IPL: The first ball syndrome

It started with Parthiv Patel in the first match of the IPL. Out caught at slip off the bowling of Malinga of the second ball of the innings. Since then, there have been 27 cases of the O1 virus and specifically 10 instances of the O1B1 virus.

Eh?

O1 = Over 1 i.e. Batsmen getting out in the first over of the innings. O1B1 = Over 1 Ball 1 i.e. batsman getting out on the first ball of the innings. Here’s the ball by ball analysis.

1st ball = 10
2nd ball = 6
3rd ball = 5
4th ball = 1
5th ball = 4
6th ball = 1

It includes heavyweights like Jacques Kallis (twice), Brendon McCullum (twice) and Adam Gilchrist (twice). The two stars are definitely Jesse Ryder (three times) and Parthiv Patel (three times).

Karan Goel got himself run out off the first ball itself. Worse, he was the non-striker. In effect, he went up to the pitch, stood at the other end as the first ball was bowled to Bopara and then tried to run, was run out and then walked back.

So what’s with this disease. Analysis of the way people got out says the following

Bowled 7
Caught behind 8
Leg before 4
Run out 3
Caught aggressive shot 5

Bowled + Caught Behind combined gives 15. That suggests laziness, lack of concentration and or a superb delivery. Couple of ones I remember Ma(s)linga and Fidel Edwards yorking the batsmen first ball.

I can propose the following theories

1. Bowlers think that the first few balls the batsman is likely to play it safe, try and get focus. So how about bowling a ripping yorker? It also explains the leg befores dismissals. One has to get it right, of course. Hence, before getting onto the pitch, warming up is the key. The days of bowling looseners first ball have gone.

2. Batsmen, given it is T20, feel they have to hit every ball to the moon. But their timing and often ability come in the way. Hence, miscues, edges, etc. Right from ball 1.

What I can’t figure out is the run out. Running oneself out first ball is so stupid. Unless it is a fabulous piece of fielding. Then it is pure bad luck (and good for the fielding team)

Anyway, analysis ends. Still a few matches left and we should see some more instances of the two viruses for sure.

Cricket Post: Bangalore v Mumbai

Bangalore has had a recent resurgence with two consecutive wins, first against Kolkata and then against Punjab. With six points, they had the opportunity to win and jump to the top four on the table. Mumbai on the other hand already had 8 points and would have gone to the top of the table. I live tweeted the entire match and I am putting it here as a full report of the match.

Exciting stuff here, Ravi says. First thing I hear as I switch on the telly. South africans take over RCB, get JPD. Exit of KP significant?

Note: Had a conversation with Dibyo on this. Dibyo said KP may not have known about Du Preez and Van der Merwe. Also, KP as a bat did not really shine. A shame because “it would have been a treat, Bangalorean or not“

Dravid back in the team. Am not sure if Uthappa still makes the grade. But possibly no Indian alternative available

SMG says Du Preez is a ’surprise package’ cos he took wkts of SRT & Rahane, etc. ‘inspired selection’. bcos SMG has no idea who this guy is

Jaya – 39, SRT – 36, Jumbo – 38, RSD – 36, Kallis – 35, that’s the line up today. Young man’s game, anyone?

Note: Got it wrong, he is 33. Doesn’t change the purport of my tweet anyway

Jaya has just started scoring freely. But has to stop because of the tactical time out. Likely we will see AK 1st over after the break

8 off AK’s 1st over, all run. SMG feels 39 year old Jaya’s legs will cave in with all the running. What all does he get away with, does SMG.

Note: In Twitterland, we have had major things to say about Sunny Gavaskar’s commentary, not all of it is fit for publishing.

120 – 130 target likely. RCB will have to watch out for their first over wicket blues. No Ryder mind you, that should help I suppose

MI did very well in part 2 of their innings. Nayar seems hot candidate for Indian team for the World T20 team.

Note: In the last five overs, MI (Bravo and Nayar) put up 63 runs. Tremendous stuff. MI were 53/3 at the end of 10 overs. They finished with 149/4.

MI 149. Think it is going to be really tough for RCB. Their batting has been much under par. And today they have Wasim Jaffar to open.

Jaffar, a solid opng bat, says SMG, opportunity to show he relishes the game. What a contrast to his talk re M Vijay y’day

Note: Sanjeev and me had a banter about the propensity of the “crawl” when Jaffar and RSD come together. Sanjeev suggested that RSD and Jaffar would not complete 150 runs even in 50 overs, leave alone 20 overs. But Sanjeev then disproves himself by pulling out stats where Jaffar scored 178 of 132 balls. And argument about RSD is non starter anyway.

camera pans the crowd and shows all posters which sya inane things like Thank You IPL etc. Think they are planted by LM pr team

Note: Really, in all the cricket across the world, where have we actually seen posters thanking the tournament, board, board members, organising committee members, administrators, etc. You think an average Indian cricket fan is going to make a poster saying “Thank You Niranjan Shah”?

Lots of chikni chicks in the Mallya box waving RCB flags. My guess, Mallya has got his F1 pit babes over for the weekend.

Jaffar really wasted that over. Five dots including the ball that he got out to. Upset the rhythm they had first 2 overs.

Kallis takes 2 sixes of Malinga’s 1st over. Makes up for the previous over depression. Kallis going at 200 SR

Kallis timing and placement is outstanding tonight. He has been shining infrequently this #ipl . Hope he carries on for a big one

Danny Morrison reports that there are 35 cameras covering one match. That’s more than the number of players in the KKR team.

Note: This KKR team is a joke and hence making more jokes referring to them is perfectly okay.

Malinga bowls a maiden. Uthappa kept swinging his bat and hit nothing. Will have to be made up in this Nayar over.

Just 3 runs in the last 2 overs. RR has nosedived.

KP may have gone but seems to have left his scratchy play with Uthappa, including the stupid switch hit shot

Time out break > time required to smoke a kingsize cigarette

Nayar’s bowling run up and bowling in gen is reminiscent of Chris Harris and Gavin Larsen

+15 (Prem’s system), 9 wkts in hand. This is RCB’s game as of now. If they win, the ipl is wide open. Only KKR are assured of 8th spot

Zak’s going off. Won’t be avail to bowl a few overs at least. This will be crucial for MI.

This one is definitely planted “Lalit Modi, we Indians are proud of you”. They prbbly hand out these posters saying u’ll be on tv

Note: See above. LM has definitely done a good job, he has made a big business killing. He’s a successful fellow. Right. Poster in the stadium? Why not for Ratan Tata? For Dhirubhai Ambani?

Ok Robin Uthappa has just pressed a button and found his form. That six makes it +2 now. Are we done here?

1st fifty for Robin in all the #ipl matches he has played over two years. Underperformance to the hilt. Anyway, makes RCB much stronger.

16 off 18, that’s -2. This has been the best batting performance of the #ipl so far. Just good intelligent stuff runs all over the park, etc

9 wkts, 11 balls to spare. That’s 2 out of 2 for AK as captain. This Indo-RSA combo for RCB seems to be a sound strat.

DC, DD, MI and RCB all 8 points. CSK, RR, KxiP on 7 points. This would be good fun.

Bangalore thus move to the fourth spot. Lots of matches still to be played. But, the general thinking is that 7-8 wins should see one through to the semis. So RCB have three more matches to win at least (and one of them is against KKR). But of course, KKR is not so much significant as all teams have matches against KKR. Delhi infact has yet to play KKR, so they have two potential wins there.

As of now, from the consistent form on display – Hyderabad and Delhi look solid; Mumbai & Punjab are slightly more consistent than Bangalore, Rajasthan and Chennai.

But, to borrow from Ravi Shastri’s cliche list, the tournament is going to the wire.

All about Ganguly’s fans

Gulu Ezikiel, to use a cliche, let the cats out of the bag with his unnaming of the identity of the Fake IPL Player. Essentially, he implicates two people, a Bengal Ranji opening bowler and if you have read the blog & figured out Lordie, then a former India captain (of Kolkata).

For those who do not believe in subtleties, not that there is anything left, this is Ranadeb Bose and Sourav Ganguly. For those of you who follow Ranji Trophy cricket, Ranadeb is the opening bowler of Bengal. Couple of seasons back, he was the most successful bowler in the entire season. He was picked in the 2007 England but did not get to play in any match (a couple of tour games maybe). It is very unlikely he will ever play for India given that India is well served by Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf  Patel, RP Singh, etc.

Sourav Ganguly on the other hand we know of very well. A person who triggers extreme emotions – either you like him or you don’t. As a Ganguly fan, one should not be under any illusion of his “holiness”. I may not expand further on this as I would not be able substantiate with any evidences.

Fans of Ganguly generally believe that Ganguly is always “targeted” by the media as a bad boy. It is not fully correct. The media has written as many positive and encouraging stories about Ganguly as critical.

1. As a player, there is no doubt he is one of the best batsman ever to play for India
2. He is the most successful captains
3. He built a team
4. He has tremendous mental strength (which I find most endearing for me)

So if you see any article saying something about Ganguly, do not jump to his ‘defence’ because many times none may be required. Just hush and move along.

Ravi Shastri’s Commentary Class – Live Blog

If Navjot Singh Sidhu had his book of proverbs and sayings, Ravi Shastri has his book of cliches. As I sit through Ravi Shastri commentating, let me list out some of his choicest ones. (The Ref is to help you learn how to use these cliches)

1. “knocking him around for singles” – Ref: “Wonder how they plan to tackle Harbhajan Singh?”
2. “it’s the doosra that’s done the trick” – Ref: Harbhajan just got Freddie caught and bowled
3. “New player at the crease… will take his time to get his eye in” – Ref: Dhoni coming in for Freddie
4. “It’s funny how in 20-20 cricket, one over can change the game” – Ref: end of the over
   1. Alternative “One over can make a difference” – Ref: General analysis
5. “Good atmosphere as the crowd builds up” – Ref: Camera shows Shilpa Shetty and one more chick having a smile
6. “This is excellent bowling” – Ref: Harbhajan bowling
7. “It’s into the stands in a flash” – Ref: Haydos hitting Harbhajan for a six
8. “It’s not easy to ball ball-after-ball” – Ref: Harbhajan bowling a full toss which goes for a six
9. “Used the pace of the bowler” – Ref: Haydos sweeps Jayasuriya for a four
10. “This match in the balance now” – Ref: Haydos dismissed by a brilliant Zak catch
11. “He goes for the big one” – Ref: General
12. “Terrific crowd, great atmosphere” – Ref: General
13. “I sense something’s gonna give” – Ref: General, in between deliveries, waiting for something to happen
14. “He’s got a good arm” – Ref: fielding in the deep and throw back to the keeper
15. “Another big over” – Ref: note cliche no. 4

And now from the presentation ceremony after the first game

1. “Tough luck and better luck next time” – Ref: Interview with MSD, losing captain of CSK

Then we move to the next game – RCB v RR

1. “good opportunity to come back into the thick of things” – Ref: Robin Uthappa and his being out of the reckoning for some time
2. “he’ll learn so much batting with Kevin Pietersen” – Ref: Uthappa again when he was briefly batting with KP
3. “makes good use of his height” – Ref: On KP playing his shots on the front foot
4. “he will look to bowl wicket to wicket” – Ref: On Munaf Patel
5. “Lands the ball on the seam more often than not” – Ref: On Dimitri’s bowling
6. “getting the odd one to nip back” – Ref: On Tyron Henderson
7. “Once Dravid got some bat on it, it raced along to the boundary” – Ref: Dravid flicking Kamran Khan for a four
8. “Mixing it up nicely”

He also made on howler. As Dimitri Mascarenhas was bowling his 4th over, Ravi contemplated “I wouldn’t be surprised if Warne gets him to bowl his entire quota in one go”. Mark Nicholas politely said, “Indeed you are right, he is in fact bowling his fourth over”

Royals innings chasing 134 v RCB

1. “Interesting to see”
2. “Playing the natural game”
3. “Likes dealing in boundaries” – Ref: What kind of player Yusuf Pathan is
4. “Living dangerously the two batsmen” – Ref: Yusuf lofted to long-on and ball went one bounce to Steyn
5. “Jesse Ryder is over the moon” – Ref: Ryder knocks Henderson’s stumps
6. “Dravid safe as a house” “Made it look easy” – Ref: Highlights showing Dravid taking Smith’s catch
7. “Under lights the ball will move around, zip around” – Ref: general comment on Day and Night matches
8. “A period of 5-6 overs without losing a wicket” – Ref: general (mind you 5-6 overs is 1/4th the innings)
9. “This is turning out to be a good over” – Re3f: end of 11th over when 13 runs were scored

Note: This is a blog post in progress – so more cliches shall be added during the course of the tournament.

Update: 24th April 2009, 11:48 PM (IST)

Okay, since the first day of matches last week, Ravi Shastri has been on air on every other match and the list of his stock phrases have been updated. Here’s a new list (from KKR v RR match yesterday)

1. Experience will be invaluable – Ref: Younglings Anureet Singh bowling for KKR; later repeated when Kamran Khan was bowling
2. Good toss to lose – Ref:  Shane Warne losing the toss and fielding
3. If its greasy, it won’t help the bowlers – Ref: The ball and the dampness on the grass due to the rain
4. He knew exactly where the boundary line is – Ref: Ishant Sharma taking the catch at third man
5. He finishes it off with a good yorker – Ref: Anureet Singh finishing his over
6. I get the feeling this match going all the way down to the wire  – Ref: When KKR are batting, a few wickets have fallen, the strategic time-outs have just been done.
   1. Note: Later he applies this cliche to describe the entire tournament
7. As a captain you believe you can control the game now – Ref: Shane Warne waving his arms and positioning his fielders
8. He’s got two overs up his sleeve – Ref: Shane Warne on whom he will bowl
9. He’ll wait and watch – Ref: Shane Warne on what he will do as a captain
10. You didn’t know till the last week – Ref: Check no. 6, he is now talking of how competitive the tournament is
11. Bowling change that does the trick (Munaf Patel, Kamran Khan) – Ref: Two wickets for the two bowlers who have just come in to bowl
12. Can’t ask for anything better (Munaf’s delivery that got Brad Hodge)
13. Next two three overs are so important – Ref: We are in the 16th over

Still four weeks to go, so I’ll just split this into a part 2 and make a new blog post