D for Dilshan D for Daring D for Delhi DareDevils, well that has been the mantra for DareDevils this season. Even without Mcgrath, Maharoof, Asif contributing with the ball, Sehwag and Gambhir batting firepower like the last IPL Delhi look a complete team. The fact that Mcgrath is warming the bench shows how good their bowling attack is. Dilshan, M & M and Karthik have been a gem with the bat, stealing victories from the jaws of defeat twice in a row now. The way Dilshan punched in the air after pulling Edwards for a boundary showed the intensity with which he played his cricket; he possessed...
Nailless after the Nail bitters at Kingmead
Even though Mumbai Indians lost the match by 3 runs & RCB won it with a ball to spare it wouldn’t be wrong to say that cricket was a winner today, one tasted a unique flavor of T20; low scoring thrillers. The beauty of T20 is its ability produce nail bitters, IPL 2.0 is no different, and a nail bitter is more intense if it’s a low scoring one. In the end some tidy bowling and some shoddy batting saw Kings XI win by 3 runs. Lack of good bowlers and some shoddy performance by KKR saw RCB snatch victory from the hands of defeat. 119 was what Kings XI managed on a tired surface of Kingsmead which...
The MUMBAI INDIAN chewed the Calcutta Mithi Pan
They say a number is worth thousand pictures and a picture is worth thousand words. Sachin’s 68 of 45 balls neither does it give you the right picture nor do I have the right words to describe it. Even though he scored at a strike rate of 150 there wasn’t a single rash slog nor were there any mistimed shots looping in the outfield. It was like watching highlights of 2003 WC, the six against Ishant reminded us the one against Caddick. It felt like a 16 year old trying to woo his female classmates in the crowd. Gavaskar sahib would have been a very happy man seeing those high elbow and straight...
(Dare)ing Dilshan take DareDevils home
Last time Delhi’s biggest problem was the inability of the middle order to step up when the top order failed, but this time things have changed for good. Dilshan has been a revelation this season; he is one of the better finisher in the modern era due to his ability to hit the boundaries at will. He has shown that he has in him the temperament to pace the innings. Coming in at the 2nd over he used his experience to nudge around initially building partnerships with AB, and finally some good hitting along with M&M (Mithun Manhas) he made sure DareDevils achieve the desired target without any...
SINGH is KING at KINGsmead
Ravi Singh Bopara showed that even in this age of T20 - fatafat cricket; slow and steady could still win the race. He showed that it’s not just veterans who can play the old fashioned innings in chasing big targets in T20. Nudging around, playing at run a ball and accelerated towards end, it was a good combination attack with defense. The credit of chasing 170 with 3 down in with an over to spare should go to Bopara.There is some connection with RCB and good starts rather lack of it; they don’t seem to go hand in hand. Kallis and Ryder were off to a decent start even after the early loss of Uthappa...
Royals Ryde the Super K(Night)
It took 20 overs and one super over for the royals to register their first win in IPL 2.0. The two most uninspiring teams pulled out one of the most exciting matches of the IPL so far. Frankly after the high scoring Chennai Delhi game I wasn’t all excited about the clash of minnows, but the Royals pulled out a tie out of thin air and then Pathan blasted 16 from 4 balls in the super over. Last time around Gayle had blasted 25 in the super over against Vetori’s NZ. Super over is far more exciting than the bowl out in case of a tie in T20, as its far more challenging n exciting.Spinners have always...
Alcohol Yeilds to Print Media
Sunshine at Capetown was good enough to recharge the Deccan Chargers, owe it to the change of colors or change of venue, they look a team determined to prove a point. After a day of rain hitting the pitch at Durban, it was Gilly belting the ball to all parts of the Sahara Park, Newlands. Anything pitched short was cut past point & the fuller ones were bludgeoned over the bowlers head. He showed that he is still one of the better strikers of the cricket ball. They say the best way to bowl at Gilly is to give him a single & put him of strike, RCB failed in doing so & had to pay the price....
CSK win the Cauvery River battle at Port Elizabeth.
After a weekend of ball dominating bat, cricket returned to normality as bat dominated the ball. Cricket is a batsman's game & is always exciting to watch batsman score 6s and 4s. Runs from Hayden's bat is always nice, even the one without a makers name. IPL so far has shown that when set batsman starts playing their shots pitch conditions don't really matter.Hayden showed that he didn't lose any fire power after his retirement; he was at his bullying best. The walk-down-the-track to blast the quicks, the muscular sweeps against the spinners & daft touches behind the wicket were pretty...
Veterans Day Out
In the era where so much emphasis is on young blood, veterans Tendulkar n Dravid showed that "its not age but mileage that matters" even in today's arena. Clinical Sachin showed that why he is called the master blaster. Rahul picked up from where he had left from last year, he was the only person scoring runs and scoring fast for the RCBs. Kumble & Warne showed that spinner are like wine, get better with age. If Warne showed that age has never come in the way of his drift, dip & spin; Kumble show that accuracy still is his middle name. The day-1 of IPL 2.0 saw surprises, both losing team...
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IPL 2.0 an In Depth Analysis --- Oh really!!!
The I PL 2.0 kick starts on 18th April in the “Diamond country” South Africa. As the wickets in SA would offer pace & bounce, it would be a contest between bat and ball eliminating the slam bang cricket. As a batsman you would need decent technique to negotiate the seam movement,& as a bowler you have a chance to exploit the weaknesses of the batsman. It would be an acid test for our domestic flat track bullies. Also since 24 of 59 matches are played in Durban of which 12 would be 4:30 pm starters, so there might be possibility of “win the toss win the game” kind of scenario if the “tide...
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