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...

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.

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.

Why did Warne and McGrath retire in 2007 ?

Want to know why Warne and Pidge retired in 2007 ?

If you want to believe Javed Miandad, then here is the reason :

Due to the IPL, superstars like Shane Warne [ Images ] and Glenn McGrath [ Images ] retired from the Australian cricket team.

"They could easily play for another couple of years, but rushed to the IPL, as the amount was very attractive; so when the Indian team visited Australia [ Images ], who were without senior players like Warne and McGrath, it was easy for the Indians to control the opposing team."

Now somebody need to explain the jumping jack that IPL was announced in Sep 2007 and both superstars retired in Jan 2007, even ICL was not born then.

Being the "samdhi" of a mafia don himself he calls IPL a mafia :

The Indian Premier League is becoming a big mafia that wants to control world cricket; it is not only endangering the existence of the International Cricket Council [ Images ], but also the rest of the cricketing nations.

If IPL is threat to India, he answers : "Not at all; the IPL will help Indians only, but it will weaken the rest of the teams. India will get the best players of the world and weaken other teams".

He should be told that only Indian citizens can play for India and we've got no system we know of where foreign nationals can play for India.

"Twenty20 cricket is no cricket, but money-cricket; everybody knows that it is commercial cricket; the main cricket is moving towards destruction"

Destruction in Pak for cricket? Yes. Not elsewhere.

Clearly the guy has lost his mind and is suffering from diarohea from mouth rather than back. 

Sachin @ 20. Facts -- 1

Tendulkar was a ball boy in 1987 World Cup in the ill fated semi final in Wankhede when India lost its defence of the World Cup to England. Nobody that time except Sunny knew that Sachin would play the next game India would play in the World Cup.

Ironically enough, the next game India played in the next World Cup was against England in 1992 at Perth and the only time when Botham had better of Sachin. They never met in an international fixture before and after. That also was the last time India lost to England in any world cup. Post that, 1999 and 2003 India have had better of England in the World Cup games.

The winter of 1989 turns 20 on Sunday and that winter, the tour to Pakistan changed the face of world cricket. The star, the icon and a sensation arose on the skies of world cricket which the country knows as Sachin Tendulkar. Its a strange irony that the few greats of Indian cricket have debut against Pakistan and went on to make big. Sachin and Kapil are such examples.

I remember Sachin's 88 in 1990 tour of New Zealend. He came close to being the youngest centurion, but missed the mark by 12 runs. He was overnight on 80 and then the next day he hit 2 boundaries only to fall later to Richard Hadlee (assume). He didnt have to wait longer for his first Test century. He got 117 in Nottingham in the English summer that coincided with the Italia-90.

And then his next 2 centuries were classics. Tour of Australia, the last for the feeble greats like Vengsarkar, Srikanth. India were thumped 0-4 but they came close to wins in Adelaide and Sydney. The 148 he made in Sydney was start of his love affair with the SCG (He scored 2 more hundreds in next 3 tours) and then the master class 118 at WACA when no other player survived the Aussie pace.

Sydney was also the first Test for Shane Warne and nobody knew what he would turn out to be.

Sachin had to wait for close to 4 years for his first century at home and when he hit, he hit in Chennai in the England series of 1993 known for arrival of Anil Kumble and the start of formidable period for India at home (also a period when India won nothing at all abroad). And then one in Mumbai.

England, Sri Lanka and of course Australia are the teams he has scored most of his Test centuries against.

Chennai and Mumbai have been his happy hunting grounds in India.

TBC............

Sachin answers his critics

The critics of Sachin Tendulkar should now bury their heads in to mud or gutter now that the man has proved he can bat as good as he ever has. The suggestions of retirment for the GOD are premature and mortal.

There have been questions on him being promoted on the top of the order and breaking of successful pair of Gautam Gambhir and Viru Sehwag for 'accomodating' the GOD. How long have been Gambhir and Sehwag being opening ? Just about a year in ODIs ?

Before him its Saurav - Sachin, Saurav - Viru and couple of times dancing babes. So for a man like Tendulkar if the test pair is broken, why so fuss ?

17000 is huge number. Mere mortals cannot reach around the periphery of this figure. 89 hundreds. Talk about him is even futile.

Lets just enjoy the artistery of Tendulkar rather than pointing him out that he doesnt last till the end. What do you expect ? He should shoulder the responsibility of 10 other players ? What are ten other good players for ? If they are not good, then what are they doing in the team ?

Ding Dong ? What about the 19 hundreds this man has scored against the Aussies ? What about the demolition of Warne and McGrath ? 19 hundreds ? Is that a joke ? Go find the answer to this.

Age is just a number

Old timers are enjoying the week right now across the globe. Jaya and Tendulkar along with Dravid in subcontinent. Ponting in England.

Who said cricket is for youth ?

Perform and keep persisting.

Age doesnt matter. Its just a number. Much for hysteria of the buffoons who know nothing on the game and for whom sustaining the limelight is the only purpose.

How does it matter if you are 25 and keep scoring 20s and 30s remain in the team but a batsman who has had just 5 bad ODIs is dropped for 2 long years. And the man who scores 10700 ODI runs, only 3rd or 4th man in the history to have 10k runs in both formats goes out just cos he is 34. Was 34.

A 40 year old man scores a 98 in the game against India and the 32 year old scores just 1 and 17 and 31 year old hits himself out. And 37 year old takes 5-for in almost every 2nd or 3rd inning and a 26 year old fails after the initial hyesteria.

The top 4 wicket takers are the ones who blossomed in the later years of their careers. The drug abused blonde star who took 40 wickets in losing cause took close to 400 wkts in 2nd part of his career. A jaw broken bowler took 350 wkts in his last 5 years of career when people had written him off.

A 36 year old batsman has scored 9 international hundreds since May 2007 and 7 90s. Out of which many were wrong decisions.

Age is just a number. Fold the number and flush it in the commode of your loo.

MoYo -- 2

I have a fight with my captain. Ok I m quitting cricket. I would go join ICL.

Few months later…..

Coach and captain are fired. New captain. Captain my friend. Younis. Mera bhai, mera dost. I would quit ICL and I would play for Pakistan as long as possible.

2 years earlier.

Oh they feel me I m not useful for T20 format. I would quit cricket and play for ICL. Would show them that T20 is my cup of tea too.

Joining ICL.

Mia Yousuf, you are our great batter after inzi bhai. We need you. Come back to our folds and we would get you a IPL contract.

Really ? Would you also give me captaincy ? I converted for the same. I was vice captain for Inzi bhai.

Joining IPL.

Are yaar yeh Yousuf to IPL jaa raha hai. Chandra se approval lo aur court case file karo iske against.

Court case goes in favor of Zee and Yousuf is barred from playing IPL.

What does this show ? Whenever the man doesn’t get his deal he jumps the gun. He jumped the boat to ICL in 2007 when he had a terrific 2006 when he broke all records for most calendar runs in Tests. And then when PCB persuaded him to go back, he played for 1 more year and then again jumped the gun. Imagine this happening to any other country. The player would be dumped no matter how important he is for the team. Symonds and Warne were dumped. Warne never played ODIs again. Australia lost the Test series to India and South Africa in absence of Symonds. And then again the World T20 early exit. They didn’t compromise even now. Symmo would have been more than handy in Ashes with his off spinners.

India dumped Siddhu in 1996 when they had no other opener in the squad to England. Its only in Pakistan that they keep going to players like Yousuf or Akhtar who feel themselves to be over the team, over their nation and are ready to make enough switches. All they care for is money. And they selectively decide their priorities depending on their convenience. Where the country comes ? Where does the loyalty to the team comes ? Nowhere. Who bothers. When you have a boss who would get you in at any cost in the team, then hell with the team priorities and stuff. All I know is my money and my comfort zone.

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.

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.

Much ado about nothing!!

Whats wrong if Shane Warne gulped a sip or 2 of the beer in the mid game. Whats so hue and cry about it? Get over the jingoist mentality Indian media :)

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!!!

An embattled Aussie fan writes in desparation

A note to Timmy (not Dimmy) and Punter :

Guys, please get in Shane Warne off IPL to bowl on to your ODI team in desert. Warnie is a legend even in the age of 40 and post him there is just no body in the Aussie la la land who could spin the ball half way a bit as he did. Watching him in IPL is pure delight and a walk back to those golden years of Aussie dominance when we used to get up early in morning to see him and Pidge bowl.

You guys need him. Not as a team member then as a supportive coach for bowling. He would give a lesson or two to the likes of Marsh, Roy, Clarke, Hussey and other who are just embarrasing the Australian name tag in the ODI arena. Guys let me not remind you that you are the world champions and you lost to a team that hasnt played any serious cricket in ages. You are loosing to a team which is full of rookies and attitude kings, guys who consider themselves over the team and just need some bit of pressure to crack out. Get that pressure in guys.

I am embarrased and fuckingly disappointed to see you give away victories to undeserving teams on a platter. Dont do that. You have only one supporter left in the entire world. And thats me. Keep pride of my predictions 4-1 victory for you guys in this desert safari.

Cheers,

A embattled Aussie fan

Veterans steal the show on day 1

It was a magical day. 4 all time greats lit up the opening day @ Capetown. 2 batsmen and 2 bowlers. 3 of them Indians, one of them Australian. And somebody said IPL or T20 was for young guns.

If on one hand there were classical Warne dismissals on perfect leg spin deliveries, then there was a sheet anchor role from the Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar who showed how to play in a difficult pitch. This when no other player from either side made a major contribution in the 1st game.

And then there was belaugered and under pressure former Indian skipper, former RCB skipper Rahul Dravid who holded the fort single handedly and guided the team to a decent 8/133 score in 20. And then it was left to the greatest bowler in Indian history, the one who had to retire amidst culling calls in Delhi to get the RCB to a fabulous start in the tournament. 5 for 5 were fabulous figures for Anil Kumble.

Cricket was center stage in the opening day and it was the memories rekindled with some electric performances on the field by battle sacred veterans. Some greatest gems of the cricketing world coming good in T20 too suggesting that you dont need to be a slam bam whinger to succeed in T20. Playing perfect cricket shots and bowling balls at perfect length can get you success too. And Sachin, Rahul, Warne and Kumble proved it.

***BOWS***

IPL Kicks off today

IPL kicks off today.

My bet on today s winners:

1st game : Mumbai Indians simply for presence of Zaheer, Padma Miss Bhajan and Sachin Tendulkar....

2nd game : Royals with talisman presence of Shane Warne who can now ball with speed of 100 mph and swing ball more and more with bowling under the wicket thanks to Ms Dumb Shilpa Bihar Chor Shetty.

Déjà-vu on IPL

With the intense 7 or 8 last months in Indian cricket, it’s a bit of let down to see the team playing against each other in the IPL. Somehow I am not able to digest the pills of IPL this time. I watched IPL – 1 with full excitement and enthu. But this time I find it bit tough to gather the same enthusiasm and support. I was off the blog last year when IPL – 1 happened. More so to do with the 1-2 loss in Australia especially in the Sydney test. That was wrecking. But somehow I did manage to recollect my enthu in 2008 later half and this blog was born. However due to the tight situations in the project in the workplace given the global recession and followed by crappy Dish TV when I had no access to Neo Sports for Aus and Eng home series, I lost the chance to watch LIVE the high Indians had in 2008. Besides retirements of Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble were further dampeners.

I am not able to swallow the glitz and glamour of IPL. Moreso with the entry of chaff in the ring with the likes of dumb headed boozoes like Ms Shetty, Ms Zinta and Mr SRK who have no idea of what cricket is. They have mixed the business and ROI with the dynamics of the game. And armed with that power, this elements don’t bother with whom they are dealing. As a result you have Sunny Gavaskar being ridiculed by a man who has never stepped on to a cricket field with a bat or ball in his hand, the likes of Dravid and Laxman were replaced by men who don’t know what concentration and power of silken touch means. There have been elements in the blog world who have mocked the concept of IPL and are against it. I am no big fan of IPL too, but I am more keen to watch few players play, otherwise it would be impossible to see them play. The love for the game is such that you always want to go and watch :

· Shane Warne

· Mathew Hayden

· Glenn McGrath and of course

· Saurav Ganguly.

In IPL.

I would never get a chance to see this players again in traditional form of game in whites or colored clothings of national teams. IPL gives me a chance to watch them with limited pleasure for a limited time. So I am pitching myself to watch the tamasha of the game which doesn’t stand a chance before the purity of a Test match or a tension of a ODI. I also don’t understand the logic of replacing RD with KP as skipper for Royal Challengers. And then when KP is far away for WI series Jacques Kallis replacing him. Kallis isn’t considered worthy enough to lead his own team for long, then how can he lead a IPL franchisee ? Not to forget amidst other failures in RC, Dravid was their highest scorer in the tournament. 347 @ 118 runs per 100 balls. Not bad for somebody who is considered to be a Test specialist. The problem with Dravid has been the intensity and the crave for perfection. He had a horrible team with his disposition. Jaffer was opening in T20 whereas he was never suited to open even in Tests. Mark Boucher has had a good record as a lower order hitter in ODIs, but he didn’t come good. And moreover he had to oversee the cynics of Vijay Malaya.

This year Dada has already been cut to size by his coach cum manager. Dada was a flash in manager’s eye when he coached Aussies. Out of 3 series at the helm, the Dada team got better of the coach’s team 2 times though won just 1 series. So all kinds of hoodlum politics is already in place in the franchisees…..

I just wish that the game of cricket wins over the chaffers and the dust particles trying to intrude the game we all love very much in the 2^nd season of IPL. Meanwhile the glaring contest to watch will be:

· Sachin and Jayasuriya opening the batting for Mumbai Indians.

· Old iconic contest between Sachin and Warne, McGrath though only for few overs or not at all. Not that this would matter though. Being a purist, I crave for the contests between greatest icons.

· Though he is no more hype now than he was in last year, Mendis would be a cult figure to watch. It would be interesting to see how Sachin and Jaya play against him. No doubt Jayasuriya would hit him if in form, but also Tendulkar would try to get better of him for the misery he suffered in SL test series last year.

Déjà-vu just can’t get better than this.

Outrageous move of John Buchanan

If John Buchanan has any doubts over captaincy skills of Saurav Ganguly, then he better remember the 2001, 2003-04 series vs India when he was the coach of the losing Australian team. His idea of multiple captaincy has been outrightly ridiculous and stupid. I would call it obnoxious intentions and naive minded.

First VVS, then Dravid and now Saurav. The demeaning of the greats by this IPL owners and the coaches who are at best obnoxious weeds (Haydos taught me to use this term) is a new trend. And guess who is going to be the next one. Sachin Tendulkar. He could be the next one to be pipped out. But then does anybody have guts to do that ? The day that would happen, the IPL would be curtains forever.

For this stupid idea of Buch, i would for sure conclude that somewhere Shane Warne must be having a hearty laughter. Warne never was a fan of Buchanan's ideas and this one latest from his crooked bag suggests why he was being hated ferociously by Warne who thought that coach is just the one which takes the team off and on the ground!!! Geeeeeeee