IPL 2023: The Afterthoughts

After a gap of few seasons returning to this blog with a post on the IPL After-thoughts (A name inspired by the times when IPL After-party was as important a feature of the tournament as the games itself!)

So what will we remember this season for? Lets see

1. The battle of the eyeballs: the biggest matchup was not between the teams on the field but between Star Sports and JioCinema. One product on two different media with different broadcasters for the first time. Not sure about whose numbers to believe, but in the end the viewer was the winner!
2. The circle of Life: Gujarat Titans played against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad to kick start the tournament. Almost a couple of months down the line, the same two teams were at the same venue fighting for the title!
3. Performance of the tournament: Rinku Singh clobbering 5 sixes off the final 5 balls to win KKR a seemingly lost game. And this wasn’t the only heist he pulled off.
4. The Yellove: Or rather it was just the love for MS Dhoni which turned almost every single away stadium into a sea of yellow! End result, this was one of the more popular CSK tournament wins ever.
5. Six: That’s the number of IPL titles Ambati Rayudu has, as he walks away into the sunset. A career which could be qualified as a success and as well as leaving you wondering, “what could have been”.
6. Tales of Redemption: Like phoenix they rose from the ashes – Mohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra. A series of feel-good stories.
7. The Rise of the Young Uncapped Indian Batters: Rinku Singh, Sai Sudarshan, Tilak Varma, Prabhsimran Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nehal Wadhera, Dhruv Jurel, Jitesh Sharma – what a wonderful crop of talent. Unlike the previous lot, they are not all top order run-accumulators.
8. On the flip side, where are the new Indian bowlers?
9. Impact Player Rule: Gave something more for the team strategists to mull over, but has it diluted the role of some players. Shivam Dube and Rahul Tewatia hardly bowled. Gill, Jaiswal, Rayudu. SKY mostly did not even have to field. From the need for multi-dimensional players, we may swing the other way to single skilled specialists.
10. Game of Small Margins: If Sandeep Sharma’s last delivery against SRH had been legal, Rajasthan Royals would have been in the play-offs. Instead, it was a no-ball and the subsequent delivery was deposited in the stands.
11. And finally on the raging debate: running out the non-striker. At least, now it can be safely said, it does require skill. Just ask Harshal Patel. And is probably the only mechanism to keep batters within the line. 

And so it was, an action packed tournament concludes and more “serious” cricket returns.

IPL 2022: Jharkhand & Bihar Performances

IPL 2022 is done and dusted with Gujarat Titans winning the title in their first appearance in the tournament. Here is a short summary of the representatives of Jharkhand & Bihar teams at this edition of the IPL.

1. MS Dhoni (CSK) – 14 Matches, 232 runs @33.14 with 1 fifty, 9 catches. After having stepped down had to take over the captaincy midway through the tournament. And he has announced that he will be back next season
2. Ishan Kishan (MI) – 14 matches, 418 runs @32.15 with 3 50s, 13 catches. This was an ordinary season for Ishan, yet he scored over 400 runs and was the top run-getter for MI.
3. Varun Aaron (GT) – 2 matches, 2 wickets @26 & ER of 10.40. Did not really make much use of his two outings for the eventual champions, but he has an IPL trophy now.
4. Anukul Roy (KKR) – 2 matches, 1 wicket @55 & ER 7.85. Finally got some game time but no special performance.

No games for Shahbaz Nadeem (LSG) and Bihar's sole representative Anunay Singh (RR).

Nothing out of ordinary from the Jharkhand players in the limited outings they got. Slightly disappointing to see that given the league had expanded and teams were playing locals more often. 

Next up – Ranji Trophy Quarter-finals for Jharkhand.

IPL 2022: Jharkhand & Bihar Representation

IPL 2022 is around the corner. It is expanded, still impacted by the pandemic but most importantly back in India. All matches in its own bubble though instead of going all over the country.

Here are the representatives from Jharkhand and Bihar who will be appearing in this edition

Jharkhand

1. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – he may have retired from all other formats and tournaments, but Dhoni continues to a vital cog in the CSK juggernaut.
2. Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) – MI broke the bank for Ishan. As expected, he was the highest valued player in this year’s auctions. And now has to live up to this price tag as well.
3. Varun Aaron (Gujarat Titans) – Should get a few games during the tournament
4. Anukul Roy (Kolkata Knight Riders) – moved from Mumbai Indians where he was playing more as a specialist substitute fielder. Lets see what opportunities he gets with KKR
5. Shahbaz Nadeem (Lucknow Super Giants) – A new franchisee for Nadeem. Should get a few games here.

Bihar - Anunay Singh (Rajasthan Royals) – first ever representative of Bihar team to be picked by an IPL team. Hope he gets some game time.

There were no takers for the likes of Saurabh Tiwary (quite surprising), Virat Singh & Utkarsh Singh who were part of last year’s squads. There could be some injury/withdrawal replacements opening up during the tournament. 

Good luck to all the players! Hope they use these opportunities to further their careers.

Team Jharkhand @IPL 2020

"The old order changeth yielding place to new” – Lord Tennyson 

As one Jharkhand wicket-keeper batsman fades away, another one rises. Ishan Kishan had the kind of break-out season where an India cap certainly looks close. But in these most bizarre times nothing can be said with any certainty. 

Here is a statistical look at the Jharkhand players’ performance in the recently concluded IPL season categorized under The Good, The Bad & the Ugly 

The Good 

• Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) - 14 Matches, 516 runs @ 57 & SR of 146 with 4x50s and 1 catch  A superlative season with good performances as an opener as well as at no. 4. Also finished the season with most 6s across teams. 
• Shahbaz Nadeem (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – 7 Matches, 7 runs @7 & SR of 87, 5 wickets @35 & ER of 8.09. Underbowled at times but also picked up a Man of the Match award and in some games outbowled Rashid Khan . Done enough to stay in the India A radar and can potentially add to his solitary Test cap. 
• Saurabh Tiwary (Mumbai Indians) - 7 Matches, 103 runs @20 & SR of 128 and 1 catch. Top-scored in the first game, then got injured. Ishan Kishan took over his spot and made it his own. Came back in later matches as back-up for the injured Rohit Sharma but didn’t get too many chances lower down the order. 

The Bad 

• Monu Kumar (Chennai Super Kings) – 1 Match, No wickets & ER of 10. Finally made his IPL debut after spending more than a season on the bench but was a terrible one as he bowled only 2 overs of his quota. Will he get another chance? 
• Varun Aaron (Rajasthan Royals) – 3 Matches, No wickets & ER of 11.75. A terrible season for Aaron. May not get a call-up next season.

The Ugly 

• MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 14 Matches, 200 runs @ 25 & SR of 116, 15 catches & 1 stumping. Overall, a terrible IPL for the recently internationally retired legend. The finishing power is definitely on the wane and reflected in the ageing team’s performance 

Meanwhile Anukul Roy (Mumbai Indians) & Virat Singh (Sunrisers Hyderabad) did not get a game. 

Till next time, as there is still no clarity on next domestic games in India.

IPL 2020 - Passing Thoughts

"It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela 

This can be said about the 2020 IPL also. In these most bizarre times, sport by itself does not mean much tangible – after all it does not provide a vaccine or make the virus magically go away but it provide a break from the mad news cycle and yes that tiny little flicker of happiness in these depressing times. Purely coincidental it may have been, and certainly there have been better, factors in play, but since the IPL began the graph of the number of daily cases has taken a downward turn. 

Thanks to entire organizing team, the players and all the support staff for providing this welcome distraction. It certainly looks a herculean task shifting the entire tournament outside with all the covid-19 restrictions in place. 

So just jotting down my thoughts about the events of the IPL 2020 both on & off the field. 

The old order changeth giving rise to new & the more things change the more they remain the same. Two contradictory themes yet both hold true in this IPL. 

• The new boys made a name for themselves. An Indian uncapped XI can certainly hold its own in the international front. Hers is my pick for such a lineup - Paddikal, Gaikwad, Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tewatia, Priyam Garg, Samad, Varun Chakravarthy, Natarajan, Bishnoi, Tyagi. Some of them are knocking on the India doors. 
• Chennai Super Kings failed to make the play-offs for the first time; Delhi Capitals made the Final for the first time and Rajasthan Royals finished bottom of the league for the first time. 
• Shane Watson bids farewell to the cricket – one of the true IPL heroes. Meanwhile Raina & Harbhajan skipped this year’s tournament. Not sure if we would see them again in the field. 
• Aaron Finch played for his 8th IPL franchisee this season. Given his age looks set to be heading to CSK soon! 
• Which brings us to CSK’s side. In this no IPL for old men, poor Sam Curran was given all the jobs, sometimes a finisher, opening the batting and the bowling and even death bowling! 
• Same was the case of his English team-mate Jofra Archer, the tournament MVP. One end he was bowling thunderbolts and at the other end the likes of Unadkat, Aaron & Rajput leaking runs! 
• Raw pace works best – Alongwith Archer the likes of Rabada, Nortje, Shami, Bumrah, Ferguson and Boult all made a mark. Especially heartening to see a couple of Indian names in this list. 
• The Indian finishers are still missing. The big hitters are not consistent enough although the Pandya brothers, Axar and Jadeja do show some promise. 
• However, we can put in a wicket-keepers top 6 –Rahul, Saha, Samson, Kishan, Pant & Karthik certainly makes for a power-packed lineup. 
• Professional sport has fine margins – imagine Super Overs also not yielding results. And that short run called against Kings XI made a difference in them being knocked out. That’s an area where the 3rd umpire should take more initiative. Why have all the technology in place and not use it. Any on-field error which can be corrected by a single replay should be done so. 
• New Zealand can now try using Lockie Ferguson instead of going to Southee for the Super Overs 
• The new star - Rahul Tewatia who made completing seemingly impossible chases, not once but twice! 
• The celebration - Thanks to Riyan Parag for making the Bihu dance mainstream. 
• The new frontier - Chris Gayle was benched, then hospitalized, then batted at No. 3 and breached the mark of 1,000 T20 career sixes. Not for nothing he is the Universe Boss! 
• What could have been – Ali Khan became the first USA player to be picked up by an IPL squad but then got injured without getting a game. 
• What’s with the number of fantasy leagues & gaming apps mushrooming all over. While it is fun and in the legal grey area, the authorities need to be on high alert for keeping the corrupt in check. 
• Finally, Rest In peace Professor Deano – the voice of the Select Dugout! His commentary will be missed 

There is now an IPL shaped void in the daily schedule. The Australia tour can’t come soon enough

Getting into IPL Mode

In the year of 2020, we are finally getting close to the start of the T20 mega festival - the IPL. There are still some concerns, but with baby steps we are progressing towards having a tournament after all (Fingers Crossed).

Meanwhile, thanks to ESPN Cricinfo for providing this lovely wallpaper as a warm-up to the tournament! 

Hoping for a successful tournament for the Royals!

IPL 2020 Auction – Jharkhand Update

It was a small auction this time around. But team Jharkhand made some progress.

1. Virat Singh was picked for Rs. 1.90 Crores by Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he will join state mate Shahbaz Nadeem.
2. Saurabh Tiwary returns to the IPL fold after a year-long gap after his old team Mumbai Indians picked him up for Rs. 50 lakhs. Tiwary will join Ishan Kishan and Anukul Roy at the team.

Varun Aaron had been retained by Rajasthan Royals while MS Dhoni and Monu Kumar continue with Chennai Super Kings.

This takes the Jharkhand team tally to 8. Certainly a good presence! Hopefully they get serious game time and enhance their chances for an India or at least an India A call-up.

Good luck to the boys!

IPL Auctions 2018: Jharkhand

The dust settles on the IPL Auctions. Big money was spent by the owners - to give a comparison (an unrelated one) – the amount spent by the IPL teams for the players was more than spent by ISRO to launch Magalyaan! There were some interesting purchases, some bidding wars leading to breaking the bank and finally some inexplicable omissions (Shaun Marsh – proven IPL record and in the form of his life; Hashim Amla – who got a couple of 100s in the last season – just to give two examples). Everyone had a strategy at the auctions (I assume so), only some of it defied logic, and led to some erratic results e.g. Kolkata Knight Riders go into a 7-week, 14-17 game tournament with just 19 players, while Kings XI Punjab forgot to pick a proper wicket-keeper (not counting KL Rahul’s stop-gap arrangement)! There are futile exercises and then there is attempting to make sense of IPL Auctions!

Anyway, I digress. Here is looking at how the Jharkhand team performed at the IPL Auctions

The Retained (not part of the Auction)

MS Dhoni (15 Crores, CSK) comes back to Chennai Super Kings after a 2-year hiatus, on account of CSK’s suspension. Also returns as captain after having spent a year as just another player at Rising Pune Super Giant. 

The Returners

Ishan Kishan (6.20 Crores, MI) – Mumbai went for broke to get hold of services of Ishan. And why not as he is (a) a wicket-keeper, (b) Indian, (c) explosive opening batsman, and (d) left-handed. Checks all the boxes. Aditya Tare is the only competitor for the keeping gloves. Could be a break-out season for this youngster.

Shahbaz Nadeem (3.20 Crores, DD) – gets picked once again by Delhi Daredevils. Has been a consistently good performer across seasons for them and an India A veteran now. Hopefully will get more games than last year. Has competition for the spin bowling slot from the likes of Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav and Sandeep Lamichhane (first Nepalese cricketer in IPL). Probably the reason why he was tried as a pinch-hitter in the Mustaq Ali Trophy - to add an extra string to his bow!

Saurabh Tiwary (80 Lakhs, MI) – retained by Mumbai as a back-up Indian batsman (and got a pay upgrade also). Might get a few games depending on the performances / fitness of the first choice XI.

Ishank Jaggi (20 Lakhs, KKR) – retained by Kolkata. Should manage a few more games than last year’s two because (a) KKR picked only 19 players (of which 11 play), (b) of which 12 are Indian (7 play) & (c) 9 batsmen (6 are needed) and (d) most importantly, Jaggi performed well in pressure situations last IPL and is coming off another good domestic season.

The Newly Bought

Anukul Roy (20 Lakhs, MI) – hasn’t played any senior cricket till date. But has been impressive in the Under-19 World Cup. Might get a look-in at the very beginning as an X-Factor (Mumbai have a history of launching unknowns – e.g. Bumrah and the Pandya brothers)

Monu Kumar (20 Lakhs, CSK) - Consistent performance in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy helped Monu get picked. However chances of getting a game upfront are quite bleak. Might get a look-in at later stages though.

Meanwhile, Varun Aaron, Virat Singh, Nazim Siddiqui, Rahul Shukla & Pratyush Singh did not find any takers. Aaron might get a call if there are fitness concerns among the many Indian fast bowlers. However, a better bet for him would be to seek a County contract a la Pujara.

Hoping this is a break-out season for these players like Saurabh Tiwary had in 2010!

IPL 2018 Auctions: Jharkhand Preview

The biggest event of the cricketing year is about to be held on January 28th and 29th. With the near-complete overhaul of the teams, many players would be waiting with bated breath at the results of the auction. Who is picked by whom and at what price. Wondering which performace may have caught the eye of the IPL scout, which might get them a chance to perform on the stepping stone to A and national team.

The Retained

As expected, MS Dhoni has been retained for Rs. 15 Crores, by Chennai Super Kings, who are returning to the IPL fold after a two year suspension.

The Short-List

And below is the list of players who are in the short-list for the auction, alongwith their sequence of appearance in the pool. Many uncapped pools have been brought forward, making the auction a bit more interesting. Below is the list of Jharkhand boys in the auction pool.

S. No.	Name	Set #	Base Price	2017 Team	IPL Experience
1.	Ishank Jaggi	8	20 Lakhs	Kolkata Knight Riders	7
2.	Ishan Kishan	10	40 Lakhs	Gujarat Lions	16
3.	Shahbaz Nadeem	12	40 Lakhs	Delhi Daredevils	55
4.	Saurabh Tiwary	13	50 Lakhs	Mumbai Indians	81
5.	Varun Aaron	26	50 Lakhs	Kings XI Punjab	42
6.	Virat Singh	28	20 Lakhs	-	-
7.	Anukul Roy	37	20 Lakhs	-	-
8.	Nazim Siddiqui	38	20 Lakhs	-	-
9.	Rahul Shukla	39	20 Lakhs	-	7
10.	Pratyush Singh	49	20 Lakhs	Delhi Daredevils	0
11.	Monu Kumar	54	20 Lakhs	-	-

Quite a few names in the mix here. The likes of Nadeem, Ishan Kishan, Aaron should certainly get picked. While Jaggi, Tiwary and Virat Singh have a decent chance. Anukul Roy recently described as the Ravindra Jadeja of Samastipur has a very strong chance of getting picked after his recent exploits in the Under-19 World Cup. Although, he is yet to make his Jharkhand debut!

The bringing forward of the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy has given a good opportunity for the players to showcase their talents. The likes of Virat Singh and Monu Kumar have certainly made good use of this opportunity. Hope they have caught the eye of the scouts as well.

Good luck to the auction XI!

P.S. Performances of the Jharkhand players in IPL 2017!

IPL 10: Jharkhand Review

The 10th edition of the IPL is done and dusted and the cricketing circus has moved on to the next destination – the Champions Trophy. But before we go there, a lookback at the Jharkhand team’s performance in the IPL.

1. MS Dhoni (Rising Pune Supergiant) – 16 Matches, 290 runs @26.36, Strike Rate – 116. For the first time in IPL was not captaining the team. But he was still there setting fields for his captain from behind the stumps. Behind the stumps, he was flawless but in front, his powers are on wane. Although gave flashes of his brilliant past, most memorably in the chase against Hyderabad, but certainly heading to the twilight of his career. 
2. Ishan Kishan (Gujarat Lions) – 11 Matches, 277 runs @27.70, Strike rate – 134.46. Showed some signs of his firepower and striking ability. Became the third youngest player to score an IPL fifty. Unfortunately for him the two faster ones are his direct competitiors for the national wicket-keeper’s slot, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, both of whom seem to be ahead of him in the pecking order. Also Dinesh Karthik’s presence made him play as a pure batsman only. 
3. Shahbaz Nadeem (Delhi Daredevils) – 7 Matches, 6 wickets @19.83, Economy rate -6.67. Numbers which suggest that he should have got more games for the struggling Delhi side but did not. After all his was the best economy rate in the team. Delhi’s selection tactics were weird to say the least. But Nadeem did his reputation no harm. 
4. Varun Aaron (Kings XI Punjab) – 6 Matches, 7 wickets @23.28, Economy rate – 8.15. Aaron got a few games, and his economy was the best amongst the Kings XI fast bowlers, including the Sharma trio – Ishant, Mohit, Sandeep. But couldn’t really light up the tournament. 
5. Ishank Jaggi (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 2 matches, 33 runs @33.00, Strike rate – 84.61. Returned to the IPL fold after 4 seasons, with a last moment entry into the Auctions list. Came into the playing XI at the very end only due to an injury to Manish Pandey. Numbers might not be much, but did play crucial knocks in both the knock-outs, steadying the manic 6-over chase in the eliminator before doing his best to salvage the crumbling KKR ship in the 2nd Qualifier. 
6. Saurabh Tiwary (Mumbai Indians) – 1 match, 52 runs @52, Strike Rate – 120.93. Got one chance when Mumbai decided to rest their senior players and made most out of it. But got a public ticking off from his partner Ambati Rayudu for his poor running! 

So in all, a decent IPL for the Jharkhand boys. Lets hope the next edition is even better. However, with a fresh auction coming up, a good domestic season is needed.

IPL 2017 Auction: Jharkhand

As the dust settles on the IPL Auctions for 2017, here is taking a look at how the Jharkhand boys have fared. 

The Retained

1. MS Dhoni - retained by Rising Pune Supergiants but has been removed from captaincy. For the first time in IPL, Dhoni will be playing just as a member of the playing XI and not as captain.
2. Shahbaz Nadeem - retained by Delhi Daredevils. After being the top wicket-taker for 2 consecutive Ranji seasons, he is now an India A team regular with a national call-up not too far away. With Tahir and Negi released, should be a first choice spinner for the team. Has competition from Jayant Yadav and M Ashwin.
3. Ishan Kishan - retained by Gujarat Lions. Coming from a prolific domestic season which has seen him get regular India A call-ups, this youngster will be fighting for the keeper's slot with Dinesh Karthik. Should certainly get a few games.
4. Pratyush Singh - Retained by Delhi Daredevils. He started playing for Delhi but made his first-class debut for Jharkhand in this very season! May not get a game this year as well.

The Newly Bought

1. Varun Aaron - released by Royal Challengers Bangalore and now bought by Kings XI Punjab for 2.80 crores. He has pace, but is injury prone and often expensive. Might not be a first choice but could get a few games in.
2. Saurabh Tiwary - released by Pune, now returns to Mumbai Indians for 30 lakhs, the team from which he got into the national XI. Might not be part of a first choice eleven but should get a few games. 
3. Ishank Jaggi - returns to IPL action after a long time after some headline making knocks in the Ranji Trophy and Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy. Sterling performances in the Mustaq Ali Trophy saw his name added to the draft after initially missing out. Picked at base price of 10 lakh by Kolkata Knight Riders. But will he get a chance to play?

Not picked in the Auctions - Rahul Shukla, Virat Singh, Vikash Singh, Monu Kumar.

Over the last few seasons, Jharkhand cricket has been on  an upswing with the team reaching Ranji knock-outs on a regular basis. Quite a few players are putting up their name for the A squad. All they need is one superlative season like Saurbah Tiwary's 2010 run to come up with a national call. Lets see who of the seven grab this opportunity.

Mudgal Report - India Player?

The Justice Mudgal Committee has submitted its report into the IPL 6 Spot fixing investigations. The details are yet to be disclosed but rumors from "sources in the know" have started creeping out. And some of them are quite concerning.

As per this news report on Indian Express, the Mudgal Committee has named a key member of the 2011 World Cup winning team for being apparently in touch with bookmakers and match fixers. Very serious allegations here.

So Slipstream cricket started their investigations to uncover this player based on the hints provided in the report which are as follows

1. Part of 2011 World Cup winning team
2. Not a Team India regular anymore
3. Big draw in 2013 IPL
4. Not a part of Chennai or Jaipur frnachisees

First thought was the player named would have been Sreesanth but point 4 above ruled him out.

Above table lists out the 15 member India squad which played in the 2011 World Cup, the franchisee which they represented during the 2013 IPL and their current Team India status.

From the table above 10 out of 15 names still in the spotlight. As an Indian cricket fan, hoping that none of these players are involved. 

P.S. the Indian Team has seen a major change in personnel since winning the last World Cup.

IPL7: The AfterThoughts

The 7th edition of the Indian Premier League has come to an end. And Congratulations to Kolkata Knight Riders for their second IPL title. After an embarrassing defeat to Rajasthan in which they lost 6 wickets for 2 runs they have really lifted their game and were deserving winners in the end.

Now the time to note down some after-thoughts (not a review) from this year's IPL.

• The Impossible Chases - The tougher the ask, the higher the stakes, the more seemingly easy it becomes to chase it down. The team batting second knows the target and also the fact that they can only win if they go slam-bang from the first ball. And apparently this belief is actually carrying them to victory. Examples - KKR chased down 160 in under 15 overs to finish 2nd in the League; Mumbai Indians chased 191 in 14.3 to enter the qualifiers; CSK blitzed 100 in 6 overs in a chase of 227; Rajasthan smashed 65 in 3 overs to win with an over to spare. And it all culminated in the final with KKR chasing down 200.
• The previous edition of the IPL was under the spot-fixing cloud. This year, thankfully, no such corruption allegations have emerged, as yet (fingers crossed). Though given the Lou Vincent & Player X stories coming out, sceptics want to see everything through tinted glasses. And that is the damage which has been done by the fixers.
• The IPL unfolds like a story. Its a little long drawn but this year's script had the perfect climax. The events from the last set of league matches down to the final must have been the perfect dream run for the marketing teams.
• The final stretch also highlighted the importance of the "Indian" part of the IPL. Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha, Manish Pandey, Akshar Patel, Yusuf Pathan & Piyush Chawla in the final; Sehwag & Raina in the eliminator. It was mostly an Indian show towards the end.
• Congratulations to Yusuf Pathan, for becoming the first player to be part of 3 IPL winning squads - once with Rajasthan and twice with KKR.
• Special congratulations to Vinay Kumar, Roni Uthappa & Manish Pandey for winning their 4th domestic title of the year - Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy & the IPL.
• Special Mention - Suresh Raina. He is the IPL GOAT (Greatest of All Time). The highest scores across seasons is the most reliable batsman and fielder in IPL with the happy habit of taking key wickets as well. And most importantly performing in crunch matches. The blitzkrieg against Kings XI was one to be remembered, though in a losing cause.
• The umpiring standards in India are pretty poor. But the umpires are under far greater scrutiny than ever before. Its a tough ask made tougher by the technological hindsight provided to everyone except the people responsible for making decisions.
• The Club vs Country Conundrum - This is not going to end ever. And the only one who has a right to make a decision is the player concerned. Though the club and the country do both need to have a slightly flexible approach in the matters. Sunil Narine chose to play in the IPL final over joining a West Indies Test camp. He did produce his worst performance of the season. Maybe this off-field drama was to be blamed or maybe he just had a bad day in office. But no player should have to make such choices.
• And finally a word on the winners - Kolkata Knight Riders was a team made up mostly of India discards. But one by one all the pieces fell in place - Uthappa, Gambhir, Umesh, Chawla, Shakib, Narine, Surya Yadav and Manish Pandey - they became the strongest team in the whole lineup. A couple of them even made their India comebacks.
• And a word about the final - Sony Max couldn't resist playing Veer Zaara right before the finals :P

So the IPL fest concludes and now back to serious cricket. Tours of Bangladesh and England beckon for the team. Its a good idea to test the bench strength in the Bangladesh ODI series (only good use this hastily arranged series can have).  And then off to a 5-Test series against England. Hopefully results will be drastically different from the 2011 tour. 

IPL7: Notes#3

The League part of the Indian Premier League is over. Congratulations to Kings XI Punjab for winning the League. Oh wait.... the IPL is still not over. The top 4 have to now go through a seemingly complicated (albeit more fair) elimination process to decide the champions of IPL7. 

Some thoughts on the India phase of the league (For UAE phase, click here)

• Chennai Super Kings are the consistency personified. 7th consecutive knock-out phase entry doesn't surprise anyone.
• Defending champions Mumbai Indians recovered marvelously from pathetic start to just about enter the knock-outs by the skin of the teeth with net run rate calculations being as much in focus as the actual match result. (Detailed post tomorrow or maybe not)
• Rajasthan Royals have always been a fan favorite team, in spite of the spot-fixing scandal. They have been unorthodox in their selections also but this time over-experimentation caused an early unexpected end to their campaign.
• T20 cricket has emboldened batsmen. The bigger the target, the likelihood of it getting chased down somehow becomes higher. With batsmen under no pressure, even 15 an over does not seem too big an ask. KKR, Kings XI, Mumbai Indians all produced one astonishing chase after the other.
• If CSK as a team are consistency personified, Robin Uthappa was the epitome of a consistent batsman. Nine 40+ innings in a row in a format which is designed to be unpredictable will take some beating.
• Amit Mishra had a horror tournament after a good return to the national side. But it was as a batsman that he provided the "highlight" of the tournament with this extreme run-out against Rajasthan Royals. (Video)This one was straight from the Inzamam school of run-outs. [Aside - 23 run-out collection here]
• Apurva Wankhade was fielding in a stadium carrying his name. Would like to know how many similar stadium-player combinations are there.
• When the batsmen are in a rampaging mood, even the likes of Dale Steyn become lambs to slaughter. Steyn getting hammered twice (by AB de Villiers & Yusuf Pathan) wasn't a pleasant sight to behold. But what was pleasing was the way a smiling Steyn applauded his opponents. The kind of moments which make sports special.
• Indian seamers stated well, but by the end of the league stage Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was the last man standing. Mohit Sharma was the other one to have enhanced his reputation.
• As always, the future of Indian batting seems in good hands with Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Manan Vohra all playing key parts.

Till next time

IPL7: Notes #2

The UAE leg of the IPL is over. Every team has now played 5 games each and some paaterns are beginning to emerge. Yet its still a long way to go and as it is said in sports - "It ain't over till its over". Here are a few random thoughts & memories form the games so far.

• Catches Win Matches - The old adage still holds true. If you need proof, just check Chris Lynn's effort which changed the course of the KKR-RCB game. Also a high number of catches have been dropped which have enabled some batsmen to simply blaze away.
• Steve Smith's cool-headedness in calmly tapping away Sunil Narine for two, instead of going for glory in the Super Over [Aside - if you have a system of counting 6s & 4s, why have the Super Over business at all?]
• Indian fast bowling is suddenly looking in good health with the likes of Zaheer, Bhuvneshwar and Aaron leading the charge. Then we have Sandeep Sharma, Vinay Kumar & Balaji also putting in good performances. Either the pitches have all seamed around or the bowling has been exceptionally good.
• India's batsmen somehow have not fired with the exception of Rahane and Manish Pandey.
• The Mumbai Indians advisory board has a better chance of success than their playing XI. Just why have they managed to let so many of their existing players go off to other franchisees is confusing to say the least. The likes of Maxwell, Dwayne Smith, Chahal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Suryakumar Yadav are some of the names who should have been in the Mumbai team
• Chennai Super Kings seem to have shrugged off their off-field distractions and are back into their sail-into-the-knockouts-form
• The RCB squad looked a batting powerhouse but is looking more like a powermouse (to quote the interim BCCI head Sunil Gavaskar). 70 all out against Rajasthan Royals being a a case in point.
• Keeping the uncapped players into the auction has actually limited the number of potential backup players.
• The schedule is a little lopsided. Now some of the franchisees have 5 "home" games while others have 4 remaining. For all practical purposes the UAE leg was neutral to all all concerned. Although the defintion of "home: and "away" is getting quite blurred in some cases..e.g. With Dhoni captaining CSK, who will dare to term KKR as the home team in tonight's encounter in Ranchi?

Till next time...

IPL Expendables XI: 2014 Edition

During the last edition of IPL, I had prepared a team of grizzled, battle-hardened veterans. And inspired by the movie franchisee had named it as the IPL Expendables XI. And having started it have decided to compile a similar list this year.

The list had to undergo a major revamp as lots of the Expendables cast have finally hung up their boots. Though some of them are have taken non-combat roles in different teams (like the Mickey Rourke character in the first Expendables movie). With fresh auctions held this year, only 3 of last year's XI have survived. Sachin, Ponting, Dravid, Gilchrist & Agarkar have all retired. Hogg & Badrinath have not been picked while Sourav Ganguly is now showing signs of permanent retirement. Only Tambe, Murali and Shukla have survived into this edition.

This year's list was tougher to make and so I had to make a few concessions defining a veteran (but then Jason Statham is a key cast member of the Expendables and he is still in his prime). Sticking to the IPLpolicy of maximum 4 foreign players in the Eleven made it just that bit more difficult. 

1. Michael Hussey - Mr. Cricket is the perfect person to open the batting for this veteran's lineup. This year has been picked by Mumbai Indians who do like having seniors playing and opening for them.
2. Virender Sehwag - The man who destroyed many a bowling attack but now is a pale shadow of his former self. Coming off a very poor Ranji season but got a century for MCC. Lets see if any of the fire is still left.
3. Jacques Kallis - Statistically the greatest all-rounder of all time. Recently retired from test cricket but is available for selection in the limited overs setup where South Africa do not pick him. Has been the goto man for his all round skills  for all Fantasy Leaguers.
4. Brad Hodge - After years of being ignored he has made a comeback into the Australian national T20 squad. Also has scored the most runs ever in the T20 format.
5. MS Dhoni (c & wk) - With Gilchrist having retired and Sangakkara not being picked, the choice of a veteran wicket keeper for the Expendables was very difficult. But given how much Dhoni has greyed over the years, he looks perfect for this team.
6. Laxmi Ratan Shukla - Retains his spot from last year. Still plays Ranji and still plays the occasional IPL game though hasn't played for India this millenium.
7. Muttiah Muralitharan - he retired from international cricket around the time IPL started. And in the seventh edition, he is still around. Though this might turn out to be one season to many for the highest wicket-taker in test cricket.
8. Murali Kartik - One of the mysteries of Indian team selection has been the way they have handled left-arm spinners. Last time he played for India picked up a 6-wicket haul against Australia but never got picked again. English counties though love him and he is the only Indian to have played for a non-IPL team in the Champions League.
9. Ashish Nehra - Last act in international cricket was getting a finger broken while attempting a diving catch in the World Cup semi-finals against Pakistan. Still hanging around the domestic circuit. Outscored Sehwag during the last Ranji season.
10. Laxmipathy Balaji - The smiling assassin. Destroyed and bowler over Pakistan but injuries ruined a potentially great Indian career. However IPL has helped him make a couple of comebacks into the national team.
11. Pravin Tambe - Made his first appearance in senior cricket in last year's IPL at the young age of 42. A decent IPL followed by a great Champions League and Tambe was made his first clss debut for Mumbai as well. A story of never giving up on the dreams.

There were a few other contenders (likes of Ryan ten Doeschate, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan etc.) but they may have to wait a season or two to make an appearance in the Expendables starcast. Not as populated with big names as last year but this team certainly won't be pushovers.

IPL7: Notes #1

The 7th edition of the Indian Premier League has commenced outside India, in an area which is

• known for being the hub of many fixing activities
• and the global headquarters of ICC
• and the current "home-ground" for a country whose players are not picked for playing in the tournament.

1st round of games have taken place. Nothing much to read on the cricketing front given the very narrow sample size currently available. Hence not making any comments on any of the team performances, yet. However special mentions for 

• Glenn Maxwell, living upto the million dollar hype
• Yuvraj Singh, for shrugging off those cricket fans idiots who threw stones at his house after the World T20 final, and
• little Parthiv Patel, for dispatching the ball into orbit

Now for the main agenda items. Something very weird is going on with the coverage here. The rights are with Sony who earlier used to telecast it on Max. Then they launched a dedicated sports channel Sony Six. Also someone realized that having Hindi commentary would reach out to a far bigger audience. So till last year Max had English commentary and newly launched Six had Hindi. This time they have inter-changed it. Any particular reason? Can't be just to increase viewership for Six because that would definitely happen come June-July with the Football World Cup. 

Also Star Sports has well and truly ambushed the telecast. Paid live telecast and free "5 minute delayed" telecast are available online on starsports.com . Also includes lots of marketing for the Star group. This has to be the heights of ambush marketing. Sony having to telecast Star Sports logo.

However the weirdest coverage is by cricinfo. They have stopped calling it the IPL all together. All coverage is of the Indian T20 league with the teams beings referred not by their name but as Jaipur T20 or Bangalore T20 etc. Now BCCI and online text commentary sites have been at loggerheads for quite sometime but this is weird. Also does it have anything to do with the Star Sports  and ESPN split? After all cricinfo is owned by ESPN.

Random Notes

• Where did these cheerleaders arrive from? Weren't they supposed to be banned or is the ban applicable only in matches held in India?
• There is now a camera on the cap of the umpire? How much more scrutiny are we going to subject the poor umpires to?

IPL 7

16th April, 2014 Marks the start of another edition of the IPL. An edition where the actual on-field cricketing action has gotten more and more overshadowed.

Firstly, like in 2009, the IPL dates are clashing with the General elections. So the "Indian" Premier League will hold some of its opening games outside India. Unlike 2009, however most of the matches will be held in India  this time. But it does raise questions about the so called "strength" and "aspiring superpower" status of a country which cannot hold a cricket tournament during election time. 

Secondly, the continuing shadow of last year's fixing scandals. Agree, some players have been punished (quite heavily also). But what about the rest? Many other names have been dragged into the controversy. Couple of team owners are accused of betting. Some are suspected of match fixing. Current players may or may not have been named as those involved in the Mudgal Committee report. So many clouds of fixing hanging around and of all places IPL moves to UAE, the so called hub of all such activities. But then ICC itself is headquartered in Dubai. So no further comments.

Thirdly, the entire matter is subjudice. The Board president has been asked to step off by none other than the Supreme Court (a decision which is beyond my understanding - Can Courts interfere in running of private bodies without having come to any conclusion?). And to add to the irony quotient, the Court hearing and IPL launch happen on the same day.

Amidst all this, the actual cricket finally commences. Lots of legends have finally retired. In fact, I will have to create an almost all new Expendables XI this time around. Many team changes have happened. Its back to an 8 team format. And I am still looking for a team to support.

Will I follow the tournament? Of course, I am an Indian and even our Honorable Supreme Court thinks the IPL should go on. After all as they say cricket is a religion in India and matters of faith are even higher than the court of law. 

So all set to follow the cricketing part of the IPL. Hoping that no new controversies (off-field come about). And the guilty from the past don't go unpunished.

Let the Games (both on and off the field) begin.

BCCI's "Operation Clean-Up"

After a scandal-hit IPL, which brought terms like "spot-fixing", "conflict of interest", "step aside", "betting" et al to the limelight, BCCI has finally woken up from its slumber. The Board which currently is more involved in internal politics and self-preservation than the functioning of the game has come up with a 12-point "Operation Clean-up" to clear IPL's image. And maybe hope to get the game's credibility also back up.

Following are the 12 points announced by the interim management (in italics, Source: Times of India). My thoughts on each are appended

1. Removal of sleaze; no cheerleaders, no after-match parties for players and support staff. Seriously, this is the first point they come up with. As a cricket fan, I do not really care if they remove cheerleaders and ban after-match parties, but shows the messed up priorities. Good step though.

2. Strict code of conduct to be followed by players, support staff and franchise owners. Good to hear of this, but what exactly is this code of conduct and whats the defined punishment for violation. More clarity required.

3. Restriction of movement in players' dug-out and dressing room. The owners from now on will be restricted from entering the dug-out and dressing room during matches. Good step. Also should tell the broadcasters to stop giving so much air-time to the owners and their sycophants. Or is this a little too much to ask given the amount of money paid for the ownership

4. All players and support staff of franchises need to furnish their telephone numbers with the BCCI before the start of the tournament. Constant vigilance as mad-eye Moody would have said. Does the BCCI plan to monitor the communications by itself or through some other agency? Are they allowed to have such access? What about privacy rules?

5. Adequate number of ACSU officials in the team hotel as well as the ground to supervise the proceedings. Again, constant vigilance. Good step. [Aside - Has anyone been actually caught fixing by these anti-corruption teams?]

6. Jamming of cellphone towers at the ground during matches. I believe the idea here is to stop on-ground "observers" from relaying signals to the bookie world. But what about the inconvenience to the normal paying public? And again does BCCI have the authority to install jammers inside stadiums.

7. Captains' meeting to be held in order to get more suggestions and prepare elaborate blueprint. Good step. Need to involve the senior players. And I would suggest ask for inputs from all players and not just the captains. Involve other senior players also (e.g. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Sehwag who are not team captains)

8. No national selector will be allowed to get associated with any franchise in any capacity. Excellent step Why they were allowed earlier should also be checked. We certainly do not want to see the chief selector cheer-leading for an IPL squad.

9. All the players need to disclose every financial transaction they are carrying out with any particular organisation or person. Again not sure what the laws are and what authority BCCI has here. And is this applicable to only Indians or the foreign players as well. And I do not think anyone indulging in corrupt practices does the transactions in white money, except a certain Ashraful probably.

10. Franchises need to furnish all details of the remunerations and contractual obligations of players and support staff. Good step. Should be made public. However to make it more transparent the dealings between the franchisees and BCCI should also be made public (e.g. secret auction amount).

11. Players from now on will be prohibited from using ear plugs and microphones. Good step. Most on-field commentary by the players was useless. (Honorable exception - David Miller - "It its in the V, it goes to the tree, if its in the arc, it goes out of the park" comment). Just one query - Is this only for the playing XI or for the ones in the dug-out as well?

12. Security control policy will be formulated soon. OK

Some steps taken. In addition they had "legalised" player agents as well some time back. Still a couple of vexed questions remain which have not been answered here.

• What about the strategic time-out? Shouldn't it be withdrawn, given the amount of betting taking place in that duration?
• And the key one. What about the association of BCCI officials with franchisees? Still no clarity on the main point raised in the "conflict of interest" thing.
• Also lets not just concentrate on cleaning up of IPL. Ensure the other national tournaments stay clean as well.

Also while we are trying to create a more transparent system, why not make public the Ravi Sawani report on the spot-fixing scandal. And while we are at it, why not remove the word "control" from the organisation name and change it to something like "Cricket India"?

So some key steps have been planned. Some questions are yet to be answered. Yet a lot will depend on the actual actions taken. Hopefully it is a start though. Still a long way to go for regaining the faith.

The Trophy

Not often you  get a chance to get up close and personal with a trophy. So even though the tournament may have been tainted by the corruption charges, why miss the chance. After all the trophy wasn't. 

Congratulations to the Mumbai Indians for winning the IPL. Please continue providing match tickets and such photo-ops and may you continue the winning streak :)

One for the memories.