As of now it seems Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab will play in the final. Though Chennai and Delhi have got players who can single handedly turn a match around. So surprises cannot be ruled out.
Saurav should stop opening and should come at number 4 or 5. Then there is a possibility that he may continue till the end of 20 overs. Bowling is a concern too. Restricting the opposition below 150 is the need of the hour.
Pace guru...will bowl entirely ferocious balls - remember his pace in 10/50 overs. This gonna be an untireful 4 overs. He will be more pacy and arrogant and sure will bowl his nerves out to prove that he can be the best in any format of the game. He has gotta chance to prove all the bad comments go ashes with his thundering balls... KKR even with the existing bowling are good. Flaw in the opening - this is where they have to pay attention. Better even DADA sits out and give chance to a more aggressive youngster to open - or down his order in batting.
The contribution of this great player to the game of cricket and sportsmanship is unparallell in the history of the recent past.To take one example, the return catch taken by Bhajji had Dravid hesitating ( Doubtful catch)only for a second but never questioned the umpire. The run which could have been taken against Deccan was not taken because Dravid found his partner comming in the way of the bowler who could have fielded in his own bowling. There are many instances. He could have carried on as cpatain but the generosity shown is unthinkable which had Dhoni , the then VC leadindg India . The prediction of Chappel is now proving correct. With a young team under Dravid India would have faired better in the WC 2007
RE:Dravid
by Rajnarain Gouda on May 06, 2008 12:33 PM
Obviously you are confusing two different things.
Your observation about the sportsmanship, integrity and values of Dravid cannot be debated or argued. Anyone has to simply agree.
But the second part of your observation that a young team under Dravid would have done well in WC 2007.
The fact is that Dravid was taking his job as captain very seriously like that of CEO of a corporate organization. He and Greg were having misplaced priorities for conditioning camps and training of players such as taking them to godforsaken places like deep Karnataka for military type exercises.
Both are / were good cricketers in their own right, but very poor captain/coach combination as it turned out.
The simple thing that Dravid needs to understand that cricket is a game and it needs to be played with zeal, enthusiasm, positive energy, high comraderie amongst players, open communication channels, flair and at times a certain amount of abandon and intuition.
Any attempt to force "scientific" or "corporate" approach to playing cricket is bound to misfire as it did during the tenure of Dravid / Chappel.
I feel that no words are sufficient to praise Rahul's batting yesterday but his captaincy has done his team in in the IPL tourney so far. It is extremely difficult to believe that someone like Dhoni, Yuvraj, Sehwag or for that matter even Sachin or Kumble would have failed like Dravid, if they were captaining a side like RCB with players like Kallis, Steyn, Boucher!
The contribution of this great player to the game of cricket and sportsmanship is unparallell in the history of the recent past.To take one example, the return catch taken by Bhajji had Dravid hesitating ( Doubtful catch)only for a second but never questioned the umpire. The run which could have been taken against Deccan was not taken because Dravid found his partner comming in the way of the bowler who could have fielded in his own bowling. There are many instances. He could have carried on as cpatain but the generosity shown is unthinkable which had Dhoni , the then VC leadindg India . The prediction of Chappel is now proving correct. With a young team under Dravid India would have faired better in the WC 2007
It has been proved that KKR of SRK has been a highly hyped team without depth and substance.
Ganguly plays an occasional innings with a strike rate of around 100 and others including Ponting etc. have failed. KKR managed to win their first match, with what now appears to be (no intention of being critical of McCullum) a freak innings from McCullum. Thereafter they struggled in every match. They narrowly won against DC and failed against rest. In all probability they will lose their next match against Delhi.
Shoaib has been known to be an erratic and enigmatic bowler and it is highly unlikely that he will be anything better in IPL.
Even the captaincy of Ganguly has lost the "flair" and "enthusiasm" which he was earlier known for and he sports a grim face in the IPL tourney. This catches up with the rest of the team negatively. Players like LR Shukla, A Dinda, I Sharma, W Saha could contribute wholesomely to the team's cause, if the captain is positive and uses them properly.
Whatever we may discuss, I feel that the chances of KKR reaching the semis are as bleak as those of Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers of Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
At about halfway mark, Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Superkings appear favourites to reach the semis.
But as they often say, speculating on the outcome of cricket matches is always like gamble and one or two favourites may fall by the wayside.
Once again politicians have played their rolls to get Shoaib released only for playing with KKR team although a proven bad boy of cricket. Recently only he had hit Asif from the back during the SA vs Pak matches at SA.
Sachin has the tendency to skip the matches telecast on channels other than on ESPN-STARSPORTS. Sachin skips the matches due to so-called injuries especially when the same are shown on SET MAX. That is the reason for him not playing IPL so far. Sachin plays for the sponsors lobby. Even during the World Cup 2007 in West Indies, it was the same story as telecast right holders were Set Max. So he played poor cricket to avoid India's progress in the next round. He skipped Sri Lanka series (SL rights are with SET MAX?). He is against SET MAX channels or against all the rival channels of ESPN-STAR with whom he has an understanding.
You can recall many instances of his non-availability and its connection between the channels holding telecast rights.
RE:Sachin plays for the sponsors.
by pradyut roy on May 06, 2008 09:31 AM
2003 World Cup, where sachin was the 'man of the series' was telecasted by SET MAX.
