R.C.B vs D.C - What 13 deliveries can do ?

Shock,dismay,disbelief are some of the words that come to mind looking back at RCB's game last night. We batted like our back sides were on fire. Kallis answered his critics of just playing a run a ball innings by pacing his innings till he joined hands with Kohli to rip apart the chargers! Wonderful to watch them play!

RCB adding 93 runs in the last six overs, was a comforting factor for the large turnout! You would have to say we played better cricket for most of the game as the first six overs of the deccan innings also belonged to us! Their run rate was below 6. Then you get the dangerous Gilchrist and in form Rohit Sharma out in quick time, you feel its all over now for the chargers! Thats until, R.C.B discovered what Suman can do! Much like what D.C discovered what Pandey can do in the last year clash!

All said and done...D.C were deserving winners. Held on to their nerves till the end. Teams that play with the attitude of nothing to lose always triumph!

A couple of things to be noted:

1. I think R.C.B bowlers were told that they would be jailed if they bowled a yorker! I don't remember a single attempt to bowl one! Not just in this match, but throughout the tournament. Very strange and frustrating to see length deliveries at the death overs!

2. You look at the scorecard and you will barely notice the fact that between Uthappa, Pandey and Ross Taylor, they have scored just 4 runs, but most importantly have consumed 13 deliveries!!!

That is a god damn crime if there was any. You have three pure strikers of the cricketing ball and all they manage is a strike rate of 30!!!!!! Even if u take a run a ball situation, you are left with 9 deliveries, thats a lot of deliveries to get runs of in T-20!!

Thats one of the perils of batting first! You just don't know how much is good enough to defend! I

Bottom Line

It's harsh on R.C.B but they should have made better use of those 9 deliveries to get more on the board!

M.I and R.C.B: Two most intelligent teams.

Just past the halfway mark in the IPL and the tournament has started to heat up!....Mumbai Indians have already booked their spot in the Semi Finals while RCB and DD look to follow soon.

If you analyze the performance of each of the teams in the IPL, one will know that its the domestic players who have made the difference in the teams in the top four and bottom four. Teams at the top (M.I,RCB,DD) have tasted success with their domestic crop doing so well in every match while the bottom four have players who boast of big international names and domestic players playing in patches.

Mumbai Indians

Lead by the master Sachin up front who is giving Kallis a good chase for the orange cap, has been the pillar for their team's success. So much about his abilities as a batsmen, that his captaincy has been forgotten. It takes a brave captain to send Tiwary and Rayudu ahead of Bravo and Pollard! Especially when the team has spent big bucks on these guys!

The stats will aid his decision..while Tiwary and Rayudu average at 32 each...Bravo averages at 10.8 and Pollard at 14.3. Not to forget another 10 pointer who was once the most menacing opening batsmen : Jayasurya.

But even with Bravo and Pollard not performing to their standards with the bat, it's a win win for Sachin as these guys are excellent in two other areas that is so important in this format of the game! Bowling and Fielding! They have done quite well with the ball complementing Malinga to whom batsmen still do not have a clue!

Such is the balance in this side and i haven't even mentioned Harbhajan and Zaheer! Instrumental in their respective departments! Bhajji will take credit for batting as well.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

When people look at the stats for RCB, one might argue that if it wasn't for Kallis, we would not be in the Top 4. I would argue otherwise. No doubt that Kallis has stood fort upfront. Look closely at the matches that have been won, its been the domestic lot who have turned around the game. Robin has won the game for RCB in three occasions single handedly. Kohli set up the win against Kings Eleven the second time around. Pandey started the onslaught the first time around.

While averages might tell a story with Kallis at 93, the strike rates tell another with Robin consistently scoring @180! and Kohli @ 150! Thats what T-20 is all about, seizing the opportunities to turn around the game in one over!

How can one not mention Jumbo,who has led the team well and has one the best economy rates among the bowlers in the tournament. The two kumar's have done well justifying their selection for the India T-20 Squad. Both picking up three wickets in an over in different games! On first look, it may seem Kallis is a runaway hit but when you look closely, you will see that he has complimented the Uthappa's and Kohli's.

The Bottom Line

The IPL is here to stay! Teams that have got excited with big international names are struggling with their results. They have looked at short term goals. One would not blame them if they are looking to exit with a higher valuation with big names in their sides.

On the other hand, teams that have been consistent are the ones that have built a team over the past 3 years. RCB especially did not have the luxury of the so called T-20 Specialist! They worked hard to find the right combinations and now are set for long term goals.

Teams like Chennai barring the match against RR yesterday, have felt the brunt of over dependence on Foreign Players!

With two new teams joining the IPL next season, one must look to acquire the best domestic lot than big international names that are temporary

Will There Be A Mongoose Ball?

If anyone thinks cricket is a fair game, think again! Ever since ODI and T-20 was introduced, bowlers have borne the brunt. A youngster growing up in an academy in the 1990's could easily choose his focus area. But today, you must be a batsmen first! If not, you need to be an all rounder.

Rules have been made and remade and there is none that i can think of that has made a bowler smile. Lets analyze some of the rules in the short and shorter version of the game.

No Ball

Its a logical rule alright. Bowlers crossing the line when bowling a delivery are to be no-balled! He Needs to bowl that one again. But What about a batsmen?!! Why does he have the liberty to stand 2 foot outside the batting crease? He has the advantage early on to negate any swing that bowlers get on the kind of pitches the are being produced these days! Shouldn't they be told to stay put in the crease?

Free Hit

A No ball costs the bowler a run and an extra delivery anyway. With the advent of T-20, we saw a free hit being introduced! Common?!! What were the rule makers thinking? Where is the logic behind the rule? The last thing a batsmen requires is an assurance that he cant be given out!

Shorter Boundaries

Another nail in the coffin! In Subcontinent stadiums, you have small grounds anyway. With T-20, they decide to bring in the rope!....How many times have we seen the ball being tipped over the line! If it was in its normal position, that would have been a easy catch!

Mongoose Bat

It has power and brute force written all over it!! It was invented to make a bowler's life more miserable than it already is! A cricket ball being used must be standardized and all that, but bats can vary in their weight of wood, with the mongoose it redefines everything. With a normal bat, you see edges flying for sixes! With the mongoose, edges seem to go out of the ground!

Can the bowlers ever get a ball that has its dimensions changed?! Will they ever get a ball that holds its shine for a longer time, induces swing for a longer period! If mongoose can have different dimensions, then make the cricket ball the same way. Change its shape!

Umpiring Rules

A batsmen has the liberty to stand his ground if he thinks a catch was not taken cleanly. Umpires quickly refer that, but somehow they know that a bowler bowling at 140 Kph and hitting the pads is not out in an instant. So many times have we come across a situation where in an immediate replay on the big screen shows that he is plumb in front but there wont be a reversal! Batsmen have that insurance too!

With all these aspects in play, a bowler becomes so predictable! At the end of the day, he has just two meager weapons i.e a slower ball and a bouncer!(which again is a wide if it goes above the head). Why would anybody want to become a bowler growing up?! Moreover, they need to work more on their fitness than batsmen.

It is becoming a serious cause for concern with a bowlers cricketing life reduced! Seen the likes of Bond, Flintoff and Lee quitting test cricket to preserve their body for the shorter version only to be demoralized. Bond hasnt done anything in the IPL so far!

Players like Ishant, Sreeshanth and even Zaheer taking a hit in their rythm and the former losing pace dramatically.

Will The Rule Makers Do The Impossible?

Can they rewrite the rule books, so as to make it more unpredictable for the batsmen. Remove the wide clauses! A batsmen then will have to predict where the ball will be bowled! Why does he get to move around, play scoop shoots, hammer it dangerously back at the bowler! Gets a runner if he is injured! and a batsmen who is out comes on to "play again" Will an injured bowler ever get a replacement from another who has finished his quota of overs?

We need to rethink the rules of cricket as it is highly tilted in a batsmen's favor! Otherwise the mindset is just like what sehwag said " No matter what a bowler bowls, its there to be hit!"

Kallis: 264 Not Out

In cricket you will always find some players who give their 110% no matter what the format is. The list would include world class players like Tendulkar, Kumble, Dravid and joining the list is Jacques Kallis.

When he first joined RCB, a lot of individuals criticized the team management for selecting a test specialist and then went on to brand the side as a Test Team. Kallis has had to work his way through all that to reach where he has now. He looks so focused and unperturbed at the crease! Against KXI, he was so calm in the 18th over! Tells a things or two about how much experience can play a role in any format of the game.

One must credit Dravid, Kumble and Ray Jennings for the success of J.K. Firstly, Dravid for selecting Kallis in his squad. IPL 1 was forgettable but Kallis has played some good knocks that have been over shadowed by the constant loosing streak. Then came IPL 2 and a decision(Kumble & RJ) to send him opening changed his fortunes! To his and RCB's advantage, IPL went to South Africa. He knew the conditions and it was all his for the taking. Became the highest run getter for RCB and helped RCB reach the final.

Everyone is so caught up in his mesmerizing batting abilities that one has overlooked his bowling! Such a great asset to have, an opening batsmen who can bowl 4 good overs! Not many teams have that luxury!

A true Legend of the game and one of the best allrounders cricket has produced! Would dearly love to see him at the top of the batting charts at the end of the tournament. He simply deserves it!

RR have become RCB's Bunny!

The scorecard of the first match between RR and RCB in IPL 2009 read RCB 133/6 and in reply RR 58 all out! (Kumble 5-5)

The scorecard of the first match between RR and RCB in IPL 2010 reads RR 92 all out (Kumble 3-9 and a PK HATRIK!)and in reply RCB 93/0 with 9 overs to spare!

Safely say that RR have become RCB's bunny! Its one thing to lose but another to be humiliated! But whats even more surprising is that in the 2009 match, the line up had Smith, pathan and jadeja, rob quiney as well! Only pathan to feature in todays match and still they did better! Tells a thing or two about RR's Auction strategy!

As for today! They choked from ball No.1. RR batsmen had no clue, whether to attack, defend, no confidence in their approach. Credit must go the RCB camp! They had figured out the length to be bowling to someone like Pathan. He was stuck in his crease for ages.

Martyn and Lumb will surely want to forget their Debut in IPL! Warne will be clueless as to what to do next! 3 losses in as many matches and he is helpless as there is no one to replace Smith and Dimitri! Watson is not gonna show up till the last 10 days of the IPL. It wont even matter then!

As for RCB, they are looking ever so solid as a team and are marching forward in the tournament. They have become a force to reckon with! The only thing to be concerned is that fact that the likes of Morgan, Dravid and Boucher have barely spent time at the crease! As for now, ALL IZ WELL! Go RCB!

Are we really missing Ross?

The big question after the first match aginst KKR was exactly that. Are we missing the middle order punch that Ross Taylor has provided so often!

When KXI post 203, you start to wonder if we miss him more that ever! But Pandey and Uthhapa had more than made up for his absence! Now, anybody reading this is wondering how the hell have i missed out Kallis?! Well the truth be told, he is a CLASS APART! Incomparable & non replaceable!

Watched RCB-KXI match at home with my friends harish(CSK fan but wears RCB jersey!), Aditya(Die hard DC fan), Ashish(doesnt care as long as sixes are being hit), Varun(RCB all the way) and obvi me being the host and a die hard RCB fan. Had an awesome time(second half of the match!) and to top it off CSK played extremely well to ensure they showed the real side of KKR!

A day to cherish and remember! Two southern teams have shown way. The art is not to panic but to pace the innings! Steady start by both teams and blitzkrieg towards the end!

Next up RCB vs RR, a depleted RR(smith,dimitri and pathan out) i must say! Should be an easy one for us...but you never know in T-20!

IPL 3:

There was a lot of fanfare, excitement and anticipation surrounding the 3rd edition of the cash rich IPL(Some mockingly call it - Indian Paisa League). It was that time of the year again when you're sitting in a coffee shop with friends and one starts pitching for the city they support and best friends turn foes for 45 days!

Stats,Player popurality, past performance, current form are all popular weapons one starts using. One can go the extra mile and even abuse the colour of a team jersey! Happens if you are a chennai super kings fan! :)

None of that changed this season either. Im no different either! There i was, battling out with a CSK fan(one of my closest friends) about how Royal Challengers Bangalore will rise up again. When the dust settles, you just hope the team you have stood by will carry your war cries ahead!

T-20 has no doubt caught the attention of one and all and risen to extreme popularity. Influx of song and dance has been the theme throughout. But anyone will admit the opening ceremony for IPL 3 was a buzz kill. In my opinion there was nothing Indian about it! Not even with Deepika "dancing". Abba and Linoel Richie just about lost the little of whatever value was left for them! Not even Jaya Ho! could get the audience to stop cursing themselves about coming early to the stadium in hope to see "The Show"

What's more? It doesn't help when the head of the IPL makes a blunder of his speech..especially since the IPL was returning to India! Seriously, how difficult is to say DLF IPL Season 3?!! You wonder why we self proclaim it to be the biggest sporting extravaganza in the world! The least of what is a prerequisite to achieve it is a good host. Sameer has no clue about what he saying! Just about when he is settling down, he is caught between one of sidhu's endless sidhuism and producer shouting in his earphones. Sameer's expression : Priceless!

The excitement gets bigger as we near the first delivery! and what a delivery it is! Vaas removes Tiwary first ball and you wonder if KKR have already booked the same spot in the points table as season 2. Your sure of it when one more wicket falls in the same over and you would bet your life on it when the scorecard read 36-4 ! But uncertainty being the bloodline for T-20's popularity,rightly proved us wrong! An Angelo-Shah magic set up a fairytale comeback and a subsequent win for KKR. A much needed win for their fans,vindication for ganguly but most importantly for a man that surprisingly never showed up for the match! The management at Twitter sent out special postcards to SRK on the 12th!:)

As for the chargers! despite having their home ground shifted to Mumbai, their Dubious record of zero wins in their home matches continued! I believe they are applying for a ground on the moon next season!

3 days have gone by and we have already seen some special elements! A Yousuf thriller, RCB "back in form", Chennai being exposed like never before, Warne's magic wand starting to break, A lack lusture punjab and KKR winning two matches in a row!!!! wow!!! Now, Twitter is considering buying Google!! (Definite Sarcasm intended)

Quietly Mumbai and Delhi have gone about their business! No hype surrounds these teams and it brought out the best in them. Deccan finally played like champs!

What to expect in the remaining 41 days?! Definitely more of Akshay Kumar's annoying laugh between deliveries! It can actually be used by teams as an effective distraction/ demotivation tool!

RCB: Send back White mischief gals! hope for ross the boss to show up early!
CSK: Where is Shivamani?!! The 'only all rounders' theory must be re thought
RR: I think Shilpa and Raj spent the money on their wedding! They Need to buy more
Players!
DC: Keep it going till you end up in selection problems!
MI: Consistency! Extremely well balanced Side!
KIX: Borrow Katrina from RCB for a while, preity's Hugs are boring.
DD: Their usual effort! The other teams want to give Nannes a speeding ticket!
KKR: Honestly! Im backing them to make it comfortably to the 'final four'! This time
they might occupy the 7th spot!