From the iSport Cricket Paddock: KKR disappoints fans once again. With their recent loss against DD they are now struggling to be among the top 5 on the IPL score card, iSporter Hirok Banerjee pens what he feels is the present plight of the team.
Ganguly should have let the IPL go by before claiming to have the best bowling line-up of all the teams. The claim as it stands today appears to be absolutely preposterous. On what basis, did he make such a statement is beyond the realms of logic. When you have two bowlers in your line-up in the likes of Ajit Agarkar and Ishant Sharma, then brace yourself for some outlandishly ameteurish bowling.
Questions need to be asked about how a bowler after playing 191 one-day internationals continues to bowl short and wide and asking to be hit! Possibly, Ishant is following his legacy! Ganguly's persistence with Agarkar is inexplicable. Agarkar only had one afternoon of note at Adelaide. For that one afternoon, we have endured far too much of mediocre, poor bowling.
Delhi were off to a blazing start. Never once in their innings was there any loss of momentum. Inspite of being 38 for 3 in 3 overs, David Warner and Paul Collingwood showed how to play an ideal T20 innings. Collingwood held up one end and gave the strike to Warner who feasted on Ajit and Ishant. A well composed brilliant century by a player, under-rated yet devastating on his day.
Watching Ganguly bat nowadays is an ordeal. Thankfully, he left pretty quickly and spared us the horror. Chasing 177, a 10 ball 5 from the captain of the team would hardly elicit the confidence in the dressing room. Mandeep Singh, possibly talented, though hardly a glimmer of that is seen in the extremely short time he has spent in the middle in the 2 matches, is a selection is worth discussing. Cheteshwar Pujara did not work. Mandeep Singh appears to be hurried by fast bowlers. Ganapathy Vignesh has a reputation coming from ICL. Purely on that account he should have got a look-in ahead of Mandeep.
After this match, there would be changes. One hopes that Agarkar would be 'rested' for the rest of the IPL. Anyways, Agarkar is going for about 10 an over. Ashok Dinda would not fare worse than that. Actually, if there was an option, Ganguly ought to be dropped first. When the captain of the team becomes a liability for the team, then there is only one direction the team is headed for.
A crucial match and a performance not worth a paisa. KKR has dug themselves a grave and it would take a nearly inmpossible turnaround for them to finish even within the top 6 from here. Even in his most indulgent dream Shah Rukh Khan cannot hope for a semi-final berth.
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Hirok Banerjee
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... Neither do I. Shukla and Dinda are any day a better bet than Ajit and Ishant. Hirok |
a guest
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... Honestly I think Ganguly's captaincy is ruining KKR as much as his batting. Ishant Sharma - he is showing genuine talent to surpass sir Aggy. The way sachin was hitting him in the mumbai match, it looked like a statement. He seemed to be telling the selectors - dont even think about getting him into world cup squad next year. About dinda and agarkar, I have similar opinion about both and I dont think Ganguly needs to look beyond Angelo on the medium pacers department. But again, like he is under utilizing that guy's batting talent, he will do the same to his bowling. Shukla - another loser who will always be bits and pieces and never add up. I wont be surprised if it was Ganguly's ego which stopped him from getting any of the current young batsmen from Indian team in IPL 1 auction, just after he got dropped from ODIs. Serves him right now. |
Hirok Banerjee
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... I agree that Sourav's captaincy has been patchy and unimaginative. But he has to play one more pacer apart from Bond and Mathews. So the choice is between Ishant, Ajit, Shukla and Dinda. In that respect, Shukla is a better bet because he is capable of batting when required. In the IPL1 auction, it was Buchanan who called the shots and not Ganguly. The root of the problem lies in that auction. The next year should be interesting. |
a guest
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... I am doubtful if he needs to play Shukla just for the sake of playing a third pacer option. In that case Ganguly himself is as good as Shukla. Like I said commenting on your last article, this fellow Vignesh is a medium pacer as well and scored a 50 ball 88 in ICL among other blistering knocks. Solves the zigsaw puzzle completely. If only he can dismiss Ganguly in the nets a few times now. |
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