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Royal Challengers up for the challenge
If the first season of IPL for the so called “Test team” was awful and horrific, then the Season two of the tournament was Spledid and Superb, ending up as the runner ups. But, season three looked to be of decent and they fared well. And what now, they have roped in all the important players and stars who were earlier a part of Delhi Daredevils and some really talented young players. This team retained Virat Kohli in all expenses of letting out Kallis, Taylor and other big guys. Read the rest of this entry
Lee back for T20 World Cup
Australian Veteran Pacer, Brett Lee who recently retired from Test Cricket and just recovered from an injury has been chosen in the T20 World Cup Squad coming up after the IPL in West Indies. Along with him, Micheal Hussey too has been chosen in the squad.
But, Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh have not been included. Lee selection was a surprise ahead of the emerging pacer Ryan Harris.
The Chairman of Selectors said:-
While Brett Lee hasn’t played the amount of cricket we would’ve liked him to in preparation for this World Cup, at his best he is one of the best Twenty20 cricketers in the world.
He also has the opportunity of continuing to play in the IPL as preparation for this tournament. Ryan Harris is extremely unlucky to miss selection given his strong performances in all forms of the game in recent times for Australia
We’ve gone with Mike Hussey who brings great international experience and is in fantastic form in all formats of the game right now
We’ve also added Tim Paine to give us cover in case of injury to Brad Haddin and of course, Tim’s ability with the bat, which saw him have a great KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, more than warrants his selection.Dan Christian had limited opportunities in the lead-up to this selection but we see him an exciting Twenty20 cricketer with his all-round skills with bat and ball
SQUAD:-
Michael Clarke – Captain
Cameron White – Vice-captain
Daniel Christian
Brad Haddin
Nathan Hauritz
David Hussey
Mike Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Dirk Nannes
Tim Paine
Steven Smith
Shaun Tait
David Warner
Shane Watson
Maxertainment 3: Gambhir guides DD to victory
If there was a batsman who could heavily be relied upon after Rahul Dravid, it was Gautam Gambhir. He cannot hit far but can stay long. He delivered what was required after the fall of the trio power- Sehwag, Dilshan and AB.
BALANCED START FOR KXIP:
The start got both some runs and Delhiites got breakthroughs. Dirk Nannes and Farveez Mahroof kept troubling the Punjabi guys. The stadium was roaring and with banners saying ” Mind says Delhi but Heart says Punjab”. From the starting itself the Daredevils had a edge over the Kings. Mahroof got a doubler in the last over of the powerplay when Skipper Sangakkara and Yuvraj could not capitalize from their starts but had a long hop to the hut. Next ball, Jayawardene had a golden duck and a long walk back to the dug out.
REBUILDING THE INNINGS:
With, 4 Kings back in the hut and not even fifty up on the board, it was the duty of Ravi Singh Bopara and Irafan Pathan to do the Rebuilding the score. They went on to do so, with a cautious approach and had over a fifty partnership. The team had a hundred in the 13th over. So, above 160 looked easy until the blunder Irfan Pathan did got stumped. Wickets started tumbling for the Punjabi fellows. There was nothing that Bopara could do but he too got out. But, Sreesanth didn’t leave it off, he started to slog every ball. At the end of 20 overs, KXIP managed 142 runs.
UNEXPECTED DISASTER FOR DD:
Everyone would have thought it would be an easy going for the fiery Daredevils with Explosive Sehwag at the top. But, Sreesanth did not let it happen. For Delhi’s horror, both big bucks Sehwag and Dilshan were back in the hut in the same over. Now, it was the responsibility of Gambhir and AB de Villers to rebuild the innings.
GAMBHIR LEADS THE TEAM FROM THE FRONT:
Gambhir, the skipper of DD was scoring with a cautious intent in one side. On the other end, AB was struggling and for DD’s and his luck he fell short of the crease and was run out. Gambhir would have told the same to Dinesh Karthik who came in fall of AB, just be calm and don’t get out. Karthik gave a good support to Gambhir but soon when Yusuf Abdulla was introduced, he struck his first wicket of IPL removing Karthik.
Gambhir had lost another partner in the process. Soon, Mithun Manhas came in to support Gambhir who scored his fifty and led the team to a hundred. Mitts too was striking the ball well and reduced the pressure from Gauti’s shoulders. The fifty partnership was on between Gauti and Mitts. At last, with one ball remaining Gautam Gambhir led the team to a tight victory. Match was pure cliff hanger.
Preview: Delhi Daredevils
The so called unlucky team, Delhi Daredevils have some match winners in their side, but have not won the semi finals in both the seasons. Last year they were stubbed by the excellence of the RCB team.
Gautam Gambhir took Captaincy when Sehwag told he doesn’t wants to be the Captain. A lot was expected from Gauti and Sehwag but they didn’t do so. All the work and batting was led by AB de Villers, TM Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik.
The Daredevils rode with the power back bowling of Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes, who joined the team only last year. Earlier this year, the Delhi team bought Wayne Parnell in the auction which adds a huge boast to the bowling attack. Even, Moises Henriques was signed up for the GMR owner Daredevils.
Sehwag, Gambhir, Dilshan, David Warner, de Villers, McDonald, Henriques and Karthik will add to the power packed batting while Nannes, Nehra, Mishra, Parnell, Vettori.
Both Andrew McDonald and Mosies Henriques should swing the blades and roll the arms too. DD will put a lot of hopes on both of them.
KEY PLAYERS:
Virender Sehwag: A lot will be expected from Sehwag’s bat. He is in superb form this year. Last year in IPL was disastrous for him. He demoted him and player lower down the order. His innings will be the most depended.
Gautam Gambhir: The Captain of the side should lead from the front. Last year too was bad to him as he failed to capitalize from the starts he made. A Captain’s knock is the best knock.
TM Dilshan: The highest T20 run scorer, and Sri Lanka’s best T20 player will have a lot to do for the team. He led the team from the front last year which made them reach the semis. Lets see how he does this time.
AB de Villers: One of the most reliable batsman and the centurion in last IPL has a lot of damage to do this season too. He is in terrific form for the Proteas in the recent series against India.
Dirk Nannes: Daredevils last year rode with the power bowling of Dirk Nannes who took a lot of wickets and was the most relied upon. Lets see what damage he does this year.
SQUAD:
AB de Villiers, Pradeep Sangwan, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Kedar Jadhav, Moises Henriques, Wayne Parnell, Sarandeep Singh, Shashi Ranjan, Sarabjeet Ladda, Ashish Nehra, Aavishkar Salvi, Mithun Manhas, David Warner, Andrew McDonald, Dirk Nannes, Farveez Maharoof, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Bhatia, Joginder Singh
Adithya Ramesh
vanirudh
The 22 Yard 