The IPL Watcher

Vinay backs RP
Fast bowler RP Singh received some much-needed support from Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate Vinay Kumar, after his dramatic last over against Chennai Super Kings cost Royal Challengers the match.

Vinay Kumar, whose ability to bowl tight overs under pressure helped Royal Challengers beat Mumbai Indians earlier in the season, put it down to plain bad luck. "RP (Singh) bowled really well in the last two games and even today he was good," Vinay Kumar told the Times of India. "The no-ball was unfortunate. The format is such that anything can happen. Unfortunately the first two balls went for 10 runs. RP did well to pull it back so it was a bit of bad luck, I would say."

Dilshan expected to be fit for RCB-Daredevils clash
Tillakaratne Dilshan is expected to have recovered fully from his bruised knuckle in time for Royal Challengers Bangalore's home game against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday. Dilshan had picked up the injury while fielding in the away game against Sunrisers Hyderabad last Sunday. Dilshan had flown home for Sinhalese New Year, which fell on April 14, but is likely to be available for selection on Tuesday. Meanwhile, batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who is also recovering from finger injury, is expected to join the Royal Challengers squad by the last week of April.

Sreesanth focused on India comeback
Two days after alleging that the IPL had withheld footage of the 2008 slap incident involving offspinner Harbhajan Singh and himself, fast bowler Sreesanth has said he wants to now focus making a comeback to the national team. In a series of tweets on Friday, Sreesanth called Harbhajan a "backstabbing person" who had "elbowed him", and said he had then not received any support from the concerned authorities. On Friday, Sreesanth said he had bared his feelings and had moved on: "I dont want to say anything more as I am playing in the IPL. I just shared my feelings. I want to do well in the matches ahead. I want to work hard to make a comeback to Indian side for the South Africa tour."

Show faith in Yusuf - Akram
Yusuf Pathan, one of the key players in Rajasthan Royals' 2008 IPL success story, has never had the same impact, consistently, for Kolkata Knight Riders. However, captain Gautam Gambhir has always backed him in public, saying several times that he expected Yusuf to produce "something special". Now former Pakistan quick Wasim Akram, who was Knight Riders bowling coach over the previous three seasons but is taking a break this year, has come out in support of Yusuf. In his column in the Times of India, Akram wrote: "Motivation and desire are two things that KKR have never lacked; they need just one good win and you will see them back in top form. I would like to see Yusuf batting up the order though. The captain needs to show more faith in him." Yusuf had shown glimpses of his hitting abilities against Royal Challengers on Thursday, hitting three fours - down the ground, through point and square on the leg side - off his first three balls, batting at No. 4. Knight Riders.

CSK likely to keep Morris ahead of Albie
Albie Morkel has fully recovered after twisting his ankle in a South African domestic match last Sunday, but it is improbable that he will take the field against Royal Challengers. Coach Stephen Fleming said on Friday that Super Kings are likely to stick to their combination of overseas players for now. They had gone in with Chris Morris, Michael Hussey, Dwayne Bravo and Dirk Nannes in their previous game, against Kings XI Punjab. "He [Morkel's fitness] looks good. But to be honest, while he's always a chance, given how well the team played in the last match, it will be difficult to make a change," Fleming said on the eve of the Royal Challengers game. "The overseas players did really well in the last game but often a little twisted ankle or a small injury gives other people opportunities. So, we'll have a good chat after training and make sure there are no such injuries. If that's the case, it will be hard for Albie to push his way into the XI."

'Fickle nature of fans' not new to Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja has been the source of much internet humour all through his bid to secure a place in the Indian team. He debuted for India in ODIs in 2009, but had his place in the side questioned and parodied several times. He has since played 65 ODIs and recently debuted successfully in Test cricket. Now, Jadeja does not take all the jibes too seriously - as demonstrated by the bit of fun he had with his Chennai Super Kings team-mates over Twitter earlier this week - but it wasn't always that way. Speaking to the Times of India, Jadeja said: "I realise the fickle nature of success and that of the fans. Failure is bound to make me the butt of ridicule, as I have seen in the past. [But] it was so disheartening after I was dropped, and people poked fun at me on the internet." He does not expect to be a permanent member of the Test side just yet, Jadeja said: "Though I did pretty well in the series against Australia, I don't think I have cemented my place in the team. India are playing most Tests away from the subcontinent now and I'm not sure whether I will be part of the playing XI."

Chetan Chauhan denied entry into Kotla
The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has seen a number of its power battles being fought in public. Chetan Chauhan, the former Indian opener, who is the chairman of the ground and pitch committee at the DDCA, suffered a rude jolt when he was stopped from entering the pitch at the Ferozshah Kotla by an IPL organiser. According to the DNA newspaper, Peter Griffiths of IMG, the company that is the organising backbone of the IPL, reportedly told Chauhan that he had been issued accreditation to all areas except the playing area ahead of Friday evening's match between Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Chauhan was further incensed when a couple of high-ranking Daredevils officials asked him to clarify the issue with IPL. "I run the show here, not you," the paper quoted Chauhan as saying.

Bat deep, bat hard
Brendon McCullum, the aggressive New Zealand and Kolkata Knight Riders batsman, feels batting in Twenty20 cricket is now a much more high-risk game. According to McCullum, whose 158 in the IPL's first ever match in Bangalore in 2008 remains the highest score in the tournament, said that the big difference now is destructive batsmen like Chris Gayle and himself have to bat longer without stepping off the run-rate pedal. "The key today is to bat for longer periods of time with a high level of risk and play aggressively at the same time," McCullum told Hindustan Times. Another change, McCullum has observed in the six years of IPL, was franchises have started finding the right "mix" of players they can utilise in different playing conditions to maximise the winning potential.

Fastforward to April 2013. It's the Indian Premier League. It's Mumbai Indians beginning their defence of 209 against Delhi Daredevils. Unmukt Chand reaches out first ball, gets a leading edge. The fielder at extra cover runs to his right to claim the chance, stumbles a bit, still manages to dive, sticks his right hand out and grabs hold of the ball while still mid-air. He picks himself up and stands with arms spread out, while the bowler rushes to embrace him. The fielder is Ponting, the bowler, Harbhajan.

After Mumbai completed a crushing win, Ponting joked in a TV interview that that hug had "taken a few years" to materialise. In IPL seasons past, we had seen the main protagonists of the Sydney Test controversy, Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds, similarly embracing in Mumbai Indians' garb. This year we've seen Ponting, Kumble and Tendulkar - the supporting cast in Sydney - amicably discussing strategy on the sidelines. That's the IPL for you. Or maybe it's just Mumbai Indians.

Warriors turn to 'energy' man
Desperate times at Pune Warriors. Despite overhauling the leadership think tank, they have started their campaign with consecutive defeats. Yuvraj Singh, their best player, has not yet been deemed fit and did not attend the team's training on Tuesday. In an attempt to boost the confidence levels, the team management has hired Anand Chulani, who calls himself the peak condition coach. "I play with energy," an excited Chulani said on his first day at work at the Warriors' home ground on Tuesday. Chulani had worked closely with Mumbai and Warriors allrounder Abhishek Nayar last year. Nayar, who finished as the highest run-maker in the Ranji season, had credited Chulani's left-field methods; he had met him during the previous IPL, where Chulani took on the same role for Kings XI Punjab. Warriors are not the first franchise to hire a psychologist: last season Rudi Webster was hired by Kolkata Knight Riders as a mental skills coach.

'T20 has made bowlers smarter' - RP Singh
Twenty20 cricket is not just a batsman's game, according to Royal Challengers Bangalore seamer RP Singh. In fact, he says, the format is helping bowlers get better. Talking to the IPL website, he said: "Because of the T20 format, we're getting better and better at finding new variations and different ways to fox the batsmen. I'd say that the T20 format has made bowlers smarter." The format, he said, does not marginalise bowlers: "Irrespective of the format, if you want to win a game of cricket, you have to have good bowlers. Without the right bowlers you cannot defend any total. Yes, the bowlers are not as popular as the batsmen but they hold the key to winning matches. As a bowler, that's always on my mind that no matter how many runs he scores off me, I just need one good ball to get him out."

Kohli fined for slow over rate
Virat Kohli has been slapped with a fine of US$20,000, after Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to meet over-rate requirements in their home match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday. Royal Challengers were assessed to be three overs behind the required rate, after making allowances for various delays. Kohli is the second captain behind Rajasthan Royals' Rahul Dravid to pick up a penalty for over-rate offences this season.

Dravid fined for slow over rate
Rahul Dravid, Rajasthan Royals' captain, has been fined US$20,000 for failing to meet over rate requirements against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday night. The officials, after making allowances for various delays, deemed Royals to be two overs short of the required rate, according to the IPL website. The fine was levied as per the IPL's code of conduct, keeping in mind it was Dravid's first such offence of the season.

T20 needs a 'a balance of skills' - Hodge
Being the leading run-scorer in Twenty20 cricket, Brad Hodge knows a thing or two about the format. Talking to the IPL website, Hodge said batting in a T20 requires skill just like any other format of the game. "It is a balance of skills. We know that you have to have a high boundary count without losing your wickets. So, more often than not, it is the more skillful players that dominate because they are able to [execute] somewhat risky shots without being too erratic to score those boundaries and singles," Hodge said. Having all that experience, it's possible to wonder why Hodge isn't pushed up the order for Royals, but he sees himself in the role of finisher for the team. "Rahul is just trying to keep me until the later overs to control [the game]. We are quite a young side so I think he wants experience coming in somewhere around the end. Guiding the lower order, that's what I see at the moment. I think I did a pretty good job of it last year, so what he is asking for is something similar."

Ashwin inspiration behind bowling Vihari to Gayle - Srikkanth
Hanuma Vihari's Man-of-the-Match winning performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday included an unbeaten 44 in the chase and, perhaps more importantly, the early dismissal of Chris Gayle. Vihari, with his first ball, had Gayle edging a quickish, bouncy offspinner behind for 1. The decision to hand Vihari the new ball, Hyderabad Sunrisers' mentor Kris Srikkanth said, was influenced by R Ashwin's success against Gayle. "The strategy was decided a day before -- to bring on Vihari against Chris Gayle. The reason was Chennai Super Kings' Ashwin has always been successful against the West Indian big-hitter," Srikkanth told the Hindu. "We all know that Gayle takes time to settle down against spinners. For Vihari it could not have been better than to take such a big wicket with his first-ever ball in the IPL. He also batted very sensibly when the chase was on." Whether Sunrisers will employ the same strategy as they face off against Royal Challengers once again later today, is left to be seen.