The IPL season

Could not keep my fingers off after i read pankaj's analysis on IPL. Here's my own take.Hope u will enjoy it

Statutory warning:True to my nature this blog is gonna be critical.

First lets examine what's happening in the teams.

Rajasthan Royals: True, nobody gave a chance to this team.But that seems like ages ago. The consistency with which they win matches can only be attributed to an Aussie mind. Great leader in Shane Warne and some earnest students who adulate him.Ever heard of Siddarth Trivedi and who is this Asnodkar, he can make Graeme Smith look like playing second fiddle to him. A tiny explosive. No big names but special performances and some names like Ravindra Jadeja apart from teh ones i have mentioned are getting noticed. Full credit to the manager and coach. To beat them the opposition has to either choke runs or get early wickets. The team can crumble

Kings XI Punjab: The Preity Zinta led team. Oh Sorry! Its actually Yuvraj's team. Another team that looked scattered to start off. Each one was doing his own thing in the first 2 matches. And only Irfan Pathan seemed to be doing his won thing right. But the team has integrated well. True to teh Punjabi nature this is own team with a lot of youth and exuberance. The sheer enjoyment of cricket can be seen in their faces except the one instance where Sreesanth's face was all over the TV. A team that can surprise the best on a given day. But will be susceptible to pressure. Not a lot of experience in the team. Coupla wily customers like Sangakarra and Jayawardena. Their biggest find is Sean Marsh. I would love to see a match where Sean Marsh is gotten cheaply and Kings XI go to win. You cant keep these Aussies outa the game.

Chennai Super Kings: I do get associated with this team.But FYI I am not supporting CSK. But a fan of CSK shdnt be disappointed. The most expensive IPL player is with them. He has only proven time and again he has been bid so much not because of his batting skills but most importantly his people skills. He is an awesome captain. He had both his arms cut off after the double blow in Hayden and M Hussey. heir game has been patchy since. their combinations are suffering and players like Stephen Fleming havent put their hands up. the return of L Balaji was eventful. he has a handful of wickets already. Dhoni will be better offif he can skip the inclusion of his good-luck-charm-last-over-bowler Joginder Sharma. One over somebody will bowl yaar!!His main stays are Muralitharan and Morkel. Morkel is a clear match winner. Finally a no-aussie team thats doing good.

Mumbai Indians: What a strange name. Everything went right with them since Bhajji slapped(or got slapped). Pollock got the captaincy. turned the team around and Sachin's back. The team has survived on Pollock's responsible shoulders. Another great player great leader. Another team that exhibits great enjoyment on the field. Everybody talks about McGrath as the best 20-20 bowler. I just feel that after today's match with KKR, Pollock has stolen the mantle. Par excellence. Clinical fast bowling and a team that follows his able footsteps. And then there is Jayasuriya. On his day he can make opponents look like school children watching an exhibition. An exhibition of arrogant battign where the ball disappears from the ground the moment he just flicks his wrists. A master and a pure delight to watch. this team has got the rare experience and youth mixture. Unlike RCB this is valuable experience. Some players have already silently proven a point and played some important roles like Bravo, Uthappa, RRaje, D Kulkarni and definitely Abhishek Nayar. A team of finds.

Delhi Daredevils: As of today MI has overtaken DD. This team has only 5 players. Gambhir, Sehwag, Dhawan, McGrath and Asif. End of team. Everybody else chips in. One player who has made his mark though in the process is Yomahesh. He has teh god of pace bowling in his team and he has made some invaluable contributions. This team is unbeatable. but there are some prerequisites. Gambhir shd keep his head and stop getting personal with bowlers. When he goes after bowlers to prove a point he fails else he is the god of modern day batting. there is no stroke that he cant play and has the ability to run away with games nonchalantly. Atlast people are noticing this prodigy who dons teh orange cap most of the time. Then there is Sehwag the opposite holds good with him i think. if he targets bowlers and balls he wd be better off. S dhawan, again finally people are noting such a nice player. they are a formidable team with great bowling and great batting. But sometimes Sehwag appears casual and carries his attitude towards batting to his captaincy. He needs a rap and with some help they should sail along.

Kolkata Knightriders: Nautanki. thats my immediate response when i hear KKR. I apologize for my bias against Ganguly. he is smart and shrewd and inspiring. But please!! someday he has to understand he cant keep making the rules. The going of KKR can be compared to the time when India was led by Ganguly. They had astonishing wins and worst of defeats. the same is the case with KKR. On their day they can pull of a great game. but u never know if it is going to come. This team heavily relies on its bowling. Shoaib Akhtar had a dream come back. Ishant Sharma is the best thing the selectors have done in a long time.Ashoke Dinda is a steamy bowler too. Agarkar is always amongst the wickets along with the runs (he gives away). Their mainstay in batting is David Hussey. MI got him cheaply and they collapsed to a 67!! Ganguly has found his touch but often loses the match in his head before he actually loses it on the ground. KKR would be a disappointment in the semis, MI is a better option. Coupla players in Saha, Debrata Das, L Shukla have come good.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: They are the bottom of teh chart. But since I have a lot to write abt DC I thot I will first finish with RCB. A loser team basically. This team actually performed according to expectations. Dravid waged many a lone battle but of no avail. thats not his type of the game and neither his team's. A big drawback of thsi team has been the local talent that has not contributed. i saw one match where Arun kumar was good. But i dont think he has played more than 2 matches. We al know that if anything J kallis and Dravid can only try but they cant win matches. the burden is on Boucher's shoulders. The only occasions where he has fired the RCB have won matches.V kohli hasnt quite come off. their best t20 player still is Rahul Dravid. That talks about all the woes of teh team. Dale Steyn and Praveen kumar are worth teh watch but the captaincy lacks firepower and inspiring abilities. It has been cremated.

Deccan Chargers: the team that almost everybody was willing to support in a 20-20 match. It has been the biggest flop of the tournament. Laxman had a team and didnt have a clue as to who was good doing what. After So many great performances Rohit Sharma still came at No.4 or No.5. Scott Styris is a good 20-20 bowler but cant bat or nuts and is too old to run. finally Afridi opens and comes out good but not good enuf. Venugopal Rao the much cursed player. Suddenly nobody is talking about him. He has to be blamed for getting our hopes high unnecessairly. A good plyer. Should have played all tests since 2005. At the end of everything DC has the least -ve runrate. this is because they had a chance of winning all these matches but could not finish any of them off. R Sharma should be kicking himself after the last match for the way he got out. At one time the orange cap winner's team was at the bottom of the list. No prizes for guessing who had the cap then. DC would have been the best team had they had 2 months of prep and proper role allocation. Raviteja, Venu Rao and Sarvesh all seem decent. Gilly could not do a Warne but brought a coupla matches home.

Overall IPL has been the relief during the summer heat and intense boredom. Every evening has been completely occupied. There is always a reason to feel happy after every match cause in every team we have a player we adore. So I wish teh IPL great success and pray that it does not disintegrate our Indian Team.