I am writing this blog as the semi finalists are being chosen from th...
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I am writing this blog as the semi finalists are being chosen from the major teams that have done well. If current form is any judge, Rajasthan,Punjab Chennai and possibly Mumbai will be in the semi finals.
Based upon what has transpired we can make some judgements. IPL had a feast of runs and a lot of centuries. The number of centuries have died down after the departure of the most of the Aussies, though Gilchrist the primus inter pares(first amongst equals) is still playing in the IPL.He has after a brief initial interlude of wild hitting and a century seems to have settled down to a decent but not spectacular average in the 30's, perhaps he is saving his best for the final push. Now the matches appear to be lower scoring and more equal contests(except for the lopsided loss suffered by the Kolkata Knight Riders recently). These matches seem now quite similar to the ICL matches, which were more tests of skill, in my view than these matches at the IPL. As most of the ICL players were journeymen cricketers, whose livelihood depended on a good performance at the league. So they performed the best they could with bat ,ball and in the field.
In my view the ICL could be a good league to emulate for the future as they appear to have their basics right.The IPL has a load of succecssful cricketers both Indian and overseas, with less of a fire in the belly. The ICL performance in the fielding was much more crisp than their richer counterparts. Some of the ICL catches specially in the outfield were truly amazing. Though the IPL fielding has been up to snuff it has not been as good as the ICL. IPL batting specially the overseas batting has been better than the ICL because quality batsmen and all rounders were chosen. However, the bowling with players like McGrath,Warne,Chawla,Sreesanth,RP Singh being the biggest wicket takers and exceptions to the rule the journeymen bowlers, the major part of any league, in the IPL have not been as good as the ICL journeymen, like Kumaran , Murtaza, Yadav and Sudhindra. who were match winners.
Another interesting feature is the fizzling out of the Indian super star batsmen, particularly Ganguly, who, inspite of a top score of 91 has an average of 21.
In addition to Ganguly batsmen like Dravid, have been relatively disappointing, Laxman a little better. The absolute standout has been Gautam Gambhir who has towered above his compatriots.So has Dhoni with an average in the high 40's. Again players like Dhavan, Badrinath and Asnodkar are journeymen standouts though Badrinath (who is a player who should have been picked in tests and ODI's at least two years ago) should not be called a journeyman. His exclusion, smells of shenanigans at high levels. Suresh Raina, appears to be a disappointment, though Dhoni inexplicably kept sending him in earlier than both Badrinath and himself
Though the ICL in my view had a more professional first year, IPL money threatens to bury the ICL. I hope this does not happen and we have two viable leagues like the two leagues in American baseball who fight it out in their finals, called humorously as the World Series.
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Sampath: I agree that the lesser known names did well: in fact in my view superior to better known names. I also agree that ICL will be overwhelmed by IPL's money, which would be a shame. The BCCI backed IPL wants to keep their selfish racket going by stealing the idea and running with it.
Rgds, Girdhar
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dear giridhar gopal,
IPL has the money backing but
icl does not have it.it is very clear to me that ICL will lose out...
you should also make a mention of players likeabhishek nayak, dindia,moni, venugopala rao,
sreevats, yo mahesh, snagwan and many more of he youngetres who have shown up...
dravid and ganguly were not bad... kallis, misbah and steyn were unsuucessf ul.. wheres rookies like hopes ,morkel, bravo has been successful..
it was defenitely a great show.. so was ICL .....
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Avinash: I agree that tests as a genre are better for people who have the time, however, for those who do not a short form game that you can comple in about four hours, is ideal for a game that is dying everywhere except in the subcontinent. I think for cricket to thrive the shortest form game will be necessary . Lets hope it succeeds so that other countries/teams like New Zeland and the Windies get the money to survive.
Rgds, Girdhar
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Perhaps as far as my love for strategy and mind game is concerned, I am no longer young, that is, if youth means only action.
Regards
Avinash
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Yes, Avinash there is little strategy in T20, however, like baseball there is a lot of action. In fact in my view a lot more action than in baseball. The quality of the fielding is superior to any other other form of the game. I think there is space and opportunities for every form of the game: as an old timer love test matches, but a youngster like you should move with the times !
Rgds, Girdhar
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Raju: I agree, I think the press was blackmailed by BCCI and IPL to deny access if they
publicized the ICL. I personally feel that an ICL all stars team will give the money bag spoilt stars of the IPl a run for their money.
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As usual astute observations. I would think that ICL has not received the kind of press response that it should have. There have been some stand out performances - Absolem, Sarath Rajagopal (am not sure I got that name right), Stuart Binny are some names that come right into one's mind - their performances were awesome !!! IPL, I think, is a more hyped up game with many peformances not upto the mark and inconsistency.
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Girdhar
I do not like the T20 format. I do not think that there is enough room for strategy in this format. Or may be, cricket will adjust to the pace and within this format too, create room for strategy in future. Right now though it looks more like the alm bam thank you mam version.
Regards
Avinash
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Yes Brendan MCcollum and the Aussies and Jayasuriya have done well, but otherwise most of the load has been carried by the Indian players, not the stars but the regular players from the Ranji Circuit.
Rgds, Girdhatr
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Shri Girdhar Gopal Ji.
This Indian Premier League Twenty20 which are currently taking place in India has become very successful in around the globe, which will bring India in the world map.
However, all the foreign players contributed a lot, they are playing very hard in every department far more better then local Indian.!!!!
[New-Yorker]
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