Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Editorial: Mohit Goyal

Indian premier League Match Preview

Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals at Mohali

Mother of all clashes, this could well be the dress rehearsal for the finals of the inaugural Indian Premier League and both sides would be looking to score points over the other.

Men at the Helm

Yuvi and Warny both have been inspirational. Yuvi hasn’t performed as well himself but he has a great influence on the younger players. The way he has handled Sreesanth and Chawla and encouraged Marsh and VRV has been phenomenal. Warny has been Midas for the team. Both have handled pressure like only few can in the world.

We have the bat

On paper, Punjab may look a better batting side but apart from Marsh and Sangakkara, others havn’t had many big scores. On other hand for Rajasthan, Smith, Asnodkar, Watson and Pathan have consistently made good scores.

We have the ball

If Punjab have Sreesanth, Pathan and Chawla superb form, Rajasthan have the bowler of the tournament thus far, Sohail Tanveer and the spinner of the tournament, Shane Warne in their ranks. Munaf, Siddharth and Watson too have hit the right line and lengths more often than not. Yusuf Pathan has come in real handy as well.

Patrolling Party

Rajasthan have been very good in the field, while Punjab have had a few poor fielding games. Both will want to eliminate lapses in fielding to give their bowlers an edge over the opponents.

High on betting meter

Rajasthan are slightly high on certain betting meters owing to their better record, while the teams are at level on others.

Who gets the tick?

Rajasthan are on a roll and it will take either an outrageously superb spell of bowling from Sreesanth or Pathan or a lapse on the part of Rajasthan batsmen to make Punjab victorious.

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Tags: batsmen, indian premier league, IPL, Kings XI, match preview, Munaf, Punjab, rajasthan, Rajasthan Royals, Sangakkara, shane, Shane Warne, Siddharth, smith, spinner, Sreesanth, Watson, Yusuf Pathan, yuvi

Knight Riders Vs Delhi Daredevils

Lalit Burma: Kolkata

This match is the turning point for IPL and here is one performance by both teams where batsman and bowlers equally flourished - earlier we saw a good batting side and opening strikes really made a winning difference - but in this match the score and the total was virtually immaterial. Bowlers can make a big difference in a 20Twenty match - provided they are utilised appropiately and strategically.

Also, hats off to Ganguly for pulling off another stunner and to SRK for providing the needed boost to the team.

As we have mentioned earlier, every match from now on will require strategy and planning apart from skill and power. And once again the two shrewd planners - Shane and Ganguly are proving us correct. Also the fact that Shoiab Akhter is more of a test player than a 20Twenty guy but he was successful with 4 wickets in a row and that too plucking of the best batsmen and rendering the opponents powerless.

Also, Delhi middle order require serious attention and maybe a re-shuffle as this team has all the fire power but fails to deliver against pressure.

We will wait for today’s match also - as we need to closely see if Mumbai Indians still hold the same tempo and zeal as seen in the last match and if Master blaster Tendulkar really makes a big difference.

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Tags: 20Twenty cricket, batsmen, bowlers, Delhi Daredevils, gambhir, Ganguly, gautam, gul, indian premier league, Sachin, Shane Warne, shewag, shoiab Akhter, Shukla, tendulkar, turning point