IPL 2: Team Preview :Chennai Super Kings

A team built around Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings now have a player by the name of Andrew Flintoff taking higher salary than the captain himself. Team Chennai Super Kings lost their only match of the tournament to end runners up in the inaugural season of the tournament. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has already proven to be the best captain around the world, will be aiming for one better performance from the players to have his hands around the IPL trophy this year.



Andrew Flintoff is the second highest paid cricketer next to his fellow countrymen Pietersen, He will however be losing out on his full amount as he will be missing the last part of the tournament as the England team plays host to West indies for a return series. Mathew hayden having retired completely from International cricket has made Chennai his second home and will be available for the Full length of the tournament.

Hard Hitting all rounder Albie Morkel who is already proving to be the next Lance Klusner of South Africa if lives up to the reputation will leave some captains sobbing. Micheal Hussey has announced his willingness to go back home after the series with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, leaving CSK a batsman less.Adding to team's firepower is NewZealand Monster Jacob Oram who is yet to fire this season. Muralitharan will lead the bowling attack, the man has already earned a reputation of a good T20 bowler. Flintoff bolsters the bowling while Sri Lankan left-armer Thilan Thushara could be the dark horse among the foreign recruits.

Chennai's third signing at the auction was Tasmanian batsman George Bailey, but he is unlikely to feature given the team has consistent performers in Suresh Raina and S Badrinath. Suresh Raina seems to be in blistering form and Badrinath has already scored a few hundreds in the domestic tournament.


Chennai Probable XI: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey/ S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 5 S Badrinath 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Andrew Flintoff/ Jacob Oram/ Joginder Sharma, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini/ P Amarnath.

Like the Blog post? Subscribe to the RSS Feed by Email.
Rate this Blog? Click here!.
Kunal Janu
Read the Full Story...

IPL 2: Hussey backs out of the IPL

Many Australian players have decided to withdraw from this year's IPL, one who has lately joined the list is Micheal Hussey. He will not participate this year in an effort to regain lost form before the Ashes. Hussey is one of only two Australians, along with Brad Haddin, to have played in all 12 Tests and 10 one-day internationals since last year's tour of India, and was due to join the Chennai Super Kings after the limited-overs series against Pakistan next month. He has now decided to take a breather spending time with family in perth.


Hussey has been instrumental in a number of victories for Australia, and the Chennai Super Kings. In the IPL's inaugural season, Hussey posted the tournament's third highest score (116 not out) and the fourth highest batting average (84.00) in his four-game stint for the Super Kings. But he has struggled for form of late, averaging just 23.00 in eight Tests since the start of the Australian summer.

Hussey believes that his contribution with the bat in the Ashes will be more important than him playing in the IPL. Hussey will lose out on over 5 million dollars having made this decision and he doesn't regret the decision. He believes in practicing harder and peaking in form will be of top priority before the ashes. Hussey could have traveled to South Africa for the last fortnight of the IPL, but will instead follow the lead of his national captain, Ricky Ponting, in standing down from the tournament. Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke did not nominate for the 2009 IPL auction, citing their desire to focus on international cricket.

In addition to the IPL, he is also believed to be considering standing down from Australia's six matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates as he seeks to rejuvenate both body and mind. He will play the one-day series in South Africa, which begins in Durban on Tonight.


Like the Blog post? Subscribe to the RSS Feed by Email.
Rate this Blog? Click here!.
Kunal Janu
Read the Full Story...

IPL 2: Tournament kicks off April 18 in Cape Town, South Africa

Finally, The schedule of the IPL Season 2 is out and for everyone to see. All eight IPL franchises will play at least half their matches in Durban, Cape Town and Centurion, where they hope to have significant crowd support from the sizeable Indian-origin population, according to the official tournament schedule that was released on Friday night. The opening double-header in Cape Town on April 18 - Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers - will feature at least nine South African players, including Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, in a calculated attempt to spark local interest in what is essentially an Indian domestic event.



According to the schedule, Cape Town hosts a chunk of the matches in the beginning of the tournament till April 26 when the action shifts to the Supersport Park and other venues. The matches in Durban, the main venue, run through the whole tournament from April 21 to May 20. The final is being held on May 24 in Johannesburg, which also hosts one of the semi-finals the day before

Kingsmead in Durban, which has a sizeable Indian-origin population, was allocated 16 matches, the highest among the eight venues, while Supersport Park in Centurion will host 12 games. The Wanderers and Newlands will stage eight matches each, while St George's Park in Port Elizabeth and Buffalo Park in East London were given seven and three matches respectively. Two matches each were handed to the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and three to the De Beers Oval in Kimberley.

Schedule, Courtesy CricInfo:







Kings XI Punjab play 10 of their 14 matches, the maximum among the eight franchises, at the three venues in demand, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings (9), Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians (8), and Delhi Daredevils (7).

The matches will be held at 12.30 pm and 4.30 pm local time (4.00pm and 8.00pm IST; 10.30am and 2.30pm GMT ).

Like the Blog post? Subscribe to the RSS Feed by Email.
Rate this Blog? Click here!.
Kunal Janu
Read the Full Story...