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.
FIA rectifies diffuser loophole ahead of Australian GP
Reading this headline you almost wish that the loophole being talked about here pertains to the double diffuser concept. Although that might mean a heavy exercise in terms of time and money to go back to their drawing boards and redraw their 2010 cars, it might just help the on track action a bit. But this is wishful thinking at its best and such as it is comes true only in dreams. 
The ‘hole’ talked about here is the starter mechanism slot in the rear diffusers which four teams – Mercedes GP, McLaren, Renault and Force India – have reportedly exploited. The starter mechanism hole isn’t drawn upto specifications and as such allowed for another weak point in the framed rules for the highly smart aerodynamicists at these Formula One teams to exploit.
The aforementioned teams had deployed an elliptical shape to the starter hole instead of the usual round one and thus the hole became another slot in the diffuser which allows for better passage of air and thus resulting in more downforce. The teams had been under scrutiny at the Bahrain GP and now have been advised to rectify this fault ahead of next week’s Australia Grand Prix.
It actually is amazing how much attention and hard work goes into exploiting such miniscule details and also underlines what a tough job the FIA faces. Last year it was another little hole in the same diffuser that caused a hell lot of problems. After much scrutiny the FIA realized they had indeed made a mistake not clarifying the rules and as such couldn’t outlaw it that late in the season. Every year, the teams take it onto themselves to present such challenges to the governing body – this year it is the McLaren rear wing that is the talk of the town – and combined with this particular infringement (although now rectified), it all just goes to show what a tough job the FIA has on their hands give the highly competitive standards of Formula One where so much is at stake at every single second.
2010 IPL Diary: poor captaincy and a mongoose bat
The IPL encounter between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings was rightly billed as a contest to see which side would blink first. The reasoning behind this being the absence of respective skippers of the two sides – Gautam Gambhir out with a hamstring problem and MS Dhoni injured in the last game that Chennai played. Inadvertently the spotlight was on the two stand-ins Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina, neither of the two having any worthwhile experience of leading on the big stage.
Karthik though has led his state side Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy for quite some time but it is altogether a different ball game leading in the IPL. For Raina, one can only recall the Challenger Trophy – a pitiful domestic ODI tournament – where he might have led somewhat accidentally. Make no mistake none expected the duo to shine with their man management skills on the day and they didn’t disappoint.
Setting lax fields was a common point with both. Raina kept both point and backward point in position for the Delhi openers with the third man also up and placing an odd sweeper on the off as cover. All the batsmen needed to do was clear the infield and the way Virender Sehwag blasted his way to 74 off just 38 balls showed how spectacularly these field placements failed. Karthik for his part made sure that the two fielders he could place outside the circle in the first six overs were at deep point and deep backward point, making sure that for Mathew Hayden, things were as easy as they were for Sehwag. For most of the forty overs, fine leg and third man were also up in the circle making one wonder since when was T20 about taking wickets? That saving runs is a priority clearly didn’t dawn on the two stand-ins.
There were a couple of other odd decisions as well. At one point, Raina forgot that he could only place two fielders outside the circle in the first six overs and Sehwag cleverly bludgeoned the ball for four before pointing out to the umpire. Karthik meanwhile kept Amit Mishra out of the attack but brought on Tilakratne Dilshan, a decision that baffled everybody and anybody present.
Amidst this tomfoolery, the onus was on the batsmen aforementioned, Sehwag and Hayden, as to who would seize the initiative given to them and take their side to victory. The former Australian opener replied to Sehwag’s fifty in his own trademark style. His 93 runs off 43 balls were – putting it mildly – a lesson in hitting hard and timing the shots, for a majority of those runs came with his hallowed Mongoose Bat. The pint-sized willow made its long awaited debut on an evening to remember. One of the three sixes off Dilshan almost ended outside the stadium, the last row being the spot where the ball landed.
Not everyone was sure previously that the smaller bat wouldn’t cause a hindrance to batting. But when Hayden finally left the field with Chennai on the doorstep of victory, all were convinced that this latest innovation to hit cricket packs quite a punch.
This article was first published at www.cricketworld.com.
2010 IPL: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers beat Kings XI Punjab
Deccan Chargers playing their first ever IPL home game at Cuttack beat Kings XI Punjab by six runs in Match 12 of the IPL 2010. Kings XI made 164/8 chasing 171 falling short by six runs.
Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist slammed a 12-ball 33 hitting two sixes off Sreesanth 51 runs today. But Gilchrist’s innings was cut short when he top edged left-arm seamer Shalabh Srivastava and was caught at short mid-wicket by Jayawardene. Deccan Chargers suffered a setback when VVS Laxman got injured in a strange circumstance when Srivastava threw the ball wildly from mid-on that got Laxman’s forearm. The batsman had to retire hurt for 10. Although Rohit Sharma (run out) and left-hander Anirudh Singh were out cheaply, Herschelle Gibbs made a 23-ball 23, Andrew Symonds struck his second successive half century (38-ball 53) and T Suman played a cameo knock of 26 (22 balls) as Decccan Chargers reached 170/7.
Kings XI Punjab were off to a disastrous start as purple cap holder left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas swung the ball late and captured two top order wickets (Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh) as MS Bisla was run out to have Punjab reeling at 22 for 3 in the fifth over. Ravi Bopara, Kings XI Punjab’s main run-getter, could score only a 32-ball 38 before he was caught in the deep of off-spinnner Rohit Sharma. West Indian opener Adrian Barath, on his IPL debut, made only seven before falling to local hero Pragyan Ojha. However, it was left-hander Irfan Pathan (60 off 29 balls) who fought a lonely battle to create some element of hope for the Kings XI Punjab with his lusty hitting. Pathan took the match to the last over. But his fine rearguard innings ended when the surprise last over choice bowler Jaskaran Singh had him caught at deep mid-wicket. The twentieth over that Jaskaran bowled was incidentally his first of the game.
Kings XI Punjab have so far lost all their first three matches while Deccan Chargers have finally notched a home victory in three seasons of IPL.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
2010 IPL: Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils
Chasing 186 for victory, Chennai Super Kings scored 190/5 in 19.1 overs. Both Delhi and Chennai were without their regular captains Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni as Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina played stand-ins.
Virender Sehwag (74 off 38 balls) gave a sparkling start to Delhi even as he lost Australian explosive opener David Warner who came in place of the injured Gambhir. He brought up his 50 in 22 deliveries while Delhi’s 50 came in the fifth over. Delhi were cruising along but at 102 when Muralitharan provided twin breakthroughs at a crucial juncture of the game. He got Tilakratne Dilshan to play a false shot and one run later Sehwag was caught by Justin Kemp. R Ashwin then sent back AB de Villiers for 2 as the Daredevils lost three wickets in space of five runs. Mithun Manhas (32 off 22 balls) and all-rounder Rajat Bhatia (21 off nine balls) provided a late flourish as Delhi somehow managed to post a challenging total of 185/6.
But the evening belonged to the burly Hayden and his Mongoose bat. After two failures, the former Aussie opener toyed with the hapless Delhi Daredevils bowlers. He launched into the attack in the fifth over hitting his first six off Rajat Bhatia and then in the eighth over, Dilshan faced the wrath of Hayden’s bat as he was clubbed for three sixes as the 50 for the Chennai Super King’s was raised in 5 overs and then the 100 came in 10 overs. With Suresh Raina, Hayden added 50 runs in 23 deliveries. Delhi Daredevils finally dismissed Hayden with Dilshan bringing off a superlative catch at long on and then Chennai Super Kings lost two more wickets of Justin Kemp (bowled) and Albie Morkel (caught at mid-wicket) but Raina with a 34-ball 49 not out saw the team through with five balls to spare.
This was the second successive win for Chennai Super Kings, sans their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, while Delhi Daredevils tasted their second defeat in a row.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
2010 IPL Diary: parking chaos and week-in-review
This post is coming a bit late but I guess better that than never. I guess it was the same story with regards to the Mumbai Indians versus Delhi Daredevils match – my first ‘official’ visit to the press box at the Feroz Shah Kotla. I intended to reach early and I did – at 6.30 pm. But that was just the beginning as for the next ninety minutes I was embroiled in the worthless exercise that is finding a parking spot in the chaos that is Delhi traffic.
Nevertheless I did find one at 8 pm sharp, the same time the first ball was bowled. From then on it was a matter of walking the distance of three-and-a-half kilometers in the swarm of fans looking for tickets, clueless policemen and chaotic traffic. By the time I stumbled into the box, Sanath Jayasuriya was out and Sachin Tendulkar had already made half of his 63 runs. Nevertheless it was a pleasure watching from then on.
The first thing I looked out for was the pitch. Kotla’s reputation in that regard has taken a hit. Personally I want the square to be well maintained and the ODI World Cup matches to be held here for a visit to the press-box next year would be even more of a topic to write upon. Any negative thoughts I had about that happening were quickly allayed as Saurabh Tiwary launched into the Delhi bowling.
It is utterly ridiculous when a team racks up 200 runs in T20 cricket two matches running and that too without Sanath Jayasuriya firing. One is not sure how many of the six remaining attacks would want to bowl at them now, least of all Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals. Let’s face it – the former have already been squished by Bangalore Royal Challengers and if they suffer once more like that, Preity Zinta will go mad. And with the current form that Rajasthan are showing, three losses in three matches at the time of writing, Shilpa Shetty surely doesn’t need another reason to go crazy.
The only Bollywood star screaming out his lungs at the moment must be Shah Rukh Khan. Kolkata Knight Riders have made a start that stands them better than the last two years and there is reason for optimism for Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum haven’t faced a ball yet. For them, it can only get better from here.
