IPL so far.......

Sorry I couldn't blog for a little while as I was a little too busy (watching IPL). But anyway here is the analysis of IPL season 2 till now.

DAY 1 - 18th April - The day of the underdogs

The day started amazingly well as Mumbai and Chennai faced off but it ended with a terrible result. Tendulkar smashed an amazing half century and Mumbaiker Nayar came up with a outstanding cameo that took Mumbai to a more than respectable total. In reply Chennai fell short by 19 runs and I was left to wonder if this was indication for things to come.

The second match was much better as it involved Bangalore and Rajastan and it was Bangalore that came out on top. Bangalore rode on a valiant half century by Dravid (who said he was a test layer??) and then came up with a brilliant show on the field. Kumble picked up 5 wickets and recorded the best economy (another test player shining). In reply the team that replaced Kaif with Shilpa Shetty made the lowest score in IPL history.

Surely the opening day was the day of the underdogs or rather the day of so called test players.

DAY 2 - 19th April - An average day

The first match was an over reduced match between Punjab and Delhi. Delhi won hands down. Sehwag blitzed to make his team win by 10 wickets and Vettori struck at crucial times to reduce Punjab to a meagre total.

The second match was amazing as last years last placed Deccan and Kolkata fought. Kolkata was anything but a team and Shah Rukh was left to wonder when the nightmare will end. Deccan looked like a different outfit from last year. Fidel Edwards bowled a fiery spell and R.P. Singh picked up few wickets. The fielding was awesome as Gibbs and Rohit Sharma both took amazing cathes and Rohit affected an amazing runout. This team is probably a title contender this year.

DAY 3 - 20th April - Day of CSK

Chennai got their first win of the season and Bangalore the first loss. Chennai got a off to a flying start with Hayden on fire. Partiv and Hayden had a record first wicket partnership. After having scored an imposing target Bangalore skittled out for 87 as Morkel, Flintoff, Muralitharan , Gony and Balaji finished the Royal Challengers. Not much of a royal challenge for the boy with Midas touch.

DAY 4 - 21st April - Rain Rain go away.

A day ruined by rain. Yesterday the first match got reduced between Kolkata and Punjab. Kolkata won the match by Duckworth and Lewis method due to the West Indian skipper. The match was anything but interesting. The only good part was Ganguly picking two wickets in his first two overs for five runs.

Rajastan versus Mumbai was a match I really wanted to see. Imagine Tendulkar versus Warne and Warne hit for a six. But unfortunately it was washed out and the points shared.

Thats all for now folks. Will continue to update from now on.

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"Will the Real Captain Stand Up?"

You got it wrong Mr.Buchanan. Mr. John Buchanan, I think you are right now crazy (This is about Buchanan's new theory) . Four captains in one format of the game??????!!!!!!! That's just plain stupidity. It's hard enough having a different captain for ODI's and Tests, but four in just the same format is hard to imagine.

A captain holds the team together. He is the most important player who is supposed to make the cogs of the team to mesh together. He is too be a mentor to youngsters and a warrior in the field. Youngsters should confide in him with confidence while other players should respect his judgment and decisions. The captain leads the team and he must lead from the front. The skipper is definitely more important than the coach or manager. Yes more important.
At the end of the day it must be the captain who decides and not the coach.

Each captain will have his own ideas and plans to try out. So whose plans would be taken up for a match? All the captains'? or Buchanan's?

I totally agree with Glenn Mc.Grath, "I am not sure why he (Buchanan) has come up with this idea. I have played under him for a long time and he had a lot of such theories, maybe this is another. I think what he meant was that there should be one captain while other players should help him in decision making," said the 39-year-old Australian. McGrath said that being a good captain was a tough job and his success depends on the team. "I feel senior players in the team should know their role and come forward and help the captain in decision making. But at the end of the day their should be one leader on the field and he should be accountable for all the decisions," he said. And how right he is.

Shane Warne couldn't get along with the former Aussie coach for anything. He called his ideas crazy, but now only do I find the truth of Mr.Buchanan.

Why does Ganguly always have such a hard time with the Aussies?

But what choices for skippers of the Kolkata Knight Riders!!!
Chris Gayles is one of Buchanan's captain. I and probably the whole world finds Gayle's captaining weird and senseless much like the Australian's theory. I find him misfit to be the captain of the West Indies team.

The next in line is Brendon McCullum. He is not even an international captain and Buchanan wants him as captain. 'Bash' (McCullum), may be captaincy material, but I think not.

Brad Hodge is next. Hodge? That doesn't make sense as Hodge is player and probably nothing else.

And last in the list is the Prince. He is the rightful captain with experience and natural flair. But will he be a captain? We must only ask Buchanan.

And now Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla will lead the Kolkata Knight Riders in their first practice match in South Africa. Isn't this a little too much??

Sunny was probably right in critizing such a stupid theory. But as Shah Rukh Khan replied,"If some people have problems with it, they should buy a team and run it the way they want.” So anyone willing to lend me some money, I need to buy this team before cricket is spoilt with child's play and illogical theories.

As the proverb goes, 'Too many Chefs spoil the broth'.

And I conclude asking, "Will the Real Captain Stand up?"

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