Let go to receive
There’s joy if you want to find
Love and live today !

The Pegacorn (chapter 1)

The horse tries to fly

and the eagle tries to run.

They make a baby !

Game of happiness
Season of making history
Immortals rule here

When the mind says no
The heart dare not oppose it
Change has just started

A roaring victory
Clapping in an empty room
Battle won, lost war.

Mumbai Indians VS Kolkata Knight Riders (7th May, 2013), Wankhede

The day began with a lot of expectation and the doze of Armour to withstand a heartbreak if Sachin fell early once again. Such is the Sachin effect that I have heard someone say there was this individual who had a break-up with his 5 years old girlfriend and he was devastated. The only thing that got him back on track was the youtube video of Sachin’s knock against Australia at Sharjah. This innings was much needed, considering the slump he was trying to get out off. I guess the duration of bad form was extended for a couple more senior players like Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj.

It was disappointing that in the first 10 overs, Sachin got to bat only for 18 deliveries when he had scored about 38 runs off 18 deliveries. The onslaught of McLaren on the 2nd over and the confident thud when the ball hit Sachin’s bat gave a picture of what was to come, especially the 3rd delivery which was pulled for a 4 to the long on fence. Can’t wait to see him get to the orange cap when the team is playing the finals

I have a question here. What are the roles of certain individuals in the team? Precisely Dwayne Smith and Harbhajan Singh? Is Smith supposed to be the aggressor and Sachin be the accumulator? Or is Mumbai playing a steady opening to see off the first 6 overs and then accelerate?  It isn’t a pleasant sight to see a T20 match played like a One Dayer. Every format is different. ODI is my favorite but its a different ball game altogether. The middle order is the strength of the team backed by superb bowlers in Johnson and Malinga. Questions still arise on the opening pairs. We all know Tendulkar is not replaceable and no one wants to see Sachin on the bench. Then who should the other person be to play as the specialist opener at the power play stage? Why not give Glenn Maxwell the shot? I think Ravi Shastri did mention his stats during the match. Moreover he will need some match practice before the knockouts begin. Or even if they want to save him at this phase why not get Karthick get in to open with Sachin? Anyhow, the trend of MI has been that a wicket will fall in the first couple of overs, so Karthick is as good as an opener and he did a fine job when the tournament started. Either way, Tendulkar should be paired with a power player like season 1 when Tendulkar and Jayasuriya dominated the powerplays. And Bhajji? The trend of spin bowling is that the spinner spins most of his deliveries and angles a few. With Bhajji, he spins only about 10 balls out of the quota of 24 balls in the match and angles the rest 14. A spinner is one who spins the balls, who he used to be about 5 years back. But all is good till the time the team is winning.

Mumbai bowled brilliantly and in fact both the sides fielded well. The catch by Morgan was one of the brightest stars in this match. What smart thinking !!! Mitchell Johnson’s bowling figures in this match : 4 overs, 13 runs, 2 wickets, 3.25 economy, 14 dots. So the batsmen scored 13 runs off only 10 deliveries. Outstanding.

Wankhede has become a fortress of the Mumbai Indians. Love the sound of the roaring crowd. I am still waiting to see some fireworks from players of the caliber of Pollard, Yusuf Pathan, Warner, Sehwag. Simply love the tournament from this stage !!!

Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders (24th April, 2013)

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 1^st 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 !!!

Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians (21st April, 2013)

3:50 pm : The first news i heard about todays match is of Sir Vivian Richards now being a part of the Delhi Daredevils team management. What a move !!! 10k claps. If the team is looking for inspiration to play out of their skins and still remain in contention of the trophy, then this great man is best suited to turn the tide for favourable results.

On the other hand Mumbai still don’t have their opens figured out. Pondulkar (lol) isn’t working. It doesn’t take a think tank to analyze that, its so obvious. They need to change the combination. Ponting on 1^st down and maybe Rohit Sharma to open with Tendulkar. And If a slot has to be replaced than it has to be done with someone who is scoring, not someone to test. Rohit did bat well for Deccan as an opener.

I am also thinking about the moment in this match when my cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar will perform or fail. Irrespective of that, i will be bound to feel the emotion for him. Then i think about the tournament. We need to win this match to break the losing streak. 

4:15 pm : What a brilliant start by Delhi. That’s how a fast bowler starts bowling for this team. Great start by Irfan. And am glad that Ponting is not out to open. Smith is a good move but I would really like to see Rohit Sharma open with Sachin for a couple of innings.

5:08 pm : I knew this bittersweet moment will come in the match when my national team favourites Sachin and Rohit would perform, I am glad to see them score but also pissed about scoring against my team. On the other hand, Delhi seems to be operating with a mission but messing up with the fielding. Teams like CSK and RCB are brilliant fielding units and this department of the game actually brings results.

8:08 pm: I simply needed some shelter from the ViruCane. This is the proof of the statement ‘1 man army’. Long have the Delhi and all cricket fans waited for such show of batting display. The Innings was a perfect blend of brute force of a shot gun in Sehwag and the finesse of a sniper rifle in Jayawardene.

In one of the interviews of Sir Richards during the match, the anchor asked him about his way of putting some value in the team. Richards told them ‘do them before they do to you’, said the West Indian who created havoc in the bowling world. And thanks we did get inspired. For the Mumbai Indians, ViruCane was the dark day with thunder bolts all around.

Splendid, I got to watch two of my favourite batsmen in Mumbai (Sachin & Rohit) score good and most importantly, dominate. And then my home team launched the run chase, unleashed from the mental block of uncertainty & won the match with ease. The road might be end for Delhi this year but they can still make someone else’s day bad when it will come to single point at the top of the table. As Mr Gavaskar said, Delhi was careless in the last 6 matches, today they were carefree. Waiting for the team to dominate the rest of the tournament as a team !!!

Royal Challengers Bangalore (vs) Chennai Super Kings

 What a match !!! This was indeed a surgical victory. The way the mammoth score of 205 was chased down by CSK will wake up the sleeping giants for the rest of the series. Probably a thing for other teams to worry about. Having said that, as the competition heads towards the middle stages, the rest of the teams need to do the same. But seriously such wins always inspire the teams to insanity. Csk players played their roles with perfection. They gave their respect to Vettori, Zaheer and Murali but mercilessly massacred the rest of the bowling attack. This is a good example of strategies of keen cricket learners. Gayle must be heart-broken but then thats the nature of the game. You got to move on to the next match forgetting the previous match. The series is open to all now.

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

 

A great start by the Mumbai Indians and I think it was an usual start by the Chennai Super Kings. A loss in the 1st game doesn’t really count much when there are about 16 matches to be played. The game may be very short to stage recoveries but the duration of the tournament has been long enough to make fans witness lots of ups and down of their favorite teams. There were a few sparks in the match that really predicts a flashier tournament by players in both the teams. Having said that, I am not taking anything away from my favorite Mumbai Indians. There can be only 1 winner and in this match Mumbai Indians outdid Chennai Super Kings in all the 3 aspects of the game – batting, bowling and fielding. Execution is such an important bridge that leads to success.
Talking about the sparks, I loved couple of shots by Bravo. What a utility player he is! CSK did a very brilliant things by getting him in but I still fail to wonder why Ravinder Jadeja was the most expensive player this year? He is a good player but his good luck is a mystery. Bollinger and Morkel also seems to be in good touch. Levi, what can I say about him? He looked a little fazed when the innings started but then he composed himself and butchered the CSK bowling. Great to see a 50 runs opening partnership for MI. Sachin Tendulkar looked like the man he was in 1998. The six over covers was one of the most gorgeous shots he used to play. Heart warming to see that come up with intent.
However, I was not happy with the scores. This kind of scores isn’t good for T20 cricket. Especially in IPL when being played in the sub-continent. Hoping it was the pitch and this won’t be the trend in the rest of the matches to follow.
Great match tomorrow. KKR vs DD, my team. Its either Delhi or Mumbai who will win the IPL this year.