Dramatic IPL season, is it the most competitive league??

IPL season has been dramatic. The teams were so closely placed this time, unlike the last two editions where few teams had their chances for semi-final clipped around mid-season itself......

Deccan chargers have been all gutsy making it to the semis in style. The were languishing low down, just better of Kings XI , who had a forgettable season. Then they pull of five consecutive victories to reach second spot. The irony was that they still had to wait till their last match to qualify. The options they had seem a bit unfair, a victory in the last match would put them in second place , and a loss would put them at 5, which could also become 6, depending on today's result.

Does this mean , the league is the most competitive one, the money being invested is crazy, the players average wages are just next to NBA , will these things make the league very competitive and way superior than other cricket teams?

This is a very serious question that one should ask, if you think IPL is not all about money. The question becomes more prominent because of the poor showing of the IPL teams in the Airtel champions trophy. All the teams were trashed badly by teams with less known stars. though the reasons as explained before were lack of a lethal team combination and ideal preparation , those should be discussed some time later may be after the next champions league.

The thing to really concentrate is the development of Indian players. The players have got a medium to show what they have got. A good number of players have benefited, but there are also a few who have lot the plot all together. I would focus on that in the upcoming posts.

Right now, lets enjoy the last 5 matches of the IPL this season. For me Mumbai are favourites by margin and I want deccan to win.... also watch out for IPL 3's XI..

EK NUMBER !!!!

Wow, number one spot for the first time in history, that is simply amazing... deserved though!!!

There are many reasons for these success, first of all is the downfall of the might Australians , Amazing luck Dhoni brings to the team as a captain or probably he is all inspiring and an amazing captain or may be both, Then we have a staaaar studded batting line up, every one is a superstar in this batting line up. it can't get better with every one suiting perfectly for the role offered.

The most important thing as Dhoni admits is that, it is easy to go to the number one spot, ut very tough to stay there. We need to put up consistent performances, which India astonishingly fail to do, despite the star studded batting line up. Indian plainly dominated the last to tests by winning both of them by an Innings, maked Srilanka look absolutely silly.

The other crucial factor , which helped us rise meteorically in this series was that Srilanka came into the test as a number 2 side, which is definitely over rated helped us pick more points per win.
India is surely going to stay on top for atleast two weeks now and for S.A or Australia to topple us, they need a 2-0 series wins. looks like W.I are doing a good job against Australia an over take is probably not around the corner from the kangaroos...

NO MATCH FIXING

No match fixing , that is evident from the turn of the events.

The reasons for the poor showing of the IPL teams, is just that these guys are not an ideal team, they do not gel with each other so well, unlike the other teams. You really do not get to see that fact in IPL because all the teams are like that. You need a lot of motivation and determination to win. That only comes with ideal preparation. Darren Ganga says his team has been preparing for the tournament since july, that is reflecting in their success. Looking at that team on paper, you wouldn't have predicted t's success. Rajasthan Royals have already shown during IPL first season, what it needs to be champions, a true team spirit and motivation and an ideal preparation

Back after a long time !!!

SO finally I find some time to get on with the blog, and it has been a while since I watched cricket.

The Champions T20 is on, the format is exciting. The teams which has come are the really teams.. they play cricket all round the year and not the seasonal like our star studded teams and the result was evident all the Indian teams lost their first match.

This gave rise to an very exciting situation, exciting for me.. if their is any match fixing find of stuff, It can be seen now. Lost of money at stake and with Indian teams out of race, who would buy tickets what about TRP ratings, so the big guys out their would probably make sure Indian teams stay in contention for sure. If the Indian teams are out of the tournament one thing will become ever clear, NO MATCH-FIXING , if all three of the teams qualify, the uncertainity remains, and it boils down to finer details, like how the game was played and which players underperformed by a margin and seemed to have done it on purpose!!!!!, exciting right..

Modi, the honourable IPL chairman and the man behind all this, certainly has drawn lots of inspiration from the football Champions league tournament, and he would have made the mistake of comparing the IPL teams with the English football teams, where since the last two years 3 of the 4 semifinalist are English teams and the fourth teams loosing in semifinal to another English team itself, so a complete dominance. Lalit Modi would have expected that to happen when the tournament was planned, he must now be thinking there could have been more matches in the initial stages, so that the IPL teams get their team bonding right and have better chances. There were no warm up matches so you can't really blame the IPL teams for loosing, because they came up against oppositions, which know their strengths and weaknesses and have played well to their strengths.

If the Indians teams are out the tournament is a flop, The crowd though pays for both the matches has seldom turned up for an non IPL team match, stadium did look empty, and I am sure the people haven't bought tickets in a hurry for the next stage. It would not be the revenue from ticket sales that would really bother these guys but the revenue from television rights advertisements, they will take a big dip.

OZ out of the tournament!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Australians have been knocked out of the T20 tournament in the first round, does any one still have doubts about the downfall of the once mighty Australians????

I guess with this all the doubts are cleared, they were in the toughest group , I agree...But still the world champions should have made it at the cost of Windies of the Lankans if their claims of worlds strongest team are to be true. But things can happen to you, like it happened to India in the '07 World cup, they were out in the first round because a loss to minnows Bangladesh. OZ going out of the tournament isn't definitely as bad as that, but at least their domination in the last ten years is to be remembered this is a very shameful exit and thus the those days are gone. The young team needs a lot of International exposure before they start to show their worth, but the most important thing is they should not be under extra pressure of high expectation.

but why were the groups so unbalanced I did not understand . I guess ODI rankings were used or may be some criterion was used which obviously looks weird. The thing would have been balanced swapping West Indies for Bangladesh.

The scores are not enough......

power plays are going for big runs while chasing, getting 80+ in 6 overs is not a big deal at oval, we have seen the teams do it today Aussie even though lost 3 wickets as early as four overs made 170 at the end but the score this point does not look enough, as West Indies has already made 83 in 6 overs, without loosing a wicket. The other day India has won over Pakistan with 3 overs to spare, clearly the scores are not enough the picthes being conducive for batting and the chasing teams have a lot of advantage, because I see teams do not so what a good total would be to defend.. may be their targets are less, I say to win make 200, for a 50-50 chances make 180-190.

India Vs Pakistan ... Isn't it just a warm up match?

Ask the crowds at the oval yesterday, surely the answer would be no!!!!!! both the teams knew it was quite a match and were serious about getting a result in their favour. It would be such a confidence booster winning over arch rivals.
Younnis won the toss and decided to bat, and at the crease were a 17yr old and a 19yr old. Pakistan's inconsistency with the opening par forced them to try new combinations. At this stage I thought their inexperience will come into play and I expected two quick wickets for India, Shahzaib Hasan the 19yr old was bowled out by Praveen Kumar, and Ahmed Shehzad the 17yr old was almost out thanks to harbhajan for dropping a sitter. Never drop a catch when you are put in that fielding position to take it, It distracts the bowler and the batsman becomes more focused. That was clearly seen yesterday. Shehzad hit 5 fours racing to 25 in just 13 balls on the other side was the inform Kamran akmal, who joined Shehzad and put Praveen Kumar, RP and Irfan all over the park. Indians were sloppy in the field too, Yuvraj's misfield went for a four. Indians received a wake up call when Pakistan were already 45-1 in 4 overs, I started getting mad by the way they got those runs. Bowlers gave batsmen width, balls were short of length. Now Dhoni introduced Ishant into the attack and Shehzad was to face him, after a couple of dot balls he thought of giving strike to Kamram which resulted in a run out and superb fielding from Suresh Raina. That started a fall and they started loosing quick wickets they were down to 45-4, this has certainly balanced the flamboyant start, they also lost shoaib malik who looked good. That brought my favourite batsman in Pakistan team Misbah to the crease, on the other end was younnis I was sure they would take Pakistan to a good score. The track was flat, It had no visible swing and no turn for spinners all they had was some bounce. Misbah and Arafat batted well at the end and Pakistan made 158 in the allotted 20 overs.
On Indias bowling performance the problem with the combination still persists, RP failed to find his length in this match too. Irfan and praveen are too slow, If their is no swing then these guys will struggle. Then who should bowl the power play overs, Ishant is one we need two more at least should be praveen. Rp train in the nets man, get your rhythm back, using Irfan in power play could be dangerous in these pitches as he has got no pace. Other problem is if sehwag is back where will Rohit play. It would be interesting to see.
Indians should guard themselves from complacency, It will cost them matches and this T20 matches can turn big time in a couple of overs.
With the target of 159 I was sure with the Indias batting line up and with Yuvi back in the squad they would reach it, but how easily was the question. Rohit and Gambir batted superb and at the end of power plays made more runs than Pakistan did without loss of a wicket, I said to myself Imagine what a Pakistan fan would be feeling at this moment, he would have gone mad. I enjoyed Rohit and Gambir batting thoroughly. The only problem they looked like having was running between the wickets. Gambir survived a close run out and was sent back in couple of other occasions too, all those things are to be taken into account when deciding the opening pair, because there are good fielding sides which will surely take the advantage of misunderstanding.
16 overs gone India needed 18 from 24 balls, I thought for a moment that something was different about this bowling attack today they did not bowl no balls, and to start of in the next over went for 17 runs which included two wide balls, a leg nob, a height nob for bowling the second bouncer and an over throw four. Winning runs came with a wide ball in the next over.
India are looking good this is certainly a crushing victory, It is to be watched out who the playing XI be, It is getting difficult for me to make a combination as I'm not getting the clear picture of the Injuries to the side and also, If RP finds his rhythm in the net, he should be taken or else Irfan should be played with two spinners.
There is going to be a cracker of a contest this world cup for sure all we fans will have a great time, hope Indian team lives up to the expectations