Kings XI blown away with Royal Kingfisher froth

It was valiant effort by Uthapa and Kallis which take them overhaul Kings Xi formidable total of 203 . The old fox Kallis played through out the innings to see through the Royal's win. He made 89 runs in 55 balls with 5 sixes. Uthappa played magnificiently to make 50 out of 19 balls. His blazing innings included 4 towering sixes. On the other hand Bisla and Bopara's good hand made Kings XI reach big score of 203 which they must have thought is a winning score. Royals had a good start from Manish Pandey. Also his innings was attractive to watch with 3 sixes. Few more innings like this in IPL will seal his spot in national team for World T20.
In other match Sourav's KKR displayed a very reckless batting where they were unable to chase a not so big target of 165. Top order has to be blamed for some poor shot selection. They needed few 40 runs partnership to seal the match but continuously wicket fallen with some pathetic shot selection. KKR has one of the best bowling line up in this IPL which got strenthen by Bonds presence. Kartik is also bowling very good. Ishant need some more tips from Akram it seems and he has to deliver those in actual match specially during death bowling. They need to sort out their batting at the soonest so that they can climb ladder hereonwards after this loss otherwise it will be difficult because T20 is designed for batsman, team needs good batting and it is the major factor between win and loose. In first IPL also they won first 2 matches that too against same opponents, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers but after that they fallen apart. Ganguly is a wise man and surely he knows all the stats and this time he must be strategising to perform better and will give his batters a pep talk to bat judiciously according to the situation of match and win more matches here onwards so that they can seal the semi final spot.

YUSUF Bang Bang PATHAN

It was much awaited battle between SRT & Warnie. But that didn't happen this time. Young guns for Mumbai Indian done this time in batting with likes of Rayudu & Tiwari. It was slam bang start given by Jayasuriya & SRT but that didn't lasted long. It was treat to watch Yusuf Pathan bat for Rajasthan Royal who almost turned the match to its head by some clean hitting. His 37 balls century almost snatched the match from Mumbai Indians. I must say he is one of clean hitters of the ball. Infact there are few we can pick out from the world cricket currently. Immediately I can recollect Sehwag, Gayle, Camaron White, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Maculum. Yusuf Pathan certainly in this league. Also he is in that kind of form this season. At the endit was a freak runout at nonstrikers end with deflection that crashed this Ferari and by that crashed the hopes of Halla Bol's team though fight shown by Dogra and Mascarenhas at the end. It was good overall performance by Mumbai Indian. It was good bowling ath the death by Zaheer and Malinga which sealed the match in their favour.
In the other match it was Gauti who played capatains innings during the chase and guided the team to victory against a modest total of 142 by Kings XI Punjab. Gauti played 72 was unlike his usual flamboyant batting. He played as per the demand of the situation & it was crucial for the teams cause because they kept on loosing wicket at the other end. Earlier in bowling it was Nannes fine bowling with amazing figure of 4-0-12-2 restricted Kings Punjab score. Also Amit Mishra bowled well. From Kings Punjab only Bopara played a good hand of 56. Big guns like Yuvi, Sangakara & Jayawardane failed big time and that was the reason for the downfall of Kings Punjab today. T20 is batsmans game & big score needed on the board to defend. The first match between Mumbai Indian & Rajasthan Royal was prime example where at one point 212 by Mumbai India looked like be overhauled by Royals. May be Kings Punjab are better off if their owner Preity Zinta watch matches from home, may be from the next match. Well by this gigg I sign off ...Goodnight.

IPL 2010 Opener

IPL the Indian version of EPL and Euro cup. Yes I know its cricket here and EPL or Euro cup is about football. But the frenziness regarding the sport is same in both the cases. Already the heat is at its pick in Mumbai and now the IPL fever will grip all over here. The inaugurtion match was between IPL underdogs this time, KKR & last year winner Deccan Chargers. No doubt chargers were charged up and they want to retain their IPL championship with their star studded line up of Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds. On the other hand KKR has a rebirth with new coach Dave Whatmore come to hold the forte with Prince of Kolkata as a Captain & show KKR winning ways. Surely the presence of Wasim Akram will benefit KKR bowling with likes of Ishant & Shukla has plenty to learn from one of the finest bowler in world cricket.
The match has lived upto the expectation of IPL. The two team battled hard. KKR has put on a decent score on board after a dismal start. May be Deccan chargers were touch over confident of chasing the mediocre total and there main batsmen played some horrendous shots. From 61/0 in 6 overs Deccan were cruising home. It was some tight bowling from Mathews and Karthik in middle overs for KKR, also Ganguly's bowling changes and fine batting by Mathews early on has made KKR to rise like phoenix from the ashes. The man of the match for me is Angelo Mathews whose 64 of 45 balls has set the believe in KKR that they can win this match and later on by fine bowling display he has contributed majorly to the winning cause. Deccan must be repenting on some of the shots played by their big guns. But its just a start & its long way to go. IPL has started with a nice gripping contest and all set to blaze for next 6 weeks.

SRT - The Legend

This article was long due and dedicated to Sachin the Legend.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is always been my favourite batsmen. Following his batting very closely since 1988. Since then Indian cricket means Sachin Tendulkar. Opponent used to plan to take only Sachin’s wicket to win match against India. In early 90’s it was known to cricketing fraternity that SRT is extraordinary player and going to break many records. Nowdays we have lot of talented players in Indian team but Sachin’s enigmatic presence is one of the reason for India's rank 1 status in test cricket. All the accolades and the quality of batsman ship is at one side but to keep that stature on a continuous basis for 20 years is achievement which makes him the legend. SRT like player comes once in a century and we are lucky to see him bat .

The double century which he shot against reputed South African attack is a package of all the 20 years of batsman ship which he shown all over the world. 200 runs in a match of 300 balls where two batsmen on a crease at a time is a humungous achievement. His panache stroke play was worth to watch. 147 ball knock consist of 25 boundaries which had all the collection of strokes which he played for number years. His batting display was something like A.R Rahman composing a music with his years of experience.

These days if you watch closely, SRT on 22 yards looks like a saint who has reached nirvana. That calm and composed look under the unruly hair was never before. His strokeplay is always been magnificient but nowdays his composer and movement when he is batting is like a robotic movement. It is like he has created his own x-y-z coordinates in the mind. All the strokes loaded inside his memory system. As the ball pitches at the particular position of the pitch, his reflexes automatically acts and plays the stroke with utmost ease.

He is already Bharat Ratna for us so whether he receives it or not we should not be bothered. We should also not care whether he will be called as Sir Sachin Tendulkar as he is already a master for all us. A truly genious, a class apart uncomparable personality. We are looking forward for more fabulous innings from him which will give us joy, peace and pride. Appetite of all genuine cricket lovers, to see him bat will never end. SRT Rocks!

Tribute to Dada--- Sourav Ganguly

"Bhule toe nahi may Sourav Ganguly" the famous ad when Sourav Ganguly was not in the team. A typical bengali guy with specs asking whole India this question when he was left out of the team after confrontation with Greg Chappell. Now on 10th of Nov 2008 when he got retired all cricket fan are saying Dada tumko nahi bhul payenge. You have brought smiles innumerable times to Indian masses. Sometimes you have won us matches single handedly & your captainship was incomparably marvelous.
Undoubtedly Dada was one of the best batsman in One day cricket. In one day cricket he matched Sachin's calibre. Even in test matches he was the pillar of middle order. His batting average never dropped below 40 that itself tells the high calibre of this man. After his test debut at Lords with a maiden test hundred Dada never looked back. With a maiden century he shut many critic's mouth who was doubting his inclusion in that England tour. Dada didn't stop with a maiden hundred, he followed it up at Edgbaston with one more ton. It was England summer with jumpers on but Dada was going hot which I am sure had made many English men to take it off. I was as usual was glued to TV seeing a maestro at work specially offside of the wicket. No surprise that Rahul admired him calling God of offside.
Who can forget that innings in Dhaka against Pakistan in final match, who can forget his towering long sixes ask Nicky Boje who has taken micky out of him. Then comes the captainship on this same day 10th Nov 2000. The team was in tatters even the great Sachin refused the captainship. In midst of the tumoil their comes a Dada, whom I say a charismatic personality. Looks are deceiving this man took bulls by horn & changed the style of Indian cricket. Agreat revamp came we started winning matches fromverge of defeat. He inculcated aggression, fire, passion in the team. Earlier for a greater part of 90's India used to depend on Sachin Tendulkar but not now there are Yuvrajs, Sehwags, Gambhirs.
Pinnacle moment of his captaincy came when he was able to take India's team to World Cup final in South Africa. It was like relaunching of Coke to India after its exit 1988. Here it happened after 22 years when India found themselve in World Cup final. Its a relaunch & we call it now Team India. Then onwards if we look into last 5 years India in most of the occasions played good cricket apart from 2007 World cup under Greg Chappell coaching & man management. Talking about man management can we find better person than Dada, yes I know Dhoni seems one step ahead but lets not forget Dhoni is just new to captainship he has tp prove a lot or reach Dada's stature as Captain. Sourav's man management was exemplory. Talk about Harbhajan, backed him to the core. Yuvraj Singh, nurtured under his captainship. Sehwag one of disastrous opener in world cricket in both forms of game. He was made as a Test opener by Sourav & see his statistics now. Master stroke was when Dravid was struggling with his form & India was looking for all rounder to make valuable contribution in middle order. Dada was realizing that & he made Dravid as a wicket keeper who was quite decent into it. Slowly Dravid came back to his best & wall was saved from breaking & India had some valuable wins that time.
Now when Dada has retired we can say India team is one of the best & lot of credit can be given to Dada for it. He must have told Dhoni the Obamaism- Yes We Can Win World Cup.
Salute to Dada. We will never forget you. You are the flavour of Indian cricket & it will be always cherished by all cricket fans.

Kolkata Calling....!

Today evening I am going to Kolkata. Its been a longtime I visited the city of Joy, almost one & half years. So very excited about my visit. Meeting relatives & friends are one of the main reason of excitement but overall the enigma of Kolkata always been a big influence on me & I like visiting that place again & again. As they say you can love kolkata, You can hate kolkata but simply you cannot ignore Kolkata. So true! This city has an amazing aura.
Then food buff like me- In bengali I call it- Khaddo Rosik has some more reason to love the place. So Khaddo rosik like me are always excited to be in Kolkata & taste all those different types of fish, Mughlai & chinese preperations. Who can forget the famous rolls of Haji. Biryanis of Aminia. Also the road side Alur chop & phuluri wallas. Its a favourite time evening snacks with Muri. Yes calories & fats are in abundance in these foods but our body can give us levy to have these slow poisons once in a while especially during vacation. Sweets- The Bengalis & sweets are colonial cousins. Tasty Rosogollas, Milk cakes are delicious there. Last but not the least Himsagar mangos, I simply love it.
Kolkata calling, where are you man? Yaa yaa am coming!

Bangaliana!

Today on a Sunday evening with tea cup in my hand & seeing the wet outside, its been raining heavily for last of couple of days, a word- Bangaliana came to my mind. Just started unwinding my thoughts.
My upbringing is in a Bengali family outside west bengal. The culture & traditions of Bangla are all there & followed in our household. Its been very interesting whenever we as a Probashi Bengali (Bengali staying outside West Bengal) get together to celebrate Bengali festival & creating a niche amongst all the communities. Also its intriguing from childhood to visit Kolkata & see the life there, which is very different then other cities. If I have to define in a single word what does it mean to being a Bengali, it is Bangaliana!
It means Literature cognizance...
It means Philosophical outlook...
It means food for thought nea thought for food actually...
It means Tea Connoisseur...
Bengali means celebrating Durga Puja which is uncomparable..
It means craziness for Hilsa Fish...
Bengali means passion for football...
Bengali means Mohan Bagan Vs East Bengal match...
Also it means Argentina Vs Brazil match....
Bengali means sipping tea in a Khuri (Earthen pots)...
Bengali means pronouncing words of English forcefully...
It means discussing politics with a zeal besides the street..
Bengali means 24 x 7 in festive mood...
Bengali means Sunday morning in a fish market...
Bengali means discussing day to day activities of Sourav Ganguly in a newspaper...
Bengali means reciting poems of Rabindranath Tagore....
Bengali means enjoying weekend at a Book festival...
It means eat out at Chinese Restro once in a month atleast.....
Bengali means calling spade a spade...
Bengali means finding at least one singing talent in a family...
Bengali means mothers standing outside the school gate with Daab (Coconut Water) after exam...
Bengali means gifting sweets to friends & family without any specific reason or so....
Bengali means relishing Himsagar Mango in a Hot Summer....
All the above are the ingredients of Bangaliana. Am sure many people had seen this. Also many had become a part of it at some point of their life & found it intriguing.