Things We've Learned From The IPL Today (23/04)

April 23:

Chennai v. Mumbai


Star among stars... Matthew Hayden (Chennai SuperKings)
He's just not going away, is he? You'd think by now the knees would start to get heavy, the reflexes would slow, and the man boobs would begin to sag. But he's still out there, same as he ever was, and now he's even corrupting the youth -- I swear Suresh Raina was bringing out some of those gross chesty swipes to long off just because he was seeing Hayden doing it at the other end.

Old-timer on an egg-timer... Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians)
After much editorial deliberation, we have decided to resist the temptation to award it to Michael Hussey, who experienced his first recorded failure with the bat since about 2003. Instead, for only bowling himself for two overs out of his alloted four, Harbhajan gets the nod. Yes, the ground was slathered with dew, making the ball hard to grip for the spinners. But this is supposed to be Mumbai's captain here, and if he can't suck it up, do a little extra towel-work, and concentrate on simple containment, then he deserves most of the blame for the team's loss.

Catch from the catchment... Abhishek Nayar (Mumbai Indians)
First he was brought on to the attack to bowl one of the overs that Harbhajan couldn't be bothered delivering. Then he plays a little nugget of a Twenty20 innings, almost single-handedly keeping his team in contention. Unfortunately, you know things are not going to go your way if your partner at the other end of a tight match is Ashish Nehra. It's just one of those omens... "like rain on your wedding day," if you will.

3 Bullets to the head...

• The Chennai cheerleaders have the recipe half-right. They're (thankfully) eschewing the foreign girls and going for some local talent, and they also seem to be bringing in some actual dance moves to the mix. At the same time, only half their cheer squad is female, and for some reason, they're the ones showing the least skin of the bunch.
  
  
• Parthiv Patel should not be opening the batting in any world where Jacob Oram is coming in at no. 6. That's a fact.
  
  
• For the six or seven English fans of the IPL out there, an old classic from the original Whose Line:

Comments

[straight point]

Parthiv Patel should not be opening the batting in any world where Jacob Oram is coming in at no. 6. That's a fact.

i hope when you said it you would have taken into consideration the fact that oram, hayden and hussey wont be there for long...

[Chennai Super Kings Fan]

Why Cheerleaders are not showing any skin?

If they show even a little skin, India Cements would face a court case tomorrow from the morale brigade of Chennai - Hindu Makkal Katchi, PMK, etc.. for degrading the Tamil Culture.. If India Cements still did not mind, they would burn the effigy of India Cements owner - N. Srinivasan in the cricket stadium.. So if i m in this situation of a controversy or less glamour..

I would surely choose less glamour.. Also Chennai is known for being the most conservative city + the most knowledgable cricket crowd in India.. :)

- Robin

[D.S. Henry]

Robin -- I'm not really up on my Indian moral law, but can you really take someone to court for "degrading the culture" after you've willingly paid money to enter their locale? And then on top of that burn their effigy right there in the stadium? Sheesh. It almost makes me feel bad for a big cement company.

Straight Point -- I am indeed accounting for the antipodean exodus later in the tournament. I'm just saying, as long as the beast are there, why waste time with Patel at the top? After they leave, he can knock himself out as an opener if he wants. But while they're there, why not use them?

[straight point]

DS

its double edge sward...your point is well taken...

but they might be grooming him for the job...so that once the need is there it doesn't come as shock to him...and they loose crucial overs...now he know his role clearly from outset that he has to open and it does help even in this shorter format if your roles are clearer to you...

cheers!

[miriam]

ha - thanks for the Whose Line clip.