Chargers Charge Ahead

By Gulu Ezekiel

One of the highlights of IPL II has been the dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the Deccan Chargers.
If Rajathan Royals’ victory in IPL I was the big surprise of the year, not far behind was how a team packed with limited overs specialists could have finished bottom of the heap in the inaugural season.
If the Royals were the underdogs at the start, the Chargers were one of the hot favourites. How could you go wrong with the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi and Andrew Symonds, each one a match-winner in their own right?
But then in 20/20 cricket the only thing you can be certain about is its uncertainty. Certainly Season I proved that time and again.
Season II is proving that again and title holders Royals are in a tight race to make it to the semifinals while the Chargers look almost certain to be among the last four.
In 2008 they won just two of their 14 matches; this year they have already won six out of 10.
VVS Laxman was replaced as captain by Gilchrist half way through the first season after he suffered a knee injury. This year Laxman has made a quiet exit from the playing XI. It is obvious he neither has the technique nor the fitness to be a success in the shortest format of the game.
Just as Shane Warne was the captain of the year in 2008, Gilchrist has shown he can rally a young side and lead from the front. He has helped India discover a new bowler in Rohit Sharma who surprised one and all with the first hat-trick this year and has taken a hands-on-approach to the side just as Warne did last year.
Don’t be surprised if there is another Aussie captain holding up the execrable IPL Trophy in triumph at the end of the tournament.

www.sportshero.com (12/5/09)

Hollywood Warne

By Gulu Ezekiel

It is no wonder his teammates nicknamed him ‘Hollywood’. For better or for worse, Shane Warne has always managed to stay in the news.
The IPL has given the Aussie spin legend a new lease of cricketing life. It was felt after he retired from international cricket in 2007 that he would captain Hampshire for a couple of years in the English county championship before giving up cricket all together.
Then along came the IPL with its unheard of wealth and suddenly Warne was basking in the limelight again after leading underdogs Rajasthan Royals to the inaugural title last year.
Right from his teenage days when he was thrown out of the Australian cricket academy for unruly behaviour, Warne has had a habit of bucking authority.
Already this year he has been caught on camera having a puff on his cigarette and taking a swig of beer proffered by a spectator. This has brought a harsh light on him and it is no wonder the media—the bane of Warne’s life—have been banned from Royals’ practice sessions.
There have probably been more unauthorized tell-all biographies written on him than any other cricketer in history and it is no wonder given his colourful track record—the quintessential ‘sex, drugs and rock n’ roll’ lifestyle. He has even had a play written around his life and career, unique perhaps for any sportsperson.
Much like football’s notorious and yet hugely popular Diego Maradona, Warne too has legions of fans who admire his larrikin lifestyle and anti-establishment image.
Now portly and obviously out of shape, the 20/20 format ideally suits both his physique and temperament and the Royals management must be lauded for allowing him to have total control of the team, the only captain-cum-coach in the IPL.
Whether he can recreate the magic of IPL I this time around with his team or not, Warne continues to both intrigue and infuriate the cricket world.
www.sportshero.com (10/5/09)

Daredevils Secure Spot

By Gulu Ezekiel

After Friday’s match, it is now almost certain that Delhi Daredevils will be one of the four teams in the semifinals and Mumbai Indians join Kolkata Knight Riders as one of the four certain not to make it.
MI were the most expensive franchise when purchased last year by Mukesh Ambani and with Sachin Tendulkar as their icon player and captain, they were one of the glamour teams as well.
Their poor run this year therefore is one of the more surprising aspects of IPL II.
Last year nothing went right for them at the start. With Tendulkar unfit and unable to play till halfway through, the captaincy was given to Harbhajan Singh. But the ‘Slapgate’ affair meant he was banned and then Shaun Pollock took over.
By the time Tendulkar made an appearance, their situation was precarious. And although they came agonizingly close to the semifinals—losing a number of extremely tight matches—a fifth place finish was just not good enough. This year the batting has depended too much on the old reliable pair of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. Their form has been patchy however and it has been left to South Africa’s JP Duminy to shore up the batting. The team has been prone to batting collapses and their defeat at the hands of Deccan Chargers just when they looked to have the run chase under control was a perfect example of that fragility.
While Lasith Malinga has played a stellar role with the ball, the biggest flop has been Harbhajan Singh. He has played all nine games so far but has picked up a mere five wickets.
Even though three Indian icons faced the chopping block from the captaincy this year, it is unthinkable that the MI would consider doing the same. It is a fact though that Tendulkar is not the sharpest tactically as was proved by his two stints as captain of the Indian team, both of which were failures. It would take something extraordinary now for MI to turn things around and they must reconcile themselves to a second year out of the top four.

www.sportshero.com (9/5/09)

Buchanan's Brainwave

By Gulu Ezekiel

Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach John Buchanan has been known to come up with some rather quixotic ideas in the past. But his suggestion that Australia’s squad for next month’s T-20 World Cup in England should have contained three retired veterans who are currently having a whale of a time in the IPL is not as ridiculous as it appears.
Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden all quit the international scene over the last couple of years.
Like most Australians, they have retained their match fitness even in their late 30s and unburdened by the thoughts of national duty, are playing the current season with a rare freedom.
Hayden is well on top of the IPL run scoring chart right now and looks to keep that top spot considering he is approaching the 400-run mark. The next best, Suresh Raina who also represents Chennai Super Kings is way behind with 296 runs. And what is more, Hayden is the only one in the top 10 with a strike rate above 150.
Gilchrist is currently fifth on the list and has proved to be the most innovative captain of the current IPL season. The way he has turned around last year’s bottom placed Deccan Chargers is reminiscent of the manner in which Warne led dark horses Rajasthan Royals to the title in the inaugural season.
Warne has not been as successful with the ball as he was in 2008. But his leadership has once again been inspiring and after a sluggish start, he has ensured the Royals are back in title contention this year.
Last year too the Aussies dominated with Shaun Marsh (missing this year through injury) the top run scorer and Shane Watson (MVP for his all round show) the standout performers.
Quite a few of the top Australian players have given this season a miss either due to injuries or because they wanted to rest ahead of the Ashes. But Andrew Symonds (Chargers) and Brett Lee (Punjab) will be joining the IPL shortly and that should further add to the Aussie flavour in the tournament.
www.sportshero.com (8/5/09)

Batting takes a Beating

By Gulu Ezekiel

The biggest change from IPL Season I and II has been in the batting on display.
It is remarkable that it was not till the 30th game of Season II when Rajasthan Royals raced to 211 for 4 against Punjab XI Kings on Tuesday that the 200-run mark was crossed for the first time.
At the exact same stage last year in India, there had been seven totals of 200-plus. And while only Delhi Daredevils’ AB De Villiers has reached three figures this time so far—though Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina came agonizingly close--at the half-way mark in 2008, there had been three individual centuries, including Brendon McCullum’s barnstorming 158 not out in the opening match of the tournament.
The major factor behind these relatively low scoring contests is of course the pitch conditions in South Africa.
While last year the likes of Swapnil Asnodkar made waves with their batting on flat Indian tracks, this time around the younger lot have been outsmarted by the veterans with their superior technique and vast experience.
Cricket at all levels has always been a batsman’s game, more so in limited overs cricket. But while in the 50-over variety, tall scoring matches have often been boring, in 20/20 it is the batsmen and their big hitting that draws in the crowds and the viewers.
It was at Johannesburg in 2006 that the cricket world was stunned when both Australia and South Africa crossed 400 runs for the first time in the history of 50-over ODIs. But most batting records in international cricket tend to be set in sub-continental conditions.
Australia and South Africa are the only two nations in which the Indian Test team have yet to win a series, though in the latter case the first tour came only as recently as 1992.
The South African season had come to a close by the time the IPL shifted base and the wear-and-tear on the wickets means Season II is destined to favour the bowlers.

www.sportshero.com (6/5/09)

It's Tight at the Top

By Gulu Ezekiel

It’s pretty tight at the top at the exact halfway mark of IPL II.
The only sure-shot prediction at this stage is that bottom-placed Kolkata Knight Riders have no hope of reaching the semifinals as they have lost six of their eight games with one ‘No-Result’.
Apart from KKR, all the seven remaining teams must fancy their chances and this will help hold the interest of the fans while the second half of the tournament unfolds.
The big surprise at the start was the resurgence of the Deccan Chargers who had come last in the first season.
This time they began with a bang and shot to the top of the table with four wins in their first four matches.
But the nature of 20/20 is such that fortunes and equations can change with just one game or two. Sure enough, Chargers have lost their last three matches and after crashing to defeat on Monday at the hands of Chennai Super Kings, they have ceded the top position to their southern rivals.
CSK on the other hand had a slow start but have now won their last three matches and with skipper MS Dhoni finally coming good with the bat, last year’s runners-up must fancy their chances again.
The biggest disappointment this season has been the slump in form of title holders Rajasthan Royals who are currently second from last, on equal points with Mumbai Indians but trailing on Net Run Rate.
The absence of last year’s top wicket taker Sohail Tanvir and Most Valuable Player Shane Watson has hit them pretty hard. To add to their woes, surprise packet left arm seamer Kamran Khan is out with a combination of a knee injury and suspect action.
It looks like a fight to the finish this time around and from now onwards, every match will be vital as the teams scramble for a place in the semi-finals.

www.sportshero.com (5/5/09)

Two Meaningless Words

By Gulu Ezekiel

The two words you won’t find any more in the professional cricketers’ lexicon are ‘burnout’ and ‘acclimatization.’
In the pre-IPL era (i.e. till 2007), the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) which claims to be the voice of players worldwide (though it has no Asian members) would repeat ‘burnout’ like a mantra. Their complaint was there was far too much international cricket played throughout the year and this was taking a toll on the health and fitness of cricketers, particularly fast bowlers.
The IPL calendar is pretty hectic. This year there will be 59 matches played across South Africa in a span of 39 days. Yet one does not hear a peep out of the players about burnout these days.
The reason of course is that as long as the money is good, the players will be quiet. Who can argue with $600,000 for three games, the amount that was paid to Andrew Flintoff for his truncated IPL season?
As for acclimatization, touring teams in recent years have had a tough time in the opening Test of a series. With sometimes just one week and one warm-up game to prepare them for the alien conditions, the tourists would struggle at the start of a tour.
Now with the IPL however we have a situation where the captain of the West Indies, Chris Gayle will be flying from South Africa to London just 48 hours before the start of the opening Test at Lord’s. All so that he can squeeze in one extra game for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and pocket a nice cool sum of money for that one game.
The West Indies cricket board is unhappy with the situation but in the face of player power, they are helpless. It happened last year as well when New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori rushed from New Delhi to London on the eve of the opening Test of the series.
Acclimatization and burnout? All part of cricket history now!

www.sportshero.com (4/5/09)