Print

Please post once and this message will disappear! Introduce yourself, say hello, jump into a discussion...

[LosingNow]

KKR need this one bad.. will SRK and Eden crowd get the team to play above their potential.

[dave_dj]

KKR need this one bad.. will SRK and Eden crowd get the team to play above their potential.

No hope for KKR and they do not deserve with the batting that they got.

[gouravk]

well their only hope is the eden gardens factor.

[arjun]

They need to change the lineup. Bring in Debabrata and Gul, drop Akash, Agarkar and Hafeez, open with Butt and Saha.

[gouravk]

why gul ? id rather play the spinner given the nature of the wicket.

also bring in taibu

[arjun]

why gul ? id rather play the spinner given the nature of the wicket.

also bring in taibu

That's another option. In that case, Taibu should open. Abdullah can take the spinner's spot.

[Blwe_torch]

Dhoni injured by his own bowler...back to pavilion.
PP dorns the gloves....Fleming takes up the captaincy.

[ruchir]

SG gone.... what's up with him? What kind of stupid shot was that?

[ruchir]

KKR turning it on now!!! RR > 7.

[prfsr]

Complete idiocy to send Das over Hussey. WTH is Buchanan doing?

[Blwe_torch]

Complete idiocy to send Das over Hussey. WTH is Buchanan doing?

But ..Das did well today, I think....very important 86 runs partnership with Butt............KKR has been missing those partnerships anyway. Otherwise, it would have been another 50 for 4 by the end of 5 overs....

[pipsqueak]

Complete idiocy to send Das over Hussey. WTH is Buchanan doing?

But ..Das did well today, I think....very important 86 runs partnership with Butt............KKR has been missing those partnerships anyway. Otherwise, it would have been another 50 for 4 by the end of 5 overs....

KKR can also start planning for next year! 

[ramshorns]

I think KKR can safely bid their chances goodbye and join the ranks in the bottom 3 teams. 

They have the worst batting lineup in the entire competition.   Even in the games they won the bowlers and the fielders carried the load for most part and played out of their skins.

They will go no where despite a decent bowling lineup.  Even they need the runs to work with.

[pipsqueak]

I think KKR can safely bid their chances goodbye and join the ranks in the bottom 3 teams. 

They have the worst batting lineup in the entire competition.   Even in the games they won the bowlers and the fielders carried the load for most part and played out of their skins.

They will go no where despite a decent bowling lineup.  Even they need the runs to work with.

...except the DC win at HYD where the batting clicked for once but then it was against DC bowlers....of course, the opening match which was a McCullum show.

[pipsqueak]

did Dinda drop the match for them(from a D/L perspective)?

[Zacked]

BTW did anyone notice, that Ntini got a hat - trick...

[prfsr]

did Dinda drop the match for them(from a D/L perspective)?

I would think so. I think the players have gone home for this season, metaphorically speaking. Time to think about getting a good team and let the icons do publicity and marketing.

[arjunah]

Today KKR has only Ganguly to blame for being at least 20 runs short..poor poor shot from someone who has to carry the main responsibility of the batting..

[pipsqueak]

it was a pathetic shot considering they had 14 runs off that over already and it was the last ball...

[ganavk]

This D&L method needs to be reviewed at least for 20-20 games. Surely they can play it again or continue. Yesterday PunjabXI did  not deserve to win the match but today CSK deserves to win.
This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

[dave_dj]

This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

Absolutely - I don't know what they were thinking.  And how can you take Agarkar?   I don't know if SRK had night long party before the auction - they weren't thinking.  They are lucky to even get the 6th position in the league.  They won each match mostly because of individual brilliance.

The need to do a good job spotting local talents for the next year.

[keep-it-cool]

This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

Absolutely - I don't know what they were thinking.  And how can you take Agarkar?   I don't know if SRK had night long party before the auction - they weren't thinking.  They are lucky to even get the 6th position in the league.  They won each match mostly because of individual brilliance.

The need to do a good job spotting local talents for the next year.

I dont think SRK had anything to do with the selection of players ... SG did .. he has gone on record saying that he got all or most of the players he wanted.

I disagree that it is a poor team ... they were unlucky with Gayle being injured and RP's and SG's poor form. I think they got a very good bowling attack but have missed a trick by not selecting a spinner in most matches - the attack has a bit of sameness to it. And when you have Murali Kartik, whose T20 record is very very good, it is seriously silly to keep him out and play Agarkar.

[WicketView]

This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

Absolutely - I don't know what they were thinking.  And how can you take Agarkar?   I don't know if SRK had night long party before the auction - they weren't thinking.  They are lucky to even get the 6th position in the league.  They won each match mostly because of individual brilliance.

The need to do a good job spotting local talents for the next year.

I dont think SRK had anything to do with the selection of players ... SG did .. he has gone on record saying that he got all or most of the players he wanted.

I disagree that it is a poor team ... they were unlucky with Gayle being injured and RP's and SG's poor form. I think they got a very good bowling attack but have missed a trick by not selecting a spinner in most matches - the attack has a bit of sameness to it. And when you have Murali Kartik, whose T20 record is very very good, it is seriously silly to keep him out and play Agarkar.

I think SG selects/selected the team thinking that the batsmen playing for the other teams would be like himself.  Hence, all pace attack with no left arm spinner.

But I disagree with your view that the batting is good (even though your points about Gayle and RP are valid).

[dave_dj]

This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

Absolutely - I don't know what they were thinking.  And how can you take Agarkar?   I don't know if SRK had night long party before the auction - they weren't thinking.  They are lucky to even get the 6th position in the league.  They won each match mostly because of individual brilliance.

The need to do a good job spotting local talents for the next year.

I dont think SRK had anything to do with the selection of players ... SG did .. he has gone on record saying that he got all or most of the players he wanted.

I disagree that it is a poor team ... they were unlucky with Gayle being injured and RP's and SG's poor form. I think they got a very good bowling attack but have missed a trick by not selecting a spinner in most matches - the attack has a bit of sameness to it. And when you have Murali Kartik, whose T20 record is very very good, it is seriously silly to keep him out and play Agarkar.

I am joking there to allude that they likely had hangover.   Bowling is good but I do not agree batting is there.  Ponting and SG did nothing to say that they are good in 2020.  KKR certainly missed Chris Gayle unfortunately but there seems to serious lack of local batsmen.  Saha is a wicketkeeper and Shukla is bits and pieces player.  Who  else is there among locals who is great?  I don't know why they did not look at Pujara.

[keep-it-cool]

This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

Absolutely - I don't know what they were thinking.  And how can you take Agarkar?   I don't know if SRK had night long party before the auction - they weren't thinking.  They are lucky to even get the 6th position in the league.  They won each match mostly because of individual brilliance.

The need to do a good job spotting local talents for the next year.

I dont think SRK had anything to do with the selection of players ... SG did .. he has gone on record saying that he got all or most of the players he wanted.

I disagree that it is a poor team ... they were unlucky with Gayle being injured and RP's and SG's poor form. I think they got a very good bowling attack but have missed a trick by not selecting a spinner in most matches - the attack has a bit of sameness to it. And when you have Murali Kartik, whose T20 record is very very good, it is seriously silly to keep him out and play Agarkar.

I think SG selects/selected the team thinking that the batsmen playing for the other teams would be like himself.  Hence, all pace attack with no left arm spinner.

But I disagree with your view that the batting is good (even though your points about Gayle and RP are valid).

The way I look at it, CSK made the most of the first four matches when it had two Aussies in the team ... they have won only thrice since in around 7/8 matches ... while KKR did not get to capitalise on RP & Mccullum's presence. Therein lies the difference between CSK & KKR ...if anything, KKR's bowling attack is far superior.

When one breaks down the batting ... SG has to play - so, however they selected the squad, there was no way around that.

SG is a constant ...that really leaves only two foreigners who can come in as batsmen, given that I would have Akhtar and Gul in every match.

Hussey has done very well and he is available throughout the tournament

The assumption would have been that between McCullum, Gayle & Ponting, they should be easily able to pick one or two batsmen to make up the foreign quota.

The question is whether they should have bid more aggressively for any of the Indian ODI/T20 batsmen .. I think it was practically impossible to have a better batting line up while retaining the strength in the bowling.

With some more imaginative selection - on the bowling front - they could have done much better. Why have Shoaib, Ishant, Dinda, Agarkar all playing in the same match and then have part time bowlers making up the rest? Why have a part time bowler at all in a T20 match?

[keep-it-cool]

This KKR team arguably has the worst batting line up ..

Absolutely - I don't know what they were thinking.  And how can you take Agarkar?   I don't know if SRK had night long party before the auction - they weren't thinking.  They are lucky to even get the 6th position in the league.  They won each match mostly because of individual brilliance.

The need to do a good job spotting local talents for the next year.

I dont think SRK had anything to do with the selection of players ... SG did .. he has gone on record saying that he got all or most of the players he wanted.

I disagree that it is a poor team ... they were unlucky with Gayle being injured and RP's and SG's poor form. I think they got a very good bowling attack but have missed a trick by not selecting a spinner in most matches - the attack has a bit of sameness to it. And when you have Murali Kartik, whose T20 record is very very good, it is seriously silly to keep him out and play Agarkar.

I am joking there to allude that they likely had hangover.   Bowling is good but I do not agree batting is there.  Ponting and SG did nothing to say that they are good in 2020.  KKR certainly missed Chris Gayle unfortunately but there seems to serious lack of local batsmen.  Saha is a wicketkeeper and Shukla is bits and pieces player.  Who  else is there among locals who is great?  I don't know why they did not look at Pujara.

Well they did have Pujara, didnt they? Just did not pick him.

That is precisely my point ... it has more to do with the selection of the playing XI than the overall squad .. which is not that bad actually.

While RR has pushed local players into the fray and helped them grow, KKR seemed reluctant to gamble on the likes of Pujara and Yashpal Sharma. I am quite impressed with Saha actually. Of course, no one can account for the poor form of Ponting or injury to Gayle.

SG's presence was always a given since he is captain and the icon player - so, cannot be an excuse - it had to be worked around in some form .. the best thing would have been to let him come lower down the order. Again, look at how Warne has played it .. despite being the most successful international player in his team, he has very often not bowled his full quota or come in late into the innings and backed some of his other bowlers to do the job.

[feverpitch]

From what little I have seen of the KKR, there has been something wrong in the thought process of SG right from the planning stage. No use blaming Buchanan now, he wasn't around when SG made SRK spend upwards of 1 million dollars on Hagarkar, Legend and Strokeless Wonder [Akash Chopra]. Add to that Hafeez, and you have more duds in a team any other. For that price, he could have had Mc Grath [whom no one was interested in] and 2-3 Rakshashas from Sri Lanka [Jayasuriya, Jayawardene, Chamara Silva, Dilshan, Sangakkara -- take your pick]. And investment in Lankans is a better bet anyday as BCCI can be expected to lean on the SL board to reschedule their commitments around the IPL, but probably not the other teams that are not from the sub continent.

The fact that KKR is still buying bowlers, the latest being the Murali protege from Lanka, is indicative of either of the two — they are planning early for next year; or they have lost their heads completely.

I would tend to go with the latter, considering the fact that the youngsters like Yashpal Singh and Cheteshwar Pujara were not given any chance at all along with Ranadeb Bose. Especially since it seems that on a regular basis, it's the 120-130 bowlers with control who are ruling the roost here, once the Aussie Ghatothkachs departed.

[gouravk]

chaotic madness jut about sums it up

[Blwe_torch]

Yes, playing Hafeez, Agarkar and Chopra on a regular basis is obviously wrong. I wonder, why they couldn't play Gul in place of Hafeez?!!......what extra value addition did Hafeez bring with his poor form in batting and some part time spin bowling?!!!..............and then Agrakar..?!!!..Has SG lost his head or is it that the Buchanan + SG team management is getting it all wrong!?
I can understand Chopra to some extent....they needed tp prevent fall of quick wickets in the early overs ( even then, it is a very defensive move and one that shows that the KKR has no better choice).
Keeping Umar Gul in the extras bench is the worst disaster that KKR has created for themselves...................my simple logic says ...if Hafeez can be played Gul would have been a much better choice. Gul can hit the solitary flashy boundary too...may be he can do better than that.
I am quite frustrated with the situation of KKR.................and Ganguly's batting exemplifies that he is losing his head...................he has just not been able to adjust to the controlled aggression required for T-20...yet.

[gouravk]

hafeez should have been the one to be thrown out - instead of pujara etal

one can hardly come across a cricketer more useless than hafeez.

[LosingNow]

Yes, playing Hafeez, Agarkar and Chopra on a regular basis is obviously wrong. I wonder, why they couldn't play Gul in place of Hafeez?!!......what extra value addition did Hafeez bring with his poor form in batting and some part time spin bowling?!!!..............and then Agrakar..?!!!..Has SG lost his head or is it that the Buchanan + SG team management is getting it all wrong!?
I can understand Chopra to some extent....they needed tp prevent fall of quick wickets in the early overs ( even then, it is a very defensive move and one that shows that the KKR has no better choice).
Keeping Umar Gul in the extras bench is the worst disaster that KKR has created for themselves...................my simple logic says ...if Hafeez can be played Gul would have been a much better choice. Gul can hit the solitary flashy boundary too...may be he can do better than that.
I am quite frustrated with the situation of KKR.................and Ganguly's batting exemplifies that he is losing his head...................he has just not been able to adjust to the controlled aggression required for T-20...yet.

I mentioned this before the MI match.. this team's strength is bowling...and they should not mess with it to improve batting.
IS,SA, UG and Dinda should be always in the team.
They have been messing around with the batting line up.. but imo, Saha & Butt should always open.

[flashpan]

The only reason I think Gul is missing is that he questioned the captaincy skills of " Great DADA " . How many matches has he played after questioning Ganguly . At the most 1 or 2 . Or is it the curse of the 5 players who were unceremoniously kicked out of the team to save a few pennies working against the team.

[gouravk]

strength ? relatively speaking, yes, the bowling is a strength. but no matter how strong the bowling is if you are going to consistently flop with the bat no amount of strong bowling is going to bail you out.

[Blwe_torch]

The only reason I think Gul is missing is that he questioned the captaincy skills of " Great DADA " . How many matches has he played after questioning Ganguly . At the most 1 or 2 . Or is it the curse of the 5 players who were unceremoniously kicked out of the team to save a few pennies working against the team.

I think you are deliberately trying to act the Innocent. You may be aware ( but feigning not) that there was no tension about Gul's harmless comments in the KKR dressing room............we have already posted abt the interactions between the two, post- that incident. Had there been any issues, Gul wouldn't have played even 1 or 2 matches after that incident..........but the fact is he played......and there were no problems.
After the arrival of Shoaib Akhtar, he had to be replaced, thanks to the limitation of 4 nos of foreigners( out of which 3 were consumed by the batsmen, as becoz KKR batting is weak).
But I hope, KKR plays Gul alongside Akhtar to make the bowling stronger, even if that means, weakening the batting.
Unlike your God GC ...Saurav Ganguly has never been vindictive ( but that doesn't prevent him from causing immense heart-burn for the likes of you).
For further clarifications, plz feel free to contact me...

[Libran]

The only reason I think Gul is missing is that he questioned the captaincy skills of " Great DADA " . How many matches has he played after questioning Ganguly . At the most 1 or 2 . Or is it the curse of the 5 players who were unceremoniously kicked out of the team to save a few pennies working against the team.

I think you are deliberately trying to act the Innocent. You may be aware ( but feigning not) that there was no tension about Gul's harmless comments in the KKR dressing room............we have already posted abt the interactions between the two, post- that incident. Had there been any issues, Gul wouldn't have played even 1 or 2 matches after that incident..........but the fact is he played......and there were no problems.
After the arrival of Shoaib Akhtar, he had to be replaced, thanks to the limitation of 4 nos of foreigners( out of which 3 were consumed by the batsmen, as becoz KKR batting is weak).
But I hope, KKR plays Gul alongside Akhtar to make the bowling stronger, even if that means, weakening the batting.
Unlike your God GC ...Saurav Ganguly has never been vindictive ( but that doesn't prevent him from causing immense heart-burn for the likes of you).
For further clarifications, plz feel free to contact me...

You wasted your time and a few lines of English... there is no cure for ignorance and trouble making... why do you even make an attempt to change these people...beats me

[keep-it-cool]

I am sure it is not deliberate .. but keeping Gul out is definitely stupid with a capital S. What is the point of playing Taibu and using up one of your foreign player slots and then getting him to come in as low as No5 or 6 - especially when he is not playing as a keeper? I am sure at those numbers either Saha or Shukla should be able to do the job that Taibu is expected to do. If you have confidence in Taibu as a bat, then play him higher .. drop one of the batsmen and get in five proper bowlers ... including one spinner to give some variety to the attack.

[Blwe_torch]

I agree...........somehow they have to master the art of getting Taibu on while fielding.

[ruchir]

[Blwe_torch]

Yaar....why don't u open a museum for yourself......u sure deserve it?!~ 

[ruchir]

I have a thread dedicated to all my photograph threads.....