IPL 3 ends IPLGate begins

So the IPL 3 is finally over and CSK have won. But the cat-fight between Lalith Modi and BCCI has just begun. Throw in a few cabinet ministers and a intelligent, good looking, foreign educated ousted one with an attractive friend and you’ve got something that’ll do more to ad revenue than perhaps even the IPL final.

Honestly I’m quite ambivalent about the whole saga surrounding the IPL. Modi is perhaps getting more than his due for the heavy handedness that he’s personified, the BCCI may escape without getting it’s due of rotten tomatoes and worse.

On the other hand, it is sad that India and Indian cricket’s image is taking a hit; its face is now marred again with the soot of corruption and match fixing. Whether people admit it or not (for fear of BCCI’s financial clout), the skepticism surround match-fixing that was almost buried after the Sharjah era is in all fairness back. It is now almost ok to ask if the final was fixed and whether that was part of the reason for sending Pollard in down the order. But it is also baffling. Perhaps that is why I fell asleep half way through Mumbai’s innings maybe it was too lacklustre to be true (but I made up by watching the entire post match ceremony till 2 am).

This time it will take longer to douse the suspicions. But life will go on. With the T20 World Cup only days away, even before the withdrawal syndrome sets in, we’ll be discussing why Dale Steyn isn’t overrated.

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Argh… CSK pull it off against KKR

One must feel for Sourav Ganguly. First there was the outburst after the loss to RCB, then this is the response. As a die-hard Sourav fan, I honestly felt for this loss of KKR, and switched off the TV midway thru the match, knowing its direction. It was like going down the memory lane thru the many defeats India suffered to a world class Australian team in the late 90s under Ganguly, the difference being that was Aus and this was merely Chennai (further, they were 50 over matches, which offers more hope for even in hopeless situations, but I will not go there now). So much for city-support, I live in Chennai and I don’t recall myself ever having supported them :), and proudly so. For more on the city support phenomenon, fellow blogger SP has a full fledged post here.

Feelings apart, KKR need to perform a lot better than this to deserve a place in the semis.  The  top order almost never fire;  if they  do, the middle order flops. Despite all odds, if they happen to put up a decent total, the bowlers find a way to mess it up royally. The team management seriously need to think about Ajit Agarkar’s place in team. It was shocking that he managed to get several games.

It will be interesting to see who all will qualify for the semis. Only Mumbai have a confirmed spot. KKR will now have to beat Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai with a very good run rate and hope the other results go their way.

KKR stun Delhi – Dada rocks the Eden

Sourav Ganguly never fails to inspire, at least for me. Delhi started the 180-plus chase fairly well, even after the early departure of David Warner. Viru and Sehwag chased in a way that is charesteristic only to them. But Gambhir’s wicket was key. After that, though there was Sehwag at one end, the others seemed jittery.

Some excellent fielding from Dada and and inspired bowling changes help turn KKR’s fortunes. After Sehwag, it was all downhill. Good to see KKR win.

Woo hoo! Rock it, Dada.

RCB’s three gambles too many

Kumble’s gamble of making three changes to the winning combination against Punjab, cost the Royal Challengers Bangalore dearly in their encounter against Delhi Daredevils. Dropping Steyn was not something I would have done, but Mithun compensated by getting Sehwag. Ross Taylor was not good enough on the day and neither has been Pietersen. There has been much hype about Pietersen being in the RCB camp. While KP is a great batsmen, he ins’t that much better than Dravid. Such being the case, RCB would have done better going with in-form Pandey. Furthermore Cameron White is best used as a substitute fielder. 🙂

RCB will have to get their socks up to maintain momentum and stop hoping Uthappa with hit a n 8 ball 22 when required.

IPL 3: Where from here for Rajasthan, Punjab

Bottom two on the table are having a rough time. Rajasthan’s position is understandable – they are missing their Pak stars and Shane Watson.  Punjab’s story is different – the talent is there. But the team spirit seams missing. They are looking like BRC from season 1. One wonders if it has anything to do with Sangakkara and his ways.

IPL 3: Cometh the monster

Today is the day. The Monster returns to India and we can hear the crass jingle. Controversies apart, despite my  ambivalence towards T20 and the IPL itself, I must admit that I am a bit excited.

Teams I will be supporting this year :

Kolkata Knight Riders – KKR – Wishing Dada and SRK some luck
Delhi Daredevils – DD – A team with Sehwag in it deserves to win
Bangalore Royal Challengers – RCB – Gotta like Kumble, Dravid, et all

Indifferent about:

Chennai Super Kings – CSK – Flat track bullies
Mumbai Indians – MI – Really, if they don’t make it to the top 4 this time, there is no excuse
Kings XI Punjab – (what’s their acronym really?) – Snore…

Batsmen I will be watching for:

Virender Sehwag – Viru, show us the Say-Wah!g
Sourav Ganguly – a true Dada fan will not lose an opportunity to scream DA-DA!
Mathew Hayden – Mongoose bat or not, he will be one to watch out for
Adam Gilchrist – Too many blistering innings to not watch this man
Rahul Dravid – A from-the-heart Dravid fan will always be rooting for RD!
Others – Greame Smith, Virat Kohli, Shane Warne, Sangakkara, Jayasuriya, Tendulkar, JP Duminy.. this list will grow!

Some Grace for the Fab Four

There aren’t too many Indian cricket journalists who write anything other than jingoistic match reports. Picking among the few that do write well, Pradeep Magazine is one of my favorite. He writes here on how the onus is on the selectors to allow our Fab Four an exit befitting their accomplishments and stature. Indeed, they’ve scripted some very famous victories in India and overseas and have given us some wonderful memories. Thank you, Mr. Magazine! Yes, Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman need to be given some space and a respectful farewell when it comes to it, not unceremoniously shoved through gaps between the door and its sill. Vengsarkar! Are you listening?

And there is no need to hurry this. While the argument of picking players on merit and form is valid, there aren’t enough quality replacements, especially in Tests. In fact the young ODI side is yet to prove itself overseas. Somewhere between ’96 and now, the quality of India recruits seems to have either gone down or gone unnoticed, especially in the batting and spin departments (though spin is a different story altogether and merits a separate post). There hasn’t been another decent batting recruit after that of Ganguly and Dravid in 1995-96. Yes, there was Sehwag, but aren’t we still debating his worth? Yes, that might also be because we try to shove all of them in the opening spot, but we still don’t have a decent opening pair. Thanks to T20 cricket and IPL, the  batting situation may only get worse unless deliberate efforts are put in. The India-A tours are a step in the right directions. In a few years, we should have a good idea about who from the India A is worthy of the India cap for a decent term. That should be way to go.