Showing posts with label Match-4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Match-4. Show all posts

Knight Riders-have no Riders!!

6:20 AM // by Karthik // // 0 comments
Bangalore Terming John Buchanan's theories on Twenty20 cricket as 'stupid and unimaginative', former Indian captain and coach Ajit Wadekar blamed Kolkata Knight Riders' humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Deccan Chargers squarely on the former Aussie coach.
"Buchanan has taken the Knight Riders' to the dept of the ocean with his 'stupid and unimaginative' theories. I find it shocking that he has been given so much of importance by the team management despite dividing the team. The body language of the players clearly indicated that everything was not fine with the team," Wadekar told Cricketnext.com on Monday.
"Changing the captain just a day before a big tournament is unheard of in cricket and by replacing Sourav Ganguly with Brendon McCullum, Buchanan has created a record of sort," a fuming Wadekar added.
Wadekar along with two former Indian skippers -- Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar -- had criticised Buchanan's multiple captains theory after a press conference in Kolkata.
"Buchanan's observations that the seniors like Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble should stop playing in the Twenty20 version has been answered in a proper manner by Dravid's and Sachin Tendulkar's technically sound batting and Anil Kumble's lion hearted bowling. Also such comments only proves the man's lack of cricketing knowledge as South African wickets will never help slam-bang type of batters," the southpaw said.
"Even an attacking batsman like Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa batted cautiously yesterday proving my point once and for all," Wadekar added.
"To me Buchanan is no cricket coach he is just a good man-management guy, who can be a decent manager. And if people want to give him credit for Australian team's success under Steve Waugh and later under Ricky Ponting it is their problem.
But to me only technically sound batsmen will have a big role to play in this IPL, irrespective of their age and unlike the traditional belief, spinners will be in the forefront of actions and might snatch the limelight from the fast bowlers," Wadekar sounded the warning.
Sympathising with defending champions Rajasthan Royals' early set back to the Bangalore outfit on the first day, Wadekar said, the loss of Shane Watson and Shoail Tanvir, had crippled the team somewhat.
"Watson and Tanvir played a major role in their team's success last time around and their absence has left a big dent as the team is yet to find suitable replacements," Wadekar said.
"Though the team consists of many talented youngster, they lack experience and technique to adapt to the conditions over there. Players like Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja should try and be more consistent and not resort to big hitting all the time because they will never succeed as you just cannot hit across the line on these wickets," he added.

Chargers Charged up!!

6:18 AM // by Karthik // // 0 comments
Could the script have been any different from last year's start for the Kolkata Knight Riders? Brendon McCullum's intoxicating 158 had taken them to an enormous victory a year ago, but they were outplayed by an efficient Deccan Chargers outfit on a juicy pitch in Cape Town. It has been a weekend to savour for bowlers, and each member of Deccan's attack did their bit to leave Kolkata scrambling to reach triple-digits. Herschelle Gibbs, coming off a triumphant series against Australia, and Rohit Sharma, back in the country where he made his name in 2007, then made sure Deccan's campaign didn't begin in the dismal way last season's had.
Kolkata had packed their batting with foreign players, but it wasn't enough to prevent a hapless batting performance. Their formidable top order was handcuffed by Deccan's new-ball bowlers. Fidel Edwards was fast and frugal - consistently around the 140kph mark, he gave away only six runs, the lowest conceded in a completed IPL spell - and RP Singh evicted the Kolkata openers early.
Everything went right for Deccan. With Kolkata on 2 for 1 after three overs, Gayle broke free with a crash past point for four and a mow over midwicket for six. Then Adam Gilchrist pushed a fielder back to long-on, where Gayle promptly holed out next ball.
Sourav Ganguly had a short-lived and uncomfortable stay, beaten several times, and was unable to find the gap through the off side when he connected. Even fans protesting his removal from the captaincy can't defend the shot that brought about his dismissal - backing away and then stabbing at a wide, full delivery, only to nick it to slip.
Despite rain and a floodlight failure causing the game to be delayed by nearly an hour-and-a-half, the organisers decided to have the seven-and-a-half-minute interval after the tenth over. Aakash Chopra and Brad Hodge had dragged Kolkata to 31 for 3 by then, but also found Pragyan Ojha's left-arm spin a handful. Both Chopra and Laxmi Shukla perished giving Ojha the charge, only to be undone by the turn.
Hodge, the leading run-getter in Twenty20s, played a sensible hand. He entered in the fifth over and knocked around the singles before opening out in the 16th. Hodge slammed a couple of boundaries before slapping Scott Styris straight to Herschelle Gibbs at point. The tailenders threw their bat around but RP took two in three balls to deny Kolkata even the modest satisfaction of playing out their 20 overs.
A target of 102 was never going to be too big a challenge, especially as Kolkata had left out Ajantha Mendis on a pitch spinners have thrived on all weekend. Adam Gilchrist hit a couple of trademark boundaries before top-edging to square leg and VVS Laxman, after bludgeoning an out-of-character pull for six, was dismissed due to an old failing - poor running between the wickets.
That brought together Rohit and Gibbs, who knuckled down to work a few singles and steady the innings. Gibbs then started playing some inventive shots, a bent-knee sweep off Ganguly for four followed by a deft dab towards third man. Any pressure that Kolkata had built up vanished, and neither batsmen was afraid of lofting the ball after that.
Rohit joined in the fun once Ajit Agarkar was introduced, a huge six over long-off and a couple of boundaries helping take 17 runs off his first over. Some more merry hitting from the pair finished off the game with nearly seven overs to spare.
Kolkata had talked of a radical multiple-captain theory before the tournament, but they need to come up with some fresh ideas if they are improve on today's dreadful show.