What Shane Warne achieved with Rajasthan Royals last year is already the stuff of sporting legend. This year too, his shrewd captaincy has been instrumental in keeping alive the hopes of his team, which had been badly hit by the absence of Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal. After the first match, many thought the Royals would end up at the bottom of the table. But they still have a fighting chance of getting into the semi-finals, and with Watson set to rejoin the team for the last few league games, Warne may yet have the last laugh.

Deccan Chargers, led by Adam Gilchrist, may or may not get into the semis, but they have already improved significantly over their disastrous campaign last year, when they finished last. As for Royal Challengers, they looked a transformed team after Anil Kumble took over the reins, before being beaten by Rajasthan Royals, who were out for revenge for the thrashing they received in the first match between the two teams.

Each of these three teams has been led from the front by their captains, who are making a mockery of their ‘retired’ status. Come to think of it, their retirement may have helped these players. They’re fresh, highly motivated and bursting with ideas, unlike the active stars who seem jaded from playing cricket through the year. Interestingly, Graeme Smith, who captains South Africa, has spoken of how refreshing it is for him to be just another team member under Warne.

Physically, too, the retired players are probably in better shape than they have been in a long while. When he was still playing for South Africa, Shaun Pollock once admitted that he’d forgotten what it was like to play a match pain-free. He’d simply down a few painkillers, grit his teeth and get on with it, because his team needed him. One look at MS Dhoni gingerly rubbing his back after a couple of hard runs, or Zaheer Khan wincing after almost every delivery, and you know what Pollock was talking about.

In contrast, the retired players have had plenty of time for rest and rehab. In any case, they’re proud champions, deeply conscious of their reputations, and unwilling to embarrass themselves. Take a look at them – including Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath – and it’s obvious that they’ve put in the hard yards to get in shape. The one exception is Warne. But then, even during his peak, ‘fighting fat’ suited him much better as a description than ‘fighting fit’.

The wealth of experience that these players have ensures that they don’t get rattled by tight situations – a very important factor in a nerve-jangling format like T20. And their awesome records guarantee the respect of their team-mates. No wonder they’ve fared well as captains. In fact, I’m surprised that more IPL teams don’t seem to have realized that it makes sense to have retired players as captains.

In case they do, what are the options? Delhi has Glenn McGrath, but since he can’t (unfortunately) even get into the playing XI right now, it’s hard to see him being made skipper. Chennai has Hayden, who’s an automatic choice in the XI. But Hayden was never considered captaincy material by Australia. And given the success that Dhoni is enjoying, it looks like Big Matt is always going be one of the lads rather than the main man.

Punjab Kings XI doesn’t have any retired cricketers on its rolls, and nor does Mumbai Indians, now that Pollock has switched from playing to mentoring. Which leaves Knight Riders, and a certain Sourav Ganguly. Retired cricketer. Check. Leadership experience. Check. Guaranteed a place in the XI if fit. Check. Cearly, Dada fulfils all the criteria. Over the last few days, it has become clear that it was a huge mistake to sack him, specially since the pressure of captaincy also severly affected the form of Brendon McCullum. IPL 2 has been wrecked for Knight Riders; it must now look towards IPL 3. The team has had such a severe meltdown that it will take a lot of work to once again make it a serious contender. But sacking Buchanan and reinstating Ganguly would be a good way to start.

The buzz, though, is that not only will Buchanan stay, there’s a chance that Ricky Ponting may be asked to take over as KKR captain if he’s available. Frankly, I’m not sure that’s a good idea — unless Ricky too retires from international cricket. And the chances of that happening are about as bright as that of Buchanan winning a popularity contest in Kolkata.

After Yuvraj Singh, it is Rohit Sharma who joins the Hat Trick takers club in IPL 2009.

Rohit Sharma took a hat-trick and sparked batting collapse of Mumbai Indians, which helped Deccan Chargers in winning the Match in Centurion on Wednesday.

Mumbai Indians were jolted up front when RP Singh removed Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar off consecutive balls, but were cruising after that with JP Duminy’s  half-century.

Rohit Sharma’s introduction to the attack proved wonders for Deccan Chargers. Rohit Sharma dismissed JP Duminy for his hat-trick and added another for his fourth wicket as Mumbai collapsed.

Rohit Sharma was declared Man of the Match for good batting and hat-trick in bowling

However, Dhoni’s master stroke of introducing Suresh Raina in the attack paid rich harvest as he gave away just eight runs in his crucial two overs. In the end Balaji kept his cool and bowled a pressure last over to take his side home. The Chennai fielding was of really poor standard as Manpreet Gony dropped two catches in the deep, the second and the more important one of Captain Yuvraj Singh when he had made just 15 runs. The Kings XI almost duplicated Chennai’s poor start when Sunny Sohal skied Albie Morkel’s first delivery. Manpreet Gony in the deep completely misjudged the catch and provided Sohal with an early reprieve. The joy was short lived as the very next ball Albie Morkel bowled Sohal off a straight delivery.

At the start Chennai won the toss and decided to bat first.The Super Kings had a bad start to their innings as Badrinath holed out to VRV Singh at third man, for a first ball duck. This was incidentally the seventh first ball duck in the Indian Premier League. Dark clouds loomed in the background as Suresh Raina continued his good run of form when he smashed Irfan Pathan for a six and two boundaries in the third over of the innings. At the other end however, Sreesanth kept a tight off-stump line to cramp Matthew Hayden. The duo continued on the run-making spree with Hayden bringing up the fifty run partnership between the two with a smacking six straight over long on off the bowling of VRV Singh. In 5.1 overs the Chennai Super Kings score stood at a healthy 53 for the loss of one wicket. The threatening clouds finally poured and the game was stopped, but not before Kumara Sangakkara spilled a simple stumping of Matthew Hayden off a Karan Goel delivery. The score stood at 68 for the loss ofe one wicket when rain showers interrupted play at Supersport Park in Centurion.

After the rain break play was curtailed to 18 overs per side with no strategy break for the Kings XI. The stoppage had an immediate effect on Chennai’s momentum as Suresh Raina was caught by Karan Goel at midwicket off Piyush Chawla. Raina departed for an aggressive 32 runs scored of 20 balls. Captain MS Dhoni arrived with the rain playing truant once again, the umpires though decided to hang on. The Captain bought an urgency to the crease with two backfoot boundaries Chawla and Goel and some energetic running between the wickets. Soon Matthew Hayden reached his fifth IPL fifty with a gigantic six over deep midwicket. In the same over he struck Chawla for a scorching boundary through the covers and further upped the run rate for the Chennai Super Kings. At the other end Dhoni put the foot on the pedal hitting VRV Singh for two sixes of alternate balls. The first went over the point boundary and the last one went for straight over the bowler’s head.

The Super King’s run rate continued to move upwards as Matthew Hayden plundered runs off Sreesanth. The burly Australian hit Sreesanth for three sixes in one over. The most bizarre was the first one, where Hayden swivelled to hit a one-handed six over the fine leg boundary. But in the end Sreesanth had his man, as Hayden skied a catch to Mahela Jayawardene in the deep. Hayden made 89 runs at a strike rate of 153.44. Meanwhile Dhoni completed his second half-century of the IPL with a hit to the fence for four. The Captain remained unconquered on 57 runs of just 27 deliveries as the Super Kings finished with 185 runs on the scoreboard. The target was revised to 187 runs, the addittion being made because of the loss of two overs.

Chennai posted 178 for three, built on Dhoni’s 58 not out off 37 balls with six fours and a six, before Indian left-arm spinner Jakati ripped through the Chargers’ middle-order to finish with four for 22 as Deccan slumped to 100 all out in 14.4 overs on Monday.

Dhoni’s knock added late momentum but the run-scoring had got off to a fine start thanks to opening batsman Matthew Hayden.

Australian Hayden, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, bashed his way to 43 off 26 balls before he cut a delivery from medium pacer Shoaib Maqsusi to RP Singh at short third-man.

Hayden had dominated an opening stand of 61 runs with Murali Vijay (31).

Dhoni and Suresh Raina made sure that Hayden’s good work was not undone with a third-wicket partnership of 54 before the left-handed Raina was caught at long-on by Dwayne Smith for 32.

In reply, the Chargers slumped to one for three before West Indian Smith and Rohit Sharma (21) added 72 runs for the fourth-wicket only for Jakati to remove both in the space of four balls.

Smith departed for a thrilling 49 as the Chargers lost seven wickets for the addition of 27 runs with Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan capturing two of the last three wickets to fall.

Adam Gilchrist was the chief Chargers aggressor early on but Herschelle Gibbs (eight) appeared to be getting into his stride when he was given out lbw to Yusuf Pathan.

He made his displeasure known after the ball struck him on the back pad around the line of leg stump but replays suggested it was a decent decision.

Australian veteran Harwood then removed Azhar Bilakhia (one) with his first ball in the IPL and the setbacks slowed even the dashing Gilchrist.

Shane Warne brought himself on to bowl in the ninth over with the score at 43 for two, setting up a mouthwatering battle with former Australia team-mate Gilchrist – who promptly drove the leg-spinner for six.

But he fell to Jadeja the next over courtesy of a smart catch from Yusuf at midwicket, leaving the Chargers 58 for three at the halfway stage.

Rohit Sharma and Tirumalsetti Suman set about accumulating, before the latter started to show some aggression with a four and a six off Warne.

Sharma then dished out similar treatment to Munaf Patel to bring up the Chargers’ 100 in the 15th over and pulled another huge maximum off Siddharth Trivedi before sending the ball straight up and handing Warne a simple catch.

Dwayne Smith arrived at the crease but he and Suman struggled to pierce the infield in the closing stages, the West Indies batsman falling to Harwood in the final over.

Rajasthan got off to a terrible start in their reply, losing two wickets in the first over – Fidel Edwards removing Graeme Smith before Swapnil Asnodkar was run out with neither having scored a run.

Naman Ojha was then caught without scoring by Gibbs off RP Singh, who produced a wicket maiden to leave the Royals reeling on three for three.

Carseldine and Jadeja then set about rebuilding, with the Australian acting as dominant partner in a stand of 51.

The wicket of Jadeja brought Warne to the crease but Rajasthan’s cause was dented by a shocking umpiring decision.

Sudhir Asnani adjudged Carseldine lbw, despite a clear inside edge, to give Venugopal Rao his second wicket of the over.

Rao’s next over did not prove so successful, though, with Warne heaving two sixes and Raut sweeping a delicate four.

Warne was caught by Gilchrist to give Pragyan Ojha his first wicket but a pair of maximums from Yusuf in the next over put the Royals ahead of the rate.

Tusuf’s assault was ended by Singh but Rajasthan needed only two off the last over thanks to some steady batting by Raut.

Punjab captain Yuvraj took a hat-trick to help restrict Bangalore to 145 for nine at Kingsmead before blasting a superb half-century only to see his side lose two wickets in the last over of their innings to finish on 137 for seven.

Punjab began the last over of their innings needing 13 runs to win but medium pacer Praveen Kumar held his nerve to allow a single boundary and capture two wickets.

Yuvraj earlier removed Robin Uthappa (19) and Jacques Kallis (27) with the fifth and sixth balls of the 11th over before trapping Mark Boucher lbw with the first ball of the 13th for the first hat-trick of this season’s IPL and the fourth overall.

India’s Yuvraj claimed figures of 3-22, while left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla captured 4-36 making him the leading wicket-taker in this year’s IPL with 13 wickets in six matches.

Right-handed South African Roelof van der Merwe rescued Bangalore’s innings with a blazing cameo of 35 off 19 balls with three fours and three sixes after Bangalore had been reduced to 84 for six after Yuvraj’s three-wicket burst.

QUICK-FIRE FIFTY

Yuvraj, who had opened the batting for Punjab, struck a quick-fire 50 off 34 balls with three fours and four sixes in a first-wicket stand with Karan Goel (20) of 70 runs off 60 balls.

But all that was turned over by the old master Anil Kumble. Leading Royal Challengers, the wily veteran took two for 25 which helped Vijay Mallya’s boys clinch a thrilling eight-run victory. 

Kings XI needed 17 off the last two overs, but Kumble varied his pace beautifully to take the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, who was threatening to win it for Preity Zinta’s team. 

He gave away only four off that over and Praveen Kumar rose to the occasion in the final over which helped the Bangalore side pip Kings XI to the post. 

Kumble was brilliant in the way he led the team. He made the right bowling changes and was at the top of his own game. 

His opposite number, Yuvraj (50), opening the batting, was also looking in fantastic touch, but Kumble, after being hit for two sixes, removed the lefthander which brought Royal Challengers back in the game.

Since then, they took wickets at regular intervals, and once Praveen Kumar removed Irfan Pathan in the final over, it was all over for Kings XI. 

Earlier, it was all going well for the Royal Challengers when Yuvraj turned it around in the last two balls of the 11th and the first ball of the 12th over. 
    

And what scalps he had! 
Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher fell to Yuvi’s guile and the Royal Challengers struggled to 145. 
    

Uthappa tried to heave Yuvi to give a catch at the deep, Kallis couldn’t read the one that came in with the arm and had his stumps uprooted, while Boucher played for the turn to be caught plumb in front.

Mumbai turned the game irreversibly in six overs: the last three of their innings and the first three of Kolkata’s. The main characters in this script were JP Duminy and Zaheer Khan. Duminy’s late assault helped Mumbai scored 42 in the last three overs of an otherwise limp effort and, on the other side of the break, Zaheer removed Kolkata’s openers Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly in his first two overs.

So KKR lost another one. i dont know why there are playing IPL

Actually IPL can invite people to own Cheerleaders for each teams. May be then we might have Neha Dhupia and Amrita Arora, dancing (still dancing) to the tunes and cheering their respective teams. I am not saying don’t have any firangs in there. All I am saying is get a good mix.

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We have an employment crisis and still we have cheerleaders from foreign countries. I think there is a need for the Indian government and parties like CPI to raise this issue in parliament and get some Indian cheerleaders in there.

And do you think Dada will not be happy to see some Indian cheerleaders supporting him and his team (of course not off the field).

Here’s a video showing IPL cheerleaders dancing.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqMTYLDqYU

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