29 of the 56 group matches have been played.

We're into the 2nd half of the tournament.

Yet no one can place a safe bet on who the semi-finalists will be.

It is so damn close that a mere 2 points separate the team at the top of the table (Chennai Super Kings) and the team that is sitting at number 7 (Rajasthan Royals).

Only 2!

So who are going to be the final 4?

Deccan Chargers looked like they will breeze into the semis with 4 wins on the trot; but since then they have lost 3 consecutive matches and suddenly find themselves placed 4th.

Chennai Super Kings had an awful start to their campaign winning 1 of their first 5 matches with 1 washed out; but now all of a sudden they are on a 3 match winning spree and find themselves at the top of the table!

Royal Challengers Bangalore kicked off their IPL just where they left their 2008 campaign by losing everything. Within a week, they had played 4 and lost 4. Then some magic kicked in and now they are on a 4 match winning streak.

Delhi Daredevils began as the favorites and played like ones too, till they came across the defending champions and a rampaging CSK.

The defending champs, Rajasthan Royals have had a mixed campaign. Lose one, win one, lose one, win one, lose one, win one. Atleast that has kept them in the chase.

The Mumbai Indians campaign has just been like the Royals; the only difference being that they win one before they lose the next.

Its only apt then that the Mumbai vs Rajasthan match was washed out and both the teams shared a point each.

Kings XI Punjab has also had a mixed bag starting by losing 2, then winning their next 3 before losing another and winning another.

Boy has it been a roller coaster ride.

Any bets on the semis then?

The only bet I can place is that the Kolkata Knight Riders will not be anywhere near the semis.

That's the best part about the IPL - it keeps the teams in the hunt till the very end.

Was the same last year.

1) IPL's Season 1 also kicked off on 18th April.

2) Rajasthan Royals were thrashed in their first game of IPL's Season 1. They were also thrashed in their first game of IPL's Season 2.

3) Within 8 days of IPL's Season 2, Deccan Chargers have managed to win more matches than they did in 41 days of IPL's Season 1 !!!

4) The Man of Tournament, Best Batsman, and Best Bowler of IPL's Season 1 are all in Dubai. Well one just flew back to Australia, but they were all there.

IPL's second edition is two months away but with the auction taking place today the teams have started to shape up.

So what are the chances of the 8 franchises?

I plan to review all 8 in a series of posts starting with this one. No better way to start than with the team that will be defending the title.

We all made the same mistake last year when we proclaimed that the Rajasthan Royals were the weakest team in the IPL.

We all know how that turned out.

With Watson and Tanvir, two of the stars of their successful campaign last season, missing from action this time round, the word is that the Royals have been severely depleted.

Would you dare call them weakened?

Repeat the same mistake you made last season?

With Warne at the helm, no team can be discounted.

Their two picks in today's auction were Tyron Henderson and Shaun Tait.

Henderson who? Henderson is the leading wicket taker in all 20-20 cricket and he hits the ball a fair distance. He played an instrumental role in guiding Middlesex to the T20 title last summer.

An apt replacement for Watson then I would say. With Warne's magic touch, Henderson could very well be the player to watch out for this season.

Shaun Tait is ideal for 20-20 cricket. 4 over bursts of extremely fast bowling. With Warne guiding him, Tait can even eclipse what Tanvir did last season.

With Watson and Tanvir's absence easily covered, the Royals are hardly weaker than last time
round.

Instead I would say they may even be a stronger unit.

Their Indian players, though not the heavyweights of Indian cricket, are more than handy players.

Last season saw all of them up their game a notch. Thats what Warne does to you. Yusuf Pathan, R Jadeja, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Swapnil Asnodkar, and Siddarth Trivedi will be back this season.

Back better than they were last season.

Pathan has since become a regular feature in India's ODI team and his reputation has been significantly enhanced.

Jadeja had an outstanding Ranji season, which resulted in his promotion to India's ODI squad.

Remember Warne calls him the future superstar of Indian cricket.

Definitely a stronger unit in my view.

With Graeme Smith guiding the batting and Mascarenhas also available for the entire season, the team has shaped up well.

Before the auction Warne had roped in Justin Langer and Morne Morkel to his roster, both of whom could be trump players for the Royals.

Langer could fill in, in case Smith goes away and gets that surgery he's been talking about. While Morkel, along with Tait, provides with potent pace attack.

Teams will make a huge mistake if they under estimate the Royals.

The Core Team: Shane Warne, Graeme Smith, Justin Langer, Dmitri Mascarenhas, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Swapnil Asnodkar, R Jadeja, Siddarth Trivedi, Munaf Patel, Tyron Henderson, Shaun Tait, Niraj Patel, Mahesh Rawat, Morne Morkel, Shane Watson.

Prediction: Its going to be a tough task defending the championship as the other teams look much stronger than last season. But then strong players don't make a strong team as the Deccan Chargers taught us last season. A semi final berth atleast should be expected of the Rajasthan Royals unless something goes terribly wrong with Shane Warne's man management skills. As long as Shilpa Shetty is considered as the motivation and not the distraction, I see the Royals as one of the semi finalists. Surely.

She's a well known Bollywood actress.

While the England cricketers returned to India, the 20-20 Champions League organizers could not help but pospone the tournament to October of next year.

India's tour of Pakistan may or may not happen, but then any tour to Pakistan is tentative these days, hence the 20-20 Champions League stands to be the most affected tournament due to the recent Mumbai happenings.

Who though has been affected the most?

The teams definitely.

Victoria Bushrangers and Western Australia Warriors from Australia, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Superkings from India, Sialkot Stallions from Pakistan, Middlesex Crusaders from England, and Titans and Dolphins from South Africa - all of them face losses.

Each participating country will hold a domestic 20-20 tournament before October 2009, which means that the participants of te inaugral 20-20 Champions League will be very different from what the line up was for this December's tournament.

Fair?

Probably not.

The Stallions and the Bushrangers have won their respective domestic 20-20 tournaments thrice in as many years, and now they are left to do it again if they are to make it to the Champions League.

Surely the organizers need to come up with a solution to avoid this situation.

How about having last season's winners as well as this season's winners participate in the Champions League?

Noone can deny that the Rajasthan Royals deserve to take part in the Champions League after the IPL campaign they had last season.

What if Shane Warne's team don't reach the finals in the next edition of the IPL?

The way things stand as of now, it would mean they will not be playing in the Champions League.

Forget about the financial losses, lets think about fairness for once.

If the winners of the 2 seasons' tournaments are the same then the runners up can come into contention, if not then the 2 champions need to be allowed to play in my view.

That would also mean that the number of teams be increased to 10 from 8 to allow 2 teams each from England and Pakistan.

If there was enough time I would have proposed 4-way 20-20 competitions between the 4 domestic teams (winners and runners up of 2007-08 and 2008-09) to decide the 2 participants of the Champions League, but the lack of time in light of the international schedule will not allow that.

Hence the winners from both the tournaments.

Before you continue, I suggest you first read the crash course below.

Warriors Get a Name

The first sponsorship deal for a team for the Champions League was sealed recently when it was announced that the Western Australia team, the Warriors, would be sponsored by the Rambal family.

The Rambal family, a business family group in Western Australia, have been major sponsors of the WACA for over a year now and have bagged the naming-rights for the Warriors team.

As a result the Warriors side taking the field in the Champions League will be called the Rambal Warriors.

The Logo in the post below is now replaced with this one.

The Stallions lose Players

Despite winning the domestic 20-20 competition this season for the third time in a row, the Stallions have been massively weakened due to a number of their key players joining the 'rebel' ICL.

Imran Nazir, who captained the Stallions to their previous 2 titles, is their biggest loss, while Naved Ul Hasan, Hafiz Khalid, Shehzad Malik, and Mohammad Asif are other key players missing from their line up due to the ICL and other reasons.

Loyalty Program

Micheal Hussey, Albie Morkel, and Morne Morkel will have to undergo some sort of loyalty programming if they are not allowed to play for their preferred teams in the Champions League.

Hussey would rather play for the Warriors while the Morkel brothers would prefer to play for the Titans, however certain contractual obligations may force them to play for their IPL teams.

The respective coaches, Tom Moody and Richard Pybus were hopeful that the players would be allowed to play for their states.

Hussey's inclusion in the Warriors team would give them a batting order comprising of Marsh, Ronchi, Pomersbach, Hussey, North, and Voges - Thats some line up!

The Rangers or the Royalty?

Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals to a dream win in the inaugral IPL earlier this year. He will be captaining them in the Champions League as well.

Warne could come up against his former team, Victoria, whom he captained in the Australian domestic season years ago.

Victoria is Warne's home team and he has long been associated with them. How would he feel playing against them?

Would be a great watch!

Stay tuned for more Champions League updated leading up to the tournament.

When England and Australia introduced cricket to the world over a century ago, little did they know that one day their regional teams will be vying to play in a competition being held in India, which over a century ago was being ruled by the British.

Who would have believed back then that one day Middlesex will be taking on Victoria in Mumbai.

That is exactly what will be happening on the inaugral day of the Champions League.

The one cricket spectacle that can catch the imagination of billions around the world was launched in Delhi last week.

The first ever Champions League will take place between December 3rd and 10th in India.

Lalit Modi and company officially launched the competition this Thursday where the draws for the groups were held and various awards were given out to top 20-20 performers of the season.

Even though the teams are not actually cricket clubs, the involvement of regional / state teams from domestic competitions of test playing nations in a tournament, is the first baby step towards promoting club cricket around the world.

Football, arguably the most popular sport in the world, has relied on the 'club culture' for over a century and there's no reason why cricket cannot replicate the formula for taking the sport to a wider global audience.

The number of doors that this can open for cricket are unimaginable in my view.

Here's a look at what the Champions League will throw our way.

The Groups & The Teams

Group A:
Victoria Bushrangers
Middlesex Crusaders
Pretoria Titans
Chennai Super Kings

Group B:
Rajasthan Royals
Sialkot Stallions
Natal Dolphins
Western Warriors

Bushrangers, Crusaders, Titans, Super Kings, Royals, Stallions, Dolphins, Warriors - ever seen such a diverse mix of participants in any sort of competition?

Reminds me of the WWE!

You've got royalty, you've got men going for battle, you've got animals, you've got fish, and you've got gardeners!

And you've got them from Australia, South Africa, England, India, and Pakistan.

Lalit Modi has managed to bring them all together in India.

One can easily imagine a similar competition played out over a longer period, maybe a decade or two down the line involving teams from New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Brazil, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Netherlands, Ireland, and many others.

Globalization is an understatement.

The Matches

The opening match of the Champions League will be played in Mumbai between Victoria Bushrangers, the winners of the KFC 20-20 competition in Australia, taking on the Middlesex Crusaders, the winners of England's 20-20 competition.

The top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the semi finals. The final of the tournament will take place in Chennai a week after the opening match.

The Captains

Bushrangers and the Warriors, the Australian teams, are captained by Cameron White and Marcus North respectively.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, will be leading the Sialkot Stallions, while MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, will be leading the Chennai Super Kings.

Retired former Victorian, Shane Warne, will be leading the IPL champions Rajasthan Royals, and Middlesex will be captained by Shaun Udal.

The South African teams, Titans and Dolphins, will be led by Pierre Joubert and Ahmed Amla (Hashim's brother) respectively.

Where else will you find a french play cricket amongst the elite?

The Awards

Shaun Marsh, who topped the averaged in both the IPL (Kings XI) as well as the KFC 20-20 Cup (Bushrangers), won the best average for a batsman award.

Sohail Tanvir picked up the award for best bowling figures for his 6-14 for the Royals against the Super Kings, which are also the best bowling figures in all official 20-20 cricket, excluding the ICL.

Charles Langeveldt won the best strike rate for a bowler award for picking a wicket every 9 deliveries for the Cape Cobras, while Graeme Napier of Essex won the best stike rate for a batsman award with a SR of 195.2!

Brendon McCullum (Knight Riders) won the award for the highest score of 158 that he hit in the opening math if the IPL, and Yusuf Abdullah from the Natal Dolphins won the award for the best economy rate of 4.32.

A special award was given to Shoaib Malik for leading the Sialkot Stallions to 3 consecutive 20-20 titles while remaining unbeaten in 16 successive 20-20 matches.

Thats the longest winning streak in 20-20 cricket for any team. The Australia of 20-20 cricket?

Now that you have been familiarized with the Champions league, I can talk about the more interesting stuff related to the tournament.

Students of the Allen Standord University for Cricket Bloggers were given an assignment last night, which was to report on the 1st ODI between Australia and the West Indies from an IPL perspective.

I recently read that on arriving in Jaipur, Shane Warne wrote a paper before the Indian Premier League began. The paper was titled "What's My Role" and included job descriptions for each of the squad members of the Rajasthan Royals.

Yusuf Pathan's role was described as:

"1. Be aggressive, dominate the start of the innings. Play with freedom, take 'em [bowlers] on. 2. [Bowl] Stump-to-stump off-spin. 3. Field in the ring early on and in the deep later."

Furthermore, the paper also gave titles to each of the squad members. Yusuf Pathan's title was "The Statement Maker".

On announcing Pakistan's 16 member squad for the Tri-Series to be held in Bangladesh, Nasim Ashraf requested Geoff Lawson and Talat Ali to write a similar "What's My Role" paper for the Pakistan squad.

Due to Lawson not being able to get a flight from Australia to Pakistan and Talat Ali still stuck in India held up in post-IPL match referee meetings, they held a brainstorming session over the phone.

Well Pitched has managed to get their hands on the Role Paper prepared for the Pakistan Squad.

This is what is looks like.

Shoaib Malik
Title: Kaptaan
Role: 1. Don't bat in the top three, bat lower down, don't go in during pressure situations, bat how you like. 2. Bowl only when you fail with the bat 3. Field from where players can hear you, speak louder, don't let Afridi dominate you on the field.

Misbah Ul Haq
Title: Inzi Part II
Role: 1. Don't find a new way to get out, hit longer sixes than Afridi. 2. Don't bowl. 3. Field where Malik tells you to field. 4. Don't aspire to become captain.

Salman Butt
Title: Opening Solution
Role: 1. Bat 50 overs, guide whoever opens with you. 2. Bowl if other team is easily winning. 3. Field close to Malik, keep him calm. 4. Think like you are the captain.

Shahid Afridi
Title: Boom Boom
Role: 1. Bat in every position, hit ball out of the ground, don't defend, hit ball in the air. 2. Bowl leg spin, off spin, googly, flipper, bouncer, become our Ajanta Mendis. 3. Field in covers, cheer team on, don't dominate Malik. 4. Don't think like you are captain.

Mohammad Yousuf
Title: Prayer
Role: 1. Bat like a dream, hit those cover drives, don't run too hard, take 5 steps after every shot. 2. Don't bowl. 3. Field where you can be hidden, keep praying for wickets.

Younis Khan
Title: Dummy
Role: 1. Bat like Malik tells you. 2. Bowl like Malik tells you. 3. Field where Malik tells you.

Kamran Akmal
Title: Screecher
Role: 1. When opening slash at every ball, when batting lower down slash at every ball. 2. Keep wickets, don't worry about dropped chances, don't give byes, appeal hard, annoy batsmen. 3. Let out "come on boys" every 2nd over.

Mohammad Asif
Title: Drug Lord
Role: 1. Don't worry about batting. 2. Bowl with bionic arm, try swinging ball, if no swing you will get hit, don't worry smoke a joint. 3. Don't smoke dope on the field.

Umar Gul
Title: Gully Cricketer
Role: 1. Don't worry about batting. 2. Bowl yorkers, fast swinging yorkers, blink hard during run up. 3. Field well, keep blinking, don't do drugs.

Nasir Jamshed
Title: Boom Junior
Role: 1. Bat like Afridi, smash every ball, don't worry about Khurram or Khalid. 2. Don't bowl unless Malik asks. 3. Field in slip in beginning, then wherever you have to.

Sohail Tanvir
Title: Windmill Roller Coaster
Role: 1. Bat like you do in domestic cricket. 2. Bowl like you did in IPL. 3. Field like you. 4. Don't get caught with drugs. 4. Think your playing for Shane Warne.

Rao Iftikhar
Title: Anjuman
Role: 1. Don't worry about batting. 2. Bowl outswingers only, no need for wickets, don't give runs so your economy keeps you in the team. 3. Field near boundary, throw like Walsh. 4. This is your last chance. 5. Don't change your name.

Fawad Alam
Title: Super Sub
Role: 1. You will play in a dead rubber. 2. Bat to prove you are a batsman. 3. Bowl to prove you are a bowler. 4. Field in covers and then sweeper, run fast. 5. Eat Vitamins. 6. You will come on as substitute during senior players' cigarette breaks.

Wahab Riaz
Title: Lahori Dugga
Role: 1. Bat fast. 2. Bowl fast. 3. Field fast.

Bazid Khan
Title: Majid's son
Role: 1. Don't bat like your dad, try and take Younis' position. 2. Do you bowl? 3. Field in the deep.

Naumanullah
Title: Domestic Performer
Role: 1. Don't worry about playing, we are giving you your dues, you will be dropped soon. 2. Bowl in the nets. 3. You may or may not get to field.

End Summary to all players:

Discuss your roles with Shoaib Malik. Don't worry if the captain changes your roles. An urdu translation will be provided when we are in Bangladesh.

See you in Bangladesh.

Coach & Manager.

I wanted to do a "Return on Investment" type analysis on the IPL players on completion of the league but Cricinfo has already done that. They have played the Numbers Game and listed their Most Valuable Players based on their prices. They have done the same for the least valuable players.

No point in repeating the excercise.

Instead I decided to build an IPL XI with the best performers of the league.

Building a team is alway a tough excercise. The 8 franchises went through it about 3 months ago - some worked, some didn't.

So how do I pick a Best XI from the top performers?

Do I just look at the stats and pick the top 6 batsmen, the top wicket keeper, and top 4 bowlers?

Or do I look for the best player for each position?

Rajasthan Royals proved that the latter option is the best method.

If I went ahead and picked the top 6 batsmen, I'll end up with 5 openers - so definitely not the ideal selection.

Plus I have to ensure that I include only 4 non-Indians in the XI.

And I also need 1 U19 player in the side.

This is going to be tougher than I thought. But I've decided to go the Royals' way of selecting the best players for each position.

The 4 non-Indians

This was the easiest way to start I thought. Picking the top 4 foreign performers, fitting them into their positions, and then building the team around them.

This ended up being a no brainer with the leading batsman, leading bowler, and leading allrounder easily walking into any IPL XI.

Shaun Marsh comes in as an opener, Sohail Tanvir as the opening bowler, and Shane Watson, the man of the tournament, at number 4.

The 4th choice was also an easy one.

How can one ignore Shane Warne. He captained the Royals to the championship, he was the 2nd highest wicket taker, he was the best captain on the show, and he even won 2 matches with the bat.

Shane Warne comes in as the captain of the team. There could be no one else really.

Now I need to pick an opening partner for Marsh, a middle order to bat around Watson, a couple of allrounders, a wicket keeper, and 2 bowling options. All Indian.

The Openers
Gautam Gambhir wore the orange cap for majority of the time and lost it to Marsh only near the closing stages of the IPL. The next best Indian opener was Gambhir's partner Sehwag, but Gambhir showed far more consistency. He is the ideal choice to partner Marsh at the top.

Can't argue against having the top 2 run scorers at the top of the order now.

The Openers: Marsh & Gambhir.

The Middle Order

Shane Watson has fitted into the number 4 slot so I need to select a number 3 and a number 5 to bat around him.

I thought about Sehwag at 3 but then I remembered I had to pick the best one for the position.

Suresh Raina has done well for the Super Kings, while Rohit Sharma's reputation was strongly enhanced following his performance for the Chargers. Shikhar Dawan was another top performer at the number 3 slot.

I go for Raina for his level headed batting in the final stages of the tournament - the boy showed he can bat under pressure.

Not many did better than Yusuf Pathan at number 5. The Man of the Final was a unanimous choice for this slot. (Well as unanimous as it can be with only me doing the selection).

The Middle Order (numbers 3, 4, and 5): Raina, Watson & Y. Pathan.

The Allrounders
Numbers 6 and 7 are tricky ones.

Do I pick a wicketkeeper and a bowling allrounder, or do I pick 2 allrounders? Do I strengthen the batting with a batting allrounder or do I pick a pure batsman considering Watson provides the pure allrounder option?

I decided that I need a wicketkeeper here along with an allounder. Not a bowling allrounder though.

The top Indian wicketkeeper in terms of runs was MS Dhoni. In terms of dismissals though he was well behind Takawale, Saha, Rawat, and Karthik.

But who picks wicketkeepers purely for there keeping skills these days?

I go for Dhoni. He brings what the cricket experts like to call the X-Factor to the team.

The allrounders spot is a difficult one. There aren't many Indian allrounders who did well. There aren't many Indian allrounders, period.

I couldn't think of even 1 name so I decided to select my favorite U19 player from the tournament - Ravindra Jadeja.

The boy is a livewire in the field, he played a couple of match winning knocks, and is an able left arm spinner, even though he wasn't used as much by Warne. He was one of the stars of India's succesful U19 World Cup, and will be a more than handy man to have at number 7.

The Keeper and Allrounder (Numbers 6 and 7): MS Dhoni & Jadeja.

The Bowlers
Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir are already there, so I need to fit in 2 more bowlers.

A number of factors resulted in the crowning of the Rajasthan Royals as the Champions of the Indian Premier League 2008.

1. The Franchise owners - Emerging Media. They were the only owners who had prior experience of managing a team in a 20-20 cricket competition.


2. The Auction. Each player was picked with a role in mind unlike other franchises that went for big names.


3. The Captain. The only non-Indian captain in the league and one who had experience of captaining first class sides (Hampshire) and turning them into a succesful unit.


4. The Coach. The captain was appointed as the sole leader of the pack.


5. The Team. Each player was assigned roles by Shane Warne and they all delivered.


6. Allround Skills. Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan showed how valuable allround skills can be in 20-20 cricket.


7. Pep Talks. There probably isn't a better master at that than Shane Warne who made every player believe that they are the best in what they do.

It wasn't Warne who took the Rajasthan Royals through.

It wasn't Sohail Tanvir either.

It wasn't Shane Watson, nor was it Yusuf Pathan.

It was Miriam of Cricket with Balls who saw it through ball-by-ball, covering every single run, boundary, and six, and at the end ensuring that the Royals get that final run of the final delivery of the Indian Premier League.

What a final!

What an effort Miriam - Well Done!

The team that deserved to win the tournament won.

I am abit overwhelmed by the match and Miriam's coverage of the final (Chennai Super King's innings, Rajasthan Royals innings), so a more in depth post will come by tomorrow.

For now I leave you with 2 thoughts:

1) Sohail Tanvir did what he couldn't in the 20-20 World Cup Final.

2) Did MS Dhoni miss Joginder Sharma?

Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings

The final of the inaugral competition of the Indian Premier League.

Its Shane Warne's Royals up against MS Dhoni's Super Kings.

I think its a match up between the team leds by the best captains on display in the IPL.

Even though I would have liked to see the Kings XI there, the Super Kings are peaking at just about the right time.

I hope tomorrow's game it is not a one sided affair on the lines of the semi finals.

The final definitely has the ingredients to stir up a pot boiler.

Here are some things to think about over the next 18 hours before the final gets underway.

• The Royals have beaten the Super Kings in both their league matches, but that will count for little come tomorrow's Final.
  
• Graeme Smith, one of the leading scorer for the Royals, is out with a pulled hamstring. Will the Royals miss him or will they prove that it has always been about the team effort and not individuals?
  
• The Super Kings hardly looked like the material for a final but they're there. Will MS Dhoni lift his 2nd 20-20 trophy in the space of 8 months?
  
• Or will Shane Warne make sure that the Royal March ends the way it should?
  
• Sohail Tanvir, Shane Warne, and Shane Watson have 56 wickets between them. Will Raina, Badrinath, and Dhoni be able to stand up to them?
  
• The world's best spinners, Warne and Murali, will be up against each other. Warne has done far better than Murali in the IPL, but whose day will it be tomorrow?
  
• With Smith out, Akmal will probably play. That will make it 2 Pakistanis and 2 Australians for the Royals taking on 2 South Africans and 2 Sri Lankans for the Super Kings.
  
• MS Dhoni's bid price of $1.5 million is almost half that of the entire Rajasthan Royals squad. One is the most expensive player of the IPL, and the other the lowest priced franchise.
  
• Who will the Mumbai crowd support? The Royals kicked them out but it was the Super Kings who made it at their expense.
  
• There will be no SRK, no Priety Zinta, no Katrina Kaif, no Akshay Kumar. Instead the low profile owners, a cement company and a consortium of media professionals, will keenly watch the contest from their VIP boxes.

Tomorrow its the D-Day of the IPL and one can expect a grand finale.

Lets hope we get one.

Ottayan and CSK Fan - I can see you guys smiling. But I hope the Royal March continues!

They're into the final.

They deserve to be the champions. The Indian Premier League Champions.

Anything less will be gross injustice.

Regular readers of Well Pitched would know that I did not expect to see the Royals anywhere close to the final.

Going back to auctions, I had given the Jaipur franchise the lowest rating on my Bid-O-Meter.

I was wrong. Mind you, I wasn't the only one.

There were plenty of critics and cricket experts around the world that felt that Jaipur had got it wrong.

All of us were justified in our claims when the Royals lost their 1st match against the Daredevils, and that too comprehensively by 9 wickets.

But then it all changed.

The Royals started on their march towards 5 consecutive victories.

They looked like the strongest team at that time and I said that they looked like a clone of the New Zealand team who would win all their league games and stumble in the semis.

I was wrong again.

They lost 1 to a resurgent Mumbai but then started on another march.

One towards 6 consecutive wins, the only team to do so in the IPL.

They lost their last league game to the Kings XI in a game in which their 4 first choice internationals were rested.

They ended the league stage as the only team to win all their 7 home games.

Should they have been given the trophy then?

Probably.

Scorpicity here believes that the Rajasthan Royals are the IPL champions, irrespective of the results of the final.

I had thought that the Royals would lose their semi-final to the Daredevils.

I was wrong again. The 3rd time because of the Royals.

The Royals deserve to be crowned the IPL Champions and a victory on Sunday will end their March in the most appropriate manner.

The Rajasthan Royals - The IPL Champions.

Who would have thought?

I hope they don't prove me wrong again.

Read this to understand what went behind the formation of the Rajasthan Royals.

It took 41 days and 56 matches for the IPL to reach the business end of the tournament.

It seems long but its flown by.

One key reason why the 41 days didn't seem that long was because the Final Four was only decided on the 39th & 40th day.

This kept the interest in the IPL alive, unlike the ICC World Cups of 2003 and 2007.

The RACE to the Final Four has ended and now the RACE to the top begins.

There's one thing common about the Final Four - The Aussie connection.

Rajasthan Royals - captained and coached by Shane Warne, key player is Shane Watson.

Kings XI Punjab - coached by Tom Moody, key players are Shaun Marsh & Luke Pomersbach.

Delhi Daredevils - coached by Greg Shipperd, who Uncle J will tell you is the best 20-20 coach in the world. Glenn McGrath is their key bowler.

Chennai Super Kings - Hayden & Hussey left long time ago but their coach is Kepler Wessels, former Aussie opener.



Semi Final 1 (Friday, 30th May): Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils

The Daredevils is one of the only 2 teams who have beaten Shane Warne's Royals in the IPL (they have a match left against Kings XI tonight). That was the Royals' first match and they haven't looked back since then.

Shane Warne has turned the team into an invincible unit and the Royals' victory march has paraded on.

They are the only team who have won all their 7 games at home, and one of the only 2 teams who have won 6 games on the trot. They can make that 7 tonight.

The Daredevils on the other hand started off with a bang winning their first few matches without breaking a sweat. But then they fumbled a bit. A solitary point in a washed out game allowed their entry into the semis.

They started the tournament as one of the strongest sides but didn't look it as the tournament went on.

The 1st semi has all the ingredients to be a gruelling affair.

It pits 2 of the leading run scorers in the IPL - Gambhir & Sehwag - against 2 of the leading wicket takers - Sohail Tanvir & Shane Warne.

Its a battle between 2 retired Aussie legends - Glenn McGrath & Shane Warne.

Its a battle between 2 Victorians - Greg Shipperd & Shane Warne.

Tanvir, the leading wicket taker, will bowl the first over to Gambhir, the leading run scorer. Remember Tanvir's flying kiss to Gambhir?

Their league games stand at 1-1 so there's nothing to chose between the 2.

I sense the Daredevils will come out on top. The Royals' party will come to an end, as it does with most weak teams on paper who do extremely well in the league stages of a tournament.

Whose your pick?


Semi Final 2 (Saturday, 31st May): Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings

Dhoni's Super Kings have had the upper hand over Yuvraj's Kings XI in both the league games.

The first loss was one of Kings XI's first 2 losses, after which Priety Zinta's hugs started doing the tricks and all the Kings' men won game after game.

They go into this game as the 2nd best team in the league stages.

They have the best bowling attack in the tournament with Sreesanth, Pathan, and Chawla all featuring in the top 10 wicket takers.

The emergence of Shaun Marsh and the return of Kumar Sangakkara makes their batting look unstoppable. Add Yuvraj, Jayawardene, and Luke Pomersbach to that and it looks quite invincible.

The Super Kings began their campaign strongly but then lost a few after Hayden & Hussey left the ranks. They picked up again but have relied too heavily on Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni.

The 2nd semi also dishes out exciting contests:

MS Dhoni, the Indian captain takes on Yuvraj Singh, the Indian Vice Captain. Only one will go forward.

Murali takes on his captain and vice captain - Jayawardene & Sangakkara.
Ntini bowls well at left handers and here he will get as many as 4 in the top 6.

India's leading pacers - Sreesanth & Pathan will try and stop their international captain from hitting the straps as Sanga keeps wicket to them.

The Super Kings will do extremely well to stop Kings XI from going forward.

The Kings just look too strong and they're backed by Priety Zinta's warm hugs and the numerous incentives that she has promised the players like cars and gifts and so on.

Whose your pick?

The final on Sunday to me looks like an all Northern clash between Delhi & Mohali!

RACE, the bollywood movie, had more twists and turns before the climax than the world's largest rollercoaster.

It had the viewer hooked and jumping at every shocking turn the movie took.

The IPL RACE has been quite similar.

Soulberry here contemplates who could take the 2 spots that are up for graps in the Final Four, while Homer here revisits his predictions for the Final Four.

The story though is that its not 2 but 3 spots up for grabs.

Apart from the Rajhastan Royals, no one has garanteed a semi final spot yet. Not even the Kings XI after their dramatic 1 run win over the Mumbai Indians.

Plus with RCB shocking the daylights out of the Super Kings just the way their brand amabassador Katrina Kaif did in RACE, anything can happen and everything is open ended.

Any 3 out of the Kings XI, Super Kings, Indians, Daredevils, and the Knight Riders can join the Royals in the Final Four.

The RACE is still on and the climax is near.

But who will make it?

The Knight Riders play the Daredevils tonight. Its a very crucial match for the Riders, because if they lose, the RACE for them is all over. But if they win the RACE goes on. 2 points for the Riders tonight!

Tomorrow its the Kings XI against the Deccan Chargers. Deccan have hardly won, however with RCB's inspirational victory over CSK last night they could be pumped up to get a victory or 2 under their belt. Kings XI are too strong though. 2 points for the Kings XI.

Saturday is a BIG day. Its CSK vs RR and DDD vs MI. That's going to be huge.

CSK would need to win given their loss to RCB last night but the Royals have been on a roll and I don't see them losing before the semi finals, even if they try some new faces. 2 points for the Royals.

DDD and MI, both in the RACE for the semis will be in a must win situation. Soulberry tells me that the Monsoons have hit Delhi and rains could have the final say. Well then I say a point each here.

The 1st match on Sunday, RCB vs DC will be an irrelevant one in the context of the RACE.

The 2nd one though is KKR vs Kings XI and it will be another must win game for the Riders. I'm putting my top dollar on them. KKR will fight it till the end. Another 2 points to KKR.

On Monday we will finally see what we haven't yet in the IPL. As the Indians take on the Royals, it will be the epic battle between Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. Going with history, I'd give this one to the Indians. 2 points to the Indians.

CSK with their backs towards the wall will take on the Chargers on Tuesday. For them it will be a must win game since KKR and MI would have gone ahead after their victories. But the Chargers in their last game of the tournament will give it everything. I see CSK going down. Sorry Ottayan. 2 points for the Chargers.

Wednesday, the final day of the group stages will see a top of the table clash between the Royals and the Kings XI and an irrelevant match between MI and RCB. 2 Points for RR and MI here.

That then will make the points table look like this:

1. Rajasthan Royals 22
2. Kings XI Punjab 18
3. Mumbai Indians 17
4. Kolkata Knight Riders 14
5. Chennai Super Kings 14
6. Delhi Daredevils 13

KKR have a better NRR currently, and with them winning their next 2 matches, they will maintain that lead.

Now lets say the rains stay away from Delhi and the Daredevils beat the Mumbai Indians. MI will still qualify, but then it will be 3 teams on 14 points - KKR, CSK, and DDD. As of now DDD have the better NRR so it will probably be them nosing ahead of KKR.

Now what if Kings XI lose against the Chargers. They will remain on 16 points then and their NRR will worsen because of 3 consecutive losses.

MI will also be on 16 since the game against DDD was not a washout.

Plus if CSK beat the Royals, it would put them on 16 as well.

And if DDD beat KKR tonight, and they win the game against MI on Saturday, they would be on 16 as well.

KKR will miss out then definitely with 4 teams on 16 points jostling for 3 positions.

The Kings XI could still miss out on NRR.

Mindboggling?

So was the bollywood movie.

The RACE is on and its for 3 places of the Final Four.

Who would have thought that Preity Zinta, Shahrukh Khan, and Mukesh Ambani would be fighting it out with GMR Holdings and India Cements for honours on a cricket field.

Or for that matter Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni - each one who has either been a captain or a vice captain of the Indian cricket team - competing for spots in the Final Four.

It is the last week of the IPL group stages and it promises to be the most exciting one.

(NOTE: All times are UAE standard time, +4h GMT)

This is what the weekend would have looked like if we had an international weekend, i.e. Saturday / Sunday.

Saturday 24th May 2007

1:00pm: Alarm Rings. Press Snooze.

1:05pm: Alarm Rings. Press Snooze Again.

1:10pm: Alarm Rings. Press Stop. Get up and sit. Look outside the window. Change Alarm to 1:30pm and sleep again.

1:30pm: Alarm Rings. Jump out of bed.

2:00pm: Fox Sports. England vs New Zealand 2nd Test LIVE from Old Trafford.

2:30pm: Switch to Prime Sports. Chennai Super Kings vs Rajhastan Royals LIVE from Chennai.

2:30-6:00pm: Keep switching from Prime to Fox and back.

6:00pm: Fox Sports. Watch end of Session 2 on Day 1 of England vs New Zealand.

6:30pm: Prime Sports. Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians LIVE from Delhi.

7:00pm: Ten Sports. Day 2 of Australia vs West Indies 1st Test LIVE from Kingston, Jamaica.

7:15pm: Switch back to Prime and IPL match.

7:15-10:00pm: Keep switching from Prime to Ten and back.

10:00pm: Ten Sports. Last session and a half between Australia and West Indies.

2:00am: Go out.

3:30am: Come back home. Watch LOST.

5:00am: Set alarm for 1:00pm. Sleep.


Sunday 25th May 2007.

1:00pm: Repeat above.

A 2 day gap in something new on Well Pitched is a rarity, especially when the IPL is going on but it was a hectic weekend. I didn't miss any cricket though.

A few days ago I talked about the RACE to the Final Four and mentioned that the 4 matches between Thursday and Saturday were going to be ever so crucial.

Well, the results of those matches have turned the tables, but the RACE is still very much on.

The Daredevils' victory over the Chargers on Thursday left the table unchanged with DDD lingering in 5th place, between MI and KKR.

But it was Mumbai Indian's victory over the Knight Riders that has caused a worry in the DDD and KKR camp.

MI had the chance to level with DDD and KKR on 10 points by beating KKR on Friday. They did exactly that, but it wasn't only a victory.

It was a thumping victory!

It was a decimation of the Knight Riders who were bowled out for 67, the lowest score of the tournament.

With Jayasuriya in the form of 1996, MI chased that down in a mere 5 and half overs.

That not only put MI on equal points with DDD and KKR, it put them above the 2 teams on 4th place on the basis of Net Run Rate.

Had it been a close match, MI would have remained at 6th place but their total dominance over KKR means that now MI lie comfortably at number 4 with an advantage of having played fewer matches than DDD and KKR.

DDD's loss to Kings XI last night has further strengthened MI's position.

MI's fortunes have taken a drastic change and now they should be confidently eyeing the Final Four.

There was nothing new in the match between the 2 teams sponsored by Vijay Mallya. (How ironic is it that the team owned by Dr. Mallya is sitting at the bottom of the table, while the team he sponsors is right at the top)

However, there was some new entertaining stuff in the other 3 matches over the weekend.

• Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif opened the DDD bowling against Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi. Who does one support in times like these?
  
• While McGrath snared his Aussie team mate, Afridi hit his Paki team mate for a 4 and a 6.
  
• RP Singh found something to be amused by when his India team mate, Gambhir hit him for consecutive sixes and a few boundaries.
  
• Ab De Villiers in the covers stopped a few thumping drives from Gibbs' bat. The latter let out a wry smile everytime that happened.
  
• 15 runs required of the last over. Sehwag had been there before. Luckily for him, Shoaib Malik was only on the field as a substitute.
  
• Amit Mishra bagging the 2nd hatrick of the IPL. The bowlers have definitely come into their own.
  
• Shoaib Akhtar's first 4 overs in the IPL looked like this: 4-0-17-5. That's before he came across Jayasuriya. Shoaib's 5th over went for 23! To be fair, Jayasuriya was also dropped of Shoaib's 1st ball.
  
• The IPL witnessed its 2nd rain reduced match last night. DDD faced 6 out of their 11 overs in powerplay mode, while KXI faced only 3 - fair?
  
• It was a battle between India's best pacers in the IPL - Sreesanth & Pathan, and India's best batsmen in the IPL - Sehwag & Gambhir. The batmen won hands down.
  
• KXI boasts of 2 of the leading wicket takers in the IPL, yet they both went wicketless. The 4 DDD wickets went to the unlikeliest of bowlers - Ramesh Powar and James Hopes. It never fails to surprise you does it?
  
• Jayawardene was going great guns to lead the chase. What did Sehwag do? Turned to Maharoof.

Expect more entertainment tonight as the RACE continues in 2 cracking games.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings & Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians.

KKR can turn the tables once more tonight if they beat CSK and MI lose to the Chargers. It looks like it will be one hell of a RACE for the 4th place from hereon.

These last 10 days before the knock outs are going to be the most interesting.