Hyderabad Bowling up against the Bangalore Batting in the IPL 2016 Finale

Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad - VIVO IPL 2016 Final, Match Preview

After a month and a half of continuous T20 matches being played all across India, the IPL finally has its two top teams ready to do the final battle in a quest to lift the trophy and be crowned the IPL 2016 Champions.

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad have had two different routes to the final, Bangalore depending on their smoking hot batting fire power to get them here while Hyderabad have depended heavily on a slew of left arm fast bowlers along with the Fizz to steamroll opposition batsmen into dust. The two teams are led by two maverick batsmen, both in the form of their lives – Virat Kohli and David Warner.

The batting depth and the class of Virat, Gayle, De Villiers and Watson definitely gives RCB the advantage in addition to the fact that they will be playing at their home ground at the Chinnaswamy but Bhuvi, Mustafizur, Sran and Henriques might just be the bowling attack that can tame the beast of the batting line up that awaits them.

As far as the SRH batting is concerned, Warner will hope that either of Dhawan, Henriques or Yuvraj come into their own in this grand finale. Dhawan and Yuvraj, in particular might be crucial cogs in the Sunrisers batting as leggies Chahal and Abdullah have been two key bowlers for RCB and if the two left handed Indian stalwarts can take on the two bowlers turning the ball in to them, then it will put a lot of pressure on Virat in the field.

There is a small doubt regarding the fitness of Mustafizur but I guess that he will be fine for this big match. If not, then Trent Boult is an ideal replacement as he can swing the ball early and can nip Gayle and Kohli early.

Any big match will have plenty of pressure and expectations and both the teams will vie to lift the trophy for the first time in their IPL history. It is set to be a clash of a Batting Giant against a Bowling Machinery and a mouth watering prospect awaits us tonight.

Who are you supporting? Why?

Highest Wicket Takers in IPL 2016 till April 30 2016

In the last post, we saw who were the highest Run Scorers in the current edition of the IPL up until the last game played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad on 30th April 2016. Now let have a closer look on the bowlers who have had the most success in the IPL 2016.

Surprisingly, there is only a solitary spinner in the top 5 wicket takers while pace bowlers finding the going much easier this time around. As a matter of fact, Amit Mishra is the lone spinner in the top 10 thus far which is a big surpise to me. Kiwi quick Mitch McClenaghan leads the chart with 12 wickets while Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is second with 10 wickets. Both of these bowlers have found swing during the night and have thus troubled the batsmen. Umesh Yadav has been quick and accurate and has reaped the rewards. Thisara Perera is at the 5th place having picked up wickets regularly for the Rising Pune Supergiants team.

Given below is the table showcasing the Top 5 Wicket Takers of the Vivo IPL 2016 (table updated till the matches played on 30th April 2016).

Player	Team	Matches	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate	Strike Rate	5’fer	4’fer
Mitch McClenaghan	Mumbai Indians	8	12	20.66	8.1	15.2	-	1
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar	Sunrisers Hyderabad	7	10	22.00	8.1	16.2	-	1
Umesh Yadav	Kolkata Knight Riders	6	8	14.88	7.9	11.3	-	-
Amit Mishra	Delhi Daredevils	6	8	16.87	7.1	14.2	-	1
Thisara Perera	Pune Supergiants	5	8	20.62	9.0	13.6	-	-

Highest Run Scorers in IPL 2016 till April 30 2016

I have not been a close follower of IPL cricket over the years, occasionally glancing over the scorecards or following the games in bits and pieces which concerned my favorite players and this year it has been almost the same.

On the batting front, David Warner has been in scintillating form after moving back to opening the batting for the SunRisers Hyderabad team. The Australian's must be feeling sick now having made the decision to move him in the middle order for the ICC WT20 2016. Virat Kohli continues his superb form while De Villiers has also been at his enterprising best. Gautam Gambhir has led from the front for the Kolkata Knight Riders and has been a major factor in them being the top ranked team thus far. Rohit Sharma, just like Mumbai Indians, has blown hot and cold but like every year, he finds himself amongst the top 5 batsmen of the IPL 2016 thus far.

Given below is the table for the Top 5 Run Scorers of the Vivo IPL 2016 (table updated till the matches played on 30th April 2016).

Player	Team	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100’s	50’s
David Warner	Sunrisers Hyderabad	7	7	386	77.2	168.6	-	5
Virat Kohli	Royal Challengers Bangalore	6	6	381	76.2	140	1	3
AB De Villiers	Royal Challengers Bangalore	6	6	316	52.7	166.3	-	3
Gautam Gambhir	Kolkata Knight Riders	7	7	302	60.4	123.2	-	3
Rohit Sharma	Mumbai Indians	8	8	298	49.7	136	-	4

The Top 5 Costliest IPL Picks from 2016!!

The IPL09 Player Auction saw plenty of action and drama yesterday in Bangalore with little known players bagging multi-million dollar deals while big players currently in red hot form being ignored by the franchises. With the two new franchises, Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions, joining the party it was a high adrenaline, mind numbing and jaw dropping exercise.

Let us look at the Top 5 Costliest Picks from the IPL Player Auction

Shane Watson (RCB): 9.50 Crore

Shane Watson was the star player for the Rajasthan Royals side and he was one of their main weapons and reasons for success. He recently showed his prowess against India in the third T20 at Sydney where he muscled his way to 124* from just 71 balls and served a timely reminder to those who thought that he was past his sell by date.

He is a high impact player and somebody who can change the course of any match with either the bat or the ball in his hands. Watson was brought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore team for a whopping 9.5 Crores and he will join a top order already brimming with champion players in Gayle, Kohli and De Villiers. Now that is one scary batting line up to bowl to and the impact of just having those big names on your roster will scare the opposition away.

Pawan Negi (DD): 8.50 Crore

Pawan Negi played under Dhoni at the Chennai Super Kings and made quite an impression on the Indian skipper so much so that Dhoni pushed for his inclusion in the Indian 15 man squad for the ICC WT20 event to take place in March-April this year. Negi scored 116 runs last season at an impressive strike rate of almost 160 and also took 6 wickets in the 10 matches that he played.

That the Delhi team shelled out 8.5 Crores for a player whose base price was just 30 lacs defies any logic whatsoever and it remains to be seen if Negi can now justify his high price tag with performances in the coming IPL.

Chris Morris (DD): 7 Crore

Chris Morris played for Chennai Super Kings initially and then represented the Rajasthan Royals last year. He is a death over specialist with the ability to bowl yorkers at will and also has a lot of variations of pace to befuddle the batsmen. He is also a very capable lower order batsman with a strike rate in excess of 150.

He had a base price of only 50 lacs but such is a dearth of good all-rounders in world cricket that they are the hottest picks for any team and hence such a high price was shelled for this South African!

Yuvraj Singh (SRH): 7 Crore

Yuvraj may look like a spent force to most Indian fans but he still commands a lot of respect from his peers and he was snapped up by the Sun Risers Hyderabad team for 7 Crore. While that figure may be less than half of what he got last year (16 Crore) but still it put Yuvi in the top 5 buys in this IPL auction.

The fact that he can bat, bowl and is a safe fielder only adds to his overall persona and he is still perceived as a genuine match winner by many.

Mohit Sharma (KXIP): 6.50 Crore

Mohit Sharma was an important player for the Chennai team and he was their go to fast bowler whenever Dhoni needed a wicket. He had a successful IPL season in 2013 when he picked up 23 wickets in 15 matches.

Mohit has a good time with the champion Chennai team and he bowled well both at the start and then at the death. Kings XI Punjab will be going that he can carry over his from down South to North!

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Rajasthan Take on Chennai as the In-Form Teams Go Head to Head

IPL8: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings at Ahmedabad, 19th April 2015 - Match Preview

Rajasthan and Chennai have been the best teams thus far in the IPL 8 and they clash today at Ahmedabad after which one will finally not have a clean slate. While McCullum and Dwayne Smith have been thrashing the living daylights out of opposition bowlers, Rahane has quietly gone on about his business. Raina and Faf have shored up the middle order for the men in Yellow while Smith and Faulkner have done the scoring for the Royals when the going has gone tough.

Both the teams also have enough firepower in their bowling line ups. The veteran Ashish Nehra has picked up a couple of 3 fer's already and he has the young Ishwar Pandey and Mohit Sharma for support. Rajasthan have Chris Morris and Tim Southee along with Dhawal Kulkarni who have made the early breakthroughs for the Rajasthan team. R Ashwin is the spin king for Chennai while the 43 year old Pravin Tambe still gives it a tweak that leaves the batsmen guessing!

Steven Smith has tormented Dhoni right through the last 5-6 months but now he finds himself on a ground where Dhoni can finally give it back. I look forward to this little battle between these two players, how they go about plotting each others downfall.

Key Battles: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings

Tim Southee vs Brendon McCullum

R Ashwin vs Steve Smith

James Faulkner vs Dwayne Bravo

This one promises to be a good game of cricket with the two in form teams clashing with each other. These two are also the teams which met in the first ever Final of the IPL 7 years ago!

Which team are you supporting? Who do you think will win?

Highest Run Getters and Wicket takers of the IPL 2011 till now...

Highest Run Getters of IPL 2011 till now -

Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians) - 269 from 6 matches

PC Valthaty (Kings XI Punjab) - 261 from 5 matches

DA Warner (Delhi Daredevils) – 236 from 6 matches

JH Kallis (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 233 from 6 matches

V kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 227 from 6 matches

Highest Wicket Takers of IPL 2011 till now -

Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians) – 16 wickets from 6 matches

Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals) – 9 wickets from 6 matches

A Mishra (Deccan Chargers) – 8 wickets from 6 matches

Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 7 wickets from 6 matches

Shakib Al Hasan (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 7 wickets from 4 matches