Pathan Magic and Mumbai's Discovery.

The Second day of IPL-3 provided us with thrills and spills galore. Just the second day and we witnessed 2 games that went down to the wire. The Mumbai Indians sneaked home against the Rajasthan Royals in a breathtaking encounter at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. In the second game we saw the Delhi Daredevils start their campaign with a win over the Kings XI Punjab at Mohali. The highlight of the day was Yusuf Pathan’s blitzkrieg over the Brabourne Stadium. A hundred of just 37 balls had everybody on the edge of their seats.
We saw a new Mumbai Indians outfit in the first game. They had a few new recruits from the ICL and played Ryan McLaren for the first time. The performance from their batsmen was fantastic. Jayasuriya provided them with a fast start hitting 3 boundaries and a six with ease. Sachin Tendulkar looked in good touch. The two flicks he played off Shaun Tait just showed that the master is still the best even against the quickest bowlers. The first ball that was flicked wasn’t on the leg stump but was on middle and off and Sachin beautifully put it behind square, the second one was on middle and it looked even simpler when it was put away for four again behind square. Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayadu played magnificently. Their hundred run partnership set up the win which should have been easier had it not been Pathan. Aditya Tare, I think is a good pick by Mumbai. He plays limited overs in domestic cricket. The 23 he scored highlighted his potential and his keeping was clean. Last season Mumbai tried Takawale, Shah and Ronchi without much success. I do not know why Ronchi failed to perform as he is known to be destructive down under. He plays most of his cricket at Perth and it shouldn’t be difficult for him to play on the pitches in India. However, this just shows how important it is for wicket keepers to contribute with the bat in modern day cricket. I think the Specialist stumper has to make vital contributions be it any form Test, One Day or T20. Mumbai, meanwhile have to think about their line-up for their next game. I think Murtaza can make way for the extra overseas player. Graham Napier can be given a game next time around as he can be very useful with both bat and ball. It remains to be seen whether Harbhajan will play the next game as he did not bowl today after being injured. For spin, Jayasuriya can be used and I think he was used too late today. He is the kind of bowler who needs to put in a few overs to get his rhythm. Sathish had a good day in the field but got a lot of stick from Yusuf Pathan and Paras Dogra. I still think he can be given a chance to impress with the ball as it is not easy once you run into a berserk Pathan. If Harbhajan doesn’t play then Murtaza may get another chance. It was interesting to see that Abhishek Nayar did not get a game today. He is a good player and performed well in the previous two editions. It’s just the first game and he may get a chance soon but it looks difficult with the performance put up by Tiwary, Rayadu and Sathish.
Coming to Yusuf Pathan, I am speechless. There is nothing left to say as that man just made his bat do all the talking. The quality of the inning is just signified when Warne said that he hadn’t seen anything like this in his 20 years of playing. He was just putting away the bowlers with ease. Brabourne Stadium isn’t a small ground but he was clearing the boundaries by a mile. It was due to him alone that the Royals came back into the game and almost snatched it from Mumbai. It was unlucky, the way got out and a run out was probably the only way Mumbai could have got him today. At 4 for 60 odd after the half way mark, it looked Mumbai’s game but hats off to Pathan for entertaining us with his hitting. He was the star for Rajasthan during the previous two editions and has started this one with a bang (which I think is an understatement). Let us see what Pathan has to offer for the rest of the season. Warne meanwhile will be thinking about his bowling. Tait had a bad day and the others too were put away for runs. It may be a better option to get back Munaf Patel.
Moving north to Mohali, we saw the Delhi bowling restricting Punjab to 142. Punjab just kept loosing wickets at regular intervals and some of them to bad shots. Had it not been Bopara they would have really struggled to reach the total that they did. However they have to be given credit for defending this low total with spirit. All their bowlers bowled well particularly Sreesanth. The lineup that Delhi has, they should have got home much before the last over. Gautam Gambhir again showed his class. He will again be the talisman for Delhi this season.
Tomorrow promises fantastic cricket from Chepauk and Eden Gardens. Kolkata take on Bangalore at the Mecca of Indian Cricket at 4 PM and Chennai take on Deccan at Chepauk at 8. I am eager to watch Matthew Hayden as he will bat with the mongoose bat. The handle of the mongoose bat is 43% longer than usual and the face of the bat is 33% shorter. The bat is specially made for T20 cricket and has been tried during the Twenty20 Cup in England by various players. It provides the batsman more advantage if I may say so, to hit the ball all over the park. With Hayden’s power and the bat’s advantage, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. Off the field I think it will generate controversy.
So this is it for day 2, will be back with more in the coming days. Adios.