Tag Archives: IPL-2

Upset No.2!

Can 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?

All set for the Semifinals… So, which team are you backing?

Well the league round is over and its time to enter the final round. The line up for the semifinals is ready and two of the teams that made it to this stage are those who were at the bottom of the tally, last year.

The so called test team (from the last year’s IPL) rises up to the need of the day under the leadership of a veteran who does not shy away from displaying his age on his jersey. The young Manish Pandey from the under 19 team hits a ton – the first by an Indian, in either season. Sehwag gets back to his form and ends the silence of his bat through this season. Well, with all this happening around, the intensity of the tournament is reaching its peak and rightly so, when we are just 3 days away from finding the champions of this season.

After all the ‘ifs and buts’ on the CricTalks in last few days, we finally have the line-up for the Semifinals.

Fri: May 22

20:00 IST

 1st Semi-Final

Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers

SuperSport Park
Sat: May 23

20:00 IST

2nd Semi-Final

Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore

 New Wanderers

For all the four teams, it has come down to winning just two more matches and claim the big money and pride. So close, yet so far… they will really have to battle it out in the field.

But who will get to lift the precious trophy this year?

Will it be Dhoni’s men or Kumble’s red brigade? Can Shewag’s men continue to be at the top till the end or will it be Gilly’s team that wins the contest?

So, which team are you backing?

Side Talks: Adding more to the excitement of the grand finale, lots of Bollywood celebrities are flying to South Africa. Mandira Bedi today caught hold of Katrina Kaif, who was cheering for Bangalore Royal Challengers, to know more about the closing ceremony. As per Katrina Kaif, she would be performing during the closing ceremony themed to showcase the Indian culture.

How Chennai Super Kings WILL reach the IPL-2 Semifinals?

The ‘Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders’ match would be over by the time Chennai Super Kings get to play against Kings XI Punjab.

If Rajasthan Royals win the match, they will end up with 15 points. Chennai Super Kings, in this situation will have to beat Kings XI Punjab to end the marathon with 17 points, sealing the 2nd place for themselves on the table.

The second situation would be… even if Chennai Super Kings lose the match to Kings XI Punjab, they will have to keep their net run rate better than Rajasthan Royals, as a result matching Rajasthan Royals at 15 points. Chennai Super Kings will have an advantage here as they would know in advance what they need to do to keep their net run rate better than Rajasthan Royals.

Now even in this situation, they will have to assume that the match between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore is not canceled due to rain. In an unlikely event that “Deccan Chargers Vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore” match is declared as a “No result”, there will be a 4 way tie between DC, RCB, CSK and RR with each having 15 points.

Bottom-line: Beat Kings XI Punjab and celebrate!

How can Rajasthan Royals reach the IPL-2 Semifinals?

Beat Kolkata Knight Riders by a good margin and end up with 15 points!

Now pray that Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab so that Kings XI Punjab remain at 14 points. This way Rajasthan Royals can get the 4th spot on the table, while Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore will have to battle it out between themselves for the 3rd spot (with one of them ending with 16 points and the other with 14 points).

Given Rajasthan Royals win their match and Kings XI Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings in the following match, Chennai can still make it to the semifinals by kicking out Rajasthan Royals because they would know (even if they lose the match!) by what margin they should manage their run rate so that they could still beat Rajasthan Royals on the net run rate factor.

Bottom-line: Beat Kolkata Knight Riders and keep praying that Chennai Super Kings win their match against Kings XI Punjab!

Who gets to decide which teams will reach the IPL-2 Semifinals?

Only 2 days left in the league and 3 of the four Semifinal tickets are yet to be finalized.

With Delhi Daredevils through to the semifinal, the rest of the places in the semifinals are yet to be decided. Last week witnessed some very closely contested matches and it hasn’t been easy to guess who will be in the semifinals.

Fans are already going crazy and the cricket madness will be on its peak when the last 4 matches of the league will be played on May 20 and May 21.

While Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore will be fighting their skins out on the last 2 days to secure a place in the semifinals, Delhi Dare Devils, who are already on the top of the table, will continue to experiment. Kolkata Knight Riders who are already out of the contest will be only playing for some respect… perhaps even to ruin the sport-dreams of Rajasthan Royals for their ticket to the semifinals.

This is a really tricky situation… other than how these 5 teams play, there are 3 other factors that will decide the fate of the teams. First is the performance of the Kolkata Knight Riders team, the second being the Net Run Rate and third being the God of Rain.

A look at how the teams are currently placed:

Team

Mat

Won

Lost

Tied

N/R

Pts

Net RR
Delhi Daredevils 13 9 4 0 0 18 +0.251
Chennai 13 7 5 0 1 15 +0.932
Deccan Chargers 13 7 6 0 0 14 +0.265
Bangalore 13 7 6 0 0 14 -0.253
Kings XI Punjab 13 7 6 0 0 14 -0.423
Rajasthan Royals 13 6 6 0 1 13 -0.360
Mumbai Indians 13 5 7 0 1 11 +0.401
Kolkata 13 2 10 0 1 5 -0.891

.

A quick look at the remaining matches in the league:

Date and time The Fixture
Wed 20  16:00 IST Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals
Wed 20  20:00 IST Chennai Super Kings vs. Kings XI Punjab
Thu 21   16:00 IST Delhi Daredevils vs. Mumbai Indians
Thu 21  20:00 IST Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Deccan Chargers

Keep reading CricTalks to know the fate of each of these 5 teams and their chances of making it to the Semifinals.

Virgin Mobile’s Indian Hatke League – the lighter side of IPL!

Here’s another creative piece of promotional campaign from Virgin Mobile – the Indian Hatke League (IHL) – an entertaining take on the Indian Premier League Cricket tournament (IPL). At the time when the fever of IPL-2 has absorbed the nation altogether, the Hatke League aims to leverage maximum benefits from the season (that started in South Africa on April 18).

This newly launched website is designed by Culture Mafia. It is more of an IPL-2 spoof, and that’s what makes it so much more fun.

M.A. Madhusudan, CEO, Virgin Mobile India says:

“The Indian Hatke League is all about interacting with the Indian youth and giving them a taste of some stimulating entertainment and sense of being part of a cricketing phenomenon in a HATKE way. For the Hatke champions, Virgin Mobile has some exciting prizes such as a Hyundai i20, Sony PSP and Virgin Mobile phones.”

The Matches

  • There will be over 20 day and night matches in this tournament.
  • The user will have the option to play for any of the eight teams participating in IPL-2.
  • Each team will have 11 players.

The Hatke Teams

  1. Kakke’s XI Punjab
  2. Delhi Dhinchaks
  3. Rajasthan Muchhads
  4. Mumbai Manoos
  5. Royal ChillMaadis Bangalore
  6. Deccan ChilliEaters
  7. Kolkata Tram Riders
  8. Chennai Super Muthus

Some Hatke team players

Characters are modeled and named after famous cricket personalities and icons, like:

  1. Sachim Martodkar
  2. Veeru Suhag
  3. Mike Lassi
  4. Hari Bhajji
  5. Lakshmipatni Maalaji
  6. Handdraw Shallowman
  7. Also Ziddu for his wise cracks
  8. And Inzoo for his guru gyaan!

Play the game

  1. Login at IndianHatkeLeague
  2. Register online for an account under the team of your choice
  3. Play the tournament for FREE!
  4. Play as many times as you want
  5. Submit your best score for each match individually

Practice matches?

The player has an option to practice anytime by choosing the team they want to practice against and improve chances of winning during the tournament.

Win Awesome Prizes!

  • Hyundai’s recently launched hatchback i20
  • Sony’s video game console Play Station
  • Virgin Mobile handsets

Prizes worth Rs 10 Lakh for Match Titles

  • Man of the Series
  • Most obsessed User
  • Top 10 fastest Sixes
  • Sixer of the Series

Other Prizes

  • Earn points for recommending a friend to the website that can be redeemed against Virgin Mobile connections for exciting merchandise
  • Play and get special online retail offers on products purchased from Virgin Mobile India website.
  • Download Indian Hatke League wallpapers, and interactive screen savers for free.

It also has come up with community and fan pages, for the teams, promoters and profiles of 50 key players, on social networking sites such as Orkut, Facebook, Twitter etc., for the Indian Hatke League. So don’t just keep sitting there. Register on the website to be a part of the tournament and win exciting prizes.

Link: IHL

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