DLF IPL - GRAND FINALE

DLF IPL - Wahs at War II

So the first of the knock-out games and a mouth watering one that promises to keep the water boiling till the very end. This is WAR! and we like to keep it that way between the bat and ball.

MI-Mumbai Indians were the favourites to win the IPL 3.0 even before it started and they haven't disappointed so far. Yes, a few hiccups here and there , but looks like its all sorted out. Questions were raised after the MI-CSK match when the wickets fell like 9 pins as soon as GOD(read SRT)retired. From then on,its been a collective effort from the batting side.Ambati-Did the Selectors notice my batting-Rayudu , Saurabh-a la MSD-Tiwary have been in good form right through the tournament. Keiron-10 ball wonder-Pollard has shown what he is capable of with the bat and ball. Duminy has found his long lost form. He is the new "Man with the golden arm", breaks important partnership. Proven and tested. Mclaren has been consistent with the ball. Coming to their bowling, its easily one of the best attacks. Zaks and Mclaren share the new ball and they hardly get hit.More importantly they uproot 1 or 2 wickets . Bhajji has been tremendous with the ball(even with the bat a couple of times). Lasith-Slinga-Malinga is easily their trump bowler with his pace, swing, variations. He is difficult to get through. I am sure he is a part of everybody's fantasy team :) Pollard is good for a 5th bowler. Satish, Duminy can be handy too. Their fielding has been fantabulous. They are a truly 3-d team. Jaya and Bravo have been the disappointments and are likely to sit out. Dhawan may open with SRT. The toss doesn't really for this team as they have an excellent bowling to defend the target and they have an explosive batting order which can chase down any target. Thier main strategy is remove KP and Uthappa ASAP, they are ones who change gears and up the ante. Jumbo has been in terrific form too, so its better they play away Jumbo without losing wickets. Its a knock out match for both the teams. MI would want all their 3 departments to fire and fire BIG TIME. If it does happen, there's no stopping the MI.

RCB- Dr. Mallya's merry men not in a very merry mood after the last few games giving them a scare of being knocked out before the knock-out stages. But Aal izz well in the RCB camp except they now face the table toppers Mumbai Indians enroute to the grand finale. RCB might be considered the under-dogs especially after the home ground conditions being stolen from them and gifted to their semi-finals opponents. Nevertheless, RCB being the under-dogs has to be a good sign(As that's what the IPL is all abt). Team strategy should ideally be - Win toss, elect to bowl first and get Sachin early. With Sachin in the hut, half the job is done. But, don't let the likes of Tiwary, Rayudu settle getting a couple of wickets exposes the chink in Mumbai's Armour i.e. their middle order. Restrict the Mumbai Indians and then beat them all over the park with a batting order to boast. C'mon Kallis, Dravid, KP, Rosco, Robin, Kohli.. hahaha. Mumbai may have a bowling attack on the sheets as well but, expect some buffet bowling and you shall be granted. Bowling needs to be extra-tight not sure if Pankaj Singh will get another game, expect PK to be back and Jumbo, Vinay, should support Kallis & Steyn very well. The pitch will not assist pace a lot but, when you can bowl @150+ you really don't need the pitch to help you. RCB should look to get ROFL Merwe in if you ask me. That will change a lot in the match. So, Kallis, KP, Merwe & Steyn can be the 4 maximum overseas players allowed. And if everything else goes by the plan RCB would have pulled an upset victory over the Mumbai Indians.

IPL 3.0 The Ree(a)l Indians

One of the most expensive teams in IPL and so far they haven't done much justice to that . In the first edition, they almost rose from the ashes, after being down and out for the first few matches , they almost reached the semis.In the second, they were thoroughly outplayed, though they did have their share of chances, the other team got the better of it . They finished 7th. Sachin 'God' Tendulkar's captaincy jinx I guess.

This time they have bought some really valuable players and are looking favorites to clinch the title. They have bought the Hot Shot player at the moment, i.e Keiron Pollard who can be handy with bat as well as ball. They also have the ICL star , Rajagopalan Satish, who can hit the ball many a mile . So their team looks pretty even with a perfect mixture of stroke makers, hitters, all rounders and attacking bowlers. If the unit can gel well, they can steamroll over the other teams. Fans just have to pray that Sachin's captaincy jinx doesn't screw it up again.

SQUAD: Sachin Tendulkar (c), Shikhar Dhawan ,Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Chandan Madan, Luke Ronchi, Pinal Shah, Yogesh Takawale, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, Stuart Binny, Ryan McLaren, Graham Napier, Jude Singh,Syed Sahabuddin, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Rahil Sheikh,Dhawal Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Chetanya Nanda.

Strenghts : A perfect mixture of experienced and young players. A perfect combo of stroke makers, powerhitters, all rounders and bowlers.

Weakness: I don't know if the team coordination is good . If it can overcome that , it should make their owners proud.

Watch out for : The man of the season , Keiron Pollard who can send the ball screeeeeeeaming to the boundaries and can bowl 4 overs . R. Sathish ain't less either. He can come handy with his part - timers and is an excellent fielder. Dwayne Bravo. Period!

Wah's XI:

1)Sachin Tendulkar©

2)Sanath Jayasuriya

3)Rahane/Shikar Dhawan

4)Dwayne Bravo

5)Keiron Pollard/JP Dumminy ( considering the present form form of JP, I think Pollard would make it )

6) R. Sathish/ Binny/ Nayar

7)Chandan Madan*

8) Bhajji

9)Zaks

10) Dhawal Kulkarni

11) Lasith Malinga

Wah's Say : The team looks in perfect shape. Jayasurya should be tried a few games, then decided to be played only on merit. Its a weak side in terms of fitness, Malinga, Zaks, Bravo etc are injury prone. If not for the fitness, they are a champion side this time .No wonder if they clinch the title too. :)

IPL 3.0 Coming Soon!

Yes, Lalit Modi and his minions are back "bigger" and "louder" than ever! Somehow, I can't wait. With just about 8 days you can almost sense it's here already, with everybody on TWITTER constantly ranting the same training, practice match crap. So, we decided to see who's been up to what in the last one year and what has really undergone in the team building process. Who stands where and who is running the lead.. already. Your favourite, my favourite, everyone's favourite. Once again it boils down to the 8 teams and their performance on the field so, no matter how much we want in the end only one team can be crowned "champions"! Let the battle begin..

DLF IPL 3.0 - Sachin ala re

DLF IPL 3.0 chronicle continues.. we see the Mumbai Indians! Yes, its back in India! d'uh!!!

DLF IPL 3.0

I'm too lazy (read sloshed), so taking an off this weekend, unless something urges me to blog. Till then enjoy the action that awaits us!!! Yea, the "DLF IPL". Nothing less than *Wah!*