Lose Chennai!!

I was absolutely delighted to see Chennai Blooper Kinks lose the opening game for they are ruining the Indian cricket and I'd be even more delighted to see their campaign biting the dust this season. Though I feel a bit for their skipper who is also unfortunately India skipper and Suresh Raina, the other folks who have been holding their places in Indian team just cos they play for this fucktard franchisee. 

And the most delightful scenes were those 6 balls when Sir Jadeja was hit for 16 runs. How pitiful that the idiot never learns from his mistakes and ball after ball, he gives away enough room and length to the batsman to hit him for 6s. 

What a shame CSK paid 2 million bucks for a man whose value is not even 2 paise or 2 cents....

Go Lose Chennai!!!

Lord Jadeja and Sir Vinay Kumar are now Millionaires

Ravinder Jadeja and R Vinay Kumar, the two most hated Indian players, are now also most highly paid IPL players. More than Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni himself. More than the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. More than likes of Zaheer Khan and Irfan or Yousuf Pathan.

Life set for both this guys. Jadeja, as expected nabbed by MS Dhoni's CSK. Pune Warriors not taking part in auctions, serious fun for CSK.  Now he would be undroppable, immovable,  non-performing player for India. Who knows he might even make a Test debut soon.

R Vinay Kumar based on some hidden talent, which noone except Kris Srikanth and now Vijay Mallaya have seen, rode to a million dollar booty. If this big money really inspires him to put up a credible show on the field, is a million dollar question. The answer is known. NO. There is no talent, there is no variation, no pace in the guy. Yet he is amongst rich players of IPL.

There is no cricketing rationale or logic behind the high auction price for this 2 players who at the best are very ordinary and unbankable players. Yet their bank balance is all set to grow fat and fat. The patience of already frustrated fans would go more thinner and thinner to see this jokers  get chances ahead of more deserving Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav.  Why Umesh Yadav didnt play T20s is a mystery, but that's expected when you have Chennai Pooper Kinks boss and Brand ambassador heading Indian cricket.

Lord Jadeja all set to grab riches in Indian cricket

First win down under, thanks to soop star Ravinder Jadeja would now mean he would continue to play at 7 in ODIs and would also grab a million dollar IPL contract. From what is reported in media, CSK are gunning for him and then if he does make it to CSK, then he would be a fake Tamilian and then the rest shall be taken care by N Srinivasan, K Srikanth and well of course MS Dhoni.

Majjani life Jadeja bawa

Australian tour going England way

The Australia tour is turning out the England way. The maiden win is elusive and the pattern of defeats is disheartening from the fact that the Indian team is just not showing up the fight or desire to fight. The excuses are readymade and put up after every debacle. Rain in T20 defeat, the pitch in first 3 Tests and lack of fight in the 4th one. Seniors were the scapegoat for the Tests whitewash, who’d be the scapegoat for the T20I whitewash, which is a game away.

The new folks have arrived, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and of course Lord Ravinder Jadeja, the next IPL multi-millionaire.  A lot of noise was made on why Rohit Sharma was not played in Tests especially in Adelaide when Lax was having disaster of time in the middle. He was supposed to be the god sent savior to the losing Indian side. Unfortunately he didn’t have any magical wand that could have turned the defeatist attitude, lack of fight to a winning one. He lasted a ball and was bowled to the daddy of international cricket,  Brad Hogg first ball.

The selection of the playing XI was ridiculous:

• No Zaheer Khan or Irfan Pathan in the playing XI. The seamers who played were Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar. One was returning from injury lay-off, the second one was exposed in Test in Adelaide, yet somehow he continues to find a place in XI.  He bowled decent enough, but not good enough to justify his continued selection in the team. No pace, no variation, no skills. Vinay Kumar for you,  the reason that seems he is in the team is just cos of South Indian lobby that now (Chennai, to be precise) rules Indian cricket.

• Ravinder Jadeja at 7.  He is deemed to be a person who gives the team as balance. Balance as in a bowling allrounder or batting allrounder?  He concedes 23 runs in 2 overs, he makes 7 runs and saves a few. Saving and making still fall short of conceding. So where is the balance?  He cannot contribute when needed and often plays when all is lost (like he did in England T20).  MS Dhoni is in awe of him and that is harming the team.

• R Ashvin.  Supposedly new age bowler who can bowl anytime, the bowler who can do no wrong. He proved his worth for CSK in IPL and CLT20, but when it came for impact on international stage, he froze. He continued bowling full tosses and down the leg side. Easy meat for someone like David Warner to display their switch hit skills.  The only reason he still plays every game and Harbhajan doesn’t is he is from Chennai and represents Chennai Super Kinks whose captain, owner and brand ambassador occupy strong posts in Indian board.

• Virender Sehwag is fast turning out to be a flat track bully. I hate to say this, as I still feel he is a great, but he has done his reputation no justice on this tour.

• Gautam Gambhir and Kohli would probably rue the way they got out and their dismissals gave Australia an opening that was match winning in the final context of the game.

• And MSD, the man who once could do nothing wrong, now can do nothing right.  He has been stubborn, defensive, defeatist and strangely passive and switched off from the proceedings. When Ashvin got hit for runs in 2nd over, he still found himself bowling 3rd over in trot.  Ashvin completed his quota before 10th over was bowled and that suggests the blind faith of MS in him and also a glaring proof of being stubborn and close to experimenting.  Rahul Sharma was introduced late in the attack and he did impress in bits and pieces.

• Part time spinners might work in India, but not in Australia.  And there were plenty of them. When the runs were scored, there was no pace around to put some brakes and get some wickets. Only options available were Raina or Jadeja or Sharma who might grab wickets in India, but would be hit for runs elsewhere.  I don’t get the fascination for part timers for Indian captains off late.  Ganguly did use part timers but they had some quality – Yuvraj, Sachin and Sehwag then did use to take wickets and break partnerships. Jadeja actually gifts away runs, easy runs to the opposition. He might have got few wickets against England, but then who wouldn’t against England? They are such pitiful spin players. And based of that success, he finds himself part of every limited overs team India puts up.

The patience is long running thin and unless there is a drastic change in the mindset of the captain and the team, the fans would be forced to switch off  from watching the games. I spoilt my night yesterday sacrificing 5 hours of sleep to watch the flop show of the team who once was world champion in this format.

What an irony, the team of country that hosts the richest T20 league in the world, doesn’t have players who can combine as a team and win games consistently.  The top 7 of this team or top  8 are star players for their respective franchisees in IPL, but in the Indian team they are zilch contributors.  That makes the fans pose questions on the mindset and attitude of this players – do they really want to play for India to win or just turn up and grab their booty from BCCI and not bother to show up a fight.

I think the latter one is fast turning out to be a reality and unless addressed soon, the IPL would become a monster who would be hated more than it is loved.

Anti IPL rheoterics

Sport and politics are different. If Australia is not going to play any more in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe... If they only play in some countries, world cricket will die and IPL will take over.

Muralitharan spoke.

He fears IPL shall take over cricket if Australia dont play in SL, Pak and Zim.

He himself has been part of IPL for 4 seasons, champion team for 1 year and even he was part of defending CLT20 team. He has made millions of dollars playing for IPL in 4 seasons and he would be back for 5th season too. Then he shall forget this high moral talk of IPL taking over the cricket.

If he feels IPL is so daemonic and monster, then stop being a part of it. Who's asking him to be part of that venture if he feels his country's cricket is going to be rolled over and dead by IPL ?

Its time the Lankan cricketers take a unified stand -- vs or with IPL. And stick to it. Not long back 3 or 4 of their top class cricketers chose to stay back for IPL instead of touring to England.

Why does Badrinath fail?

A 30 ball 17 followed by a 28 ball 11 and a run out with bat lost and struggling to make it to the crease even with a dive. 

That figures dont do the justice to the rant "I have made my game suitable to the T20s and ODIs" from a man who has been given ample opportunities in past 3 years and he has fluffed them all. He happens to be from the state which provides national selection committee chairman, the most powerful man in the BCCI and of course the 2 time IPL champion franchisee with a luck that the franchisee is captained by the man who captains India and the stand in skipper is also a part of the same franchisee.

All of that ideally shouldnt matter though, in the long run its the temperament and the attitude that decides if a player belongs at the highest level. And we aint bridesmaid now, we are goddman world champions in the ODIs and top ranked Test team. So no player should come in on the back of few hundred runs in the IPL. To me this man is like Ajay Sharma who scored tonnes of runs in the domestic circuit, but when confronted at the highest level, just came a cropper. 

Why do lads like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina who are way younger than this lad find success at highest level and he doesnt? Why do even contemporaries like Gautam Gambhir find success but he doesnt? Gambhir was also treated in the same way as this lad was, but when he got his opportunity, he seized it and today he is best player of spin in the country after 3 greats and forms one of the vital cogs of India's best Test opening pair and possibly world's best opening pair at the moment. 

Both this lads got their moments on the same tour -- 2008 tour to Lanka. Gambhir got in Tests, this lad in ODIs. Gambhir had been decent in the ODIs then and hadnt got the success in Tests by then. A solitary hundred against BD in 2007 was all he had. Even though he didnt have 100s in that tour, but his handling of M&M when the more famed and great names failed in reading them got him the place he deserved and since then hasnt stopped and looked back. 

So what stops this lad? Self pity? Self inflicted daemons? Whats holding him? Is he scared? Or is he content to just play a few games for India and happy making millions in the IPL? Who would remember him few years down the line? Who remembers Padmakar Shivalkar today in the same breath as say Bishen Singh Bedi or Chandra or Prassana or even Venkat? Or Ajay Sharma? Or Pankaj Dharmani ?

The series is already in the bag and its time to test out the few players who havent got the chances so far. One of them is the original young player well before Kohlis and Rohits made their mark. Manoj Tiwary, who debuted in 2008 (after Rohit) but lost out to injury then.. He would be due to come in for a game or 2 before he heads back to India. So this lad hasnt done any favors for himself by making those slow starts. Yet, the backing he has, he might still get a chance to play the 3 Tests replacing Tendulkar ahead of Kohli. And that would mean there would be at least 1 walking wicket in the Test team.

Backing Ashvin for success in West Indies ODIs

R Ashvin, the tall 24 year old spinner from Chennai and one of the vital cogs of CSK's twin IPL titles. He has been hailed   as country's second best spinner after Harbhajan in ODIs at least. He has just played 9 ODIs, 2 in World cup, 5 in NZ series and 2 in that ill fated Zimbabwe tour. But he has earned a place amongst fans to be brave hearted and a constant trier. He doesnt held himself back from tossing the ball up in the powerplays in ODIs and T20s, he  gets thrashed but more often than not he picks up wickets. 

He proved that in the IPL and CLT20 that he can be a very good new ball bowler and he often started the attack in the world cup (against West Indies and Australia - 2 games he played).  Got Watson in the Quarters in the first 10 overs. And then he was dropped for  the next 2 games. He again proved his mettle in the IPL when he constantly grabbed Chris Gayle in the final and a game before when later was rampaging. 

MSD has handled this man very well and its fortunate for Ashvin that MSD is also India captain. When he returns for the England ODIs, Ashvin would be keen to perform well in the West Indies ODIs and sneak a place in the starting XI ahead of Harbhajan Singh. Its most likely that Harbhajan would always play ahead of him in conditions favoring just one spinner, but if Ashvin could keep Bhajji on toes, only the Indian bowling attack would be benefitted. 

After Kumble's shoulder surgery of 2001, India hasnt had an attacking spinner in the ODIs. Harbhajan fitted that role very well in early 2000s but in last few years he has become more of containing bowler than an attacking bowler. He cannot be always relied to grab wickets in pressure situation, something which Kumble always did for Azharuddin and Tendulkar in 90s. 

India has tried a lot of spinners in supporting role to Harbhajan after Kumble bowed out of ODIs -- Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra (very few ODIs), Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawala, Ravinder Jadeja etc. But none of them have been able to cement their places in the starting XI. Also Sehwag's dodgy shoulder in last 2 years havent helped India's cause,  he has proved many times he is better off spinner than Harbhajan Singh. 

If Ashvin is able to replicate his IPL success in ODIs and T20Is for India then not only he would be a serious contender for Tests but also India would have much better bowling attack as compared to now. He is in the team in West Indies only for the ODIs, but if he puts up a strong performance, say 2 wickets on average per game and giving away 4.5 - 5.5 runs an over, he would be very tough to ignore for the tougher tours coming up later this year. 

And thats when Ashvin would be just Ashvin and not IPL Ashvin.

India win by 16 runs in the first T20I

India began the tour well by winning the 1 off T20 against a depleted West Indies side. This win was India's first ever in T20Is against West Indies. Strange fact given how weak the Windies has been over years now and yet India had to wait so long for the win. 

The short ball woes, it looked would return again to haunt the inexperienced lads, when Dhawan got out to Samy in 3rd / 4th over. That was a nothing shot and Dhawan had no clue what to do for the delivery. Patel and Kohli then rebuilt for a while before Sammy returned to take 3 more wickets to leave India at 4/56.

Kohli, Raina and Patel dismissed.  And then our Chennai hero Dabrinath settled to a run a ball knock which was sufficient on the uneven, turning pitch and alongside Rohit Sharma he led India to a decent 159/6 after a miraculous 72 runs off last 5 overs. 

West Indies were given early blows by Munnabhai and IPL Ashvin, but Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo batted without sense and urgency till 16th over without losing further wicket and any sense of urgency to win. And when the surge came, it was too late for them as run rate had already climbed 17 a over. Hyatt and Barnwell put up a fight though, it was an easy win for India by 16 runs. 

What is very disgusting to see is 3 good players of T20 -- 2 of them hyped in the IPL were not part of Windies team. Gayle, Pollard and senior Bravo. WICB has to get its act straight to get its best players playing in a team to have any chances of revival in the international cricket, else its all downhill for them.

Club vs Country after IPL

The IPL has taken one more World Cup winner down with the injury list and now following members are either not available or are resting:

 

1. Virender Sehwag

2. Gautam Gambhir

3. Yuvraj Singh

4. Sachin Tendulkar

5. Che Pujara

 

Sehwag, Gambhir played almost full IPL through their injuries and withdrew at the end of their franchisee's campaign to go for further treatment. Gambhir played full IPL for KKR and when he was to lead India in WI he opted out of the  tour due to the injury.

 

Tendulkar has played entire IPL till today's loss and now he wants to skip the Windies test tour too to be with his family.  Arrogance.  Why couldnt he have skipped the IPL or part of it to be with his family? Why skip the test tour of West Indies? What if it was England tour?

 

Even more bizzare case is for Gambhir, the most expensive buy of IPL 4 and man who won the final for India. He is not only the best player of spin in the world but also a very valuable cog in the ODIs and Tests for India. Now India's and world's best opening pair wont be around in Windies. Why did Gambhir play through the IPL with a sore shoulder? Did Dildo Khan force him to? Did he inform BCCI about this? Does he qualify of being guilty to chose club over country? Is he right to play full IPL and skip test / odis of West Indies.

 

Still India shall win both ODI and test series in West Indies, but this entire episode leaves a very bad taste in the mouth and I hate IPL now.  Its just killing the soul and spirit of world cricket. Indian players have set a very bad precedent in the world by skipping the national tour and playing the crappy IPL.  Even worse is the role from BCCI who manages both and it needs to decide where does it loyalty lie? IPL or world cricket?

 

As a result the Tamil Nadu folks have made a comeback in the Test team and instead of Delhi lads, Chennai lads would open for India in Tests. The new Mukund and the failed Vijay. Also finding a place in the test team is Dabrinath, the same lad who failed when given the chances. Mukund sounds good prospect, would be keen to see how he performs.

 

Just 4 fast bowlers and 3 spinners. Riches. 2 of the fast bowlers are Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, that says the strength of the attack.  They both were termed as "best pace attack of last 15 years" in 2006 when India under Dravid won the test series, but then Munaf had pace then, now he has just a nagging length and no pace. Sreesanth has everything except what it takes to excel in the middle of the ground.  3 spinners in West Indies is again a poor selection. Now suddenly Pragyan Ojha is back in contention...Basis of what? IPL? He failed miserably in the IPL.

 

Probable XI :

 

1. Mukund

2. Vijay

3. Dravid

4. Laxman

5. Raina

6. Kohli

7. Dhoni

8. Harbhajan

9. Ishant

10. Zaheer

11. Freesanth

 

The batting order suddenly looks depleted and the opening pair seems wobbly. Thanks to the IPL and player priorities. Tendulkar especially is the one to blame the most.

16 men to Windies

The 15 for the ODIs and T20 leg of the Windies tour:

 

1. Gambhir

2. Patel

3. Kohli

4. Raina

5. Yuvraj

6.  Sharma

7. Pathan

8.Ishant

9. Harbhajan

10. Ashvin

11. Munaf

12. Saha

13. Dabrinath Bussumaniam

14. Vinay Kumar

15. Mishraji

16. Praveen Pehelwan

 

Except a couple of choices or make it 3, the selection looks all rite.

 

Dabrinath, Rohit Sharma and Saha.

 

Sharma was ignored for the world cup team. Since  the world cup and now, Sharma hasnt played any domestic cricket or international cricket except the IPL. So if selectors have

decided not to keep IPL as benchmark for this team selection, how is Sharma back in the team?

 

On the similar grounds how come Dabrinath is rejected for World cup and selected for this tour when the only form of cricket he has played is IPL.

 

And if IPL is the criterion for selection, then why have selectors ignored Rayudu, Rahul Sharma and may be Manoj Tiwary?

 

And what good has Amit Mishra done between World Cup and now except in IPL?

 

The positive side of selection is good to see no Vijay and Boss DK in the team, however DK is spurred on having being left out in favor of PP. He has hit 5 sixes out of nowhere in my home town IPL game.

 

May be a reminder to Cheeka that if somebody gets injured and there is an opening may be I can play. Not as keeper but may be as a batsman.

 

Aka India's Kamran Akamal.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma.

The man who troubled Ricky Ponting, the man who has got pace, height, bounce. But he does not have consistency. 

A sure starter in Tests, but havent played an ODI since Aug 2009.

Ishant Sharma today wrecked Kochi Tuskers starring Mahila and Sreesanth with a 5-for. 

A pure delight to see him succeed at the international level (IPL is domestic with some international touch to it). Only if he could replicate this performance many more times so that the bare cupboards in pace bowling in India would be full again.

Not only he would benefit out of such performances, but India would also be benefited of such performances and we would then no longer need the likes of Sreesanth and Munaf Patel in the teams.

Way to go Ishant Sharma.

Sehwag's return to the form

Sehwag showed return to the form glimpses and that rubbed off the Delhi Daredevils to post 3rd highest IPL score. KXIP chased it spiritedly but in the end fell short by 29 runs.  Valtathy failed and Marsh's efforts were in vain as none other batsmen except Gilchrist stepped up to the occasion. 

Agarkar, Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla have represented India at some point or the other and they all struggled today. So did Praveen Kumar.  Irfan Pathan did show some minuscule swing into the right hander in first few overs but the pace was too slow to have an impact on the batsmen.

Its a pain to watch Irfan Pathan in this avatar. Struggling for runs, struggling for pace, leaking runs. He has been one of the Dada's devils who had a great start to his career but thanks to Greg Chappell, he faded away in last 5 years or so. 

He took Pathan to so many so called experts that later was confused whom to abide.

Resultant he has not played for India in more than 2 years. 

Delhi prepared a green track for this game, though it didnt help its seam heavy attack, it helped its batsmen to post a formidable total.

They would want to continue to perform on the similar lines to ensure that they end up in the final 4 once again. They have the team to do it. Only thing they need to do is  fire collectively.

SLC needs to be cautious on IPL issue

The hue and cry created by SLC on the return of its players from IPL is unwanted and not needed. SL players have been in hot demand in this season and 2 of  their players are captains. One of them has led the new franchisee to 3 consecutive wins and the other has led to 3 defeats and 2 wins. 

Both are crucial to the SL campaign in the Old Blighty and their form would decide if the SL return from the tour as winners or as usual losing the Tests. They might still win the ODIs given the pathetic display by England in 2011 ODIs. 

The players have been asked to return to their country for a preparatory camp by May 5 and almost all of them have complied. At least those have who are / will play cricket for Lanka. Murali has slammed the board, but then he isnt supposed to represent SL anymore. 

The latest salvo has come in from Duleep Mendis and Nishantha Ranatunga over Lasith Malinga. He doesnt play Tests anymore and is a superb exponent in T20 and ODIs. But England tour begins with Tests and since Malinga wont be playing in the tests, him returning to Lanka and participating in a rehabilitation program is a bit ridiculous. By playing IPL at least he would be match fit if selected for the limited overs leg for the England tour. 

Everybody except West Indian players chose country over IPL and the players have promptly left for national duties when called for skipping IPL. So it doesnt make any sense for the players to actually say it in public forum that they prefer country over IPL of course if you are not Bravo or Pollard or Gayle.

SLC in a fighting stance with BCCI could be hurting itself in the long run. They are in debt and unless they play an India series, they tend to lose money than earn it. So it would be in their best interests if they take this situation in a bit more judicious and cautious way.

"Sachin's Jinx"

Sachin scored a 100 and as his critics would point out his team lost. They shall call it as a jinx. Happened in world cup, happened in IPL.

So they say Sachin shouldnt score a 100 to let his team win.

The opening partnership of Baz and Jayawardene was well capitalised by Sir Jadeja who hit a few sixes. Now he is a different player when it comes to IPL and when it comes to play for India. When he plays for India, he scratches around, doesnt know what to do when the run rate climbs. 

But in IPL he has a spark in the eyes. He becomes a different player in IPL. Suddenly he finds sixes, fours coming out of his bat, he springs and all. 

And now except Pune, all teams have now lost at least 1 game. 

Still Mumbai looks the strongest team in the tournament and the man is yet to get dismissed in the tournament. 

Mumbai and Kings XI win

Mumbai prevailed over Bangalore yesterday with Sachin continuing his super run into this tournament as well. The best thing about his innings was he allowed Rayudu to take over and he was happy playing second fiddle. And the gesture to share the MoM award with him was even better. 

Zaheer was struggling and that was the difference between defeat and victory for Bangalore. Virat Kohli now needs to be little less innovative to find new ways to get out. 

In other game Praveen showed how dangerous he is when ball swings and how ordinary he is when ball stops moving.  Vijay and Dabri showed how good they are for IPL. Dhoni continued his superb batting run. No matter how many runs he makes now from this point, his super six off Kula would itch forever. That 6 got India the world cup.

Paul Valtathy hit a super 111 to see Kings XI home in a tough chase of 189 runs. Given the fact that CSK have been exceptional while defending scores of 180+,the effort from Kings was kingsman. They have had a brittle batting lineup, but today promoting Valtathy to opening spot was a master stroke.

CSK havent got going this tournament, but they are led by MS and thats the singlemost USP for them. As long as MS doesnt run out of the ideas, they are always in the contention to go the distance. 

Rajasthan, Pune and Mumbai are the only  teams to have won 2 games of 2. 

Pune Warriors get a dream debut

The second new team in the IPL this year, the 2nd from Maharashtra, the team which almost had a quiet build up to the IPL since its inception last year had a dream debut in the IPL 4. Having got to play its first game in adjoining Navi Mumbai, the team streamrolled KXIP and its tough luck continued. 

Nothing went right for KXIP since the toss. The new skipper, the old opener, the new  reserve keeper, everybody failed and at one time its score read 4 for 9. (Or 9 for 4).

Dinesh Karthik scored a duck.

Punjab were restricted to 112 though Ryan McLaren did his best to up the ante, but the rest around him just didnt battle enough. 

Graeme Smith's horror form continued and this time it  was not Zak who nailed him, but Praveen Pehelwan who got him first ball of the innings. 

And though Kings XI got 2 quick wickets of Jesse Ryder and Manhas, the pair of Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh took Pune Warriors home without any further hiccup.A dream debut for Pune. 

Surprised to see Chitale Bandhu / Joshi Vadewale / Rohit Wadewale not figuring on the black jerseys of Pune Warriors India.

Delhi banished

Lasith Malinga did what he did best, bowled yorkers and demolished Daredevils batting lineup for just 95 and in the end Sachin Tendulkar saw Mumbai home.

Sehwag scored just 19 and that wasnt enough for DD to post a competitive total. He, Warner and Aaron Finch are the only men who were of some quality in the exodus'ed team. They lost AB, Dilshan, Vettori and Gambhir in the auction to see themselves as one of the weakest team in this IPL.

A heartening site was to see some swing for Irfan Pathan, though he didnt get the wickets. He did trouble the batsmen with the balls that came in. That has been his strength in his peak years.

Sehwag would need to do more than what he did today and perhaps he shall need to bat 20 overs to ensure DD post a competitive total in the other games.

Players to watch out this IPL

Players to watch out for this IPL from Indian perspective. 

1. Ishant Sharma  for the 3rd seamer in the ODIs. He leaks out runs and isnt very wicket taking bowler, yet he is better than Munaf and Freesanth, for he has a nack to get the bounce and carry. And he has got the pace to ruffle the batsmen.

2. Irfan Pathan for that # 7 spot in the ODIs. Compete with his brother. He is far better player than Yusuf Pathan and what he is billed for now. If he gets that swing back and is back to fitness, look no further than Irfan. A man who has had 90s and has batted at # 3 in both Tests and ODIs should be a lucrative prospect back in the team when fit and on the top of the game. 

3. Manish Pandey : Can he now stake a claim in the ODI team if he has a successful IPL? If the likes of Vijay and Dhawan can get their chances owing to small success they had in IPL, then this lad who'z got some tremendous knocks in IPL and Ranji should get a look ahead in the lesser significant ODI series. 

4.  Cheteshwar Pujara: The things for that # 6 spot in the Tests would hot up once again when team travels to West Indies now that Yuvraj and Raina are back in the form.  Tests are a bit too far for now, but if he proves his mettle for RCB, then he might also come in the reckoning as a backup player in the ODI setup as well. 

There are not many open spots in the world champion team at the moment except # 7 spot. Sachin Tendulkar might not play ODIs any more, so the opening shall be going back to the Gauti - Viru combo followed by Kohli and Yuvraj. And then Raina and Dhoni. 

So if there are couple of lads like Irfan or Saurabh Tiwary can get some success this IPL they can edge through the likes of tested and failed Jadeja and Fuddi Pathan. 

Ravinder Jadeja today batted like he always does in the IPL, but he fails for India.  One of those players who hit iron hot form in IPL, but flounder in the national colors.  Freesanth, Rohit Sharma, IPL Ojha, Amit Mishra, Jadeja, Fuddi Pathan are the proud members of this lot.

Freesanth gets a zip in IPL

Lead tusker Sreesanth continued his antics in the first home IPL game.  What was amazing to see was to get the swing and the zip he got. Something which was amiss in the world cup. 

Misplaced priorities?

Please save us from Indian Russell Arnold -- Laxman Shivramkrishnan. He is just a fucktard..  Make him sit on a tusker and let it scream over him. Even the tusker would go wild and mad listening Shivramkrishnan.

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.