Formidable Chennai stand in Mumbai's way of maiden IPL crown

May 26, 2013

Chennai_standKolkata, May 26: Amid the intriguing but dark saga of the unfolding spot fixing and betting scam, two-time champions Chennai Super Kings take on traditional underachievers Mumbai Indians in the final of the controversy-ridden sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the iconic Eden Gardens here Sunday.

A formidable but beleaguered Super Kings, who topped the round robin league on way to the title round, would hope for a replay of the 2010 finals to dash Mumbai Indians’ quest for an elusive IPL crown. Three years back, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai had carved out a 22 run win over Mumbai to bag their first IPL title.

It will be a test of cricketing skills as well as mental toughness for the Chennai outfit which has been making news outside the 22 yards with the fixing scandal reaching its doorstep following the arrest of chief executive Gurunath Meiyappan.

On the other hand, Mumbai would draw confidence from their 2-1 win-loss record over Chennai in this edition of the league. MI had won both the round robin games, but lost in the first play-off.

For a team based in what is called the cricket capital of the country, Mumbai’s best performance so far has been a runners up trophy in their only appearance in the final. Through the IPL years, they have fielded sides packed with superstars and promise, only to bow out in crunch games. Failures in the play-offs over the last two seasons is a further proof of their status as chokers.

Sunday gives them yet another chance to redeem themselves.

A further incentive could be a desire to enable batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, now battling an injury, to add the missing jewel in his dazzling crown - an IPL trophy.

Both the teams look evenly matched on paper.

Chennai though have been more consistent. In their armoury is orange cap holder Michael Hussey (732 runs) to provide a blistering start, a Suresh Raina (548) to carry the momentum forward and finally the trio of Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja to finish things off in style.

Their potent bowling is led by all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who with 28 scalps is the joint highest wicket taker this season along with Rajasthan Royals’ James Faulkner. New ball bowler Mohit Sharma (19 wickets) has been a revelation, both in terms of his economy rate and ability to take wickets in crucial situations. He has been well supported by lanky South African pacer Chris Morris (14 wickets).

The spin twin of Ravichandran Ashwin (15 wickets) and Jadeja (13 wickets) can also be a handful for the opponents, especially on a slow turning Eden track.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have been blowing hot and cold. They powered themselves into the knockout stage by finishing second, but were humbled by Chennai in the first playoff before stuttering past Royals in the second to seal the final berth.

Opener Dwayne Smith has been in red hot form and so long as he is out batting in the field, Mumbai look favourites to win any game. The West Indian so far has amassed 414 runs and his last two innings read-62 (44), 68 (28).

While Tendulkar has been forced to lay low with a wrist injury, his replacement Aditya Tare has grabbed eyeballs with his big hitting.

The middle order comprising skipper Rohit Sharma (536 runs) and keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (489) looks solid. The big hitting prowess of Kieron Pollard needs no introduction. The burly allrounder has the ability to turn a match on its head in a short span.

If in Mitchell Johnson (22 scalps) and Lasith Malinga (18), Mumbai have a dangerous new ball bowling pair, they have an equally beguiling spin duo in Harbhajan Singh (22) and Pragyan Ojha (15).

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 26,2020

Some of the ICC guidelines on resumption of cricket border on the impractical and will need a review when the cricketing world is closer to action, feel former players Aakash Chopra, Irfan Pathan and Monty Panesar.

Last week, the International Cricket Council recommended a host of "back to cricket" guidelines including 14-day pre-match isolation training camps to ensure the teams are free from COVID-19.

The world body issued training as well as playing guidelines which will drastically change the way the game is played.

Among them are regular hand sanitising when in contact with the ball, no loo or shower breaks while training, minimising time spent in the changing room before and after a game, no use of saliva on ball and no handing over of personal items (cap, sunglasses, towels) to fellow teammates or the on-field umpires.

"Social distancing is very doable in individual sport but very tough in a team sport like cricket and football. If you need a slip during the game, would you not employ it?

"If the team is going through a 14-day quarantine and is being tested for COVID-19, I am fine with that process. Now, after that, if we have more guidelines for the players during the game, then you are making things complicated. Then there is no point of a quarantine period," former India pacer Pathan told PTI.

Safety cannot be compromised but regularly sanitising hands during the game will be too much to ask from the players.

"Safety is paramount but we should not make the game complicated. If a bowler or fielder has to sanitise hands every time he touches the ball, then it would be very difficult.

"You can shorten the process of giving the ball to the bowler. Instead of the usual chain (wicket-keeper to cover fielder to bowler), the keeper can straight away give the ball to the bowler but even then the bowler will have to sanitise hands six times in an over," said Pathan seeking more clarity on the guidelines.

Former India opener Chopra said it is still pre-mature to prepare a fixed set of guidelines for resumption of cricket as the situation is evolving "every day".

"That (regular hand sanitisation after contact with ball) is obviously impractical but my big question is when the game happens in a bio secure environment and everyone is quarantined and tested, do these additional measures make a difference?

"On the field, I can still understand but what happens when you go back into the dressing room? How do you practice social distancing there? So it becomes quite complicated.

"To be honest it is all very premature. Once they get closer to resumption, which will take some time, there will be more clarity," said Chopra.

International cricket is likely to resume in July with England hosting West Indies and then Pakistan.

Bundesliga football league has already begun in Germany behind closed doors and by the time cricket resumes, more sporting competitions would have restarted and Chopra feels that will help cricket decide the way forward in post COVID-19 times.

"By the time cricket resumes, more football would have started after Bundesliga. Cricket can take lessons from there, collect data and ideas and see what is practical and what is not."

Former England spinner Panesar foresees the start of the England-West Indies series making things a lot clearer for the entire fraternity than they are at the moment.

"The 14 day quarantine is very much needed and well done to the ICC for including that. I think we will see resumption of international cricket with England hosting West Indies in July. We might have some practical ideas then, the other countries would also be watching keenly and will learn how to go about it.

"But measures like regular hand sanitising is not going to be practical. May be you could sanitise every one hour but it can't be regular during the game," said Panesar.

While Pathan feels the on-field safety measures will make managing over-rate a bigger challenge for teams, Chopra said no loo or shower breaks during training won't be that much of an issue.

"Training is still controllable. You don't have to be there for a long time but you would still have to use the restroom at some stage. You may avoid taking a shower but you will have to use the restroom.

"I think the idea of these guidelines is to make cricketers more aware that you have to take care of yourself and inculcate habits which are in everyone's interest in the current scenario," added Chopra.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 14,2020

Hamilton, Feb 14: Batting first, India finished at 263 for nine on the opening day of the three-day warm-up game against New Zealand XI here on Friday.

Hanuma Vihari made 101 off 182 balls before retiring, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 93.

Besides, Ajinkya Rahane (18) was the only other Indian batsmen to register double digit score.

The likes of Prithvi Shaw (0), Mayank Agarwal (1) and Shubman Gill (0) failed to cash in on the opportunity.

Scott Kuggeleijn (3/40) and Ish Sodhi (3/72) shared six wickets between them for New Zealand.

Brief Scores:

India: 263 for 9 in 78.5 overs (Hanuma Vihari 101, Cheteshwar Pujara 93; Scott Kuggeleijn 3/40, Ish Sodhi 3/72).

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.