IPL4 - Best of the rest

The IPL4 is over and CSK defended their crown successfully. RCB were not good enough in the final but which team would have been? Let me come up with a team of eleven consisting of players from the other teams who

• have done well in the latest tournament
• have 4 overseas players (just like the tournament guidelines)
• have players who are not veterans or injured or rested

What did the team look like? See below

1. Chris Gayle - any doubts on this gentleman, even though his national selectors are not interested in him.
2. Paul Valthaty - stand-out performance in the IPL that helped Punjab defeat CSK
3. Jacques Kallis - the best all-rounder in today's age
4. Virat Kohli - I would make him the captain of this team as well
5. Shaun Marsh - The best opening batsman that Australia never chooses
6. Ambati Rayudu - Wicket-keeper for the team as well as last-over specialist (a la Javed Miandad)
7. Shikhar Dhawan - 400 runs in the tournament without anyone noticing it!
8. Iqbal Abdulla - Best performance by a youngster
9. Lasith Malinga - again, no more arguments
10. Rahul Sharma - A definite future Indian spinner maybe not in test matches to start but definitely in the shorter version.
11. Sreenath Aravind - Left-arm opening bowler in contrast to Malinga's pace.

What do you think of this team? Any thoughts? Will they beat CSK? 

IPL4 - CSK defend their crown easily

MS Dhoni added another trophy today to his crowded cabinet - second one this year after the 50-over World Cup. Chennai Superkings are somewhat similar to how Australia were in the international cricket till late. The CSK team came prepared for the finals, knowing exactly what to do. Each member of the team were pumped up and having experienced a victory last year, they knew what needed to be done. RCB, on the other hand, had been runners-up once and seemed destined to repeat the performance once again.

When the first innings started, it was very evident how the two teams differed on the nerve-count. CSK were stealing extra runs while RCB were giving away over-throws - a reflection of the dominance of the match from very beginning. Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey have been doing a decent job as openers in this edition of IPL but today they rose to the occasion with a sterling performance. Vijay's confidence must have been boosted by his selection to the Windies tour - his booming sixes came out of the closet enabling CSK to run away from their opponents. Hussey, as his wont, rotated the strike and hit the big shots equally well. Though the batting fell away after the dismissal of the openers, the team ensured that they passed 200.

Nothing went according to plan for the RCB's bowlers. Their fielders also let them down in this crucial match by giving away runs when they were not present - Two tough chances were dropped off Vijay as well. Zaheer Khan bowled reasonably well but none of the other bowlers could make any impact. Aravind and Gayle took wickets in their last over to reduce their scoring but by then the horse had bolted.

After 205 was scored, RCB had their hopes on Chris Gayle to fire. Ashwin produced his magic to get rid of the dangerous Gayle in his first over - two balls that turned followed by one that went on with the line. This meant that the pair of Kohli and AB De Viliers had to do all the running. They hit the big shots and rotated the strike, keeping the match in interest, till Raina and Jakati produced their bits of brilliance. Even though wickets fell around him, Sourabh Tiwary did not make any effort to increase the run-scoring. He does not seem to be cut out for the big stage at this time.

Overall, CSK retained their core players which meant that they had a settled combination. No tinkering of the team was done - evidence was the fact that the same team played for six consecutive matches. Players like Southee and Aniruddha Srikkanth contributed in the earlier matches while not staying in the eleven later. The local Chennai players contributed as well - Badrinath was exceptional whenever the team was in trouble while Ashwin was the spearhead in the spin department. RCB came into the final becase of the heroics of Gayle and when the Caribbean failed, their hopes went up in a smoke. As far as Dhoni is concerned, it was a regular day at office for the cpatain.

What a captain, What a team!

Related articles

• IPL4 - the final lines are drawn (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• IPL4 - Raina takes CSK to the finals (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• IPL4 - Top 4 teams identified. (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

IPL4 - the final lines are drawn

RCB made Mumbai rue their indifferent matches over their last week by thrashing them in Chennai. Chris Gayle started off with a powerful display against hapless Abu Ahmed (why did SRT do this mistake?). He was joined by his partner Mayank Agarwal, who took on Harbhajan Singh - yet another evidence that the Punjabi is losing his plot. Though the latter batsmen could not convert the start into a 200+ score, the target was much more than Mumbai could handle. Look at the worm below - the (R-B) difference was always over 40 at any point of time - signs that Mumbai Indians were never in the hunt during the chase.

Today, it will be the match between the South-Indian teams once again. The charismatic MSD against the cool Dan Vettori. There will be others who will contribute to the match but how the captains think out their strategy will be key. There are many mini-plots in the match - Gayle against Ashwin, Kohli vs Badrinath (for the Indian middle-order slot), Hussey vs Vettori, Morkel vs Mayank and so on. My favorites - CSK.

IPL4 - Mumbai beats KKR again

Mumbai Indians, thanks to the blistering start by Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar, managed to defeat Kolkata once again. KKR tried their best to delay the inevitable but Mumbai found their hero for each mini-crisis that came up during the batting innings. Earlier in the day, KKR suffered a mini-collapse only for their import, ten Doeschate, to get them to a decent score. On a pitch that was helpful to batsmen mostly, this score was not enough in the long run. Mumbai added to the pressure by gifting wickets away in their chase but finally managed to qualify for the next match against RCB.

IPL4 - Raina takes CSK to the finals

Chennai Superkings came from behind to score a wonderful win over RCB (the same team that they lost to, in Bangalore few days back). Suresh Raina scored a quick-fire knock and overcame cramps at the end to guide his team to victory in the company of Albie Morkel. MS Dhoni had given the impetus after Badrinath steadied the ship with Raina. Altogether, a brilliant team effort by CSK to win in the last over.

The confidence the team has to chase down any score from any position is their biggest asset. The trust they show on players like Morkel or Raina was repaid at a very opportune moment. CSK scored 50 runs in the last 3 overs to win the match despite Gayle's heroics with the ball. The Caribbean failed with the bat but made up with the ball to increase his teams chances but to no avail.

Earlier, in the match, the bowlers led by Bollinger had done their bit to restrict RCB to a score that was eventually chased down. Though Virat Kohli helped RCB accelerate at the end, it proved to be less in the final analysis. The early dismissal of Chris Gayle made it easier for CSK. RCB, though, have another chance to make to the final in the next match while CSK are through to the finals at home.

IPL4 - Top 4 teams identified.

It was a long-drawn affair for this year's IPL - 70 matches were played before the top 4 teams were identified. Here below, I have tried to note the individual performances in the IPL4 - teams that had batsmen scoring fifties/hundreds & bowlers claiming 4/5 wickets in an innings. It is not so surprising to see who has the best of all:

• Batting performances has been led by CSK (Hussey, Badrinath, MS Dhoni being the stalwarts) - obviously hinting at their batting stronghold for success so far.  Chris Gayle ensured that RCB gave a good fight to CSK (in fact, he was instrumental in the win over Chennai in the last match). It is surprising to see Punjab do well, helped by the heroics of Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh - they slipped in the middle bunch of games which cost them the final berth.
• The bowling department sees Punjab and Mumbai lead the way - Malinga for MI while Piyush Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt did the job for Punjab XI Kings. KKR and CSK have no such performance at all. 
• KKR is a surprise - they have neither the number of landmarks nor the bowling performances. They are definitely the team that relied more on team-work rather than individual brilliance. Will this help them win the final matches? Time will tell.

IPL4 Match 70 - Last over win for Mumbai over KKR

The last match of the group stage brought the exciting win that everyone was looking for. KKR was in front, except for the last over when Mumbai put one across Kolkata.

IPL4 Match 69 - RCB finish on top

Chris Gayle - let us stop mentioning any further - led RCB to an easy win over favorites CSK. Though, it has to be argued, that the bowling of Zaheer Khan and Sreenath Aravind put the hosts in front with their early wickets.

IPL4 Match 67 - Dhawan eliminates Punjab hopes

Shikhar Dhawan chose the right time to score his highest in IPL and thereby put up a target that was way beyond Kings XI reach. This eliminated their hopes to qualify for their top 4 - a sad end to a late surge by the Kings.

IPL4 Match 66 - Watson crushes Mumbai

Shane Watson came to the party today to help send off Shane Warne in his last (so far) T20 match against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai are now in danger of losing their qualification.

IPL4 Match 65 - Kolkata almost through to last 4

Kolkata overcame their ex-captain Ganguly (as part of Pune Warriors now) to win their match easily. The IPL is becoming a boring interlude now - seriously something has to be done next year or else this will eat into the profits being made so far.

IPL4 Match 64 - CSK unearth a new hero Saha

CSK have a number of match-winners in their team and it was about time they unleashed a new winner - Wriddhiman Saha. Saha probably wanted to announce to the world what mettle he was made of - maybe a subtle warning to West Indies where he is going to be playing second fiddle to Kochi's keeper, Parthiv Patel. Kochi was left standing behind while Chennai surged to the top of the table.

IPL4 Match 63 - Gilly floors RCB

It took a whirlwind knock by Adam Gilchrist, supported by Shaun Marsh, to stop RCB's winning streak in this IPL. Once the score was on the board, RCB had no answers to the bowling attack. It was a sorry finish to the game.

IPL4 Match 62 - Pune lose to Deccan's bowlers

The bowling lineup of Deccan Chargers is impressive - Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha. A supporting cast of Daniel Christian and JP Duminy were more than a handful for Pune Warriors. The target was easy for the Chargers batsmen to chase down.

IPL4 Match 60 - Valthaty fires against listless Delhi

Delhi Daredevils after the loss of their skipper, Virender Sehwag, have appeared listless on the field. Paul Valthaty made use of an attack that was hardly threatening to notch up another half-century to take his team to a convincing win.

IPL4 Match 59 - Mumbai lose to Deccan Chargers

Surprise result for the top-ranked Mumbai Indians.

IPL4 Match 57 - Dinesh Karthik helps Punjab beat Kochi

Dinesh Karthik came to form at the right time in the match against Kochi to take his team to victory. Punjab stayed in the hunt, though theoretically, to qualify for the top 4 slots. 

IPL4 Match 56 - CSK win 6 in a row at home

CSK, thanks to a captain's knock, won their 6th match in a row at home against a Sehwag-less Delhi Daredevils. CSK thus made their way to the top of the table.

IPL4 Match 55 - RCB win their sixth in a row

Since Chris Gayle has come to the scene, RCB has achieved greater heights on the field, led by the man from Caribbean islands. This match was no different, with a power-packed performance to follow up the good show put up by the RCB bowlers (Sreenath Aravind in particular has been making good progress). Virat Kohli, in his first match as a captain, impressed with his field placings and ultimately finished the match as the winning captain.

IPL4 Match 54 - Kings Punjab create a major upset

The Mumbai Indians were probably too complacent - that could be the only reason for them to be all out in the 13th over for a score of 87. The Punjab Kings were not complaining however.