So, SKR's team KKR not goimg to the semis.
OINK!!!!
It seems very weired to me (not that KKR is a great team)..but because the owner is SRK, who was coaxed into pumping money by both lalit Modi and the rest of BCCI, so that IPL can get the right buzz for launch. So, how come lalit Modi can desert SRK at this moment.? Cant get my matchs/analysis clear at the moment.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
IPL: Ha-Ha-Ha
Did I not say CSK will "loss" a few more matches?! And what about Mumbai Indians "winning" against the winning teams? Yeah they will keep doing just that to the run upto the semis...by the grace of Ambani, Modi and Co. Its so obvious, its getting onto my nerves! Its like what the book "FReakonomics" talk about SUMO wrestlers, the point system the game has and when do they have the "incentive" to throw up games. Read the book and you can more or less predict the results of most of the matches in IPL in the coming two weeks even before they are played!
IPL: Impact of FIRANGI Captain
Firangi Captain seems to bring the best of luck to the teams in the DLF IPL. First Shane Warne, then Shaun Pollock and now Adam Gilchrist! Guess, Deccan Chargers might pray and keep VVS Laxman out of the tournamnet for the time being so that DC can win some matches under the captaincy of Gilchrist!
About Sachin, I know he wont play till the very last maybe before the semis or very well in the meis.. He is afraid, that if the team loses, and he is the captain, he will have to face the music. So let others battle it out and thn when the dust has settled, he will walk gloriously. I know that kind of player---One of the best players in the world but one of the worst captains in the universe!
About Sachin, I know he wont play till the very last maybe before the semis or very well in the meis.. He is afraid, that if the team loses, and he is the captain, he will have to face the music. So let others battle it out and thn when the dust has settled, he will walk gloriously. I know that kind of player---One of the best players in the world but one of the worst captains in the universe!
Monday, May 5, 2008
IPL: Are some matches fixed?
It was there in the back of my mind when the City-franchisees were bought..so much money thrown around. Will the owners sit quite and let go of their money just like that?
Like for instance SRK, who I'm pretty sure Rajiv Shukla and Lalit Modi requested him to buy one team, cause it will add the buzz nad the glamour required to kickstart this big BCCI dream called IPL. It happened, maybe , when the Indian Team won the T20- WC, 2007 and SRK happen to be present there to cheer for the team. Also, at that time Chak De happened and it became a hit. So SRK buying an IPL team would be the best bet to get all the buzz going in favour of IPL, when it was recieveing many flakes from different quarters of the game. Also, it was SRk's best bet to make his "retirement" secure. He could use his team to do promos for his future productions and also earn revenue through sponsorship. But, there is this catch, if the Team isnt performing, will one can sponsorship? For how long?
As I have been watching it closely, some of the games seem so "fixed". Like take the Team MUMBAI, its the costliest team bought by one of the richest men in the world! Its not that bad a team, but it is also a not a very winning combination. So, when it started to lose one game after another, it came as no surprise to any one. It was the day before Mumbai team( after 4 consecutive losses) were to take on the KKR in their own home ground and everyone felt, match will definitely to be won by KKR. I was feeling, maybe not, cause if Mumbai would have lost that day to KKR, they would surely be "out" of the race for Semis, even thought they would hv to play on...and will the owner of the costliest team in the IPL, allow that to happen. Is he such a mad man? I knew then and there KKR will lose the match and keep the interest in the Mumbai Teams alive and also in the IPL.
More prediction of mine came true when I told people again that now CSK will lose some game and Mumbai Team will win the match against Team Delhi, cause its important to keep the matches in IPL interesting. Otherwise Four clear winners for semis will emerge out very fast and people will lose interest in the future games and IPL. Also, so many big names investing so much of their money, will they just let it go down the drain???? I'm pretty sure, IPL people and some of the big owners will try and keep the interest going in the matches by fixing some of the matches for sure. I'm also confident that they will try and might come up with Two genuine clear Semifinalist Teams by 21st May around, while for the other Two semifinalist, they will try and make it more interesting till the very end of the tournament. So, expect some very unexpected (or expected shall we say )defeat of performing teams by non performing teams. Like maybe, today, RCB might just "win" over Punjab , so that RCB can make "room" for KKR on Thursday's game. Or it could also happen that KKR might have some straight "wins " in the future. Now Lalit Modi can't upset SRK, or can he? He cant upset Ambani either, so expect some "wins" by Mumbai Team also in the tournament. Ambani might be given a place in the semis as, well and if not that, atleast 5th position or so.....lets see what happens? I would very much like to be proved wrong! Cause, Its another face of IPL, I am starting to dislike...
Like for instance SRK, who I'm pretty sure Rajiv Shukla and Lalit Modi requested him to buy one team, cause it will add the buzz nad the glamour required to kickstart this big BCCI dream called IPL. It happened, maybe , when the Indian Team won the T20- WC, 2007 and SRK happen to be present there to cheer for the team. Also, at that time Chak De happened and it became a hit. So SRK buying an IPL team would be the best bet to get all the buzz going in favour of IPL, when it was recieveing many flakes from different quarters of the game. Also, it was SRk's best bet to make his "retirement" secure. He could use his team to do promos for his future productions and also earn revenue through sponsorship. But, there is this catch, if the Team isnt performing, will one can sponsorship? For how long?
As I have been watching it closely, some of the games seem so "fixed". Like take the Team MUMBAI, its the costliest team bought by one of the richest men in the world! Its not that bad a team, but it is also a not a very winning combination. So, when it started to lose one game after another, it came as no surprise to any one. It was the day before Mumbai team( after 4 consecutive losses) were to take on the KKR in their own home ground and everyone felt, match will definitely to be won by KKR. I was feeling, maybe not, cause if Mumbai would have lost that day to KKR, they would surely be "out" of the race for Semis, even thought they would hv to play on...and will the owner of the costliest team in the IPL, allow that to happen. Is he such a mad man? I knew then and there KKR will lose the match and keep the interest in the Mumbai Teams alive and also in the IPL.
More prediction of mine came true when I told people again that now CSK will lose some game and Mumbai Team will win the match against Team Delhi, cause its important to keep the matches in IPL interesting. Otherwise Four clear winners for semis will emerge out very fast and people will lose interest in the future games and IPL. Also, so many big names investing so much of their money, will they just let it go down the drain???? I'm pretty sure, IPL people and some of the big owners will try and keep the interest going in the matches by fixing some of the matches for sure. I'm also confident that they will try and might come up with Two genuine clear Semifinalist Teams by 21st May around, while for the other Two semifinalist, they will try and make it more interesting till the very end of the tournament. So, expect some very unexpected (or expected shall we say )defeat of performing teams by non performing teams. Like maybe, today, RCB might just "win" over Punjab , so that RCB can make "room" for KKR on Thursday's game. Or it could also happen that KKR might have some straight "wins " in the future. Now Lalit Modi can't upset SRK, or can he? He cant upset Ambani either, so expect some "wins" by Mumbai Team also in the tournament. Ambani might be given a place in the semis as, well and if not that, atleast 5th position or so.....lets see what happens? I would very much like to be proved wrong! Cause, Its another face of IPL, I am starting to dislike...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
To KKR- Letter from an ex-fan
Dear KKR Team,
Somehow I always felt that you were a weak team when the auction happened. However, since I belong to the place you represent in IPL, I had all the emotions attached to a home team. In the first match, Mccullum's runs gave the bowlers confidence and you had a convincing victory and I rejoiced. In the second match I thought you would loss given Deccan Chargers were a very very strong team. However, luck played a role and you won. I always worried about your batting line up and yes its the batting that is letting you down all the time from that match onwards. And it has not improved an iota! Bowling is a good from your side but how can you expect your bowlers to defend a palrty score of 130-140 in a T20 match?
I somehow feel ..you are not going to win a single match in future and will be out of the tournament even before Mumbai Indians does.
Its really frustrating to watch, all team fighting to win and you are fighting how not to win. Disappointing to say the least!
Shame on me for changing my first opinoin of your team before the start of the tournament. It was the right opinion. Just like SRK' s movies- much hyped but no substance same with his team KKR- all hype and no quality play. I think both SRK and his team KKR should go and take a hike!
~
A very very upset ex-fan of KKR
Rajasthan Royals go for it!
Somehow I always felt that you were a weak team when the auction happened. However, since I belong to the place you represent in IPL, I had all the emotions attached to a home team. In the first match, Mccullum's runs gave the bowlers confidence and you had a convincing victory and I rejoiced. In the second match I thought you would loss given Deccan Chargers were a very very strong team. However, luck played a role and you won. I always worried about your batting line up and yes its the batting that is letting you down all the time from that match onwards. And it has not improved an iota! Bowling is a good from your side but how can you expect your bowlers to defend a palrty score of 130-140 in a T20 match?
I somehow feel ..you are not going to win a single match in future and will be out of the tournament even before Mumbai Indians does.
Its really frustrating to watch, all team fighting to win and you are fighting how not to win. Disappointing to say the least!
Shame on me for changing my first opinoin of your team before the start of the tournament. It was the right opinion. Just like SRK' s movies- much hyped but no substance same with his team KKR- all hype and no quality play. I think both SRK and his team KKR should go and take a hike!
~
A very very upset ex-fan of KKR
Rajasthan Royals go for it!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
IPL: End of First Innings
April 30th is being seen as an end of First Innings in IPL and what a first innings it has been! It had all the drama, thrill and the razmataz for a perfect and successful innings. The outcome of the first innings:
FAVOURITE TEAM:
When the IPL auction had finished, I had a list of favourite strong teams (on the basis of the players they had in the team): 1) Hyderabad 2) Chennai 3) Mohali. Also I had Kolkata (I always thought that they have a weak team) as one of my fav team purely on the basis of my place of stay at the moment (KOLKATA). After 12 frantic days and 16 mad games, I have only one favourite team : Rajasthan Royals. They have fought so well and earn my respect and love. They never gave up unlike the Kolkata Team (later on that one). Team Chennai is still strong but somehow I dont feel emotionally for them. In India cricket is emotionally played as well as watched. I guess Team Chennai has won matches but they have yet to win hearts. They may well win the tournament but if they dont win hearts they will run the risk of being only a Chennai T20 Team rather than Pan India T20 Fav Team. Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, is doing just the right thing. They are noy only winning matches now but they are winning hearts as well by their Never-Die attitude. They are not giving up till the last bowl is bowled. They are using their strenghts to the maximum and trying to keep their errors low. They know they are doing well with their bowls, so when winning a toss, they are bowling. This way they know what runs to chase and can make good plan when it came to batting. Its working wonderfully for them. They maynot have a very strong line up of batsman (read international players) but their strategy have worked well and guess it will do well in the future games as well. Cause they have more Indian players and local players, who are becoming stronger with each game. They have very few international players and are the least likely to take the heat in the second innings starting May 1st when most of the big names will leave India for national duties. Shane Watson is not part of Test Team Australia and he stays, and so the hope in Rajasthan Royals. And ofcourse Shane Warne is the Captain, so even if they dont win the tournament, RR have definitely won fans all over India by their performance and surely create a few more major upsets as the second innings start.
BIG NAMES:
The first innings of IPL saw the big Players from Australia and New Zealand go great guns (leaving aside the poor-in-form Ponting). But most of these big names leave by 1st May or 15th May (West Indies) whereas, most Pakistani big names will be available and thats when it would be interesting to watch how the Teams will come up with new equation of players and how well that combination work. I think the Team with the strongest Indian players will win the tournament. After all one can play only 4 international stars and the rest 7 have to be Indians. The local boys have a bigger role to play to make their respective team win. If not for anyone else, IPL is for them. This is their one golden chance to showcase their talents and make the world know their names and earn some money as well on the way.
Anyways the team to be hit most in the second innings due to their heavy relying on international players are Kolkata Knight Riders and to an extent Chennai SuperKings.
Waiting to see how the KKR team cope with that one along with CSK. Salman Butt and Umar Gul can do their bit for KKR but still ....CSK's bowling deppt needs to be revamped now that big hitter Hayden leaves and also Jacob Oram whose bowling hit KKR the most.
LOCAL ICONS:
Just 12 days into the IPL and it has already thrown out quite a few local names who really were nobody before the tournament started. Some of the names being repeated by experts and watchers of the game are: Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Rajesh jadeja, Laxmi Shukla ( Batting) Ashok Dinda, Goni (Bowling); Wriddhiman Saha (Batting and Wicket Keeping).
They are the ones who have to lift their teams to the highest forms in this second innings. IPL has really done its bit in bringing these "delights" and newer "hopes" for future Indian Cricket.
Now, I'm waiting for second innings to start. I want to see with all the big hitters leaving will T20 retain its entertainment value? will the local boys uplift the game to another level or will it become a small total, slow and boring games? By the end of second innings which I see as ard May 16 (or after about 16 more matches), clear favourites will come out. By that time each team would have played around 3 matches with their new combination (mostly locals) and each Teams actual strengths and weaknesses will become very very clear . Hopefully by the end of it we would get to know who all will be going to the semis. Cant wait..let the drama continue....
FAVOURITE TEAM:
When the IPL auction had finished, I had a list of favourite strong teams (on the basis of the players they had in the team): 1) Hyderabad 2) Chennai 3) Mohali. Also I had Kolkata (I always thought that they have a weak team) as one of my fav team purely on the basis of my place of stay at the moment (KOLKATA). After 12 frantic days and 16 mad games, I have only one favourite team : Rajasthan Royals. They have fought so well and earn my respect and love. They never gave up unlike the Kolkata Team (later on that one). Team Chennai is still strong but somehow I dont feel emotionally for them. In India cricket is emotionally played as well as watched. I guess Team Chennai has won matches but they have yet to win hearts. They may well win the tournament but if they dont win hearts they will run the risk of being only a Chennai T20 Team rather than Pan India T20 Fav Team. Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, is doing just the right thing. They are noy only winning matches now but they are winning hearts as well by their Never-Die attitude. They are not giving up till the last bowl is bowled. They are using their strenghts to the maximum and trying to keep their errors low. They know they are doing well with their bowls, so when winning a toss, they are bowling. This way they know what runs to chase and can make good plan when it came to batting. Its working wonderfully for them. They maynot have a very strong line up of batsman (read international players) but their strategy have worked well and guess it will do well in the future games as well. Cause they have more Indian players and local players, who are becoming stronger with each game. They have very few international players and are the least likely to take the heat in the second innings starting May 1st when most of the big names will leave India for national duties. Shane Watson is not part of Test Team Australia and he stays, and so the hope in Rajasthan Royals. And ofcourse Shane Warne is the Captain, so even if they dont win the tournament, RR have definitely won fans all over India by their performance and surely create a few more major upsets as the second innings start.
BIG NAMES:
The first innings of IPL saw the big Players from Australia and New Zealand go great guns (leaving aside the poor-in-form Ponting). But most of these big names leave by 1st May or 15th May (West Indies) whereas, most Pakistani big names will be available and thats when it would be interesting to watch how the Teams will come up with new equation of players and how well that combination work. I think the Team with the strongest Indian players will win the tournament. After all one can play only 4 international stars and the rest 7 have to be Indians. The local boys have a bigger role to play to make their respective team win. If not for anyone else, IPL is for them. This is their one golden chance to showcase their talents and make the world know their names and earn some money as well on the way.
Anyways the team to be hit most in the second innings due to their heavy relying on international players are Kolkata Knight Riders and to an extent Chennai SuperKings.
Waiting to see how the KKR team cope with that one along with CSK. Salman Butt and Umar Gul can do their bit for KKR but still ....CSK's bowling deppt needs to be revamped now that big hitter Hayden leaves and also Jacob Oram whose bowling hit KKR the most.
LOCAL ICONS:
Just 12 days into the IPL and it has already thrown out quite a few local names who really were nobody before the tournament started. Some of the names being repeated by experts and watchers of the game are: Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Rajesh jadeja, Laxmi Shukla ( Batting) Ashok Dinda, Goni (Bowling); Wriddhiman Saha (Batting and Wicket Keeping).
They are the ones who have to lift their teams to the highest forms in this second innings. IPL has really done its bit in bringing these "delights" and newer "hopes" for future Indian Cricket.
Now, I'm waiting for second innings to start. I want to see with all the big hitters leaving will T20 retain its entertainment value? will the local boys uplift the game to another level or will it become a small total, slow and boring games? By the end of second innings which I see as ard May 16 (or after about 16 more matches), clear favourites will come out. By that time each team would have played around 3 matches with their new combination (mostly locals) and each Teams actual strengths and weaknesses will become very very clear . Hopefully by the end of it we would get to know who all will be going to the semis. Cant wait..let the drama continue....
Monday, April 21, 2008
IPL and my Aunt
And so it begins...the mother of all battles, the frenzy of fans and the unavoidable razmatazz called IPL! Oh boy, what a start it was indeed! I dont remember when was the last time I had so much fun, excitement and sheer feeling of happiness before Friday the 18th, 2008.
It was the day DLF IPL started!
Great opening ceremony and even better first match between KKR and RCB. More about matches and teams in my next posting. This posting is for IPL and what it has done and what it could do to the future of cricket.
When IPL was just introduced to the world, as always a bunch of naysayers said that the concept was rediculous, how it would harm the "real"cricket, no "real" bonding/imparting of knowledge will happen between big players and juniors and ofcourse, not many will watch the matches.
WRONG, WRONG and WRONG!!!!!!
As is the T20 format all about hitting hard and smashing , IPL did just that- it smashed all naysayers' "wiseness" and hit home a straight 6!
For example, till about last thursday, my aunt's life revolved around OTs (she is a surgeon!) and only thing she could talk about was C-section deliveries. After IPL's first match happend in Bangalore she is talking about Ishant's and Dinda's deliveries and then it sunk on me that IPL has done its job. It is popularising cricket to a great extent- it is reaching out to people who would earleir not watch cricket because it was a fullday/five day affair. Who knows what will happen in the future, maybe it will take over football and basketball in popularity one day.
DURATION:
Take me for instance---Time was always a factor for me when it came to my loving football over cricket. I love football- cause you just go out there, give your best and after 90 minutes (in most cases), the game is over. But not so with cricket.
With work pressure rising, expanding business line, I hardly had the mood or the time to sit through the whole day to catch a game of cricket. I had to please myself with "Highlights". But with this T20 format along with IPL, every game is a Highlight!
TREAT:
Watching Ponting giving advice to Ishant, when the later was losing his nerves the other day at Edens, Ponting hugging Dinda after he got the opponent out and Hussey lifting Laxmi Shukla after hitting the winning 6 at Edens--- these are the Golden moments--momets all cricket fans had dreamed of always and now their dreams are coming true! Ofcourse, the raining of 6s and smashing of wickets also have their fair share in giving more allure to T20 format and IPL, but nothing, according to me compares the beauty of watching multi-national teammates, big international players showing the new entrants a trick or two and sworn enemies becoming teammates! Tell me how many times in life do you get to see two of Cricketing world' s most aggressive and strategist captains in the same team fighting for the same cause, when not in the too distant past, they were fighting against each other for the World Cup! If not for anything else, I will still watch matches for these moments- They are just MAGICAL!.
SPIRIT/PHILOSOPHY
Many proponents of the longer version of the game believe that this T20 format is bogus and real talent can only be seen in Test cricket. Yes Test cricket is the real hero; You have to have the talent; but you also do a lot of calculations, holding back and stuff like that. . However, the philosophy of T20 format is to not to do any calculations whatsoever, just go there, give your 200 % and be happy knowing that you did give your all and did not hold back as part of the strategy. Personally thats my philosophy too, as I'm completely inspired by Prefontane (of USA). Much to the frustration and dismay of his coach, He always said, "how can I be called a good long distance runner until and unless I run to my full potential from the very first lap and test my lungs to their full capacity! I donot want to run a calculated run, I want just to run to my full capacity and then if I win, I'm the real winner!" T20 is pretty much in line with that philosophy- Let the best man hit and the best bowler break the stumps! Classy players will stay and they will adjust no matter the format. So, a classy batsman like Sehwag will hit a tripple ton even in Test matches and so will McCullum hit a 157 in a super flat pitch, when others are struggling to score even a single.
One-day cricket might just not survive in future but Classy players will survive always!
It was the day DLF IPL started!
Great opening ceremony and even better first match between KKR and RCB. More about matches and teams in my next posting. This posting is for IPL and what it has done and what it could do to the future of cricket.
When IPL was just introduced to the world, as always a bunch of naysayers said that the concept was rediculous, how it would harm the "real"cricket, no "real" bonding/imparting of knowledge will happen between big players and juniors and ofcourse, not many will watch the matches.
WRONG, WRONG and WRONG!!!!!!
As is the T20 format all about hitting hard and smashing , IPL did just that- it smashed all naysayers' "wiseness" and hit home a straight 6!
For example, till about last thursday, my aunt's life revolved around OTs (she is a surgeon!) and only thing she could talk about was C-section deliveries. After IPL's first match happend in Bangalore she is talking about Ishant's and Dinda's deliveries and then it sunk on me that IPL has done its job. It is popularising cricket to a great extent- it is reaching out to people who would earleir not watch cricket because it was a fullday/five day affair. Who knows what will happen in the future, maybe it will take over football and basketball in popularity one day.
DURATION:
Take me for instance---Time was always a factor for me when it came to my loving football over cricket. I love football- cause you just go out there, give your best and after 90 minutes (in most cases), the game is over. But not so with cricket.
With work pressure rising, expanding business line, I hardly had the mood or the time to sit through the whole day to catch a game of cricket. I had to please myself with "Highlights". But with this T20 format along with IPL, every game is a Highlight!
TREAT:
Watching Ponting giving advice to Ishant, when the later was losing his nerves the other day at Edens, Ponting hugging Dinda after he got the opponent out and Hussey lifting Laxmi Shukla after hitting the winning 6 at Edens--- these are the Golden moments--momets all cricket fans had dreamed of always and now their dreams are coming true! Ofcourse, the raining of 6s and smashing of wickets also have their fair share in giving more allure to T20 format and IPL, but nothing, according to me compares the beauty of watching multi-national teammates, big international players showing the new entrants a trick or two and sworn enemies becoming teammates! Tell me how many times in life do you get to see two of Cricketing world' s most aggressive and strategist captains in the same team fighting for the same cause, when not in the too distant past, they were fighting against each other for the World Cup! If not for anything else, I will still watch matches for these moments- They are just MAGICAL!.
SPIRIT/PHILOSOPHY
Many proponents of the longer version of the game believe that this T20 format is bogus and real talent can only be seen in Test cricket. Yes Test cricket is the real hero; You have to have the talent; but you also do a lot of calculations, holding back and stuff like that. . However, the philosophy of T20 format is to not to do any calculations whatsoever, just go there, give your 200 % and be happy knowing that you did give your all and did not hold back as part of the strategy. Personally thats my philosophy too, as I'm completely inspired by Prefontane (of USA). Much to the frustration and dismay of his coach, He always said, "how can I be called a good long distance runner until and unless I run to my full potential from the very first lap and test my lungs to their full capacity! I donot want to run a calculated run, I want just to run to my full capacity and then if I win, I'm the real winner!" T20 is pretty much in line with that philosophy- Let the best man hit and the best bowler break the stumps! Classy players will stay and they will adjust no matter the format. So, a classy batsman like Sehwag will hit a tripple ton even in Test matches and so will McCullum hit a 157 in a super flat pitch, when others are struggling to score even a single.
One-day cricket might just not survive in future but Classy players will survive always!
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