Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I Feel for the Champs!

What a way for the defending champions to go crashing out of the tournament.

They lost to the worst team in the IPL this season.

That too for the first time.

Rajasthan Royals had beaten Kolkata Knight Riders in all the 3 games the teams had played so far - a 45 run victory, a 6 wicket win, and a Super Over demolition.

What a time to lose your first match to someone.

When the bloody semi finals are on the line.

They didn't go down without a fight though, but at the end it just wasn't enough.

Now only 3 teams are left in the race to the semi finals - Kings XI, Deccan, and Bangalore.

Its quite straight forward from here for these 3.

But the champs are out. Damn it!

Make your pitch on this post...



Labels: , , , , , , , ,


32 Pitched:

  1. straight point said...
     

    well played rr...but they were lucky to come thus far in this ipl...

  2. Rayden said...
     

    RR batting has been pathetic all IPL. But their fighting spirit has been amazing. They actually made a match out of it even after scoring only 101. Will miss them now.

  3. Homer said...
     

    Q,

    KKR beat the two finalists from last year in back to back games.

    Who would have thunk?

    Cheers,

  4. raj said...
     

    Homer, exactly. And tomorrow's BRC vs HDC. Last year, that would have been the wooden spoon match - this year it is a virtual QF :-)

  5. Q said...
     

    SP: I dont think it was luck.. it was fight.. they had a lot of it.. their batting let them down. Watson was missing and Smith was woefully out of form barring a few innings. And YP did not fire at all.

    Their bowling and fielding though was top stuff.

  6. Q said...
     

    Rayden: I agree.. the batting. Sigh. Spirit, fight, and all.. they had a lot of that and it kept them going.

  7. Q said...
     

    Homer: quite a way to end their tournament..

    Truly, who would have thunk!

  8. Q said...
     

    Raj: I hope to God that the DC win that one!

  9. life_in_binary said...
     

    Q,

    DC doesnt have to necessarily beat RC to qualify! both teams will qualfy for the SF's if Punjab lose against CSK! although at the moment Punjab have the upper hand against the CSK!

    so far been a bad wednesday for me, of the two teams i was supporting, one is out of the tournament and the other is on the backfoot being pushed out of the door!

  10. Q said...
     

    LIB: thats true.. but looks like Priety's boys r on their way to the semis.. so DC has to win..

    I still cant believe RR is out..

  11. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Q

    You ain't the only one struggling to come to terms with RR being eliminated.

    A second Cinderalla story it wasn't to be.

    I almost expected them to get over the line, having KKR 6 down with about 40 on board. Who thought Shukla and Bombay Duck Agarkar would see KKR through.

    I sincerly hope and wish atlesat KXIP get's knocked out. NO I can't stand that team

  12. Q said...
     

    TG: I hear u man, I hear u! If u take a look at my Q Moments over at BCC!, it shows how I was trying to get RR over the line.. and I was quite sure they wud get there..

    The IPL is weaker without Warnie..

    Im hoping for a KXIP exit as well, but something tells me this wont be a Wednesday for us.

  13. life_in_binary said...
     

    game on Q! :)

  14. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Q

    Even though I'm from Chennai and by that CSK is my team, in all honesty IPL for me = Shane Keith Warne.

    Now that he and his RR are out, IPL is flat for me.

    If CSK drops out in the semis - I wouldn't even bother to watch the final. Would have nothing to look forward to.

  15. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Atleast the Jhappi Pappi team with Grumpy Prince is getting knocked out.

    Whistle Podu :)

  16. Chullanz said...
     

    Q u won. fakeipl player proved he is a coward.

  17. Q said...
     

    LIB: DC's in it irrespective of what happens tomorrow!

  18. Q said...
     

    TG: I'll still watch it but it aint the same without Warnie.. as long as its not CSK vs RCB, I'll be interested cos those 2 are very boring teams.. One of DDD or DC should be in the final.. maybe both!

  19. Q said...
     

    Chullanz: told u so! :-)

  20. Q said...
     

    TG: thank heavens for that.. All the bollywood celebs gone..

  21. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Q

    I would have tolerated Shetty purely for SKW :) Ah well, hopefully he'll be back next year. But I'll doubt it.

    If things go to plan it should be DD* RCB and CSK * DC in semis. From those I would think DD and CSK would get through.

    Of course then I want the ' Whistle Podus' to win it :)

    btw : interesting that M Hussey kept his word and came to S Af for the Semis. Would he play - hope he does!. His only swap is with Oram. One view is that Oram gives MSD a bowling option, which when I think more is what Hussey can also offer.

    If I were MSD I would sorely tempted to have Hussey in for the semis !

  22. Q said...
     

    TG: True that.. I dont really mind Shilpa Shetty at all.. she's fine in more than one way ;-)..

    Why do u doubt Shane Warne won't be back? I think he will be. Surely. This is the only cricket he plays all year, so he'll be willing to. Plus he's on a 3 year contract, hence..

    As for the finals.. i'd rather watch a DDD vs DC final.. that'll be one cracker of a game.

    Did Hussey really promise? when was this?

  23. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Q

    Even though IPL's are three year contracts - are they binding i.e. that if you sign you MUST play. I'm wondering how they plan to enforce this for retired players.

    Why I doubt if Warne will be back is because I think his body would only get worse :) What with his poker playing days - where is the time for exercise and keeping fit !

    Plus even Warne can't keep spinning them if he only plays for 5 weeks tops each year. Hence my doubt.. I would happily see him back next year.

    As to Hussey - yeah I remember watching an interview with him. Was during the end of the SAF- AUS series in S Af. He said he's pulling out of the IPL because he needed the break, but if CSK reaches the semis he will come back. He's kept his promise and if I were MSD would play him.

  24. Q said...
     

    TG: the 3 year contracts are binding, but im not sure if u have to play. For example McGrath and Pollock are with DDD and MI, but are working as bowling coaches, officially or otherwise.

    But I think Warne will play next year. He has talked a lot abt how much he enjoys the IPL.. and ive seen him fatter than this and bowling and spinning it like a machine.

    Lets wait and see.

    If Hussey's here then im sure he's here to play.

    Oram hasnt done much with the ball, so looks like Hussey will be in.

  25. raj said...
     

    Having had a night to sleep over the royals' loss, I wonder if Warne should cop some of the blame. After all, we did credit him with magic last year, so obviously, it cant be that when the team wins, all credit to captain, and when it loses, the captain is not to be blamed? More or less the same team, isnt it?

    I think if Sachin or Saurav had been in Warne's place, atleast they would have been heavily criticised for
    * Constantly tinkering with the batting order, and weakening an already weak batting line up
    * Constantly demoting the one dependable batsman vide Yusuf Pathan
    * Promoting Johan Botha in the order when you have Jadeja and Pathan
    * Over tinkering tactics, changing bowlers, batsmen in team selection, then tinkering bowling order, batting order
    * Illogical dropping, demotion, promotion and selection of Ojha, Asnodkar etc - you'd find Ojha does well in the top, and needlessly demoted to #7 in next match and so on...

    Infact, Sachin copped a lot of criticism this year for exactly similar decisions. So, what is it that prevents sites like cricinfo, which started "Endulkar" headlines, from analysing Warne in a similar manner?
    Homer, where art thou?

  26. Q said...
     

    Raj: It was more or less the same team but after looking at their performance this year, its apparent that they missed Watson and Tanvir quite a bit. Those 2 would have made quite a difference.. the other foreigners used this year - Quiney, Carseldine, Henderson hardly made an impression.. Botha came too late.

    As for all the points u mention regarding Warne's captaincy - all valid in my view, however u must remember that he did the same last year and that won them the championship..

    Even last year the team was chopped and changed, the batting order always changed with every match.. and it worked for the players.. this year it didn't..

    As for CI does not criticize it? Well they're dumb..

  27. raj said...
     

    Q, I dont have a strong opinion on captaincy in T20 - lot of luck factor is involved - and IMO, Warne's results last year and this year prove it. He did the same things - last year it worked, this year it didnt, so luck rather than great captaincy determines results is what I say.
    But the thing is if you take media, they blindly praised Warne for captaincy last year based on the results. And they sure would have ripped apart Sachin if he was in Warne's position now in RR. Infact, he has already been ripped as Endulkar by cricinfo. But nobody still talks about Warne's captaincy this year - when by their logic, they should.
    So, why preferential treatment to Warne is the question I am asking.
    My position is consistent - Sachin is not a bad captain because of the results of MI;Warne is not a bad captain because of this year's results in RR. Both of them try out things, and as sachin himself observed "sometimes it works;sometimes it doesnt". Yet, Sachin cops so much flak for captaincy while Warne doesnt. So, the thing is while I'm consistent those who criticised Sachin but arent criticisng Warne are inconsistent and hypocritical.

  28. Q said...
     

    Raj: i agree on the luck factor in the IPL.. holds true mostly and Warne is probably a prime example of that.

    Though I do think that it was not his strategy that did not work. The players did not do as well as last year. Warne's strategy was fine.

    I also agree with the hypocrisy u talk abt.. No one blinks before taking their flak out on Sachin.. Maybe that has something to do with his previous captaincy stints for India.. or maybe because people like to criticize him.

  29. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Raj

    Agree with some of the points you raised on the Warne vs Tendulkar captaincy issues.

    But the thing is - for Warne captaincy seems to come naturally and he doesn't EVER give of the notion that it's a burden on him.

    Plus you talk of his chopping and changing. One needs to view that as trying to make things happen, rather wait for it to happen. Sure on some days this approach would bite back, but it beats just going through the motions as Tendulkar inevitably does..

    With Tendulkar - as a batsmen, you know Malinga will bowl one over first up and then come back towards the later stages. You know when Harbhajan could bowl.. I'm sorry but in a game like T20 , you need to be proactive and imaginative.

    Like it or not, Warne doesn't cope as much flak as Tendulkar because he is ALWAYS SEEN to be trying to make things happen.

    If it was MI defending the 102 against KKR yesterday , I could bet my house that it would have been a easy win for KKR because Sachin would have already given up in his head !

    Hard to digest but that's the truth.

    What you as a captain portray defines how the team reacts. Easy to see for whom the team was READY to make the extra step !

  30. Q said...
     

    TG: I see what your saying, but the thing is that when Sachin has tried to be proactive or imaginative: not opening, sending jaya down, opening with JP, sending Bhajji one down, etc.. it has not worked.

    Hard luck I say.

    You r right in saying that Warne makes things happen and that captaincy comes naturally to him, but the problem is that when Sachin even tried to make things happen, they don't.

  31. raj said...
     

    TG, ridiculous. Did you even seee Sachin nearly defending 120- score in this very IPL? He does exactly similar things as Warne - and he was let down by his Nayars, Takawales, Harbhajans and Jayasuryas. Yet, you say Warne is SEEN to be proactive. That is clearly the problem. You have defined Warne as proactive and see him in that light while you have defined Tendulkar as inert and see him like that. They do exactly similar things - and no matter what, the table doesnt lie. Warne is sixth, Sachin is Seventh. Warne was lucky to escape a match against MI when MI were in momentum. Else, they could have had their positions reversed.

    T20 is all about luck - next year, CSK might end up bottom -but that wouldnt mean Dhoni is a bad captain. But unfortunately, we usee results to propogate myths that we believe in - warne has magic, tendulkar is bad captain, Saurav is selfish, Dravid is poor selector etc(See IPL 2 - it is Dravid selections that have propelled RCB to Semis). My position as I said is consistent - I dont havee one set of rules for Sachin and another for Warne.

  32. raj said...
     

    "Easy to see for whom the team was READY to make the extra step !
    "
    Precisely. This year, the team didnt take that extra step for Warne, hence RR didnt make the Semis. Maybe they saw Kaif's treatment and they lost confidence in their captain that he will stand by them through thick and thin. See, it is easy to build a case against anyone based on results? It takes discipline and a sense of fairness to judge everyone under equal parameters.

Post a Comment