IPL Leaders - End of Q2 Results

27 matches of the Indian Premier League have been completed in 20 days. Every team has played the other team apart from KKR vs DD - apart from these 2, all teams have played 7 matches each.

Match 28 and 29 are today and another 29 matches will be played over the next 20 days before the knock outs.

The results have been unpredictable as I highlighted in the post below.

Here's a look at the top performers of the first half of the IPL.

Leading Batsmen
1. Rohit Sharma (DC) - 258 runs in 6 innings at 51.60
2. Virender Sehwag (DDD) - 247 runs in 6 innings at 49.40
3. Gautam Gambhir (DDD) - 225 runs in 6 innings at 45.00
4. Adam Gilchrist (DC) - 223 runs in 7 innings at 37.16
5. Robhin Uthappa (MI) - 211 runs in 7 innings at 42.20

At the end of Q1 there were no Indians in the top 5, however now 4 of the top 5 run scorers are Indians. Moreover, all of them who are part of the international ODI and 20-20 side.

At the end of Q1 results, I pointed out that Sehwag, R. Sharma, and Uthappa have done well in bursts but haven't been consistent to be in the top 5. Now they are all there.

Interesting to note that 2 of the top 5 are from a team who have won only 2 matches out of 7 in the 1st half of the group stages.

Brendon Mcullum and Matthew Hayden who topped the charts during Q1 have since left the IPL, as has Symonds who was in 5th place at the time. Kumar Sangakkara and Shane Watson who were at 3rd and 4th at the end of Q1, have dropped to 7th and 6th respectively.

Despite not having played the last 3 matches, Hayden and McCullum remain in the top 10 highlighting the lack of runs from other big names still playing.

Leading Bowlers
1. Irfan Pathan (KXIP) - 12 wickets in 7 matches at 14.50
2. Zaheer Khan (RCB) - 12 wickets in 7 matches at 17.66
3. Ashish Nehra (MI) - 10 wickets in 7 matches at 16.80
4. RP Singh (DC) - 10 wickets in 7 matches at 19.00
5. Shane Warne (RR) - 9 wickets in 7 matches at 19.22


Just like the batting, the bowling charts are also dominated by Indians with the top 4 wicket takers all Indian internationals. What more they are all left arm pacers!

Irfan Pathan continues his run at the top at the end of Q2 - he was there at the end of Q1 as well. And you can't leave Shane Warne out of any top 5 bowling list, however he drops from 3 at the end of Q1 to 5.

Ajit Agarkar, Shahid Afridi, and Harbhajan Singh who were 2, 4, and 5 at the end of Q1 are now at 10, 15, and sitting at home respectively. Agarkar was definitely not going to continue his run at the top, while Afridi has just taken 2 wickets during Q2 compared to his 5 in Q1.

There are another 2 Indians in the top 10 in Manpreet Gony and DS Kulkarni. And there's another left armer as well in Sohail Tanvir sitting at number 8. Shane Watson at 6 makes up the top 10.

Shane Watson at number 6 in the run charts and the bowling charts! Who would have thought. Surprising some part of his body hasn't twisted, torn, pulled, or broken yet.

Other Stats
Highest Team Score: 240-5, CSK vs KXIP.
Highest Individual Score: 158*, Brendon McCullum (KKR) vs RCB.
Best Strike Rate (min 100 runs): 204.34, Brendon McCullum (KKR).
Most Sixes: 15, Brendon McCullum (KKR) / Adam Gilchrist (DC).
Best Bowling Performance: 6-14, Sohail Tanvir (RR) vs CSK.
Best Economy Rate (min 10 overs): 5.80, Sohail Tanvir (RR).

I don't see these lists changing much between now and Q3 or even Q4, but stranger things have happened. Maybe Misbah will score a 150 or David Hussey will hit 2 back to back centuries and show the world what he is capable of. Maybe Cameron White will score a run too.

Steyn could pick up a 5 wicket haul, maybe batsmen will start going after McGrath and he'll pick up a bunch of wickets. Umar Gul has played only 2 matches for his 5 wickets so his next 8 could produce another 20 or so. And Shoaib Akhtar will start his campaign soon.

Here are the end of Q1 results. I'll be back with an update at the end of Q3 in another 10 days.

Its Strange. Its Unpredictable. Its Mindboggling. Its the IPL!

So the Mumbai Indians beat the Rajhastan Royals last night. The minnows of the IPL beat the Australia of the IPL. Oh wait I said they were the Kiwis, but they sure were playing like the Aussies. What happened last night?

This Indian Premier League has been strange and unpredictable.

Mumbai Indians lost 4 matches on the trot and the world wrote them off. Captain injured, stand-in captain a slapper, 3rd choice captain a vegetable, everything was going wrong and then they won their next 3.

Chennai Super Kings won 4 matches on the trot and everyone thought that they were the hottest team of the tournament. Dhoni was the man, Joginder Sharma was his man, they couldn't lose, and then they lost the next 3.

Kolkata Knight Riders started off looking invincible beating RCB and DC. Shahrukh Khan even went on to say that they will win the title. We supported them, you supported them, SRK felt like the King of the world. But then they lost their next 4 and everyone realised that they had only beaten the bottom 2 teams on the table.

Strange?

Wait there's more.

Rajhastan Royals lost their 1st match and everyones beliefs about them being the weakest team in the tournament were confirmed. But then, they won their next 5. They looked RED HOT, they looked like Australia, they had the best captain that never captained an international side, they were the only team who played like a unit, they were enjoyng their cricket, they were invincible, and then, they lost to Mumbai.

Kings XI Punjab lost their first 2 matches and just when you thought that Preity was about to break down into tears, she decided to hug her men and they won their next 5 on the trot. How many bets that they will lose their next one?

Delhi Daredevils won their first 2 matches by 9 wickets, and just when they looked like the strongest team in the IPL, they lost to the Kings XI, who had lost their previous 2 matches. They then won 2 more, looked very very strong, and then they lost to Mumbai, who had lost their previous 4 matches.

Unpredictable?

Surely. But thats not all.

Only Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers have been consistent.

They haven't won anything.

Oh no they have! Both beat Mumbai, who have now won their last 3 with the last 2 against the top 2 sides. The Challengers beat the Chargers as well, only just though, the 2 weakest teams were separated by 3 runs!

Mind Boggling?

But it ain't over.

They all play each other once more starting today!

Every team has won a match. Every team has lost atleast 2 matches. The 1st half of home and away group matches is over and the next half of reciprocating the home and away begins today. Every team has played the other apart from KKR and DD. No team has been consistent and results have been unpredicable. Some matches have been one sided but not in favor of the stronger team as is the case when Australia plays the ICC World Cups.

Whats going on?

Are all the teams equally strong? Or is this just the nature of the 20-20 form of cricket? Does anyone sense fixing? Or are the teams just playing good cricket on some days and not so good on others?

Whatever is the case, its been exciting. Its been strange, unpredictable, and mindboggling, but its been a great experience.

This is the IPL and its only half over.

The Points Table.

The semifinal predictions (although no sane man will make predictions for such a tournament, but just for the heck of it): Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Rajhastan Royals, Mumbai Indians.

But I want to see the Riders and the Chargers there! Oh well who knows.

What are your predictions?

The Safrikaan Encounters

Did you see Shaun Pollock have Kallis all tied up when the Mumbai Indians took on the Royal Challengers?

Did you watch Graeme Smith move away when Makhaya Ntini ran in to bowl his first delivery when the Rajhastan Royals took on Chennai Super Kings? Did you see Ntini lose his run up when he ran in again to bowl to Smith?

Did you see Ntini bowl a maiden to Smith where he beat him all ends up and had him hopping around

Did you watch Smith hit Ntini for 2 consecutive boundaries once he found his feet?

Did you see Herchelle Gibbs first see off Ntini and then smash him for a 6 and a 4 when the Deccan Chargers took on the Chennai Super Kings last night?

The South Africans up against each other has probably been the best enounters of country vs country battles in the Indian Premier League so far.

The Pakistanis have come close in proving that they are their own worst enemies with Sohail Tanvir snaring Salman Butt in the space of 3 deliveries and Afridi taking 1 to remove Misbah. But in terms of battles the Safrikaans have been 1 up.

A Safrikaan hasn't yet got the wicket of another but the bowlers have had the batsmen tied up, and then the batsmen have come back to take the upper hand.

Another Safrikaan battle is on the cards today - its Shaun Pollock taking on Graeme Smith as the Mumbai Indians go up against the Rajhastan Royals.

Its the Safrikaan captain taking on the man he replaced.

Pollock will bowl the first over and Smith will face the first over. Who will have the upper hand? Will a Safrikaan do what the Pakistanis have done?

The Royals have looked like the best side in the compeition, while the Indians have just started to taste success and recently beat the Daredevils, the strongest side of the competition.

There will be no Sachin vs Warne, but the encounter promises to be a cracker.

Two teams, weak on paper, but playing exciting cricket under two inspirational captains are bound to produce good cricket. I can't believe I just called Pollock an inspirational captain but the way he led his team against the Delhi Daredevils was like a Pollock never seen before.

It all goes down today at 230pm GMT.

Shoaib Akhtar Bites John Buchanan's Ear!

It hasn't happened yet but I can see it coming.

Shoaib Akhtar landed in India yesterday to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. He would have left Pakistan thinking that finally he is going to be doing what he's always wanted.

He would have thought he would party with SRK and his cronies every night and in between play a few matches too.

He must have thought that finally he would not have to provide any sort of justification to any captain or coach about anything.

He would have thought that he'll just run in, bowl 4 overs a day, and party away.

He must have thought that the IPL will be one big party.

And on top of all this, he would have thought what better than to get paid for all this.

What more did he want.

Little did Shoaib know though that a man by the name of John Buchanan, who also happens to be the coach of KKR, and the same man who took an entire Australia team to a boot camp against the wishes of a certain Shane Warne, was waiting for him in Kolkata.

This is what Buchanan had to say on learning that the Shoaib Akhtar had arrived:

“Obviously, Shoaib has a reputation, not only on the field but off it too... There are rules in place and there are ways in which the team has been operating. The rules are the same for everybody and there won’t be exceptions, no matter who you are. As long as Shoaib understands what’s in place and abides by the rules, there shouldn’t be any drama.”

Does Buchanan really think there won't be any drama? Especially if he's ordering Shoaib to live by the "rules"?

He must be kidding seriously. He talks about the reputation that Shoaib has off the field and it is that reputation that is going to lead Shoaib to bite Buchanan's ear off.

All of Shoaib's past coaches have had a problem with him. Be it Miandad, the late Woolmer, the coach at Nottinghamshire, the man who coached the ICC World XI, everyone. And all of them have had problems because of Shoaib's lack of respect for authority.

Buchanan, with that statement, has already stamped his authority. And you can see it coming. A slap, a bat, a punch, even a bite. I see it coming.

For Shoaib's sake and the sake of Pakistan I hope Shoaib has cleaned up his act. I know what I'm hoping for is like wishing for hell to freeze over but I still hope for Shoaib to stay away from controversies and deliver on the field.

He himself has promised that by saying:

"I have been able to overcome this traumatic situation and return to the field because of IPL chairman Lalit Modi, Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan and captain Sourav Ganguly. The way they stood by me, fought for me and empathised with me is unbelievable. I will never let them down in my life."

If he doesn't want to let them down he will have to clean up his act. He will have to deliver on the field.

The title of this post is something I don't wish to read about. I hope to see Shoaib Akhtar make the headlines with a bunch of wickets and match winning performances. I hope to see pictures of Shoaib celebrating wickets with Ganguly and not of him dancing with him.

I hope to read about how Shoaib took KKR to the semifinals. And hopefully to the IPL title.

Well, his former captain Wasim Akram believes that Shoaib will perform. This what he had to say:

"Once Shoaib sees the crowds, and of course the babes around, I think he will be able to perform."

Welcome to the IPL Shoaib!

Dravid wasn't enough. Preity was!

Those of you who are Bollywood fans and follow all the gossip associated with it would be familiar with the famous saying - "two bollywood actresses can never be friends". Its very common in Bollywood to read about arguements and cat fights between two bolly babes. There have been too many instances to prove this otherwise.

So how long will it take before Katrina Kaif and Preity Zinta start clawing each other?

Much to my dismay, Preity's team won last night. Katrina cheered all she could, tried her best to get the Royal Challenger batsmen firing, but apart from Rahul Dravid no one could do much.

Poor Misbah has been out twice leg before now, and both times to leg spinners. The one to Afridi might have been a shoddy decision, but he was plumb in front to Chawla last night. So much hype I had created that I think its back fired big time. But he will come good. Hopefully soon for the Royal Challengers' sake.

Rahul Dravid on the other hand played a grand knock. There was no slogging, no edges, and no streaky strokes. It was pure batting. He played proper cricket strokes. His knock was full of drives, pulls, cuts, and boy did he bat well. It was an amazing innings but unfortunately not enough.

Dravid faced 50 odd balls for 60 odd - A Sehwag or a Gilchrist would have had a 100 in that many but Dravid is Dravid. He played out of his skin and looked determined to take his side to a decent total. But it wasn't to be. His current run is similar to his run as captain of India - tries hard, looks to lead by example with the bat, looks lost in the field, and its never enough.

The Kings from Punjab continued their winning streak and are looking very strong. They have a world class batting line up and a fiery bowling attack to boot. They are the only team with 5 wins along with Rajhastan Royals. After losing 2 matches in a row, they are performing as promised.

So what changed?

Some have explained the change in fortunes by pointing out that Yuvraj is listening more to Jayawardene and Sangakkara. Others have said the Bhajji slap has done Sreesanth a lot of good and he is bowling like never before. The emergence of Shaun Marsh at the top of the order has also been given as a reason. While the promise of new SUVs to all squad members by Preity Zinta is also mentioned as a potential reason.

But I think the main reason behind these victories is...

The Preity Zinta hugs!

(Pics courtesy http://photos.cricket.com/ the exclusive supplier of photos to the IPL)

Super Kings or Super Stars, Indians or Champs, Daredevils or Giants, Riders or Tigers?

A few days ago I did a post where I mentioned that the Indian Premier League teams were clones of the International teams.

Just before the IPL got underway, the "rebel" Indian Cricket League had held the Edelweiss 20s Challenge involving 8 teams, the same number taking part in the ongoing IPL tournament. Similar to the IPL teams, the ICL ones were also based on Indian cities.

Here I look at whether the IPL city teams are clones of the ICL ones or not.

IPL Team: Mumbai Indians, ICL Team: Mumbai Champs
Both teams are led by the two greatest batsmen of this era - Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara respectively. While Sachin has been kept on the sidelines due to a groin injury, Brian Lara missed in the entire ICL tournament due to injury. Both are coached by Indians - Lalchand Rajput and Sandeep Patil respectively. The Champs hardly won anything ending as the 6th ranked team in the ICL, while the Indians have lost 4 matches in a row before winning a couple. They are also in 6th place currently.

Cloning Factor: Identical Twins. The kind that wear the same clothes.


IPL Team: Chennai Super Kings, ICL Team: Chennai Superstars
One is led by a young dynamic Indian stumper, MS Dhoni, while the other an old retired Aussie batsman, Stuart Law. Both are coached by former Australian internationals - Keppler Wessels and Micheal Bevan respectively, and both rely on Aussie power for the runs - Hayden & Hussey and Law & Harvey. Both teams are one of the stronger sides in their respective competitions - the Superstars lost in the semis, while the Super Kings are well on there way there.

Cloning Factor: Twins but not Identical. Try and dress differently.


IPL Team: Delhi Daredevils, ICL Team: Delhi Giants
Both are captained by opening batsmen, though very different in style - Sehwag and Atapattu respectively. One is coached by Greg Shipperd, a domestic Aussie coach, while the other by a former Indian international, Madan Lal. The Daredevils are one of the strongest sides in their competition, while the Giants were one of the weaker ones. One attacks with McGrath and the other with Shane Bond.

Cloning Factor: No Relation. Too different. Can't even be friends.


IPL Team: Kolkata Knight Riders, ICL Team: Kolkata Tigers
One is captained by one of India's best captains, Saurav Ganguly, and the other by one who was in and out of his international team, Craig McMillian. One is coached by one of the world's best coaches, John Buchanan, and the other by Daryll Cullinan, who has no prior coaching experience. While KKR is 5th in the points table and could go through to the semis, the Tigers were the 4th team into the semis.

Cloning Factor: Friends. Share a little in common, haven't met in years.


IPL Team: Deccan Chargers, ICL Team: Hyderabad Heroes
One is captained by an established Indian international, VVS Laxman, and the other by an allrounder, Chris Harris. Both are poles apart as far as cricket is concerned - one is a pure batsman who is a turtle on the field, and the other a lower order batsman, a lep spinning medium pace, and a livewire on the field. One is coached by Robin Singh, fielding coach of India, and the other by Steve Rixon, a former international coach. Both have Pakistani allround power - one with Afridi and the other with Razzak. One is lowest placed side in its competition, and the other won theirs.

Cloning Factor: Divorced cause there was nothing in common apart from erratic Pakistani behaviour.


IPL Team: Kings XI Punjab, ICL Team: Chandigarh Lions
Lions are Kings aren't they? One is a Mohali team and the other a Chandigarh one but both Punjabi. Punjabis are Lion Kings! One is captained by a hard hitting batsman, Yuvraj Singh, and the other by a Kiwi allrounder, Chris Cairns. Both can hit a lot of big sixes though. One is coached by a former international player and coach, Tom Moody, and the other by Balwandar Sadhu, unheard of. the Kings XI are placed 2nd in the points table while the Lions ended 7th.

Cloning Factor: Friends with the same names, but nothing else in common.

The IPL has teams from Bangalore and Jaipur, which the ICL did not. They instead had a team from Ahmedabad and an all Pakistani one from Lahore.

Those are the similarities, or lack of, of the teams in the two leagues. But what is the relationship between the IPL and the ICL?

The ICL is the original, while the IPL is the successful cloning experiment of very smart scientists. One has been termed an illegal resident by the authorities and is fighting for official legal status, much like a step son disowned by the evil mother. One considers the other to be a rival that has no right to exist while in reality it is a business partner promoting India. They even have similar names and could even have a fruitful long term relationship but the concerned parties are refusing to the marriage. They remain separated and often communicate through different media channels, but it may be better for both to go out on a date and figure out how they can be together.

Update for Bloggers & Facebookers

Following the success of the Well Pitched Facebook page, Uncle J Rod has launched his own Cricket with Balls Facebook page.

If you haven't already, I suggest you become a fan of both.

Someone asked Uncle J how the facebook page would be any different from his existing blog.

I'm not sure about Cricket with Balls, but what we have done on our Facebook page is that we have added a number of videos and picture albums, besides the RSS Feed of our blog. There will probably be more additions to the features as we go along, but as of now you can find all the IPL team videos on the Well Pitched Facebook page as well as a few picture albums.

We recently added some new videos that may be of interest:

1. Sohail Tanvir's 6-14 against Chennai Super Kings
2. Shoaib Akhtar's 2 scorching deliveries to Dravid and Tendulkar
3. Shoaib Akhtar singing for his friends
4. Sohail Tanvir's flying kiss to Gautam Gambhir
5. Wasim Akram's magic ball - you all have seen Warne's ball of the century, but this is simply magical.
6. Waqar Younis' 6-59 vs Australia in Nottingham in 2001
7. Shoaib Akhtar's 5-25 vs Australia in 2002

Besides facebook, the cricket blogosphere has been busy covering the IPL, following the county season, and praising Shane Warne. Here are some of the recent IPL related posts that have led me to comment in defence or in support of the IPL:

Nestaquin discusses how the cricket (as we know it) has prevailed in the IPL and that he doesn't think that this is any revolution. My comments were on why I think it is the revolution. Nesta is one of the few bloggers who has been keenly following the IPL.

AYALAC recently did a post describing how viewers had become bored of the IPL and that TV ratings were falling and that the interest had dwindled after the initial hype. No points for guessing what my comments were.

David Barry points out that 20-20 cricket involves a lot of luck so don't just yet proclaim as to which IPL team is the best. In another post he compares his own pre-IPL ratings of teams with mine and Arjwiz's. Well done DB!

Soulberry wonders whether the IPL is actually a domestic tournament as Sehwag claimed it to be. I think it totally is a domestic tournament but SB has interesting views.

DS Henry continues to cover the IPL like no one else giving away awards to daily performers.

SOM tries to figure out when the Pakistani players in the IPL will start performing, while Trideep shares his experience of watching an IPL match at the ground. Straight Point suggests what needs to be done to tilt the game in favour of the bowlers, whereas Ottayan thinks that there has been a turnaround in the bowlers' fortunes in the IPL.

And here is a guide to the IPL by Sportsfreak for those who are still wondering what this is all about.

Amidst all this, the 2nd female cricket blogger emerged on the scene and joined Uncle J over at Cricket with Balls.

Miriam, who is also a regular commenter on Well Pitched, has done two cracking posts - one is a hilarious take on what test cricket needs to give itself a boost, and the other one is a comparison of international test nations to men. How fun!

The Allen Stanford University for Cricket Bloggers welcomes Miriam as its 2nd female faculty member.

Thats all folks.

Keep blogging and facebooking.

Feeling Like Adam Gilchrist

Do you know what it feels like to be Adam Gilchrist?

Matthew Hayden sure does.

Back at the training camp for Australia's tour to the West Indies, Hayden feels that a shift in gear would be required for the tests after his short stint at the Indian Premier League.

Hayden said that he would need to adjust to the longer version of the game. His exact words were:

"Jaquesy and I have to graft away for four-and-a-half hours before we get a chance to express ourselves, in Twenty20 it's a great relief for opening batsmen to feel like you have a licence - you feel like Adam Gilchrist."

Well what can one say when Gilly's long time opening partner felt relieved to feel like him. I wonder if Hayden also wants to be like him. Be the cricketer that Gilly is. Be the man that Gilly is. I don't know what I mean by what I've just said but I felt like taking a dig at Hayden.

Besides Hayden; Ricky Ponting, Micheal Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Shiv Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo will all be returning to the test fold after 20-20 stints with the IPL.

Will these batsmen suffer from an IPL hangover? Will the adjustment to tests be a difficult one for them? Or are they good enough batsmen to adapt easily?

They are good enough I think, but I sense that the likes of Micheal Clarke, Phil Jacques, Jamie How, and the Marshall brothers will upstage the IPL members of their test sides.

The tests are coming up and it will be great to watch.

The Battle of the Bolly Babes

The Kings from Punjab have been on an amazing run of late winning their last 4 matches.

Preity Zinta can't stop smiling and the Kings XI can't stop winning. Its the Preity hugs I tell you.

Tonight they go up against the Royal Challengers from Bangalore, who rode their luck in a narrow victory over the Deccan Chargers recently.

With Katrina Kaif cheering their victory the way she was the other night, RCB would be definitely charged up! Even though she didn't hug anyone after that victory, the motivation of watching Katrina cheer them on should do the Challengers a lot of good. Or is Salman Khan watching?

On paper it looks like the Kings should win easily but stranger things have happened in the IPL.

With Misbah finally in the ranks and Cameron White being looked at as a potential replacement for Kallis, RCB may finally have a team looks like one for 20-20 cricket.

I sense an upset. I sense a Katrina victory over Preity. I also want a Katrina victory over Preity.

Apart from this Bolly Battle, there's plenty more to watch out for tonight.

Battle of the Indians: Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, and VRV Singh will be up against Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid. While Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar will have a go at Yuvraj Singh.

Battle of the Leggies: It will be India's experienced Anil Kumble up against the one tipped to replace him in the long term -Piyush Chawla. Throw Cameron White into the mix as well.

Battle of the Stumpers: Its the best keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara up against the best stumper in the business - Mark Boucher.

Also watch out for Shaun Marsh who has thoroughly impressed in his last 2 innings. He has been joined by fellow Aussie James Hopes at the top of the order and fireworks could be in store. Watch them take on Dale Steyn, the fastest pacer around.

All this and more at 230PM GMT tonight.

(Pic courtesy http://photos.cricket.com/ the exclusive supplier of photos to the IPL)

4-0-14-6 !!!

Where would you see a bowler rattling the batsman's stumps and then give him a high-five?

No where but at the Indian Premier League.

Thats exactly what Sohail Tanvir did after his record breaking performance against the Chennai Super Kings - He clean bowled Makhaya Ntini with his final delivery and then nonchalantly walked across and high fived him.

Ntini was Tanvir's 6th wicket and his figures at the end of CSK's innings were 4-0-14-6.

Those figures are the best figures in all 20-20 cricket, domestic and international. No bowler has produced better figures than those in 20-20 cricket.

They would have been even better had Ntini not hit him for two 4s in the final over.

Tanvir's figures at the end of his third were 3-0-3-5. Simply Remarkable!!!

Tanvir's effort helped the Rajhastan Royals destroy CSK's batting line up, which just couldn't get underway. As I said, Chennai don't look all that Super anymore without Hayden, Hussey, and Oram.

To add to those 6 wickets, Tanvir was also involved in another 2 wickets taking a catch at long on and mid on.

2 LBWs, 1 caught at slip, 2 catches, 3 bowled. He could have been playing alone for the Royals.

For those who don't already know, Sohail Tanvir was discovered by the great Wasim Akram at a camp for all rounders last summer. It was also Wasim's recommendation to send Sohail Tanvir to the 20-20 World Cup once Shoaib Akhtar headed back after smacking Asif with a bat.

Shane Warne grooming talent found by Wasim Akram. What an exceptional thing this IPL is.

And what an exceptional performance that was by Sohail Tanvir.

Shoaib Akhtar to Join KKR!

A few days ago on Ottayan's blog, I said that it was bound to happen.

We all knew it would happen sooner rather than later.

Maybe this is the boost that the Knight Riders needed to get back to their winning ways. Only time will tell though, how effective Shoaib would be. He could potentially form a lethal attack with team mate Umar Gul.

I hope he does well.

But where does all this leave the PCB?

This is yet another one of the umpteen U-turns the PCB and its so called "3-man committees" have taken since Dr. Nasim Ashraf has been in charge. It is beyond ridiculous now.

First they ban Shoaib.

He appeals against the ban.

PCB sets up an appellate tribunal.

They uphold the appeal saying ban is just.

Tribunal says Shoaib is free to play in the IPL though.

IPL says they won't accept banned player.

Nasim Ashraf personally requests Lalit Modi.

Modi says sorry can't do.

Shoaib lawyers plead for 1 month suspension of ban.

Tribunal accepts.

Lalit Modi says:

"We look forward to Shoaib playing for us, I am going to call him immediately and invite him to come to Kolkata tonight or tomorrow morning."

Who are you guys kidding?

I mean seriously. So Lalit Modi is willing to allow Shoaib play knowing that in a months time he will be banned from cricket in and for Pakistan for 5 years.

What difference does it make whether Shoaib is banned from today or from June onwards?

And what happens after the current IPL tournament ends? Shoaib won't be allowed to play in future IPL seasons?

What a joke.

IPL Teams are Clones

It hurt again to see the Kolkata Knight Riders lose last night.

KKR are looking like Pakistan - started their IPL campaign with a bang. Lost their next 4 games. Lose 3-4 top order wickets for less than 40 in every match. Have had a new opening combination every game. Even a top coach can't change their fortunes. Hurts to see them lose. Yep definitely Pakistan.

So who do the other Indian Premier League teams look like?

Mumbai Indians - Can't win anything. Original captain hasn't played due to injury. Stand in captain now also on the sidelines. Playing with a 3rd choice captain. Line up on paper shows some match winners. But they keep losing. The West Indies.

Deccan Chargers - Couldn't defend 17 off the last over. Couldn't chase low scores when they looked well on their way. Have choked in half of their matches. Look strong, look to be winning, and then they choke. Chokers! The South Africa.

Rajhastan Royals - Average cricketers inspired by a shrewd captain. Playing like a team in high spirits. Winning every game in the tournament, beating sides stronger than them. Will go into the last 4 but not all the way. The New Zealand.

Chennai Super Kings. Led by the youngest captain in the tournament. Looked very strong but now weakened after senior batsmen have left. Joginder Sharma bowls the last over in each match. Captain stands behind the stumps. The India.

Delhi Daredevils - Strongest team in the tournament. Top 3-4 batsmen enough to chase down any total. Strongest bowling line up. Very strong batting line up. Don't look like losing anything. The Australia.

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Find it hard to win a game. Cricketers hell bent on playing proper cricket. Only 1-2 players who are good at limited overs cricket. Look good in bursts. The England.

Kings XI Punjab - On a hot winning streak. Looking like a team enjoying their cricket. Perfect blend of youth and experience. Lots of left handers in the top 6. Coached by an Australian. Have the best keeper batsman. The Sri Lanka.

Shane Warne Proving His Point

When Shane Warne was offered the captaincy of the Jaipur franchise of the Indian Premier League, he accepted on the condition that he was given complete control of the team. He wanted to be the lone man in charge with no coach around and that resulted in Warne being appointed the captain and coach of the Rajhastan Royals.

Warne's exact words were: "I don't need a computer".

This was probably a dig at John Buchanan who was Australia's coach for the better part of their years of dominance. During the time Warne left it no secret that he did not agree with a lot of Buchanan's ways. Warne publicly questioned the value of Buchanan and also that of a coach for a cricket team.

It is no surprise then that Warne did not want a coach for the Rajhastan Royals.

So has it worked?

After 5 games, Warne's Royals are standing pretty at the number 2 spot in the points table. After losing their first game, they have won their next 4 on the back of inspiring performances by the skipper and a number of their players who are less known than those playing for other teams in the IPL.

Apart from Graeme Smith and Sohail Tanvir, the Royals don't have any players who actively play international cricket currently. Moreover, they don't have any Indian internationals either - in Kaif they have a discarded one and the others are all domestic or U19 players.

Warne has led his charges considerably well and has inspired all of them to play with passion and bring out their best performances.

Warne has maintained that his team has had plans for all the matches they've played and that its been good to see that those plans have worked.

Warne has also said that everyone in the team knows their own role and they're all responding well to what is being asked of them.

The other IPL teams have high profile coaches such as John Buchanan, Greg Shipperd, Tom Moody, Venkatesh Prasad, Kepler Wessels, Lalchand Rajput, and others working behind the scenes. On top, they've got assistant coaches and trainers as well.

Whereas Warne's Royals have Warne and only Warne. He is the captain, the coach, the mentor, the leader, the motivator, the trainer, the advisor all rolled into one.

This begs the question then - how important is a coach for a cricket team? Or are coaches only irrelevant when a team has men like Shane Warne or Imran Khan at the helm?

Delhi go Top, Chennai not so Super Anymore

The Chennai Super Kings don't look all that Super anymore without Hayden and Hussey.

They posted their lowest score last night and their batting, which had been their strength so far, doesn't look strong anymore.

Fleming, the man who replaced Hayden, got bowled twice in the space of 4 deliveries. Albie Morkel looked good for the little time he was there but he's no replacement for Hussey senior. And why did Suresh Raina come so low down the order? He's looked brilliant in his last few innings and to hold him back for the last 3-4 overs is gross injustice.

Dhoni has to do some thinking now. And the champion that he is, he probably will.

Delhi are looking stronger by the day. They have won 2 matches by 9 wickets and last night they did by 8 wickets. Their batting has looked really strong thus far with the top 3 scoring heavily. Plus it just got stronger with the arrival of AB De Villiers. And Shoaib Malik is yet to fire. It looks ominous for them.

Whats more, their bowling is led by McGrath and Asif!

Dhoni saw his own 20-20 openers in Sehwag and Gambhir take the game away from him. Mixed feelings?

Shikhar Dhawan knew better than to leave the winning runs for the last over, which would have been bowled by Joginder Sharma, the man with the golden arm. Dhawan has looked very impressive in all his innings. His straight drive for 4 of Murali was a top shot and he looked every inch the international batsman.

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan - India's future? Add in Mohammad Kaif and Yusuf Pathan and the future looks very bright.

For the first time in the Indian Premier League the Super Kings are not at the top of the table. The Daredevils are, only on the basis of run rate though as they have the same 8 points as the Super Kings and the Rajhastan Royals. Kings XI Punjab are 4th but could by displaced if the Knight Riders manage an upset today.

Food for thought - the bottom 4 teams in the points table are captained by India's big 4 - Sachin, Dravud, Saurav, and Laxman.