The Royals triumph

A disappointing match if you are a supporter of the Hyderabad team.

The comment by the skipper that he is happy with the effort of the boys is vague and conciliatory. They had no business losing the match after claiming 7 Royals wickets and reducing them to the near impossible task of chasing 23 runs of the last over.

The aim is to play to win and not to pat yourself on the back that the effort was good or better than the previous outing and they lost because the opposition put in a better performance.

This team is not going for the jugular but is playing in fits and starts, Afridi & RP Singh bowled one good over, the debutant Kalyankrishnan had 2 good overs.

The Hyderabad team had the best chance to open their account, after the exceptional batting by Symonds powered them to a 200 + plus total, the pressure applied was not consistent and chasing appeared a breeze.

In the soul searching that the Hyderbad team will undertake it will help them a great deal if they analyzed the previous match between Chennai and Mumbai.

Reputations and past performance do not win matches but performance on the day does.

To repeat the obvious, Cricket is a team game and each individual needs to be told what his role is whatever his stature maybe and therein lies the role of the leader.

In stark contrast the Rajasthan Royals batted to a plan and despite losing wickets at the wrong time, came out worthy winners and have made everyone sit up and take note.

It has been a sad journey for the Deccan Chargers hailed by experts as the 2nd best team before the tournament commenced.

An interesting match coming up between the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings, both teams have not opened their accounts.

- Mahesh Packiaraj

Daredevilry to the fore

Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi a team which can boast such a line-up should be putting up an emphatic batting display and not what happened at Hyderabad against Sehwag’s Daredevils.

So what is going wrong for the Deccan Charger’s and what is going right for the Daredevil’s?

The DareDevil’s bowling is managed by Glen Mcgrath and Mohammad Asif, probably the best in business when it comes to accuracy and the toughest to take to the cleaner’s.

Complementing this duo they have the likes of Maharoof and emerging quickies YO Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan and the steady bowling of Delhi player Rajat Bhatia. The good news for the Daredevils fans does not stop here they also have one Mr Daniel Vettori in their armoury.

The Batting line-up is almost Indian with the exception being Shoaib Malik and this strategy could be a winner as the competition is being played on Indian pitches.

Though the Delhi batters have not been stretched, Shikhar Dhawan the Delhi left-hander has been most impressive and could become a player to watch and if he continues his good showing he could well be in the running for the opener’s slot in the national team which neither Jaffer or Gambhir or Uthappa have cemented.

The biggest let down for the Deccan Charger’s would be the batting.

Either Shahid Afridi or Rohit Sharma could partner Adam Gilchrist.

The bowling lacks teeth…barring Chaminda Vaas there is no else who is intimidating. RP Singh alternates between the brilliance and the mediocre and the back up is with the likes of Sanjay Bangar, Andrew Symonds, Pragyan Ojha and Afridi….not at all reassuring if you are a DC supporter.

It could be tough going for the Chargers……
- Mahesh Packiaraj (The Viper)