Mumbai Indians - Back To The Future, Chennai Will Make It Two

If you are Mumbai fan you would be expecting atleast a semifinal appearance from your team.I say that the least you would expect from a team that dominated the IPL.It has everything strong bowling, greatest player ever as its captain and decent batting wait a minute ? does it have everything's ? Nope !!

I always miss the almost forgotten part "Fielding".The way Mumbai Indians fielded yesterday was nothing but championship material, you can say the catch to Sachin and the top edge to the final leg were difficult ones and its hard to criticize players for that, but the alarming thing is the ground fielding.Throws from the deep were weak and the fielding within the ring was even weaker.Malinga rolling over the ball on the fence, harbhajan letting one through his hands in the ring, and the list never ends with fielders trying to save the singles ...

The score that Mumbai Indians put up was very competitive, bowling looked good in patches but the real let down was their fielding.I was hoping that a team led by Master blaster can win a tournament, but now the hopes of Mumbai making it to the finals are very slim.Its like Mumbai went back to the team they were in the first two seasons of IPL.

Well Chennai certainly are contenders for the crown with they way they played against Otago stats, but now they real test begins where Chennai's consistency will be tested.They are a good team but they are against a team which is also from the subcontinent and play similar brand of cricket.

Wayamba is not a mere pushover with class and consistent performers in its ranks, non better than MJ himself, Jayawardene's role would be to stay there till the end, as their strategy of attacking play in the first 6 back fired in the last match.

All said and done, I still think Chennai has enough muscle to win this one, Chennai wins a close game is my call....

CSK Are Kings, Can RCB beat Guyana?

As I predicted CSK won easily, they are too consistent a side to lose against the stage,Once again its was the technically sound player who never gets its dues S.Badrinath who helped CSK post 151 on a seaming durban wicket.S.Badrinath is no superstar, he doesn't have the flair of virendar sehwag or does he have the big shots that make people go crazy, but he gets things done.

When the going gets tough the tough get going, Chennai were 48/3 after 10 overs, the ball was moving all over the place and you can bet your dollars on the fact that a old fashioned slog would have allowed the ball to kiss you goodbye.Srikanth and Morkel chipped in well, though I was disappointed that MS couldn't Bat higher up the order due to a niggling injury.

So CSK the IPL champions won their match easily by 57 runs can RCB rinse and repeat what CSK did? RCB to me has more stars in its team than Hollywood, It doesn't get better than this, Peterson ,Kallis, Morgan, Kumble, Steyn, Uttappa and it goes on..

Yes,they have all the arsenal they would ever need, but the question is can they use it against Guyana.It was a surprise to me to see Guyana qualify from west Indies instead of T&T,but Guyana won fair and square and earned the right to be in CLT20.

I always admired R.Sarwan for his temperament and the fact that T&T performed outstandingly last year must be a confidence booster for his side.Facing RCB in its first match, away from home is quiet difficult, so I still think RCB will win this one but wont be as easy as CSK Vs Stags.

Thanks for all the emails and Hope you guys win some more using my predictions :)!!

Mumbai Indians Lost Will Chennai Super Kings Follow ?

Like many a pundits have predicated lions to be the underdog's in the season opener of champions league 2010.We can all understand why everyone thought so,on paper Mumbai Indians had the better squad.But the important thing that help the lions on that day was on paper they had team.

They showed why you are better as a team than a group of brilliant players, Mumbai Indians have a great squad but they were not playing together as team for nearly three months.Dropped catches on the outfield, missed runout chances and poor running between the wickets in yesterday's match were all a result of this very reason.The big question for a Mumbai Indian fan would be how fast can they gel together and play as the team.

Lions on the other hand showed what discipline and teamwork can do, it doesn't always take superstar performances to win a t20 game, just a cohesive bunch of players doing the basics right and avoiding the mist
akes.

So Mumbai Indians found it hard so will Chennai Super Kings be the next big IPL team to be facing defeat today ?.Chennai Super Kings are the current IPL 3 champions and a much better well balanced consistent side than Mumbai Indians.Over the last years they are the only IPL team to have played in 2 finals and 1 semifinal.

They are set to play against the Stags from New Zealand which makes the conditions neutral as they have no home advantage, all things said CSk will be rusty and they haven't played together since IPL3. So it would be a hard to win, but I think CSK are good enough team lead by the best captain in CLT2O to win this match.

Comparing the Champions League Of Cricket And Football ?

I don't whether some journalists are totally ignorant of facts or pretend to be one.I came across another article just before the launch of a big tournament on a cricket website.Just have read everyone

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/476331.html


I dont know how this article even passed cricinfo editors, it should more likely to be a press release of fifa's champions league rather than cricinfo's take on the cricket's champions league .

Lets get things right before you compare these two leagues?

When you compare these two league or sports you are really hiding a lot under the carpet and infact the above article I posted shows as if all the troubles in sporting world arises from cricket.

Ah, cricket: smaller than football, but to many - notwithstanding match-fixing, rain, the unbearable dullness of most limited-overs matches, greedy administrators, egotistic administrators, power-hungry administrators, actually, administrators, period, and, of course, opinionated reporters - far closer to being perfectly formed

- Quote from CricInfo.com Article

Its just not cricket which has all the evil that money brings, footballer have been there done that if anything just have a look at the recent controversies with wayne rooney-juci jenni what not...

FIFA's governing council's refusal to accept goal line technology despite worldwide protest that has been going on for sometime, is just another saga showing its remarkable ability of football's top body to do what it wants, some may call it arrogance, some ego and others Power.If some else does it before us we better not go that way

While comparing the price money of that of champions leagues is another dubious error in judgment, while football is played in all of the developed countries in Europe its bound to have more price money and its not a shorter tournament like the cricket league so the advertising revenues and sponsorship deals are also higher.

The claims of champions league of football to be truly global even is also questionable, it doesnt involve teams outside of europe while cricket has representative teams across the board.

Crickets league is still in its infancy, you cannot build Rome in a day, its takes time.Champions league of football has been here for since 1955 , ie over 55 years while crickets league just started in 2009 and its just its second edition.

I will add more points to this article, g2g now

The Joke's On You

Yes , the joke's on not just me! Everyone who loves this beautiful game.I still cannot really come to terms with what is happening over the past couple of week's, "In case you haven't been keeping track of current events, we just got our asses kicked."I am not worried about tainted cricketers,embarrassed countries or disappointed fans,

I am worried about the game.Dead pitches, boring test matches or security situation in certain countries will that destroy the game ? Are these the most serious threats the game faces? No sir! It is Match fixing and it just doesnt stop destroying it rips apart the soul of the game

Why watch a game when someone sitting 12000 miles away calls the shots ? He might as well be having a jolly good time seeing all the experts on TV and me included trying to predict the outcomes with some cricketing logic.

The Joke's On Us!

The joke's on everyone involved in the game, unless someone who has real love for the game steps in and goes to the bottom of it increasingly bottomless pit there is no hope.Money is not a double edged sword, its not the devil behind all evil.Money coming into the game is good, used well can cures this immoral disease.
Setting up education drives, revamping ICC anti corruption and most importantly having the will get things done are the need of the hour.

Punishing the guilty is not what a real cricket fan wants, I don't care if the tainted players play or not..I want the game clean and confidence what we see on TV is pure sports and nothing else...

"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional."

Should I continue my predictions and contenders review for this years CLT20 ? I don't know may be I will, but sure enough leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Chennai Super Kings ( CSK) are IPL 2010 Champions

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are IPL 2010 champions after a superb victory over Mumbai Indians by 22 runs.If there ever was a them that can beat Mumbai and claim they deserved it more then it would be Chennai.

They were the finalists in the inaugural edition of IPL, outplayed in the semi's in second edition, but here they are in the final for the second time in three years.They hoped the cricketing gods would help them in getting them the prize that was eluding their grasp.It looked like the gods were with them when dhoni won the toss, DY patil is a great venue, one of the best in the country but even it cannot sustain four matches in 5 days. The pitches need time to be groomed but there was non here.Yet the ground staff produce a relatively good wicket.Kudos to them.

Matthew Hayden looked like a fish out of water, Harbhajan singh was unlucky as very good LBW appeal was turned down, but eventually Hayden fell for a 31 ball 17, but not before M Vijay had scoped up a Fernando delivery towards Tiwary.

Badri came tried to infuse some momentum into the innings but fell by the way side losing his wicket,A miscued shot by Raina dropped between Abhishek Nayar and Dilhara Fernando at third man off Zaheer. Then, Zaheer failed to even line up the ball off another skier.It was when Dhoni and Rania drove into the Mumbai Indians.

It is what Champion teams and players are made of, when you give them the slightest opportunity they would make you pay for it, they did it in style, lofted drive over extra cover, the bludgeon straight past the bowler, Slog over deep midwicket it had everything a T20 innings should have and more with some super death bowling from harbhajan and malinga.

168 was a great score on this surface and the Mumbai Indian batsmen were under pressure from ball 1, add to the fact that the opening pair of Bollinger and Ashwin have been remarkable for CSK in the opening six overs. Sachin crossed the pain barrier as he tried to play the anchor, while everyone around him goes for leather.Despite the five stitches on his right hand, top scoring with a gutsy 48, but sachin had a lucky break when he clearly gloved the ball to dhoni, but it was turned down by Mr.Rudi .It was 58 for two in 10 overs when Nayar got run out

MI batsmen came one after the other to increase the momentum everybody except Kieron Pollard, even harbhajan singh had a slot above Kieron pollard, which clearly points out the defensive nature of their run chase, then eventually pollard come to the crease when 3 overs were left but by then MI needed 55 runs off 18 balls.Kieron Pollard blazed off 27 in 10 balls, narrowed the gap but by then it was too late.

Dhoni's men were brave, they were pushing for results instead of waiting for mistakes from the opposition, they looked like the more relaxed, hungrier and deserving team on night. Cheers to CSK and Whistle Podu.....MACHI

South Africa Will host CLT20 2010 from 10-26 September

Its official now, South Africa will be hosting the event.It doesn't get any better than this, if you are in SA you are in for a 6 months of high octane ,top of the line sporting events. Just when you think you had the best summer hosting the FIFA world cup 2010, comes the CLT20.

South Africa without doubt would be making this edition of CLT20 a outstanding success, after all they pulled off IPL 2009 in 3 weeks .

The only worry i have is about the pitches as it would be early spring in SA don't remember any T20 beings played in September in SA.I think fans don't mind a bowler getting his share ones in a while.

Is there really a land like this ? It's Possible..:)

Victoria Bushrangers and South Australia Qualify For CLT20 2010

So yeah the Victorian who made to semifinals last year and qualified the year before have done it again.The Victorian managed to secure a place in the KFC Big Bash final there by making them automatic qualifiers for the CLT20.

Victorian's will be facing South Australia in the Final on Jan 23rd.