IPL10 - the awards go to...

After the completion of the IPL10 season, here are the awards we have chosen to award to the respective players. Have a look & feel free to comment!

1. Dad-Of-the-IPL - MS Dhoni. He was the captain of the Dads Army. Not only that,  if the videos were to be seen right after the final got over, Dhoni was seen playing with his daughter, leaving his team to relish the title win!
2. Bowler-Of-the-Tournament - All Leg-spinners. Indian or foreign, there were a large number of leg spinners in the tourney. Even Ashwin started off bowling leg-spin in many matches!
3. Catch-Of-the-Tournament - AB De Viliers Spiderman catch has to be it! Nothing other.
4. ABD-catch-of-the-tournament - Trent Boult came trumps with his catch to dismiss Virat Kohli!
5. Worst-team-of-the-tournament - RCB Back-room team, who picked the team that flops so badly despite containing the best two players in the world!Either the ex-players did well ( e.g. Gayle) or the players from the region did well (e.g. KL Rahul).But, not RCB. God knows if they will reach the last four in the next few years!
6. Jasprit-Bumrah-of-the-IPL - Basil Thampi, for his good showing and precise yorkers! He has to be given more chances to show his true mettle
7. Budding-keepers-of-the-IPL - Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant shone in the IPL, giving themselves a chance to target the national slot. Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel are still around while Naman Ojha was not to be seen!
8. Comeback-team-of-IPL - Punjab under Ashwin did well but could not go all the way!
9. Gentleman-of-IPL - Kane Williamson was a great guy leading SRH to the finals with his genteel nature & proactive captaincy. Too bad his team ran into Daddy's boys!
10. Power-hitter-of-IPL - Ambati Rayudu seemed to have developed new muscles this year to power his way through the opposition. Was it hyderabad Biriyani or Chennai Sambar? He only knows!
11. Confusion-in-IPL - Why Rohit Sharma did not open regularly was a question mark! Even when his team was not performing!
12. Irritating-opener-of-IPL - Sunil Narine for his terrific shows at the top of the order!
13. Youngsters-of-IPL - Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Prasidh Krishna, Shubnam Gill, Deepak Chahar impressed with their games & temperament. Worth looking for!
14. Flop-show-of-IPL - Glenn Maxwell, D'arcy Short - For all their hype, their performances were nothing to write about!
15. Openers-of-IPL - KL Rahul & Chris Gayle. Brought Punjab back from wild & cheer into Preity's eyes. Great chemistry in the combination!

Please note that this is is only for fun and not to be taken seriously. Do take it in the right spirit and share your thoughts please!!

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part II

Following up on the earlier post, I decided to look up the number of players blooded by India in the last four years who can potentially step up to the test arena (numbers looked up are from 2007 Jan)

• Shikhar Dhawan is the only other opener who has played in ODIs (apart from the usual suspects - Sehwag, Gambhir, Murali Vijay). He captained India in the recent Emerging Series tournament, performing decently. Though he was given ample chances in the Windies ODI, Dhawan did not justify his selection, often falling early to the quicks. Considering the record so far, it does not look like Dhawan's career will go anywhere until he shows a brilliant knock somewhere.
• In the middle-order department, again the familiar names of Yuvraj, Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Badrinath appear. Those who have only played ODIs so far include Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ravinder Jadeja (can one call him as an all-rounder - not likely), Manoj Tiwary. Uthappa does not seem to be in the contention for any slot in the ODIs, forget test matches. Similarly, Jadeja has utilized all the opportunities he has given without cementing his place in the playing eleven - he is in a direct fight with Yusuf Pathan for the all-rounder slot (even though both of them are not present in the current squad chosen). Pathan has the potential to be a big game-changer for India and it might be a good gamble to bring him in the squad. Just imagine the impact he can make to the opposition if he gets his eye in. For a player who hit the Proteans for a century in their own backyard, he should be considered seriously.
• Ashwin is the only spinner who has not played test matches so far. Ex-players like Sanjay Manjrekar and Ajit Wadekar suggest that he should be tried out as soon as possible in the test arena, avoiding the (short-form specialist) label that everyone has in mind. Iqbal Abdulla did a good job in the Emerging Tournament - will he be given the next chance to make an impact? A spot in the tour-game against visiting West Indies will be worthwhile. Rahul Sharma and Bhargav Bhatt are the others to keep an eye on.
• The pace bowling department sees the usual names once again. The ones who have been given a chance in the ODIs are Asok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhishek Nayyar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manpreet Gony, Joginder Sharma, Pankaj Singh. A long list of bowlers on display where only Vinay Kumar is in the current squad. Vinay with his variations and ability to move the ball will help him in England ODIs. Yadav with his pace will be observed for a longer period just like Varun Aaron who has been selected as Ishant's replacement. Dinda played in Zimbabwe but could not make any impact with the ball. Nayyar was in the limelight as the Mumbai all-rounder but once again his performances did not match the hype. Will we see the younger bowlers like Tyagi, Gony and Pankaj Singh once again? Obviously they are not in the contention now but one never knows in the future how they will turn out to be.
• Naman Ojha is the only other wicket-keeper who has played for India in the ODIs. His exploits as an opener for Rajasthan Royals ensured that he was given an opportunity - obviously he has not exploited it to make a name for himself. 

Will the selectors try out any other youngster in the forthcoming series? Let us see.