Something will have to give, though. It's ludicrous that the most polished batter (by some distance) in the whole tournament is getting paid that little over three years. If some other team offered them half a mil for him, I'd suggest they'd take it.
If Delhi bowl first, reckon they'll win. Rajasthan's hitters might struggle against McGrath and co's accuracy. If they just shut him out and go after the others, reckon they'll post a decent total.
Actually, they can have Smith hog the strike facing McGrath, and plan to finish off his four overs without giving him a wicket. He has gone wicketless a match a few times. The rest of that attack isn't that great, so Swapnil, Shane and Yusuf can cash in on that- and Sehwag turning his arm over.
That's yet another problem case for IPL-
He's batted without a brain. Getting out playing rash shots, often at the wrong time- when he's a frontline batsman in a relatively weak batting side.
that strike rate is hardly anything to write home about. For a majority of the tourney, he was only above Ganguly, Kallis and someone else in the strike rate lists. And he has looked out of his league on a number of occassions against good bowlers.
Pretty much. He can't read a situation to save his life. That plus his haircut and his utterly wankerish habit of bowing to the crowd every time he takes a catch is the reason I would love us to trade him ASAP, there's plenty in India who still rate him and would give good pieces for a guy like him.
I believe the spots should go to Jadeja and Patel, Kaif has shown himself a terrible T20 batsman throughout the IPL.
I wasn't too impressed with him yesterday batting wise. And neither in terms of being a senior player and helping out an inexperienced captain in the field when the team was being tonked. Akmal seemed good, but Kaif and Y Khan seemed a bit annonymous.
Kaif has hardly ever got a chance, and when he has, he's been sent in to open chasing a 220+ target. While he's not quite the batsman to have up front, he's the ideal non-striker batsman, running very fast and hard between wickets. He's a good choice in case they withdraw the boundary ropes and the ground is bigger- and the ball doesn't come on the bat fast enough for a big hit. We've seen Kaif hit a few big ones too, against Symonds, so it's a question of being in action a lot more.
Rajasthan were smart enough to pick players who had plenty of ability but were hungry. It shouldn't have been a surprise that they and Punjab would be the best performed teams because in each side, you have players with a heap to prove. Guys like Dravid, Kallis, etc. would have rocked up with the best of intentions but after the first few failures, it would have been hard for them to matintain the intensity that they'd display in a Test. They're well-paid, yes, but they're also accomplished Test cricketers so IPL wouldn't be number 1 in their eyes, even if they're giving their best prima facie. What I'm saying is that doing well in IPL won't change their lives as cricketers because they're not only already in their national sides, they're also amongst the best players. Motivation to do well would be tough. That they have the odd good game is a function of just how good they are but certainly they look a bit short of a gallop.
To a reasonable extent, what you are saying is right. However, there were others who were extra-ordinarily paid but should've been as hungry for success. Uthappa, Ishant Sharma, M Tiwary all fall into this third category.
