Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Paul Valthaty defeats CSK at Mohali!!!

It was a little disappointing and sad to see the team lose after a fine batting performance by the team. I understand that Paul Valthaty played the innings of his life. But that does not mean i can comprehend the poor performance of CSK Bowlers & fielders. Unlike the earlier IPL seasons, I had high hopes from the bowling unit this season. Hmm. So hugely disappointed about the bowlers. 

But the recovery from 0/2 in 0.2 overs & 6/2 in 3 overs to 188/4 was remarkable. But i have to agree that Chennai Super Kings missed Murali (&Bollinger) badly today. 

Positives:
1. 'Back in Form' Vijay: After the poor one-day series in South Africa & the first IPLmatch, it was good to see Vijay batting himself back to form. With Hussey joining the team soon, I am looking forward to see Hussey-Vijay opening the innings. (BTW. Hussey scored a century against Bangladesh today. )
2. Badrinath: Good to see Badrinath holding the innings together. Hope he continues to play like this and justify the price tag that CSK paid for him. 


Negatives:
1. Bowlers: Today, the team needed just 1 bowler to put up his hands and bowl a lot smarter - that would have won the match for the team. Hoping that Bollinger's expected return for the next match would lift the performance of the entire bowling unit. 

Considering that there are only 10 teams playing this season, the team now has to win 9 of their next 12 matches. And we have not even faced a single strong team so far. 


But the loss aside, today's innings by Paul Chandrasekhar Valthaty is one of the best moments of IPL. An unknown player without no reputation, no history & no connections brings himself to the limelight by his sheer brilliance. Kudos to Rajasthan Royals & Kings XI Punjab scouting team for bringing this player to limelight. After the poor first week, I have to agree that CSK has been involved in all the good IPL matches in this season. 

9 comments:

Cub said...

Albie had a really bad day. Everything he touched turned to dust. Being a champion, I am hoping he would bounce back strongly.

I feel this bowling lineup will struggle on road-type pitches. In the MAC, they'll be able to get away with this line-up though. The batters have to compensate for bowling in the away games.

Overall it was a good wakeup call coming at the right time. Hopefully the management will come up with a better strategy. CSK have bounced back strongly from such defeats. So hoping a RCB annihilation this weekend!!!

Cub said...

Not related to this topic, but read on cricinfo that Bravo is fully fit and will play in the ODI series against pakistan. After the series he will join CSK. The ODI series ends on May 5. So he will join CSK by the time Kulasekara/Randiv leaves.

Good news for CSK, a quality player coming towards the business end of the competition

Robin said...

@Cub,

Albie always takes some time to adjust to sub-continent conditions. Once he figured that out, he would be a decent bowler.

Yeah.. I was also surprised to see that Bravo has choosen to play for CSK ahead of WI test match. But lucky MI, Pollard even choose to skip the one day matches.

Yeah. Bravo's addition would be a welcome thing to the team.

Danesh said...

Very disappointing bowling performance - lot of full tosses and short pitched balls.

As for Pollard, he is money minded, always puts money (IPL) ahead of the country. Even his performances are better in IPL than for West Indies. Though I am a CSK fan, Bravo should finish his assignment with the West Indies before coming here.

Robin said...

@Danesh,
I was also expecting Pollard to be back for one day series. Would have felt wrong (but happy) if Bravo has come back to Chennai. Anyway, the fact that he will be there in the later end of the series bodes well for CSK..

AGA said...

My XI for the next game against RCB:

Vijay
Hussey
Raina
Badrinath
Dhoni
Morkel
Anirudha (retained in place of Styris. Styris is not bowling much anyway)
Ashwin
Randiv (should be retained in place of Jakati. jakati is not in the best of form now)
Southee
Tyagi (just because we cannot pick another foreigner)

Siddharth said...

Bollinger and Hussey should play, but who wil sit out ? Styris looks likely, and the other choice is difficult, both Randiv nd Southee bowled somewat decent against kings xi when compared to the rest, lets c wat happens

Siddharth said...

nd when wil CSK learn that Albie is not the bowler to use on flat tracks nd in high scoring games ? He should b given max 2 overs nd that not in powerplay

karthik said...

ya really albie failed in fielding and bowling so as ashwin and jakati. They hv wasted the good performance of vijay badri and dhoni.
My playing team for the next match would be
Vijay
Anirudha
Raina
Badri
Dhoni
Styrris
Ashwin
Randiv
Bollinger
Southee
Jakati