King Kong vs Godzilla in IPL

   As the title says, today is an epic encounter between the two IPL monsters, which I have been so eager to watch. The Might of Mumbai Indians cross swords with the Giant RCB at the Wankhede. The hype that this match has been created is unparallel. The talk of personal battle like Gayle vs Malinga, Sachin vs Zaheer, AB vs Harbhajan etc are some of them. RCB has a very powerfull and inform batting line up while the Mumbai Indians has legendary T20 bowlers performing exceptionally this season.

    Both the teams has contradictory batting styles. RCB has two squashbuckling openers in Gayle and Dilshan, while MI has more orthodox type of openers in Sachin and Franklin. While in bowling the case is reverse. Mumbai has an inform bowling line up, while the batting lacks consistency. So eventually it is going to be a battle of Mumbai bowlers vs RCB batsmen. If Mumbai wins today their place in the playoffs are almost certain. For Bangalore any loss from now will affect them very dearly. So I expect both teams will play their best teams and lock horns with the best strength that they can gather. 

Business End of IPL 5



KKR takes the top slot of the points table

  We eventually reached the business end of IPL 5 as 2/3rd of the matches has been completed. Yesterday after the 51st match of the tournament, the top two teams came face to face for the battle of ultimate supremacy. Well at the end we saw the swapping of first and second places of the table and the victorious KKR has made their point as they thrashed the daredevils with an easy 6 wickets win.
   Now take a look at the points table and you seem to have a feeling that the water is still mirky. With 17 & 16 points respectively KKR and DD are sitting on the top of the Table. With 8 points from 12 matches and 5 points from 11 matches Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers has confirmed that they are not at all in the race for a place in the play offs. Now for the remaining two places we have 5 strong teams claiming their share.
  Most likely of all of them are the Mumbai Indians. With 14 points from 11 matches they are very close to the top two teams. They have started IPL 5 with a majestic victory over the defending champions CSK, lost thier way in the middle and finally peaking up at the right time. They have the ability to win close encounters as we have seen in the matches against DC, PWI, King's XI and more recently against CSK. They have a powerfull batting line up with the little master in the lead and very strong bowling line up consisting of malinga, RP, Munaf, Harbhajan etc. Pollard's injury was a cause of concern, but Dwayne Smith's heroics against CSK might make him a clear favourite for the place of big west Indian. Overall I think they need only 2 more wins in the remaining 5 matches to secure a place in the play offs.
  The next contendor for the spot is definetely the men in red. RCB has 11 points from 11 matches and has a formidable batting line up. Eventhough they have world class bowlers like Dan Vettori, Muralitharan and Zaheer Khan, thier bowling never looked threatening in any match. But with a batting line up with Gayle, AB, Dilshan and Kohli they can chase any target that has been set by the opposition. My next favourite would be Rajastan Royals. They have 10 points from 11 matches so far in the IPL. With the inclusion of Shane Watson in their line up, both thier batting and bowling has been strengthened. They might not have any big stars in thier bowling line up, but disciplined bowling can get them home. So as the Great Wall recently said taking them light is a big risk that you might take.
  Now we are left out with CSK and King's XI Punjab. Both these teams has a great wicket keeper batsmen as their captain. Now with the injury of Adam Gilchrist and Poor form of Paul Valthaty has made King's XI batting line up a little on the defensive. Shaun Marsh and David Hussey has huge burden to bear on thier shoulders. But the brighter thing from thier side is the consistency of their Indian bowlers. As for the defending Champions CSK, you never know what would happen. They have 11 points from 12 matches and 4 matches remaining. If they can win 3 out of that 4 matches. I think they are still in the race. They have a great side but apart from couple of players nobody has been consistent. CSK has always made it to the semifinals of IPL as they were the winners of last two times, finalist of IPL 1 and semifinalist of IPL 2. So do not write off the most consistent team of the history of IPL yet. As they say " you never know what will happen in a T20 till the last ball".

Revisiting Real India- Satyameva Jayathe

      The much anticipated TV show ever in the history of Indian Television has been out this Sunday at 11 A.M. There was a lot of speculation about the structure and content of the show. But Aamir has made tremendous efforts to not to reveal any of it. And when it was out in the open, it was an eye opener for a billion population.
        I have not any other TV show after "Surabhi" from old times to get to the skin of Real India. Unlike Surabhi which aired around early nineties, Satyameva Jayathe speaks about real hardship of India and with a bang. For the first episode the topic selected was "female feotecide" a much debated topic in the recent years when the sex ratios of some northern indian state came under scanner. The show beautifully conveyed the hardships of some single mothers who went against the barriers of conservative indian family, a sting operation of two brave reporters against the mafia and the future picture of this evil in the unmarried youths of kurukshetra. The show ended up with the promise of justice as Aamir Khan decided write a letter to Govt of Rajasthan for swift actions against the corrupted doctors.
      Well for me, it was a call back to the grass roots. My mind was wandering around IPL 5 and how it has made my evenings more entertaining and the latest Avengers movie. Now this show made look back to the past and look into all the grey shaded areas which I was avoiding. Thank you Mr. Aamir Khan for making me realise that India is not about IPL or Sachin Tendulkar or Saina Nehwal or Man Mohan Singh or Bollywood or Anna Hazare's fast. Thank you for the effort and hope you wont run out of ideas.

Deccan Snail against Dad & Co

     While people has been talking how competetive this year's IPL has been so far with almost all the teams chipping in with good shows, there is one team that has not yet been in those talks. Well you all know which that team is, what is happening to the IPL 2 champions was unexpected. Yes they do not have the same fire power in batting & bowling as Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore but they still got talent. With  skipper Sangakkara along with hard hitters like JP Duminy,Daniel Christian & Cameron White leads the batting line up, Indian players like Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel has shown glimpses of their brilliance. SO I guess its not their batting that is a worry.

      With Ishant Sharma sidelined due to an injury, the whole workload is upon Dale Steyn. Unlike his south african team mate Morne Morkel, he is craving for support at the other end. With Morne having good support from Umesh, Nadeem, Irfan and Agarkar in DD, he has the Purple Cap with 16 wickets to his name. Amit Mishra is also looking very ordinary till now. As a result DC has only managed to take 26 wickets in 6 games.

    On the other hand Pune warriors has been a revelation in this year's IPL. With Dada back with what he does the best-as captain and explosive batting and with world class bowling they looks like clear favourites to win this encounter. With Manish Pandey joining the run hunt in the previous game, looks like opening slot is going to be fixed now with Explosive Jesse Ryder and talented Manish Pandey. Middle order looks solid with Dada, Uthappa and Smith. With bowlers like Thomas, Nehra, Karthik and Rahul Sharma the bowling department looks decent. Now it will come down to how the DC bowlers come up with a game plan to control the Warrior batsmen. For me it looks like its one more win for the warriors.

Its payback Time!!!

      On A Sunday afternoon, infront of a packed Wankhede Stadium in glittering blue, what happened in the final over was heart breaking for 30,000 spectators. For Kings XI to win, 9 runs was required from 6 balls and the ever consistent Shaun Marsh hit the first ball of Thissera Pereira for a six. Game Set Match.
     Well One good thing coming out of it was the point table has become wide open. Now apart from the struggling Deccan Chargers, every other team has a fair chance to get into the top four. There is very little to differentiate between the first eight teams. I think the next 10 days are going to be crucial to IPL 5 as it may decide who has the edge over the others.

     Focussing on today's game between Punjab and Mumbai, the later is still the favourite despite the former's win on sunday. Sure steady bowling and responsible batting from Kings XI got the better out of Mumbai on their home turf, but the men in blue has an overall pool of talent than the other. Both team has one star player sidelined due to injury. Mumbai might miss Malinga for his slinging yorkers and Gilchrist for his explosive start. With Franklin in good batting form, he is expected keep the slot of the opener with Sachin Tendulkar and the middle order looks formidable with Rayudu, Sharma, Pollard and Yadav. Do not forget Richard Levi and Herscelle Gibbs are waiting in the wings. Munaf and RP may not have the precision of Malinga, but they are still international level bowlers and with the help of bhajji and Ojha can clean up any side. Kieron Pollard and franklin can share the quota of fifth bowler.

     But from the other side with Gilly not playing and Valthatty not making an impact, the top order is heavily dependant on Shaun Marsh to chip in. Yes Mandeep and Saini did a good job on sunday but it will be too much to expect on them so early on their career. It would be interesting to see how david Hussey will be taking the challenge of leading the Team by stabilising the middle order. One good thing happened for the is Azhar Mahamood's inclusion finally. Hey is a key player to watch as he has tons of experience in subcontinental wickets. Praveen Kumar looks bleak in this tournament so far and Awana is getting close to a force to reckon with. Apart from that I dont see any letahl bowling weapon there in Kings XI circuit. 

        All I am saying is that MI looks much formidable than their opponent on paper. I know that what matter's most is who is performing in the middle but hey!!! that paper looks super heavy. So this is what I predict ----Its Payback Time!!!!!              

The Battle of Happy Bunches

     

  If you ask me the two most united teams in this IPL, I would say that they are locking horn today. Delhi Daredevils has been the most consistent lot of this year's IPL till now. So there is no reason that they should look otherwise. But its different in the other case. Their campaign started with a public spat between their two international recruits capturing the imagination of the nation. While the true cause behind this is still unknown, but one thing the onlookers were sure about was how serious it was as they saw how furious one of the player was during this incident.

       With 3 wins and 3 losses before their last game against the same opponent, they looked like an enigma team as they were last year. But one thing changed the USP of this new Franchise was one wicket. This one was crucial. The way Virender Sehwag and KP were going, it looked like that PWI will end up with the statistics of 3 win and 4 losses. But But But.......There is always something in cricket that changes the game in a matter of seconds. It might be an unbeleivable catch, or an explosive sixer or a pathetic mix up during running between the wickets. On that day it was a wicket. That too a clean bowled. 

           Sure people gets out a lot in IPL clean bowled. But this one is different. This one is the wicket of the dangerous KP by none other than the Lion Of India. When the other bowlers were getting hit like naughty kids in school, he brought himself on to the challenge. Well for a split second I cursed him for this poor decision without remembering his heroics with the ball on numerous ocassions not to forget the Sahara Cup in Toronto. Yes you are right, the ball stayed low and KP got undone by the wicket. But what captured my imagination was the celebration. This was Awesome!!!!!!After that it was a walk in the park for Team Pune which I am sure they will continue in today's encounter too, which is going to happen in about 22 minutes. Well Best of Luck Delhi, Because the Happy Bunch is here!!!!