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Girls Dieing to meet him..Who is he?
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IPL T20 Semi Final Ticket Rates slashed
Ticket prices of the semi-finals to be held at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday and on May 31 have been slashed from Rs 6,000 to Rs 4,000 for the MCA Guest (Vithal Divecha) Stand, the franchise owners said in a media release.
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Sachin heart broken as Chennai last team to reach IPL T20 Semis
Chennai Super Kings grabbed the last available semi-final spot in the Indian Premier League after beating Deccan Chargers by seven wickets in their last league match on Tuesday.
Chasing 148 to win, the visitors overhauled the modest target with four balls to spare, thanks to sensible batting by Suresh Raina (54 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (37).
The Chennai team not only sealed a semi-final place for themselves they also broke the heart of Sachin Tendulkar led Mumbai Indians team, which is now out of the tournament.
A lose of Chennai and a Mumbai win tomorrow against Bangalore Royal Challengers would have enabled Mumbai to enter the last-four stage of the tournament. Now Mumbai's last league match has been rendered inconsequential.
Daredevils thankful to Rajasthan Royals
Niraj Patel (40 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (23 not out) turned heroes by scoring 16 runs from the match-deciding last over to guide Rajasthan Royals to an improbable last-ball 5-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in a nerve-wrecking Indian Premier League match on Monday.
The young duo stood tall among ruins to share an unfinished 69-run stand for the sixth wicket to single-handedly decide the fate of the match though aided by some blunders by the Mumbai team.
Today's result ensured that Delhi Daredevils make it to the semi-finals with 15 points from 14 matches while Mumbai Indians (12 points from 13 matches) will have to wait the outcome of tomorrow's match between Chennai Super Kings (14 points from 13 and bottom placed Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad.
Exclusive words by Sourav Ganguly
If love, anger, bravery, mirth, compassion, aversion, amazement, fright and calm are the 'nava rasas' or the nine emotions that as per ancient Indian theory of aesthetics a quality work of art must evoke, then no modern cricketer comes close to Sourav Ganguly.
Nobody can make fans and foes alike run through the gamut of emotions as the former Indian captain. Even in the Sunday night game, he first aroused laughter and loathing among KKR fans as he ran back to drop a catch in the outfield that strictly belonged to teammate Aakash Chopra. It was typical of Ganguly to shout at the hapless fellow fielder when the mistake was his own.
And then as his solo endeavour to sign off on a winning note looked futile with wickets falling at the other end, the KKR captain turned into an object of pity. In fact, at one point, his apparent refusal to move into fourth gear prompted commentators like Arun Lal to wonder why he was delaying the onslaught for whatever it was worth.
The unthinkable happened thereafter. Despite all the shocks that Ganguly has let loose on his unsuspecting fans since his fairytale international comeback in December 2006 - beginning from a half-century on a savage Johannesburg pitch to a double century against Pakistan in Bangalore to a match-winning but already forgotten 87 against South Africa just six weeks ago in Kanpur - few were prepared for the way he batted, smashing an unbeaten 86 off 53 balls, admittedly with Umar Gul in stellar support.
But as the crowd swiveled from amazement to euphoria at Eden Gardens on Sunday, Ganguly remained the quintessence of cool. Facing up to Irfan Pathan and in need of 15 runs off six balls to clinch an unlikely win for the Kolkata Knight Riders, both his face and demeanour were a picture of Buddhist calm. The former India captain looked at peace with himself and with the world.
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knight Riders snacted an exciting tie from Punjab
Skipper Sourav Ganguly led from the front with an unbeaten knock of 86 as the Kolkata Knight Riders snatched an unbelievable three-wicket win with two balls to spare against the formidable Kings XI Punjab to finish their below-par campaign in the Indian Premier League on a high on Sunday.
Replying to the Kings XI's competitive score of 174 for 6, the Knight Riders reached their winning target of 175 losing seven wickets in 19.4 overs in a nail-biting finish before a crowd of 30,000 at the Eden Gardens.
Man of the match Umar Gul (24; 11 balls, 1x4, 3x6), who also shone with the ball with figures of 4/23, turned the game upside down during a hurricane 49-run seventh wicket stand with Ganguly after the Knight Riders seemed headed towards yet another defeat at 106 for 6.
As Irfan Pathan set out to bowl the last over, the hosts needed 15 runs, but Ganguly finished off the proceedings in a destructive manner, with a six, two, six and one to hand out the Kings XI their fourth defeat.
The Punjab side, already in the semi-finals, remained on 18 points after 13 games
Cool down Sharukh!!
Still apparently in a fit of sulks, Khan has lashed at the IPL, saying on Thursday that he hadn't paid his team to lose, but to win.
Khan had felt quite at home among his Knights - so much so he wouldn't budge an inch from their side. But then one fine evening he was asked by the authorities to keep his beloved team at arm's length - the actor was miffed, and swift came the first salvo in these words:
"My hanging around in the dressing room is apparently 'anti-Anti-Corruption'. I'm like, listen, don't tell me that I am corrupt...let CBI, ICC Code of Conduct team - anybody - dare try to stop me from meeting my team for every match."
Khan was then provided with a solution - following the tradition of handing out purple and orange caps to the players, IPL announced a red, all-area accreditation badge to one member of each of the eight franchisees, to be given by the ICC's Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) which gave them access to the team dugout and dressing room as well.
But Khan did not take the bait provided by the officials and was absent from the very next match.
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Secret of Rajasthan Royals phenomial performance in IPL T20
The best laid out plans are the ones that usually go awry first. So when Team Jaipur declared that they had a few to tackle Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one couldn't help but look at the pinch of salt hungrily.The trap had, however, been put in motion well before the match began on a hot Sunday evening. To begin with, the hosts spread the word that the Sawai Man Singh was a good batting track; then, there were enough hints to indicate that it would eventually take turn too.Chennai, gullible as formidable units usually are, fell for the trick: they realized what they had walked into only when their top order got blown away. By the time Dhoni stepped out to bat, he was smarting with doubts. Shane Warne promptly took charge of the ball.
It was barely the eighth over of the innings, probably the earliest he has bowled in the IPL so far. Graeme Smith, without even bothering to look at his captain, went over to first slip. Mid off went back, mid-wicket went deeper, cover moved wider and gully went squarer. Warne tossed his leg-break up. The ball pitched perfectly outside leg-stump, fizzed through the air and ripped past his probing willow. Next ball was a straighter one; Dhoni warded it off without any problem. The third one was again outside the leg, just that it was a little flatter.
Dhoni lunged at it once again and could only manage a thin edge. Smith gleefully accepted the dolly and Team Jaipur celebrated in the middle, jumping like a bunch of little boys who had got lucky on their first date. The plan had worked, almost as they had conceived it.
So what weakness did Warne and his coach Darren Berry see in Dhoni's formidable arsenal? Was it just a fluke or is it something that can be exploited by others as well? The most valuable player in the IPL, of course, doesn't have the perfect technique.
Yusuf and Kaif heroics buried Kolkatta Riders
Yusuf Pathan and Mohammad Kaif drummed up a crucial unfinished 81-run partnership as Rajasthan Royals confirmed their semi-final berth by cantering to a six-wicket victory over a lacklustre Kolkata Knight Riders here on Tuesday.Pathan (48 not out off 18 balls) and Kaif (34 not out off 31 balls) took the game away from the Knight Riders during their rollicking 42-ball stand after the hosts posted a modest 147 for eight in the face of a disciplined bowling performance from the league leaders.
Pathan, who played a hurricane knock studded with five fours and three sixes, ended the game in style with an overboundary off pacer Umar Gul as the Royals reached 150 for four with 21 balls still remaining in the Eden Gardens game.
About Yusuf Pathan
Yousuf Pathan is not only brother of 'old-time' hero Irfaan pathan but also the record holder of hitting fasted fifty of IPL T20.Lets have a sneak peak at his career till now.Surely this hard hitting spinner from Baroda has reserved a berth in National team.By the way he was the part of ICC T20 champion squad.
Yusuf Khan Pathan (born November 17, 1982 in Baroda) is an Indian cricketer. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He is a hard hitting right handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. His younger brother Irfan Pathan is also an Indian cricketer.
Yusuf was a part of the Indian squad which won the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, held in South Africa in September 2007. [1] He contributed both with the bat and bowl conceding just five runs in his debut T20 over and scoring 15 off 8 balls.
He represents Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. He was signed for USD 475,000.
Sehwag-Gambhir Duo kept the Semis Berth Chances Open
Chasing 155 for a crucial victory, the Daredevils rode on Sehwag and Gambhir's rollicking start to reach 158 for five with 10 balls to spare to notch up their sixth win from 12 matches and kept them in the reckoning for a semifinal berth.
Earlier, after being put in to bat, Bangalore Royal Challengers continued their characteristic wobbly start to post a modest 154 for 7, raised mainly on Sreevats Goswami's debut half century (52) and Misbah-ul-Haq's (47) late charge.
Sehwag and Gambhir, who faced only 41 balls for their 90-run stand, were cautious for the first two overs but began raining fours and sixes after that with Gambhir, IPL's top run getter, punishing Dale Steyn and his captain doing the same to Zaheer Khan.
After the second over, the IPL's top two run getters got at least two fours in an over before Sehwag was out courtesy a brilliant catch by Bharat Chipli in the seventh over after hitting Praveen Kumar for three fours and a six in that over
Exclusive: Interview with Sanath Jayasuriya
After his blistering century against Chennai in the IPL, Sanath Jayasuriya had said, "I am very happy with the hundred. But that's gone now. Tomorrow is a new game and I look forward to some different things. I would like to repeat what I did yesterday." He was referring to the Kolkata game. Sanath was as good as his word for he stayed unbeaten with 48 to crush Kolkata.
Hardened professional that he is, the Mumbai Indians’ star kept regretting that his team's batsmen had not got partnerships going and that he himself got out after making 20-30 runs. He also said that the key to success was one of the top four batsmen batting 15 overs. He hasn't got out in two innings now.
About the high expectations of him Sanath said, "Whether you are playing for your country or your club, you are always under pressure to perform. The expectations are very high. But I think the team management has really been supportive of the players. Even when we lost four games in succession at the beginning, they were always behind us. That is why we were able to come back to strongly. The boys are really enjoying what they are doing."
Is T20 only about big hitting? "You can get carried away due to big hitting because the match is just 20 overs.
Because here you can hardly have time to get set. So what you are always looking for is a big shot. But I think the best thing for a batsman to do is to play his natural game. It's not just about big hitting, it's all about playing your natural game."
A lot of people are asking whether secrets are being leaked out by players about their country teammates playing for IPL sides. Jayasuriya thought that was not a problem. "These days everyone knows every player's strengths and weaknesses. With so much of cricket being played and all the teams having the technological assistance, all the teams are carefully examining video footage of other players. So the teammates in international cricket playing against each other doesn't make much of a difference."
Jayasuriya said there was need to keep the sanctity of the 50-over and Test cricket and then create some space for T20.
Would the IPL show extend his playing career? "Not really. It's just that I am very happy with my knocks."
How was the dressing room atmosphere? "The whole dressing room was very happy. We were talking about only this - if someone scores 80 or a hundred, we will win. And that's what happened. Against Chennai it was me, in the future it could be someone else. It wasn't as if I was in a bad nick. I was getting to the 20s or 30s quickly and then getting out. I didn't realise that I was in good nick till I reached the 50. There was more bounce and carry through the wicket. So when I got a start, it came nicely on to the bat. So I thought I should not throw it away and better keep on batting. Otherwise, it wouldn't help the team."
But he had a warning for his young fans. "Some of the shots we play, they should not follow. They should play the normal cricketing shots at the start of their cricketing career."
Mission Possible for Mumbai Indians
For weeks, Sachin Tendulkar sat on the sidelines clutching his painful groin; he even watched helplessly as his side jumped out of the frying pan into the Harbhajan Singh fire and back into the frying pan.The Mumbai Indians, and their owners, however, did not lose their faith. Unlike the Royal Challengers, they could fall back on hope: after all, they had a few players who could make an impact, at least in the immediate now. It was merely a question of one victory; the turnaround could always be round the corner.
The onus was taken by Shaun Pollock. The reluctant captain, who hides a sharp wit behind that perpetual frown, realised at that right time that his swansong was turning out to be no more than a squeak. Digging deep into his repertoire, he pulled out slower deliveries, sharp incutters, late outswingers and... eventually the rabbit.
With unexpected support from the maverick Ashish Nehra, he transformed MI from a batting powerhouse into a bowling force. It took them a while, four straight defeats and a firm word from the franchise for the penny to drop. But at least it did. [MORE]
IPL Players getting Payment in Installment
Maxwell, who also manages top Australian cricketers like Brett Lee, Michael Hussey and Shane Watson, admitted the payments were slowly being made in phases.
"The players are being paid in installments because there are a number of taxation issues. It is the first installment that is taking the most time because it's not simple as a lot of taxes are involved," Maxwell told a news channel reacting to Australian media reports which said players were getting frustrated with long delay in their IPL payments.
Maxwell said too much was being read into the delay and asserted that every player would be paid his contract money.
"I think too much is being made out of it. It's a little lengthy process and everyone has to be patient. The players are contracted with their franchisees and they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding," he explained.
Australia's Test cricketers had a short stint at the IPL and played only for the first couple of weeks before leaving to fulfill their national commitments in the West Indies.
The top Aussie cricketers who returned included skipper Ricky Ponting, pace spearhead Brett Lee, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich and all-rounder Andrew Symonds among others.
Daredevils finally broke the dead lock
Mishra removed Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh off three successive balls in a dramatic last over to record the second hat-trick of the tournament. His figure read 4-0-17-5.
But lets have a closer look on Amit Mishra
What Wiki says about him
Amit Mishra pronunciation (born November 24, 1982 in Delhi) is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and legbreak bowler.
Comparisons his critics have made with Shane Warne are by all means undeserved, despite a similar run-up, and bowl. Mishra is an attacking cricketer who bowls a praised leg break and googly.
Mishra was initially called into the Indian squad for the Test against the West Indies in 2002, but was not given a chance to play. He was allowed to play, however, during the TVS Cup in 2003, which took place in Dhaka.
Today we are going witness a nice clash between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders,whom are you supporting to??Sanath Fireworks reinvented hopes for Mumbai Indians
The Sri Lankan veteran flicked, slashed and pulled the short-pitched balls served to him on a platter by the visiting team's bowlers as the home team, chasing Chennai's total of 156 for six, surged to a comprehensive win in only the 14th over.
Jayasuriya finished the match with a flourish by slamming Lankan compatriot Chamara Kapugedara for 26 runs in five balls, with three sixes to boot.
By the way this was Sachin's first match of the Cricket carnival and he must have enjoyed the party thrown by Sanath Jayasuriya by standing on the Non-stricker's end!!Isn't it ,Sachin??
IPL T20 getting heavy on Pocket for someone
"It was clear what the team management wants. Apparently coach John Buchanan feels that he has found his set combination and had no need for the fringe players," one of the players said.
Ranadeb Bose, one of the players spoke to Times Now and said, "I did not expect this was coming. I was surprised when John said that we have to win more games and we have to concentrate on the first 11 or first 14. This is unfair on our part that we will not practice or play any game. So, it is better we go back and relax rather than staying with the side."
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Shoaib's Entry marked the begining of Delhi's Exit
Delhi should tie up their laces to win matches on 15th,17th and 22nd with Hydrabad,Mohali and again with Kolkata to keep their chances alive to reach Semis.Lets see what happens,but whatever you say IPL T20 is getting Hot and interesting day by day!!
Harbhajan's fate sealed
Wacth: Nanavati to submit report today
Sreesanth's outburst on April 25th in Mohali after his match against the Mumbai Indians shocked the entire cricketing world and went on to become one of the defining moments of the inaugural Indian Premier League. It was Harbhajan Singh -- the bad boy of the cricketing world -- who was responsible for those tears. Following the row, the IPL Governing Council slapped a 11 IPL match ban on Bhajji. But that was not all. The BCCI appointed Commissioner Sudhir Nanavati was asked to probe into the incident, which has been completed, leaving the decision of further ban upto the BCCI.
Bhajji: Bad boy of Indian cricket
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Most Valuable Player?
| Most Valuable Players | Matches | Batting Pts | Bowling Pts | Fielding Pts | Captaincy Pts | Total Pts |
| 8 | 246 | 280 | 20 | - | 546 | |
| 7 | 395 | 23 | 50 | 25 | 493 | |
| 8 | 52 | 282 | 55 | 100 | 489 | |
| 7 | 52 | 345 | 35 | - | 432 | |
| 8 | 328 | 0 | 75 | - | 403 | |
| 8 | 321 | 70 | 10 | - | 401 | |
| 7 | 206 | 30 | 75 | 75 | 386 | |
| 8 | 18 | 334 | 25 | - | 377 | |
| 7 | 140 | 158 | 10 | 50 | 358 | |
| 8 | 299 | 0 | 50 | - | 349 |
| Best Batsmen | Innings | N.O | Runs | Average | Str Rate | Points |
| 7 | 1 | 270 | 45.00 | 190.14 | 395 | |
| 8 | 1 | 284 | 40.57 | 150.26 | 328 | |
| 7 | 1 | 305 | 50.83 | 139.9 | 328 |
| Top Bowlers | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Econ | Econ Pts | Wkts Pts | Total |
| 27.3 | 174 | 12 | 6.36 | 45 | 300 | 345 | |
| 31.0 | 239 | 13 | 7.7 | 9 | 325 | 334 | |
| 28.8 | 214 | 11 | 7.42 | 17 | 275 | 292 |
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