ICC WORLD T20 2012

   Cricket's colassal carnage curriculum also known as the "WORLD T20 thingy" just came to an end of epic proportions. Following the previous editions' trend, the team that didn't win a single game in the dead-rubber section of the tournament went on to clinch the title. Sri Lanka who played the perfect hosts graced the finals and did their thang!

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   Which brings us to select the best XI  from the tournament. It was cut-throat competition but, fair to say we did better than the ICC best XI.

Gayle - picked purely for his Gangnam skills. Just kidding! 222 runs @ S.R. of 150 the calypso king didn't only rely on bludgeoning the ball right from the start and had a systematic approach which was nice to see.

Watson - was Australia's goto man be it with the bat or ball. Nothing new to be said. Most runs with the bat, most wickets for a seamer, most man of the match awards.

Jayawardene* - Missed out in the opener's slot. Didn't matter much, was disciplined with the bat as well as leading his team to yet another finals.
Kohli - India's new Mr.dependable. When he clicks the team seldom loses and they did and so, they failed to make the cut for the semis, again!
Samuels - delivered when the team needed most be it in the finals with bat or the super 8s bowling the final over or the "super over".
McCullum†  - no competition behind the wickets this time. Baz was clean and his bat did most of the talking. His 123 vs Bangladesh will give bowlers few uneasy nights.
Morgan - picked mainly for his position in the batting order. It was tough to choose between Wright, Raina and Morgan. But, we'll stick with Morgan. Almost took the defending champions through to the semis. Almost!
Ajmal - not his threatening best but, delivered for the team in crunch situations. 3/17 vs Aus & 4/30 vs Nzl were close to his best performances. Perhaps, under utilized by Hafeez.
Narine - was very tough to choose between Mendis and Narine. But, Mendis took 6 wickets against Zimbabwe and 4 in the finals of which 2 were not out. Narine was economical and most batsmen were clueless to read him from the hand or off the pitch.
Starc - bowled better for anybody that is named Mitchell.
Rampaul - was tough pick again. Rampaul's figures might show him on the expensive side. But, he picked wickets at the start and was crucial in the way Windies went about their game plan. And also Malinga had a horror final was taken apart single handedly by Samuels.

   Some who must be mentioned for their near miss in the team. Badree for his exceptional bowling in the powerplays had a lot control and knew his limits. Wright, Raina, Malinga, Mendis as mentioned earlier Raza Hasan was very good, not to leave Ashwin, Hales showed some intent to play and err.. Balaji.

   Well, almost done since we have named the best should only be fair to name the Santa's naughty list as well.

Gambhir 
Levi
Kieswetter†
Kallis 
Taylor*
Thirimanne
Malik 
Gul
Swann
Vettori
Dernbach

ICC World Cup 2011 *Champions*

The Good Bad and the Ugly

Finally ,the so claimed next BIG thing after GOD(not read as sachin here), THE IPL is back and so are we . After all the hullabaloo,player retention controversies, team owner controversies,the IPL auction took place at Bengalooru without the ex-Kingpin-Lalit K Modi. There were a few good bids and a few shocking bids . Here listed are a few bids classified as the GOOD(total value for money),Bad( a little waste of money) and Ugly ( total waste of money ).

THE GOOD


1) Davy Jacobs - One of the best buy of the auction. It was one bloody hell of a steal for $190k. High stakes were expected of him considering his form in the Champs League . He is an opening bat as well as a keeper and an outstanding captain. Chennai almost bought him before MI raised the stakes and bought him. Well done MI!

2) Kumar Sangakkara- A steal for $700k, considering the way money was thrown around. He can double up as a keeper as well as a number 3 bat. Not to forget his captaincy skills . He is a major utility player . Well done Deccan!

3) Dan'The Man'Vettori- $550k! Can u beleive it . You cant get cheaper than that even in Clearance sale . World Class All rounder. Considering the fact that the matches are gonna be played in India,SPIN is the KING!. With his late order hitting and good captaincy skills , he is surely a match winner :).Well Done RCB!

4) Shakib-Al Hasan- Yet another steal! Bangladesh Captain, who has literally revolutionized the team was picked for $425k.Yes,agreed that he is a Bangladesh cricketer , but he is the No.1 in the ICC All rounder ratings . KKR!

5) Scotty Styris and Dwayne Bravo - Two match winners , having a tough time presently , but to get them $200k, who would say NO.Good job CSK !

6)Charles Langeveldt- At $140k , he was a terrific buy . He is one of the best bowlers at death presently , though , very underrated.

THE BAD


1) Umesh Yadav - $750,000. Who the hell is he ?? Seriously . Delhi Daredevils!

2) Subramaniam Badrinath-$800,000. Kochi sensed CSK's desparation after their strategy became an open book and started chasing Badri which finally ended up at 800,000.Happy New Year Badri.

3) The Pathan Bros. - $4million. Do they even know the number of 0s in it . Let them be good players , but 4mn is almost like half the total budget . A bad buy for sure . 2.1 for Yusuf and 1.9 for Irfy , who haven't shown much promise after the first IPL season.But thanks Irfy , you made sure CSK lifted the trophy :)

THE UGLY

1) Joginder Sharma and Sudeep Tyagi- What a waste of $390,000. Period .

2) Ravindra Jadeja - What were the numbskulls even thinking ? Do they even watch T20s? For $950,000, even his parents wont buy him.

3) Saurabh Tiwary- !!SHOCKER!! . Agreed he's a young talent and all other crap,but,$1.6million for a guy who bats  at 6 . The Owners must be crazy.

4) Gautham Gambhir - Maybe the KKR team weren't off the hangover while bidding for Gambhir. A record buy of 2.4million for a single dimensional,injury prone player . Even Viru would be cursing him now .

5) Mahela Jayawardene- Again a front line batsman, overpriced at $1.5million.

6) Dan Christian - Who ???? Wonder what made them bid so much for him . His stats aren't impressive . Waste of $900,000.

And few more players add up to each of the categories . But the thing which we have to look forward is , Does any team buy Saurav ' Dada' Ganguly off the auction. Overall,the teams looks good . Kochi were mindfucked and were on lookout bolwers,forgetting T20( esp. in India) is a batsman's game.Chennai went on go for the same players, which was the smartest thing to do . Keeping their faith in their players(even Jogi and Tyagi). KKR and RCB opted for a totally new look team. Mumbai Indians look like a Juggernaut on the paper. Time will tell, which owner succeeded and which owner sucked.