Two teams with matching firepower will come face to face when table-toppers Delhi Daredevils take on second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders in what promises to be a high-voltage first qualifier in the controversy-ridden IPL 5, in Pune on Tuesday.
In a season marred by unsavoury incidents off the field, the IPL‘s cricketing climax promises to be quite a treat with heavyweights making the last four.
And there’s nothing better than Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders kicking off the business end of the event. The two teams have, without doubt, been the most consistent performers in the Twenty20 league this season.
Both the teams boast of explosive batting line-ups. Their bowling attacks too have done exceptionally well in a format considered punishing for bowlers.
When the two teams came face to face in the league stage, honours were shared, with Delhi winning in Kolkata and KKR returning the favour when they visited the capital.
On paper, the sides match up pretty well and it promises to be a battle of equals.
If Delhi has the brutality of captain Virender Sehwag and David Warner, Kolkata have the answer in Brendon McCullum.
If Mahela Jayawardene lends stability to Delhi’s batting order, Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir is equally inspirational for his team.
In fact, both the teams have equally potent all-rounders in the line-up, with Irfan Pathan rediscovering his old form for Delhi and Bangladeshi Shakib Al Hasan doing the job for Kolkata.
On the bowling front, Delhi have a pace ace in South African Morne Morkel, who has not just been miserly in conceding runs but also the wrecker-in-chief when it comes to picking wickets.
Ably supported by Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, Delhi’s pace attack has looked lethal with Morkel at the helm.
Kolkata also have an intimidating pace battery, with Australian Brett Lee likely to make a comeback after sitting out in the last three games.
But, with the likes of mystery spinner Sunil Narine, Iqbal Abdulla and Shakib in the ranks, Kolkata definitely have the upper hand over Delhi in the spin department.
Teams:
Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (C), Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Puneet Bisht, Robin Bist, Naman Ojha (wk),Shahbaz Nadeem, Venugopal Rao, Vikas Mishra, Yogesh Nagar, Zafir Patel, Sunny Gupta, Tejashwi Yadav, Aavishkar Salvi, Kuldeep Raval, Manpreet Juneja, Pawan Negi, Prashant Naik, Aaron Finch, Andre Russell, Doug Bracewell, Glenn Maxwell, Gulam Bodi, Morne Morkel, Roelf van der Merwe.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (C), Brendon McCullum (wk), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Debabrata Das, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine,Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Chirag Jani, Iresh Saxena, JaidevUnadkat, Manvinder Bisla, Pradeep Sangwan, Sanju Samson, Sarabjit Singh Ladda, Mohammad Shami Ahmed, Eoin Morgan, Marchant de Lange, Ryan ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan.
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It’s Sehwag vs Gambhir!
Friends turned IPL foes Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir will lock horns once more when Delhi take on Kolkata in the IPL Qualifier 1 on Tuesday.
Last season, the two Team India openers were in the eye of a storm after it was revealed that they played the fourth edition of the IPL despite carrying injuries. A year later, they have turned their individual fortunes around and led their teams to the top of the table in the league stage.
Not only have Sehwag and Gambhir been injury-free, they have been among runs as well. With a tally of 556 and 484 runs respectively, Gambhir and Sehwag are the leading run-getters among the teams that have made it to the playoff stage.
The Nawab of Najafgarh has often heaped praise on his younger India teammate and Gambhir has reciprocated the admiration. The left-handed batsman, who had hit a long rough patch following his domineering performances in 2007-09 on the international stage, has shown signs of recapturing his form.
Interestingly, of his overall tally of 2,146 runs, 1,115 came when playing under Sehwag in the first three seasons. Yet, he scored them at a modest average of 28.58 while the same has improved to 38.18 for Kolkata. Call it leading from the front or enjoying the responsibility, Gambhir has been as much an asset to Shah Rukh Khan’s team these last two years as Sehwag has been for Delhi.
The two teams have a 1-1 head-to-head record this season and both will take heart from the fact that their outing at Gahunje ended on a victorious note.
The pitch will again be under the scanner. The one used for the last match was notoriously slow with Kolkata successfully defending 136/4 against hosts Pune.
Although a different, better strip is expected to be used for the qualifier, it is unlikely to be a belter. It is here that the presence of Sehwag, and Warner as well, could be the difference between the two teams. Kolkata might rue a lack of batting ammunition. Jacques Kallis has been below par, at least by his standards, and Yusuf Pathan woefully out of form this season.
Delhi also have a more potent attack with Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav providing the pace boost. Their rivals will depend on the guiles of Laxmipathy Balaji and West Indies spinner Sunil Narine to curb the marauding rivals.
IPL 5 Playoff Predictions!
After a gruelling regular season, it’s now time for the IPL 2012 playoffs. The top four teams, which will feature in the league’s post-season, have had varying fortunes thus far–and their individual journeys to the playoffs have been markedly different. Over the next few days, however, these teams–Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings–will have to be at their best to win cricket’s richest annual prize.
With that in mind, here’s how we think the IPL 2012 playoffs will play out.
Qualifier 1 – KKR
The top-ranked Delhi Daredevils will take on second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune for the first playoff qualifier on May 22. KKR have a solid advantage heading into this match. Not only have they beaten DD at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium the last time they met, they are also on a two-game winning streak–which includes a league win over the Pune Warriors India at the same venue a few days ago.
Besides, like every other line-up in the league, even DD’s batters will have a hard time picking Sunil Narine. On turning Indian tracks, the Trinidadian spinner is KKR’s biggest asset and will play a big role in seeing them home!
Eliminator – MI
The Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings will lock horns in the battle of the third and fourth-placed teams in Bangalore on May 23. This eliminator will knock out one of these teams, and we feel that team’s going to be CSK. MS Dhoni and his men have played mediocre cricket this season, and were extremely lucky to qualify for the playoffs ahead of the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
However, we feel their luck is going to run out when they meet the likes of Lasith Malinga, Dwayne Smith, RP Singh and of course, a certain Sachin Tendulkar. Besides, the Men in Blue and Gold have beaten the Yellow Lions in both their regular season encounters, so they do hold the edge in this contest.
Qualifier 2 – MI
After losing to KKR, we feel DD will face MI in the second qualifier in Chennai on May 25. The Mumbai franchise will be especially charged up going into this battle as they’ve lost both their league matches against DD this year and quite convincingly at that. This will be the ideal platform for the Boys from Bollywood to shock–what has been for the most part–the best team in IPL 2012.
In the absence of Kevin Pietersen, the Daredevils have struggled with their top order. Both David Warner and skipper Virender Sehwag have blown hot and cold, and they don’t stand a chance against Malinga and co firing on all cylinders!
Final – KKR
The final in Chennai is likely to be a repeat of the 2011 CLT20 final, as we feel the Kolkata Knight Riders will take on the Mumbai Indians on May 27. However, the result of this game is going to be different from the outcome of CLT20! Given KKR’s recent run, they should be able to prevail in this contest and win their maiden IPL title.
The Gautam Gambhir-led team deserves to win it all, since they have been consistent throughout the season. This will be a fitting end to this year’s IPL indeed!
How to fix the IPL?
The seamy side of cricket has once again come to light, with the suspension of 5 players for allegedly spot fixing during IPL 5. This is discouraging, mostly because it proves that the spot-fixing malaise is not confined to Pakistani cricketers alone. This could permanently change the way the IPL is run, and people everywhere are calling for an overhaul of the rules to make it harder to cheat.
I agree. I think we need to tweak a few things about the sports entertainment extravaganza that will ensure that we get only fair games. Here is a list of a few things we must do to keep the game pure:
1. Confirm whether there is really match fixing in the IPL: The recent expose of fixing was through a sting operation conducted by India TV. These are the same people responsible for finding the gateway to hell, vanishing a car on Live TV and introducing the ‘pyaaz maangne wali chudail’ to the world. Therefore, it might be good to confirm that their match fixing reveal is based on actual fact and not their children’s daydreams.
2. Go easy on fixing in matches where Chris Gayle is playing: In pretty much any important match, Chris Gayle starts hitting sixes compulsively and ensures that RCB wins. What can one or two fixed no balls do to affect the outcome of such a match? The IPL should declare spot fixing in all such matches legal and encourage it, because it’s not going to change the result of the match at all.
3. Bring the teams closer to their fans: Introduce a rule that the losing team in an IPL match must spend 30 minutes alone with all their fans who are at the ground. The players will not be provided weapons or any protection whatsoever, while the fans will. This will immediately ensure that every team is doing their hardest to win. Even the most hardened spot fixer will tremble before the prospect of being torn apart by people for whom cricket is religion, and will let go a few thousand dollars in exchange for his life.
4. Change the no ball rules: If no balls were called only for overstepping by 2 feet or more, this would solve many problems. The successful spot fixer would have to draw a second line in front of the crease to ensure a 2 foot overstep, and this would probably draw attention to him. And no balling is the easiest and best way to spot fix: limit this and the forces of law and order have won!
5. Go easy on the Deccan Chargers: If a law enforcement officer new to the IPL came to the ground to watch a Deccan Chargers match, he or she would immediately have the whole team locked up. Thus it is imperative that the rules for catching people are relaxed for the Deccan Chargers. The IPL must recognize that this is a team that bowls no balls, misfields and drops catches as a matter of course, not as a matter of money. They must be encouraged to become a better team so that, one day, they too will be approached by bookies to throw a match. Until then, they must be off limits.
6. Pay the players more for winning: All the money in the world is in the IPL. Whether it’s the multi-millionaire team owners or the loaded sponsors, everyone has a few million dollars to spare. It would be easy to increase the winning bonus for every match to a point where no bookie can possibly match it, and therefore ensure the players’ loyalty. In fact, this is a really good idea, unlike some of the others that came before. Why isn’t anyone doing it?
Reflections on outcome of today’s match!!!
1. Sehwag is an impact player – he can win if he bats well or can cause his team’s downfall if he flops.
2. KP leaving the side and poor form of Ross Taylor are not encouraging signs for DD.
3. Mahela came good only in a couple of matches so far. There is a question mark as to whether he will do well today.
4. Sehwag gives the impression of having a soft corner for Gauti, but Gauti seems to have no such personal emotions, having focus only on doing well for KKR and winning.
5. In bowling dept, both teams appear strong.
I have a hunch that KKR may win but I would love DD to win.