SL players to go: Who will miss whom?

The dilemma now stays as National Duty versus Money. Yeah, “Come back home” says the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to all its players playing in the IPL. Controversy seems to be playing a role here, as this decision is guessed to be taken after the ill-treatment to Rajapaksa and Co during the Finals of WC.

Long list of nominees of ICC Cricket awards

Here is the list of Nominees posted by the ICC. The ICC Cricket Awards will take place in October in Bangalore.

Long-lists of nominees (in alphabetical order; each category will be reduced to a short-list in due course)

Silva back, Welegedara, Kandamby left out of tri series

The Sri Lankan Selectors selected the Lankan squad for the tri series involving India and New Zealand starting August 10th in Lanka. Left hand Seamer Chanaka Welegedara and Batsman Thilina Kandamby have been left out for the Series. They are replaced by Pacer Dilhara Fernando and Batsman Chamara Silva.

Mendis neglected, Malinga recalled

For the upcoming first Home test match against India, The Sri Lankan Selectors have named the squad for the Lankan test side. The ‘no more’ Mystery Spinner Ajantha Mendis has not been named in the squad. Mendis was the key role for Sri Lanka against India in 2008 tests. Lasith Malinga will make his comeback to Test Cricket after his injury.

Dishan to captain Lanka in tri-series

COLOMBO: Like India, Sri Lanka too have rested some big names. TM Dilshan has given yet another opportunity to lead the Sri Lankan side for the tri-series in Zimbabwe which involves India, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Some big names including Captain Kumar Sangakkara, Opener Mahela Jayawardane, Lasith Malinga and Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya have not been picked up for the tournament.

Muttiah Muralidharan, the best bowler ever for Sri Lanka missed out of the T20 World Cup earlier because of a groin injury has not been picked as he is not fully recovered.

All rounder, Angelo Mathews has been given the responsibility to depute Dilshan as Vice Captain.

Newbie Lahiru Thirimanne, who played two ODIs and uncapped Jeewan Mendis are a part of the 15 member squad.

Dilhara Fernando has been given a chance for Lasith Malinga along with opener Upul Tharanga and middle order batsman Chamara Silva who were out of T20 World cup.

The Tri- nation tournament kicks starts from May 28th in Bulawayo.

Sri Lanka squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Thissira Perera

Chandimal in T20 WC squad for SL

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has included uncapped domestic player Dinesh Chandimal to their T20 World Cup squad for the Caribbean tournament.

The Wicket-Keeper Batsman Dinesh Chandimal is performing excellently in the domestic level and has an average of above 52.

Surprisingly, they have also included The Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya despite his poor run in the recent tournaments.

The squad includes Suraj Randiv, the right arm spinner along with the Ace Muttiah Muralidharan and Ajantha Mendis.

SQUAD:-

Kumar Sangakkara (Capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Thissera Perera, Suraj Randiv, Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Chamara Kapugedera, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedera

Finishing the innings- A responsibility: Maxertainment 3

FINISHING WELL

In the T20 format, it is always very important to finish well. May it be during batting or bowling. Here, we discuss about some of the finishers of the different IPL teams. These key players are pretty much the deciding factors whether their teams cross the finish line or not.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Undoubtedly, the incredible Yusuf Pathan is their finisher. Yusuf Pathan who evolved as an exceptional T20 player in the first season has grown from strength to strength. His power hitting and his positive attitude have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for the Royals. The recently 100(37 balls) against Mumbai Indians is a burning example of the effect Yusuf has on the opposition. Looking at the current form, he could be again prove to be the biggest game changer for Rajasthan Royals.

CHENNAI SUPERKINGS

Captain cool Dhoni and Albie Morkel are the finishers for this batting heavy team. The fact that helps Superkings is that they are packed with allrounders so they are not heavily dependant on both of them. Though Raina and Haydos are the mainstays at the top, the finishing act is shared between Dhoni, Morkel, Badrinath and the all rounders.

DELHI DAREDEVILS

AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik are the main people responsible for finishing off games. Delhi has some good local talent like Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia who are capable of giving both the main finishers a good support and saving the tail from being exposed.  Mainly if one of the top four Sehawag, Gambhir, De Villiers or Dilshan clicks, they make sure that they finish the game.

KINGS XI PUNJAB

The finishers are Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan. The addition of an allrounder like James Hopes will help their cause. Irfan and Yuvraj have been very successful in previous 2 editions but this time both come back from injuries so there is a big question mark on their form.

MUMBAI INDIANS

For the first season it was Abhishek Nayar and for the second season it was JP Duminy. Mumbai Indians have been the team which has underperformed purely because of they haven’t been able to win the close games. This season, they have started out well pulling off a dramatic victory over the Royals. But Mumbai Indians have identified the local talents like Sathish and Saurabh Tiwary and the return of players like Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, it will add a huge boast to the ending.

KOLKATA KNIGHTRIDERS

David Hussey is one of the strongest finishers for KKR. During his unavailability, Angelo Mathews has fitted into the role of a finisher perfectly. Domestic Players like Wriddhiman Saha and Laxmi Ratan Shukla  have also shown that in tense situations they are quite capable of handling the finishing job.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

Ross Taylor, Mark Boucher and the young Virat Kohli are the batsmen RCB will depend upon to take their team home. Ross Taylor has been their biggest finisher, especially in the 2nd season he had invaluable contributons to RCB’s turnaround of fortunes. During his absence, Kohli and Boucher are quite ready to handle the finishing job.

DECCAN CHARGERS

Heavily dependant on one person to do the finishing job, the very talented Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma was exceptional in finishing the games for Deccan Chargers in season 2 which was one of the main reasons for their success. Though they have a great start they always put themselves in such a situation where Rohit has to bail them out.

THANKS TO THE GUEST EDITOR: PRACHURYA KIRTI NAYAK

Maxertainment 3: KKR stun last year runners up RCB

Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders registered their second consecutive victory after they beat the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. With this win they have now defeated the two finalists of the IPL season 2. Knight Riders made a blazing start of their innings in order to chase down the modest target set by Bangalore Royal Challengers. Openers Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge gave a tremendous start to the Knight Riders. Together they put up the opening stand of 101 runs.

Tiwary, after making his maiden IPL half-century, got out to van der Merwe’s delivery. Brad Hodge also became the victim of van der Merwe after scoring 50. Sourav who had failed to get any score on the board last time looked good today and his 6 off a Del Steyn delivery reminded his golden days. He was unlucky to get out while trying to hit the winning shot.

The Challengers, after a disastrous start, managed to set the target of 136 to Kolkata Knight Riders. Earlier, Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to field first against the Bangalore Royal Challengers at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

Charles Langeveldt and Angelo Mathews soon justified Ganguly’s decision and got the two quick wickets of SP Goswami and Manish Pandey. Goswami was caught by Ishant Sharma, while Pandey was bowled by Mathews.

After the two quick wickets, the Bangalore was looking to consolidate the innings but Murali Kartik gave them another jolt when he got the wicket of Virat Kohli. He was caught by Angelo Mathews. All eyes were on Rahul Dravid after the devastating start, but he too disappointed everyone and became the second victim of Angelo Mathews.

Robin Uthappa, who was trying to have a good partnership with Kallis, walked down the track and went for the lofted big hit but ended up nicking it behind the wicket, Mathews was the bowler.

RE van der Merwe was caught by Hodge and Mathews picked up his fourth wicket. However, Jacques Kallis remained not out on 65.

Preview: KKR vs RCB

Preview: KKR vs RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders VS Royal Challengers Bangalore

Venue: EDEN GARDENS, KOLKATA

Date: 14^th March, 2010

Time: 3pm

Kolkata Knight Riders
With ‘Miracle-Coach’ Dav Whatmore at the helm and Bengal’s dearest Dada running affairs on the pitch, the Knight Riders would want to put last season’s horrendous run behind them and start afresh. After winning the 1^st game, they will try to prove that the win was not just a fluke. Sourav who failed to score in the last match will try to shut the crtics’ mouths. Owais Shah and Angelo Mathews need to keep up the form they showed in the match against DC. Bowling seems to have improved thanks to the tips and tricks of the legendary Wasim Akram. Team’s bowling comprises of pace batteries like Ishant and Langaveldt and if they hold up, we may see a resurgence of the Dark Knights.
KEY PLAYERS: Sourav Ganguly, Angelo Mathews, Ishant Sharma, Charl langaveldt

Royal Challengers Bangalore

This year, Bangalore boast of a very strong team indeed, with fantastic hitters of the likes of Ross Taylor, Cameron White, Kevin Pietersen and new signing Eoin Morgan, and the dependability of South Africans Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher. They also possess possibly the best of the local batting talent, in dynamic and ambitious youngsters Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa, apart from stalwart Rahul Dravid. Skipper Anil Kumble leads the bowling attack that also boasts of the likes of test No.1 Dale Steyn. On paper they look strong enough to do an encore of last year’s final appearance. With an inspiring captain at the helm, one cannot rule out them going all the way.

KEY PLAYER: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble

SQUADS:

RCB: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Srivats Goswami, Vinay Kumar, Bhuvanesh Kumar, K P Appanna, Eoin Morgan, Akhil Balachandra, A Mithun, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez, Cameron White, Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen, Roelof van der Merwe, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, S Sriram

KKR: Sourav Ganguly(C), Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, Manoj Tiwari, Rohan Gavaskar, Chirag Pathak, Cheteswar Pujara, Harshad Khadiwale, Wriddhiman Shah, Angelo Matthews, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ganapati Vignesh, Ajit Agarkar, Varun Aron, Iqbal Abdulla, Eklakh Ahmed, Ashoke Dinda, Ajantha Mendis, Charl Langeveldt, Murali Karthik, Ishant Sharma

Day 1 of the Maxertainment 3 ends on a high!

The IPL 3 has kick started in a superb form. Yet, another classy performance in the acts of the opening ceremony. The whole stadium rocked. Deepika was sizzling. UB-40 was fantastic. The crowds at DY Patil were going mad.

The first match, DC vs KKR, started off. DC’s Gilly won the toss and chose to field first. Rudi Koetzen said Lets Play and the Game begun. For the horror of the KKR team, they lost the first wicket in the first ball when Manoj Tiwary hit it to the covers.

Soon, the all expected Dada Ganguly too fell to the Old Fox Chaminda Vaas and took a long hop to the dug out for a duck.

It seemed all the same for the KKR team, same like the season two. Soon, Brad Hodge and Cheteshwar Pujara too got out. The Kolkata team were struggling at 31/4.

But, the 129 run partnership re-build the team and made their score a respectable one with Angelo Mathews (65 runs) and Owais Shah (54 runs).

The Deccan Chargers, Defending Champs came into bat with a target of 162 runs. The DC camp had a strong batting line up and everyone expected that it was a easy win for them.

The starting for the Chargers looked like slogging until VVS Laxman (22 runs) got out at 61 runs on the board. A good batsman goes out and a better one comes in. Herchelle Gibbs came in to partner his captain Adam Gilchrist. But the spin of Hodge, got him out for 54 runs just when the team score was reaching hundred.

Perhaps, everyone would have thought Symonds and Rohit Sharma is there and they will win it for them. But .everything changed with Gilly’s dismissal. Charl Langeveldt got his first wicket of the tournament when he got rid of his countryman, Gibbs (19 runs).

Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds were expected to do more. But, soon Symonds hit a ball to Sourav Ganguly’s hands ending his innings for just 5.

Rohit Sharma too didn’t stay long as not expected. Just adding 13 runs to the scorecard, he too perished with the ball of Mathews.

Winning dreams perhaps changed for them. Only, newbies were left. Anureet Singh and Tirumalsetti Suman could not ensure that DC win.

So, KKR ensured that they had a win in their hands as they won with 11 runs.

Its the same saga this year. DC were last in 2008 and came to win the IPL in 2009. KKR were last in 2009. The question is Will they be the Champs this year?