*Official* Indian Premier League 2011

[Cevno]

Sachin yet to be dismissed this IPL, WAG. And agree with Ankit that Rayudu looks the goods in terms of his technique and strokes. I remember he was considered a prodigy at one point of time, but never really came through. *goes to look up his FC record*

Was reading about him last year.
He was considered the next great batsman at 17.

Had a great under age record and his first couple of Ranji seasons were superb at the age of 17 and 18 including 2 double tons. Also did really well in england for Indian u-19 and was leading scorer in the u-19 world cup in 2004.

Was almost selected for India at that time.
But after that he inexplicably dropped in form for no reason and despite some great flashes ,never showed consistency at all. (THough he did have problems with the coach and transferred from Hyderabad and Andhra on a couple of occasions)

He was close to be selected for India on a 3/4 occasions but never really performed in the crucial match close to selection and somebody else did.
Then he left for the ICL and had a bit of rejuvenation there. Said playing with International players helped a lot.

He is the borderline case who had he been selected would have done well atleast in ODI's ,but never got selected.
A bit like Suresh Raina,Robin Uthappa and even Yuvraj Singh. Players who cannot justify selection based on consistency but in domestic cricket but have done well for the national team. There records are similar to his too.

It is a lot of the time about performing at the crucial juctures when there is a vacancy and before a selection for such players. A great example of this is Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan.
Both played for India underage teams together for long and opened the batting together at times.
Dhawan was considered the best of the crop(even better than Raina) and was almost certain to be selected for the India team when there was a opener vacancy in the ODI team in 2006 .

2 days before the selection meeting a challenger trophy match was going on. They were opening together for the same team and chasing about 230 odd in a dew affected game somewhat. Both started off really well but Dhawan got run out ,partially due to Uthappa's fault on about 20/30 odd.
But Uthappa carried on from there and smashed a brilliant unbeaten century and kaboom was selected for the Indian team ahead of Dhawan 2 days later due to the hype he generated then.

 

[Jono]

IPL news: Mahela Jayawardene backs aggressive Sreesanth | Cricket News | Indian Premier League 2011 | ESPN Cricinfo

Learn from Jaya, Dhoni - you ****! Always back your players.

Jayawardene world cups: 0
Dhoni ODI/T20 world cups: 2

Jayawardene IPL wins: 0
Dhoni IPL wins: 1

Jayawardene Champs League wins: 0
Dhoni Champs League wins: 1

Jayawardene #1 test ranking?: no
Dhoni #1 test ranking?: yes.

Clearly calling Sreesanth a **** works

Jaya will keep bowling Sree, and Kochi will keep losing.

 

[Cevno]

Time to start trying him out in some of the bilateral ODI series if Sachin/Sehwag sit out. But yeah, there's loads of competition among the younger batsmen to get into the ODI team.

Getting in the Indian team for a batter is ridiculously tough at the moment, in any form of the game and to stay there even tougher once you get there.

But if you are a fast bowler ,the most you need to do is bowl at 138 to 140 k + and have one decent domestic tournament of significance in any form and you are in.
Even all those conditions are not neccessary sometimes(*Cough* Unadkat *Cough* )

 

[Cruxdude]

To be honest, Mumbai's attack is still very reliant on Malinga. Pollard is a very very smart bowler, and if Harbhajan is on of course he is good. But those two can still be taken to, and so can Munaf Patel.

I don't think the plan of Dilshan and AB Devilliers was necessarily wrong. The problem is once they were set they never launched properly. After the 9th or 10th over they should have decided to smash it (I was wrong in thinking they had the right strategy in holding back).

Australia showed that if you can go at Munaf in the World Cup, even when he is bowling decently. He is predictable. Harbhajan will go into his shell if you go at him early too.

One day Malinga will have an off-day, and if it happens someone else better step up.

Then again the way Sachin is batting, he and Pollard could probably chase 200-odd.

Yaa, a Malinga off-day and Sachin getting out early could put a lot of pressure on MI.

 

[honestbharani]

Think Rayudu must be a good shout for being in the Indian T20 side if he keeps up this form throughout the IPL..

 

[vcs]

To be honest, Mumbai's attack is still very reliant on Malinga. Pollard is a very very smart bowler, and if Harbhajan is on of course he is good. But those two can still be taken to, and so can Munaf Patel.

I don't think the plan of Dilshan and AB Devilliers was necessarily wrong. The problem is once they were set they never launched properly. After the 9th or 10th over they should have decided to smash it (I was wrong in thinking they had the right strategy in holding back).

Australia showed that if you can go at Munaf in the World Cup, even when he is bowling decently. He is predictable. Harbhajan will go into his shell if you go at him early too.

One day Malinga will have an off-day, and if it happens someone else better step up.

Then again the way Sachin is batting, he and Pollard could probably chase 200-odd.

Many of the Indian youngsters spread around the IPL teams seem to have no clue how to play Malinga's indipping bombs. And most of these guys, unfortunately, seem to be batting up the order.

I think Munaf is bowling very cannily these days, if there's a bit of bounce in the track, he'll be hard to get away in the power-play overs and in the middle. He's a poor death bowler and Sachin was probably right not to let him complete his quota even with his brilliant economy rate (though Malinga had an expensive last over in hindsight). Harbhajan basically bowls darts these days and the odd Afridi-style quicker one. Will settle for figures of 4-0-28-0 every game.

 

[Jono]

Don't get me wrong, they're still a powerhouse team along with Chennai, and a huge favourite (again, along with Chennai).

But there are weaknesses there. Are they missing any Australian players?

 

[Cevno]

Think Rayudu must be a good shout for being in the Indian T20 side if he keeps up this form throughout the IPL..

The T20 side hardly plays though,except the world cup and in away tours T20 sides are generally the same as the ODI side.

 

[vcs]

Was reading about him last year.
He was considered the next great batsman at 17.

Had a great under age record and his first couple of Ranji seasons were superb at the age of 17 and 18 including 2 double tons. Also did really well in england for Indian u-19 and was leading scorer in the u-19 world cup in 2004.

Was almost selected for India at that time.
But after that he inexplicably dropped in form for no reason and despite some great flashes ,never showed consistency at all. (THough he did have problems with the coach and transferred from Hyderabad and Andhra on a couple of occasions)

He was close to be selected for India on a 3/4 occasions but never really performed in the crucial match close to selection and somebody else did.
Then he left for the ICL and had a bit of rejuvenation there. Said playing with International players helped a lot.

He is the borderline case who had he been selected would have done well atleast in ODI's ,but never got selected.
A bit like Suresh Raina,Robin Uthappa and even Yuvraj Singh. Players who cannot justify selection based on consistency but in domestic cricket but have done well for the national team. There records are similar to his too.

It is a lot of the time about performing at the crucial juctures when there is a vacancy and before a selection for such players. A great example of this is Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan.
Both played for India underage teams together for long and opened the batting together at times.
Dhawan was considered the best of the crop(even better than Raina) and was almost certain to be selected for the India team when there was a opener vacancy in the ODI team in 2006 .

2 days before the selection meeting a challenger trophy match was going on. They were opening together for the same team and chasing about 230 odd in a dew affected game somewhat. Both started off really well but Dhawan got run out ,partially due to Uthappa's fault on about 20/30 odd.
But Uthappa carried on from there and smashed a brilliant unbeaten century and kaboom was selected for the Indian team ahead of Dhawan 2 days later due to the hype he generated then.

Getting in the Indian team for a batter is ridiculously tough at the moment, in any form of the game and to stay there even tougher once you get there.

But if you are a fast bowler ,the most you need to do is bowl at 138 to 140 k + and have one decent domestic tournament of significance in any form and you are in.
Even all those conditions are not neccessary sometimes(*Cough* Unadkat *Cough* )

Yeah, hopefully he goes and has a really good FC season or two like Pujara or Mukund or someone. Competition for batting places is ridiculously hard ATM. The real test will come when Sachin, Dravid and Laxman retire (I suspect it will all happen very suddenly in the space of one or two series) and then the spots will start to open up. These guys will have huge shoes to fill and will be expected to come in and start performing to a high standard straightaway.

 

[Cevno]

Sehwag being Sehwag will probably bow out close to them too.

Can see Dravid retiring before the other 3 though.

 

[Himannv]

Good job by MI, the team I'm supporting. Wonder if they'll finally get Symonds back in the team to take them to that next level.

Have to say I'm impressed with Rajastan and Pune as well from what I've seen so far.

Rajastan, for the past couple of games have been spectacular. Get the feeling that Warne has got them all into the right mindset. I mean, making Johan Botha a solid number 3 bat and giving Dravid a role to play whih works well in T20's are inspired moves. Plus his bowling was absolutely fantastic. What an innings by Dravid today. Proper cricketing shots and exquisite quality but still striking at a great rate. What a player!!

 

[Contra]

Great gesture from Tendulkar to give the MoM to Rayudu.. remember him doing earlier in an int game to Yuvraj

Yeah it was the future cup in 2007 just prior to the England tour. He finished a few games off against SA which India could have lost.

And wow Sach looks like he's just continuing off from where he left in 2010 IPL. Such an awesome anchor.

I hope MI go one step further than last time this year. Was sad when MI lost the final

 

[Teesra]

Dominating victory for Mumbai

 

[Cruxdude]

Yeah it was the future cup in 2007 just prior to the England tour. He finished a few games off against SA which India could have lost.

And wow Sach looks like he's just continuing off from where he left in 2010 IPL. Such an awesome anchor.

I hope MI go one step further than last time this year. Was sad when MI lost the final

I hope they win all their games except the ones against CSK.

 

[Spark]

Can someone explain why Dirty Dirk only bowled one over (for no runs and a wicket)

 

[Jono]

Got injured.

 

[Ikki]

Warne > Bradman >>>>>>> Sachin.

 

[Shri]

Warne > Bradman >>>>>>> Sachin.

Who is that irrelevant 2nd option there?

 

[Bun]

Warne > Bradman >>>>>>> Sachin.

such dire trolling and baiting

 

[Ikki]

All kidding aside, Warne looks awesome. Fitter than ever. Make a comeback you ****. I miss you