What comebacks from KKR!!!
From 0/2 to 161/4 and then down and out in the chase when Gilchrist and Gibbs were going great and the score read 99/1 in only 11 overs to come back and steal a victory. Way to go Kolkata!
All in all, SRK, SG and LM must all be happy men tonight. SRK and SG got a much needed win while for Modi it was a perfect start to IPL: this is what the T20 fan is looking for – lots of ups and downs to keep him/her enthralled through the 40 overs.
Match Summary: Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders
The man who actually turned it around for the Knights was Murali Karthik. It was all going the Hyderabadi’s way when Karthik came in, and then the turnaround began. Kudos also to Ganguly for keeping his cool, and making the perfect bowling changes.
Next match in IPL 2010: Mumbai vs Rajasthan | Venue: D.Y. Patil Stadium, Mumbai | Watch the Live Telecast of the Match on Set Max from 3:00 pm IST on 13th March on Set Max. Click Here for >> Complete Set Max Live Telecast Schedule of IPL 2010
>> Indian Premier League: IPL 2010
- IPL 2010 Opener: Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders
- Match Day and Date: Friday, 12th of March 2010
- Venue: Dr. D.Y. Patil Stadium, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
- Watch the Live Telecast of the match on Set Max from 8:00 pm India Time (2:30 pm GMT/UTC)
IPL 2009 Champions Deccan Chargers are slated to take on last year’s bottom ranker and the IPL’s most talked about team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the opening match of IPL 2010 later this evening, after the glitzy opening ceremony.
Unlike on the previous occasions, the Knight Riders have had a much quiter prelude to this IPL: team owner and Bollywood Star Shahrukh Khan seems to have deliberately toned down things after the team faced much flak for its performances on the cricket field. Other factors have helped: John Buchanan has been replaced by Dav Whatmore as the coach; unlike his predecessor, Whatmore seems to be quite happy working with his boys on cricket and is not too keen on giving out sound-bytes to the media.
The Kolkata team looks very, very keen to shed its image of the past: towards this end, they have also given up on their much glitzier ‘black and gold’ colours – this year, the men from Kolkata will take on the field in their new ‘purple’ jerseys.
On the other hand, the team from Hyderabad has always been one of the quietest one in the IPL. When they changed their captain early on in IPL 2008, it was done without raising much murmur and media speculations unlike what happened when Vijay Mallya and the rest of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team got into the limelight for the wrong reasons when Dravid was removed from the captain’s post.
Deccan Chargers began their IPL campaign horribly, finishing at the bottom of the table in the IPL 2008. But what a turnaround it was for the men in the next tournament in South Africa!
Probably SRK has taken a cue from the Chargers this time round, and decided to quiten up the off-field affairs and focus on cricket. That’s been a sensible call, and things can only improve from last time.
You may find it odd but I would think the Kolkata Knight Riders would be the definite favourites entering this match, and I have good reasons for that:
- The DC captain Adam Gilchrist has been completely out of live cricket action for a long time now. It takes a while for the best of cricketers to get back into groove. With 14 matches to play, he has time to do that, but today is another affair.
- Herschelle Gibbs, another important cog in the Hyderabad wheel has been completely out of sorts in the recent past. Plus his past performances in the IPL are not much to talk about anyways.
- Last year’s highest wicket taker, R.P. Singh too has not seen much cricket action of late. Bowlers take longer than batsmen to warm-up.
- Kolkata Knight Riders have amidst their ranks a man called David Hussey. He has over 2000 T20 runs to his credit at an astounding average of 139.
- Hodge is the world’s leading run scorer in T20 cricket.
- John Buchanan is not in India.
I have a feeling that the SRK-Dada combine will hit a ‘purple’ patch this year. What do you think?
The cricket world’s biggest masala event , the IPL, gets underway tomorrow at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on the outskirts of Mumbai. The Indian Premier League has caught the attention of the masses in its two past editions – that it has become the world’s 6th biggest sporting event in terms of turnover in a matter of two years speaks volumes about the popularity of the tournament. Now the 3rd edition – the IPL 2010 is all set to begin tomorrow with what should be a dazzling opening ceremony.
IPL 2010: Saurav Ganguly in the Kolkata Knight Riders' New Purple Jersey
Big international stars including Lionel Richie and Ali Campbell are set to perform for the opening ceremony of the IPL. Besides these two, you will also see Abba Revival and Bollywood Star Deepika Padukone. Some of the names have been kept under wraps, so you might as well be surprised with some bigger celebrity names when you see the live telecast of the ceremony tomorrow evening. In India, the TV Channel Set Max will beam the live telecast of the IPL 2010 Opening Ceremony. International audience can catch the live telecast of the ceremony on Google’s popular videos site, Youtube.
Yes, after all the fireworks there will be cricket too! After the opening ceremony, IPL 2009 Champions Deccan Chargers will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening encounter of IPL 2010. The Kolkata team which has had a harrowing time in the IPL so far have decided to shed their ‘gold and black’ colours, and will be seen in purple jerseys tomorrow. Another thing, this time around, they will be playing with 1 captain only, and a much quieter coach. Here’s wishing Shahrukh Khan better luck this time round.
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A reader on this blog called Lalit Modi the biggest joker around in the world of cricket only yesterday. It took the Pakistan Cricket Board less than 24 hours to prove him wrong. The PCB displaced the IPL Commissioner from the top perch on the jokers list today – this is a brief list of what all the PCB announced today:
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Mohammad Yousuf: Banned for Life, cannot play cricket for Pakistan in any format
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Younis Khan: ditto (as above)
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Rana Naved-ul-Hasan: 1 year ban
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Shoaib Malik: 1 year ban
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Shahid Afridi: To pay a fine of Rs.30 Lakhs + He has been put on probation for a period of 6 months during which he will be strictly monitored (
)
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Umar Akmal: Similar fine
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Kamran Akmal: Similar fine
Funnily, the PCB has gone on to insist that they have stopped short of handing out a ‘life ban’ to Yousuf and Khan – what that means is that the two veterans cannot play for Pakistan but they are free to play country cricket and T20 tournaments like IPL – so effectively, their personal careers and financial futures have not been threatened; instead it is the Pakistan national cricket team which will suffer immediately with these multiple simultaneous expulsions.
That the Pakistani cricketers are the rowdiest lot in the game is a well known fact, but a cricket board doesn’t peril the future of its own team like this. Chances are you will see some roll-back on these decisions pretty soon – the T20 World Cup is round the corner, and Pakistan happen to be the World Champions.
