Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Editorial - Dr Mohit Goyal

The inaugural season of the Indian Premier League has thrown up many surprises. One of them which has had praises and accolades from all corners has been the inspirational leadership of Shane Keith Warne.

Owners of Rajasthan Royals, Emerging Media had been confident right from the word go, on the back of their long association and involvement with world sports. And the spinning wizard has helped them keep their heads high.

The blonde from Victoria has been wielding magic right from his first test scalp, Ravi Shastri, to his last, 708^th in the form of English Andrew Flintoff. In between, he regularly produced unplayable deliveries and the big turning leg break that bowled Gatting round his legs in the 1993 Ashes proved only a trailer of things to follow.

After retirement he joined the English county Hampshire and led them very successfully but his captaincy grabbed most eyes only at the Indian Premier League probably owing to its higher viewership.

Dhoni and Warne have by far been the two best men at their teams’ helm in this season of the Indian Premier League - IPL. Dhoni’s work has been a little easier with Hayden and Hussey scoring big and his sterner test is likely to be when both of them have left for international duties.

Warny on the other hand has led a comparatively inexperienced bunch to some superb wins. He has shown excellent skills and mindful attitude by giving simple straight instructions and not complicating things for the youngsters. He has one instruction for each player and they have to carry it out on the field.

Graeme Smith and Kaif have been told to play the role of anchors when only one of them is at the crease. Pathan, Watson and Ravindra Jadeja have the clear instructions to go bang bang from the start. In bowling Watson bowls out and out quick; Munaf and Tanvir keep it straight and full while youngster Siddharth Trivedi tries out variations like bouncers, yorkers and slower balls. On the field he cheers up his team members and keeps them on their toes.

In the match against Kolkata at Jaipur he yelled at a fielder in the ring who did not follow the ball to the boundary and because the fielder on the boundary had to slide to stop the ball and get up and throw it back, it conceded an extra run. This incident was the testimony to the great cricketing brain that dwells in him. It has been a joy watching him lead this side. He is very intense in the nets which motivates other players watching a man sweat it out in the 38^th summer of his life.

Many people from cricket and media have previously talked about the leadership potential that vested in him. But controversies which gave this spin wizard the nickname “Hollywood”, took their toll. Incidents like supplying team and pitch information to bookies, taking banned substances and some bold uncalled for comments got him out of the reckoning for the captaincy of the Australian national team and left everyone wondering, “Did world cricket miss out on a charismatic captain?”

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Chennai Super Kings (109/10 in 19 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals (110/2 in 14.2 ovs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wkts

Just like winning was a routine call for Chennai Super Kings suddenly they now they have a losing streak. Two consequetive loses, absence of Matthew Hayden puts in lot of question about the batting performance of this team. Rajasthan Royals ad a comfortable win today easing their way to the target of 110 with eight wickets and to spare.

Inspite of the fact that the first few overs are very important and decisive there was no preparation to protect the wicket and play a responsible game. Imagine the loss of two opening batsman for duck and a successive fall of all wickets for a meager score of 109.

Not only Rajasthan Royals are a force in IPL to reckon with but also their performance is consistent. But one should not forget the record breaking performance of bowler Sohail tanvir who apart from the two openers bagged a total of six wickets for just 14 runs. He also bagged the man of the match today.

The one question which will always haunt the fans of the Chennai Super Kings is what would have happened if Dhoni’s trusted soldier Yoginder Sharma did not dropped the early catch of Smith in the third over.

Shane Warne - his strategic approach and also his boys should be watched carefully as they have the full potential to be a strong contender for the finals.

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Mumbai Indians (162/8 in 20 ovs)
Delhi Daredevils (133/10 in 18.5 ovs)

Mumbai Indians won by 29 runs

The great question about Delhi Daredevils performance in the absence or an early loss of Captain Virender Shewag and Gautam Gambhir seems to be partially answrered today. Also - that prior performance is no benchmark for prediction or forecast of any result in the Indian premier League was addressed.

Mumbai Indians who just got their first win defetating Knight Riders earlier continued their winning streak with a major blow to Delhi Daredevils who could not chase a moderate score of even 162 runs.

With loss of Virender Shewag and Gautam Gambhir the whole team crumbled and could only add up a toatl of just 133 runs.

Mumbai Indians Captain Shaun Pollock bowled well but his batting was impressive as he added the much needed 33 runs of just 15 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes. He also got two wickets and bagged the man of the match award.

However - The Orange Cap - given for the highest scorer in the tournament passed on to Virender Sehwag toady from Rohit Sharma. Also to be mentioned is the overall fine fielding of Mumbai Indians with Uthappa taking three catches in the match.

The million Dollar question is apart from boosting the morale of this team will Sachin’s presence or absence make any noticeable difference…

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Bangalore Royal Challengers: 156/8 (20.0 Ovs)
Deccan Chargers: 153/6 (20.0 Ovs)

Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 3 runs

Bangalore Royals Challengers batted first but could only set a target of 156 for Deccan Chargers. Deccan chargers had a great going with VVS laxman and Rohit Sharma until these two wicket fell - the others followed suit and the total innings crumbled until the very end when the Chargers tried to pull back.

Bangalore won by 3 runs with relied coming only in the last ball. Rahul Dravid was extra jubilant today for this much awaited win and the home crowd had their moments with fireworks and the presence of the franchisee owner Vijay Mallaya and the Bollywood babe katrina Kaif cheering for the team.

Praveen Kumar bagged 3 wickets for 23 runs to claim the man of the match award.

First the bowlers did a fantastic job for Delhi Daredevils - they managed to restrict MS Dhoni and their boys and their team Chennai Super Kings at a moderate score of 169. It could have been a little less if not for the sixes in the closing two overs. And a little more would have made the match a bit more spicy.

With Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir coming in to open for Delhi Daredevils it was a riot of runs from the begining with sixes and fours flashing out from Sehwags bat in a never ending flow. Even a sporting home crowd could do nothing but enjoy and applaud such a brilliant display of batting wonder.Sewhwag scored 71 of onyl 41 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes. Gautam added another 50 off 37 balls and also got the orange cap - which was so far with Hayden - another loss for Chennai.

Delhi Daredevils finished off the reign of the Chennai Super Kings in 19 overs and won by 8 wickets.

Chennai Super Kings: 169/6 (20.0 Ovs)
Delhi Daredevils: 172/2 (19.0 Ovs)

Man of the Match - Virender Sehwag

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