Crowning Glory

26-04-2010 12:13 A.M

They missed it by a run in 2008. Their campaign got stopped at the semi final stage by an inspired side in 2009. However, there was no way anyone could deny CSK the crowning glory this year. As, I was harping in my previous post; there was bound to be a memory loss for Jason Bourne and it happened in the big final. In the first innings; they dropped Raina two times (on 13 & 28) and I guess Raina would have told SRT; paaji your amnesiacs just dropped the DLF IPL trophy twice. I think Bourne suffered memory loss big time during the innings break and mistook Harbhajan Singh for Kieron Pollard and sent him at two down. Only after six wickets had fallen; he realized that the real KP was sitting in the dug out raring to go and have a hit: boy did he hit. However, our own Maapilai had one more card up his sleeve. In the last post; I had talked about the captain needing grey cells to win this one. We got a taste of intellectual Dhoni (An endorsement for Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd that a litre of cows milk a day gives than aur mann ki shakti) when he placed a straight mid-off and a wide long-off for Pollard and he got snapped by Hayden at the straight mid-off.

I had been vociferous supporter of CSK from the beginning and now you guys have shown that you rock and is the best team in IPL. Hopefully, Dhoni will also hold aloft the T20 world cup in a month's time.

Champion

24-04-2010

Half of my prediction for the finalists of DLF IPL became a reality (I am a person who likes to see the glass of water as half full). So, the title clash will be between Jason Bourne and the Super Star. So, there is also scope for my finals prediction to become a reality also. As already mentioned in the previous post; Bourne is bound to have a bout of memory loss and Maveeran is yet to fire for the Super Stars. We all know that both these events are only round the corner. But, will it happen in the all important finals? We will have to wait and see. There is a third element which is also round the corner (or rather turned the corner in semi finals 2 and continued in the third place clash): the 22 longest yards. My intelligent guess is that whichever team bats first has to come to terms with the pitch and aim for a safe target in this pitch (preferably 150 -160). If the team batting first capitulate as Captain Coone and his wards did the other day; then the team chasing will go and win the title. So, there is more than power hitting in this game; and it may be decided by the usage of grey cells rather than the mongoose. There is also a battle of a different kind brewing in the sidelines. The Commissioner of IPL against the First Estate (Clergy: Shiv Sena), Second Estate (Nobility: BCCI), Third Estate (Commoner: Television Viewers), Fourth Estate (Media: All 24 X 7 Channels) and the Fifth Estate (Take a pot shot yourself. My guess is the politicians and the underworld). So, we will also know his future by tomorrow. So, today is the D-Day for two different battles and at dawn tomorrow we will know who is the pawn and who is the king.

So, it is prediction time. Where have I placed my chips? You all know where my loyalties are: all I can say is that MS Dhoni is a very astute captain.

Knockout

20-04-2010

IPL has reached the beginning of its end (IPL3 as well as the tournament) and now we are in to the knock out stage where there are no comebacks. Jason Bourne is pitted against Superman and Captain Coone is unfairly slotted against the Superstars. I always believed that the Super Kings will follow a script written only for Super Star. MS Dhoni from Chennai showed all of us why he needs to be minded by smashing those big sixes in crunch time in the match against Oceans XI.

So, which teams will make it to the finals? I am betting on Superman today. Jason Bourne is due for a bout of memory loss after the histrionics in the early part of the season. Meanwhile, the men from Krypton have played a subdued Clark Kentish game for the latter part of IPL. So, according to law of averages; Clark Kent will re-discover that he is the man of steel and Jason Bourne will suffer from amnesia. It does not matter that the battle is fought at Phnom-Penh; the home territory of Jason Bourne and the place where David Webb was rechristened as the dreaded Bourne. However, I still feel that this is going to be a close game.

In my opinion, the second semi final will be a one sided contest. It will be a cake walk for the super stars. The only weak link for the men in yellow is the Maaveeran who is due for a big one. Let me extend my prediction to the finals also. The Superman Vs Superstar final is going to be a nail biting affair and we can only hope that our Super stars find some kryptonite before that big game…