Will history repeat in IPL?

Can Rajasthan Royals do it again in IPL-2013? Photo from Dawn

After a responsible inning by Bradd Hodge, Rajasthan royals were able to cruise in to the Qualifier 2. There they will meet Mumbai Indians who have lost against the most successful team of IPL-Chennai Super Kings.

It was surprising to see Mumbai Indians losing the match against Super Kings since they win against them two times this season very easily. One of my friend tweeted,' All teams work hard to play CSK in to the finals'. So, there position is very much confirmed :P. 

Mumbai Indians still have the chance to qualify for the finals for the first time. For that, they have to win against Rajasthan Royals in tomorrow's Qualifying match no.2.  Rajasthan has made in to final in the very first IPL and won the IPL trophy at the very last ball. It's look like history will repeat in IPL. The captain of Rahul Dravid has clearly said that, ' All pressure on Mumbai Indians not on us'.

MILLION DOLLAR KID:

Mumbai bought the most expensive player in this season Glenn Maxwell. He has not performed the way Mumbai was expecting it from him to do in IPL. Let see if he will be considered in the match or not. Last year Ravinder Jadega was the most expensive player though CSK didn't win that year but he has become one of the influential player in CSK side with the ball. Specially he is use to break partnerships.

Dravid Eyes On IPL Trophy:

Rahul Dravid looked very confident after winning the match against one of the best bowling side of IPL Sun risers Hyderabad. Although Rajasthan Royals don't have players who play for India consistently. But, the foreign players are working very hard; Faulkner, Bradd Hodge and Watson specially giving their best.  His confidence looks very high and it looked as Rajasthan will win the tomorrow's fixture and reach to the final.

Will History Repeat:  

In IPL edition-1 the two final teams were Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. The way Rajasthan Royals playing and fighting with the pressure of spot fixing and banned on their players, it seems that they have get a chance to prove themselves and they will meet CSK in to the finals. Last time it was under the captaincy of Shane Warne who lead RR and win the IPL trophy for them. This time it is Dravid and the way he is talking in the press and media and his team is performing with such a confidence it seems they gonna win this title once again.

Chennai vs Mumbai will be a mouthwatering match

This season Mumbai looks a much better team then of Chennai Super Kings. They have won quite comprehensively against Chennai in both the meeting. Chennai on the other hand is one of the most successful team in the last five season and this season too. They have won two IPL trophies, have come in to the finals four times and has played in qualifying round every season and this year too.

On paper Chennai and Mumbai both looks a balance team.Both have quality of local boys and good amount and quality of foreign players. Why I believe it will be a mouthwatering match between Mumbai and Chennai. Because of this..

The team which will lose will get second chance as they will jump down to Eliminator but both of them will try to win the match and jump to final. Match will take place on Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium Dehli- a neutral ground for both the teams. Chennai looks to be more experienced then Mumbai in the pressure matches. Chennai has been leading by one captain and that is Indian National team captain Mahender Singh Dhoni whereas MI was lead by Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Ponting and now Sharma. It will be a good contest to see between Sharma and Dhoni as if Sharma does well he can be consider as the future captain of Indian team. As Kholi and Gambhir has been technically good but they have other issues.May be there is a small probability of Ponting to lead in crucial matches who has tons of experience in crucial and pressure matches. But looks to me it has low chances since Rohit Sharma is doing pretty good. So let us see who does well ? Is it Chennai with its experienced captain or is it Mumbai Indians with its new captain?

Prediction of IPL-6 Champion

Only four matches are left to decide who will be the champion in IPL-6. Last time it was Kolka Knight Riders who win their first IPL trophy. This year they are standing at seventh position in the IPL-6.

Mumbai and Chennai will get the second chance if they lose to one another in tomorrow's Qualifying Match where as no chance for Sun Risers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals if they lose in the match which is to be played day after tomorrow. Lets look at one of the teams.

Chennai Super Kings:

It is one of the most successful team in IPL. From start to present they have won two out of five tournaments of IPL. They have reach in to finals four times. They have won all the semi-finals up till now except the one against RCB in IPL-2. So there chances look much brighter than the other teams of IPL.  The two players of CSK are not too far to achieve Orange and Purple cap i.e Mike Hussey and Dwayne Bravo respectively.  M.S Dhoni didn;t played a heroic innings in this season up till now. According to the stats this teams looks to knock out all the other teams. But the time will tell! 

Players to watch: M.S Dhoni, Mike Hussey, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Ravichander Ashwin and Ravinder Jadeja

Rajasthan Royals:

They were the champions of the first IPL  under the leadership of  Shane Warne. But after that they have never showed a blasting performance like that. Once again they have got the chance to prove them self as the best. They have got much changes from the start to now. Also the incident of spot fixing on their players have put a psychological pressure on them. It holds many difficulties for RR to win IPL-6. They have to win against the other three teams to lift the trophy.

Players to watch: Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Rahanne, Brad Hodge, Trivedi and Rahul Dravid

Sun-risers Hyderabad:

The city has won an IPL trophy in the past under a leadership of Adam Gilchrist. This time it is Cameron white with a new team-Sun Risers Hyderabad. Though it was Sangakarra in the start of IPL-6 who was given the duty but he was unable to deliver from his bat the required performance. They were regarded as the underdogs and have surprised all the other teams from their performances.  They have achieved more than what they have dreamed off in the start of the season of this year IPL.

Players to watch: Dale Steyn, Cameron white, Darren Sammy, Shikar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma and Parthiv Patel

Mumbai Indians:

Of all the above teams Mumbai Indians have never won an IPL in the past. Also they have never been in to the IPL's final. A promising team having one of the best local players. Also their middle order looks more stable then of the other. Currently Rohit Sharma is doing the captaincy and doing it pretty well with some good batting knocks. The duty of captaincy was first given to Ricky Ponting but he didn't deliver well from his bat. From the past stats this team looks pretty ordinary but their level of game in this year IPL looks at the top then the other remaining teams.

Players to watch: Lasith Malinga, Kieren Pollard, Johnson, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Harbajhan Singh and Pragyan Ojha

My pick out of the four is Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals.

Which team do you think will lift the trophy in this year IPL and become the champions?

Adam Gilchrist signed off from IPL in Gangnam Style

You have seen Gayle, Darren Sammy and other players doing various moves or performing Gangnam style. Yesterday, it was a former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist who was playing his last match of  IPL and astonished every one by picking first wicket in his very first ball in IPL.
Mumbai Indians who have won the toss and decided to give KXI Punjab batting. Gilly only scored 5 runs and it was unpleasant to see such a fine player ending his career by scoring only 5 in the last match. It is also notified that he has lead Deccan Charges in second edition of IPL and march them victorious in that edition.
Gilly's stats in IPL are:

The way Mumbai Indians middle order collapse it was pretty distinct that King's XI Punjab has full control on the match. But it was not an ideal end for a batsman like gilchrist. He has scored two hundred's in IPL, caught plenty of catches and scored eleven fifties. Also a trophy of IPL. What he doesn't achieved was a single wicket. Alas! he picked the wicket of Harbajhan Singh and signs off permanently from IPL in Gangnam Style. Gilchrist this year performance was not fill with wonderful knocks but his ability of producing performances from others were astonishing. His act of jubilance will always be remembered in IPL history.