Cricket Tournaments

The article might seem harsh and is worth a read for all Ganguly (Sourav) and KKR (Kolkata knight riders) fans. Sourav Ganguly has been in dismal form off late. After having quit international cricket after the IPL season 1, Ganguly has looked although determined lack luster when it comes to performance actually in the middle.

The ability more than will has been missing. Once, the god off the off side—he doesn’t seem to be what he was famed for. His form for the knights has left a lot to be desired and despite this he’s still loved in the city which holds the ‘Eden gardens’. With a series of low scores in the 2010 IPL season, dada’s future looks uncertain.

He hasn’t been able to provide the much needed impetus either upper or lower down the order and more so after he decided to be KKR’s perfect number 3. With the Huge auction all set to unveil itself in the month of June this year and with IPL commissioner Lalit Modi tinkering with the rules a wee bit—Ganguly’s future ‘certainly’ looks uncertain.

In the auction that is to come in June all players will be back in the pool i.e. including icon players. This basically means that come June it may not be compulsory for a team like Kolkata knight riders to pick Ganguly (unlike the last time). This could very well mean that this could be Sourav Ganguly’s last turn out in the IPL (Considering his dismal performance off late).

If dada wants to get back in the thick of things he must ensure that his form is right up there with some consistent performances for the knights in this season. In the four matches that he has played in the IPL this year he has scored a total of 67 runs with a highest of 33 at a strike rate of 90.

You’d expect that a batman who comes in at number 3 would either be a stabilizer (busy player in this form) or a big hitter. Ganguly seems to be caught hanging between the two and as a result is unable to put up the runs on the board. It would be advisable that the KKR management consider putting him in at number 5 or 6.

Once T20 veteran Victorian David Hussey is back along with West Indian skipper Chris Gayle, the KKR foreign combination should change drastically. McCullum too should be back by the 1st of April. When that happens, Gayle and McCullum should open with Manoj Tiwary at 3 and David Hussey at 4.

Bond or langeveldt could occupy the 4th position. Ashoke Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik and Ishant Sharma should bowl 4 each with Gayle, Hussey, Ganguly and Gavaskar (Rohan) filling in 4 or more Overs between themselves.

The whole idea is to define Ganguly’s role in the team or send him down the order. KKR cannot continue on this basis or they would be seen emulating their first season’s performance.

In 20-20 cricket, the value of keeping wickets in hand is often underestimated. However, it is equally important to ensure that you don’t leave too much to be done at the fag end of the innings. Finding the proper balance is most important.

While the Kolkata Knight Riders managed to succeed in the first aspect, they failed miserably in the second and, as a result, handed the under pressure Rajasthan Royals their first win in the tournament at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad. Chasing Rajasthan’s challenging 168 for 7 on one of the slowest pitches in the tournament, the Knight Riders could muster only 134 for the loss of five wickets.

The Royals, for the first time in this IPL, looked at ease as the pitch offered enough for their spinners. Skipper Shane Warne was smart enough to sense the occasion and open the bowling with Yusuf Pathan. And the all-rounder, who failed with the bat, responded immediately.

He sent back opener Manoj Tiwary with a quickish one, which Tiwary failed to read and was clean bowled. Brad Hodge and Cheteshwar Pujara then strung together a useful partnership. However, the Royals ensured that they remained in the hunt by not allowing either of the batsmen to run away with the game. Warne also played his part by keeping the runs down from his end though he could not pick up any wickets. And the tactics paid rich dividends.

As the pressure and required run-rate mounted, Pujara was taken out for 29 by pacer Siddharth Trivedi and the aggressive Pathan returned to knock out Hodge, bowling him through the gate as the batsman tried to break free from the shackles imposed. Hodge contributed 36 from 34, but in the context of the game, it was a poor effort.

He fell at the start of the 15th over, by which time the Knight Riders had scored only 95 and had a tall mountain to climb despite having wickets in hand.

Also, it did not help that the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat towards the later part of the match. Sourav Ganguly struggled like to time the ball at all as Munaf Patel and Shaun Tait finished off things very well for the Royals, bowling some accurate Yorker length deliveries.

Ganguly’s ordeal ended in the final over when he was dismissed for 33 by Patel. But, the match was over long before. Owais Shah hit a couple of mighty sixes, but in between those two strokes, he also found the going tough. The Royals took a cue from the battering they received against Bangalore and bowled some good short deliveries as well.

With the bat too they put in an improved performance. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala led the way with a composed 45, but Adam Voges quickfire, unbeaten 37 from 22 balls, 17 of which came in the last over from Ishant Sharma was equally crucial. In between too, the Royals batted sensibly.

After losing Michael Lumb early, Naman Ojha and Faiz Fazal too turns to go after the attack. Thus, the runs kept coming despite the loss of wickets. This approach saw them garner a fighting total pf 168, which was enough to earn them their first points as Kolkata mistimed their chase.