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Rahul Dravid: the Great Wall of India. Yes this is how he is known or in fact one should say that he was known in the past before the beginning of the IPL this season. Those who have seen him playing cannot expect to see kind of batting form he is in. Opponents were scared of him in the past as well however now there is a different reason to be scared of Rahul Dravid. He has become a gladiator now days. In the past games till dates his strike rate is more than 177. Now you may clearly assume why the opponents are worried of Rahul Dravid. He is no more a batsman who will play the “tuk-tuk” cricket as the common masses in India think about him. He is more violent than Sehwag or Yuvraj now days. This all might have happened because of the widespread criticism he experienced in the last edition because of which the team franchisee Vijay Malaya took away the captaincy of the team and handed it over to Kevin Peterson. He was called as wall because of the silence and patience he has shown on and off the field. No one has seen him so aggressive like this. In his 13 years of cricketing experience he was never seen angry or frustrated. This is evident that he has hit only 15 sixes in his 134 tests and only 40 sixes in 333 ODIs that he has played for the country. Other than being a bookish cricketer he is known to take time before he settles on the crease.  It was said that this new format of Cricket is not for Rahul. It was none of your business Mr. Wall. It seemed true if we look the kind of performance he gave in the last edition of the tournament. However, this wall broke its silence and started pelting stones and rocks now. Every stone that this wall is made up of is answering the critics and their questions. Every delivery that is bowled to him gets and answer. He held the purple cap till 04/23/2009 matches and who knows after the end of the tournament how many runs and sixes will he be having in his kitty. He is the top performer in the past two matches for Royal Challengers. Apart from his top position on paper, his biggest achievement is that he has [...]

This year the IPL T20 would be ‘bigger and better’ in its second season. With more than 12 months of preparation, this is going to be of great interest. It has taken the world into its stride. I have seen foreign player looking for the expansion of the quota a team can have. Well for that matter this year we may see the English players participating in this season. It is going to be a “boutique tournament”. At least it is one for the players of foreign origin who are going to participate in this cricket extravaganza. Commonly known as DLF IPL 2009, this league was established by BCCI in 2007 as an answer to Zee Group’s Subhash Chandra’s ICL. With the amount of money involved in it IPL has outplayed ICL as one may see world’s top players playing in the tournament. This season would start from 18th April and would be played till May 24th 2009. The format of the tournament has not been changed from what it was in the year 2008. The eight franchisees will first play against one another in a league on home-and-away basis. The top four teams will then figure in the two semi-finals and a final Players from England would be participating this year as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has softened its stand on this matter. Earlier it was of the opinion that its players would not participate in this cash rich tournament till 2010 due to their international commitments. But, Professional Cricketers’ Association chief Sean Morris has claimed that the Board will review its stand and players will get to play in the Twenty20 tourney in 2009 albeit only in the later stages. Here is the schedule chart of the complete tournament. Date :2009 IST GMT Team vs Team Venue April, Sat 18 4:00 PM 7:00 PM Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Cape Town April, Sat 18 8:00 PM 11pm Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Cape Town April, Sun 19 4:00 PM 7:00 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab Cape Town April, Sun 19 8:00 PM 11pm Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders Cape Town April, Mon 20 8:00 PM 11pm Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Port Elizabeth April,Tue 21 4:00 PM 7:00 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders Durban April, Tue 21 8:00 PM 11pm Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians [...]