IPL 2010: Who will reach semi-finals?

We are coming close to the end of group stage in IPL 2010. I should say this edition is a very close contest between the teams. Some teams started well, but lost their way. Contrastingly, some teams had a bad start, but overcame that later in the tournament. Only two teams maintained their status throughout the tournament; Mumbai Indians were the all-conquering team while Kings XI Punjab struggled for the most part of the tournament.

So, Mumbai Indians had qualified with 16 points to their credit. Kings XI Punjab was eliminated from the tournament for all practical purposes; though, still they have a improbable theoretical chance to make it to the semi-finals. But, realistically, six teams will be fighting hard for the remaining three semi-final spots.

Royal Challengers Bangalore looked the most consistent team of these six remaining teams. So, I would guess that they would go through to the next stage. So, who will grab the last two slots? Delhi Daredevils, Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders or Rajasthan Royals? All these teams played brilliant one day and looked pretty ordinary another day. So, let us wait and watch as the drama unfolds.

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IPL 2010: Player of the match (#11 to #20)

The man of the match won by players for IPL 2010 matches #11 to #20 is listed below:

11	Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings	Mathew Hayden (CSK)
12	Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab	Andrew Symonds (DC)
13	Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (RR)
14	Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Jacques Kallis (RCB)
15	Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils	Andrew Symonds (DC)
16	Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab	Juan Theron (KXIP)
17	Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Sachin Tendulkar (MI)
18	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings	Robin Uthappa (RCB)
19	Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals	Adam Voges (RR)
20	Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings	Sachin Tendulkar (MI)

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IPL 2010: Match 2 Highlights MI vs RR

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010
Match #2 played on March 13, 2010
Played between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are the only two teams who failed to qualify to the semi-finals stage in both IPL 2008 & IPL 2009. Mumbai Indians features players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, JP Duminy Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. So, it is hard to believe that they finished at the bottom half in both previous editions of IPL.

On the contrary, Rajasthan Royals surprised everyone by clinching the trophy at IPL 2008. They rode on the power of local youngsters and the brainpower of captain Shane Warne. But, in the second edition, things did not go as well. They could not finish in the top four.

Will these two teams get things going their way? Let us watch the highlights.

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IPL 2010: Player of the match (#1 to #10)

The following is the list of man of the match/ player of the match awards given for each game in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010. The player of the match award recognizes mainly the player's contribution to the winning team. I personally feel that the man of the match award is lopsided and batsmen are the favourites to the award. The bowlers get the award only when they perform exceptionally well. This has been the case in most of the tournaments. Let us see how it goes in IPL 2010. Here is the list:

1	Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Angelo Mathews (KKR)
2	Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals	Yusuf Pathan (RR)
3	Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils	Gautam Gambhir (DD)
4	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Manoj Tiwary (KKR)
5	Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers	Chaminda Vaas (DC)
6	Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils	Virender Sehwag (DD)
7	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab	Jacques Kallis (RCB)
8	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings	Mahendra Singh Dhoni (CSK)
9	Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians	Sachin Tendulkar (MI)
10	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals	Jacques Kallis (RCB)

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Can Chennai Super Kings Reach Semifinals?

Can Chennai Super Kings make it to the semi-finals of IPL 2009? The recent loss of Chennai Super Kings to Kolkata Knight Riders has prevented them to make it comfortably. But, in all likelihood, they should qualify. For them not to qualify from here, it needs almost everything go against them.

Current Standing:
Delhi Daredevils - 18 pts (Qualified for semi-finals)
Chennai Super Kings - 15 pts
Deccan Chargers - 14 pts
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 14 pts
Kings XI Punjab - 14 pts
Rajasthan Royals - 13 pts
Mumbai Indians - 11 pts (Out of contention for semi-finals)
Kolkata Knight Riders - 5 pts (Out of contention for semi-finals)

Five teams are competing for three available semi-final berths. All of them have a game each in hand.

Remaining Matches:
1. Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
2. Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab
3. Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians (Only match in IPL that is to be played without any interest, as Delhi has already made it to the semis and Mumbai is already out of contention)
4. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers (Effectively, a quarter-final match. The winner is assured of a place in semi-finals)

So, that makes it three important matches in two days that will decide the remaining three semi-finalists.

How Chennai Super Kings can Qualify for semi-finals?
Theoretically, Chennai is yet to qualify. But, I believe that they made it. The best way to qualify is to beat Kings XI Punjab today and retain the second spot with 17 points. Let us look at the worst scenario for Chennai.

Match #1: Rajasthan wins
Match #2: Chennai loses
Match #3: Result Irrelevant
Match #4: Either Deccan wins or Bangalore wins

With this scenario, Kings XI Punjab will go through along with the winner of match #4, both teams on 16 points. Rajasthan and Chennai will be tied on 15 points and net run rate will decide. Currently, Chennai has a net run rate of +0.932 compared to Rajasthan Royals' -0.360. So, it needs a huge win by Rajasthan combined with huge loss by Chennai for Rajasthan to go up in terms of net run rate. Let me explain how big the win/ loss should be:

Let us say, Rajasthan bats first, scores 240 runs and restricts Kolkata to just 100 runs. Rajasthan wins by a margin of 140 runs. For discussion sake, let us say the reverse happens to Chennai. That means, Kings XI Punjab beats Chennai by a margin of 140 runs. With such huge margin in two games, Chennai will have a NRR of +0.317 and Rajasthan will still be behind with +0.216.

Chennai, in my opinion, should qualify without much fuss.

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Gilchrist Individual Scores in IPL 2009

Adam Gilchrist, the captain of Deccan Chargers, is an influential leader who brought a refreshing change to the approach of the last year's tailenders. His aggressive batting combined with brilliant wicket-keeping has always kept Australia in an advantageous position. Now, Deccan Chargers are the beneficiaries of his skills. Will he go on to lead the Deccan Chargers to the semi-finals? We are not sure yet. But, certainly, Gilly will do his best.

Here are the individual scores of Adam Gilchrist in IPL 2009, listed match by match:

1. vs Chennai Super Kings:	44 (19 balls)
2. vs Chennai Super Kings:	0 (1 ball)
3. vs Mumbai Indians:	35 (20 balls)
4. vs Mumbai Indians:	25 (29 balls)
5. vs Kolkata Knight Riders:	13 (11 balls)
6. vs Kolkata Knight Riders:	43 (31 balls)
7. vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:	71 (45 balls)
8. vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:	15 (18 balls)
9. vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (Final) :	0 (3 balls)
10. vs Delhi Daredevils:	8 (5 balls)
11. vs Delhi Daredevils:	64 (33 balls)
12. vs Delhi Daredevils (Semi-final):	85 (35 balls)
13. vs Rajasthan Royals:	39 (35 balls)
14. vs Rajasthan Royals:	10 (11 balls)
15. vs Kings XI Punjab:	20 (16 balls)
16. vs Kings XI Punjab:	23 (13 balls)

Adam Gilchrist finished as the second highest run scorer in IPL 2009, behind fellow Australian Matthew Hayden. Gilly is instrumental in taking the bottom-most team in IPL 2008 to win the trophy in IPL 2009. His powerful 85 from just 35 balls threw the favourites Delhi Daredevils out of the tournament in the first semi-finals. He was dismissed for no score in the finals, but that did not stop Deccan Chargers from winning the tournament.

Adam Gilchrist finished with 495 runs from 16 matches at an average of 30.93 and strike rate of 152.30. Gilchrist's strike rate is the best in IPL 2009 for players who have scored at least 250 runs in the tournament.

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Sachin Tendulkar Scores in IPL 2009

Sachin Tendulkar is the captain of Mumbai Indians team in Indian Premier League (IPL). The team depends a lot on Sachin Tendulkar to provide a solid and sound opening to the innings. The below list shows the runs scored by Sachin Tendulkar in each match of IPL 2009:

1. vs Chennai Super Kings:	59 not out (49 balls)
2. vs Rajasthan Royals:	Match abandoned
3. vs Deccan Chargers:	36 (27 balls)
4. vs Kolkata Knight Riders:	68 (45 balls)
5. vs Kings XI Punjab:	01 (06 balls)
6. vs Kolkata Knight Riders:	34 (30 balls)
7. vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:	11 (11 balls)
8. vs Deccan Chargers:	02 (04 balls)
9. vs Delhi Daredevils:	15 (14 balls)
10. vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:	00 (03 balls)
11. vs Kings XI Punjab:	41 (29 balls)
12. vs Rajasthan Royals:	40 (30 balls)
13. vs Chennai Super Kings:	11 (14 balls)
14. vs Delhi Daredevils:	46 (41 balls)

Currently (after 11 matches), he is the second highest scorer for Mumbai Indians, just behind South African sensation JP Duminy.

Sachin Tendulkar has overtaken JP Duminy to be the highest scorer for Mumbai Indians, with 307 runs (after 12 matches)

Final Update
Sachin Tendulkar finished with 364 runs, the second highest run scorer for Mumbai Indians, just behind JP Duminy's tally of 372 runs. Sachin's runs came at an average of 33.09 at a strike rate of 120.13.

Sachin would be very disappointed with the overall performance of Mumbai Indians, the team that promised too much at the beginning but disappeared near the end. Mumbai Indians, finishing seventh in the table, once again failed to make it to the semi-finals of IPL. The other team below Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, is the only other team that has failed to reach semi-finals stage in either of the two editions of IPL.

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KKR Cannot Reach IPL 2009 Semifinals

Can Kolkata Knight Riders still reach the semi-finals of IPL 2009? I don't think so. I think they have become the first team to be out of contention for the semi-finals. In my article yesterday, titled "Can Kolkata reach Semifinals?", I told that Deccan Chargers should lose all their remaining matches. But, in yesterday's match, Deccan Chargers beat Rajasthan Royals quite convincingly. And that win has eliminated Kolkata Knight Riders from the race for the semi-finals.

Current Points table
Delhi Daredevils - 14
Chennai Super Kings - 13
Deccan Chargers - 12
Rajasthan Royals - 11
Kings XI Punjab - 10
Mumbai Indians - 9
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 8
Kolkata Knight Riders - 3

Interesting arrangement as the top seven teams are separated by a single point each. The tournament is so competitive that any of the four teams from the top seven can qualify to the next stage.

Status of KKR
With just four games in hand, Kolkata can finish with 11 points at the most considering optimistically that they win all the remaining games. So, it is clear that they cannot challenge Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers. So, the only way for them to qualify to the next stage is to move above the other four teams. It is not possible, even theoretically, now. Let me explain why.

Just consider two of the 16 remaining games,
Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians and
Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians.

Scenario #1:
Match #1: Kings XI Punjab beats Mumbai Indians - Kings XI will have 12 points and KKR are eliminated.
Other results are irrelevant to KKR

Scenario #2:
Match #2: Rajasthan Royals beats Mumbai Indians - Rajasthan will have 13 points and KKR eliminated.
Other results are irrelevant to KKR

Scenario #3:
Match #1: Mumbai Indians beats KXIP - MI will have 11 points.
Match #2: Mumbai Indians beats RR: MI will have 13 points and KKR eliminated.

Scenario #4:
Match #1: Washed out - MI - 10 points.
Match #2: If MI beats RR, MI will move up with 12 pts; If RR beats MI, RR will move up with 13 pts; KKR eliminated.

Scenario #5:
Match #2: Washed out - RR will move up with 12 points
Other results are irrelevant to KKR

So, it is clear that Kolkata Knight Riders had been knocked out of the tournament. Hope they put up a good show in the remaining matches and provide some interesting matches. Kolkata Knight Riders started off the season with controversy and finishes off the season silently. Better luck next time.

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IPL 2009: Can Kolkata reach semifinals?

Kolkata Knight Riders lost yet another match in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009 held in South Africa. They lost their recent match to table leaders Delhi Daredevils. With just one win from 10 matches, can Kolkata Knight Riders still make it to the semi-finals stage? While it is highly unlikely, there is still hope, at least, theoretically.

Current Status of IPL teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders has gained two points from their win against Kings XI Punjab and one point from the rain-washed out game against Chennai Super Kings. That makes it three points for them and leaves them at the bottom of the table. Let us look at the points table, as of now:

Delhi Daredevils - 14
Chennai Super Kings -13
Rajasthan Royals - 11
Deccan Chargers - 10
Kings XI Punjab - 10
Mumbai Indians - 9
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 8
Kolkata Knight Riders - 3

Possible Scenario for KKR:
(1) The game between Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab is washed out and they share a point each.
(2) Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab lose all their remaining games.
(3) Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians do not win more than a game each.
(4) Kolkata Knight Riders win all the remaining 4 matches convincingly

If all these happens, it will leave four teams with 11 points each. Kolkata Knight Riders will qualify over the other three teams Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians by means of better net run rate.

All these happening together is highly impossible, particularly the first condition is in the hands of nature. There are other possible scenarios, which are much more unlikely.

Conclusion
So, effectively, Kolkata Knight Riders are out of the tournament unless few miracles happen from now on. In my opinion, the competition for semi-final spots have been reduced to just seven teams.

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Chennai Team for Deccan Chargers Match

Chennai Super Kings will be playing Deccan Chargers, the current leaders of IPL 2009, in today's match. Chennai Super Kings is upbeat from their comprehensive win against last year champion Rajasthan Royals and a close win against Delhi Daredevils. Deccan Chargers has been put off track a little from their two losses after four consecutive wins. Interestingly, the same two teams that lost to Chennai Super Kings have beaten Deccan Chargers recently. Yes, Deccan Chargers had lost to Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals.

Positive Changes for Chennai Super Kings
Chennai has made few changes in the last two matches to the team and the batting order that helped to restore some balance in the team.

1. Parthiv Patel was dropped and Murali Vijay replaced him as opener. Since Dhoni is wicket keeping, Vijay is a better option as opener. Sunil Gavaskar, in his commentary, said that Vijay is a test player. But, its fine for me if he can score 20 runs from 20 balls and gets out. Most importantly, he should be able to rotate strike with Hayden and score at not less than a run a ball.

2. Manpreet Gony was dropped and Tyagi came in his place. Tyagi bowled very well in the last two matches. His two wickets off two balls was crucial in Chennai taking an upper hand early in the match against Delhi Daredevils. The highlight is the first ball dismissal of AB de Villiers, the batsman who scored an unbeaten century the last time these two teams met.

3. Joginder Sharma was dropped finally and in came spinner Shadab Jakati in his place. What a match he had? He picked four wickets and set the match Chennai's way. He bowled a beauty to dismiss Tillakaratne Dilshan. The combination of Jakati and Murali should work well for Chennai Super Kings.

4. Badrinath was promoted to No.4 and he played exceptionally well in the last two matches. Badrinath was clueless when he came late in the innings, but he played crucial partnerships with Suresh Raina when he was promoted.

Team for Today's Match
It might look like Chennai has found the right combination and balance for the rest of the tournament. But, I still see their bowling a weak link in spite of their victories. I would prefer one more change to this line-up, bringing in Makhaya Ntini at the expense of Jacob Oram or Albie Morkel. Both these all-rounders have failed with the bat, but Albie Morkel bowled well in the last two matches. So, I would prefer to leave Jacob Oram for Ntini.

Remember that Deccan Chargers is heavily dependent on Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs at the top. The way they went after Chennai bowlers has won the match for them in the first meeting between these two teams in IPL 2009. A bowler of the calibre of Ntini would be ideal to contain the explosive batsmen.

If the team management feels that bringing in Ntini will expose the tail too early, drop Albie Morkel and bring in hard hitting youngster George Bailey in his place. We just saw how Warner can take the match away from the opposition. Why not give George Bailey a chance? After all, Albie Morkel did not play well so far. George Bailey might provide the much needed support to the consistently failing middle order. Chennai should be able to handle the bowling well with Ntini and Tyagi opening, followed by Murali, Jakati, Raina and Balaji in the middle overs.

My team for today's match would be:

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Murali Vijay
3. Suresh Raina
4. Badrinath
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
6. Albie Morkel/ George Bailey
7. Shadab Jakati
8. L Balaji
9. Tyagi
10. Mutthiah Muralidaran
11. Makhaya Ntini

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IPL 2009: Best Bowling Performances

IPL 2009 proved that Twenty20 is not a pure batsman game. The bowlers have played equal part in the tournament so far. The contest between the bat and ball had produced some interesting and gripping contests in IPL 2009. The batsmen had to play good cricket to score runs. Naturally, experience had come in handy. So, experienced players like Hayden, Tendulkar, Gibbs and Gilchrist are among the leading run scorers in IPL 2009.

Below is the list of the top five best bowling performances in IPL 2009:

1. Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 5 for 5 vs Rajasthan Royals


2. Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers) - 4 for 6 vs Mumbai Indians


3. Rajat Bhatia (Delhi Daredevils) - 4 for 15 vs Deccan Chargers


4. Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 4 for 16 vs Deccan Chargers in Finals


5. Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians) - 4 for 17 vs Delhi Daredevils

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Why Joginder Sharma playing fo Chennai Super Kings?

Why Joginder Sharma is playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2009? I cannot understand the logic behind including Joginder Sharma if you are not going to allow him to bowl. I listed below the contributions of Joginder Sharma so far in the matches played by Chennai Super Kings:

Match #1 Vs Mumbai Indians:
Joginder Sharma's bowling figures 4-0-25-1. He is the most economical bowler of the five bowlers Chennai Super Kings used. Joginder Sharma scored 16 runs off 15 balls and remained unbeaten. I felt that the team management made a mistake of sending Joginder ahead of Thilan Thushara.

Match #2 Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers:
Did not bat. Bowled just one over, gave away 10 runs and accounted for the wicket of Virat Kohli.

Match #3 Vs Delhi Daredevils:
Bowled just one over and gave away 8 runs. Scored 4 runs off 3 balls.

Match #4 Vs Kolkata Knight Riders:
Match abandoned due to rain.

Match #5 Vs Deccan Chargers:
Did not bat. Bowled just one over that went for 14 runs.

Conclusion
It is clearly evident that Joginder Sharma is not in the team's scheme of things. He has bowled just one over in each of the last three matches. If he is not going to be used as a bowler, why should you pick him in the team? It is time for Chennai to sit down and make their strategy clear for the rest of the matches. Further time lost would mean Chennai Super Kings is just adding to the number of the teams. Will they come good against Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals today?

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IPL 2009: Most Sixes Batsmen List

IPL 2009 is finally came to life with two exciting matches played yesterday. Chennai Super Kings had come very close to Delhi Daredevils' imposing total of 190 runs. Knocks from AB de Villiers, Dilshan, Hayden and Raina kept the stadium alive. The second match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders went one step ahead by producing the first tied match of IPL. Yusuf Pathan and Shane Warne's favourite bowler Kamran Khan earned Rajasthan Royals their first win during the "Super Over", which is used to break the tie between the teams.

Here, I am going to list the batsmen with most sixes in IPL 2009. It is an indication of the aggression from batsmen and this list gives you an idea of the most aggressive batsmen of IPL 2009. The list contains the top five leading batsmen in terms of number of sixes hit:

1. Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) - 24


2. Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings) - 21


3. Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings) - 20


4. Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers) - 17


5. Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab) - 16

Results are updated until Match #52

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IPL 2009: Player of the match list

The following is the list of man of the match/ player of the match awards given for each game in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009. The player of the match award recognizes mainly the player's contribution to the winning team. I personally feel that the man of the match award is lopsided and batsmen are the favourites to the award. The bowlers get the award only when they perform exceptionally well. Let us see how it goes in IPL 2009. Here is the list:

1	Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians	Sachin Tendulkar (MI)
2	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals	Rahul Dravid (RCB)
3	Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab	Daniel Vettori (DD)
4	Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders	RP Singh (DC)
5	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings	Muthiah Muralitharan (CSK)
6	Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Chris Gayle (KKR)
7	Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals	Match abandoned due to rain
8	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers	Adam Gilchrist (DC)
9	Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings	AB de Villiers (DD)
10	Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Yusuf Pathan (RR)
11	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab	Ravi Bopara (KXIP)
12	Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians	Pragyan Ojha (DC)
13	Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Match abandoned due to rain
14	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils	Tillakaratne Dilshan (DD)
15	Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals	Kumar Sangakkara (KXIP)
16	Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers	Herschelle Gibbs (DC)
17	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians	Sachin Tendulkar (MI)
18	Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals	Yusuf Pathan (RR)
19	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Mark Boucher (RCB)
20	Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians	Kumar Sangakkara (KXIP)
21	Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils	Dirk Nannes (DD)
22	Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals	Suresh Raina (CSK)
23	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians	JP Duminy (MI)
24	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab	Yuvraj Singh (KXIP)
25	Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals	Yusuf Pathan (RR)
26	Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils	Shadab Jakati (CSK)
27	Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Mahela Jayawardene (KXIP)
28	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians	Jacques Kallis (RCB)
29	Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers	Mahendra Singh Dhoni (CSK)
30	Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals	Graeme Smith (RR)
31	Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Gautam Gambhir (DD)
32	Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians	Rohit Sharma (DC)
33	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals	Amit Singh (RR)
34	Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab	Matthew Hayden (CSK)
35	Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians	Ashish Nehra (DD)
36	Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab	Mahela Jayawardene (KXIP)
37	Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals	S Badrinath (CSK)
38	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians	JP Duminy (MI)
39	Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Amit Mishra (DD)
40	Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals	Dwayne Smith (DC)
41	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Ross Taylor (RCB)
42	Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians	Harbhajan Singh (MI)
43	Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils	Rajat Bhatia (DD)
44	Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Ross Taylor (RCB)
45	Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals	Shane Warne (RR)
46	Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab	Brett Lee (KXIP)
47	Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians	Matthew Hayden (CSK)
48	Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Rohit Sharma (DC)
49	Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab	Yuvraj Singh (KXIP)
50	Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals	AB de Villiers (DD)
51	Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Brad Hodge (KKR)
52	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils	Jacques Kallis (RCB)
53	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
54	Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab
55	Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians
56	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers

Update after Match #52:
Jacques Kallis became the eleventh player to win two man of the match awards so far in IPL 2009 tournament.

Update after Match #50:
Matthew Hayden, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers became the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth player, repectively, in IPL 2009 to win two man of the match awards so far in the tournament. Yuvraj Singh also became the first player in IPL to record two hat-tricks of wickets. As he said himself in the match presentation, Yuvraj Singh may have to start bowling more than batting.

Update after Match #45:
Ross Taylor became the sixth player in IPL 2009 to win two man of the match awards so far in the tournament.

Update after Match #39:
Mahela Jayawardene and JP Duminy became the fourth and fifth player, respectively, in IPL 2009 to win two man of the match awards so far in the tournament.

Update after Match #32:
Rohit Sharma became the second player in IPL 2009 to pick a hat-trick of wickets. His spell of 4 for 6 and knock of 38 runs at almost a run a ball earned him the man of the match.

Graeme Smith also became the first player from Rajsthan Royals to win the man of the match award other than Yusuf Pathan. In all the three previous occasions, Yusuf Pathan was the man of the match from Rajasthan Royals side.

Update after Match #26:
Yusuf Pathan became the first player in IPL 2009 to win three man of the match awards so far in the tournament. Yusuf Pathan has won all the man of the match awards that went to Rajasthan Royals.

Update after Match #20:
Kumar Sangakkara became the third player in IPL 2009 to win two man of the match awards so far in the tournament.

Update after Match #18:
Yusuf Pathan follows Sachin Tendulkar to lift two man of the match awards in IPL 2009 for Rajasthan Royals.

Update after Match #17:
Sachin Tendulkar became the first player in IPL 2009 to win two player of the match awards.

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IPL 2009: Highest Individual Scores

The following is the list of top five individual scores in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009. The short format of the game provides an opportunity for batsman to play match-winning knocks, like Brendon McCullum's 150+ score in the opening game of IPL 2008. While much have been said about the Twenty20 game as youngsters paradise, we had seen some solid performances from old warhorses, like Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and Rahul Dravid. I will be updating this list regularly during the progress of IPL 2009.

1. 105* - AB de Villiers, Delhi Daredevils against Chennai Super Kings


2. 98 - Suresh Raina, Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals


3. 89 - Matthew Hayden, Chennai Super Kings against Kings XI Punjab


4. 84* - Brendon McCullum, Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore


5. 84 - Ravi Bopara, Kings XI Punjab against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Movements in the Top Five Individual Scores
Results are updated after Match #52: No further changes. With the tournament nearing the end, it looks like AB de Villiers will remain the only player with a century.

Results are updated after Match #45: No changes to the high individual scores list.

Results are updated after Match #43: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum finally provided a good performance that puts him in the fourth position in the above list.

Results are updated after Match #40: No changes to the high individual scores list.

Results are updated after Match #39: Matthew Hayden moved into the top five scores with a brilliant knock of 89 against Kings XI Punjab. AB de Villiers still remains the lone centurion in IPL 2009.

Results are updated after Match #32: Graeme Smith has shown glimpses of getting back into form with a powerful 77 that ensured Rajasthan Royals post the first 200+ score in IPL 2009. On the other hand, Morne van Wyk's knock could not revive Kolkata Knight Riders fortune in IPL 2009.

Results are updated after Match #29: No changes to the high individual scores list.

Results are updated after Match #28: No changes to the high individual scores list. AB de Villiers still remains the only centurion in IPL 2009.

Results are updated after Match #26: No changes to the high individual scores list.

Results are updated after Match #24: Suresh Raina moves to the second spot after his match winning knock of 98 against Rajasthan Royals. Brad Hodge moves into the fourth spot with his 73 that almost pulled off a victory against Mumbai Indians.

Results are updated after Match #20: No changes to the high individual scores list.

Results are updated after Match #18: No changes to the high individual scores list.

Results are updated after Match #17: Herschelle Gibbs and Sachin Tendulkar stormed into the top five thanks to their match-winning knocks against Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Rahul Dravid falls out of the top scores list.

Results are updated after Match #15: Tillakaratne Dilshan moves into the top five after powering Delhi Daredevils to victory against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Three of the top four scores had come against the bottom placed Bangalore Royal Challengers. Matthew Hayden is out of the top five individual scores now.

Results are updated after Match #13: Ravi Bopara moves into the second position after his match winning knock of 84 against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Sachin Tendulkar is pushed out of the top five highest scores.

Results are updated after Match #10: AB de Villiers moves to the top of the leading individual scores with an unbeaten century against Chennai Super Kings. Rohit Sharma drops out of the top five leading scores.

Results are updated after Match #8: The match-winning knock by Deccan Chargers' skipper Adam Gilchrist moves him to the top of the individual scores in IPL 2009. Gilly's teammate Rohit Sharma also moved into the top five displacing Chris Gayle.

Results are updated after Match #7: Chris Gayle moved into the fourth position based on his match-winning performance against Kings XI Punjab. Herschelle Gibbs drops out from the top five individual scores. There are no changes to the top three scores yet.

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Chennai Super Kings Trim Squad

Chennai Super Kings have trimmed their original squad by sending back five players, mainly batsmen. The following is the list of players who will not be playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2009:

1. Srikkanth Aniruddha
2. Napoleon Einstein
3. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
4. Suresh Kumar
5. Abhinav Mukund

By dropping Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, it is clear that Chennai Super Kings is banking on Parthiv Patel as a permanent opener for IPL 2009. As Dhoni will unlikely be keeping in IPL, Parthiv Patel is almost a certainty in the team as wicket-keeper.

This follows the earlier decision by Rajasthan Royals to send back about six players. It seems the franchises are trying to keep their expenses as low as possible by trimming their squad, which is logical considering that the matches are now played in South Africa. The poor thing is some of the young Indians would be losing the valuable experience of mixing around with the established international players.

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IPL Rajasthan Royals Team

Rajasthan Royals, defending champions of Indian Premier League (IPL), once again exudes confidence ahead of IPL 2009. They have the advantage of having South African team captain Graeme Smith. Smith's experience and understanding of South African conditions might be a big asset. In addition, they have bowler Morne Morkel, another South African on their side.

The combination of Shane Warne, Morne Morkel and Shaun Tait gives them a formidable bowling attack. The unpredictable Munaf Patel could come in as the third seamer option. You have a solid opener in Graeme Smith. Add to this excellent all-rounders like Shane Watson, Yusuf Pathan and the upcoming Ravindra Jadeja. Rajasthan Royals certainly have a team for the big occasion.

The sad part is that Mohammad Kaif has to return back to India, as he was not included in the final squad. Kaif is one of the most under-achieved players from India, who was not able to raise his performances beyond a certain level. He is a consistent performer and a live wire in the field, but his batting is not electrifying.

The Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2009 is as follows:

1. Shane Warne (Captain of Rajasthan Royals), Australia
2. Graeme Smith, South Africa
3. Morne Morkel, South Africa
4. Tyron Henderson, South Africa
5. Justin Langer, Australia
6. Shane Watson, Australia
7. Shaun Tait, Australia
8. Lee Carseldine, Australia
9. Shane Harwood, Australia
10. Rob Quiney, Australia
11. Dimitri Mascarenhas, England
12. Munaf Patel
13. Yusuf Pathan
14. Ravindra Jadeja
15. Swapnil Asnodkar
16. Mahesh Rawat (Wicket-keeper)
17. Gajendra Singh
18. Raiphi Gomez
19. Kamran Khan
20. Mohammed Arif
21. Atul Sharma
22. Amit Singh
23. Paul Valthaty
24. Aditya Angle
25. Siddarth Chitnis
26. Parag More
27. Naman Ojha
28. Niraj Patel
29. Siddarth Trivedi
30. Mohammad Kaif
31. Dinesh Salunkhe
32. Paras Dogra
33. Anup Revandkar
34. Srideep Mangela
35. Ashraf Makda

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IPL 2008: Best Bowler

Rajasthan Royals won the first edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 2008). It is clearly reflected in the leading wicket-takers list of IPL 2008. Sohail Tanvir of Rajasthan Royals leads the bowlers list followed by Shane Warne, Rajasthan Royals captain-cum-coach, and Sree Santh from Kings XI Punjab. Shane Watson with 17 wickets is not far behind in the list of leading wicket-takers.

Below is the list of the top five bowlers in IPL 2008, in terms of number of wickets captured:

1. 22 wickets: Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals)

2. 19 wickets: Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals) & Sree Santh (Kings XI Punjab)

3. 17 wickets: Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals), Piyush Chawla (Kings XI Punjab), Albie Morkel (Chennai Super Kings) & Manpreet Gony (Chennai Super Kings)

4. 16 wickets: Yo Mahesh (Delhi Daredevils)

5. 15 wickets: Farveez Maharoof (Delhi Daredevils), Irfan Pathan (Kings XI Punjab) & RP Singh (Deccan Chargers)

Sohail Tanvir has played only in 11 matches to secure the top spot while the second placed Shane Warne and Sree Santh took 15 matches for his 19 wickets.

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Format of IPL 2009

IPL 2009, similar to IPL 2008, involves the following eight teams:

1. Bangalore Royal Challengers
2. Chennai Super Kings
3. Deccan Chargers
4. Delhi Daredevils
5. Kings XI Punjab
6. Kolkata Knight Riders
7. Mumbai Indians
8. Rajasthan Royals.

Group Stages
In the group stages, each team will be playing 14 matches, meeting each opponent team twice. A win will fetch two points and a tie/ no result will fetch one point. At the end of the group stage, four top-placed teams will qualify for the next level.

Semi-finals/ Finals
The top four teams will meet in the semi-finals, which will be a knock-out match. The winners of the two semi-finals will proceed to the finals. The finals will decide the winner of the IPL 2009 tournament.

Number of Matches
Group stage: 56 matches (18 April 2009 to 21 May 2009)
Semi-finals: 2 matches (22 May 2009 and 23 May 2009)
Finals: 1 match (24 May 2009)

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IPL 2008: Most Aggressive Batsman

IPL 2008 started off with a big match in which Brendon McCullum plundered as many as 158 runs in the twenty overs and remained not out. He had been at his best in the match against Bangalore Royal Challengers. It was unfortunate that he could play only 4 matches in the entire IPL tournament.

The following is the list of aggressive batsmen in IPL 2008, based on their strike rate. Strike Rate is the number of runs scored per 100 balls. In preparing the list, I have selected only players who have scored at least 100 runs in the tournament. This criteria is included to ensure that the list contains players who consistently plays aggressively. For example, if some one plays just one delivery and scores a boundary or six, he would end up at the top of the list with a strike rate of 400.00 or 600.00, which would be meaningless.

1. Brendon McCullum, Kolkata Knight Riders - 188 runs, 92 balls, SR 204.34
2. Virender Sehwag, Delhi Daredevils - 406 runs, 220 balls, SR 184.54
3. Ross Taylor, Bangalore Royal Challengers - 149 runs, 81 balls, SR 183.95
4. Yusuf Pathan, Rajasthan Royals - 435 runs, 243 balls, SR 179.01
5. Michael Hussey, Chennai Super Kings - 168 runs, 100 balls, SR 168.00

In my opinion, I would give the "Most Aggressive Batsman of IPL 2008" title to Yusuf Pathan, because he has been able to keep his strike rate intact for 16 matches. Sehwag has played 14 matches while McCullum, Taylor and Hussey have each played only 4 matches.

Just for record, Umar Gul was the player with the highest strike rate in IPL 2008. Umar Gul scored 39 runs from 19 deliveries, amounting to a strike rate of 205.26.

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