Semis report card

The IPL is in the final stages and the semi finalists are almost decided.  MI takes on RCB and Deccans take on Chennai.  The teams that got out were Punjab, Kolkata, Rajasthan and Delhi.  Here is my take on each of the teams:

Delhi : The unluckiest team to go out. However they blew hot and cold in this campaign. The indifferent form of Sehwag and Dilshan did not help the case either. Colly was gutsy but he hardly received any support from the other end. And persisting Dinesh Karthik was a blunder on Gambhir’s part, whose form was patchy but he was in form for run outs. The bowling attack did not help them either.  Except for Nannes in first few games they had none who could control the runs and take wickets even though Mishraji were among wickets, he never threatened.

Chennai : They should not have been in the semis, however they are. The most pathetic team they are playing in 3 seasons. Thanks to resurgent Dhoni in batting form, they peaked right time in the tournament (last game) and with the luck factor got there. They have pitiable bowling attack with none except Dougie Bollinger in top form. Batting seems to be reliant only on Raina, Vijay and now MS.  Hayden and Hussey did not fire, though they cannot be discounted. They should be the team who should lose again in the semis. If they win they would not be the worthy finalists.

Punjab : A best example to show credentials and worthiness of Sangakara as captain. Period.

Deccan  :  Some luck and more grit, little contribution from Gilly and super performance from their man Rohit Sharma (he plays only in IPL) followed by key wickets at right time saw them through to the finals on 2^nd place.  They won 5 games on trot and jumped to 2^nd place, their best finish. Awesome. They have a super inspirational captain and a super hitter in Symmo. They should look forward to play the finals getting past Chennai in the semis.

Rajasthan : Magical captaincy from Warne and over reliance on Pathan Y were not good enough to see the Royals go through the semis. They begun disastrously but recovered soon to lose out in the final battle.  They shone in parts, not good enough to win a semis birth. Injury to Smith did not help the case, Pathan was over hyped and Ojha was unlucky. 

Kolkata : A right man in wrong team. Dada did everything he could to inspire the lads, but they did not learn and as a result they lost out in what was a best chance to show the strength and character. It remains the only team now not to reach semis at any point of the seasons.  They had good start, then they fizzed out, then they won 1 and lost 1. Ganguly scored runs to silent his critics, but his lads fell back on the commitment factor and the team lost. Questions should be raised on the worthiness of Ishant Sharma in the limited overs format. How long he is going to be promising and emerging ?Some point of time he has to deliver the promise and emerge to a full blown fast blower.  Having Akram in the side did not help as he concentrated more on how ball tampering was done than to actually help the bowlers.

RCB : Fantastic start to see them lose the momentum and now being the 4^th team to be in the semis. Led by Anil Kumble who is the most economical bowler of the tournament and the best skipper yet in the season, the team won 4 consecutive games, then lost 4 in row and then again won 2 lost 2. A 56 run loss to MI was heart breaking for a team who has Pandey, Kallis, Dravid, KP, Uthappa, Kohli as its batting lineup. Bowling is a worry with the likes of Kallis leaking 4s at will and R Vinay Kumar never going over 135 kph. 

MI : Team to beat riding on purple form of Sachin Tendulkar.  They look good to win the tournament should Sachin continue to fire. A long one is over due now and he shows the youth players how to play T20 without actually thumpin it and with the help of conservative orthodox shots with little innovation and no slogging.

Semis line up :

MI vs RCB

DC vs CSK

Finals

RCB vs DC