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.

Carribean T20 - Attention Indian Fans! Vijay replaces injured Sehwag

As expected , an INDIAN player is injured. Courtesy: IPL. It is none other than the swashbuckling opener, Virender-JATMAN-Sehwag. The details of the injury is not known yet,must be the usual hamstring/ribs/shoulder injury or maybe mental disorder because of the fact that Double Ds dint make it to the semis. No prizes for guessing who flying to the Carribean to replace him, its Murali-Now you know why I scored in IPL-Vijay. Its a great oppurtunity for the guy to make a mark in T20s and thus make it to the ODIs too. The advantage for Vijay is that there are no other backup openers in the Indian Squad. So,even if he doesn't perform he still plays, but we hope it doesn't happen.Ya, we know people may say Rohit Sharma may open. Cut the Crap right now. Period. Vijay entered the test arena as a replacement for Gambhir too. Viru's loss is Vj's gain. All we can say is ALL THE BEST to VIJAY and GET WELL SOON, WE WILL NOT MISS YOU to VIRU. To show your love & affection send your best wishes directly to Viru @sehwagvirender.


P.S- Sehwag has injured his shoulder , now don't ask if its Left or Right :)

DLF IPL - Wahs at War

Wah are at War and it aint smelling like blueberry pies. Sooper Kings take on the Double D's today in a crucial encounter. The loser is not necessarily out and the winner not surely through as we said here. But surely both teams are desperate to win and will be happy with points in the bag rather than prayers on their lips. So it is simple, go out there and win 2 games and the next 2 and be crowned champs. CSK hv a neat record against DD, now going 3-2 head to head. So, that will mentally get them ready for the challenge. For DD Viru has been at ease against CSK and Chepauk is his one of his favorites undoubtedly. So, this is what the two teams must look to do.

CSK- It should be an easy outing for the Super Kings considering their current form. Finally after several FAILED experiments, the bowling department seems to have clicked. Though not attacking , but definetely better. Batting has always been their strength. Its good to see that the batting is not dependant on Haydos. Its good to see the young Indian guns firing. Murali-I can Fkn hit DLF Max too- Vijay has been a revelation. Suresh -IPL- Raina has been the backbone of the team in all the 3 editions. MSD, you never know, when he hits, it stays hit! If one of them clicks,its PARTY TIME for CSK! Last time when these two teams met, it was a run feast at the Feroz Shah Kotla. We all got to know the reason for the MEGA HYPE for Mongoose. Double Ds scored 185, thanks to Joginder-Golden Arm- Sharma. Haydos and his pet, Mongoose murdered the DD bowlers. The problem which CSK faced in the first half is now faced by DD. Their bowling looks weak after the exit of Nannes. It still seems an area of concern. Of late, their batting seems to be breaking too. Looks like they have their IPODs on when batting, they just dont listen to their partner's call. I hope they continue this way for CSK to make full use of it. Playing in Chennai doesn't really matter to any team because they cheer for everyone, even you and me. Its more like a neutral venue. I feel CSK should stick with the same winning combo. 3 spinners and 2 pacers looks perfect . Their main strategy is to remove the openers as quickly as possible. Gambhir has looked dangerous, but he will run himself out, no worries there. Nothing much to say about the rest of the batting, maybe Karthik will try to impress the crowd. CSK should bat first, it should be a belter of a pitch, score an assload of runs. Bowlers should make sure that Viru and Warner get back to the pavillion within the powerplay and the Double D's will succumb to the pressure automatically.

DareDevils - The Double D's are in woeful form and they know it. They haven't settled into a stable team combination and the absence of Dirty Dirk is proving crucial. Play to win, has to be the plan here. Probably bringing back Dilshan into the xi will help. He has been kept away for too long one feels. McDonald was given the treatment so we hope capt.GG learnt not to bowl his happy meals, in the last few overs like Raina did earlier captaining CSK. Viru has to get going and not towards the dug-out. DK just cannot bat at no.4 that is just insane! Probably go in with Warner, Dilshan, Collingwood and Vettori will make sense and bringing in Bhatia will provide some depth. Also if Viru can bowl a couple will surely help the cause as the wicket in Chennai is sure to assist the slower bowlers. Last time around Haydos unleashed the Goose. That shouldn't happen again, getting wickets early exposes the likes of Badri, Morkel and that should help DD buckle them and strangle them. It would be a good toss to lose. But, an important game to win.