Sachin declared Fit! To play against Chennai!

The much awaited news of Sachin playing the IPL is finaly going to happen. He has been practicing in the net for few hours. He was declared fit and ready to play his first match in the IPL.

It is almost certain that he will play the match against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai, in front of the home crowd.

He said, the stand in captain Shaun Pollock did a wonderful job during his absence. It is now his turn to take it back and lead the team.

He did not comment on Harbhajan Sing's slapping incidence. He said, we have to move on with the game and it is a past thing.

He will open with Jayasuriya and if they both see the ball well, it will be a herculian task for Chennai to stop them.

Already Dhoni has commented that his side is weak in bowling department and we have to wait and see what is going to happen in the encounter.

In the previous encounter played at Chennai, Chennai beat Mumbai in a close game.

Controversies in IPL - Warne Takes on Ganguly

In another incident in IPL, controversy opened up between Warne and Ganguly. Warne accussed Ganguly of using delay tactics.

In the post match interview, the angry Warne said that he was disappointed over Ganguly's behavior. While batting, he came late to the crease and Warne was not sure what was happening. He asked the umpire, who was also not sure.

Also, while fielding, Warne's Rajasthan Royal team waited for 5 minutes in the hot sun and nothing happened. He did not come to the ground. Warne said, the captains have agreed that they will have to bowl the quota of 20 overs in 80 minutes. Not sure wha kind of delay tactics is being used by Ganguly.

Warne Disappointed over Ganguly!

Also, he said that as per the captains agreement, the game should have played in the spirit of the game. He should not have forced the umpire to refer the third umpire when he was caught by Smith, who is an international captain.

Ganguly said, "Look, who is talking. If you look at his career and the incidents that he has got into, it will give you the answer."

Ganguly hits back!

I am not personally sure why Ganguly is dragging the past into the incident. Warne was talking about this specific match where he delayed and pushed the umpire to go for TV replay. Though Warne's point of going with Smith as he is an international captain, I do not agree with that because Ponting was a well respected captain and he and his team claimed two catches that they did not take.

Following this dispute, the IPL asked match referee Farooq Engineer to look into the issues and take action appropriately. In both the incidents, unfortunately, he was the match referre.

Ganguly and Warne fined 10%

After the hearing, match referee fined both Ganguly and Warne 10% of their match fee. Ganguly was charged for forcing the umpire GA Pratap Kumar to rever the third umpire Asad Rauf, which is against the code of conduct.

Warne was fined for openly speaking, which is also against the code of conduct.

Umpire GA Pratap Kumar suspended!

In the meantime, the match umpire GA Pratap Kumar was suspended for a match for accepting the player's appeal for referring to the third umpire. He listened to Ganguly and asked for TV replay. Either he should have done it on his own or taken a decision himself.

Click here to read the Harbhajan and Sreesanth Slapping Incident!

Controversies in IPL - Harbhajan Slapping Sreesanth

So far, IPL is going smooth and the success it has achieved is enormous. The popularity is so huge that almost for all the matches, you could see good crowd. There were couple of controversies as in any other game and event that happens.

First Issue: Harbhajan v. Sreesnanth

Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after Mumbai Indians lost four in a row. It was said that "Sreesanth called Harbhajan a Jinx--an unlucky person" It was also rumoured that Harbhajan had warned Sreesanth the previous day. If something wrong is done by Sreesanth, he will be beaten.

After calling him Jinx, Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth. The TV cameras captured live pictures of Sreesanth crying uncontrollably. No one new until the news flashed that he was slapped by Harbhajan.

Both of them down played the event.

They called each other as brother and denied any slapping. The Kings XI Punjab complained officially about this incident. The IPL, which follows BCCI rules asked match referee to look into the issue.

Harbhajan slapping Sreesanth was caught in one of the cameras controlled by the official broadcaster of the game. The match referee had the evidence to punish Harbhajan.

Harbhajan plead guilty during the hearing!

After the hearing and pleading guilty, Match Referee Farooq Engineer slapped a 11-match ban to Harbhajan. Sreesanth was let off with a warning.

Harbjan Banned and Fined

Match Referee said he was banned for the remaining matches and also levied a penalty of all the match fees, which meant he will be losing 3 crores.

Warne and Ganguly takes on each other, fined 10%

Match 14: Gilchrist's fastest Hundred gives Deccan Chargers First Win!

What an innings by Gilchrist? He played pull over mid wicket many a times in previous occassions, but today, it was almost like he was playing in the nets.

Even if the ball is slightly short of length, he bangged it over fence for a six. He didn't spare anyone including the Mumbai Indians captain Shaun Pollock. He hit him for 3 sixes in an over. No one was able to stop him! He reached his 100 in a record number of balls in IPL. This is the fastest hundred of the IPL tournament. The previous best was from another Australian, Symonds who scored it in 48 balls.

Gilchrist did it in 42 balls with 9 fours and 9 sixes. His 50 came in 28 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. When the partnership reached 100, Gilchrist scored 77 out of the 100 runs.

The match had fwe major records:

1. First 100 run partnership for the first wicket;
2. Gilchrist scored his century in 42 balls--the fastest in the IPL
3. First team to win with a 10 wicket victory;
4. First 150 run partnership for the first wicket or for any wicket
5. Most number of sixes in an innings--10

This is the first win for Hyderabad Deccan Chargers.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers restricted Mumbai Indians to a mere 154 in a good batting track. This score was not at all enough in this kind of wicket. Pollock, Nayar and Bravo gave Mumbai Indians the respectable total of 154. Pollock scored 31 off 31 balls, Nayar 34 off 19 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes and Bravo scored 34 off 18 balls with 3 fours and a six. RP Singh was the pick of the bowler with 2 for 15 of his 4 overs.

Finally Deccan Chargers have seen a victory and started their account in the points table.

Score:

Match 14
Venue: Mumbai
Date: April 27, 2008
Teams: Mumbai Indians v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Shaun Pollock and VVS Laxman
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers won by 10 wickets with 48 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist of Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (Australia)
Points: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:
Mumbai Indians 154 for 7 in 20 overs (L Ronchi 13, ST Jayasuriya 18, AM Rahane 0, RV Uthappa 6, SM Pollock 31, AM Nayar 34, DJ Bravo 34, MA Khote 7 not out, Extras 11--b 2, lb 4, wide 3, nb 2, RP Singh 4-1-15-2, DNT Zoysa 4-0-30-1, SB Bangar 4-0-34-2, Shahid Afridi 4-0-32-2, PP Ojha 2-0-14-0, D Kalyankrishna 2-0-23-0) lost to Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 155 for no loss in 12 overs (AC Gilchrist 109 not out, VVS Laxman 37 not out, Extras 9--b 4, lb 1, wide 4, SM Pollock 2-0-33-0, DS Kulkarni 1-0-8-0, ST Jayasuriya 2-0-17-0, SD Chitnis 2-0-20-0, DJ Bravo 2-0-31-0, AM Nayar 1-0-22-0)

Harbhajan Suspended!

Harbhajan Singh has been suspended till Monday, pending hearing. He has been served notice by the BCCI. He was asked to respond to the notice before Monday, April 28, 2008.

After the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjba, which the later won, Sreesanth was seen crying and the TV cameras captured live pictures. Later it was found that the reason for outburst was none other than Bhajji. The offical broadcaster has captured the incident, BCCI said. Based on the evidence, he has been suspended and he has to respond by Monday.

For furthe news, click here!

Match 10: Lee's Spell Helps Kings XI to Win; Mumbai lost 3 in a Row!

What a bowling by Lee? He bowled every delivery like hitting with a fireball with full of positive energy and fire in the belly. He was economical and was responsible for taking a wicket and for the run out of Ronchi. His bowling figures were 4-0-9-1.

In his 2nd over, he took the wicket of Jayasuria, caught and bowled. It was a straight drive hit back to Lee, who took a good catch in the follow up. In the next delivery, Uthappa played soft and called for a single which Ronchi responded. But, Lee was quicker than Ronchi, who spirinted through the follow up, picked the ball and hit the stumps directly. The loss of two quick wickets in the same over put Mumbai Indians in the back foot with both the openers back in the pavilion.

Chasing a target of 183 which seemed easy in the Mohali wicket, down with 2 wickets, Mumbai never bounced back. They lost wickets at regular intervals. Uhappa and Bravo played sensibily and added 47 for the 3rd wicket, the only big partnership in the Mumbai Indian innings. Bravo tried to hit Chawla and missed it completely in the flight and was bowled. Uthappa was out in the next over caught by Sarwan off VRV Singh.

The only hope was Pollock, who contributed 22 off 21 balls with 2 fours and a six. But, no one gave him company and were losing their wickets. Tiwari was bowled by Chawla for 17, Nayar was caught by Chawla of Pathan for 2, Harbhajan was leg before to Pathan for a duck in the next ball of the same over. The hatrick was prevented by Khote.

With 82 required of 30 balls, Pollock has to slog every delivery. Yuvaraj took a stunning one-handed catch at extra cover. The first ball was a four and the next ball was a full toss and Pollock tryed to hit over extra covers. The ball was in the air where Yuvaraj jumped in the air, with his natural left hand going for the ball and it sit perfectly in his palms. It would definitely be one of the few competitors for the catch of the tournament. With that, the hopes of Mumbai Indians crashed.

Mumbai Indians finished their innings with 116 on the board and losing the match by 66 runs.

Both the teams losing their two previous matches and looking for their first win. Put into bat, Kings XI Punjab's innings was given a chance to fight by the 94 from Sangakkara. In his 73 runs partnership for the 2nd wicket, he scored 54 in 24 balls.

He reached his 50 in 23 balls with 9 fours and a six. In the 5th and 6th over bowled by Pollock and Kulkarni, he scored 18 and 17 runs respectively. Those two overs proved vital for building the innings.

Harbhajan was the pick of the bowler for Mumbai Indians picking 3 wickets.

Sangakkara was declared man of the match for his wonderful 94 with 13 fours and 1 six in his 56-ball innings. Skipper Yuvaraj Singh scored 18 of 9 balls with a four and a six. Bravo took a good forward diving catch at long off to send Yuvaraj back to pavilion.

Score:

Match 10
Venue: Mohali
Date: April 25, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 66 runs
Man of the Match: KC Sangakkara of Kings XI Punjab (Sri Lanka)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:
Kings XI Punjab 182 all out in 20 overs (K Goel 18, IK Pathan 6, KC Sangakkara 94, Yuvraj Singh 18, RR Sarwan 7, DPMD Jayawardene 12, S Sohal 0, B Lee 16 not out, PP Chawla 0, S Sreesanth 0, VRV Singh 4, Extras 7--b 1, lb 1, wide 4, nb 1, SM Pollock 4-0-40-1, A Nehra 3-0-22-2, DS Kulkarni 4-0-37-2, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-32-3, DJ Bravo 3-0-27-0, MA Khote 2-0-22-0) beat Mumbai Indians 117 for 9 in 20 overs (L Ronchi 11, ST Jayasuriya 1, RV Uthappa 21, DJ Bravo 23, SS Tiwary 17, SM Pollock 22, AM Nayar 2, Harbhajan Singh 0, MA Khote 8, DS Kulkarni 2 not out, A Nehra 2 not out, Extras 7--lb 1, wide 4, nb 2, B Lee 4-0-9-1, IK Pathan 4-1-19-2, VRV Singh 4-0-40-1, S Sreesanth 4-0-31-2, PP Chawla 4-0-16-2)

Match 8: Chennai Super Kings wins the Thriller!

Chennai Super Kings have won their 2nd match by 6 runs in a close game against Mumbai Indians in Chennai. Chasing a target of 209 in 20 overs, Mumbai Indians came close towards the last 5 overs. Nayar and Harbhajan Singh showed some light to the Mumbai Indians, but Super Kings had the last laugh.

Requiring 19 runs of the last over, Nayar hit two consecutive boundaries of the first two balls to bring down the target to 11 runs in 4 balls. With the 3rd ball being a no ball and a run scored, the runs required came down to 9 of 4 balls. Nehra missed the free hit and scored a single of the the next delivery. With 8 runs required 2 balls, Nayar didn't score run and the last ball was a single. Joginder Sharma bowled well one more time in a crucial chase. He bowled the last over against Pakistan in the T20 final and won the game for India.

Earlier, Hayden scored 81 runs of 46 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes to grab the man of the match award. Raina and Dhoni scored 53 off 37 balls and 30 off 16 balls respectively, which helped Chennai to go beyond 200 runs for the 2nd time.

It was surprising that Harbhajan didn't bowl is quota of 4 overs. In fact, he was the most economical bowler with 7 runs per over. He would have decided not to bowl considering the heavy dew in the ground and he could not get the grip of the ball.

For complete innings score and scores at the end of over, wicket description, click here!

Match 8
Venue: Chennai
Date: April 23, 2008
Teams: Chenani Super Kings v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to field
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 6 runs
Man of the Match: Mathew Hayden of Chennai Super Kings (Australia)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:
Chennai Super Kings 208 for 5 in 20 overs (PA Patel 14, ML Hayden 81, MEK Hussey 5, SK Raina 53, MS Dhoni 30, JDP Oram 5 not out, S Badrinath 2 not out, Extras 18--b 4, lb 3, wide 9, nb 2, SM Pollock 3-0-32-0, A Nehra 4-0-35-1, DS Kulkarni 3-0-25-1, Harbhajan Singh 2-0-14-0, DJ Bravo 3-0-36-0, VS Yeligati 1-0-16-0, AM Nayar 1-0-14-0, MA Khote 3-0-29-2) beat Mumbai Indians 202 for 7 in 20 overs (L Ronchi 2, ST Jayasuriya 20, RV Uthappa 43, SM Pollock 17, DJ Bravo 24, AM Nayar 45 not out, MA Khote 9, Harbhajan Singh 28, A Nehra 1 not out, Extras 13--lb 5, wide 6, nb 2, JDP Oram 4-0-53-0, M Gony 4-1-18-1, Joginder Sharma 4-0-29-2, P Amarnath 4-0-57-1, M Muralitharan 4-0-40-2)

Match 5: Bangalore Royal Challengers Wins the Thriller!

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Mumbai Indians playing without the experienced master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, posted a good fighting total on the board. The inexperienced captain Harbhajan Singh, did not hesitate to bat first.

Jayasuriya provided a firing start hitting Praveen Kumar and Kallis all over the ground. His knock off 29 off just 16 balls with 5 fours and a six came to an end by an excellent direct hit at the non-strickers end by Zaheer Khan on his own bowling.

He was hitting the ball well and it was a blow for the Mumbai Indians because it really slowed the tempo.

Earlier, Ronchi was caught brilliantly by Kohli--could be the catch of the tournament so far. He flew i the air at point to grab the fantastic catch and povide the break through to Bangalore. Thornley was hit by Zaheer Khan's bouncer on the right forehead near the eyebrow.

Then Uthappa joined Shah and they both added 51 for the 4th wicket in 47 balls. Uthappa was timing and placing the ball well and his 48 runs came in 38 balls with 5 fours and a six. Shah scored 19 off 23 balls with 2 fours. It was AM Nayar who added few runs to the score with his 20 off 14 balls.

It was Pollock, who really gave the Mumbai Indians a chance to fight back at the end of the innings. His quick fire 28 off 12 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes helped Mumbai to go past 150. He was the last batsman to get out in the last ball of the innings--bowled by Zaheer Khan.

Chasing the target of 166, Dravid and Chandrapaul opened the innings for Bangalore Royal Challengers. Dravid struggled against Pollock and he gave away only 1 run in his first over. Chandrapaul was hitting the ball well and was improving the run rate of Bangalore. His 16 off 11 balls came to an end when he tried to hit the ball over mid wicket, he was caught. He should have retired when he got hurt through an inside edge that hit his right inside knee. Dravid and Chandrapaul added 37 for the first wicket in 5 overs.

Taylor joined Dravid and they both added 31 for 2nd wicket in 3.5 overs. Dravid was out by a beautiful flighted doosra by Harbhajan. He gave a simple return catch to Bhajji. He was out for 32 off 33 balls with 4 fours.

At the end of the 10th over, Taylor was out off Jayasuriya for 23, scored in 12 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

It was left to the experienced Kallis and Indian Under-19 captain Kohli to restore the pride for Bangalore. Kohli played few good shots that and both lead a good fight back. Kohli hit 23 off 14 balls with 3 fours and a six. Kohili was dismissed when the score for 106 in 13.3 overs.

Requiring 60 in 39 balls, Kallis and Boucher brought the target down to 48 in 5 overs. Pollock's over cost 8 runs and the target was 40 in 4 overs.

Jayasuriya bowled the 17th over which cost 10 runs. A huge six off the first ball by Boucher and the singles in the remaining balls gave a chance to Banglore.

With 30 runs in 18 balls, Kallis hit the first ball of Nehra for a straight six of a full toss, in the last two balls of the same over, Boucher hit a four over mid wicket and huge six which hit the roof of the stadium. With 19 runs conceeded in the 18th over, Bangalore required 11 runs of 12 balls.

Harbhajan bowled the 19th over. First ball was a single by Kallis, then a four at point by Boucher, then a single. With 5 runs required, Harbhajan took the wicket of Kallis. It was a good forward diving catch at deep midwicket by Nayar.

Akhil scored two in the next ball and no run was scored in the last ball of the 19th over.

With 3 runs to win in the last over, Kulkarni's first ball was a single. The second ball was a wide. No run was scored in the 2nd and 3rd ball. With scores are equal one run to win, Akhil's drive to mid-on where the fielder missed to hold the ball as it bounced and rolled away from the hands of the fielder. By that time, Boucher and Akhil had completed the winning run.

It was Nehra's over which turned the match towards Banglore Royal Challengers towards the end. This win would give confidence to the entire team as their previous defeat was devastating as they lost by 140 runs.

Boucher was declared Man of the Match. So far, in all the five matches played, no Indian have won a Man of the Match.

Match 5
Venue: Mumbai
Date: April 20, 2008
Teams: Mumbai Indias v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to bat
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Mark Boucher of Bangalore Royal Challengers (South Africa)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:
Mumbai Indias 165 for 6 in 20 overs (L Ronchi 8, ST Jayasuriya 29, DJ Thornely 0, RV Uthappa 48, P Shah 19, AM Nayar 20, SM Pollock 28, Harbhajan Singh 2 not out, Extras 11--b 2, lb 6, wide 3, P Kumar 4-0-29-1, Z Khan 4-0-17-2, JH Kallis 3-0-43-0, R Vinay Kumar 4-0-41-0, B Akhil 3-0-17-2, SB Joshi 2-0-10-0) lost to Bangalore Royal Challengers 166 for 5 in 19.4 overs (S Chanderpaul 16, R Dravid 32, LRPL Taylor 23, JH Kallis 25, V Kohli 23, MV Boucher 39 not out, B Akhil 3 not out, Extras 5--wide 5, A Nehra 4-0-45-1, SM Pollock 4-0-17-0, DS Kulkarni 2.4-0-19-1, ST Jayasuriya 4-0-39-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-36-2, AM Nayar 1-0-10-0)

Tendulkar not playing! Harbhajan to lead!

In the firt match for Mumbai Indians against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, the skipper and the master batsman Sachin Tendulkar decided not to play. He is suffering from groin injury for the last few weeks. He did not play the 2nd and 3rd test against South Africa in Ahmadabad and Kanpur.

Though everyone expected that he would be playing the first match for Mumbai, he is still not fuly fit and is expected to play the next match.

The vice-captain Harbhajan Singh will be leading the Mumbai Indians. During the pre-match interview to the private televsion commentary group that it is an honor to lead Mumbai Indians and will enjoy the game. He said the crowd support is enormous and is an advantage.