He's back.
And here's some brilliance from Rahane. Not the best angle but it's a screamer.
Couch Talk 196 with Simon Taufel
5 years ago
Showing posts with label rajasthan royals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rajasthan royals. Show all posts
The IPL so far (part 2)
We're heading into the latter stages of the IPL - and by that I mean there are only 20ish games to go and just over two weeks left! In other words, it's the perfect time to speculate on things such as whether Ganguly's imminent retirement to the bench is temporary, or if Shane Watson thinks he is competing with Dale Steyn as a bowler, or if James Franklin holds the secret recipe to the best vada pav ever. I'd pick him for every game too, if he possessed such secrets.
Or, you know, who is likely to make the - er - playoffs. I didn't pay much attention last year, but from what I understand, the top two sides will play a warped game that will turn out to be a virtual semifinal for its winner (let's call them D for neutrality) and a virtual quarterfinal for its loser (K). The sides placed third and fourth will play a virtual quarterfinal - the winner gets to play another virtual semifinal against K, and the loser is out for good. The winner of this game goes through to the final to face D. Simple, really. This is the table as I write this:
So, who's going to the playoffs?
If these two sides mess up from here, they deserve to be surrounded by bowling machines and be bombarded. Without protection. (Why isn't this a recognized punishment? I'll have to become a coach one day just to try this method.)
Or, you know, who is likely to make the - er - playoffs. I didn't pay much attention last year, but from what I understand, the top two sides will play a warped game that will turn out to be a virtual semifinal for its winner (let's call them D for neutrality) and a virtual quarterfinal for its loser (K). The sides placed third and fourth will play a virtual quarterfinal - the winner gets to play another virtual semifinal against K, and the loser is out for good. The winner of this game goes through to the final to face D. Simple, really. This is the table as I write this:
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | Pts | NRR |
| Delhi | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | +0.977 |
| Kolkata | 12 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 17 | +0.6 |
| Bangalore | 13 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | -0.058 |
| Mumbai | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14 | -0.198 |
| Chennai | 13 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 13 | +0.081 |
| Rajasthan | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12 | +0.184 |
| Mohali | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -0.309 |
| Pune | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -0.348 |
| Hyderabad | 13 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -0.717 |
So, who's going to the playoffs?
The Certain
If these two sides mess up from here, they deserve to be surrounded by bowling machines and be bombarded. Without protection. (Why isn't this a recognized punishment? I'll have to become a coach one day just to try this method.)
The IPL so far
Nearly 30 matches in, and we're finally a third into the IPL. It's great to see that, for once, one or two teams aren't running away with it. How often do we have a six-way tie for anything? Usually, if there are six incompetent teams sharing points, it's the bottom 6. All the better to slate the Deccan Chargers - they really must love that basement. Here are the standings, as I write this. In 15 hours or so, two out of the current top three will share the lead with 10 points.
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Pts | Net RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi Daredevils | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.681 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.432 |
| Pune Warriors | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.290 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.190 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.033 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -0.192 |
| Mumbai Indians | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.117 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.467 |
| Deccan Chargers | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.032 |
Surprise packages
By "surprise packages", I don't mean an unexpected parcel delivered to your door, with a clearly audible ticking noise coming from it. Or maybe I do. I'm not sure.
Anyway, the teams that have done better than expected are the Pune Warriors (India) and the Delhi Daredevils (also India, but they aren't all smug and in-your-face about it).
IPL 4: Player Retention. Even though it's all hypothetical.
Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga
They've released Zaheer and opted for Harby. Maybe because Harby is a 'confidence bowler' (cliche alert) and being released would make him bowl like a buffet. Oh wait, that's already happening. Bad call. Also, MI now have spent half their budget of $9 million, so they now have to buy the rest of the squad with half the money.
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, M Vijay, Albie Morkel
The only other team to retain all four players allowed. I didn't think they'd go for Albie, since Ashwin and Murali have perhaps been more crucial to their success. As they say in Austria, "Votever."
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne, Shane Watson
So Warne will be back, which is awesome. They keep Watson, which is not so awesome. And no Yusuf Pathan? Whoa. Seriously, whoa. It'll be interesting to see if they get Rajasthan quick Deepak Chahar.
Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag
But no Gautam Gambhir, who was their captain last season, and is Viru's hunting partner. No Nannes, no Mishra, no Dilshan.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli
They wanted to keep their finances flexible, so out with most of the squad that was so successful. No Kallis, Pandey, Taylor, Vinay Kumar, Dravid and no Kumble!
Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers released everyone, and the Kings XI Punjab were kinda forced to.
Remember, it's all hypothetical.
IPL 4: Fact or Fiction? (working title)
I've noticed that some people are finding the website via several different Google searches, almost all of them seeking information about IPL 4. Now I won't pretend I know what's going on, but I will summarize everything I've read or heard into an (un) impressive-looking list of bullet-points, so that you, 3 and a half readers, can be as confused as I am.
- There were going to be 10 teams this year.
- The new teams were the Pune Pratfallers and the Kochi Katerwaulers.
- Suddenly, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab had their names erased with the back of a pen because they were corrupt.
- The Kochi Katerwaulers were asked to give a bunch of reasons why they might be allowed to stay, because they were corrupt too. Easiest punishment ever?
- Wrong. They argued so much that they broke their only pencil and couldn't come up with anything.
- But they were allowed to stay.
- The Rajasthan Royals clawed back in after some judge let them remain a franchise. For six weeks. And they have been allowed to participate in the auction.
- Meanwhile, the Kings XI Punjab won't go away quietly and are still
on hunger striketrying to take legal action. - The player retention deadline for all teams was tomorrow, but the Bombay High Court postponed it to the 8th
- There really shouldn't be an IPL this year because of the World Cup.
The IPL supposedly will happen but we don't know how many teams are there because there were to be ten but two were removed and then one was allowed back so now there are nine and they can all take part in the auction so next month they may all have players but then one team may still be kicked out and then what will happen to their players will they be given to the other team that was kicked out and has not yet been allowed back or will they be distributed like maltesers among the other teams or will the auction not even happen because we aren't certain which teams are in it and there are a buttload of court cases happening which keep getting delayed and the IPL may not even happen in the end which would be good because all the players would be tired from the World Cup anyway.
That should capture the theme effectively.
KKR knock RR out, but can't avoid elimination
A sort-of commanding win over the Rajasthan Royals kept KKR's chances of making the semifinals, but Chennai's fantastic Dhoni-driven final-over victory over the Kings XI Punjab has more or less demolished any hopes they may have had. Hopes of making the semis, that is, not their other hopes - I'm sure they're all in good mental health and not in any way scarred beyond recovery.
An excellent team effort in the field kept RR to 132 despite a strong start provided by Shane Watson, who opened for them. All of KKR's bowlers picked up wickets and conceded less than 8 an over, with Jaydev Unadkat being named man of the match for his threefer.
In reply, Kamran Khan removed Gayle and McCullum in one over, after which Ganguly and Pujara steadily built a partnership before opening up later to secure a one-sided victory with 23 balls to go.
Ideally, they should have chased this small target a lot sooner to boost their NRR, which could have left the door to the semis still open - however, their only option now is to secure a massive victory over the Mumbai Indians. As famous violinist Louis d'Argent once said, "Non. Ce n'est pas possible."
So we now know which teams are in the semis and in what positions, finally. The Mumbai Indians are on top, as they have been all season. The Deccan Chargers move up to second after beating the Delhi Daredevils for their fifth win in a row. The Chennai Super Kings are in third place after their last-over thriller, while the Royals Challengers Bangalore should hang on to fourth place unless MI fields an under-12 side against KKR.
If KKR had an under-12 side, would Agarkar play for them?
The IPL 1/3rd Season Round-up
Right, most teams have played around five games by now, so I'm going to evaluate their performances based on my own predictions so far.
| Team | P | W | L | NR | PTS | NRR |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1.331 |
| Mumbai Indians | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1.330 |
| Deccan Chargers | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0.450 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.004 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.425 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.851 |
| Delhi Daredevils | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.919 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -0.5333 |
The points table suggests that this is the most wide-open title race the IPL has seen so far. RCB are at the top with 8 points, having played a match more than MI and DC. They also have an identical net run rate to MI, so should MI beat CSK tomorrow they will overtake RCB. The bottom 2 are, surprisingly, two quality sides in DD and KXIP, who are capable of turning things around quick - adding evidence to my point about the title race being wide open. Even RR and KKR are still in it, as much as I'd like to deny it.
Now then, the teams.
Kolkata Knight Riders - Started brightly with a couple of wins, but since then their haplessness has resurfaced and the scratchiness of Hodge and Ganguly has hurt them a great deal. I never thought I'd say they're missing Agarkar, but they are - they need a third seamer pronto as they don't really seem to trust Dinda too much, which is odd. But it's not odd that they're being odd. Anyway, Gayle seems in good touch now, and B-Mac's return (still some time away) will reinforce them, they just need to hang on.
Rajasthan Royals - They had a predictably terrible start, losing three in a row as they experimented with the lineup. Warne seems to have found a working one now, and they've won two games. Michael Lumb found some form today, and the likes of Faiz Fazal (who said should play in the first place), Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (ditto) and Sid Trivedi are turning out to be consistent performers. Worrying signs are Warne's own lack of impact, and Tait's super-leaky spells. They may not last long enough until Watson arrives.
Deccan Chargers - Their success can attributed largely to Vaas' early wickets, he's been a phenomenal seat-warmer and he's lost none of his prodigious swing. Gilly has provided consistently quick starts, Gibbs and Symonds have controlled the middle overs, and Rohit Sharma + T Suman have provided good finishes. RP Singh has gotten thrashed. Ojha has been economical. That's pretty much the whole story, what a boring team.
Kings XI Punjab - Because every competition needs a disaster team. Punjab just look like a team short of confidence. After rapid starts, the middle and lower order has failed over and over again. Look no further than Yuvraj's poor form - he's the icon player and has thrown his wicket away every match. The one match he played well in was the only one Punjab has won, and that too marginally via a Super Over. Kaif is unreasonable being persisted with. As for the bowling - Sreesanth has been a buffet bowler, Irfan Pathan is a batsman, Srivastava is a lefty Sreesanth, Powar was dropped after a good game, and Chawla's been good. Haha. Good news: Shaun Marsh and Brett Lee are back and Preity has not lost her optimism.
Chennai Super Kings - Not much to say here. Dhoni fit - CSK wins. Oh wait, some other stuff. Murali's back in form and CSK still have crappy quick bowlers. News is that they've bought Bollinger, that would be sensational if true. Haydos is using a bat that is all middle, and bar one innings he still can't find the middle. Boo.
Delhi Daredevils - Injury has weakened them. Nehra's absence means the bowling's lacking some sting. Sehwag needs his buddy Gambhir at the top. Dilshan didn't score many and was dropped. And when Warner finally came up with the goods, the middle order failed. Looking at you, AB. They actually played Henriques, that's what they've come to. Oh, and Karthik sucks as captain.
Bangalore Royal Challengers - Continued where they left off last season - Kallis and Pandey firing at the top, Kumble bowling amazingly well, the Kumars - Praveen and Vinay - among the wickets. Uthappa has been outstanding, I may add - superb clean hitting resulting in some of the biggest sixes in the IPL. Morgan and Dravid haven't had to bat much at all, too. Definitely champ-material, and Taylor hasn't even joined them yet.
Mumbai Indians - The other team that's looked the most balanced - they've changed the lineup a huge deal from last season, placing more trust in Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu, and it has paid off. Sachin has rolled back the years and provided good starts - Tare at one-down has fulfilled his pinch-hitter role adequately, and Tiwary and Rayudu have ensured that none of the momentum is lost in the middle and death overs. Bravo and Pollard haven't had a big role so far, which shows how strong the team is. Zaheer and Malinga are keeping a lid on the runs and Harby has impressed. The medium-pace trio of Bravo, Pollard and Sathish are the most vulnerable thing about this team, but the other areas are covering up for them.
That was tedious, pat on the back for me. Expect a much shorter one, the 2/3rd season round-up, in another 10 days or so. Can't imagine the workload next year, with the Pune Pompoms and the Kochi Katerwaulers being added to the list and players being thrown around like nobody's business. Damn those $ 210 million deals.
KKR fizzle out
KKR have now made a complete U-turn from their impressive start to the season, and they have now lost two games in a row. What's worse is that they never looked like winning those games - they were pretty one-sided. On this occasion it was against the IPL's weakest team, Rajasthan Royals, that the batting order decided to fail again.
Faiz Fazal, Yusuf Pathan and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala spent some time in the middle for RR, while Naman Ojha and Adam Voges on either side of the innings gave them enough momentum to reach 168, still a sub-par total. The KKR bowlers were impressive for the most part, Dinda and Kartik in particular. Matthews got bashed again - he isn't as effective on flat pitches because he's too slow. And then KKR's batsman showed us that no total can be called sub-par when they're batting, they'll make it look tough. Brad Hodge may have a few runs under his belt, but in truth he hasn't seemed distinctly comfortable out there and he doesn't seem to be able to hit the big ones. Tiwary failed again, and Pujara failed to convert his good start.
The elephant in the room is, of course, Sourav Ganguly. He's trying to play himself in every match, and in the process he's hurting his team by failing to up the run-rate. What is resulted in today, is Owais Shah and Angelo Mathews coming in right at the end, when it was too late to be able to affect the outcome. Ganguly needs to bat either right at the top or further down below, and the latter just isn't going to happen - it's not good for his ego. No one touches Dada's ego (no hidden meanings).
Chris Gayle coming in next match should provide momentum aplenty, probably replacing Shah and opening with Hodge. Tiwary and Pujara in the middle-order to play their shots seems like a good foil to Ganguly's struggles. If KKR don't get some wins going, they'll be out of it pretty soon - don't want to leave B-Mac with too much to do.
IPL Preview # 2 - Rajastan Royals
RR never have had the stars, apart from cricket's favourite blond guy, Shane Warne. Graeme Smith and Shane Watson were the only other big players they had, but tactical skill, Yusuf Pathan and good performances by Swapnil Asnodkar and other Indian players saw them through to the title in the first season. Last year, the Indian players did not have the home advantage in South Africa and struggled to cope. Ravindra Jadeja, Pathan, Naman Ojha and Kamran Khan put in some decent performances as RR weren't completely out of it, but they tapered off towards the end.
This is the squad this year -
Shane Warne (capt), Damien Martyn, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abhishek Raut, Faiz Fazal, Amit Paunikar, Amit Singh, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Tait, Yusuf Pathan, Swapnil Asnodkar, Naman Ojha, Johan Botha, Michael Lumb, Shrikant Wagh, Sumit Narwal, Syed Quadri, Kamran Khan, Graeme Smith, Morne Morkel, Siddharth Trivedi, Mahesh Rawat, Munaf Patel.
Graeme Smith and Asnodkar form a decent partnership at the top, but the middle and lower order had no big players last year. This year looks more positive with the purchase of the reliable Damien Martyn, and the acquiral of Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (back from the ICL), as well as Michael Lumb and, oh, Shaun Tait. Explosive keeper Naman Ojha is in great form of late, so is Yusuf Pathan.
They have lost Jadeja, unfortunately, as he decided he liked money too much and went hunting for some more. I don't know the latest on RR's best quicks of last year, Amit Singh and Kamran Khan, both of whom were reported for suspect actions. No Shane Watson again.
The four foreign players policy poses problems for RR - the obvious choices among those four should be skipper Warne, Graeme Smith and Shaun Tait. That leaves Martyn, all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, Johan Botha, Morne Morkel and Michael Lumb fighting for one spot. I'll predict my line-up, and see how wrong I am in 11 days when they lose to Mumbai.
Graeme Smith
Swapnil Asnodkar
Naman Ojha (wk)
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala
Yusuf Pathan
Faiz Fazal
Dimitri Mascarenhas
Shane Warne (c)
Siddharth Trivedi
Shaun Tait
Munaf Patel
Of course, if Kamran Khan and Amit Singh are cleared to play, expect Munaf Patel to make way for either of them. They really are light on batting either way.
My Official-sounding prediction for RR this season: No good. Getting clever batsmen like Warne's Aussie buddy Martyn and Warne's Hampshire buddy Lumb doesn't always help. They've got the worst contingent of Indian players in the IPL, especially without Jadeja now. With glee, I must say they will be last this season. That is, 8th Position.
Deccan Chargers up next. Until then, do something else.
IPL 3 - Transfers - You read it here!
Right, so the auction has just got over, and here I am, at night, bringing you my immediate and (maybe) unbiased opinion.
Mumbai Indians : Kieron Pollard and Harshal Patel - Mumbai decided to use all their purchasing power on the hard-hitting Trinidadian Kieron Pollard, presumably based on his heavy displays at the Twenty20 Champions League. This doesn't seem to be the best choice for me - I'd have preferred a batsman with other gears than 'super-accelerate' - like Eoin Morgan, for example. I would get rid of Sanath and use Napier and MacLaren more... they are all-rounders, and from what Nita Ambani said, they wanted a 'batting allrounder' (Patel's one too). Makes no sense at all to me. But as a supporter, gotta stay positive.
KKR : Shane Bond - Of course Shahrukh Khan would want a tearaway fast bowler. Whose name is also Bond. Haaah. This can be a very good buy though, subject to Bond's fitness. And how's that turned out in the past, eh? Don't we all want KKR to fail...
Deccan Chargers : Kemar Roach and Harmeet Singh - A pace attack already consisting RP Singh and Fidel Edwards, now with Kemar Roach... this can only strengthen the current IPL champs. And now they have two guys named Harmeet Singh - I bet Gilly will get a kick just outta playing both.
Delhi Daredevils : Wayne Parnell - And another great left-arm quick for Delhi, after Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes... They're all great but I think the attack will have a same-ish feel to it.
BRC : Eoin Morgan and Ashok Meenaria - Eoin Morgan is a great addition to any side for his ability to improvise and change games suddenly, and in pressure situations too. In Meenaria, Bangalore attain another U-19 captain after Virat Kohli.
Kings XI Punjab : Adrian Barath, Mohammed Kaif and Yusuf Abdulla - Like many prefer to do, Punjab have often opened with a joke. No offense, Sunny Sohal / Karan Goel, but you're no Adrian Barath. Mohammed Kaif is a really interesting buy at 250,000. I hear several shouts of 'really?' and 'why the...' and 'whaaaaat?' - most of that is me - and I really can't understand this one. 'Really?' Yusuf Abdulla, hmm, was the the IPL's highest wicket taker last season up till a certain point where he was suddenly dropped to make way for shinier toy Brett Lee. Which actually makes sense.
Chennai Super Kings : Thissara Perera and Justin Kemp - A smart couple of buys there for Chennai, roping in two explosive all-rounders. Kemp is a big, renowned smasher, and Perera recently displayed his talent against India. Both are handy medium-pacers.
And lastly, because I hate them,
Rajasthan Royals : Damien Martyn and Adam Voges - Warney just keeps bringing his Aussie mates in... if first Lehmann, Watto and Quiney, now these two - I didn't even know Martyn was still playing! Knowing Shane Warne though, he'll probably get the best out of these guys. But they're still going down. Damn, I wish there was another division so they'd just get relegated!
Right, that's my expert opinion. Rishabh's believe it or not.
4.15 am and time to sleep.
My rightness is catching
Hola. I've made two match predictions in the IPL so far, and they've both been right! The Mumbai Indians (:D), after fab innings from Sachin and Nayar, bowled quite tight (just so it'd rhyme) and saw off one of this edition's strongest teams. The ex-winners Rajasthan Royals inexplicably collapsed to Anil Kumble and poor shot selection after Dravid's fluent innings. As I write this, Chennai v Bangalore is about to start, so let me get that over with.
Chennai should be reasonably strenghtened by the additions of Muralitharan, Balaji and Albie Morkel, who should never have been excluded in the first place. Kallis returning for the Royal Challengers should give them further batting depth, and seeing how well experienced spinners have been doing so far, Kumble and Murali should play key roles in their teams' fortunes. I reckon Chennai will nick this one, though, by the virtue of having a way better batting lineup.
Watch out for - Albie Morkel. One of my favourite ball-smashers.
So it Begins
The IPL is here!
Though we Indians may support our favourite EPL or La Liga or Ligue 1 (yeah right) teams, we need a home team to support, and the IPL gives us that! An amazing mix of talented young Indians and the world's best players, the Indian Premier League is the cricketing event of the year, as last year's edition proved. This season is bigger and better; even more players are taking part, and the contest has garnered more attention. I will be bringing match previews everyday (tentative), and here is my tournament preview.
Mumbai Indians - The team I'm supporting! Last season was topsy-turvy, with a run of losses consolidated by a run of victories. Pollock may have moved to the backroom staff, but he's still there for inspiration. Sachin, Malinga and Harbhajan will be available for the whole season, barring (in order) injury and control of an itching hand. Add to that the old faces: Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, surprise package Dhawal Kulkarni, and the fab new signings: Zaheer Khan, JP Duminy, Shikhar Dhawan, Graham Napier and Ryan McLaren. I really don't think Dilhara Fernando and Ashraful (though he was dirt cheap) are in the team.
Prediction: Beaten Finalists.
Rajasthan Royals - Last year's unexpected winners, are not expected to replicate their success. Warne is a tricky old bag, though, never ever underestimate his ability to get the others to play above themselves. Spent the least on players, but look stronger this time around. Warne hasn't played competitive cricket since last year's IPL, but I doubt he's forgotten how to flex his ginormous wrists. They've added Shane Harwood, newbie Rob Quiney and T20 specialist Tyron Henderson to their stars Graeme Smith, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan and Shane Watson.
Prediction - 5th place
Delhi Daredevils - A top heavy line-up featuring ViruGambhir and David Warner, they have tried to strengthen the middle-order already comprising Dilshan, AB deVilliers, Manoj Tiwary and Dinesh Karthik by bringing in Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah and Andrew MacDonald. The bowling looks good, with the likes of Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori being supported by Yomahesh, Maharoof, Nehra, Mishra and maybe all-rounder Rajat Bhatia.
Prediction - Favourites
Chennai Super Kings - Despite their lame name, they have a great team on paper and a shrewd captain in Dhoni. Andrew Flintoff is obviously the man to watch out for, apart from barrel-chested Hayden, Ntini, smiling assassin Murali, odd-grinner Balaji, super-slogger Albie Morkel, Raina and the amazingly named Napoleon Einstein. I'm also waiting for that { c Dhoni b Gony } dismissal.
Prediction - Semis
That was part 1 of my series preview... part 2 comes out tomorrow! Stay tuned, or just come back when you feel like.
Now for today's matches -
Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings - Indian's cricket's Midas pitted against its supreme being. Has to be a cracker! Sachin and Sanath can be as destructive as Sehwag and Gambhir, though are a generation older. If they fire, this match will be in the Mumbai Indian's pockets. Dhoni will fancy his team's chances, and their batting might may well get stuck into Mumbai's weakness - its bowling. Mumbai for the win.
Watch out for - Dhawal Kulkarni. Will he repeat his success away from home?
Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers - This would have been a walkover for RR last season. But they are missing Sohail Tanvir, their strike bowler, and Bangalore now have Pieterson and Jesse Ryder, who can destroy any bowling attack on their day. I will go for BRC here.
Watch out for - Roelof van der Merwe. He's has a successful series against the Aussies, and could be the spin trump card for BRC.
That's it for today - give me your thoughts and predictions too! Feel free to mock me if I'm wrong.
