Lets TALK cricket

I deeply apologize for the lack of posts this month. The zero performance can be attributed to the soaring Chennai heat , even more dramatically increasing electricity costs and cuts and last but never the least my own negligence , boredom and depressed state of mind. Sure many moody people do blog in spite of bad moods - which may lead to a depressing read. So thank me for trying to satisfy you all! :P

So turning to what IS bright this season : 

1. YELLOW MANGOES
2. YELLOW SUN
3. YELLOW of CSK! 

Smiling assasin

While mangoes are more promising and juicy for eating , the sun is just a fail topic to suck delight out of. So let us land on the most happening thing in an 'average' Indian teenager's life - 'IPL' or the Indian premier league. While the matches are mercilessly boring nowadays , the fans still don't seem to mind. Lack of interesting movies and basic life activities has led us into this pit of unexciting fun called ipl. 

People may call this only the 'opening' jitters still ,as the matches continue to be one sided and  the only interesting aspect being the points table. Every team seem to be exceptionally good or bad on  a given night. And this directly leads to the game being one sided where a team fail to attain previously meager scores like 180 or where the teams keep losing wickets like bowling pins. Not a cricket expert - but like every other person in India who seems to have this game in their blood - my frank opinion is that teams should stop trying to SLOG and carve their innings through timing and placement like an owais shah or use both timing and power like Du plessis or show class like Rahane. not everyone can be a Christopher Gayle or pollard and losing wickets in the current fashion is just ugly. 

Whilst i am typing this , Rajastan just won this thriller against deccan chargers. Their success can be mainly due to excellent batting by rahane and dravid upfront.Followed by awesome performance by brad hodge and owais shah. Deccan had only themselves to blame when they followed a brilliant batting performance with a bowling and fielding display which at best could be called miserable. They are the only team to have put up no scores so far. However , we cannot rule out any team off , as the key factor this time around is unpredictability and quality line ups almost every where.

As I type , my job of being this temporary cricket analyst more appealing and so i have decided to write a brief summary of all the teams and their performances so far! So here we go , the line up of the various teams , on the order of preference and their relative significance and basically on how fast they come to my mind: 

1. CSK - Well , being born here and living all my life are surely not the only factors.Even if their performances aren't exactly defined as consistent nowadays , the records speak for themselves. In the big picture we are the defending champions , looking for an incredible third consecutive win. This time around we don't have Hussey for the first half of the matches  , however his role has been performed well by francois du plessis xD one of the stronger batting line ups we have the likes of raina , badrinath ( who hasn't even got a game to play properly yet!) , Vijay ( who is in a BAD form) , Bravo , morkel , jadeja etc and as seen we have the fire power to chase down a 206 :O The bowling however hasn't been up to the mark and is infact lackluster with Ashwin not in form , bollinger conceding too many and generally no one is taking the all important wickets. Because of this the fielding is looking ineffective >.< buck up champions!

1. RR - The first time champions are looking to win again.They have always been the underdogs , even when having quality players and the thin celeb shilpa shetty supporting them. This has been due to their shrewd investments in players who have the potential but are not exactly the 'stars' . molded initially by the spinning legend shane warne , they have the legendary dravid as their captain and mentor now. Improvements are already seen with stunning batting displays and  disciplined bowling. Pankaj singh showed heart in previous matches , Ajinkya rahane has emerged to grab the orange cap - he is bleeding class! xD Owais shah has to be the find of the season with his apt timing and placement!! Also they have the awesome hodge who is one of the most experienced t20 players. Rajastan royals seem to be a force to reckon with in this competition B) 

1. DD - They started of well in the beginning but ended up having a terrible season last time around. Will they redeem themselves this time around? With almost half their previous squad in the rcb team now they seem to have risen up from the ashes like a phoenix . They have a batting line up that would make any bowler shiver - The daredevil sehwag who if gets going can dent any attack. They have foreigners like jayawardane , Pietersen  AND ross taylor who can time and hit the ball long! In yadav and morne morkel they have quality pace men who bowl fast and short. Only the spin department seems to be the weakness. Can they overcome and win the cup for the first ever time?

1. DC - They have had a very disappointing start to this year by not winning any games so far. However ,in sangakkara they have a very capable captain and all their matches have been close so far. While their batting usually doesn't fire , they have the right combinations of power and strokeplay in the captain , shikar dhawan , duminy , christian. However their bowling which looks good on paper is falling flat. However , having the best pace man dale steyn is always lethal. And if they can pick up their bowling and fielding mainly they can still make an impact before it gets too late. 

1. RCB - They have been coming to the finals but somehow manage to choke it in the end. They have the BEST spin attack consisting of the sublime muralidharan and the suave vettori. However their batting which has been running with gayle power for so long , is not working in normal circumstances. Also the pacers are conceding too many runs for the batsmen to even dream about. Yet , we all know how they start scratchily and end up creating scars for the opponents. Go RCB! and kohli and gayle - please convert your anger into something positive please!

1. MI - They have everything money can buy except some fitness. Without tendulkar the side looks different , as it is the case with any team. The openers need to fire and rohit sharma should be more responsible with his shots and also Pollard can't come to the rescue all the time. Given enough runs , they have the bowling to defend themselves. It is the batting that must click. 

1. PW - Why worry when dada is there? He has the ability ton bring out the best and the players seem aptly energetic and their bowling with dinda and Rahul sharma has looked good. The batting which is a concern seems to be moving on the right track with ryder and uthappa seeming to have found their forms finally. They have marlon samuels and steve smith who demolish the ball when they want to. 

1. K xi P - They have looked flat through. Gilchrist can weave his magic with any team and only he , valthathy , shaun marsh and preiy zinta with her dimple filled grins can save them!

1. KKR - They are not a bad team ; they have the potential . But they have largely never functioned as a team. Hope they can form some sort of cohesion . If kallis , gambhir , yusuf fire with the bat and balaji and lee with the ball with some contributions from domestic players like shukla and bhatia ( not to forget tiwary) they have a chance. 

P.S - forgive my grammar this time around , I am just exhausted by the heat lol