IPL 6: MI v/s KKR - Quick Flicks

Fort Wankhede is yet to be breached this season. Tonight’s game was just another reinforcement of that fact. Mumbai ran roughshod over a hapless Kolkata, consigning them to a 65-run defeat. SRK’s boys seem intent on going the PWI way – it looks like they have forgotten how to win. I did not see any bit of fight from anyone in that team. The one question running through my mind was: Is this is the team that won the crown last year? Spineless, gutless and useless – three words to sum up the Bengal outfit’s performance tonight. Here are some snapshots of the game:

Vintage Tendulkar on Display

Veteran Mumbai batsman Sachin Tendulkar played a wonderful knock today. His intentions were quite clear as he hammered the clueless Ryan McLaren for 5 boundaries in a row. I saw something else in that innings – it was as if he was telling his critics that he is far from over. Defiance, aggression and class – that’s the Master for you!

No Brett Lee

Gautam Gambhir‘s first mistake of today was keeping speedster Brett Lee on the bench. A proven performer warming the sidelines while his replacement sprays the ball all over the pitch – it seems the KKR skipper is not willing to learn from his mistakes this season. When you have an opposition with the likes of Tendulkar, Pollard, Rohit Sharma, Johnson & Malinga in the ranks, why not field your key strike bowler? This oversight hurt KKR at the end of Mumbai’s innings when they gave away 25 runs in the last over.

DK – Villain to Hero

Dinesh Karthik seems to have caught the Pollard bug. He was involved in 2 run-outs, but redeemed himself well with a blistering assault on Sunil Narine and Ryan McLaren in the dying stages of MI’s innings. While Rayudu & Harbhajan would have given him an earful during the break, the Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper shrugged it off with a good display behind the stumps.

McLaren Bleeds Black & Blue

Ryan McLaren would want to forget tonight’s game. There’s nothing you can do when the Little Master is in full flow; 5 consecutive boundaries should have been enough indication that he refrain from bowling further. But thanks to his stubborn skipper, the poor guy returned for yet another mauling. Ignominious, simply ignominious.

Gambhir’s Idiocy

I’m not at all impressed with Gauti’s captaincy or his batting in this season. He has been KKR’s biggest let-down. His reliance on Sunil Narine to break partnerships and shoddy tactics such as leaving out Brett Lee, handing the ball to McLaren instead of the miserly Balaji dashed hopes of an upset win over the hosts. A tendency to play away from the body saw him ejected in the first over of the chase. Clearly, being dropped from the national side is not sitting too well for the Delhi stalwart, and it’s hurting his team very badly. Lack of form reduces confidence, low confidence leads to anger, anger leads to stubbornness and stubbornness to idiocy; it’s not a healthy combination.

My personal suggestion to SRK? Disband the team, release all the players and start afresh. Else the side will suffer from worse defeats than tonight.