January 19, 2010
The IPL Player Auction Round Up
There was a lot of drama today during the player auction and there were many surprises in store for everyone. So many unexpected twists happened and here is a summary of the auction.
Kings XI Punjab : They started the bid with a budget of $675,000 as they had already brought the West Indian batsman Adrian Barath outside the auction. They went hard to get Keiron Pollard and Kemar Roach. But they had to give up once the bids went outside their budget. At the end, they brought Yusuf Abdulla for the base price of $50,000 and then out-bid Bangalore to purchase Mohammad Kaif.
Delhi Daredevils : They started of cautiously and in fact didn’t bid for any player in the first pool. When the second round started, they straight away fought for Wayne Parnell. They competed with Deccan Chargers and out-bid them to buy Parnell for $610,000. Parnell is the third costliest South African player. Delhi Daredevils tried getting Kaif for the remaining amount, but they were out-bid by Bangalore.
Mumbai Indians : They started aggressively and went on to buy Keiron Pollard after the tie-breaker. They brought him for an undisclosed amount which is estimated at about $3 million. They had competition from Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkatta. They later brought the U-19 Indian player Harshal Patel. Nita Ambani admitted that it was a plan to rope in a batting all-rounder and thats why they went all out.
Chennai Super Kings : They went into almost all the top bids but found themselves out played by the other franchises. It was pretty clear that they were searching for a replacement for the injured Andrew Flintoff. They tried bidding for Shane Bond, Kemar Roach, Keiron Pollard and also Eoin Morgan. But they got none. They finally recalled Justin kemp into the bid and got him for a base price of $100,000 and then also signed up Thissara Perera for $50,000. There were no competitors for these players.
Deccan Chargers : They were very calculative with their bidding. They tried hard to secure players like Shane Bond, Keiron Pollard and Wayne Parnell. But they didn’t succeed. They successfully got Kemar Roach after keeping Chennai and Punjab at bay. They brought hime for $720,000. This left them with $30,000 in the budget and they never took part any further. They finally brought the Indian U-19 player Harmeet Singh who was a part of their team the last time around. He was brought for 800,000 INR.
Kolkatta Knight Riders : They were another team who was playing the waiting game. They had earlier released Ricky Ponting to free up a slot for foreign player. They tried hard to secure Keiron Pollard but lost him in the tie-breaker. They pressed hard and went on to secure Shane Bond by ousting their competitors in the tie-breaker. Since they ran out of budget, they never took part further.
Bangalore Royal Challengers : They played a rather subdued hand. They intially tried hard for Pollard, Bond, Parnell and Roach. But then they slowly gave up before out-bidding Chennai to sign up Eoin Morgan for $220,000. Then they tried to secure Kaif but failed. They got a chance to choose an U-19 player first and they picked up the U-19 skipper Ashok Menaria for 800,000 INR.
Rajasthan Royals : Just like the bidding in the first year, they played very slow. They had bought Rob Quiney which left a spot open. They never went in for any big names on the list. Rather byt he time they placed their first bid, most of them were out of budget. They later went on to sign-up ex-Australian cricketer Damien Martyn for a base price of $100,000 and then also bought Adam Voges for $50,000. They didn’t go for any other options and left $600,000 unused.
THE SHOCKERS!!! – None of the Pakistani players were signed up by the franchises. Even Afridi wasn’t picked up. Doug Bollinger also never got a bid despite some good performances in the recent times. Same thing applies to Phil Hughes. I also expected bids for Graeme Swann who also went unsold.
May 31, 2008
Rajasthan Royals Get Into The Finals
Delhi Daredevils must have been in a state of shock just by the way they were out played in all the departments today. They had no way out. Eveything Rajasthan Royals did was right. They displayed ruthless Cricket though they had admitted that they didn’t have the home advantage. But they played well in all the deparments.
Guided by the blast earlier on by Greame Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar and later by a couple of whirlwind innings by Yusuf Pathan and Shane Watson who scored a fifty, Rajasthan Royals finished on 192. Shane Watson wasn’t done as yet and came back to hit the Delhi Daredevils top order hard. He picked the top three in his first spell which hit them badly. Then Shane Warne spun the ball square to display his art to the crowd and the batsmen of the Delhi Daredevils team.
After that they were never in the game. The game ended with a tame run-out. Rajasthan Royals are proving that they are the complete side and the side to beat. Clearly Virender Sehwag’s decision to field first has back fired badly.
Watch out for another cracker of a game tomorrow between Chennai Super Kings and King’s XI Punjab. Can Chennai Super Kings maintain their 100% record against the King’s XI? We’ve got to wait and watch.
May 27, 2008
Chennai Super Kings Win – Ends Mumbai Indian’s IPL Dream
Lead by Suresh Raina’s unbeaten fifty and a good performance with the ball, Chennai Super Kings won their last league game against Hyderabad Deccan Chargers. This ensures that the final four spots are held by Rajasthan Royals, King’s XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.
It was a good game overall with some fighting display from Ravi Teja and Venugopal Rao who hit fighting 40’s to get them to a decent score. Everyone contributed ensuring that the Chennai Super Kings completed the match without too much tension.
The first semi-finals will be against Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils and the second semi-finals will be against Chennai Super Kings and King’s XI Punjab. This does make for an interesting contest.
P.S. : Deccan Chargers have lost all their 7 games at home.
A Thriller At Jaipur
What a game of T20? I’m left breathless after this game. The result – Rajasthan Royals win by 5 wickets. Simple awesome. Initially it was agood 20th over for Mumbai Indians that saw 25 runs being scored off. Then came the couple of strange dismissals of the Rajasthan Royals that saw their top order fail in search of 146. But Niraj Patel and Ravindra Jadeja played a cameo to ensure their victory.
The last ball was full of drama. 1 ball 3 runs required. Dilhara Fernando bowls a wide. That reduces the equation to 1ball and 2 runs. Niraj Patel miscues a shot which Fernando misses while trying to stop. The ball goes to long-on and the batsmen scmaper through for the second. Jayasuriya covers the stumps at the non-striker’s end but fails to collect the ball and this ensured that Rajasthan Royals won the game.
This has ensured that the third team in the final four is Delhi Daredevils. So the fourth will be chosen between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. As a ardent cricket fan I’d love to see Mumbai Indians go through. But I want Chennai Super Kings to go through as they are my home team. Lets see which one of my dreams come true.
P.S. : Sachin Tendulkar took a blinder today that saw Shane Watson walk back. What a catch? He ran all the way from mid-wicket and then dived to complete a spectacular match. His expression said the entire story. I’ve not seen him so very expressive. Do check out the clipping. I’ll post it here soon if it is available.
May 22, 2008
A Clear Perspective Of Semi-Final Birth
Today’s game between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkatta Knight Riders has been washed out due to rain and so are Kolkatta’s hopes of a semi-final berth. In my previous post, I’d spoken about a five way race for three spots. Now it boils down to a four way race. Kolkatta Knight Riders ( If they win the next one ) have to hope that Delhi Daredevils suffer a huge defeat in their last game of the season so that they lose their spot due to net run-rate which I think is improbable. Rajasthan Royals and King’s XI Punjab are through for sure. So it comes down to Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils for two available spots.
It should be bread and butter for Chennai Super Kings if they manage just one win in the two games that they have. Delhi Daredevils have to ensure that they win the next one and then keep hoping that Mumbai Indians lose two of their three matches in the last phase to go through to the Semi-Finals. But favouring the sides based on their current position, I’d expect Mumbai Indians to go through to the next round leaving out Delhi Daredevils. So my take on the final four will be :
- Rajasthan Royals
- King’s XI Punjab
- Chennai Super Kings
- Mumbai Indians
This should make for an interesting contest for this inaugral edition of the IPL.
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