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Recent Performances Indian national hockey team has got fifth position In the Asian cup played in Malaysia and it has distressed the Indian hockey lovers. At one hand it was being expected that Indian team will repeat its previous month’s performance but on the other hand it could not qualify even for the semifinal of the Asian cup. It must be learnt that last month Indian team had won the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup after the gap of fourteen years. We can say that Indian team’s performance is like the swing of pendulum and nobody can predict its performance. Two years ago, in the final of the Asia cup that was played in Chennai, Indian team had secured a thumping victory over their arch-rivals Pakistan. Before that, they had failed to qualify even for the semifinal of the last two tournaments. They had failed even to qualify for the 2008’s Olympic Games. A ray of hope was seen from Indian team’s success in the Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Punjab Gold Cup performances. The victory of the Azlan Shah Cup had given rise to the hopes that Indian team will repeat its success story of 2003 to 2007 under the Coaching of Harinder Singh. But the Indian team’s recent failure once again reminded us about its pendulum-story. Asia Cup’s eight times winner’s return to their homeland empty handed is hurting the hockey lovers. Seven teams had taken part in the Asia Cup and India was positioned at the fifth position after the competition. It defeated Bangladesh by 11-1 while faced defeat by 3-2 in the hands of arch rivals Pakistan. It had tied with China by 2-2 while had defeated Japan by 5-1. South Korea lifted the cup by defeating Pakistan in the final.

Challenges Ahead Delhi Commonwealth games and the 2010’s Hockey world Cup are the two main challenges for the Indian Hockey Team ahead. It is the fortune that Asia Cup winner gets straight entry into the World Cup competition and India is taking part in this tournament because it is hosting the cup. Twelve teams will take part in this games and it is the hurting fact that Indian team’s ranking in this cup it 12th. It is very distressful fact that eight times winner of World Cup is so low ranked. After the fall of Gill-Jyotikumaran dictatorship, Indian Olympic Association is in charge of the Indian Hockey and it has appointed Spain’s Jose Manual Brasa as its new coach.

Coaches Under the coaching of Brasa, Spain’s women hockey team had won 1992’s Women Hockey World Cup. He will guide the Indian hockey team till 2010’s Asian Hockey cup. After that the time of his tenure can be increase for every quarter of the year according to the performance of the team. Spain’s David Terez has been appointed as the physical trainer of the team. Brasa will get 50 Lakh rupees while Tarez will get 40 lakh rupees annually. Before Brasa, Indian team was being coached by Harinder Singh with the help of former captain Dhanraj Pilay and Ramandeep Grewal, Harinder coached the Indian team to secure some comprehensive victories. Before him Indian team was being coached by Australian coach Rick Carlworth who was a famous player of his time. Team could learn a lot from him but he resigned because of differences with the related ministry, federation and the technical staff of the team. Before him Jokim Karval was Indian team’s coach who had played more than 200 hundred matches for the Indian team but he too resigned because Indian team had failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Before that during the rule of Gill-Jyotikumaran, various coaches coached the Indian team but they all failed because of federation’s monopolistic policies and some personal interests of the federation heads. In 2008 we saw the downfall of the 14 years old Gill-Jyotikumaran dictatorship and now Indian Olympic Association is handling the affairs. International Hockey federation is keeping a hawk’s eye on the Indian hockey and its head Leander Negro has given India the chance of organizing the 2010’s Hockey World Cup after getting the promise that a single hockey federation will be made after dissolving the men’s and women’s hockey federations to bring back the glorious days of Indian hockey. To uplift the level of Indian hockey, Indian Olympic Association’s ad hock committee was working as was being expected. Brasa has been appointed according to the guidelines of the IHF. Some voices have been raised against IHF’s interference in the Indian Hockey affairs but the question is related with the performance of the team. If we compare hockey with the cricket then we find it that Indian Cricket team has always performed well under the guidance of foreigner coaches. Whether it was Jon Wright or Gary Kirston the truth behind Indian cricket team’s success was it that there was no communication gap between the coaches and the players. Ian Chappel, too, was a good coach but the differences between him and captain Ganguly had affected team’s performance. Brasa, too, is a good coach. He should give extra care to understand to feelings of the Indian players only then he can get best out of them. For it he has wished to learn Hindi. The coach should be given a free hand in selection of the team. He should be given the right to choose his favorite players out of the pool of fifty players.

Players and Coach If the players are assured that they will remain with the team then they will give their best performance without any fear. Third thing that Indian hockey lacks is that the Coach and the team should be given its due exposure. At the international level they play a very few matches. Many national level tournaments have lost their glory. In such circumstances how the Indian players can perform well if they have not been chosen after tough competitions. At the other hand lack of professionalism has forced the new talent to find alternatives. So we can say that there are many challenges ahead of Brasa but let us see how he performs when there is a hidden struggle between the dictatorship of some former hockey sympathizers and the new initiatives to solve the problems of IH.

Champions Challenge Cup Every player loves to play an always hates the defeats but wishes to win. Indian players play attacking hockey and they have a lot of talent but then necessity is to make them believe in their self and assure them that they are made to win. Indian hockey tactics are still considered to be the best in the world and Indian hockey players are still at their best in their Indian hockey tactics. Indian Hockey is termed as the classical way of playing and is liked for its fare performance. Victory is their dream and they have set their sights on the 2010 world cup that will be played in their own country. To improve its ranking Indian team will have to perform better than the teams of the Belgium, Canada, Argentina, China, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa during the Champions Challenge Cup that will be played from 6 to 13 December.

Victory India’s Surendra Singh has won three gold medals in the third round of Asian Athletic meet. He won this third gold medal in men’s 3000 meter race while another Indian athlete Bibin Mathew won a bronze medal for his country from the 400 meter race. Surendra took the time of 8.07.22 to win the race. He was emerged victorious even in the third round of the series. With three gold medals he has won US$4500. India’s Ravinder Singh and Sandeep Kumar won the silver and bronze medals in the competition while Ailem Singh and Aswal Kashinath remained at the fourth and fifth position. With it India swept the competition. India’s Bibin Methew won the second gold medal for his country by defeating China’s Liu.Methew. He had won first two rounds also. In the third round he and Liu took equal time to finish the race and the winner was decided by photo finish. India’s Shekh Murtaza won the bronze medal in the same competition. In the third round India won three gold, four silver and seven bronze medals, though none of the Indian athletes could qualify for the world championship that will be held in Berlin from August 15 to August 23.In the first round India had won one gold, four silver and four bronze medals while in the second round they had won 2 gold, three silver and four bronze medals. In women’s discus throw Krishna Punia and Seena Auntil remained at the third and fourth position. Asian champion Chin Song Aimen won the gold. In men’s discuss throw Om Prakash remained at the second position. In the 400 relay-race India won the silver medal.

 

Rathore Escapes India’s Olympic medal winner Rajyawardhan Singh Rathod had a narrow escape. his car met with an accident 90 kilometers away from the Pink city Jaipur on the Jaipur-Delhi road. His car was hit by a truck from behind. He was traveling along with his family when the incident happened. They all escaped unhurt.

 

Jatendra’s Medal Hopes  Though Olympic medalist Jatendra Kumar has failed to win any competition after changing his weight category but he has hoped that he will win a medal in the Ashian Championship that will be held in China from 5 to 14 June. Now he has taken the place of Akhil Kumar while Akhil has joined the 57 kg weigh category. After Olympic it is his biggest tournament and he is working very hard. Under the guidance of Coach Gurbax Singh and Jaidev, he is learning the boxing tactics of 54 kg weight category. It is being expected that Kazakhstan pugilists will be the biggest hurdles in his medal quest. In the last Asian Championship that was held in Mongolia he had won the bronze medal in the flyweight category and this time he is expecting to win a medal in the new weight category. This championship is very important as for as the World Championship is concerned. This championship will be held in Italy. Akhil Kumar is not taking part in the Asian Championship because of fitness problems so Jatendra has taken his position.

 

Dhoni has assured that India will retain the T20 Champion title. He is satisfied with the squad and said that this is a balanced side with some outstanding talent. There is no pressure on the boys. India is the defending champions of the tournament about to begin on June 5 in England. India will be playing its first game on June 6 against Bangladesh. Dhoni said India has a strong batting side as we bat right down till #8-9. This is also known to Dhoni that India has a strong bowling attack as well as he mentioned in the pre departure match conference.  India has some outstanding talents like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself who can change the course of game anytime. All they need is to focus on the potential that they have and they will have to use the same to retain the title. Dhoni advised not to worry about the result just focus on playing to their potential. He said team will have to give its 100 percent and it can defend the title for sure.  

Team India is tired after a hectic IPL which was played in South Africa and Dhoni knows it. However he said that it has on the other hand helped the players to hone their skills for the World Cup. Since most of the players who have played in the IPL were from India and all the team members of the T20 Squad of India were part of the IPL so they now have the hang of it. They had the practice of almost more than 50 days which would be sufficient for the team to retain the title. Playing so many matches would make you tired as we are humans and not machines but the exposure that team India got and the skills they have developed would be helpful. The most important thing is the experience. In the superfast game of twenty 20 all you need to know is how to handle the pressure. While batting first there is a pressure of setting a huge target and thus batsmen play under pressure which is harmful. Same is the case while chasing as there is lot to achieve in just 20 overs. Just one missed ball could cost you a defeat at the end of the game. On the bowling front it is the pressure of retaining the opponent to the minimum score possible. Dhoni is happy with the fact that he has lot of options when it comes to the non regular bowlers. In fact in the spin department all the players have some experience in handling the pressure. With the kind of bowling Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh has done in the IPL, if the same continues no one can defeat India. Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan are no less if you look at the statistics of the IPL.

 Though there are some lesser experienced players as well like Ravinder Jadeja however their form in the T20 IPL was excellent and it was evident that they are very good at handling the pressure. In the times of crisis Jadeja has played well in IPL. Also he has faced world’s top bowling attacks pace and spin both when he faced Brett Lee and Murali respectively. This has helped him learn a lot as to how to handle the pressure. Though some of the cricket pundit has some concerns about the opening pair of India however Dhoni seems to be not bothered about it. For batting he has the clear thought about Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and on the bowling front it would go to Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.

 All is well that ends well. This is not the over confidence but the confidence that Dhoni has in his team mates and above all in himself that he can lead from the front. We wish Dhoni and his team all the very best. Jai HO….     

 This is what one of the leading newspapers in India called this game of T20 after the first world cup played in 2007. In the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 world cup, the final was the most interesting game between India and Pakistan where game was decided only in the last over when only 5 more runs were remaining and Pakistan lost the game. In fact those who had seen the tournament still feel that the game between the two countries played a few days earlier in Durban was the most exciting one when both the teams reached a “tie” in the prescribed overs and decision was made through a “ bowl Out”. It was the first ever bowl out in the history of cricket. Now that was according to the spirit of T20: fast and furious, as it is there in the game of hockey or football.

Looking at the statistics we find that the final of the T20 world cup created history in terms of TV viewership when the TV ratings reached a record of 15.2. Such a peak is never seen in the history of Indian Television. It was brought to the television by ESPN STAR sports, the sports channel and the ICC’s broadcast partner. It provided an innovative coverage when it showed the game of cricket through different angels. Suspended cable cameras were used and new features like hum centric player profiles, measuring of the longest six during the tournament, the graphics showing live field trackings and the corridors of uncertainty to find the wide ball clarity and many other features were added to make the game more interesting and watchable. The first editon of the T20 world cup was played in South Africa. In the cities like Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, the stadiums were jampacked since the game was of shorter duration and the tickets were as cheap as of Rs 20. A successful marketing campaing was run though innovative television commercials that was primarily to target the audience from South Africa.

 

There were DJ booths at every venue which were accompanied by a PA announcer; dancers were there on the podiums around the boundary line to keep the spectators and players motivated. There was a character created by South Africa Cricket called  Dr. Beat who interacted with the spectators. Lot of other arrangements were there like distributing hard hats, a free face painting was there offered to the supporters, to increase the attendance in the stadiums there were school kids promotions, big screens were at each venue to enjoy the replays of the game, dugouts like that of football and the event songs.

 The cricket fans were watching this tournament all over the world across more than 100 countries which includes Canada, china, etc. they followed the action on the mobile phones, have listened to the audio steam, have watched the instant highlights of the games played on Yahoo powered website WWW.WORLDTWENTY20.COM that too for free. Some magical moments like six sixes hit by Yuvraj Singh against England in the over of Stuart Broad, a magical hundred by Chris Gayle in the opening game of the tournament, a hat-trick by Bret Lee against Bangladesh and a brilliant performance by Shahid Afridi that made him the Man of the Tournament. The official survey shows that the tournament was a big hit. More than 91.5 million hits were registered on the official website and a fan rating of 4.6 out of 5 was given to the tournament.

 

The wait is over and the tournament’s second edition is to begin from June 5^th onwards. With the success of IPL and more and more countries now including one or two games of T20 in the official tours this season the tournament is for sure going to offer a lot of spine chilling entertainment. Catch the live events on the official website and the official broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports.

 An Indian and a South African firm know for their Public Relations capabilities were working throughout the Indian Premier League tournament. It is learnt that these two agencies were working round the clock on behalf of the Indian Premier League. They have delivered everything right from processing media accreditation to keeping the journalists informed about the happenings there. Though there were few slips as well. There were some Indian Newspapers who have either not entered into this arrangement or have boycotted at later stage because of one or the other reason. This led to the PR companies supplying the in formations across the spectrum. This was for the first time in the history of any sporting event. It also raised the ethical concerns and the question was raised if such a company should be allowed to plant such stories. Also they were always found promoting the IPL commissioner Mr. Lalit Modi. Well one should not be surprised because they were getting paid from this man. I don’t know if it was open or hidden, but in the past weeks when the IPL was on they were seen informing the press to alert the media to cover which ever opportunity was there to cover him.

There were many hidden incidents happened which has changed the course of the tournament. There was a blogger known as the fakeIPLplayer who used to write all the secrets right from the dressing rooms which we will discuss later. It was seen right before the first semi final game that this machinery announced that the two captains of the teams going to play the semi final game would be addressing the press. It was also mentioned specifically that the chairman of the tournament Mr. Lalit Modi will be accompanying the two captains. All this happened just an hour before the game was to start. Now this is where Modi went wrong. The news was on a very short notice and there were not much of the media persons available. To the worst not even a single representative of Indian news agency electronic or print was present there. Looking at it, it was not so difficult to judge and that is what happened. Neither Adam Gilchrist nor Virender Sehwag came to address the media which was not vernacular to Indians. It was obvious because no captain would want to get his mind diverted right before a crucial game like semifinals. This is how the professional crickets focus on the job. No media or chairman should dare to divert them. So you may have a question then who were those player wearing the team jersey with Modi in that press address. Well it was Glen Mcgrath and Scott Styris. None of them were playing in that crucial game. Now what happened was that Modi gave a little chance to answer any of media questions. He himself changed the course of the questions towards the closing ceremony and the Miss Bollywood South Africa. He was right because he was not addressing the cricket reporters by the Page 3 reporters. At least this is what he thought about the media persons who were there in the press conference.

From the stand point of the viewers both live and over the television maximum of which were in India, Mr. Modi had in his team an American event management company which extended its British arm to make the tournament successful. Mr. Modi is known as a very good communicator who has all the fact and figures at his disposal every time which makes him stand apart from other BCCI officials. All he is suggested to do is to talk less and avoid claims of which most are baseless and invites thrashing from media.

Now that we are just almost 5 matches short of having a new IPL Champion we have all the statistics available to show us that the second edition of the tournament is a success. There is no doubt about it. Looking at the games played in the past, though some of the games were abandoned by the rains, we can say that a world class cricket was played at the stadiums of South Africa. The IPL management can pat its back for conducting the tournament in time though outside India, and making it such a big success, however if we look at the present and the future it does not look so promising for the game of Cricket in India.  The tournament which is Indian was a success but the players, the Indian players were not.

Looking at the statistics that have come up in this tournament, we will find a few Indians in the table talleys which is not very heartening news. On the batting front, we have no Indian player on the top. Even if we take into consideration the team performance we will find a few Indian with some outstanding positions. In Bangalore Royal Challengers, the batsman with maximum runs is Jacques Kallis, form Chennai Super Kings, it is Mathew Hayden, Adam Gil Christ is from the Deccan Chargers, AB de Villers from Delhi Daredevils, Jean Paul Duminy form Mumbai Indians,  Brad Hodge from Kolkata Knight Riders. The only two exceptions that we have from the Indian squad are Yuvraj Singh of Kings XI Punjab and Ravinder Jadeja from Rajasthan Royals. However, if you compare their scores with all the above mentioned players, you would not find them in first five places. The only player that we have in the first five places is Suresh Raina.

 

Taking about the best average, we have only MS Dhoni who stands at #4 in the top 5 best averaged batsmen in the tournament. When it comes to hitting maximum sixes the Indian players find their place after #3. Though out of 5 we have 3 players.  We do not have any of our Indian players for in the top five players who have scored fifties. Manpreet Goni from Chennai tops the list of striking rate. It is not necessary for me to tell you what exactly it means for Team India. Other than him there is no other Indian player in top 5 slots.  Only Suresh Raina is there in the top 5 slots for maximum runs in a match who is at 2^nd place out of top 5.

 

Let’s talk about bowling now. RP Singh is the leading wicket taker in the tournament followed by Ashish Nehra. In fact this is the field where we have only one foreign player at #3 out of top five who happens to be Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka. For the most economical bowler category we have Anjikya Rahane at #3 in the top 5. In the field of ground Fielding, we have at #2 Dinesh Kartik for taking maximum catches following AB de Villers and in stumping he follows Adam Gilchrist.

There are other statistics as well which require deep plunge before we could come up with some result. I would prefer we should ignore that area. The question that we have in front of us is that is this the performance that we are going to show in the T20 World cup which would start in less than two weeks once IPL finishes?  Are we equipped enough to defend out title of World leaders in T20 format of the game.  The questions are many and the answer that we get looking at the current performance is not every encouraging. Except Suresh Raina, there is no other player in the list of Indian players discussed about who was consistent. Thus the net result that we have after this IPL is that the league is successful  but the Players of India have a lot to do to ensure they return home with the world championship in their hands………..

When it was decided that IPL should be conducted out of the country there were many theories that came up saying that it would not be as successful as the first edition which was conducted at home. It was believed that the stadiums would remain empty as people would not turn up to see matches of the player not of their own country, though a few of them are in different teams. The players would not get the support that they could expect back home in India. So technically, there would not be much of the sponsors and it would be a flop in financial terms.

Well all the theories are wrong. This is what this second edition has proved. With Jam packed stadiums, and people from every walk of life turning up to watch the superfast form of the game, it can be easily believed that spectators as well as the players have enjoyed the game to the maximum in South Africa. Games like that of one between the Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab at the Wanderers in Johannesburg is an example where local people have supported both the teams to the maximum. Even those who just have come up to see the game could enjoy the kind of uncertainty it can bring in a game. Nothing was sure as to who is going to win the game. People have enjoyed IPL in South Africa as well. Of course it would have been a great difference had it been played here back in India.

 

 It is also heard now that with the kind of support this tournament has got in South Africa, it is advised to the IPL management to making it a touring tournament. Everyone is pretty sure about the success of the tournament on the foreign soil as well. In financial terms as well, with the kind of turn up the people have shown it can be easily imagined that no matter on which part of the earth the game of cricket is being played, when it is being played between the teams having superstars from the world, the cricket fans will reach there to enjoy the game and support their favorite stars. When asked to Shaun Pollack the coach of the Mumbai Indians, he said that once every two or three years it can be played outside India, however it should be played primarily in India because it is Indian Premier League. He also said that in South Africa there is no other game of Cricket is going on which has pulled the local fans. Also there are many Indian origin people living in India who turned up to see the games and it was not a mission for the people of India to come to South Africa to watch the games.  The games played in the last week have been that exciting and close that even if you are an impartial spectator you could not help but be interested.

It is in fact a good idea for the promotion of the game of cricket and more importantly for the promotion of IPL itself that it should be played outside the country every alternate year. With more and more international players playing in the IPL it would allow the foreign spectators to see them playing live on their home grounds as well. Nextly, by conducting IPL outside India, the management and the team owners could earn more money by attracting the sponsors from outside India. This may ensure some more foreign currency coming to India. This cricketing tourism would be an added flavor for the cricket fans in India as well. On the other hand by playing it outside India every alternate year, we would also let the Indian fans enjoy the game and the favorite players at the home grounds.

 

 

At last Kolkata Knight Riders have registered a victory. If you look at the points table you may notice that they have won two games however the first one which they won was through D/L method thus it was not given due credit since they have lost all their matches except the one which they played today. It was a great batting performance showcased by skipper Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge. Both ensured their team registers a 7 wicket victory. All they had to chase was the second highest total of the tournament. And with the kind of game they have played in the past games everyone would have thought that once again they will off the field empty handed. But today they came in the field with a different mindset. Batting performance of the players of KKR has changed the face of the coin. Though this was also a match which lasted till the last ball was bowled and thus it gave a great pleasure to the true fans of the game of cricket.

 

Games played yesterday and day before as well were of the same nature. In the first game Kings XI Punjab clinched the game from the hands of Deccan Chargers in the last over on the last ball. In that game as well it appeared that the kind of total KXIP has posed in front of the Chargers and looking at the past performance of the Chargers in this tournament it looked as if the game may end in the 15^th over. A hatrick from Yuvraj changed everything. Once upon a time Chargers required 48 runs of the 18 balls. With a superb performance by young lad Rohit Sharma the game came at four runs on the last ball. The game the Kings Played 2 days before against Delhi was also like this.

Now the tournament has entered a very interesting phase. Let’s have a look at the table tally. Delhi is safe at the top and is for sure going to the semifinals. Whereas no other team is final as of now. With two consecutive victories of Punjab and today’ defeat of Chennai the tournament is open for all now except three team; Kolkata and Mumbai which are anyways out of the race and Delhi which is already in the semifinals. Now if Chennai losses to Punjab in their last game, they will have only 15 points and Punjab would go to the semifinals with 16 points. On the other hand whichever team wins in the clash between Deccan Chargers and Bangalore will have 16 points and would go into the semifinals. Rajasthan has 13 points and if they win Kolkata in their last game they will have 15 points as well. Now here is the scene to be watched. If Rajasthan wants to enter into the semis they will not only have to defeat Kolkata but will have to defeat with a huge margin to cross the net run rate of Chennai which is almost close to 1 (0.93). If they lose or if they do not score well, Chennai will for sure enter the semi finals.

 

In a nut shell the games that we should not miss would be Delhi Vs Bangalore to be played on May 19. This game would ensure if Bangalore is still in the race of semifinals or not. If they win they surely win. On the very next day the game against Rajasthan and Kolkata will ensure if Rajasthan is in the race anymore or not. And on 20^th May itself it would be made clear if Punjab is there in the semi finals as they would play their last game against Chennai and the latter would like to make its place safe by winning the game. On 21^st May Deccan Chargers will measure sword with Bangalore. If the latter wins tomorrow then this is also a fight to be watched. Of course then we have the semifinals and the grand finale. Don’t Miss.

Punjabi Spirit A mixture of different world cultures, Kings XI Punjab is the youngest team in the IPL season 2009. Captained by Yuvraj Singh the franchisee of the team is owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, her beau Ness Wadia, Karan Paul’s APeeJay group and Mohit Burman’s Dabur. Punjabis are called ‘lion hearted’ people in

India. They are famous for their bravado, fighting spirit and ‘never to give-up’ character. And most of the players of the team are Punjabi as for as their character in the cricket world is concerned. Whether it is the Indian players or the foreigner players in the team they are true to the Punjabi spirit. Yuvraj Singh, Simon Katich , VRV Singh, Brett lee, Kumar Sangakara, Sreesnath, Irfan Pathan, Mahela Jayawardhene and Ramnaresh Sarwan, all are famous for their attacking game in their respective fields. It will be a big mischief if we ignore Ravinder Bopara, in the presence of other international cricket players in the Kings XI Punjab squad.

  Figures Till May, 9

Punjab team had played 10 matches and had won 5 out of them. With five wins they were placed at the fourth position along with Rajasthan Royals.

Punjab team is in a ‘must win’ situation to keep its semifinal hopes alive. It is yet to play four league matches and needs four consecutive wins to reach the semifinal round. It is in this situation because of the failure of the middle order. It had lost its three league matches with a very narrow margin. This has happened because of the failure of the middle order batsmen. Lack of experience is also affecting the team. In these three matches

Punjab team was in a winning position but its batsmen could not convert the victory possibilities into a sure win.

Punjab team has more fast bowlers as compared to the other IPL teams. But they have failed to contain their opponent batmen and had been ‘humiliated’ badly. Absence of Brett Lee was also affecting the team. His return to the team has started to produce positive results. It was because of him that Kings XI Punjab won its May, 9 match against the Deccan Chargers. He performed well both with bowl and bat. In the last overs of the match, with 7 wickets down,

Punjab was in a ‘run-a-ball’ situation. In this tight situation some of its star batsmen had failed under pressure. Brett Lee played some good shots and hit some massive hits and turned the results into

Punjab’s favor. 

 

Yuvraj Hero of the NatWest Series final 2002, Yuvrav Singh is the star attraction in the Kings XI Punjab team. An inseparable part of the Indian Cricket team, Yavraj is famous for hitting sixes. In the first T20 World Cup tournament he had grabbed headlines by hitting six sixes in an over. It was

England fast bowler Stuart Broad who had suffered the humiliation. With this performance Yuvraj had become the fourth batman who had hit six sixes in an over and the first batsman to hit six sixes in the T20 format. Except batting, Yuvraj is also known for his fielding. He is used also as a part-time bowler and has proved out to be effective in many matches. He was declared ‘Man of the Match’ on May, 1 in the match played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab.

Punjab had lost this match but Yuvraj was declared man of the match for his all-round performance. He has made 50 runs and has taken three wickets (hat-trick). This is the one example that shows that he is the ‘one man army’ in the shortest form of cricket. But critics say that Kings XI Punjab’s captaincy has severely affected his performance and is the reason behind his batting failures in the ongoing T20 tournament. But these arguments can be ruled out on the basis of his previous year’s performance in the IPL tournament.

 Stuffed with stars, Kings XI Punjab team can turn the tables. They are no less than other IPL teams as for as the cricketing ability is concerned. It is only the confidence they lack. It has one of the fastest bowling attacks as compared to the other IPL teams. Nobody can rule out as IPL favorites.

     

  

Performance The IPL team that had performed below the expected lines in the Indian Premier League tournament in 2008 was Deccan Chargers Hyderabad. It was humiliated in 12 league matches out of the total fourteen encounters with its rival IPL teams. Its Captain VVX Laxman had totally failed to give a good performance that badly affected the team structure.  Twelve consecutive losses gave rise to differences between the senior players and turned out to be a big controversy.  Its owner media group Deccan Chronicle had sacked all the administrative staff with the team. Former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann replaced Coach Robin Singh and captain V V X Laxman was replaced by Australian wicket-keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist for the IPL season 2009. New team management was unhappy with Herchelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi and had put them on sale but no buyers took interest in them. Shahid Afridi is not playing in the team because of Pakistani players’ absence in the IPL, 2009. And Gibbs is performing well in the ongoing IPL tournament.

Queensland all-rounder Ryan Harris, West Indian players Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith are the new players who have been acquired for the IPL 2009. Seven domestic players have been also acquired by the team. They are T.Suman, Abhinav Kumar, S.M.Shoaib, M.S.Bisla, Azhar Bilakhia, Jaskarandeep Singh and Harmeet Singh. With these new inclusions,

Hyderabad team has become one of the strongest team in the IPL season 2009.

  

Squad Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards are the main striking fast-bowlers while Pragyan Ojha is equally disastrous.  RP Singh is also leading to win the Purple Cap. All-rounders Andrew Symonds, Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma have provided more depth in both batting and bowling departments. It is evident from two matches the team had played with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. In both these matches Sharma and Smith were adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ for their striking performances. Rohit Sharma had made a hat-trick while Smith has made 47 runs of 32 balls. Gibbs and captain Gilchrist are also performing well as for as the batting is concerned. They both open batting for the team and provided some good starts that later on won the matches for them. Rohit Sharma is consistently good as a middle order batsman. T. Suman is also performing well in the middle order. But VVX Laxman has again failed to give a good performance. The team lacks some world-class fast bowlers. Though captain Gilchrist has many bowling options but his problems rise if some of his bowlers are ruled out of team because of injuries or some other reasons. In such situations DC has not many bowling options available with it.

  Problems In IPL season 2009 Deccan Chargers had played 10 league matches till may 10 and had won six out and lost four of them. They had won most of their matches with huge margins. But their losses also depict a striking truth. Whenever their opening batsman failed, they had to face defeat. It indicates that DC team is totally dependant on the top order and is centered mainly on Gilchrist. Gilchrist’s captaincy has provided more aggressiveness to the team.  His experience can prove out to be a good asset for the young teammates that will benefit team’s victory possibilities. DC is a blend of experience and young players. After Delhi Daredevils it has almost ensured its semifinal hopes. It has defeated some hot favorite teams in the ongoing tournament and is one of the leading teams to win the trophy.

 Now that it is a bit clear that which are the top four team who would be playing the semifinals. I am not sure, just guessing because anything may happen in the game of cricket. As far as the tournament goes we may see miracles happening. We have four teams at the top in the points tally and they are most likely to go into the semis.

Delhi Daredevils have already gained 14 required points so there place is safe. All they need is just one win and they are in the semifinals for sure. With 16 points there place would be safe. Looking at the games that they have played one can say that they are truly daredevils this time around. This is the only team in the tournament where the overseas players have served well. They have India’s T20 opening pair playing for them which is a huge advantage, though you must have seen that the openers have not lived up to the expectations. They are not doing what they were expected to do. David Warner, Daniel Vettori, Dilshan and De Villers have played their roles. All I m waiting for is that once these players are gone how well Delhi Daredevils could manage their winning streak. If this team wins the tournament, it should not be a surprise.

 

The next team which is for sure going to play the semifinals is the Chennai Super Kings. They have 13 points and are yet to play 4 games. Even if they win one game they are in the semifinals. For this till now it was a cakewalk. However there is a possibility that this team loses all its four games. Then it may become difficult for them to enter the semifinals. When the tournament started it looked like Dhoni would be the performer from this team since he is leading a team like India in every format of the game. It appeared that he is tired or say mentally if not physically. This is how he looked like. It was quite evident from his performance in the beginning of the tournament. He himself admitted that he dint bat well in first few games. Now that Dhoni is up in the batting order he has started scoring as well. All this team needs is the right combination to open and carry on with the game. This team has one or the other player which performs like other teams to get their team sailing however the man with the compass is only there in this team in the form of Mathew Hayden. He is the holder of the orange cap. LP Balaji, Morkel and Murali are all in their form and ready to perform when the team would require them. If this team reaches semifinals I m sure the cup would be theirs.

Now the below two positions are where the fight is still open and one cannot confidently predict about what would happen. Deccan chargers are left with 4 games and 12 points. Their place would be at stake if they lose more than one game. Next comes Rajasthan Royals who have 11 points and they have only 3 more games to be played. The teams who are posing challenges before them are Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians. The former is the strongest contender of all the four teams for one of the last two berths in the table tally. Mumbai Indians may also come up as a surprise element in the tournament. One cannot expect any more excitement than watching the clash for the semifinals. Today’s second game would clear the picture between Mumbai Indians and Kings of Punjab. Don’t miss it.

This is the question for which no one finds an answer. In the game of cricket which is full of uncertainties, anything may happen. As if now it looks like that only the Delhi Daredevils are in the safe zone. Also there is only just one team to which we can strike off from the list of the contenders of the semifinals. You guessed it right. Only Kolkata Knight Riders are the one which cannot expect any miracle now, other than that any team can make it to the semifinals. We all know that any team which manages to get 14 or more points can make it to the semifinals.

Let’s start from the bottom. The team as of now at the bottom of the expected teams is Royal Challengers from Bangalore. This team has 10 points and they are yet to play 4 of their games. If they manage to win all their four games they will be in as they would have 16 points. This team has learnt a lot from the mistakes they have committed in the past and their performance is improving in every game they play. This team too had issues with Captaincy but they handled it very quietly. Rahul Dravid and Kallis both are performing well and so is Anil Kumble. They lost successive 4 matches after opening well. This is the team which is getting better and better match after match.

 

Next in the list comes Mumbai Indians. This team has played 10 matches and they have scored 9 points. They are left with 4 games to be played and they have a margin of losing just one game. If they would be lucky enough that the other teams like Deccan Chargers and Chennai losses all of their matches than this team can also afford to lose 2 games. With Jayasurya and Sachin Tendulkar on their side everyone expected something big from this team and this team was under high pressure thus in the spotlight. This is the team that represents the home of cricket in India. All the expectations were soared after their game against the Chennai Super Kings. To make 14 points they will have win at least three of their remaining 4 games. Looking at what Duminy is doing and the way Zaheer Khan is bowling we can expect they may make it to the semis. Well the discontentment of Harbhajan Singh is also cropping up. Hope Sachin will be able to contain it.

 We see Kings XI Punjab at the fifth place. They have 10 points out the 10 games that they have played. To secure a place in the semi finals they need to win at least 2 games. It does not mean that they may safely lose 2 games. To ensure that their place is secure they should ensure that they win 3 games and they will have 16 points and their place would be secured. This team has a problem of not having someone to lead them. This is the team which has all young guns. They are in fact princes. It would be wrong to call them Kings. One thing which we can call a quality of this team is that they have an ability to bounce back in the game despite of the bad start they get. Yuvraj Singh is the father figure of this team. I think he is also their greatest disappointment as well. They have Yusuf Abdulla as an asset. Sangakara is the player to be watched in this team. Irfaan Pathan has come up again as the player to be picked. There would not be any wonders when you see this team plays semi final.

 

For the second time in the second edition of IPL Chennai Super Kings will measure swords with the Rajasthan Royals. Since the last edition of the tournament the fight is on between both the teams. In the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League Chennai Super Kings came up as the team to be watched however the Rajasthan Royals were considered under dogs. There are reasons behind this. In the Dhoni managed Chennai Super Kings, it was team studded with starts like Hayden, Morkel, Ntini etc where as on the other hand there were no star player in the Rajasthan Royals if you leave behind Graham Smith. In the finals of the first edition of the tournament the way Rajasthan Royals played and the way they defeated Chennai Super Kings everyone was surprised to watch the same.

 

Since then Dhoni and company was egar to meet them again on the ground. In the first league match of the second edition of the tournament this year they defeated Rajasthan Royals. Today once again both the giants are about to meet again. There is not much difference in both the teams now. Chennai would like to clinch the win over Royals to continue their winning streak whereas the Rajasthan Royals would like to square the positions in the league with their last year finals rivals.  What you may want to watch would be the batting of Mathew Hayden, Raina and Dhoni himself from the Chennai side and Yusuf Pathan and smith from the Royals team. On the bowling front Morkel and Shane Warne would be the players to be watched.

In the first match that we will watch Kings of Punjab would like to better their position and jump the table tally by registering a victory over the Deccan Chargers. Well Deccan Charger who has registered four consecutive wins in their first four matches would not take this game lightly as well. By registering a victory they would also like to consolidate their standing in the table tally and their chances to enter the semi finals. We have Gilchrist, RP Singh and Rohit Sharma from the chargers side where as Yuvraj himself would like to take lead supported by Simon Katich and Irfaan Pathan. Also to be noted is that from here onwards Kings XI Punjab will have to win all the games that they are going to play to ensure their entry to the semi finals.

 

This season IPL has really entered in an interesting phase. We have only one team which is for sure not going into the semi finals. Rest all teams are doing that good and we are watching that great a surprises that one cannot be sure of which teams are going to make it to the semi finals.

 

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.

 

Rajasthan Royals Coached and captained by former Australian charismatic player Shane Warne, Rajasthan Royals is owned by the UK based media group Emerging Media. Emerging India had bought this team for $67 million but later on Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her boyfriend Raj Kundra had bought 12 per cent stake in it. In the maiden version of IPL Rajasthan Royals was being considered as the weakest team as compared to the other seven teams. But Shane Warne’s charismatic leadership turned it into a strong unit and left everyone stunned and surprised when it defeated all the other IPL T20 teams one by one and clinched the trophy. Except Shane Warne, Yusuf Pathan is one of its icon players who have the guts to turn the tide in its favor.

New Players Rajasthan Royals had added three new players, Rob Quiney, Shane Harwood & Lee Carseldine to replace Sohail Tanveer and Kamran Akmal. All these players are Australian national and play for various Australian national level teams. Rob Quiney is an explosive batsman while Shane Harwood is a right-arm fast bowler. Lee Carseldine has been added as an all rounder. He is a left-arm medium pace bowler. Another Indian player, Kamran Khan had been recently been added into the squad and Shane Warne had termed him as a ‘watch out’ player into the upcoming T20 tournament. His words proved out to be true when Kamran turned the tide into his team’s favor when he dismissed Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly in the last moments of the game. That match ended into a draw and was decided on the basis of ‘super over’. This match was played between both the teams in Cape Town on April 23 and proved out to be a ‘nerve wrecking match’ as Kolkata Knight Riders lost an ‘almost won’ match. 

 

Squad In the second version of IPL t20 tournament ‘desi’ players has performed well for Rajasthan Royals as compared to the overseas players. All the three Indian players, Yusuf Pathan, Ravinder Jadeja and Kamran Khan have performed consistently well for their side in all the matches. Yusuf Pathan is famous for his explosive batting but Kamran Khan and Ravinder Jadeja have also turned out to be match winners. Rajasthan Royals had announced its squad on April 15, 2009 following which six players had been axed from the squad and returned to India. This movement turned out to be a big controversy and team management was criticized for their ‘untimely action’. The players who had been ‘forcibly’ returned to India are, Mohammed Kaif, Srideep Manghela, Dinesh Salunkhe, Ashraf Makra, Paras dogra, Anup Rengnekar and Ahad Malik. It must be learnt that Mohammed Kaif used to be an important member of the Indian Cricket Team, a few months ago. 

Performance Lee Carseldine, Mahesh Rawat, Morne Morke, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Tait, Justin Langer, Robert Quiney and Graeme Smith are some other key players in the Rajasthan Royals squad. It must be learnt that last year’s star player of the tournament Shane Watson could not join the team as he had been ruled out because of injuries. Till May, 5 Rajasthan Royals had played eight matches and have won four. They could not give a winning start to their side in the 2009 version of IPL T20. Rajasthan Royals’ performance in the opening match was not comparable to the expected standards but as the tournament progressed, team changed a lot. Now it has turned into a strong unit and nobody can rule out the possibility of repetition of its previous years’ performance.