Constant winner in IPL1 and IPL2

Guess who is the constant in both the winning teams of IPL?

One who played as a batsman in IPL1 (for Rajasthan) - last match was against Kings XI Punjab at Jaipur 2008 and coach in IPL2 for the champions (Hyderabad).

Darren Lehmann!!! Yes, YAA (Yet Another Aussie)

World Cup post IPL2

The ICC Twenty20 World Cup begins in the next 10 days (June 5th to be precise). Will it be a hit with the paying public? Will the viewers find it really attractive to watch? Questions that will have answers very soon.

Like my friend Nik mentioned, the plus point with the IPL2 was the fact that the teams contained players from various countries (maximum of four), which made the playing field more level. Compared to the current scenario where the top four teams can be considered as Australia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka; the IPL2 was so much more close. Even a team like Kolkata Knight Riders (which eventually finished last) could beat a top team like Chennai, provided their team got their act right.

(-) Will I watch India play Bangladesh? Yes. Will I stay late to watch it? Probably not. That is what I am trying to put across - the matches in the World Cup will become interesting only during the last stages of the tournament - many matches will be inconsequential (more to promote countries).

(+) Of course, the format itself brings the surprise factor to the game. One individual performance can swing the fortunes of the match but that is probably more predictable in the World Cup, compared to the IPL2.

(+) With India being the defending champions, there is the additional factor to watch the team defend successfully.

Overall, I feel that I will watch the matches with same fervor (maybe not all matches but at least the ones that have India as one of the two teams). But, going forward, the ICC has to give a consulting assignment to Lalit Modi to make the T20 World Cup format more attractive to viewers.

Lull after the storm (IPL2)

It seems there is something missing in my evening today - definitely amiss in my daily life. A daily ritual has stopped as of last night and nights are not the same any more - I am sure that there are many more who share the same feeling with me.

The same IPL last year had not ignited the feeling that an international tournament would bring about - was it because of the nature of wickets the IPL1 was held? Probably. Maybe it is because of my confused loyalties to the clubs - I have spent half my life in Chennai and Bangalore, speaking the language of the third semi-finalist (the eventual winner). I did not have any feelings of favoritism last night - there was no favored side for me. Hence, there was an empty feeling inside. But, the match was interesting on many counts.

As mentioned earlier, the match was significant for the two captains who had points to prove, on many counts. The way the match tilted in different directions was praiseworthy. More interesting for me was the way Symonds came out on the field after the break - I have seen him in that manner only when he played for his national team. He was determined to prove his point to the selectors.

Rahul Dravid's dismissal was, in my mind, the turning point of the match for he would have been the ideal anchor for the strikers (Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher) to play along. The way he tried and failed, showed that even the experienced can falter in situations like this. Looks like the adrenaline rush is too hard to conquer.

I am looking forward to the next version of IPL but not if there are two versions every year. That is too much to swallow. And then there is the Champions League. One wonders where this will stop. Lalit Modi must not be allowed to run amok - but he has become bigger in the context of the international cricketing politics. The ICC will listen to him, it seems.

The other question that was asked to me - Will the ICC T20 World Cup be of any interest now? - by my Oz friend, Nik. I will try to answer it shortly - let me get back to normal routine first!!!

Lalit Modi on IPL

After Commercialization of IPL2, Lalit Modi has already started looking further. He wants to have 2 IPLs in a year - is this similar to the 'Golden Goose' story?

Already, I am not sure if the ICC T20 World Cup in UK will find any viewers? The viewers, just like the players will suffer from T20 fatigue.

Moving to newer venues is a good idea but not playing 2 tournaments in a year without the sanction of ICC. Who knows? Lalit Modi might promise ICC a revenue stream from each IPL so that they will provide a 'Window' to the IPL. Very likely.

Then, as Chris Gayle has predicted, test match will die a slow death - though cricket-lovers like me will not like it one bit.

D-day at IPL2

After 58 matches, the D-day has arrived. 2 players who have retired from international cricket are at the helm of the teams who have qualified for the final. Players who haven't been given the chance to captain their country for a long period (for whatever reasons it might be). In fact, they were not the first-choice captains for their franchisees also!!! Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman captained last year whereas Kevin Pietersen was the first-choice for Bangalore this year.

Teams who were placed at the last 2 positions in IPL1 have proved that they have learnt the lessons and implemented the action-items this year. Nobody would have given them any chance this year after the way both teams flopped last year. Except the team members themselves. There is a right mix of experience and youth in both teams. Both teams have the essential ingredients to succeed:

• Overseas players who add to the balance of the team - Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Ryan Harris for the Deccan Chargers whereas Mark Boucher, Ross Taylor, Kallis, Van Der Merwe provide the charge for the Royal Challengers
• Indian players who provide the backup strength to the team - Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha for Hyderabad whereas Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Anil Kumble give adequate strength to the Bangalore team

The Bangalore team has won 5 games in a row - have they peaked just before the finals? The players might have their off day today - the law of averages might work against them also. Will Bangalore bring back Steyn for the finals?

The Hyderabadis could find themselves against a team that has worked very well as a team. It has depended on the individual brilliance of Gilchrist or Symonds or Rohit. Their failures might expose them in the final. Did Adam Gilchrist's knock come a match early?

The pitch is another aspect that will play a big role. How will the slow bowlers perform, especially the non-regular ones? I would say that there is a 50-50 chance for either team to win the final - no one starts as clear favorites. A good contest is on cards today - let us hope everyone gets their money's worth.

If pushed to a wall, I would choose 'Deccan Chargers' to win the title. Wait and Watch!!!

Commercialization in IPL2

"That is a DLF Maximum", shouts the commentator on the TV - is it the new set of apartments that is being built/sold by the DLF builders? No. It is a six hit in the IPL2 matches. Another one - "It is a Citi Moment of Success". Citi by itself, has been facing a lot of problems on the financial side. What success is it providing? That is a fall of wicket in the same IPL2.

The sponsors are getting a big piece of the limelight by having commentators mention their names whenever a four/six is hit or a wicket is taken. That must be the additional value-add they are getting from IPL in the times of recession. Whether it works or not, is a big question. A company like DLF had to resort to selling their stake in the organization to recover from their crisis!!! All of us know how Citi Management is struggling to get back to their past glory.

The franchisees are seen giving out 100,000 Rand to different schools during breaks. Is it the tax benefits that they have been promised by the South African government? Maybe. The IPL organizers have promised that the franchisees will not lose by much during this IPL. So, how will the money be made? Stunts like Strategy Breaks. Everyone must be saying - Gimme a break. That is what Lalit Modi has given them!!! 10 minutes in each innings mean that the TV ads can be sold for so many more minutes - earning all that additional dollars.

The franchisees have ensured that they have at least 3-4 sponsors so that they recover their investments for the year. Just have a look at the jerseys of each team - there is virtually no place for any additional sponsors - so tightly packed are the ads on the players shirts. The ads on TV and numerous websites that have sprung up are another avenues where the teams are raking in the moolah.

Lalit Modi tried out yet another stunt - 6UP. This was the SMS game where viewers could send in the number of runs in an over that they thought would be hit. Thanks to the Sports Ministry, this game was pulled out.

Another ridiculous bit of news I heard was the fact that the TV broadcasting companies asking for one Indian player to be present in each of the domestic teams of the new England T20 competition (starting next year), as part of their proposal. What next? The company sponsoring the prize money would suggest bringing in the player who appears in their advertisements so that they can gain more limelight !!!

It does look that the next IPL can be held in a remote place like the Hawai Beach and Mr. Lalit Modi will still be laughing his way to the bank. No wonder, all the other countries are behind India to get the blueprint for conducting T20 competitions.

IPL2 after 37 matches

From the initial set of matches in IPL2, there seems to be a pattern in the winning team, regards to the team composition. Only those who can get this formula right, have managed to get all bases covered and hence managed to keep their winning streak going. Of course, the usual parameters apply - the form and individual skills of individual players (multi-utility players definitely help - those who can contribute in more than one area) help in increasing the chances of winning.

One look at the teams of all the 8 teams shows us enough proof of the same. As of May 9th, the standings of the teams after 37 matches and the batting (most runs) and bowling (most wickets) records of individual players show a good example of how the composition of teams impact the performance of their teams.

What are these key components that is keeping the teams at the top?

• Overseas players - the teams have quite a number of overseas players in their ranks but they are restricted to select only four of them in the playing eleven. How good these players gel into the composition is critical. As the Delhi team shows, the 4 players who play regularly are Dilshan, AB De Viliers, Daniel Vettori, Dirk Nannes. Vettori has been replaced by David Warner whenever Sehwag has not been able to play - this has affected the balance of the team and has resulted in the Delhi team losing a few matches.
• Multi-utility players - The right composition of the players is important - it is important that these players can contribute in any 2 of three areas (batting, bowling, fielding). Deccan Chargers have Rohit Sharma and TS Suman who can contribute with the bat and bowl - they have taken crucial wickets, giving away runs at an economical rate. Similarly, Chennai SuperKings have Albie Morkel, Jacob Oram in their side who are capable of turning the match on its head by their power-hitting or skilled bowling.
• Number of Indian domestic players - Though Delhi have Glenn Mcgrath and Pervez Maharoof in the bench, they cannot play them because of the limitations of the number of overseas players. Thus, the Indian players have to come to the party to get their teams ahead. One good example of this is Rajasthan - the number of youngsters (Kamran Khan, Amit Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Naman Ojha, AS Raut) who have made their mark are maximum in this side, mentored by Shane Warne. Similarly, Chennai is lucky to have the best T20 players of India at the moment (MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina) in their side.
• Form of their icon player or captain - It is very important for the Icon players in each side to fire - this will give the confidence to the rest of the team and boost their chances to get to the next round. MS Dhoni, Sehwag, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist have played well in their matches and expected their teams to fire similarly whereas the teams that have Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Brendon McCullum, Yuvraj Singh have not fared well thanks to the moderate showing of their stars.
  

Going by the way the teams are playing right now, the ones that will make the semis seem to be Chennai, Rajasthan, Delhi and Hyderabad. Only fall-out from last year is Punjab, who have been impacted by their weak bowling skills. Based on the pairings of each semi-final, the finalists can be determined. I would go for a repeat of the last years finals with the winner reversed. Let us wait and watch!!!

Innovations in the IPL2

The IPL2 has seen the return of quite a few innovations in the last week. Innovations that were introduced by captains in previous ODI matches that had been successful or path-breaking even, during the yester years. A look at some of them is what we have tried below.

Opening the bowling with a spinner. This was first introduced by Martin Crowe during the 1992 World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. He opened the bowling with Dipak Patel, thereby reducing the pace of the ball. Batsmen who had made up their mind to face the quicks were shocked by the lack of pace. This option was successful in getting the star-less Kiwis to the Semi-finals of the World Cup, where the individual brilliance of Inzamam-ul-Haq brought them down. In IPL2, the matches are held much after the domestic season has been completed - this has ensured that the pitches are dry and favor the slower bowlers. No wonder then, the captains of the franchisees have recalled this innovation and used it to a great extent. In fact, Kevin Pietersen went a step further by opening the bowling with 2 spinners (himself and Van Der Merwe) in the match against Kolkata.

Opening with a dibbly-dobbly bowler. An extension of the previous idea - this was tried out by West Indies in the 1992 World Cup when Phil Simmons used to open the bowling along side Curtley Ambrose. The difference in pace at both ends would unsettle the batsmen to an extent that run-making would go down drastically. Though this trick was not very successful, the career of Simmons was extended because of this utility. Shane Warne used this option to bring in Dimitri Mascarenhas with the new ball. He has been quite successful in all his matches in the IPL2.

Making a batsman keep wickets. This option was well tried out by the Indian team during the 2003 World Cup, before the MS Dhoni era. Rahul Dravid, who had kept wickets in early days of his career, was asked to keep wickets so that the team could play the extra spinner. This was one of the ideas that came out of the collective thinking of Sourav Ganguly and John Wright. The Indian team reached the World Cup finals with this strategy, so successful it was. The Bangalore Challengers tried the same by asking Robin Uthappa to don the keeping gloves during the initial days. Though it was not successful, it was an idea that was well worth the try.

Pinch-hitter. This was a fad that started way back in the 1987 World Cup when Craig Mcdermott was sent up the order by Allan Border to hit some quick runs. Soon, other countries followed by having their non-regular batsman come at a time they were least expected. Chetan Sharma was one example who did so well that he won the match for India by scoring a century. This was not seen for the last few years as every team strengthened their composition with batsmen who were aggressive from the word go. This IPL, Shaun Pollock has introduced Harbhajan Singh in couple of matches as the pinch-hitter to get some quick runs - again an experiment that has returned mediocre success.

Shane Warne has been coming up with innovative ideas in this IPL that are quite his own original ones - especially, the demotion of Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf has been delayed to the last minute possible, thereby giving him a license to throw his bat around for maximum destruction. The trick has worked every time and the Rajasthan team is slowly inching its way to the top half of the table from its disastrous beginning.

Surely, the IPL2 has seen the birth as well as re-birth of various innovations that will be used by the participating nations in the T20 World Cup. Now, isnt it worth waiting for?