Royals' Key man

Similarity : Munaf Patel and Khali?

Ian Chappell's Mirror

IPL is about to overtake EPL

It is no secret that Lalit Modi wants IPL to be world's biggest sports tournament / league. Many thought Lalit was being his ridiculous self, but with IPL 3 he has proved that IPL is already bigger than FA cup.. dont believe? look at this



These are the two man of the match awards that Symonds got in the last two matches.

and this is the FA cup :P



Twice as big!! yaay!! Go IPL! Go Modi! Go ridiculously big man of the match awards!!

Kapil, stop embarrassing your fans ( I am sure there are a few )

I wasn't born when India won the 1983 world cup and I was too young to understand cricket when Kapil was playing. Maybe that is the reason why I dont respect him as much as those who have seen him do. But the same can be said about many "experts". I have always wondered why they dont irritate me as much as Kapil does when he says something stupid.

I think the main reason is his inconsistency. He is never consistent with his views. One day he wants seniors out of the team, next day he is against seniors resting. He criticizes Sachin and the next day he wants Bharat Ratna for him..

The reason why I am wasting my time writing about him is because of what he said the day before on a hindi news channel. He wanted Sachin to play in the T20 world cup. No problem. Many fans want him to do that.. But what he reportedly said (I dont watch most news channels.. I got this info from Twitter) about Sachin playing IPL but not T20 world cup is really stupid. Even by Kapil's standards.

He is playing very well in the IPL. There is no reason why he cannot perform for India

Kapil, if you were following cricket recently, Sachin has been performing for India. Just not in T20s. That is because he, along with other seniors had decided long ago that they wont be playing this format. I am sure you knew that because you didn't make a noise last two years. Sachin didn't play the first two T20 world cups but he was a part of IPL1 and 2. Were you sleeping then?

Oh.. Kapil sure was not sleeping. Who can forget that video where Kapil danced with the Aaj Tak guys when India won the T20 world cup!! Those who missed that, check this out :



He didn't seem to miss Sachin much then.. Why now? An ex-ICL guy questioning why a player is playing IPL but not T20 international doesnt somehow sound right.

If Kapil had been watching cricket recently, he would know that it is not batting but bowling where India is weak.. especially in T20s. So why didn't he ask Kumble to play T20 world cup? He too is playing IPL right?

But no. And I am not surprised. Kapil has always tried to get into the news by saying something or the other about Sachin. This is a good example.

"I wouldn't like somebody pushing him out. Whenever he calls it a day, may be two years or five years from now, he should go with grace and we should love him for that."

wow!! such a change!!

and the worst ever :

"Sachin has big records to his name but until he wins matches for India in these conditions, people will raise fingers at him,"

after all these years, if he feels Sachin has not won India matches in tough conditions, nothing will convince him. Even a Sachin century in T20 finals. Sachin should not bother about what Kapil says. His fans certainly dont :)

Goneguly is going to rock IPL4

Bat manufacturers 'Goose', after watching Goneguly bat in this IPL, suggested a special bat that will help him in the next IPL. Having practiced with it and getting dismissed only 7 times in 42 deliveries, Goneguly was quite pleased with the bat.

The bat manufacturers wanted to name the bat over a small and ferocious animal but according to the Kolkata star, his fans think of him as a tiger and wont accept anything else associated with him. Sensing controversy at associating something extinct with an endangered national animal, they named the bat over the batsman.

Extensive research went behind the bat design. U-15 bowlers of a local pace academy were asked to bowl to the star and this is what the team found out :

Goneguly is an excellent batsman but he kept missing the ball by 5-6 inches on either side. So we designed the bat in such a way that it covers that.

This is what they said during the press conference..

About the the bat resembling kid's bicycle with support wheels

"You call it support, we call it helper. The top one is used when facing bowlers who bowl faster than 120. Goneguly expressed discomfort playing such pace, especially the bouncers. The design is such that when he pulls or hooks, he wont miss the ball. The top helper will hit it. and since it is slanted down, the ball wont go up in the air"

They refused to answer to the question whether Goneguly would be able to spot a bouncer faster than 120kmph.

"The bottom helper will be very effective against spinners. It is angled upwards and will be very useful playing lofted shots."

They also told the fans that they initially designed two bats, one for playing pace and another for spin. Like these :But Goneguly wanted both helpers in one as it would reduce chances of getting out LBW. The manufacturers were quite pleased with the Star's involvement in design process.