Sunday, May 24, 2009
Deccan chargers - Charged all the way
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Clinically operated and removed - RCB through to finals
Friday, May 22, 2009
Gilli kills Delhi
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A Quick Look at Head to Head scenario in Semi finals
- Two teams with great batting strength all the way.
- Sehwag and Gambhir Vs Gilchrist and Gibbs, Cannot get better and bigger than this. Four great opening batsmen world cricket has seen.
- Middle order of both the team are in good shape. AB De Villiers, Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik have equally achieved what Symonds, Rohit Sharma and Dwayne smith have achieved for Hyderabad
- Nannes and Ashish Nehra is the best Opening bowling pair of this IPL. Whereas RP Singh has struggled all the way to find a good pair opposite him. But Delhi have to watch out for part time bowlers in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma has picked up 11 wickets in this tournament already.
- Pragyan Ojha - Watch out for this lad, as his confidence is so high after he got picked up in India's T-20 squad for world cup.
- Two bowlers from Hyderabad are running neck to neck for best bowler award in IPL season 2. RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha, both are in dream run, so confident about their bowling.
- Deccan should not discount the idea of Mcgrath stepping in for semi finals. They have to back up their plan with this thought too.
- Australians and South africans have the will to deliver at the extreme pressure situations. I mean big matches like semis and finals. So watch out for Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds and Mcgrath (if he plays).
- Dinesh Karthik should be targeted by Deccan, simply for the reason that he can bat along with tail enders and could still score 10 runs per over or more in the end.
Chennai Vs Bangalore
- Dhoni's efficiency Vs Kumble's experience
- Mathew Hayden, Suresh Raina and Dhoni are key to post a huge score for Chennai.
- Kallis, Dravid, Boucher and Ross Taylor are crucial for RCB to win the game.
- Match would be very interesting when the likes of Parthiv Patel, Morkel and Oram come good with the bat for Chennai and similarly if Virat Kohli and Robin Uthappa come good for RCB
- Bowling strengths of the two teams are more or less similar. Albie Morkel for Chennai and Praveen kumar for RCB are very crucial as they both have proved effective with the new ball. They both kept on knocking the openers of opponents.
- Muralidharan vs Kumble is another clash which would be interesting to watch. Both knows the importance of middle overs in a T-20 form. They would be bowling in tandem with other spinners in their respective side to turn the match. Jakati for Chennai has been the best support bowler for Murali, whereas Anil Kumble found Appanna and Van der merwe as able support along with him.
- Manish Pandey's innings of 114 n.o would not have come at a better time for himself. Anil Kumble would be more than happy to send him along with Kallis for opening the innings in Semi finals.
- Both Kumble and Dhoni believe in youngsters delivering the goods. They pep them really nice to come out with stand out performances.
- Jacob Oram could serve Dhoni just like a timed bomb ready to explode during a semi final match. If he has a good day, rest assured RCB will have a bad day.
- Boucher's brilliance has revived RCB from tough situations. He might do that again.
- Mike Hussey is back in the squad for selections. Will Dhoni risk his team mix and bring in Hussey ? Wait and watch. I hope he does not do that.
All the above factors mentioned would make the Semi finals really exciting to watch.
I would cherish Chennai lifting the trophy. But we had already noted how evenly matched the teams are and anything could happen from this stage.
Thanks,
Prashy.
Delhi Daredevils - Success suits this team
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Rajasthan Royals - Not so Royal against Knight riders
- Stay with the team during tough times.
- Remove John Buchanan out of his team for a better future.
- Talk less with Dada who has the lust for power. I have to justify my point here. Dada did not contribute for KKR in any way. Something is definitely bothering him. I guess its multi captaincy theory, which never came into practice.
- Cheer leaders are no way entertainment for the players, they are entertainment for the public. First Shah rukh should realise that and then he should also not include cricketers to select on them.
- Tough one for him to practice. Still he can lessen the hype for himself and for his team, so that performance improves.
Lets see if he does any of the above mentioned in next season.
Thanks,
Prashy.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Eventful day - Mumbai Knocked out, Chennai confirms Semi finals birth and Deccan chargers hangs on to the ropes before falling off the cliff
Chennai on the other hand is using all these matches to get their combinations right. Their opening pair is still a worry for Dhoni. M. Vijay and Parthiv Patel have been tried back and forth along with Hayden. Once Badrinath was also sent in along with Hayden. It has not clicked so far. They have couple of matches to go and they are in a strong position already. They can try out some options and provide everybody equal opportunity to select themselves for semi finals and finals. Manpreet Goni, Makhaya Ntini would definitely play for the remaining two matches. Jacob Oram could be sent up the order to make him find his lost form. It would be ideal time for him to come good.
Hyderabad Deccan charger's match against KKR was another thriller in this Season. 21 runs off last over, Rohit sharma finishing off with a six off the last ball, was a great sight for any cricketing fan. One should have enormous self confidence to come up with such a performance. One would have put a bet on Symonds finishing the match and when he got out, there was Rohit Sharma who kept everybody stuck to the television like a glue. Something told me that Rohit is going to come up with a special knock. He did not disappoint us. I pity Macullum, not KKR team for this blow over and over again. Somebody takes the responsibility from KKR team in each match to actually hand over the match to the opponents. With this kind of performance, I even think they should not have won even one match.
On the other hand, Deccan chargers have saved themselves the worry of knocking themselves out. Two matches to go for them, one win and chart would be re prepared and their RAC status will vanish and confirmation would be seen.
Gilchrist is also getting his combinations right. He has to play both Gibbs and Symonds in the playing eleven to provide his team a chance for the championship. Right now, he himself is in tremendous striking form. He does not allow the captaincy part to rule his batting methods. Thats a tough one to practice, but Gilchrist is a true master in that.
The tournament is really getting a good shape, if evenly balanced team like Chennai, Delhi, Deccan fight in the semifinals. Lets wait and watch, who will join these three teams in clash of four. My bet is on Rajasthan Royals. But Kings XI and RCB are banging the doors too. This tournament is heading for a great climax.
Thanks,
Prashy.