The Mother of all Crackers!

Shahrukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akhtar, Saurav Ganguly, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mukesh Ambani.

Put these men together in any location in India and one can be sure to get cheers that will bring the house down.

Put these men together in Mumbai and the crowd's cheers will surely bring the entire neighborhood down!

That is what you can expect today at the Wankhede Stadium when the Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Mumbai Indians.

What a match its going to be.

KKR and MI have turned the tables in the last 10 days or so and both are currently on a winning streak - KKR have won their last 3 matches, while MI have won their last 4.

One of the team's streaks will come to an end today.

No team in the Indian Premier League has thus far won more than 5 matches in a row - Rajhastan Royals' 5 match winning streak was halted by MI, while Kings XI's 5 match winning run hit the road blocks against the Chennai Super Kings.

Will MI also make it 5 in a row? Or will KKR put an end to their streak?

Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly are arguably the best opening pair India ever had in ODIs. They are also one of the most successful opening pairs in world cricket (ODIs).

Today though, they are up against each other leading not only their respective teams, but their respective cities in this crucial IPL match.

Will Ganguly outscore Sachin on the latter's home ground? Or will Sachin choose this occasion to fire?

Shoaib Akhtar made an impactful return in KKR's last match. Today, he will be up against Sachin Tendulkar, who also returned to cricket in the previous match, and Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored a rattling century of a mere 40 odd deliveries in his last match.

Shoaib with the ball. Sachin and Jayasuriya coming out to bat. The thought of watching this contest sends shivers down my spine.

Will Shoaib silence the Mumbai crowd? Or will we see his deliveries being dispatched over the point and the 3rd man region?

Sachin is revered like a God in Mumbai. But Shahrukh Khan is no less, he is their King Khan, their Baadshah.

Who is Mumbai going to back?

This is definitely an intriguing one.

Only if SRK donned the #12 shirt and took the field, how would Mumbai react?

How would the react to SRK supporting a team other than Mumbai?

This match is also a very crucial one in the context of the RACE to the Final Four.

If KKR win today, they will leave the Daredevils, Super Kings, and Kings XI behind and jump to 2nd spot on the points table.

If MI win today, they will join the Daredevils and the Riders on 10 points each and that too with a match in hand.

With so much at stake, two similarly balanced teams who have been on a winning run, come face to face tonight.

You can expect the mother of all crackers of matches!

RACE

No this is not about the recently released Bollywood movie.

It's about the RACE to the Indian Premier League Semi Finals.

All the upcoming IPL matches are cruical and their results will have an impact on the shape up of the Final Four.

Realistically the RACE is between KKR, DDD, and MIs for the 4th place.

But for the dreamers, DC and RCB still stand a chance if they win all their remaining 5 matches and the other results go in their favour.

I don't remember such a gruelling RACE to the semis since the 1992 World Cup. (The ICC definitely have something to think about - make the World Cups more interesting!)

Like the Kiwis in 1992, only the Rajhastan Royals have a sure shot Final Four slot in hand as of now. Coincidentally I talked about how RR was a clone of New Zealand in my Clones post.

So who is going to win this RACE to the Final Four?

Besides RR, KXI is the only team who should be confident of making it. They are a strong unit and Shaun Marsh is probably in the form of his life and the slap has done Sreesanth a lot of good.

However, more than 1 team has lost 4 matches on the trot, and a similar run could catch them short.

CSK have had an up and down tournament. Won 4, Lost 3, Won 2, Lost 1. They're sitting pretty at 3 but the MIs and KKR are on a roll and if both of them are to win the RACE, CSK will be the one missing out.

KKR are at 4 right now. But the position is not theirs. DDD and MIs are close on their heels and the next 4 days could change the look of the table drastically.

Today: DDD vs DC
Tomorrow: KKR vs MI (BIG MATCH)
Saturday: DDD vs KXI
Sunday: KKR vs CSK

Anything could happen. For all we know, KKR, DDD, and MI could all be in the Final Four with KXI and CSK packing their bags.

There doesn't seem to be any hope for DC or RCB but then again, there wasn't any for Pakistan either in 1992.

The RACE is on and we don't know whose winning it. Do you?

Did You Know a Test Match is about to get Underway?

After about a month of Slam Wham Bam, in just over 12 hours from now, cricket returns to its much more sedate roots of test cricket as the touring New Zealand side take on England.

The pure traditionalist cricket fan, who had to bear with the IPL frenzy and the "non-cricket" that is known as 20-20 cricket for the last month or so, will be delighted.

Whereas the pure modern day viewer would be so absorbed by the Indian Premier League, he wouldn't even know a test series is about to begin.

As for myself, a crazy cricket fan, any and all kinds of cricket is eagerly awaited and welcomed. The more the better. I'd switch and flip and chop and change and watch a bit of both with interest.

Which one are you?

The Pure Traditionalist?
The Modern Day Viewer?
The Crazy Cricket Fan?

Whichever one you are, I'll give you a few reasons as to why you should catch a bit of the action from the 1st test between England and New Zealand.

1. The England Summer

It's the first test of the summer, the first of the new cricket season, and it's at Lord's. You shouldn't need another reason. But I'll give you more anyway.

2. The Tim Southee

Three months ago, this boy was playing in the U19 World Cup and ended as its leading wicket taker.

Two months ago this boy made his test debut against England in New Zealand.

He picked up 5 wickets on his 1st day in test cricket.

On his 5th day in test cricket he played an entertaining knock of 77 with 9 sixes!

New Zealand produces very few exciting cricketers who are world class players and entertain at the same time. Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, and Shane Bond are a few from the last decade. Tim Southee is one of the few for the next.

3. The Ross Taylor

He is another one for the next decade.

Taylor made his test debut late last year against South Africa and hit his maiden ton against England earlier this year. He was New Zealand's top scorer in that series.

He's a very exciting batsman as he showed during his several cameos in the IPL.

I reckon he will be the backbone of the Kiwis' batting line up for a long time to come.

4. The Kevin Pieterson

All I want to see is how badly is his blood boiling after watching his best friend Shane Warne and his enemy #1 Graeme Smith play for the same IPL franchise.

5. The Unknown

There are a number of unknowns in the New Zealand side. I'd be surprised if people outside NZ have heard of Aaron Redmond or Daniel Flynn.

Its always exciting to watch new talent at the the highest level of cricket.

6. The Underdog

A large section of the British media have termed this New Zealand side as the weakest ever team to tour England.

Sure the Kiwis are depleted without the big names like Fleming, Astle, McMillian, Styris, Vincent, Bond all playing in 20-20 leagues, but they can't be taken lightly. Can they?

There is always a certain charm associated with supporting the underdog. Everyone wants them to do well.

I am no different. I wish the Kiwis well. And I hope they prove the British media wrong by winning a test or two.

7. The Sportsfreak

Last but not least, Sportsfreak, the only Kiwi blogger around, is running a little competition on his website.

Its a competition for bloggers. The Likes of Uncle J from Cricket with Balls, Miss Field, and Suave from Republique Cricket are taking part. We are in it too.

These added on attractions like super selector games, fantasy cricket, bet365, bets with office colleagues, and Sportsfreak competition make a cricket series all the more exciting.

Root for Q, root for Well Pitched to win Sportsfreak's competition.

Root for the underdog, root for the Kiwis to win the test series. Or Draw it, that way I win too.

It has been a Roller Coaster...

Since the day Shahrukh Khan acquired the Kolkata franchise in the Indian Premier League, Well Pitched and more specifically yours truly has backed the Kolkata Knight Riders.

It has been a Roller Coaster ride supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders though.

At first I was excited about SRK and Ganguly bidding succesfully for Shoaib Akhtar.

I was even more excited at the other internationals SRK had managed to rope in during the bidding. We rated KKR very highly on our Bid-O-Meter.

The excitement reached an all new level when SRK launched his team name, uniform, logo, mascot, among other things. Knight Rider was back!

When they started their campaign in emphatic fashion, we were bowled over by their first few wins.

However, 5 days into the tournament, and I had my first feelings of mixed loyalties. Was I going to stand behind KKR or had the Daredevils impressed me enough to back them? The main reason was no Shoaib Akhtar.

A few days later, I found myself shifting support between KKR, DDD, and DC. It was still unclear whether there was that 1 team that I would back throughout or would it be several of them.

Then I talked about how it hurt to see KKR lose once they were on their 4 match losing spree. I even compared them to Pakistan.

And then came the news that Shoaib Akhtar will finally be joining KKR. We were excited, I couldn't wait despite the fact that I thought that the PCB was a bunch of idiots.

I welcomed Shoaib to the IPL. I hoped he brought about a change in KKR's fortunes. I hoped he would take them to the semis and to the title. And I wished Shoaib and KKR the best.

My lone support for KKR was back.

I expected a Shoaib Akhtar return to the field and I backed KKR in the potential cracker of a match against the Daredevils, the team I had thought of supporting alongside the Riders.

Shoaib Akhtar returned and boy did he return.

It was exciting, it was entertaining, it was the cracker of a match I had expected.

The atmosphere was electric, the Eden was on song, Shoaib Akhtar was on fire, and KKR came out on top in probably the best match the IPL has dished out thus far.

No team had yet defended a total below 150 apart from KKR in the previous match. Last night they defended 134!

And that too against a team that opened with the 2 leading run scorers of the IPL - Sehwag and Gambhir.

They have now won 3 on the trot and stand 4th on the points table.

The Daredevils and Mumbai Indians are breating perilously close to them but if Shoaib can remain disciplined and injury free and KKR can continue to play with the same passion, there's no stopping them.

Today, there is no doubt in my mind that KKR has my undivided support to go get the IPL Title.

GO KKR!

(Pictures courtesy photos.cricket.com, the exclusive supplier of photos to the IPL)

Shoaib gets the Eden Chanting!

"Shoaib! Shoaib! Shoaib!"

That's what the 70,000 at the Eden Gardens were chanting.

Who would have thought that one day Shoaib Akhtar would be bowling to Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the INDIAN openers, and the entire Eden would be chanting "Shoaib Shoaib Shoaib".

1. Gautam Gambhir c Hussey b Shoaib Akhtar
2. Virender Sehwag c Saha b Shoaib Akhtar
3. AB De Villiers c Taibu b Shoaib Akhtar
4. Manoj Tiwary lbw b Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar ripped through the Daredevils' top order in only 18 deliveries which went for a mere 11 runs.

3-0-11-4. That's what Shoaib's figures read after his 1st spell.

Back in 1999 Shoaib was on a hatrick on this very ground as he uprooted Dravid's and Sachin's stumps of consecutive deliveries.

At that time the entire Eden was stunned into silence.

Today, Shoaib was on a hatrick again.

Only this time, the entire Eden was chanting "Shoaib Shoaib Shoaib" !!!

Whatever the result of this on going game between the Riders and the Daredevils, Shoaib Akhtar is back and he is back with a bang.

Welcome back Shoaib. We hope you stay.

Shoaib! Shoaib! Shoaib!

The Ul Haq Jinx Videos

Following on from the "Ul Haq Jinx" post, videos of some of those freaky dismissals have been added on to the Well Pitched Facebook Page.

1. Inzamam ducking a Caddick yorker
2. Inzamam obstructing the field
3. Inzamam hit wicket to Panesar
4. Misbah scooping Joginder to Sreesanth
5. Misbah jumping to get run out
6. Misbah hit wicket to Sreesanth

Enjoy!

Are the IPL Teams Reliant on Aussies?

I thought about this question after a brief discussion on Uncle J's blog on this particular post.

Did, a commenter on the post said "I think the IPL should be renamed the Antipodean Premier League anyways cause it would be twice as $%^£ without the backbone provided by the Aussies and Kiwis."

And he went on to mention that the Aussies had won 14 MoM awards in 34 games, 4 of the top 10 batsmen were Aussies, as were 2 of the top 10 bowlers.

It won't be a surprise if the IPL teams are reliant on Aussies as they are the best cricket players in the world. But are the teams actually reliant on them?

Lets take a look.

(Note: I'm assuming Hayden, M. Hussey, Ponting, Lee, and Symonds as first choice XIs because they would have been had they stayed on. Well maybe not Ponting but would Ganguly or Buchanan have dropped the Aussie Captain?)

Chennai Super Kings
Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Coach: Keppler Wessels
Number of Aussies in First XI: 2 (Hayden, Hussey)
Leading Batsman: MS Dhoni, 289 runs @ 41.28
Leading Bowler: M. Gony, 11 wkts @ 26.09

Reliance Factor: 2.5/8 (half a point for Wessels' Aussie connection) - 31.25%

Rajhastan Royals
Captain: Shane Warne
Coach: Shane Warne
Number of Aussies in First XI: 2 (Warne, Watson)
Leading Batsman: Shane Watson, 287 runs @ 57.40
Leading Bowler: Shane Watson, 12 wkts @ 19.33

Reliance Factor: 6/8 - 75%

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Captain: Rahul Dravid
Coach: Venkatesh Prasad
Number of Aussies in First XI: 1 (Cameron White)
Leading Batsman: Rahul Dravid, 198 runs @ 22.00
Leading Bowler: Zaheer Khan, 13 wkts @ 21.07

Reliance Factor: 1/8 - 12.5%

Deccan Chargers
Captain: VVS Laxman / Adam Gilchrist
Coach: Robin Singh
Number of Aussies in First XI: 2 (Gilchrist, Symonds)
Leading Batsman: Adam Gilchrist, 308 runs @ 38.50
Leading Bowler: RP Singh, 12 wkts @ 22.75

Reliance Factor: 3.5/8 (half a point for Gilchrist filling in as captain) - 43.75%

Kolkata Knight Riders
Captain: Saurav Ganguly
Coach: John Buchanan
Number of Aussies in First XI: 2 (Ponting, D. Hussey)
Leading Batsman: David Hussey, 263 runs @ 43.83
Leading Bowler: Ajit Agarkar, 8 wkts @ 19.75

Reliance Factor: 4/8 - 50.00%

Delhi Daredevils
Captain: Virender Sehwag
Coach: Greg Shipperd
Number of Aussies in First XI: 1 (McGrath)
Leading Batsman: Gautam Gambhir, 336 runs @ 48.00
Leading Bowler: VK YoMahesh, 8 wkts @ 28.12

Reliance Factor: 2/8 - 50.00%

Mumbai Indians
Captain: Sachin Tendulkar / Harbhajan Singh / Shaun Pollock
Coach: Lalchand Rajput
Number of Aussies in First XI: 1 (Thornely)
Leading Batsman: Robin Uthappa, 211 runs @ 42.20
Leading Bowler: Ashish Nehra, 10 wkts @ 16.80

Reliance Factor: 1/8 - 12.50%

Kings XI Punjab
Captain: Yuvraj Singh
Coach: Tom Moody
Number of Aussies in First XI: 2 (Marsh, Lee)
Leading Batsman: Shaun Marsh, 295 runs @ 98.33
Leading Bowler: Irfan Pathan, 13 wkts @ 17.69

Reliance Factor: 4/8 - 50.00%

So is the IPL reliant on the Aussies?

Maybe this gives a clearer picture:

• The top 50 batsmen have scored 8,332 runs at an average of 32.17 with 4 100s, 50 50s, and 312 6s.
  
• Aussies contribute to 18% of the batsmen, 23% of the runs, at an average that is 21 runs higher than the overall, 75% of the 100s, 28% of the 50s, and 28% of the 6s.
  
• 47 bowlers have picked up wickets with a collective amount of 319 wickets at an average of 25.8. (Despite all this talk about bowlers taking a whack they haven't really done that badly have they now)
  
• Aussies contribute to 8.5% of the bowlers, 11% of the wickets, at 3 runs per wicket less than the overall.

So is the IPL reliant on Aussie Power? Or rather are the Aussies the backbone of the IPL?

I believe that there is no doubt that the Aussies have been the best foreign players on display. There was never any doubt on what Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Hayden, and Symonds would bring to the IPL.

Plus, everyone had only heard of how good David Hussey and Shaun Marsh were. Now everyone has seen them and boy can they bat!

Maybe David Barry can give a more statistical opinion on how reliant the IPL is on Aussies, however, IMO, it is very much the Indian Premier League but the Aussies are calling the shots.

• The team most reliant on Aussies is at the top of the points table.
  
• The team least reliant on Aussies is at the bottom of the table.
  
• 3 of the top 4 teams have a 50% or more reliance on the Aussies.

Food for thought that is.

Decide for yourself whether it is the Indian or the Antipodean Premier League.

A Potential Cracker!

Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.

The only 2 teams with comic book inspired names.

The only 2 teams with 8 points from 8 matches.

The only 2 teams that haven't played each other yet.

Only 0.045 separates them (Net Run Rate).

2 of the 3 teams fighting for the 4th Semi-Final berth.

All that will change today.

After 25 days and 34 matches of the Indian Premier League, the Knight Riders and the Daredevils come face to face TODAY!

How apt is it that they meet when there is little separating the two and the winner will go ahead in the race for the semi finals.

Perfect setting for a potentially cracking match.

Whats more, its at the Eden Gardens where you can expect over a 100,000 capacity crowd.

Its Saurav Ganguly's home crowd and he's up against a man who has always supported him - Virender Sehwag. Both have played for India, both have opened together, today they will be captaining 2 opposing teams.

If the Daredevil's ambassador Akshay Kumar turns up, it will be 2 of Bollywood's biggest superstars up against each other: Shahrukh Khan vs Akshay Kumar.

Ishant Sharma is from Delhi. He plays under Sehwag for Delhi. Today he turns out for Kolkata and will bowl at his Delhi team mate and openers - Sehwag and Gambhir. Some match up this is.

David Hussey has been in prime form and with every game he is showing the world why this man sang so many praises about him. Watch out for another cracking innings.

Shoaib Akhtar is expected to make his IPL debut today and if that happens and the Daredevils play Mohammad Asif, its going to be Pakistan's new ball attack on opposing ends. The organizers will do well by keeping bats away from Shoaib's sight.

If Ganguly continues his form of the past few days, the Daredevils will find it difficult to stop the Riders. But the Riders have only beaten RCB and DC, twice each. Those 2 are the bottom 2 teams on the table.

Delhi have lost their last 2. But they are one of the strongest sides in the IPL.

Whose going to take the lead in the points table?

If Shoaib Akhtar plays, I say go KKR!!!

A potential cracker tonight. 230pm GMT!

The Ul Haq Jinx

The Inzamam Ul Haq Jinx

Against: All international cricket teams.
Where: All over the world.
When: 1991-2007.
Dismissal: Numerous run outs.

Against: England.
Where: England.
When: 2001? (0r was it 1996?)
Dismissal: Andy Caddick bowls a bouncer. Inzamam ducks. Andy Caddick bowls a yorker next ball. Inzamam ducks again and gets bowled.

Against: South Africa.
Where: Sharjah? Kenya? Morocco?
When: Early 2000s.
Dismissal: Nicky Boje bowls a short one. Inzamam pulls over midwicket. Ball sails over the ropes. Inzamam's back foot hits the stumps. Bail dislodges. Given out "Hit Wicket".

Against: England.
Where: Pakistan.
When: 2005.
Dismissal: Inzamam plays the ball back to Harmison. Harmison throws the ball back at the stumps. Inzamam moves away to avoid getting hit. The ball hits the stumps. Inzamam is out of his crease. Given "Run Out".

Against: India.
Where: Pakistan.
When: 2006.
Dismissal: Inzamam at the striker's end. The fielder at mid off, I think Zaheer Khan, has the ball in his hand. Zaheer throws the ball towards the striker's end. Inzamam casually defends the ball with his bat. Fielders appeal. Inzamam given out "Obstructing the Field".

Against: England.
Where: England.
When: 2006.
Dismissal: Monty Panesar bowls. Inzamam plays a strange looking shot and loses his balance. Overbalances and falls over the stumps. Out "Hit Wicket".

Inzamam Ul Haq retired in 2007 and his replacement in the Test and ODI team was a man with the same name, Misbah Ul Haq.

The Misbah Ul Haq Jinx

Against: India.
Where: South Africa.
When: 2007.
Dismissal: Joginder Sharma bowls a full one outside off. Misbah hits it over long off for six. Sharma repeats the same half volley outside off. Misbah moves toward off stump. Lobs it over to short fine leg and is out caught by Sreesanth.

Against: South Africa
Where: Pakistan
When: 2007
Dismissal: Don't remember the bowler. Misbah moves way outside offstump to play a stroke. Ball crashes into leg. Misbah was probably standing on the 6th sump outside off.

Against: India.
Where: India.
When: 2007.
Dismissal: Misbah pushed the ball to the covers. Runs for a single. Makes his ground at the non-striker's end. Jumps in the air to avoid a throw from Yuvraj Singh I think, or maybe Dinesh Karthik. Ball hits the stumps. Replays show Misbah's feet and bat in the air. Out "Run Out".

Against: Kings XI Punjab
Where: India.
When: Today.
Dismissal: Misbah hits Sreesanth for 2 consecutive 4s. Next over he hits him for a 6 and a 4. Next ball he moves back and across, hits ball to the covers and takes a single. Replays show backfoot hitting stumps and dislodging bail. Out "Hit Wicket".

In the span of 8 months, Misbah has managed to do what Inzamam managed over 16 years.

Surely Misbah is making up for lost time.

The Indian Bench Warmers XI

Before the Indian Premier League got underway everyone knew that India would benefit the most out of it.

Not only in terms of the dollars earned by the BCCI but also in terms of the domestic cricketers playing along side international stars and competing with and against them.

A number of Indian cricketers who have not played any international cricket or even those who have been in and out of the international team have impressed in the IPL.

Soulberry has talked about a few of these players, while Trideep has also mentioned a few that have impressed him.

I thought about some of these young stars who have so far not tasted international cricket and realised that today India can actually field an international quality 2nd XI.

Till last year, Australia was the only team that could boast of fielding a 2nd XI cricket side that could give the international sides tough competition.

Today India can boast of the same.

Here is India's Bench Warmers XI.

The Openers:

1. Yusuf Pathan - 9 matches, 239 runs @ 26.55 & SR of 169.50, 3 50s.
2. Shikhar Dhawan - 8 matches, 209 runs @ 41.80 & SR of 120.11, 3 50s.

While Pathan has played a few T20Is, he is yet to be considered as a regular T20 player or as a squad member for the ODI side.

Following his stint in the IPL and the several match winnings knocks he has played for the Royals, the selectors are bound to take notice.

He bowls handy off spin too and can boast of foxing Adam Gilchrist!

Dhawan has been a regular of the India A side but hasn't made it to the next level yet.

Even though he has batted at 3 or 4 for the Daredevils, I have seen him open with Uthappa for the A side in the past and he's done quite well.

In the on going IPL he has supported Sehwag and Gambhir with aplomb and his stroke play has played an integral part in a number of the Daredevils' victories.

The Middle Order:

3. Swapnil Asnodkar - 3 matches, 131 runs @ 43.66 & SR of 131.00, 1 50.
4. Subrimaniam Badrinath - 9 matches, 131 runs @ 43.66 & SR of 145.55, 1 50.
5. Manoj Tiwary - 5 matches, 55 runs @ 55.00 & SR of 122.22.

Asnodkar has played only 3 matches for the Royals and has impressed in each one of his outings.

I'm surprised that he hasn't been given more chances. This short man can really smack the ball.

Badrinath has played in all of the Super Kings' matches but he hasn't had a fair chance to bat in any of his 7 innings.

He has come down at number 7-8, except for the last match where Dhoni asked him to bat at 4.

Given the opportunity, he played a splendid knock of 64 and helped CSK chase down a big total.

Tiwary was part of the ODI squad for the CB series earlier this year and even played 1 ODI.

With the Daredevils' top order firing on all cylinders, he hasn't had much of an opportunity to bat in the IPL. A terrific fielder and a good batsman as he showed in his 39 in the only decent innings he got.

I thought of Suresh Raina but he has failed to impress me. He's played a lot of cameos of 20s and 30s but has crossed the 50 mark only once in 8 IPL innings.

He should have shouldered the responsibility after Hayden and Hussey left, but he hasn't grabbed the opportunity given to him, much like he didn't when he broke into the ODI side few years ago.

The Allrounders:

6. Laxmi Ratan Shukla - 8 matches, 120 runs @ 30.00 & SR of 141.17. 3 wickets @ 29.33.
7. Ravindra Jadeja - 9 matches, 105 runs @ 21.00 & SR of 136.36.

Shukla has been a handy batsman for the Knight Riders late in the innings and has provided the impetus in the end on more than one occasion.

He has been more than handy with the ball and has looked an accomplised all round cricketer amongst the international stars.

Jadeja has already played a stunning match winning knock in one of the matches for the Royals.

Warne rates him as a future superstar and he impresses me more with every game. A livewire in the field, a hard hitting late order batsman, and a great team man.

Warne hasn't used his left arm spin during the IPL but I've seen him use that in the last 2 U19 World Cups and he's been on top of a number of batsmen.

The Wicket Keeper

8. Wriddhaman Saha - 7 matches, 114 runs @ 38.00 & SR of 148.05, 1 50.

Saha has been brilliant with the bat for the Riders.

His strokeplay is outstanding and he matched David Hussey stroke for stroke during their chase in vain against Punjab the other night. He played an amazing knock of 59 in that game and has shown on more than one occasion that he can be trusted in front of the stumps as much as he can be behind them.

The Bowlers

9. Manpreet Gony - 9 matches, 11 wickets @ 26.09, Econ 8.44, SR 18.5.
10. Dhawal Kulkarni - 7 matches, 8 wickets @ 17.87, Econ 7.33, SR 14.6.
11. Ashok Dinda - 8 matches, 8 wickets @ 21.37, Econ 6.33, SR 20.2.

Each one of these players have opened the bowling for CSK, MI, and KKR respectively and more often than not, have provided their team with the initial breakthrough.

Gony is the fastest of the lot and a potent attacking weapon. He is no mug with the bat either as he has proved with those huge 6s in the last 2 games.

Kulkarni has done for Mumbai what Dinda has done for the Riders. They have been miserly as compared with the other bowlers around, have frustrated the batsmen, and also picked up wickets with the new ball.

And both of them have a deadly slower one.

Reserves: Abhishek Nayar, Vijay Kumar YoMahesh, Siddharth Trivedi, Pragyan Ojha.

I doubt that this team can compete as a test side, but I wasn't selecting a test XI. I was selecting an ODI team / 20-20 team. As one of those, I believe it can compete against the best of them.

Plus, I do not agree with Rahul Dravid who says that the young Indian players may not be able to take this confidence to the next level.

Dravid should have learnt by now that pure test players cannot play the 20-20 game the way it should be played.

All the batsmen I have listed above have shown that wild slogs and edges is not the only way to score runs in 20-20 cricket. They have impressed with their stroke play along the ground, as well as over the top when the field has been in.

Plus the bowlers who can keep batsmen quiet and pick up top order wickets in 20-20 cricket can do so in ODIs as well.

The Indian Bench Warmers XI: Dhawan, Pathan, Asnodkar, Badrinath, Tiwary, Shukla, Jadeja, Saha, Gony, Kulkarni, Dinda.

Sri Lanka Replaces Pakistan

That's exactly what happened today at the Indian Premier League.

3 of the 4 franchises left their Pakistani recruits out on the bench today and replaced them with Sri Lankans.

Deccan Chargers dropped Shahid Afridi and replaced him with Chaminda Vaas.

Delhi Daredevils dropped Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif and replaced them with Tilekaratne Dilshan and Farveez Maharoof.

Rajhastan Royals dropped Sohail Tanvir and gave a game to Dmitri Mascarenhas. Alright, he's not Sri Lankan but of Sri Lankan origin.

I wonder if Arjuna Ranatunga was in India today.

Lets take a look at what led to the dropping of these Pakistanis.

Shahid Afridi
Despite doing reasonably well with the ball, Afridi was dropped by the Chargers for his poor performance with the bat.

47 runs in 6 innings at an average of 9.4 is hardly ideal.

Afridi has been valuable with the ball though. 7 wickets in 7 games, economy rate of 7.50 and a strike rate of 18.8.

On top he is the highest wicket taker in international 20-20 cricket.

Sunil Gavaskar the other day mentioned that Afridi is primarily chosen as a batsman and for his big hitting, while the bowling and fielding comes as a bonus.

I beg to differ.

When will teams and those running them realise that Afridi is not a batsman.

He should be treated as a bowler. Pakistan have finally realised that and bat him at 7-8 or at any time during the final 5 overs. The Chargers need to do the same.

Vaas, the man who replaced him went for 12 an over and picked up 1 wicket. Afridi would have been a better bet. At a time when teams are looking to field spinners, the Chargers are replacing theirs.

Sohail Tanvir
Tanvir hasn't done anything wrong and has been a potent new ball weapon for the Royals.

Ian Bishop termed the move as a going away present for Mascarenhas, who flies back to join Hampshire after his 5-match IPL contract expired with today's game.

The only England representative in the IPL deserved to play at least 1 game, otherwise Mascarenhas would have made $100,000 for warming the bench.

$100,000 for one 20-20 match - not a bad deal!

Shoaib Malik & Mohammad Asif
Before anyone mentions that it was his final over against the Super Kings that led to Malik's ouster, I'd like to remind everyone that Sehwag had the option of bowling himself but he shied away and handed the ball to Malik.

Malik has been a disappointment with the bat. Unlike Afridi, Malik is a batsman and in 6 IPL innings he has managed only 51 runs at 12.75 with a highest of 24.

To be fair he hasn't had much of a chance to bat while the Daredevils' top order has made merry. Malik got one decent opportunity to bat for longer than usual and he managed a run a ball 24.

Asif has picked up 7 wickets in 6 matches but he has been way too expensive. His wickets have come at 30 apiece and he has given away almost 9 runs an over.

The Lankan replacements for Delhi proved to be a good move as their 54 run 7th wicket partnership off a mere 23 deliveries proved to be the difference between a disastrous and a competitive Delhi total.

Sohail Tanvir will come back in the next game. Afridi should come back but I don't know if the Chargers feel the same way. But whether the Pakistan skipper and strike bowler get another match or not in the IPL remains to be seen.

The IPL just got more Exciting!

Three matches of the 2nd half of the Indian Premier League were played out over the weekend and the results were exactly the same as the 1st half.

Home or away made no difference to the Knight Riders, Royals, and the Super Kings as all three repeated their 1st half performances against the Royal Challengers, Chargers, and the Kings XI respectively.

There were a lot of moments in these games that caught my interest. Ganguly bowling Dravid while he was trying a Misbah, Boucher trying his level best to get the runs, White coming back to form only to be run out by fellow Aussie and Victorian Brad Hodge, Warne bowling to Gilchrist with the former in full flow, Yusuf Pathan smashing the bowling, Dhoni in full flow and then pegged back by Irfan Pathan, Shaun Marsh's continued run of form, Balaji's hatrick, and many others.

But none beat watching Shane Warne at the toss with Adam Gilchrist.

If this trend continues and all the results of H1 are the same during H2 then we all know who the semi finalists are. But we don't want that do we?

Its more or less over for the Chargers and the Royal Challengers. Their IPL campaigns are biting the dust.

Only the Mumbai Indians and the Riders stand a chance of sneaking through to the semis but at whose expense?

The Daredevils look the most vulnerable of the top 4, and a loss today to the Roaring Royals from Rajhastan will give the Indians and the Riders a sniff.

If the Riders beat the Chargers today and the Daredevils lose, positions 4 and 5 will be swapped.

A lots at stake today in both the IPL matches.

Someone somewhere, or rather a lot of people everywhere, keep mentioning that interest in the IPL is dwindling, TV ratings are going down, grounds are not as full as they initially were, viewers are getting bored, and so on.

Not true at all.

The IPL just got more exciting!

6 teams are in the race for the last 4. Anything could happen.

The grounds have remained full, TV ratings have remained high, those who were interested 3 weeks ago are interested today as well, the cricket has been great, matches have been close, crowds and viewers have been entertained, and the IPL has marched on in full flow.

And all this for a cricket tournament in India without Sachin Tendulkar playing a single game.

Off-the-field controversies such as cricketers slapping other cricketers, captains accusing each other for not playing within the spirit of the game, and the sacking of CEOs by franchises has given the IPL the right amount of off-the-field drama associated with cricket tours and tournaments.

And all this without a mention of Shoaib Akhtar.

Sachin is about to make his IPL debut and Akhtar has just arrived - Its bound to get more Exciting!

Plus if Shoaib Akhtar plays today, he ill be up against friend turned foe, Shahid Afridi. That will be some match up following the recent tumultous past between the 2 Pakistans. You surely will not see a more fired up Shoaib apart from the one bowling to Afridi.

Today's other match is a battle between the 2 Aussie legends who despite being on the wrong side of 35 have shown that they are still forces to be reckoned with. Warne goes up against McGrath.

Two cracking matches, 4th place on the line.

The IPL just got more Exciting!

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

Eyes Wright Shut!

Recently Ottayan and Som took a few digs at Luke Wright, Sajid Mahmood, and Ravi Bopara, the 3 English cricketers who within 24 hours talked about declining offers made to them from the IPL.

There were some commenters who jumped to the defence of these cricketers, and initially it may have seemed that the Indian bloggers were unfairly targeting the English.

But, Patrick Kidd of the Times has also come out with a little dig on the 3. It doesn't seem that bad when it comes from one of England's own now, does it?

In defence of the cricketers, I'd like to say job well done boys!

Andrew Flintoff is injured again and there's a slight worry about Collingwood - thus, a possible place in the squad for the 1st test against the Kiwis is up for grabs.

Sajid Mahmood doesn't have a realistic chance but Bopara or Wright could get the call. They could even make the cut ahead of someone like Owais Shah or Robert Key owing to their ability to bowl a few overs. More than a few actually.

Luke Wright's statement of declining the IPL offer and a century in a tour game against the Kiwis has been timed to perfection.

I like Luke Wright. One of the few English cricketers I like. In fact I like all unorthodox English cricketers who are not afraid to play with a bat that doesn't come down straight all the time.

I've liked Luke Wright since his debut ODI innings against the Indians. What a mauling that was.

And I like him even more now after his bold statement following the 120 against the Kiwis:

"Luckily it was in my arc, so I closed my eyes and had a little swing at it and it went over the rope. It was my day."

A guy who can hit a 6 and reach his 100 with his eyes closed must be special.

Thank You Cricket Australia

I am quite amused by this whole merry go round created by the Australians.

Ricky Ponting left the Kolkata Knight Riders to captain his country.

KKR roped in Brad Hodge from Lancashire for 5 weeks to replace Ponting.

Lancashire called up Mohammad Yousuf for 5 weeks to fill in for Hodge.

Micheal Clarke got Bingled and decided not to tour the Windies.

Cricket Australia announced Hodge as his replacement.

Lancashire want to thank CA for taking Hodge away for longer than the 5 weeks as Yousuf is a much better batsman and will probably score more than Hodge would have.

KKR also want to thank CA who called in both Ponting ad Hodge for national duty as neither scored a run during the IPL.

PCB also want to thank CA as this merry go round has provided opportunities for their cricketers - Yousuf for Hodge at Lancashire and Salman Butt for Hodge at KKR.

Brad Hodge will also be thanking CA for the call up.

Hodge first replaced the Australian captain and now he replaces the Australian Vice Captain. For a small man, those are some big shoes to fill.

Finally Well Pitched would like to thank CA for giving us something to write about.

Misbah Sacks Charu Sharma

I read a report this morning that mentioned that Charu Sharma, now the former CEO of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, was sacked because he benched Misbah for 2 games.

This sacking has been the most bemusing incident in the on-going Indian Premier League.

It beats the Bhajji-Sreesanth slap-gate saga, as well as the Warne-Ganguly spirit-gate episode.

RCB's offices claimed that Charu stepped down due to personal reasons, while a source close to Charu denied that and said he had been fired. Charu spoke a day later and said he was "summarily dismissed".

No one spoke of the reasons though.

This morning, however, the above report disclosed that the reason was Misbah.

I find this totally absurd.

Misbah didn't play 2 matches and RCB lost both. Then Misbah was included in the XI as soon as Ross Taylor left for Kiwi duty and RCB won that game, but Misbah failed. Misbah played the next game as well, failed again, and RCB lost.

It was THEN that Charu got sacked. After Misbah had played 2 matches.

And guess what happened in the match RCB played after Charu's sacking. Misbah did not play and RCB lost.

So who kept Misbah out last night? Will that person also be sacked?

And what exactly is the job description of the CEO of a cricket team?

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 at