Kolkata Knight Riders
Captain: Brendon McCullam
The glamour addicted; Buchanan divided Kolkata Knight Riders stood to the expectation of all those who predicted the last spot for the team. Not more to write about.
High: _________________________________
Low: _________________________________
Captaincy: 0
Over all: ½
Star performer: _________________________
Blank lines for next year. Hopefully they’ll fill them up.
Mumbai Indians
Captain: Sachin Tendulkar
The balance and the arsenal of Mumbai Indians made them the hot favourites for the championship. The entire season portrays the missed opportunities by players and the boiling blood of the fans. The followers like me had the emotional heights subordinated with the deep valleys of sorrow watching them play. The likes of Jaisurya, Tendulkar, Duminy, Bravo, Zaheer, Harbhajan and Malinga described a muscular force. But the blunders by these same names guaranteed the last to second spot for the Indians.
Captain Tendulkar himself represented the graph of the falling share market of these days. It was pretty hard to digest that the player of Tendulkar’s rank struggled for the correct balance and composition of team until the 14th game. The moves made him look silly, only if pathetic sounds strong. For some reason or the other he believed Rahane, Takawale and Shah being better batsmen to himself, Jaisurya and Duminy. The best should have batted the better part of innings. The team always came with some uncanny surprises may it be in the batting line-up or the bowling changes. Duminy, there best batter should have batted up at number 3 and the results could have been different. Sadly the age has caught up Jaisurya and the time has come to express gratitude for the marvelous entertainment he has provided over the years. It hurts to see a Lion struggle in his post prime years. Thank you Jaisurya. The Malingas, and the Bravos, and the Zaheers and the Bhajjis would cope up being better for most times only to gift a loose one and get smacked in later parts. The rift that was publicly expressed by Bhajji surly would have not gone well with the team management. Nayyar’s performance with the stick in hand makes him an eligible national selection in days to come.
The Mumbai Indians boasted strong bench strength with likes of Mills, Ronchi, Fernando and Napier at the side lines. But never were they utilized. The Rhodes and the Pollocks too were less heard off while the rest only shined in the mid match interviews. The most expensive team of the IPL with the perfect blend awfully struggled to match the one-step ahead teams. Suicide appropriately describes their campaign.
High: Three back to back straight drive boundaries by Tendulkar in a nail bitter against Rajasthan Royals.
Low: 3 run loss against the Rajasthan Royals.
Captaincy: 1
Over all: 2
Star performer: Jean Paul Duminy
Rajasthan Royals
Captain: Shane Warne
If at all the game is played with the spirit as it should be, here is the team that staged the perfect show. They were the defending Champions and fought like one till the last minute until there dream run was jolted by Knight Riders. Shane Warne revealed the ideal captaincy qualities and marshaled the weak resources to its extremity. Apart from Smith, the batting line up was foreign. The might of Yusuf Pathan helped Smith to gather some important wins while Warnie led the bowling with some commendable field placing backup with the wonderful fielding exhibition. Ojha, Quiney, Jadeja, Carseldine, Raut shouldered the second scale batting. Munaf Patel, Trivedi, Kamran Khan and Amit Singh used the opportunities to make there presence felt.
In a match against the Delhi Daredevils, Yusuf Pathan’s breathtaking stroke plays ensured a win and a monies worth for spectators. Warne smartly held back Pathan until the eighth spot where he launched a counter attack and dominated the unconquered Delhi. In another encounter against the Mumbai Indians the team staged an unbelievable spirit to pull out a victory from the jaws of defeat. Same did they do to the mighty Deccan Charges and the furious Knight Riders. The absence of three international stars viz. Shane Watson, Sohail Tanveer and Kamran Akmal didn’t help the teams cause. The young nerves shivered during the decisive moment and Warne was left alone to salvage the champion’s pride. His attempt although failed but scaled up this marvelous game of cricket. The journey of the Royal Challangers can be appropriately termed as Braveheart.
High: The uncharacteristic win against the Mumbai Indians by mere 3 runs. Warne trapping Tendulkar plumb in front was one of the moments of this years IPL.
Low: The dramatic batting collapse in the initial match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Captaincy: 5
Over all: 3½
Star performer: Yusuf Pathan
Kings XI Punjab
Captain: Yuvraj Singh
This team from the great land of Sikhs, representing the extreme North had the best composition of glamour, flair and the skills for cricket. The elegance of Yuvraj is no strange to cricket followers. The guile of Irfan has caught the best napping. The exuberant class of Sanggakara and Jayawardena has no match. The speed of venomous Brett Lee has no mates these days and the Sreesanths, the Katichs and the Chawlas can turn on any game on there favourable day. Add up the spice of the gorgeous Priety Zinta who religiously stood behind the team every single time they played. May come the wins or the heartbreaking losses, she was always there.
Unfortunately the batting lineup they bragged about and the team heavily depended on, never helped the winning cause. Usually the score struggled getting pass 150. The exit of Jayawardena at a crucial juncture bump there middle order. Yuvraj’s leadership too needs to be scrutinized. He visibly abused his team mates often. It was there slow bowling that enrooted them towards the semi final path. Yuvraj getting couple of Hat tricks would be happy to feather his cap. Chawla and Powar extracted gold as and when the opportunity came there way. Irfan was lethal as always. Abdulla shouldered the pace attack until Lee chipped in. Shaun Marsh’s presence was missed atop.
It is difficult to pin point what went wrong with the team. The enthusiasm was always there with bumbling Priety around. The excitement in camp after overpowering Mumbai Indians in a low score thriller was worth filming. The Priety hugs with Yuvraj, Saggakara, Jayawardena, Irfan, Lee, Chawla… the list is endless, was breathe taking. Did she also lock with Ramesh Powar? For me he was the real hero of that encounter diving around saving couple of sure boundaries at the death. May be the reason for elimination can be found deep inside own roots. The lack of focus may suit the team’s description.
High: The counter attack on Chennai Super Kings bowling that eventually ended up short of target.
Low: The loss against the Chennai in the second rubber when victory was indispensable and the target was mere 117.
Captaincy: 2
Over all: 2½
Star performer: Irfan Pathan
Chennai Super Kings
Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
The team led by the Golden boy himself and adding up the player of Andrew Flintoff’s stature could have not eluded the semi finals berth. The league stage was a cake walk with Hayden and Raina piling heaps of runs. Hayden was in his butchering best while Raina was composing calm that meant the huge pile ups almost every match. Dhoni proved his worth with bat, gloves and the captain’s cap. Kris Shrikant and the flamboyant self he is merrily represented the team where ever they went. He was always talking heights about the team. That symbolizes the strength of belief on team by the team management. There name consisting of ‘Super’ denote a special characteristic of all wonderful peoples of Chennai. Every other word they utter has a suffix of ‘Suupper’ and there tone calls for a patent.
The gigantic Hayden was pouring fire from his bat proposing strong opposition against the Aussie media who made him retire from the international cricket. And the dire strait the Australian team is under may call back Hayden for the supernova power he has dispensed. He is a star that is yet to turn into a black hole. The sixes he struck mesmerized the cricket fans. Raina arguable is the best batter next to Tendulkar at the current scenario. He has the class, elegance, aggression, temperament and skills to match the best. His presence solidified the middle overs while the CSK’s ruthlessly won the games with bat itself. Next to Hayden and Raina, the skipper Dhoni and little Partiv Patel ensured their hitting skills were intact. Morkel, Oram, Flintoff and Badrinath were disappointing.
The fielding was way below par. Dhoni too raised his concerns in the few matches they lost. Everyone seems to have slipper palms as the catches went down regularly. Hayden, Murali, Morkel, Badrinath, Balaji, Raina, Patel they all dropped sitters. The bowling too lacked the highest dexterity. Only the expertise of ever deceptive Muralidharan was their focal weapon. Often he came to the party with plucking crucial wickets at the interesting junctures. Young left arm spinner, Jakati played his part well. The pace bowling was forgettable with Morkel, Balaji, Oram and Gony giving nightmares to captain. Haven’t they got Ntini this year?
The CSK’s with their personnel could have played a gear up. Their victory path was written by the batters and until the semis everything went to the plan. The woken giant inside the Royal Challengers Bangalore blown away the mightiest batting line up of the CSK’s. They could manage just 146 which chocked the dream run of the Super Kings. The resentment over Dhoni’s face was evident as he believed his team could have been the champs. Their team can be called a Rainbow. Beautiful, but only for a while.
High: Suresh Raina’s 2 overs at death against the KXIP which stimulated victory.
Low: The semi final loss.
Captaincy: 4
Over all: 4
Star performer: Mathew Hayden
Delhi Dare Devils
Captain: Virendra Shewag, Gautam Gambhir
As the name proposes they sent Devils in the opposition camp throughout the tournament. With the munitions store consisting of the demolishing Shewag, devastating Warner, comforting Gambhir, Dilshan the destroyer, AB the butcher, Karthik the killer accompanied with the bowling armory of McGrath, Nehra, Nannes, Sangwan, Vettori and Mishra, the team would have not finished with anything other than foremost rank. The lineup itself sent shivers in the opposite spine. They literally toiled with some of the teams as the opponent was thunderbolt with the masterly executed plan. They were such well equipped as the spearhead pacer McGrath could not find a place in the playing eleven. After the initial bust, Vettori too warm the benches alongside Maharoof. It was a discussion point as to who will be the other team playing finals against the Dare Devils. Almost everyone had presumed the Delhiates to enter finals. And there league stage march illustrated the same.
Tilakratne Dilshan from the island of the emerald isle was their best batsman. He made sure his team gathered loads of runs in the middle part. The bowling captains had a tough time setting fields to this mysterious aggressive batsman. The late square cuts were awesome. The pull sixes were breathtaking. Add up the splendid fielding of his and a handy off spin bowling. Dilshan for me is the man of the tournament with his consistency. T20 seeker can find a perfect idol to imitate on.
AB D’villers and Dinesh Karthik made sure the ending was ripe. The openers surprisingly struggled. Injury to Shewag offered an opening to Warner who is a player enough to fill up the void. Gambhir excel in an innings or two. But the best part of the team was the strength of their lower half. The bowlers. Dirk Nannes has been a revelation and Ashish Nehra a revolution. They ensured opposition where shaken up early with the in roads. Sangwan backed up the effort with some splendid thoughtful bowling. McGrath’s and Maharoof’s work on him was evident. The spinners stuck to the task and chipped in with tight overs. Rajat Bhatia too proved his selection. Mithun Manhas and Manoj Tiwary blew away the golden opportunities to stamp there presence.
What is required to shakeup the mountain as mightiest as the Himalayas? An Earthquake. The Dare Devils encountered one. In the semi final. Against the Deccan Charges. In the form of Adam Gilchrist. The batting of Gilchrist that evening is indescribable. It was a massacre of the top bowling attack. Nannes, Nehra, Sangwan all suffered. The Adam Gilchrist hurricane ripped off the Dare Devils chance of being into finals. The history was repeated since the last year’s loss in semis against the Rajasthan Royals. Carnage appropriately describes the performance of Delhi Dare Devils.
High: AB’s century against the CSK’s.
Low: The semi final loss.
Captaincy: 2-3
Over all: 4
Star performer: Tilakratne Dilshan
Captain: Brendon McCullam
The glamour addicted; Buchanan divided Kolkata Knight Riders stood to the expectation of all those who predicted the last spot for the team. Not more to write about.
High: _________________________________
Low: _________________________________
Captaincy: 0
Over all: ½
Star performer: _________________________
Blank lines for next year. Hopefully they’ll fill them up.
Mumbai Indians
Captain: Sachin Tendulkar
The balance and the arsenal of Mumbai Indians made them the hot favourites for the championship. The entire season portrays the missed opportunities by players and the boiling blood of the fans. The followers like me had the emotional heights subordinated with the deep valleys of sorrow watching them play. The likes of Jaisurya, Tendulkar, Duminy, Bravo, Zaheer, Harbhajan and Malinga described a muscular force. But the blunders by these same names guaranteed the last to second spot for the Indians.
Captain Tendulkar himself represented the graph of the falling share market of these days. It was pretty hard to digest that the player of Tendulkar’s rank struggled for the correct balance and composition of team until the 14th game. The moves made him look silly, only if pathetic sounds strong. For some reason or the other he believed Rahane, Takawale and Shah being better batsmen to himself, Jaisurya and Duminy. The best should have batted the better part of innings. The team always came with some uncanny surprises may it be in the batting line-up or the bowling changes. Duminy, there best batter should have batted up at number 3 and the results could have been different. Sadly the age has caught up Jaisurya and the time has come to express gratitude for the marvelous entertainment he has provided over the years. It hurts to see a Lion struggle in his post prime years. Thank you Jaisurya. The Malingas, and the Bravos, and the Zaheers and the Bhajjis would cope up being better for most times only to gift a loose one and get smacked in later parts. The rift that was publicly expressed by Bhajji surly would have not gone well with the team management. Nayyar’s performance with the stick in hand makes him an eligible national selection in days to come.
The Mumbai Indians boasted strong bench strength with likes of Mills, Ronchi, Fernando and Napier at the side lines. But never were they utilized. The Rhodes and the Pollocks too were less heard off while the rest only shined in the mid match interviews. The most expensive team of the IPL with the perfect blend awfully struggled to match the one-step ahead teams. Suicide appropriately describes their campaign.
High: Three back to back straight drive boundaries by Tendulkar in a nail bitter against Rajasthan Royals.
Low: 3 run loss against the Rajasthan Royals.
Captaincy: 1
Over all: 2
Star performer: Jean Paul Duminy
Rajasthan Royals
Captain: Shane Warne
If at all the game is played with the spirit as it should be, here is the team that staged the perfect show. They were the defending Champions and fought like one till the last minute until there dream run was jolted by Knight Riders. Shane Warne revealed the ideal captaincy qualities and marshaled the weak resources to its extremity. Apart from Smith, the batting line up was foreign. The might of Yusuf Pathan helped Smith to gather some important wins while Warnie led the bowling with some commendable field placing backup with the wonderful fielding exhibition. Ojha, Quiney, Jadeja, Carseldine, Raut shouldered the second scale batting. Munaf Patel, Trivedi, Kamran Khan and Amit Singh used the opportunities to make there presence felt.
In a match against the Delhi Daredevils, Yusuf Pathan’s breathtaking stroke plays ensured a win and a monies worth for spectators. Warne smartly held back Pathan until the eighth spot where he launched a counter attack and dominated the unconquered Delhi. In another encounter against the Mumbai Indians the team staged an unbelievable spirit to pull out a victory from the jaws of defeat. Same did they do to the mighty Deccan Charges and the furious Knight Riders. The absence of three international stars viz. Shane Watson, Sohail Tanveer and Kamran Akmal didn’t help the teams cause. The young nerves shivered during the decisive moment and Warne was left alone to salvage the champion’s pride. His attempt although failed but scaled up this marvelous game of cricket. The journey of the Royal Challangers can be appropriately termed as Braveheart.
High: The uncharacteristic win against the Mumbai Indians by mere 3 runs. Warne trapping Tendulkar plumb in front was one of the moments of this years IPL.
Low: The dramatic batting collapse in the initial match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Captaincy: 5
Over all: 3½
Star performer: Yusuf Pathan
Kings XI Punjab
Captain: Yuvraj Singh
This team from the great land of Sikhs, representing the extreme North had the best composition of glamour, flair and the skills for cricket. The elegance of Yuvraj is no strange to cricket followers. The guile of Irfan has caught the best napping. The exuberant class of Sanggakara and Jayawardena has no match. The speed of venomous Brett Lee has no mates these days and the Sreesanths, the Katichs and the Chawlas can turn on any game on there favourable day. Add up the spice of the gorgeous Priety Zinta who religiously stood behind the team every single time they played. May come the wins or the heartbreaking losses, she was always there.
Unfortunately the batting lineup they bragged about and the team heavily depended on, never helped the winning cause. Usually the score struggled getting pass 150. The exit of Jayawardena at a crucial juncture bump there middle order. Yuvraj’s leadership too needs to be scrutinized. He visibly abused his team mates often. It was there slow bowling that enrooted them towards the semi final path. Yuvraj getting couple of Hat tricks would be happy to feather his cap. Chawla and Powar extracted gold as and when the opportunity came there way. Irfan was lethal as always. Abdulla shouldered the pace attack until Lee chipped in. Shaun Marsh’s presence was missed atop.
It is difficult to pin point what went wrong with the team. The enthusiasm was always there with bumbling Priety around. The excitement in camp after overpowering Mumbai Indians in a low score thriller was worth filming. The Priety hugs with Yuvraj, Saggakara, Jayawardena, Irfan, Lee, Chawla… the list is endless, was breathe taking. Did she also lock with Ramesh Powar? For me he was the real hero of that encounter diving around saving couple of sure boundaries at the death. May be the reason for elimination can be found deep inside own roots. The lack of focus may suit the team’s description.
High: The counter attack on Chennai Super Kings bowling that eventually ended up short of target.
Low: The loss against the Chennai in the second rubber when victory was indispensable and the target was mere 117.
Captaincy: 2
Over all: 2½
Star performer: Irfan Pathan
Chennai Super Kings
Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
The team led by the Golden boy himself and adding up the player of Andrew Flintoff’s stature could have not eluded the semi finals berth. The league stage was a cake walk with Hayden and Raina piling heaps of runs. Hayden was in his butchering best while Raina was composing calm that meant the huge pile ups almost every match. Dhoni proved his worth with bat, gloves and the captain’s cap. Kris Shrikant and the flamboyant self he is merrily represented the team where ever they went. He was always talking heights about the team. That symbolizes the strength of belief on team by the team management. There name consisting of ‘Super’ denote a special characteristic of all wonderful peoples of Chennai. Every other word they utter has a suffix of ‘Suupper’ and there tone calls for a patent.
The gigantic Hayden was pouring fire from his bat proposing strong opposition against the Aussie media who made him retire from the international cricket. And the dire strait the Australian team is under may call back Hayden for the supernova power he has dispensed. He is a star that is yet to turn into a black hole. The sixes he struck mesmerized the cricket fans. Raina arguable is the best batter next to Tendulkar at the current scenario. He has the class, elegance, aggression, temperament and skills to match the best. His presence solidified the middle overs while the CSK’s ruthlessly won the games with bat itself. Next to Hayden and Raina, the skipper Dhoni and little Partiv Patel ensured their hitting skills were intact. Morkel, Oram, Flintoff and Badrinath were disappointing.
The fielding was way below par. Dhoni too raised his concerns in the few matches they lost. Everyone seems to have slipper palms as the catches went down regularly. Hayden, Murali, Morkel, Badrinath, Balaji, Raina, Patel they all dropped sitters. The bowling too lacked the highest dexterity. Only the expertise of ever deceptive Muralidharan was their focal weapon. Often he came to the party with plucking crucial wickets at the interesting junctures. Young left arm spinner, Jakati played his part well. The pace bowling was forgettable with Morkel, Balaji, Oram and Gony giving nightmares to captain. Haven’t they got Ntini this year?
The CSK’s with their personnel could have played a gear up. Their victory path was written by the batters and until the semis everything went to the plan. The woken giant inside the Royal Challengers Bangalore blown away the mightiest batting line up of the CSK’s. They could manage just 146 which chocked the dream run of the Super Kings. The resentment over Dhoni’s face was evident as he believed his team could have been the champs. Their team can be called a Rainbow. Beautiful, but only for a while.
High: Suresh Raina’s 2 overs at death against the KXIP which stimulated victory.
Low: The semi final loss.
Captaincy: 4
Over all: 4
Star performer: Mathew Hayden
Delhi Dare Devils
Captain: Virendra Shewag, Gautam Gambhir
As the name proposes they sent Devils in the opposition camp throughout the tournament. With the munitions store consisting of the demolishing Shewag, devastating Warner, comforting Gambhir, Dilshan the destroyer, AB the butcher, Karthik the killer accompanied with the bowling armory of McGrath, Nehra, Nannes, Sangwan, Vettori and Mishra, the team would have not finished with anything other than foremost rank. The lineup itself sent shivers in the opposite spine. They literally toiled with some of the teams as the opponent was thunderbolt with the masterly executed plan. They were such well equipped as the spearhead pacer McGrath could not find a place in the playing eleven. After the initial bust, Vettori too warm the benches alongside Maharoof. It was a discussion point as to who will be the other team playing finals against the Dare Devils. Almost everyone had presumed the Delhiates to enter finals. And there league stage march illustrated the same.
Tilakratne Dilshan from the island of the emerald isle was their best batsman. He made sure his team gathered loads of runs in the middle part. The bowling captains had a tough time setting fields to this mysterious aggressive batsman. The late square cuts were awesome. The pull sixes were breathtaking. Add up the splendid fielding of his and a handy off spin bowling. Dilshan for me is the man of the tournament with his consistency. T20 seeker can find a perfect idol to imitate on.
AB D’villers and Dinesh Karthik made sure the ending was ripe. The openers surprisingly struggled. Injury to Shewag offered an opening to Warner who is a player enough to fill up the void. Gambhir excel in an innings or two. But the best part of the team was the strength of their lower half. The bowlers. Dirk Nannes has been a revelation and Ashish Nehra a revolution. They ensured opposition where shaken up early with the in roads. Sangwan backed up the effort with some splendid thoughtful bowling. McGrath’s and Maharoof’s work on him was evident. The spinners stuck to the task and chipped in with tight overs. Rajat Bhatia too proved his selection. Mithun Manhas and Manoj Tiwary blew away the golden opportunities to stamp there presence.
What is required to shakeup the mountain as mightiest as the Himalayas? An Earthquake. The Dare Devils encountered one. In the semi final. Against the Deccan Charges. In the form of Adam Gilchrist. The batting of Gilchrist that evening is indescribable. It was a massacre of the top bowling attack. Nannes, Nehra, Sangwan all suffered. The Adam Gilchrist hurricane ripped off the Dare Devils chance of being into finals. The history was repeated since the last year’s loss in semis against the Rajasthan Royals. Carnage appropriately describes the performance of Delhi Dare Devils.
High: AB’s century against the CSK’s.
Low: The semi final loss.
Captaincy: 2-3
Over all: 4
Star performer: Tilakratne Dilshan
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