To say that MS Dhoni’s team were pretending to be the number one Test side is a bit harsh, although the statement is both true and false. The scoreline tells the obvious truth. However, climbing atop the rankings with such a pale bowling attack is what makes the whole thing a fallacy. When the going was good, the Indian batting might exerted itself against Australia, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka, both home and away. And the same wiry bowlers made taking 20 wickets seem a routine job for them.

It is a wonder how things unravelled with such consistency in just this one series. When was the last time Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman missed out for so long, so much so the others couldn’t fathom putting up any resistance themselves? Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma bowled their hearts out, but India missing a wicket-taking spinner is an odd aberration to say the least. It made the attack toothless at best and that is a recipe for disaster. Injuries completed the misery, with their first choice settled pair half-fit when playing. There are times when a captain can make his team look good, surely Dhoni has done so on many occasions. But even his Midas touch deserted him, bringing forth the adage – a captain is only as good as his team.

And taking everything in summation, India were poor and definitely so. The last time they were so comprehensively beaten was in 1999, when Australia romped home 3-0. The similarities from back then are revealing. Only one batsman made any sort of impact on the Aussies, Tendulkar doing what Rahul Dravid did in England. The fast bowlers were medium pace at best, Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar come to mind therein. Anil Kumble bowled bravely, but away from home he wasn’t as distinguished then as he was at the time of his retirement, and the attack as a whole was spineless. The only contrast being the end of that decade marked a turn-around for India, giving hope for much the same this time around.

Yes it is time to work on a whole lot of issues. Preparation was by no means enough for a contest this important, and it doesn’t just include match fitness. Physical fitness, mental freshness and ample bench strength are all part of this one term. It is very easy to lay all blame at the doors of the BCCI and make no mistake they should get the majority of it. But the players themselves need to step up and be able to make tough choices, like not playing the IPL when you know an aggravated shoulder injury will put you out of action for nearly eight weeks. Naming them or listing down a ten-point program isn’t going to help anyone, for those to blame know who they are.

Yet, if a timely leaf is taken out of this miserable lesson India have been taught, there is no harm in it. Compared to 1999, they have a blueprint readily available at disposal. It is just the willpower that needs to be exercised now, like it was done back then. The other memory from that eventful turn of the century was of course Australia’s ascendancy to supremacy. And perhaps England will want us to believe that in this huge, crushing victory is their first step to world domination of their own. The signs are ominous yes. They have a well-placed leader in Andrew Strauss. That he will step out for five months and then return to lead the side against Pakistan in the winter shows belief is strong in the leadership.

The batting is clicking and being given new direction with every innings, be it Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott or even Kevin Pietersen, who seems to have found new inspiration. Matt Prior’s rise with both the bat and gloves has been prominent, indicating confidence is high in this bunch of players. Perhaps their only open spot in the eleven is that of number six. Eoin Morgan hasn’t done enough to cement it just yet, but another way of looking at it is from Tim Bresnan’s point of view. Surely, as their third line of attack after James Anderson/Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, he has maimed the Indians to such an extent that he can easily fit in as the all-rounder all champion sides boast of.  Whenever the need to play five bowlers arises, and it surely will in the sub-continent, England won’t have to think long and hard. Yes, sterner challenges will come ahead as India found out to their miserable fortune, but Strauss and company can look up with greater confidence than their predecessors.

That word fortune doesn’t favour the brave anymore. Instead it helps those who plan well ahead, hedge all risks and set greed aside, for modern-day cricket demands all this and more. It sets one thinking, what if India had done all of that? Maybe Zaheer wouldn’t have been injured in the first Test, maybe Bhajji would have bowled with venom and maybe the batting – free from injuries and rookies – would have clicked. Maybe then, this series would have been as iconic as it was presumed to be. That question will equally haunt cricket lovers, joyous, depressed and neutrals, all around.

The point is simple, really. Indian cricket has always been carried high and low by its batsmen. Period! Much of the reason for this spiteful loss to England can be attributed to our batsmen failing to get past 300 even once in six innings. Yet to win you need to take wickets, ten in ODIs and T20s, and twenty in Tests. One is pretty sure anyone who is remotely connected to this sport knows this truth. Even so the lack of runs evokes a stronger surprise, nay shock and awe, than our bowlers’ collective inability to bowl out the opposition.

Irony though is that India attained the Test number one ranking thanks to some overtly good bowling performances. If there is one series to be pointed out, it has to be their 2007 tour of England. Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Anil Kumble had bowled fewer overs in three Tests to win back then, in complete contrast to the hammering this time around. MS Dhoni’s team then took advantage of a flawed rankings system and stayed atop while remaining unbeaten at home, as Test series wins away from home didn’t come easily enough. A few occasions come to mind when exceptions were made; Perth in 2008, Hamilton in 2009 and then Durban in late 2010.

These three victories are important for two reasons. One, they allowed India to improve a previously poor record away from home, in turn improving their Test ratings. And two, more importantly, they help us set a parameter against which the Indian attack’s current struggles can be judged. Because truth be told, each of them are quite recent in memory. Dhoni deployed the same bowling composition in both New Zealand and South Africa. Harbhajan Singh routed the Kiwis and Proteas, aided comprehensively by Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, whilst RP Singh and Irfan Pathan made their last Test appearances in 2007-08 after beating the Aussies on their juiciest turf. Somewhere in there Ishant Sharma made his presence felt regularly.

Since then all of them have been in regress mode. Pathan and RP vanished from the scene, the beating handed out by South Africa at home too much to handle. Sreesanth has never been able to control his wild side and much continues to depend on which side of the bed he gets up. The most peculiar case was that of Ishant. Hailed as the next big hope, the charms of IPL engulfed him and cross batted thwacks in perfect batting conditions upset his fabled rhythm that once troubled Ricky Ponting. The excesses of T20 cricket also reared its ugly head in Bhajji’s case. Playing all formats of the game, day in and day out, with the burden of lead spinner to boot, he forgot how to enjoy his game.

Yet none of this is the root cause to India’s teething bowling problems, and we only have to look at Zaheer for that. How did he grow up from a bulky left-arm pacer to a lanky seam bowler, nipping the ball both ways? He was always fragile, that comes with his weight which he seemingly can’t get rid of. But when fit, he was the solution to all of Dhoni’s problems, taking up the mantle of Javagal Srinath and leaving a mark of his own. True homage has to be paid here for Indian cricket is back to the nineties. They are dependent on one man, only this time he is a bowler and not a spinner, but a quick one. When did that happen last in our history?

In 2004, Zaheer signed for Surrey. His hamstring injury prevented him from playing much but he knew what he had tasted. Two years later he played an entire season for Worcestershire, notching up 600-plus overs. He worked it all out by bowling and bowling, and then bowling some more. In contrast, since the ECB didn’t allow its players to freely take part in the IPL (beginning 2008), young Indian bowlers haven’t been given permission to sign up for counties, depriving them of crucial experience.

Put two and two together, and the answer to how the Indian bowling attack got so poor, will lie in the summation.

This article was first published at CricketNext.com.

Amongst them will possibly be Sourav Ganguly, who hasn’t made a decision yet, if he will keep on playing in the IPL- atleast that is the official line! Ask Sanjay Manjrekar of the situation and he will come out with the famous ‘elephant in the room’ remark of his and as compared to the previous occasion, this time it will be quite apt. Now before all Dada fans start kicking their computer screens, consider the big headache in front of his team owner, or for that matter, any of the eight team owners who have this power of retaining their favourite and/or best players.

A purse of nine million USD to assemble a thirty-man squad for the next two seasons has been afforded to all parties involved. If the eight existing teams do exercise their right of retaining players, then for the first player a fee of 1.8 million will be cut from their purse, irrespective of player fees agreed. The second player will cost 1.3 million, a third 900,000 USD and the fourth 500,000 USD, which is the cap – no team can retain more than four players with a maximum three Indians and two overseas ones. This in turn means if four players are retained by any franchise, they would have to pick the rest of the 26 names with a purse of only 4.5 million will be available to them. Does that sound like good business or good team balance to you?

The Indian Premier League is after all a business and a most result-oriented one that we have seen for sometime in Indian sport. With the kind of money invested in buying the franchises, building teams and a brand name, they would want a good shot at glory – and the prize money – to have a decent return to show for their investment. Spending half your money on just four players isn’t the kind of venturing many would want to indulge in, yet there are names around that seem to be priceless, or there about.

Would Mukesh Ambani not want to retain Sachin Tendulkar for his Mumbai Indians team? Can you even imagine Sachin playing for any other team? Maybe MS Dhoni can be pictured in a different jersey than the canary yellow of Chennai Super Kings. But he is the biggest draw in Indian cricket today, as per the number of ads he is doing, so can India Cements really bear to lose him? There are others in the same mould, without whom their teams might have achieved less in the last three years; Jacques Kallis for Bangalore, Shane Warne for Rajasthan Royals and Virender Sehwag for Delhi, though one has to say they are not as sure-shot deals to go through in comparison to the two names prior.

There are others to consider; Kings XI are in a fix whether or not to sell their franchise, and if not that, then it must be whether or not to retain Yuvraj Singh. While even a blind cricket fan will tell you that VVS Laxman will possibly miss the cut at Deccan Chargers, the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist haven’t exactly become indispensable either. Of course the less said about Kolkata Knight Riders, the better. Point is retaining a player merits an argument based on either of the three – ability to win matches, brand image and sentimental value. It is indeed tough to find a lot of players – starry ones or otherwise – who would fall in this intersection. But the big question is, even if players fulfil one criterion, is it worth 1.8 million USD and so on?

Records suggest that no player has been consistent across all three seasons of the IPL. Stars ate dust in the first season when youngsters rose to prominence and then the roles were reversed in South Africa in the second season. In 2010, it was a fine balance between the two. About the branding part, there is just so much sponsorship and marketing associated with this game in India and in particular the variety of cricket associated with IPL, that getting new faces to sell everything from apparel to face-creams to motorcycles to pain relievers, won’t be a big problem. The big conundrum is regarding the sentiments of the Indian masses and if history is anything to go by, they should not be messed with.

And therein is the problem for Mr.SRK. Just as Sachin cannot be fathomed playing against Mumbai in Mumbai, can anyone imagine Ganguly turning up against KKR? While the first could happen ideally speaking – although the chances of that transpiring are about as bright as the world ending in 2012 – the second is more likely a possibility. When the Kolkata team owner sits down to evaluate his options, will he go with a near-forty year old who doesn’t play cricket around the year but can fill the Eden Gardens to the brim? If he does so, won’t that entice him to loosen up his purse strings a bit more and keep someone like Chris Gayle or Brendon McCullum as well? How about either of them instead of Ganguly?

The bottom line is not to pick on any one team’s plight, but to highlight the calculations which will keep the franchise honchos awake till the very night before the auction, and quite well, during the bidding process as well. This is where they will earn their pay or lose their jobs, like after the first season – anyone remember the dirty linen washed in public by Vijay Mallya? The new rules have allowed for a lot of permutations and combinations which will shake things up a bit and lead to quite a few interesting battles on the pitch next fall. And that is indeed needed, after the mess one Lalit Modi has left behind!

This article was first published at www.dreamcricket.com.

Now one isn’t trying to shift perspective to other sports from cricket here, for let’s be honest, that can’t be done. But there is a need of looking at whatever little light there is at the end of this gruesome dark tunnel and be happy about it. Yes, amidst the fact that the batting, bowling and fielding all failed in the West Indies for the Indian team, there is hope yet.

First of all, there are the players. For how long have we known that Yuvraj Singh isn’t the player he was three years ago? What does that say about the ‘highly talented’ Rohit Sharma who considers Yuvraj his idol? Couldn’t we make out that Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have hints of pot bellies just like many of us who were watching on television during the IPL? Gary Kirsten seems to have targeted these three senior players and the fledgling Sharma, if you go by excerpts of his reports.

We knew all of it all along, yet no one would ask questions off these players for they are ones who supposedly carry India’s hopes. The difference is that now they will indeed be asked. They will be monitored when they return for the Asia Cup if they have at all worked on their fitness. The media eye will be on them throughout the next one month and if they indeed do not pass Kirsten’s test, they will not find a place in the squad. And that is the best part because team India has been built on ethics of past greats not for spoilt brats to squander the legacy.

If somehow they do find a way back, the spotlight will then be on the selectors and the BCCI in that order! Time and again, Kris Srikkanth and his band of merry men have selected the same bunch of players, mostly on whims and fancies. How else can they explain Yuvraj’s inclusion when he couldn’t even fire for the Kings XI Punjab in two months? Did he show any match winning form, well, no. What about Bhajji who went wicket less in the tournament and has been towing the same defensive line in Test or ODI cricket of late?

There was a huge case for picking young and raw talent for the T20 World Cup. Players like Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa and Saurabh Tiwary who are eager to make a mark, not the overburdened stars who are drowning out there under public and peer pressure. Yet the selectors handed out a rusty and ragged side to the captain and coach in the vain hope that they might just turn it on. Guess what, they didn’t, and if the entire team is to blame, so is the panel who selects them.

Simple speaking, MS Dhoni cannot alone be held responsible and fired from his job, as some sections of the media have been suggesting. If he is put on probation for the next couple of months then so should be the five selectors. They are the ones who have backed him all through the last three to four years, and with just about ten months to go for the 2011 World Cup they are contemplating a change in guard?

Dhoni has been fairly successful in leading the side and it is quite astonishing to notice that the same media was hailing him as the best Indian captain ever just three months ago, when the India ended 2009-10 ranked number one in Tests. But this is their job and that is how they make money, by catching the imaginative public. However if the five wise men do head down that same road and the unthinkable does abound, the BCCI needs to take a look if Srikkanth and his gang are indeed the right men on their payrolls for this particular job.

Why the BCCI? Because, they have been the ones beating around the bush about accountability for the past six weeks. If Lalit Modi needs to give answers for what he did and why he did for the good or bad of the IPL, then please let this be clear – the same rules apply to international cricket and more so. For, the people may be divided when it comes to eight/ten franchises but team India unites one and all. People, and the media, will need answers why the supposedly ‘best captain’ is removed with the ODI World Cup close by and for a change the Board will not be able to hide.

After all, everything is about the ODI World Cup next year. The fact that it will be held in the sub-continent means it is India’s best chance at glory. Not just because the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina will not have to worry about bouncers and can hit through the line as and when they want. But also, when in 2007, after the failure under Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid also in the Windies, the process towards the next showpiece event began. The selectors first invested in Dhoni’s leadership and the move started paying off. They realized a nucleus of players who could work as a team and they started clicking. Of course there will be some hiccups on the way, otherwise how will this young team learn? This is a time for grasping the mistakes, instead of making all new ones.

That we won the T20 World Cup three years ago was through some daredevilry and by some chance. Just as well, it happened. We were T20 champions recently but we haven’t been ODI champions for a good twenty-seven years. That is a couple of whole new generations of cricket lovers who didn’t witness Kapil Dev standing on the Lord’s balcony in ’83. Point is if you set out robbing a bank – what would you want? A bag full of coins or a box full of currency notes? 2010 T20 World Cup is small change compared to the 2011 ODI World Cup and it is a price we should be happy to pay.

Note: This article was first published at www.dreamcricket.com.

Raina leads a side without a number of high-profile players who have been rested – regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and senior players Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra will not be travelling while former India Under-19 skipper Virat Kohli will act as Raina’s deputy.

India play a One-Day International tri-series with the hosts Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka which begins on 28th May and then play two Twenty20 Internationals aganist Zimbabwe on 12th and 13th June.

Uncapped players in the ODI squad are spinner Ravi Ashwin, pace bowlers Umesh Yadav, Pankaj Singh, and Ranganath Vinay Kumar as well as wicket-keeper Naman Ojha.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla is included in the squad for the Twenty20 matches.

India ODI squad: Suresh Raina (captain), Virat Kohli (vice-captain), Ravi Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Pankaj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Umesh Yadav

India T20I squad: Suresh Raina (captain), Virat Kohli (vice-captain), Ravi Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Pankaj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Umesh Yadav

Report courtesy www.cricketworld.com

Openers: Sachin Tendulkar/Jacques Kallis

There can be no doubt about this one. This season will be remembered for the master class batting put up by these two stalwarts of the game as they went head to head in the battle for the Orange Cap. And it was a see-saw battle till the very end. On the one hand there was Jacques Kallis who didn’t look like getting out in the first half of the tournament, while on the other, although Sachin Tendulkar did get out, he would only do that after making a sizeable contribution to his team’s cause. For Kallis, it was a matter of carrying on from last year where he came to grips with this format of the game. For Sachin, it was a matter of simply carrying on what he has been doing this last year – batting beautifully. With 1190 runs scored between them, it is a pity that only one will be going to the West Indies.

Middle Order: Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa

One was sorely tempted to put in the names Paul Collingwood, Mahela Jayawardene and Kevin Pietersen in here, but the rule of only four foreign players in the eleven has to be adhered to. On any other account, these three would have more or less walked into the side for the kind of performances they put up for their franchises – Collingwood held together a struggling middle order for Delhi, it was sad that their top order batsmen couldn’t contribute much. Jayawardene was the only bright spark for the Kings XI Punjab and it was clear that to carry the weight of non-performance by the other ten was a bit too much for him, and Pietersen chipping in with useful runs here and there.

The point with having these young Indian players is that this is the middle order that will be representing India in the near certain future. Raina and Rohit are expected certainties there and with each passing season, any doubts pertaining to that gets reduced. The only fallibility in this plan is Rohit’s mental make-up for it remains to be seen if he can apply himself in equal manner in all formats. Raina has all but taken care of his shortcomings if his handling of the short-ball in the IPL is anything to go by.

In Uthappa’s weird case, it all depends on him alone whether he is there or not. There are names like Manish Pandey and Saurabh Tiwary starting to do the rounds now, and it is indeed a sad story that Uthappa won’t be going to the ICC World T20. But Raina and Rohit are, and if India indeed are to replicate their performance on 2007, much will depend on them.

All-rounder: Kieron Pollard

While there is already one other all-rounder in Jacques Kallis at the top, there could only be place for one more in the eleven. And who better than the most expensive purchase this season. They say that his late coming to the crease was much the reason why the IPL crown went Chennai’s way, missed catches notwithstanding. There is a small measure of truth in that for his ten-ball burst proved as much and if he had stayed for another ten balls, probably the trophy would have stayed put in Mumbai. The fact that he can just come to crease and turn it on, along with his fine bowling and fielding makes one pretty sure that he will probably attract one of the highest bids when the fourth auction takes place later this year with huge new sums of money available to the ten franchises.

Wicket-keeper & Captain: MS Dhoni

There can only be one choice here, now. The kind of methodical cricket that MS Dhoni has put up in this season of the IPL is representative of his growth as a cricketer. Over the last couple of years we have seen him grow from an attacking player to some one who accumulates runs but still has all the shots in the bag. Off late, he has started to bring out those shots more often because any shift in your style of play needs time to get comfortable with. That’s why the big shots went missing last year because the confidence wasn’t just there. Now that everything seems to be working, after a minor blip in fortunes, he is back to what he does best: lead a cricket team to glory.

Bowling Attack: R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Dale Steyn, Doug Bollinger

Irrespective of the kind of track being played upon, two fast bowlers and two spinners ought to be the norm when you can rely upon the likes of Kallis and Pollard for bowling support. R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha have been the frontline spinners this season although one was tempted to slot in Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh or Amit Mishra in place of Kumble. Then it dawned that Bhajji doesn’t have the consistency that Kumble brings in and Mishra lacks the experience. But despite his fighting intensity which he brought again to the fore, it can be seen why the legendary leg-spinner doesn’t play for India anymore.

R Ashwin though is expected to have a steep rise towards India colors. He has the height of Kumble, the flight that Bhajji misses so often and add to that he can bowl the carom ball. The only reason that he hasn’t made the squad for the T20 World Cup is that the team was selected in early March.

Pragyan Ojha is another who will not be representing India in the short term, vis-à-vis the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. It’s a pity really that the leading wicket-taker in a T20 competition will be sitting home rather than bowling his teasing left arm orthodox spin in the West Indies where conditions are expected to be on similar lines. The fact that Ravindra Jadeja – who hasn’t played cricket in eight weeks now – can bat a bit went in his favor seems to show the unilateral thinking of the Indian selectors, for if it comes down to Jadeja’s willow to save the day, then surely India are doomed.

Dale Steyn and Doug Bollinger form the optimum fast bowling pairing of the season. Quite clearly Steyn has worked on his T20 bowling and combined with his lethal self in Test and ODI format, looks set to reign over Zaheer Khan as the premier fast bowlers in the world. It is very much also the reason that Khan is not in this team. Bollinger on the other hand is the single biggest reason why Chennai Super Kings have won the tournament. He came in place of Jacob Oram and the sort of short-term impact he made, it is no surprise that Cricket Australia have rewarded him with a central contract and made him a permanent feature of the side. Suddenly Mitchell Johnson isn’t the best left-arm quickie in Australian cricket anymore.

Note: This article was first published at www.cricketworld.com.

The thinking behind his demotion being that the Mumbai side wanted to have as long a batting order as possible in chasing down the 160-plus target. That explains why Harbhajan and Abhishek Nayar were sent up the order whereas the more solid and destructive batsmen were kept for later. In keeping Pollard waiting was not the mistake but demoting Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu was the one wrong that couldn’t be undone.

You see this team has marched on to the top position in the league thanks largely to the efforts of these two young men. Tiwary has scored 419 runs in 16 games while Rayudu got 356 runs in 14 games. More importantly though, if we compare from the last two seasons we find that the stability these two brought in the middle order was missing earlier. The onus of scoring runs for the previous two seasons lay squarely on Sachin and Sanath Jayasuriya, and the management experimented with a plethora of players – Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Dwayne Smith, Ashwell Prince, Loots Bosman, Mohammad Ashraful, Graham Napier and Luke Ronchi. None of them could do what Tiwary and Rayudu have done this year. They even tried Shikhar Dhawan at one-down last year but he didn’t really excite any one before getting up to the opener’s slot as Jayasuriya began to fade.

It is in their fearless manner that they have provided the solidity to the Mumbai team and that is what was missing during the run-chase in the final. And that is where one also wants to point out where Sachin Tendulkar might have missed a trick to overcome his captaincy ghosts. A cricket writer friend of mine suggested that the reason why Sachin wasn’t as successful as captain is because he didn’t have quality players in the side like his successor Sourav Ganguly did. This is also a thought I have come across quite a lot during the research of my upcoming book on India’s greatest captains.

However true that might be, captaincy is an adventurous art that belies the surety of talent that Sachin Tendulkar possesses. It is the trait of people like Ganguly and MS Dhoni who know they are fallible and keep failure as a viable option. For Sachin that is not the case. It was written large on his face even as he tried hard to get runs with one hand. He orchestrated the batting order without any flexibility of situation which is quite ironical since he first changed the line-up keeping in mind the situation and that is what ultimately cost them the win, and not Pollard coming in late.

Yes, for all his achievements and great plays Sachin once again found out that cricket as a sport can be cruel, but didn’t we know that already?

But whichever way you look at it, the two semi-finals brought with them a few shocking conclusions and the mere thought of it all keeps one busy.

a) First up was the fact that people in Mumbai indeed did come to watch the matches, or for that matter return their tickets in Bangalore. Now the latter may have been inspired for the want of their money back, but the crowd gathering in Mumbai leaves me perplexed. For the last time, match fixing and widespread corruption in cricket was reported in such a grand scale, it took some time for the Indian fans to get back to the stadiums or even switch on their television.

Did the real cricket fan stay away then, and the stadium that was filled up and exhibited with pride by SET MAX full of people who only see the ‘paisa-wasool’ entertainment value in cricket nowadays? No would be the answer, for many I know watched the games with intent. Simply because after all the tomfoolery of the last two weeks thanks be to the heavens for some simple cricket!

b) Lalit Modi should be happy that he has created a league that is not only recession proof but probably also fixing proof. As the IT sleuths raid almost every nook and corner of his empire, he must be regretting using Twitter for his official announcements. Meanwhile it was good to see him subdued on TV for once and not looking like some one who implies ‘I own you just because you tuned in to watch my cricket’. Colorful character he is, kept us entertained for three years. Pity his time is up. We will miss him.

c) Finally for some cricket talk. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers both had gruesome games and that is the cruelty of knock-out games. The simple reason that these two teams lost out was down to their obsession with their batting starts.

Bangalore experimented again with Rahul Dravid opening with Jacques Kallis. First things first, the semi-final of a high stakes tournament isn’t where you do that. And second, if they just had to experiment, why not send Robin Uthappa up? For a sedate, solid start wasn’t needed chasing 180-plus in front of a hostile Mumbai crowd. Sure, if Kallis gets out, replace him with Dravid by all means. But to get the both of them to open in a bid to keep wickets in hand is just making it difficult for the latter batsmen.

Deccan were bogged down because their top order simply hasn’t fired. They ought to have been happy that they were chasing just 140-odd and therefore could take time getting a start. But Chennai’s bowling has been looking the part over the latter half of the tournament and a slowish start which was rocked by regular loss of wickets meant disaster.

The biggest shocker though was Mumbai Indians winning, for Sachin Tendulkar got only 9 runs. They went on to get 180-plus, and then bowled and fielded as if their backsides were on fire. Rather, it was the presence of ‘Big Boss’ Mukesh Ambani in the house that must have gotten to them. The big question is: can they do it again on Sunday with the probability of Sachin not playing due to injury?

Oh by the way, Bhajji watch out and better perform in the finals. You just don’t go and airlift the richest Indian’s wife without any consequences!

Despite fanatical Kolkata fans desperately hallucinating situations on Monday wherein their team would qualify magically, it was only as late as Sunday that we got to know who the four teams will be. Mumbai Indians were the only ones assured until then. Bangalore Royal Challengers managed to shoot themselves in the foot on Saturday and were dependent on Chennai beating Punjab, and nearly eliminating Kolkata Knight Riders. And then there were Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils – both hell bent on gifting each other the last semi-final spot.

In the end, as it turned out, their shoddy play in their last league match was enough for Bangalore to qualify. Thanks in no less terms to MS Dhoni who realised in the last over at Dharamsala that he could still hit the ball miles. Later Deccan almost committed hara-kiri, setting just 140-odd as target before Delhi beat them to it – the suicide that is.

After all the drama of the last couple of weeks – the on-field one – it is right to say that the four most consistent teams have gotten into the semis, if not the four best on paper. Except for maybe Mumbai Indians whose form has been soaring from day one, the others had it pretty mixed up with Delhi, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. When the table is bunched up so close, consistency is what matters and the three teams who didn’t make it will agree that is one aspect where they were lacking.

Delhi just couldn’t get a consistent run of form from their top order; Yusuf Pathan was the only threat Rajasthan ever had this season and if he ever becomes consistent, then bowlers may as well collectively retire; and, Kolkata – well what can you say about a side that scores 200 in 20 overs and cannot defend it, that too at a fortress that is the Eden Gardens? Probably that they don’t deserve to be in the semis, just like the Kings XI side who also ‘achieved’ a similar feat.

While these three teams were busy tripping themselves up, Bangalore had the time to sort out their mess in team selection and going forward will realise that playing Kevin Pietersen in the eleven is always going to pay more dividends than one Cameron White, especially when foreign players are at a premium. Deccan Chargers deserve to be in the semis on the back of their five-match winning run alone, while Chennai – although in patches – did manage to find the confidence and form that took them into the last four for the last two years. And here they are again.

The semis can be a lottery though and there have been suggestions that this doesn’t help a side like Mumbai who have done all the hard work over the past two months and could lose it if they have just the one bad day. But then again, hasn’t it been about being consistent enough to not let such days affect you? As aforementioned, the semi-finals’ stage is set.

This article was first published at www.cricketworld.com.

It couldn’t have been the pitch. Anil Kumble called it unfit for T20 cricket but that sounded like sour grapes after his side failed to chase 180-plus in 20 overs. Yes, on the same pitch, Delhi had racked up that big a score. And against Kings XI too, they were 40-odd in only 4 overs before two quick run-outs destroyed their innings. It couldn’t have been the pitch, no.

Then it surely must have been demons in the minds of Gautam Gambhir’s men, confirmed by their miss against a nearly half-rested Mumbai Indians side. It should have been an easy haul of two points and progress through to the semis. Instead they now sit on twelve points with five other teams and with everything to play for. By the way, one of their matches is at Delhi against the Deccan Chargers and the pitch curator at the Kotla might already be fearing for his job.

An interesting statistic was thrown up on television as Mumbai batted at the Brabourne stadium. Sachin Tendulkar averages 69 when his team has won this season and only in the thirties when they lost. He got out for an exact 30 on the day and Delhi would have felt good about it indeed. So good that for nineteen overs they controlled proceedings in a manner that suggested they could chase 160-plus. That is until Kieron Pollard decided this was the moment when he would pay back the Ambanis’ investment.

45 runs off 13 balls – 25 of them coming in the last over meant that 160 became 183 and the momentum was lost. The chase seemed okay until the seventh over when the twin departure of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag spoiled it all, and there was no recovery from there on. Come to think of it, this has been the story of the Daredevils’ tournament – their strong batting line-up has just not lit up this IPL. The names of Tilakratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers along with Sehwag and Gambhir are missing from the top run-getters chart.

If Delhi were dealing with devils, the Kolkata Knight Riders probably had monsters in their minds. Sourav Ganguly had let it rip after their last defeat that the side didn’t merit a place in the semis the way they have bowled and fielded so far. Today their batsmen joined the list in showing how inconsistent play cannot get you any further than the league stage for three years running now. The game was all but over when the first four wickets fell for a mere 19 runs on the board and Chennai cantered along just fine in the chase of 140.

What helped their case was the absence of Kolkata’s frontline spinners on a turning pitch – Ajantha Mendis and Murali Kathik – both having impressed in the earlier matches. The fast clip at which Suresh Raina scored meant that although the Super Kings do have 12 points like Delhi, Bangalore, Deccan and Rajasthan, they are now second in the table thanks to a killer run-rate. All teams have two more matches each to play and so the battle for semis is not over by any chance. Just so you know, with all permutations and combinations possible, run-rate is going to play a major factor from here on and Chennai have done themselves a huge favor while Delhi seem lost at the moment.

This article was first published at www.cricketworld.com.