IPL Round UP
NEW DELHI: Here's a glimpse of DLF Indian Premier League coverage in the daily newspapers.
It's all down to nerves now. Times Of India writes as the Indian Premier League enters its last week, nail-chomping has all but become a national phenomenon and by the time the semi-finalists are identified, cricket-lovers will have to start looking for something else to chew on. It adds that the last few days have seen so many close matches that even the point's table is now scratching its head. In all likelihood, the teams that fail the nerves-test will not come down to winning matches anymore and it will all be about not losing them.
Everyone was talking about brother Yusuf before IPL II. Quietly, the junior Pathan has come up the ranks and played a big role in the survival of Kings XI Punjab so far. Hindustan Times says that in the world of bubbles that T20 or IPL can sometimes be, players come to the fore by turn. A few good outings bring them under the spotlight for a while before someone else displaces them. There isn't anything constant about it. "I just wanted to play before the tournament started. I hardly played any international cricket last year because other players were doing well. So, before the IPL and looking ahead to the T20 World Cup, I was praying that I get a chance to play regularly. When you perform at crucial times, it makes a big difference to your confidence. For me, it's done a world of good, especially before the T20 World Cup," Irfan tells Hindustan Times.
It was Joginder Sharma a couple of years back. Today, it's Irfan Pathan. He has become a bit of a last over hero for whichever team he plays and it's no different in the IPL either. If he did the job with the bat against the Knight Riders and Team Delhi on Monday, it was Pathan's chance to show what he can do with the ball. Times Of India writes he is the first one to concede that there's an element of luck attached to winning matches in the last over. "It was my luck tonight and I won. If you ask me, I would say the pressure was on them. The key to winning these moments is not to take the pressure on yourself and I guess that worked," Pathan said with a characteristic smile on his face to Times Of India.
Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist are giving leadership a good name in the IPL and it's not just by accident. Sandip Patil writes in Mid Day that while Gilchrist's leadership for Deccan Chargers is poles apart from that of VVS Laxman last year, Warne has shown that he is numero uno in extracting the best out of his players no matter how talented or limited they are. Gilchrist seems determined to prove that he could soon be on par with the great Victorian in this aspect.
Mahela Jayawardene wants to perfect his swing; Jacques Kallis is wondering why it's difficult to hit the stationary ball; and Mark Boucher is just happy to be wearing knee-length shorts as he makes his way up from a bunker. The Indian Express writes that it may seem that the three have taken a wrong turn and ended up at the Wanderers Golf Course rather than the cricket ground, but in reality the cricketers have a fascination for golf. "It's a very relaxing sport, and great fun," says Jayawardene, as he prepares to embark on the backward journey, after saving par on the ninth. "Even though cricket and family take a lot of time, I try to play golf at every opportunity available - it's a great stress buster."
Amit Mishra has been the Delhi Daredevils' premier spinner in their nine victories (from 12 matches) that helped them secure a semi-final berth. When Daniel Vettori had to sit out in order to allow four other foreigners to play, Mishra more than held his own. By his own yardsticks, though, Mishra has fallen short. Talking to Hindustan Times Mishra, said, "I had set out to get more wickets than I have managed. If you don't take wickets, you cannot put the opposition under pressure. T20 is not always about economical bowling."
Unlike in Tests and ODI, where the path has been paved by years of experience, Twenty20 still remains unchartered territory. Cricketers haven't quite mastered the art of excelling in cricket's shortest format. But, then, it's not just about trying to hit every delivery into orbit; many during the IPL are showing there's scope to construct innings. "In the 120 balls you play, 100 may be really difficult but even if you can take advantage of 20 deliveries then it makes all the difference,'' says AB de Villiers of Delhi Daredevils to Times Of India.
Icon players have had a torrid time in this season of the IPL. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid had started off brilliantly, only to taper off as the tournament progressed, while Sourav Ganguly has had a woeful run and is now hoping that the tournament ends soon so that he can go back. Sehwag was not even close to being at his best. Barring Yuvraj Singh, who's done it with the ball and not the bat, none of the big boys of Indian cricket have really come to the party. Times Of India writes that the left-hander, along with Sehwag, still has a week left to stamp the mark of the icons on the tournament. It's time for us to wait and watch.
As the DLF Indian Premier League enters its last stage, pressure on players is beginning to tell. Jacques Kallis in his column in Times Of India writes that there are no laws which dictate that certain players will be affected by nerves and others not. "We are seeing more and more effects of pressure on players. We have seen a team score 21 off the last over to win and we have seen a team defend a mere four runs in the final over. Experienced players may react negatively under pressure less often than young players, but it can strike any one of us - at any time. It may be one of the oldest sayings in cricket, but it has never been truer than now in the IPL -- the game is never won until the last ball has been bowled."
In Twenty20 cricket one big thing is not to plan too much, writes Ross Taylor in Times Of India. He says that on his day any batsman can bat unbelievably or any bowler can bowl a great spell, so all your plans can go for a toss. "Planning is important, but be prepared for an element of surprise when you get into a Twenty20 game," writes Taylor, adding that the final week is the time when the fortunes will be decided for good or worse. "Our next rivals Delhi Daredevils have played well right through this year and that will be a big challenge for us going forward. It's a big game, one which we must win to reach the semifinals. It is just basically down to the fact that we need to win our final two league games to make it through to the semi-finals. And if we don' beat Delhi, it is pretty clear that the tournament is pretty much over for us."
Brendon McCullum is a relieved man, at least for the time being. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain revealed in a press conference that he finally felt a lot better and will enjoy the night after his team managed to snap their losing streak in the Indian Premier League against Chennai Super Kings on Monday. According to a report in The Telegraph, McCullum said, "It feels a lot better, having won this match. We have been playing well for the last couple of matches, but we ended up on the wrong side in them. It was better this time."
He is yet to fire in the ongoing Indian Premier League but his side has already qualified for the semi-finals. Virender Sehwag is hoping to find his form ahead of the last-four stage of the tournament. According to agency report in DNA Sehwag feels it was just a matter of time before both he and Gambhir started scoring and if that happened it would be a bonus for his team. "I hope I will get runs in the next couple matches that we have to play before the semi-final. And if Gautam and I manage to find our form, that will be bonus for our team," he said.
Fielding has begun to have a great deal of say in the IPL as it heads into its business end. Ravi Shastri writes in Hindustan Times that as matches are being decided on the final balls and the margin of runs is little, the result is often decided by fielding. "The margin of error in this IPL has been very little. Just imagine if Rohit Sharma, on Sunday, hadn't got out in the final over, the task of 4 runs from 4 balls should have been easy against the Kings XI. Or Mumbai Indians' tail conceding critical run outs in the final over against Rajasthan Royals to end up losing by just two runs. Or that final over of Mashrafe Mortaza when 21 runs couldn't be defended," writes Shastri.
Allan Donald recalls the time South Africa were known as the greatest chokers and has some balm for Mumbai Indians' skipper Sachin Tendulkar. Ironically, Donald was at the centre-stage of the biggest heartbreak in South Africa's cricket history - the 1999 World Cup semi-final defeat to Australia. The Indian Premier League is all about high pressure situations and when you talk to Donald about pressure, his thoughts instinctively go back to that 1999 game. "Being run out on the fourth ball of the last over of the greatest semi-final in the World Cup history was the biggest disappointment of my career. A lot of people blamed me for that. It was the worst period of my career," Donald told Mid Day.
Empathising with Sachin Tendulkar and his team, Donald says, "He's experienced enough and has seen the ups and down. He will be better off for the experience. He's the best batsman I have ever seen. As a teenager, he took to batting as duck to water." Donald felt that Tendulkar would be better off without the extra burden of captaincy. "He has so much pressure of expectations from everyone that it's best he is not burdened with captaincy," he said to Mid Day.
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