Views of a Chennai Super Fan – In the end, Mr Cricket is the real winner

Match: Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals in Chennai

Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 5 wickets

Narrative:

The Royals chose to bat first, and were single-handedly powered to a mammoth score by Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson, who scored a belligerent ton (also the first of IPL-6). He was particularly harsh on CSK’s new favorite, Jadeja, who cracked in his third over conceding 18 runs including two sixes and two big wides. Stuart Binny was the only other batsman who made a substantial contribution and Ashwin was the only bowler who ended with decent bowling figures. It left the Super Kings needing 186 to win the game.

The Super Kings were in control of the chase, right from the start. Despite Vijay’s failure (again), Hussey and Raina never let the required rate shoot up. Raina scored a much-needed half century with contained some trademark shots of his, while Hussey continued his rich vein of form to score a match-winning 88 from 51 balls which completely neutralized Watson’s century. Despite a late stutter, Bravo’s six in the final over bowled by Watson ensured that CSK would move right to the top of the points table.

Views of a Chennai Super Fan – When Sir was enough for the Knights

Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata

Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 4 wickets

Narrative:

Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and Gambhir opened with a new partner in Yusuf Pathan. The move seemed to have worked as KKR raced to 46 in 6 overs, as they take full toll of Albie Morkel in particular. It took a Hussey special at third man to trigger a slide, as Gambhir was the first one to get dismissed. Two balls later, a direct hit from Badri sent Kallis on his way without facing a delivery; Morgan and Pathan followed quickly, and just like that KKR had lost 4 wickets for 9 runs in the space of 13 deliveries. Tiwary and Das staged a mini fight-back, but once Ashwin scalped both of them in consecutive overs, Jadeja picked three other lower order wickets as KKR stalled to 119/9 from their allotted overs.

5 Unforgettable Moments for a Chennai Super Kings Fan

The IPL is here, and once more it is time to set aside national loyalties and pick a city-based franchise to cheer this season. As a loyal CSK fan ever since the league’s inception, I will be egging on Dhoni’s (yellow) men to shrug off last season’s heartbreaking loss in the final and come up trumps this time to claim the championship for the third time in six seasons. Here, in no particular order, are my top five moments as a CSK fan over the years:

1. Balaji’s hat-trick (vs Kings XI in 2008)

In the context of the game, the hat-trick may not have mattered much; three wickets remained and the batsmen were going for their shots anyway. Still, to see a local lad (and one of my favorites) pick the first hat-trick was a sure sign of things to come: for the team to do well, the local players had to step up. And how they did.

2. The Monk tees off (vs Rajasthan Royals in 2010)

CSK’s strength is the quality of big hitting batsmen in their side. Over the years, they have had Hayden, Flintoff, Dhoni, Raina, Morkel and Bravo – all players who could step in to top gear at a moment’s notice. While these players were largely known quantities, one player who chose the IPL to announce himself to the world in grand style was Murali Vijay. Just watch the quality of shots in the embedded video clip….

MS Dhoni vs the World

Don’t give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half. -Paul “Bear” Bryant

I wonder what is going on in the mind of the usually inscrutable MS Dhoni these days. The last 12 months have been disastrous for the Indian skipper – whitewashed on the England and Australia tours, losing ODI series to both those teams  abroad, failing to qualify for the Asia Cup final, and even domestically, a loss in the final of the recently concluded IPL. As someone pointed out on Twitter recently, the last year has seen Dhoni conceding the number 1 ranking in Tests and failing to retain the CB series, Asia Cup, IPL and the Champions League trophy. In an age where memory spans are getting shorter, it is easy to forget that this was the same man who led India to their first ODI World Cup win in 28 years with a majestic innings in Mumbai, not too long ago.

For a while now, there has been scattered talk of replacing Dhoni as skipper with someone else; but in the absence of a viable alternative, those arguments quickly died down. Suddenly, with the triumph of Gautam Gambhir’s KKR against the Dhoni-led CSK in the IPL-5 final, the momentum to replace Dhoni has gathered steam again. Former skipper Saurav Ganguly has been one of the more prominent voices who has called for Gambhir to be appointed Test skipper, with Gambhir himself proclaiming that he is ready for the responsibility. To make it interesting, Dhoni has publicly stated that his choice for skipper would still be himself. This is hardly the ideal run-up to some important series which are coming up, including the T20 World Cup.

IPL 5: Final Qualifier (CSK vs DD) Preview

Delhi Daredevils

Just two games to go, and the IPL's finish line is within licking distance (I don't know what happens at the end, I've never won a major race). It won't seem that way for the Delhi Daredevils, though. They first have to knock out the Chennai Super Kings (the resurgent defending champions), only to then face a team that just defeated them. Fortunately for Delhi, they have rarely had two bad games in a row this season. And unfortunately for them, they now have to have two very good ones back to back, and both in Chennai.

Despite the bowling performance against KKR, theirs is still the right combination to go in with. Pawan Negi is handling the lone spinner's position well, and Delhi's only other options in that department are other left-arm spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and ROFLMAO van der Merwe (I may have got something wrong in that sentence). Their pace attack also seems like the type that will rattle the CSK line-up as long as they don't dish up too much filth - which, to their credit, they haven't been doing.

The Plunder Games – Week 5 Recap

Have you been too busy studying for your exams to take note of what has been going on in the IPL? Or have you been too engrossed in searching for a job to know who has hit the most ‘DLF Maximums’ over the past week? Maybe all your time is being taken up by stalking your ex-boyfriend; or you could just be some closeted IPL fan who likes to keep up appearances by publicly denouncing the ‘pajama cricket’ but want to know how your favorite IPL team is doing?

Never fear. For the attention-deficit IPL fan in you, I present to you ‘The Plunder Games’ – a weekly recap of all the IPL action. Here, you can catch up with all the past week’s action in just 10 minutes.

Game 44: KXIP vs RCB

Kings XI Punjab 163 for 6 (Saini 50, Hussey 45, Mandeep 43) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 158 for 5 (Gayle 71, Kohli 45, Mahmood 3-20) by four wickets

Match in 140 characters: PK and Mahmood restrict RCB to 158 despite another Gayle 50; freak run outs threaten to derail easy chase, but Chawla takes KXIP home

Charlie Sheen Winning Moment: KXIP should never have had to sweat in the closing stages of the game, after the impressive performance of their seamers and their top order batsmen; but there they were, inducing themselves into a state of panic after some tight bowling by RCB in the final overs. With 2 runs needed off 2 deliveries, it needed the much maligned Piyush Chawla to deliver the winning moment with a thumping hit over long on.

Viagra Performer of the day: Azhar Mahmood continued his impressive performance in the IPL, bagging the MOM award for his efforts; but he reaped the rewards of Praveen Kumar’s highly skilled opening spell where he conceded only 8 runs off his stipulated overs, which was bowled to the likes of Gayle and Kohli.

Best tweet of the day: At the end of the day, Ravi Shastri is the real winner coz the match has gone down to the wire! #ipl (by @coolfunnytshirt)

An overview of the teams part of CLT20 2010

Group A:

Central Stags (Kiwi T20 Champions) : Central Districts is a good team with some good young talent. But they are surely going to miss their most destructive players Ross Taylor who will be turning out for the Royal Chllengers Bangalore and Jacob Oram who is injured. Without them their chances of lifting the trophy seem bleak unless they produce something special.

Chennai Super Kings (Indian T20 Champions) : The only team to make it to the semi-finals of each of the three seasons of the IPL, the CSK make it to this edition of the CLT20 by winning IPL 2010. Led by the flamboyant and charismatic MSD, they have some of the fiercest strikers of the cricket ball in their line-up like Matthew Hayden, Albie Morkel, Michael Hussey , Dhoni , Raina and Murali Vijay. The bowling department appeared to be Chennai Super Kings' weak-link in the initial stages of the IPL 2010. However, Doug Bollinger, called in as a replacement player, together with the spin trio of Murali, Shadab Jakati and R Ashwin turned it around. Also the Kemp will give them an option in SA conditions. Despite their bowling department lacking the big names like some of the other competing teams, CSK will be keen to replicate their performances in the IPL and add the CLT20 title to their name.

Victorian Bushrangers (Australian T20 Champions) : Having won 4 KFC Big Bash Twenty20 finals in 5 seasons, the Victorian Bushrangers will no doubt be one of the most feared teams in CLT20. The Melbourne-based team boasts some prolific players in their line-up - Brad Hodge and David Hussey are among the top two run-getters in T20 cricket, while Cameron White (who will be playing for RCB though) is among the few batsmen around the world to have scored 2 or more hundreds in the 20-over format, Dirk Nannes , Siddle among others. It will be the second appearance in two editions of the CLT20 for them so that will help. They look a strong team and will be hoping to go the full distance this season.

Warriors (South African T20 Champions) : With a squad that consisted of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Johan Botha and Nicky Boje, it wasn't really a surprise that they won the Pro20 tournament. They only lost 1 out of their 8 matches in the competition and went on to clinch the title. While they have a strong batting lineup , on the bowling front, the Warriors have a very mean attack - Ntini, Botha and Boje have all successfully proven their skills at the international level. They also have Juan Theron, a bowler who relishes bowling at the death and is capable of guiding his team to nail-biting victories. The Warriors have all the ingredients - players with skill, class, experience, temperament and ability to perform on the big stage and also not to forget the home advantage.

Wayamba Elevens (SriLankan T20 Champions) : Will be making their second appearance in the CLT20. They don't seem to be serious contenders for the title but they have some experienced internationals in their ranks. It would be interesting to see, how they cope up with the South African conditions. They will need some strong performances from Mahela, Mubarak, Mahroof,etc. They do have some really good young t20 players. Also Perera will be quite confident

after his recent performances for SriLanka.


Group B:

Mumbai Indians (Indian T20 Runners up) : Led by Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians was the most consistent team in the IPL 2010 in the league stages, the Mumbai Indians have a great mix of experience and youth. While Tendulkar, Harbhajan and Zaheer bring in all their years of experience of playing at the international level, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, R Sathish, Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary bring in the much-needed zeal and hunger for achievement on the big stage. On the bowling front, Malinga's toe-crushing yorkers are simply too hot for most batsmen to handle and he will be a major cog in the MIs' plans, while Harbhajan and Zaheer will be hoping to draw on their experience of playing in South Africa to the advantage of their team. Also bring in Pollard, Bravo and Duminy in the picture and you get an idea of their might.

HighVeld Lions (South African T20 Runners Up) : They don't have many international stars, with players from Gauteng and North West provinces in South Africa. Among the players to look out for in the Lions' squad are captain Alviro Petersen, the ever-dependable Neil McKenzie. The Lions' Vaughn van Jaarsveld finished as the team's top run-getter (249 runs in 8 matches) - second in the list of the top run-getters in the Pro20 2009/10, while Robert Frylinck finished as the tournament's leading wicket-taker. They will also be hoping to make most of the home advantage.

South Australian Redbacks (Australian T20 Runners up) : They made it to the final of Australia's KFC Big Bash T20 for the first time and were the most consistent side in the KFC Big Bash last season, registering 4 wins in 5 matches, before ending up second best in the title clash. The Redbacks might not have too many superstars in their midst, but they certainly have someone who can lay claim to being the fastest bowler in the world today, Shaun Tait. Tait apart, the Redbacks also have consistent performers like skipper Graham Manou and the returning Callum Ferguson. But the Redbacks cruised into the final on the back of splendid performances from their overseas signing - Kieron Pollard - among others who will be turning out for his IPL side Mumbai Indians.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Indian T20 2nd Runners up) : They are making their second CLT20 appearance. The Anil Kumble-led outfit figured in the inaugural CLT20 too thanks to their runners-up position in IPL 2009. From being chided as a 'Test team' in coloured clothing in the inaugural season of the IPL, it has been some transformation for RCB who have made it to two consecutive CLT20 competitions. Former South African coach Ray Jennings coaches a side with a strong South African flavour - a fact that will no doubt assist RCB in CLT20's African sojourn. With the rock solid Anil Kumble as captain and several other proven Twenty20 performers in their squad, the RCB surely start as one of the favourites to clinch the title this season.

Guyana (Caribbean T20 Champions) : Another team without many international stars. But last year also nobody expected much from the T&T team and they provided some expectional entertainment and played some exceptional cricket. Guyanese team has qualified for this year's CLT20 defeating that very team. But on paper their chances seem thin.




PS: The views above are mostly based on the impression given by the teams on paper. Also having relativley unknown players in the team can also be an advantage as their strengths and weaknesses are relativley unknown. In T20 nothing can be said for sure , anyone can beat anyone and much can be acheived by the teams who play with spirit ,passion and unity. We have already witnessed quite a few examples of it in the past.