Why you shouldn't sledge or whip your cattle

The home advantage
It's fascinating to observe that even in Twenty20 cricket, the home-advantage factor has sprung up. Royal Challengers Bangalore like their pitches bouncy and waylay harmless visiting sides with their nasty pace, while Rajasthan Royals have started winning only after they started playing on really slow turners.

Warne v Gibbs - redux
Rewind to Headingley 1999 and to the ball of the World Cup: Shane Warne's ripper to Gibbs that turned the game on its head. Flash forward to 2010. Gibbs is in form again but Warne is older and is yet to produce any magic in the tournament. Advantage Gibbs? Only in his dreams. The ball rips across, floats above the eye-line and Gibbs is sucked into a fatal off drive. The ball dips rapidly on him, grips the surface and spins right past the hapless Gibbs. Warne had fooled Gibbs. Again.

Story of the week: Bowl Tendulkar, get into the Indian team
R Vinay Kumar's inclusion in the World Twenty20 line-up is part of a trend. Vinay's friend, Harshan, used to tell him, "If you get Sachin's wicket, you will definitely play for India. Whoever has bowled him - Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla - has played for India." Vinay called his friend after second IPL where he removed Sachin Tendulkar with a legcutter. But Harshan reminded him that the dismissal was a catch at slip, not bowled. Vinay knocked out Tendulkar's leg stump this IPL. Six days later, he got the call from the national selectors.

Forget sledging, just bounce Yusuf
Yusuf Pathan said it was Andrew Symonds' sledge, when he had just arrived to the middle, that really inspired him to play a whirlwind knock against Deccan Chargers the other night. Symonds even fielded at silly point when Yusuf was new to the crease, but only saw the white ball disappear over the boundary. Again and again. If there is any chink in Yusuf's armour, it's the ball at his chin. Pity, that the Deccan Chargers didn't have any real fast bowlers who could have tested Yusuf with bouncers.

The mon-goosebumps
It's 1-1 so far. Matthew Hayden, the mongoose-wielding superhero, smashed the ball all around the park with in his first outing, last week, with the tiny piece of wood. However, in a crucial Super Over against Punjab this week, he walked out with the Mongoose but was bowled first ball. No goose bumps this time.

Fresh catch of the week
Justin Kemp took a stunner in the first week; it was AB de Villiers who took a freaky catch in the second. He back-pedalled near the long-on boundary before jumping back but the ball appeared to have gone past him. de Villiers, though, adjusted to yank his right hand back and not only held the ball but also dragged it forward so that he didn't touch the boundary line. And last night, Manvinder Bisla produced a catch to match de Villiers' effort. He ran full pelt to his left on the deep square-leg boundary and lunged out at the end, even as the ball was swerving away from him to take a stunning two-handed catch to dismiss Chris Gayle.

Vaas v Sangakkara
It was under Kumar Sangakkara's captaincy that Chaminda Vaas lost his ODI spot. And so there might have been a point to prove for Vaas when he faced-off against his old captain. And guess the weapon he chose to remove Sangakkara? The good -old Vaas slow offcutter that Sangakkara must be so familiar with. Yet, he stabbed outside the line and dragged the ball on to his stumps. Game, set and match to Vaas.

Sangakkara v Sangakkara

Sangakkara has been banned for one match after his side was found guilty of not completing their overs on time, for the third time in the IPL. He has already lost a lot of money in fines for over rates and lost his peace of mind after repeated defeats. So, perhaps, he might not mind this ban.

How many is too many?
"If someone is paying Rs 1700 crore just to buy an IPL team and spends just Rs 35 crore on players, is it fair? At least 10 per cent of the money should be spent on players. If I had my way I would have ensured that Rs 100 crore was spent on players instead of the now hiked Rs 70 crore," Kapil Dev said. You can't argue with that.

The quote
"Lalit (Modi) needs a band of merry men who are going to put their heads together and ensure they get it right. He obviously wants the IPL to be the best and the most special thing in cricket. But to get that you have to look after your cattle, you can't just keep driving and whipping them," said Symonds on the overkill. The next IPL season could have 94 matches if the current format is retained.