IPL3 has been a season of ups and downs for the team. It started badly in the first half of the group stages - losing 5 of the first 7 games. That super over loss against KXIP in the first half is still in my memory. But then the team made a remarkable turnaround in the second half - inspired by the performance of the local boys - Ashwin & Vijay and the new-recruit Dougie.
And thanks to some fine bowling in the semifinals, WE ARE IN THE FINALS. Playing against the best team of IPL3 so far. A dream final for the media - since they are able to pit it as Dhoni Vs Sachin contest. But CSK fans would be having 'guilty' pleasure that Sachin is doubtful for the finals.
CSK My XI:
1. Anirudha 2. Vijay 3. Raina 4. Dhoni 5. Albie 6. Badri 7. Hussey/Kemp 8. Ashwin 9. Jakati 10. Murali 11. Dougie
Hayden's performance on the semifinals showed clearly that he should be dropped. In the entire innings, he was trying to play across the ball. And not even once he tried to walk down the pitch when the ball was moving sidewise. Since the pitch for the finals would be a lot slower, it might not even provide him the chance for redemption. Hope the team management asks Anirudha or Hussey or Kemp to open in this important match.
MI Probable XI
1. Jayasuria 2. Dhawan 3. Tiwary 4. Rayadu 5. Duminy/Bravo 6. Pollard 7. Nayar 8. Harbhajan 9. Zaheer 10. Kulkarani 11. Malinga
Most Dangerous Players
1. Harbhajan: In the slow pitch with spongy bounce, we can expect Harbhajan to be handful against any opposition team. He would also be pumped for this big match.
2. Pollard: His performance was the key difference between Mumbai and Bangalore in the semis. Not only he blew Bangalore away with his batting but also took a few important wickets. His wicket would be very crucial tomorrow.
3. Zaheer: Being the stand-in captain, he would like to lead the team with his performance. Hope the openers don't lose any early wickets to him.
Favorites: With respect to the finals, Mumbai have various things going for them
1. They are the in-form team this IPL - with 11 wins so far.
2. They would be playing in a capacity crowd that would be backing them to the hilt
3. Most of their players have struck form in this IPL
But still Chennai has 'it' in them to defeat the team - as they showed in the match against Mumbai in Chennai.Hope they pick the right XI and play to their potential.
14 comments:
But what a joy it would be to beat them attheir backyard. if MI is chasing im not v sure if its exactly home advantage, its more of a pressure situation
@ Yeskay,
By still they would be able to doctor the pitch to whatever they want..
am not too sure if that helps because they cant doctor the toss!! the toss matters more these days and chasing has really been a no -no kinda.
I really hope we stick to our bowling combo. If we do incl Kemp..we have another option.
2the end of the day we need to pick our best bowlers and thats what we did vs DC
Stick to the strategy of batting first. More teams have won the finals batting first than bowling. If Sachin doesnt play tomorrow, our chances become that much brighter. Sachin has been crucial in all their chases, steering them till the late overs and I dont see anybody else in mumbai capable of performing that role.
I am pretty sure that Anirudha might open with Vijay and we'll have Kemp for Hayden. There can no specific strategies for this match, we have to play our best and hope that we can win this!
Any pitch doctoring can seriously backfire for MI and I believe we'll have a hard batting track for this finals to negative chennai's spin strength.
If pitch is going to be slow play Hussey/Kemp in place of Hayden. If its going to be flat and fast play Hayden. Just in case we loose a wicket in less than 4 overs, Anirudh can come first down.
Please Please judge the pitch properly how much is a competitive score. Dont play for 200 on a pitch of 160 and finally end up scoring 130-140.
Last match we realised it after we lost the first three wickets..If the pitch doesnt offer that much support to hit through the line, then dont do it, there are always bad balls to score. Make sure everyball is accounted for atleast a single.
110-120 for 2/3 wickets in 15 overs then aim for another 50-70 runs in last 5, we can reach between 160-180. If the pitch is goin to be slow like we have seen in the last few matches, thats a good score for MI who might be playing without Sachin.
Sorry I could'nt be the first to comment!! Hope we win anyways.
As Robin mentioned, we have it in us to beat Mumbai tomorrow. Also, if one look at the statistics of the semi-finalists from the last 7 league matches plus the SF results, its stands out like this:-
MI - Won 5 Lost 3
DC - Won 5 Lost 3
RCB - Won 3 Lost 5
CSK - Won 6 Lost 2.
The true state of team's performance is measured after the first half of the league matches since lot of the overseas players joined after that time and also it takes some time to settle down for the right combination.
Looking at the numbers from above, CSK seem to be clear leader lately for consistent performance compared to the other three. All the best for the final showdown.
The 180 plus scores are gone..i think 160 plus will be a great total to play for.
Most of the MI players as well arent great players of classical spin. Pollard doesnt, Duminy is a little shaky as well.
Not sure about Tiwary.
I think the 3 spinner trick has done the job beautifully and 3 overs from Ashwin right upfront has worked great so far.
It will be a great toss to win and bat 1st..esp vs Mumbai which has great bowlers to defend a total.
For MI, it will be a big blow psychologically if Sachin does not play. Not sure about Zaheer Khan's captaincy.
For CSK, I think it is time for Hayden to sit out. Hussey maybe a good choice to open.
Thanks to the focus being on Hayden's flopshow, Vijay has been able to get away with little contribution. He needs a kick in the you know where before the toss.
Kemp has done little of note (recently, or ever!) and it would be sin to replace Hayden with him. If H must be replaced, let it be with the other H.
MI have an envious bowling pack (Singha, Slinga and Khan) and would not risk preparing a pitch to suit them. (BTW, the term doctoring hints at sleight and it would be unfair to MI, on the other hand preparing it is perfectly legit)
I hope SRT plays - victory would be that much sweeter!
One thing that I've noticed in the last one year or so everything thats happening around Sachin seems to be very-well scripted for his glory. I guess the planets are in the best posssibe position in his horoscope. Just before the recent one and only double hundred in ODI by Sachin, there was this famous issue with Mr.Bal Thackerey that Sachin has done very little for any Maharastrian cause. From then on the double hundred, consistent performance throught the IPL season this year and he had taken MI to the final for the very first time, Won the Best batsman award. Everything thats happening somehow seem glorify Sachin. Think like this, an injured Sachin playing with injury and makes MI win the final..!?!
whatever total we put, we should start off well (like we did against dc) and i believe we would.
Nobody in this mumbai team can read and play Muralitharan like Sachin does. That will be the crucial phase of tomorrows game. If Murali starts off well, we can be rest assured that it will be a close match.
I have been a Haydos fan all throughout and I feel the time has come now to try another person. Even if Kemp can come down the order and play 15 balls for 20 runs, it suits us. We cant afford to loose 10 balls and a wicket everytime we start off with Hayden. I am sorry to say this, but he has had all the chances he can get. We need to do justice to the other players in the squad.
we will win the cup i feel
Haydos has a tremendous backing frm the CSk squad, surprised to see him back. I really hope he notches at least a quick 1/2 fifty.
Great toss to win!!
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