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 52 - CSK prove to be too strong

MS Dhoni and his team were too strong for Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Shane Warne's team were probably still thinking about the pitch while CSK were ready to rock 'n' roll.

IPL4 Match 38 - Taylor blasts his way past Pune

What was a different ask in the last 5 overs became easy thanks to Ross Taylor's blitz in the slog overs. Pune Warriors lost once again while Shane Warne's Rajasthan reached the top of the points table.

IPL4 Match 34 - Rajasthan crush Mumbai

In what was an anti-climactic match, Rajasthan Royals crushed Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets. The Mumbai team was strangled in the mid-overs by the bowling of Shane Warne and Johan Botha. Botha once again shone with the bat, taking his team past the easy target.

IPL4 Match 28 - Warne's magic shines again

The Best captain Australia never had.
The Best spinner from Australia at age of 42, more than four years after his retirement.
Shane Warne, take a bow!
His spell to restrict and then dismiss Kochi Tuskers was a repeat of his legendary ones. The match was reduced to a formality of a win for Rajasthan Royals.

IPL4 Match 17 - KKR crush Rajasthan

Rajasthan rested Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha (due to an toe injury), resulting in a weakened batting line-up. The Rajasthan bowlers, led by L Balaji and Iqbal Abdulla, ran through the batting to restrict them to a paltry 81. Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary led KKR to a comfortable victory despite the attempts of the three Aussies - Watson, Warne and Tait. Balaji's delivery to dismiss Watson was a treat to watch - dont miss it in the highlights section.

IPL4 Match 12 - Kallis and Gambhir take KKR home

Thanks to exploits of Kallis and Gambhir, KKR reached a stiff target of 160 in a canter. Trivedi and Warne tried to pull back in the middle overs but could not restrict the two stalwarts. It was surprising why Shane Warne did not make Shane Watson the opener during Rajasthan Royals innings.

IPL4 Match 7 - Rajasthan keep winning

Rajasthan won their second match today, defeating Delhi Daredevils. Delhi is still trying to come to terms with the new team they have acquired in the auction while Rajasthan have settled to a good combination early in the season.

IPL4 Match 2 - Rajasthan Royals start with a win

Rajasthan Royals defeated the Deccan Chargers comfortably. Their batting carried too many punches for the good bowling of Deccan. The Chargers have Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra in their arsenal - handful for any team on any wicket. But, even such a unit needs runs on the board, that was not put up by their batsmen. Rajasthan was led well in the bowling department by Siddharth Trivedi (a bowler who seems to display his best under Shane Warne).

The chart to the right, shows the ups and downs in the chase till the 16th onwards when it became easy. Ross Taylor and Johan Botha give the top-order  a solid look for Rajasthan. Interesting times ahead!

Ashes series - Australia announce squad for 3rd test

The Oz selectors have named their squad for the third test match

Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin (wk), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Michael Beer, Ben Hilfenhaus.

Three changes - one necessitated by injury to Simon Katich while the dismal bowling forced the inclusions of Smith and Beer. Marcus North has been finally rested by the selectors after calls were loud and clear.

Though the inclusion of Beer was a surprise to the entire world, the legendary Shane Warne had suggested his name when there was a big noise to recall him back to the Oz squad. Did the Oz selectors just follow his advice to name the youngster? Warne's rival, Macgill, is not impressed however. The player himself was surprised by the call-up. Whatever it is, the spinner looks to be another shot in the dark by the team management?

Mike Gatting suggests that Ricky Ponting should step down and concentrate on his batting even though agreeing that there are not many options to replace him outside Clarke. But, given Clarke's current form, is he a good choice? No. Who else then? It has to be Ricky Ponting, by default, then. Dean Jones gives his two cents on how the Oz should hit back - hard. Will his words inspire the team in the next test?

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IPL4 news - players retained by franchises announced

IPL4

Wednesday was the deadline for the IPL teams to announce the players they were planning to retain. All of them (including the ones who are doubtful of competing in the next version) have announced the names.

I had done my bit of crystal-gazing earlier on the probable retentions. While I had suggested correctly that most of the seniors like Rahul, Kumble and Ganguly will not be retained, there were few surprises otherwise.

• Chennai SuperKings has decided to part ways with Murali the spinner while retaining Murali, the opening batsman.
• I had expected RCB to retain Uthappa (local player), Kallis and Taylor. But, I guess, the team must have looked at the price quoted for these players earlier and decided to let them go (this must be true for all other teams as well)
• Mumbai opted to retain four players - the only surprise to me was retaining Malinga for Zaheer Khan. Zak would have provided a bit more local support but there is no doubt on the effectiveness of Slinger Malinga.
• It was surprising to see Delhi Daredevils leave out Gambhir, David Warner (who is definitely a future superstar in this format) and Dilshan. Again, their costs must be weighing on the mind of the franchises.
• KKR let go of McCullum - a real loss to the team that is anyway not making a difference in any of the IPL so far. They expect Gayle to lead the team in the next season, looks like.
• Deccan Chargers could have retained Andrew Symonds but again his high price paid earlier will prey on the Management. I am sure, given an opportunity, DC will take him again on a lower price. It will be interesting to see how many players will be taken back by their previous teams for a lower price.
• At 41, Shane Warne still commands respect in Australia - reporters asking him to make a comeback to test cricket which needs much more stamina than a T20 match. No wonder, Rajasthan Royals have retained him. Another surprising omission from them is that of the latest hero, Yusuf Pathan.

Many questions arise after these announcements. What happens to the retained players if Rajasthan is shown the door? Will Kochi and Pune teams be given the first option to grab some marquee players? Time, as usual, will reveal more answers.

Related articles

• IPL 4: Dravid, Ganguly, Gambhir up for grabs (cricketnext.in.com)
• MI retains key players (thehindu.com)
• Rajasthan retain Warne and Watson (espncricinfo.com)

Ashes series - Tame end to Brisbane test match

The First Test of the Ashes ended in a tame draw but not before a clear message was sent to the host team about its inability to take twenty wickets. They were helped by the bowling of Siddle on the first day of the test but in the second innings on the last two days of a test match that had a bit of rough, they drew a blank (The only wicket being taken by a part-time bowler). Australia would have given their everything to have a bowler who has half the ability of a Shane Warne or Glenn Mcgrath in their playing eleven but the truth is that they dont make such bowlers any more. Agreed that the wicket was not helping the bowlers in a big way - there was no innovation by the captain also in these circumstances. Ponting realized that he could not get wickets like the old ages and went back to the traditional approach followed by hundreds of captains in the game.

Aside Siddle's bowling display, Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin stood out in this test match with a rearguard display without which this test would have surely gone the English way. The Oz team management must be worried about the manner Clarke gets pinged on the helmet regularly these days. North will get a century in one of the subsequent test matches but that will not be enough. Shane Watson and Simon Katich are the ones who have been consistent in the days where the performance (and subsequently the ICC rankings) of the team has gone down - they were a bit inconsistent in this test match however. Overall, the Aussie batting does not give a comfort feel to their supporters and there is always an impression that the innings closure is just one dismissal away to start. The bowlers need to put up a better display in the next test matches if the Australian team harbors any hope of regaining the Ashes. Mitchell Johnson is on a downward spiral and a rest will probably give him a new dose of inspiration. Doherty tried his best but that was nowhere near the performance that could get even a couple of wickets, forget running through the innings. The fielding was also below-par, indicating that there were more issues for the think-tank to look at. With a strong opposition attack, the curators might be thinking of providing a pitch that suits a run-feast - this might be again a ploy that will backfire on the Aussies.

England made up for their first innings display very quickly with their bowling display. The H2 (Hussey-Haddin) partnership revived the hopes of the home team but the English closed the innings once they got through the partnership. Then came the memorable partnerships with the bat - Strauss must be cursing himself for having got out. If he had not succumbed to the wide ball of the occasional bowler, the scorecard could have very well read 517 for no loss. Alistair Cook and Trott made sure that the English domination went on for another 2 sessions on the last day. That was the extent of the domination caused by the English batsmen in the second innings. This batting display must have given the ex-English players (commentators like Nasser Hussain, David Gower, Ian Botham) a sense of revenge for the treatment they received from a certain Steve Waugh in the late 80s and early 90s. The bowlers did a fair job in the match but need to continue the same display if the team wants to have a favorable result in the next test. Swann was assaulted by Hussey in the first innings but very soon, the bowler managed to settle down his nerves. Even though he did not get the success he is usuallly associated with, he will be a bigger threat to the Aussies as the series progresses.

The series is 0-0 after one test match. My previous prediction still stands - the English are 55-45 ahead of their rivals.

Related articles

• Aussies consider bowling changes (news.bbc.co.uk)
• The Ashes 2010: England head to Adelaide with psychological ascendancy | Vic Marks (guardian.co.uk)
• James Lawton: Psychological victory is England's as Strauss and Cook tear into Johnson (independent.co.uk)

IPL for India - boon or bane

Image by teemus via Flickr

While much has been written about IPL and its financial achievements, the jury is still not out on the benefits that the IPL will bring to the Indian cricket.

Of course, it was started to nurture new talent but that was three years ago. Nobody seems to be talking about this any more now. All talk revolves around the amount of money (more importantly profits) that the franchisees will or are supposed to make.

But, as one has been seeing over the last 3 seasons, the IPL is beneficial to India's rivals. How? In many ways:

• It used to be very difficult for competing teams to get advantage of the Indian sub-continent. This was one of the reasons why India ran up huge wins over teams like England, New Zealand in the 90's under the captaincy of Azharuddin. But, now the Last Frontier has been breached. One can see the youngsters of all teams (especially teams like Australia, South Africa - the main rivals for India's No.1 slot) play for various IPLsides. This is invaluable experience that they are picking up - you might start realizing the value that the Boards are seeing in the IPL (of course, other than their share of money).
• The captains of teams (Sangakkara, Gayle, Collingwood) are able to pick up tricks of the trade from veterans like Sourav Ganguly (the best Indian captain in the new age), Shane Warne (the best captain Australia never had), Anil Kumble & Adam Gilchrist. The use of slow bowlers to open the bowling, the field-changes are definitely of great help to the captains at the T20 World Cup.
• Of course, one cannot ignore the financial aspect (especially if it pertains to IPL, right?). The Caribbean team of 1980s were so successful that the only way forward seemed to be down. And that is what happened - the advent of sports like basketball in the neighboring US meant that the youngsters were attracted to the lure of these sports. The same happened when Adam Sanford started T20 cricket - but, thanks to his financial problems, he is cooling his heels behind bars as we read this article. The IPL has just taken the concept further and made it lucrative for Windies youngsters. Similarly, the players of Black Caps have been impacted by low salaries for few years now - again, IPL comes to the rescue here. No wonder, the Board is happy to allow their players ply their wares in IPL.

Obviously, the money that is generated from the IPL can be put to good use by having dedicated coaching (physical, cricketing, mental conditioning) facilities, great stadia around the country, helping retired players of domestic cricket,  nurture young talent so that a career option can be thought of, improving the standard of pitches of all centers, etc. But, obviously, none of this is planned so far.

Will the BCCI do this? What is your opinion?

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Batsman to watch out in IPL3 is Yusuf Pathan

Zaheer Khan said that bowlers will play a big role in IPL3. That might be his thought before the tournament which could be true during this tournament.

One man who will play a huge role in this version of the tournament would be Yusuf Pathan, considering his recent form.

He was the leading player in the first version of IPL, scoring 435 runs at a strike-rate of 179. The previous version was not so productive but still Yusuf was the 2nd highest scorer for his team with a strike-rate of 133.

In the last one month, the scores he has come up with include:

• Duleep Trophy final - a double-century that helped West Zone defeat South Zone - 19 fours and 10 sixes - his last first-class match after scoring 108 (off 76 balls) containing 12 fours and 5 sixes
• Vijay Hazare league match - a century of 40 balls for Baroda - 8 fours and 10 sixes
• Deodhar Trophy final - 80 off just 39 balls - 3 fours and 9 sixes

Yusuf played an effective, if minor role in the legend Sachin Tendulkar's double-century  - MS Dhoni was happy that Yusuf had a quick-fire 81 run partnership with SRT - MSD knew that this knock would have taught Yusuf a lot more than what he had learnt in his cricketing career so far.

The Indian team needs Yusuf to fire - the need has become desperate now. Gone are the days when Dhoni used to blast attacks - the team needs a strong No.7 who does what MSD used to do earlier. This role should be occupied by Yusuf Pathan.

His drop earlier from the ODI squad has made him hungry and determined to score big runs. He has always enjoyed playing under the leadership of Shane Warne - one will see the big runs once again this IPL. Let us hope this happens as per my plan, so that the Indian team gets a striker for the T20 World Cup.

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Countdown starts for IPL3

Image via Wikipedia

IPL3 is all set to start and the countdown has begun already. Reviews of the various franchise teams are on TV and all websites. Lalit Modi is busy as ever, twittering away to glory. Players from all countries are likely to join this version (though the high-profile Aussies will most likely stay away).

Shane Warne, Damien Martyn are already in town - finalizing their teams while Greame Smith is on his way (with his other team-mates).

The Caribbeans are finishing the ODI series against Zimbabwe before they board the flights to India - in fact, some of the players like Bravo, DR Smith are playing T20 in Oz right now.

The Indians must have been happy with the free time they have received, recuperating from injuries (Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan) while some played the Salil Ankola Benefit match. The domestic series (Deodhar Trophy) is being played out - finishing off in the next few days.

The Kiwis will wrap up their ODI series against Aussies at home before landing in India - the IPL is definitely one of the reasons the players feel safe (financially).

The English side is getting into test-mode against Bangladesh very soon - the ODI/T20 specialists thus are available to come over - Owais Shah, Bopara, Flintoff being few of them.

Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will miss out - probably one or two of the players from the latter 2 countries will play a match.

The selectors from the teams will be eyeing the IPL for new talent that might emerge out of nowhere. The captains must be hoping that their players get good practice at the same time praying for the absence of injuries.

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Does Australia need the series against West Indies

Shane Warne commented that the Two-tier system is crucial to save test matches - after the first test between Australia and West Indies at Brisbane.

I love Test cricket, but I think it is has got to the stage where there are some things that need to be addressed.

I reckon we need a two-tier system for Test cricket with a grand final for the top two sides in a neutral venue in a one-off Test.

So how is the top five decided? The ICC rankings would get credibility as the system that determines which tier each country goes to.

The other advantage of a two-tier system is Test captains will need to play to win, to protect their spot in the top tier, which will surely result in more entertaining cricket.

This is something very similar to what was mentioned on this blog not so long ago. I couldn't agree more.