CL T20 squads come in for all teams

One of the costliest players bought in the IPL, missed season 3 of IPL due to a knee injury. Yes, it is Andrew Flintoff, he will miss the Champions League 2nd Edition this Sepetember too. Chennai Super Kings will miss the English all rounder Flintoff. But, the Giant who recently retired from the Test form- Muttiah Muralitharan is in the action for the Champions League.

Uthappa wins it for RCB, CSK short by 36

BANGALORE”S UTHAPPA GIVES A HIGH TOTAL FOR CSK TO CHASE:-

It was not the best of starts for the Team in Red. The Ace Player, Jacques Kallis who was not out for the previous 4 games got out for 19 even before the powerplay got over.So, the untested middle order was put to test. It was a quiet start for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pandey, Kohli and Morgan all were back to the hut even before the team went for the kill.

But, Uthappa kept his bat swinging. The Banglorean exploded and went for the attack in the 18th over. He went after Ashwin for a mighty sixer in that over. The main kill just started in Balaji’s over where he hit him for three consecutive sixes over the park. 245 runs of the over. He did all to manage to a total of 171 which no one thought of.

CSK SHORT BY 36 RUNS- MIDDLE ORDER CRUMBLES

Not the best starts the Kings wanted. Parthiv Patel edged the swinging ball of Praveen Kumar in the first over itself. The Mongoose man kept quite for a bit and played running game. But, soon he bought in the Mini Mongoose which goosed up Vinay Kumar for consecutive fours in an over.

But, it was unfortunate for the Big fellow Hayden as he fell short of his crease and took a long hop to the hut. After Hayden’s wicket in the 10th over, wickets started tumbling. Vinay Kumar troubled the batsmen and first got out George Bailey, then Suresh Raina, then Murali Vijay. A Bad outing for CSK, Albie and Badri couldn’t do much to get a win.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore :
JH Kallis, MK Pandey, RV Uthappa, V Kohli, R Dravid, EJG Morgan, MV Boucher, P Kumar, A Kumble, DW Steyn, R Vinay Kumar.

Chennai Super Kings :
PA Patel, ML Hayden, M Vijay, SK Raina, S Badrinath, GJ Bailey, JA Morkel, R Ashwin, L Balaji, M Muralitharan, S Tyagi.

Points Table after this match:

Team	M	W	L	P	N.R.R
Delhi Dare Devils	5	2	3	4	–0.919
Deccan Chargers	4	3	1	6	+0.450
Kings XI Punjab	4	1	3	2	–0.276
Knight Riders	5	2	3	4	–0.851
Mumbai Indians	4	3	1	6	+1.330
Chennai Superkings	5	2	3	4	–0.004
Rajastan Royals	4	1	3	0	–0.953
Royal Challengers	5	4	1	8	+1.331

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

Dravid, Yuvraj and Sreesanth out of the first test

Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and S Sreesanth who are nursing from their injuries have been ruled out the first test against South Africa starting on Feb 6th in Nagpur’s VCA.

Even VVS Laxman who was ruled out of the second test match against Bangladesh with a wrist injury has been included in the side as he has been cured.

But, Tamil Nadu Skipper Dinesh Karthik has been removed from the side.

While, S Badrinath has been given a chance in the side with his Ranji teammate Murali Vijay who has cemented his place as the main backs are missing out. Badri among the top six batsman in the squad will surely have a test debut.

It is surprising that Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun and Wridhiman Saha have been included in the side.

Tyagi is doing well in the domestic circuit and grabbed his opportunity with both hands when he was given a chance in the One Day team.

Newbie Abhimanyu Mithun has been in excellent form in the Ranjis for Karnataka as Mithun was the leading wicket taker in the Ranji Trophy, claiming 47 at 23.23

While, the Bengal Wicketkeeper Wridhiman Saha who has been selected ahead of Dinesh Karthik too has been in fine form scoring 318 runs at 38.75 in the domestic Ranji Trophy competition this season.

THE SQUAD FOR THE FIRST TEST

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir

Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S. Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan

Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wridhiman Saha

BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI SQUAD

Rohit Sharma (captain), Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Ajinkya Rahane,

Manish Pandey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhishek Nayar, Piyush Chawla, R. Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Manpreet Gony.

The first match is set to be played in Nagpur on 6th. SO Watch out for it.

World Championship of Cricket- Who will make it for India?

Hmm, Sadly with four important players- Yuvraj, Laxman, Dravid and Sreesanth out of the side. The selection committee  headed by Kris Srikanth will meet tomorrow and will decide who will replace these players in the upcoming World Series of Championship against South Africa.

Dravid and Yuvraj are surely out and have to take a minimum month of rest. But Laxman may play. I have no idea on Sreesanth.

The Selection committee will surely not select uncapped players instead of them to give a chance because this series is too important as it will change to rankings. If India lose the series they will slip down to No.2 spot or even worse No.3.

Even bad is that Dravid and Laxman, the main caps of the Indian batting will surely miss out. So the question is who are the ones who will play instead of these biggies.

So I have prepared a squad for the test series against South Africa.

1. MS Dhoni (Captain)
2. Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain)
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Murali Vijay
6. Harbhajan Singh
7. Amit Mishra
8. Pragyan Ojha
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Munaf Patel
12. Subramanium Badrinath
    
13. Wasim Jaffer
14. Virat Kohli
    
15. Sudeep Tyagi

So, you would be questioning out with what I have selected. So I have my explanations.

• I’ve chosen Munaf Patel because i won’t give a place for an uncapped player. Surely when Munaf is given a chance, he will prove his worth. The main thing is that he has experience. No other player including Ashish Nehra has experience.
• Wasim Jaffer! You will think it is a bad choice but he is the only experienced player India have in test cricket. He is excellent in test cricket. He is doing superbly for Mumbai Ranji.
• S Badrinath is probably a test player. He is solid like Laxman and is the best replacement for VVS Laxman.
• Virat Kohli may be given a go because if you give a go to players like Raina or Jadeja, they are sloggers in batting ad would not stay long. So he is the only guy who stays long in the team who is uncapped in test matches.
• People feel Cheteshwar Pujara should be given a go, but in this series he might not be a good choice because he is uncapped. He has experience his domestic circuit but he has no international experience.
• So this is the best team India can have in my point of view if the injured 4 players are not there.