The knives are out as India have to failed to progress past the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup for the second year in a row. However, the question that needs to be asked is was the result really that unexpected? We saw a precursor last year when India struggled against the short ball in England. What was different this time? Nothing. And that is precisely the reason why India failed to deliver the goods yet again.

One shouldn’t be too critical of the IPL factor, since most players from the other participating countries also featured in the cricketainment package. However, the fact of the matter is that playing in the IPL wasn’t the best possible preparation for India, prior to heading for the Caribbean. And, this was evident as soon as the first Super Eight fixture against Australia.

The 360 degree shift from the low bouncy tracks of India to the pace and bounce of Barbados caught India unawares. And, this was the most disappointing factor. It’s one thing to try and fail as opposed to not trying at all. Everyone saw what happened in England last year.

Yet, they were not an inch better prepared this time around. With such an attitude the team can hardly go places, at least when they play on bouncy tracks.

No doubt there is a wealth of talent in this Indian squad. But to beat world beaters consistently, they need to adapt to all kinds of conditions rather than chickening out and waiting for the surface that is to their liking to succeed. The case of Suresh Raina is a perfect illustration.

On the slow, low bounce tracks, he batted like the IPL was still very much on. However, when he got his turn to prove his mettle at Barbados, he preferred to back out of the challenge. Instead to trying to bide his time by, the left-hander was content trying to pull the short ball without ever getting to the pitch of it and was totally rattled.

The most worrying aspect of India’s loss wasn’t the fact that they were beaten, but the manner in which they went down. When even a quality batsman like Gautam Gambhir is caught behind, embarrassingly fending off a little-known West Indies quickie, you know you are in real trouble.

The Windies bowlers fed off the confidence they attained by just watching the Aussie pacemen unsettle the Indian top order. And despite knowing what to expect, the Indians had not prepared their answers for the ‘short’ test.

In hindsight, all and sundry are questioning why someone like a Robin Uthappa, who had an unbelievable run in the IPL, wasn’t on the flight to West Indies. But, selection isn’t the moot point here. For that matter, even Murali Vijay was equally devastating in the IPL, only to come a cropper in the World Cup.

The problem goes beyond individuals. Their batting shortcomings apart, India need to do something drastic to improve their shoddy batting and fielding. All above though, what ails Indian cricket is a champion-like attitude, to be the best in any given situation.

A superlative 75 not out by Paul Collingwood, amidst the fall of regular wickets, and some extremely tight bowling and fielding later on saw Delhi Daredevils overcome a strong Royal Challengers Bangalore outfit at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Thanks to Collingwood’s effort, Delhi managed to post a handy 184 for 5. And, on a typical Kotla pitch, that was getting slower by the over, Bangalore never quite got going.

They fell well behind the run rate even before the first strategic break was taken. And, when they tried to open up, they only kept losing wickets to eventually succumb to a 37-run loss.

The first half of the game was essentially the tale of Collingwood vs the Bangalore bowlers, with the former triumphing hands on. He arrived at the crease after Virender Sehwag (35) had been dismissed after a brisk start and Gautam Gambhir was run out for only one soon after.

David Warner was still going great guns and seemed like he would be the man to pull Delhi out of trouble. But, he perished on 33, well-caught in the deep by Virat Kohli off Anil Kumble. At 83 for 3 in the 10th over, it was anybody’s game. Collingwood went on to lose, Dinesh Karthik to a brilliant diving catch by Cameron White. But, that only inspired him onto better things.

Collingwood lofted the ball with effortless ease and on occasions when he threw his bodyweight behind the ball, it delivered massive results. For a man renowned for being a street-smart cricketer, this was an extraordinary show of power hitting. He clearly demonstrated that there was more to his game than just the cheekiness.

The result was he ended up hitting as many as seven sixes. After Kumble bowled three dot balls to him in one over, he stepped out and responded with a mighty swing that went the distance. Other bowlers were treated with even more disdain as sixes flowed from Collingwood’s bat. Length balls from Vinay Kumar, Kallis and Mithun disappeared, perhaps also a result of Bangalore underestimating his firepower. Thanks to Collingwood, Delhi went on to register what turned out to be a match-winning total.

To compete, Bangalore needed a brisk start. In their endeavour, they opened with White, but it did not pay off. He perished for four while trying to fulfil his task. The Delhi bowlers then stifled the batsmen completely. Even those of the pedigree of Kallis and Kevin Pietersen struggled to find the gaps.

At one stage, nine runs came in three overs. Bangalore had no option but to break free after that dry spell and the result wasn’t what they were looking for. Pietersen was castled by Pradeep Sangwan for a hard-earned 16. And, from thereon began a procession that never ended. Amit Mishra and Sangwan both helped themselves to 3 wickets each, even as the rest were happy to keep things under control with some accurate bowling.

Kallis did register yet another half-century while Ross Taylor shone briefly, slamming three sixes in his 10-ball stay of 22. Both the contributions were rather futile though in the context of the game. Bangalore did have their moments of ascendancy earlier in the game, when Delhi lost four big wickets. However, they couldn’t get the man who eventually made the difference.

Ambati Rayudu’s sensational, unbeaten 55 off a mere 29 balls and Saurabh Tiwary’s rebuilding effort of 44 from 35 balls were responsible for Mumbai Indians recovering from a mid-innings collapse and posting 178 for 5 in their game against the struggling Deccan Chargers at the Brabourne Stadium.

The total was too good for Deccan, who were never in the hunt during the chase. The entire team succumbed to 115 all out before the stipulated overs and lost by an embarrassing 63-run margin.

Despite a professional performance by the Mumbai bowlers, it has to be said that the turning point of the match was the partnership between Rayudu and Tiwary. The duo added an impressive 65 in 7.4 overs at a stage when Mumbai where crumbling after a confident start.

The home team were cruising at 53 for no loss in the seventh over when things turned murky. Pragyan Ojha had Shikhar Dhawan stumped for 14 and in his next over cleaned up the dangerous Dwayne Bravo for 2. At the other end, Rahul Sharma claimed the ever so crucial scalp of Sachin Tendukar, who was well-set on 35.

Things could have gone horribly wrong for Mumbai had Rayudu and Tiwary not held things together. Mumbai were well-aided but Deccan’s fielders and some rather poor bowling in the death overs. Tiwary was lucky to survive on more than one occasion even as the bowlers went for over 12 an over in the last five overs of the innings.

Batting sensibly, Rayudu and Tiwary were initially prepared to get themselves in, at the same time ensuring that the run-rate did not come down drastically. And, once they were in, there was no stopping them. Rahul could have had Tiwary in his return spell, instead Herschelle Gibbs deflected it over the long-on boundary.

The fact that Deccan’s best fielder came up with that effort symbolized the agony of the Chargers. As if that wasn’t enough, Monish Mishra couldn’t latch on to a low offering from the same batsman. This was after the bowler had already been lofted for a maximum.

At the other end, Rayudu had better control. He slogged Andrew Symonds for a mighty off the last ball of the 16th overs. And, things only got worse for Deccan. Ojha did manage to pick up his third wicket by ending Tiwary’s important knock, but Rayudu continued his merry ways.

Jaskaran Singh was taken for 20 off the penultimate over, which featured two dismissive fours and a beautifully lofted, inside-out six. Kieron Pollard also threw his bat around a gathered three boundaries as Mumbai ended their innings on a high.

There was nothing noteworthy to talk about in Deccan’s chase. Gibbs hit a couple of boundaries off Harbhajan Singh and Adam Gilchrist lashed Lasith Malinga for a six. That was about it though. Gibbs, Gilchrist and VVS Laxman all few before the side crossed 40. Symonds, with 21, ended up being highest score, too low even in the shortest format of the game.

A superbly constructed, unbeaten 75 off just 47 balls from Manoj Tiwary enabled Kolkata Knight Riders to come out of their batting slumber and post a challenging 183 for 5 against Kings XI Punjab at their home ground, Mohali. Comeback man Ajit Agarkar then struck two crucial blows to pave the way for Kolkata’s first win in four games, that by an impressive margin of 39 runs.

The home side were never in the hunt during the tough chase. After an unlucky start, losing the in-form Ravi Bopara (0), who was erroneously declared lbw to Shane Bond, Kolkata kept things tight for a couple of overs before Yuvraj Singh opened up. He began to look in his elements, dispatching Ashok Dinda and Agarkar to the fence on couple of occasions each.

But, the latter had a last laugh when Yuvraj mistimed a quickish short ball and lobbed it straight up in the air, Tiwary taking an amazing catch, diving sideways. Not much later, Agarkar sent back Bisla as well for 22 to peg Punjab back, the batsman not being given room to free his arms by the experienced bowler.

As things turned out, that was the game, with Sri Lankans Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara struggling again.

Earlier, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and decided to take first strike on a belter of a pitch. Kolkata’s innings comprised of two distinct phases – a great start and a sensational end followed by a consolidatory phase in between. 19 runs came off the first over from Brett Lee, Chris Gayle deciding to take on the Aussie speedster returning from a serious injury. But, if Kolkata fans thought it was the beginning of some slam bang viewing to follow, they were completely false.

On the contrary, Gayle’s short blitz ended up being the storm before the calm. The West Indian ended up falling for a disappoint 14 from 12 balls, Shalabh Srivastava getting him with a well-planned shorter one.

Srivastava continued with his good work when he sent back Mandeep Singh as well for 4. The left-armer’s effort, coupled with good support from Vikramjeet Malik, saw Kolkata’s run rate falling drastically, and they were in serious danger of ending up short of a desirable target yet again. Ganguly and Tiwary, who was recalled after his surprise exclusion for the earlier games, went about doing the rebuilding task.

However, the question remained whether they would be able to accelerate in the nick of time. When the strategic break was taken at the end of 9 overs, Kolkata were disappointingly placed at 65 for 2. However, realising the value of runs, Ganguly came out of his shell and timed a couple to the boundary.

Tiwary too joined in the act and played some delectable strokes. But, just when Kolkata seemed to be on the up swing, Ganguly fell for 50. His knock, which consumed 40 balls was a good one, but not electrifying by T20 standards.

Kolkata would have ended up with another under par score, but for the efforts of Tiwary. His late hitting, slamming 21 off the last over bowled by Irfan Pathan, which included two punchy sixes, shifted the momentum back in Kolkata’s favour. Still, the total wasn’t match-winning. But, the Kolkata bowlers were competent enough to keep a hapless Kings XI down.

If ever Rajasthan Royals wanted to assure themselves that they are still good enough to compete against the best despite the loss of their big guns, they only need to look at their performance today against defending champions Deccan Chargers.

Stating the game as perceptible underdogs, they ended up hammering the Chargers by eight wickets and made it a hat-trick of victories after the three setbacks at the beginning of the tournament. The stand out aspect of Rajasthan’s performance was the thoughtful manner in which they went about their task.

Things weren’t going to be easy once they lost the toss and were faced with the prospect of having to deal with a rampaging Adam Gilchrist. However, Shane Warne’s men stood up to the task on this day. The captain himself had some shrewd tactics up his sleeve, most of which worked wonderfully well for his side.

He opened the bowling with Sumit Narval, who responded with the massive wicket of Gilchrist in the very first over, the Deccan skipper wanted to make a statement at the outset, but only managed to lob one straight up in the air.

Following the poor start, Deccan were in desperate need of some runs from their experienced men, VVS Laxman and Herschelle Gibbs. The latter looked dangerous for a while, taking on Abhishek Jhunjunwala in one over and despatching him all over the park. But, if Warne’s one weapon had failed, it only forced him to dish out the next one in his armoury, a more lethal one named Shaun Tait.

Usually erratic, Tait was in his elements for a change, in sync with Warne’s script. Laxman failed to time a short ball and was sent back for 10. The skipper himself played a significant role with the ball. Rolling back the years, he forced a well-settled Gibbs to drag his feet to a ball that pitched on middle and left him, totally deceiving him in the air, and had him stumped. The Warne magic might be waning, but against the Proteas, he still seems quite a handful.

Gibbs went for 25, leaving the Chargers struggling at 58 for 3. Pretty soon all the hopes of a recovery died a volcanic death. Andrew Symonds (22) came up with a couple of delectable drives before running himself out, going for a non-existent run.

The ball had left the fielder’s (Jhunjhunwhala) hand when a hesitant Symonds went for the inexplicable. More hesitations followed which resulted in a couple more batsmen being stranded. Rohit Sharma was the common factor in all the dismissals, though he wasn’t the culprit on each occasion.

To his credit, at least he tried to bat sensibly and ended up as the innings’ top-scorer with 49. However, a total of 148 was never going to be enough unless Deccan had something exceptional up their sleeve.

On the contrary, Micheal Lumb and Yusuf Pathan provided the extraordinary stuff as Rajasthan cruised home. Lumb hit a hapless RP Singh cruelly for four consecutive fours. And after he was unfortunately run-out for 45, Pathan ensured that the dismissal was forgotten in a flash.

With eight mighty sixes, most of them off the spinners, he ended up unbeaten on 73 from 34 balls. The underdogs had done it again.

The script could not have been written for Delhi Daredevils as they looked to end their somewhat surprising losing streak against the rampaging Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Apart from the losing the toss, almost everything went right for them.

A sensational start provided by David Warner, a good consolidating knock by A B de Villiers in the middle and an unbelievably brilliant half-century by a little known Kedar Jadhav, who incidentally was with RCB last year, made sure that Delhi ended up with a highly impressive 183 for 4.

Then, despite another good start provided by Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey, Delhi managed to stage a comeback courtesy Amit Mishra and Andrew McDonald and some atrocious running by the Bangalore batsmen.

Delhi had their noses in front right from the start. Warner went hammer and tongs from ball one and Delhi ended up crossing 50 in just over four overs. The Australian hammered 33 from 14 balls, inclusive of three fours and two sixes, and even Virender Sehwag looked sedate in comparison.

Post Warner’s dismissal, Bangalore did fight back, dismissing Sehwag and skipper Dinesh Karthik before they crossed 100. However, a smart partnership between de Villiers and Jadhav made sure that Delhi were in the hunt to post a challenging score. And after the South African was run out, five short of a deserved half-century, Jadhav took over and played an astounding knock.

His half-century came off a mere 29 balls and featured five fours and two sixes. None of the bowlers could make any impact on him as he slammed a couple of memorable boundaries off Kallis and opposition skipper Anil Kumble.

For Bangalore to overhaul the 183 set by Delhi, they needed another great start from Pandey and Kallis. And, while they did add 71, the fact that Delhi bowlers did not allow them to run away with the game, proved crucial in the end. Dirk Nannes kept things tight as usual and his bowling partner Umesh Yadav proved to be a surprise package.

The speed with which he bowled unsettled both Pandey and Kallis and different times. Still, Bangalore managed to reach a steady position before the cookie crumbled.

Kallis, after reaching a sedate 29-ball 27, fell trying to open his arms. An attempted slog sweep was missed and Amit Mishra had struck once again for Delhi. That was the beginning of the end for Bangalore. The chase deteriorated rather rapidly thereafter. Yet again, Pandey fell in the 30s.

On a day when Kallis failed, he should have gone on to do much better. Some dreadful running by Bangalore did not help matters either. Rahul Dravid lasted just one ball and Eoin Morgan could not prove his big-hitting prowess.

The lower half of the batting collapsed in a heap. If Bangalore lost by a somewhat respectable margin of 17 runs, it was only due to some good hitting by Virat Kohli (38*) towards the end.

All said and done, Delhi were the better of the teams on the day and deserved to win.

What was supposed to be a tough chase for Mumbai Indians at the Brabourne Stadium against Chennai Super Kings, was transformed into a rather easy victory, thanks to yet another superlative effort by skipper Sachin Tendulkar (72) and an equally important, whirlwind 56 by his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan.

Mumbai had to score 181, in reply to Chennai’s imposing 180 for 2, and got home convincingly in the penultimate over, with five wickets in tact. The opening partnership of 92 in under nine overs was extremely crucial in the chase. The quickfire efforts of Sachin and Dhawan ensured that the required run rate was always under control. And, as such, there was no pressure on the batsmen to come.

Mumbai planned their chase extremely well. It was Dhawan who went after the bowlers at the start, while Sachin ensured that he gave the youngster ample strike. Even as Albie Morkel kept things tight at one end, Dhawan went after L Balaji, Joginder Sharma and even spinner Shadab Jakati, hitting some ferocious boundaries off their bowling as well as three huge sixes.

He never looked in any sort of trouble against any of the bowlers, which was the most striking aspect of his batting. The fact that even Sachin was content to take the back seat and watch the action unfold from the non-striker’s end said a lot about the quality of his innings. As such, Dhawan could only have got himself out.

And that is exactly what happened when he tried to go after Jakati once too often. The ball ballooned high in the air, and Chennai were lucky to have their best fielder, Suresh Raina, in position to take the catch.

Dhawan’s dismissal gave Chennai hope, though only a faint one as Mumbai were halfway past the target. Still, Muttiah Muralitharan worked his charm and trapped Saurabh Tiwary plumb in the front for 2, a rare failure for the youngster during this IPL. The door was again opened slightly by Chennai when Joginder Sharma managed to dislodge Rajagopal Sathish’s stumps.

At 120 for 3 in the 14th over, Chennai sensed they had a sniff. However, this is when Sachin stepped in and decided to seal it in Mumbai’s favour. The authoritative six he hit off Murali not only reminded one of their yesteryear duels, but also showed that Sachin was determined to prove who the boss was.

With a mixture of well-calculated strokes and some elegant drives, he brought Mumbai to the brink of victory. Kieron Pollard, who hasn’t got much of a chance to prove what he is worth, showed some glimpses, striking the ball as clean as a whistle en route to his 9-ball 20. And, though both were dismissed before the target was achieved, they had done enough to take Mumbai to safety.

The win did not look such an easy proposition earlier in the day, when Chennai recovered from 38 for 2 to post 180. Suresh Raina was the chief architect of the recovery.

The talented left-hander struck the ball with ease during his magnificent, unbeaten 83 off 52 balls. He found the perfect foil in S Badrinath, who contributed 55* from 45. Thanks to them, at the halfway stage, Chennai looked favourites. But, midway through the Mumbai innings the equation had completely changed.

For the second game in a row, Chennai Super Kings allowed the opposition to get the better of them, after having dominated nearly one half of the match. For 17 overs after winning the toss and asking the Bangalore Royal Challengers to bat, the Chennai bowlers had Bangalore under the pump.

Jacques Kallis was finally dismissed after having made a rather streaky 19, on a day he surprisingly seemed off colour. Manish Pandey and Rahul Dravid, who hadn’t had a hit in the last three games, were accounted for by some wily bowling by the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan.

But, Robin Uthappa, who bided his time by and was dropped more than once, smashed 68 from 38 balls to help Bangalore finish on an impressive 171 for 5. Most of those runs came in the latter part of the innings. He was especially severe on Laxmipathy Balaji, whom he hit for three consecutive sixes in the penultimate over.

The bowler too didn’t do himself any favours by constantly pitch the ball in the same areas. Still, it was an amazing show of power and skill by Uthappa. At one stage it seemed like Bangalore would struggle to reach 150, but with Uthappa in such fine form, they managed to go well beyond that. It has to be said that Uthappa paced his innings beautifully.

When the early wickets fell, things were quite tough. Also, the bounce on the pitch was quite spongy. As such, he did well not to throw his wicket away.

What Uthappa’s knock did was it ensured the momentum was with Bangalore, going into the break. And this facet was evident when they came out to bowl. Praveen Kumar took out Parthiv Patel in the very first over. And though Matthew Hayden threatened to unleash the Mongoose effect once again, this time its impact was rather brief courtesy a smart piece of fielding from Dravid, resulting in his run-out. All this while, the batsman at the other end, George Bailey, was also kept quiet, which meant Hayden’s dismissal was a body blow for the Super Kings.

Skipper Anil Kumble chipped in with yet another remarkable four-over spell during which he leaked just 15 runs. He troubled Bailey bowling his typically nagging line to which the batsman had not answer. Kumble was eventually rewarded with the wicket of Murali Vijay. But, the biggest beneficiary of the pressure built up by Kumble and Kumar was R Vinay Kumar. With the batsmen having no option but to go after him, he ended up claiming four scalps.

He did go for plenty, and S Badrinath, in particular was impressive against him, caressing the ball for a few pleasing boundaries while not trying to hit the cover off the ball. Albie Morkel too joined in the act towards the end with some monstrous hits. Kumar, though, had the last laugh claiming both of them.

After having Bangalore five down for 119 in 17th over, Chennai should never have allowed them to get away. The fact that they did and were ragged in the field as well rubbed on to their batsmen, who also came up with an uninspired showing.

R Vinay Kumar picked up three wickets in one over, that of Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu, to put the Mumbai Indians firmly on the back foot. However, the home side recovered well thanks to some lusty hitting down the order by Zaheer Khan and useful contributions from Kieron Pollard and R Sathish. 151, however, was still not going to be enough against Bangalore’s charged up batting line-up, and on a pitch that was highly batting-friendly.

Jacques Kallis continued his unbeaten run, slamming yet another 50, while Manish Pandey and continued with their big hitting spree as the Royal Challengers charged to victory without any trouble, and claimed their spot at the top of the table.

Clearly, it was that three-wicket over from Vinay Kumar that turned the tide in Bangalore’s favour. At 74 for 3 in the 11th over, Mumbai were still in the game courtesy of Sachin Tendulkar, who was looking good on 25. But, Vinay got rid of Rayudu, with a well-directed bouncer, a plan which had worked exceedingly well against the Rajasthan Royals.

Then Sachin, who was denied the strike for quite some time, was cleaned up when he shuffled too far and left his leg stump exposed. The skipper batted well for his 25, but the team needed a lot more from him on this day. If Sachin’s dismissal wasn’t bad enough, Bravo got a dose of his own medicine when an off-cutter from Vinay Kumar accounted for him. Bravo fell for one and Mumbai had slipped ton 76 for 6 in no time.

No doubt Vinay Kumar bowled a great spell, but he was greatly assisted by the ones who bowled earlier. Praveen Kumar swung the both ways and kept the Mumbai openers on their feet. At the other end, the aggressive Dale Steyn took out danger man Sanath Jayasuriya with a wonderful outswinger.

Kallis then came on and proved his merit with the ball claiming Aditya Tare, a smart bouncer doing the trick yet again. Next man Saurabh Tiwary, coming off the back of two 50s, had some troubles as well with the rising delivers, but was good enough to fend some off to the ropes. He was fooled, however, by Anil Kumble’s googly and had to be satisfied with 25.

In Mumbai did manage to cross 150, it were due to the efforts of Sathish and Pollard. Judging the situation well, they rotated the strike for a while. Towards the end, Pollard had to do what he was chosen for, some mighty hits. He managed to dispatch Praveen for a six and a four, but was unluckily dismissed as he guided a full toss from Steyn into the hands of Virat Kohli.

Sathish soon fell to a brilliant catch by Rahul Dravid in the deep. Zaheer Khan then punished Kumar’s length deliveries in the final over, claiming 16 runs.

It was far from enough though as Kallis and Pandey continued from where they left off in the previous game. The Mumbai bowlers tried their best, but there was nothing on offer for them. And, in the end, it was Bangalore did it rather royally.