DC vs RCB: Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, help Chennai reach playoffs
Dale Steyn produced a fiery pace bowling spell of three for just eight runs as Deccan Chargers knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the Indian Premier League with a nine-run victory in a tense match on Sunday.
Steyn claimed the wickets of dangerous Chris Gayle and his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan and Zaheer Khan as RCB failed to chase down the target of 133 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal.
The victory by the Chargers also meant that defending champions Chennai Super Kings go through the playoffs stage, along with table-toppers Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
RCB collected 17 points from 16 matches, the same as that of Chennai but the latter made it to the playoffs stage on better net run rate.
Delhi now play Kolkata in the first qualifier in Pune on May 22 while Chennai take on Mumbai in the eliminator in Bangalore on May 23.
The Chargers, who ended the tournament at eighth out of nine teams with nine points from 16 matches, thus spoiled RCB’s chances of a playoff berth just two days after knocking out Rajasthan Royals from the tournament.
Steyn was ably supported by Ashish Reddy (3/25), Amit Mishra (2/26) and Veer Pratap Singh (1/26) as RCB could score 123 for nine from their 20 overs.
For RCB, captain Virat Kohli top-scored with a 40-ball 42 while Saurabh Tiwary and Gayle contributed 30 and 27 respectively.
But RCB’s run chase never got going as they lost wickets at the crucial stages. Gayle taking 24 runs from the second over bowled by Manpreet Gony was the only highlight of the RCB chase and all the batsmen other than Kohli, Gayle and Tiwary could not reach double digits.
Next post
RCB are the biggest losers and chokers ever. Gayle is a player who only plays well in the league stages and scores in single digits in the knockout stages. And today all saw how the other RCB batsmen too could not handle even the slightest pressure. Take that Idiots Siddharth and Vijay Mallya!
Steyn: We have lost a lot of crucial games in this tournament. So to win a game that went down to the last over was really great. When I went in to bowl against Gayle and Dilshan? Yeah I was thinking Chelsea won the Champions League last night. No but I know they are good batsmen so I was just trying to go hard at them and keep it simple. The previous time I played RCB my game plan didn’t work for me.
Dale Steyn is the Man of the Match
Kohli: We didn’t play the right shots. We tried to rush things. Probably my wicket changed things. We just have to come back next season and play better. It wasn’t such a tough wicket to bat on but we didn’t play the right kind of shots. We have played some great cricket in this tournament, we didn’t qualify owing to the run rate. We can take a lot of positives from this tournament though.
Sangakkara: It is great to win at home, in front of the crowd at Hyderabad. It was the last game of the season and we needed to win. It was a great win, special mention for Steyn, Parthiv, White and all the youngsters. We enjoyed our time in this torunament and we will want to come back next season and win more matches.
If you had to attribute Deccan’s success in this game or in the tournament to one player, then that man would have to be Dale Steyn. He knocked over Gayle and took a total of three wickets in four overs. What is more stunning though, is the fact that Steyn gave away just eight runs in his quota of four. One has to look back at Virat Kohli’s wicket as the turning point in the game. He had the match under control but he threw it away after going for a big shot when it wasn’t needed. Clearly not one of the better decisions that the youngster made and you could see he realised that, after he hung his head down in shame at the end of the match.
The last couple of weeks has certainly not been pretty for teams in red. Manchester United lost their season in a similar way, tied on points but behind on goal difference. Last night Bayern Munchen, another side in red, lost their chance to lift the Champions League title owing to penalties. Today Bangalore failed to hold their nerve at crucial junctures and lost out on a spot in the play offs.
White: It is a nice way to finish the tournament for Deccan. It was the last game so no preparations left, hopefully we can enjoy together and have a nice time. Obviously it is more enjoyable when you are winning, hopefully we can improve and come back well next season. My form has improved and hopefully I can come back next year and score more runs.
Oh dear, you just cannot keep Chennai out of the play offs. Sadly we will not get to see Gayle’s ballistic batting anymore. That’s how a league goes though, you need to win and you need to do it consistently. Chennai got their 17 points and Bangalore on 17 failed to grab those crucial two points when it mattered. Bangalore have lost out on net run rate here, you have to feel for them
Mumbai to face CSK in Bangalore!
Well fixed… RCB demand for the loss was 10 crores and DC demand for win was 2 crores… Apparently CSK fixed the winner and saved 8 crores… The twist in the tale was the arrest of Pomerbach and legal notice to Sid mallya…. WOW IPL is better than WWF
point to notice: 1. Chennai got through to play off. 2. Mumbai got through to CL what RCB lost is the play off spot and they would have been at the third spot, a chance for CL.
I just wanted to stay away from this IPL, but people’s comment (especially in last one week) dragged me to write a comment. I don’t understand why people from North and Mumbai wanted to see CSK’s exit. I am not going to say CSK deserves play-off, but it’s way of fate, so they got their chance. Please support your fav team and don’t think whether CSK’s getting in or out. One more thing don’t start blabbering that CSK OWNER PAID MONEY. I am proud about my team (CSK), whether they win or loss, I support them bcoz that’s my city. Btw – thanks to DC & Steyn. Now all the best for all 4 teams.
one rash shot by virat kohli did RCB bite the dust. Take out GAYLE, RCB is huge blob!!! Everybody plays like a ship without rudder!! It is utmost shame that the team which took it’s well wishers to pinnacle of glory, fell like nine pins. My question to Kohli is why he chose to field first? My suggestion to ipl organisers is shunt out RCB forever from the tournament hereafter. I feel ashamed that I was a fan of RCB.
Actually we all have noted that RCB’s shamefull performance was at ITC hotel in Delhi. But as a cricket team they did play with their heart out. Gayle’s three centuries will speak for his whole hearted performance. Today, Stywn really bowled so well to send Gayle back to pavilion. Let us accept the realiy. In fact it was CSK which didnot perform whole heartedly. Even Navjot Sidhu admitted after the match that Dhoni’s Destiny only took CSK to playoff stage. Even KX11P did better than CSK in my opinion.
IPL 5: Royal Challengers Bangalore lose to Deccan Chargers by 9 runs. Chennai Super Kings qualify for play-offs by default, Bangalore are out
Indeed the party spoilerssssss. The Chargerssss.Time for CSK to party tonight. No Gayle storm no win. An exciting match. Bad luck Kohli. Nice performance by DC..
WoW! DC is no more at bottom of the table. No Gayle No RCB. When CSK into Quarters, there is always fun and competition. Thanks Duminy and Steyn.
CSK finished all matches 1 week before playoff.Qualifier 2 is in chennai and so is final in chennai. DC lost all its matches (exception being against pune) but won its lost two matches against RR and RCB. Looks like the schedule was finalized with CSK in mind, let them finish there matches before everyone else and other contenders will lose.
RCB should have stuck with Daniel Vittori. If they wanted to bring in Muralidharan they should have done so at the expense of Dilshan. But Siddharth Mallya interfered and said that Dilshan should play all matches. Daniel Vittori is a silent guy who avoids all these after match parties. So junior Mallya disliked him. Vijay Mallya has some serious problems on his hands. His son is so useless. He will destroy everything Vijay Mallya built up.
IPL 5: Bangalore crash out after loss to Chargers, Chennai in play-offs!
Dale Steyn produced a fiery pace bowling spell of three for just eight runs as Deccan Chargers knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the Indian Premier League with a nine-run victory in a tense match in Uppal on Sunday.
Steyn claimed the wickets of dangerous Chris Gayle and his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan and Zaheer Khan as RCB failed to chase down the target of 133 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal.
The victory by the Chargers also meant that defending champions Chennai Super Kings go through the play-offs stage, along with table-toppers Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
RCB collected 17 points from 16 matches, the same as that of Chennai but the latter made it to the play-offs stage on better net run rate.
Delhi now play Kolkata in the first qualifier in Pune on May 22 while Chennai take on Mumbai in the eliminator in Bangalore on May 23.
The Chargers, who ended the tournament at eighth out of nine teams with nine pints from 16 matches, thus spoiled RCB’s chances of a play-off berth just two days after knocking out Rajasthan Royals from the tournament.
Steyn was ably supported by Ashish Reddy (3-25), Amit Mishra (2-26) and Veer Pratap Singh (1-26) as RCB could score 123 for nine from their 20 overs.
For RCB, captain Virat Kohli top-scored with a 40-ball 42 while Saurabh Tiwary and Gayle contributed 30 and 27 respectively.
But RCB’s run chase never got going as they lost wickets at the crucial stages. Gayle taking 24 runs from the second over bowled by Manpreet Gony was the only highlight of the RCB chase and all the batsmen other than Kohli, Gayle and Tiwary could not reach double digits.
Earlier, South African allrounder JP Duminy cracked a strokeful 53-ball 74 as Deccan Chargers recovered from a shaky start to post a modest 132 for seven.
Duminy smashed four fours and five sixes and stitched 71 runs in 46 balls with Parthiv Patel (16) to help Deccan recover from 30 for 3 to post a respectable total.
RCB bowlers put brakes on Chargers batsmen right from the word go and not only claimed their wickets at regular intervals but also succeeded in slowing the run-rate after stand-in skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field.
Deccan had a disastrous start with three of their batsmen — Shikhar Dhawan (5), Akshath Reddy (7) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (15) — being dismissed within the first five overs.
Duminy and Sangakkara then tried to steady the innings with a 31-run partnership off 41 balls before the latter fall to compatriot Muttiah Muralitharan in the 12th over. Duminy then single-handedly took the attack to the opposition and sent the bowlers for a leather hunt to rack up runs in quick time.
The South African was particularly harsh on Murali in the 18th over, when he smashed the spinner for three sixes to pile up 20 runs.
Duminy was finally dismissed by Zaheer Khan in the next over when he failed to get rid off a full toss and was caught by substitute KP Appanna.
R Vinay Kumar was the pick of the bowler, caliming three for 22, while Zaheer took two for 30. Murali and Prasanth Parameswaran claimed one wicket each.
Dhoni has proven his Lady Luck beyond any doubt with CSK qualifying to Play-offs
Send him to England, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa – He and his Team will all become transgenders within no time losing luck and pluck.
and who stopped other team from winning. Face it boss….CSK is in playoff because other teams did not play better than csk. Luck only favors the brave and only loserssss use luck to jusify anything. I am not telling CSK were best side but they were defintly better than many other team even though until now csk played only half of their real potential. take a bow csk. and why the way individuals can win u 1 or 2 matches but to be successful you to good process and approach. Thats why CSK are champions not only once but twice and are in top 4 each time with same team with many local players (TN) playing. Btw i m not from TN and from north india
Very much disappointed bcos it is the end of Gaylestorm in IPL5.
RCB are the biggest chokers, only because of Gayle the team was winninig and it is the worst team than deccan chargers. shame to RCB!
i am not a gr8 CSK follower. but sure ya, always a pleasure to see a home team win!! but it is hilarious to see anti chennai brigade burn their stomachs out here!! i mean face it like a MAN dudes!! u lost.. i mean u lost to DC! who has in total won only a 3 or so matches! now u can call it fixing or whatever!! even in that case Srinivasan has out smarted the Richard branson copy cat (mallaya). Surck it up guys!! bangalore can never win any thing any where!! Bangalore is the rsting place for other neigbouring state fellas!! face it!! and go to sleep, while ur RCB players busy morelesting girls in the pub!!
IPL 2012 – Kolkata have a foot in playoffs…
Team Kolkata inflicted a 32-run defeat on Mumbai and virtually booked their place in the IPL 5 playoffs at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
Chasing a target of 140, Mumbai succumbed to the guiles of mystery spinner Sunil Narine (4-15) and a deadly twin-strike from all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who accounted for West Indians Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith off successive balls in the 17th over.
The Caribbean Narine foxed Sachin Tendulkar and had Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma caught to spell doom for the hosts.
Mumbai began on a slow note trying to read Kolkata’s bowlers, who relied on a three-pronged spin attack.
It paid off as Mumbai-bred left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla trapped opener Herschelle Gibbs leg before in the 6th over.
Tendulkar made a sedate 27 (24 balls) striking three boundaries and an upper-cut six off Kallis before playing Narine very late only to see the ball spin and take his off-stump.
Dinesh Karthik (20; 26b, 3×4) began with a flourish, pulling and on-driving two consecutive boundaries off Kallis but his attempt to pull L Balaji over square-leg in the 13th over saw him holing out to Yusuf Pathan stationed at the fence.
With three gone for 66, Mumbai needed another 74 from 42 balls but Kallis’ twin strikes swung the match Kolkata’s way.
Earlier, put into bat, Kolkata rode on the two good knocks of Manoj Tiwary (41; 43b, 2×4, 2×6) and skipper Gautam Gambhir 27 (23b, 3×4, 1×6) to post a modest 140.
Kolkata’s big-hitter Yusuf Pathan, however, continued to be strangled by his poor form, managing just 21 from the same number of deliveries.
It was mainly due to Tiwary’s effort that Kolkata managed to better their worst total of 131 this season batting first (made against Rajasthan at the Eden on April 13).
That a few boundaries came from edges didn’t matter as Tiwary did his best to prop the total. His two sixes were, in fact, the best-hit shots.
He first deposited Harbhajan Singh cleanly over deep mid-wicket and later got under a length ball from Malinga to cart it high and straight near the sight screen.
Gambhir, who began with a superbly-timed straight boundary off the very second ball of the innings from Munaf Patel, steadied the ship with Tiwary (adding 45 runs in 29 balls) after his side had suffered twin blows off successive balls in the second over, losing opener Brendon McCullum and Kallis.
Kiwi McCullum was unfortunate to have been ruled leg before by the umpire as he was down the track against left-arm seamer RP Singh while Kallis was done in by a peach of a delivery that held its line and went past the pad and bat to knock back the off stump.
I think BCCI should consider IPL to choose indian T20 team, as it is the biggest platform to judge players for T20 at least. Gambhir should be captain and Karthik should keep the wicket. Dhoni should rest and takes care of oneday and test.
Acc to me, Sehwag, Gambhir, Rohit, Virat, Rayadu, Agarwal, Karthik, Ojha, Zaheer, Yadav, Aaran, Iqbal…Manojtiwari, Irfan pathan, Raina, Shikhar, munaf..should be in the squad
IPL 20p12 – Lucky Chennai now hope to do better!
The tension was too much, but by the end of it on Sunday evening, the relief was immense.
After being down and out losing to Team Punjab on Thursday, the biggest Chennai fans didn’t give themselves a chance. Three results had to go their way and the team, too, was “hoping against hope.”
On Friday and Saturday, things did go Chennai’s way when Rajasthan and Punjab lost out, but the entire team knew that the biggest hurdle will be Team Bangalore. So by Sunday afternoon, when the team (barring MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, who are in New Delhi), gathered in one room, they were feeling the heat.
“If you are at the ground and playing, you know that things are in your hand. But this was a completely different scenario and all we could do was to hope that Hyderabad will win it for us,” a senior Chennai official who was with the team, told TOI.
When Hyderabad lost those early wickets and were in a bit of trouble, some of the players had given up hope. “Bangalore are a good team and we didn’t expect that Hyderabad will go past 130. Thanks to JP Duminy that they reached 132… Still we weren’t too hopeful,” a senior player said.
However, the slow nature of the wicket did give Chennai a ray of hope and “we believed if Dale Steyn could strike in the first few overs, we have a chance,” the player added.
Australia have won 4 test series in india and Australia have also won numerous one day series in india ALSO INCLUDING AUSTRALIA WINNING THE WORLD CUP OF 1987 IN INDIA …but on the other hand india has never won a test series in Australia and South Africa and india never will…here are some stats for the brain washed indian cricket fans of Australian test series wins in india….… Australia in India (2004-05)– Result – Australia 2, India 1, Drawn 1 … Australia in India (1969-70)– Result – Australia 3, India 1, Drawn 1 … Australia in India (1959-60) — Result – Australia 2, India 1, Drawn 2 … Australia in India (1956-57) — Result – Australia 2, India 0, Drawn 1 ……..THE WHOLE RECORD OF INDIA AND … SEE WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE ENJOYED MORE GLORY DAYS..… TEST MATCHES….. AUS VS INDIA … AUS WINS 38 IND WINS 20…… TEST MATCHES PAK VS INDIA … PAK WINS 12 IND WINS 9…….. TEST MATCHES SA VS INDIA … SA WINS 12 IND WINS 7 …….. ODI MATCHES AUS VS IND… AUS WINS 64 IND 37 WINS….. ODI MATCHES PAK VS IND… PAK WINS 69 IND 48 WINS………… ODI MATCHES SA VS IND… SA WINS 40 IND 24 WINS………… STATS SAY IT ALL AND STATS DON’T LIE …….First India was crushed and whitewashed in England 4-0 in test matches then india lost both the t20 matches in England and then india lost all the odis in England and the funny part was india lost in all three formats in the game of cricket without even a single win in England….THEN…..India went to Australia and got humiliated and whitewashed in the test series 4-0 and then pathetic indian team couldn’t even qualify for CB SERIES FINALS out of just three teams in Australia……After that pathetic indian team went for the Asia Cup and Bangladeshis thrashed and defeated the indian team and not to forget a 25 over century from Flopdulkar which was the main reason for the indian defeat against Bangladesh….Now two things are in common whenever Flopdulkar score runs india loses and whenever Kohli score runs india is out of the tournament… Pathetic poor crying indian team can only win fixed matches in india like the fixed world cup of 2011 and fixed matches in ipl……and in the end …In short india got thrashed in England then got crushed in Australia then india couldn’t even qualify for Asia Cup Final due to loss against Bangladesh and then indian team tried to do some face saving in a t20 match against South Africa before IPL and india lost there as well giving away 219 runs in 20 overs, there is enough proof to say that india should only play fixed matches in india… One of the greatest quotations from Greg Chappel’s book that “Poms (British) when they were ruling india for over a 100 years have done well to teach indians to keep their heads down”. Now I know many Indians will disagree with me and say all kinds of bad words but there is a very famous saying TRUTH IS BITTER..
Well, I guess, Cricket is not a one man show. U can’t bank on 1 or 2 players alone to win matches for you. RCB lost & I am really very happy about it. They don’t deserve a berth in playoffs. I mean look at the statistics. Gayle scored 30.8% of RCB’s total runs in this IPL! Had Gayle being taken by some other team, I guess, RCB would never had come so close. Although, I never wanted Chennai also to qualify, but you can’t get all your equations right, just like Chennai. CSK have a good chance to pick their third consecutive IPL. May the best team wins in playoffs. Thanks DC for such a show and yes, Dale is an absolute eliminator. Thanks Dale for such a splendid show. 3/8 is definitely a career boosting figure. Although DCdisappointed in this IPL, I guess, they will put up a better show in the next one. That’s ther trend..!!! (Remember IPL 1 & IPL 2).
IPL 2012 – It is absolutely Bangalore mistake, not Chennai’s luck.
IPL 2012 – RCBdefeat puts CSK into play-offs! What a game!
Royal Challengers Bangalore faltered at the final hurdle, losing to Deccan Chargers by nine runs in Hyderabad on Sunday to leave them stranded on fifth and out of the IPL play-offs. Deccan, meanwhile, proved to be the saviours for Chennai Super Kings, winning their final two games against Rajasthan Royals and then Bangalore to help the defending champions sneak through by virtue of a better net run-rate.
Batting has been Bangalore’s strength throughout this tournament, but it failed them when it mattered the most. Instead it was an aggressive knock from JP Duminy that decided the match as he helped his side set a modest target of 133, which the bowlers, inspired by an unplayable Dale Steyn, managed to defend. In fact, Steyn, Amit Mishra and Ashish Reddy picked up key wickets at crucial moments, and Bangalore eventually managed only 123 for 9.
Still, it looked as if the chase would be an easy one for Bangalore when the in-form Chris Gayle (27) hammered Manpreet Gony for 24 runs in the second over. But Steyn provided the first turning point soon after, bowling a fiery bouncer to Gayle that evidently rattled the West Indian, because he was gone the next delivery, dragging the ball back on to his stumps trying to hit him over the park. Steyn then dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw in his next over, and when Saurabh Tiwary retired hurt in the sixth with a hamstring injury, Bangalore knew they had a game on their hands.
Tiwary had to return in the 10th over though, after Amit Mishra struck twice to put the home side on top. Duminy played his part by taking a leaping catch at cover to send back AB de Villiers (4), before Mayank Agarwal was bowled two balls later. At the halfway mark Bangalore were 57 for 4, and with a long tail to come, in big trouble.
Virat Kohli and Tiwary put on a brisk 46-run partnership to put their team back on track, and when Reddy conceded a four and a six in the 16th over, it looked as if Bangalore had turned a corner. However, Kohli was out at the end of that over, furious with himself as he was caught at long-on for 42. It proved to be a costly error as Steyn returned to bowl the 17th over, conceding just one run and picking up Zaheer Khan, to end with Man-of-the-Match figures of 3 for 8. And when Tiwary (30) crumbled under the pressure of the asking rate to fall to Veer Pratap Singh in the 19th over, the game was as good as over. Bangalore’s bowlers could not get the 14 runs they needed off the final over, Reddy finishing with 3 for 25, and Deccan took the eighth spot to leave Pune Warriors at the bottom of the table.
That they had a decent total to defend was largely possible only due to Duminy, who came to his team’s rescue after they were in doldrums for more than half the game. Having been put in to bat, Deccan lost Shikhar Dhawan – their topscorer in this campaign – to Zaheer at the end of the very first over. The umpires missed it and turned down the bowler’s appeal for an lbw, but the fielders pointed out that the ball had just dislodged a bail on its way through to send Dhawan on his way.
It got worse for the hosts after Vinay Kumar had Akshath Reddy caught behind in the fourth over, before Cameron White read Prasanth Parameswaran’s short-length delivery wrong and attempted a pull that only resulted in a simple catch for Agarwal at square leg. With the Bangalore bowlers keeping things tight and Deccan struggling on a pitch where the ball did not come on to the bat easily, runs were hard to come by and the score was a paltry 23 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay overs.
That became 53 for 4 at the end of 12 overs after skipper Kumar Sangakkara, attempting to up the run-rate, gave the charge to his fellow Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan and was caught at long-off for 15.
However, Duminy remained steady at the other end, and with Parthiv Patel giving him company in a 71-run partnership, launched an attack on the otherwise disciplined Bangalore bowlers, to take his side to 132 for 7. His 53-ball 74 included 4 fours and 5 sixes, including three big ones off Muralitharan in an 18th over that cost 20 runs. Although he was out to a mistimed shot off a full toss off Zaheer in the next and Deccan managed only six runs off the final over, it proved to be enough in the end to help them avoid the wooden spoon and put a relieved Chennai through to the play-offs, while also confirming the third spot for Mumbai Indians.
We still have a chance: Morkel – CSK all-rounder says his team may qualify for playoffs despite losing to KXIP.
The Chennai Super Kings’ destiny is no longer in their hands. Their six-wicket loss against Kings XI Punjab ensured that CSK will have to hope and pray that other results go in their favour for them to secure a playoff berth. Inconsistency has plagued the reigning IPL champions this season with their big players failing to live up to their standards. But one player who has performed with distinction is Albie Morkel. The all-rounder has been scintillating with the bat whenever called upon, while with the ball, he’s been steady.
The big-hitting all-rounder revealed in an exclusive interview with iplt20.com that CSK still believe in their playoffs chances despite the loss against KXIP in Dharamsala.
What are your thoughts on today’s comprehensive loss?
We are not out of it, but we have to wait for the other outcomes now. It is not the way we wanted. We would have liked to qualify by winning. Today, we got beaten by a better side. There were few games we should have and could have won.
Do you have enough points to make it to the playoffs?
We still have a chance. [Royal Challengers] Bangalore have got a tough game tonight and it is going to be a big result for us. We also have to keep our eyes on RR who are playing some good and consistent cricket.
What’s hurt CSK the most this season?
We have not been consistent throughout the tournament. We have played only a couple of complete games where we have done well in all the three departments. We have had success for the last four years and we are still not out of it, so let’s hope…
What’s the secret behind your power hitting?
I don’t think it’s a secret. As you see, I am not the biggest guy around, so I guess it’s bit of power, bat swing and timing.
Do you think you are underestimated as a batsman?
I don’t think “underestimate” is a right word. I have a role in the team and that is to finish. I get to bat the last five overs, and in India it is tough as the wickets are slow. So it is difficult to hit from ball one. In the ideal world everyone wants to bat in the top three or four, but that is not going to happen.
Can Morne Morkel help you by turning over KXIP on May 19?
The wicket is going to be the same and Morne is going to be interesting to watch as he has got good bounce. It’s almost like the Durban wicket in South Africa and certainly the quickest wicket I have played in India. People who are not used to bounce, it is difficult for them to bat here.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Qualifying in all play-offs till last year. Reaching 3 out of 4 finals. Winning 2 out of 3 finals. And one champion league cup also. And you call CSK a joke now??? A champion team can always have a phase of inconsistency and slip-ups like Manchester United (BPL 2012) and Barcelona (CL 2012, La Liga 2012). May be its the year for champions to take the back seat. If CSK have become a joke owing to inconsistency in one out of 5 IPL editions, would you Rajesh Kumar call all the other teams as a big joke for their inconsistent performance over the past 4 years???
How to bowl? A guide to T20 bowling – by Wasim Akram.
While watching a Twenty20 game, how often have you wondered how a cricketer from the yesteryears would have fared in this format? We imagine Sir Vivian Richards lording over hapless medium pacers and dibbly dobbly spinners with an absolute license to kill. More intriguing is the thought, whether or not some of the great bowlers from the past would have been just as effective in the format that is so cruel on the bowlers. When a bowler gets plonked mercilessly by someone like Chris Gayle, one wonders how one of his fellow West Indian pacers of the 1970s would have handled him.
Thanks to the ongoing IPL 2012, we got a golden opportunity to quench this inquisition by picking the brain of the man who had mastered both, the red and the white ball during his playing days. What made him the best person to talk to on the subject is that he’s closely involved in the Twenty20 format presently, as a coach.
We, at iplt20.com, put Wasim Akram – a magician with the cricket ball in his hand and the bowling mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders – in the hot seat. Akram said that he would’ve loved to play more Twenty20 cricket than he did, and gave priceless insight on how he’d have gone about it. The legendary fast bowler also spoke about his current favourite bowler in this format and a bowler from the past he’d have loved to watch bowl in Twenty20s.
Do you think you’d have enjoyed playing the T20 format?
I missed on playing Twenty20 cricket; I only played two games for Hampshire in 2003 when the format was just introduced. I believe this format would have suited my game – my bowling and batting. I think T20 has changed cricket a lot in the last six-seven years. The idea of T20 cricket is to generate interest among the younger crowd; to inspire them to take up the sport. And I believe it has worked.
What’s the first thing you’d look into while picking a bowling attack for a T20 game?
If I have wicket-taking bowlers, I’ll pick all of them because that’s how you win games in T20. It is an entertaining format, but it kills the bowlers, especially on the subcontinent tracks. According to me, in T20, getting wickets is the key. Generally, the batting teams look to get to 100-110 in 15 overs with wickets in hand, and then, have a go in the last five overs.
Who is your favourite T20 bowler?
Muttiah Muralitharan has still got the magic in his doosra. In fast bowlers, I like Dale Steyn. He runs in hard every ball and varies his pace. He’s got the yorkers, the bouncers, swing – everything a fast bowler should have.
How about Brett Lee – one of your wards at the Kolkata Knight Riders?
Even Brett Lee runs in, but he’s a bit expensive on the Indian tracks because he relies too heavily on pace. He doesn’t have as many variations as Steyn does, but he’s learning. He’s a quick learner.
Given how harsh this format is on the bowlers, sometimes, does mental toughness become more important than skills?
That’s right. More than pace, swing, talent, everything, it’s the mind that matters. It all depends on how intelligently you bowl. Sitting in the dugout, I can tell when the batsman is going to go after the bowler. At times, I wish I had a microphone through which I could tell my bowlers what to bowl next. In T20, if you bowl two dot balls in a row, you can be 100 percent sure the batsman will go after you, either over the fine-leg, or if it’s in the slot, he’ll hit it straight. That’s where variation comes into the picture, and that’s when you should bowl what the batsman is not expecting.
There are many successful T20 bowlers who struggle in the longer formats. Your take on them.
In T20, the bowlers bowl a lot of slower balls. These bowlers are T20 specialists and might not get wickets in the longer formats where you need to swing the ball, you need good pace. In T20, all you need to do is keep varying the pace. These are the guys who know their limitations and bowl within them. They’re not sharp and quick, and they don’t try to bowl quick. They concentrate on their strength, which is variation, and that’s the key to their IPL success.
Which bowler from the past you’d have liked to see bowl in the T20 format?
I’d have loved to see Joel Garner and Malcom Marshall. For me, Marshall was the best bowler ever in the history of the game. I rate bowlers who get wickets in subcontinent and Marshal got wickets everywhere in the world. He was a very clever bowler and what separated him from the others was that he picked the weakness of the batsman in a split second. These qualities would’ve made him interesting to watch in this format.
How do you rate the various IPL captains?
MS Dhoni has won the tournament twice, so obviously he has to be a very good captain. Gautam [Gambhir] has done well with KKR. He’s very much involved as a captain. Sourav Ganguly is a very good tactician. He’s a street-smart captain. Vettori has a very simple method. All captains have different styles. Gautam is quickly learning to play on the opposition’s mind. He’s getting the knack of the tactic that one should not do what the opponents are expecting him to do. Do something out of the box. That’s how captains make a difference.
Vijay Mallya will be better off investing the same money in Bombay Stock Exchange rather than wasting it on RCB franchise, They have Never won once in 5 years.
I just don’t understand why morons call this as CSK’s luck and blah blah blah..If you analyse all the teams in the competition, accoring to me, only Delhi and Kolkata deserved to be in Play-Offs. Teams like Mumbai,Banglore and Hyderabad were heavily dependent on 1/2 players and wanted them to perform everytime. Luckily for Mumbai, Malinga performed well and Rohit Sharma was decent and they are through. For bangalore Gayle won them half of the games, De-vilears the rest, and when both failed in the last game, they lost. For Hyderabad, inspite of Steyn’s deadly bowling and Shikkar Dhavan’s consistant batting, they lost games due to their pathetic ( I can’t find a worse word) club-level fielding. Pune had none…No team effort and no individual stars and predictably finish last.
On the other hand, if you observe, CSK, RR and KXIP played more lika team, with everyone contributing at some point or other. And among them, CSK were clearly the best. I can’t say if CSK deserved to play in play-offs..but I can vouch RCB just didn’t deserve it.
Another point is the scheduling, Chennai finished the league games well before the rest and had to wait for other results. Had it been the other way round, with Bangalore finishing their games before Chennai and Chennai playing Punjab in their last outing, the same crowd would have praised Chennai for playing well when it matters. Its all phychological here.
Bottom line: There is no luck, the top 4 who qualified were the best among the 9.
Yes! Finally someone writes about ballistic.