India will tour to Sri Lanka to play three tests and five ODIs in this year. The series is scheduled to start with a practice match from 18^th July, 2008 and will continue till 29^th August, 2008. It is such a long schedule so; cricket fans can enjoy the series whole August month. Ahead of the three-Test series in Sri Lanka, Indian selectors have announced a 16-member squad where two uncapped players Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha have been included. The 21-year old Rohit Sharma, who seems to be the future super star, made his debut in one-day cricket against Ireland in June 23, 2007 and played already in 23 ODI matches where he scored 471 with an average of 27.70. He impressed the selectors with his superb performance in the CB series in Australia earlier this year. He played for the Deccan Chargers and continued his form in the IPL. He was part of the Winning ICC World Twenty20 side in South Africa.

However, the 21-year old left-arm Hyderabad spinner Pragyan Ojha also earned a call-up to the ODI side. Pragyan Ojha made his debut in the Asia Cup against Bangladesh in June 28, 2008.

Both Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha did not play any Test match. It is really a dream for them to come true.

To me, death-by-spin was bound to happen to this Indian batting line up. While Q states here that Mendis ran through a line-up known as the best players of spin, I say that while that is historically true, it isn't of this batting line up. This Indian line up with "I-don't-play-spin" Yuvraj and inexperienced youth like Rohit Sharma and Uthappa, who in my opinion lack soundness in technique that has thus far embodied Indian batting, is far from deserving of the "best players of spin" tag. Historically, India earned the tag because the batsmen had a chance to play against the some of best spinners. That is no longer the case. Other than Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, there isn't too much of interesting stuff in India's spin closet. And no, Piyush Chawla, though seemingly effective, has a long way to go.

As for Yuvraj, if I were captain, I wouldn't know what to do with him. He's doubtless got talent, but I'm of the opinion that you can't play spin, you don't belong in the middle order. Perhaps he can open the innings - something that if I recall correctly, he has reservations about. Even better would be to pack him off to play Ranji - and he isn't the only one who should be going. So much for a guy who's upset over not making to a Test XI.

Meanwhile, our "anti-Ganguly-Dravid" friend Ottayan (I took the liberty of branding you that, Ott) suggests that this web around the batting line up is likely to heighten voices "clamoring for Ganguly and Dravid" in the ODIs. Yes, Ott, it might do just that. Though I must say you surprised me with your comment as  "..itself is not a bad thing". Guarded though it was, it was defense for "the Arms", as Soulberry calls them. Yes, Ottayan, I will resume my own clamoring though I have done that time and again. :) Thank you for egging me on.

Honestly, if were allowed to pick only two seniors, they would be Tendulkar and Dravid, who will play at the cost of Yuvraj and Sharma(?), at #4 and #3 respectively.

So what of Dhoni's captaincy in the final? Well there isn't much one can do if you pick Uthappa in place of a bowler. RP Singh has been off color and Irfan Pathan seems lost. These are folk, who along with Rohit Sharma (who I have lost patience with) that I will drop. The youngsters need seasoning and there is nothing like good hard Ranji for that.

Going back to Mendis, a star is truly born. He still has to a lot to prove, but judging by what we've seen so far, he augurs well for Sri Lankan cricket and for spin bowling.

This will make India's upcoming tour of Sri Lankan more watchable. Mendis or not, I was interested in the ODI series for the Tendulkar-Ganguly-Dravid against Murali foremost and umpire-challenging second. But the ODI series is now spiced up with Mendis being a definte inclusion. If he is picked for Test, then all the merier.

Bring it on! I can't wait for this tour!

India started as if Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had more concerns for the tournaments' carbon credits. It looked like they wanted to finish the game off before the lights came on in the evening. But that frenetic start was always going to be hard to maintain and when Sehwag, Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh fell quickly, it took some effort for M. S. Dhoni and a-somewhat-out-of-sorts Rohit Sharma to rebuild the innings.

The two Indian batsmen did rebuild, thanks to the strategy of the stand-in Pakistan captain, Misbah Ul-Huq, who strangely did not attack at that stage. Dhoni and Rohit Sharma compiled the easy singles and twos and kept the scoreboard moving till a rush of blood saw Rohit Sharma depart at a crucial time -- just when the accelerator was being engaged! That dismissal and the immature dismissal that followed -- of Yusuf Pathan -- may have meant that India fell short by about 20 runs in the end. That was perhaps what mattered most in the end result. Yusuf Pathan came out and had a huge heave against debutant off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who looked quite tight and impressive in his first game. Given the number of doosra's Ajmal bowled though, it may be more appropriate, perhaps, to catalog Ajmal a "Doosra" bowler who occasionally bowls the off-spinner as a wrong 'un! Dhoni and Rohit Sharma had some difficulty picking his doosra.

The Pakistanis came out purposefully and batted brilliantly to take the game away from India. In particular, Younis Khan and Misbah Ul-Huq were excellent, controlled and effective. Younis Khan appeared to be a man in control. He came in when a solid foundation was ruined by a needless runout. He shepherded a somewhat frisky, young Nasir Jamshed to a 50, saw the youngster retire hurt and just kept motoring on through it all. His was a terrific innings.

The Indian bowlers did not really come to the party. Praveen Kumar bowled tragically. After a wayward first over Ishant Sharma did manage to bowl reasonably well in his subsequent overs. And although Irfan Pathan bowled steadily for most part, he did bowl at least one "hit me" ball every over. And that, really, was the difference. Piyush Chawla was also largely ineffective.

At the end of the game, M. S. Dhoni said, "On flat tracks like this one, scores like 300 or 310 is just not enough if you don't have an experienced spinner. There is not much help from the pitch for the spinners and it's rather easier for the batsman to go after the spinner than rotate the strike. There you need experienced spinner."

Hmmm! Let's see. The spinner in the winning team had bowling analysis of 10-0-47-1. His name? Saeed Ajmal. Experience? Debutant.

It is, in my view, not experience that mattered most. It was attitude that was the difference. The Indians batted in two modes when they batted. They swung from "reckless abandon" to "caught in the headlights" and never really settled the pendulum in a safe and controlled zone in the middle. That allowed even the inexperienced debutant bowler -- Ajmal -- to bowl with control and dictate terms. India perhaps went into the game thinking that they would win it. Pakistan, on the other hand, went into the game with a hint of desperation and a heck of a lot of grit and attitude. The results showed. The better team won on the night.

India have to win tonights' game against Sri Lanka or risk bowing out of the Asia Cup finals. Strangely enough, I am not too fussed either way! I suspect that an early exit may be a bitter pill for most Team India fans to swallow!

I can't believe that India can go in with the same team sheet that it presented against Pakistan. However, there don't appear to be too many options. One option may be to swap Manpreet Gony for a somewhat listless Praveen Kumar. But that could be somewhat of a risk in what is essentially a do-or-die game for India. I'd go with R. P. Singh for Praveen Kumar who has looked somewhat out of sorts in these listless tracks.

Yusuf Pathan has blown a few opportunities to express himself. He needs to come good. He had a perfect opportunity with both bat and ball last night and messed up both facets. His heave that he affected against Ajmal in last nights' game is not quite a reflection of his batting capabilities. He is better than that and has to make his appearances and opportunities count. India has the opportunity to bench him for a regular, front-line bowler. It is an option that they may well exercise in what is essentially a knock-out semi-final.

On another note... Having already played and beaten Pakistan in the preliminary rounds and having carried over the points into the Super-League, pray why did India have to play Pakistan again? Is this just so that the organisers can collect more gate revenue?

-- Mohan

Source of All, sharpen our senses, that we might see your love in all Creation
and hear your heartbeat in the high places. Amen

Sister Alma Rose seldom recommends other blogs—she is far too enamored of her own—but she thinks y'all will be well rewarded if y'all keep abreast of the postings on Being in This World: A Notion from Rohit Sharma. The author offers great wisdom, practical spirituality, spiritual practicality... with admirable brevity, whereas Sister Alma Rose will go on and on....

Being in This World is associated with a group of online communicators whose modest goal is to raise the consciousness of the entire world. Whose consciousness couldn't use a leg up now and then? Y'all's? Certainly not Sister Alma Rose's, who ranks her consciousness (on a scale of 10) at 8, or 2, depending on the day, the weather, and the availability of Mr. Truman LaFollette's incomparable lemonade.

If Sister Alma Rose is not mistaken, Rohit Sharma lives in Shimla, which is just down the road, Sister Alma Rose is convinced, from Paradise. (Sister Alma Rose is saving her pennies for a pilgrimage there.) Perhaps Rohit's wisdom derives in part from the altitude; he, like the Ancients, lives near to the heavens, and the Ancients can hear God's heartbeat.

------------

Photo: Shimla Railway Station, Manmeet Sharma
Submit your prayer requests, and pray for others, at http://www.zgravweb.net/59prayer_requests.html

Gambhir, Sehwag, Raina, Dhoni, Chawla, Praveen Kumar and R. P. Singh had good outings against Hong Kong. Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa did not get an opportunity to do much! Irfan Pathan will probably get back into the side provided his side-strain is no longer restricting his bowling.

Rohit Sharma had an ordinary game against Hong Kong and apparently looked listless in his 29-ball-11-run essay.

The India side is likely to be:

Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Robin Uthappa (or Yusuf Pathan), Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma

-- Mohan

Not just by job title. I mean, deep down, is software testing in your blood. Do you think like a tester?

Think about this Answers:

Sometimes we tend to forget what we are actually looking for

Q1. Who Watches the watchmen?

Q2. Don't you think the biggest bugs are the hardest to find?

Q3. Isn't that the more bugs you find, the more there are?

You people get answer what our job is.

Despite the fact that this series includes an India-Pakistan face-off, there is a sense of boredom about it. Is too much India-Pakistan to blame? Or is it the fact that India has been consistently beating them for some time now? Or is the lack of competitiveness from Pakistan? As for me, I thought Bangladesh in their match against India, for their standing in World cricket, batted better than Pakistan. Where is the spirit, Pakistan?

Let me ask the bigger question. Is it boring to watch India win? Is it even boring to watch 'em batt? I didn't watch much of India's batting after the goose-bump inducing T20 style Sehwag-Gambhir partnership. Other than noticing that Rohit Sharma is losing his patience, Yuvraj is his princely self and Praveen Kumar is getting better by the hour, there isn't much to say. Are you missing the star clashes of old the Tendulkar-Shoaib or Ganguly-Shoaib? Or the lopsided Indian collapses from 100-1 to all out for just under 200?

Q points out here with hard facts, that India has been closing the India-Pakistan gaps. And that India has turned the tables. They have turned the tables indeed, but on a very weak Pakistan team. Pakistan won many games against an Indian team with some of best batsmen in Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Manjrekar, Dravid, Ganguly and the like. In that case, does the turning tables really count?

With this kind of one-sided cricket being played, I'm better off watching the other matches with more interest. The Aussies are 5-down on Day 1 of the Barbados Test. Gotta go catch some of that!

Ciao for now.

I'm Sensitive, moody, some time vulnerable and a tendency to oscillate between varied emotions are just some of the words that describe me as a person. I change from being melancholy to being ecstatic in a matter of seconds.

Much has been said of the performances of the icons, specially the senior ones: Dravid, VVS Laxman, Ganguly and Tendulkar. I will not venture into that discussion just yet. Instead, I will ask this. What will an icon-less IPL be like? Considering some of the owners' heavy-handed manner and the way things are going for the icons, I would speculate that not all of these folks will feature in the next installment.

Let us assume, for arguments sake, that neither of the above mentioned icons make it to the second season in any form. What would be the reaction of the masses? Especially the partisan ones - Mumbai and Kolkata. The Mumbai folks (or at least most of them) throng the IPL to watch Tendulkar and Kolkata to see their Maharaj. What happens to the other folk who go to these matches to see a Ganguly or a Dravid bat? Will these foks not turn up? Going by the attendance in the Ranji Trophy, an icon-less IPL will be a only a few grades more interesting to the masses. Yes, there will be Gilchrist fans and the McGrath fans, and they will bring some people to the stands, but these folk are the more educated cricket watchers, not the average Indian guy on the street who goes to watch a cricket match.

Even as I type this, I see the counter argument coming. One being that Indian cricket is in a state of flux where the seniors will slowly make way for deserving youngsters; that we need to be practical and one day or the other get used to an Indian team sans Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid; that the fans of the new recruits will take the place of today's masses. True, all valid arguments. However the issue is that all this takes time. You need several match-winning performances to get a fan following. Good looks will help too :). Consider Rohit Sharma, who gave us some very valuable runs in that T20 world cup match against South Africa. On the other hand you have Ishant Sharma - the find of the Aussie tour, the kid who troubled titan-esque Aussie captain Ponting. I would think Ishant has a bigger fan following than Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, Gautham Gambhir, who has figured in more matches than the Sharmas may have a smaller fan base. All this is of course speculation. The point that I'm trying to make is that, for the icon-less IPL season to succeed, it must be timed right. If not, it will shake the very foundation of the IPL. Lack of crowds will affect TV ratings, ad money, sponsorship, etc, and pinch the owner's pocket.

The owners may consider the icons as dead weight, but they bring the crowds at least for now. And they might need the icons more than they think, for this is India; we are mostly a crazy lot and cricket is a religion here. The owners, at least for the time being, better not mess with the Gods.

Squad Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha.
]]> http://vmminerva.wordpress.com/?p=102 Sun, 25 May 2008 17:18:49 +0000 vmminerva http://vmminerva.wordpress.com/?p=102 For an IPL match that was largely called a battle to avoid the wooden spoon, it entertained quite well.

The entertainment value was not top class, but it felt like standard cricket: not too euphoric, for the most part, and even boring sometimes, but not without fluttering a supporter's heart.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers seemed to have carried on some momentum from their previous unbelievable win against Chennai. Without Zaheer and Praveen, one would have thought the bowling had chinks, but the local boys and under-19s contributed well to the line up. The team spirit seems to have gotten better over the past couple of games.

Gilchrist won the toss and chose to bat first. Dravid responded by opening the bowling with Kumble, a move that seemd to suggest that he has returned to thinking ways, as opposed to panicking. Risky? Yes. Payed off? Not completely, but the Kumble-Steyn combination stopped the Gilchrist-Gibbs pair get off to a flyer. The move almost payed off with Kumble appealing although unsuccessfully for lbw against Gibbs. It remained just a close one, which umpire Koertzen turned down. Steyn continued some his good work from the the last couple matches. While the Deccan run rate was kept down to 5-odd for the first couple of overs, the bowling change to Kallis brought some change in fortunes. Shortly after taking a pummelling, Kallis retired hurt causing worries for the bating. The local boy Vinay Kumar with U-19 Virat Kohli succeded in keeping the Deccans down as Bangalore regularly picked up wickets. Perhaps the biggest blow for the Deccan was losing the IPL star Rohit Sharma after he hurt himself while batting.

Going by Bangalore's chasing record, going after 165 seemed tough, but there was some hope with Jaffer on top to lead some stability. However, Jaffer turned out to be the clown of the batting line up for first running himself out and then atrociously running out the injured but belligerent Kallis by some very lazy running. Misbah came settled down, thrilled and went. Dravid also came, threatened to lead the chase, thrilled indeed with a six and three consecutive fours- all priceless beauties (including a Misbah trademark cheeky reverse one), but departed by mis-timing one from Sanjay Bangar. It seemed to be over for Bangalore at that point with the asking rate creeping to over 10. However they weren't destined for the wooden spoon. Thanks to some hitting from until-now indifferent White and Kohli, but mostly to Akhil for sealing it with 2 sixes towards the end of 18th over. At the end of the day, it was team work that did it for Bangalore: everyone chipped in when it was required.

Mallya! You spilled trash too soon. This team isn't as bad as your mouth.

Go Bangalore! Go Dravid!

The final post on the 'Impact of the IPL' series means to look at the impact to the game of cricket itself. Being opposed to the new format of the game just on account of the fact that it is a new format is, to borrow a line from the movie 'I Robot', "banning the internet to keep the libraries open". You could use several lenses to judge whether the advent of 20-20 and the franchise format of the Indian Premier League is good or bad for the sport. Through the lense that counts 'eyeballs' or considers 'diversity of viewers' as its key factor, the IPL is an unqualified success, so say primetime TRPs. My view of the impact on the game is based on what happens to the basic skills that constitute the game; bowling-batting-fielding. Many observers have chosen to refer to the last time that a new format, 50-50 cricket came to the fore, and the verdict has been that it has helped raise fitness and therefore fielding standards, made batsmen more attacking and bowlers more innovative with slower balls and yorkers. Since it is impossible to isolate these effects from natural evolution, flattening of pitches and improvement in outfields, I choose to take them as given and look ahead at the IPL.

Bowling (- - -)
Purple caps for the highest wicket taker are all good but barring a very small number, most games have been decided by raucous hitting by batsmen than by wicket-taking blitzes by bowlers. Even top-class test bowlers have looked relieved to finish having conceded 7-8 runs an over while a slew of slow-medium bowlers now flourish on account of the fact that they do not have the pace to come on to the bat and induce erroneous shots from batsmen to add to their wickets columns. Spinners (because they rely significantly on beating the batsmen playing attacking shots) have it worse than the pacemen on account of the smaller grounds and the better bats causing mishits to sail over the ropes.
Most franchises will most likely want one genuine wicket taker but are more likely to want to bolster their batting stocks with competent hitters who can turn their arm over.

Batting (- - -)
Yuvraj Singh set the benchmark for 20-20 hitting when he swatted 6 sixes off Stuart Broad in the 20-20 world cup. Little it did matter that atleast 3 of those were not off the middle of the bat and yet managed to clear the fence. The newest credo is, "have bat, will swish". So in the midst of some crunching drives and pulls by top-class batsmen, there are a host of under/top/inside/outside edges that skitter away to the fence because the scoring area in cricket, unlike in baseball, is the whole 360 degrees. So, does it really matter that Rohit Sharma caresses 3 boundaries in an over, all off the middle of the bat, all deftly placed drives through the covers and midwicket, while Swapnil Asnodkar manages the same run tally, one between his back leg and leg stump through fine leg, a hook that is several fractions of a second late resulting in the ball looping over the wicketkeeper and another thick outside edge that beats deep thirdman?
The margin between truly skillfull batsmen with complete techniques that can play different lengths, lines, conditions and those that can belt the ball when it is pitched in a certain area at a certain pace will shrink dramatically making the game far poorer for the viewer.

Fielding (+ + +)
At first sight, one could go "Aha! there's no way the IPL is bad for fielding". Yes and no. This format cannot tolerate slow movers because of the need to save as many runs as possible in the field. But a large part of that requirement is negated by the smaller fields and the quicker outfields that mean that anything that gets through the infield, races away for four. So you have lots of Jonty Rhodes lookalikes, diving at everything in sight, but few who can cover turf quickly enough to chase shots. Having said that, the difference in the standards between the Indians/Pakistanis and the Aussie/Kiwi/Springboks has been evident in the basics of catching and ground fielding.
There is likely to be an increased focus on the fielding drills and an overall improvement in standards as batsmen of similar caliber strive to differentiate themselves on the field.

The bottomline is that while the IPL will, for now, garner enough interest to power it for the next few years, a gradual erosion in the basic skills will reduce the long-term viability of the game as it will face serious competition from other organized sports.

Hey! Which way do we charge?

Gilchrist and Sharma have been the only consolation at the top of the order. Unfortunately Gilly has not been able to do for Hyderabad what Shane Warne and Hayden did for their teams. As it happens, the Chargers are only one better than the worst team in the IPL, the royally screwed up Royal Challengers, while the Rajasthan Royals are right up there with the Chennai Super Kings.

Image courtesy: giraffian

With top order batsman dominating it was difficult to find a balanced line-up and more than a few deserving players were left on the bench. Of the foreign contingent Adam Gilchrist, Michael Hussey, Shaun Pollock, Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Asif, Brendan McCullum, Shane Watson and Kumar Sangakkara were considered as were Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Goni, RP Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Abhishek Nayar, Yusef Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Jaydev Shah and Yo Mahesh from the local contingent. Albie Morkel and Swapnil Asnodkar would also have made the cut except they failed to play the required four matches.

Virender Sehwag

Matthew Hayden

Gautam Gambhir

Robin Uthappa

Rohit Sharma

MS Dhoni

Dwayne Bravo

Irfan Pathan

Ishant Sharma

Muttiah Muralitharan

Glenn McGrath

In tomorrow's post there will be an explanation on why each player was considered worthy and where they fit into the team dynamic. If any of the readers think they can concoct a better line-up or if they think I have completely overlooked a player, be bold and leave a comment.

Some sense has dawned on the Deccan Chargers and Gilchrist has been made the captain. Of course, the real reason is that Laxman is injured, but then its better that even if Laxman is playing, he should never be the captain. He cant even guarantee his place in a 50 over game, forget a T20 match.

Finally Deccan Chargers have registered their 2nd win. Hope they can maintain the tempo. 7 more matches to go and DC has to make sure that they win all the remaining games and hope that the opposition makes mistakes so that they can move into the semi finals.

The most heartening aspect of the DC games have been the consistency of Rohit Sharma. He is indeed the find of the tournament. Gibbs, Afridi and Styris desperately need to fire, now that most of the Australian, Kiwis and West Indians have gone back for national duty. This is the right time to go in for the kill and pick up the wins. And please, can someone kick out that bugger called Arjun Yadav from the team. A bloody parasite who is in the team just because his father Shivlal Yadav is the head of the Hyderabad Cricket Board. Cant bat, cant bowl, cant field. Like father, like son. Morons.

Go Chargers Go

+++

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Click this link below to Watch the IPL live match from the Indian Premier League IPL, Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers Live Streaming Online.

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vs

Watch IPL Live Online with IPL Live Scores - Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers Live from M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Click this link below to Watch the IPL live match from the IPL, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers Live Streaming Online.

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The Important IPL Match for both of the IPL Teams - Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers Live from the DLF Indian Premier League - IPL between the Vijay Mallaya Owned Rahul Dravid's Team - Bangalore Royal Challengers take on the Hyderabadi Ace Batsman - Very Very Special - VVS Laxman & his Unstoppable team - Deccan Chargers-  in their Home Ground - M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

VS

But his knock was soon eclipsed by another yound Lad from Kings XI Punjab. Shaun Marsh, son of ex. Australian cricketer Geoff Marsh, played a notable innings of 84 runs and made sure that Kings XI Punjab reached its target very easily and win by 7 wickets.

Overall, it was very nice to see both these guys batting very confidently showing maturity of experienced players in spearheading the batting of respective teams. Both these guys are bonus to their respective teams and great cricketers in making.

Critically yours

Kiran

Impact on current cricketers

There exists the potential for several tags to attach to any current cricketer; country, state/club, international, test-class, one-day specialist and now, IPL player. Given that the tags are not mutually exclusive, it is fair to think of the impact of the last tag on the others. Scanning the team rosters of the expansive yet unimaginatively named teams, there are 3 kinds of players that currently form some kind of royalty (Super Kings, XI Kings, Royals, Royal Challengers), job descriptions (Chargers, Daredevils), comic heroes (Knight Riders) or just plain passport holders (Indians); Type 1 (Test and ODI regulars), Type 2 (Uni-dimensional type 1 wannabes) and Type III (Greenhorn potential).

Type 1 - Test & ODI Regulars:

Think Adam Gilchrist, Graeme Smith, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee.

These guys have been around for a while and are no-brainers when their respective country's team sheets are drawn up.  Not getting into the debate over contentious names like Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly et al, we still have enough to make a sizable set. Their motivations to suit up in the shiny colours is partly curiosity about the new franchised format and partly a need to prove to themselves in the slam-kaboom variety of the game.

T1 Batsmen: Having the technique and the temperament, they are likely to feel themselves through their first few innings and then make the necessary adjustments to open up angles with conventional cricket shots (yes, Gilchrist plays conventional shots, he just picks the length earlier than most others). As pitches are flattened to ensure high-scoring games, these guys will fill take on individual challenges against top class bowlers while mauling the mediocre ones.
T1 Bowlers: The truly hamstrung lot, top quality bowlers will look at varying their lengths and pace to outfox batsmen. Expect some innovative field placings and lengths to put batsmen off.

Type 2 - Unidimensional type 1 wannabes:

Think Yuvraj Singh, Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan.

These are those that have been knocking on the doors to be type 1 for a while. They've all had their moments but never consistently enough to be considered shoo-ins. In the regular world, these would be the most driven type of player, having tasted some success in their national colours, to relentlessly work to improve their techniques that would make all the difference. In the IPL world however, these blokes stand to lose the most. Why bust your derriere improving against the short fast delivery aimed at the throat when you can make a packet swatting medium-paced dollops in franchise colours? Worst-hit (or rewarded depending on your point of view) will be the Indian (the country not the franchise) Type 2s who strut around with collars raised, preening for the camera as they manufacture dives to play to the gallery.

T2 Batsmen: The format is tailor-made for those who are already on the front foot before the ball has been bowled. Given that bowling is not considered a requisite skill in the newest form, there are enough slightly built slow-medium slingers pretending to be bowlers for this type to flay their bats at and do reasonably well. For the likes of Robin Uthappa, the strategy would be simple, scamper the single off the good bowlers, swing/scoop/bludgeon the others hard, give interviews
T2 Bowlers: Penetration and wicket-taking having been relegated to secondary activities, these bowlers will look at specializing in hitting just the right length with just enough wobble to make stroke-making irritating. Only problem is, all such bowlers will be a blur with their 'acceptable' returns of 1 for 42 off 4 overs

Type 3 - Greenhorn potential:

Think Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli.

These are the 'young turks', mostly of Indian cricket, with wins at the U-19 levels and dreams of the land of milk and honey of international cricket in their eyes. Which way they go will depend purely on what they are made of. Some will improve from their encounters with top class players. Some will reduce their games to similar to the T2s. Of little current significance, but the future of this lot will have tremendous bearing on that of the game itself

T3 Batsmen: Will have to resist the urge to shut their eyes and mow across the line of every delivery (given even that has its success rates). Instead, to learn more about their game and gain the experience of playing in front of packed houses alongside some of the legends. The choice of international player they model themselves on will make all the difference
T3 Bowlers: The odd spinner might gain operating under pressure, but the format closes the door on young fast-bowlers looking to hone their art, even the good ones will be easy meat for the T1 and T2 batsmen.

Too much of Type 2 and the IPL might just have a truncated shelf-life. At the end of the day, quality cricket is easy to spot.

Technorati Tags: IPL, cricket, 20-20 cricket

Is it just me, or is the ball travelling further in this tournament? We have seen some huge sixes, and big totals too. I have watched the Twenty20 competition in England, and the World Cup in South Africa. Generally the par scores have been lower, and this time around there seems to be many more sixes.

So what is the reason for this?

The quality of the batsmen immediately springs to mind, there are many established internationals competing, but there are also high quality bowlers, so surely this should balance out.

The size of the grounds could come into question. Are the boundaries too small? Surely they can't be smaller than some of the English grounds. Taunton...

I can only come to one conclusion. The BCCI have sanctioned a secret batch of superhuman bats, and have sent them out to the following:

Brendon McCullum

Yuvraj Singh

Rohit Sharma

Adam Gilchrist

Varinder Sehwag

Shane Watson

Andrew Symonds

Mike Hussey

Yayyyy!!!!!!!!! Finally, WE WON!!! Many more to go guys...we can do it...The Unstoppa'bulls'!

Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals overcame the Deccan Chargers by 3 wickets despite a blazing century from Andrew Symonds at the Rajiv Ghandi Stadium in Hyderabad.

Symonds scored 117 from just 53 balls including 11 boundaries and 7 sixes. Hyderabad started poorly with Gilchrist, Laxman and Afridi falling cheaply to Yusuf Pathan and Warne but Symonds more than made up for the poor start, partnering Rohit Sharma (36) for 111 runs to guide the Chargers to a final score of 214-5 from 20 overs.

Rajasthan started much better than Hyderabad and that was helped when Laxman used rookie bowler Pragyan Ojha in the six over. An over which conceded 16 runs. Despite losing Kamran Akmal for 12, Rajasthan were motoring along with Graeme Smith (71) and Yusuf Pathan (61) joining for a 98 run partnership. The Royals went past 100 after just 8.3 overs. When those two were out though, it was Warne's turn for heroics. In a final over, Rajasthan needed 17 runs and Warne scored two sixes against his former Australian team mate to spark wild celebrations.

Final result: Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers by 3 wickets.

Out to bat first was the beningn Laxman's side.The top 4 batsmen failed to shine and it was upto Rohit sharma to take on the baton and show some strength.He propelled the Hyderabad team to a meagre 142 for the loss of 8 wickets.None of the other Chargers made an impact.

A brilliant unbeaten 94 by the skipper Sehwag helped the daredevils reach the required target with ease and with 9 wickets intact.A particularly entertaining and embarrassing over for the Chargers was Symond's when every alternate ball is smashed for a 6 and 4 by Sehwag.The match was over by the 13th over and left ample time for the Deccan Chargers to ponder over their dismal show.

The recent matches have proven that 20/20 is a completely different ball game.Veteran sportsmen have been failing and the "black horses" have taken over the arena.How this will affect the talent pool of cricket,only time will tell.

A magnificent 94 not out from Virender Sehwag sealed a comfortable victory for Delhi Daredevils over the Deccan Chargers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Sehwag hit his 94 from just 41 balls including 10 boundaries and 6 maximums as Delhi reached the winning target set by Hyderabad for the loss of just one wicket.

Hyderabad opened the batting with Rohit Sharma scoring an heroic 66 from just 36 balls but good bowling from Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif, Farheez Maharoof and Rajat Bhatia restricted Hyderabad to just 142-8. Shahid Afridi and Andrew Symonds were kept unusually quiet.

In reply the Daredevils always looked comfortable despite losing the early wicket of Gautam Gambhir. Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan finished unbeaten to guide Delhi to the 9 wicket win. The second win of the tournament for the Daredevils whilst Hyderabad are yet to get off the mark.

Final result from Hyderabad: Delhi Daredevils beat the Hyderabad Chargers by 9 wickets.