Is this justified completely?

Well until last year, the third team that would go on to make it to the champions league T20 tournament would have been the team that finished third in the points table at the end of the league stages of the tournament. As a result of this, the third team would have made it to the champions league by pure luck and nothing else. Obviously, the two teams out of the three would have been the teams that make it to the finals of the tournament. The confusion was regarding the third team, with two other teams getting knocked out from the tournament after the semis.

In case a team that finished first in the points table and gets crashed out in the semi finals of the tournament, the team has to be considered as the third team when it would have been eligible to become the number one team to make it to the champions league. Of course, it has to be agreed that it is the number of teams that make it to the champions league and not the position at which they qualify. But, as far teams' status is concerned, they'll have to compromise with that. However, if the other side of the coin is considered, the idea is quite bad.

If one goes through yesterday's match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers, unfortunately the Royal Challengers Bangalore who beat the Deccan Chargers no matter what the odds had to say. Prior to the semi finals, it was the Deccan Chargers who had finished in the second position of the points table while the Royal Challengers Bangalore finished fourth which happens to be the last in the second stage of the tournament. If the format is viewed from this angle, it is indeed a bad idea to go by. Though there is hardly any options, something should be thought about seriously.

One can imagine the way the Delhi Daredevils crashed out from the earlier edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa after losing to the Deccan Chargers Adam Gilchrist in the semi finals. Delhi Daredevils had finished the round robin stage with 10 wins from 14 games that included 2 wins against the Deccan Chargers against whom they lost in the semi finals. However they deserved to make it to the champions league T20 which they did successfully. And earlier in 2008, it was the same Delhi Daredevils who finished third in the points table. And, if the IPL was set up the way it was this time and imagine Delhi crashed out, what an injustice it would have been!

Prediction reversed

If one could go through the post "beware orange cap holders", cricket avatar had predicted a loss in the semifinals of the Indian Premier League this year in case Sachin Tendulkar retains the orange cap awarded for scoring the maximum number of runs in an IPL tournament. This was done taking into consideration the previous two editions of the IPL wherein the teams which had players wearing the orange cap had to come out of the tournament in the semis itself. One can recall the way the Kings XI Punjab in 2008 and the Chennai Superkings in 2009 breathed last in the semis of the trophy.

This despite having players like Mathew Hayden in 2009 and Shaun Marsh in 2008 who wore the orange cap in that particular editions of the IPL. And then, coming to the purple cap episode that is awarded to the player with the highest wickets in the tournament, coincidentally, in both the editions of the IPL teams having a player wearing the purple ended up victorious. It was the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and the Deccan Chargers in 2009 who not only won the tournament but also had players wearing the purple cap namely Sohail Tanvir and R P Singh respectively.

However, this prediction not only went wrong this time but also got reversed, after the Mumbai Indians reached the finals of the tournament despite having an orange cap holder in Sachin Tendulkar and, added to that the Deccan Chargers lost the semis to the Chennai Superkings though having Pragyan Ojha who was the purple cap holder in this year's IPL. This has not made me feel sad for my prediction getting wrong but on the other hand has delighted me for the prediction getting reversed exactly. If one goes by the new theory, it should be the Mumbai Indians who should walk away with the trophy.

And this is more likely to happen for reasons needless to be said. However, if the other side of the coin is considered, there was every chance of a team containing a player wearing the orange cap making it t the finals of this year's IPL. Even if the Royal Challengers Bangalore had made it to the finals, Jacques Kallis had every chance to make the orange cap his, with the difference in the runs scored by the two differing by a small margin. Moreover, Sachin Tendulkar had got out scoring just 9 runs in the semi finals, which bought the difference to just 28. However, in case the Deccan Chargers had won yesterday, there would have been a contest between the teams who had an orange cap holder and a purple cap holder in them.

Amazing!

Well at one stage in the tournament, even though the Mumbai Indians were on a run, winning most of the games they came across, most of them were Sachin Tendulkar oriented who scored most of the runs for the Mumbai Indians, having the man of the match in 4 matches out of the 13 games he played and 10 which his team won. Moreover, if not for Sachin Tendulkar, there was not even a single international batsman in the Mumbai Indians squad after Sanath Jayasuriya was shown the benches to warm despite the fact that it is summer in India. Just joking!

When the West Indian 22 year old fresh face was purchased in this year's IPL auction, most of them thought that to be a bad investment and would harldy make it to the playing XI only to be deceived. For the second time in a row, this 22 year old was solely responsible for his team's success and this matterred more in the semis which didn't halt the Mumbai Indians' run in the tournament. Much to everyone's surprise, when Sachin Tendulkar wanted to lose the match against KKR, he rested Kieron Pollard who would have otherwise seen his team end up victorious.

Unlike Sachin Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard's contribution didn't last only with the bat but also with the ball when he had 3 wickets against his name in the semi finals yesterday giving away just 17 runs at over 4 runs an over. Regular bowlers like Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan conceded more runs and took less number of wickets compared to this part time fast bowler. Perhabs! He was the only West Indian who shone in this year's IPL second to not even Chris Gayle. Of course, hardly any players from the West Indies have made it, with Chanderapaul, Sarwan opting otherwise.

When it came to nig hitting for the Mumbai Indians this season, one and the only player who comes to people's minds would obviously be Kieron Pollard though there was Harbhajan Singh who had an innings of 49 runs from 18 balls. But, this was nothing when compared to Pollard's 13 ball 45 runs against the Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai. With the West Indian team losing out on many occasions owing to lack of performance by most of its players, Kieron Pollard can be of some delight watching him in the upcoming T20 world cup and that too at Caribbean. Wonderful!

Do the RCB deserve to move to the semis?

Yesterday, the Royal Challengers Bangalore not only ended up on the losing side but also welcomed defeat with both hands when they dropped catches at will, with a couple of leg before decisions going the Mumbai Indians' way. One can never forgive the two catches dropped by Dale Steyn off one over bowled by Anil Kumble. The first catch can be given a pass but not the second which landed safely in Steyn's hands only to be dropped seconds later. This was not the first time the RCB were found dropping catches. Prior to this, the RCB were found dropping catches against the Deccan Chargers as well.

After yesterday's match against the Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers had equal number of wins as that of the defeats. If the Royal Challengers' campaign in this tournament is given a close look at, their wins and the way they have been achieved give a different picture of the team that is now placed in the second position of the points table. The entire RCB campaign shows only their wins against Mumbai Indians in the first round to be the most impressive win. Then, comes the win against the Kings XI Punjab where RCB chased down 200+ total at Bangalore.

And the only victory that is worth rejoicing for the RCB was the one against the Chennai Superkings which they won by 36 runs once again at Bangalore. Out of the 7 games which the RCB won, 4 of them were won at Bangalore which constitutes for more than 50% of their wins. Also, they have lost 3 games at Bangalore. Even if that is to be given a pass for theuir wins against Mumbai Indians at Mumbai and Chennai Superkings at Chennai, the other side of the coin also suggests that four of their wins have come against Punjab and Rajasthan who are placed in the bottom of the points table.

And then, the RCB had a win against the Kolkata Knightriders who have show a better performance compared to their previous two editions of the IPL when they finished in the 8th position, this time to finish 6th. Though a win against Kolkata doesn't come in for much applause, a loss against the same brings in a lot of disappointment and that was what the RCBs were upto. They had no reasons to lose to Deccan Chargers despite in both occasions having the match well in their hands. First time, the RCBs put up a total in excess of 180 to see them lose by 7 wickets on their home ground.

And then, in the 2^nd encounter, the RCBs were able to take three quick wickets which were followed by two drop catches immediate to that. And, if a team is not able to chase down 150+ total in a neutral venue, they shouldn't deserve to be in the 2^nd position.As far as the RCBs are considered, the only teams worth beating in this IPL would have been the Delhi, Mumbai & Hyderabad team. And, Bangalore has lost both their matches to Delhi and Hyderabad and one to Mumbai.

Beware orange cap holders!

All the fans of Mumbai Indians and Sachin Tendulkar in particular would have been happy when the Mumbai captain gained the orange cap from Jacques Kallis who held the same from the last 10 matches. But, if the other side of the story is to be believed, all fans of the Mumbai team would pray that Sachin Tendulkar lose the orange cap which is better than the Mumbai Indians getting knocked out from the Indian Premier League in the semi finals itself when all eyes are now on Mumbai Indians thinking them to do it big this time after they finished in the 7^th position last time.

There is also a bitter side of the orange cap which has so far been successful in restricting their teams only until the semi finals of the IPL. In the inaugural edition of the tournament way back in 2008, the orange cap was worn by Shaun Marsh who belonged to the Kings XI Punjab after the Aussie amassed a mammoth 616 runs by the end of the tournament and that too in just 11 games that he played. And, much to anyone's surprise, the team to which Shaun Marsh belonged to couldn't go past the semi finals in 2008 after losing to the CSKs.

Similarly, in the very next edition played at South Africa in 2009, the orange cap holder happened to be another Australian in Mathew Hayden after he amassed 572 runs playing just one game more than what Shaun Marsh was found playing in the earlier edition in 2008. Once again, the team to which Mathew Hayden belonged to, namely the Chennai Superkings were knocked out by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the semi finals of the tournament after they lost the match by 6 wickets. This has so far been the fate of the team which has a player wearing the orange cap.

This time, the orange cap was snatched by Sachin Tendulkar from Jacques Kallis after the match between Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals. Moreover, the Mumbai Indians have also confirmed their semi finals berth after their victory over the same. Likewise, purple cap holders have been lucky for their team with both editions having gone to the teams having a purple cap holder in them. In 2008, it was Sohail Tanvir who wore the purple cap and was also on the Rajasthan Royals who lifted the trophy. And, the situation was no different in 2009 as well when R P Singh - the purple cap holder in that edition belonging to the Deccan Chargers who won the title.

The special IPL pattern

This is needless to be said the third edition of the Indian Premier League and is more than enough to draw some pattern regarding the winners and losers of the trophy. So has been the case regarding the teams that make it to the semis and also the teams which top the ratings in every edition of the same. In its inaugural edition, the winners happened to be the Rajasthan Royals while the runners up happened to be the Chennai Superkings. And the teams that finished last were the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers who finished at positions 8 and 7 respectively.

But, much to everyone's surprise, it was the same two teams that finished in the last two positions a year prior to the second edition of the IPL who ended as winners of the trophy and the runners up. Had the winners been the Royal Challengers and the runners up been the Deccan Chargers, that would have been just ideal for the team which finished last would have finished first in the second edition while the team that finished second from the last would have ended second from the top. Anyways, that is secondary at the moment. But, one would be surprised with the pattern that the IPL is found following.

It was the Mumbai Indians who finished second from the last in the second edition held at South Africa and the last position was booked long before by the Kolkata Knight Riders. But, this time, if history is anywhere to go by it has been the Mumbai Indians who are found dominating the tournament like the Deccan Chargers did in the previous edition. And, the Kolkata Knight Riders are though following slowly. they have no reason for not to do what the Royal Challengers were found doing in the second edition. Even the RCBs started their IPL campaign without any sort of initial success as long as the team was captained by KP.

It was only after Anil Kumble was made the captain that the RCBs started rocking and eventually reached the finals though there were the Delhi Daredevils who were a better team than both the RCBs and the Deccan Chargers. So, if the pattern is to be followed, it has to be Mumbai Indians beating the Kolkata Knight Riders to lift the trophy. And, if the present edition of the IPL is considered, the Kings XI Punjab are found holding onto the last position and the second from the last is held by Deccan Chargers once again after they lost it to the KKR last year. So, one can expect the KXIP team to lift the trophy next year by beating Deccan Chargers if the pattern is followed.

However, decent teams compared to the KKR have been the RCBs. But, even there were DD who topped the charts last year and their fate is well in front of us.

IPL teams captained by non-T20s

If I'm not mistaken, IPL is filled with the joys of T20 cricket. However, if the captains of all their eight teams featuring in the Indian Premier League since its inaugural launch in 2008 are considered, they have been less captained by T20 specialists and more by test and ODI specialists. In 2008, there were players namely Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag who were termed as icon players and were entitled for a pay of 115% of the highest paid player in that particular squad. V V S Laxman was also termed as an icon player who rejected that offer so that no problems occur in terms of the team's budget.

If not for Virender Sehwag, no other player has made a name for himself in T20 cricket. None of the remaining 4 icon players have featured even in a single T20 game for India to be crowned as an icon player. Moreover, Anil Kumble had quit all forms of cricket a year before the IPL was even thought about. The fun factor in them is that they are not only found playing T20 in the IPL but also found captaining the same. It is not that these players are not fit to play in the the IPL or T20 cricket. But, it the fact that they are made to captain something that they have had least interest for.

Added to that is that, even most of the remaining teams are also found following suit when they are captained by non-T20 players. There are at present only 3 teams who are captained by T20 players namely the Chennai Superkings - who are captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Kings XI Punjab - who are captained by Kumara Sangakkara and the Delhi Daredevils - who are captained by Virender Sehwag. The remaining 5 teams are captained by non T20 players. Though Adam Gilchrist has played in the inaugural T20 world cup, he has been more of a test and an ODI batsman rather than a T20 specialist.

And, Rajasthan Royals are being captained by Shane Warne who - forget about having a T20 experience behind him, but has last played limited overs cricket way back in 2003 before he was banned for a year from all types of international cricket. And then, as mentioned earlier, the Royal Challengers are captained by Anil Kumble whose first T20 game was in the IPL. The year 2008 saw the Deccan Chargers team captained by V V S Laxman who has been a forgotten episode when it comes to even limited overs game and is slightly better than Shane Warne. Finally and fortunately, the DCs realized their mistake and crowned Gilchrist as their captain.

Hardly any Indian flavour in IPL

Well the multimillion dollar IPL was launched keeping in mind to bring up some new talent by giving yougsters a chance to showcase their skills. Keeping in mind that it has to be the Indian players who will have to benefit to a greater extent from the IPL, Lalit Modi put a restriction on the number of foreign players that can be included in the playing 11 to at the most four. However, there is no restriction on the number of players from India that can be included in the playing eleven. But, despite there being three editions of IPL being passed by, hardly any Indian flavour has been seen.

In the previous two editions of the IPL, the winners of the trophy happened to be the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and the Deccan Chargers in 2009, both the teams which were captained by Australians. Luckily, the runners up happened to be the Chennai Superkings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore which were captained by Indians namely Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Anil Kumble respectively in 2008 and 2009. As mentioned earlier, there can be less than 4 overseas players featuring in the playing XI but the same is maintained at 4 exactly in most of the games. This means that all captains consider the foreign players as trump cards.

It is not an unknown fact that foreign players are included taking into account their credibility and caliber unlike Indian players who are included owing to the rules imposed by the IPL organizing committee. The man of the series awards in 2008 and 2009 was awarded to Shane Watson and Adam Gilchrist respectively, both of whom are from Australia. Out of the 8 teams in the IPL, this year luckily 5 teams have Indian captains unlike in the second edition where 4 teams had foreign players as captains viz KKR (Brendon McCullum), RCB (Kevin Pietersen), Deccan Chargers (Adam Gilchrist) and Rajasthan Royals (Shane Warne).

The RCB and KKR were found having faith in players like Kevin Pietersen and Brendon McCullum who had hardly captained their national sides. There was no reason to consider McCullum over Ganguly who had a better run as captain for India. So was the case with Anil Kumble who was forced into captaincy only after Kevin Pietersen had to return back owing to injury. Had there been no injuries to Pietersen, one could not think of Anil Kumble captaining the RCB side. And, had it not been for Kumble, RCB would have not even reached the semis. And, regarding the coaches of the teams, nothing need to be cited specially.