Champions League to be held in October and this time with 12 teams!

clip_image002The Champions League Twenty20 tournament has expanded the participation window from 8 to 12 teams now. The additional teams will be the domestic champions from West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. India will now have the participation from the top 3 teams of the IPL.

Last year the first Champions League had been scheduled to feature two teams each from India, Australia, South Africa and England. However, it was later postponed after the terror attacks in Mumbai.

The $6 million prize money tournament will now be held from October 8 – October 23 in India.

  1. All 12 teams will be divided into four groups of three each to play on a league basis.
  2. The top two teams from each group will move on to the second stage.
  3. The four top teams from the second stage will play the Semifinals.

From India, the league topper Delhi Daredevils will participate along with the two finalists of IPL-2.

The teams for the Champions League include:

#

Team

From
1 Victoria Australia
2 New South Wales Australia
3 Cape Corbas South Africa
4 Eagles South Africa
5 Otago New Zealand
6 Trinidad and Tobago West Indies
7 Wayamba Sri Lanka
8 Deccan Chargers India
9 Royal Challengers India
10 Delhi Daredevils India
11 To be decided England
12 To be decided England

The two English teams will be decided after the domestic Twenty20 championship in August.

IPL to be held twice in a year?

In an interview to Daily Telegraph, the IPL commissioner – Lalit Modi has dropped a hint that the IPL could be held twice a year.

In Modi’s own words:

“The IPL will be based in India, but the second season (of a year) that we are planning gives us the chance to see if a market exists and we are seriously looking at what we can do with it”

The response that IPL-2 got from cricket fans in South Africa has definitely encouraged Modi to think bigger now and he is looking at various possible opportunities.

imageNow the big question that arises is whether or not there is any scope for another IPL within the same year? We already have the World Cup T20 happening every alternate year, annual Champions League starting this year, other ODI series and Test matches that happen all the year around… wow, isn’t  that a lot of cricket?

Do you think it could end up being too much of T20 to handle? How will it impact the audience of test matches and ODIs, I wonder…?

A Quick Recap of IPL Season 2

Winner: Deccan Chargers

League Topper: Delhi Daredevils with 20 points

Best Indian under-23 player: Rohit Sharma (DC)

Player of the tournament: Adam Gilchrist (DC)

Fair play award winner: Kings XI Punjab

Orange Cap: Matthew Hayden (CSK)

Purple Cap: R.P. Singh (DC)

Top 5 Batsmen

Batsman Innings Runs Balls 100’s 50’s Avg HS
Matthew Hayden 12 572 395 0 5 52.00 89
Adam Gilchrist 16 495 325 0 3 30.93 85
AB de Villiers 13 465 355 1 3 51.66 105
Suresh Raina 14 434 309 0 2 31.00 98
TM Dilshan 13 418 341 0 4 41.80 67

Top 5 Bowlers

Bowler Matches Overs Maidens Wickets Eco Avg 3 Wickets
Rudra Singh 16 59.4 1 23 6.98 18.13 2
Anil Kumble 16 59.1 1 21 5.86 16.52 2
Ashish Nehra 13 51 1 19 6.78 18.21 1
Pragyan Ojha 15 53.3 0 18 6.50 19.33 2
Lasith Malinga 13 49.3 2 18 6.30 17.33 3

Highest Individual Score

Player Runs Balls 4s 6s SR Team Opposition
MK Pandey 114* 73 10 4 156.16 Bangalore vs Deccan
AB de Villiers 105* 54 5 6 194.44 Delhi vs Chennai
SK Raina 98 55 10 5 178.18 Chennai vs Rajasthan
ML Hayden 89 58 8 6 153.44 Chennai vs Punjab
AC Gilchrist 85 35 10 5 242.85 Deccan vs Delhi

Maximum Sixes

Player Matches Innings Number of sixes
AC Gilchrist 16 16 29
ML Hayden 12 12 22
SK Raina 14 14 21
RG Sharma 16 16 18
Yuvraj Singh 14 14 16

Maximum Catches

Player Team Catches
AB de Villiers Delhi Daredevils 13
Dinesh Karthik Delhi Daredevils 12
Herschelle Gibbs Deccan Chargers 11
Adam Gilchrist Deccan Chargers 10
Virat Kohli Royal Challengers Bangalore 9

Highest Partnership

Partners Runs Wicket Team Against
Naman Ojha, Graeme Smith 135 1 RR K XI P
Sanath Jayasuriya , Sachin Tendulkar 127 1 MI KKR
Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa 126 2 RCB MI
Parthiv Patel, Matthew Hayden 106 1 CSK RCB
Ajinkya Rahane, JP Duminy 104 3 MI RCB

Fastest 100 by a Team

Team Against Date Overs
Mumbai Indians Kolkata Knight Riders 27 April 8.4
Chennai Super Kings Royal Challengers Bangalore 20 April 9.2
Chennai Super Kings Delhi Daredevils 23 April 9.3

Highest Team Score

Team Score Overs Versus Venue
Rajasthan Royals 211/4 20 Kings XI Punjab Kingsmead
Kolkata Knight Riders 189/3 20 Chennai Super Kings SuperSport Park
Delhi Daredevils 189/5 20 Chennai Super Kings Kingsmead

Upset No.2!

RoyalsCan you believe it… two teams at the bottom of the point table in IPL1 are playing for the cup in IPL2!!! This is beauty of cricket. Nobody could have predicted this. (Not ever Imran Hashmi from Zameen… hahaha) But a real stunner. Super Kings are simply outplayed! Dhoni should be worried about his game plans and strategies. There are several questions that should be asked…Why Murali was introduced so late? Where is Dhoni’s powerful stroke play? He must be answerable (to himself at least) for the sake of upcoming T20 World cup.

Chennai started very well and they were playing almost 10 per over till 5-6th over and after that they started loosing wickets regularly. They were definitely 15-20 runs short.

With less than 150 runs to chase Royal’s start was solid with new rising star of Indian cricket…. Manish Pandey. He kept on going with confidence after 100 in the last game he played against Deccan Chargers; first scored by an Indian in both IPL sessions and only second in this session. He must be thinking of repeating same performance against them in the final. And Mr. Dependable played like Mr. Dependable with ease and elegance.
Stage is set now…. Royals Vs Chargers!
Unpredictable…!

IPL-2 brings out the true champion… does it?

What a turn around IPL-2 has proved from IPL-1… no wonder this game is a great equalizer, the two teams who were at the bottom of the table last year are now ending this season just the other way around.

No one would have imagined a final clash between the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the beginning of this season, but here we are witnessing the clash between the two.

Now that brings up the question… Did any of these teams really look like champions through out this league?

Though one can argue they are in the top gear right now, but then you will have to agree that there were days of inconsistent performance too. With Gilly blasting against Delhi Daredevils in the first Semifinal and Manish Pandey doing the magic for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last two games, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to pull it through to the final stage.

I don’t know if this the right format for any league where each team is playing two matches against all other opponents for around one and a half months, the the deciders turn out to be the last three matches!!!

What I know from famous leagues in other sports, the teams play against the opponents at home’ and ‘away’ matches and the champion team is decided based on the total points it has scored through the season and not just by one final match.

Look at IPL-1…Rajasthan Royals had played through out the season like champions, defeating all other opponents quite handsomely and coming out as the deserving champions when they won the thrilling final match. This time it was Delhi Daredevils all through except for one match or rather just first five overs of the second innings of the first Semifinal.

If it’s all about the Semifinals and Finals, then why so many other matches through the tournament? Is it the right way of finding a true champion?

Well, you may argue that you can not be crowned as a champion if you can not win the big matches that count the most! But, I really want to hear it out from you… what do you have to say about it?

Virgin-IHL Contest – Results for Day 4

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueDear all CricTalks readers, here we are ready with results for Day 4 contest.

First let me thank you all for amazing response you have given. And now let me announce winners for Day 4 contest.

Winners are…

  1. Ritika Agarwal
  2. Gautam Gupta

All winners are requested to email their complete “postal addresses” to rahul@rtcamp.com

A surprise will be sent to you by guys at Virgin – IHL.

You can see complete results are here.

Those who missed it…

Those who missed it can still participate in Day 5 contest! Entries for Day 5 contest will be closing in 5 hours.

So hurry up!

Gilli stunned Delhi and played as if playing in a Gully!

Deccan Charged UpPradip Sangwan’s body language was showing every fear of a rookie bowler bowling against a gifted player. Viru did a costly mistake to introduce him when Nannes was punished for five consecutive fours in the very first over.

Full credit goes to Gilli. He put all his experience of playing finals and winning them. He not only scored runs but killed opponents attitude to play the game to win from the very first over. Even Viru seemed confused when Gilli was in full flow. Only Nehra was looking confident and positive.

With the record of fastest fifty in IPL in just 17 balls, he is also having height strike rate and score (85). This player is unstoppable in full flow. This style of hammering down the ball was introduced by West Indians in early 70s. Richards, Lloyd, Sobers played with the hammer in hand. Recently, Lara had that magic in his bat. In late 80s and early 90s, Aussie era started and won three world cups. Gilli was integral part of the team and Aussies success.

Now, morals are charged up and opponents must be thinking of tightening the screws against him. Another Aussie making his mark with quick 24 in 15 balls was Symonds. A player out of Gibbs, Symonds, Rohit, Gilli and others with quick fire 40-50 runs can make 250+ runs possible. And yeah, this total seems very very difficult for any team in finals.

It’s all ifs and buts but, with such a stunning performance, Deccan Chargers has become strong contender for holding the shining IPL trophy.

Virgin IHL Contest – Answer A Simple Question And Win Daily Prizes ! [Day 5]

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueThanks to good response to Day 4 contest, here we are back with Day 5 contest! Thanks again to Virgin Indian Hatke League (IHL) who are sponsoring free IHL merchandise as prizes. All you have to do to win is answer a simple question!

The question for today is…

Which team will win IPL-2 final? Why?

Submit your answers in 24 hours via comment form at the end of this post!

There are no right and wrong answers. Your reasoning for winner team will be counted.

Keep your answers short so other will read it and rate it! Yes winner will be decided by you guys only.

Next to each comment you will find rating option. So don’t forget to rate others’ answers. As number of votes will be counted as well!

Important Clarification:

Yesterday we posted that rtCamp full-time authors cannot participate. Many guest authors thought they are not eligible because of that. This is not the case. Only Me, Swati & Deepak cannot participate from rtBlogs team.

All guest bloggers can participate!

Contest Guidelines:

  1. This will be 5 days event. A new question will be asked daily. This is Day 5.
  2. You can participate daily. But you can answer a question only once!
  3. rtCamp staff and their family members can not participate in this contest. Its open for rest of all.
  4. Contest will end on May 24, at 11:30 P.M. (IST).
  5. All the winners and other details will be declared on CricTalks with a new post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

All D Best! 😉

Virgin-IHL Contest – Results for Day 3

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueDear all CricTalks readers, here we are ready with results for Day 3 contest.

First let me thank you all for amazing response you have given. And now let me announce winners for Day 2 contest.

Winners are…

  1. Adithya
  2. Arjun S Kumar

All winners are requested to email their complete “postal addresses” to rahul@rtcamp.com

A surprise will be sent to you by guys at Virgin – IHL.

You can see complete results are here.

Those who missed it…

Those who missed it can still participate in Day 4 contest! Entries for Day 4 contest will be closing in 5 hours.

So hurry up!

Virgin IHL Contest – Answer A Simple Question And Win Daily Prizes ! [Day 4]

Update: Contest for the Day 4 is over. Both, those who participated and those who missed it, can take part in Day 5 contest. Winners for Day 4 will be declared on this blog post by May 24th, 6 P.M. by a separate blog post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueThanks to good response to Day 3 contest, here we are back with Day 4 contest! Thanks again to Virgin Indian Hatke League (IHL) who are sponsoring free IHL merchandise as prizes. All you have to do to win is answer a simple question!

The question for today is…

Do you think IPL-2 is better than IPL-1? Why?

Submit your answers in 24 hours via comment form at the end of this post!

There are no right and wrong answers. You are free to praise, comment as well as criticize.

Keep your answers short so other will read it and rate it! Yes winner will be decided by you guys only.

Next to each comment you will find rating option. So don’t forget to rate others’ answers. As number of votes will be counted as well!

Important Clarification:

Yesterday we posted that rtCamp full-time authors cannot participate. Many guest authors thought they are not eligible because of that. This is not the case. Only Me, Swati & Deepak cannot participate from rtBlogs team.

All guest bloggers can participate!

Contest Guidelines:

  1. This will be 5 days event. A new question will be asked daily. This is Day 4.
  2. You can participate daily. But you can answer a question only once!
  3. rtCamp staff and their family members can not participate in this contest. Its open for rest of all.
  4. Contest will end on May 23, at 11:30 P.M. (IST).
  5. All the winners and other details will be declared on CricTalks with a new post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

All D Best! 😉