Tough Time

The Kolkata Knight Riders lost their match against Team Bangalore continuing their horrible run in the tournament. The team has their hands full with the fake blogger issue and on field performances. Added to their recent list of miseries was a claim that players have been racially abused by the coaching staff. They are in the news always and only for bad reasons. And today they looked like getting a win against Bangalore and it their captain McCullum who was the man behind that.

But Ross Taylor had other ideas as he won the match from a hopeless situation. One has to say that the Kolkata team had only themselves to blame as they were in a commanding position to win the match but they just let it go. Problems continue for them as they would pray for this Indian Premier League to send as soon as possible.

Bowlers Have Something To Say

Players like Asnodkar, Uthappa and McCullum, who had a great time in season 1, are finding the going really difficult in these kinds of pitches. Considering these, one has to say that it's a great opportunity for the younger Indian players to play on these kinds of wickets as it would help them in a great deal going forward. And this IPL has also shown that if you have a good technique you can play anywhere and in any format of the game. And bowlers have had a far more success than they had last year. And the spinners have been playing a bigger role in most of the matches.

Players like Murali and Vettori are having a huge say in this edition of the IPL and captains have even started to open the bowling with spinners. With the wickets getting slower and slower we might see spinners dominating the later stages of the tournament also.

Bowlers Dominate This Edition

Surprisingly, the T20 theory is changing. Not only in India, almost all the teams in the world thought t20 was youngsters game and categorically omitted the seniors, oldies and obese cricketers. Even the seniors like Sachin, Dravid and Kumble thought that there was no place for them and opted out of the t20 world cup last year.

This IPL2 at South Africa has proved that totally wrong. In the matches completed so far, except for few youngsters, only the older players have been dominating. So what might be the reason for this? This time the IPL is being played in SA and not in India. The pitches here are different to those in India. And at this time of the year, when the domestic season is over in South Africa, the pitches have got worn out thus making it quite difficult for the players to play their shots. And these are pitches that require a batsman to have a good technique and you just can get away having poor technique.

Seniors Rule The Roost

Many of us think that twenty20 cricket is a young man's game. But it is not to be. When you take a broad look over the ongoing Indian Premier League, it's been the senior players who have played a key role in winning the matches for the teams. Team Chennai has been powered on by the retired Matthew Hayden while Kumble and Kallis have been doing a fine job for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sachin and Sanath have also played key roles in the matches Mumbai have won.

Rahul Dravid has also been a standout performer in this edition of the Indian Premier League. Sachin Tendulkar rubbished the talk of twenty20 being a young man's game saying it was a cricketer's game. And having a look on how the seniors are playing, one has to agree with the master.

Barcelona - Manchester United in finals

One has to say it was a dream to have these two finals. Barcelona and Manchester United are probably the two best football sides in the world. This is not in terms of the results or the trophies; this is with reference to the quality of football they produce. And if we have a look at both the sides, there is so much talent that you can't afford to miss the finals of the Champions League.

The defending champions Manchester United are on a mission and they can create history if they can retain the title as no team has ever successfully defended UEFA Champions League. And they can round off a great season were they have already won the FA Community shield, Carling cup and FIFA club world cup. They are on course to retain their Premier League title and winning the Champions League would cap off a fantastic season for the Red Devils.

EPL: Title race

The race for the English Premier League title this season is going to be greater than it has been over the last 5-6 years. Champions Manchester United had a cool 10 point lead over Liverpool going into the match against them at Old Trafford. And the last thing that they wanted was to lose all three points and give hope for Liverpool. And what happened was just that. Liverpool had a sniff after that result and there was sudden belief among the players and the fans.

They were hoping that Manchester United would slip up and they could take advantage of that. And United dropped points again at Fulham and Liverpool were right back in it. So it's going to be a fascinating few weeks before the end of the season. Will Liverpool catch Manchester United, we have to wait and watch.

BCCI Vs ICL

The rift between the Board of Control for Cricket in Indian (BCCI) and the Indian Cricket League has been going on right from the day ICL was started. ICL was the tournament which first brought Twenty20 format to India. And BCCI, which was opposing Twenty20 format, floated the Indian Premier League after the success of Indian team in the Inaugural Twenty20 world cup. So it can be safe so say that ICL has only helped Indian Cricket by being one of the reasons for the formation of IPL.

Indian Cricket League has been ignored by the BCCI for no reason. The players who had aligned themselves with the rebel league have found themselves banned from their respective state cricket associations. BCCI has also gone on and made the foreign boards ban the players who had appeared for the rebel league. This has weakened many teams like Pakistan and New Zealand. ICC has to resolve this issue at the earliest as only cricket is suffering as a result of all these.

Team India Under Dhoni

Indian cricket team is going through a great phase under Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team is very well set in all three formats of the game and has been performing consistently. The main difference between Dhoni and the captains thus far is that he is calmer under pressure and does not force anything on the players. He lets the players play their natural game and his approach is reaping rich rewards.

Team looks like a single unit, they enjoy each other success and Coach Gary Kirsten along with the other backroom staff must be given credit for that. There is no more fingers pointing among the each other. On the field, Dhoni is in charge and the players are willing to play for him. He also makes smart moves while playing in the field. There has been a lot of talk that Dhoni is very lucky and his real test will come during the tours outside India. But I don't have any doubt that Dhoni will prove everyone wrong in the upcoming New Zealand tour. Beware Kiwis, Indian Tigers are coming at you.