Proving my point

As if to prove my point about MI and RCB, the Indians won without Tendulkar and the Challengers lost because Kallis and Uthappa failed. It was yet another case of a semifinal gone wrong in the IPL. Hope CSK and DC eke out a better thriller.
Away from the action the IPL has had its effect for the second season running on Veeru. While he played with his painful shoulder last year, this time the selectors have been careful enough to replace him with Vijay. It must the God given chance for Vijay to slip into the ODI and T20 teams. Hope he delivers as much as he did for CSK.
Outside the field, the murkiness around the IPL seems to get darker and darker. Like a hungry dog that gnaws on a bone, the tax sleuths are gnawing at the team owners! Where were they for the past 3 years?

What could have been and could have been not - the team review

It has been a not so interesting IPL season. The excitement of the first edition and the grandeur of the second edition seemed to be missing. But going into the 3rd season this year's IPL looked a lot matured than previous versions. But with the late drama revolving around the IPL, the Indian government and with allegations of L Mod himself being involved in betting and match fixing, what could have been the beginning of a memorable era in Indian cricket is all set to become garbage. But assuming that all of that is not true let me analyze the teams at IPL 3.0
MI - Many would say they deservedly finished first. And may would also go to the extent of crediting Tendulkar as the sole reason for this. Agreed he scored the maximum runs. Agreed the team won a lot of matches (and they say it was his captaincy). But a closer look and you will see that most of the games were won by the bowling unit. With Zak, Ma Ling Ga and Bhajji shoring up the bowling, they decimated the opposition more with their bowling than with their batting. Also the ICL recruits in Satish and Rayudu proved to be the difference.
DC - This is one team to prove that working as a cohesive unit will bring in success in these days of individual glory. Inspired captaincy from Gilly also played a part. There were at least 2 or 3 matches which DC won from being nowhere. Symmo and Suman were crucial. But the highlight was Ojha. For the 3rd year running there is a Charger wearing the purple cap and that is indication of where DC's strength lies!
CSK - They are 3rd more by flashes of brilliance rather than by team performance. Vijay against RR, Haydo against DD (with that mongoose), Raina against KKR and MSD against KXIP - every time its only individuals that have won them matches. They should still be hoping for 2 more such individual flashes of brilliance to go further.
RCB - If not for Kallis and Uthappa, RCB would be hanging around at the bottom of the table. Kumble does weave the occassional piece of magic. But age seems to have caught with him and the bowlers do not seem to have any kind of sting. Clearly, the bowling has let them down and the batting has compensated so far - just so far.
DD - Lack of application. Lack of common sense. That sums up DD's season. The top order has been so unpredictable that they were left to trust Nehra would do the job for them in the last game against DC. It was appalling to see Veeru play the way he did (with his famous I can only play one way attitude). Mishra found no support with the bowling. Nannes seems to have become a one season wonder. On the whole DD lacked the firepower needed to go all the way.
KKR - Yet another season that promised a lot and failed to deliver. Dada tried his best to put a strong face but the foreign recruits failed him. They may still be the Los Merengues of the IPL. But SRK needs something extra if he wants his team to do better.
RR - The remaining teams seem to have cracked the code of Warne's bunch of underdogs. They no longer seem the mystery team. And that has been the downfall. There was always a surprise factor with RR during the first season. But this time around they seemed "ordinary" as Gauti put it. And added to that Warney seemed well past his prime and that rubbed on to his team. Yusuf would be better off in another team. But for RR to sustain in the future, they need Yusuf in the team.
KXIP - Right from the first day, they seemed destined for the wooden spoon. With the sulking prince and uncertain bosses (looking to give up stake in the team) they looked in disarray and that showed in their performance. Sanga and Mahela would have won the T20 WC for SL with similar performances. But this was KXIP and there was no one else available to support them. They deserved the wooden spoon and will do better minus the prince in the next season.

From the nowhere to the top

It was an incredible performance from DC. When they only made 145 after threatening to smash their way with Symonds I thought it was all over. The fairy tale 4 match run that led them this far was going to end. But RS came up with all the goods. Something seemed to have happened before they began the winning streak. From being a totally disinterested unit they became an unit to reckon with. Must be something to do with the skipper that just sticks on to the players. But it was disappointing to see Gilly come up with another failure. But just like in the 2007 WC, let us hope he delivers when it matters most. With CSK (the arch rival remember) almost looking like the team that they will face in the semis, it is an additional bonus to go for the kill. And as irony would have it, the semifinal will now be played in DC's pseudo home ground. And we all know that the Navi Mumbai crowd will be rooting for Dhoni, Raina and co! I wish that DC can prove why the DYP Stadium is called its home come the semis and the final! Fingers crossed!!
Meanwhile, its a tight rope walk for KKR today. They need to win by a margin off 188 runs to get 3rd spot or 174 runs to get 4th spot. Almost written off. But then cricket is a strange game. Anything can happen!!

Desperate times

It is not often that MSD hopes for help from other teams. But a desperate MSD said that he hoped for DC to lose a match in order to qualify for the semis of the IPL. Understandable MSD but still desperate times eh?. But seriously, what happened in yesterday's match? It was your home pitch and the pitch was supposed to be slow. You are suppose to know the conditions very well! We expected you to have Murali in the team!!! What were you even thinking? You are supposed to be Captain Marvel!
With DD scraping through against a meager target, the NRRs haven't taken any beating for either side yesterday. That leaves DC with the ominous task of having to win both their remaining matches. And unfortunately they are heading towards KXIP who are finally on a roll now and seem certain to topple a few apple carts. Would it be DC's cart this time?
Lastly, the Kochi IPL fiasco seems set to make a serious dent in the image of the IPL. Just when the IPL was looking to come good as a brand, the ugly head of politics has pushed it back more than a couple of steps. Time for a rethink may be? Time for BCCI to take control? Time for L-Mod to go?
Here's a new expansion for IPL - Indian Paisa League.

Forget points, think of Net run rate - can't forget points anway :-)

For two matches running, the chasing teams (CSK and RCB) have gone hammer and tongs in pursuit of small totals. The primary reason seems to be the run rate. With 6 teams still vying for 3 semifinal spots, the teams have realized that it could well go down to net run rate. In doing this, both CSK and RCB have made KKR and RR slide down on the NRR scenario. But despite this, it is DC who seem to have bore the brunt of the NRR situation. Having been thrashed badly whenever they lost DC's NRR is so low that they are 6th in the table despite having the same number of points as the team who are 3rd (CSK). Come on Gilly! We are awaiting that innings you played against Delhi in SA last year!!

Dhoni slips ha ha ha

It was an emphatic victory. But what overshadowed the glitter was what happened after the match got over. Firstly it was that lunatic with the long life (yeah that anchor on the ground - ayushman) who asked Kris Srikanth why Chennai players have single letter initials. Come on dumbo! Don't you have any other question? The next bit of fun was provided by Captain Marvel himself. Answering a question about how much the Chennai crowd liked him, Dhoni went on to describe how he would go out on his bike in the nights and stop in the "red light areas" and how people would talk to him in Tamil. Next time you stop at a red signal just remember what Dhoni said. Harsha Bhogle who was asking him the question managed the situation. But back home I was ROTFL.
On the cricketing front, it was a good win for CSK and also for MI. MI's win ensured that the semifinal race continues at the suspenseful pace. Hoping that DC can tide over that enormously negative net run rate in their next match against the spoilers from Punjab.

The ones that we would never have known

One has to acknowledge India is a cricket crazy nation. But even in a country like India, it takes a cricket player at least one act of fame or notoriety for India in international cricket to become a household name. I still remember Kanitkar because of that 4 he hit in a final against Pakistan in Dakha. Everyone remembers Chetan Sharma because of that 6 Javed Bhai hit at Sharjah. But with the advent of IPL, so many Indians have become household names. Looking at the following list of players I am sure they wouldn't have gotten so famous but for the IPL. Naman Ojha, Jhunjunwala, Harmeet Singh, T Suman, S Tiwary, Jakati, Dinda, Tyagi, Trivedi, Dole to name a few! We would have never known that such players existed in India. The IPL has indeed something that the Ranji, Duleep or Irani trophies have not been able to. Kudos!
But then there is also the other side of the IPL - sleazy! There is a pub in Hyderabad which shows matches live on large screens with - I am curious about this though - female umpires. And when you see the ads on display on roads you see how ridiculous it gets!!
Next up, the IPL puts phone numbers during matches below the score ticker. And you get to talk to the cheer leaders through those numbers. That business has a completely different name elsewhere.
As for yesterday's match - DC did well to keep their semi hopes alive. Yet another match that turned out to be a thriller after meandering at the beginning. But RCB seem to be spiraling downwards now. Jumbo did not look all pleased at the post match presentation and neither did Robin. The Baron and Baron prince seemed quite pissed off after the match. May be something to do with a South African who plays for England?

At last

At last DC managed to win. Suman was an unlikely hero indeed. When he began batting in the innings, it was more about the ball hitting his bat rather than he hitting the ball. I thought it was going to be yet another tactical mistake from DC. But he surprised me and the entire Bangalore crowd. Everyone in that crowd was expecting DC to roll over. And when Gilly was foxed by Jumbo I thought so. Good to see Symmo hitting. When I saw him against RR the other day I thought it was all over for him. Staying with DC, doesn't RGS and his laziness seem to suggest that he might just become Indian captain some time in the future.
For the second day running, Gibbs was asked on TV how he feels about feeling left out. Poor guy! I wish he punches the nose of that silly leech who asks him that question next time. BTW.. did you notice Deepika praying for Bangalore to win? It seems she has turned out to be the "bringer of misfortune" for RCB this year. Whenever she visits, RCB loses.
Good to see Gilly and RP sending out veiled messages to the IPL about their displeasure at playing in pseudo home grounds.

Boring

It was a case of back in boredom. The Chennai heat took its toll as none of the players at yesterday's match put up a 20-20 show. CSK played just like how Dhoni wanted them to play - win at any cost. But haven't we been told that the IPL is all about entertainment and the players are paid so much to entertain us? Come on L Mod! Talk to MS. We need entertainment - the kind provided by Vijay the other day. And we need it every day!!

The case of the pseudo home crowd

One more insipid performance from DC. What was "Rogue hit" thinking when he hit that last shot? That the fielder would drop the catch? You must be a @#$#@$ to play that shot rogie!! You just got your slice of luck when Harmeet just crossed over the previous ball!!! And what was it with Symmo and RP? What kind of glory were they looking for?
Playing in front of pseudo home crowds does have its effect. Take for example the Nagpur crowd. It was supposed to be DC's home stadium! You must have heard the roar when Yusuf walked in and the hushed silence when he was dismissed. Were DC playing at home? Same was the case on Saturday as well. You can't play your home game against Mumbai at Mumbai? Not one soul at the stadium was a Charger!!
By the way - hasn't anyone told Gaurav about the beard? Come on SET. You spend so much for the 10 year rights to telecast the IPL. Can't you spend 20 bucks on a shave?
Now that DC have ensured that they can only fight for the wooden spoon, it is time to target a team and derail its semifinal chance. To put it short - It is time to play spoilsport Gilly. Do that at least!!
And finally - it looks like the old and the new of the IPL are about to begin a war as this report suggests. But if the IPL is going to say that come next year the players that represented your favorite team for 3 years are not going to be there anymore - what happens to the fun of following your favorite team?

The thing with lame anchors

It's ridiculous. Mandira Bedi is officially a cricket expert now while the likes of Ayushman, Angad, Gaurav (did you watch him with that stupid looking beard yesterday) and Samir Kochar are making a joke of the position she vacated at Set Max. With the likes of Harsha Bhogle, Danny Morrison and Ravi Shastri just doing commentary (wherein they are mostly singing praise of you know who) these "juniors" are making watching the IPL very very uninteresting.
Finally there was the IPL josh at the IPL. What a weekend! about 80 sixes in 4 matches compared to about 300 in all previous games put together- 31 matches for 300 sixes and 80 for the last 4. Now that is what I was looking for.
When I looked at the performances of the Indians over the 4 matches - there was one clear fact that came out. There are at least 4 players who must be on the flight to the West Indies - SRT is obvious. But we also need Vijay, Uthappa and Mishra in that group. Come on selectors - there is still some time left!
Finally, DC proved again that don't seem like being ready for the fight. Every time they do very well until the 15th over (bat and bowl) and then things go haywire. Firstly, they need a proper bowler to bowl at the top - Roach,RP Singh and Vaas required at the top of their performance levels here. Then they need to find someone who can hold up the later order after Gilly and co perish at the top. Also given the 4 foreign player clause - time for either Gibbs or Symonds to sit out may be?

Are they going through the motions?

I think I have found out why this year's IPL is not very interesting. I have a feeling most players are just going through the motions as this is the last year of their contracts with respective franchises. I got this feeling yesterday when I watched DC roll over for KKR. There seemed to be absolutely no inspiration at all within the team. Having basked in glory last year, they seem to have exhausted everything last year and are just seeing out their contracts this year. With 2 more franchises next year and the prospect of making money at other clubs this fever does not just seem to be restricted to one club. Most players seem disinterested the same way. Pity on the audience - includes me.