Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians – 21st May 2008
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Robin Uthappa used to be one of my favorite cricketers. Used to be, that is! But when you run out Sachin Tendulkar, and that too in a situation when he was single handedly going to win the game for your team, well, the loyalties are bound to wither.

Having committed the most punishable offence in blogging : inactivity, I am feeling a certain amount of guilt but the emphasis is always to bring quality rather than quantity, and so it will be. Apologies, nonetheless.

Coming back to the match, Mumbai Indians, needing 190 to win, were cruising at 159/4 in the 17th over when Mr Robin hoodless Uthappa got the great man run out. Of course it was not his fault. These things happen in cricket. YEAH RIGHT! Sometimes it feels like to hell with journalistic neutrality these days. Here’s how Cricinfo described this wicket.

“Pathan to Uthappa, OUT, Do we have a game here? Uthappa rocks back and softly tucks it towards mid wicket, they set off for the run but Tendulkar is sent back after Pathan runs forward and gathers the ball quickly, he takes aim and strikes the stumps down with Tendulkar yards outside his crease”

What followed was a story of non-application with 4 run outs and two schoolboy shots made Mumbai lose the match by one run. ONE RUN!

Sach Is Life. All hail the great man’s 46 ball 65. So near yet so far. It is getting tougher for Mumbai to qualify now. I would soon be coming up with an analysis of every team’s chances in the IPL now.

Current Certainties:

• Royals Qualified for Semis
• Royal Challengers and Chargers OUT

Later

Photo : Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Mumbai Indians – Snatching Defeat from Victory

He took Shoaib 4-wkt Akhtar to the cleaners, took him for 23 in an over, so much so that the Indian news channels suddenly started wondering whether Akhtar was on dope during the previous game! And then these journalists say that yellow ain\\\’t their favorite color.

What was the icing on the cake was that the Mumbai Indians got to the target in less than six overs. Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Knight Riders, quipped:

\\\”We played better than them. We batted for 15 overs, they only 5\\\”

Whatever happened to plain old grace in defeat! Welcome to IPL!

Photo : Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Kolkata Knight Riders Embarrassed by Mumbai Indians

We had earlier reported that Sachin Tendulkar would play this match. Well, of course he played and led the Indians well. His captaincy was un-Tendulkarish, refreshing and nice to analyze. But he is not everyone who has watched this match would talk about. Limelight is a very narrow road, and the person who trudged down that path was the great Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya. He scored his 100 in 45 balls, the second fastest in the tournament. Just watch the video and have a great time.

Even good bowlers like Gony and Albie Morkel weren’t spared. It was one of those rare occasions where it does not hurt that much when Sachin Tendulkar is dismissed for less than 20. He Capped Off the achievement with these golden words at the post match presentation:

“Batting with Tendulkar, its amazing. It is….it is the best day of my cricketing career, to open the batting with him. His presence allowed me to play my natural game with ease. I would remember this day till years to come”

Of course Sachin has this effect. He is Sachin after all.

Lets see the video now:

By the way, a series of serial blasts rocked Indian city of Jaipur, where a few of my friends live. Around 200 people are dead. May they Rest in Peace.

Photo: Newscom
Video: Youtube

Post from: EveryJoe

Sanath Jayasuriya brutally crushes Chennai

• In came Shoaib and Virendra Sehwag was out first ball he faced. Caught by the Keeper.
• Then it was the turn of Gautam Gambhir as he fiddled with a wide one, just to be caught up at slip
• In came ABcDe Villiers who though that Mr Steyn is the fastest of them all. Akhtar proved him wrong
• Manoj Tiwary hadn’t faced anything faster than Dinda. He was caught plumb in front, one of those rarities when you don’t even have to appeal for a LBW

Shoaib’s Figures: 3-0-11-4

Another bloke, LR Shukla, took 3 in his first over (Delhi’s 18th) to end it for the Daredevils

IPL Roundup:

Laxman out of IPL
The Injury has made him be ruled out of the IPL. If I was a true Deccan fan, I would be Happy.

Ashwell Prince goes back to South Africa
His wife has had a baby and he would be back in a week. We wish him luck. BTW he plays for the Mumbai Indians. Still to make his IPL Debut.

Laters.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Shoaib, Shukla help Kolkata Knightriders Romp Delhi Daredevils

There are a lot of incidents in life which one feels should not have happened. Being slapped by a senior in your cricket team is one of the worst. Having played (and still playing) some sort of cricket myself, I can at least try to understand the agony that Shantakumaran Sreesanth must have felt when he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh. According to most sources, after the match (which the Kings finally won), Sree (Kings) went over to Harbhajan (Indians) and said, and I quote: “Hard Luck, mate.” The next moment, Sreesanth was in tears. LITERALLY, and that too in front of a few billion international viewers. He looked totally inconsolable.

Sreesanth Inconsolable

Let’s tone down the melodrama and focus a bit on the psychology here. Dinnie, I know it’s your territory but I can’t help but dwell on it now. Harbhajan has always had his run-ins with the law. Right from his dislike for the National Cricket Academy food in his teens, to his possession of stinking shoes in New Zealand, to his ‘polite’ altercations with Hayden and Symonds, he has always been the talking point when it comes to the rule stretchers of Indian Cricket. What I feel about human psychology is that it follows the cause-effect principle. Everything has a reason. Digging into Harbhajan, you would find that he alone supports nine people in his family. His dad passed away when his place in the Indian Team was not even certain. He has been through a lot, and a bit of impatience usually comes with it.

Coming back to Sreesanth, he too has been the eye-candy for match referees throughout his young career. His actions mostly smell of aggression, stinking on the side of immaturity most of the times. The romantics in India certainly appreciate that, but then, what is immature is IMMATURE. When a known aggressor is the captain of a team which has just lost the third match in a row, only an immature personality can go up to him and say things Sree said. Harbhajan retort was acceptable, maybe not the manner in which he dished it out. A smart word should have sufficed. Sometimes it feels that we as cricket observers should try to find out who was right and who was wrong in every on and off field incident. We do this, knowing pretty well than nothing is RIGHT or WRONG, it just happens. You can analyze it as much as you may; the truth is that there is no truth. Everything is just an interpretation. Best of Luck, Harbhajan and HARD LUCK, Sreesanth

Video Credit : Youtube

Post from: EveryJoe

Harbhajan Slaps Sreesanth