Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Match Review

Four in a row, sweet revenge, the return of God, the Jayasuriya show, call it whatever. Mumbai continued their impressive giant killing form with a comprehensive win over Chennai. Mumbai genuinely look like a team that can qualify for the semi-finals, so to call them giant killers is probably a tad unfair. Heck, who cares.

The pre-match talk was all about the IPL debut of Sachin Tendulkar. There were a few concerns about the squad dynamics with Tendulkar's return, and also about his captaincy. As it turned out, the transition looked seamless, and Tendulkar captained the team in ways he never had done for India.

Pollock turned in his best performance so far, which is saying something given the fact that his bowling all tournament has really been inspirational. Nehra is also getting his groove back, continuing on from his performance against Rajasthan, and together, they gave Mumbai another great start with the ball. Tendulkar surprisingly bowled Pollock out by the 11th over, but with Pollock conceding only 9 runs from his 4 overs, it put pressure on Chennai with the run-rate at that stage just over 5 an over.

Unfortunately, the bowlers lost it after that. Both Dhoni and Badrinath started striking the ball beautifully, and made the bowlers lose their line and length. Even Dhaval Kulkarni, who has previously bowled well under pressure, couldn't handle it, bowling 3 successive wides in the last over. Where at one stage Chennai looked like they might just about get to 130, they managed 156. Not a huge total, but one that could become tricky if we lost early wickets.

It was supposed to be the Sachin-Sanath show during Mumbai's innings. Instead, the whole innings turned out to be a Sanath Jayasuriya show. With Sachin's return, the responsibility of senior batsman was removed from Jayasuriya, and he took it to heart with a display that was straight from 1996. I remember a game against Pakistan where Jayasuriya got Sri Lanka off to a blistering start, and soon after Kaluwitarana got out. A 70 run opening wicket partnership, and Kalu scored 0 in that! When Tendulkar got out in the 8th over, it looked a bit like that. The team total was 82, and Tendulkar had contributed 12!

No other contribution was really needed, as Jayasuriya ended up with 114 off only 48 balls and wrapped up the win inside 14 overs. It was actually more astonishing than it sounds. Perhaps even better than McCullum's innings. Twice he hit 3 sixes in the same over. Jayasuriya has always looked menacing in this tournament, but never converting it into an innings of substance. Yesterday's knock alone might have been worth the money spent on him.

While a lot is expected of Tendulkar (as always), it'll probably take him a couple of games to get into his stride, especially as he is coming back from injury. Jayasuriya's knock couldn't have been timed better from that prespective. If he continues on in this vein, it will give Tendulkar the room he needs to get settled into his role.

I hope I don't jinx the team with this, but this really is looking like the 2006-07 Ranji season all over again. Down and out after three games, with no points and relegation a real possibility, Mumbai fought back with three innings wins to seal top spot in the group, and eventually win the Ranji Trophy.

The batting looks pretty good, with genuine batsmen all the way down to number 8. And Dominic Thornely is yet to get going. So long as he doesn't go the Kambli way on the short balls. The bowling looks pretty good as well, with Pollock an Nehra forming an effective opening partnership, and Kulkarni providing wonderful support. The only thing missing is a regular spinner, though with Jayasuriya and Tendulkar in the team, that problem might not be so acute.

Next up is Kolkata with their over the top celebrations. The team and its owner irk me so much that I'd love to see Mumbai defeating Kolkata more than Mumbai defeating Delhi, at this stage. And I'd especially love to see Sachin repeating his 2003 world cup performance against Shoaib Akhtar. It will also be Dwayne Bravo's last game this season, and will go back for the test series against Australia after the match. Here's hoping we send him off with a win.

P.S. In what is turning out to be a ritual, it was Dhoni's turn this time to be booed. No doubt the crowd is certainly doing a brilliant job at supporting the team, and reactions while the match is on are probably fine with a view to provide an advantage to the home team. But to boo an opponent after the game is over when he hasn't done anything to warrant it is quite unnecessary. Further, how can you really justify booing a player when he plays for a different city, and later cheer for him when he plays for India? Sometimes a player asks for it, for example, Shoaib Akhtar going off on his over the top aeroplane celebration, or a player playing for Delhi (ok, kidding!). But in most cases, the players deserve some respect. Oh well, atleast we are not Delhi, where the crowd stones its own captain!

Death

I demand capital punishment for everyone involved in this atrocity.

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Match Review

Mumbai Indians look like they have gotten into a habit of defeating the table toppers. First Kolkata (okay, there were only 3rd, but they were among the early pace-setters), then Delhi and now Rajasthan! This game again showed that the team is better than what many give them credit for. Not quite as dramatic as the Ewing theory, but the performances have picked up ever since Bhajji was banned. It could be entirely coincidental, but it is more likely that the leadership of Pollock has allowed the other players (especially the younger ones) to get a better understanding of their role in the team.

The team does look a really good bowling and fielding unit, even if the batting doesn't look entirely convincing. Today's display was their best bowling performance so far. Pollock was good as usual, but rather unusually, Nehra stepped up with a man-of-the-match display. Hopefully he is back after his injury lay-off and this does not turn out to be a one-off performance.

I've mentioned how Dhaval Kulkarni has been impressive in previous games, and he simply seems to get better with each outing. He got hammered for 17 in his first over today, but came back superbly in his second spell with 2 for 4 off 2 overs!

The other local bowler who impressed today was Rohan Raje, who was also impressive on his debut against Delhi. Both Kulkarni and Raje look like they possess the ability to consistently pitch the ball in the blockhole, which is a great asset in T20. Of the two, Kulkarni looks like he might also do well in the longer version of the game. It is great to see local players perform in the IPL, and these two might just go on to form part of the nucleus of the team in the years to come.

A mention must also go to Yogesh Takawale, about whom I didn't know much before the IPL started. Atleast Pinal Shah was someone who followers of the domestic game might have been aware of. Takawale pulled off a couple of great diving catches to further reinforce the role fielding is playing in transforming this team from also rans into one that can seriously challenge for a spot in the semi-finals.

So far, it has been the bowling/fielding that has won Mumbai all their games. Pollock attributed the change in the team's fortunes to the fact that it took the team a while to get used to each other's roles and the team is now gelling very well as a unit, even if it boasts of no stand-out performers.

It does remain to be seem how the return of Tendulkar will affect the team. In theory, the team should perform better as the batting will get stronger. Hopefully, it does not affect the team in terms of players suddenly being unsure of their role. Tendulkar is nothing if not a team man, and so the chances of that happening are pretty low. Another aspect is the captaincy of Pollock, which has clearly been of a much higher standard than Bhajji's. While Tendulkar does have an extremely shrewd cricketing brain, his two stints as captain of the Indian team have been failures, though part of the reason there was something beyond his control. Also, Tendulkar has limited experience with T20, so it remains to be seen how he and the team handle this.

The team now have a gap of one week, which almost looks like a vacation in the hectic IPL schedule. Mumbai were originally scheduled to visit the Royal Challengers in this period, but because of elections in Karnataka, that fixture now becomes Mumbai's last in their IPL campaign. Next up is Chennai, again at home. Given Mumbai's form, and Chennai's lack of form following the losses of Hayden, Hussey and Oram, that game should be winnable.

Mumbai Crowd Rocks

Let's have it on record here. The Mumbai Indians fan base is the best in the IPL. The Kolkata crowd may be good and they may be getting all the attention for team loyalty (or is that Ganguly loyalty?), but they are not even a patch on Mumbai.

Mumbai against Delhi has always been a big game in the Ranji Trophy, and yesterday's game was no different, even if it was a top vs bottom clash. And the crowd certainly showed up for the game. We've seen mixed behaviours from the crowds across different franchises, and some of them (Bangalore, Punjab) have been appalling. The concept of supporting a local team hasn't quite caught on in those cities.

Mumbai, however, got into the act from the very first game. Rahul Dravid was roundly booed at the toss, and every decision against Mumbai was met with a defeaning silence, while every four or six from the Mumbai players was met with loud cheers.

The crowd took it to an entirely different level against Delhi. Often in football, people talk of the crowd being the 12th man and even driving the home team towards victory. It is hard to imagine that happening in cricket, but that is precisely what happened.

A huge number of people in the crowds were wearing the colours of the Mumbai Indians, and waving the team flag. But more than that, they created a fantastic atmosphere and quite literally pushed the team to victory. As the match progressed, every good moment for Mumbai was met with louder roars, and by the time Delhi got out to bat, the atmosphere was simply electrifying. Each dot ball was cheered, and while boundaries were met with silence, the roar started again as the bowler ran in to bowl his next delivery.

The crowd was egging on the Mumbai team to win this game, and there was a noticeable lift in the attitude of the Mumbai players, who fielded like their lives depended on it. This put pressure on the Delhi players, and the crowd cranked it up a notch. The atmosphere got to Delhi; they choked, and lost by 29 runs.

In the post match ceremony, Pollock rightfully thanked the crowd for pushing the team towards victory. And in a funny moment, Rameez Raja asked Sehwag if he anticipated the result. Sehwag replied that he did not, and almost immediately, the crowd started booing and heckling him!

What a performance! Take a bow Mumbai. You have certainly set the standard for the atmosphere in the stadium.