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In the fourth round of polling yesterday it is estimated that 57% of the voters exercised their right. Once again after polls the Congress and the BJP claimed that they are going to clean sweep this time and are going to emerge as the single largest party in the Parliament to form a government. The polling did start peacefully and it is seen that in some places only within the first two hours of polling almost 40% of the voters were polled. Though there were some incidents of violence in some places like in West Bengal and Rajasthan however overall it was a peaceful day. Thanks to the arrangements made by the Election Commission of India and the security personnel.

It is not only the anti social elements who came in between the voters and the polling booths; the day too was very hot. There were some news of heat stroke because of which two voters lost their lives in West Bengal. I think this news would grab some attention of the authorities to rethink about the schedules of elections. It is quite possible that the elections can happen earlier in the year during the months when the temperature is not that high as it is nowadays. We still have one more round of polling to go and that would be on May 13. The temperature is still on rise. We would like to recommend the voters to cast their votes as soon as the polling starts so that these incidents of heat stroke and suffocation can be avoided.

It was this gesture of the common voter in West Bengal that the state recorded a record polling f more than 75 percent where as the neighboring state Bihar was at the lowest with just 37 percent of the voter turn-up. In Punjab and Haryana where 4 and 10 seats respectively were in question the count of voter turn up was 65 and 63 percent respectively. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi remained at 50 percent whereas in the Jammu and Kashmir it was only 24 percent. Yes it is to be noted that in the valley region where the voting was done for the only seat of Sri Nagar there were no bad news. The polling was peaceful. There is one more thing to be happy about which is the voter turnout for election as it was seen in the past elections of 1999 and 2004 that only 11.93 and 18.75 percent voters show up however this time it was a moral boosting gestures for the champions of democracy when the number shoot up to 24 percent which clearly indicates that there are people in Jammu and Kashmir who want the state and its people to join the main stream and this step of their would give a huge blow to those who are against the sovereignty of the State of India.

Among the common masses there were some high profile voters who cast their votes. President of India Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil,  Vice-president of India Mr. Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mr. Omar Abdulla, Delhi Chief Minister Mrs. Sheila Dixit, Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Prakash Singh Badal, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupendar Singh Hooda.

As usual there were reports that some of the voters could not vote though they had their voter identity cards in their hands. When they reached the polling stations they were returned back on the account that their names have been stuck off from the voter lists. Some of them immediately rang up the press reporters and it was striking news in the Air with no government official to comment about the same.

It was the game that almost everyone watched till last ball. In the DLF Indian Premier League the game between Kings XI Punjab and the Chennai Super Kings was an absolute example of fight. The match was reduced to just 18 overs when it was resumed after rain pour. Mathew Hayden and Suresh Raina stated hitting almost every bowler of the Kings XI Punjab to every corner of the field. Once Raina was out, there came in Mahindra Singh Dhoni who along with Mathew Hayden posed a huge total of 185 runs.

All the spectators thought that it is going to be a one sided match considering the way KXIP played against Rajasthan Royals in their previous game. This time right from the first ball Sunny Sohal showed that they have come to fight and are not going to let this game go that easily. Well he was out on the very next ball. Then came in Simon Katich who took upon himself the task of chasing the mammoth total. He played all kinds of shots and in just 25 balls he made his half century which included three fours and four sixes. It was him who prepared the ground for Yuvraj and Mahela to carry forward the cart.

Now just 103 runs were required of 53 balls with an average of almost more than double. This fourth wicket partnership showed seven fours and three sixes and now it was looking like a secure victory for the Kings XI Punjab. There Yuvraj hit Morkel over the mid wicket for the longest six recorded in the tournament. It was 119m. Now this was clear that Yuvraj is not going to let the CSK go home with an easy victory. The score required now was 44 runs of 24 balls. Of the Chennai Super King bowlers L Balaji and Sundeep Tyagi had two overs each to be bowled.

It was not that Dhoni decided to try his luck and called up Raina. Unorthodox Dhoni repeated what he did in the T20 world cup finals by calling in Joginder Sharma for the final over against Misbah ul Haq. Well Dhoni knew he was not wrong. Any regular bowler already faced by Yuvraj and Mahela would not have done what Raina did.  He bowled each of his 12 deliveries in the 15th and 17th overs with a simple plan: not to offer the destructive Kings XI batsmen the length or the width. He kept the ball short of length and was smart enough to not let it bounce high enough for the batsmen to get their willows under the ball and launch it in orbit beyond the boundary.

This was a masterstroke from Dhoni. There might have been billion of thoughts in the mind of Dhoni but he remained calm waiting for the best thought to come in and execute it. This is what he did when Raina bowled. In front of batsmen like Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayewardene, when team requires runs at the run rate of more than 12 runs per over if you manage to bowl number like 2-0-8-0, it is not difficult to understand what a disciplined bowling was that in the time of crisis which paved way for the Chennai Super Kings. Now they stand at the top of the table with 11 points while Kings XI Punjab is at the Sixth place with 8 points.

For Kings XI Punjab it was their bowling attach which led to this destruction. In just one over of Srisanth Mathew Hayden hit 4 sixes and decided the game for Chennai Super Kings. No bowlers from the Kings XI Punjab could manage to save runs from the Chennai batsmen.