Battle of the Beleagured Captains

One of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, captains of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers respectively, will come out on top tomorrow.

Old friends and team mates, both of them have looked out of place in 20-20 cricket.

Apart from their last innings in the Indian Premier League, they have seemed all at sea at the crease failing to adjust their games to this form of cricket and on top, their captaincy has also been anything but inspiring.

They come head to head tomorrow.

Will they be able to produce a 20-20 innings? Which one will lift their team out of the losing rut they are in? Which one of them will redeem themself tomorrow?

Battle of the Bollywood

Kolkata Knight Riders won their first 2 matches of the Indian Premier League. Kings XI Punjab lost their first 2.

Then KKR lost their next 3 matches on the trot. And KXIP won their next 3.

Shahrukh Khan is obviously disappointed at the losses but I'm sure he's hurting a lot at the fact that Preity Zinta's team has gone ahead of his in the points table. No one likes losing you see, and moreso no man likes losing to a woman. Specially not a Bollywood one.

It gets better tomorrow as SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders take on Preity's Kings XI Punjab.

Will SRK have the last laugh as he always does? Or will Zinta continue smiling and hugging her players?

Battle of the Paki Powers

As Q has pointed out there is a lot to look forward to in the current CB Series. For me personally, I want to see Gilchrist go out in style - I am rooting for him to score many runs and take a few memorable catches. In my opinion the greatest wicketkeeper/batsman the game has ever seen deserves nothing less.

Gilchrist will be retiring with the record for most dismissals in Test cricket by a wicketkeeper. He may not be the most athletic or the best wicketkeeper ever, but he is definitely right up there with the best of the best. Without question he is one of the most consistent and reliable that the game has ever seen.

Gilchrist also holds the record for the highest number of sixes in Test cricket. The attacking batsman hit his 100th test six versus Sri Lanka in November 2007 cementing his name as the first batsman to hit a hundred sixes in Test cricket. He will definitely be remembered as one the most aggressive batsman to play the game - a clean striker of the cricket ball. In ODIs Gilchrist was always one of the most feared opening batsman for many bowlers and he definitely delighted crowds all over the world with his squash buckling style of play. His last World Cup innings was a memorable 149 from just 104 deliveries versus Sri Lanka in the 2007 Final.

The tributes for Gilchrist flowed from all over the cricket world. Former teammate Slater said, ""He was a superstar who changed the face of cricket. He has set a standard for keeper/batsmen that I don't think will ever be matched." Fellow wicketkeeper Boucher said, "He revolutionized the game in terms of being a wicketkeeper-batsman. Gilly is streets ahead of the rest in that regard. He is the guy who set the tone for everyone else in the game, and he has changed it forever."

Gilchrist has left his mark on the game forever and will always be remembered as one of the greatest to over play the game. I just am in a greedy mood and want just a couple more Gilchrist memories - is that too much to ask for? Perhaps, but then again I have full faith that Gilchrist will deliver!