Knight Riders- The new Avatar!

After three humiliating IPL seasons Shahrukh Khan left no stone unturned for KKR team selections this year. He did his best in bagging the best performers around. This team of KKR is 100 percent new, fresh,better and formidable comparing the previous seasons. However the team has taken a tough decision by leaving Sourav Dada aside, who was their icon Cricketer in the last 3 seasons, even though his performances were not up to the mark. 

Adieu to a cracking journey- WC

There are very events in the world which can topple the human heart and mind as easily as this year’s World cup… “First ball of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011..from Shafiul Islam to Virender Sehwag…smashed past extra cover and it’s a boundary…WHAT A BEGINNING !!… 1..2..3.. the cricket world cup has finally kicked off with a blast !! The most awaited and the first blockbuster event of the decade is finally here…Its most welcome anticipation across the globe, especially, in the fourteen participatin gnations of which four were associate nations. Two groups, group A and group B were to form seven teams each. Group A would have Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada battling it out. On the other side, Group B would consist of India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands contesting strongly. Top four teams from each group would qualify for the first stage of knockouts – The Quarter finals.

India really prepared for 2011?

The last game between India and Sri Lanka saw a very poor performance from the Indian Batsmen. Yuvraj Singh, the highest scorer, scoring 38 runs. When others score, Yuvraj doesn’t score, when Yuvraj scores, others don’t score. India without Sachin Tendulkar+ Gautam Gambhir totally rely upon Virender Sehwag only.

Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers

GILLY BOMB FAILS BUT  ROHIT TAKES DC TO 148

It was not the best starts for the Defending Champs. The team expected Adam Gilchrist to score and give them a brisk start. Gilly trying to hit it on the on side miscued it and it went high and only fell in the hands of Yusuf Pathan. The weakened side- Rajasthan Royals went on high spirits with the wicket of the danger man.

It was about to turn worse for the Royals as Gibbs thrashed one Royal Bowler. But, RR did not let it happen as they picked up yet another with but not Gibbs it was Laxman.  Shane Warne bowled himself in the 7th over. It looked like he was back in form as he picked up the wicket of Gibbs in his 4th ball.

Just after another over, Symonds who was looking dangerous fell short of the crease when Jhunjhunwala threw as if he had a bullet arm. Venugopal Rao and T Suman didn’t have much experience so they too departed without troubling the scores. It looked like a one man stand with Rohit Sharma just short by one run of his fifty. Rahul Sharma’s last over blitzkreig took the team to148.

YUSUF PATHAN MAKES IT A CAKE WALK FOR RR

From the start of the tournament itself, RR looked a batting weak and heavily relied on Yusuf Pathan. Micheal Lumb gave the best start he could give for the Royals partnered by Naman Ojha. The Powerplay yielded 54 runs with 40 runs scored by Micheal Lumb.

All Naman had to do was to give the strike to Lumb. He was striking the ball with ease. Just after the powerplay Naman Ojha too tried to take the attack but was stumped.

At 55/1 and about 9 runs a over, it was a perfect stage set for Yusuf Pathan to take the attack. He did so in the process he gave an easy win for the Royals. The Chargers were charging up to attack Pathan, Symonds was sledging and a slip with a attacking field set for him. He hit it for a six out of his first ball.

Lumb and Pathan had a 46 run partnership. Pathan hit 8 balls out of the rope in great fashion along with his 2 fours. But, at last he won it as usual for the Rajasthan Royals and their owner Shilpa Shetty was waving the flag and shouting HALLA BOL.

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals:
Naman Ojha, Micheal Lumb, Faiz Fazal, Adam Voges, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Paras Dogra, Shane Warne, Sumit Narwal, Siddharth Trivedi, Shaun Tait.

Deccan Chargers
Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman, Herchelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, T Suman, Venugopal Rao, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Rahul Sharma, Pragyan Ojha

EDITED BY ADITHYA R

T20 WC squad: India

Just when one third of the Indian Premier League is completed, Kris Srikkanth and co decided the final 15 players for the twenty twenty world Cup which will take place in West Indies starting April 29th.

It was a tough job to pick the 15 as there are many good players in the 30 man probables.

Young Pacer Ishant Sharma who was part of last year World Cup has been dropped giving a chance to Vinay Kumar.

But, some good performers till now in the IPL- Robin Uthappa, Saurabh Tiwary, Murali Karthik, Amit Mishra, Virat Kohli have not been considered.

The team is placed in group C along with the South Africans and Afghanisthan. Key players will be Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan who were missed in World Cup 2008.

Squad:

MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Vinay Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan.

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:Mumbai wins despite Yusuf's ton

An astonishing 37-ball hundred from Yusuf Pathan could not save Rajasthan Royals from a four-run defeat to Mumbai Indians. Pathan’s hundred, the second fastest in T20 history and the fastest in the Indian Premier League, injected life into Rajasthan’s innings after it had stalled at 69–4 in 10 overs chasing Mumbai’s 212–6.

Pathan reached a 21-ball fifty, followed by his hundred in 37. He hit nine fours and eight sixes, adding 107 in less than eight over with Paras Dogra, whose contribution to the partnership was 18 from 21 balls. Pathan fell with Rajasthan needing 40 from 18 balls. He was run out when a Dogra straight drive deflected off Sathish’s hands on to the stumps.

Dogra raised the tempo, smashing 21 runs in the same over by Sathish. But his best efforts left Rajasthan needing 12 from the final over by Lasith Malinga, who’d been the best of Mumbai’s bowlers today. Dogra was also run out, having made 41 from 29. Malinga was unhittable in the final over, conceding just seven of the final over; denying Dmitri Mascarenhas the six needed off the final ball.

Mumbai were dealt a major blow when Harbhajan Singh had to retire hurt while batting. He was struck by a fast, low full-toss on his left-knee from Shaun Tait. The off-spinner could not bowl, and Mumbai nearly paid the price with the match.

Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar elected to bat in this Brabourne Stadium fixture. Attractive fifties from Ambati Rayudu and Sourabh Tiwary helped Mumbai to an impressive score.

Rayudu, who comes to the IPL after a stint with the ICL, struck a 30-ball fifty. Tiwary, one of the stars of India’s U-19 World Cup win in 2008, also reached a 30-ball fifty.

The two added 110 from 10.3 overs, helping Mumbai average over ten runs an over throughout the innings.

Preview: RR vs MI

RAJASTHAN ROYALS VS MUMBAI INDIANS

VENUE: BRABOUNE STADIUM, MUMBAI

DATE: 13TH MATCH, 2010 (3PM START)

Team Mumbai Indians:-

The opening partnership and the start will be the key for the team. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, one of the World’s most explosive batsmen will open the innings. Its bad that there is no Kieron Pollard for this match. They will surely will the demolisher. The middle order is quite fragile. The likes of JP Duminy will be most important as he is the key player in the middle order. Abhishek Nayar should perform as he is vulnerable both with his bat and the ball.

The team will surely miss the power hitting of  Kieron Pollard and the all round performance of Dwayne Bravo who won’t be available for the first game. But, the bowling is strong enough to restrict and defend any total. With, Zaheer Khan as the spear head of the attack along with him is Lasith Malinga, who is very dangerous in death overs. Tendulkar will look to bowl him after the 10th over. The spin department will be looked after by Harbhajan Singh.

TEAM RAJASTHAN ROYALS:-

They will be the most happiest team with IPL returning back to India. The team will surely miss Shane Watson. But, Captain Shane Warne will implement a lot of youngsters into the team. Graeme Smith will guard the opening position along with him Naman Ojha or Swapnil Asnodkar. Yusuf Pathan’s power pack hitting will be the key and he will be the trump card. With Damien Martyn bough in the auction, it adds some strength to the side. Bowling is quite okay. But, there is only one pacer good and reliable- Shaun Tait who will look to swing and hit the deck. Other than him, there is Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi who are not that reliable. With Shane Watson not in, Dimtri Mascarenhas will be important in the game.

PITCH:-

It is a flat deck and bowling will play a major role. Win the toss and bat first.

KEY PLAYERS:-

MI:- Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga

RR:- Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Warne, Shaun Tait

SQUADS:-

Rajasthan Royals : Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Damien Martyn, Abhishek Jhunjunwala, Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha(w), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shane Warne(c), Munaf Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Amit Singh, Shaun Tait, Amit Gajanan Paunikar, Johan Botha, Faiz Fazal, Kamran Khan, Michael Lumb, Morne Morkel, Sumit Narwal, Syed Quadri, Abhishek Raut, Shrikant Wagh, Mahesh Rawat.

Mumbai Indians : Sachin Tendulkar(c), Sanath Jayasuriya, Shikhar Dhawan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ryan McLaren, Abhishek Nayar, Aditya Tare(w), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Murtaza Ali, Rahul Shukla, Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish, Dilhara Fernando, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chandan Madan, Ishan Malhotra, Graham Napier, Syed Sahabuddin, Saurabh Tiwary.

Royals are back in their den

cricket wickets

As royal as they can be,

Their talent is as enormous as the cool sea.

The Rajasthan Rockers are back

As royal as they can be,

Their talent is as enormous as the cool sea.

The ruler of the team is master spinner Shane Warne,

Jin ki sab unke jay geet kar te hein gaan.

They have the man made for T20 – Yusuf Pathan,

Who is the team’s dependeble chataan.

Everyone knows the seamer Munaf,

Who with his scintillating pace makes his fans joyfully laugh.

With the bat comes Graeme Smith to the pitch,

Sending the minnows mercilessly into the ditch.

Brilliant opening karte hein Shane Watson,

In every match he is capable of hitting a mindblowing ton.

To win your heart, the Royals are coming,

And soon the words, “We are the champions”  will be heard ringing.

Halla Bol !!

Stage opened for Newbies

Even though India lost Yesterday’s match, no one from the Indian side was sad. Thats because there was no Normal players in the team.

DK, VIjay, Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni, Yusuf, Raina, Jadeja, Sree, Tyagi and Mithun were yesterday’s 11 on the field.

No Sach, Viru, Gauti, Yuvi, Bhajji, Ashish, Praveen and Zak.

So it was a real test for the newbies and other players to cement their places in the team for the World Cup next year.

With major players missing out, the bench strength was tested and it really proved to be weak.

The bowling department struggled especially the newbies Tyagi and Mithun went wicket less. Sree too did not bowl like the senior in the bowling department.

India should test out different opening pairs if the trio of Gambhir, Sehwag and Sachin misses out. Yes, the openers also were tested it proved a failure. Vijay did not capitalize on his start, DK perished soon.

The boys in the middle order were too tested as the openers were back in the hut soon. Rohit and Virat put on a good partnership but did not make it into centuries.

There was a controversy on Rohit’s selection because of his poor run. But, he made an effort to cement his place but was not successful enough. When he was about to make a fifty, he try some cheeky shots to lose his wicket.

Even Yusuf Pathan was not a big hit in the tournament. One benefit of him is that he can hit far and his strike rate is more than 80. But the problem is he cannot stay for longer time.

When he is good touch hitting sixes and fours or had the right start, he tries to hit more and more runs, then gets out.

So, backup for the team is very weak. The same method should be followed for the upcoming Sri Lanka series in August and more lads should be sent to the Island.