Andrew Flintoff could turn down an England contract in order to play more domestic twenty20 cricket. The burly Lancastrian, who is currently on crutches recovering from knee surgery, retired from Test cricket at the end of the recent Ashes series but was due to continue with England in limited-overs cricket.

However, the 31-year-old is keen to play twenty20 cricket in domestic leagues worldwide and could turn down an ECB contract in order to do so, threatening his International future.

The all-rounder will spend the next few days in Dubai discussing with his agent whether or not to sign the ECB deal.

Chandler told the Observer newspaper that Flintoff would play for Chennai Super Kings in next spring’s Indian Premier League, while pursuing deals with domestic teams in Australia, South Africa and the West Indies.

However, that sort of schedule would restrict the number of appearances he could reasonably be expected to make for England as they look to build a team capable of challenging for the 2011 World Cup. If he refuses to sign his ECB deal, he would effectively become a freelance cricketer – and the first English player to do so, since the central contract system was drawn up back in 1999.

1. India cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni: $10 million
2. Sachin Tendulkar: $8 million
3. Yuvraj Singh: $5.5 million
4. Rahul Dravid: $5 million
5. England’s Andrew Flintoff: $4 million
6. Sourav Ganguly & Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting: $3.5 million
7. Australia’s Brett Lee and English cricketer Kevin Pietersen: $3 million
8. Australian Michael Clarke: $2.5 million

Right Click & Save Link As to Save the Songs

Adi Adi Nethiadi
Chennai Super Kings Hindi Version
Chennai Super Kings Title Song
Puyalaga Vaa
Vetri Kodi Katta Vada

With Andrew Flintoff set to hang up his Test boots after the ongoing Ashes, his English teammates would do everything to win the series as a farewell gift to the burly all-rounder, believes former Australia stumper Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist paid glowing tribute to Flintoff and felt it would inspire England to put their best foot forward in the ongoing Ashes.

“I don’t think the Aussies will be affected but it can be a boost for the English players,” Gilchrist said.

“I know from my time that a when a great player retired, you did everything you could to see them off with a series win. So England will be up for this Ashes series even more,” said the Australian.

Gilchrist had no qualms admitting that Flintoff, as an opponent, often made life difficult for him.

“Freddie announcing his retirement means there will be a lot of Test cricketers sleeping easy now.

“He definitely terrorised me and my team-mates on many occasions,” he said.

Gilchrist was of the view that Flintoff, as the premier all-rounder of his era, shouldered more responsibility than his body could endure and paid the price with a premature retirement.

“It’s always said when a player of that calibre retires but his body clearly couldn’t cope with the demands. I think Freddie is a victim of his own abilities and skill ? he happily took on huge responsibility with the bat and ball,” he said.

Even though Flintoff’s contract with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League added to the workload, Gilchrist did not see anything wrong in it.

“That brings physical stress but there is a lot of cricket around too and it’s hard not to be drawn to financially rewarding competitions. You have to maximise your earnings in the small window of playing time you have in a career,” said Gilchrist, who led Deccan Chargers to a fairytale triumph in the second edition of the IPL in South Africa.

Akhilesh Yadav – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Everything About Suresh Raina

Inaugural Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals will take on English Twenty20 Cup winners Middlesex Panthers in a one-off match in London on July 6 to raise funds for the British Asian Trust, one of
the Prince of Wales’ charities.

Shane Warne on the Match Rajasthan’s skipper-cum-coach Shane Warne said it would be a great experience. “There is no better place for a cricketer to play than Lord’s, and to get to play the reigning English champions after the cancellation of last year’s Champions League is a great opportunity for the team,” Warne said.

Rajasthan Royals had beaten Chennai Super Kings in the finals of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League but they failed to recreate the magic this year in South Africa and finished sixth. Middlesex Panthers captian Shaun Udal said his team was also looking forward to the match especially since it was called off at the last minute due to the 26/11 Mumbai attack. “Some of our players have
experienced the IPL first hand, and this is a great opportunity for all of the guys who missed out on the Champions League, due to last year’s terrorist attack in Mumbai,” Udal said.

Shilpa Will Perform
The day will bring the ‘glamour of Bollywood’ to the Home of Cricket in a celebration of the best of Indian and English games and will be marked by a performance by actress Shilpa Shetty between the innings. “I am looking forward to seeing the Rajasthan Royals play in London. After the great reception we had in South Africa, I’m sure the British crowds will come out to support the Royals,” Bollywood actress and co-owner of Rajasthan Royals Shilpa Shetty told reporters on Monday evening.

“England has fulfilled most of my dreams. This again is a dream come true. To play the game at Lord’s will make it extra special, and the UK is a counry dear to my heart,” added Shilpa, who also starred in UK
show, ‘Big Brother’. IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said, “We are delighted to see the inaugural champions of the IPL playing against the English champions in such an innovative event.”

Lord’s England is the venue for the match and is a really special ground, thinks RR team and this is a great opportunity to bring the magic of the IPL to the UK.

This is unfair criticism for me. I have not attacked the commenter anywhere in this post. I have given the facts and figures for MS batting at no 3. If a blind eye is being turned to the facts, then well nobody can do anything about it. I don’t understand this. I say either, you say neither. I say potato, you say patato. As the famous song from When Harry Met Sally says, it’s a difference of opinion. But for that if you label me a XX kinda person, its just unfair.

Heard of “Agree to Disagree” ? I follow the same principle.

Many times I do say a lot on the thought process that goes behind a certain comment or a post. Thought process which is narrowed or flawed or LIMITED in MY OPINION. I sense regional affiliations gaining core dominance when somebody criticizes MS for not being able to win CSK the 2 IPLs. If MS has said that he got limited talent in IPL, then he must be true. A look at the core of Indian players for CSK and you find barring MS and Raina to an extent, the rest of the lot was awful. Badrinath never fired except 2-3 odd games. Balaji was a joker on the field who didn’t know what he had to do when he had to stop the ball from going to boundary in that match against KKR. Balaji was persisted and routinely he got smacked all over. Captain’s fault ?Or the players fault ? Or is it the franchisee’s fault that they didn’t get talented local players ? And even if the IPL franchisees are city based, the affiliations to it should not be city based. Cynicism should not be there.

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?class=6;id=2009;team=4343;type=year

Click on this link and for yourself find out how much runs did M Vijay (he is a good player), Ashwin, Badrinath made. 60 runs for Vijay, 177 runs for Badrinath and yet he played 14 games. One 50 and 2 ducks. Avg of 20. Care to explain how MS is behind this stats ? Or is it an individual failure of the batsman ?

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?class=6;id=2009;team=4343;type=year

Now click on this link and find out how many local lads took how many wickets. Balaji took 13 in 13. Avg of 24.30. He repeatedly went for runs in every game. Take out 4/21 and then it reads 9 in 12 games. Economy of 8.5, only better than Freddie and Gony. And then again the same question : how many local lads here ? The foreign import Murali has 14 wkts and the Goan import Jakati has 13. MS is going to play with the lot of players the franchisee gave him.

Whats more important ? Winning a city based IPL or a country based World T20 or a Test series or a ODI series? For me it would always be country. And I would care a damn he loses in first round of IPL-3 or wins IPL-3 for CSK. They say that a captain is as good as his team. If Dhoni has that leadership skills and it rubs on one team (national) and if it doesn’t rub on other team (IPL) whose fault it is ? captain or team? Despite being publicly pointed out that the fielding and bowling is poor, the Balajis, Badris make the same mistakes, then is it captain’s mistake ? Despite their below average performances this lads were persisted for every game. May be franchisee pressure, may be Kalaingar pressure, who knows.

If CSK had no local icon player, then whose fault it is ? Is it MS or the local cricket association who runs the cricket in the state at fault ? Whose fault it is that the best known cricketer of the state plays for a “North” team of Delhi Daredevils? Whose fault it is to pick the likes of Balaji in the team given that he is no more the bowler he was in his prime? Why did the CSK had to “import” an outsider and ask it to captain its side? Why did CSK franchisee who is from the state itself not bother to pay the $1.15 million for a local cricketer which it did for Freddie? Reason is simple: there is just no talent in the CSK locally. Who were the standout performers for CSK in 2 seasons ? Go figure, you get the answer.

If MS wins a Test series in a land where no other Indian team has won a series or a WC’11 at home, then he would deserve a trillion bows despite the fact that he has won 2 IPLs for CSK back to back or for that matter failed to win a single game in next 2 IPLs.

As for the reply point to point :

1) Also as a captain, his long-term goal should be to promote people to take more responsibility, not do it for them. He can win a few matches by himself today, but he has to teach the rest of the players to do so also.

MS has installed that sense of responsibility in the likes of Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir and RP Singh. This players in addition to the already established players like Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Harbhajan etc in ODIs and add Dravid, Laxman in Tests had that responsibility to win the matches for India. Let’s not forget the role he played in winning the CB series, NZ Odis, SL ODI series where contributions with the gloves and the bat were handy. An average of 46 in ODIs and 36 in Tests (highest for any Indian keeper) is a testimony to this fact.

2) He is clearly ugly with his strokes when he tries to go for big hits. So much so that the big hits happen far too seldom for him to be winning matches. When he grafts around for singles, his way of reaching out for the ball and pushing it into gaps is ungainly, and does not pay off all the time. In short he wastes more balls than he should be doing.

Agreed he hasn’t got the flair and the eye candy ability, but then what matters is runs and he s got them aplenty. 4000 runs in ODIs and 2000 runs in Tests is a testimony to the fact that lad has good batting ability. And his batting average is way better than any other Indian batsmen in ODIs, though he has got lot of not outs. In ODIs may be his boundaries have dried up, but still he scores his runs at almost run a ball. His strike rate of 92 odd runs bears the truth. If he wastes the balls, he makes up for them with his running between the wkts.

3) MSD at 3 cannot be a solution for Rohit’s and YP’s failings. Rohit – given a slot and a security of few matches on the trot has delivered. In CB series Australia for instance. Yousuf as the last specialist may not be the best idea. If he delivered for Warne and not for India, it is not Yousuf who should be doing the thinking, but the think-tank on how best to utilise him.

Rohit Sharma is a waste. I have had said quite a lot about him in this space and if I repeat the same, I would be boring very few who bother to comment J. His batting averages in ODIs reflect his attitude and the truth is he cannot be relied to win matches for India or DC that consistently. Yousuf Pathan delivered in India, he didn’t quite in SA, the results were evident in RR being kicked out. And I feel YP has almost played every ODI after IPL-1 despite the fact that he almost failed to deliver in first few ODIs, but then MS has faith in him and that’s the reason why Rohit Sharma sits out when Tendulkar plays. 3rd position 2005-2009 13 13 3 819 183* 81.90 847 96.69 2 4 1 70 1

I rest my case with this figures for MS at # 3. 13 games and an average of 82 with 2 100s and 4 50s.

Compare that with the current # 3 at ODIs and T20s Suresh Raina :

3rd position 2005-2009 16 16 0 374 84 23.37 483 77.43 0 3 1 37 7

It’s not easy to be classified as a champion team when you finished dead last in last year’s championship. However, the Deccan Chargers from Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) have done just that – from the zeroes of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 to the undisputed champions of IPL 2009, it has been one dream journey for this deadly combination of crack cricketers led by Adam Gilchrist.

Gilly receives the trophy from the South African President, Jacob Zuma…

Image: www.deccanchargers.com

No one doubted the potential of this team – they have a great mix of youth and experience, a cool combination of seasoned international pros and talented young Indian cricketers. But, in last year’s inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket, the team simply failed to click. All that is history now!

Gilchrist took over as the captain from VVS Laxman for this year’s IPL that was shifted to South Africa since the Indian government could not provide security for the tournament, as the dates coincided with the General Elections. It was a blessing in disguise for the League as it helped to increase its popularity beyond Indian shores. Full credit goes to Cricket South Africa for organising a fantastic tournament at a very short notice. We all look forward to the big one – the 2010 FIFA World Cup. South Africans have proved to be great organisers and wonderful hosts!

For the Chargers, it was a superb team effort that took them all the way. Gilchrist and his fellow Aussie, the DC coach Darren Lehmann have managed to bring out the best in all their boys. Young cricketers like Tirumalasetti Suman, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Harmeet Singh have proved themselves on the big stage while seasoned international pros like RP Singh (who won the Purple Cap for taking the most number of wickets in the tournament), Herschelle Gibbs, Ryan Harris and Andrew Symonds made great contributions at crucial stages to keep the charge going. Not to forget Gilly’s sterling contribution – he not only shouldered the burden of keeping wickets while leading the team, but got the Chargers’ off to a flying start with his aggressive batting as an opener. Chasing a big target in a pressure semi-final against the highly rated Delhi Daredevils, Gilchrist played the knock of the tournament, single handedly demolishing the Daredevils’ attack with his incredible hitting. It was champion stuff from a champion cricketer!

The Royal Challengers Bangalore is another team that deserves apprecation. The boys from Bengaluru (Karnataka) finished second last in the IPL 2008 and made an ordinary start in this year’s edition. Anil Kumble lifted the RCB to a new level when he took charge as skipper. The Challengers put together a string of successive victories over top teams and knocked out last year’s runners-up, the Chennai Super Kings, in the second semi-final. They lost the final narrowly to the Chargers in a pressure cooker situation.

There is no doubt about the heroes of this year’s IPL, though. It has to be the Chargers from Hyderabad! A word of praise for T. Venkattram Reddy, the DC team owner. He solidly backed his team and could be seen in the team dugout with his boys when some other team owners chose the comfort of the hospitality box. The team is owned by the Deccan Chronicle, a reputed broadsheet and South India’s largest selling English language newspaper. I guess when you are the undisputed numero uno in one field, it tends to rub off on your other business ventures too!

I look forward to watching the Deccan Chargers in action at the T20 Champions League. As the Chargers’ cheerleaders and fans say: GO, Chargers! GO, Chargers! GO, go, go, go!!!

Thanks to Prakash, my fellow blogger at Kalugu for his contribution in putting this post together!

Indian Premier League (IPL) has come as a windfall for jobless youth in South Africa.

The 37-day tournament has not only provided the unemployed here some work, but also saved youth from being sucked into gang wars.  Read more :

The IPL is over but still can’t really get out of its fever as yet. It has been 36 days of exicting cricket and finally it has come to an end. Although this tournament had to be shifted to South Africa at the last moment due to the General Elections happening in India still this edition has really been a major success. Almost everyone in India was disappointed in the decision of shifting the tournament out of India and started calling it as a NRIPL and other names but at the end of these 36 days i dont think many of them are still left disappointed.

This year Deccan Chargers the team from Hyderabad won the tournament. They become the second tea to have their names embrossed on the trophy after Rajasthan Royals had got it done last year. They have literally turned the table around. Last year they finished 8th and this year as champions, that is what is called a turn around. Also Royal Challengers Bangalore who finished 7th last year have finished runers-up(2nd) this time around. Another amazing fact can be said about is that so far the two teams which have won the tournament so far have been the ones that have had a Foreign captain and that to an Australian, first Shane Warne did it for Rajasthan Royals last year and Adam Gilchrist has delivered it this year. Another fact is that both these teams have had an Australian coach to guide them , Shane Warne for Rajasthan Royals and Darren Lehmann for Deccan Chargers. If this is going to be the way then i guess we might see all the Australian players leading there respective sides next year(just a joke). BUt this will atleast give hope to Mumbai Indians and Kolkata KnightRiders of playing the finals next year as they finished the bottom two teams this year(if it countinues the same way next year as it did this time). Only Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils have managed to finish in the top four of both the editions.

This edition has been much better for the Indian cricket players specially. Last year IPL was hosted in India but the Orange Cap (highest run scorer in the tournament) and the Purple Cap (highest wicket taker in the tournament) went to foreign players that is to Shaun Marsh(Australia) – Orange Cap and Sohail Tanvir(Pakistan) – Purple Cap and also the player of the tournament went to Shane Watson(Australia). The other facts were that there were 6 centuries in the last edition with all of them being scored by Foreign players and in the bowling department the only 5-wicket haul of that edition was taken by Sohail Tanvir another foreign player.

Well this edition has been a bit different with the Indian players also getting the piece of cake of success here in South Africa. Mathew Hayden(Australia) won the Orange Cap while RP Singh(India) won the Purple Cap this year. Two centuries were scored this year with Manish Pandey (U-19 player from India) becoming the first Indian to do so. While Anil Kumble bagged the only 5 wicket haul of the tournament finishing with the best figures in a match in the edition, also Manish Pandey scored the highest score of this edition. Adam Gilchrist was named the player of the tournament this year while Rohit Sharma bagged the U-23 sucess of the tournament award. Finally the Indian Players have also joined the party. The international players have done their job of guiding the youngsters and also play the way been doing for so many years now for their respective countries. But this edition has done the Indian cricket a lot more proud than it did the last year. The Australian players have once again proved why they are the champion players and also that it does not really matter if they have retired from the international cricket or not. Also the South African players enjoyed this edition playing back in their home and would hope to take this confidence and experience into next their future tournaments. 

The Final Standings of the tournament were as follows.
1. Deccan Chargers
2. Royal Challengers Bangalore
3. Delhi Daredevils
4. Chennai Super Kings
5. Kings XI Punjab
6. Rajasthan Royals
7. Mumbai Indians
8. Kolkata KnightRiders

Orange Cap – Mathew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings)
Purple Cap – RP Singh (Deccan Chargers)
Player of the Tournament – Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers)
U-23 Success of the Tournament – Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers)

The Batting charts were headed by Mathew Hayden and Suresh Raina was the only Indian to make it to the top five in the charts. While the bowling department was a bit different with RP singh heading the charts along with three othe rindian players in the top five.

Finally the Indian mega event has come to an end and people around the country and i think even back in South Africa will be eagerly waiting for the next years edition.

Now both the semifals have finished and both the favourite teams have been defeated in the Semi-Finals. The top two teams at the end league phase the Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings have been shown the exit door by Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Well if you go to see one amazing fact is that in the last years edition the teams that were placed at the 7th and 8th spot will play the finals in this edition. I think this is what is called turning the tables over. Well these two teams have literally turned the tables upside down. Last year Chennai Super Kings finished runnersup last year this year they finish as the joint third (losing Semi-finalist), while for Delhi Daredevils this edition in a way can be said to be no different as they like last year also finish joint third(losing Semi-Finalist).

The Final will be played between the Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Lewis Hamilton and Chennai Supper Kings both had a bad day.

Hamilton keep his helmet on as he walks back to the pits after being in the walls (source: telegraph)

Lewis Hamilton was looking so good to get on pole but its seems its just not his season! This is probably the only place where he could have been on podium and would have been a brilliant race but it wasn’t to be, as his car slipped and crashed into wall, damaging his rear suspension. This had thrown him out of quali, and he is to start from the back of the gird with a gearbox change today. But Lewis kept his helmet on and hung his head as he headed back to the pits. I know I can understand him the bad season continues, but you got to take this a a learning curve. McLaren for sure will be a better team next year and so will Lewis be a better driver both will for sure go on to will more championships.

Chennai Superkings what did I say yesterday! For sure it seems that your score was not enough but you bowling was excellent, then again Bangalore did a brilliant job both at batting and bowling. So we have the least unlikely team in the final it would be interesting who wins. I am edging my bets on Deccan, but then I been known to be wrong .

Thats right, I’m calling it because I have inside information that Bangalore are going to play Fucktard Incarnate at number 9 today, hopefully he won’t get a bat!

All of BRC's nuts in one picture

Image Source

I didn’t change anything, I swear!

DLF IPL 20-20 Cricket match 2009 playing its semifinals. Last semifinal match will be played today and tomorrow will be the final. Unlike 2008 IPL this time almost all the matches were interesting and thrilling. Though they played the match in South Africa there is no loss in entertainment for us. Sony Entertainment took the responsibility to bringing the matches with all its beauty.

Sky scratching sixes, fast &  furious fours, wild wickets, honorable hatricks, fish fly fielding, boundless blasting bowling, smashing shots, curious catches, mind boggling last minutes, fantastic fifties, huge hundreds, lucrative last overs,wonderful winning moments,perpetual partnerships,chicks as cheer leaders with all these things IPL made me enjoy my time all these days and hope for everyone watching cricket.

Entertainment Served Cold - 8 scoups/teams

Though both my favorite teams are out of semifinal (KKR and MI) I’m happy to see RCB in form in semifinals and deserving DC in finals. Hope today’s match should be in in favor of CSK. Though both the teams are competing and equal I wish the victory should go for DC. Hope it will be a excellent match/treat tomorrow and the end of the IPL 2009.

Thanks for all the astounding moments and for the gr8 entertainment all these days.Thanks for the IPL organizers and all the players for their best display of team spirits. One thing I can say about this IPL 2009 season,

“Suspense served HOT

&

Entertainment served COLD.”

Happy watching …!

Dilshan 65 runs scored in vein (source: Cricinfo)

Just watched the match for yesterday semi’s man I really had though Delhi Made a recovery with Dilshan brilliance. But it seems all was to a watse. As Gilchrist steeped onto the crease the match just had blitz away from Delhi! 85 runns off 35 balls bloddy hell!!!

Delhi a clear favourite to go into the finals had now gone out, is this the same fate of Chennai? I hope not that another match of which I want Chennai to go through. Hopefully we can see another exciting semi, which leads to a excellent Final.

By the way good luck to Hamilton for this weekend @ Monaco

JOHANNESBURG: There can be few sights more intimidating in cricket than Matthew Hayden walking in to face the new ball. If the left-hander is on a song, there might as well be a blast.

Bangalore Royal Challengers | Chennai Super Kings

That thought alone will keep Royal Challengers on their toes when the second semi-final of the IPL begins at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Saturday. Hayden, wearing his Orange Cap and carrying the willow that looks like a toy in a truck-puller’s hand, will keep playing on the opposition’s mind.

Blogs: Do movie stars jinx teams? | Dream Team: IPL 2’s best performers

Royal Challengers called for an emergency meeting on Friday that had all players in a huddle in a small conference room at hotel Sandton Sun for close to an hour. Whatever their personal work, the players had been asked to keep it aside until the all-important meeting was over. Captain Anil Kumble, coach Ray Jennings, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis walked in first, followed by the rest who were still celebrating Manish Pandey’s ton on Thursday.

There was an important issue to be discussed and it remained no secret once the meeting ended. All the players walked out of the conference room except for Praveen Kumar, B Akhil, Roelof van der Merwve, Kumble and Kallis. They had an extended half an hour discussion amongst themselves.

Kumble knows that stopping Hayden alone will be the key to Royal Challengers making their way to the final. If they can get the belligerent left-hander early, the option of applying pressure on the rest of the line-up will be better than having him out there in the middle. Of course, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been in equally good form, S Badrinath has been impressive and is fit after a slight niggle, Jacob Oram is still waiting to explode and Albie Morkel’s return from injury can make things tougher. But Hayden still remains the key.

“He is dangerous and we all know what he’s capable of doing. He’s the tournament’s highest scorer. If we can get him early, fine,’’ says Jennings.

In seven out of 11 innings, Hayden has given Team Chennai the right kind of start. His strike rate has been consistent at around 140. He has accumulated five fifties and an individual best of 89, so far, adding to the team’s top-order muscle. If Chennai can once again afford to flex that, Royal Challengers will have a lot of work. Dhoni’s best bet to follow-up on the start given by Hayden is Raina, the tournament’s second best batsman after the giant Aussie. At 414 runs, Raina has been the mainstay in Chennai’s middle-order and should be no less a worry for the Challengers.

However, it was interesting to hear Jennings bring Hayden’s name into the discussion whenever the topic of Chennai’s batting came up. Be it mind games or simply a lurking fear, Challengers do know that he’s a bigger threat than anyone else.

Hi,

I am a Sikh. Sardar. Punjabi. But I did not support Kings XI Punjab in IPL. And I will not support them until they change their Captain. I am not saying Kings XI dont have a great team! They Do they have one of the most competative sides in IPL. I am also not saying that Yuvraj is not a good player.  He is an exelent player. But not a captain!

I think Yuvraj always wants to prove a point that he is better than Dhoni. While playing for India its not very much evident cause Dhoni handles his players very nicely. He is know about his players so he is able to get the best out of them. How does he do that ? He gives his players full freedom to do what ever they want! But Just gives them directions. Like when to show aggression  and when not to show aggression. Like Gautam Gambir is an aggressive player. Normally I would tell him go play your game. But in tough situations when wickets are falling I would say “Man you are great Batsman. Very Aggressive but now we have to prove people that you can take some responsibility and Show your class. ” doing this you are even respecting him showing your faith. And also trying to get best out of him.

Yuvraj if you would have seen him in IPL I or II. He shows that he is very Aggressive. Always shout at his team mates on field. Which I think is wrong! He always acts as-if he has a point to prove to BCCI. That he would have been a better captain than Dhoni.

You can see the history it will tell you. KXIP has never won a game against CSK. Its not that CSK have a better team. Its just Dhoni and Captaincy that makes all the difference. So my advice to Yuvraj will be. Be the player you are. Dont try to be something you are not. Step down as captain. Make Jaywardhane or Sangakara as Captain. Play your Game. Go to Anger Management Classes. We will win Matches. And Yeah I will support Punjab.

Jagdeep Singh Virdi

And its not to the tune of music. I mean I do dance to music. Whenever I have been to discos, I have not been on the sidelines watching the pretty babes dancing but actually been shaking a leg or two with them (although I must say I am a pretty bad dancer, though better than Sreesanth). But I just couldn’t fathom a better, more fitting name than this. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had won their second consecutive match in the Indian Premier League Season 2. They had defeated the Rajasthan Royals (which the Fake IPL Player calls Big Sister’s team) ensuring that the defending champions bow out of the competition before the semi-finals. And this time too, the match went down to the wire.
And this time around the unlikely hero was Laxmi Ratan Shukla. And guess who was at the other end to provide support? Ajit Agarkar. Who would have imagined that? Especially after the departure of Hussey. It was a complete transformation. KKR had won this match without the batting prowess of McCullum, Hodge and Hussey. Wow! In one innings of 48 not out from 46 balls made under a pressure situation when KKR were down 5 wickets for just 37 runs, Shukla had shown what he was capable of.
But the victory also belonged to two other knights – Ajit Agarkar and Charl Langeveldt. Agarkar had scored an unbeaten 13 off 17 balls establishing a partnership with Shukla to see KKR through. He also clocked a bowling figures of 4-0-15-2 which means he bowled 4 overs taking 2 wickets for 15 runs giving 3.75 runs per over. Did he actually do that? I mean I will have to think hard to remember the last T20 match when Agarkar had conceded less than 6 runs per over and also taken wickets. And the other star was Langeveldt. Where had you hidden him Buchanan? He was outstanding in the match taking 3 wickets for 15 runs in his 4 overs. If only KKR had played him before!
But if you had to single out a comeback match, it had to be the previous one against Chennai Super Kings. CSK batsmen had again put up a fine performance piling up 188 runs off their 20 overs on the back of a superb knock by Suresh Raina and a cameo by Captain MS Dhoni and Morkel. Raina was particularly good smashing 3 sixes. And all that was done without Hayden (the orange cap owner) playing. KKR had started off poorly. Dada again departed early having been bowled by Murali for a mere 4 runs off 14 balls. From there McCullum took over. He smashed 81 off 24 balls studded with 11 fours and 3 sixes. He spared no bowler in his pursuit of showing everyone exactly what he and KKR batsmen were capable of. On the other side was Brad Hodge giving able company to his captain. When McCullum fell in the 13th over with the score at 124 having been bowled by Jakati, it looked like match over again for KKR. But Hodge had other ideas. He lost Hussey to a totally foolish run out but found a partner in Saha. Together they went on to put up a match winning partnership of 56 runs of 28 balls.
What struck me in both the victories was the never-say-die attitude of the KKR team. An attitude which I and all other KKR fans had been looking for from the very start of the tournament. An attitude which we thought they had forgotten having lost so many close and not so close matches. Both the above matches were chases. The first one was a big one and the second a small one. In both the cases, while chasing they were in dire straits at a point. A point where it looked as if we were going to see the now-very-familiar KKR debacle. But they had come out of the predicament. First match via Hodge and Saha and the second one via Shukla and Agarkar. Too good! This is what I had been dying to see. When KKR won the match against CSK, I was in my hotel room in Ooty with my brother. We both danced and shouted at the top of our voices. So much so that all the other boarders understood that there were KKR fans in room 101. But when they won against Rajasthan Royals, I was at home dancing alone. I had said that if Kolkata Knight Riders would go on to win the tournament, I would dance on the streets of Esplanade with Shah Rukh Khan and the other fans to the tune of করব লরব জীতব ের (Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re – the theme song of Kolkata Knight Riders). Well, that didn’t happen. But after both the victories, somehow I could hear করব লরব জীতব ের playing in the background and I did dance to it.

Cross posted on : Blogger ,

Well the League phase of the tournament is over and it is come down to the last three matches of the tournament that are the semis and the finals.

The four Semi-finalist of this years version of the IPL are Delhi Daredevils , Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. I am a bit disappointed by the Mumbai Indians name missing from this list as I am a big supporter of the team. They had their chances in the tournament specially losing to Rajasthan Royals by three runs and to Kings XI Punjab by two runs, ironically both these teams also could not make it to the second stage of the tournament.

The Standings at the end of the 1st phase are

1. Delhi Daredevils
2. Chennai Super Kings
3. Royal Challengers Bangalore
4. Deccan Chargers
5. Kings XI Punjab
6. Rajasthan Royals
7. Mumbai Indians
8. Kolkata Knight Riders

The Semifinals encounters look like this :