KNOW YOUR IPL TEAM

DISCLAMER: This blog post was to be posted before the match today but the writer himself was too excited and busy for the inaugural match.

The great Indian Premier League begins today. Make no mistake, its image might have been dented due to the current controversies but once the IPL kicks off, it's going to be the one of the hottest topics discussed amongst all age groups and cricket will take the center stage. It’ll keep the cricket lovers hooked and booked for the next 45 days. It’s an absolute treat for cricket lovers.  Eight teams having players from all nationalities will battle it out in the world’s biggest T20 league. The different thing about this IPL from last year’s edition is that the teams will have a different look & combination compared to previous years. Well, you probably know everything about IPL, so let me cut to the chase and give an overview of all the teams.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS:

Led by MS Dhoni, the team is not as strong as it once was. A very strong batting line up in McCullum, Smith, Du Plessis, Raina and Dhoni. The team has world class all rounders with Jadeja, Ashwin and Bravo leading the front. Ashwin and Bravo were in great form during the world T20 which augurs well for the team. The bowling can be taken apart as Nehra and Mohit Sharma have never been consistent, so it’s imperative that the team finds a place for Hilfenaus/Badree. They can’t be very flexible with the playing XI this time.

Probable XI: 

McCullum/Smith, Raina, Du Plessis, Dhoni, Bravo, Jadeja, Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Nehra, Badree/Hilfenhaus, Baba Aparijith/Ishwar Pandey

If both McCullum and Smith play, Ishwar Pandey will also play but both Badree and Hilfenhuas will have to sit out. If Badree/Hilfenhaus play, Baba Aoarijith comes in.

DELHI DAREDEVILS: 

This is the only team to not have retained any player before the auction. Kevin Pietersen will be eager to show why he was wrongly sacked by the ECB. This team probably has the best lot of Indian domestic batsmen available with Murali Vijay, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary and Kedhar Jadhav in the lineup. The team boasts of a very strong middle order in KP, Taylor, Karthik and Duminy. The Indian bowlers in the team are slightly inexperienced; hence it’s imperative that Parnell plays.

Probable XI:

Vijay, Manoj Tiwary/De Cock, KP, Taylor, Karthik, Duminy/Saurabh Tiwary/Kedhar Jadhav, Parnell/Neesham, Rahul Sharma, Unadkat, Shami, Shabaz Nadeem.

If Duminy goes out, it makes way for De Cock and either Saurabh Tiwary/Jadhav will play. Tiwary can open if De Cock is left out as Karthik as a keeper is available.

KINGS XI PUNJAB: 

A great batting line up again with pujara at the top, providing solidity. Also, the team has impressive youngsters like Manan Vohra & Mandeep Singh to take the attack to the opposition. Sehwag, Miller, Maxwell, Bailey can send shivers down the spine of any bowling attack. Johnson heads a talented but inexperienced pace attack. The spin department looks very shaky with Murali Karthik as the front line spinner. If Sehwag fires, the team will be oozing with confidence.

Probable XI:

Sehwag, Pujara/Mandeep, Manan Vohra, Maxwell, Bailey, Miller, Wriddhimann Saha, Johnson, Awana/Rishi Dhawan/Balaji (any two), Murali Karthik

Miller could make way for Thisara Perera if the bowling doesn’t click.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS: 

A very young team as always but with not many big names. The largest pool of players to chose from. Batting looks decent. They will have to fit in a quality player like Steve Smith somehow. Indian players in the team are low on experience and that is the case with some foreigners as well. Have good all rounders in Kevon Cooper, Watson, Faulkner and Stuart Binny. A big factor that might affect their performance is that they won’t be playing at their fortress Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.

Probable XI: 

Rahane, Unmukt Chand, Samson, Watson, Hodge/Steve Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Binny, Faulkner/Kevon Cooper, Southee/Richardson, Vikramjeet Malik/Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen tambe

As I said, the team has great variety and great balance. 

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: 

The best bowling lineup in the whole tournament. Steyn, Mishra, B Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Karan Sharma, Irfan Pathan & Darren Sammy. A very explosive top order in Dhawan, Warner and Finch buts it’s imperative one of them bats through since not much experience is available in the middle order. Captaincy may affect Dhawan's performance.

Probable XI:

Dhawan, Warner, Finch, Venugopal Rao/Anirudh Srikkant, Naman Ojha, Sammy, Pathan, Karan Sharma, Amit Mishra, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Ishant Sharma

Finding the right bowling combination according to the conditions will be the key to their success.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE:

Best batting lineup in the whole tournament consisting of Gayle, Kohli, De Villiers, Yuvraj. Bowling can be erratic as both Aaron and Dinda can be expensive. It’s important that Starc/Rampaul plays. Albie Morkel provides the much needed balance. Should chase if they win the toss.

Probable XI: 

Gayle, Parthiv Patel, Kohli, Yuvraj, De Villiers, Vijay Zol, Albie Morkel, Starc/Rampaul, Dinda, Varun Aaron, Shadab Jakati/Yuzwendra Chahal

Muralidharan could come in for Morkel to strengthen the bowling.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS:

They have the most perfect balance among all the teams. Morkel, Umesh, Vinay Kumar in the pace bowling department, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla the spinners and Gambhir, Uthappa and Pandey complete the top order. Kallis, Shakib and Doeschate give the ideal balance required to the team. Only weakness could be that Kallis doesn’t get a move on and takes up deliveries to put pressure on others.

Probable XI:

Gambhir, Uthappa/Bisla/Manish Pandey(any two), Kallis, Shakib/Doeschate, Yusuf, Chawla, M Morkel, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine

MUMBAI INDIANS:

The former champions might not have done the right thing by not retaining Maxwell and Johnson. It’s very important that Mike Hussey bats through. Need Harbhajan to perform consistently or else there'll be huge pressure on Malinga & Zaheer. Corey Anderson and Pollard can be partners in crime and finish off the innings. The team doesn’t have much flexibility.

Probable XI:

Hussey, Tare, Rohit, Rayudu, Pollard, Anderson, Jalaj Saxena, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Ojha, Malinga

Ojha is the key here as if he's in good form, it'll be easier for MI to put breaks on the opposition. CM Gautam can come in for jalaj Saxena.

The team which stands out from the others is Kolkata Knight Riders purely based on the balance of the side. But hold on, it’s the IPL. Almost everything is uncertain. You never know which team may spring up a surprise and emerge champions. So just sit back and ride this IPL Bandwagon. 

You now know the teams, so go ahead and pick your favourites and share your views about what you think can be the deciding factor this IPL or who could be the players to watch out for!

MIND YOUR TONGUE NETAJI !!

 

With the race for forming the government at the center getting hotter, there's one other thing that's degrading day by day. 

Any guesses? 

 

Yes, you guessed right. It's our politicians' poisonous tongues.  Our politicians are so logical that they somehow manage to find a relation between 'a woman having sex outside of marriage' and elections. God bless such brilliant minds. Not only that, there's a huge furore over a PM Candidate's marital status which has absolutely nothing to do with how he runs the government. Then there is a statement about how it was not the army which won the Kargil wars but the Muslims. Then there's Mulayam Singh Yadav's sexist 'boys make mistakes' remark. Don't worry guys, this statement is testimony to the fact that he's still a boy himself. Make no mistake, the general election campaign has all the elements of a Bollywood Masala movie, with drama at every turn. And results are the perfect end to this drama. Some candidates expected to win lose badly, some parties surprise by performing really well or really bad  and the old war horses are vary of the newbies (courtesy AAP).

 

What I fail to understand is how one can stoop to such a low level in their rallies. Politicians should try and integrate the nation beyond the differences of religion, caste, gender etc but here's a guy who's trying to divide the army itself. The army is an institution where every Indian vows to protect his fellow citizens irrespective of his or her religion. The soldiers only have the motherland in their hearts and minds when they're fighting the enemy, not their respective religions. Someone who tries to divide the army by making such statements should face heavy punishment.

 

How can you term a gruesome crime like rape as a 'mistake by boys' and call for punishment of victims as well? The harshest of punishments must be given to those who sexually assault women. Also, our society needs to change its view of rape victims. Why is it that we look at them differently? When will we ever stop questioning their clothes? 

The politicians need to understand their responsibility and make people aware about it rather than giving regressive statements about rape. We should EMPATHISE with them, not SYMPATHISE . 

 

The only solution to stop immature statements from politicians is for the Election Commission to straightaway cancel the tickets of these candidates. Only then will these politicians stop dividing the nation.

It's a matter of concern for us, the citizens of India. 

I'd like you to share your views regarding this issue and how can the EC punish such politicians for uttering shit like this.

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THIS WT20

This T20 World Cup has been different in more ways than one. The fixture format was one reason. But what stood out was how this tournament has not been about the slam-bang of the cricket ball, the big sixes or the huge scores but a tournament about the bowlers.

The bowlers, who have most rules and regulations against them, evolved in such a way that they affected the course of the match much more than the batsmen. Never did a T20 World Cup before see 5 scores below 100. 
Apart from that, there were small but viewer enriching innovations in the equipment department like the LED stumps which lit up each time the ball hit them.
A few performances lit up this T20 World Cup like nothing else and they should be remembered for long -

1. Virat Kohli - This player continues to give more proof of his batting genius by each passing day. By his own admission, he was not batting his best but still the way he won the semifinal for India was sheer class. He never looked out of control.
 
2. Netherlands - It was a far improved side in this World T20 and made for an interesting watching. Be it chasing 193 in 13.5 overs against Ireland, losing narrowly to SA by 6 runs or beating England by 46 runs, there were always signs of them improving. But not to forget, they also made the record for the lowest score against SL. Also, there was another upset when HONG KONG defeated BANGLADESH by 2 wickets. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Bangladeshi fans following the loss to Afghanistan in the Asia Cup.
 
3. Dale Steyn - Need 7 to get off the last over with 5 wickets in hand. Seems easy for the batting side, doesn't it? But it was not to be. Dale Steyn's performance against NZ, especially the last over, was simply brilliant. Just conceding a 4 in the last over and defending 6 runs without bowling a yorker was something unheard of but Steyn made it possible.
 
4. Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra - After a very long time the Indian spinners dominated the proceedings this way. The opposition batsmen had no answer to Ashwin's carrom ball and Mishra's googly. The ball to dismiss Hashim Amla by Ashwin would have made even Shane Warne proud.
 
5. Bravo and Sammy finishing off the innings - Whether it was against Pak or Aus, WI looked down and out in the match only to be saved by Bravo and Sammy both times. The celebration after beating Australia will be remembered for quite a long time in the minds of cricket lovers.
 
6. Alex Hales' 116 v SL - Alex Hales almost single handedly won the match for Eng. Chasing 190, England were 2 down for nothing. His knock was testimony to the fact why he's rated so highly in this format.
 
7. Imran Tahir - The highest wicket taker of the tournament came from a land which has been known for it's fast bowlers. But it was SA's Imran Tahir who made a difference to their bowling and was instrumental in the match against the Dutch.

I think the above things made this tournament a memorable one and will be etched in the memories of fans for long.