- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | IPL
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I am from Chennai and there is no doubt in which team I will be supporting in this year’s edition of IPL. Chennai Super Kings were in the finals last year and I hope that this year they can go one step further. Chennai Super kings have an interesting squad. This year they have added Andrew Flintoff to their ranks. I don’t rate Flintoff too high for his batting but he is a fantastic bowler.
The Chennai Super Kings this year have a balanced squad. Hayden will be available for the entire season which will be a big boost for the team. Stephen Fleming will be the coach and the player for the Super Kings. The bowling looks much stronger this year with the addition of Andrew Flintoff. So Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram, Balaji, Gony, Flintoff, Albie Morkel and Muthaih Muralitharan form the bowling for the Chennai super Kings.
The batting last year was the strong point for the team. Viydut and Parthiv formed a good opening partnership with Raina, Badrinath and Dhoni forming the middle order followed by the all rounder Albie Morkel. With Hayden available for the entire season, this year the selection is going to be a head ache for the Super Kings captain and the coach. Hayden might get into the side and they have to juggle the bowlers a little bit this season. Since the Kings have three all-rounders at their disposal, it’s going to be interesting as to who they are going to pick in the eleven. The four international players rule will make sure that there is going to be just one international batsman who will make the eleven. So that spot will be taken by Hayden.
Morkel might be one of the All-rounder’s in the squad along with Andrew Flintoff. They might juggle between Morkel and Oram for the initial part of the season till Flintoff leaves to play for England. Balaji and Gony might play in the team as the bowlers with Murali and Ntini forming the rest of the order. So my starting eleven at least for the first few games will be as follows,
Team: Hayden, Parthiv (Or Viydut), Suresh Raina, Badrinath, M S Dhoni (Captain), Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel, L Balaji, Gony, Murali and Ntini.
That makes it very balanced squad. They might have few changes here and there during the course of the competition as they have young talents like, Murali Vijay and also Srilankan Thilan Thushara. Jacob Oram might get into the squad once Flintoff leaves. So there is an embarrassment of riches for the Chennai super kings this year.
The biggest advantage for the team is having Dhoni as their captain as he was fantastic last year leading both the Indian team and the Chennai super kings. He had limited resources last year and did a fantastic job with the team and with two South Africans in the team he will have a great chance of making it to the final four this year too.
Good luck to the super kings and it will be a fantastic learning experience for the Indian youngsters as they will be playing in SA and will be surrounded by greats of the game. They can learn a lot by speaking to the international players and see how they prepare for a game and also learn about the right areas to bowl on wickets which have some pace and bounce for the bowlers. I was looking at the cricinfo round table about the IPL, where the experts said that the Indians will struggle in SA, which is absolute nonsense as we just won the world cup couple of years back with inexperienced players.
I guess the Indian players will just do fine there and will surely come back as better and confident players after the IPL is over. Let’s hope that this edition of IPL is as good as the previous year in terms of quality of the cricket games. I know that the atmosphere cannot be matched as the games are not in India but I am sure that the SACB will try their level best to generate interest among the general public in SA.
Airtel Super Singers – Semi Finals
Posted on: April 13, 2009
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 3 Comments
Semi Finals this week and its going to be predictable I feel. I already saw some promos and it seems like the top three are Ajeesh, Ravi and Renu and I guess those are the three who for sure will go through to the finals. The elimination is going to be between Vijay and Ranjani. That’s the predictability of Airtel Super Singer as the decision is still in the hands of the judges.
I personally think that Renu doesn’t deserve to win the competition and so should not be in the finals. To be frank the best 3 singers are the male contestants and I would place Ranjani ahead of Renu just for her ability to sing different genres. But the problem is that the judges don’t think so. When I was seeing the Promos on Vijay Tv, it seems like the top three are Ajeesh, Ravi and Renu and this gives us a peek into the judge’s thinking.
Anyways it seems like Renu will for sure be through to the finals if there are going to be more than 2 finalists. I would prefer that the judges test her really hard and at least in the finals they should have three separate rounds making the contestants sing different genres with melody not being one of them. Hopefully this week will be good but I am not that interested regarding the outcome as my favorite is already eliminated.
IPL 2 in SA – A Bad Precedent
Posted on: April 10, 2009
IPL 2 is going to begin in a week’s time and it being held in South Africa has already been well documented in the media. There has been lots of stuff written about the positive and the negative effects of the shift. As for me the only positive thing about conducting IPL in SA is that the tournament will happen and the foreign players will not have any issues with the security. As far as the image of India goes it’s a huge set back.
We have big events like the Commonwealth games and the World Cup coming to the subcontinent in the next couple of years and the IPL shift has put both those events in jeopardy. I am not saying that these events cannot happen in India but people will raise concerns citing IPL as the example. In my previous article I had praised BCCI and Lalit Modi for getting the tournament underway albeit in a different location in a very short notice. Lalit Modi did what was best for the tournament to happen. You can’t blame him or the BCCI for wanting the tournament to go through without interruption.
Yeah they could have done some modifications to the tournament by cutting down the games and by juggling the venues here and there to suit the elections but still they needed support from the government. The Indian government is equally to be blamed on this move. I am sure it was a political decision to make sure that the event doesn’t happen during the general elections. The only way IPL could have happened in India was to postpone it to a later date and cutting the number of games to half as it has to end before the ICC World Twenty20 which starts in June. That would have been tough on the BCCI and most of the players have National commitments coming up in May before the world cup.
England will be playing WI in May, which would have made sure that they will not be able to participate in the IPL.
Having said that it would have been okay if few players did not make it this time around but would the BCCI have got the necessary support from the Indian Government? That’s a question only Government of India can answer. I guess it was the responsibility of both the parties to make sure that the tournament happened in India. I guess both the BCCI and the Indian government had to sit down and could have chalked out a plan which worked for both of them. Conducting a tournament of IPL’s magnitude would have gone a long way in clearing the security concerns in India.
Now with India unable to conduct and provide security for an Indian domestic tournament has left the WC 2011 in a big danger. Already there have been talks of the WC being taken away from the subcontinent after the recent attacks on the Srilankan players in Pakistan. International players do not want to go there and the ICC might have to shift the tournament elsewhere if the situation continues. India needs to be careful as they might isolate themselves from the rest of the world if they aren’t careful.
By moving IPL to SA the BCCI have set a wrong precedent and they cannot be blamed totally for that. There will be blame games with each of them pointing fingers at the other but the ultimate sufferers are the Indian fans. IPL not being held in India will be hard on us. Instead of watching Chennai SuperKings in MA Chidambaram stadium, I have to watch it on TV with them playing in Durban or Johannesburg and it will not be the same.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 5 Comments
My prediction from last week came true as Raghini was eliminated yesterday by the judges to leave Ajeesh, Vijay, Ravi, Renu and Ranjani to battle in the Semi Finals. I knew it was coming in the last two weeks when Srinivas made comments about Raghini’s inability to sing normal heroine type melodies. Well she was tested on it yesterday alright and I felt she did a decent job.
Three singers sang yesterday with Harini as the chief guest and frankly Vijay was brilliant. I did not see the performance of Raghini yesterday but Ajeesh was so-so and finally the three were called on to the stage for the verdict. Harini said that all the three gave good performances and requested the judges to give them songs which they aren’t that comfortable with. Raghini was given the melody, Ajeesh a fast song and Vijay was left to decide his own genre. Well Ajeesh sang well, Vijay was brilliant and Raghini was not that bad.
Finally the judges decided to let Raghini go as they felt that she was the weak link. Well to be frank it will be hard not to agree with their decision yesterday as I felt that Ajeesh and Vijay sang better. But to think of it I am surprised why Vijay always ends up in the bottom half of the pack. He seems to be the only contestant who seems to experiment a lot and mostly pulls it off. Raghini was another contestant who experiments with her song choices. We have Ravi who if forced sings different, same in the case of Ranjani again sings different only when the round demands. Renu doesn’t experiment even if the round demands but the judges like her so it doesn’t matter what she sings. Ajeesh again like Ranjani and Ravi will sing different if the round demands.
Well so Raghini gets eliminated and two weeks in a row I lose my favorites in the competition. Last week it was Prassy and this week Rags. Well anyways someone has to go. Raghini took the decision very well and left gracefully much better than how she left last time around. She thanked the voice trainer Ananth Vaidyanathan for his help and support. Raghini since her return through the recall round had been brilliant and carried herself much better. She smiled more often on stage and took the judge’s comments much better than she did last time around. I feel that she has the potential to become a play back singer. Her voice is different and she has variety which clearly lacks in certain contestants in Top 5.
I wish best of luck to her in whatever she takes up in the future. I hope that she doesn’t give up singing and ends up as a playback singer.
I would like to hear thoughts from the readers and give their opinion on the current top 5 and who you think will win the Airtel Super singer. Please leave your comments. Thanks and that’s all for now, I will be back with my review of the Semi-finals next week.
Anoop goes through to Top 7
Posted on: April 9, 2009
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 2 Comments
Anoop went through to top 7 last night and it was not without drama. When Anoop sang on Tuesday, I never thought that he would end up in the bottom three. The judges liked his performance and all of them gave him good comments. But it did not seem like America agreed with the judges.
Anoop was the first one in the bottom three. Anoop ended up with Scott as the final two on stage and was relieved when Ryan Seacrest announced that he was safe. Unfortunately Scott had to be eliminated as the judges decided not to use their one save for the entire season as they felt that there were better singers in the competition who might require it later.
Anyways it was a lucky escape for Anoop and he has to make sure that he turns in consistent performances in the coming weeks. He is a good talent and I think that he has to at least reach top 5. Good luck to him for the rest of the competition.
Dhoni with the trophy after India completed a 1-0 win in the test series against the Kiwis
41 years of wait finally ended as India completed 1-0 series win in New Zealand. This win will be particularly sweet for the seniors in the team as they have been on the receiving end on more than one occasion. It was a fantastic performance by the Indian team and was a total team effort.
I was little bit disappointed that we were unable to close out the 3rd test and win the series by 2-0 margin. When the rain halted the proceedings on day 5 with New Zealand on 284/8 the only thing which came on every Indian supporter’s mind was If only we had 10 more overs. If we look back at the 4th day’s play India batted too long I thought. We should have probably given NZ a target of 550-575. I don’t think that the Kiwis would have had a realistic chance of scaling that score against the Indian bowling attack.
Anyways that’s just in the hindsight. Nothing should be taken away though from the team as they have completed another major victory. They just have two more mountains to climb, Australia and South Africa. If they can achieve this while Sachin, Dravid and Laxman are still in the team it will be really great. Yeah there is one more location India hasn’t won that often which is Sri Lanka. Twice in last ten years we lost the series after going in to the final test with 1-1 score line.
For India to win in Australia and SA they have to improve their fielding and catching as this let them down badly in New Zealand. If Ishant hadn’t spilled a sitter of Ian O’ Brian of Sachin India probably would have won 2-0. So that’s one area which we have to work on. The second area of concern is the third seamer. I would prefer Sreesanth to come into the squad in the place of Munaf. Munaf is a good bowler but sometimes he looks lifeless on the field. I am not even talking about his bowling but just his body language which sometimes is not that encouraging.
Well overall this has been a fantastic series for the Indians. Winning the one-day series 3-1 and later winning the test series 1-0 will give lots of satisfaction to the Indian captain. There were some great individual performances from Ghambir, Zaheer and Harbajan. Sachin, Dravid and Laxman also batted brilliantly and gave consistent performances throughout the tour. Dhoni’s captaincy throughout the tour was excellent and aggressive. All in all a fantastic performance and a great win by Team India.
India are on the verge of winning their first test series in New Zealand as the hosts are struggling at 167/4 at the end of Day 4 chasing an impossible 617 to win. The Indian batting and the bowling has been far superior to the Kiwis in this tour which was far more evident in this test match. The Indians got to 379 in their first innings thanks to the lower order batting.
The Indians were reeling at 204 for the loss of 6 wickets at one point but a brilliant partnership between Dhoni and Harbajan got the visitors over 300. Both of them scored half centuries. Harbajan and Zaheer continued the agony for the Kiwis as India ended up with 379 in their first innings. The Kiwis though in their response were rolled over for 197 due to a brilliant spell of swing bowling from Zaheer. Zaheer was ably assisted by Harbajan who picked up vital 3 wickets.
The Indians batted well in the second innings riding on a brilliant hundred from Ghambir to set 617 to chase for the Kiwis. There are few criticisms on Dhoni as he batted on longer than required on the 4th morning but I guess he knew what he was doing. I guess even if we had 18 more overs in the day we couldn’t have gotten much further. Probably New Zealand would have ended up with more on the board.
Even though there is forecast for rain tomorrow, I hope that we get enough overs in to dismiss the Kiwis as it will be a well deserved victory for the Indian team. This will also be the 100th test win for the Indians and their first test series victory in NZ in 48 years. I guess there is lots of history in the making tomorrow and a well earned series victory in sight for the men in blue.
Airtel super singer this week
Posted on: April 6, 2009
Airtel super singer this week seems to be something to do with singing with a live orchestra. That’s what it seemed like looking at the promos. My interest in the show has gone down a little bit since the elimination of one of my favorites Prasanna but I will keep going as I am curious to know who eventually wins the competition.
This week is going to be easier for most of the people and I guess the elimination will be based upon minor mistakes here and there. I am mostly looking forward to the performances of Vijay, Ravi and Raghini as they are the last three of my favorites left in this competition. People reading my posts would have figured out by now that I hate Renu and Ranjani fares just better in comparison. Ajeesh is good but again seems to struggle when it comes to energy and openness in singing.
Let’s see how tonight’s show goes. I am thinking that Ravi and Vijay should go through and the elimination will be between the others. I also hope that the judges insist that Renu does some experimentation with her song choices as its getting irritating and monotonous with her one dimensional singing. Yeah she has great voice but so do the others.
Anyways the competition is not going to be the same in the absence of Prassy, but the show must go on. Let’s hope for a fairer judgment this week and the right candidate’s progress to the next round.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 7 Comments
It was a sad day in Airtel super singer as Prasanna was eliminated in spite of giving good performances over the 3 days. It seemed like it was already decided what they were going to do. It was like he was being punished for not having classical training and them constantly testing him in that genre to make sure he is eliminated. It’s frustrating that the same sort of tests was never done on Renu and I am almost sure that the next elimination is going to be either Raghini or Vijay.
Renu it seems has to just show up and sing to get selected and the others have to constantly sing different genre of songs to impress the judges. It’s becoming more and more obvious in the last few rounds as to whom the judge’s favorite is. It was rather sad that Prasanna was eliminated from the competition and really hats off to him for the way he dealt with the result.
He bowed away in style by singing his signature “Kuthu” song and entertained the audience for one last time in Airtel super singer. Srinivas said that Prasanna needs to train himself but can still become a play back singer by singing Kuthu songs. It was I thought an insult to the most versatile singer in the competition. If Srinivas is trying to say that only classically trained singers can survive in the industry then he is wrong. Ask SPB about it. I guess if SPB as a youngster had participated in super singer he would have been eliminated too. Prasanna is a good performer in most of the Genre and probably with experience can learn to sing classical better and can also train and become better than even the judges.
Anyways keeping my frustrations aside yesterday’s competition followed a familiar pattern, Unni Menon came as the chief guest and the remaining 4 singers performed. Renu sang “Deivam Thanda poove” song and gave an ordinary performance. She struggled with the breath and the judges said that it was a difficult song. Renu almost did justice to the song. Well if “almost” can win you a competition then people don’t have to try at all. All the contestants can choose difficult songs and give okay performances. I am sure that if any other singer had given such a performance he wouldn’t have been praised as Renu. It seems like the judges just say few negative points to keep the audience happy.
Srinivas has already started an excuse that Raghini does not have a voice to sing normal heroine sort of songs. So we can expect her to get eliminated pretty soon with that as the reason. We saw the judges started complaining about Prasanna in the last round itself to set the tone for this week’s show. Anyways I did not delve too much regarding the performances this week as it wasn’t that important.
I just want to congratulate Prasanna for an impressive journey in this competition. After being eliminated and coming back in to the competition he hardly had a bad round. He gave the viewers around the world watching the super singer many memorable moments. He was the most liked contestant in the competition and will for surely be missed. Good luck to him and I hope that he succeeds in whatever he decides to do from this point. Airtel Super singer through its bias has lost a good singer and a great entertainer.
India needs to step up
Posted on: April 2, 2009
Dhoni would want to win the series 2-0
India escaped with a draw in the second test against the kiwis at Napier through the batting of Ghambir, Laxman and Dravid. India batted out 2 and a half days to save the game which was a great effort but considering that it was a follow up to a thumping win just a week ago was a little disappointing for me. The Indian fielding was mediocre to say the least in New Zealand first innings where they kept dropping catches to let NZ score 619 after reducing them to 23/3 on day 1.
Nothing should be taken away from Taylor and Ryder though; they batted beautifully to get NZ innings on track. Indian batting also was woeful in the first innings. The top order kept playing atrocious strokes to throw their wickets away. It seemed like Sehwag and co thought that they will get to the Kiwi total in 20 overs. India fell 314 runs behind the Kiwi total after the first innings. But resilient batting from Ghambir and the rest of the top order saved India from the blushes.
India now travels to Wellington to play the final test of the series and they will know that this will determine the success of this tour for the team. Dhoni will for sure come back into the side and the rest of the team will remain the same barring any injuries. Dhoni will know that the conditions will be tough in the windy city and the temperatures really low. The pitch for sure will have something in it for the pacers and Dhoni will be hoping to win the toss and bowl first.
If India manage to win or draw this test this will be their first series victory in NZ for 40+ years and it will be a great achievement for the team. The victory will be sweet for the seniors who were humiliated in their previous tour here. Daniel Vettori and NZ will be hoping to stop just that. They would want to carry the confidence of the Napier game and try to go one step better and win the game to square the series.
Let’s hope that we get yet another uninterrupted game and cricket is of the highest standard.
girisopinion
My Thoughts 