Kolkata Dismantled by Tendulkar’s Knock

Posted by Ameya in IPL on 03 23rd, 2010 | no responses

sachindadakkrmi_big What’s so special? Tendulkar always crushes his opponents. But this was certainly special for Mumbai as the flawless & blitzkrieg batting by the master helped Mumbai to keep their unbeaten streak against Kolkata after 5 matches. Sachin dismantled the kolkata in the 17th match of the IPL 2010. His unbeaten 71 brought Mumbai a 7-wicket win and put them on the top of IPL points table. Tendulkar was at his best and tore apart Kolkatas bowling as Mumbai chased down their target with 9 balls to spare.

Sachin Kolkata on the other hand made meager 155 runs in 20 overs. Even after having most priced player Shane Bond in their armageddon, Kolkata could not avoid the straight 3 loss of the season after 2 initial wins.

The bombastic batsman Gayle who returned to the side made impressive start and helped Kolkata to reach 155 with his knock of 75. However the destructive batsman was not at his peak and Mumbai bowler’s strategic attack did not allow him to dictate the show. Ganguly again disappointed with his knock of 31 before getting out on Harbhajan’s delivery in 11th over. Owais Shah and Gayle managed to keep the momentum going and gathered 53 runs in the last 5 overs. However Gayle took 60 balls to score 75 which is quiet shocking for a player of his repute. Shah also took 23 balls to score 31 runs. This shows batting is the major cause of concern for Ganguly these days. Had there been 20-30 runs more, Kolkata had a positive chance to win the game and restrict Mumbai from straight 5th win against them.

In the second innings, Sachin was zooming smoothly. His knock of 10 disdainfully struck boundaries took him to unbeaten 71 in just 48 balls. He was partially harsh against the valued bowler Shane Bond.

Ishant Sharma needs to go back to domestic cricket to learn basics of bowling. His aimless deliveries hurt Kolkata the most.

Murali Karthik tried his best to slow down the Mumbai bandwagon for a few overs, but as soon as his spell got over, Ishant Sharma opened the floodgates and Kolkata lost the game to Tendulkar’s performance.

From viewer’s point of view it was feast to watch Sachin at his peak. However, it seems Kolkata is not following the strategy. ( I considering they have one ). In a short game of 20 overs, it’s extremely important to stick to the plans made in the dressing room. Match situation may force to make some changes here and there but overall plan has to be at place. Time and overs get off so quickly that even 2 bad overs of batting or bowling can cost a match to any team. Precisely this was missing in Punjab performance earlier but as they also have came to the terms with their plans, it is time for Kolkata to follow the wagon.

With so much money involved it is quiet obvious that losing a game or two wont matter much too for teams. But in purview of the game of cricket, it is the performance and skills that these players are being paid for. I think one of the best thing IPL has done to cricket is opportunities given to young players. Biggies like Ganguly should think once again about their place in the team. We do not doubt his abilities, but let us look at this from different perspective. A player who is retired and have no worry of performing to maintain or gain a place in Indian team is quite likely to relax. Where as a young player who is yet to get a chance to prove his mettle is most likely to put his heart and soul to the game. Precisely this makes the shorter version so important. This does not means Ganguly should stop playing, but as a leader he should think of giving opportunities to new faces instead of spending so much of money on a single player like Bond. Had Kolkata considered this while forming a strategy, they would certainly have a change to win more number of matches.

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