IPL has almost reached at its peak..As of now, the four teams, Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, have booked their berths in the semi- finals and hence rest of the matches till semis are just formalities…But I am not happy with some of the incidents which took place since last few days..

• Sehwag was booed by the crowd in Hyderabad and in Kolkata..
• Yuvraj and his team had to face catcall from the spectators in Mumbai .. At the post-match ceremony, Yuvi angrily said that the mumbai-crowd was pretty one-sided and they should not forget that some of the Kings XI Punjab boys also play for ‘Team India’ ..
• My blog friend Ashwin states on his blog that he is more loyal to his Chennai team than to our national cricket team.. He even has got a poll for the same on his blog and I guess the local-team-loyals are outnumbering the national-team-loyals..

I really did not like this..This is certainly not a healthy sign..I think the nation comes first..Region comes second..I think that cricket and bollywood are the only two areas where we,Indians, feel patriotic and proud Indians..I mean when Sachin and Sehwag hit Shoaib for flurry of sixes or when Kumble took 10 wicket-haul, didn’t we feel like proud Indians…When Sunny Deol in the movie Gadar shouts “Hindustan zindabad thaa, zindabad hai aur zindabad rahega“..Didn’t we feel great and patriotic..Otherwise we are always busy cursing our motherland for its corruption, polution, population, poverty, dirtiness etc etc..Bollywood and Cricket bind us to gather..they unite us..but today I can see the things are changing..So now if Sachin hits a ton against Australia playing at Ferozshah Kotla ground in Delhi, people of Delhi wont clap and appreciate his efforts and instead will they boo him?? ..

But one soothing indication was given by one of the commentators as he said that even though people right now are divided on the basis of region/city but once Team India starts playing international matches, they will come back to their prior state and will start cheering our players once again with that zeal and enthusiasm that we all have been seeing throughout these years !! .. I hope that happens and that too very soon..

Remember that we are Indians first and then a Ahmedabadi or a Mumbaikar or a Chennai-ite.. So please don’t let regional-bias go over your head !!

Soham

IPL has almost reached its halfway…The first phase was thrilling, exciting and nail-biting almost all the times…Except for one or two incidents, matches were played in a sincere and healthy manner even though they have not been granted ‘International’ stature and the records, which are set or broken, are not gonna find the place in the score book or in the statistics..But still the matches are played in a way they should be played and that is really delightful to watch..I hope this trend and thrill continue till end..

My Observations during the first phase:

• I have never expected that the IPL will create so much of excitement and buzz in me but it certainly has..Everyday at 8 PM, I do stick to my TV ignoring the bunch of activities and people !! .. It is awesome to watch so many different players of different nationalities get togather and play as a unit..
• The weakest team ‘Rajasthan Royals’ are at the top of the chart with 5 wins and 1 defeat in 6 games while the strongest team ‘Deccan Chargers’ are at the bottom of the chart with 5 defeats and only 1 win in 6 games…T-20 is so unpredictable!!..Deccan chargers are equipped with stalwarts like Symonds, Gilchrist, Afridi, Gibbs, Vaas, Styris,Rohit Sharma but still they have lost almost all their games..
• First phase was dominated by Australians and Newzealanders came the close second..Out of the four centuries scored, three were achieved by Australians (Gilchrist, Symonds and Hussey) and one was achieved by Newzealander Mccullam ..
• After the departure of Australian and Newzealander cricketres to play for their respective nation, drastic decline has been observed in the scoring rate as well as the number of boundaries and sixes hit …During their presence, the score of 190-210 was made few times and it was even chased down by some teams on one or two occasions…
• Now the Indian young brigade has got the chance to prove them and they are grabbing this opportunity with their both hands…They are really playing well and making their presence felt since last few matches after being overshadowed by other international players in the beginning…Good to see them performing at this level !!
• T-20 specialists and my favourite players Sanath Jayasurya and Afridi are complete flop in IPL…My all time favourite Sachin has not played a single game..but still I watch IPL with great zeal and enthusiasm…I don’t know why but i think I just love cricket too much !!! .. Just to add, unlike his other teammates, Ponting too had a complete disaster in IPL…
• The graph of the cheerleaders’ dresses are increasing day by day from quite minimal in the beginning to fully covered currently..Indian tradition and values do exist nowadays…
• As I have predicted here, Shoaib has somehow managed to get a stay on his lifetime ban and he will be allowed to play in IPL…What a turn around !! ..Power of money and political backup did the trick for Shoaib…PAKISTAN is really a great country, I must say !!!
• Last but not the least, the official name given to IPL is ‘Indian Premier League’…After the huge flow out of money and glamour in it, it was given a name ‘Indian Paisa League’ and ‘Indian (Sharad)Pawar League’ … But for me, it has truly become ‘Indian Paisa–Wasool League’ .. IPL rocks !!

Soham

I was biting my nails as like I was hungry since ages..Sri Lanka playing against West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad..First ODI of the series..Sri Lanka, 49 for 5 at one stage, recovers and posts a challenging 235 for the WI to chase..WI gets a good start but then as usual WI losses wickets one after another and they are in big trouble..Now the game has come to the wire..Last over and 13 runs to win and one wicket left for WI..Chanderpaul and Edwards are at the center and Vass is going to bowl the deciding over..They score a pity 3 runs from first 4 balls and now Chanderpaul on strike with 10 needed in two balls..It is just an impossible task..A massive task to achieve..But Chanderpaul keeps tempramnet and responds with a powerful straight drive..The ball is rolling down and yeah it hits the boundary rope and Trinidad crowd starts dancing..But guys, it is not over yet!!!..Six needed in one ball..Genius and cool minded that Chanderpaul is, keeps his cool again and watches the field changes, which Jayawardene is making, with a careful stare..And now Vaas starts bowling the last ball which can decide the fate..He bowls a low full toss and Chanderpaul flicks it over deep midwicket..The ball is in the air and it is going, going and going..”Has it gone-Has it gone-Has it gone”, Ian Bishop – the commentator is shouting at his full voice !!.. Every one is watching the ball’s journey even without blinking once..And yes, it just lands over the boundary rope into the stands for a massive six..WI has won..Trinidad crowd gets busy in wild celebrations with a loud music and marvellous dance steps..Every single player and official of WI is on the field to congratulate Chanderpaul..He has become a real Hero..”What a Player” to borrow Tony Greig’s words..True Genius, true maestro and an unbelievable match..A thriller at its best..What more an ardent fan of cricket, like me, can ask for..One of the most sansational moments in Cricket history..

Watch out the last two balls of the match in following video:

Yesterday, to my surprise, I got an email from one of my blog readers Alan..Like me, he is also an avid cricket fan and he really liked my whispersss about cricket..He, in his email, stated that he has developed a different type of cricket quiz which he believes to be engaging, one-of-its-kind and exciting..So he requested me to check out http://www.thinkgoogly.net/ and you wont believe but it really turned out to be stunning, interesting and out-of-this-world..Creativity and inventiveness at its best..I also want you all cricket maniacs to check it out..Let us have a match there and will see kisme kitna hai dum..For the security purpose, the registration process has been kept a bit tedious and lengthy..First they will send an activation code in your email and after supplying that activation code on the web site again, they will send you a password..So after all these steps , you can log in and start playing..But remember no pain-no gain…So be patient and enjoy the quiz..

Anyway, there’s a short description of the game below – I hope you can take the time to check it out.

Fast bowling tests your cricket general knowledge – think quickly!
Medium pace bowling tests your ability to find answers to more obscure cricketing questions – think deeply!
Spin bowling tests your ability to solve cryptic clues – think googly!

The quicker you answer, the more runs you score. Answer wrongly and lose a wicket. Play Twenty20 or ODI games, with the recent results of other players used to calculate target scores and determine whether you win or lose each game.

It is FREE to play – Think Googly..Players can also submit their own questions for inclusion and be acknowledged for their effort (questions are drawn randomly from a database so that no two games are ever the same), monitor their game performance, check their rankings and discuss cricket issues in forums.

Rules are simple, the questions are challenging and your tactics is vital..

Let the Game Begin!! Good Luck !!

Soham