Summing Up - IPL2010

In IPL2010 Final, Dhoni proved his mettle as a captain. Starting from team selection, batting strategy, field placement, bowling strategy; everything seemed to be quite perfect for the situation. He chose to go with 3 spinners & that was an excellent move given the slow pitch in DY Patil stadium. MI could have picked Jaysurya; at least from a spin bowling perspective.

When CSK started batting, they were anyway in the back foot. And MI allowed them to put a big score, thanks to Fernando & Zaheer for missing those costly catches of Suresh Raina. That was quite a turning point of the match. Secondly, MI started really slow. They could have taken few chances in the initial overs. Here, Jaysurya could have come handy (given his experience in playing under such pressure situations). I am still OK with Harbhajan given the opportunity to come early. Had he exploded, I am sure people would have liked the strategy. That was anyway not a turning point. What I failed to understand - Position at which Keiren Pollard sent in. This man could have made a difference, had he been sent before Duminy.

To sum it up, it was not MI's day. Not to blame anybody, they played excellent cricket all throughout. Excellent leadership of Sachin has given the MI side new heroes like Rayadu, Tiwary & Pollard. He deserves all accolades, and more importantly he proved his critics wrong - "Sachin is a good captain as well".

Can Mumbai Indians do it?

Well, I never had so much of respect & confidence on Sachin's captaincy as I have today. He is carrying the brand of "Mumbai Indians" so well. Finally they have made it to IPL2010 Finals. I am just keeping my fingers crossed for the final. I hope they will make it big. I am just concerned about the ongoing form & confidence of Chennai Super King. Suddenly they have risen from ass to get into Semis and now there in finals as well. Last two games, they showed their supremacy both from batting & bowling perspective. And one crucial thing to observe here, they never crumbled under pressure. Remember Dhoni, who pulled it off so well in that all crucial match where it was a must win for them to enter semis. And I think that gave them a real big lift in terms of confidence. In the Semi final, I guess they were a little nervous while batting. When they came to field, Bollinger got the cheers back with his charismatic over where he got 2 golden wickets. And that was beginning of the end for Deccan Chargers. After that they could never recoup from the doom.

Let's see who is the real hero in the Big IPL2010 final on 25th - Dhoni or Tendulkar? I put my money on Tendulkar ofcourse :). I pray Sachin gets fit for the final. All that MI needs from him is - his godly presence in the field. And that will do the trick :) Good luck guys, go and kick the CSK out!!!

IPL - I am tired of the overdose

60 matches in total, 14 matches (at least) per each side - isn't it a bit too much!!! Well I started watching the matches with a lot of excitement, but slowly over a period of time, I lost interest. In true sense it was a overdose of cricket. Now it makes me question the sustainability of this format of the game. Unless Lalit Modi moves beyond money & starts thinking about it as a sport, it will be difficult to attract the continuous attention of people. If the overdose continues this way, I am sure IPL5/IPL6 would not be attracting as many eye balls as it does today. Look around, talk to people, you will see this happening already.

With 10 teams from IPL4, it will be a good idea to have 2 groups (5 teams each), 2 teams from each qualifying for semifinals, then closing the end-to-end IPL within 20 days. I am sure that will bring more excitement & fun!!!

MTV Roadies 7

MTV Roadies 7 - It's a must watch for me every Sunday. What I like the most about this show is - adventurous & creative tasks. Especially, this year's African Safari was more fun to watch. I appreciate the minds who are behind conceptualizing & designing those creative tasks. Hats off to them. More importantly hats off to some of the roadies - Zaid, Mohit, Amrit who were amazingly great in most of their performances.

But what let me down this year is - the idiotic moves ("twists" as they say) which made sure that the crown finally went to one of the least deserving roadies. I don't think - this show deserves to be called "competitive" any more. There is elimination at end of every round. Which means, the least deserving will get kicked in the due process gradually. Then at the end who-so-ever remains, should be the winner. That's straight & simple. What's the whole fun of brining those people back who had lost previously & kicked out? It's a pure insult to those who have performed continuously to reach the final stage. And that's what exactly happened. Finally it was won by somebody who probably deserved it least. Hard luck to the top-performers.

I like to see competitive games. But when, it looses it's competitiveness, I tend to detest it!!!