IPL 2010 and Indian Cricket

First and foremost Lalit Modi does not deserve any credit for IPL. The credit goes only to the greatest Cricketer India has ever produced Kapil Dev Nikhanj and the Kerry Packer of India Subhash Chandra. IPL is nothing but the copy cat of ICL(Indian Cricket League brain child of Kapil Dev in support of Subhash Chandra). The greedy BCCI which wanted all the money to be in their pocket destroyed the founder of Franchisee cricket in India.

IPL 2010 started with a bang on 12th of April. The first surprise that MAX threw at me(most of the people) was it had dropped the good anchor Mandira Bedi from its panel. There are 3 jokers and one ok type of anchors on the panel i feel even Mandira knew a lot about cricket than the son of the famous spin bowler Angad Bedi (i would like to call him a pigeon for his nodding). The other guy Ayushmann he is a no show and that Gaurav thinks himself a pundit. To an extent can accept Sameer as he proves to be good. Let me get out of the MAX team and concentrate on the main
topic of Cricket.

IPL after a stint in South Africa is back to India and my thought was the placid batting beauties(wickets) would suit our tigers.(Indians) To my surprise it proved wrong on the day one, when i saw Manoj Tiwary (so called promising) youngster and Dada failed on the opening day. Surprising two relatively unknown international names took the mantle Owais Shah(unable to find a place in English line up) and Angelo Mathews(who is kind of unsteady sri lankan allrounder) played some good thinking cricket. Though i would not count it as clinical but they really applied themselves and played well. That was the first shock of no Indian performing well. Luckily in KKR there were no hopefuls for World T20. The next shock followed soon when DC lost that close tie. I really expected them to win as they were the
stronger team on paper. On the expected lines Rohith Sharma (so called one of the most fluent youngster who is yet to find the place in Indian team since last T20 world cup) failed. The next match at CCI was a treat to watch which brought the best out of two youngsters Tiwary and Rayudu(one of the finest players from the ICL). They played very well with good maturity and huge hittings. It was due to this duo
that MI posted a mammoth score of 211. T20 is something which has its own flavour of swings in a single game and i witnessed it within 30 mins when the much worthy Indian team select for World T20 Yusuf Pathan massacred the MI bowlers. Unfortunately for Royals there was no ample support and the swing was evident with a beautiful piece of run out by one of the best players form the ICL Sathish. Royals had to settle for a heart break after losing by just 4 runs. I think MI players would have atleast thought for a moment that 211 in 20 overs was not enough. Apart from these youngsters we have not seen any good contribution by anyone else except Manish Pandey, Robin uthappa.
Otherwise this has been a tournament of experienced cricketers. Orange cap holder Jaques Kallis shows that he is still best in the business with his all round show. Sachin Tendulkar, do i need to talk about him and the way he is playing the last 6 months is quite amazing and he has carried that into this version of cricket. Andrew Symmonds the bad boy of world cricket is still the best man in business. Virender Sehwag is no more a youngster and he is grown as a veteran. Anil Kumble is playing only in the IPL and no one would accept that he is away from cricket. Mutthiah
Muralidharan the smiling assasin is still assasinating with his mesmerising bowling. Zaheer Khan with his immaculate line and swing is swinging the batsmen. Mathew Hayden can never be ignored as he can single handedly demolish any team now with the help of another tiny animal he could be just ferocious as that animal. Last but not the least our DADA who showed what he is made of and his consistency in this season has been picture perfect.

Let me concentrate on the team that was selected for the World T20

1. MS Dhoni (C) - Played one good knock of 66 but got injured to get away from the string of losses and confessing they need Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger to strengthen their team. That shows that he is unable to inspire the existing team and needs the absentees. He has not impressed and he is certain to pick up another injury. Which would help him to provide a good reason if there is any failure in the World T20.

2. V Sehwag - Nothing can be said about this guy he knows how he plays and everybody knows how he plays. If he is in, there is no stopping for him. He is like a lottery for India once it clicks you can never lose.

3. G Gambhir- The promising youngster India has seen over 3 yrs. If he is fit he can do wonders in West Indies. I hope he gets a good outing in World T20.

4. S Raina - He is good at home turf but have to see how he fares in WI has traditionally he has failed abroad, not banking much on him. If he clicks it will be a treat to watch him play those big shots

5. Y Singh - The perennial yuvraj of Indian cricket who is never destined to be the King of India, is looking like a shadow of his past glory. He has to just remember he is not a natural leader and should accept that he can never lead any team further and concentrate on his work as a star batsman and handy bowler. I guess he has still 5 matches in the IPL where he can find his rythm and get back into the groove. I still bank on this southpaw for delivering goods at the World T20.

6. Y Pathan - All power and minimal technique is what we can describe about this guy who is a great talent well groomed by the legend Shane Warne. He has prooved that raw power is enough to shine even in the longest format of cricket by scoring the double hundred in a 5 day match. He is someone like a sehwag, a lottery on his day he can be a marauder else he will surrender meekly. Worthy to be present in the team.

7. R Sharma - Greatest disappointment from the selectors. I think he is not worthy of his place in the squad and going by the other names he is not going to be there in the playing eleven until something serious happens like last year. Total waste of him being in the team. Sorry to say this.

8. D Karthik - He is in form both with bat and gloves i guess he might get a nod ahead of R Sharma in the team in case of any emergency and i still believe he is one of the best keepers in India. His recent form for Daredevils suggest that he is really good with both the work.

9. H Singh - The most hyped player in the Indian team. Atleast the selectors should have taught him a lesson for his so called agression which always results in embarassment for India in the world level. This guy should thank Sachin, his saviour.

10. Z Khan - The best bowler for India after J Srinath. He performs really well and will be the trump card during the world cup. Hope he stays fit for the entire duration and provides good results.

11. P Kumar - He is a good choice to be in the team. Should be a perfect pair for Z Khan. Apart from his slower ones he can also be handy with the bat. He can come down and can blast the ball with ease.

12. A Nehra - The perennial injured bowler. There is no doubt on his ability to bowl at the begining of the innings, the major problem with this guy is his fitness levels and his bowling at the death. If he improves his fitness he can sure be a good prospect as we saw in the last season at west indies where he bowled well.

13. R Jadeja - Another player who lives on the laurels of IPL and the mentoring of the legend Shane Warne. He was wrongly banned by the IPL as he was out of contract and negotiated with some team. He is a good player but lacks the basics. His major flaw is he does not looks the ball while running which in most cases cause serious problems to himself and his partner. The other problem is he wants to be a hero in every game he plays and succumbs. If he improves on the basics he can be good.

14. P Chawla - The good looking leg spinner once termed as an able replacement for the Great Jumbo(Anil Kumble) has not been in the fray for quite a long time. With some good show in the domestic season has landed him a place in the team. I am not sure if he was a better choice with the other two men in contention Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha. Hope he does well and we have to see if he gets a chance to be in the starting eleven.

15. R. Vinay - Surprising choice but a good one as he has been rewarded for his consistent performance in the domestic circuit. Have to see if this guy stays long or he becomes another Abhishek Nayar in the Indian team.