India announce team for 2010 T20 World Cup
The Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies has been announced and the fifteen names chosen are on expected lines. 
Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma
The only problem is that these are pretty much the same names that were there in England last year and that didn’t really go too well for our team, thanks to some injuries suffered in the IPL. Guess what, the injuries have made a return snapping an opening batsman and a fast bowler this time around as well. It was Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan some ten months ago, and now Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra.
The main difference is that at the moment the two players are expected back shortly while Sehwag supposedly carried his injury to England and Zaheer altogether missed out. However this does reflect on the losses that are being incurred due to an unduly long T20 tournament played just before important world events. My only prayer is that Lalit Modi schedules next year’s IPL after the ODI World Cup.
R Vinay Kumar is one new name in the side and it has come deservedly for he has been giving wonderful performances for Karnataka on the Ranji scene for the last couple of seasons, and has managed to carry his form into the IPL. Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey are two others like him but to select them would be too radical a step, their turn will come. Piyush Chawla is the surprise selection for he hasn’t been in that fiery a form. That decision seems more due to West Indian conditions then and also the fact that Ravindra Jadeja will be the left arm spinner in the side, so the selectors neglected a fifth pace bowling option. As it is who would you pick? Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth have been bordering on the poor and awesomely poor for quite some time now.
Dhoni has a back-up in Dinesh Karthik this time, something he didn’t have last year and therefore the need to include another pure batsman. But Rohit Sharma’s inclusion is even more surprising than that of Piyush Chawla. As a leg spinner atleast he brings some variety to the table, but Sharma’s only claim to fame so far has been that he has great talent/potential. And so Virat Kohli is really unlucky to have missed out here. He may not measure upto Sharma on talent in some people’s books but he has worked off his socks to earn his spot in the national side. And he looks like he wants to be in the thick of things at all times while Rohit, to his discredit, seems content performing only for Deccan Chargers while laid back on most other occasions.
The one question on everyone’s mind was whether Sachin Tendulkar would reverse his mind and step forward to play. As an eternal Sachin fan, one wanted him to. For, he is in stupendous touch and that touch could be the difference between India making it to the knock-out stages and exiting early. But knowing the way he has carried himself on and off the field all these years, one didn’t expect him to renege on his decision of three years ago. Now only if Dhoni’s men can repeat their feat from 2007 as well.
My Radio One (94.3 FM) gig as Dr.IPL
Here are a couple of recorded clips of my gig on Radio 94.3 FM. Especially for all those outside Delhi (or India) and thus can’t get access to it.
They have nicknamed me Dr.IPL and have also made a jingle used for introduction, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.
94.3 FM – Dr.IPL for BRC v DD 25th March 2010
94.3 FM – Dr.IPL for BRC v CSK 23rd March 2010
Thanks all for your wishes. Keep the comments (or brickbats) coming. Cheers
2010 IPL: Bangalore Royal Challengers beat Chennai Super Kings
Robin Uthappa (68 off 38 balls) took Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 36- run victory over the Chennai Super Kings in Match 18 of the IPL 2010 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Royal Challengers rattled up 171/5 and then contained Chennai Super Kings for 135/7 in 20 overs. 
Orange Cap holder Jacques Kallis looked shaky today. His run-spree finally ended when he was dismissed for a 17-ball 19 in the fifth over. Chennai Super Kings who started off very well, lost the way from the 15th over, thanks to Robin Uthappa, who single handedly changed the script with some bold batting. Royal Challengers Bangalore blasted 41 runs in the last two overs with Uthappa all guns blazing. The hard-hitting Uthappa, dropped at 5 and 25, made most of those chances, when he went berserk in the 19th over, clouting 4, 6, 6, 6 as medium pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji leaked as many as 24 runs in that over. Uthappa’s blitzkrieg overshadowed off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan, Sudip Tyagi and Albie Morkel splendid bowling. Muralitharan was outstanding as he scalped the wickets of Rahul Dravid (bowled), Manish Pandey (caught in the deep) and Virat Kohli (stumped) to finish with figures of 3/25. But Muralitharan snatched the Purple Cap for his performance, from his fellow countryman Chaminda Vaas (Deccan Chargers) to emerge as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with nine wickets.
The Chennai Super Kings batting fell apart chasing 172 runs for victory. Swing bowler Praveen Kumar dismissed Parthiv Patel in the first over. But Royal Challengers Bangalore dealt a severe blow to Chennai Super Kings’ hopes in the 10th over when Rahul Dravid ran out the dangerous Mathew Hayden for 32. It was a brilliant throw from short covers to the non-striker’s end that caught Hayden off guard. The impressive Vinay Kumar made it 59/3 in the same over by packing off Tasmanian George Bailey (18). The medium-pacer scalped his second wicket by having Chennai Super Kings skipper Suresh Raina caught at deep third man. The match slipped further away from Chennai Super Kings’s grip when leg spinner Anil Kumble sent back Murali Vijay (74/5). Chennai Super Kings could never recover to lose their second match in succession.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
FIA invites entries for 2011 grid spot
The FIA has invited entries for the 2011 and 2012 Formula One world championship seasons, as they opened the selection process for the one remaining slot left on the grid. 
Now we know the story behind that one remaining slot, don’t we? It became quite a messy affair with USF1 getting an entry and then not able to plan their way through for lack of finances, even though they had You Tube backing their efforts. This led to questions about the FIA’s selection process in the first place and the most noise was made by the Stefan GP – yes the ones who bought the Toyota chassis – as they fought to be included in the 2010 season. End result: there are only twelve teams on the grid today with no one having a clue about the fate of USF1 and Stefan GP sulking somewhere.
Coming back to the fresh selection process however, the FIA this time also intends to name back-up options keeping the above episode in mind. What is also interesting to note is the four-point merit guideline laid down for any new teams that might be submitting their names. These are: a) technical ability and resources of the team, b) ability to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation, c) team’s experience and human resources and d) FIA’s assessment of the value the candidate may bring to the Championship as a whole.
Of the above four, the second and fourth points are of relative importance. The ability to raise and maintain funding is but the bread and butter of a Formula One team. The prime example of that would be the ex-Jordan team. It became Midland and then Spyker, but not until Vijay Mallya arrived on the scene did stability come to the fore for that unit. Today in the mould of Force India, they are doing well for they know that their owner is financially sound and passionate about Formula One at the same time.
The FIA assessment of the value the new teams brings to the championship is an equally thought provoking clause. If this is indeed the case then some one like Stefan GP or even USF1 who are likely to be trying again, may not get a look in. Whereas it would be a decent shout for Prodrive or even Volkswagon, who have been rumored to be looking for a way into Formula One for long.
Any which ways, the last date to submit entries, April 15, isn’t too far off and we can surely expect some interesting rumors to abound until and after then.
2010 IPL: Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders
Sachin Tendulkar (71 off 48 balls) helped Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in Match – 17 of IPL 2010 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The win also put the Mumbai Indians back at the top of the league standings.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly and West Indies skipper Chris Gayle opened the innings in place of Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge, who were both dropped for this match. They made a sedate start, putting on 70 runs in 11 overs. Ganguly was bowled for 31 by Harbhajan Singh who went on to finish a fine spell of 4-0-17-1. Gayle opened out after reaching his 50, which came off 47 balls. Kolkata lost their second wicket in the 20th over when Zaheer Khan bowled Owais Shah. Shah (31 off 23), promoted in the batting order, added 82 runs in 8.2 overs with Gayle, who was declared lbw off the last ball off Zaheer by Sanjay Hazare. Gayle justified his selection with a 60 ball-75 as Kolkata Knight Riders put up 155/3.
The Mumbai Indian’s chase of 156 runs began in right earnest as left-hander Shikar Dhawan, who came out with Sachin Tendulkar in place of Sanath Jayasuriya who was rested for the game, set the tone by slamming three fours off New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond. Tendulkar followed it up with same number of fours against Ishant Sharma. Tendulkar continued his onslaught as Mumbai Indians raced off to 50 in 4.2 overs. Left-arm spinner Murali Karthik provided the first breakthrough dismissing Dhawan for 23 (21 balls, 4×4) against the run of play, as he played a loose shot to be caught at short mid-wicket. Saurabh Tiwary made a quick-fire 24-ball 30, while Kieron Pollard the next batsmen in, was dismissed cheaply with the Mumbai Indians cruising home quite comfortably in the end
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
FIA allow Renault to tweak engine
Now that the storm over the bore fest that was the Bahrain GP is settling down, people are turning their attention to different things. Red Bull started it all, rubbing their quick pace in Mercedes GP’s face, saying they know why they didn’t get an engine from Germany. Mercedes then played the blame game, putting it all across the pit lane in McLaren’s lap. 
Never mind that though, Red Bull should be happy because Renault have been given permission by the FIA to tweak their engine around. This will be a second tweak given to the engine in the last couple of years, just that this time reportedly, they won’t be allowed to make any changes to the performance of the power unit. The only changes that have been allowed pertain to cost and reliability of the units.
Two interesting things to be noted here. Firstly, that the changes to be made will affect the reliability of the engines in a better way is good news for Red Bull. Sebastien Vettel had more or less won the first race of the season till that problem in his Renault engine handed out a gift to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso. A more reliable unit next time might mean that Vettel crosses the finish line first, or that Alonso will have to employ actual overtaking maneuvers and not drive past a hobbling car.
And two, how scared are teams of the pace of Red Bull. Quite clearly they were the fastest car at the end of last season and the RB6 only seems a step up on that. If they did have a Mercedes engine unit in the rear, Red Bull would be nearly impossible to catch which might reduce this season’s probable closeness amongst four teams to two, or even just to two drivers, Vettel and Mark Webber. Thank heavens for the denial then by McLaren or Mercedes, whoever it really was.
2010 IPL Diary: Chennai vs Kings XI – mediocre at best
After the Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab match ended in a Super Over finish, I came across Lalit Modi’s tweet: “This is what IPL is all about. The most competitive cricket in the world without any doubt.” The only thought that came to mind was, really Mr.Modi?
Now the match may seem enthralling to most people but simply speaking, it was a continuation of Kings’ poor run while Chennai stooped to that low level after a super win over Delhi Daredevils. Sample this: it was another one in the line of failures from the Mohali team. In their four matches, only once did their batting fire collectively and that too they lost to Bangalore. But the remaining three games, only one or two batsmen fire and they end up some thirty runs short everytime. Thanks to Irfan Pathan continuing his rich vein of form and Yuvraj Singh looking like scoring some runs for the first time in this year’s tournament, they ended at 136. Leave aside for the moment that Albie Morkel and Muralitharan bowled decently well for Chennai, since when is a sub-140 score competitive in T20 cricket?
Then, one isn’t too sure how many expected Kings XI to make a match out of it. To their discredit, Chennai Super Kings failed to score 137 in 20 overs – a cakewalk on any other day – faced upto a has been off-spinner and a jet-lagged unknown South African import. It burns my heart to speak in this manner of the efforts of Romesh Powar and Juan Theron, but one is being honest here. It was more Suresh Raina’s team goofing up than Kings XI bowling too well.
As if this mediocrity wasn’t enough, there came the Super Over. Yes, he mauled Delhi with his mongoose bat but seriously speaking, isn’t Mathew Hayden effective enough with the regular bat? A mere ten runs were needed and the moment that Murali stepped up to bowl for Chennai, Kings had won it. Despite the Lankan great’s credentials, doesn’t it occur to any one that hitting out a spinner is far easier than playing a medium pacer in this situation? Last year, Yusuf Pathan thrashed Ajantha Mendis in similar fashion. A spinner bowls at more or less the same speed while the latter can alter length and pace, and fox the batsmen. If Albie Morkel had bowled that one over, Chennai might have won. Period!
Reading back the last three paragraphs, one isn’t convinced at all about whatever Mr. Modi says!
2010 IPL: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers beat Delhi Daredevils
Man of the match Andrew Symonds (35 off 24 balls and 3/21) powered Deccan Chargers past the Delhi Daredevils’ by 10 runs in Match 15 of the IPL 2010 at Barbati Stadium in Cuttack.
Earlier, Amit Mishra opened the attack and bowled Madhya Pradesh Ranji opener Mohnish Mishra, who came in place of the injured VVS Laxman, with a googly in the fourth ball of the innings. Deccan Chargers skipper Gilchrist (24 off 14 balls) made yet another explosive start. Sarabhjit Ladda, the second leg spinner, got his big wicket. Herschelle Gibbs hit a 26-ball 31 but his innings was cut short thanks to a fine catch all rounder Moises Henriques, who came in place of out-of-form TM Dilshan. The aggressive Symonds was also out to Henriques and Deccan Charges were reduced to 103/4. However, Rohit Sharma and T Suman were associated in a 60-run stand for the fifth wicket. Sharma played a hard-hitting and fast-paced innings for his 30-ball 45 while Suman stayed till the end to score another useful 19-ball 29 as the Deccan Chargers put up a competitive 171/6.
The Chargers captured the big scalp of Virender Sehwag in the fourth over and he only made a seven-ball three, caught by Herschelle Gibbs off Pragyan Ojha. David Warner smashed a 33-ball 57 before he was run out by a throw from short fine leg by RP Singh while AB de Villiers missed a full toss to be bowled by Rahul Sharma for 27. Deccan Chargers bounced back into the match by taking the wickets of Mithun Manhas and Moises Henriques. Dinesh Karthik kept Delhi Daredevils’ hopes alive with a 27-ball 46 (4×4, 2×6) but Andrew Symonds swung the match in Deccan Chargers’s favour by taking the wickets of Karthik and Amit Mishra off successive deliveries. Vaas bowled a great last over to seal the win for the Deccan Chargers.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
2010 IPL: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Mumbai Indians
Bangalore Royal Challengers beat the Mumbai Indians by seven wickets to register their third successive victory in Match 14 of the IPL 2010 at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Bangalore Royal Challengers chased down the moderate target of 152 in 19.1 overs.
Mumbai Indians were made to work hard for runs from the start as only 37 runs came from the first five overs. Sanath Jayasuriya was back in the pavilion in the second over itself. Aditya Tare of the Mumbai Indians was the second wicket to fall at 36, when he attempted to play a feeble pull shot off the wily Kallis to be caught at short mid-wicket. Saurabh Tiwary (25 off 21 balls), who came into the match with two successive half-centuries, could not get his third when veteran Anil Kumble out thought the left-hander with a well-disguised googly. Ambati Rayudu was then caught behind to the hard-working Vinay Kumar. His next wicket was the big scalp of Sachin Tendulkar (25 off 22 balls), who exposed his stumps for a pull shot, missed it completely to be bowled. Three balls later West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was plumb in front to give Vinay three wickets in his third over. The Bangalore Royal Challengers were on top stifling the Mumbai Indians batting for runs with the score on 76/6 in 11 overs. Vinay Kumar completed his dream spell of 4-0-25-3. Rajagopal Satish and Kieron Pollard revived their teams hopes with a 47-run stand for the seventh wicket. But Steyn dealt a double blow by dismissing both the batsmen in one over. The Mumbai Indians eventually reached 151/9 in 20 overs thanks to nine-ball 23 by number ten batsman Zaheer Khan.
Royal Challengers’ opening pair of Manish Pandey (40 off 27 balls) and Jacques Kallis put on 85, which pretty much ensured the end for the Mumbai Indians who got their first break through in the 10th over. It was too late as Royal Challengers Bangalore then romped home in style with the loss of Pandey, Robin Uthappa and Virat Kohli’s wickets. Orange Cap holder Jacques Kallis (66 not out off 55 balls, 10×4), the tournament’s highest scorer with 264 runs, guided Bangalore Royal Challengers home for a comfortable win and to the top of the leader board with six points.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
2010 IPL: Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders
2008 champions Rajasthan Royals scored their first win in IPL 2010 when they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 34 runs in Match 13 at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Rajasthan Royals chose to bat but got off to the worst possible start as opener Michael Lumb was out first ball to Ashok Dinda. New Zealand pace bowler Shane Bond dismissed Faiz Fazal for 31 (23 balls). Naman Ojha (27 off 18 balls), who gave the momentum to the Rajasthan Royals, was run out going for a risky second run. Dinda brought back for his second spell bounced out Yusuf Pathan who pulled it straight to mid-wicket fielder for 15. However, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (45, 36 balls, 5×4) and Adam Vogues (37; 22 balls, 2z4, 2×6) batted aggressively to take the Rajasthan Royals to 168 for seven. Rajasthan Royals lost three wickets for two runs but Vogues struck some lusty blows in the end overs.
Defending 168 runs, Rajasthan Royals bowled tight and fielded hard to restrict the Kolkata Knight Riders to 134/5 in 20 overs. They executed their plans to perfection and Warne made some inspiring bowling changes as the Kolkata Knight Riders could never get the momentum going as their batting fell apart. Skipper Sourav Ganguly made a valiant 29-ball 33.
After losing their first two matches, the Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals had their best match in this year’s campaign while the Kolkata Knight Riders succumbed to their second successive defeat.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
