The last game between India and Sri Lanka saw a very poor performance from the Indian Batsmen. Yuvraj Singh, the highest scorer, scoring 38 runs. When others score, Yuvraj doesn’t score, when Yuvraj scores, others don’t score. India without Sachin Tendulkar+ Gautam Gambhir totally rely upon Virender Sehwag only. (more…)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the Indian Squad for the upcoming tri series. Yuvraj Singh has been called back while the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh have been rested.

The Committee headed by Kris Srikkanth, selected the One Day team for the Tri Series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Lanka from 10th August. (more…)

TEAM INDIA IN COLOURS

Here come the talented men in blue,

In appreciation my whistle blew, (more…)

Just when one third of the Indian Premier League is completed, Kris Srikkanth and co decided the final 15 players for the twenty twenty world Cup which will take place in West Indies starting April 29th.

It was a tough job to pick the 15 as there are many good players in the 30 man probables.

Young Pacer Ishant Sharma who was part of last year World Cup has been dropped giving a chance to Vinay Kumar.

But, some good performers till now in the IPL- Robin Uthappa, Saurabh Tiwary, Murali Karthik, Amit Mishra, Virat Kohli have not been considered.

The team is placed in group C along with the South Africans and Afghanisthan. Key players will be Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan who were missed in World Cup 2008.

Squad:

MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Vinay Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan.

FINISHING WELL

In the T20 format, it is always very important to finish well. May it be during batting or bowling. Here, we discuss about some of the finishers of the different IPL teams. These key players are pretty much the deciding factors whether their teams cross the finish line or not.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Undoubtedly, the incredible Yusuf Pathan is their finisher. Yusuf Pathan who evolved as an exceptional T20 player in the first season has grown from strength to strength. His power hitting and his positive attitude have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for the Royals. The recently 100(37 balls) against Mumbai Indians is a burning example of the effect Yusuf has on the opposition. Looking at the current form, he could be again prove to be the biggest game changer for Rajasthan Royals.

CHENNAI SUPERKINGS

Captain cool Dhoni and Albie Morkel are the finishers for this batting heavy team. The fact that helps Superkings is that they are packed with allrounders so they are not heavily dependant on both of them. Though Raina and Haydos are the mainstays at the top, the finishing act is shared between Dhoni, Morkel, Badrinath and the all rounders.

DELHI DAREDEVILS

AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik are the main people responsible for finishing off games. Delhi has some good local talent like Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia who are capable of giving both the main finishers a good support and saving the tail from being exposed.  Mainly if one of the top four Sehawag, Gambhir, De Villiers or Dilshan clicks, they make sure that they finish the game.

KINGS XI PUNJAB

The finishers are Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan. The addition of an allrounder like James Hopes will help their cause. Irfan and Yuvraj have been very successful in previous 2 editions but this time both come back from injuries so there is a big question mark on their form.

MUMBAI INDIANS

For the first season it was Abhishek Nayar and for the second season it was JP Duminy. Mumbai Indians have been the team which has underperformed purely because of they haven’t been able to win the close games. This season, they have started out well pulling off a dramatic victory over the Royals. But Mumbai Indians have identified the local talents like Sathish and Saurabh Tiwary and the return of players like Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, it will add a huge boast to the ending.

KOLKATA KNIGHTRIDERS

David Hussey is one of the strongest finishers for KKR. During his unavailability, Angelo Mathews has fitted into the role of a finisher perfectly. Domestic Players like Wriddhiman Saha and Laxmi Ratan Shukla  have also shown that in tense situations they are quite capable of handling the finishing job.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

Ross Taylor, Mark Boucher and the young Virat Kohli are the batsmen RCB will depend upon to take their team home. Ross Taylor has been their biggest finisher, especially in the 2nd season he had invaluable contributons to RCB’s turnaround of fortunes. During his absence, Kohli and Boucher are quite ready to handle the finishing job.

DECCAN CHARGERS

Heavily dependant on one person to do the finishing job, the very talented Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma was exceptional in finishing the games for Deccan Chargers in season 2 which was one of the main reasons for their success. Though they have a great start they always put themselves in such a situation where Rohit has to bail them out.

THANKS TO THE GUEST EDITOR: PRACHURYA KIRTI NAYAK