Yuvraj Singh hoping for change after Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion in Pune Warriors

The Pune Warriors’ skipper, Yuvraj Singh, has expressed satisfaction over the inclusion of India’s former opening batsman, Sourav Ganguly in the franchise.

Ganguly will be replacing Ashish Nehra after the bowler suffered an injury.

Singh believes that Ganguly will help the Warriors redeem themselves after the franchise lost seven games on the trot.

Speaking to newsmen on the inclusion of his former skipper, Singh said, “Hopefully, he will get us a win. It's good to have him back. I just feel someone who has been captain of Indian team for a long time can always help the youngsters. Hopefully, he will hit few sixes with the bat."

Asked if it will be awkward to captain Ganguly who had been captaining Singh in the past, the all-rounder rejecting any such notion said, “It feels great that Sourav is playing under me. He has always helped me as a captain (of the Indian team) and now it's my duty to help him."

Singh backed 38-year-old Ganguly, citing the inclusion of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the IPL. Ganguly was given the cold shoulder by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) earlier when he was dropped from the side.

Ganguly is expected to play in Sunday’s game wearing the Pune jersey. Singh hopes that the veteran batsman will breathe a new life in their squad.

Speaking on the recent failures of Pune, Singh admitted that they were in a tough spot after losing too many matches and will need to win all their games from here onwards.

He also admitted that the side had tried different combinations but none had worked till now, however, with the addition of Sourav, things might change for the better.

On Saturday, May 7, 2011, Ganguly was seen training in the nets, a clear indication that the formidable batsman is eager to have a go.

Ganguly will also be looking to prove to his critics that he is still fit enough to play competitive cricket.

According to him he can still play cricket in the IPL for another three years as opposed to what the KKR management felt. They offered Ganguly to take a managerial role in the squad which he refused.

Pune Warriors are all set to take on the Kings XI Punjab on Sunday, May 8, 2011, in the 51^st IPL match at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Read More

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V KINGS XI PUNJAB- MATCH PREVIEW: BOTH TEAMS LOOKING FOR ADVANTAGE

Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Kings XI Punjab in an important fixture of the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Eden Gardens Kolkata.

This is an extremely crucial encounter for both franchises as the Kings XI is at number seven in the points table, whereas the Knight Riders have done reasonably well in the tournament so far and they would like to beat the Kings XI in order to strengthen their position.

Shahrukh Khan’s men have eight points after seven games so far, whereas the Kings XI have six points from five games. There is not much to choose between the two teams but their match could prove to be vital for the future of these two teams in the tournament.

Kolkata failed to make an impression in the previous three editions of the IPL but change of personnel in management and the players have brought good luck for them and they are doing well in the current season under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.

Kolkata seem to have a very nice balance with both bat and ball, as Brett Lee, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Jaidev Unadkat, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and the young left arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah have gelled well, as a bowling unit.

Kallis and Manoj Tiwary have been the pick of the batsmen for the Knight Riders and their management would be hoping that Gambhir and Pathan can showcase their abilities better during the crunch part of the tournament.

Paul Valthaty has so far been the best batsman for the Kings XI and the management of Punjab would be looking at, Adam Gilchrist, and, Shaun Marsh, once again to give them a substantial start and be more consistent at the later stages of the tournament.

The Kings XI have lost many of their key players this season, as the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Bret Lee, Mahela Jayawardene, and, Kumar Sangakkara, have been bought by other franchises.

However, their absence does not seem to have hurt the Kings XI that much, as they have not done that badly in the tournament so far and a win against the Knight Riders could put them in the top four of the points table.

Kings XI have done well in the previous three seasons and there is no reason why they should be disheartened about their chances in the current season. Still there is a lot of cricket to be played in the ongoing season and they can turn the tables by raising their game at the right time. There have been countless instances in the past when teams came from behind and won the tournament.

Although, Kolkata has done better in this season till date and they will start as clear favourites, both teams are evenly matched on paper and the team that will play good cricket on the day will come out victorious. Let’s hope that we as cricket fans are delighted with some magnificent cricket on the weekend

Read More

ADAM GILCHRIST CITES DUNCAN FLETCHER’S VAST COACHING EXPERIENCE AS ADVANTAGE FOR INDIA

Former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist has said that newly-appointed, Duncan Fletcher’s huge coaching experience will work as an additional advantage for the Indian side when they compete England later this year.

Wishing the former Zimbabwean captain best of luck for his term as a coach with the World Champions, the former Aussie opener stated that Fletcher holds extraordinary coaching skills.

"He has obviously got great skills as coach and all the players from his previous teams seem to be supporting him and saying it's a pretty good appointment. So I wish him all the best," Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist, however, avoided to respond to the question that whether Fletcher will be able to replicate the success he accomplished as England team’s coach.

After Gary Kirsten's exit, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Fletcher as Indian national coach for the next two years.

The decision has started a controversial debate about the suitability of a foreign coach for India. The legends like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar slammed BCCI for appointing a foreign coach while the cricket maestros such as Wasim Akramand Nasser Hussain have been appreciating the decision.

Although, Duncan has never played Test cricket, he is credited of lifting English team to their historic 2005 Ashes series triumph.

Fletcher, who will not be able to join the Men in Blue in their upcoming tour to Zimbabwe because of his personal commitments. However he will with the team when India locks it horns with England later this year.

Gilchrist, who is leading Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing Indian Premier League, uttered that Fletcher was the best choice for the post as he holds a lot of coaching experience under his belt.

When asked to comment on the appointment of a 62-year old coach, Gilchrist stated, "I won't pass comments on his age. It's more what skill he brings and the level of enthusiasm. He had all that in abundance when he was coaching other teams."

Kings XI Punjab’s skipper further described that Fletcher has huge expectations to meet as Gary Kirsten left the Indian side after taking it to the peak of International cricket.

Read More

GEOFF MARSH AND YUVRAJ SINGH DEMAND MORE FROM PUNE WARRIORS



Pune Warriors’ Coach Geoff Marsh has stipulated more from his dazzling batting line-up while heading into Friday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter against Bangalore.

Pune started their IPL campaign in style with victories over Kings XI Punjab and Kochi Tuskers but after those wins, Pune have taken the back seat by losing four consecutive matches, which leave Marsh’s army decayed at second last position in the 10-team standings.

However, the Kiwis' left-handed batsman, Jesse Ryder has remained a relatively consistent force at the top of the thud. The habitual failure of Graeme Smith, Tim Paine, Mohnish Mishra, Mithun Manhas and Manish Pandey have far too often left Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa to take the burden throughout the immensity of the innings.

A veer of early wickets, once against Mumbai and twice against Chennai, has left Captain and the hard hitter Yuvraj shepherding the weaker tail-enders rather than manipulating the willow, which has predictably led to imperfect scores from the PW.

"Our batting is letting us down. We have stopped getting away to starts. We have lost four wickets inside the first six overs and we have been making the same mistakes over and over again. We will have a meeting about that but we have to be competitive," said Marsh.

The coach went on to add, "Because we have lost four wickets early we are not going into the last eight overs with wickets in hand. We have Yuvraj or Robin batting out there, with five or six wickets down. You then can't afford to lose any more wickets. What it boils down to is, again, getting off to a good start."

Pune were the frontrunners through the opening stages of the tournament, but now they are the backbenchers athwart a very cutthroat project. Pune remain in controversy for a semifinal place regardless, due to the prolonged nature of the event.

The team still have to play eight matches in the tournament, starting with Friday’s clash against the Royal Challengers. Marsh is self-assured that his men have sufficient fight in them to eventually secure a berth with the table toppers Chennai and Mumbai.

Geoff Marsh concluded that the whole competition is equally open at the moment for every team. However, they need to focus on winning the next game and perform better at the top. If they start winning, they have got eight games to go, so they have every chance to be one of the top four teams of the competition.

Skipper Yuvraj Singh meanwhile, has praised sentiments of Marsh and asked for improvement from his charges in Bangalore.

"We have not applied ourselves with the bat. We keep making the same mistakes again and again. We have lost too many wickets at the start. We need to bounce back, we need to think about it and not make the same mistakes again and again," concluded Singh.

Read More

BARNEY GIBSON SETS A NEW WORLD RECORD IN COUNTY CRICKET

The Yorkshire wicketkeeper, Barney Gibson, has set a new world record, becoming the youngest ever player to play English county cricket.

Gibson broke the 144-year record of Charles Young. At only 15 years and 27 days, Gibson made a successful debut against the Durham MCCU yesterday in a game of the Bradford League.

Back in 1867, Charles Young had set the world record being the youngest player of the time to appear in county cricket. At the time Young was 15 years and 131 days old.

The record had been intact till yesterday when Gibson, 104 days younger than Charles, padded up against the Durham MCCU.

Gibson expressed his astonishment, defining the feat as akin to a dream. Talking to the media, the youngster said, “I was astonished when they told me I would be playing for the first team. It has really shocked me and it feels like a dream really.”

Gibson started the game at the age of 10 from his school Crawshaw, commenting interestingly about his school, Gibson says, “I was supposed to have triple science, double maths and RE. They have sent me up here with some homework to do though.”

With his sharp mind and inherent capabilities, he was noticed by the Pudsey Congs, a cricket club in England.

Gibson started club cricket with them to polish his skills, since the very beginning, his field of interest has been wicket keeping as he finds himself more comfortable behind the stumps. Gibson’s dives, catches, stumps and throws are quick and perfect.

Wearing pads, gloves and a helmet, Gibson took his position in the bright morning of 27 April and pouched the brilliant catch of Oliver Hannon-Dalby. This was a key wicket for Yorkshire. After a few overs, Gibson caught another rival batsman and thus cemented his side’s position in the game.

It was due to Gibson that David Wainwright succeeded in achieving his bowling career’s best ever figure of 6/40. The young wicketkeeper helped every bowler bowl confidently and courageously in order to pick up wickets with regular intervals.

Talking about Gibson’s selection, the Yorkshire director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, says, “The first time I saw him was two years ago in a practice match. His ability was quickly evident."

Gibson seeks inspiration from cricket legends like Matt Prior and Adam Gilchrist, the former is the English wicketkeeper while the latter is an ex-skipper of Australia and is currently leading the Kings XI Punjabfranchise in the Indian Premier League.

Read More

GEOFF MARSH URGES PUNE WARRIORS TO IMPROVE THEIR BATTING

The debutant, Pune Warriors’ coach Geoff Marsh has asked his players to improve their batting skills ahead of their Indian Premier League match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday.

Pune, under the captaincy of ICC World Cup 2011 winning star, Yuvraj Singh started the tournament with sizzling wins over Kings XI Punjab and the debutant, Kochi Tuskers Kerala. But in the next matches, Yuvraj’s side lost their form completely and faced four losses on the trot, due to which they were moved down to the second last place in the points table.  

In the first two wins, Pune availed the advantage of their strong bowling attack, as they did not let their opponents to set big targets. While in the third game, they displayed a poor batting performance, as none of their batsmen could even score a half century. In the following matches, Pune’s openers and middle-order lost their batting form, which cost them successive defeats.

Jesse Ryder, Mohnish Mishra and Robin Uthappa, who were considered as top performing batsmen, failed to maintain their form against Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

The Warriors, now have eight more games to play including their Friday’s encounter with RCB, who have reserved third place in the table with three wins.

Marsh believed that his team has tremendous potential to play against RCB and they will come up with a place alongside the toppers Mumbai Indians and Chennai.

"The whole competition is pretty wide open at the moment. But we need to focus on winning the next game and playing better at the top,” said Marsh.

Marsh also added that if once they regain their momentum, they will have eight teams to go to lift their position up in order to make them among the top four teams for the semi-final.

Although statistical analysis of both the teams show that there has been a big difference in their performances in the tournament so far, but still the competition can become eye-catching if Ryder, Uthappa and Mithun Minhas regain their form.

Read More

Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab

The batting gurus of Rajasthan Royals include Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Shane Watson and Johan Botha.

Rahul Dravid

Dravid, who has ruled the world of cricket for so many years, has a rock-solid defence with an extremely strong technique. With a combination of outstanding cricketing strokes all around the wicket, Dravid has the quality to rotate the strike well in the limited-over cricket. The Batsman has scored tons of runs in international cricket and his experience allows him to play well in every format of the game.

Dravid is considered to be one of the classiest batsman India has ever produced. Although, the veteran campaigner has a strike rate of under-43 in Test cricket, Dravid has the quality to convert his game according to the situation. With a strike rate of almost 120 in Twenty20 games, Dravid has scored 1288 runs in his 57 game.

Ross Taylor

The Kiwi is one of the most brutal batsmen in modern-day cricket. With an ability to destroy any bowling attack on his day, Taylor has emerged as a dangerous limited-over player. An aggressive middle-order batsman, Taylor is fully capable to take up the challenge against top-class bowlers. Taylor’s strongest scoring area is the leg-side where he hits mighty sixes. With his powerful hitting, the Kiwi can change the course of the game within few moments. However, he hasn't shown much of his class so far in the ongoing tournament.

One can remember his marvellous knock of 131 from just 124 balls in the ICC World Cup 2011 group match against Pakistan, where he single-handedly snatched the game away from the opposition. Having played 106 Twenty20 matches, the Kiwi batsman has scored 2687 runs at an awesome strike rate of almost 150.

Shane Watson

Watson is an experienced and talented Aussie all-rounder, who is known as the most devastating cricketer in the today’s cricket. His recent innings of 185 not out against Bangladesh is regarded as one of best innings of one-day history. With an outstanding command on multiple strokes, Watson does not allow bowlers to settle down and loves to take the charge from the very first ball of the innings.

After missing opening IPL matches due to the Australia-Bangladesh one-day series, Watson reached India with huge expectations. However, the batsman has not yet capitalized the situation, failing to make big scores in the previous two matches. A player of his calibre can turn the game anytime with his destructive batting. He has played 57 Twenty20 matches, scoring 1418 runs at a fabulous strike rate of almost 150.

Johan Botha

Although the Proteas all-rounder is known for his controlled spin bowling, he has improved his batting a great deal over the last few years. Botha’s cricketing career is an interesting case; he started playing cricket as a medium-pacer but then turned himself into an off-break bowler.

Botha showed a little glimpse of his batting talent by scoring a fantastic half-century in his first season IV game. In his 71 Twenty20 matches, Botha holds a strike rate of over 115. With his hard hitting low down the order, Botha will surely be one of Rajasthan’s players to watch out for.

Comparing the two batting line-ups, it is evident that both teams have experienced and skilled batsmen in their set-up.

The venue, Mohali Stadium, has a marvellous batting track. Thus, a high scoring match can be anticipated. With some quality batsmen in both teams, the show will definitely be entertaining. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see that how these batting masters use their expertise to take their side to the glory.

Read More

Kings XI Punjab owner Preity Zinta says Adam Gilchrist is no magician

Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta has said that the captain of her side Adam Gilchrist does not have any magic wand in his hand and needs time to put the side back on winning track.
Preity is quite hopeful to see things turning around after her team’s convincing victory over Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.
“I am hopeful of a turnaround and know that Gilchrist is a brilliant team leader. But he is not a magician and should be given time to settle down,” Preity said.
After being thrashed by the Pune Warriors in their opening game, Kings XI Punjab made a fantastic comeback and routed defending champions Chennai Kings comprehensively by 6 wickets in their own backyard, Mohali.
Chasing Super Kings’ massive total of 188, the Punjab batsmen held their nerves in front of home crowd, which eventually helped them to perform superbly. The opening batsman Paul Valthaty scored a marvellous unbeaten innings of 120 runs, guiding his side to glory single-handedly.
Kings XI Punjab lost some of their star players in the IPL auctions 2011, as Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who represented Punjab in the previous IPL editions, are leading different outfits this season.
Meanwhile Gilchrist, who led Deccan Chargers to victory in the second season of the IPL, has been trying to continue with the good work for his new side.
The Bollywood star Preity Zinta is also looking forward to the team’s improved performance in the upcoming games.
“We have lot many games left. We will definitely emerge stronger,” the Indian actress said about her team.
Showing her enormous delight over Wednesday victory, Preity further hoped that every player from the side will contribute to the team’s success in the competition.
“Everybody has to realise that they have to chip in. Cricket is not an individual sport and everyone needs to contribute,” the KXIP co-owner added.
Earlier in the tournament, Kings XI were beaten by the Yuvraj-led Pune Warriors.
The Shimla-born actress reposed faith in the players and expected that the team would shine in the competition without having big names in the line-up. Except their semi-final appearance in the 2008 edition of the Twenty20 League, the Kings XI Punjab have failed to make an impact in later IPL competitions.
After their win against Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai side, Kings XI Punjab have jumped up to 7^th position in the IPL points table.
Punjab are scheduled to meet the Kumar Sangakkara-led Deccan Chargers on Saturday next.

Read More

GILCHRIST SUPPORTS BHARGAV BHATT

Skipper of Kings XI Punjab, Adam Gilchrist, has persisted Bhargav Bhatt will play against the Chennai Supper Kings in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Mohali.

The left-arm spinner did not get a chance to bat and could not get a single over in a convincing loss to the Pune Warriors, but Gilchrist is confident about Bhatt against the defending Champions.

Gilchrist said that they had Bhatt in the team against Pune, but the situation and the number of runs they had did not permit him to dig up into the match. They are confident that he will be able to perform exceptionally well for them.

Asked whether Bhatt will be arranged in a restrained or wicket-taking role, Gilchrist persisted that the match conditions and circumstances will state how and when the young blood will be needed in the match.

"It goes hand-in-hand. If you are containing runs you are more likely to get wickets. But there will be times and conditions where a bowler will come on and the best way to stop runs is to take wickets", he added.

The Mohali-raised unit is arguably the slightest star studded franchise on the display across the T20 tournament, with Australian Gilchrist starring in a team that comprises of players such as Nathan Rimmington, Shaun Marsh, Piyush Chawala and Ryan McLaren.

"Our team is certainly not a star-studded line-up compared to some other teams around. That's not something that bothers me. We are going to come around, work hard and really play to our best to be in the competition", said the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman.

Gilchrist was suspicious about the Kings XI Punjab’s pace attack, which comprises of the Kiwis pacer Tim Southee and the Proteas fast bowler, Albie Morkel, who arranged the foundation splendidly for the Super Kings’ recent victory over Kolkata Night Riders.  

"There's no doubt bowlers in general have progressed as T20 has evolved. They have come out smarter and are able to execute their deliveries in a more accurate manner. There really shouldn't be too many times that you are bowled out in 20 overs. We are talking about batting plans and having wickets in hand", he concluded.

Read More