Mid IPL Review - 1

The 3rd season of IPL has completed one week now. And its time for a quick review of the things going on.So far 10 league game s have been held with all teams having played at least 2 each. Its still early days into the tournament and quite a lot is going to change.

First some random observations

• Spate of injuries. Dhoni, Gambhir, Nehra, Smith, Mascrenhas, Lee, Harbhajan are all missing varying number of matches due to injuries. And quite a few of these were picked during the games. Many others are also not fully fit either. World Twenty20 would become more complex to predict if this continues.
• Sachin is God. Wherever he plays its a home ground for him.
• Indian domestic players cannot handle the short ball. Badly exposed by RCB bowlers against Royals
• The Ads are becoming more and more pathetic. The Idea oongli cricket is terrible; Micromax ones are worse; Even the Zoozoos seem to be suffering from seconde season blues.
• The coverage is more and more commercialised. Stadium ads are being telecast on TV. Commentators are still going on about DLF Maximums & Cit- Moments of Success. Karbonn Kamaal Catch is  new entry. GOK where they will go on to.
• The Bugle is being used on the crowds like Pavlov used the bell on his dogs.

And now for the team performances

• Mumbai Indians lineup is looking in ominous form. Good mix of players, young & old, Indian & foreign, are providing a strong lineup. They also became the first team to field less than 4 foreigners in a game in all editions of IPL. The young Indian brigade of Saurabh Tiwary, Rayudu, Sathish are performing well so far.
• Knight Riders started really well, winning the first 2 games before losing the 3rd. Good thing for them is that they have more overseas players joining in the coming weeks. Gayle, McCullum, Hussey are yet to join. The Indians arent performing that well though.
• Bangalore has an awesome match atmosphere when playing at home. The chants of R-C-B must be really inspiring for the players. And they seem to have the most solid playing XI on current form. Though their batting didnt failed to perform against KKR. But the way 203 was chased down against Kings XI should be a warning to everyone. And Ross taylor is still to join. Dravid, Morgan & Boucher havent been required at all.
• Rajasthan Royals are severely depleted. Injuries to Smith, Mascrenhas havent helped. Watson is yet to join, though he also is injured currently. Jadeja has been banned. And the Warne magic isnt working. Yusuf Pathan did score a century. But seems that teams may have found a way to control him.
• The batting lineup of Delhi Daredeveils is not firing at all. Though the bowling has covered it in the first 2 games. But given the firepower that the team possess they should be back on top. Vettori & Collingwood are yet to join.
• Kings XI look like becoming the KKR of last time around. Yet to win any game.
• Chennai will miss Dhoni. And their bowling is the weak link. The mongoose hasnt been unleashed so far.
• Chargers are charging on with Gilchrist as the inspiring figure.

End of Week 1 predictions for the semi-finalists: RCB, MI, DD, & DC.

Next Week:

• 2 new captains - Raina & Karthik (both temporary)
• Hopefully we will get a chance to see the "mongoose" in action.
• Lets see if the other teams follow what RCB did. Pepper the Indian batsman with the short ones.
• Hoping also to see slightly less batsman dominated games.