Randi bhai

Randi bhai just got hit for 14 runs in a single over and has effectively sealed the game for KKR.

No oh he has got Tiwary out. Randi has got a wikat. And he did not even bowl a no-ball. What has Randi done? He's got Tiwary stumped but not off Sanga Nanga, but off MSD.....Oh boy Randi!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ganguly of yore

The 3 sixes to roudy Ojha in last game by Saurav brought back his memories of duration between 1997 - 2003 when he got 22 ODI centuries and treated every left arm spinner with disdain.....

The young bowlers now would know what makes the Fab 5 the legends they are...And its not the money or endorsements they did but the sheer magic and class they have yet thats proving them too hard to be castled even now......

Perhaps watching the likes of Ganguly, Gilchrist, Warne in their shortened magic is the biggest USP of IPL and thats where it scores over every other disgusting commercial and Bollywood theaterical aspect of the tamasha....

Deja-vu

Another game for KXIP, another defeat and another utterance of word “character” from the world’s richest man in character.  Its amazing that despite having oodles of character and showing it aplenty on the field, the lad chose to pick an Englishman over an Indian selected in World T20 and an express just retired from Tests but selected in T20 Australian to bowl 17^th and 19^th over to virtually seal a defeat for the side.

Showing of character elsewhere leads to victories, but supposedly for this men it leads to defeats.  First to their countries and now their franchisees.

Change of captain in both franchisees (2009 and 2010) led them to be the wooden spoon holders, both were southpaws who were replaced and those who replaced were wicketkeepers. And one of those who was replaced this year is natural successor for the man who was replaced in 2009 in his national Test team.  The coaches who replaced the respective men were Aussies.  One of the replaced men in 2009 led the charge for his team to be # 1 in Tests and when he quit the international game, the 2010 replacement took over his place.

The 2009 replaced man was a mentor to the man replaced in 2010.

Weekend tidbits

Here are a few tidbits on the IPL games over last 2 days :

KXIP vs. KKR

·         Sangakara is not only finding leading a team difficult but he is also finding new ways on how not to lead a team. He was dismissed in a very bizarre way in the game against KKR on Friday and that also earned him a one match ban. All high talks snuffed out.  All plans and minutest details asked by Sangakara as mentioned by Irfan Pathan are now leading to defeats. Plus his handling of Indian players is looking absurd.  He has mishandled Yuvraj Singh, may be with an eye to earn an advantage for his national team in the upcoming World T20.

·         His ex captain was yorked by Angelo Matthews.  Heavens, even he is quiet now. And makes sense. What would he speak?

KKR vs. DD

·         KKR now come back in fray with a victory and now one win over Daredevils should make them in top 4 or 5. Next 6 games at Eden’s would make them hopeful for a strong 2^nd half of the ongoing IPL.

·         Joke to see Dinesh Karthik taking on Sourav Ganguly in today’s IPL game.  The dancing guy takes on India’s greatest captain. Antics? Dance steps?  His batting form is back to what he does the best. One big innings and then string of 10s and 20s.

CSK vs. RR

·         Suresh Raina was out bowled to Shane Warne while going for a wild slog. What was Raina thinking? Is Warne just another Indian spinner ? In the end classics got the better act and Shane Warne showed the class he has so famously shown us for last 19 years.  The attempt to catch a ball off M Vijay was awesome.

·         Y Pathan is proving to be a more hyped affair of IPL – 3. He is shining with the ball and heck even opening the bowling for RR. If that’s not all he is even running out the players. To add more hoopla he is the vice captain of the RR. Wonder if he would do the same magic for Indian team?

·         Badrinath should now be rechristened to Collapsinath. He ran out Dhoni once more by colliding against him and in a older game also he had ran out somebody by colliding. Not remembering the instance, but he should know and learn the art to run singles. Defense or slogging is not the only way to play cricket.

·         M Vijay surprisingly hit 24 runs of Nerwal’s over. 6 6 4 and 4. Wow man, never seen a test batsman hit cleanly like this.

·         The run of CSK here shows that it’s not just captain who makes a team win, but the 10 other players also play a big role in the fortunes. And if India is getting accolades under Dhoni, then it has to be attributed to the players of the ODI and Test teams.

DC vs MI

·         A match that lived up to the expectations. Was one of the best games of the tournament.  MI had just won one of the 4 games vs DC in last 2 editions. Today they won their 2^nd and this was attributed to the roommates – Sachin and Harbhajan.

·         Harbhajan the batsman was on the anvil and he played one of the breathtaking innings in the tournament. And he hit every one who bowled to him. Clean hits. Did we miss seeing that Harbhajan hit Symonds too brutally.  May be he remembered the scenes of Sydney 2008 before him in a flashback.

·         Sachin Tendulkar celebrated the wicket of Adam Gilchrist in first over like he never did before. I never saw him celebrate a wicket like he did in 21 years of watching him. Pure vintage moment.

·         Zaheer Khan yorked Rohit Sharma to end DC innings.  Experience ruling over raw crude force.

·         This match was supposed to be a home game for Deccan, but the crowd at DYP supported Sachin led team. This is something that nullifies the concept of city based loyalties. The crowd throughout India would savior innings by Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, Gambhir and bowling efforts from Kumble, Harbhajan, Zaheer. Blame it on the Indian team performance in the decade. This stars are pan Indian stars, not just city based.

·         The IPL is an Indian venture that’s supposed to be killing the Test cricket and the country is Test Cricket’s best ranked team. Irony could not get more stronger than it is.

Sachin classy

It was Sachin Tendulkar all the way again on Brabourne Stadium in the game against KKR last night. His super 71 ensured MI went back on the top of the table. Today if RCB wins against  Dhoni less CSK, they should be back on top.

KKR now seems to have lost the momentum and were defeated 3^rd time in as many matches. Perhaps their failures have to do with their captain’s inability to scale up to the rigors of the format. Sourav does not seem to be loving the format and his form is a cause of worry for KKR. However he has come back infinite times and he would do so too this time.  It was not just Ganguly who struggled to score runs, but also Chris Gayle playing his first game. He just could not find boundaries. 100 in 15 overs is very much ODIsqueue batting.

Zaheer Khan was the pick of the bowlers alongside Malinga and add Bhajji to the lot, the MI attack seems formidable.

Sachin later ripped apart Ishant Sharma and showed him a very poor reflection of his indifferent limited overs format form.   There were few eye gazes between Zaheer and Sourav. The mentor and the student. And another student of Ganguly, Harbhajan finally scalped him and was joyed.

MI looks to be a different team and provided they select right XI they should be strong contenders to reach the semis.

My predictions for 4 semi finalists given current form :

Mumbai Indians

RCB

Deccan Chargers

Chennai Kings

Kings XI would finish last. And Sangakara would then be sacked as a captain. 

Predictions for IPL day 5

Today's predictions :

CSK vs KKR : KKR

KXIP vs RCB : RCB

The legends of Indian cricket would prevail over a team led by a poker and MSD.

Day 3 of IPL 3 : DC and KKR come good.

KKR are going through a dream run having won 2 consecutive games in the 3rd season of the IPL despite not having Shane Bond and Chris Gayle in the lineup.

And the star of their campaign is the tantrum thrower Angelo Matthews who is a surprise package of the IPL 3 so far. Kumar Sangakara must be secretly happy on his success so far.

In other game Deccan Chargers derailed Chennai Kings campaign.  Except Morkel and MS none of the Chennai batsmen cud run amok and that ensured a 31 run victory for DC.

Symonds after the slow start top scored with 50. And Chaminda Vaas showed why Kumar Sangakara is an ass. 5 wickets in 2 games, each of them in opening spell is reminding us of WC 2003.  Vaas we know of and what he has done in last 16 yrs.  Something SL selectors fail to understand. If Vaas continues his success in the remaining games will Sangakara and selectors turn their mind and include the lad in the World t20 ?

KKR makes a winning start

KKR makes a good start to their campaign by a facile win against the defending champions Deccan Chargers. The change of guard in the captaincy for Knight Riders has done the trick.  And of course Cheater Angelo Matthews did the magic for KKR first with the bat and then with the ball.

Despite losing Ganguly and Tiwary quickly Owais Shah and Cheatero ensured KKR reach 161 and give something for their bowlers to defend something. With Gayle  and Bond to return soon, KKR would only grow stronger and stronger in the campaign.

For DC, the batsmen except captain Gilchrist disappointed especially the so called talented Rohit Sharma who fell to a ridiculous shot. Now if he cant even play T20, then what would he play ? T10 ?

All in all a pulsating cricket if we chuck out the Bollywood and other dust particles out of the IPL.

Baz Woes

Baz just doesnt get seem to get rid of the Buchanan curse. His IPL'sque form continues in T20 too. Whatta a slide for the man who set the IPL rolling with a 73 ball 158 in first ever iPL game.

KKR sack Buchanan.

End of Buchanan. End of management in cricket. May be next year it would be plain cricketing stuff. Simple tactics. Bat vs ball. Mind vs Mind.

Perhaps relief for Buch too, India or anything Indian is never good for him. He never could win a series against India comprehensively as against other teams. He could never succeed in IPL.

End of agony for KKR. How much that translates to turnaround of its fortunes in IPL-3 if it survives would be interesting to watch.

Fancying Kiwis and India

Kiwis love blue. They have a boogie over blues. Indian blues. Let the Kiwis see Indians in Srilankans, for they also wear blue. They also have yellow patch on their dress. That is something Australian. So Kiwis have enough motivation and reason to go beat SL and go to Semis, their most obvious place in ICC tourneys (except 2003, they have gone in Semis of every world cup).....

McCullum was skipper of Mendis in KKR days and he didnt play much, so who is gonna take revenge? As of now blabba king and Sanga having a ball in the middle. I bet my money on Kiwis. And on battered and bruised Indians in the game later today. But in the longer run, I fancy Saffers to unchoke and win the tourney to cap off an excellent season for them. Choke today, not later. Lose today, win later.

as for Indians, win today and win always to slap the critics and the ass media back home. Heal your bruised ego by thumping the to be champions and make Micky repent on his comments that we are team of individuals who play for ourselves. Just do it guys. Sensible Indians are with you.

FIP discloses himself.

FIP is not a cricket player, neither he is SRK, neither he is a local Indian player. He is a fucking journalist who must have had some insider info and then posted on a blog with intentions to get some cheap publicity.

From his accent he is not an Bong, he is a Bollywood journo with some fucking intentions to spoil the game of cricket. He seems to speak good Hindi and he knows Bollywood stuff. So imho he must be some fly on the wall who attends and follows the SRK.

He ends his RIP speech with KANK. He must be a die hard SRK hater or a lover.

WHatever he was, he has left Cricket bruised and hurt with the unproved allegations of match fixing. He began with pretending himself to be unaware of blog technology (he said he wasnt sure of how to post visitor count) , then as a sidekick player who hasnt got a talent or 2 to play a game or get a game. Yeah right, how can a sick Bollywood journo get a game. He nicknamed all players, he ripped them apart and then his language went on changing. From naive to a smart jackass.

I just wish he is flushed out whenever he is unearthed. I doubt if his identity ever would come across. And if it comes, he wont be alive for long. He might have earned lot of enemies. For sure SRK would be after this thug.

Fuck FIP. Disgrace. I just hope today ownwards FIP wont be mentioned in the traditional cricket. He might be discussed in the "social circuit" by the party hoppers, but thats not what bothers me. I just wish this kind of negative blogging doesnt become a fad for every Test series or a major tournament.

Royals out of the tournament.

Local Indian lads kicked Mumbai Indians out of the IPL 2. And the local Indian lads do it for Rajasthan Royals it too. 4 runs in last over. A single off first, 2 of the next for a misfield and one more off he 3rd ball sends Royals out of the IPL.

An underrated ex Indian player and a something who could be kapil dev but who couldnt be even a Jimmy player do it for Kolkata. KKR would go with some pride, but they would need to look up for their team selection for next season 3. They got to answer why Langveldt wasnt played who made all the difference today. Most probably no Aussie coach, support staff and perhaps no Ganguly too.

Selection errors for RR, dropping of Smith (not sure if he was injured / dropped), poor batting performance and then poor fielding by Indian lads throw Warne magic out of the IPL. Warne joins McCullum and Tendulkar in the list of ousted captains.

Now all depends on the next big game : CSK vs Punjab. CSK favorites but for their poor bowling and even poorer fielding. I hope they dont play Balaji any more.

Balaji dheere chalna!!

Damn. Whatever it is, Balaji must play no more games in the remainder of the tournament. He is ridiculous. Bowling either full tosses or juicy half volleys. 4 full tosses. 19 runs off the over. Why so blind faith in slow low Balaji? He is past force. Look beyond him. 40 off 3 overs. MS would be furious.!!

And finally KKR win something. Relief for a disgraced team. Somethin finally. Something.

650000 dollars go down the drain

$650,000 are worth 24 runs in final over and a match lost from winning stage. More disgrace to an already disgraced state....

Steve Waugh for KKR ?

Fake IPL player suggests in his blog that next year Steve Waugh would be part of KKR either as player or a coach. Dont know if this is true.

"Talks are on with another former Aussie player with very close ties with our city even as I write this. It seems bringing him on board will help assuage public anger. Also, Sticky has backed the idea of bringing him on. Which also means that Lordie may have no role to play next yr given his own relations (or the lack of it) with the new Messiah being brought in."

Steve Waugh with Udayan. Thank God he has got no nick name as Pedophile Gilly or Sticky Ricky Ponting Something.

FIP is nothing more than sensationalism. He doesnt mention in his blog that if he got a game or not. That strengthens my hunch that the FIP is no body but Ghosh babu himself. Ki bolbo Ghosh bobu?

KKR !!

KKR are a disgrace now. Nothing works for them. As a batting team and fielding team. IF batting clicked, the bowling let them down. Ishant Sharma's form concerns me. He has been off color and thats bothering given the assignments ahead. KKR should seriously consider withdrawing from the IPL this season and not demoralize the players who also play for national teams. FIP is useless, he would make few more sensations and then fizz out.

FIP gets a game. Messes it up

Fake IPL player gets a game today, comes at # 3 ahead of David Hussey, makes a mess of the rare chances, goes out for 7.

Now dude you got a game. Now shut your shit up and lay dormant sideways. You should be making high noises only when you perform.

Ajay Jadeja accuses KKR of racism

http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4510767.cms

Ajay Jadeja, the notorious naughty "suspicious match fixer" has claimed that the Indians were mistreated by the KKR foreign staff. Also racist comments were passed on the Indian players. What stumps me is how come Ajay Jadeja knows this? Does that mean is Jadeja the fake IPL player or mind behind him?

Did Jadeja go to South Africa and find out the facts? Or did some player speak to him and inform Jadeja? But why Jadeja? In what capacity? This is ridiculous. I mean strange. For cheap sensation you would reap KKR's belaugered player's benefits?

Million dollar question is what is the source of Jadeja's information.

You read it first time on any blog here.

Predictions for SUnday

Today's predictions:

BRC over Mumbai
Delhi over KKR.

Sachin to hit a 50 at least. Dravid a 40, Kumble to get a 2 or 3. DADA if he plays a big role from him as well.

Ahh dont bother, last line was a wishlist than a prediction.

And for those who doubt Rahul Dravid's ability in limited form of the game let me tell you he has got 10000 odd runs in 334 games at 40.05 runs per game, he holds record for fastest 50 by an Indian and he was the first finisher the country ever had in ODIs in Ganguly era.