Expert’s opinion

There is no rigid equation for this format of the game.

People have chosen the teams they will vouch for in the ordeal and jubilation during IPL 2009. Some choose by mode of hometown, some by working city, a few by their favorite player’s presence and yet others pick the strongest team that is likely to win. This year is a lot different from IPL 2008 edition.

Countless changes and adjustments have been made in the franchisees which are likely to influence the turn of events. The venue of South Africa poses new difficulties and surprises in terms of the conditions of the pitch and weather. India is prone to sunny weather and dry-flat pitches. South African grounds however tend to favor bowlers a tad more thus making lofty totals a bit tougher to achieve. There is no convention that fits on the 20-20 format game. Teams that are strong on paper crumble for lowly amounts and the underdogs rise to the occasion. We’ve seen that happen last year. Hyderabad was touted to be the strongest team on paper at least, but they didn’t have a good run. Remarkably it was the small fry, Rajasthan Royals which was virtually written off initially that took home the Victory Cup. So it is understood that nothing is pre-ordained and things rather occur on the spur of the moment. Teams that are ready at the right moment will reap the benefits.

So for as on 19^th April we’ve seen both the winners of the cup Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings reel under an almost humiliating defeat.

The teams have used their money well to bid for players with talent during this year’s auction. Kevin Peterson was acquired by Bangalore Royal Challengers for a record setting amount. So was his country fellow picked up by CSK.

Punjab will lack the prowess of Brett Lee and Sreesanth who will not be able to play. However they are capable of putting up totals over 200 if Yuvraj Singh works his magic.

Rajasthan Royals have had fewer adjustments and rely on Warne’s crafty spin and the neutronium hitting power of Yusuf Pathan. They have the largest flock of local talent.

Delhi Daredevils is a team to look out for. They have formidable homegrown stars in their ambit. Sehwag and Gambhir could propel them to triumph between themselves. AB de Villiers is also a prospective firebrand. Glenn McGrath will sharpen the bowling attack.

CSK has vast resources of talent but unfortunately were defeated in their first match. Dhoni is spearheading this team that is composed of many great players. Mathew Hayden and Michael Hussey add force to the batting side while Flintoff takes care of the bowling domain.

Other teams too have their peculiar strengths. However no one gets lucky and nothing happens by chance. The most alert team will go home triumphant.

Sehwag thwarts Punjab’s glorious innings

The rain showcased it’s prominence by influencing the game. The match had to be stymied and began with 12 overs to be played by each team. Punjab Lions put up a formidable score of 104 for 7 wickets but it was all in vain.

The early duration was propitious during which they had a good spell. Most runs on the board came during the time. K. Goel played a brilliant knock in which he put up 38 runs. Bopara hammered 22 to push up the score considerably. However the initial players succumbed to Daniel Vettori’s diabolical spin deliveries. Overall, it was noticeable that spinners were very successful so far, quite contrary to expectations.

Then Yuvraj came along but was able to deliver only a fraction of his ferocious capabilities. He thumped 16 runs off 11 balls before getting run out in misfortunate confusion. His score comprised of 2 massive sixes. It was at this point that Punjab began to reel under the debacle. Wickets fell one after the other with only a few runs being addd. K.C Sangakara too underperformed and put up just 8 runs before falling prey to the balling attack. Jayawardane chipped in 6 and so did Irfan Pathan. The tally amounted to 104 runs for 7 wickets.

Delhi Daredevils came in next to reply to Punjab’s towering total. Sehwag was ruthless in his marked way and pounced on almost every ball. He was well complimented by Gautam Gambhir on the other end. In just 11 balls initially they hammered 24 runs before which rain began pouring in again. When play resumed it was decided that only 5 more overs were to be played in which Delhi had to score 42 more apart from the 24 already scored. Sehwag brandished a marvelous 38 runs in all. Gambhir scored 15 runs. Iw was comfortably easy for DD in the end.

Deccan Chargers flay Ganguly’s platoon

It was the first full length game in which, the chasing team came out victorious. The match prior to it also witnessed the chasing team win but the play was drastically stunted. Kolkata Knight Riders looked feverish from the very beginning when they were batting on the playing field. Kolkata pitched a total of 101 runs for which they were all out in 19.4 overs.

They struggled hard for runs and in the first 4 overs they had scored only 6 runs. Brendon McCullum the captain of KKR was unable to open his first match with the grandeur he did last year in which he scored a century. He was out for a skimpy 1 run when he kissed the ball to be caught in the slip off RP Singh’s aggressive bowling.

The pitch condition at Newlands was steeply bowler friendly and made towering scores a tough feat. RP Singh was Deccan Chargers’ firebrand for the day and he pummeled 4 wickets for only 22 runs.

Chris Gayle, arguably the most feared 20-20 batsmen didn’t showcase that ferocity which sets him apart. He was placid and rather dormant. He took a lot of balls to score his first run. His tally amounted to 10 runs which comprised of a massive six over midwicket. RP Singh nailed him too soon after. Ganguly hit only a single in 12 balls, adding to KKR’s disappointment. By ten overs they were 31 for 3 wickets. Akash Chopra (11) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (8) were mildly helpful. Australian Brad Hodge top-scored with 31 runs, which had 4 boundaries in its fold. Ajit Agarkar was out for 7. 21-year-old Punjab fast bowler Harmeet was also instrumental in restraining Ganguly’s platoon. The tally was 101 for 10.

Deccan chargers didn’t have an easy time either. Gilchrist was sent packing for just 13 runs by Ashok Dinda. VVS Laxman got off the mark with a brilliant 6 over square leg off. However he too was made to return for just 10 runs. Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma built a valuable partnership of 50 runs. Gibs was unbeaten at 43 from 26 deliveries. Rohit Sharma too made an impressive 36 off 32 balls. They soared to 104 runs in just 13.2 overs to defeat Kolkata with ease.

Dravid’s challengers face their worst defeat.

After the defeat of last year’s runner-up, came the turn of the defending champions to follow suit. Rajasthan Royals faced their worst crush in a match in which they replied to Bangalore Royal Challenger’s 133 runs with a meager 58 for which they were all out. This was the lowest total in an IPL match ever. With the defeat of top two teams it is established that IPL is full of surprises and sharp turns.

BRC went out to bat first. They began on a rather slow note with runs flowing in consistently but not too fast. Loosing wickets was a major issue in the beginning and seemed like a complete collapse when two specialist batsmen- Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor returned for zilch. They had hardly recovered from the early shocks when they found Robin Uthappa (3) back in the stands when the gaudy batsman in attempting a big shot, sneaked out to stumper Mahesh Rawat off Mascarenhas. Skipper Kevin Pietersen (32) was instrumental in showing some resistance and barricaded the fall of wickets for a while.

RR’s Mascarenhas was lethal to the progress of Royal challengers and claimed 3 critical wickets. Bangalore kept up the momentum and Rahul Dravid played a brilliant role in which he knocked 66 for which he was the man-of-the-match. Seeing Dravid on fire was a sight to behold. The sum of their contributions amounted to 133 runs for the loss of eight.

It was now Rajasthan’s turn to beat this. However they found themselves reeling under the bowling attack and lost wickets one after another. Swapnil Asnodkar (0) and the dangerous Greame Smith (2) were sent packing in the initial successive overs. BRC’s Jesse Ryder then took down Niraj Patel (4) and the potentially explosive Tyson Henderson (11) to Bangalore’s delight. Yusuf Pathan then seemed their only hope but was nailed by Kumble for 11 runs. Shane Warne was unable to rescue his stumbling team and he too returned soon.

In the end it was Bangalore who had a shimmering triumph and thrashed the defending champion.

Mumbai Indian Begin With a Valiant Victory

It wasn’t exactly raining sixes and boundaries in the first match of the IPL, but nonetheless it proved to be thrilling. The opening match was almost doomed as rain-laden clouds were cast over but fortunately all went on without too many glitches. Of course the lack of rambunctious enthusiasm and the restrained intensity of vehemence were noticeable in the opening. That was a given since only India can give that factor to the series. The match was very interesting though.

The Mumbai Indians batted first and put up an impressive total of 165 with contributions coming in from many players. Sachin Tendulkar was brilliant and played the first fiddle by striking an unbeaten 59 runs. He was calm and composed when playing a captain’s innings.

Sanath Jayasuriya scored 26 off 22 balls, playing in his inimitable manner. The real hero for Mumbai Indians though was undoubtedly the young Abishek Nayar. He knocked 35 runs off just 14 balls. Not a single six had been hit until this maverick came along. He thumped 3 sixes in one over of Flintoff’s before succumbing in the next over. Shikhar Dhawan chipped in 22.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) began chasing but on a flawed note with Patel and Jacob Oram out for almost nothing. They lost wickets early with a small score on board. Mathew Haden played magnificiently and struggled to bring the ball in CSK’s court but wicket’s kept falling in quick sucessions at the other end. He put up 44 runs on the board.

Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga was the pick of the Mumbai Indians' bowlers with impressive figures of 4-0-15-3 while the crafty Jayasuriya claimed two wickets.

Flintoff contributed a decent 24 runs. M.S.Dhoni the industrious captian tried to put up a partnership with Hayden and scored 36 runs in the attempt.

However the attempts by CSK to recover were thwarted by sharp bowling from Mumbai Indians. CSK played 20 overs and stood at 146 for 7, defeated by 19 runs.

IPL 2009

Indian Premier League is the aroma of the season yet again in 2009. Last years’ ‘cricketing rhapsody’ sent viewers into frenzy and entertained millions worldwide. The rambunctious series is to begin on 18^th April. IPL has the backing of heavyweights- Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

It is undoubtedly going to be a star studded event. Famous cricketers for various countries will battle on the ground while Bollywood celebrities will arrive in beelines. Most teams are owned by superstars and renowned businessmen. The bidding process for acquiring plays was a high voltage one with towering amounts of money involved. The costliest player- Flintoff was acquired for a whooping 1.5 million pounds.

A lot of surprising changes have been made in the constitution of teams this season. Players have been bartered, bought, and sold like commodities in the market. Many new players have been taken into the fold. Kevin Peterson is one of the players to watch out for.

The DLF Indian Premier League 2009 would compromise of 59 matches similar to last year. In all there are 8 cities in South Africa where matches will be held. This season is touted to be even more thrilling than last year.