Thursday, May 29, 2008

Marsh & Tanvir on Top - IPL Leaders, End of Q4 Results

One man hasn't made his international debut yet, while the other is barely 8 months old in international cricket.

Yet Shaun Marsh and Sohail Tanvir are at the top of the leading run scorers and leading wicket takers at the end of the group stages of the Indian Premier League.

41 days and 56 games of cricket later, the IPL is now at its business end. The Final Four have been decided and are gearing up for the semis over the next 2 days.

Here is a look at the top performers of the group stages - the end of Q4 of the IPL.

(Go here for previous quarter results: Q1, Q2, Q3)

Leading Batsmen1. Shaun Marsh (KXIP) - 593 runs in 10 innings at 74.12
2. Gautam Gambhir (DDD) - 523 runs in 13 innings at 43.58
3. Sanath Jayasuriya (MI) - 514 runs in 14 innings at 42.83
4. Adam Gilchrist (DC) - 436 runs in 14 innings at 33.53
5. Graeme Smith (RR) - 416 runs in 10 innings at 52.00

Since the middle of Q3, Gautam Gambhir had led the IPL batting charts.

But it all changed last night with Marsh's majestic knock of 115 off a mere 69 deliveries against the Rajasthan Royals.

What a glorious innings that was!

Shaun Marsh has been simply outstanding. Apart from that 1 innings in the 8 over match against the Daredevils, Marsh has delivered every single time.

He has played an instrumental part in Kings XI's successful IPL campaign. At the top of the order he has been absolutely magic.

These Aussies just don't stop producing talents.

I didn't see much of Goeff Marsh. The only glimpses I remember are from he 1992 World Cup and I think that was the fag end of his career.

But if he was anything like his son, I definitely missed out on a great batsman.

Its been wonderful watching Shaun Marsh bat. He makes it look so easy.

With Matthew Hayden ruled out of the Windies tour, Marsh will surely get his chance in the ODIs.

Whoever thought the Aussies won't be the same without the might of Hayden at the top of the order. Think again.

Will Marsh be Australia's next big thing?

Leading Bowlers
1. Sohail Tanvir (RR) - 21 wickets in 9 matches at 10.00
2. Sreesanth (KXIP) - 19 wickets in 14 matches at 22.89
3. Shane Warne (RR) - 17 wickets in 13 matches at 20.52
4. Piyush Chawla (KXIP) - 17 wickets in 14 matches at 21.52
5. RP Singh (DC) - 15 wickets in 14 matches at 29.46

RP Singh was leading the charts with 15 wickets in 11 games at the end of Q3. 3 wicketless matches later he finds himself at number 5 as another left armer replaces him at the top.

Sohail Tanvir's 21 wickets have come in only 9 matches - 5 fewer than the next man on the list!

He's been the only Pakistani who has consistently performed in the IPL, and boy has he performed.

His yorkers from around the wicket have reminded every Pakistani of the Wasim Akram days.

His whirlwind windmill roller coaster of an action puts Paul Adams to shame.

His ability to move the ball both ways from over or around the wicket with a left arm has caught all the batsmen off guard.

Tanvir showed the world what he was capable of when he was drafted into Pakistan's squad for the T20 World Cup last year. He followed that up with impressive performances in ODIs and a couple of tests.

He has impressed one and all in the IPL, except Wasim Akram, whom he calls his idol.

Wasim Akram, who discovered Tanvir at a fast bowlers camp last year, has said that IPL performances don't count for much and that Tanvir will have to do well in test matches.

Will Sohail Tanvir be the next big thing in the world of Pakistani pacers?
Its interesting to note the similarity between Warne's and Chawla's figures - same number of wickets, similar average, a similar economy rate (7.9 and 8.3 respectively), and exactly the same strike rate of 15.5!

One is the master leg spinner, arguably the best bowler ever to play test cricket. While the other is trying to cement his place in international cricket.

Yuvraj recently said that Chawla has always delivered when asked to.

That's true. He has consistently picked up wickets and checked the scoring of the opposition.
Chawla has amazing varieties, which keep the batsmen puzzled. His googlies and straighter ones are very difficult to pick.
There were recent discussions between bloggers about Chawla vs Amit Mishra. I feel that Chawla is the better of the two.
He has been quite impressive.
Maybe its the talent, but then maybe its Preity Zinta.

20-20 cricket may not be a true indicator for some experts but this is still some food for thought.

Is Chawla the next big thing in the world of leg spinners?
Will he be spoken of in the same breath as Qadir, Warne, and Kumble?
3 of the top 5 batsmen, and the top 4 bowlers will be battling it out in the IPL Semi Finals.

Whose your contender for the man of the series?
(Photos courtesy http://photos.cricket.com/ the exclusive supplier of photos to the IPL)

Make your pitch on this post...



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2 Pitched:

  1. Nigel Kersten said...
     

    The Australian top order is going to get interesting over the next two years.

    As far as Tests go, if Jaques doesn't cement his place, we might see the selectors return to giving Rogers a go.

    I don't see Marsh coming into the Test side for a while unless he shows he's managed to fix the major flaw in his batting, namely concentration. Performing brilliantly in the IPL doesn't exactly demonstrate this :) but I expect we'll see him get a run in the ODI side.

  2. Homer said...
     

    too early to make a call Q. Chawla is still not right up there for the big leagues..Ditto Tanvir..

    Its one thing firing yorkers at will in a 4 over spell, quite another to be bowling with the second new ball on the third day of a test match ( with your team out there on the field for all three days).

    Cheers

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