*Official* Indian Premier League 2011

[Bun]

People have been criticizing Warne aplenty this year for his weird batting orders.

But yeah, Tendulkar's not very good at this captaincy lark from what I've seen.

not a 2 page discussion when his team actually won the match afaik haha.

 

[honestbharani]

MI were going at a fair clip when he was dismissed, I don't care about his exact SR. So it was working, whether you liked it or not. I certainly didn't, sending pinch-hitters in 20-over cricket is a waste of time IMO.

The real criticism of Tendulkar's captaincy is that he has let performances slip after they enjoyed such a good start to the tournament, the bowling looks a bit ragged and too many part-timers now that batsmen have worked out Malinga a bit, the batting order is unsettled, Tendulkar still hasn't found a proper opening partner, and his own form dropping away has exacerbated the situation. Unless they up their performance levels drastically, I don't see them winning another game.

No it wasn't.. Coz they were still left with plenty to get.. And the real reason to send in the pinch hitter in any game of cricket is to help the real batsman at the other end get himself in a bit and try and play through.. And that didn't happen either.. It is not about whether I liked it or not, it is just the fact that it didn't work. Period.

 

[honestbharani]

Yes, safe to say it cost them the match. even wierd was asking a nayar to bat so high.

but all captains have made such moves, call it inspired or stupid. msd asking joginder to bowl the last over in the T20 final cud have backfired big time if misbah didnt lose his cool.

putting an out of sorts sreesanth in a world cup final is right up there too...

or asking yusuf pathan to open....

warne has been doing blunder after blunder in the ipl, nobody criticises him. instead we still have lolworthy discussions that he is the best cap aus team never had etc etc.

it grinds my gear to see people just micro analysing one player alone, and in some cases not even having watched it pass damning indictments.. arm chair experts we all are agreed, but no harm in injecting a bit of common sense.

there is no such thing as a perfect captian.

Are you trying to tell me no one on these boards criticised the other captains for their blunders? I certainly didn't see you throwing out your toys when everyone and their mother were coming down on Yuvraj and Warne for their captaincy in this very thread.. Heck, Dhoni has been ridiculed a LOT over here and he is supposed to be one of the best captains in the world... Face it mate, everyone has been criticised here and last weekend was just Sachin's turn.. No one is criticizing him because he is Sachin. In fact, I would say some of the criticism has been put in a much less forthright way because it is Sachin...

 

[vcs]

No it wasn't.. Coz they were still left with plenty to get.. And the real reason to send in the pinch hitter in any game of cricket is to help the real batsman at the other end get himself in a bit and try and play through.. And that didn't happen either.. It is not about whether I liked it or not, it is just the fact that it didn't work. Period.

Aren't you always banging on about not taking stats at face value? The fact is, Tendulkar and Harbhajan had knocked 70 odd runs off the target at pretty much the required runrate when Harbhajan got out, with the big hitters in Sharma, Rayudu, Pollard etc. yet to come. That is success in my book. Forget Harbhajan's SR, whatever it was. Tendulkar did get to 37 almost without anyone noticing BTW, because Harbhajan was doing a good job at the other end.

 

[Daemon]

Just because it kind of worked doesn't make it the right thing to do. MI did similar things in last years finals and look how that turned out. Also we keep forgetting how Franklin and Rayudu saved us in the end, and if they were both stranded not out with 5-10 runs remaining to win while still looking like they could hit a few, then that Harbhajan move would've looked stupid.

 

[honestbharani]

Aren't you always banging on about not taking stats at face value? The fact is, Tendulkar and Harbhajan had knocked 70 odd runs off the target at pretty much the required runrate when Harbhajan got out, with the big hitters in Sharma, Rayudu, Pollard etc. yet to come. That is success in my book. Forget Harbhajan's SR, whatever it was. Tendulkar did get to 37 almost without anyone noticing BTW, because Harbhajan was doing a good job at the other end.

I am not taking any stats at face value.. I was there watching the whole game (and cheering MI on, coz that would have meant we would be #2 )... And it simply WAS NOT a good move and it did not work.. It was obvious at the way Sachin was moving around everywhere.. He could have gotten out at any time when it would have been better if he had stayed as he can accelerate at any point while also rotating the strike without eating up deliveries. Bhajji was wasting a LOT of deliveries and it took a pretty poor over from Balaji to get them where they were. Don't confuse that with the move working... KKR and Balaji are not going to serve up pies like that for a whole spell once again tomorrow...

 

[honestbharani]

I recall Sachin using Kumble and Srinath as pinch hitters as well.. And it was his idea to have Pathan at #3 against SL in an ODI where he scored 70 odd.. He does seem to have a liking to send in a pinch hitter.. Obviously, with mixed success..

 

[Howe_zat]

Whether or not it worked in this instance seems debatable, but generally speaking, pinch hitters haven't worked in any format. Two blocks, two misses and a four is slower than five singles.

Most of all this is true in T20, where there isn't any need at all for some form of complex game plan. It's a simple as cricket gets, you go in, score as much as you can as fast as you can. Batting order is simply a case of trying to get your best batsman to face as many deliveries as possible.

 

[Spark]

The only case where I could see a pinch hitter working is when you're chasing a huge total in ODIs and you need to "lengthen" your batting lineup/keep good momentum going. But even then they're not really "pinch hitters" as you don't want them slogging, just playing aggressively - but normally. Singles, then fours.

 

[Howe_zat]

And I guess what I'm trying to say is that a batsman is more likely to bat better than a guy who isn't a batsman.

Radical, I know.

 

[Spark]

What I meant was promoting the Johnsons, Broads etc. who are actually OK batsmen if they get set. The whole idea being that the size of the chase means they'll probably need to bat for a good amount of time anyway so get the most out of them.

 

[Nate]

Pomersbach starting. ITSTL. Has he played at all this season?

 

[Cevno]

Has played 2 or maybe 3 games.

He gets in the team as Pujara is injured,Dilshan left and Pathan was poor.

 

[Cevno]

Gayle gone!!!!

Ashwin gets the crucial wickets so often up top.

Next ball after being hit for a six too.

 

[jan]

Gayle! Was looking forward to some sixes from the dude

 

[nsniks]

OUCH..............How is ashwin walking after taking that blow on head is really beyond belief

 

[Shri]

Thats one way to fight for a spot in the side. Would have made more sense if Mishra had done it though.

 

[nsniks]

Chennai have a good chance to win this as they have wickets in hand with morkel and bravo still in dugout

 

[nsniks]

Chennai won..............finally these last two matches have brought some life back into IPL

 

[Shri]

The last 2 games have been some of the best T20 games I have ever seen.