Royal Challengers Commit Suicide

So its looking like its going well for the home team at Bangalore against the as-yet-unbeaten Chennai SuperKings. Two batsmen have gotten 50s, and the team needs to score at a comfortable 8 runs an over with 7 wickets in hand. Looks like its going to be an easy win from here for the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

But then, inexplicably, the Royal Challengers just throw away their wickets. Rahul Dravid leads from the front, getting out on the very first ball - Yet Again! This is just absurd. How can a team collapse so thoroughly in just 5 overs?!? They must have been practicing!

The Bangalore Royal Challengers have put on disappointing performance after disappointing performance, with the team absolutely leaderless. Dravid is clearly having a lot of trouble adjusting to the Twenty20 format, both in terms of batting and captaincy. He’d better call up his India team-mate Dhoni, who, by the way, is doing a spectacular job for the Chennai SuperKings with the bat, the gloves and the captaincy hat.

Well done Dhoni! You’ve truly shown that you deserve to be the highest paid cricketer in the IPL!

No More CSK Ambassador

One more off the field controversy now. Nayanatara, Tamil film actress has been dropped as brand ambassador of Chennai Super Kings with immediate effect. As per the contract, Nayanatara had to appear for all the 7 matches of home team played at Chennai. Nayanatara did not turn up for the first match at home for Chennai IPL team against Mumbai on April 23. This apparently had irked the owner of franchise, Gurunath Meiyappan of India cements, which resulted in the omission of the actress.

Deal was signed for Rs.40 lakhs of which the actress was paid Rs.20 lakhs as advance. Now, Gurunath wants her to return back Rs.15 lakhs paid with Rs.5 lakhs being paid to her for her appearance in the inaugural function. On the other side, Nayanatara who was shooting in Hyderabad, maintains that she had fainted on the sets of Kuselan and was hospitalized, whereas the official communication from franchise states that they were kept in dark about this event till the start of the match.

DY Patil Stadium looks Gorgeous!

Mumbai’s brand new Dr. D.Y. Patil stadium hosted its first IPL match yesterday between the hosts Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers. Apart from the blistering fastest-hundred-in-the-IPL-yet from Adam Gilchrist, the newest stadium in Mumbai was looking gorgeous!

The capacity crowd that game in was impressed too. It has three levels all around and can seat 55,000 people! The speciality of the stadium, apparently, is some new design that eliminates the need for pillars in the middle of the stands, giving spectators an unobstructed view of the match. The commentators also told us that the dressing rooms were exquisite, and the brand new seats were all very comfortable too. Interestingly, it apparently also has tennis courts and indoor badminton courts!

This is great news for infrastructure in India. We need a lot more stadia like these to suppliment the fireworks of the IPL.

IPL Cheerleaders under threat!!!

Well sometimes people just need to get a life.

One of the biggest plus points of the 20-20 format is the entire packaging. Everything from the time factor , pace, the way the players are seated in the dug-out, the cheerleaders, the performances makes it a good experience.

Well im still skeptical about the IPL though it has started with a bang and i still feel Subhash Chandra of ICL deserves some credit because BCCI are just cashing in. But im here to tackle something more grave....

Today the news channels were all running a story on the proposed ban on the cheerleaders in the IPL. Well my first reaction was "this is crap".........i mean these cheerleaders have been "imported" from US and they are actually training an Indian group of cheerleaders as well..........and clearly they are hot.........so who's the loser.....us......

Shatrugan Sinha says organisers are making a mockery of cricket. This ban has been proposed by the Maharashtra Government. I mean this is the height of hypocrisy. At one end you have your Rakhi Sawants and Mallaika Aroras getting paid in lakhs to perform on stage with even lesser clothes and then these people say this(cheerleaders) is degrading to the women and must be banned.

This is clearly the thing with us Indians, we claim to be moving forward and then we do something like this. Moreover they are fighting against this on the grounds of technicality claiming they do not have performance licences.

This is just too frustrating............one more argument was that there are people to cheer the teams and we don't need cheerleaders. WTF man.........the baseball games and basketball games in the US have more viewers and great crowds but its such a prestigious thing for them, cheerleaders have to go through rigorous training to get there.

Every time theres a 4 or a 6 or a wicket these guys just spring up and give their best and maintain their energy levels throughout and one must give them some credit for that.......if Bollywood can have meaningless item nos. then why not one for the IPL, well bollywood has come together with cricket here right???

I’ve always loved that statement. “Against Indian Culture”. It’s brilliantly ambiguous and convenient, and can be used to cover just about every topic under the sun. For starters I don’t believe in the existence of an “Indian culture”. No one in their right mind would ever equate Punjabi and Tamillian culture. Butter chicken might well be against Tamillian culture, and so on.

Maybe the government objects to the fact that “girls” are being used, since it didn’t seem to have a problem with Akshay Kumar throwing his shirt into the crowd. “Dances” ? Hmm, maybe the government expects us to stand at attention during an exciting cricket match ? That too seems unlikely. Which of course leads me to conclude that the only word in that statement which the government actually objects to is the part where the girls are “clad”. No need to go any further there, especially since the other day some guy who commented on my post on The IPL Blog told me he was still at school ! Close your eyes kid ! Don’t read this !

Seriously though I don’t see why there’s such a big fuss over this whole issue. Hours of media time are being wasted on an insignificant issue. At least I get to post an entry on The IPL Blog ! Sadly I don’t think that’s the case with all the politicians and T.V. channels. Maybe it’s a good thing ! Think about Shatrughan Sinha on The IPL Blog!

Sachin's absence prolongs agony

With Sachin Tendulkar continuing to miss matches in the IPL - the Sunday game against Team Hyderabad was the fourth he missed - people are beginning to compare the Mumbai Indians with the Mumbai team in the ICL, Mumbai Champs.

The Mumbai Champs' skipper Brian Lara played just a few matches in the inaugural edition, but missed all in the next one. And he cost Rs four crore. Sachin's case may turn out to be similar but Mumbai fans are getting impatient because the team needs the charismatic Sachin to lift their drooping spirits after three losses.

So why is Sachin's recovery taking time? According to orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dilip Nadkarni, who has worked at international tennis and squash events, rest is the only cure for a groin injury. Said the doc,"There is no surgery for groin injury. It is the body's repair mechanism that has to work. If there has been an old injury, a tear, the latest tear will take more time."

Sachin had the groin problem in Australia and team doc John Gloster had advised rest but he played the first Test against SA. The moot point was whether Sachin took adequate rest as advised by Gloster.

Happy belated B’day: Sachin's Top Five

The genius turned 35. For nearly two decades now, he's enthralled millions worldwide with his sheer brilliance. Do we expect more outstanding performances from him in the future? Only time will tell. It would be foolish to write him off - I personally look forward to watching him bat as only he can.

On a birthday which the entire cricketing community celebrates, as a humble fan-tribute I'd like to describe five of his best that I have seen (I begun watching him play from the 1996 World Cup).

1. 169 v/s South Africa at Cape Town
(2 Jan 1997)

During the initial phase of his captaincy, Sachin and Azhar got together at 58 for 5 in reply to an imposing South African total of over 500 at Newlands. What followed was an epic partnership in which both players matched each other stroke for stroke. They showed complete disdain for the likes of lightning fast Donald, immaculate Pollock, young tearaway quick Klusener and Brian McMillan. Sachin produced some beautiful hooks and square cuts, even playing on the up with ease. The partnership ended when Azhar was run out, yet Sachin continued till the end and was the last wicket to fall. Even though India went on to lose the match, it was a magnificent counterattack.

2. 104 off 97 balls v/s Zimbabwe at Benoni
(9 Feb 1997)

It was a do-or-die match for India. Surprised in the initial stages of the triangular ODI series by the Zimbabwean seam attack, India had to win at an increased run-rate to qualify for the finals. The target 241 off 40 overs. The pressure was on the Indian batsmen with an indifferent record in the series. India lost a couple of wickets early, but then Sachin began turning the screws - dancing down the track to play lofted shots straight down the wicket. The Zimbabwean hero of the series, Eddo Brandes, was taken to the cleaners early on as he was taken for 18 runs in an over in his first spell. Although Sachin got out with the end in sight, Jadeja and an in-form Robin Singh took India home in the final overs.

3. 143 off 131 balls v/s Australia at Sharjah
(22 April 1998)

An innings which needs no description. A couple of days before his 25th birthday, India again were in a do-or-die situation, needing to chase and score 237 off 46 overs to qualify for the finals. Not a daunting target, but as usual, Sachin was running out of partners pretty fast - Mongia contributed as a pinch-hitter and Laxman stuck around near the end, but that was it. As some of the newspapers described it the next day "A storm of runs in the midst of a sandstorm". Play was interrupted in between, but Sachin put on a belter of a display, hitting five towering sixes in the process. Not only did India qualify for the finals, at one stage it looked like Sachin would dispatch any delivery bowled to him outside the ropes. He followed up this innings with a particularly classy 134 in the finals, helping India win the Coca-cola Cup in the process, on his birthday.

4. 136 v/s Pakistan at Chennai
(28 January 1999)

Perhaps his best test knock ever. Also, perhaps the most tragic. Reduced to 82 for 5 while chasing a target in excess of 270 on the final day of a dusty track, India looked towards its favourite son to deliver - and boy, did he deliver! Finding an able partner in Nayan Mongia (again!) who was willing to stick around, Sachin fought the pitch and his own back to produce a gem of an innings. Finally his back gave way and he departed with India just 16 behind and three wickets in hand. Pakistan won by 12 runs. It definitely has to be the best test innings to end in defeat.

5. 98 off 75 balls v/s Pakistan at Centurion
(1 March 2003)

An innings which powered India's charge to the finals in the 2003 World Cup. Talks of Sachin being past his prime were doing the rounds prior to the team touching down in South Africa. All of that was cast aside as Sachin toyed with the star-studded bowling lineup of Akram, Waqar and Shoaib Akhtar to set up India's run-chase and qualify for the super sixes. His six over third man off Shoaib became legendary, to say the least. He was unfortunate to miss out on a hundred as cramps took over, but Yuvraj and Dravid saw the team safely through the end overs.

All of these are examples which epitomize the fire, passion, class and pure genius that is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. I salute you on your 35th birthday. May you continue to delight us for days to come!

Double-bluffs and goof-ups – Best moments of yesterday’s match

Jaw-dropping shot of the day

Brendon McCullum briefly threatened to reprise his smash-a-thon. The shot that would have caused the most jaws to drop was the six in the third over, when he pulled Jacob Oram off the front foot, a shot so ferociously struck that it sailed over midwicket for a big six. It was just slightly short but more than enough for McCullum. He had already reclaimed the orange cap from Kumar Sangakkara, an honour bestowed on the highest scorer in the tournament.

Double bluff

Oram got his revenge with the next ball: a fuller one that slightly left the batsman. McCullum's flick didn't work and the leading edge ballooned straight up for extra cover. The next ball produced another wicket. It was full and in the slot for the drive but the slightly slower pace undid Ricky Ponting, who drove straight to cover, and fell for his second successive duck of the tournament.

Saha runs out of luck

Wriddhiman Saha paddled, top-edged and tried innovative sweeps to break the shackles. Up against an accurate Manpreet Gony, the medium-pacer, he top-edged a four over the keeper before replicating a similar shot for six, way over the ropes. Gony, visibly frustrated, followed up with a full, quick, in-ducker and was duly rewarded: Saha castled by one that ripped through the yawning gap between bat and pad.

Shukla goofs up

It was an unusual way to be run-out but credit must go to the Chennai fielders for thinking on their feet. With two balls to go in the innings, Laxmi Ratan Shukla couldn't put away a yorker but Ishant strangely seemed intent to get the strike. Dhoni immediately threw the ball back to the bowler (Joginder Sharma) and Ishant had run too far. The bowler, though, didn't take the bails off immediately and waited for Ishant to start his walk to the pavilion. Once Ishant got into the striker's end, Dhoni spotted Shukla out of the crease and signalled to Joginder to take the bails off. It prompted Parthiv Patel to rush the bowler and urge him to break the stumps. One batsmen misjudged the run but the other had to go.

King Khan missing

After cheering his side for the first two matches, Shah Rukh Khan was nowhere to be seen today. He and his Bollywood retinue egged on the Kolkata side in their previous match but here they had to make do with Juhi Chawla, the actress, trying her best to cheer them on in the stands.

Power one, caress the next

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has shown to be a versatile batsman and nothing exemplified it more than his two shots off Shukla towards the end of the run-chase. The first, a wide ball, was slashed away furiously through third man for four before the second, a full one on off, was paddled deliciously past short fine leg. First the grenade, then the flower.

You know why Bhajji slapped Sree?

It seems there was an off-camera incident yesterday, after the Mumbai Indians lost yet another match to the Kings XI. It seems after the match, Sreesanth walked up to Bajji and said “Hard Luck”. This apparently pushed Bajji over the edge and he slapped Sreesanth.

Harbhajan Singh has courted several controversies in his career but slapping his teammate Sreesanth after the Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI in Mohali Friday night will be right up there in the off-spinners' list of misdemeanors.

The tweaker, better known as the 'Turbanator', has a poor disciplinary record and has time and again landed in soup for his tongue. Known for losing his cool at the slightest provocation, Harbhajan's run-ins with the Australians are well documented.

IPL Teams - PROGRESS REPORT after 1st week

All teams have played at least two match each in the season. Lets look what they have done and what they have to offer…The points given for batting, fielding and bowling are calculated considering what has been done in the concluded matches plus what they are likely to do in the future course of the league.

Royal Challengers
This team looks in better shape after their first win in the second match.Opening looks solid with Chanderpaul replacing Jaffer. Dravid might not be the bludgeoner but his presence at crease is calming to the nerves of the squad. Kallis and Boucher seem to be coming into form and it spells ominous for the opponents.

Fielding looks sharp. Virat Kohli has showed flashes of brilliance in the field and with the bat in hand.

Bowling is good and arrival of Steyn and a fit Kumble will make matters difficult to manage for opposing sides.

Batting – 7 out of 10
Fielding – 8 out of 10
Bowling – 8 out of 10 (but it could easily go to 9 or even 9.5 with Kumble and Steyn joining)

Chennai Super Kings
Hayden and Hussey have pulled of the two wins for the team. Raina, Parthiv, Dhoni and Badrinath are also middling the ball. But with Hayden, Hussey and Oram set to leave after two matches, the batting will be considerably weakened.

Fielding is very good and is likely to be the same even after the departure of the stars. Raina, Badrinath and Parthiv will look to pull of half chances in the field.

Murali is bowling very well and so are Joginder Sharma, Gony and Amarnath. Bowling will be further strengthened by the arrival of Makhaya Ntini.

Batting – 7.5 out of 10
Fielding – 9 out of 10
Bowling – 7 out of 10

Deccan Chargers
With three losses in three games, the team looks to be out of sorts but it is only half truth. The team was caught on the wrong foot batting first on a disaster of a cricketing pitch at Kolkata. They went down fighting against Rajasthan Royals. They are likely to pick up in next few matches.

Arrival of Gibbs will add fire power to the line up. But they will badly miss Symonds when he leaves for West Indies. At the moment, captain Laxman looks to be the weak link owing to his inability in scoring quick runs.

Apart from Rohit Sharma, Symonds and Afridi, fielding is average.

Bowling looks reasonably fine and will be strengthened when Styris replaces Symonds.

Batting – 8 out of 10
Fielding – 7.5 out of 10
Bowling – 7 out of 10

Delhi Daredevils
This is the team that looks to be on fire, steam rolling. Batting looks solid but hasn’t yet been really tested. And this could be there only undoing. Sehwag is bound to hit some and miss some. But when he hits he will more often than not win the match for his team.

This is the best fielding side in the league. De Villiers or Dilshan joining the eleven will only make it sharper.

The bowling looks superb with Mc Grath, Asif, Maharoof and Vettori not ready to offer any loose balls. But the truth is that, nobody has tried to take the attack to them as yet.

Batting – 7.5 out of 10
Fielding – 10 out of 10
Bowling – 9 out of 10

Kings XI Punjab
They have lost both their matches and one was to Rajasthan Royals. They undoubtedly have world class batsmen but seem to lack fire power. Apart from Hopes and Yuvraj nobody has shown the ability to hit big sixes.

Fielding is quite good but it can only supplement the bowling which is not in tune at the moment.

On paper, they have a very good bowling attack but have been unable to perform. Sreesanth has not had control. Lee’s pace is aiding shot making. Piyush Chawla has been totally ineffective. But encouragingly, Pathan seems to be in a very good rhythm. The good with them is that, things can only get better.

Batting – 7.5 out of 10
Fielding – 9 out of 10
Bowling – 8 out of 10

Kolkata Knight Riders
Knights seem to be riding on the laurels of Mc Cullum and a poorly tailored pitch. Batting has got a boost with the arrival of Gayle. But when Ponting and Mc Cullum leave after next two matches, it will be a big jolt. Ganguly is in no form at all and doesn’t look fit for this version of the game. David Hussey and Hafeez could be the men to look out for.

Hussey, Ponting and Hafeez are good fielders but not much to speak about else.

Ishant Sharma and Murali Kartik have been the stand out bowlers. They have shown tremendous accuracy and control. Inclusion of Gul would give an extra edge.

Batting – 6.5 out of 10
Fielding – 7 out of 10
Bowling – 9 out of 10

Mumbai Indians
Although the team has lost both its matches but they have been very closely fought. Youngsters have encouraged one and all and a fit Tendulkar would spell ominous for oppositions.

Batting has looked good but they are missing the presence of Tendulkar at the top. Uthappa looks in good knick and Nayar has impressed with some lusty hitting. Also Jayasuriya and Ronchi must stand and be counted now.

Fielding is reasonable with Uthappa and Harbhajan leading the way.

All the bowlers have been good in patches, but they need to get their act together now. Pollock and Nehra should take the responsibility up front.

Batting – 8 out of 10
Fielding – 8 out of 10
Bowling – 8 out of 10

Rajasthan Royals
Everybody had written them off before the tournament and nobody believe the CEO, Fraser Castellino when he said that they had a strategy and had formed a good team for T20 cricket. They nailed Kings XI first and then shot down pre tournament favorites, Chargers on their home turf.

Batting may not be that star studded but is certainly effective. Yusuf Pathan, Watson and Jadeja can hit big and Kaif can grind and hold and Smith can play both the roles. Kamran Akmal could massacre the bowlers on his day. When Mascarenhas joins in, it would be party time.

Fielding is very good. Pathan, Kaif, Smith and Watson are live wires on the field. Munaf lets them down in fielding at times.

Bowling has not been that good but Warne seems to be getting in the groove and Siddharth Trivedi, the youngsters has shown that he is special. The advantage they have is that, they have many options.

Batting – 7.5 out of 10
Fielding – 9 out of 10
Bowling – 7 out of 10

Royal Challengers getting Royally Screwed

The Rahul Dravid led Royal Challengers suffered their second defeat at home, and that too at the hands of the “dark horses” Rajasthan Royals. If you saw the game, it was quite clear that the Bangalore team was not jelling together as one team. When Dravid was asked at the start of the game how he was “adjusting” to T20, he replied “oh, its great fun, you know… blah blah”. And when he came in to bat, he was out, the very first ball.

The Royal Challengers in my opinion are having the same problem the Deccan Chargers are. They have a good team on paper, with lots of big-ticket names, but they’re not doing a good job playing as a team. Twenty20 in particular needs a very agressive vibe on the field, during both batting and feilding.

Compare these to the Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals. I must say, Shane Warne has done a spectacular job leading the team both as captain and as coach. The youngsters in the Jaipur side were all behind their captain, they all knew what exactly they were supposed to do, and how to co-ordinate amongst themselves. They looked very sure of themselves on the team.

The Royal Challengers, on the other hand, looked completely lost at their own home ground. Well, its still early days in the game, and things can change rapidly, but the Royal Challengers need to pull together, and quickly.

Aussies Dominating IPL!!

The Australian players are thoroughly dominating the IPL series in the Indians’ own backyards! Splitting up the IPL teams nation-wise is probably not a good idea, but lets just do it for experiment’s sake. When you look at the IPL that way, it is quite clear that the best has by far come from the Aussies. The Hussey brothers have smashed match-winning knocks, Hayden is scoring big every game, Symonds hit the fastest 100, Watson is being increasingly confident with the bat. And the deadly trio of Warne, McGrath and Bret Lee have lifted the quality of bowling in the Twenty20 format. I can’t but resist and ask the question: Why is this?

One obvious answer is that the Aussies are probably the best team in the world, and even their individual players are capable of pulling out miracles by themselves. That, although factually true, doesn’t really explain it for me. We know of a few other Indian players that fit that qualification, but are not doing too well in their own home grounds.

I think the bigger reason is that of motivation. First, and obviously, is the money. The Aussies can make significantly more money by playing in the IPL, and they seem to have a strong desire to come back next year. And the player-trading game and salary-negotiations-game are all looking like they’ll start next year, and the Aussies want to capitalize on this. There are some obviously overpaid and underpaid players in this season, and it is inevitable that a rationalization will take place at the end of the series. The Aussies look to benefit the most!

The second reason is the raw will to dominate all forms of cricket. The Australians have not been taking Twenty20 very seriously over the last few years, preferring to focus on their traditional strengths of Test Matches are ODIs. But after Twenty20 suddenly burst on the screen this year, the Australians now can’t get their heads off of it.

Whatever the reason, its great entertainment watching these folks play everyday. But the party for the Australians is going to come to an end soon, with several of the players returning this week to play for the national side. We’ll see what happens after that!

TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN…

Cheerleaders are taking Indian cricket by storm, but some are wondering if this conservative South Asian nation is ready for dancers with bulging breasts and gyrating bellies parading in packed stadia.

Many foreign cheerleaders have been imported to India with this month's inauguration of the India Premier League (IPL): a shortened form of traditional cricket that transforms the game into a more glitzy US-style sponsored sport event.

But some outraged politicians say it is an affront to Indian culture while a few of the cheerleaders themselves complain lewd comment and insults from spectators is making their job a misery.

The self-proclaimed moral police of Monday attacked the cheerleader concept that has been imported to India. Minister of State for Home Siddharam Mhetre apparently finds the cheerleaders “absolutely obscene”, and finds it especially disgusting since we are in a country where “Womanhood is worshiped”. He’s talking about a ban on cheerleaders, and will certainly not allow them to perform in Mumbai.

I wonder if the honorable minister has been watching Bollywood item numbers lately? He may have a point, but this holier-than-thou attitide is not winning him any friends (but it may win him lots of votes, unfortunately).

Be associated with everything popular and make a controversy. That’s what the rule book these so called ‘moral police’ follow.
I hate this vote bank politicians. They need some REAL work to do. There are many issues to be tackled before you talk about woman worship and other such politically correct sounding nonsense. Control female infanticide first, you moronic Babus.

"It's been horrendous," Tabitha, a cheerleader from Uzbekistan,

"Wherever we go we do expect people to pass lewd, snide remarks but I'm shocked by the nature and magnitude of the comments people pass here."

Who’s leaving and Who’s coming?

The coming weeks will see some Australian, New Zealand and West Indian players leaving to play for their countries. Lets take a stock of who’s leaving and who’s coming in. The re-org would shake up teams a bit in their upcoming matches which could reflect in the final result.

Bangalore Royal Challengers
Ashley Noffke and Ross Taylor leave on May 1
Shivnarine Chanderpaul will leave on May 15
Misbah-ul-Haq has arrived
Dale Steyn will arive on April 27

Chennai Super Kings
Hayden and Hussey leave on May 1
Jacob Oram catches the flight on April 30
Stephen Fleming will not be on bench
Makhaya Ntini will arrive on April 27

Delhi Daredevils
Daniel Vettori leaves on April 30
AB de Villiers will arrive on April 27

Deccan Chargers
Andrew Symonds will leave on May 1
Gibbs will get into action

Rajasthan Royals
No one’s leaving
Graeme Smith, Younis Khan, Sohail Tanveer have arrived
Dimitri Mascarenhas will available between May 12 to 26

Kolkata Knight Riders
McCullum will leave on April 30
Ponting will leave on May 1
Chris Gayle will leave on May 15
Salman Butt, Tatenda Taibu and Umar gul will fill the void

Kings XI Punjab
Brett Lee, Simon Katich and Kyle Mills will leave on April 28
No foreign replacements coming in

Mumbai Indians

Dwayne Bravo will leave on May 15 Loots Bosman will arrive on April 27 Domnic Thornley will be fit to play from the third match

Deccan chargers - The stoppables

All the star power in one team is not doing any good to the Deccan Chargers. Three consecutive matches lost by the Deccan Chargers. I feel that the bowling is too weak and some innovative captaincy is required from the Deccan team to bounce back. Something is just not working for the team even though they play well. The line of loosing and winning is too thin in Twenty20 and the need to be on the side of winning is what one needs to master in Twenty20.

The match between Super Kings and Mumbai Indians also had a thrilling finish. Super Kings held their nerves to notch a victory. The same scene repeats for Deccan Chargers need to defend 17 runs in their last over and Shane warne belts to glory making the chargers as ‘The Stoppables’ compared to their tag line of ‘The Unstoppables’.

Deccan Chargers need some re-org and need to have some good bowling replacement ordered at the earliest. Few things what Deccan chargers may think of doing…

1. Get a good bowler who can bowl along with RP (Wonder who is available from the International arena)
2. Captaincy to Gilchrist
3. Always bat second when it is a good batting pitch as the bowling is weak
4. Bowl smart
5. May be try Nuwan Zoysa for a match instead of Vassy

New Strategies Start Emerging!

Its been almost 2 weeks since the IPL kicked off, but the intense competition has already seen the rise of a few unique strategies in this format of the game. Here’s some of new strategies and tactics I’ve noticed the players using:

1) The Wicketkeeper’s job has become more difficult
The wicketkeeper is facing all kinds of new problems in the short version of the game. The foremost problem, of course, is that the batsmen are stepping out far more often, and not just against the spinners. This presents the keeper with an interesting problem while the medium pacers are bowling. Should he stand up at the wicket to put some pressure on the batsman? But keeping at the wickets for medium pacers is quite risky, with the batsmen flashing the bat all the time, it makes it difficult to watch the ball. Plus, the batsmen move around the crease all the time, and the wicketkeeper has to keep up with all that.

Yesterday, Ronchi was standing up to Pollock! I saw Gilchrist stand up to Vaas the other day too!

2) The Proliferation of the “Lob” shot.
Apart from the big hitting slogging that the batsmen have been doing, some of them have even perfected what I can best describe as the “lob” shot. It looks like a tennis shot, attempting at hitting a boundary over fine leg. This shot was rarely seen in the ODI format (and certainly not in the Test format), but batsmen have now adapted it for Twenty20. Hayden was yesterday playing the “reverse lob” with some success too!

After the game, one of the commentators caught up with Hayden and asked him if he’d been practicing the shot, and Hayden was not ashamed to admit he was! He said, rightly so, that in T20, these kinds of shots are essential in a batsman’s armory. Well done! Innovation at its best!

3) The return of the full toss.
I’m not sure this is a “feature or a bug”, but I’ve noticed that bowlers are using the full toss with increasing frequency in T20. The reason I say this might be an un-intended ball is that bowlers are mostly looking to hit the block-hole, and not getting it quite right. The result is a low full toss. But I’m not so sure.

Bajji and Warne (and even McGrath to some extent) have been seen using this ball with success! I think the reasoning is that if you ball it fast enough, the full toss may come as a surprise, and is difficult to hit for a six, especially if it is high enough. And in T20, the one’s and two’s don’t matter as much, it’s preventing the boundaries that matters. It’ll be interesting to watch the matches to see if this ball can become the “slower delivery” equivalent of the ODI.

Apart from these big three, I’ve also noticed some interesting things that I can’t really figure out. For example, have you noticed how there are lots of left-handed batsmen in some teams? The Super Kings had 5 of the 6 top batsmen left handed. I can’t figure out if this is an accident or they’re using some sort of strategy.

Another interesting thing is that the game seems to be going towards specialization instead of all rounders. I don’t have enough data to prove this, but I’m watching this carefully. Have you guys noticed some interesting strategies as well?