Rajasthan Royals led by Shane Warne have a touch of "Aussie-ness" in them. They don't seem to ever relieve the pressure and they do their home work really well. This ensure the match went the royals way as they cruised to 105 runs win. Delhi lost their way very early in the match. Sehwag couldn't fire with the bat and then the Royals commanded and steer the ship and storm in the IPL's Final.
Asondkar stand tall.
He is a short guy. When he stands against Smith, after clipping a boundary its a David-Goliath kind of thing. But his short height pressents him an advatage. He can play the drive up in the air when the taller bloke, say someone like Smith would be happy to defend. Then comes a second advantage, the fast bowler after getting tonked would attempt a bouncer. The bouncer to a any other batsman would be shoulder high but that to Asondkar would be above the head. This makes sure that he plays a high percentage game. This also helps more recognized Smith to play himself in the game and when the time come he can swiftly change gears.
The right mix.
Royals is a well balanced team. A recognized opener Smith, a work horse Kaif, two in-form all rounder, Watson and Pathan. Warne and Tanvir are genuine wicket taking bowlers. Tanvir with his awkward action and immculate line and amazing control. Warne well, Sheikh of Tweak. couple of good keepers as well, Kamran Akmal especially enjoys India conditions and Indian bowlers. Watson is the genuine all rounder meanwhile Pathan is a filler but his batting is really good. He is well built and clears boundary with ease.
Warne spinning magic.
Warne struggled in India when it came to taking test wickets. We played him all too easy. The Indians batsmen batted against the turning and bouncing Warne's deliveries rather while the English/Safs/Others played suave and imposing Shane Warne instead of the turning ball. But he has got it right for the Royals. Just imagine a rookie from under 19 spending a day with Shane Warne discussing spin bowling. It is a dream come true said Sunil Gavaskar.It is indeed dreamcoe true.
I hope he returns again to IPL next year too. Shane Warne turning the 8 ouncer, it is a very pretty sight.
Next on line is
A match between the would have been ODI Captain Yuvraj and Maverick Dhoni. Let the best team win.
27.5.08
Cricket: Squandered Chances
Cricket in any form is a game of glorious uncertainties. I will review four matches. There are couple of test matches and couple of them are IPl matches. These are namely :-
Mumbai have had many close matches but could no pull them off on many ocassion. Mumba's loss is Delhi's gain as they are virtually through to the semi-final. We (Mumbai India fans) would be praying that Chennai loses their match and hope that Royal Challenger are taken to the cleaners by us. It would be a very intersting scenario if Chennai are to lose.But it will be an uphill task for them to lose against tournaments biggest losers, Deccan Chargers. The game of cricket remains one of great uncertainties.
If I were to pick a "scape-goat" it wold be Uthappa. The crowning glory of being a "scape-goat" is deserved and Robin Utappa is truly worthy of it. He has only showed what he cant do. In one of the match, Knight Riders was it? He came in with not many runs to get and Jayasuriya on strike.Uthappa stuck couple of boundaries got over the board and played a naive looking stroke only to get caught on mid-on. He gets start often and often thats the only contribution o n the field. But to be fair to Robin he is an opener and not given that slot. Tendulkar and Jayasuriya in the squad nobody would even dare to dream of opening.
But Mumbai have been luckier than Royal Challenger.Takwale mean while hit 25 of last over to ensure that their is a sense of respectability in the score. It proved to handful for the Royals who score 32 of the last two overs. Shane Warne the man in charge. Warne, Watson, Smith, Tanvir, Pathan and Kaif form a very rigid core. The other memebers give more than what it is required and Rajasthan Royals looks to be ahead of other and favourites to win the IPL.
New Zealand vs England.
Everyone nows how poorly England play their first test match of a series especially first innings. But it was great to see that England actually won the first of three matches against New Zealand. Ross Taylor creamed a score of 150 and England collapse to 200 something giving them a very big deficit. But they pull backed. New Zealand were caught in a Full Monty show, as Monty took 6 blackk kap wickets.
There was however a big task to score nearly three hundred, Andrew Strauss coming with a century and mopping it up for England.
So England coming from behind to win this one.
Australia vs West Indies.
West Indies seem to be in a hangover. The hangover has lasted for more than one and a half decades. They still lok themselves in the mirror and imagine what they use to be. The reality is that they are perhaps on the bottom of the list of test playing nations.
They however came close to claim a win over the Aussies. They reduced Aussies 17 for 5 but that Symonds stuck a good 79 which ensure West Indies were chasing a score of more than 250. A good score in the fourth innings to hunt down. West Indies were 96 for 6. The fate was sealed after feeling sorry for WI, I went to sleep and Aussies completed the formalities of winning one more game coming back from the back door.
Kolkatta Knight Riders vs Kings Punjab.
Sharukh vs Preity. ham vs Jaadu ki Jhappi, Yuvraj vs Maharaj. Punjab set Kolkatta a highest score to chase in the ever low scoring Eden Gardens. They looked down and out until a wicket fell. Umar Gul came to the crease hit three sixes in double quick time. Ganguly cut lose and kept on pelting sixes one after the other. Kolkatta came close to victory when Pathan came to bowl to Ganguly. Ganguly creamed first one for six and thats was the game for me. Kolkatta came back to win over Punjab and this was when they were down and out.
Moral of the story.
Cricket is a sport of glorious comebacks.
- Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals.
- New Zealand vs England.
- Australia vs West Indies.
- Kings Punjab vs Kolkata Night Riders.
Mumbai have had many close matches but could no pull them off on many ocassion. Mumba's loss is Delhi's gain as they are virtually through to the semi-final. We (Mumbai India fans) would be praying that Chennai loses their match and hope that Royal Challenger are taken to the cleaners by us. It would be a very intersting scenario if Chennai are to lose.But it will be an uphill task for them to lose against tournaments biggest losers, Deccan Chargers. The game of cricket remains one of great uncertainties.
If I were to pick a "scape-goat" it wold be Uthappa. The crowning glory of being a "scape-goat" is deserved and Robin Utappa is truly worthy of it. He has only showed what he cant do. In one of the match, Knight Riders was it? He came in with not many runs to get and Jayasuriya on strike.Uthappa stuck couple of boundaries got over the board and played a naive looking stroke only to get caught on mid-on. He gets start often and often thats the only contribution o n the field. But to be fair to Robin he is an opener and not given that slot. Tendulkar and Jayasuriya in the squad nobody would even dare to dream of opening.
But Mumbai have been luckier than Royal Challenger.Takwale mean while hit 25 of last over to ensure that their is a sense of respectability in the score. It proved to handful for the Royals who score 32 of the last two overs. Shane Warne the man in charge. Warne, Watson, Smith, Tanvir, Pathan and Kaif form a very rigid core. The other memebers give more than what it is required and Rajasthan Royals looks to be ahead of other and favourites to win the IPL.
New Zealand vs England.
Everyone nows how poorly England play their first test match of a series especially first innings. But it was great to see that England actually won the first of three matches against New Zealand. Ross Taylor creamed a score of 150 and England collapse to 200 something giving them a very big deficit. But they pull backed. New Zealand were caught in a Full Monty show, as Monty took 6 blackk kap wickets.
There was however a big task to score nearly three hundred, Andrew Strauss coming with a century and mopping it up for England.
So England coming from behind to win this one.
Australia vs West Indies.
West Indies seem to be in a hangover. The hangover has lasted for more than one and a half decades. They still lok themselves in the mirror and imagine what they use to be. The reality is that they are perhaps on the bottom of the list of test playing nations.
They however came close to claim a win over the Aussies. They reduced Aussies 17 for 5 but that Symonds stuck a good 79 which ensure West Indies were chasing a score of more than 250. A good score in the fourth innings to hunt down. West Indies were 96 for 6. The fate was sealed after feeling sorry for WI, I went to sleep and Aussies completed the formalities of winning one more game coming back from the back door.
Kolkatta Knight Riders vs Kings Punjab.
Sharukh vs Preity. ham vs Jaadu ki Jhappi, Yuvraj vs Maharaj. Punjab set Kolkatta a highest score to chase in the ever low scoring Eden Gardens. They looked down and out until a wicket fell. Umar Gul came to the crease hit three sixes in double quick time. Ganguly cut lose and kept on pelting sixes one after the other. Kolkatta came close to victory when Pathan came to bowl to Ganguly. Ganguly creamed first one for six and thats was the game for me. Kolkatta came back to win over Punjab and this was when they were down and out.
Moral of the story.
Cricket is a sport of glorious comebacks.
26.5.08
Cricket: Almost ten years back.
I try to relate to things I sense with things that have happened before.My friends often talk about it whenever the debate of Tendulkar the match winner or run getter crops up. I stand for the later,(a run getter) people refer to this inning when He was all over the Aussies and scored centuries on will. I am talking about the days when he score centuries in back to back ODIs , you can read it or see it on You tube.
The times have changed and both men Tendulkar and Warne who fought the duel went on to claim more feats and turned themselves to acknowledged phenomenons to greats of the game. Mumbai Indians are looking for some Tendulkar magic if they are to make to hte Semis of the IPL. This match gives me a sense of deja vu ocz of the scenario and backdrop of both these matchse, the one which is history and one which would be under way soon.
As for Aaryan (my Nephew) will be cheering for eitherof the team. Aaryan if suffering for cough and a touch of fever. He is much livelier today then he was on saturday night.More of him too later.
The times have changed and both men Tendulkar and Warne who fought the duel went on to claim more feats and turned themselves to acknowledged phenomenons to greats of the game. Mumbai Indians are looking for some Tendulkar magic if they are to make to hte Semis of the IPL. This match gives me a sense of deja vu ocz of the scenario and backdrop of both these matchse, the one which is history and one which would be under way soon.
As for Aaryan (my Nephew) will be cheering for eitherof the team. Aaryan if suffering for cough and a touch of fever. He is much livelier today then he was on saturday night.More of him too later.
20.5.08
Blog: Little laughing Buddha.
The above snap was taken couple of months back.
Try his hands on a set of drums.
I am particularly fond of him coz he doesn’t mind coming to me, not many children otherwise queue to come into my arms. He is often playing in my arms and often greetings me with a toothless smiles and a rollicking laughter and often makes faces and hardly cries except when he really hungry or sleepy.
He is very techno savvy and his favourite past time is playing the piano on my brother’s lap top. He watches television very seriously and is there is something to laugh on make he makes sure his laugh is the loudest.
5.5.08
Cricket: Buzz, Hype and hold it.
Well IPL has been under way. It was hype like no other. BCCI may not know many things about cricket, Indians still don’t have an official website but they know the revenue side of it. There is a herd of people who know who to milk this cow. They have done all it takes, to set it rolling and the euphoria has picked up among the masses like never before. The evidence is on the fact the stadiums are running mad full even on weekdays so that’s the proof and if they are watching it from the stand one can relax on the sofa in the drawing room and see Nehra from Mumbai Indians being bashed by his former team-mate Sehwag or Robin Uthhapa taking a bow …
I will be covering Sundays matches albeit briefly.
Well it was a show downs featuring the underdogs versus the favourites. Royals and Indians were tagged a as underdogs while their opponents, Super-Kings and Dare-Devils were both on a continuous winning streak.
Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils.
Well minus Harbhajan … and Tendulkar, I don’t think Mumbai Indians have enugh fire power in bowling. I know there is Pollock but he is not running thru sides and is very predictably short of what was previously McGrath-Pollock zone. He isn’t enough in the zone. But Dhaval Kulkarni looks good. The top order for them isn’t firing. Jayasuriya should bat for a bit more longer. Uthappa is Montoya of cricket he will get starts and will get a very good first turn ie Montoya hardly completed enough race. The point I am putting across is Uthappa will fall off favours soon if he isn’t being there at the end.
Dare Devils seemed to be slipping out of the drivers seat when Pollock smacked Asif for three sixes in an over. I have a perception that Pollock the batsmen is enjoying more than Pollock the bowler, there is the case of sending him up in the order may be around the 12 over mark so that he can cream the bowling at the death. Sehwag is in prime form it doesn’t matter whats the score, if it is there to be hit, he will smack it and smack in a very broad looking middle of the bat. He seems to be just playing it with such ease while some shots looks like he is pumping iron. He got out to a wrong time to what one would call an innocuous delivery and ambitious shot. His wicket turned the tide and Mumbai India went on the kill and won by 29 runs a very good margin indeed.
Chennai Superkings vs Rajasthan Royals.
They were down from the first ball … Parthiv was dismissed on the very first delivery of the match. I think in the hindsight Dhoni missed a trick here he ought to be there when it was one down. He came in too late, by the time he came momentum was with Rajasthan and Warne cleaned him up much to my dismay. It was a beauty though; I think Dhoni might be proud to have snicked that. Chennai managed a 110 and Rajasthan cruised too an 8 wicket victory.
Will he wont he?
Among the big four (Dravid Tendulkar, Ganguly Laxman) he alones is still to play his first IPL match, While Laxman has had couple of decent outings off late but there is still more. Tendulkar will bring lots of confidence to the team. I loved when TV channels were airing Pollock’s interview and someone asked him about Tendulkar, he just replied that he doesn’t want to change a winning combination, really witty that.
I will be covering Sundays matches albeit briefly.
Well it was a show downs featuring the underdogs versus the favourites. Royals and Indians were tagged a as underdogs while their opponents, Super-Kings and Dare-Devils were both on a continuous winning streak.
Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils.
Well minus Harbhajan … and Tendulkar, I don’t think Mumbai Indians have enugh fire power in bowling. I know there is Pollock but he is not running thru sides and is very predictably short of what was previously McGrath-Pollock zone. He isn’t enough in the zone. But Dhaval Kulkarni looks good. The top order for them isn’t firing. Jayasuriya should bat for a bit more longer. Uthappa is Montoya of cricket he will get starts and will get a very good first turn ie Montoya hardly completed enough race. The point I am putting across is Uthappa will fall off favours soon if he isn’t being there at the end.
Dare Devils seemed to be slipping out of the drivers seat when Pollock smacked Asif for three sixes in an over. I have a perception that Pollock the batsmen is enjoying more than Pollock the bowler, there is the case of sending him up in the order may be around the 12 over mark so that he can cream the bowling at the death. Sehwag is in prime form it doesn’t matter whats the score, if it is there to be hit, he will smack it and smack in a very broad looking middle of the bat. He seems to be just playing it with such ease while some shots looks like he is pumping iron. He got out to a wrong time to what one would call an innocuous delivery and ambitious shot. His wicket turned the tide and Mumbai India went on the kill and won by 29 runs a very good margin indeed.
Chennai Superkings vs Rajasthan Royals.
They were down from the first ball … Parthiv was dismissed on the very first delivery of the match. I think in the hindsight Dhoni missed a trick here he ought to be there when it was one down. He came in too late, by the time he came momentum was with Rajasthan and Warne cleaned him up much to my dismay. It was a beauty though; I think Dhoni might be proud to have snicked that. Chennai managed a 110 and Rajasthan cruised too an 8 wicket victory.
Will he wont he?
Among the big four (Dravid Tendulkar, Ganguly Laxman) he alones is still to play his first IPL match, While Laxman has had couple of decent outings off late but there is still more. Tendulkar will bring lots of confidence to the team. I loved when TV channels were airing Pollock’s interview and someone asked him about Tendulkar, he just replied that he doesn’t want to change a winning combination, really witty that.
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