The Unofficial Fan Blog

A preview of Super Kings tie against the Rajasthan Royals.

The washed out game of Delhi and Kolkata made things little easy for us. We now need a victory in 2 matches to secure a spot in the semis.

Strategy to be deployed

Drop Vidyut and pick Anirudha. Vidyut has been given a lot of opportunity and failed to impress. His fielding is also below par. The rest of the squad should be retained. Wessels also hinted in change in the 11.

Win the toss and chase. Batting is our strength. We’ve restricted the opponents fairly well, it’s the batting that has failed us.

And we need to improve fielding and above all play to win. A victory against a ’strong team’ would give us confidence.

Chennai would love to finish off with a win here rather than wait for it’s game against Hyderabad (it’s an away match). It would bring in much needed momentum for Chennai in the semis.

2 wins in the 2 matches would put in 3rd spot thereby (in all probability) playing against Punjab in the semis. Having beaten Punjab twice, would but in a better mental state and a relatively easier opponent.

Forget the Permutations and Combination, win today and arrive in Mumbai in style.

Nothing makes a person happier than planting smiles on others.

Read an article in The Hindu today about Fleming (Vice Captain, CSK) about his association with World Vision. All this create a buzz around the activities of the organization which otherwise would go unnoticed.

Former New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming, now a lead batsman for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, took some time off from his practice sessions on Friday morning to lend support to World Vision, an international non-governmental organisation.

The cricketer listened to success stories scripted by 125 women’s self-help groups (SHGs) promoted by the NGO in Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in Adambakkam. The NGO had formed an association in 1990 to empower over 2,000 families evacuated from along the railway tracks in the city and resettled here.

The SHG members narrated to Fleming how the place got flooded during the rains. Through the association, they campaigned for causes, including better infrastructure.

Fleming said he decided to visit the place as he was impressed with the work done by the NGO in Zimbabwe.

He said he has been sponsoring some programmes for them in New Zealand. “It feels good to bring a smile on to someone’s face,” he said.

And smiles he did bring on to the faces of children who peeped through the windows of the room where Fleming sat. On his way out, the cricketer instantly obliged some of them with autographs. He also played a few shots to loud cheers from every one.

Source & Photo: The Hindu

Also Read: The Agony and Ecstasy of Being MS Gony

As I was reading a experience of a Fan commuting to & from MA, Chidambaram (MAC) , Chepauk; I thought I write a guide as what’s the best option to reach MAC.

Take a public transport.

You’ve two options. Travel in MRTS (EMU Train) or MTC (Bus).

The advantage is that both of them take you awfully close to the ground. No parking issues, walking long distance, getting caught in traffic or waste of time.

MRTS:
Southern Railways operate a train every 15 mins (around the time when the match commences/ends) whenever there’s match. MTRS runs along Velachery and Beach (via Thiruvanmiyur, IT Corridor, Adyar, Mandaveli, Mylapore, Chepauk [MAC], Anna Salai, Central). It’s fast and comfortable. The station is right next to Stand B.

MTC:
Your second choice should be MTC bus (or take MTC to MTRS station). Only MTC buses are allowed to ply in and around the stadium roads (Bells Road, Wallajah Road and Anna Salai from where it’s just a stone through away). Anna Square terminus is also in walkable distance where you’ve buses running to various parts of Chennai.

IPL matches starting at 4 PM wouldn’t have issues. 8 PM matches might be problem while returning back. But I think MTRS & MTC run specials.

If you insist on taking a cab or your vehicle, then I suggest you to park on the service lanes of Kamaraj Salai (Beach Road) or around Triplicane (Near Clock Tower).

Using public transport is good for the environment too.

CSK lost their duel against RCB where we dominated 80% of the proceedings.

I had confidence that we would win the match when it came to the last over (16 runs required/2 wickets in hand). We were cruising at one point of time and it looked as if we would finish off in 15 overs.

So what went wrong?

I think CSK were over confident. Why did you not play your natural game? Irrespective of the target - 127 or 197, we should be focusing on winning and not looking that we still have 9 overs and just
some 50 runs to score.

No to knee-jerk reaction

So what we lose the match? DD and KKR are in worse situation than we are now - and they’re confident. We need to win the remaining matches to make to the semis for sure. If we don’t, then we don’t deserve a place at the semis. We’ve lost 5 of the last 8 matches.

Don’t you think it’s better to lose and make mistakes now than make them later in the tournament? India has lost more matches than we’ve won. Don’t we support them?

Support our team. I still think we can make to the semis.

Economic Times reported that ADAG and Sahara might ‘buy’ the next IPL teams.

Come 2010 and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in all likelihood will introduce two new cities to the world of T20 club cricket. BCCI officials are currently discussing extending the eight franchisees to ten in its third season. BCCI insiders told ET that the two cities that would be brought into the IPL fold are Ahmedabad and Kanpur.

BCCI are not only eyeing the city but also the infrastructure/ground as well, maybe that’s why Kanpur in the race.

Here are my suggestion for the future IPL teams:

- Ahmedabad (surprised why it wasn’t in this year)
- Goa
- Pune
- Kochi (makeshift ground which is a football one)

Kanpur might have a decent ground but it’s not a big city. There might not be a sell out crowd and which something we saw in Jaipur also.

Cities outside India should be kept out. With PPL, APL and [insert an initial]PL being planned, IPL strictly be based in India.

Did I miss any cities?

Witty Placards always catches you and keep you thinking about it.

A placard by a fan in Wankede during the MI and Punjab read thus:

Preity offered me $2,000,000 but I preferred to see them loose.

Another interesting placard in the inagural match which set the tone, literally:

I’m here to see the cheer girls only.

2 more victories and we’ll be in the Semis. Even one might do, but the lions hunt for their prey rather than depend on others.

Dravid openly said in the Toss last match that they’re here to spoil the party. We need to win this tie to get the momentum going and inch closer to semis. The traditional battle between TN & Karnataka also should add on the interest.

Room for Improvement

Did you notice that Punjab bowlers are doing a good job in the final overs? I’m observing them in the last 2-3 games, that they tend to bowl yorkers. It’s difficult to score boundaries and there are good chances of hitting the stumps. Dhoni tried to reserve sweep but in vain. Dhoni also expressed the same views. The 1-3 yorkers/over in last 3-5 overs just outside the off stump or in the ‘blockhole’ should keep the runs in check.

We’ve had starting problems even when Hayden was playing. We tend to score heavily in the final 5-6 overs and that did some damage control. Still we haven’t established a stable opening partners. Just around 45/1 at the end of 6 overs will go a long way to build our innings.

Fielding par se is just average. We need to keep improving. Direct stump hitting is a very valuable skill to posses in T20. Batsmen should be in constant fear that they might be run out if they sneak a single while passing the ball near to the fielders.

Why RCB is losing

- Test team in T20 jersey? (but honestly I think they’re a ‘good’ team)
- Flop show of the foreign players (Chanderpaul, White, Kallis, Razak, etc.). Misbah and Boucher were OK & Boucher is injured.
- No proper playing eleven. Struggling to find the right combination and they’ve sported a different side every match.
- Owner’s pressure? Charu was sacked and Dravid criticized. Why Mallya (and Katrina) no longer cheering from the stands?

But ultimately they need play as a unit. Can you tell me a single player in RCB is successful? Flashy players (like McCullum or Sehwag) won’t win every match. All round performances and team effort need to be seen. That’s why RR, CSK, KXP and of late MI are successful.

Parthiv to keep

MS Dhoni was injured during the last match and we say Patel keep. He did a good job and with the bat as well. I’ve not seen Patel keep extensively so can’t comment on who is a better keeper. Dhoni not keeping in a way is good as he’s off additional responsibilities. Did you notice that Dhoni unlike other captains who stand in slips/within the circle was fielding in deep mid wicket.

I would love to see Dhoni bowling. But RCB need to be in troubled waters to him to experiment.

Prediction

We’ve not won matches dominating the opponents but for the first tie against KKR. So Chennai need not be complacent and under estimate the opponents. Nevertheless Super Kings should pull off a victory here.

What do you think?