IPL Daily Dose – The Final – The day Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar did battle on a cricket field

Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar are considered to be the two greatest generals of all time. A showdown between the two of them would probably have been one of the greatest battles in history. Two great leaders well versed in tactical warfare leading well trained and highly motivated armies in the definitive face-off. While historians can only dream and envisage, cricket fans got to see the cricketing equivalent of the ultimate battle between two outstanding generals in the final of the IPL.

Like Caesar and Alexander, Warne and Dhoni were inspirational getting the best out of their troops. They led from the front, were masterly in their tactics and showed remarkable composure in the heat of battle. The performance of their men was also heroic with each man rising to the occasion and doing his bit for the cause. The result was a roller –coaster which kept swinging back and forth till the very end.

In the end every man was a hero and there were no losers. This game was a celebration of team performance and the ‘Man’ of the Match award seemed unnecessary and pointless. Yousuf Pathan threatened to become the ‘Man’ and appeared to be kissed by destiny as he continued to get life after life. Raina’s direct hit reduced him to a mere mortal.

The run-out was one of the many incidents which had the potential to become a killer blow in another game. Not in this one though. On this day the two teams were unwilling to concede defeat and kept coming back at each other with renewed vigour. Kind of like the Rocky versus Apollo Creed match-up in the first Rocky movie.


Aamir Khan in Public

A public appearance made by the actor who only considered the Oscars to be worthy of his presence. So is the IPL big enough (a matter of pride for Lalit Modi) or was it simply to give company to Mr Mukesh Ambani. The two have been seen together quite often these days.

Can someone provide information on Salman Khan’s accent?

The actor’s accent reminds me of call centre employees who work the US shift. But he couldn’t have done that as he’s from a pre-BPO age. So did he go to school and college in America? Wonder how he gets rid of the accent when he mouths Hindi-film dialogues.

An Iceman who lost his moniker

At the Twenty-20 World Cup, Joginder Sharma bowled the last over and the media made him the ‘Iceman’. The IPL cruelly exposed his limitations. Forget an Iceman encore in the final, the poor guy was not even on the field and nobody seemed to miss him.

MS Dhoni finally lost but only just

Mahi’s winning streak as captain finally comes to an end. But no need to fret over it. It took an outstanding performance from a brilliant side to beat Dhoni’s team off the last ball of the match.

Dudes of the Day – The twenty – two players who lined up for the final. Thank you for a memorable game. The only guys who remember the two semis are the players of Delhi and Mohali

Duds of the Day – The people who planned the pre match song and dance program. The songs, the dances, the costumes and the performances were completely disparate. Even the third-rate film awards have better choreographed shows.

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IPL Daily Dose – 30/05/2008 – IPL version of the Hare and the Tortoise and why I stopped making predictions

Remember the story about the Hare and the Tortoise. The one where the hare lost a race to the tortoise because he had no focus, no concentration, was over-confident and had no luck as well.

Now try imagining the same race with a different hare. A hare who was extremely motivated, totally focussed, had the race well planned out and could count on a little bit of luck if needed. What a one –sided washout it would be? Just like the Rajasthan –Delhi game last night, right. Absolutely!!!

The hare would have started out fast and continued to build on his lead. Similarly, Rajasthan batted well in the beginning, in the middle overs and at the end. They bowled well at the start, bowled well in the middle overs and then bowled well towards the end. As for their fielding, even guys like Sohail Tanvir were taking outstanding catches.

The number of things I was wrong about (and Iam sure so were many others)

1. Delhi had a better chance if they bowled first – doesn’t matter if you are outplayed in both innings of the game

2. Delhi’s experience could be the key in a knock-out game where there is more pressure – I am an idiot. Should have learned from the Rajasthan – Mumbai game. On a day when McGrath, Sehwag and Gambhir crumbled and Munaf and Asnodkar fired, experience was the last thing that mattered.

3. Delhi’s bowling could make the difference on a bouncy pitch - wrong again. All the Delhi quicks were taken to the cleaners. And Rajasthan’s bowlers gave a clinic on line and length.

4. The game would be decided by one great innings from one of the many power-hitters on display – this was a game which was the epitome of the word ‘collective’. RR were collectively great and DD were collectively bad. No need for individual feats.

Superman Returns

After meeting kryptonite against Mumbai, Shane Watson gave a display which would have made Superman proud. Could have won two separate MoM awards – one for batting and one for bowling.

A display which would have made the great Indian spin quartet proud

On a day when bats were flying at every delivery, Amit Mishra added to his growing reputation. Rather than cower down and start bowling defensively, he showed the full range of his arsenal. He continued to toss it up in a manner which would have made Bedi and Prasanna proud. The wicket of Pathan was a perfect example. We need to see more of this guy. He’ll do us proud in other forms of the game as well. I hope we don’t need another IPL to find his whereabouts. Are the Indian selectors watching?

A day when Sohail ‘Purple Cap’ Tanvir was the weak link in the bowling

The Rajasthan bowling was so damn good that Tanvir’s extremely decent opening spell of 2-0-16-0 was made to look bad. His economy was the worst and he was the only one who went wicket less. Don’t think Sohail will mind a repeat in the finals.

Dude of the Day – Extremely difficult to judge when you have so many heroes. So award goes to Shane Watson for doing what two heroes can do. How soon before we see him doing a dozen ads on Indian Television.

Dud of the Day –Yours truly for the 4 reasons mentioned above. And all the others who thought of at least three of the 4 reasons. I am not going to be making any predictions anytime soon.

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IPL Daily Dose - 24/05/2008 - A day when history was almost made and a candidate for Indian coach

The great Marathas could never capture the crown of Delhi in their proud history. On 24/05/08 they laid siege again under the leadership of the new Chattrapati – Sachin Tendulkar and it looked as if history was in the making. They were thwarted, however, by the troops recruited from the South (Karthik and Maharoof). Sachin and his men were glorious even in defeat; quite unlike the last big battle the Marathas fought for control of Delhi – the humiliating defeat in the third battle of Panipat.

Virender Sehwag and team have kept their semi-final hopes alive and have good reason to feel confident of making the next stage. For them to get knocked out now, the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings will have to win all their remaining games.

The Daredevils have other positives to take from this game. Their middle and lower-order finally fired and delivered in a situation where they generally tend to crumble and roll over. This win was also their first against somebody who is not a minnow (RCB and DC) in their last 9 games. The team will be in a very positive state of mind should they line up for the semis.

Mumbai lost a thriller for the second game running and have every reason to feel despondent. They also have the harder task of needing to beat both the Royals (quite a proposition) and the Royal Challengers in their two remaining games. Bu they have been playing good cricket overall and a little bit of luck or pluck could see them through. The veteran presence of Sachin, Sanath and Shaun will come in extremely handy

I wrote in the Daily Dose of 18/05/2008 that somehow Chennai manage to win all their tight games. They were either super lucky or simply super cool in pressure. Whatever it was, they are no longer the same. For the second home game running, they lost a match they were in control of till a very late stage. They have the easier task of just beating the last-placed Chargers but the Super Kings have lately developed a habit of making life difficult for

A mouth watering match-up in the making

Forget Warne against Sachin, I want to see Sohail Tanvir go against Jayasuriya and Tendulkar. Tanvir has been ‘awkwardly’ outstanding and extremely difficult to get away; at the beginning or at the end of the innings. Jayasuriya is back to his 1996 World Cup best. This contest will set the tone for this high stakes game.

Note to the BCCI

Please keep a close watch on Shane Warne. He continues to get the best out of his guys. Kamran Akmal and Pankaj Singh came in for this game and made their skipper proud. Employing him in some capacity with Indian Cricket should be priority number one. And make him the coach when Gary Kirsten gets sick of the Indian board. If anyone can make India true world beaters, it is Shane Warne. He’s managed to get even Munaf Patel motivated and kicked up.

A special word of praise for the Mumbai Indians Management

Getting Dwayne Smith and Andre Nel as late additions has been quite a coup. Compare that to the reinforcement jobs done by the CSK (Kapudegara), DC (Chamara Silva) and KKR (Brad Hodge). Getting the big guns is the easier task. Making key additions late in the season is the hallmark of well-run teams. Just check the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA – 4 time winners in the last 10 years.

Dudes of the Day – The Delhi middle-order with the exception of Dilshan. Dinesh Karthik was the man of the moment but key contributions came from Tiwary and Maharoof also. In a do-or-die game when the big three failed, these guys got the job done.

Duds of the Day - the Chennai Super Kings. They are hell-bent on giving their fans sleepless nights. Home game, player of the tournament Shane Watson sits out, 35 required off 18 with Dhoni and Morkel at the wicket and they still lose. MS Dhoni’s superstar status in Chennai could take a real beating if these guys miss out on the semis.

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IPL Daily Dose - 22/05/2008 - No cricket and rainy relief for Chennai

For once the folks in Chennai weren’t envying the rains in Delhi. Rather they were overjoyed. They have been lifted out of the grave they started digging for themselves in the game against Bangalore. We can no longer have a scenario where Delhi and Mumbai both have 16 points, making it necessary for Chennai to win both their remaining games. Chennai just have to win one game now and MS Dhoni and his boys will not have a sword hanging over their heads when they take on the Royals.

Mumbai’s Situation hasn’t changed though. Their run-rate is better than Delhi and they still need to either beat the Daredevils or win their other two games. And if it rains again in the DD-MI game, then Mumbai just need to win one of their two other games. The Indians are totally in control of their destiny.

The Rajasthan Royals are already through but their games against CSK, MI and KXP will determine the semi-final pairings. There will be no easy teams in the semis but Rajasthan know that Mumbai will have the added advantage of a raucous home crowd. It should be in their best interests to avoid them or eliminate them.

Delhi must be gutted. And to make matters worse for them the next game could be washed out as well. One point helps no one. Couldn’t we just have a bowl-out? Iam sure Dada and Viru would have preferred to take a chance and try and get 2 points rather than helplessly get knocked out of the IPL. Even a simple toss, with winner takes all would have been better. Can’t let the rain play such an important role. Surely some food for thought for Mr Lalit Modi.


Krishnamachari Srikanth was asked on Sun TV to unravel the mysteries of the Duckworth Lewis system for the benefit of the viewers

His reply – “I don’t think anyone understands the D/L system. It’s just understood by the computer which does the calculations. Even Messer’s Duckworth and Lewis who devised it don’t understand it.”

I don’t know who will be most aggrieved by this answer. Duckworth and Lewis, or the University where they devised this system as a course project, their project guide or the Sun TV fans who have to bear Srikanth. Here’s an explanation of the D/L system for Srikanth and anyone else who wants to know. And if this is not enough, I will arrange for the statistical modelling paper also.

Dudes of the Day – All the fans who turned up for the game in spite of the forecast. You truly love your cricket and your team.

Dud of the Day – Whoever is responsible for not foreseeing the possibility of rain and not planning for such an eventuality.

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IPL Daily Dose - 20/05/2008 - A special prize for Shah Rukh and why the Rajasthan Royals have fans all over India

The Knight Riders have been trying to persuade the NZL cricket board to make Brendan McCullum available for the semi-finals and have been willing to pay them USD 1 million for this special arrangement. I don’t know how it fits in the cap structure but this was surely a way of showing to the world that they were quite confident of making the semis. A very typical SRK stunt. Should have been quite a boost for the side ahead of a must win game.

The King Khan’s absence from such a big game, however, showed that this show of confidence was merely a filmy stunt. He had either already written off his team’s chances or had more pressing matters to attend (like Blogging against Aamir Khan). Wonder why all the fuss about getting an all access pass when he wasn’t going to be using it? He has to have it just because Preity Zinta and Vijay Mallya have it. I would love to hear from SRK, once KKR is finally knocked out of the tournament. Arun ‘Aryabhatta’ Lal thinks the Knight Riders still have a mathematical chance to make the semis.

The Bengalis had been highly aggrieved at the booing Dada received in Jaipur. It was a good chance to give chief culprit – Shane Warne some real stick. I was expecting a jam-packed Eden. Instead I saw a stadium which had enough empty space to seat the entire film community of Mumbai. Not just the ones who turned up to support SRK in Mumbai. The Knight Riders still have a long way to go before they can garner the kind of support the likes of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal enjoy.

Now here’s a new theory which I have.

The Royals come from Rajasthan, home of the Marwari community. This business community has a fair presence in all the major cities of this country. Wouldn’t this ensure that the Rajasthan side will always a decent number of supporters wherever they play? It’s similar to Indians being found all over the world; thereby ensuring that the Indian cricket team is never short of support in any venue in the world.

Quick Question 1

Ans: Who is the spinner’s biggest nemesis in the Kolkata batting line-up?

It should have been Dada till two games back. But not any more. Introducing Debabrata ‘his captain doesn’t know his name properly’ Das. Just check with Murali and Warne.

Quick Question 2

Who does Ajit Agarkar remind me of; every time he gets tonked for a four or a six, which is quite often?

Ans: Ranadeb Bose. Poor guy. Didn’t even get a chance to field in the IPL. Was he a worse option than Agarkar?

I have one last wish before KKR wind up their league engagements.

To see Laxmi Ratan Shukla bat higher up the order. I am tired of seeing him doing a salvage job all the time.

Dude of the Day – Yousuf Pathan. Gets the wicket of Kolkata’s best batsman and plays a blinder just when Kolkata were sniffing a chance. Also for speaking in fluent Hindi rather than trying to talk in broken English. No pretensions here.

Dud of the Day – Shah Rukh Khan. You can now frame the all access pass and hang it in your office. That’s your only prize from the IPL.

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IPL Daily Dose – 17/05/2008 - IPL improves TV ratings in Dhaka and why bookies were missing in Jaipur

RCB Vs RR

Rahul Dravid arrived at the crease at 31/4 and stayed on till 132/9, scoring 75 runs. Therefore, he scored more than 75% of the runs scored off the bat while he was at the crease. That is a tremendous achievement by the Bangalore captain and also a sorry reminder of RCB’s batting woes in the tournament.

Abdur Razzaq’s debut was the other notable point in the game. Was this move intended to increase TV ratings for the IPL in Bangladesh? I cannot see the cricketing reason for his inclusion. Vinay Kumar had figures of 3/0/15/0 and 2/0/11/1 in the last two games and was dropped for no justifiable reason.

Misbah-ul-Haq continues to make Dr Mallya look like an idiot. The owner had apparently fired Charu Sharma for not communicating his desire to play the Pakistani to the team management. Another failure (golden duck) later the decision to keep Misbah on the bench looks like a stroke of genius.

And by the way the Royals won again as expected. Were the bookies even offering any odds for this game?

KXP Vs DD

A game of two overs - both of which brought Mohali right back into the game, just when Delhi looked like gaining the upper hand. The cardinal rule for all rain truncated games is to bowl your best bowlers first. You never know when the overs could be reduced further and the quota for each bowler gets whittled down. Sehwags logic was flawed in multiple ways.

Bringing on a part time spinner (himself) just because a regular spinner (Amit Mishra) bowled well completely ignored the fact that Mishra was the most successful spinner in the IPL and Sehwag was close to the worst of the lot. Bowling himself well before Maharoof was even introduced into the attack and before McGrath’s quota was finished was foolish bravado and nothing else.

The Daredevils now need to win all their games to keep their hopes alive. And even that might not be enough. If Mumbai win 3 of their 5 remaining games (quite possible even if they lose to DD) and Chennai beat RCB and DC (shouldn’t be too much trouble) then we could have the possibility of an 8 win team missing out on a semi-final berth. Rajasthan and Mohali should win more then 8 and qualify for sure. Net run-rates are going to be extremely important.

The game also showed that the Kings of Punjab have the most explosive and the deepest batting line-up in the tournament. All their batsmen are attacking players and collectively they offer no respite to opposition attacks. Every batsman has also played at least one important innings in this tournament so far. They didn’t flinch when they lost Shaun Marsh and Yuvraj early. Mahela’s performance was like a cold blooded assassin’s which showed that he had been suffering from lack of opportunity and not lack of ability.

Dude of the Day – Close call between Mahela and Dravid. The award goes to Dravid. This guy has been under immense pressure and answered his critics in the best possible manner. At least the ones who questioned his batting and fighting abilities.

Dud of the Day - Cannot include the entire RCB side. The villain of the day is Virender Sehwag. Forget his fifty; his decision to bowl himself will haunt him when he is watching the IPL semis on television.

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IPL : Jingoism takes a back seat and objectivity is in

Sydney, Dec 2007

Harbhajan and Symonds got embroiled in a racism controversy. India was hard done by bad umpiring calls. There was clear lack of sportsmanship from the Australians.

Entire India gets behind Bhajji and condemns the Australian cricket team. Even the Australian media and fans express disapproval of their national team.

Mohali, April 2008

Sreesanth is at his obnoxious best and gets ‘one tight slap’ from national team-mate Harbhajan. The two try to diffuse the matter but Bhajji ends up getting banned for 11 games and Sreesanth is let off with a warning

Most cricket lovers welcome the move and wonder why Sreesanth was let scot-free.
His antics against Mohd Kaif earlier in the tournament were also in bad taste. A ban on the Malayalee, similar to the one imposed on Marco Materazzi for provoking Zinedine Zidane would have tempered his mad streak to some extent.

Quick question 1 – what would have been the reaction had Bhajji slapped Symonds and gotten a ban and fine in return?

Iam sure Indian fans and the cricket board would have pooled enough money to cover the spinner’s financial losses. And he would have become a cricketing martyr at par with the likes of Bhagat Singh.

Quick question 2 – what would have happened if Sreesanth had infuriated big André Nel to the point that the burly South – African hit him with a beamer and got banned for a year?

Sreesanth would be hailed as the second coming of Javed Maindad – a master of the mind games and looked upon as future captain and high-performance trainer.

Jaipur, May 2008

Shane Warne calls out Sourav Ganguly for violating the spirit of the game. He accuses Dada of delaying tactics and for refusing to accept the fielder’s word on a clean catch. The fielder is South- African captain, Graeme Smith. Ganguly retorts with a ‘Look who’s talking’, questioning Warne’s right to make a statement like this in light of the spinners colourful and controversial past.

A case of an Australian and a South- African pitted against one of India’s biggest cricket stars.

Expected reaction from an Average Indian cricket fan pre- IPL – blind faith in Sourav and criticism of both Warne and Smith.

Reaction from Bengali fans and media – How can an Australian (Warne) accuse Sourav of lack of sportsmanship, when they (the Australian test side) themselves were found short of it in Sydney?

Iam a great admirer of the Bengali intellect but this excuse is as pathetic as they come. Aren’t they aware of the fact that Shane Warne is long retired and wasn’t a part of the Australian side at Adelaide. You cannot classify every Australian in the world as unsportsmanlike for something done by a group of eleven. Going by that logic, Saurav and every other Indian cricketer should be as ill-tempered as Harbhajan and Sreesanth. Ironically, the leader of the ugly Australians – Ricky Ponting was a member of the Kolkata side. Wonder why no one brought that up?

And what about Graeme Smith’s word? Have they clubbed all the residents of the Southern hemisphere together now?

As for Dada being late for the start of both innings, this is not even a debate. We all know this is second nature to him.

Reaction from the Jaipur crowd – Rather than being jingoistic and supporting the Indian against the foreigner, the Jaipur crowd showed loyalty for their local team by loudly booing Sourav Ganguly. There is pride in identifying with a franchise, which doesn’t have a single star from Rajasthan. Their biggest hero is Shane Warne – a man who has inspired the so-called whipping boys to four straight wins.

Thanks to the IPL, the fans are no longer obsessed with members of the Indian cricket team. We have started noticing their flaws more than ever before. Jingoism is out and performance is all that matters. The league levels the playing field and everyone has to perform to be loved. The absence of a competitive domestic structure has been made up to some extent by the IPL and the ICL. Guys like Shikhar Dhawan, Yousuf Pathan and Manpreet Gony are slowly becoming household names.

Some folks, however, are incorrigible. The recent performance of their team is a just reward for their loyalties.

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