One Missed Bus

Thanks to Nithya’s post that reminded me to write this and also to my friend ABC for suggesting this topic. Having completed three years of college life, there were a lot of incidents that happened during traveling especially in the morning when I miss the college buses. I would like to share a few incidents.

Incident 1:
I had missed the college bus and on that day, I wanted to go to the college fast. So I decided to take a bus, which goes frequently to my college. It all started well as I got a seat for myself (Its not easy to get a seat in that bus). The bus was moving with the speed that even a bullock cart rider would have considered slow. There was a problem with that bus and when it reached a stop called NIFT (about a km away from the origin), the bus driver declared the bus to be dead and stopped the bus ahead at a stop called SRP. It took more time than it normally does to reach the college.

Incident 2:
Again, once when I missed the college bus and wanted to go to college fast, I chose a bus that starts at 7:15 rather than the bus that starts at 7:40 (more comfortable deluxe bus). It started five minutes late and I had to stand all the way. The bus was too crowded and it was difficult for the conductor to distribute the tickets. So he stopped the bus not too far from the origin, he started distributing tickets and successfully finished the job at 7:45. What a mess!

Incident 3:
I thought I could catch the bus at a stop called Madhya Kailash where most of the buses cross. I reached it but missed the college buses. So I boarded a govt bus and halfway thru, I found some of my college friends in a stop. I thought there is a bus coming as I heard one girl among the crowd shout “College bus is coming”. I immediately got down and only got fooled. They had been traveling in a college bus and it was forced to stop because the driver had caused an accident. The college bus was indeed coming but only difference is, it had just started from college.

Incident 4:
My friend and I together missed the college. We had tests that day. So we boarded another college bus (which is close to ours). The driver was glad to help us and he dropped us in a town just before our college. Going to college was always easy but reaching the block at the end was never easy but it was made easy when we boarded a lorry that was on its way to that block. To our surprise, we reached before some of our classmates did.

There are some more but I don’t remember.

One Missed Bus

Thanks to Nithya’s post that reminded me to write this and also to my friend ABC for suggesting this topic. Having completed three years of college life, there were a lot of incidents that happened during traveling especially in the morning when I miss the college buses. I would like to share a few incidents.

Incident 1:
I had missed the college bus and on that day, I wanted to go to the college fast. So I decided to take a bus, which goes frequently to my college. It all started well as I got a seat for myself (Its not easy to get a seat in that bus). The bus was moving with the speed that even a bullock cart rider would have considered slow. There was a problem with that bus and when it reached a stop called NIFT (about a km away from the origin), the bus driver declared the bus to be dead and stopped the bus ahead at a stop called SRP. It took more time than it normally does to reach the college.

Incident 2:
Again, once when I missed the college bus and wanted to go to college fast, I chose a bus that starts at 7:15 rather than the bus that starts at 7:40 (more comfortable deluxe bus). It started five minutes late and I had to stand all the way. The bus was too crowded and it was difficult for the conductor to distribute the tickets. So he stopped the bus when it didn’t move too far away, he started distributing tickets and successfully finished the job at 7:45. What a mess!

Incident 3:
I thought I could catch the bus at a stop called Madhya Kailash where most of the buses cross. I reached it but missed the college buses. So I boarded a govt bus and halfway thru, I found some of my college friends in a stop. I thought there is a bus coming as I heard one girl among the crowd shout “College bus is coming”. I immediately got down and only got fooled. They had been traveling in a college bus and it was forced to stop because the driver had caused an accident. The college bus was indeed coming but only difference is, it had just started from college.

Incident 4:
My friend and I together missed the college. We had tests that day. So we boarded another college bus (which is close to ours). The driver was glad to help us and he dropped us in a town just before our college. Going to college was always easy but reaching the block at the end was never easy but it was made easy when we boarded a lorry that was on its way to that block. To our surprise, we reached before some of our classmates did.

There are some more but I don’t remember.

Who is the next King?

Apart from the Superstar Rajinikanth, only two others have made the theatres as a festival occasion. They are none other than Ajith and Vijay. These two stars have been contenders for the next Superstardom for a very long time. I don’t remember how these two got into the track anyway. But these guys gave some good hits and they have created a name for themselves in Tamil Cinema.

Let us not go into detail about their hits and flops. Around 10 years back, both these stars were not producing any hit movies. They were content with success with one movie or the other. Both struck gold on several occasions having given smash away hits when all of a sudden, they once again traveled in the failure road.

After a series of flops, Vijay’s success rose with the release of Thirumala. I remember a headline in popular news portal reading, “Can Jyothika once again prove success for Vijay, who hasn’t been able to give away hits, like what they both did in Kushi?” After that his success was at his peak with the hit of Ghilli and he started giving runaway hits. Ajith wasn’t riding in success but he instead was riding on wheels for the racing, his favourite sport.

In my school, there used to be a lot of Vijay fans (atleast that’s what I thought them to be as they were ready to tease Ajith whenever possible). There used to be a very few Ajith fans and they were helpless. In my college, it was just the opposite. There are too many Ajith fans. In my first year culturals, when the audience shouted “Thala pola varuma!?” (Can anyone match ‘The Head’ (Ajith)?), I was wondering whether they are just supporting or were they real fans.

Vijay was continuing to give away hit movies while Ajith was not so lucky. But he was awarded with a hit for his awesome performance in ‘Varalaaru’ aka ‘Godfather’. Even then, his luck faded away with that single hit. Same luck faded away with Vijay even though his film Pokkiri was a box-office hit. Several television critics showed Vijay and the film in a bad yet funny light. Perhaps it is because of this I would say that Ajith reentered the competition.

Most of the stars today give punch dialogues but Vijay was blamed for doing so. Most of the film stars in the world are doing superman stunts. But Vijay was blamed. Even before the release of Vijay’s ‘Azhagiya Tamizh Magan’ (ATM), there were some messages that criticized the movie. If it had been three years back, the message content was mostly about Ajith. And also ATM did not run so well as expected. And more interestingly, Billa, the remake of superstar’s yesteryear hit, was due on release and it produced great expectations among Tamil Cinema lovers. I just then saw several tamil fans promoting the movie ‘Billa’.

Ajith surprised everyone with his interview to TV channels, as he normally doesn’t give interviews. It came at the right time just before the release of Billa and it added more expectations. Expectations didn’t fail this time, as Billa was a blockbuster hit. Ajith is on track again. He has promised that he would give nice entertainers.

I was shocked by the amount of messages criticizing ‘Kuruvi’ even months before the release of the movie. Perhaps they thought this is the time to revert to Vijay. This is what the fans have been doing when the stars are already let down by flops. This is where I would say, “Learn from Bollywood”, as there we could see top stars acting with each other. I don’t think there is any more chance here to see Ajith and Vijay doing a film together (for statistics info, they have done a film together).

If Vijay and Ajith had not criticized each other in their films, things would’ve been different. If fans hadn’t bothered about the race to superstardom, things would’ve been a lot different. Even Vijay had once said that he likes ‘Pithamagan’ movie and has admitted that he can’t act in such movie. He wants to give pure entertainers. So be it! Ajith wanted to experiment a lot in his movies. So be it! Why the people want them to be different? It’s not about who would be the next superstar but about who would give good films. Good films end up being a hit. Superstar Rajinikanth., the King, is already there and he is ruling and he would be the final king.

Who is the next King?

Apart from the Superstar Rajinikanth, only two others have made the theatres as a festival occasion. They are none other than Ajith and Vijay. These two stars have been contenders for the next Superstardom for a very long time. I don’t remember how these two got into the track anyway. But these guys gave some good hits and they have created a name for themselves in Tamil Cinema.

Let us not go into detail about their hits and flops. Around 10 years back, both these stars were not producing any hit movies. They were content with success with one movie or the other. Both struck gold on several occasions having given smash away hits when all of a sudden, they once again traveled in the failure road.

After a series of flops, Vijay’s success rose with the release of Thirumala. I remember a headline in popular news portal reading, “Can Jyothika once again prove success for Vijay, who hasn’t been able to give away hits, like what they both did in Kushi?” After that his success was at his peak with the hit of Ghilli and he started giving runaway hits. Ajith wasn’t riding in success but he instead was riding on wheels for the racing, his favourite sport.

In my school, there used to be a lot of Vijay fans (atleast that’s what I thought them to be as they were ready to tease Ajith whenever possible). There used to be a very few Ajith fans and they were helpless. In my college, it was just the opposite. There are too many Ajith fans. In my first year culturals, when the audience shouted “Thala pola varuma!?” (Can anyone match ‘The Head’ (Ajith)?), I was wondering whether they are just supporting or were they real fans.

Vijay was continuing to give away hit movies while Ajith was not so lucky. But he was awarded with a hit for his awesome performance in ‘Varalaaru’ aka ‘Godfather’. Even then, his luck faded away with that single hit. Same luck faded away with Vijay even though his film Pokkiri was a box-office hit. Several television critics showed Vijay and the film in a bad yet funny light. Perhaps it is because of this I would say that Ajith reentered the competition.

Most of the stars today give punch dialogues but Vijay was blamed for doing so. Most of the film stars in the world are doing superman stunts. But Vijay was blamed. Even before the release of Vijay’s ‘Azhagiya Tamizh Magan’ (ATM), there were some messages that criticized the movie. If it had been three years back, the message content was mostly about Ajith. And also ATM did not run so well as expected. And more interestingly, Billa, the remake of superstar’s yesteryear hit, was due on release and it produced great expectations among Tamil Cinema lovers. I just then saw several tamil fans promoting the movie ‘Billa’.

Ajith surprised everyone with his interview to TV channels, as he normally doesn’t give interviews. It came at the right time just before the release of Billa and it added more expectations. Expectations didn’t fail this time, as Billa was a blockbuster hit. Ajith is on track again. He has promised that he would give nice entertainers.

I was shocked by the amount of messages criticizing ‘Kuruvi’ even months before the release of the movie. Perhaps they thought this is the time to revert to Vijay. This is what the fans have been doing when the stars are already let down by flops. This is where I would say, “Learn from Bollywood”, as there we could see top stars acting with each other. I don’t think there is any more chance here to see Ajith and Vijay doing a film together (for statistics info, they have done a film together).

If Vijay and Ajith had not criticized each other in their films, things would’ve been different. If fans hadn’t bothered about the race to superstardom, things would’ve been a lot different. Even Vijay had once said that he likes ‘Pithamagan’ movie and has admitted that he can’t act in such movie. He wants to give pure entertainers. So be it! Ajith wanted to experiment a lot in his movies. So be it! Why the people want them to be different? It’s not about who would be the next superstar but about who would give good films. Good films end up being a hit. Superstar Rajinikanth., the King, is already there and he is ruling and he would be the final king.

Who is the next King?

Apart from the Superstar Rajinikanth, only two others have made the theatres as a festival occasion. They are none other than Ajith and Vijay. These two stars have been contenders for the next Superstardom for a very long time. I don’t remember how these two got into the track anyway. But these guys gave some good hits and they have created a name for themselves in Tamil Cinema.

Let us not go into detail about their hits and flops. Around 10 years back, both these stars were not producing any hit movies. They were content with success with one movie or the other. Both struck gold on several occasions having given smash away hits when all of a sudden, they once again traveled in the failure road.

After a series of flops, Vijay’s success rose with the release of Thirumala. I remember a headline in popular news portal reading, “Can Jyothika once again prove success for Vijay, who hasn’t been able to give away hits, like what they both did in Kushi?” After that his success was at his peak with the hit of Ghilli and he started giving runaway hits. Ajith wasn’t riding in success but he instead was riding on wheels for the racing, his favourite sport.

In my school, there used to be a lot of Vijay fans (atleast that’s what I thought them to be as they were ready to tease Ajith whenever possible). There used to be a very few Ajith fans and they were helpless. In my college, it was just the opposite. There are too many Ajith fans. In my first year culturals, when the audience shouted “Thala pola varuma!?” (Can anyone match ‘The Head’ (Ajith)?), I was wondering whether they are just supporting or were they real fans.

Vijay was continuing to give away hit movies while Ajith was not so lucky. But he was awarded with a hit for his awesome performance in ‘Varalaaru’ aka ‘Godfather’. Even then, his luck faded away with that single hit. Same luck faded away with Vijay even though his film Pokkiri was a box-office hit. Several television critics showed Vijay and the film in a bad yet funny light. Perhaps it is because of this I would say that Ajith reentered the competition.

Most of the stars today give punch dialogues but Vijay was blamed for doing so. Most of the film stars in the world are doing superman stunts. But Vijay was blamed. Even before the release of Vijay’s ‘Azhagiya Tamizh Magan’ (ATM), there were some messages that criticized the movie. If it had been three years back, the message content was mostly about Ajith. And also ATM did not run so well as expected. And more interestingly, Billa, the remake of superstar’s yesteryear hit, was due on release and it produced great expectations among Tamil Cinema lovers. I just then saw several tamil fans promoting the movie ‘Billa’.

Ajith surprised everyone with his interview to TV channels, as he normally doesn’t give interviews. It came at the right time just before the release of Billa and it added more expectations. Expectations didn’t fail this time, as Billa was a blockbuster hit. Ajith is on track again. He has promised that he would give nice entertainers.

I was shocked by the amount of messages criticizing ‘Kuruvi’ even months before the release of the movie. Perhaps they thought this is the time to revert to Vijay. This is what the fans have been doing when the stars are already let down by flops. This is where I would say, “Learn from Bollywood”, as there we could see top stars acting with each other. I don’t think there is any more chance here to see Ajith and Vijay doing a film together (for statistics info, they have done a film together).

If Vijay and Ajith had not criticized each other in their films, things would’ve been different. If fans hadn’t bothered about the race to superstardom, things would’ve been a lot different. Even Vijay had once said that he likes ‘Pithamagan’ movie and has admitted that he can’t act in such movie. He wants to give pure entertainers. So be it! Ajith wanted to experiment a lot in his movies. So be it! Why the people want them to be different? It’s not about who would be the next superstar but about who would give good films. Good films end up being a hit. Superstar Rajinikanth., the King, is already there and he is ruling and he would be the final king.

Indian Premiere League – A Review (Part V)

Kings XI Punjab:

City: Punjab

Captain: Yuvraj Singh (Icon Player)

Coach: Tom Moody

Franchisee: Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman and Karan Paul

Franchise cost: $76 million

Team Composition:

Mahela Jayawardene (vc) Ajitesh Argal Piyush Chawla Pankaj Dharmani Rishi Dhawan Gagandeep Singh Karan Goel James Hopes Simon Katich Uday Kaul (wk) Sahil Kukreja Brett Lee Shaun Marsh Kyle Mills Wilkin Mota Irfan Pathan Luke Pomersbach Ramesh Powar Nitin Saini Kumar Sangakkara (wk) Ramnaresh Sarwan Vikram Singh Sunny Sohal Sreesanth Tanmay Srivastava

This team can’t have a better composition unless future proves me wrong. This team has the finest International batsmen as well as strike bowlers. To add essence, they got good all-rounders as well. This team was so consistent and so unlucky to have not made the finals. For some reason, the team has failed to beat the Chennai Super Kings on all occasions and such occasion cost them the entry to the finals.

Pluses:

• Yuvraj Singh, the captain of the team shocked the world with his six sixes of an over last year in the T20 World Cup. His aggression was what the team needed.
• Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, is a player on whom Yuvi would rely a lot on gaining a lot from his advices.
• Kumara Sangakarra demolished the bowling attack and scored a lot of runs. Injury kept him from playing many matches.
• Shaun Marsh, the Australian whom many wouldn’t be aware of, has scored the maximum runs of the tournament and his batting form (his style which resembles Yuvi’s) has been the talk of the series.
• James Hopes, the Australian all rounder, raised the momentum of the batting run rates and also picked up crucial wickets.
• Brett Lee, the quicker from Australia, was the man the opposition didn’t want to face.
• Irfan Pathan’s return to bowling form added a lot of confidence in the line up with also his tremendous batting skills adding to his support.
• Sreesanth, the second leading wicket taker for the tournament, was in good touch and was picking up wicket at regular intervals.
• Piyush Chawla, who got praises from the spinner legend Mutthiah, was consistent with the ball and he can bat too. Ramesh Powar supported the spinning attack and this guy can bat too.
• Luke Pomersbach provided the late fireworks that the team needed. Sarwan played his tidy knock in some matches.

Minuses:

• Yuvraj hasn’t played any impressive knock in the entire series.
• The bowlers, though they were consistent in picking up wickets, were too expensive.
• Piyush Chawla, apart from his tidy bowling and batting, has been hit for the maximum number of sixes.
• If all the key players of the team were out to small scores, the team struggles from then.

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers:

City: Hyderabad

Captain: VVS Laxman (Icon Player) and Adam Gilchrist (for most matches)

Coach: Robin Singh

Franchisee: Deccan Chronicle

Franchise cost: $107.01 million

Team Composition:

Sanjay Bangar Halhadar Das (wk) Herschelle Gibbs Adam Gilchrist (wk) Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna Pragyan Ojha Dwaraka Ravi Teja PM Sarvesh Kumar Shahid Afridi Rohit Sharma Chamara Silva RP Singh Scott Styris Andrew Symonds Chaminda Vaas Venugopal Rao Paidikalva Vijaykumar Arjun Yadav Nuwan Zoysa

Deccan Chargers were talked as the most powerful team before the beginning of the tournament. With such a dominating batting line up, it is only a disgrace to them that they have won only two matches in the tournament. But this team can live up to the hope that they can play the next season well as they have good promising players both domestic and international.

Pluses:

• VVS Laxman is a good batsman and his presence adds tremendous confidence.
• The team would be proud to have Adam Gilchrist, the greatest wicketkeeper batsman of all time. He has been the captain of the side for several matches and his knocks have been crucial in the team high scores that include an unbeaten fastest IPL century to save the game.
• Shahid Afridi, aka Boom Boom Afridi, is the danger man and he can show no mercy on the bowlers.
• Rohit Sharma, the man in form of the team is one of the leading scorers of the tournament and he has proven a point that he can be there as a resistance for the team.
• Scott Styris, the New Zealand all rounder has been a great asset for the team.
• Andrew Symonds, the second highest bid of the tournament can help both with the bat and the ball.
• Herschelle Gibbs, the quality batsman is capable of hitting the balls all over the ground.
• Pragyan Ojha and Venugopal Rao were the picks of the team.
• The team has quality pacers like RP Singh, Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa.

Minuses:

• The team lacked the winning formula right from the beginning.
• Though the team consisted of heavy batting line up, victories didn’t favour them.
• RP Singh, who was the bowler in form, couldn’t find rhythm in his own soil.
• ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi failed to show what ‘Boom Boom’ really is.
• Andrew Symonds failed to impress the Indian crowd, though he tried on several occasions.
• The absence of VVS Laxman due to injury has cost the team a lot.
• The bowlers and the fielding have let down the team a lot of times.
• The team looked like they were not executing the game plans correctly.

Indian Premiere League – A Review (Part V)

Kings XI Punjab:

City: Punjab

Captain: Yuvraj Singh (Icon Player)

Coach: Tom Moody

Franchisee: Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman and Karan Paul

Franchise cost: $76 million

Team Composition:

Mahela Jayawardene (vc) Ajitesh Argal Piyush Chawla Pankaj Dharmani Rishi Dhawan Gagandeep Singh Karan Goel James Hopes Simon Katich Uday Kaul (wk) Sahil Kukreja Brett Lee Shaun Marsh Kyle Mills Wilkin Mota Irfan Pathan Luke Pomersbach Ramesh Powar Nitin Saini Kumar Sangakkara (wk) Ramnaresh Sarwan Vikram Singh Sunny Sohal Sreesanth Tanmay Srivastava

This team can’t have a better composition unless future proves me wrong. This team has the finest International batsmen as well as strike bowlers. To add essence, they got good all-rounders as well. This team was so consistent and so unlucky to have not made the finals. For some reason, the team has failed to beat the Chennai Super Kings on all occasions and such occasion cost them the entry to the finals.

Pluses:

• Yuvraj Singh, the captain of the team shocked the world with his six sixes of an over last year in the T20 World Cup. His aggression was what the team needed.
• Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, is a player on whom Yuvi would rely a lot on gaining a lot from his advices.
• Kumara Sangakarra demolished the bowling attack and scored a lot of runs. Injury kept him from playing many matches.
• Shaun Marsh, the Australian whom many wouldn’t be aware of, has scored the maximum runs of the tournament and his batting form (his style which resembles Yuvi’s) has been the talk of the series.
• James Hopes, the Australian all rounder, raised the momentum of the batting run rates and also picked up crucial wickets.
• Brett Lee, the quicker from Australia, was the man the opposition didn’t want to face.
• Irfan Pathan’s return to bowling form added a lot of confidence in the line up with also his tremendous batting skills adding to his support.
• Sreesanth, the second leading wicket taker for the tournament, was in good touch and was picking up wicket at regular intervals.
• Piyush Chawla, who got praises from the spinner legend Mutthiah, was consistent with the ball and he can bat too. Ramesh Powar supported the spinning attack and this guy can bat too.
• Luke Pomersbach provided the late fireworks that the team needed. Sarwan played his tidy knock in some matches.

Minuses:

• Yuvraj hasn’t played any impressive knock in the entire series.
• The bowlers, though they were consistent in picking up wickets, were too expensive.
• Piyush Chawla, apart from his tidy bowling and batting, has been hit for the maximum number of sixes.
• If all the key players of the team were out to small scores, the team struggles from then.

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers:

City: Hyderabad

Captain: VVS Laxman (Icon Player) and Adam Gilchrist (for most matches)

Coach: Robin Singh

Franchisee: Deccan Chronicle

Franchise cost: $107.01 million

Team Composition:

Sanjay Bangar Halhadar Das (wk) Herschelle Gibbs Adam Gilchrist (wk) Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna Pragyan Ojha Dwaraka Ravi Teja PM Sarvesh Kumar Shahid Afridi Rohit Sharma Chamara Silva RP Singh Scott Styris Andrew Symonds Chaminda Vaas Venugopal Rao Paidikalva Vijaykumar Arjun Yadav Nuwan Zoysa

Deccan Chargers were talked as the most powerful team before the beginning of the tournament. With such a dominating batting line up, it is only a disgrace to them that they have won only two matches in the tournament. But this team can live up to the hope that they can play the next season well as they have good promising players both domestic and international.

Pluses:

• VVS Laxman is a good batsman and his presence adds tremendous confidence.
• The team would be proud to have Adam Gilchrist, the greatest wicketkeeper batsman of all time. He has been the captain of the side for several matches and his knocks have been crucial in the team high scores that include an unbeaten fastest IPL century to save the game.
• Shahid Afridi, aka Boom Boom Afridi, is the danger man and he can show no mercy on the bowlers.
• Rohit Sharma, the man in form of the team is one of the leading scorers of the tournament and he has proven a point that he can be there as a resistance for the team.
• Scott Styris, the New Zealand all rounder has been a great asset for the team.
• Andrew Symonds, the second highest bid of the tournament can help both with the bat and the ball.
• Herschelle Gibbs, the quality batsman is capable of hitting the balls all over the ground.
• Pragyan Ojha and Venugopal Rao were the picks of the team.
• The team has quality pacers like RP Singh, Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa.

Minuses:

• The team lacked the winning formula right from the beginning.
• Though the team consisted of heavy batting line up, victories didn’t favour them.
• RP Singh, who was the bowler in form, couldn’t find rhythm in his own soil.
• ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi failed to show what ‘Boom Boom’ really is.
• Andrew Symonds failed to impress the Indian crowd, though he tried on several occasions.
• The absence of VVS Laxman due to injury has cost the team a lot.
• The bowlers and the fielding have let down the team a lot of times.
• The team looked like they were not executing the game plans correctly.

Indian Premiere League – A Review (Part IV)

Although the IPL is over with Rajasthan Royals as the winners, let us anyway go through the remaining team reviews. Let me talk about the winners this time.

Rajasthan Royals:

City: Rajasthan

Captain: Shane Warne

Coach: Shane Warne

Franchisee: Emerging Media

Franchise cost: $67 million

Team Composition:

Aditya Angle Swapnil Asnodkar Ravindra Jadeja Mohammad Kaif Kamran Akmal (wk) Sumit Khatri Taruwar Kohli Darren Lehmann Parag More Morne Morkel Pankaj Singh Munaf Patel Niraj Patel Yusuf Pathan Mahesh Rawat Anup Revandkar Dinesh Salunkhe Jaydev Shah Graeme Smith Sohail Tanvir Siddharth Trivedi Shane Watson Younis Khan Justin Langer Dimitri Mascarenhas

This team was called as the underdogs of the tournament with very few known faces. Especially after the first devastating loss to Delhi, they were let down but after that loss, they never looked back and got to winning ways and it seemed that none could stop them but luck. They have won 13 of the 16 matches they played. Was it because of the enthusiastic youngsters determined to win especially after being called as the underdogs or is it because of the ruthless Warne, whose captaincy never showed any worries in the side.

Pluses:

• Shane Warne’s Captaincy: A commentator from IPL described Shane Warne as the best captain Australia never had. Such was the impact he made. It is not easy to guide an inexperienced side to victory but he made most of it a dominating victory. He has also shown that he has not got old and can still spin the ball.
• Shane Watson, the all rounder from Australia and also the man of the series, struck both with his batting and bowling and this guy was the one the opposition was careful about.
• Yusuf Pathan, the guy who couldn’t make a mark in the premiere T20 World Cup last year, let out his aggression this time smashing the ball to all the corners of the ground. Even Sehwag would’ve been considered defensive. This guy can bowl too and his tidy bowling has also won crucial matches for the team.
• Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has been the asset for the team as a specialist opener who believed in exploding the fireworks in the later stages of the tournament while his partner does it before him.
• Swapnil Asnodhkar is the guy the opposition would be targeting. The tiny master blaster is capable of hitting all the balls for six and has proven that he is a good all rounder.
• Mohammad Kaif, Niraj Patel and Kamran Akmal have helped in some way for the team atleast in one or two matches.
• Sohail Tanvir, the highest wicket taker in the IPL, terrorized the opponents with his unorthodox bowling and his movement of the ball showed no signs of hope for the opposition.

Minuses:

• Though they have won the series, they won some of the matches only by luck.
• Their weaknesses were visible in the ending stages of the tournament.
• Most of the players couldn’t resist hitting the ball out of the ground and that sometime landed them in troubles.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:

City: Bangalore

Captain: Rahul Dravid

Coach: Venkatesh Prasad

Franchisee: UB Group

Franchise cost: $111.6 million

Team Composition:

Abdur Razzak Neravanda Aiyappa Balachandra Akhil KP Appanna Jagadeesh Arunkumar Mark Boucher (wk) Shivnarine Chanderpaul Bharat Chipli Shreevats Goswami (wk) Wasim Jaffer Sunil Joshi Jacques Kallis Zaheer Khan Virat Kohli Praveen Kumar Anil Kumble Misbah-ul-Haq Ashley Noffke Devraj Patil Dale Steyn Ross Taylor Vinay Kumar Cameron White Nathan Bracken

Even before the tournament started, this team was considered unfit for the T20. But Rahul Dravid brushed those views aside saying that his team is a good composition. Their first devastating loss to Kolkata relit those views and the team never had a good time in the series so far except for some wins in the tournament. Even then, they can be proud of the fact that they found their strengths in the later stages of the tournament and that is a good sign for the team in the next version of IPL.

Pluses:

• Rahul Dravid’s captaincy: He has been the captain of India and his calm captaincy has worked wonders for the team in the later stages of the tournament. Dravid fooled everyone that he too can keep his strike rate above hundred when needed.
• Jacques Kallis, the South African all rounder, has been the backbone of the team and he can be called as the consistent player of the team. He has got good runs in most matches and also picked up crucial wickets but all to losing efforts.
• Zaheer Khan’s return to form has been a greater asset for the team.
• Misbah-ul-Haq, the man who held India’s victory until the last over of the match in the T20 World Cup last year, was the greater pick of the team but he showed his fireworks only in the later stages of the tournament.
• Wasim Jaffer shocked everyone that he is not a test player and can play T20 for part time too.
• Pravin Kumar, who rocked the Australian batting order with his bowling earlier this year, is the all rounder the team needed and he has made use of it.
• Mark Boucher, the South African wicketkeeper and also the team’s has been the second captain for the team and his advises to the bowlers has worked wonders and helped them get wickets the very next ball.
• Dale Steyn, the world’s quickest bowler bowled up to his reputation and has made batsmen think twice.
• Some of the youngsters like Goswami, Chipli and Kohli have shown remarkable performances.
• Anil Kumble, India’s leading leg spinner, got into his rhythm in the later stages of the tournament.

Minuses:

• The team though having promising individuals lacked team effort.
• The team failed to realize their strengths in the earlier stages of the tournament.
• Some controversies about the team’s losses have also let the team down further.
• Anil Kumble, the man who retired from the ODIs last year couldn’t make up to his reputation as one of the world’s best spinners.
• Cameron White, who was considered to the most destructive player before the tournament began, failed miserably.
• The team lacked the winning formula in the earlier stages of the tournament.

Indian Premiere League – A Review (Part IV)

Although the IPL is over with Rajasthan Royals as the winners, let us anyway go through the remaining team reviews. Let me talk about the winners this time.

Rajasthan Royals:

City: Rajasthan

Captain: Shane Warne

Coach: Shane Warne

Franchisee: Emerging Media

Franchise cost: $67 million

Team Composition:

Aditya Angle Swapnil Asnodkar Ravindra Jadeja Mohammad Kaif Kamran Akmal (wk) Sumit Khatri Taruwar Kohli Darren Lehmann Parag More Morne Morkel Pankaj Singh Munaf Patel Niraj Patel Yusuf Pathan Mahesh Rawat Anup Revandkar Dinesh Salunkhe Jaydev Shah Graeme Smith Sohail Tanvir Siddharth Trivedi Shane Watson Younis Khan Justin Langer Dimitri Mascarenhas

This team was called as the underdogs of the tournament with very few known faces. Especially after the first devastating loss to Delhi, they were let down but after that loss, they never looked back and got to winning ways and it seemed that none could stop them but luck. They have won 13 of the 16 matches they played. Was it because of the enthusiastic youngsters determined to win especially after being called as the underdogs or is it because of the ruthless Warne, whose captaincy never showed any worries in the side.

Pluses:

• Shane Warne’s Captaincy: A commentator from IPL described Shane Warne as the best captain Australia never had. Such was the impact he made. It is not easy to guide an inexperienced side to victory but he made most of it a dominating victory. He has also shown that he has not got old and can still spin the ball.
• Shane Watson, the all rounder from Australia and also the man of the series, struck both with his batting and bowling and this guy was the one the opposition was careful about.
• Yusuf Pathan, the guy who couldn’t make a mark in the premiere T20 World Cup last year, let out his aggression this time smashing the ball to all the corners of the ground. Even Sehwag would’ve been considered defensive. This guy can bowl too and his tidy bowling has also won crucial matches for the team.
• Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has been the asset for the team as a specialist opener who believed in exploding the fireworks in the later stages of the tournament while his partner does it before him.
• Swapnil Asnodhkar is the guy the opposition would be targeting. The tiny master blaster is capable of hitting all the balls for six and has proven that he is a good all rounder.
• Mohammad Kaif, Niraj Patel and Kamran Akmal have helped in some way for the team atleast in one or two matches.
• Sohail Tanvir, the highest wicket taker in the IPL, terrorized the opponents with his unorthodox bowling and his movement of the ball showed no signs of hope for the opposition.

Minuses:

• Though they have won the series, they won some of the matches only by luck.
• Their weaknesses were visible in the ending stages of the tournament.
• Most of the players couldn’t resist hitting the ball out of the ground and that sometime landed them in troubles.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:

City: Bangalore

Captain: Rahul Dravid

Coach: Venkatesh Prasad

Franchisee: UB Group

Franchise cost: $111.6 million

Team Composition:

Abdur Razzak Neravanda Aiyappa Balachandra Akhil KP Appanna Jagadeesh Arunkumar Mark Boucher (wk) Shivnarine Chanderpaul Bharat Chipli Shreevats Goswami (wk) Wasim Jaffer Sunil Joshi Jacques Kallis Zaheer Khan Virat Kohli Praveen Kumar Anil Kumble Misbah-ul-Haq Ashley Noffke Devraj Patil Dale Steyn Ross Taylor Vinay Kumar Cameron White Nathan Bracken

Even before the tournament started, this team was considered unfit for the T20. But Rahul Dravid brushed those views aside saying that his team is a good composition. Their first devastating loss to Kolkata relit those views and the team never had a good time in the series so far except for some wins in the tournament. Even then, they can be proud of the fact that they found their strengths in the later stages of the tournament and that is a good sign for the team in the next version of IPL.

Pluses:

• Rahul Dravid’s captaincy: He has been the captain of India and his calm captaincy has worked wonders for the team in the later stages of the tournament. Dravid fooled everyone that he too can keep his strike rate above hundred when needed.
• Jacques Kallis, the South African all rounder, has been the backbone of the team and he can be called as the consistent player of the team. He has got good runs in most matches and also picked up crucial wickets but all to losing efforts.
• Zaheer Khan’s return to form has been a greater asset for the team.
• Misbah-ul-Haq, the man who held India’s victory until the last over of the match in the T20 World Cup last year, was the greater pick of the team but he showed his fireworks only in the later stages of the tournament.
• Wasim Jaffer shocked everyone that he is not a test player and can play T20 for part time too.
• Pravin Kumar, who rocked the Australian batting order with his bowling earlier this year, is the all rounder the team needed and he has made use of it.
• Mark Boucher, the South African wicketkeeper and also the team’s has been the second captain for the team and his advises to the bowlers has worked wonders and helped them get wickets the very next ball.
• Dale Steyn, the world’s quickest bowler bowled up to his reputation and has made batsmen think twice.
• Some of the youngsters like Goswami, Chipli and Kohli have shown remarkable performances.
• Anil Kumble, India’s leading leg spinner, got into his rhythm in the later stages of the tournament.

Minuses:

• The team though having promising individuals lacked team effort.
• The team failed to realize their strengths in the earlier stages of the tournament.
• Some controversies about the team’s losses have also let the team down further.
• Anil Kumble, the man who retired from the ODIs last year couldn’t make up to his reputation as one of the world’s best spinners.
• Cameron White, who was considered to the most destructive player before the tournament began, failed miserably.
• The team lacked the winning formula in the earlier stages of the tournament.

Indian Premiere League – A Review (Part IV)

Although the IPL is over with Rajasthan Royals as the winners, let us anyway go through the remaining team reviews. Let me talk about the winners this time.

Rajasthan Royals:

City: Rajasthan

Captain: Shane Warne

Coach: Shane Warne

Franchisee: Emerging Media

Franchise cost: $67 million

Team Composition:

Aditya Angle Swapnil Asnodkar Ravindra Jadeja Mohammad Kaif Kamran Akmal (wk) Sumit Khatri Taruwar Kohli Darren Lehmann Parag More Morne Morkel Pankaj Singh Munaf Patel Niraj Patel Yusuf Pathan Mahesh Rawat Anup Revandkar Dinesh Salunkhe Jaydev Shah Graeme Smith Sohail Tanvir Siddharth Trivedi Shane Watson Younis Khan Justin Langer Dimitri Mascarenhas

This team was called as the underdogs of the tournament with very few known faces. Especially after the first devastating loss to Delhi, they were let down but after that loss, they never looked back and got to winning ways and it seemed that none could stop them but luck. They have won 13 of the 16 matches they played. Was it because of the enthusiastic youngsters determined to win especially after being called as the underdogs or is it because of the ruthless Warne, whose captaincy never showed any worries in the side.

Pluses:

• Shane Warne’s Captaincy: A commentator from IPL described Shane Warne as the best captain Australia never had. Such was the impact he made. It is not easy to guide an inexperienced side to victory but he made most of it a dominating victory. He has also shown that he has not got old and can still spin the ball.
• Shane Watson, the all rounder from Australia and also the man of the series, struck both with his batting and bowling and this guy was the one the opposition was careful about.
• Yusuf Pathan, the guy who couldn’t make a mark in the premiere T20 World Cup last year, let out his aggression this time smashing the ball to all the corners of the ground. Even Sehwag would’ve been considered defensive. This guy can bowl too and his tidy bowling has also won crucial matches for the team.
• Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has been the asset for the team as a specialist opener who believed in exploding the fireworks in the later stages of the tournament while his partner does it before him.
• Swapnil Asnodhkar is the guy the opposition would be targeting. The tiny master blaster is capable of hitting all the balls for six and has proven that he is a good all rounder.
• Mohammad Kaif, Niraj Patel and Kamran Akmal have helped in some way for the team atleast in one or two matches.
• Sohail Tanvir, the highest wicket taker in the IPL, terrorized the opponents with his unorthodox bowling and his movement of the ball showed no signs of hope for the opposition.

Minuses:

• Though they have won the series, they won some of the matches only by luck.
• Their weaknesses were visible in the ending stages of the tournament.
• Most of the players couldn’t resist hitting the ball out of the ground and that sometime landed them in troubles.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:

City: Bangalore

Captain: Rahul Dravid

Coach: Venkatesh Prasad

Franchisee: UB Group

Franchise cost: $111.6 million

Team Composition:

Abdur Razzak Neravanda Aiyappa Balachandra Akhil KP Appanna Jagadeesh Arunkumar Mark Boucher (wk) Shivnarine Chanderpaul Bharat Chipli Shreevats Goswami (wk) Wasim Jaffer Sunil Joshi Jacques Kallis Zaheer Khan Virat Kohli Praveen Kumar Anil Kumble Misbah-ul-Haq Ashley Noffke Devraj Patil Dale Steyn Ross Taylor Vinay Kumar Cameron White Nathan Bracken

Even before the tournament started, this team was considered unfit for the T20. But Rahul Dravid brushed those views aside saying that his team is a good composition. Their first devastating loss to Kolkata relit those views and the team never had a good time in the series so far except for some wins in the tournament. Even then, they can be proud of the fact that they found their strengths in the later stages of the tournament and that is a good sign for the team in the next version of IPL.

Pluses:

• Rahul Dravid’s captaincy: He has been the captain of India and his calm captaincy has worked wonders for the team in the later stages of the tournament. Dravid fooled everyone that he too can keep his strike rate above hundred when needed.
• Jacques Kallis, the South African all rounder, has been the backbone of the team and he can be called as the consistent player of the team. He has got good runs in most matches and also picked up crucial wickets but all to losing efforts.
• Zaheer Khan’s return to form has been a greater asset for the team.
• Misbah-ul-Haq, the man who held India’s victory until the last over of the match in the T20 World Cup last year, was the greater pick of the team but he showed his fireworks only in the later stages of the tournament.
• Wasim Jaffer shocked everyone that he is not a test player and can play T20 for part time too.
• Pravin Kumar, who rocked the Australian batting order with his bowling earlier this year, is the all rounder the team needed and he has made use of it.
• Mark Boucher, the South African wicketkeeper and also the team’s has been the second captain for the team and his advises to the bowlers has worked wonders and helped them get wickets the very next ball.
• Dale Steyn, the world’s quickest bowler bowled up to his reputation and has made batsmen think twice.
• Some of the youngsters like Goswami, Chipli and Kohli have shown remarkable performances.
• Anil Kumble, India’s leading leg spinner, got into his rhythm in the later stages of the tournament.

Minuses:

• The team though having promising individuals lacked team effort.
• The team failed to realize their strengths in the earlier stages of the tournament.
• Some controversies about the team’s losses have also let the team down further.
• Anil Kumble, the man who retired from the ODIs last year couldn’t make up to his reputation as one of the world’s best spinners.
• Cameron White, who was considered to the most destructive player before the tournament began, failed miserably.
• The team lacked the winning formula in the earlier stages of the tournament.