Ganguly upbeat about Shoaib's arrival

May 6, 2008

	Sourav Ganguly: "I don't think any team should be written off at this moment" (file photo) © Getty Images

 

Sourav Ganguly is upbeat over Shoaib Akhtar being allowed to play in the Indian Premier League and hopes his struggling side can turn things around quickly.

"He was in our scheme of things initially, and after having had to make do without him in all these games, it's good to know that he is joining the team," Ganguly told Hindustan Times.

"Having said that, it's equally important to realise that no individual can turn things around dramatically. For our team to succeed, everyone has to do well. Many matches are still left to be played and I don't think any team should be written off at this moment."

Kolkata have managed just two wins from six games and Shoaib's arrival would no doubt be a fillip to their preparations for their home match against Bangalore on Thursday. However question marks continue to remain over Shoaib's fitness and John Bucanan, Kolkata's coach, has insisted on a fitness test. The team is scheduled to play a practice match on Wednesday and Shoaib's performance there could decide on his being picked.

Shoaib arrived in Kolkata last night. "I'm really happy to be here and the Eden Gardens is my favourite ground," he said. "It's the ground which made my career when I got Sachin Tendulkar out on the first ball. It's been good to me and I love the ground ... The crowd is fantastic.

"As I've been under so much of stress, I haven't been able to train as much as I should have done. But I'm fit. There's no pain, no niggle. I'll try to get match fit as fast as possible. Shah Rukh Khan has supported me a lot. He's been there like a big brother. Has always been so." 

Dream come true to bowl alongside McGrath: Asif

Sun, 04 April 2008 Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Asif, who has been playing a commendable role in Delhi Daredevils' feats in the ongoing DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), feels that the balance of his side is good.

The pacer expressed that it is a great experience and dream come true to share the bowling attack with one of the world's finest bowlers - Australian Glenn McGrath.

McGrath and Asif are well-known for their consistent bowling and alongwith other Delhi bowlers, have created a reputation of being the best bowling attack in the IPL.

Asif is certain that he will learn a lot since he is going to share bowling duties with the Aussie for another month as well as grasp the know-how from him to deal in sticky situations.

On being quizzed on his team's combination, the Pakistani bowler said that his team has a good balance of fielding, bowling and batting combinations.

Commenting on bowling techniques in the compressed format of the game, he mentioned the format is tough on bowlers since the boundaries are made short, pitches are made flat so that more runs are scored which eventually adds charm for the spectators. However, he maintains that the bowlers have to do their job.

"But we have to bowl anyway like we have been doing in last two three matches and hopefully we keep bowling the same way," he said with quiet determination.

Interestingly, before the match against Chennai Super Kings which the Delhi side won convincingly, Asif had predicted the match would favour the batsmen.

He considers that India is the right place for a tournament of the magnitude of the IPL to be held since it would not have got a similar kind of response from the crowds in any other country.

He also mentioned since the matches are in the evenings, people are able to get off their jobs and have good fun cheering their favourite sides.

Mumbai upset Delhi in thriller at home

5th May 2008 The Mumbai Indians have registered a 29-run upset victory against the Delhi Daredevils here at the Dr DY Patil Sports Stadium in Mumbai tonight. The hosts' skipper Shaun Pollock (33 not out from 15 balls and 2/16 from four overs) put up an immaculate performance and was fittingly adjudicated the Player of the Match.

Chasing a modest target of 163, the formidable Delhi Daredevils stumbled to 133 all out in 18.3 overs. For the first time in the inaugural DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, the explosive left-handed duo of Gambhir (1) and Dhawan (1) flopped. Sehwag (40) however upheld his customary strike rate of 200 in this format of the sport but did not receive sufficient support in pursuit of the middling Mumbai total.

The Mumbai new-ball opening duo of Pollock (2-16) and Nehra (3-25) produced their best spells of the tournament to inflict the shocking loss on the Daredevils. The latter struck first when he got Gambhir to cover drive a full-length delivery with Uthappa taking a sharp catch at cover. In a replication of the preceding dismissal, just two balls later, Dhawan drove a fullish Pollock delivery to cover where Uthappa grasped onto it!

Sehwag was joined by South African prodigy AB de Villiers who smashed Nehra for a six and two whacks to the fence in just the fourth over to set the tempo for the Daredevils innings and silencing the capacity crowd in Mumbai. The duo of de Villiers and Sehwag plundered 33 runs for the third wicket in quick time before an untimely misunderstanding between the two resulted in the former's unfortunate run-out. Kulkarni was the fielder!

Pakistan's national captain Shoaib Malik (24) played a useful hand and added 45 runs with his captain for the fourth wicket but just when it looked like the pair was easily handing Mumbai their fifth loss of the tournament, Sehwag slammed a low full toss from Thornley to midwicket where Pollock made no mistake. It was clearly the turning point.

Karthik (28) kept the visitors' hopes alive as he added 27 runs for the fifth wicket with Malik until he was trapped LBW by Dwayne Bravo (1-27) to shut his team's hopes of a tricky victory. Kulkarni (2-18) dismissed Asif (0) and McGrath (0) in the 19th over to bowl the Daredevils out.

Earlier, it was the same old story for the Mumbai Indians as they struggled to sustain the impetus in their innings and received an abundance of it towards the end thanks to an explosive innings from captain, veteran South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock.

‘Polly' smashed 33 runs from just 15 balls - a cameo that included three soaring sixes and two boundaries. He came to the wicket after the Mumbai Indians had stumbled from a comfortable 102/2 to 136/7 with Uthappa (22), Thornley (30), Nayar (2), Bravo (2) and Tiwary (9) back in the hut. Pollock's quickfire knock guided Mumbai to a decent total.

Inserted to bat by Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag, the hosts - with a solitary victory from their first five matches - received a blistering start from Sanath Jayasuriya, who blasted 34 runs from just 16 balls - a knock that included six boundaries and a six. The opening duo of Jayasuriya (34) and Yogesh Takawale (14) added 46 runs from just 5.3 overs before Yo Mahesh got the latter to edge one to the safe hands of Rajat Bhatia.

Soon after, Yo Mahesh (3-33) clean bowled Jayasuriya when the southpaw attempted a wild heave off the 19-year-old medium pacer and disrupted the initial impetus spawned. Robin Uthappa (22) joined Aussie veteran Dominic Thornley (30) as the duo added a brisk 52 runs for the third wicket and reignited the home team's hopes of amassing a 180 plus total.

They added the runs in quick time and took the Mumbai Indians past the hundred mark in less than 13 overs. Uthappa was dismissed when he tried to scoop Pradeep Sangwan but could only manage giving an easy catch to Shoaib Malik at point.

From 102/2, the home team slid to 112/6 and despite the best efforts of captain Shaun Pollock, who top-scored with 33 in 15 balls, with 3 sixes and 2 fours and was leading the team again after Sachin Tendulkar was declared unfit, the final tally did not assume a menacing proportion.

Dwayne Bravo and Abhishek Nayar flopped and it was left to Pollock, who struck Asif for three sixes in the 19th over, to take the score past the 150-mark and provide his team with a fighting chance for a victory.

The Mumbai Indians will next host the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday while the Daredevils host Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings on Thursday.

Roaring Royals register fourth consecutive win

2nd May 2008 Knight Riders' skipper Sourav Ganguly scored a blazing 51 but did not gain adequate support from his new-look batting order that failed to counter the likes of Watson (2-22), Tanvir (2-30), Trivedi (2-31) and Warne (1-20) and got bundled out for 151 in 19.1 overs.

David Hussey (42) was the only other batsman who made a substantial contribution in pursuit of the formidable Royals' target of 197 runs for the visitors. Ajit Agarkar (20) who was surprisingly sent in at number three, cracked two huge sixes before he was snapped by Watson, caught behind by Rawat. The high-profile IPL debutant Brad Hodge had a forgettable outing as he fell short of the crease following a direct hit from Trivedi.

The visitors also had some poor running between the wickets to blame for their fall as three of their batsmen were run out in the match, which marks their third successive loss after reverses against Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

Pakistani Salman Butt (7) was the other IPL debutant for the Knight Riders, replacing Brendon McCullum as Ganguly's new opening partner. He could hardly get a look-in before another debutant in the league, the wily left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir castled his stumps in just the second over.

Ganguly held the other end up but with wickets tumbling around him, the asking rate kept climbing adding to the pressure on the left-hander.

Earlier, promising young batsmen Swapnil Asnodkar (60) and Yusuf Pathan (55) slammed blazing fifties to guide the Rajasthan Royals to a healthy total after the early losses of the experienced Graeme Smith (2) and Mohammad Kaif (21).

Asnodkar smashed 60 runs from just 34 balls - a knock that included 10 fours and a six. Pathan fell after making 55 off 33 balls studded with six fours and a couple of sixes.

After Warne elected to bat first, the Royals received an early blow when Graeme Smith (2) departed in the second over of the innings - bowled by Ishant Sharma. Promoted to number three in the batting order, Mohammad Kaif too did not last long and after a brief 21-run knock that included three fours and a six, he was caught by David Hussey off another IPL debutant Umar Gul's bowling. However, the courageous duo of Asnodkar and Yusuf ensured the Royals scored briskly despite the constant loss of wickets.

Having claimed two Player of the Match awards in the tournament so far, Shane Watson was eyeing the Orange Cap tonight but could not contribute after being trapped LBW by Gul for naught, Ravindra Jadeja's quickfire 33 off 19 balls came in handy for the Royals.

Jadeja was bowled by Laxmi Ratan Shukla after striking three fours and a six.

The Kolkata Knight Riders will travel to Mohali on Saturday to clash against the Kings XI Punjab while the Rajasthan Royals will host Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.