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Wednesday, June 3, 2020

When The Consistent Raina Broke The Jinx For Cursed CSK

Heroes In the IPL Finals- Episode 3

A beautiful summer season welcomed a highly anticipated clash of titans in the IPL 2010. As the decade was nearing to its end, India welcomed its annual cricketing brother. The IPL 2010 promised to be another cricketing clash for the ages and it delivered one of the best IPL seasons till then (maybe till date).

The beauty of the IPL season 3 was defined by its explicit nature of points table that shifted teams from top to bottom each day. After the league stage, exactly 4 teams (CSK, RCB, DD and KKR) were stuck on 14 points, competing for final two spots. Only then, two teams CSK and RCB, jumped the gun with their superior net run-rate and qualified for the knock-out stages. The season had everything; drama, excitement, nail-biting matches and finally Sachin’s beautiful 618 runs. It gave birth to a consistent Suresh Raina (520 runs) who was on the peak of his game throughout the season. Additionally, unlike other two seasons, it was a first time that an Indian captain (MS Dhoni) lifted the IPL trophy.

CSK’s Journey in a Nutshell:

Till that date, even though the CSK was the side of beat, the problem of choking in crucial stages of tournament chased them yet again. CSK gathered a champion side once again with their batting exploits mostly dependent on top order players like Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina and our ever-dependable MS Dhoni. In this season, Murali Vijay too revived his career (458 runs) and had a great IPL. In bowling department, M Muralitharan (15 wickets) and R Ashwin (12 wickets) was a pick of bowlers. In fast bowling department, the Australian quickie Doug Bollinger not only picked up wickets (12 wickets) but also proved to be economical for them.

CSK started their campaign with a loss against a formidable DC. However, at the back of batting performances of MS Dhoni and Mathew Hayden, CSK won their next two matches comfortably. After the second game, Dhoni got injured and Suresh Raina took up the captaincy. Under his leadership, they won 1 game and lost 2 in the process (one of them a super over bout against KXIP). Once Dhoni returned from injury, things didn’t go exactly as planned as they lost their next 2 matches too. With 2 wins in 7 matches, CSK was languishing at the bottom. However, the team took the onus on themselves, collectively they won their next 3 matches and, in the process, increased their net run rate as well. With 10 points after 10 games, they lost 2 of the 3 games and found themselves in a treacherous position of winning their final game to keep themselves in the hunt for the knockouts. That’s when Dhoni pulled off an awesome cricketing heist in the final overs, that would make even the ‘Professor’ proud. Dhoni smashed I Pathan for 17 runs in the final over and pulled off an emphatic win in a virtual quarter-final. At the back of the superior net-rate, CSK qualified for semis and played against last year’s IPL champions, DC. In the semis, CSK bowlers brought their ‘A’ game, especially, D Bollinger accrued the figures of 4/13 defending a modest total of 142 runs. CSK defeated DC comfortably with 38 runs to enter their second IPL finals.

MI’s Journey in a Nutshell:

The star-studded MI side faced an uphill task ahead of the IPL 3, as they were flagging at the bottom of the points table from last 2 years. The little master’s led side had their work cut-out and they responded magnificently in the league stages of the tournament. MI batting was totally dependent on Tendulkar, however Indian Cricket League signing Ambati Rayudu (356) along with young U19 sensation Saurabh Tiwary (419) joined forces to form a formidable batting order. In bowling, experienced pacers, Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan (15 wickets each) led the way with the help of Harbhajan Singh (17 wickets) who took up the responsibility of taking wickets in the middle overs. The all-round ability of Kieron Pollard (273 runs and 15 wickets) served as a perfect foil for already strong line-up.

Unlike CSK, MI won their first 2 matches at the back of their batting core mentioned above. However, they had a slight jitter against RCB and lost that game. After that, MI with well-rounded performances, won their next 5 matches and scored 14 points to stay at the top of the league stages. Even though MI lost their next 2 games, they came back strongly by winning their next 3 matches on trot due to Sachin’s great knocks who was simply unstoppable in that league. With the collective team effort, MI scored the highest number of points (20 points) in the league stages and faced RCB in the semis. In semis, K Pollard showed his all-round class (33 of 13 balls and 3/15) and foxed RCB in all departments to win by 35 runs assisting MI to enter its first ever IPL finals.

The Big Stage, The Finals:

In finals, CSK won the toss and choose to bat first in a dusty wicket of Wankhede Stadium at Mumbai. CSK were off to a decent start with 44 runs on the board. However, the double strike by D Fernando and K Pollard pulled things back for MI. With the score of 47/2, Raina was joined by S Badrinath and they took the score to 67 before Badrinath hooked Fernando straight down the throat of Malinga who took an easy catch. After that, Dhoni joined Raina and together they put on a 72-run partnership to take the score to 139. Zak dismissed Dhoni in the 17^th over and A Rayudu ran-out A Morkel in the 19^th over of the innings. Raina played a responsible innings (57 of 35) and collected a competitive total of 168/5 after 20 overs.

In the second innings, MI had a horror start as S Dhawan went for a duck in 2^nd over. Sachin and A Nayar tried to steady the ship, however the tight bowling of CSK and pitch getting slower didn’t allow them to explode. The score read 67/1 but 11 overs were already gone. As soon as, Nayar started to strike some lusty blows against S Jakati, Nayar got himself run-out with the smart work of Dhoni. This moment proved to be a game-changing one and inadvertently, MI lost the plot after that. MI lost wickets at regular intervals and didn’t build any significant partnerships. MI scored 146/9 in their allotted 20 overs and lost the game by 22 runs. Finally, CSK won their first ever IPL season after 2 losses in knockout stages.

Suresh Raina for his resounding knock of 57 of 35 balls was awarded the man of the match, whereas Sachin Tendulkar was recognized as the player of the tournament and won the orange match as well. P Ojha won the purple cap for highest number of wickets (21) in the tournament.

Share your opinions by commenting below!

Image source- Hindustan Times

According to you, who was the true hero for CSK in the IPL 2010?

MS Dhoni
Suresh Raina
D Bollinger
M Muralitharan

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

When Kumble’s Magic Was Not Enough For RCB In South Africa

Heroes In the IPL Finals- Episode 2

With the grand success of IPL in 2008, the much-awaited glam boy of cricket travelled to South Africa for its second round of the immortals. With elections in India and security reasons, the IPL was shifted to a flamboyant, colourful and Indo-centric country of Africa. With fast pitches and hazy conditions, everything was at the peak and gearing up to be the exciting league that everyone was waiting for.

The stage was set for a dramatic and most-awaited cricket league in the world. However, among all 8 teams, whenever we talk about fair-tale endings, 2009 IPL was a kind-of similar stories for both of our finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Deccan Chargers (DC). Last year, both RCB and DC was languishing at the bottom in the points table at 7^th and 8^th position respectively. But this time around, the destiny and hard-work had a different writing on the walls. Both teams not only rose above all in the league stages but also played the finals.

DC’s Journey in a Nutshell:

With the team flagging at the bottom and indifferences in the side, DC completely revamped their set-up and bought in a new support staff. Adam Gilchrist took over the responsibility of captaining the side, as a skipper. Gilly was a perfect foil for the team as he not only played his part with bat, he also guided the young boys in crucial match situations. In the bowling department, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha took over the onus and with the help of Australian quickie Ryan Harris, together they built a formidable unit. The batting was led by their skipper, H Gibbs and young players like Rohit Sharma and T Suman. As an allrounder, Andrew Symonds proved as a chief destroyer whenever needed.

DC went off to a great start, winning their first 4 games. However, things took a turn as they lost their next 3 games. With alternate wins and losses in next 5 matches and losing the final two, DC ended up with 14 points which was similar to KXIPs tally. But, with a superior run-rate throughout their league stages, DC entered the semi-finals. In semi-finals, DC faced off against Delhi Daredevils (DD), but at the back of a great spell by Ryan Harris (3/27) and Gilly’s wonderful knock (85 of 35), DC crushed DD easily by 6 wickets to enter their first ever IPL finals.

RCB’s Journey in a Nutshell:

Same as their nemesis, RCB too overhauled their support staff and went in with Anil Kumble as their captain. Like Gilly, Kumble too had a stellar season and ended by becoming the second highest wicket taker in those quick pitches in South Africa. RCB’s batting mostly dependant on the experience of J Kallis, R Dravid and R Taylor plus a young sensation named Manish Pandey who become the first Indian to score an IPL hundred. In bowling department, along with skipper, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Kallis took the responsibility of bowling the important overs.

RCB started decently by winning their first game in the tournament but lost their plot after that game. They went on to lose their next 4 matches, repeating their story from the last year. However, RCB stood together as a unit and won 7 out of their last 9 matches (4 out last 4 matches) and sat at 3^rd position in the points table with 16 points. In semi-finals, RCB faced the last year’s finalists and table-toppers CSK, however their bowlers bowled exceedingly well as a unit and kept the total below 150. RCB chased down the target easily with 6 wickets to spare (Manish Pandey 48 of 35) and beat the tournament favourites to enter their first ever IPL finals.

The Big Stage, The Finals:

The stage was set for a magical ending in the finals. RCB won the toss and choose to bowl first on a tinge green Kingsmead wicket. But, RCB pulled a perfect rabbit out of the hat and started their innings with Kumble who removed his counterpart in the first over itself. Kumble bowled one of the best spells by any bowler in the history of IPL finals, where he achieved the figures of 4/16, picking up crucial wickets of R Sharma and A Symonds in the tricky junctures of the match. Vinay Kumar too joined the party and ended up with the figures of 2/30. For DC, H Gibbs was the only one who stood for the cause and ended up stroking a well-deserved fifty (53 of 48) in the process. At the end of the 20 overs, DC scored 143/6 which looked a below-par total considering the strong batting line-up of RCB.

In the second innings, RP Singh, the wonder boy for DC, removed Kallis in the fourth over of the innings at the score of 20. After that, Gilly went to his most dependable bowler P Ojha who dismissed RCB’s top-scorer in the tournament, M Pandey in the 7^th over. With the score of 36/2 and both their top scorers in the hut, things were in a dire situation for RCB. However, R van der Merwe hit 2 gigantic sixes and took the score to 57 in 8.2 overs. When things were starting to look good for RCB, Merwe played a horrific shot against P Ojha who ended up beating him in the flight and got him stumped.

Both R Taylor and R Dravid steadied the RCB’s ship until the score of 79 but unlike his nature, Dravid played a scoop and ended up getting bowled to Harmeet Singh. Kohli joined Ross Taylor and together they took the score to 99. But there was another twist waiting in the winds, as both got dismissed back to back thanks to the Australian pair of Symonds and Gilly. Things started to slide down for RCB as H Singh and P Ojha removed M Boucher and P Kumar respectively. However, R Uthappa was still there at the crease and with the help of Vinay Kumar, they both took the score to 129/9. With 15 needed of the final over, RP Singh was shouldered the responsibility to bowl the final over. RP Singh bowled a great over and gave away only 8 runs in the final over and helped DC to lift their first ever IPL trophy.

Anil Kumble for his outstanding spell of bowling (4/16) was awarded the man of the match, whereas Adam Gilchrist for his captaincy and batting performances (495 runs) was recognized as the player of the tournament. RP Singh won the purple cap for highest number of wickets (23) in the tournament.

Share your opinions by commenting below!

Image source- Cricshots.com

According to you, who was the true hero for DC in the IPL 2009?

RP Singh
Adam Gilchrist
P Ojha
Rohit Sharma

Monday, June 1, 2020

When Pathan Power Exploded In The Inaugural Edition Of IPL

Heroes In the IPL Finals- Episode 1

Twenty-20 cricket, the ‘cricket’s amateur baby’ or ‘school boy cricket’ as it was called in the late 2000s, was not accepted by many cricketing gurus or former cricketers to a larger extent. But, as in the movies, someone suddenly rises to the occasion and saves the day, inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa became that hero. Now, suddenly, the amateur boy with his growth hormones added the exuberance and excitement of watching this newest and craziest format of the game.

The success of T20 World Cup and India winning it, certainly led to the formation of one of the prestigious leagues in the world. The Indian Premier League had arrived and so was the ‘bhel’ of international, young, domestic, and retired yet legendary cricketers were served to us. This led to one of the primitive sons of cricket to born which grew and grew and has reached newer heights.

IPL is exciting for Indian cricket fans, but nothing is bigger than watching a closely contested finals of a cricket game. The inaugural IPL final was just that cheery on the top of already beautiful piece of cake. Both the finalists Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), played tremendously throughout the league stages and deserved their spots in the finals.

RR’s Journey in a Nutshell:

At the start of the IPL 2008 and visualizing the RR squad, they were truly not the favorites for the tournament. With a foreign captain and comparatively weaker side on paper, nobody gave RR any chance. However, they turned out to be the dark horses of the tournament as not only jelled together as a team but ran through the tournament like a pro. RR was a blend of a great leaders and a captain like Graeme Smith and Shane Warne, exciting young cricketers like Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, S Asnodkar plus the upcoming foreign cricketers like Shane Watson. On their verge of dominance, RR won 11 out of the 14 matches in league stages losing only 3 crunch games. Throughout the league stages, batting and bowling heroes was born in every game. In the semi-final game, Shane Watson with his all-round performance, dominated Delhi Daredevils and helped RR to win by 105 runs.

CSK’s Journey in a Nutshell:

CSK was one of those big teams in the IPL who were more into expectations because the ever-reliable MS Dhoni was their captain. Things were very good for CSK in the start as their foreign cricketers like Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey dominated the first four matches and left for international duties. After the terrific start, Chennai was smacked in next 3 games losing them all. Finally, with the exuberance of youths like Suresh Raina and experience of MS Dhoni, Chennai got the required 16 points and ended up at the third position in the league stages. In semi-finals one side dominance was resurrected as both Makhaya Ntini and Manpreet Gony ran through the Kings XI Punjab side to win by 9 wickets.

The Big Stage, The Finals:

Finals was not a new entity for the experienced cricketers; however, it was game of pressure for young players. Among all these young guns, Yusuf Pathan took the onus on himself and pulled off a great all-round show in this pressure game. RR won the toss and choose to field first in a greasy and spin-friendly pitch in Dy Patil Stadium at Mumbai. Batting first, CSK went off to a decent start with 39 runs for the first wicket. However, Yusuf had different ideas as he picked up the first three wickets and got them in crucial moments to stop the flow of runs. Yet, Suresh Raina who was the star for CSK through that league, scored a gritty 43 (30). With contributions of Raina and firing knock by MS Dhoni 29 (17), CSK propelled their score to post a par total of 163/5.

The pitch wasn’t used in the tournament, so 160 plus in the finals was looking more than enough to put pressure on any side. Batting second, RR's innings didn’t go of the plane, as they lost both their openers and number 3 at the score of 42/3. Yusuf Pathan joined Shane Watson and both put on a decent partnership of 65 for the 4^th wicket. Yusuf was brutal yet smart in his innings, milking singles in crucial times and ended up scoring a gritty half century in the process. M Muralitharan broke their partnership in 14^th over and after 17.1 overs the scoreboard read 139/6. With 25 needed of 17 balls and Pathan still at the crease, things were still under control. However, Raina pulled off a blinder and ran-out Pathan in 17^th over of the innings leading to a nail bitter.

After 18 overs, RR required 18 runs of 12 balls and Makhaya Ntini gave away 10 runs in the penultimate over after the last ball boundary through covers by S Warne. With only 8 required in the final over, L Balaji was handed the responsibility of defending it. Balaji got off to a great start by giving only 2 singles of first 3 balls. With 6 runs needed of 3 balls, Balaji bowled a wide which was missed by P Patel and RR ran an extra run. With 3 runs needed of 2 balls, S Tanvir scored 2 runs in the long leg region as Balaji missed his yorker and ended up bowling a full-toss. Finally, in the last ball of the IPL 2008, Balaji dropped it short and took his pace off, however Tanvir was up to the task and pushed it through the gap in the mid-wicket and won the dramatic final for RR.

Yusuf Pathan for his all-round show (3/22 and 56 of 39 balls) was awarded match of the match, whereas Shane Watson with his all-round performances (472 runs and 17 wickets) through the tournament, won man of the series prize. S Tanvir with 22 wickets was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament and won the purple cap.