[vamsi.kona]

A really heart warming story. T20 in general and IPL in particular are giving life to many such people who are able to earn decent money and settle down, concentrating more on the thing they love the most, playing cricket.

The 500-rupee man who made it big

"Tell us something about Kulwant Khejroliya," Simon Doull asked AB de Villiers in a spot interview during Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL season opener on Sunday. "Ah well, I don't know honestly," he replied.

De Villiers wasn't the only one with little or no knowledge about Khejroliya. A number of his other RCB team-mates didn't know much about their colleague either. The 25-year old from Jhunjunu, a small village in Rajasthan, calls himself a chalbaaz (trickster) who found ways to make a buck here and there doing odd jobs - working in a grocery store, cleaning tables, delivering food, and taking orders.

"We had to take a loan for my sister's wedding, but even that wasn't enough. My father borrowed money from relatives. I used to see how difficult it was to repay. My brother was studying, so those were difficult times.

"As soon as I earned some money in cricket, the first thing I did was repay the money. Even today, my father finds it hard to believe I'm capable of doing something like this, because he felt I wouldn't do anything with my life, that I would go astray. My mindset changed after that. I started looking at life differently."

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

A really heart warming story. T20 in general and IPL in particular are giving life to many such people who are able to earn decent money and settle down, concentrating more on the thing they love the most, playing cricket.

The 500-rupee man who made it big

Thanks for sharing. That's why I like IPL. Not that I care much for the fast food games. BUT. 1. Gives opportunity to so many talented youngsters who wouldn't have got a chance in Ranji/international. 2. Increases income level for everyone in the ecosystem 3. Gives youngsters exposure. Removes the awe, especially the firang/sophistication (e.g. erstwhile Imran Khan/Oxbridge) awe. 4. Gives the deserving ones confidence that they can compete internationally. 5. Fielding and ability to handle pressure improve big time.

And so many international players benefit from IPL.

Yes there are many cons. But overall, pros are greater than cons imho.

[Eddy]

MSD !!!!!!

He's playing a vintage MSD innings. Typical, typical Dhoni. The one we've missed for so long.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Eddy

MSD !!!!!!

He's playing a vintage MSD innings. Typical, typical Dhoni. The one we've missed for so long.

Well cricinfo questioned it alot. MSD was great, I still couldn't fathom why Jadeja came ahead of Bravo. And Mohit Sharma actually nailing his wide yorkers, especially with MS injured was a great move.

Some of his choices haven't been great. Picking so many bowlers and not bowling them, bowling plans, field settings. Russell only got 1 short ball, they kept bowling length to Gayle

Not that they have a lot of bench strength. And knowing MSD, I wonder why he settled on a old lot of players - Yes, they do well under pressure but in the field they are just not good. I fear if they start to fail, CSK won't be much of a team - and that's what most experts seem to agree on. David Willey is a good pick, but he would need to replace Tahir, who has been good. I wonder if they can pick Unmukt Chand in place of Jadhav and shore up their Indian reserves.

As of now, my top 4 would be, Hyderabad, Punjab, Kolkata and Rajasthan. If Rajasthan screw up,then one among CSK/MI would get a chance.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

I still couldn't fathom why Jadeja came ahead of Bravo.

Bravo is very much wasted down the order. He needs to play the last 6-7 overs atleast. Perhaps the coaching staff feels everyone should get a hit before the crunch games.

And knowing MSD, I wonder why he settled on a old lot of players - Yes, they do well under pressure but in the field they are just not good.

What is worrying is these ageing players will also play for the next 2 seasons unless offcourse they get injured & are replaced.

[hemanth.anand]

Chris Gayle, Pant and ABD....3 wonderful innings to finish my Saturday. Amazing hitting by all 3.
And yeah that catch by Boult to dismiss Virat. Just wow!!

[ghodlur]

The MI team is under a witch spell. The way they lose the matches which were expected to win proves that somebody has cast a spell on the team. Yesterday's match with SRH proved it. The MI team could not even score in a low scoring match. 119 runs looked so difficult to get when batting power houses names like Rohit Sharma, Pollard etc are in the team. The team totally lacks the spirit to win the games and Rohit's captaincy has been too lack lustre.

Neeta Ambani and the mgmt of MI should be given a nice hearing for selecting such a poor team constituency. I guess shedding Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu has proved to be a costly mistake. Whatever happened to Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Akila Dhananjaya, Aiden Blizzard etc.

[kannan666]

Gautam Gambhir steps down as DD captain, Shreyas Iyer named as his replacement

[Eddy]

The fact that Prithwi Shaw did well must've put more pressure on Gambhir. Sad, but I had expected this to happen.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I guess shedding Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu has proved to be a costly mistake.

The big problem area for MI has been the lack of runs from their key players Rohit & Pollard! Hardik Pandya languishing at the bottom of the batting order is perplexing. MI are just about out of contention for the playoff's along with DD.

[vamsi.kona]

Their use of Pollard has been perplexing. I had just seen a stat in Cricinfo, the average number of balls left when Pollard comes to bat is around 40, the lowest amongst overseas players considered as their top batsmen. And he is not at all being used as a bowler as well. What's the use of having an explosive batsman such as Pollard if you aren't going to give him more time in the middle??.

[Eddy]

I think the major problem with Mumbai is their top 3. They are doing just enough to stay at their positions without winning them any matches, save one.

[Prathiiik]

Update:

Csk beats Royal Challengers Bangalore by 5 wickets (2 balls left).

A very close match, I must say. Excellent batting by Dhoni (70 not out) and Ambati Rayudu (82).

On RCB's side - great batting as usual by AB De Villiers (68) and Quinton De Kick (53).

Very crucial game for both the sides - watched the first 10 overs and switched off the television due to disappointment. But hey, CSK never dissapoints you!

[nilanjanray]

1. ABDV gets his (old) form back
2. Dhoni gets his (finisher) form back
3. Kohli just can't get things right (as per his standards)

I don't care much about IPL, but I do hope that the (relative) IPL slump and captaincy faux pas don't affect Kohli when he is captaining the national team.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Kohli just can't get things right (as per his standards)

RCB were a bowler short last night, it was quite inexplicable of Kohli to drop Woakes & include Grandhomme! Although Woakes has also been carted around in the death overs but he's still a good new ball bowler. For some reason , Corey Anderson was bowling way too many overs last night.
Btw, this has been an exciting IPL so far with so many close games.