That said, it was very evident that Chennai played well enough, but had Mumbai Indians played in the manner that they had in the rest of the tournament, it would not have been easy for the Super Kings. So, where did the Mumbai Indians go wrong?

Toss?
Of course, that cannot be a factor, or can it? While saying that the toss played an important role in Mumbai’s loss, I am not trying to find excuses. It is a rather simple fact of life. In a tournament as long as this, expecting the pitches to remain as good as they had through the first part of the tournament is rather foolhardy. And with the pitches playing, any team batting second would find it difficult to chase; Mumbai or Chennai.

That is precisely what happened, as the Mumbai Indians collapsed to a defeat chasing a big enough total. Three out of the final four games, including the two semi-finals were won by the sides batting first and were one-sided at that.

Dropped catches:
I would have been tempted to add the lbw appeals that went against the Mumbai Indians as well, but to me, it looks like the umpires actually helped the Mumbai team by negating the two of them against Matthew Hayden. Because, till the time he was there, the Chennai Super Kings were actually struggling. And then, he got out!

Talking of the catches, Suresh Raina offered two, rather simple catches and was dropped on both the occasions. Now, Raina is still some way off being a top-notch finisher, but he has the quality nonetheless, to make you pay. And that is exactly what he did! Bye-bye match.

Where/Who was the captain?
That was a captain that at least half of the billion people watching the game had in their mind while the Mumbai Indians batted. The other half was clearly sleeping.

There were many instances of muddled thinking during the entire twenty overs of Mumbai’s innings, and even before that. For one, Abhishek Nayar had no business to bat as high as the number three position, which should have, ideally, gone to either Saurabh Tiwary or Ambati Rayadu, both of whom had done it before in the tournament, and quite well at that. Then again, if he did bat at that number, the acceleration, or at least the attempt at that, should have come much earlier than the tenth over.

The second case in point was that of Harbhajan Singh sent at number four. While I agree that this was a double-edged sword, with a good chance of coming off, what one must remember is that despite how Tiwary has batted in the tournament, he has needed 6-8 balls to get going; something that was crucial at that stage. He was the ideal number four, from where he could have stamped his authority in the later stage.

And then, even without questioning the reasons behind not sending in Kieron Pollard, it ws quite appalling to see JP Duminy bat at the number seven position in the batting. Over Pollard. Made absolutely no sense, given that not in the entire series has he ever given an impression that he can score runs at the 13 runs per over needed at that stage. To me, it was game, set, match to Chennai the moment Duminy walked out to bat.

This piece talks about three of the best innings played in this IPL so far:

Yusuf Pathan, 100 (37 balls) versus Mumbai Indians:
Not often does a century in T20 cricket end in a lost cause. This is exactly what happened when Yusuf Pathan smacked a 37-ball century consisting of nine fours and eight huge sixes, as his side failed to provide him with the necessary support required to win the game.

Chasing a total of 213 for a win, the Royals were down in the dumps at 66/4 in the tenth over with almost an academic interest left in the margin of defeat. Instead, Pathan had other ideas and by the time he was unfortunately run-out, the Royals had the entire momentum going their way, as only 40 runs were needed for the win off three overs.

The rest of them failed, and the Mumbai Indians ended winners by only 4 runs. It also led Shane Warne to quip that it was the best innings he had seen in career lasting two decades!

Jacques Kallis, 89 (55 balls), versus Kings XI Punjab:
It was an innings of great poise and substance. The Kings XI Punjab had piled up 203 in their twenty overs and chasing it down was going to be difficult. Not so much as the Bangalore team opened their innings with Kallis, who was expected to do the anchor’s role. Instead, the pair of Manish Pandey and Kallis mesmerised the Punjab attack with a 74 run stand and then Kallis rotated the strike over with Robin Uthappa looking in sizzling touch.

Even by the time Uthappa was dismissed, the Bangalore side needed 61 runs off six overs, a total that the team got with consummate ease thanks to the great South African; Kallis. His 89 ahd eight fours and most surprisingly, five sixes, something not to be expected from a more sedate batsman like Kallis!

Sachin Tendulkar, 71 (48 balls), versus Kolkata Knight Riders:
That Tendulkar has been in the form of his life is not unheard of. However, for him to play in the manner that he has in this tournament so far has been a sheer treat to the eyes, in a format that not many reckon his cup of tea. Against the Knight Riders, the target was 156, and Tendulkar opened the innings. He was ably supported by the others around him, but most importantly, he kept picking up the boundaries throughout the duration of his innings.

But most specifically, he reserved a special treatment for Ishant Sharma, someone who was banished to the fence each time he erred ever so slightly in the spell. Sharma did pick up a couple of wickets, but could not get Tendulkar out and conceded 44 runs off his four overs.

And Mumbai won with seven wickets and nine balls to spare!

It was a heart-warming innings in a format of the game which is usually associated with brute power and thrashing!

MUMBAI INDIANS:
Strengths:
The Mumbai Indians have never qualified for the semi-finals of the IPL before and will be looking to get there for the first time. Their biggest strength would be the hard-hitting batting of three of their top-order batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and the newly recruited, Kieron Pollard. If two, or even one of them get going and go the distance, the Mumbai Indians will be in very safe hands, and on Indian pitches, life would be much easier for these guys who like to hit through the line of the ball.
Weaknesses:
Their inability to finish off games is their biggest liability. In both the editions of the tournament so far, the Mumbai side has lost some really close games, and they will need to overcome that by showing a killer instinct that they are hitherto lacking. Tendulkar was never a great captain even while leading the Indian side, and under his captaincy, the Mumbai team hasn’t done too well either, thanks, mainly due to the hunger to close out the games. This needs to change or else it may see a change at the top as well.
Players to watch out for:
Pollard. He is hugely built, and can slam the ball a fair distance. He can bowl 3-4 overs as well, with his brand of medium pace helping captains in the middle overs, while he is one of the better fielders in the side.

DELHI DAREDEVILS:
Strengths:
When a team has such a balanced line-up like Delhi Daredevils, it is not a big surprise that the bookmakers have put them as favourites to win the tournament. The opening four batsmen, are by far, the most explosive in the format of the game and there is a reasonable chance that only three out of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dave Warner will make it to the playing eleven. Warner’s form in the KFC Big Bash and the few T20Is that he played for Australia will mean that it could be a tough decision to leave him out of the side. The bowling lies in the hands of Dirk Nannes, and the other Indians in Pradeep Sangwan and Ashish Nehra, all of whom are good, left-handed pace bowlers and with Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra in the spin department, it looks like they will be a team to watch out for.
Weaknesses:
Not too many perceptible ones. But the lack of an all-rounder is probably one of them. Also, they have a new captain in Gautam Gambhir and that will mean that there will be a lot of pressure on him to perform – Delhi have been semi-finalists in the previous two editions of the tournament after all.
Players to watch out for:
The aforementioned four batsmen aside, the Daredevils will depend on their little known Indian players in Sarabjit Ladda, Kedar Jadhav and Joginder Singh.

1st Match: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians
When: IPL  2009 18th April 2009 10:30 GMT
Toss: Chennai Super Kings - elected to field
Winner: Mumbai Indians by 19 runs
Man of the Match: SR Tendulkar

Well done Mumbai!

2nd Match: Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals
When: IPL  2009 18th April 2009 14:30 GMT

Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers - elected to bat
Winner: Bangalore Royal Challengers by 75 runs
Man of the Match: RS Dravid

Well done Bangalore!

Bangalore Royal Challengers
Official Website

Kolkata Knight Riders Official Website

Have Your Say - Visit the T20 Talk Forums

Check out other cheerleader posts. Make sure to vote for your favourite IPL2 cheer squad.

Before and After

Prior to the controversy in parliament led to the conservative cheerleader image in early April girls would be sent in from international cheer squads. They could dance, move, cheer as they would in their home countries such as the NFL in the US and other sporting teams in the UK.

As a prime example the Mumbai Indians cheerleaders have now been banned from the above outfits to full-body blue lycra suits and have now seen the introduction of men into the squad. The Navi Mumbai police were in the stadium to enforce restrained dance moves via closed circuit television and prohibit any 'vulgar' movements. The cheerleading squad for the duration of the game danced to Hindi film tunes.

Since the IPL took off, the "inappropriately" clad cheerleaders have been made to show restraint both in their dance as well as dressing. No "vulgar" gyrations, no cleavage displays have been their brief following the "ban cheerleader" chants coming from politicians, particularly in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Source: The Tribune India

TV Report on YouTube

Adam Gilchrist makes his comments in the TV Report so stay tuned. Some interesting opinions that came with the above video - Politicians want cheerleaders banned:

bacchasback (28-Apr-08)

What is more harmful, cheerleaders in skimpy clothes or tv serials rampant with promiscuity?

Indian TV is infested with soaps that have characters cheating, conniving, promoting loose morals. Just because they have more clothes on doesnt mean they promote "OUR CULTURE". If we are to do moral policing, it should be honest and address real issues.

Indian politicians just need a controversy for political mileage. Nobody is really concerned about morality.

mallikap (27-Apr-08)

they should just ban bollywood movies then... their clothes are worse

For an in-depth analysis of cheerleaders being celebrated for being over-exposed rather than their dancing abilities please read IPL cheerleaders: Cheers versus jeers by Surajit Dasgupta, 30 April 2008. "Celebrating ’the woman of substance’, it seems, is akin to reducing a woman to a substance."

Vote Now to Save the Cheerleaders!

Image above: The Washington Redskin Cheerleaders Shake Up Cricket in Modest India

Check out other cheerleader posts. Make sure to vote for your favourite IPL2 cheer squad.

JM