A triumph of logistics,

The inaugural IPL has been.

From the initial auction all the way down to the prize distribution ceremony, the scale and magnitude of the IPL was staggering.

And to think that, except for a few complaints on late player payments and the less than exemplary handling of some of the players by their franchises ( Priety Zinta, Shahrukh Khan), there have been nothing but good things said about the IPL is testament to the meticulousness of the planning and the execution and the behind the scenes work put in by the tournament organizers.

The more I think about the logistics involved, starting from ticket distribution to player transport, from ground and stadium preparation to hauling TV crews across 8 cities in a geography as large as India, from ensuring blanket news coverage of the event to the actual staging of it, from a spectacular opening ceremony to an equally spectacular closing, I am staggered!

And what is more staggering is that from conceptualizing the event to its actual execution, the total time was less than 6 months.

Think about it!

And the BCCI should too, because they have proven beyond any doubt that if they set their minds to it, they are as good as, if not better, than any other organization. Their marketing skills were never in doubt, their organizational skills have shone through the IPL. Can they now take this opportunity to make institutional changes to the structure of the BCCI, by institutionalizing all that has been ad hoc thus far?

Dont be hatin', Jon!

WHILE Cricket Australia opted not to attack the Indian Premier League yesterday, its silence is a bit like ignoring the elephant in the room.

Australia's decision to send Hayden home from the West Indies has raised eyebrows in the game. Not because there's any doubt about the legitimacy of the injury.

Hayden is - or was - a cricketing ironman, and has played at times more on will than fitness.

What is concerning is that this serious achilles tendon - a longtime issue - flared while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

A Twenty20 tournament that may have transformed player payments, and be all the rage in India, but one that very few people are talking about in Australia.

A tournament that, here at least, no one really cares who wins.

Fair dinkum, as you Aussies might say.

But, by the same token Jon, shouldn't Cricket Australia also be sending thank you notes to the IPL for giving Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson and Luke Pomersbach a chance to shine.

I mean, seriously, how much of a household name was Shaun Marsh and how many columns were written about his exploits with the bat till the IPL came along?

And, if no one is talking about it and no one really cares, why would the Melbourne Herald Sun carry a 16 para article on Shane Watson's exploits in the IPL ( never mind the reams of paper expended on Shane Marsh)

SHANE Watson has finally got his timing right. The allrounder has put himself in line for Australian selection with his latest performance in the IPL.

Watson led the procession for the Rajasthan Royals by topscoring with 52 off 29 balls and then collecting 3-10 off three overs in his side's 105-run semi-final shellacking of Glenn McGrath's Delhi Daredevils.

PS:- Jon Pierik's newest article - on Shane Warne

Warne's ability to lift, through word and deed, rank outsiders Rajasthan Royals to a stunning win in the Indian Premier League final has added to the legend of arguably the game's greatest player.

And it now must mean Cricket Australia has to do everything it can to lure the magician out of retirement.

--

Anyone who has stayed up watching the IPL can attest to Warne's fine form.

Refreshed mentally and physically after a year off from the international grind, the 38-year-old has lost none of his skill or guise.

He finished with 19 wickets, and conceded a relatively modest 7.76 runs an over.

---

During the IPL, it again became clear what Australia had missed.

The least expensive side in the tournament, the Royals pocketed the $1.2 million prizemoney thanks to Warne's clever tactics and ability to inspire a bunch of no-name locals.

"His leadership was incredible," Australian teammate Shane Watson said.

So much so that there was talk yesterday that India would love to make Warne its next international coach.

Heh!

Why is Suresh Shastri umpiring in the Mumbai-Bangalore game when Mumbai have filed an official complaint against him and the complaint is pending decision?

Not in a majority of one

The worst part is that the third umpires who can view all the angles are creating the mess. What umpire Suresh Shastri did during the Mumbai Indian’s game against the Kings XI Punjab was inexplicable.

What angered the umpiring fraternity and the Mumbai Indians was his refusal to ask for the back angle when Dilhara Fernando’s shot was stopped by Tanmay Srivastava whose leg at the time had touched the boundary rope when the ball was in his hand.

No sooner had that happened than the small ball boys jumped with joy signaling boundary to field umpires who referred to the third umpire.

Had Shastri seen the back angle, he would have had to signal a boundary and the match would have been over in favour of the Mumbai Indians.

The third umpire has the option of asking all the angles, but apparently Shastri didn’t ask for the crucial angle.

My sentiments exactly

The dream is over

Deccan Chargers 147/8 (20/20 ov)
Chennai Super Kings 148/3 (19.2/20 ov)

Now, to play for pride! Beat Bangalore!!

Dewey beats Truman?

Jaipur, May 26 (UNI) Magnificent bowling by Sohail Tanvir and brilliant batting by N Patel led Rajasthan Royals to an exciting 5 wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in the second round IPL cricket league tie resulting into the exit of the later from the competion at the SMS stadium here tonight.

Memorial Day

a miserable one for me.. First Harry Potter, then the Dabbawallas and now the West Indians ( who look to be down and out for the count).

Just so wrong!

Well played Delhi

In the aftermath of Mumbai's defeat, it will be uncharitable of me not to acknowledge the hunger and fight shown by Delhi in a game where a loss would have sealed their elimination.

Delhi played all the big moments of the game better than Mumbai. Amit Mishra bowled a dandy, YoMahesh showed a lot of poise and character to take 4 wickets after the shellacking he received in his first over.

With the bat, Shikar Dhawan, Manoj Tiwary and Dinesh Karthik showed maturity that belied their years. When the heat was on, one team stood up.

And they out fielded us.Which says a lot about Delhi's desperation.

And kudos to them for that.

A fine all round team effort, one that the Delhi team should be proud of.

Damn!

Two games, two nail biters, two losses.

Two more games to go, Two wins required. And then it is the semi finals.

Time to beat the Royals in their house. Go Mumbai!

Now the fun begins

Remember this?

Now, there is a Test match going on and here is what the CricInfo ball by ball commentary reads after four sessions of play -

The pitch has started showing signs of being two-faced. A few of the deliveries have jumped, a few have crept low and some have stopped. It's bound to get worse.

And, to prove that God has a sense of humour, the match referee is RS Mahanama.

The road to the semis

Now that we are at the business end of the IPL, it is time to revisit a prediction made about a month ago ( April 24th, to be exact)

Based on these roster changes,based on what has been on display so far and the depth of rosters of the various teams and the length of the tournament, I am picking the Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils to be guarantees in the playoffs.

Cricinfo has the low down of how the different teams stack up and what they need to do to get to the semis.

For Mumbai, the path is clear.. 5 to go, 5 to win and we are home and dry. Simple as that!

Who are the chokers now?

Bangalore Royally Challenged 126/8
Chennai Soopher Kinks 112/8

Sloppy cricket

12.6

Vinay Kumar to Fleming, 1 no ball, bowled him! Fleming backs away towards leg stump and tries to hit a full ball across the line towards the leg side, he misses and Vinaykumar hits the leg stump which gets uprooted and proceeds to smack Boucher on the knee just above the pad, Fleming's out but Boucher's down on the ground in some pain, whoops, Fleming's got a very lucky break, the umpire spotted that there were only three men in the circle and called a no-ball, Fleming stays and it's all very dramatic

Bloody ridiculous and worthy of another Mallya spray, imho!

A kick in the backside

thoroughly deserved

And another example of why technology should not be used to make decisions - Dwayne Smith ostensibly broke the stumps with his hands before the throw hit the stumps, a line decision that went in favor of the batsman.. Nothing of the sort with Yuvraj breaking the stumps.

Ditto the Siddharth Chitnis run out - another line decision going in favor of the bowling team.

And what of the Ashish Nehra run out - just one angle to gauge if the fielder made contact with the ropes before adjudicating the run out?

PS:- Punjab sneak a one-run thriller
I hope the team is hurting reading this headline. Or this pithy comment on Cricinfo
"This would go down as one of the classic chokes in Twenty20 history. "

Oh, and Yuvraj ("I want to tell the crowd that the crowd support was too one sided towards Mumbai. Let me remind them that some of the Punjab players also play for India.") - Fuck you!

The Sunil Gavaskar column

The Harbhajan Singh episode is finally over and the BCCI too has pronounced it's punishment for him. It was surprising to hear that some felt that it was a rap on the knuckles. But hasn't he been punished by the IPL ? Yes, what he did was wrong but he didn't sell the country did he?