knight riders

IPL: Into the play-offs, into the night

The suspense has ended.IPL play-offs have been decided.

Super  Sunday will repeat itself in two instalments on the 24th and 25th of May, 2011 at the Wankhede.

It’ll be the Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier.

Mumbai Indians and Kolkatta Knight Riders will clash once more on Wednesday in the eliminator.

The Eliminator? Sounds like a wrestling tie to me.

Continue reading →

Mumbai Indians face possible relegation from IPL play-offs

Mumbai Indians crashed to their third defeat in a row. Shane Warne had the last laugh in the clash of titans.

Surprising how the side that looked so consistent and formidable at the start of the tournament is suddenly found wanting on slower pitches. The first three seasons witnessed the team heavily dependent on the genius of Sachin Tendulkar and to a lesser extent, Sanath Jayasuriya’s.Kieron Pollard’s bludgeoning club added heft.

Saurav Ganguly, the unseen force in West Bengal politics (Satire)

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has squarely blamed Shah Rukh Khan and his Kolkatta Knight Riders for the CPI(M)–led Left Front’s abysmal showing in the West Bengal assembly elections.

“The absence of Saurav Ganguly from KKR ranks upset the general populace. There was no anti-incumbency , no tiredness with 34 years of ‘misrule’, not even Nandigram,” said the veteran political leader.

Continue reading →

What he said, meant and definitely didn’t: Gautam Gambhir

What he said:

“I always believed that there were never great captains and there will be no great captains. There are only great teams. No captain can win you the game. It is the team that wins the game.”

Gautam Gambhir on his captaincy stint with Kolkatta Knight Riders.

What he meant:

“The team makes me.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I bet you a hundred bucks that Ganguly would win with this team.”

Why Saurav Ganguly signed up with the Pune Warriors (Satire)

KOLKATTA—

Sourav Ganguly, in an exclusive interview to MakeTimeForSports, revealed the reason why he decided to accept an offer from Pune Warriors for this year’s IPL.

“I had completely given up hope of playing for Kolkatta Knight Riders  or any other franchise in this IPL. That mealy-mouthed SRK is not my favourite actor anymore.” said the former India captain.

“I was looking for the right franchise to turn to. Kochi Tuskers was on my radar. But the final decision was made by my wife,Dona.” disclosed the ODI legend.

Continue reading →

SRK, KKR and Kajol, Rani and Bipasha at the IPL (Humour)

Shah Rukh Khan is at the end of his tether.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, will convince Dada fans that SRK  loves Sourav Ganguly (and Bengalis) and that’s why he let him go.

Slashing the price of tickets for forthcoming KKR games has not quite had the desired effect as evidenced by fan reaction on the team web-site.

Continue reading →

Winds Of Change: Non-American golf, IPL’s Valthaty, badminton skirts and Rafa season

“The future’s in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change”

Lines from the Scorpions’ ‘Winds Of Change’ come to mind when I ruminate over the past week’s happenings in the world of sport.

The song celebrates the changes in the political clime—the end of the Cold War— and was inspired by the band’s visit to Moscow in 1989.

It was the theme song for the reunification of Germany.

Winds of change are blowing over more than one sport.

Poonam Pandey, Cheer Queens and Supermodels (Humour)

That Poonam Pandey enjoys flirting with danger was well evident in her offer to do the Full Monty if Team India won the World Cup.

Despite receiving threatening calls and recovering from kidney stone removal surgery, the model intends to keep her word.

As if to make up for her hardships, Akshaye Kumar has offered her a chance to appear on his dare-devil television show for ladies “Khatron Ke Khiladi”.

Continue reading →

IPL has more than enough gas to cover the fourth stage

The game between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkatta Knight Riders was a humdinger. A last-ball finish was a perfect ending to a cliff-hanger.

Fresh personnel could not take KKR over the line. Captain Cool MS Dhoni retains the Midas touch though he seemed a little lacklustre in the field.

Continue reading →

Indian cricket: World Cup selection conundrums and death knells

Image via Wikipedia

The Indian team’s preparations for the World Cup recovered from a minor hiccup when Shantakumaran Sreesanth replaced the injured Praveen Kumar in the side.

The UP bowler has not yet recovered from an elbow injury sustained on the South Africa tour.

Though there were some calls for Ishant Sharma instead, the Kerala cricketer is the man in form. Sharma is a far cry from the bowler he was on his debut Down Under in 2008. He has been bowled into the ground; a case of poor handling by captain and coach. In his case, the rotation policy is a joke.