Sanga cant lead sala

Dabba Chargers or Dhakkan Chokers -- as you might want to call the 2009 champions,  they are funnier lot. They played 5 bowlers today -- Steyn, Sharma, Christian, Ojha and Mishra. 4 of them genuine wicket takers. Mishra and Ojha amongst the top 2 wicket takers last edition. 

Unfortunately they continued to lose their own home ground and VVS Laxman might be smiling down in Kochi seeing the plight of  the home franchisee.

Positives:

Ishant Sharma didnt take a wicket, but he troubled batsmen quite a few times and he got bounce and carry on the pitch. Something that augurs well for the confidence of the bowler. ODI setup needs an express bowler and need to look no further than this lad if he gets his economy rate under control.

Negatives:

Ojha is yet to recover from the shock of world cup omission.

Sanga Nanga got off to a disastrous start to his 2nd franchisee captaincy stint. He lost the world cup final last Saturday and today he lost the IPL opener.  He got a duck as well. Aduck getting a duck. 

Rajasthan got off to a good winning start and the move to open with Dravid doesnt quite look good. 

The worst part is the same commentators who were good a week back and now are shouting the usual IPL associated cliches. How sad.

Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab are out of IPL for now.  Equal amount of outrage and welcome. Journos writing for Yahoo, ToI would cry foul and tears.  Few twitterers would mock and joke along. Test Cricket and ODI lovers would give a damn. I belong to the same category. 

I believe even though being indifferent to ouster of this teams, this could clean up the IPL image a bit. Given the misdeeds of Lalit Modi spoilt the image and landed the IPL in mess, this cleanup act should act as a stern warning to the other franchisees to get their act right. I am no expert on legal stuff, so i wont say a word on what's right and what's wrong. 

So here is what would happen:

1. Shilpa Shetty would cry in public. Earn sympathy on twitter and news channels. Curse the media, would get sympathetic tweets from few players of her team. Even more she would get some hugs from SRK, her sister, Karan Johar and other fashion designers who made money out of IPL but didnot know a name of player of the RR and laws of the game. 
2. IPL franchisee owners would cry foul over BCCI. Already there are slavery talks. Get out this franchisee owners. 
3. Preity ZInta would stop hugging and kissing her players. 
4. We would get rid of Sangakara for good.
5. Shilpa Shetty would cry on tv.
6. Raj Kundra would sue BCCI.
7. Shilpa Shetty's name would now be extinct from cricketing circles.

BCCI would be unfazed and carry on with the IPL4. Modi or no Modi, the real stars are the players who have been the part of teams. And until they do not perform the IPL would not die. Cut out this set of people and bring in. Show would go on.

Naman Ojha gets stronger

The case for Naman Ojha just got stronger today over Dinesh Karthik for him to be in the team for ODIs or T20s.

MI loses out

Take out Sachin out of MI and the team is a cropper. Yesterday he retired at 45 and the rest of them could not lift their games to continue the winning run.   Chennai are now 4^th in the list and that sparks an interesting battle for the 4^th team between itself, Kolkata and perhaps Rajasthan Royals. Royals are today at 10 and would go past 12 as they would thump KXIP tonite.

Peculiar example of Keiron Pollard once again proves that the expensive signings do not always result in best performance on the field. Just one sparkling innings and the price zooms up to millions. That does not work.  All expensive signings this year have not fired – Kemar Roach, Shane Bond,  Pollard are prime examples.

So whats the key ? Consistency and experience. That’s what has always counted in the game of cricket and would always do in whatsoever format it is.  Even if you nix corporate and Bollywood jamboorie in it.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai rolled over again while defending the tagret of 180 to Deccan Dischargers...And the stars were Chotta Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu.....

In the bowling Zaheer and Bhajan starred and once again the captaincy of the man was awesome though he has shown shades of frustration never seen before on his face for 21 years. But thats how the lesser known players shell it out...Not known to the pressure and suddenly pulled into high profile Bollywood corporate Cricket circus would put them in a spot of bother.

Deccan are fast fading into shell and unless their big batting stars -- Gilly, Symmo and Gibbs do not fire they have feeble chance to reach semis to defend their title. Rohit Sharma is an useless guy and now he does not play even in IPL. Yet say it a DBV effect -- he finds a place in T20 squad .

Mumbai are there and with 14 points they are secure in the semis. I care for Mumbai just a bit cos the man is there. Remove him and the team is no different than Rajasthan Royals. If Shane Warne was a batsman then Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians would have been twins that carved different paths at the birth just like Amitabh Bachchan's classic Deewar in 1975.

Once the man is out the match loses interest and lest there is no Indian legend on the other side, the match is not watched. Its good that the local imperfect stars of Mumbai -- Shahane, Raje Gaje Baje, Takawale, Rahane and Nayar are chucked out.....Perhaps they would be best suited for Pune IPL team with Rohit Sharma as iconic player....Lol.

This lads were given more than necessary chances in first 2 editions and they were a liability. This season Rayudu and Chotta Dhoni have excelled in chances they;ve got. The Mumbai Indians is all about Sachin Tendulkar and the trio of Zaheer , Harbhajan and Malinga make a fair distant attraction at second place...

Chennai lives upto its belter reputation

Chepauk was famous for run gluts all this years or for bad weather during the Test matches...Last time the city known for best knowledgeable crowd in the country witnessed a close finish or a result was in 2004 when the Test against Australia was drawn as the last day was washed out.

Since then some brain freezes from BCCI ensured that tests were held at a time when south west monsoon was at its peak.

That was all put to rest today.

The 2008 Test against SA saw an Indian scored 319 -- highest on Indian soil. And since then CHennai became famous for flat tracks than spinning beauty it held in yester years.

467 runs were scored today in a IPL game b/w RR and CSK. A local Chennai boy scored a hundred and that was first notable performance from Srikanth's croons. Vijay now poses a tough challenge to the quota system from TN....Karthik -- the automatic selection for any injury in Tests / ODIs. / T20s now would really need to buckle up and perform.

Pathan was promoted to # 3 to propel the chase and he lasted 2 balls. A boundary off first and out next.  Such is the consistency of this lad and when he gotta take wkts he gotta utter "F" word time and again.  For Royals Naman Ojha played a super innings of 94*, the lad now has scored more runs in this IPL than any other wkt keeper. Yet the irony is he wont be counted on the fringes of the wicketkeeper reserve for India cos he does not play for CSK where he could be on radar of Srikanth, neither he is having a name ending in "am" or something that would resemble a Tamil name so that Srikanth would push him in the side....And he plays from MP which is a plate league team, though it has its best known Test player -- Hiru bhai Chennai wale as selector, but god knows if his case would be pushed forward. Not to forget he hails from my own home town.

It was Douggie Bollinger who made the difference between a RR win and CSK win. 2 for 15 off 4 12 hrs after he landed from NZ series is commendable effort. And he got MoM for his effort......Srikanth would be fuming that his croon did not get a MoM awardam.....

By the way Vijay played a good innings despite the fact he was pushed hard by Srikanth.....

CSK are in the fray now and with Sachin gone in the Mumbai game Deccan would be now on 8 points too...Tomorrow KKR would win against Woodanga's team and go on 10.  Bangalore would edge out  Delhi to go on 12....

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.

Bangalore score a thumping win...

In the end the game between modern legspinner giant led teams proved to be more than an one sided affair. Kumble was ruthless in attacking his own countrymen whereas Warne could do nothing thanks to the depleted team he has got in his kitty.  Kallis, Pehelwan Kumar and Kumble himself cashed on poor Royals batsmen and ensured the Royals were all out for 92 with last 6 wkts just falling for 11 runs. Pravin Kumar took a hat trick, the first one of IPL-3.  Kallis continued his redemption in T20 and now he stands wearing the orange / purple cap whichever it is for highest run maker in the tourney. He is yet to get out in this tournament.

The best thing about Kumble’s captaincy was the barrage of short balls he had for the Royals batsmen including Yusuf Pathan and no wonder most of them fell for it.  The bowling changes were spot on and most of them worked. His plans worked more than what he could have expected them to. 

Royals are now likely to finish last in the table at the end of league games cos it seem that they don’t have the firepower anymore to match the magical and inspirational words from Warne. On the other hand Bangalore are gaining strength to strength, thanks to the astute captaincy of Kumble and awesome all-round display from Kallis.

At the end of almost first week, the Bangalore Challengers stand 2^nd in the table with Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians leading the way. Its an irony that the first 3 teams in the points table are the teams led by 3 of the Fab Five of Indian Test team and this teams contain 4 of those Fab 5 players.  No matter they are not playing in same team but seeing them all in action is what is the best thing about IPL.

Delhi win their 2nd game on trot

Royals have got their campaign seriously derailed after 2 back to back losses. Sehwag's explosive batting ensured DD won 2nd game on trot. However they are still not the team they would want to be. The opening pair is njot just clicking, thats the best opening pair world has got at the moment.

Royals would need to let go of guys like Asnodkar who are still encashing on IPL 1 fruits.  They need Smith to fire and bat long. And they need a fast bowler who could take wickets.  Not just speed.

If we could just send out the Shetty couple to the sand islands of Rajasthan, that would spare us the pain and disgust of watching her showing off her ugly teeth.

MI win a tense game despite Yusuf ton

Alright, the Sachin vs Warne dual never happened as Sachin fell to a poor LBW decision before Warne came on to bowl. Perhaps that played in Warne's mind too as he was off color too with 22 runs being taken off 3 overs.

MI survived a Yusuf onslaught by 4 runs thanks to the experience of Malinga and moreover Zaheer Khan. Tendulkar took a positive risk in keeping his 2 most experienced pros for the final 2 overs. And he would have felt the absence of Harbhajan strong and hard due to the injury he sustained while batting..

Yusuf Pathan was awesome in the 100 he made, 2nd by an Indian in IPL, but thats deceiving. If that would translate to big runs in the games that would matter in World T20 later and then ODIs if selected remains to be seen. But thats to be worried later, for now bows to him for making the hitting look so comfortable. And his hitting was cultured one, way better than Afridi's wild slogs when he has brain freezes and hits same shots in same direction before falling.

Batting for MI is worry. After Tendulkar and Surya there is nobody to carry the baton consistently. Yesterday they were saved the defeat by former ICL recruits, but they would need to rethink the policy to play just 3 internationals when they can play 4.

Dual between Sachin and Warne

The clock would stop today when the magical dual between Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne would take place in the IPL game between MI and RR.

What a dual it would be, even if it would be in T20 for just litle than 4 overs.

Last time the master duo faced each other was good 6 years back in 2004 test series in India which Australia won after 35 years and Sachin missed first 2 tests due to an injury to his tennis elbow.

This dual is the most enchanting of the modern era and is unparalleled. And the irony is that the dual happens in the same stadium where it began in 1998 when Tendulkar outclassed Warne on the way to his first FC double hundred that also set the ball rolling for domination of Warne by Tendulkar.

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.

Semi-finalists and Rameez's commentary

Delhi and Chennai are almost there. Kolkata and Mumbai are nowhere. Rajasthan are on brink. Punjab are inconsistent much contrary to their fighting nature. Deccans are new South Africans in South Africa -- chokers. Bangalore are dark horses despite Kumble and Dravid are fair players and are no horses.

Saurav Ganguly has seen it all, done it all. Can he do it today ?

A shievering Shiva is down there for us.

A stammering Rameez is sucking us.

MS Dhoni, Mr Kewl. Yeah yeah the same man who beat somebody 4-1 and 3-2 in last 2 ODI series :)

Sorry for off the topic. Rameez 's verbal potshots. Sounding almost similar to Mbangwa. Huge time, big time, big time, huge time. Mbangwa style.

So the semis are eye wide open. Delhi vs CSK is tempting proposition for final. Batting might of CSK and misfiring Viru and Gauti. Question is who are going to be other 2 ?

1) Rajasthan are 13. If they win against KKR they go 15. Still no guarantee.

2) Deccan Chargers are 14 with positive NRR. 1 game left to play RBC on last day of league games. One win and they are 16. If they lose, they are on brink as well.

3) KXIP have a game against CSK, their final game after today. I fancy CSK. KXIP should win a game to be in race. If they lose they go out.

4) RCB, they have 2 games left. Must win both to get through. DD and DC. Can fancy beating DC. DD are beatable too. I believe they could make it. If RCB win both games they go in. DC depend then on Royals result against KKR, which they should win.

So my pick:

DD
CSK
RR
RCB

Rameez, you are now stinking. Ganguly, subcontinent player finds tough to go in SA, eyes blinking, trying to concentrate on job. He s got lot of nervous energy Siva.

My ass Kameez, did you even know Ganguly's record in SA ? 2003 success in world cup, 2006 Test series, 2001 tri series. Go check the record mate.

McCullum seems in good nick in chasing 189. Ganguly stuggling and Rameez stinking. Rameez Kameez go away.

Mumbai Chokers.

Another close contest, another classic, the same result. Mumbai Indians choked. The South Africans of IPL in South Africa. 4 needed off 6 balls with 3 wkts. And who is the bowler down the other end? Warne? Kumble? Malinga? RP ? Heck who? Its Munaf Patel, the least likely to take 3 wkts in a over, although he did take just 1, but had 2 more runouts in his over with little role to play in them. He yorked Nayar man. Yorked. Amazing, reminded me of his heroics in Baroda game against England in 2006 which saw him earn a place in the national team. But then that was a fast Munaf, this one is a slow Munaf.(Edited later, thanks Q for pointing the factual error)

Mumbai Indians didnt deserve to win after the start they made and the game they made out of it when their captain got them in the limelight with another classic. Its been his bad luck that Tendulkar has been surrounded by mediocre players for most part of his career (leave out 2001-2009 India period), once he is out the entire team collapses.

If you look at the culprits of the game : Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Yogesh Takle, Rahane, barring Tak(aw)le all are part of Mumbai Ranji team and they are choker gang. Much to the disgrace of the past tradition of this Ranji team. Fuck you guys. Disgrace!!

And it was another Sachin vs Warne moment. What a shame that Tendulkar for first time had to end up on losing side whenever he had better of Warne in the past. All credit to the so called Mumbai's youth brigade. Cheap and waste!!

I am pissed to see Sachin's team losing, but in a way happy that such a team doesnt deserve to win the trophy when we have worthier teams than this choking team sans Tendulkar. He must be mad at his "young lads". This team is now famous to loose close encounters -- look at the results over 2 seasons and you would confirm me.

Plane Bias!!

I hate to say it on this space about any other fellow blogger, but then there has to be some sanity. Plane bias and cynicism should not work and never works. You got to owe it when it deserves. Give the credit when it deserves. A simple act of stupidity by a batsman ignorant of the rules of cricket and being run out by keeper is a natural process. Whats wrong in it? People saw the dismissal on TV and nobody complained except this one.

Everybody was of the view and the premise that the ball wasnt dead. The keeper was just appealing for a caught behind, batsman unaware of where the ball is ran for a run and was promptly run out / stumped. Ball wasnt dead. RR's hopes were dead albeit.

Batsman leaving his wicket under a misapprehension

An umpire shall intervene if satisfied that a batsman, not having been given out, has left his wicket under a misapprehension that he is out. The umpire intervening shall call and signal Dead ball to prevent any further action by the fielding side and shall recall the batsman."

Ball had just reached Gilly's hand and Carlesdine began running. Immediately Gilchrist stumps him or runs him out. Where is the element of doubt? Some biases never go. Hell what? Well and they say I am biased and lack analysis. Enough of it. You wish to come here, then do drop in. No forcing. Two individuals have different thinking, different thought patterns and analysis. If you dont agree with the other individual and then conclude he lacks the analysis is worst way to shy away from any discussion or arguments.

Royals score a royal victory

Whoa, whata win. Royals are truly back and how. Highest score of the tourney. And who scored the max. Smithie and naman Ojha. Yipee. He is my hometown guy. He has come big. Way to go Ojha bhiya :). the city would be happier tomorrow. Celebrations have begun back home and the media frenzy would be soon reaching ur place......

5 sixes. The opening partnership was the key and boy they scored the max in the tourney. Smith fired the way we know him. And then jadeja celebrated the inclusion in the team with a 12 ball 33. For KXP nobody except Yuvraj fired and thats where the team lost. No biggie from SL fired, no Katto, nobody fired.

Warnie continued his magic. And who is A Singh. 3 for 9 in 4. Awesome!! Royals go to # 2 with this win and the IPL looks like last year with last year finalists occupying top 2 spots. However if DD win their game against disgraceful KKR, they go on the top with 10 points in 7 games. No Veeru and Vettos today.

Kinks win and go on the top

What a way to come back to the form. Score a 50, make inspiring bowling changes and then take your team on the top. From 6 to 1. He is one man who is not used to being ordinary or lying at the bottom. He did it for India, then he did it for CSK and then again for CSK in IPL-09.

He is Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Soopher Kinks won their 3rd game in row and it suggests how close this IPL is. 5 teams on 9 or 8 points, 2 on 7. Forget KKR, they are embarrasment to the game of cricket. Today one victory to the Royals Rajasthan and they go top too. Ditto for Sadde Delhi de Patthe :)

Deccan Chargers are now back to their normal ways of losing after a high of back to back 4 wins. To ensure they are a challenge they would need to get back to the winning ways before its too late. CSK and BRC have smelled blood. Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne are too good to be kept down. So they would be coming back in next 2 days.....

IPL never got so much exciting.

Match 25 and 26 updates

Victory of Rajasthan Royals has made the IPL interesting. And Soopher Queens would make it even more intriguing. That would mean that the top 2 wud have lost 2 games each. That would put some more pressure tomorrow on Mumbai Indians against the Bangalore Royal Challengers who are on a revival path with a proud Indian coming back to lead the side.

Shane Warne the wily old fox needs to return to the Aussie fold for their most obsessed fight with the Poms :) Aussies need Haydos and Warney.

From Indian team perspective only RP Singh, P Ojha, Suresh Raina have come good (T20 team). Failure of skipper, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma would be a cause of concern!!!

BTW Yousuf Pathan is loving the Safari!!!

FAKE IPL Player exposed?

There have been news or rumors that Ranadeb Bose(Gulu Ezikel claims this) was the fake IPL player and there have been rumors that the blog has been disappeared (TOI). What is true not sure but one thing for sure he has created lotsa flutters and given a tight slap to the owner of KKR -- SRK.

The basis on which the author claims the Bose man to be fake IPL player is that last year he was kicked out the team midway. So going on that grounds we would even have a fake IPL blog on Rajasthan Royals team as 7 players were axed. I am game to read more and more about the Bigg Brother victorious lady who besides acting cheap and fake on racial comment by Jade Goody on UK tc show has nothing on platter to flaunt as her achievement. 16 years into the Bollywood and she has no movie to flaunt as a major success. Anybody for a blog on her insider talks ?

Match 9 and 10 updates.

The IPL games yesterday were cracker of a contests and showed that cricket triumphed over all the glitz and glamor. We also saw the first glimpse of Super Over that replaced Super Bowl though it was already implemented in NZ-WI T20 clash earlier this year.

Yousuf Pathan and Kamran Khan were the stars of the game Royals vs Riders and then there was AB all over against Chennai Super Kings. This year the Kings and the Royals aint coming good. MSD has suffered 2 losses out of 3. I would rather wish he suffers all losses he is destined to for this year in IPL, so that when he returns to national fold, he carries back the superb momentum his team is carrying in all forms of the game.

Kamran Khan bowled a super last over in the 2nd game. He is a future star for India if he maintains his progress. Warnie almost handled him like a kid. Lets hope he doesnt become another Munaf Patel who was his usual ridiculous on the field. No passion, no improvisation, same grin and same lax attitude. Kick him out,

Ganguly almost saw Knight Riders home but again he lend few nasty punches to Dildo and Coachie. Haha. I am catching up on the Fake IPL player terminologies.

In the other match Hayden showed what Australia are missing from their national team. Gilchrist and Hayden are sorely missed in the national team. Hayden continued his superb run of form although Freddie and MSD continued to dazzle off.

Veeru and Gautam suffered a rare failure. Again I would wish they suffer more failures destined for them in the year here rather than in the national colors or whites.

One more final thing. Ajantha Mendis is no more a surprise or mystery element. He was sorted and cleaned up by Yousuf Pathan. haha. 18 runs off 4 balls. Amazing man. Mendis could have been good in his main 4 overs spell but he was unimaginative in Super Over and whosoever decided to give him a ball was short visioned. For sure it was not Ganguly. His passion for the game even this stage was visible when he was annoyed with himself and Yashpal Singh when latter got out.

Best day of IPL - 2 so far. Also best in the sense that we didnt have to listen the blabbers and irritating laughters of Shilpa Shetty.