Indian Premier League (IPL)

[PKBasu]

OK, I think I missed the 57 because I was travelling that day across India.

[prasen9]

And today, it seems he had a good catch and a good stumping. Certainly one to keep an eye on. There are about 10 more games plus the knockouts. Dhoni seems to be terrible wrt SR. I don't see much value in keeping him too long. If not Pant, we need a plan for who it will be. Among the normal suspect wicket-keepers Saha has the best T20 record.

[PKBasu]

Pant 'kept well against Mishra, so he seems to be a genuine 'keeper-batsman.

[PKBasu]

Rayudu has been kept out of the Mumbai Indians XI by Nitish Rana's consistency this year. Sad to see his eclipse so soon after he seemingly had secured his ODI place -- but lost it almost imperceptibly (and not based on any fall in his own performances).

[PKBasu]

There is a surfeit of 'keeper-batsmen in form. KKD, Parthiv and Pant are knocking on the door for Dhoni's spot, so the incumbent needs to demonstrate some batting form soon. His 'keeping against spin probably still gives him a slight edge over the others.

[indiansportsfan]

Considering that spin is not expected to play a major role in England, Dhoni's edge in that area does not matter much. Personally I would select Karthik over the other 3, think he has the best chance to do well in England. Also he is coming on the back of a great domestic season.

[prasen9]

Shakib is in for KKR. He is one of the better all-rounders available today. And, I think in the IPL apart from Shane Watson's exploits, I can think of no other all-rounder performing better. Good. Grandhomme was of little use. This strengthens the batting and bowling.

[PKBasu]

Shakib should always have played, but he had a poor day as Gujarat finally won with their batting (with McCullum, Finch, Raina, Dwayne Smith, Jadeja in their line-up, it is a wonder it took this long for them to start clicking.

[prasen9]

The match was lost by Gambhir and Pandey. They could not hit at all. On the other hand, *all* of the Lions batsmen kept on hitting. If KKR bats had not been that conservative, a total of 200 would have been possible. Given the flat pitch and I think the ropes were brought in, no swing at all, it seemed that you pretty much that you needed 200.

[Sin Hombre]

And in walks MS Dhoni, at No. 4. He's not been the old Dhoni though. His strike-rate of 87.14 is the worst among all batsmen having faced 50 deliveries this season

[PKBasu]

So Dhoni delivers at last (while Pant gets his second consecutive duck). Manoj continuing to bat too low in the order but he continues to do enough at that place in the order for his side.

[prasen9]

Seems like Dhoni is back and Pant is fading a bit in this IPL. Uthappa is looking to be in glorious touch and form. But, I guess selecting him for Champions Trophy on the basis of IPL in India would be foolhardy. Our openers should be Rohit and Dhawan (Rahul is hurt and out).

[PKBasu]

Uthappa is batting beautifully but his 'keeping remains iffy at best. He's pulled off some good stumpings recently, but misses some pretty routine catches because his movements behind the stumps aren't naturally fluid.
His innings yesterday was fabulous. I don't mind him being considered for a slot as a specialist batsman (opening or lower down).

[prasen9]

He missed a routine stumping too.

[PKBasu]

Delhi Daredevils put in a spirited team performance yesterday to retain a small chance of making the playoffs. Pant finally got back into the runs, and Karun Nair played a decent captain's knock as opener. But MI, KKR and Pune are close to clinching their playoff spots.