Play offs for 3rd place for this year’s IPL offers the incentive of a place in the next T20 Champions League. The Royal Challengers take on the Deccan Chargers in Mumbai on Saturday and RCB are the favourites. Team News: Bangalore Royal Challengers: Who can pick themselves after semi final disappointment? The Royal Challengers were comfortably beaten (35 runs) by the Mumbai Indians in Wednesday’s semi final whilst The Chargers fell 38 runs short when chasing a modest Super Kings total on Thursday. Both the semi finals were played in Mumbai and both were won by the side batting first. Despite the comfortable winning / losing margins in the semi finals both RCB and Deccan had their chances. RCB got the prize wicket of Tendulkar early doors and looked to be on their way to restricting Mumbai to a manageable total until a combination of slack bowling and awesome hitting saw Mumbai cut loose and eventually post 184/5. RCB were never really in the chase. Meanwhile the Chargers restricted the Super Kings to 142 and were trading deep in the red at the interval before failing miserably in the chase. Royal Challengers would look forward to Jacques Kallis rediscovering his magic touch that gave them a superb run in the earlier part of the tournament. The Bangalore team has tried out Manish Pandey and Rahul Dravid in the opening slot to accompany Kallis with mixed results. In the lower order, Robin Uthappa has given them a flourishing finish on a few occasions with his clean hitting. The team would look forward to the youngster with powerful shoulders to do the bidding against the Chargers along with Kevin Pietersen at the top. RCB skipper Anil Kumble said his team had two days at its disposal after losing by … [Read more...]
IPL match preview: Hyderabad Vs Chennai
The reigning champions secured a vital win on Thursday to halt a nightmare run of form. But they are still some way from breaking into the top four. They will take on the Chennai Super Kings in a vital IPL game in Napur on Saturday. Both sides have semi final aspirations but the Super Kings are firm favourites. Venue and Conditions: The wandering Deccan Chargers play their second game at the Vidharba Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. This ground boasts the largest boundaries in the tournament and so offers some respite for hard-pressed spin bowlers. Trivia: Chennai have hit more sixes than any other team in the tournament, 69 in total. Deccan Chargers: The Chargers gave themselves a lifeline with an excellent win over the Royal Challengers in Bangalore on Thursday. They had struggled to close games out, particularly with the bat and their big guns had not turned in the huge scores they are capable of. But Andrew Symonds steered them home against the Royal Challengers and that will have done their confidence a lot of good. A seven wicket win after successfully chasing 185 for victory halted a run of five successive defeats and just about keeps Gilchrist’s men in the tournament. They may well need to win all four of their remaining games which include another game against Royal Challengers, then the Kings XI and finally the Daredevils. The win over Bangalore was the first time the Chargers had successfully chased a total in IPL3 with Symonds and Suman seeing them home with some great hitting. Pragyan Ojha has been the most consistent bowler for Deccan, picking up 15 wickets to lie at the top of the bowlers list in IPL III and although RP Singh has been in and out of the team, he has … [Read more...]
IPL Match Preview: Hyderabad Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue and Conditions: Deccan take on Mumbai at home but it will feel like an away game. It is important to note that this match is being played at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai, not the Brabourne stadium. Only one game has been played there so far; Kolkata beating Deccan by 11 runs having posted 161. Team Performance: Deccans are well equipped to inflict a second defeat on Mumbai. Thanks to their disciplined bowling they are one of the few sides who can be confident of restricting a start-studded batting line-up. Just like Bangalore frustrated the Indians in their only defeat so far, Adam Gilchrist's men could do a similar job. They have managed it three times before in IPL. Chaminda Vaas is the key man for Deccan. With an economy rate of 6.66 - one of the best of the tournament - he and opening partner RP Singh must keep Sachin Tendulkar quiet. The Indians this year are a well-oiled unit who has been led from the front by Tendulkar, himself in stupendous form. In the previous two games Tendulkar has carried his bat through and that is indication enough of what the Chargers' bowlers should expect. Mumbai's Sanath Jayasuriya missed out in the victory over Chennai as Ryan McLaren's medium pacers were preferred. He only went for five an over so should keep his place. Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo continue in the middle order meaning JP Duminy will have to warm the bench. Mumbai's bowlers have been on target right through with Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh all among the wickets. The Chargers' running between the wickets has also been dicey and the calling for runs must improve. The Chargers who had won three of their five games produced an ugly performance against … [Read more...]
Deccan Chargers
Deccan Chargers: Team Analysis:Author: Mona Gupta Deccan Chargers also called as DC is a franchise that represents the city of Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. They are the current holders of the IPL Trophy, winning the second season held in South Africa in 2009. From 2009, the team is led by Adam Gilchrist and coached by Darren Lehmann, both former Australian Test & One-Day Cricketers. They finished last in the first season of the IPL, but emerged as the champions in the second by winning it. The Deccan Chargers franchise is owned by Deccan Chronicle. The media group acquired the franchise from IPL for $107 million on January 24, 2008. Later, another media group, Group M India picked up a 20% stake in the franchise. The team's name reflects the association with the Deccan Chronicle newspaper, which in turn derives its name from the Deccan plateau that makes up the majority of the southern portion of the Indian peninsula. The Chargers logo is a charging bull. From the 2009 season, the team changed the color of the jersey (from beige and black to sparkling silver and blue) and the logo (from gold and red to white and blue). There is no Icon Player for the team as the former captain V.V.S. Laxman rejected the offer to be an icon player in order to give a chance to the younger players. With the below-par performance in the inaugural season and finishing at the bottom, Deccan staged an inspired comeback in 2009 by winning the second IPL season. After having a undefeated run in the initial league stage, the team suffered minor setbacks by losing some close matches. But the return of Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma regaining form and the continuing exuberance of captain Adam Gilchrist bolstered … [Read more...]
Sourav Ganguly decimated Hyderabad IPL
Sourav Ganguly’s all-round performance enabled Kolkata Knight Riders to defeat patchy Hyderabad Deccan challengers at Uppal stadium in Hyderabad. Hyderabad lost all the home matches while Kolkata raised semi-final hopes with two consecutive wins. Venugopala Rao performance is the sole bright spot for Hyderabad IPL. They are sloppy in fielding and bowling. Sourav Ganguly was supported well by ever reliable David Hussey but Venugopal Rao found no support from other end. Ganguly surprised everyone by opting to bat after winning the toss. But he was right at the end partially due to Hyderabad’s poor bowling and fielding. IPL Cricket score: Kolkata Knight Riders: 204/4 in 20 overs. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: 181/7 in 20 overs. Match result: Kolkata won by 23 runs. Man of the match: Sourav Ganguly who scored 91 runs in just 57 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixers. This is one of the best innings in the recent IPL matches. He missed well deserved century. Ganguly also took two vital wickets by giving just 24 runs in his 4 overs. Venugopala Rao: Exceptional all-round performance. Bowling: 4 overs; 24 runs. Batting: 71 runs in 42 balls – four 4’s and six 6’s. Verdict: Gregg Chappell is a brilliant talent spotter. He believed in Dhoni leadership and abilities of Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao. He criticised “seniors” politics. Now he is in Rajasthan management team. Highlights of the match: Kolkata innings: 1. Sourav Ganguly played his best innings in the recent days. Except Vijay Kumar and Venugopala Rao, he destroyed all the bowlers with 4’s and 6’s. 2. I can’t understand why Kolkata picked … [Read more...]
IPL news and analysis
Indian cricketers are gradually taking centre stage in the Indian premier League after the exit of might Australians. Wonderful batting from Rohit Sharma (Lone warrior in a poor Hyderabad team) failed to save Hyderabad Deccan Chargers against Mohali IPL. Shane Ware’s Rajasthan Royals crushed Kolkata IPL but Warne-Ganguly episode took centre stage. Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Gang should think that Cricket is greater than any cricketer. Forget about spirit of the game, Ganguly scored a wonderful and fighting half century but team collapsed in the team.Verdict: No team seems to be clear favourite to win IPL. Most successful strategy: 1. Rajasthan Royals bet on young players and their strategy paid rich dividends. Kudos for Shane Warne for selecting young Indian cricketers over his Hampshire teammate Mascarenhas. IPL needs captains and coaches like Shane Warne. He picked Asnodkar as opener against a tough opposition like Kolkata. I can’t understand: 1. Why Hyderabad is selecting Arjun Yadav and Venugopala Rao ahead of dynamic young player Ravi Teja. I am getting headache by thinking about Hyderabad team selection. Robin Singh is the worst coach and VVS Laxman is the worst captain in IPL. 2. Why Bangalore is leaving Misbah-Ul-Haq on the bench? Bangalore needs Robin Uthappa as icon but not Rahul Dravid. My suggestion: 1. IPL authorities need to change “4 foreign player rule” to raise the quality of matches. Teams should need 5-6 international players for high quality games. 2. ICC should include IPL in their calendar otherwise we will see 10-15 retirement announcements from International players especially from England and New Zealand. 3. There are very good players in … [Read more...]
Indian Premier League cricket first round auction results
Chennai’s India Cements team wins the most sought after player Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the first round of IPL auction while Adam Gilchrist is captured by Deccan Chronicle of Hyderabad. High profile teams like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi teams failed to win a single bid in the first round of Indian Premier League cricket auction. IPL auction is going on at Hilton towers in Mumbai. IPL First round auction results: 1. M.S.Dhoni – Chennai team– 6 crore.2. Muralidharan – Chennai team–2.4 crore- Strategic investment. 3. Shane Warne – Jaipur team– 1.8 crore. 4. Mahela Jayawardene – Mohali team- 1.9 crore. 5. Adam Gilchrist – Hyderabad team- 2.8 crore. 6. Shoaib Akthar – Kolkata team– 1.7 crore. Icons in the IPL: 1. Sachin Tendulkar – Mumbai. 2. Rahul Dravid – Bengaluru. 3. Sourav Ganguly – Kolkata. 4. Virender Sehwag – Delhi. 5. Yuvraj Singh – Mohali. Icon players will get 15% more money than the biggest bidder in their team. So these players will definitely get lesser amount than Indian One day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Hyderabad team strategically didn’t give Laxman an iconic status due to his less marketing value. Humorous note: Breaking news in one channel - Preity Zinta bought Mahela Jayawardene in the auction. … [Read more...]
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