My wish for IPL6 was that it should have a classy soundtrack
with a lot of energy related to sports. The jumpin japak thing by Farah Khan
just spoilt everything. Anyhow, I was expecting for the main thing, some good
cricket and so far there has been some brilliant performances by teams and
individuals. I can only hope the tempo will further intensify and the
tournament will bring some memories that we fans will cherish for a long time
to come.
I haven’t written anything about the RCB VS PWI match.
Actually that was one of those matches which goes down well in the memory and
very few can bring them to life on the paper. I am among the one who can keep
thinking about the GayleStorm for a long time. My conclusion would be, what
Bradman was to tests & Tendulkar was to one dayers, Chris Henry Gayle is to
T20. Somehow I wouldn’t like to hear Gayle being called a T20 god, The T20
Monster sounds better on the gentle giant !!!
Coming back to the current match, I was hugely disappointed
with Ponting sitting out on the bench. Yes there has been examples of team
captains who sat out on the bench while the action was on. That was on sheer
performance. But here we are talking about Ricky Ponting, skipper of the team
that won 3 world cups and dominated world cricket for about a decade. He might
not be scoring runs but he is more of a leader, rightly said by Ajay Jadeja at
pre-match session with Sunny Gavaskar and Samir Kocchar. Moreover, he is among
those few rare players who played on 1st change in all formats of
the game. That’s his speciality. We have seen what happened to Sachin Tendulkar
when he used to bat at #2 for India in ODIs.
The next surprise was the appointment of Rohit Sharma as the
Mumbai Indians skipper! This talent house is already rare in his brilliant
innings, why add the load of captaincy on his shoulders? On the other hand,
there was no good choice either. Maybe this will turn out to be one of the
finest moves but what we need now is a batsman who is the consistent form of
Rohit Sharma. We don’t have to worry about a captain for the Indian team in
either formats. Dhoni is irreplaceable now and he has done good for Indian
cricket. His resume is super impressive. And I hope to believe that the BCCI is
keen on grooming Kohli for the future.
However, the skippers plan of challenging Yusuf Pathan with
Bhajji was pathetic. Yusuf Pathan against an off sipnner who is out of form for
a long time and in his home ground, Eden Gardens ? That’s a big blunder but
every skipper learns from mistakes.
Bhajji needs to make sure he is still passionate about the
game and his main reason to play for India should still be the love of the game
and not what the game brings. I won’t like to agree that a top player like him
can be out of form for close to 4 years if not more. Also, thinking about Manoj
Tiwary, I wonder if that’s the best local talent KKR has? Is there no-one in
the team who is better than him to replace wrong. If not, Bengal cricket is in
danger.
Coming to my sports icon Sachin Tendulkar. Many happy
returns of the day, master !!! May this year bring heaps of runs off your bat
in every format that you play. However about this match, i was let down yet
again. Not taking away anything from Naraine. Beautiful delivery, the perfect
off spinners weapon. The frustration is why Tendulkar faces such deliveries in
more frequent basis ? Is he losing his immortal touch of scoring off anything
bowled at him? Are the bowlers bowling extra special deliveries to get the
wicket of the extra special batsman?
I am worried about the batting of Mumbai. Hope they very
soon get Rohit Sharma to open with Sachin Tendulkar followed by Ricky Ponting,
Karthick and Pollard.
The tournament is going to get intense very soon !!!
