL players are part of the tournament.
2. The tournament is happening in India despite security concerns and subtle threats from foreign players and Federation of International Cricketers' Associations(FICA).
3. No Pakistan cricketer is playing. There are many theories doing the rounds for their non-participation but that is part of another story
4. All teams look formidable to go through to semis - It is still early days but last year you could still count out few teams.
Like last year there is still lot of buzz and moolah. Let the best team win...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Yipee! Starting tomorrow we will have overdose of cricket...
Or would it be under dose? For test connoisseurs, it definitely would definitely be an under dose. In a test match 90 overs are bowled during a day with healthy competition between bat and bowl. Whereas from tomorrow onwards we will watch 7 week long IPL extravaganza with only 40 overs bowled during a day. And bowlers being treated as second class citizens.
I am not trying to marginalize T20 cricket. I am great fan of all 3 formats of cricket as each format needs different type of skills. I just feel sad for bowlers who are slogged mercilessly all around the park. Maybe in next few years bowlers will develop new weapons for T20 cricket or we will see some changes in rules. Till that time let's enjoy our cricket.
One thing is definitely sure the cricketers will enjoy overdose of fans...
I am not trying to marginalize T20 cricket. I am great fan of all 3 formats of cricket as each format needs different type of skills. I just feel sad for bowlers who are slogged mercilessly all around the park. Maybe in next few years bowlers will develop new weapons for T20 cricket or we will see some changes in rules. Till that time let's enjoy our cricket.
One thing is definitely sure the cricketers will enjoy overdose of fans...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Aamir Khan might take an affront
Everyone knows Austrains are competitive but this is also good
Australian team has a "handful of idiots": John Reid
Australian team has a "handful of idiots": John Reid
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