Posts Tagged ‘IPL 2010’

Will Sachin Tendulkar play? | IPL 2010 Final Preview

Indian Premier League Twenty20 Championship | Match: Final – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Mumbai Indian (MI) | Date: Sunday, 25th April 2010 | Venue: D.Y. Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai | Watch the Live Cricket Streaming of the IPL 2010 final from 8:05 pm on Youtube. Or you can watch the live telecast on Set Max.

Amidst non-stop and exciting off-field action, the most talked about Twenty20 tournament of the world – the IPL 2010 comes to a close today later tonight as as far as the cricket part of it is concerned. Mumbai Indians will take on the Chennai Super Kings to decide who gets the new IPL crown.

But the big question being asked for the last few days is: Will Sachin Tendulkar Play?

Tendulkar damaged the webbing of his hand while trying to complete a catch in the semi-final against RCB. He had to take multiple stitches and was initially to grip the bat.

However since then, the Mumbai Indians have kept further news on Sachin Tendulkar’s playing or not playing the IPL final a tightly guarded secret. Even as we are only less than 200 minutes remain for the game to begin, we still don’t know whether Sachin will play or not.

In such scenarios, I have always used the betting sites to provide me with a clue. With so much money riding on a cricket match, they always seem to be much better informed than the rest of the world.

All the leading online betting websites – Will Hill, Ladbrokes, Bet 365 and Betfair predicted the outcomes of the two semi-final correctly. So what do they think of the chances of Sachin Tendulkar playing tonight?

On William Hill, the odds being offered are ‘even’ for a CSK but only 80 paise for a Mumbai victory. The odds on Bet365 are exactly the same. Ladbrokes goes a step further and is offering an odd of 11/10 on CSK while only 4/6 on Mumbai.

In Tendulkar’s absence the odds would change dramatically and the favourite would get swapped. So it is clear that as of now, when the match is to start in about 2 hours from now, they all think that Sachin Tendulkar is going to play.

Further, Sachin Tendulkar is not a part of the India team for the Twenty20 World Cup in West Indies so even if the injury gets a bit aggravated, he can take the risk. Of course, if the risk is too grave, that may change the situation.

On the other side of the fence, CSK captain MS Dhoni might be toying with the idea of dropping Matthew Hayden from the XI tonight. Hayden has been a complete failure this time; in the semi-final he was dropped twice before he was finally dismissed, and all this happened within a space of 9 balls. So it may not be a bad idea to leave the Aussie strongman out.

Another interesting thing to watch out for tonight would be the toss. Though batting first has been the preferred decision of most captains after winning the toss, I suspect they might be tempted to reverse this decision after what they have witnessed in the 2nd semi-final and in the 3rd place play-off yesterday.

Picture of Harbhajan Singh hugging and lifting Nita Ambani!!

Harbhajan Singh lifts up Nita Ambani after the semi-final win

Trust Harbhajan Singh to pull off the stunt of the IPL!

A charged up Bhajji after the victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 1st Semi-Final of the IPL 2010 not just gave Nita Ambani a big bear hug, but went up a step further and lifted Mrs. Mukesh Ambani high up off the ground.

Even as Mrs. Ambani split into a huge laughter, Harsha Bhogle was completely lost for words! This definitely was the ‘Kodak Moment of IPL 2010′.

Like that picture? Click here to see the video.

Saurav Ganguly: The World’s Most Scrutinized Batsman??

Over the last couple of weeks I have read at least 3 different newspaper columns by various cricket experts including Ravi Shastri enlightening me about the number of dot balls that Saurav Ganguly has played in the IPL 2010.

Barely a few minutes back, Michael Holding commentating on Set Max in the ongoing Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals match reminded me of the fact even as Saurav Ganguly caressed a second four into the off-side boundary in the very first over.

Michael Holding tells me that at 47% Ganguly has the second highest dot ball percentage amongst all openers in this year’s IPL championship.

( ….yet another boundary preceded by a couple of dot balls..that is 66.67% dot balls…)

If Holding would have added that with 3 half centuries, 47 hits to the fence and 11 over it and a total of 389 runs, Saurav Ganguly is the 7th highest scorer in the IPL 2010, I might have been tempted to forgive him. But he ain’t done no such thing….

Compare this: Ganguly has a strike rate of 114.07  thus far whereas Jacques Kallis has an average which is slightly better at 119.64. Yet, have you heard of any criticisim of Kallis anywhere?

All this is not too surprising if you have been avidly following Ganguly’s career and the scrutiny he has faced throughout.

No one, including Ganguly himself would ever make a case of the man being the world’s soundest batsman. But he has defied critics continuously, and raised the bar, whenever the going has been tough. Two prime examples immediately come to mind….

On that famous tour down under when India crashed into Steve Waugh’s farewell party, it was Ganguly who set the tone with a resolute 144 in the 1st Test after his more cherished, more technically sound colleagues had been dismissed cheaply.

Had Ganguly, and alongwith him India, caved in that morning, the rest of the series would likely have taken a most different route from thereon.

The other less famous but what I consider a greater example was the South Africa tour where Ganguly was summoned midway when each and every Indian had proved to be a miserable failure till our man arrived.

Let me help you recollect some amazing statistics:

Ganguly was not a part of the ODI series and this is what happened – the first match was abandoned, India lost the 2nd One Day by 157 runs, the 3rd one by 107 runs, the 4th one by 80 runs and the last one by 9 wickets! Imagine what carnage must have taken place.

Forget their overall totals, not a single Indian batsman figured in the list of the top 5 batsmen for the series. In all, just 2 half centuries were scored by Indian batsmen in a five match ODI series.

Sachin Tendulkar scored a total of 93 runs in his 4 innings.

Then Ganguly was called at the beginning of the Test series.

First India won the pre-test series warm-up match thanks to Saurav. What happened next was bigger.

India, which had been battered and bruised and annihilated 4-0 in the ODI series came back to surprise South Africa and win the 1st Test Match at Johannesburg - India’s first ever Test Victory in South Africa!

Ganguly scored a half-century and was the highest scorer for India in the 1st innings and his brief cameo in the 2nd innings was the 2nd best effort from any Indian.

Overall, Saurav Ganguly finished as the highest scorer for India in that series and was overall the 3rd highest scorer, and overall had the 2nd best average in the Test series. That India couldn’t wrap up the Test series and actually lost tells you how badly the more celebrated Indian batsmen fared in the tough South African conditions.

This was a small couplet I had written during that series on my man:

Even during this IPL he was being dismissed as ‘finished’ when he failed in the first couple of matches. Look at the comeback he has made.

Did you notice that even while showering all the accolades on Ganguly and making a strong case for the Prince of Kolkata I have not even talked about the areas where Ganguly is strongest?

The above is a tale of his exploits in IPL and Tests, areas where his performance has been the ‘weakest’. Now add to this his exploits in the One Day International arena and his super achievements as the captain of India, and you will get a proper perspective on this much scrutinized player.

Saurav Ganguly finished his cricket career as one of the world’s most successful ODI batsmen of all time. For a number of years, he was far ahead of his opening partner Sachin Tendulkar in terms of number and statistics.

He is still India’s most successful captain ever.

What more do you want?

 ****

Post Script: Did you notice Dada’s fielding in this IPL? 2 Karbon Kamaals (sic) for a man pushing 40… korbo, lorbo, jitbo re

IPL Match Preview: Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings

IPL 2010 | Match: Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings | Date: Today, 15th April 2010 | Ground: Chepauk, Chennai – Click here  for >> a brief profile of the Chepauk

Once upon a time the Daredevils from Delhi were in a very, very strong position. A 3rd consecutive IPL semi-final spot looked a sure certainty for Gambhir’s men, but look at how badly they have slipped since.

Three consecutive defeats have set the Delhi team back; mindless run outs, and thoughtless captaincy and planning have now put an unnecessary question mark on their place in the semi-final.

Delhi looks like a team which depends on individual brilliance more than team effort. Whether it is Sehwag or Gambhir or Collingwood or Warner or Mishra, they have rode on the performances of one or two players.

Against the Knight Riders, Delhi had lost 3 quick wickets for less than 20 runs but were bailed out by a Warner hundred. On other occasions it has either been a brilliant Sehwag innnings or a Collingwood revival that has seen them through.

What they are missing and badly need is a good strategy, a defined set of tactics with which they need to take on the field.

That’s what has helped the Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra S Dhoni to bounce back into the championship. Hayden’s mongoose may not have shone as brightly as expected, but they were able to miraculously transform a Murali Vijay into a super successful dasher at the top. So much so that Krish Srikkanth must now be ruing the fact that he didn’t select Vijay into the India team for the T20 World Cup.

Dhoni’s men enter tonight’s game with two clear advantages. One, they are the team in form and two, they have the crucial home advantage.

In their last home game, CSK gave their fans a wonderful Tamil New Year gift crushing KKR that has all but sent the Kolkata team out of the IPL 3. I suspect tonight it will be Delhi that will reach another step closer to an exit.

One man though can make all the difference. Wisden has yet again named Virender Sehwag as the Leading Cricketer of the World for 2009. If that man gets going, Gambhir’s lack of plan or Dhoni’s well laid out plans may hardly matter…