Indian Premier League (IPL)

[Sin Hombre]

3rd time in this IPL where Rohit failed to pick up the googly. Tahir also bowled him.

[PKBasu]

Spectacular stuff from Kieron Pollard (with support from Krunal Pandya) to win it for MI.

[prasen9]

Some of the IPL franchises have the stupidest names. I wonder how, with all their money and advertising gurus, they came up with these nonsensical names.

Knight Rider: What on earth is a knight rider? And how is it different from a Knight? Or is it meant to be someone riding on a knight? I know there was some American TV series or movie by that name but most Indians including me do not have the cultural context to figure out what it means. If someone knows, please let me know. And, btw, it has an illustrious meaning as a slang. Check out Urban Dictionary entry on Knight Rider I mean do check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Sunriser: What on earth is a sun riser? Seems like a drink to me. Here is the recipe: Recipe. What were they thinking? Someone who rises with the sun in the morning? All of us do. What is the big deal?

Rising Pune Supergiant: The fact that they are rising means that they are sort of not there yet. When you choose a name, choose something to reflect confidence. They are basically accepting that they are below standard, but, trying to rise up to come to standards. What's wrong with just Pune Supergiants? This one is perhaps not as bad as the Knightrider or sunriser. Because, you could interpret it as a giant rising up to its feet to engage in a fight or whatever. But, why use a term that may have a slightly negative interpretation? A simpler Pune Supergiants would have been great.

Weird!

[Varma]

Prasen, these names get on my nerves every time I see the scores or read a match report. Nowhere in world would you find such a ridiculous set of names for teams in a professional league! I always wonder the same, "what the hell were they thinking"? Are these the best marketing guys these team heads could hire? I am also disappointed at the serious lacking of culture identity! So many brilliant and catchy names with Indian flavor could have been coined. What a waste of opportunity!

- varma

[prasen9]

Rising Pune Ravanas

[PKBasu]

Rishab Pant has not done much in any form of cricket (apart from 99 against lowly-ranked Tripura) since he made his T20I debut. His top score, other than the Tripura innings, is 31 in 10 innings. Judging based on a few first class innings on batsmen-friendly pitches is perilous.

[prasen9]

Fully agree. That is why we should not use only 10 innings. We should at least consider all his FC innings. Even then, the data is short. If he is selected, it is based on human evaluation and not data. I am fine with that. If we want to let him mature more, that may be fine too. But, given that Dhoni is pretty much done, for the limited overs versions, we could try him to see what he can do. Give him specific instructions to improve if he is deficient. He has done fine in FC and T20. In List-As, he is yet to play very many good innings.

[PKBasu]

While Dhoni is around we don't need a backup 'keeper. Jadhav is accomplished enough behind the stumps. And Pant is not particularly competent in front of the stumps to warrant him being fast tracked onto the Indian team.

[prasen9]

We should drop Dhoni from T20Is. I have not seen Pant bat. So don't know what he can do and what he cannot. So, I do not know how good or bad he is. But, his T20 record seems fine so far. Again, all small sample sizes. However, whatever we do, we should have a reasonable plan and choose and groom the right successor(s).

[PKBasu]

A batting average of 28 in T20s seems "fine so far"? In List As he averages 20.6 at a strike rate of 91.5; none of that is any reason for him to be in contention for India. His first class record is bolstered by the 308 he made on a belter in which the opposition batsmen had a record partnership (with both making big double centuries). Excluding that innings, his batting average in first class games is 52.8 -- good, but not overwhelming enough.

[PKBasu]

RPS made a competitive 161/8 against RCB mainly because of 27 off 11 balls from Manoj Tiwary after Dhoni and Steve Smith had a slow partnership (with strike rates of 112 and 112.5 respectively). But Manoj may have dropped the match, missing a simple slip catch off Kohli.

[prasen9]

A batting average of 28 in T20s seems "fine so far"?

Yes, that is very respectable for a wicket-keeper starting his career given the SR is 140. The average has to be also calibrated wrt where in the order the person bats. Openers usually have a higher average. Who else has done significantly better? Dhoni was a freak. Ignoring him, we have KKD Karthik ~24, Parthiv ~22, Saha ~25, Naman ~21, Jackson ~21. Who do you have in mind?

Generally, in T20s, an average of 25 and above is reasonable for middle order bats.

In List As he averages 20.6 at a strike rate of 91.5; none of that is any reason for him to be in contention for India.

I did not say anything about List As. I said that I would try him in the T20Is if the selectors think that he is the best junior with the most potential. List As is a strawman.

His first class record is bolstered by the 308 he made on a belter in which the opposition batsmen had a record partnership (with both making big double centuries). Excluding that innings, his batting average in first class games is 52.8 -- good, but not overwhelming enough.

He made all those runs. There are no other wicket-keepers with an average of 52.8. The main issue is not the performance but the size of the evidence. For a short-time, many batsmen can average over 50. For a longer period of time, not many can even in the Indian domestics.

[PKBasu]

Pant finally played an excellent T20 knock for Delhi against KKR today -- 38 off 16 balls to set a competitive total --and then held a fine catch to dismiss Uthappa.

[prasen9]

PKB, a day after his father passed away on Apr 8th, Pant came out and scored a 57 off 36 balls in this IPL. In the second match in this IPL, he scored 31 off 22 balls and was runout as a result of great fielding. Given Delhi has only played 3 games, I think your use of "finally" is a tad harsh.

[prasen9]

Manish Pandey played very well. It is good that Coulter-Nile is there instead of Boult. I believe Coulter-Nile is a better bowler for Indian wickets. And, is a better bat too.

Weird that we continue playing Woakes and Grandhomme instead of playing Shakib. 3 spinners is not that much. We do not need 4 pacers with some of them being slow medium pacers (Grandhomme). I would keep Woakes and get Shakib instead of Grandhomme. The tail is shaky. Shakib will help.