Skip to main content

The IPL ends .....but the T20 show goes on

I must admit that the Deccan Chargers were not the team I would have predicted as the eventual champions despite their brilliant start to the tournament. But then I wouldn't have picked Bangalore as a finalist either so that just goes to show that my predictive powers are not too good. But as I said in my earlier post, that's part of what makes this format attractive.

Overall the quality of cricket was good and Gilchrist's innings in the semis was simply brilliant, probably the best moment of the IPL. That plus the hat-tricks (including two for Yuvraj!!). It was heartening to see the bowlers making a real difference, especially relatively unheralded ones like R.P. Singh, Dirk Nannes, Pragyan Ojha and Shadab Jakati. I didn't to watch Manish Pandey bat but he will be one to keep an eye on.

The T20 caravan keeps rolling though and it'll be interesting to see how India deal with the 'favourites' tag and also whether the grounds are filled up for the non-subcontinent games. A lot of the teams look terribly evenly matched to me and predicting a winner is going to be awfully hard. So I'm going to cheat and predict the final four after the first set of group matches are done :-) What'll be more exciting is to see if any youngster can take the tournament by the scruff of its neck and emerge as the MVP.

The excitement begins on Friday!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Et tu?

As a single sport website, I think Cricinfo has brought about a revolution and the fact that they were bought by ESPN is testament to how highly valued they've become. Their editing and approach to articles/opinion has been refreshing to say the least and even though they seem to have had a lot of editorial staff movement they've usually maintained very high standards. Off late though, both in their headline styles as well as in actual content, there seems to be an occasional slippage of standards and an inching towards the modern media sensationalism which is a bit of a pity. This piece  by Siddharth Monga is a classic example. Granted that the last two press conferences by Dhoni and Sehwag  indicated clearly that the captain and his deputy did not agree on this aspect of selection but "discord", "dissent", "public sniping" feels rather presumptuous and heavy handed. Yes, it is a team sport but there is no reason why everyone on the team needs ...
1 comment
Read more

Much ado about a run-out

Judging by the amount that's been said and written about Ian Bell's run-out-that-wasn't at Trent Bridge, you would think that it has been the most significant occurrence of the series so far when nothing could be further from the truth. Andrew Miller  and Samir Chopra seem to be of the opinion that it was the crucial turning point in the match, which I completely disagree with (the post-tea sessions on days one and two were far more critical and momentum shifting). Andy Flower says that if Tendulkar had been run-out similarly in Bombay, it would have caused an international incident. He's clearly feeling the effects of having been in the England cricket set-up for too long given that a) its very improbable that Tendulkar would do something as daft as Bell did, and b) when a controversial run-out (but within the laws) did happen to him (against Pakistan at Eden Gardens no less), Tendulkar went out to the crowd and appealed to them to calm down and let the game proceed...
Post a Comment
Read more

First thoughts on the Ashes

The only minor surprise for me in the 2013 Australian Ashes squad announced last week was the selection of James Faulkner ahead of Moises Henriques as the second all-rounder. Minor because given  the Shane Watson shenanigans of recent times, I would have thought that Inverarity and co would have opted for a second batting all-rounder (which is what Henriques clearly is). Instead they've gone with a bowling all-rounder in Faulkner and it'll be interesting to see what happens if Watson's batting woes in Test match cricket continue in the first two Tests. As for the rest of the squad, given the way the inexperienced batting performed in India, Rogers and Haddin were always going to make it in to the team and the choice of Khawaja over Smith appears sound too given that the latter's strength is in playing spin bowling. The batting still looks as unsettled and shaky as the Indian fast bowling line-up and its here that the series will be won or lost for the Aussies. The retu...
Post a Comment
Read more