A Battle Between Tactics of India's Most Successful Captains

The Qualifier 2 is actually the final that we all would have wanted in IPL 2019, but unfortunately only one of the two teams would proceed to the finals from here on. The situation is more like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal battling in the semi-finals itself. The reason why I am saying so is that it is the contest between India's two most successful captains. While the coach of one team is the pied piper of the Indian cricket team and the captain of the other one is the man with Midas touch.

The situation is more like the India and Australia world cup 2003 final. Where India (Delhi Capitals) had qualified for the final for the first time while Australia (Chennai Super Kings) on the other hand is usually the confirmed finalist of the tournament. Looking at the fact that Delhi Capitals have reached this stage for the very first time, the match seems to be much in favor of Chennai Super Kings. Not to forget their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni performs best under pressure.

The intensity of this match will be altogether different. While Delhi would surely try to do some fancy since they are the first timer, the Chennai Super Kings would simply take advantage of this and would wait for them to make mistakes. The previous performance of these two teams does not really matter at this stage, since in T20 what matter is how well you perform on that particular day.

The Chennai does seem to be heavily dependent on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, therefore, his wicket might make difference in the result but I think it's the bowling which is going to be the key factor in this match. The one who bowls well is going to win this one and Chennai Super Kings seems to have an advantage here and for me are the winners of this match.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians: A Clash For IPL 2019 Title

Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians, the final which all would have wanted for IPL 2019. The two most successful teams of IPL history with three titles each would be battling to add a fourth title and show their superiority.

Chennai Super Kings
Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK which has been to seven IPL finals earlier have already won three IPL titles. The yellow army is the Australia of IPL, and it is hard to beat them. CSK has been to playoffs in all the 10 seasons of IPL in which they have participated. In IPL 2019 CSK has performed as per expectations but the only team which had bothered them in this season is Mumbai Indians. Batting has been a matter of concern throughout the season for this team, but the way their batsmen have performed in the Qualifier 2 might be a sign of relief for the team.

Mumbai Indians 
Mumbai Indian which had always looked good on paper, had a usual IPL outing this season as well, they started off with losing streak and ended up on top. Mumbai Indians have been to playoffs in 8 times in their 12 IPL outings. They have 100% record against Chennai Super Kings this season, and with their all in-form players, they have been able to execute their plans and have exploited the weakness of Chennai Super Kings really well.

Both teams have faced each other in finals thrice earlier, out of which Mumbai Indians have clinched the title twice. Both MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are big match players and with CSK batting line up clicking up at the right time and already having all in-form spinners, it would be a contest to watch out for on slow pitch of Hyderabad. Since it's a final and your previous performance hardly matters but your experience does, so it looks like Chennai Super Kings is having an advantage here and would be able to increase the title counter by 1.

The Change Is Being Called

23rd July 2017, World Cup Final

It was a packed house at the Mecca of Cricket and an entire cricket crazy nation was glued to their TV sets. A world cup final between India and England, two nations for whom cricket is everything, were fighting to win the coveted trophy. Obviously no one wants to miss such an exciting clash which was expected to go down to the wire for sure.

But there was something more historic which was happening for the first time. It was a women's world cup final and the cricket crazy nation-India, who has been entirely gender biased while following cricket since so many years was willing to watch the match with the same enthusiasm. Yes, for the very first time an entire women's world cup is been telecast-ed on television and got the same response as the men's cricket gets.

I always believe media has the power to bring any change and the change this world cup coverage has bought should turn out to be a stepping stone in changing the fortune of women's cricket in India. People had not only followed the entire tournament but also got to that just like men's cricket the highest run scorer in the history of ODI in Women's cricket also belongs to India. In fact Women cricket is a step ahead and we also have highest wicket takers as well in the world.

Although it would have been great if India would have won the world cup but their spectacular campaign in world cup has won the attraction of entire nation and received accolades from everywhere.

'Swag' is a most-abused word in English. It is often misunderstood as bold, brash overconfidence when it actually means an assured self-confidence that reflects in actions and words. By that yardstick, Mithali Raj owns the term. What a calm and composed player she is both on and off the field.

Moreover his is the change I have been waiting for, this is the change about which I had mentioned about in my book 'Being A Female Cricket Fan' as well and is finally happy to see that it actually happened.  

Being A Female Cricket Fan- A Rare Book On Cricket

Yes!! I had now written a book ‘Being A Female Cricket Fan’ for the love of game, which was always on cards ever since i started writing blog on Cricket. And it was my book which has helped me getting noticed by eminent players of the game. I am really overwhelmed by the response i got from so personality related to cricket like- Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Dwayne Bravo, Herschelle Gibbs, Jason Gillespie, Aakash Chopra, Murali Kartik, Darren Sammy, VVS Laxman, Yogesh Golwalkar, Mohandas Menon and Surrey Women Cricket. Sounds unreal right!! It should be to a normal cricket fan like us because we do follow cricket but even if actually meet anyone in real we surly will not believe it for some time and even if we do, others won’t.

It is after writing the book ‘Being A Female Cricket Fan’ i realized what it means to be a female cricket fan more. The response and interest which i had received from people related to the game and the interest people have shown in reading it, boosted my confidence.

To top the list is the name which could make you totally go awe, because the king khan of bollywood Shah Rukh Khan shared my books link and said ‘All the Best. Will try and read it too’. Many couldn’t believe that couldn’t believe that this had happened. The point here is that no matter how much successful you become your success always seems achievable to people around you.

The book is presently available in e-book format which can be read using Kindle device or simply by downloading kindle app on your phone. If you like reading in printed form then soon book will be available in paperback form.

At the end I would really like to thank all the people who have read, shared and provided great review for my book.

You can find the book at- https://www.amazon.in/Being-Female-Cricket-Fan-Vinita-ebook/dp/B018CKGPJE

How Difficult It Is To Score A Century

If you want to know what exactly it means when one say  he is having lots of potential but his achievements don’t tell the true story, then i am having a perfect example for you all .

It took 33 years for him to prove his potential, an age when most of the players plan to retire from cricket, he established himself in that age. A player who has potential to fit and excel in any format of the game , an unflappable middle-order mainstay, who has accumulated 5,122 runs — the most runs by any player in ODIs without a ton, well this record don’t have any competition, we can call it an achievement of his .He is the most non-pakistani captain of Pakistan who recently took retirement from ODI’s- Misbah-ul-haq.One of Pakistan's most stable captain and a player of his own class, who has saved Pakistan cricket team from many difficult situations. A reliable player on which team always look for in difficult situation,who can stick around and can play until the end, an attacking player who can torment any bowling attack at his will and a nightmare for bowlers who find it difficult to bowl a delivery that can get him out. Yes ,he is a versatile player, be it T20 , ODI or Test he fits everywhere. 

We all know almost every player who is a genuine batsmen and  holds a key position in teams batting line up have at least a century against their name, but he is an exception.He played till end n numbers of time but it seems like was never interested in getting a three figure mark but was chasing a unique record ,so now at least he would be alone holding this record and would always be remembered in history for that. We all admire Sachin Tendulkar's awe inspiring record of 100 hundreds, but with this it is clear that it actually is not easy to score a century especially in  ODI's and we should respect the effort's of ones who have at least a single ton against their name irrespective of their batting order, because there do exist legends like Misbah who had to retire scoring none.         

.  

When 'We' Lost The World Cup

India lost the world cup and I lost a part of mine !!

Cricket is a complete entertainment package, but if you try to look and play it for personal competition than instead of becoming the energy booster, this will engage your whole mind and will absorb all your positive energy, which you could have utilized in other productive work.

The reason why i have written the above almost impossible to decipher lines is because i have been victim of this phenomenon twice. One IPL and a World Cup entertainment is what it cost me. This post is complete out of the league from previous posts of my blog and mostly contains less technical details of cricket but would surly be helpful to keep an innocent cricket fan alive in you. Let me now try to explain what exactly i want to say. In the previous post as i had mentioned that i am playing the role of  Nostradamus in this world cup, so the result of it is obviously negative thats why i have to write a post full of philosophy to convince myself and move on. I could have won the competition but i lost!! I lost to my heart and mind battle and  i lost to my anger. I could have won it had i had not gave up at the last moment and putted a stop button at my anger. Had it be me alone predicting it, then i wont be that much hurt but once other people look for help from you because of your passion for game and their success is related with yours than you certainly lose a part of yours.You blame yourself for their loss and you have to live with this burden forever. My situation reminds me of one of my favorite dialogue from the movie Chak De India - "uss haar ka bojh kitna bhaari hota hai tum samaz nahi paayoge..itni taakat nahi kisi main ". 

Feeling relived !!! Would try not to repeat the same mistake again and like always would enjoy the game and not relate their success with mine by becoming result oriented.

With this note i gear up myself for the IPL and will watch it purely for fun. By the way I am supporting Chennai Super Kings like every year, but Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore looks promising too.

Thanks for reading . 

   

Good Start Is Half The Battle Won

India started its world cup campaign with arch rivals Pakistan and like they say history matters -have won against Pakistan like all previous six encounters in the world cup. Most importantly  India have won the match which matters  probably more than the  world cup and as the proverb says  ‘good start is half the battle won ‘  India have actually won half the battle already. Another team which is proving it right is New Zealand -the co-host of the ICC World Cup 2015 ,which unexpectedly became the first team to enter the super eight of world cup with three wins in a row. Home conditions matters !!!

Looking at the India’s performance in the past few months in Australia no one was expecting the world champions to perform well on foreign conditions. Probably the people have forgotten the fact that India is placed in a pool which donot have Australia and New Zealand and for all other teams these conditions are as much foreign as it is for India. India is playing like champion in its group and had qualified for the quarter finals with four consecutive wins, which means India would probably finish at top in its group, which further makes India;s path smooth in the next rounds.

This world cup is looking open in group stage and we won’t give it back is looking like a possibility from here. If Dhoni can do this for India then his records would probably become unbreakable in Indian cricket  history. But the matches after this would be the knock out ones and your performance on that particular day would matter. Cricket is a game of unpredictability, your can apply all possible if and else statement here.

And to test my analytical thinking, I am watching this world cup with a new perspective as I am  trying to become Nostradamus. Yes, I am predicting the winners and man of the match for every match and expectedly is predicting at least one thing right. Experience matters you know !!  

Lets hope team India and I keep their winning sting going till 29^th March and emerge as champions.