DD vs KKR at Eden Gardens, Kolkatta
IPL Season 3
Today was one of those defeats when DD was well ahead till 15th over then wickets started tumbling.
Showing posts with label kkr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kkr. Show all posts
Thursday, April 8, 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?
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, June 28, 2009
Buchanan and the art of remaining profitable
Mr Buchanan, the renowned Australian coach, must have very good communication and self selling abilities which allow him to get new jobs even after sever public criticisms from the people who have worked with him.
Mr. Buchanan was able to retain his job as director of coaching staff for KKR throughout IPL 2 while they lost game after game and finished at the bottom of the league. Many renowned analysts bunked his theories and warned against his way of working but somehow retained his assignment. Some of my earlier posts touch upon his coaching style
Controversies and Team Standings
Realize your mistake and move forward
Foreign players and IPL
After IPL 2 there were rumors that he along with many of his coaching staff members will be fired. And what does he do? He not only gets a new assignment even before he is fired and that too for the most prestigious series in International cricket.
June 17, 2009
Buchanan on his way out of Kolkata Knight Riders
June 10, 2009
Buchanan agrees ECB deal
Even now the criticisms are not dying down but Mr. Buchanan is carrying on. Excerpts from Australia unruffled by Buchanan deal
Shane Watson, who is in the Ashes squad, said Buchanan would have little impact on England's campaign while the retired Stuart MacGill said the move was more likely to hurt England than help them.
MacGill said in the Daily Telegraph. "What won England the Ashes in 2005 was their bowling, and if you look at it now, we got Troy Cooley and they got John Buchanan. Troy Cooley won England the Ashes and John Buchanan lost it for us. I don't begrudge Buck for trying to make a living, but his coaching record in England isn't crash hot. He lost the Ashes and had a stint with Middlesex that also didn't work out."
Shane Warne, one of the strongest critics of Buchanan's coaching methods, couldn't resist another dig at him. Warne reckoned that Buchanan's switch would only motivate Australia to go harder at England.
"I think that's a great move because that means we've got more of a chance," Warne said. "Hopefully, Buck (Buchanan) will be doing his stuff and he'll be working and doing all his things and hopefully overcomplicating things. I reckon it gives our chances a big boost and makes our blokes more hungry. Hopefully, he gets all of them in a boot camp and Freddie (Andrew) Flintoff and (Kevin) Pietersen hurt their knees, that would be great."
Bravo! He must add a coaching course on "How to lure people into giving profitable assignments?" in his portfolio of consulting services. It will be a huge hit in these times of recession.
Mr. Buchanan was able to retain his job as director of coaching staff for KKR throughout IPL 2 while they lost game after game and finished at the bottom of the league. Many renowned analysts bunked his theories and warned against his way of working but somehow retained his assignment. Some of my earlier posts touch upon his coaching style
Controversies and Team Standings
Realize your mistake and move forward
Foreign players and IPL
After IPL 2 there were rumors that he along with many of his coaching staff members will be fired. And what does he do? He not only gets a new assignment even before he is fired and that too for the most prestigious series in International cricket.
June 17, 2009
Buchanan on his way out of Kolkata Knight Riders
June 10, 2009
Buchanan agrees ECB deal
Even now the criticisms are not dying down but Mr. Buchanan is carrying on. Excerpts from Australia unruffled by Buchanan deal
Shane Watson, who is in the Ashes squad, said Buchanan would have little impact on England's campaign while the retired Stuart MacGill said the move was more likely to hurt England than help them.
MacGill said in the Daily Telegraph. "What won England the Ashes in 2005 was their bowling, and if you look at it now, we got Troy Cooley and they got John Buchanan. Troy Cooley won England the Ashes and John Buchanan lost it for us. I don't begrudge Buck for trying to make a living, but his coaching record in England isn't crash hot. He lost the Ashes and had a stint with Middlesex that also didn't work out."
Shane Warne, one of the strongest critics of Buchanan's coaching methods, couldn't resist another dig at him. Warne reckoned that Buchanan's switch would only motivate Australia to go harder at England.
"I think that's a great move because that means we've got more of a chance," Warne said. "Hopefully, Buck (Buchanan) will be doing his stuff and he'll be working and doing all his things and hopefully overcomplicating things. I reckon it gives our chances a big boost and makes our blokes more hungry. Hopefully, he gets all of them in a boot camp and Freddie (Andrew) Flintoff and (Kevin) Pietersen hurt their knees, that would be great."
Bravo! He must add a coaching course on "How to lure people into giving profitable assignments?" in his portfolio of consulting services. It will be a huge hit in these times of recession.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Win some and lose some
Whew! IPL 2009 is over. What a tournament? We won some and lost some. Let review.
It was a well organized tournament courtesy IPL administration and SA spare a "dog" in the first game.
DD were looking invincible all the way till semifinal when Gilly pounded them to submission.
Most valued & most talked about team lost matches and their most admired & reverved owner lost respect even while its marketing team created maximum brand value. Yes we are talking about KKR.
Most derided and bootom placed teams from IPL 2008 finished 1 & 2.
Broadcaster gained after 10th over due to commercial...oops...strategy break...while teams lost momentum in 11th over.
Indian players, who play all 3 forms of game, look jaded after non-stop playing on foreign shores - NZ and SA. Viru, Gauti, Yuvraj and Dhoni didn't perform half as well as they did last year. Zaheer and Ishant were not even as good as second string Indian bowlers. What will happen in ICC T20 championship?
Last but not the least my prediction about semifinalists was only 50% off mark IPL 2009 Semi-finalists :)
It was a well organized tournament courtesy IPL administration and SA spare a "dog" in the first game.
DD were looking invincible all the way till semifinal when Gilly pounded them to submission.
Most valued & most talked about team lost matches and their most admired & reverved owner lost respect even while its marketing team created maximum brand value. Yes we are talking about KKR.
Most derided and bootom placed teams from IPL 2008 finished 1 & 2.
Broadcaster gained after 10th over due to commercial...oops...strategy break...while teams lost momentum in 11th over.
Indian players, who play all 3 forms of game, look jaded after non-stop playing on foreign shores - NZ and SA. Viru, Gauti, Yuvraj and Dhoni didn't perform half as well as they did last year. Zaheer and Ishant were not even as good as second string Indian bowlers. What will happen in ICC T20 championship?
Last but not the least my prediction about semifinalists was only 50% off mark IPL 2009 Semi-finalists :)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Realize your mistake and move forward
Rajasthan Royals
RR was not among favorites before the start of IPL season 2. They lost 2 of their best performers from season 1 due to different reasons - Watson and Tanvir. Analysts were not very confident about Shane Warne's bunch even though they were defending champions. In the initial games RR didn't do anything to belie analysts prediction. They won only 2 of their first 6 games and were languishing at the bottom of points table. One of the games RR won was against hapless KKR; that too was won only by a whisker. In first 6 games their batting was woeful and below par. Smith, one of the stars of IPL season 1 was failing consistently, None of the other batsmen, except for Pathan, was playing up to their potential.
In next 5 games (RR has played 11 matches so far), RR won 3 and also posted tournament's highest total so far - 212. What changed between first 6 games and next 5 games? Warne realized that they have to improve their batting in order to make a dent in IPL season 2. So he recalled Naman Ojha who was sent back to India even before the tournament begun.
Insulting to have been sent back: Naman
Naman Ojha wants to make his journey count
In the 5 games, that Ojha has played so far, he has scored 136 runs at an average of 34. Ojha is now the 4th highest run scorer for RR whereas the top 3 run getters namely Pathan, Jadeja and Smith have each played 10 matches; Jadeja has the highest average among them (27). Ojha has not set the ground on fire with his batting but has made significant contributions for winning cause.
The cardinal point is that Warne realized that team management made a mistake by sending back Ojha and they need to rectify it before it is too late. Now, after 11 games, RR are among the top 4 teams.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK, like RR, were also not doing too well initially even though they started as pre-tournament favorites. CSK's balling was well below par - Flintoff, Gony and Sharma were failing consistently. Batting too was not at its best - even though there was a mini-competition between Hayden and Raina to win Orange cap, rest of the batting was failing badly. In first 5 matches they won only 1 match.
After the initial hiccups, they took some tough decision. They replaced IPL season 1 top bowlers - Gony and Sharma with an unknown name Jakati and a world class player Murli. Flintoff had to leave due to injury. Similarly in batting they replaced Patel with an IPL novice Vijay. All of them performed and today, after 10 games, they are sitting pretty at second place in points table. They won all of their last 5 games. Again the credit goes to Dhoni and team management who realized their mistakes and turned the tide.
Kolkata Knight Riders
I am sure there would have been many more tough decisions that CSK and RR would have taken to improve their standing which are not so apparent. On the other hand KKR are committing mistakes again and again which are apparent to the whole world but not to their world renowned coach. The controversies also are not just dying down.
'Racial rift between KR coaches, players'
Anatomy of Kolkata's disaster
Mr. Khan made a mistake by not listening to Mr. Gavaskar before tournament began. Mr. Gavaskar is respected in cricketing circles not only for his test records but also for his astute cricketing knowledge. I hope Mr. Khan comes out of his silence and acts fast - let their be some more controversies for a better IPL season 3.
RR was not among favorites before the start of IPL season 2. They lost 2 of their best performers from season 1 due to different reasons - Watson and Tanvir. Analysts were not very confident about Shane Warne's bunch even though they were defending champions. In the initial games RR didn't do anything to belie analysts prediction. They won only 2 of their first 6 games and were languishing at the bottom of points table. One of the games RR won was against hapless KKR; that too was won only by a whisker. In first 6 games their batting was woeful and below par. Smith, one of the stars of IPL season 1 was failing consistently, None of the other batsmen, except for Pathan, was playing up to their potential.
In next 5 games (RR has played 11 matches so far), RR won 3 and also posted tournament's highest total so far - 212. What changed between first 6 games and next 5 games? Warne realized that they have to improve their batting in order to make a dent in IPL season 2. So he recalled Naman Ojha who was sent back to India even before the tournament begun.
Insulting to have been sent back: Naman
Naman Ojha wants to make his journey count
In the 5 games, that Ojha has played so far, he has scored 136 runs at an average of 34. Ojha is now the 4th highest run scorer for RR whereas the top 3 run getters namely Pathan, Jadeja and Smith have each played 10 matches; Jadeja has the highest average among them (27). Ojha has not set the ground on fire with his batting but has made significant contributions for winning cause.
The cardinal point is that Warne realized that team management made a mistake by sending back Ojha and they need to rectify it before it is too late. Now, after 11 games, RR are among the top 4 teams.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK, like RR, were also not doing too well initially even though they started as pre-tournament favorites. CSK's balling was well below par - Flintoff, Gony and Sharma were failing consistently. Batting too was not at its best - even though there was a mini-competition between Hayden and Raina to win Orange cap, rest of the batting was failing badly. In first 5 matches they won only 1 match.
After the initial hiccups, they took some tough decision. They replaced IPL season 1 top bowlers - Gony and Sharma with an unknown name Jakati and a world class player Murli. Flintoff had to leave due to injury. Similarly in batting they replaced Patel with an IPL novice Vijay. All of them performed and today, after 10 games, they are sitting pretty at second place in points table. They won all of their last 5 games. Again the credit goes to Dhoni and team management who realized their mistakes and turned the tide.
Kolkata Knight Riders
I am sure there would have been many more tough decisions that CSK and RR would have taken to improve their standing which are not so apparent. On the other hand KKR are committing mistakes again and again which are apparent to the whole world but not to their world renowned coach. The controversies also are not just dying down.
'Racial rift between KR coaches, players'
Anatomy of Kolkata's disaster
Mr. Khan made a mistake by not listening to Mr. Gavaskar before tournament began. Mr. Gavaskar is respected in cricketing circles not only for his test records but also for his astute cricketing knowledge. I hope Mr. Khan comes out of his silence and acts fast - let their be some more controversies for a better IPL season 3.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Foreign players and IPL
I am writing this post while DD and KKR are enjoying their strategy break. The match is interestingly poised as Delhi needs 79 to win from 10 overs with 9 wickets in hand. What could be the better utilization of strategy break?
A news item caught my attention yesterday - Buchanan wants more foreign players. KKR coach wants more than 4 foreign players to be part of playing 11.
Some other coaches have also opined similar thoughts but Buchanan got more media attention as media is always on a lookout for juicy stories from KKR camp. I think this is a preposterous proposition and Buchanan wants to find excuses to justify the poor run of the team so far - KKR has won only 1 match so far out of 8.
Aren't all teams playing with this limitation; if at all this is a limitation? IPL is a domestic tournament and it definitely requires participation of more Indian players. The league is ment to professionalize and improve Indian cricket. In fact the foreign player participation should be reduced to 3 as it is in European soccer clubs. Every country has their own T20 tournament so why this noise for IPL? Is it because team owners has spent lot of money in buying 10-12 foreign players? Or does Buchanan want to pull some wool over the KKR fans?
Let us wait for 2 more years. After the 3rd year, IPL will introduce more teams and maybe then most good foreign players will be optimally utilized. For now, I hope KKR is soon able to win a match for Buchanan sake.
A news item caught my attention yesterday - Buchanan wants more foreign players. KKR coach wants more than 4 foreign players to be part of playing 11.
Some other coaches have also opined similar thoughts but Buchanan got more media attention as media is always on a lookout for juicy stories from KKR camp. I think this is a preposterous proposition and Buchanan wants to find excuses to justify the poor run of the team so far - KKR has won only 1 match so far out of 8.
Aren't all teams playing with this limitation; if at all this is a limitation? IPL is a domestic tournament and it definitely requires participation of more Indian players. The league is ment to professionalize and improve Indian cricket. In fact the foreign player participation should be reduced to 3 as it is in European soccer clubs. Every country has their own T20 tournament so why this noise for IPL? Is it because team owners has spent lot of money in buying 10-12 foreign players? Or does Buchanan want to pull some wool over the KKR fans?
Let us wait for 2 more years. After the 3rd year, IPL will introduce more teams and maybe then most good foreign players will be optimally utilized. For now, I hope KKR is soon able to win a match for Buchanan sake.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Controversies and Team Standings
We are 10 days into IPL season 2. Every team has played at least 3 games. Though all teams look very strong on paper (as was the case in IPL 1) but few teams look better placed than others. Royal Challengers and Knight Riders are languishing at the bottom of team standings. It is still early days to predict the outcome of tournament but, in my opinion, these two teams are unlikely to go to semis.
These two teams have formidable players in their line-up who could walk into any international team, yet they are not able to win matches.
What is ailing these teams? I think team owners and controversies surrounding the teams are to blamed for their lacklustre performance.
BRC have had lesser controversies in this season, but it is apparent that controversies from last season are still haunting them like firing of Charu Sharma and undue pressure on Rahul Dravid when he was their best batsman. In this season they have unceremoniously stripped Rahul Dravid of captaincy. And who became captain - Pietersen. A person who was not thought to be team player, someone who was removed from English captaincy by English Board, someone who had public disagreements with his team coach.
KKR, on the other hand, are in news every other day; albeit for wrong reasons. Multiple captains, blog by an self proclaimed mystery insider, sending back of players are just a few controversies surrounding them. KKR had few controversies in IPL season 1 as well but their media mangement was better.
As long as the controversies surround these teams, they will not be able to perform well. Franchise owners, on their part, have to give team members and support staff some leevay and not put undue pressure on them. They just have to look at the performance of Mumbai Indians and King XI Punjab in IPL 1. Franchise owners never pressurised the team (even though there were rumors which didn't become controversies) when Sachin Tendulkar was sitting out due to injury or when high profile Punjab XI was losing initially. They can also look at Delhi Daredevils - their best bowler from IPL 1, Glenn McGrath, is not playing and still there is no controversy.
These two teams have formidable players in their line-up who could walk into any international team, yet they are not able to win matches.
What is ailing these teams? I think team owners and controversies surrounding the teams are to blamed for their lacklustre performance.
BRC have had lesser controversies in this season, but it is apparent that controversies from last season are still haunting them like firing of Charu Sharma and undue pressure on Rahul Dravid when he was their best batsman. In this season they have unceremoniously stripped Rahul Dravid of captaincy. And who became captain - Pietersen. A person who was not thought to be team player, someone who was removed from English captaincy by English Board, someone who had public disagreements with his team coach.
KKR, on the other hand, are in news every other day; albeit for wrong reasons. Multiple captains, blog by an self proclaimed mystery insider, sending back of players are just a few controversies surrounding them. KKR had few controversies in IPL season 1 as well but their media mangement was better.
As long as the controversies surround these teams, they will not be able to perform well. Franchise owners, on their part, have to give team members and support staff some leevay and not put undue pressure on them. They just have to look at the performance of Mumbai Indians and King XI Punjab in IPL 1. Franchise owners never pressurised the team (even though there were rumors which didn't become controversies) when Sachin Tendulkar was sitting out due to injury or when high profile Punjab XI was losing initially. They can also look at Delhi Daredevils - their best bowler from IPL 1, Glenn McGrath, is not playing and still there is no controversy.
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