So, what went wrong with a team that had only in 2007 lifted the trophy?

Fatigue factor?

MS Dhoni had pointed out to the IPL parties as one of the reasons why the Indian side could have been affected. And while the others have dismissed it as a frivolous excuse, the fact is that Dhoni was not too off the mark. It was not only the parties, but the tournament itself, that would have contributed to the fatigue factor.

The team looked jaded from the very start, and there had been reports of the players sleeping off whenever they got the opportunity to do so; and in the end, there was a definite lack of intent while they played even in the last, all-important T20 game.

Strange Captaincy:

Make it very, very strange. How else would you define the manner in which an extra batsman was chosen for the two successive games, and yet, the side decided to field first. With five, regular and irregular spin bowlers in the ranks, the least that Dhoni could have done is to bat first, allow the batsmen to score the runs without any kind of pressure and then unleash the slower bowlers.

Then again, there were some others like not sending Yusuf Pathan up the order in crucial games, Dhoni batting down the order at Barbados and promoting himself at St. Lucia, something that cost him the tournament in the end.

Short Ball woes:

In the previous edition of the ICC World T20, the side had struggled with the short ball. The bouncers were played so badly by the Indians then, that there was much hue and cry associated with the same. One year on, nothing had changed. Nothing whatsoever. Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Murali Vijay, all of them batted like they had no clue to whatever what was happening out there.

What was surprising is that the selectors had continued to choose the same set of players who had struggled earlier and that cost the Indian batting dear.

Selection and Bowling form:

What shoddy selections. On tracks that were supposed to play real quick, the side had gone in with only four pace bowlers; one of whom was injured before the tournament, and the other, a youngster making his first trip. This meant that the side had hardly had enough personnel to take on the opposition.

Then again, Zaheer Khan looked out of sorts, and apart from Habhajan Singh, the others had a moderate form going for them.

With all of the above, it is only natural that India did not win a single game in the Super Eights!

India:
Previous Performance:
A blast of a performance in the 2007 edition of the ICC World T20 but damp squib in 2009. Won it in the first edition, and lost woefully in the Super Eights of the second tournament.

Strengths:
It has to be the captaincy of MS Dhoni. In the previous edition, it was for the first time since Dhoni had become the captain that one saw him lose his cool, and in turn, his side capitulated to one loss after another. But as mentioned, that was also a learning experience for the Indian captain and he seems to have learnt from that experience.

Weaknesses:
Their bowling is a definite one. Apart from Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, the bowling lacks the experience or incisiveness to knock out the opposition, and with the likes of Vinay Kumar having yet to play an international, it also affects the back-up bowling staff for the side.

Then again, the absence of Virender Sehwag to an IPL-injury will hurt the Indians as much as it would be hurting him now!

England:

Previous Performance:
One of the more consistent teams in the competition; they have been ousted in the Super Eights round on both the occasions!

Strengths:
One needs to be careful while assessing their strengths, because England has, for years remained a mediocre team in any of the formats of the game. But one does feel that under the captaincy of Paul Collingwood, there is refreshness in the side, along with the presence of youngsters adding to the hope that England could outperform – their own previous record!

Weaknesses:
It has been their inability to come out trumps at crucial junctures in matches that has caused much grief. England’s biggest woe is their inability to play a unit and almost exhibit a lack of discipline to finish off matches.

Afghanistan:
They are the babies of international cricket, but in a short span of 2-3 years since they started playing international cricket, they have surprised everybody with their results. They finished fifth in the World Cup qualifiers and narrowly missed making it to the World Cup to be played next year, but lifted the ICC World T20 Qualifying tournament by beating Ireland in the finals.

They have never played at the international stage against a Test-playing nation, and against India and South Africa, will be a big test. They may go on to lose, but the world eyes will be on them to see, how well they perform at the biggest stage of international T20 cricket.

Afghanistan win the ICC World T20 Qualifiers

Romance in sport is what drives the fans to the grounds. And makes them flick their television sets on more eagerly than any other time. A generation or two onwards, when the fans look back at cricket as we know it today, they would probably be savouring the emergence of a new powerhouse in the international cricket, Afghanistan!

For the time from when the Afghanistan team had won the Division Five title in ICC’s qualifiers for the World Cup of 2011, their story has been seeped in romance, grit, gumption, and to say the least, glory. They had narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Cup 2011, but thanks to that performance, they had managed to qualify for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers which was played in Dubai recently.

There were ten teams in that tournament, and only two out of those were to qualify for the ICC World T20 in West Indies to be played in April this year. In the competition were the teams like Ireland, who have played in the World Cup before and qualified for the Super Eights in 2007, Netherlands, who have not only played in the World Cup, but also in the 2009 edition of the ICC World T20 and beaten England, Kenya, who have featured in the semi-finals of the 2003 edition of the World Cup and others like Canada, UAE and Scotland, all of whom have done their bit at the highest level.

So, while Afghanistan’s record before the tournament would have put them amongst the top four favourites, they were up against some fierce competition across the board.

And not only did they pass the examination, but they also aced them with wins over Ireland, Scotland, USA and UAE in the league stage. This ensured their place in the finals of the tournament, and more importantly, a slot in the ICC World T20 to be played in West Indies later this year. The cherry on the cake was then provided by Nowroz Mangal and Mohammad Shahzad, both of whom assisted the side in a facile win over the Irish in the finals of the tournament, to lift the trophy as well! In turn, this gave them a right to play India and South Africa in the World T20.

Ireland, on the other hand, had qualified for the finals after their first match loss to Afghanistan. They beat Scotland, USA, UAE and Netherlands, en route the finals, and had it not been for a rather arduous schedule, they would have probably done much better than they actually did.

Like all of the other teams, they played their first three league matches in three days, and qualifying for the Super Fours meant that they had to play their remaining two games off consecutive days as well. So, after featuring in five matches in as many days, they qualified for the finals, which was to be played on the same day as the final league game; ensuring back-to-back games for the Irish, in a span of a couple of hours!

The coach, Phil Simmons, a former West Indian all-rounder was obviously an unhappy man at the scheduling, but would have taken heart from the fact that they qualified for their second successive ICC World T20. Last year, they had played India and Bangladesh in the first round, and while they lost to the Indians, they had bundled Bangladesh out of the tournament and qualified for the second round. This time around, they face West Indies and England in the first round of the tournament.

I may be thinking far, but the romance that I was alluding to in sport may not be over. While expecting the Afghan side to beat India and South Africa may sound a bit far-fetched, they may give the two sides a run for their money. However, what could even be more probable is that Ireland could surprise either of West Indies or England in the first round to enter the second! That will be some day.

The potential embargo could involve cricket matches – which already do not exist – hockey games, which occur once in like a gazillion years, and even Bollywood films. Or at least that is what most voices that matter in Pakistan are suggesting. Phrases ranging from insult to the Pakistani cricket team to insult to the country as a whole have been doing the rounds, as some players have termed it as a ‘conspiracy against Pakistan as a whole which was being hatched for the last three or four months.’

Really now, while being hurt and disappointed at not been selected for one or other franchise for the IPL and not making that quick buck is only justified, the rest of the jamboree that seems to have followed is nothing short of over-reaction.

The critics from Pakistan have pointed fingers at everything plausible. The Indian Government, the IPL functioning committee and the franchises have all been blamed, and for someone observing it as a neutral, one cannot understand what the shenanigans are all about.

It is a private tournament, which like any other multi-national company in the world is not governed by what the government says. At best, it can consult the government and any decision that it has to take has to be its own prerogative, not the government’s. This was evident in the previous year’s IPL when the tournament had been shifted to South Africa despite the government asking them to postpone the whole tournament.

That leaves the IPL and the franchises, and one cannot see how a collective decision to exclude the Pakistanis would have benefited either one of them. In fact, the IPL committee would understand that the presence of Pakistani cricketers and the ensuing following of the game in that country would make for better revenues for the league. And one cannot see any real motive behind conspiring to deliberately do this after strategising for a definite period of times.

The hard and cold fact is that the performances of the teams depend on players who would be there through the entire duration of the tournament; players for whom the franchises did not have to worry too much about after having a lot on their plate already. So, if the visas of such players did not arrive on time because of the cold vibes existing between the two governments, then, it sure could have been an issue for the team unity; apart from adding to the unnecessary things to ponder about for the owners.

While it is easy to say that politics and sport should not be mixed, it is much more difficult to implement it. Gone are the days when cricketers or sportsmen could live in that cocoon of safety despite the existing threat to the world security; and in the prevailing scenario, it is only evident that the Pakistani cricketers touring India – or vice versa – would elicit an unnecessary security threat to those concerned.

Probably Yousuf does understand that if anything, his T20 career is all but finished. It was done and dusted even before the teams went to South Africa for the 2007 edition of the ICC World T20, when the selectors had refused to select him in the squad. Mind you, his international career had been on a relative high at that moment, but the wise men clearly saw what he hadn’t; the format needed someone with the penchant to field better than he ever did, and run between the wickets in a manner that Yousuf would have probably never imagined in his life. So, almost three years after that fateful unacceptability of change, the batsman seems to have reconciled to his fate and realised that the likes of ICC World T20 and IPL may not be his cuppa coffee anymore. Especially after not a single team wanted to bid for him during the IPL auctions and then, with the deteriorating Indo-Pak relations over the last one year or so.

It is no surprise then, that the Pakistani captain is all of a sudden worried about the future of Pakistani cricket in relation with the T20 cricket. However, and I understand this is only conjecture – and a far-fetched one at that – I would like to see what Yousuf does if he does have the fortune of being selected by one of the franchises in any of the forthcoming IPLs. Sachin Tendulkar has retired from T20 cricket, and so has Ricky Ponting. Will Yousuf reject the contract to set a benchmark and for the betterment of his nation’s international performance? Only time can tell!

Talking of Yousuf and the country that he is touring currently – Australia – the KFC T20 Big Bash got underway this week. The first round of matches saw Queensland take on Victoria, Western Australia play South Australia and Tasmania feature against New South Wales. The incentive is there for all the teams to grab; a chance to represent their side in the Champions League T20 for a multi-million dollar prize money!

New Zealand international cricketer Ross Taylor had been picked up by Victoria in place of Sohail Tanvir and he immediately stuck gold with a 36-ball 58 and took the previous year’s runner-up to 157/8 in their 20 overs after having slumped to 5/3 at one stage. Andrew Symonds’ return lasted all of 14 balls in which he scored 16, but with 37 needed off the last four overs and with four wickets remaining, it could have been anybody’s game. Rain intervened, and the Bulls were fund four runs short of the target.

South Australia then had their international stars, Keiron Pollard and Shahid Afridi, win their first game against Western Australia. First, Pollard spanked a 31-ball 45, and then Afridi ran through the WA innings with a 4/19 in his four overs.

In the third game, Dave Warner of the NSW Blues smacked the quickest fifty ever in the competition off 18 balls, and despite a strong start by Tim Paine – 48 off 18 – the rest of the Tasmanians collapsed to 163 all out to hand the opposition over a 32-run win.

One of the best batsmen on display

As the cricket fans around the world brace themselves for the third season of the Indian Premier League, the little known Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament got underway last month in India. The league stage of the tournament ended with ten teams making it to the second stage. The second round of the tournament will be played next year from the 12th of March – coincidentally, the same day as the third edition of the Indian Premier League!

The Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament is an inter-state, domestic T20 tournament in India. The first season was supposed to happen last season, but did not take off due to the lack of dates in the calendar! The format of the trophy is based on that of the Ranji trophy, where teams from every zone in the country – North, East, West, South and Central – play against sides from their own zone. The top two sides from every zone at the end of the round robin qualify for the second stage with six of the those ten getting a bye into the quarter-finals, while the remaining four fighting it out in the pre-quarter-final knock-out.

The biggest news of the tournament came in the form of Rajasthan not being allowed to play in the tournament because of the issues within the state association. This meant that the Central Zone had only four sides vying for the two slots for the next round. Madhya Pradesh won all their three games, while Railways won two of theirs to qualify for the next round.

Both North Zone and South Zone were expected to be the toughest groups given that each of them had six teams each. This would have made qualification for the two sides even more difficult. As it turned out, the South Zone games were badly hit by rain as nine out of the 15 were declared no-result. Amidst this, Tamil Nadu won the two games it managed to play – with three abandoned – against lowly Kerala and Goa, while Hyderabad needed only one. The Hyderabad side had four of its matches rained off and still managed to get through to the next round! The only match it won had Ambati Rayadu score a half century – a joyous moment for the ICL-return youngster. Karnataka shot itself in the foot as they lost to Goa, thanks to Swapnil Asnodkar’s 48-ball 71 and lost out on the second round.

The North Zone was keenly fought. Going into the last round of games, there were four teams which had the chance of making it to the next round; Punjab (12 points before the last game), Himachal Pradesh (12), Haryana (8), Jammu and Kashmir (4), Delhi (12), Services (0). Despite playing the bottom placed side, Delhi was stretched to the limit by Services, before winning by eight runs and going through. Himachal Pradesh then beat Punjab to get to 16 points as well and snuffed out any chances that Haryana could have had by beating J&K.

The East Zone was the closest of the lot. Three teams, Jharkhand, Assam and Orissa ended with three wins each – out of the four games played. Amongst themselves as well, Assam beat Orissa, Orissa overcame Jharkhand, whereas Jharkhand outplayed Assam! Unfortunately for the Oriyans, they finished third in the group, thanks to a lesser net run rate than the other two. In fact, they fell short of Assam’s NRR by 0.1! Saurabh Tiwary was the captain of the Jharkhand T20 side, and so impressed were the selectors with his leadership skills, that he has also been appointed as the skipper of the side for the longer format of the game – the Ranji trophy.

In the West Zone, Wasim Jaffer’s strong display with the bat ensured that Mumbai ran away to three wins in as many games before losing to Maharashtra. By that time, though, they had already qualified for the second round, while Maharashtra followed soon after with wins over Mumbai and Baroda.

Assam will now play Railways and Jharkhand will take on Himachal Pradesh in the pre-quarters, with the respective winners taking on Delhi and Tamil Nadu in the quarter finals. The other two quarter finals will have Hyderabad face Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh play Maharashtra.

You can buy your tickets through the official source at Ticketgenie by clicking the links below. All times  are IST. Prices range from RS100 to RS3000.

08 OCT

• RCB v Cape Cobras
• Bangalore
• 20:00
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09 OCT

• NSW v Diamond Eagles
• Delhi
• 16:00
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09OCT

• Daredevils v Victoria
• Delhi
• 20:00
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10OCT

• Cape Cobras v Otago
• Hyderabad
• 16:00
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10 OCT

• Deccan Chargers v Somerset
• Hyderabad
• 20:00
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11OCT

• NSW v Sussex
• Delhi
• 16:00
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11OCT

• DD v Wayamba
• Delhi
• 20:00
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12OCT

• Somerset v Trinadad & Tabago
• Bangalore
• 16:00
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12OCT

• RCB v Otago
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13OCT

• Victoria v Wayamba
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13OCT

• Diamond Eagles v Sussex
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14OCT

• DC v T&T
• Hyderabad
• 20:00
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• The 12 teams will initially be divided into four groups of three teams each.
• Top two teams from each Group will qualify for a four team League pool
• The top two teams from each League pool will qualify for the Semi-Finals in Delhi and Hyderabad
• The Champions League Twenty20 will involve a total of 23 matches spread over 16 days.
• The Grand Final to be played in Hyderabad on October 23
• Any more questions please visit the CLT20 FAQ

CLT20 Initial Groupings

CLT20 Starting Time?

8pm on October 8, 2009.

First CLT20 Match Between Who and Where?

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (India) taking on the Cape Cobras (South Africa) at Bengaluru.

After the teams play their respective group opponents in the first round, two teams from each group will qualify for the second League Phase. The eight teams progressing to the League Phase will then be clubbed into two new groups and compete in another consolidated round robin phase, with the top four teams from this phase progressing to the semi-finals.

CLT20 Group Stage

How do they move onto the League Stage?

In order to simplify logistics, the teams that move into the next League phase will maintain their position from the Group Stage as listed in the Group Table above.

For example; if in Group A the finishing positions on the table—after the three Group A matches — are: 1st = Trinidad & Tobago, 2nd = Deccan Chargers, 3rd = ECB2, then Deccan Chargers will continue to retain position A1 in the League Stage draw, and Trinidad & Tobago will assume position A2.

CLT20 League Stage

There will be two leagues comprising four teams each

Each team will have to play the teams in its League Group that it did not play during the Group Stage.

CLT20 League Points Table

The result of the Group Stage matches between the teams that qualify for the League Stage will be carried through to the League Points Table.

The two semi finals will be played on Wednesday, October 21, in New Delhi and Thursday, October 22, in Hyderabad respectively. The Grand Final will then be held in Hyderabad on Friday, October 23.

3rd Match: Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab
When: IPL 2009 19th April 2009
Toss: Delhi Daredevils - elected to field
Winner: Delhi Daredevils by 10 wickets
Man of the Match: DL Vettori (Delhi Daredevils)

Well done Daredevils!

4th Match: Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders
When: IPL 2009 19th April 2009
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders - elected to bat
Winner: Deccan Chargers by 8 wickets
Man of the Match: RP Singh (Deccan Chargers)

Well done Chargers!

GAME 3 - PHOTOS - DAREDEVILS vs PUNJAB

Daniel Vettori put the skids on Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, IPL, 3rd game, Cape Town, April 19, 2009

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Preity Zinta gives Delhi Daredevils brand ambassador Akshay Kumar a hug, Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, IPL, 3rd game, Cape Town, April 19, 2009

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Ravi Bopara wallops the ball down the ground, Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, IPL, 3rd game, Cape Town, April 19, 2009

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GAME 4 - PHOTOS - CHARGERS vs RIDERS

Sourav Ganguly gets tall to force the ball away, Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, 4th game, Cape Town, April 19, 2009

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Adam Gilchrist pulls for four, Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, 4th game, Cape Town, April 19, 2009

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Cheerleaders gyrate at Newlands, Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, 4th game, Cape Town, April 19, 2009

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Stay tuned to T20Cricket.asia for more Results on IPL2 in South Africa.

Check out the results for DAY 1 - Game 1 and 2.

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