Superkings Suprabhaadam – Qualifiers Feat

When a team makes sure they appear in all the climax sequences for 4 years on the trot, display exuberance of playing tough when the situation arises, where focus is on less glamour and more on game, less celebrity backing and more on inspirational captaincy, less dependency on individual brilliance and more on team effort, less on controversy and more on spirit (winning the Fairplay award thrice including this year is a testimony of that) - it feels proud to be a fanboy of Chennai SuperKings.

On a simple Tuesday night, the Men in Yellow steered their way into their 2nd consecutive final beating the table toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore. A match worthy of a Qualifier brought the best amongst both the teams. Down and out, after losing early wickets and unable to up the scoring rate, Chennai found themselves in a spot of bother. The innings was revamped with occasional high scoring overs that kept CSK in hunt and the fire finish meant it would be the happy side on the flight to Chennai where it gets a shot at the title defense and RCB another go to reach the final.

Some highlights from the match:

• Gayle Gale Resource Management – The entire boardroom sessions of CSK were used in brainstorming ideas of how to get Gayle out. It turned out to be productive, Bollinger cramped him for space and Ashwin struck him in front. And Gayle started his somber walk to the pavilion making peace with the scorers with a single digit score.

• “Dei this match is boring, let’s make it interesting else we won’t have anything to chase” – seemed like the talk that went around the Chennai Superkings bowling battery. Aided with some poor bowling and coupled with some quality hitting by Kohli and Pomersbasch, RCB set up a tough target of 175.

• How to silence critics gesture – Murali Vijay, sure does know how to silence critics. When AB de Villiers lofted one to the straight boundary, Vijay who was exactly placed at the spot took a simple catch according to normal cricket fielding standards. But Mr.Vijay, who dropped a sitter in the previous match, wanted to know that he has silenced critics thus gesturing with a finger on his mouth, hurling towards the sky that would have made tribes in Africa proud.

• “Naa ippa enga irukaen”– Bearing the brunt of being placed very low in the list of Value for Money players, Saurabh Tiwary brought all his agony to the fore in the last ball of Ashwin’s spell. A fierce hit straight back; it took Ashwin by surprise and hit him hard on the forehead. The ball still went near the boundary and Ashwin was down totally unaware of what happened to him. Consistent replays would have made household ladies go in a dizzy. But Ashwin was fine soon and was in the dugout with an Ashok Dinda styled bandage.

• Leg before and after effect – Even before the ride could begin, the RCB bowlers ensured that the brakes were in place. Two back to back leg before wickets, one spot on and another dubious stalled Chennai’s chase. The after effects being low scoring overs, untimed hits and dodgy batsmanship – CSK managed just 25 off the powerplay 6 over phase.

• Occasional, Over the top – With soaring asking rates, Chennai’s foothold on the chase was losing steam. However occasional high scoring overs kept it in the hunt throughout. A 16 run over bowled by Kohli injected urgency into the chase. When Badri got out making a useful 32, Dhoni came in. Along with Raina’s powered clearing prospects, they plundered 23 runs off a Mithun Manhas’ over. With Zaheer already having delivered 3 economical overs, his final over held the key link for RCB. But by clearing him for 3 sixes, Chennai sure was on course.

• Miserly Mister – When carrying the bat, he is extravagant, the epitome of the prodigal son but with the ball in hand, Chris Gayle proved to be the miser of the bowling masses. With good Yorker length bowling, he curtailed Chennai’s big hitting at the other end with low scoring overs giving away just 19 off his quota of 4 overs keeping the asking rate high and ensuring that RCB has a chance in the final two overs.

• Superkings Supreme – the final two overs marked Chennai’s stamp of authority. With both Morkel and Raina’s ability to clear the infield, a shower of sixes, a four and good running ensured that Chennai’s berth in the final was confirmed and Bengaluru’s in Waiting list. Raina proved to be the match winner of the big games and Morkel proving why he was worthy to be retained in the squad. Superkings reign supreme and are just a hurdle away from the title.

Superkings Suprabhaadam #3

After a good start, Chennai is having a mixed run in the IPL. But with the morale boosting win against the Pune Warriors, things are looking up. Also as always under Dhoni, the need to “peak at the right time” is important and so the going is good so far. Some picks from the matches:

Match 3: RCB

• Winning formula: It is kind of time we patent our formula for winning, before the likes of KKR who have a similar formula get it first. The formula – Win toss. Choose to bat. One player plays the sheet anchor. Others bat around him by hitting the DLF maximums. Build a formidable total. Pick early wickets. Dry up the runs. Increase required run rate. Allow them to choke. Win.

• Fevicol sponsorship: Vijay Mallya should seriously think of roping in a sponsorship from Fevicol for RCBians. Considering their efforts in not able to hold a single catch coming from the blade of Hussey, a Fevicol sponsorship could do a whirl of good.

Match 4: KTK

• The Curious Case of Strategic Time Outs: As if the Duckworth Lewisky calculations weren’t enough, I was left numbed when the umpire called for the time out. When a match has been reduced to a 17 overs a side game, I don’t know what other strategy CSK will be thinking at the end of the 14^th over other than go after the bowling. And for that, we are given 2.5 minutes. I guess the Maxx mobile guys have to reconsider their option of sponsoring the time out before it backfires and shows in their sales graph.

• Anniversary special: Anniversaries are always special, maybe second thoughts on marriage anniversaries. But then it was the 4^th Anniversary of IPL - the place of marketing accumulation, brand elevation, cheer leading sensation and yeah, some budding cricketers production. Kochi, the latest entrant to the IPL extravaganza came to party with a victory laid firm by Brendon McCullum, who was the one who declared the IPL party open with a century in the opening IPL game. A nostalgic touch indeed.

Match 5: MI

• Dew Drop Enterprises: I see a booming entrepreneurship option in the area of creative research and solution providers for counter attacking dew. With so much talking on how dew comes into play in the later stages of the game, how tough it is for the bowlers to grip to ball and so forth. We can pool in weather experts who can calculate the amount of dew for the evening, chemical engineers who can develop a spraying solution that helps to absorb the dew and material scientists who can design an appropriate towel to dry the ball instantly.

• Commentary clicks: As said in my previous post about the low point of IPL being the commentary, a few follow up comments in the MI match.

“He has bowled two dot balls that didn’t concede runs” – Interesting. I thought that was why it was named as a dot ball.

Ravi Shastri – “This match is not over yet” – when the 14^th over of CSK’s innings was in progress. I guess that’s the reason we were still watching the match.

Match 6: PWI

• The Den: When the administrators decided to name the home ground as the Lion’s den in sync with the logo of the team, they got it spot on. When a prey enters the Den, it sure has no way to hit the Esc key. CSK notched up its 7^th victory in the last 8 games in the Lion’s Den.

• Statistics break play award: Apart from always winning the Fair play award interestingly sponsored by the Kingfisher, CSK could be running for a Statistics breaking play award if there was one. In a tournament were success rate of winning a match batting second is 65%, CSK has notched up all its victories by batting first.

So, amidst all the play offs and table tumbling, Chennai with its last win found a jump to the fourth position in the points table. Hoping they keep up their good work. *Off*

Superkings Suprabhaadam #2

After having won a tight encounter in the opening match, the Chennai Super Kings were in Mohali for the ‘Battle Royale’ between the Kings. The Kings XI Punjab having started on a sober note wanted to make amends.

Praveen Picks a Pair

I pity this man from Uttar Pradesh. He has this knack of picking early wickets by getting the ball to swing both ways, yeah, this way and that way. He missed the opportunity of his life to be part of the World cup winning squad, after having picked up an injury just before the team departed. But then it was destined that India win the World Cup with the likes of Sreesanth and so it did. Praveen, already, having picked Smith first ball in the game against Pune Warriors went one step ahead and dismissed both Aniruddha and Raina in the opening two deliveries of the match and straight away brought the CSK side on the mat.

Helicopter, Heaves and Hullabaloo

Put in place at the very beginning, Murali Vijay and Badrinath, regional teammates for around 10 years, started the process of building up the innings cautiously. Once seeing that the bowling wasn’t that much of a trouble after Praveen’s opening spell, free the arms was the norm. Harsha Bhogle on air commented that the best place to hit the cricket ball was down the ground – straight. And so the batsmen went about their job dutifully, by sending the ball straight down the ground, keeping the umpires on their toes to shy away from their hits. Vijay changed gears smoothly and raced from 40 to 70 in no time. Badri was showing intent, chipping the ball in vacant areas. Vijay finally perished going for the big one.

In came Dhoni and bad time. Bad time for Punjab bowlers to hold the ball. With a crashing strike rate of 215, Dhoni sent the bowlers to cleaners. In particular he reserved special treatment for Praveen, sending his deliveries over the ropes. And out came the helicopter from Mahi’s bat that would have made the Pepsi advertisers proud. And so the innings received a royal end with all the heaves and hullabaloo on a majestic 188.

Valthaty – Vandalizing Beauty

T20 hundreds are always special. And when it comes in a winning cause chasing down at 9.5 runs an over against the defending champions, its extra special – a small time adjective. Paul Valthaty put on display one of the finest innings in T20 to sink CSK. What astonished me in the innings is that it had 19 fours and just 2 sixes, uncharacteristic. He found the boundary almost every over and in some there were more than just one. His shots though not from the book were timed and placed well. And when a batsman bats like a dream, his co-batsmen just need to give him company and so did they. What makes the innings even more admirable is that, Valthaty saw to that he completed the task he sought out for. A morale boosting win for Kings XI Punjab.

Butter spills

· Amongst other things, one of the lows that IPL has brought upon us is the poor quality of live commentary. This match was marriage of sorts, at one end it was the ever smooth Harsha Bhogle, flowing like a stream of fresh water and at the other end; it was mere cacophony coming from Danny Morrison’s mouth. Every time the ball sails over the rope, he goes “Guess what?” Arrey boss, we watch the same live match as you do and we know it’s a six. I do hope sincerely that he stops doing radio commentary for TV audience.

· I respect Murali Vijay as a batsman. He is an asset to the team and scores consistently at the top of the order. But it is his attitude that worries me. Whenever the ball came to him while fielding, he keeps limping in the ground. Vijay, if you are not fit enough to field, you can always call the 12^th man as a sub. As in that’s why we have a 12^th man in cricket.

Seeing at the optimistic side of things, Chennai Superkings win the IPL every time they lose their first match to Kings XI Punjab. Ya, I know it has happened only once, but still it’s a statistics worth looking forward to.

Superkings Suprabhaadam #1

Alliterations have always captured my fantasy right from my childhood days. Here I am, with a series written in ‘alliterative alimony’ to celebrate the matches of the Chennai Superkings and its magic moments.

Keeping in toe with the “well begun, half done” phrase, Chennai clinched the IPL 4 opener against a refreshed Kolkata Knight Riders side by 2 runs. The match with its several swings of momentum slid in favour of the Kings with a dramatic final over by new joinee, Tim Southee.

Junkie Junior Cheeka

After having a couple of goes in the last edition of the IPL, Anirudha Srikkanth, given opportunity to open the innings came up with a Man of the match performance, only just. He was dropped of two easy chances, scored boundaries of mishits and never actually looked settled. Couple of sparkling sixes and well driven boundaries in his innings stood out. Nevertheless, Anirudha`s innings set the tone for a competitive total and also the confidence for him to go on.

Thala tickles Wickets

Sixes off his bat are a talking thing. With just a week after lifting the World Cup, ‘thala’ Dhoni was in his element proving his sharp captaincy skills. Contributing a valuable 29 to the total inclusive of a deposit in the stands, Dhoni’s choice of coming in at 4 kept up the tempo. After horrendously missing a simple stumping chance, he made up more than he let go – a total of three stumpings and a game changing run out. The direct hit to bring down the curtains on Yusuf Pathan’s innings was the hallmark. Whats more, Dhoni suggested the yorker to the batsman’s feet as choice for the last delivery that saw CSK triumph in the thriller.

Raina – ‘Thalapathi’ Trump

When the chips are down, Dhoni always goes to his trusted lieutenant (Thalapathi in Tamil). Raina bowled a decisive 18^th over and turned the game head on by picking a vital wicket and conceding just 3 runs when the asking rate was 9. With his slow offies, Raina has answered duty whenever the Captain summons him to bowl. Today was no different.

The twisted tale of Foreign Four

The ever faithful, Albie, only foreigner to be retained by CSK from the previous editions, sent the ball past and over the boundary in the final two deliveries of the innings propelling the team total past the 150 mark. On the bowling front, he was off the mark. Suraj Randhiv’s inclusion completed the spin trilogy left vacant by Muralitharan. Though effective in his opening spell, two sixes off the penultimate over of the innings that he delivered almost crippled CSK’s chances. Scott Styris proved his mettle on field. He smartly backed up Dhoni to run out Gambhir and took a well judged catch in the final over at third man. Tim Southee was the pick amongst the foreign players. He bowled the final over, where in 9 runs were required, with precision and control. Ultimately he pulled the game in CSK’s favour with well directed yorkers and brought cheers to the hometown fans and the first points of the season.

Altogether a fabulous win to start with and wishing that the Superkings to continue their good show.