A Fairy Tale
"Once upon a time a war was called between eight kingdoms. All the
kingdoms had to build their armies with very less time in their hands,
an army that could stand the test of put up by others with their
strength and the test of time with their endurance.
One of the kingdoms which lie in a desert had all odds in front of it
and was counted out by all means and by all people. They were
searching for a General when a senior man with golden hair
volunteered. Everybody doubted him, not his abilities but because he
had not entered the battle field for a long time now.
The people of the kingdom silently prayed for the success of this
brave man. He went about preparing his army for the battles ahead and
tried to find out the special abilities of his men.
When they first went into the battlefield, they were badly wounded but
the General still had faith in his men. He told them that to conquer
the opposition they first needed to conquer their own minds and have
the belief that they could do it. He assigned roles to all his men.
Some were told to attack while others were told to defend and still
others were told to keep changing what they did and befool the army on
the other side.
The men responded to their General's call and one could clearly see
the difference in the way they carried out themselves. They started
winning battles. They were wounded sometimes in between but the
General told them to retrospect and mend their mistakes and move on.
The battles went on and after some time two armies were left. One key
man in the army of the Desert Kingdom was badly wounded. He still
wanted to take the battle field but the General told him to rest
because they had a lot ahead of them in the future. The General told
his men that they must be calm and just do what they had been doing
till now and the result will be in their favor.
The men fought bravely. A trusted man of the General went on fighting
and wounding several on the opposite side just when his men seemed
down. He fought bravely and brought confidence back amongst his
people. But just when the other army was again getting an upper hand,
the General himself went ahead and gave a telling blow. Now the armies
were at the same state and just before sunset one of the enduring
brave soldiers gave another blow and the desert kingdom emerged
victorious. The people went on celebrating throughout the night. They
couldn't stop praising and thanking their army for the glory they had
brought to the kingdom. They now have adopted the General as the son
of their kingdom."
This was indeed a fairy tale ending and as the General Shane Keith
Warne said, "The script couldn't have been written any better". Team
Rajasthan Royals emerged victorious in the battle for the inaugural
Indian Premier League beating Chennai Super Kings in a cliffhanger
final. Smith's absence due to a torn hamstring was a setback but Yusuf
Pathan hit a half century and got some crucial wickets for the team.
In fact both of these efforts came when the chips were down for the
Royals. Things again seemed to be getting tough for Rajasthan but just
then Shane Warne hit a four and then with one required of the last
ball Sohail Tanveer kept his cool and hit the ball in the gap.
A good amount of credit is due to the team owners Emerging Media who
had faith in what they were doing and without a shadow of doubt in
their minds gave the reigns into the hands of Shane Warne.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Team in Review - Delhi Daredevils
Owner - GMR HoldingsCoach - Gregory Shipperd
Captain - Virender Sehwag
CEO - Yogesh Shetty
Ambassador - Akshay Kumar
Colors - Black and Red
Den - Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi
+es...
Sehwag and Gambhir at top are sure to give opponents couple of sleepless nights.. They share some excellent chemistry from their Delhi days..
The team probably has the best line up of local players up their sleeve with talents like, Shikhar Dhawan, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra, Mithun Manhas in the ranks..
With de Villiers, Dilshan, Gambhir, Vettori, Manoj Tiwary, Shoaib Malik in field expect some half catch and run out chances being converted..
-es...
With McGrath aging and Asif and Maharoof yet to prove their fitness, the fast bowling department doesn't look all that healthy..
Departure of Vettori to England after just two weeks of action could create a head ache in controlling run flow in post power play overs..
With only Sehwag amongst the Indian players with big international experience the team could bow in pressure situations..
Why follow them...
On their day the double triple ton man, Viru and the miserly, nagging Glenn "Pigeon" McGrath are enough to take the match their own way..
Look out for...
Gautam Gambhir - Man of the match at T20 World Championship finals, a silent killer is set and geared for the challenge and could well be the nagging thorn for opponents..
Yo Mahesh - He has shown glimpses of his all round skills at the domestic level.. It might well be his turn to strike big now..
Probable Starters...
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
AB de Villiers/ Tillakratne Dilshan
Manoj Tiwary
Shoaib Malik
Mithun Manhas
Dinesh Karthik
Daniel Vettori/ Mohammad Asif
Glenn Mc Grath
Pradeep Sangwan/ Amit Mishra
Yo Mahesh
Monday, April 14, 2008
Team in Review - Deccan Chargers
Owner - Deccan ChronicleHead Coach - Robin Singh (Rabindra Ramanarayan Singh)
Assistant Head Coach - Kanwaljit Singh
Captain - Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman
CEO - J Krishnan
Team Manager - Shishir Hattangadi
Colors - Beige and Black
Den - Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
+es...
Arguably the three best T20 specialist all rounders are in their ranks - Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris and Shahid Afridi..
Gibbs, Symonds, Styris and Afridi are some of the best fielders on the international scene and with some exciting young players and the Indian National team's fielding coach at the helm expect some fireworks in the field..
Adam Gilchrist's retirement from international cricket and availability for the whole season could send shivers down the opponents..
-es...
Bowling line up of the team doesn't look all that impressive.. People in charge may find it difficult to create an efficient attack with restrictions on number of overseas players in playing eleven..
Not many other weak points but for the sake of counting, Gibbs, Symonds, Styris and Vaas have not been in great form of late..
Why follow them...
Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs.. Does sporting entertainment get bigger??
Look out for...
Rohit Sharma - He hasn't got many chances at the international level, but he gives glimpses of the genius in him..
Arjun Yadav - He could be the next big thing for
Probable Starters...
Adam Gilchrist
Sanjay Bangar
VVS Laxman
Rohit Sharma
Venugopal Rao
Andrew Symonds/Scott Styris
Shahid Afridi
RP Singh
Chaminda Vaas
Pragyan Ojha
D Kalyan
Team in Review - Chennai Super Kings
Owner - India Cements Ltd.Coach - Kepler Christoffel Wessels
Physical Trainer - Gregory Allen King
Captain - Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Ambassador - Krishnamachari Srikkanth
Chief Selector - Vakkadai Biksheswaran Chandrasekhar
Colors - Yellow
Den - MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
+es...
Superb all rounders in form of Jacob Oram, Dhoni, Joginder Sharma and Albie Morkel, the Protean T20 specialist..
Shrewd cricketing brains in the Captain, MS Dhoni, the coach, Kepler Wessels, Ex-Kiwi skipper, Fleming and Matty Hayden..
Let alone all the logistics and the Muralidharan, the wily old fox, as they say could anywhere, anytime turn the game on its head..
-es...
Departure of Haydos after two weeks for the tour to Carribean and Jacob Oram to England will leave holes, that would be hard to fill..
Apart from Murali, the bowling department doesn't look much strong..
With an upper limit of four over seas players in a team, management would have a torrid time finding classy local bowlers to fill spots..
Why follow them...
The man with the Midas touch, MS Dhoni leads them.. The team could be one of the most entertaining ones with also, Hayden, Murali and Oram in the ranks..
Look out for...
Muttiah Muralidharan - Believe it, he will turn it square on any strip.. He could well be their man for the tournament..
Vidyut SivaramKrishnan - He could well be the one to reach the Indian ranks via IPL.. He has played some scintillating knocks in domestic cricket including one in Deodhar Trophy..
Probable Starters...
Matthew Hayden/ Stephen Fleming
Parthiv Patel
Suresh Raina
Subramaniam Badrinath
Michael Hussey/Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
Jacob Oram
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Joginder Sharma
R Ashwin
Muttiah Muralidharan
Manpreet Gony/ A Morkel/ Ntini
Team in Review - Bangalore Royal Challengers
Owner - Vijay MallyaCoach - Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad
Captain - Rahul Sharad Dravid
CEO - Charu Sharma
Chief Cricketing Officer - Martin David Crowe
Colors - Red and Yellow
Den - M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
+es...
Probably, the best bowling attack at show in the tournament with Kumble, Steyn, Zaheer and Bracken in the ranks..
Some very good all rounders in Cameron White, Virat Kohli and Praveen Kumar and not to forget the mystifying class of Kallis and Boucher..
The team with most no non sense sort of guys have batters in the line up capable of handling all varieties of conditions, so seem likely to be the best touring team..
-es...
In high scoring matches, the team could really miss an all out go bang bang sort of player..
If the South African players are unavailable for the first week of the season, as may be the case due to coinciding of South African Pro 20 tournament, this team will be hurt the worst..
Fielding has a question mark, considering that, majority of the members are in their 30s..
Why follow them...
The team name describes them.. The players are truly royal in terms of their records and have the ability to over haul all challenges..
Look out for...
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - Much like Dravid, he has been a seriously under rated cricketer..
Praveen Kumar - His presence could prove to be the real balancing act for the team..
Probable Starters...
Shivnarine Chanderpaul/ Misbah-ul-Haq
Wasim Jaffer
Rahul Dravid
Jacques Kallis
Virat Kohli
Mark Boucher
Praveen Kumar
Sunil Joshi
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Dale Steyn/Nathan Bracken
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
2008 Season Schedule
| Date | Time (IST) | Match (Home Team First) |
| April-08 | | |
| Fri 18 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Sat 19 | | Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings |
| Sat 19 | | Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals |
| Sun 20 | | Mumbai Indians v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| Sun 20 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers |
| Mon 21 | | Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab |
| Tue 22 | | Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils |
| Wed 23 | | Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians |
| Thus 24 | | Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals |
| Fri 25 | | Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians |
| Sat 26 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals |
| Sat 26 | | Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Sun 27 | | Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers |
| Sun 27 | | Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils |
| Mon 28 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings |
| Tue 29 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians |
| Wed 30 | | Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| May-08 | | |
| Thu 1 | | Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab |
| Thu 1 | | Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Fri 2 | | Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils |
| Sat 3 | | Deccan Chargers v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| Sat 3 | | Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Sun 4 | | Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils |
| Sun 4 | | Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings |
| Mon 5 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab |
| Tue 6 | | Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers |
| Wed 7 | | Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals |
| Thu 8 | | Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings |
| Thu 8 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| Fri 9 | | Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers |
| Sat 10 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians |
| Sat 10 | | Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab |
| Sun 11 | | Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Sun 11 | | Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils |
| Mon 12 | | Kings XI Punjab v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| Tue 13 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils |
| Wed 14 | | Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings |
| 14 or 28 | | Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals |
| Thu 15 | | Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers |
| Fri 16 | | Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Sat 17 | | Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab |
| Sat 17 | | Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| Sun 18 | | Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians |
| Sun 18 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings |
| Mon 19 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils |
| Tue 20 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals |
| Wed 21 | | Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab |
| Wed 21 | | Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers |
| Thu 22 | | Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Fri 23 | | Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers |
| Sat 24 | | Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians |
| Sat 24 | | Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals |
| Sun 25 | | Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers |
| Sun 25 | | Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab |
| Mon 26 | | Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians |
| Tue 27 | | Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings |
| Fri 30 | | 1st Semi Final (Mumbai) |
| Sat 31 | | 2nd Semi Final (Mumbai) |
| June-08 | | |
| Sun 1 | | Finals (Mumbai) |
Rajasthan Royals Squad
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 27 | ||
| 2 | 27 | ||
| 3 | 38 | ||
| 4 | 31 | ||
| 5 | 21 | ||
| 6 | 19 | ||
| 7 | 26 |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 26 | ||
| 2 | 25 | ||
| 3 | 30 | ||
| 4 | 27 | ||
| 5 | 24 | ||
| 6 | 19 | ||
| 7 | 26 | ||
| 8 | 24 | ||
| 9 | 18 |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 38 | ||
| 2 | 24 | ||
| 3 | 23 | ||
| 4 | 22 |
Mumbai Indians Squad
MUMBAI INDIANS
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 34 | ||
| 2 | 37 | ||
| 3 | 22 | ||
| 4 | 30 | ||
| 5 | 30 | ||
| 6 | 19 | ||
| 7 | 18 | ||
| 8 | 18 |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 26 | ||
| 2 | 23 | ||
| 3 | 20 |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 35 | ||
| 2 | 24 |
| No. | Name | Age | Nationality |
| 1 | 27 | ||
| 2 | 24 | ||
| 3 | 29 | ||
| 4 | 28 |
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