One Man Army - Virat Kohli

 The advent of T20 has shown us time again and again that any total is chase-able with the ability to invent innovative strokes and shots. Thus you have strokes like   Dilshan's Dillscooop , Dhoni’s famous Helicopter shot  ( which has not taken off )  plus some unbelievable range of strokes fro Gayle, ABD, Maxwell and much more. These players have played innings which have defined the moment and glory for the game of cricket.

 But, yesterday innings of Virat Kohli was way beyond imagination. This innings reminded the innings of Sachin Tendulkar “Operation Desert Storm “. Coincidentally, this innings was also against Australia but in the shortest format of the game. Tendulkar innings had the maximum amount of clean innovative aerial shots where even the good length deliveries which would have been defended have been smashed into the stands. Virat innings on other hand was dominated by fours. But the style and execution of those shots were simply fantastic. In the current T20 scenario where its not easy to attack in final overs due to the spread out field, it was heartening to see Kohli was able to find and pierce the ball right into the gaps for boundary.

 The way he pace the innings was also commendable.  On one side he was seeing the failures to stay rooted on the pitch of his fellow cricketers with some stupid strokes, he maintained his composure. Yuvraj Singh who had sprained his leg and couldn’t run with ease, he showed restraint and just carried out with singles. This showed he had the supreme confidence in his own abilities that he can raise his tempo at the right moment and can win this knockout game. Not just silken cover drives, the running between the wickets were such a treat to watch. Both Kohli and Dhoni stole extra runs in front of the best fielders among Aussies.

  He quickly along with his experience in T20s against Aussies, picked up the bowler, he wanted to attack and produce a brilliant over with striking cover drives and sixes. The best part of the final 2 overs was the shots were all ground strokes such a treat to watch how surgically he was creating those gaps in the maze of Australian fielders.  Virat face said it all he was in totally different zone from the over 17^th to 19th over of the game. The way he was hitting the strokes he was making the bowler dictate the length they should bowl to him.

 An Innings of this caliber and ability was required to make India qualify for the semis of the world cup. As pointed out by Dhoni, in the crucial stage everyone should contribute and not only depend on Virat to rescue them from the mess.

All the best to Indian team to win the remaining two matches and bring back the glory they had brought back 9 years ago.

  

Chris Gayle Thunders Sixers Against England

T20 cricket is more of entertainment than just cricket. Here, the format has more   towards big hits over the rope and   slam bang innings of an individual is more preferred than a team play. Thus the game has a stamp of fearless, outgoing and entertaining players who play for the gallery and people loves them irrespective of which country do they belong. For a matter of fact, people don’t even mind to watch a match even if India is not playing.

 One player among these is Chris Gayle. He didn’t disappoint the crowd who had come there to see a swashbuckling innings against England at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.  Chris Gayle innings of 100 in 47 balls was decorated with 11 sixes and 5 fours .The more interesting part was the way he geared up his tempo and made sure that Windies win the match with 11 balls to spare. Already a favorite among the Indian crowds with his big hitting abilities, he didn’t disappoint them.  The ball disappeared into the stands at regular intervals into the stands and enthralled the evening of Mumbaikars. West Indies players usually enjoy their game and have fun, play for the gallery with their stroke, style and the small jig they do after taking wickets and victory.

Although the crowd missed their Mumbai Indian player Keiron Pollard for the party but  Chris Gayle  made the mends by scoring the explosive century . Even the English batsmen  like Ben Stokes , Eon Morgan  , Joe Root  , Butler  played  good innings to  reach a very competitive  score  of 182 , the inexperienced bowling attack let them down.

Thus the fun has started and more players with their abilities to play extravagant innovative shots will entertain the crowd . Looking forward to ABD Villiers, Shahid Afridi, MSD, Virat Kohli, Maxwell, Warner, Cory Anderson…, Surely will miss my favorite Brendon Mccullum ( Baz) 

Indian spun around Kiwis

    There was lot of buzz around after the pitch report which  suggested , the pitch will have grip and turn . New Zealand actually thrown a surprise when they decided to go with  3 spinners and benching experienced players like Trent Boult and  Southee. The pressure was on New Zealand since there was doubt whether they could handle the Indian spinners.

    As was the case, Indians restricted the Kiwis to a modest total of 126. Surprisingly the best bowling figures came from Suresh Raina who gave only 15 runs in his full quota of 4 overs . With this total on board and Indian batting form for the last few T20s it was assumed it would be a cakewalk for India.

   On paper the strongest of the team, were yet  had no clues how to handle the spin from  the first over. New Zealand who had included 3 spinners Nathan Macullum , Ish Sodhi  and Mitchell Satner  spun a web around the Indian batsmen that lead to their downfall.

    The psyche of the Indian batsmen to go out and hit every ball out of the ground led to their downfall. But, here they couldn’t connect the ball properly and gave simple dollies to Kiwis.

The way the Indians who were supposed to be the best players of spin gave their wickets was baffling to see. Our players required a flat track, ball should be always in inline should not turn and swing , then yes we are the champions of bang bang cricket. The trio of NZ used the condition very well and produced dramatic result. Apart from Kohli and Dhoni , no player could adapt to the spinning condition . This match shown why a player like Rahane is important who adapts to the game as per the situation. All star batsmen got out not to great deliveries but bad shot selection.

   This was the first game and eye opener for India.  As written earlier on Sri Lankan tour https://goo.gl/9phRoP ,  Indian  players nowadays are not the best players of spin. Due to flat wickets in IPL, the players usually go for the shots right from the first ball. No one plays close to the body and footwork is sparsely used, its only stand and deliver .

    Now ahead, big game on the cards India V/s  Pakistan  and looking forward for this epic match. Hope India maintains their victorious record against Pakistan in World Cup ties so far. With matches against the strong Aussies and unpredictable Bangladesh India has task ahead in the tournament. 

World Cup T20 2016- The Countdown starts Now

With the start of today T20 World cup lets see the prospects of each team in this tournament.  Since this tournament staged in India, its natural that there will be a run feast in these tournament. Spectators will be for a treat to watch huge sixes and innovative shots in this World cup T20. India obviously a huge favorites  to win the tournament  with the momentum it has got  in the Asia Cup. Lets just go through each team in the Groups and see what is in store for exciting days ahead.

Group A:
1. Afghanistan:  A team which has practiced its game in the war –prone area has surprised everyone with qualifying in the Super10. Zimbabwe which is in being the cricketing arena for quite years lost to a side which has grit and determination written in their game. Exicting matches to follow will be against Sri Lanka  & England , Afghan can sprung  a surprise for them. Players to watch Mohammad Shahzad & Nabi.

2. England : Under Eon Morgan captaincy , is in competitive best when their key players like Alex Hales , Ben Stokes and Joe Root are in prime hitting form. Since in subcontinent flat track they will get liitle help from pace bowlers. Lot of depends on spin attack from Moeen Ali.

3. South Africa :  One team which has the most experience to play in India  along with Australia  in IPL. This experience makes them to be strongest team to reach the semis of the tournament. Recently concluded series against Australia where it was full of runs and swashbuckling strokes.  De Kock player to watch out for with his hitting abilities along with ABD.They have a class spinner and pace attack with Tahir and Sten in team. Plus t20 specialist like Chris Morris  make  De PLessi  team  to give a tough  time for opponents . Only thing which can make them loose is  their choking in key situations .

4. Sri Lanka :  This team has lost its seniors  and is fresh new young players in the squad . Loosing Malinga to injury will impact their bowling unit , so Angello Mathews has carry  out the burden of  marshaling his available resources .

5. West Indies  : The  Caribbean team which have the best of the hard hitters in it and some intelligent smart bowlers in it. So they will try to replicate the  win of 2012 T20 WC.

The semifinalist from this group according to me is: South Africa and West Indies.

Group B:

 Group  B is actually the  “ Group of Death “ . Each match results is going to turn tables for the teams .
6. Australia:  The one elusive title which the Aussies want badly is World T20 . Winning consecutive series against NZ, South Africa they have started to gain momentum in the series. Similar to South Africa they have experience playing in the conditions due to lot of exposure to the players at IPL.


7. Bangladesh:  One team which has the ability to upset  any team in Group of Death  and  topple the plans of the teams. Being the runner up at Asia Cup ,  they might give a tough fight .

8. India: Among the top favorite with brilliant form and playing at home, This is the golden opportunity for MSD to bring back the T20 trophy  at home.  With  new  spring in the step  due to Bumrah, Nehra  and swashbuckling  Kohli

9. New Zealand:  Black Caps are one of the dark horses of the tournament  which can  surprise us.  Being the finalist at the World Cup 2015, this team can surely repeat he performance . The only sore missing point no Brendon Muccullum in team. But still with Munro, Guptill , Cory Anderson  and Taylor they can pack a punch.

10. Pakistan: This is  the weakest  link in the group . With fairly new batsmen and out of form Shahid  Afridi a concern . The only ray of hope is their speedsters are in fine touch especially the return of Mohd.  Amir. But as per history, this team is the most unpredictable team in the world for their raw talent and plucks a surprise in the tournament.

The semifinalist from this group according to me will be : India  &  Australia  .

Overall , with flat wickets , lightning outfield  and  humungous crowd support this will be the best T20 cricket tournament in India .