Three consecutive wins for Bangalore royal challengers. KP's sign off for this season opened the gates for some positive vibes within the team I guess.
Kumble is such a positive sportsman, he passes on those vibes to others in the team. He clearly knows his trump cards in all the departments. In Bowling department, he relies on himself first and Praveen kumar to deliver, when the chips are down. In Batting, he relies on Kallis and Boucher to finish the games on a winning note. Rest, who ever stands up on the respective day, he will use them to the fullest.
He definitely comes up with a plan for each and every player in the opposition team. Maybe, KP had plans. But I suppose Kumble puts it into practice more effectively. The match against Kings XI punjab was about holding the nerves and believing that match could turn any time around. Kumble's last but one over was exemplary. Praveen kumar bowled a fantastic last over. These 150 target matches are a real hit considering T-20, as the match heads to a nail biting finish in 95% cases.
Kings XI Punjab were off to a great start with 70 odd runs by not losing a wicket. To pull the match from that state to a 7 run win was good to watch. Kumble deserves applause for exhibiting his calmness under such tense situations. After all, he is an expert in that area. People cannot forget the Sydney test episode against Aussies. Atleast I remember that particular test match for the way Anil Kumble conducted himself after a cheap sportsmanship displayed by every single australian. Considering that, this would be have been a cake walk for Anil kumble and his men.
The match against Mumbai Indians was example of commanding performance. Three wickets from Dillon Du preez (another south african in BRC camp) hit hard on Mumbai indians' dream of piling up runs. I would like to stress on certain killer punch moves handled by Kumble.
1. Having an unorthodox slip position for Sachin tendulkar. It was a 2 and half slip(Not 2nd slip, nor 3rd slip). It worked for them and Rahul Dravid would have cherished taking catch off Sachin's bat in slips.
2. He did not bowl spinners at all before the strategic time out and MI's score read 53 for 3. Thats psychological hit, as Spinners are ruling roost in this tournament.
3. J P Duminy has a problem with short ball. There was an instance when Kallis bowled a short ball to Duminy, both Boucher (from behind the stumps) and Kallis were giving mouthful to J P Duminy about something. It definitely looked like they were knowing JP's weakness and were asking questions. Kumble would have discussed with the likes of Kallis and Boucher about J P Duminy's weakness, as they play together a lot.
4. Having picked Sachin and JP Duminy cheaply for low scores, Kumble ensured that Jayasuriya played a different innings, which helped BRC's cause a lot
5. Kumble is ready to bowl his best bowlers for the day, maximum overs allotted. When he gave away 18 runs from 2 overs, he took himself off the attack. He never bowled again.
All the above aspects mentioned make a good captain. Kumble is defintely one.
Kudos to Kallis and Uthappa to steer the team to a win. Good thing for Robin Uthappa was to come up with a match winning knock. But a day later, he would have felt that the effort did not fetch him a place in the T-20 squad for world cup. I truly believe, the place is taken away from him by none other than Suresh Raina. I mean, last T-20 world cup, Robin Uthappa was part of champions group. This time, Suresh Raina has pipped him out.
Lets see, how far Bangalore Royal challengers will keep us swayed in IPL season 2. I still could not see them in semi finals stage. They have got the momentum going with them. But Chennai, Deccan, Delhi and Rajasthan is my prediction for the semi finals clash. But I might be proved wrong...........
Thanks,
Prashy.
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