The IPL Watcher

Cheteshwar Pujara, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman, has said he'll take another two weeks to return to cricket and hopes to play for his side in the IPL in the last week of April. Pujara fractured his index finger during the final Test against Australia in Delhi.

"I will take at least two weeks more to return to cricket," Pujara told Indian Express. "When I fractured my finger, during the Delhi Test, physios had advised me that I needed to take at least three-four weeks rest. I hope to be available for RCB by the last week of April but at the same time I don't want to rush things."

Pietersen pops by
Ruled out of the IPL due to a knee injury, Kevin Pietersen showed up to cheer on his Daredevils' team-mates, meeting them at their hotel before spending a couple of hours at the ground. "KP came in late last night and the players at the hotel received a pleasant surprise," a Delhi official said. "Speaking to him and spending time with him was definitely good for them. It is still early days in the tournament but this was definitely good for their morale." The English batsman, who joined the Daredevils squad last year, scored 305 runs in eight games.

Former South African fast bowler Allan Donald said he was impressed by Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Donald, who was recently appointed as coach of the Pune Warriors team, said that while extra pace was a skill that could win matches for the side, the control shown by Bhuvneshwar was equally crucial. In an interview to Hindustan TImes, Donald also stated that young fast bowlers, like South African pacer Marchant de Lange, risked becoming injury prone if they were exposed to too much cricket at a young age.

Indian bowlers need more conditioning
He was, however, critical about the up-and-coming fast bowlers doing the rounds on the Indian domestic circuit. In an interview with Yahoo! Cricket he talked about how Indian bowlers need to work on their conditioning and fitness, that way they can avoid any undue stress which can ultimately lead to serious injury. He also spoke about the importance of managing a bowler's workload, pointing out de Lange's situation, where despite being a well-built young man, he was overbowled, which ultimately led to his stress fracture.

Jaipur's venue woes
Jaipur's status as an IPL venue was secured after a prolonged tussle between the Rajasthan state sports council and the Rajasthan Cricket Association, and the confirmation came just in time for the organisers to start preparing the ground for Rajasthan Royals' home games. However, authorities found some temporary structures erected in the west stand of the Sawai Man Singh Stadium unsafe. Since the stadium is owned by the state sports council, they appointed a three-member committee of structural engineers. A regional Hindi daily reported on Thursday that the committee found that "the temporary stands could be blown away even by a breeze". While the RCA officials feigned ignorance about the issue, Rajasthan Royals were taking no chances. "We are having a meeting with the vendors and we will make sure we get a safety certificate from structural engineers for the stand," a Royals spokesperson said. During the committee's official inspection of the stadium on Thursday, no major glitch was observed and the matter was put to rest.

Lasith Malinga has been ruled out of Mumbai Indians' opening match on Thursday due to a sore back. Malinga has been among the most dangerous bowlers in the IPL over the past few seasons, and his absence will be a big blow ahead of the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"Malinga will miss the first match of this season due to the on-going treatment for sore back," a Mumbai Indians official said. "He was scheduled to join MI camp in Bangalore yesterday but now he will only join the squad in Mumbai for the team's first home match."

This is the first time Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, will not feature in the IPL. By his own admission, Ganguly has played enough and now wants to enjoy the game from the outside. Speaking to The Times of India, Ganguly rates Mumbai Indians as one of contenders for the title after several changes to their side.

"They have a new but highly experienced coach in John Wright, the well-respected Anil Kumble as their mentor and senior pro Ricky Ponting as captain. Along with Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh's experience, you have exciting youngsters in Glenn Maxwell, Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu. They are a formidable unit and will be strong contenders for the title," Ganguly said.

The post-match celebrations by Shah Rukh Khan, captured faithfully by the host broadcasters, overran the limits of good taste and induced cringes in all thinking people watching the show. But Shah Rukh can be forgiven his excitement, over-the-top even by his own standards. For Sunday's win capped not merely a season of exceptional cricket by his team but ended, with dramatic finality, four years of embarrassment and humiliation in the IPL. In those four years his team usually made headlines for all the wrong reasons but Shah Rukh stuck by it; when things got especially bad - during the annus horribilis of 2009, when his team finished bottom of the league amidst intrigue, infighting and incompetence - he would seek refuge behind his superstar psychobabble so that no one knew whether he was being serious or not. Sometimes he seemed to contribute to his team's problems - most recently after his team's match in Mumbai, when a post-match altercation led to him being handed a five-year ban from the Wankhede Stadium.

Shah Rukh never gave up, though, and his decision to stick instead of twist, went beyond simple economic or financial reasons. His buying the Kolkata franchise back in 2008 was a bit of a surprise at the time - he had no obvious connections with the city - but soon it all became perfectly clear. He seemed to have a sharp understanding of his franchise, its hometown and its fans. They were emotional and theatrical, so was he and he played them like a finely-tuned harmonium. He invested personally; again, not merely in terms of money - for much of that came from his sober sidekick Jay Mehta. His investment was in the form of his very identity, his status as India's most popular actor. He staked himself. He roped in the sponsors, often those with whom he had personal endorsement contracts; he struck up equations with Bengal's mercurial political leadership, latterly being anointed Bengal's brand ambassador; and he cleared his schedules so that for six weeks he and his gang of high-profile cheerleaders would go from stadium to stadium, usually in the scorching summer heat, to emote, wave flags, jump, shout, dance. And attend the after-parties.

Yet for all that emotion and apparent soft centre, the franchise was capable of taking hard decisions - none more so than in its sacking of Sourav Ganguly before the 2011 auction. It was a huge decision; for the people of Kolkata, Ganguly was far bigger than this upstart franchise. Yet that decision, and the subsequent rebuilding of the team around a new captain and coach, was perhaps the most crucial factor in winning the IPL. The one sentiment that was voiced by the Kolkata players on Sunday night was about team spirit; it wasn't the typical platitutdes of a winning team. An invidious atmosphere, one of distrust, mistrust and bloated egos, was replaced by an honest team ethic and focus shifted to building for the future. The drama was toned down, the team returned to first principles and decisions were once again taken for cricketing reasons.

Feel like it is our time again - du Plessis: Faf du Plessis, the Chennai Super Kings batsman, has said the side's leadership and experience of having won titles are the reasons they perform strongly in crunch games. Super Kings crushed Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils comfortably in the playoffs to make their third straight IPL final, and their fourth in five seasons of the tournament.

"I think it comes from the leadership; [Stephen] Fleming [the coach] is good with the big games and also MS [Dhoni]," du Plessis told iplt20.com. "MS has played in a lot of big tournaments and has won the World Cup. So, he is pretty cool when it comes to that and most of the players now have the same feeling. Most of the guys in CSK have been here for a couple of years and we have won those trophies, so when we get to this stage of the competition, we have got this sense of calmness and maybe the other teams feel a bit of pressure that we have won silverware.

"I was the first one to say that we are lucky to make it to the semi-finals. We shouldn't have been here. But since we are here, the team's confidence has grown massively. It's starting to feel like it is our time again for us to do three in a row. You definitely need luck in all sports and we have had a lot of luck, but now we are playing our best cricket and that is most important."

Gambhir the hardest to bowl at - Morne Morkel: Gautam Gambhir has been the most difficult batsman to bowl at in IPL 2012, according to Morne Morkel, the leading wicket-taker so far this season. "He has always been a quality player and went into this tournament with an excellent plan," Morkel told the Times of India. "He has mixed caution with aggression quite beautifully and that has worked well for him." Chris Gayle, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman, is by far the highest run-getter this season, but Gambhir has been instrumental in leading Kolkata Knight Riders to the final with six half-centuries on his way to 588 runs at a strike-rate of 144.47.

Can go all the way - Badrinath: Chennai Super Kings batsman S Badrinath, who made 47 in the win over Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, said his team was confident of beating Delhi Daredevils in the second qualifier on Friday and making the final. "We didn't have a good game against them [Daredevils] in Delhi, but in Chennai, we beat them fair and square. The team has got back the momentum that was needed and we are confident of pulling this off," Badrinath told Times of India. Badrinath said that captain MS Dhoni's whirlwind knock of 51 that helped set up Super Kings' win had played a big role in helping to restore the confidence of the team. "When Dhoni plays like that, you are always on pole position … now the belief is there that we can go all the way."

Will reassess batting order - Sekar: Delhi Daredevils team mentor TA Sekar is confident his batsmen will come good against Chennai Super Kings in their qualifier on Friday. Daredevils managed 144 chasing 163 in the first qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday and only Mahela Jayawardene managed to get past 30. "Last three overs of the last match did not go in our favour," Sekar said. "Our batting order needs to be assessed and we have done that. In Twenty20 games, it is not a major concern for us since we have a very strong batting line up." Daredevils have faced some criticism for frequently changing their battle order with the likes of Ross Taylor being held back but Sekar defended the decisions."In Twenty20, batting order changes frequently. It is not the set order like in Test matches. So, we need to change and in fact every team does it depending on the situations and its demands."

Gambhir earns praise: Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to enter the IPL final, after they beat Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday and their captain Gautam Gambhir has earned praise from former India cricketers for his leadership. "When he captains, he is more determined. Responsibility makes him a better cricketer. He has big-match temperament," former Indian opener Chetan Chauhan told the Times of India. "He can fight it out, stay on at the crease. If he gets set, it's tough to get him out." Kiran More, the former India wicketkeeper said that while MS Dhoni was the "best bet" as India captain, "Gambhir is good too; he has been an inspiration for his team and whoever is playing for Knight Riders will tell you that." Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine was all praise for his captain. "I am grateful to Gambhir for showing confidence in my ability. Under him, the team has reached the final for the first time and we hope to continue our good work," he said.

Additional seating at the Chepauk: More than 12000 additional seats will be available for spectators for the last two matches of IPL 2012 to be played in Chennai. Stands G, H and I - they were reportedly awaiting clearance from the city's planning department - have been opened and the tickets will be available from the counters at the ground between 8am and 4pm. Priced at Rs 500 and 750, the tickets for these stands are not available online. At the time that those stands remained empty during the league phase, there were rumours of a possibility that the IPL's knockout games would be shifted out of the venue, but that isn't the case.