IPL 2013: Sourav Ganguly puts his smart money on Mumbai Indi

Sourav Ganguly has said that the presence of a great coaching staff and experienced veterans will make Mumbai Indians the favourites for this edition. "They have a new but highly experienced coach in John Wright, the well-respected Anil Kumble as their mentor and senior pro Ricky Ponting as captain. Along with Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh's experience, you have exciting youngsters in Maxwell, Rohit and Rayudu. They will be strong contenders for the title," Ganguly said.

 Speaking about the defending champions, he said: "KKR's confidence will be really high being the champions. But they also have injury problem. I think it's an even-field." The former India captain had also said that domestic players will be key to IPL success. "The difference between good teams and the rest
is the quality of Indian players because overseas players cancel each other out."

( Online News Updated by Incident2day Group )

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I saw Sachin’s legs shivering while facing Akhtar: Afridi

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has supported retired fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s claims that Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was scared of his pace, saying that he was a witness of Tendulkar’s legs shivering in front of the Rawalpindi Express. In his book, Controversially Yours, Akhtar wrote that Tendulkar was scared of his bowling, a comment that has caused furore across the border, forcing publishers to cancel all launch-related and publicity events.

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When asked about Akhtar’s claims in his book, Afridi showed no hesitation in backing the controversial bowler. 'Shoaib is telling the truth. Tendulkar was afraid of him, and while fielding, I saw Tendulkar’s legs shivering while facing his bowling,' The Express Tribune quoted Afridi, as saying. However, the all-rounder added that it was not an unusual feature of a batsman. “There are times when every batsman feels the pressure, it happens against [Pakistani off-spinner] Saeed Ajmal even,” said Afridi. The former captain, however, was critical of Akhtar’s comments blaming Afridi for his omission from the 2011 ICC World Cup semi-final squad against India. “Shoaib should remember that I apologised to the chairman and manager on his behalf and got him back into the national squad. While he hasn’t lied about other things, he won’t be able to look at me in the eyes after he’s said all that,” Afridi said.

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Mumbai Indians upstages Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings let slip its home record in bizarre fashion as tailenders Lasith Malinga (37 not out) and Harbhajan Singh (19 not out) starred with the bat in an unlikely three-wicket win for the beleaguered Mumbai Indians at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday.

Batting first, Chennai made 158 for four and looked in complete control when Kieron Pollard departed in the 16th over, with Mumbai still requiring 53 off 28 balls with three wickets in hand, as Malinga joined his skipper.

What initially looked like a face-saving partnership soon turned ominous, as M.S. Dhoni did not have the bowling resources to counter the lusty lower-order hitters — he had bowled out his premier spinner R. Ashwin (two for 23) in the 14th over, and such was CSK's domination at that stage that the bowler ended his spell with a leg slip in place.

Pollard fell a few deliveries later, but Malinga powered two sixes off Shadab Jakati's final over before Dhoni missed a chance to stump the Sri Lankan off the last ball of the 17th over.

With Suresh Raina (two for six) being the only spin option left, Dhoni turned to Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel, neither of whom could stop the flow of runs, as Malinga swung effectively, taking 20 runs in the next two overs.

First win

The equation came down to 11 runs from the final over bowled by Bollinger. However, a boundary apiece for Malinga and Harbhajan gave Mumbai the much-needed win. The duo added 53 in 4.3 overs to take MI to its first win at Chepauk in four attempts since 2008.

Batting first, a Michael Hussey (81, 57b, 8x4, 3x6) master-class, withsome help from Dhoni, took Super Kings to a competitive score.

Mumbai skipper Harbhajan righted a few wrongs from the past — Pollard came in with a good 11.3 overs (though the steady drip of wickets more or less forced the call) still to be bowled in the chase, and it put its best foot forward while bowling first — Harbhajan opened the attack with Malinga.

Mumbai had erred the last time it played here in attempting to keep Malinga and Harbhajan back, when Abu Nechim's first over to Chris Gayle went for 26 in the second qualifier of IPL 2011 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

This time around, Malinga, who opened the bowling, sent down a fiery first spell, demolishing Murali Vijay's stumps, breaking Suresh Raina's bat and striking him on the body off successive deliveries. Harbhajan and Malinga sent down four of the six Power Play overs, going for just 16 runs and taking a wicket.

Changing gears

With Super Kings in survival mode, the first six overs saw 17 dot balls, but Hussey soon changed gears, driving and deflecting. In the company of Raina first and S. Badrinath later, the Australian nudged the run-rate northward. The next eight overs saw just 10 balls being wasted and when Dhoni joined Hussey in the 16th over, the final onslaught was well underway.

The four overs at the death went for 46 with Dhoni's cameo (22 n.o., 13b, 3x4) making up for Hussey's exit. The Harbhajan-Malinga combine couldn't stem the flow of runs, and their four overs in the latter half of the innings went for 45. However, they were to save their best for the last, with the bat.

The scores:

Chennai Super Kings: M. Hussey c Blizzard b Nechim 81 (57b, 8x4, 3x6), M. Vijay b Malinga 8 (10b), S. Raina st. Jacobs b Pollard 18 (17b, 2x4), S. Badrinath c Sathish b Nechim 16 (21b), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 22 (13b, 3x4), A. Morkel (not out) 2 (2b); Extras (lb-4, w-7): 11; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 158.

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-63, 3-111, 4-144,

Mumbai Indians bowling: Malinga 4-0-29-1, Harbhajan 4-0-32-0, Nechim 4-0-35-2, Symonds 2-0-16-0, Chahal 3-0-23-0, Pollard 3-0-19-1.

Mumbai Indians: D. Jacobs st. Dhoni b Ashwin 18 (15b, 3x4), A. Blizzard b Raina 28 (21b, 4x4, 1x6), T. Suman st. Dhoni b Raina 5 (7b), A. Rayudu c Dhoni b Bravo 5 (6b, 1x4), A. Symonds c Morkel b Bravo 3 (5b), K. Pollard c Dhoni b Morkel 22 (19b, 3x4), R. Sathish lbw b Ashwin 14 (8b, 1x4, 1x6), Harbhajan (not out) 19 (20b, 2x4), L. Malinga (not out) 37 (18b, 3x4, 3x6); Extras (b-2, lb-1, w-5): 8; Total (for seven wkts. in 19.5 overs): 159.

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Ganguly, Sachin differ on ODI format

KOLKATA: Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is not on the same page as his former opening partner Sachin Tendulkar, who has suggested revamping of the one day international cricket format.

Unlike Tendulkar, Ganguly feels the current ODI format is here to stay.

"We already have a 20-over format, so why another 25 over game? The 50 over game has done well. We saw such a hugely successful World Cup in India. The format is doing wonderful which was evident in the recently concluded India-England series," said Ganguly.

Ganguly thinks the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Tendulkar's proposal not for any cricketing reasons, but because it came from an Indian.

"It is no surprise that it (Sachin's suggestion) has been rejected. There is a huge idea or belief in world cricket that India is the power and dominates world cricket. At the moment it just gives me a feeling that oh! It has come from them, so lets put it on hold, India are too big," said Ganguly at a product launch event.

Earlier, cricketing legend Tendulkar sent a letter to ICC chief Haroon Lorgat suggesting the current ODI format of two innings of 50 over each be changed to four innings of 25 over each.

The ICC on Wednesday dismissed the suggestion saying there was no scope for change in the format at the moment.

Ganguly, the new designated chairperson of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) technical committee, toed the board's line saying the Umpire Decision Referral System (UDRS) needs to improve a lot to become acceptable.

"The UDRS is an issue and I completely agree with BCCI's thought on the system. From what I saw in the India versus England and Australia versus Sri Lanka Series the system needs a lot of improvement. It needs lot of updating before it becomes foolproof," added Ganguly.

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