And… the Heat is ON!!!

Now all the league matches are over. Semi finals are fixed (!?! I mean which teams are playing against each other….)
Dare-DEVILS will be very happy as they are on the top. And cricket lover DW’iens too 🙂

Icing on the cake for Daredevils is, Sehwag’s back in form with flashing fifty in the last league match against poor Bombay (Sorry Mumbai).

Delhi and Chennai are favorites and why not, they have performed good enough. But keep in mind guys, Deccan Chargers is Dark Horse.

Rohit, Gilli, Roy (Symonds), Gibbs all are hard hitters and will be hunting for bad balls… But Rohit has proved he can hit any good ball over the ropes. Remember the close match against Punjab, yorker-length ball with 143K by Bret Lee is DFL’ed over mid wicket for six! (Professionalism @ its max… DLF Maximum was converted into “DFL’ed”  from the commentary box !!!) Awesome hit…. Truly RO-HIT….!

This guy certainly has huge future. He’s got tremendous temperament… And none other than Sachin praised his batting… Remember two finals against Australia on their home ground.

Well… Vijay Mallya will be happy for his team… but still lots of hustle bustle going inside the team.
Dravid sacked… KP in as a leader… still team was drowning… Dravid’s India trip in middle of the series… KP went back… Dravid performed… and now Anil is leading… so many things happening!!! Well… Kingfisher has less colors than things happening inside… hahahaha.

Does anybody have a doubt on Dhoni… the fox? But still bowing is weak link for them. Part time bowlers have done a good job for them though.

Cricket is a game of full of uncertainties… anybody can win and anybody can loose… (exception Sponsorers!)
The only unhappy man would be SRK… After all, he is the only man after Gandhji who has returned India from South Africa after getting insulted…!!!

John Buchanan get ready to be kicked off!

After all… every game is all about the will to win it and that’s important… but the will to prepare is vital!

Virgin-IHL Contest – Result for Day 2

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueDear all CricTalks readers, here we are ready with results for Day 2 contest.

First let me thank you all for amazing response you have given.

Just for info this great theme is work of Deepesh Sodhi. He is currently heading operations division of rtCamp but in future lets hope more amazing designs from this genius.

Also many of you loved CricTalks logo which is designed by Swati Suhag. Our Editor-in-chief! Apart from writing amazing articles she is one of the best photoshop expert!

Now here is time to announce winnerssss. Yep, thanks to our sponsor, Virgin – IHL, we are selecting 2 winners for Day 2 contest and remaining 3 days of this event.

Winners are…

  1. AKM – Ashish Kumar from Banaglore
  2. Mayur Somani from Rajasthan

All winners are requested to email their complete “postal addresses” to [email protected]

A surprise will be sent to you by guys at Virgin – IHL.

You can see complete results are here.

Those who missed it…

Those who missed it can still participate in Day 3 contest! Entries for Day 3 contest will be closing in 6 hours.

So hurry up!

All set for the Semifinals… So, which team are you backing?

Well the league round is over and its time to enter the final round. The line up for the semifinals is ready and two of the teams that made it to this stage are those who were at the bottom of the tally, last year.

The so called test team (from the last year’s IPL) rises up to the need of the day under the leadership of a veteran who does not shy away from displaying his age on his jersey. The young Manish Pandey from the under 19 team hits a ton – the first by an Indian, in either season. Sehwag gets back to his form and ends the silence of his bat through this season. Well, with all this happening around, the intensity of the tournament is reaching its peak and rightly so, when we are just 3 days away from finding the champions of this season.

After all the ‘ifs and buts’ on the CricTalks in last few days, we finally have the line-up for the Semifinals.

Fri: May 22

20:00 IST

 1st Semi-Final

Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers

SuperSport Park
Sat: May 23

20:00 IST

2nd Semi-Final

Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore

 New Wanderers

For all the four teams, it has come down to winning just two more matches and claim the big money and pride. So close, yet so far… they will really have to battle it out in the field.

But who will get to lift the precious trophy this year?

Will it be Dhoni’s men or Kumble’s red brigade? Can Shewag’s men continue to be at the top till the end or will it be Gilly’s team that wins the contest?

So, which team are you backing?

Side Talks: Adding more to the excitement of the grand finale, lots of Bollywood celebrities are flying to South Africa. Mandira Bedi today caught hold of Katrina Kaif, who was cheering for Bangalore Royal Challengers, to know more about the closing ceremony. As per Katrina Kaif, she would be performing during the closing ceremony themed to showcase the Indian culture.

Virgin IHL Contest – Answer a simple question and win free goodies! [Day 3]

Update: Contest for the Day 3 is over. Both, those who participated and those who missed it, can take part in Day 4 contest. Winners for Day 3 will be declared on this blog post by May 23rd, 6 P.M. by a separate blog post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueThanks to good response to Day 2 contest, here we are back with Day 3 contest! Thanks again to Virgin Indian Hatke League (IHL) who are sponsoring free IHL merchandise as prizes. All you have to do to win is answer a simple question!

The question for today is…

Why Kolkata Knight Riders performed so badly in IPL?

Submit your answers in 24 hours via comment form at the end of this post!

There are no right and wrong answers. You are free to praise, comment as well as criticize.

Keep your answers short so other will read it and rate it! Yes winner will be decided by you guys only.

Next to each comment you will find rating option. So don’t forget to rate others’ answers. As number of votes will be counted as well!

Important Clarification:

Yesterday we posted that rtCamp full-time authors cannot participate. Many guest authors thought they are not eligible because of that. This is not the case. Only Me, Swati & Deepak cannot participate from rtBlogs team.

All guest bloggers can participate!

Contest Guidelines:

  1. This will be 5 days event. A new question will be asked daily. This is Day 3.
  2. You can participate daily. But you can answer a question only once!
  3. rtCamp staff and their family members can not participate in this contest. Its open for rest of all.
  4. Contest will end on May 22, at 11:30 P.M. (IST).
  5. All the winners and other details will be declared on CricTalks with a new post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

All D Best! 😉

Virgin-IHL Contest – Result for Day 1

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueDear all CricTalks readers, first sorry for being late to publish results for Day 1 contest.

Now without wasting anymore time, let us announce that Gautam from Delhi is winner for Day 1′ s contest!

Winner is requested to email their complete “postal addresses” to [email protected]

A surprise will be sent to you by guys at Virgin – IHL.

You can see complete results are here.

Those who missed it can still participate in Day 2 contest! Entries for Day 2 contest will be closing in 3:40 hours. So hurry up!

Kings XI Punjab still have a chance of reaching the IPL-2 Semifinals!

Yes it’s true… even though Kings XI Punjab have lost their last match to Chennai Super Kings, they are still in the race for the Semifinals. In my post “How can Kings XI Punjab reach the IPL 2 Semifinals?” yesterday, I did mention this scenario.

Let us first have a look at the current points

Team

Mat

Won

Lost

Tied

N/R

Pts

Net RR

For

Against
Delhi Daredevils 13 9 4 0 0 18 +0.251 1812/237.5 1788/242.4
Chennai 14 8 5 0 1 17 +0.951 2086/255.3 1855/257.1
Deccan Chargers 13 7 6 0 0 14 +0.265 1953/252.4 1927/258.1
Bangalore 13 7 6 0 0 14 -0.253 1824/256.0 1869/253.2
Kings XI Punjab 14 7 7 0 0 14 -0.483 1787/251.2 1887/248.3
Rajasthan Royals 14 6 7 0 1 13 -0.352 1688/253.1 1810/257.5
Mumbai Indians 13 5 7 0 1 11 +0.401 1732/236.2 1636/236.1
Kolkata 14 3 10 0 1 7 -0.789 1757/248.5 1867/237.5

Pay special attention to the points of Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore. All the teams are currently at par with 14 points. When Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore play against each other today evening, the winning team will clearly make it to the Semifinal. The losing side will end up with 14 points on the table along with Kings XI Punjab, and in this case the Net Run Rate will decide who makes it to the Semifinal against Delhi Daredevils – who are at the top of the table.

In case, Deccan Royal Challengers lose today’s match,  it will be really difficult for Kings XI Punjab (Net Run Rate of -.483) to beat Deccan Chargers (Current Net Run Rate of +0.265) and make it to the Semifinals.

In case, Bangalore Royal Challengers lose the match, it could be a tricky situation as the Net Run Rate could play a major part and Kings XI Punjab might just get through to the Semifinals.

Well, Deccan Royal Challengers and Royal Challengers Bangalore might even be praying for a complete wash out of the match by rains, so that both the teams end up with 15 points each and comfortably reach the Semifinals, without the risk of the pressure match.

Illustration on how bleak or sound are the chances for Kings XI Punjab to make it to the Semifinals?

Let us assume Royal Challengers Bangalore lose the match against Deccan Chargers and try to find how the stats could decide Kings XI Punjab’s fate.

If Deccan chargers play first…
Let’s assume Deccan Chargers score 150 runs in 20 overs
Now, Royal Challengers Bangalore need to score at least 89 runs in 20 overs to still make it to the Semifinals outperforming Kings XI Punjab on the Net Run Rate.

If Royal Challengers Bangalore play first…
Let’s assume Royal Challengers Bangalore score 150 runs in 20 overs
Now Royal Challengers Bangalore need to make sure that if Deccan Chargers win the match they  should make 151 (or 156 to be on a safer side) in not less than 12 overs so that Royal Challengers Bangalore still get into the Semifinal outperforming Kings XI Punjab on the Net Run Rate.

Going by this illustration, chances of Kings XI Punjab making it to the Semifinals are very bleak.

Side Talks: The faces of Preeti Zinta and Shilpa Shetty throughout the tournament were live commentary of the fate of their teams. Both of them were caught in private moments of despair on the big screen after their respective matches. Sadly, for Shilpa Shetty the campaign got over last night, while Preeti Zinta would still be hoping for a miracle.

Virgin IHL Contest – Answer a simple question and win free goodies! [Day 2]

Update: Contest for the Day 2 is over. Both, those who participated and those who missed it, can take part in Day 3 contest. Winners for Day 2 will be declared on this blog post by May 22nd, 6 P.M. by a separate blog post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

virgin-indian-hatke-leagueAfter good response for the Day 1, here we are back with Day 2 contest! Thanks again to Virgin Indian Hatke League (IHL) who are sponsoring free IHL merchandise as prizes. All you have to do to win is answer a simple question!

The question for today is…

How do you find overall design of CricTalks i.e. this site?

Submit your answers in 24 hours via comment form at the end of this post!

There are no right and wrong answers. You are free to praise, comment as well as criticize. Keep your answers short so other will read it and rate it!

Yes winner will be decided by you guys only. Next to each comment you will find rating option. So don’t forget to rate others’ answers. As no. of votes will be counted as well!

Important Clarification:

Yesterday we posted that rtCamp full-time authors cannot participate. Many guest authors thought they are not eligible because of that. This is not the case. Only Me, Swati & Deepak cannot participate from rtBlogs team.

Contest Guidelines:

  1. This will be 5 days event. A new question will be asked daily. This is Day 2.
  2. You can participate daily. But you can answer a question only once!
  3. rtCamp staff and their family members can not participate in this contest. Its open for rest of all.
  4. Contest will end on May 21, at 11:30 P.M. (IST).
  5. All the winners and other details will be declared on CricTalks with a new post.

So if you haven’t subscribed to CricTalks yet, please subscribe via email or in a feed reader. You will get notifications about new contest as well.

All D Best! 😉

Crictalks’ Prediction: Who will reach the IPL-2 Semifinals?

Given all the possible permutations, chances of Chennai Super Kings making it to the semifinals are really good. While for Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers, it is up to their performances in their respective last matches. For Rajasthan Royals, their chance of making it to the semifinal doesn’t only depend on winning their last match, but also on the result of the match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.

Well, who-so-ever makes it to the semifinals or the final, one thing is for sure… the last 7 matches of IPL-2 are going to be mind blowing!!!

The Possibility…

Given that the chances of Rajasthan Royals are bleak, we still feel that they can make it to the semifinals under the leadership of the magic man – Shane Warne. Although Kings XI Punjab has bounced back in the tournament and Chennai Super Kings are seen struggling with their performance in the bowling department in the last few matches, Dhoni’s men would be putting the best show to win the last match and leave least minimum to the mathematical puzzles.

For Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore the task is pretty straight forward. Win the virtual knock-out and reach the semifinals. Given the balance of the teams and the past performances, Deccan chargers do have a slight edge over the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The Prediction…

Considering all the factors, CricTalks is predicting following line up for the semifinal:

  • First Semifinal – Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals
  • Second Semifinal – Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers

Though, Cricket is a funny game and predicting anything in T20, especially IPL, is quite a challenge, but we here at CricTalks are committed on giving you a fresh look at the game and some real insights. We are open to hear from you what you would like to read and how should we shape up to make it your favorite destination.

The world cup T20 is around the corner and we will are gearing up here to provide you the best coverage.

By the way, are you checking our daily Virgin IHL contest? There are some cool freebies on the shelf to be distributed. Hurrry!!!!

How can Deccan Chargers reach the IPL-2 Semifinals?

dc1Beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and secure a place in the semifinals with a total of 16 points.

If Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals (who would then be at 13 points) and Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab (who would then be at 14 points), Royal Challengers Bangalore can afford to lose the game but with a net run rate better than that of Kings XI Punjab.

Bottom-Line: Win the virtual knock-out against Royal Challengers Bangalore and get to play the semifinal.

How can Royal Challengers Bangalore reach the IPL-2 Semifinals?

rcb1Beat Deccan Chargers and secure a place in the semifinals with a total of 16 points.

If Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals (who would then be at 13 points) and Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab (who would then be at 14 points), Royal Challengers Bangalore can afford to lose the game but with a net run rate better than that of Kings XI Punjab.

Bottom-Line: Win the virtual knock-out against Deccan Chargers and get to play the semifinal!