*This is a section where RCB players quotes (pre-match, post-match) are put up, straight from the horse's mouth.
Disclaimer: For the IPL 2009 period, this piece is run entirely on the creative juices of the author and is illustrative of a format that the Chief Blogger for RCB might be involved in writing.
All content in this piece is to be treated as fictional, the context being the RCB vs KXIP match covered below.
"It was magic. Hit a ball and it crosses the ropes. Bowl a ball and it gets a wicket. Dive in the field, and get a run-out. What fun"
Roelof Van Der Merwe looks back fondly on a game where he got everything (mostly) right. 35 off 19 with the bat, two wickets and a sensational run-out
"That felt so good. I'd dived over one in training and there was laughter all around. After that ball though, I winked at the guys and mockingly put a finger to my lips."
Virat Kohli gets his due for saving a certain boundary on the last ball of the 19th over of the run chase
"Well played Yuvi. Thanks for the entertainment." Praveen Kumar greets good friend Yuvraj Singh at the awards ceremony and rubs it in.
*Up, close and personal with your favourite RCB player. Fans, fire away the quirky questions!
Disclaimer: For the IPL 2009 period, this piece is run entirely on the creative juices of the author and is illustrative of a format that the Chief Blogger for RCB might be involved in writing.
All content in this piece is to be treated as fictional.
Questions for Praveen Kumar
Q. This getting hit in the penultimate over and coming back to bowl a cracker in the final over is becoming a habit now. (Previous reference to 2nd final of CB series 2007-08) How do you get a bad over you've bowled out of your head so fast? asked Arjun from Pune
Ans. I keep replaying in my head a piece that Star News had done on my engagement a while ago. It's hilarious, helps me laugh at myself and relax! The rest comes easy. I've already bowled 11233 balls in competitive cricket according to a friend who's a statistician with Cricinfo so the final over is just six more. :)
Watch a video of that clipping here:
Q. You almost got a first class hundred. What happened when you were batting in that match on 98? asked Sheena from Delhi
Ans. I did a Shane Warne! Just like he impatiently patted Daniel Vettori for three deliveries before going for a slog sweep and getting a top edge on 99 to miss out on a test hundred, I got excited by the prospect of three figures. I tried keeping it on the ground for two balls and getting it past the fielder like a responsible batsman, but that first season with Uttar Pradesh had been so good that I decided to ride some luck and go for it. I slogged, and the only thing that connected were the ball and the wickets. We were in a winning position in that match, so my team mates had a good laugh, but boy was I mad with myself. I swore never to bat like that again, but realised it wasn't too much fun. So the swinging ways remain.
Q. You, Suresh Raina, R P Singh and Piyush Chawla played together in the Uttar Pradesh U-19 team. Who was the naughtiest? asked Sanjay from Bangalore
Ans. That's a tough one! I'll give it to Piyush Chawla though. Baby-faced he may look like on the outside, but he was a prankster. This one time, he imitated a kid's voice over the intercon in the hotel to get me and RP to rush down to look for him, thinking he was in trouble. When we did, there was Piyush rolling on the bed laughing. We gave him a few good short balls on his rib cage at practise the next day. Yuvi's a fun guy as well and I asked him about Piyush, "Bacche ko bigada to nahin na tune?". He just smiled and winked. I'm sure there are practical jokes just waiting to be played in that KXIP team bus. Not like there aren't in ours. But you'll have to wait just a little more to find out. ;)
Six nerveless deliveries by Praveen Kumar get us our third win of the tournament!
1st May, 2009
RCB 145-9 (20.0 overs) beat Kings XI Punjab 137-7 (20.0 overs)
In basketball, the go-to-man is the guy who takes the last shot. Clock ticking, his eyes dart around looking for the ball, and a nod of the head is enough to get it and set up to sink the winner. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics in the 80s was the master, clutch shooting game after game and expressing how he felt just calm and nothing else with seconds to go and the defence swarming him.
When Praveen Kumar lined up to bowl the twentieth over with 13 runs to defend, calm might have been hard to come by. He'd gone for 14 runs in his previous over, and with Irfan Pathan on strike, two sixes didn't seem a bridge too far.
But Kumble had provided inspiration with a gripping penultimate over, foxing Sangakkara with a googly. And Virat Kohli demonstrated why fielding can often be the 12th batsman, with a well-timed dive to save a boundary off the last ball of Kumble's over.
With the No.5 position on the table at stake, Praveen spun a . 4. WW. web of deceit, out thinking Irfan with changes in pace, and just missing out on the second hat-trick of the match.
Of course, the pleased-as-punch look on the faces of our stars was also explained by the fact that Yuvraj Singh had the match on his bat, and ball. Almost.
First, he prised out Robin, Jacques and Mark Boucher in succession to get the first hat-trick of IPL 2009, leaving us at a precarious 84/5 in 13 overs.
But Yusuf Abdullah was kind, and Virat and Roelof accepted his overpitched offerings with glee, crashing 21 runs in an over to lead us to a respectable total.
Then, Yuvraj came out as opener to take charge, and smashed 50 off 33 balls, as if continuing his guard from the Stuart Broad massacre at the same venue.
Thankfully for us, Anil got him next ball, and even though there was 70 on the board from just 10 overs, the match was on.
The strategic break, a seven and a half minutes advertiser's delight in the middle of the innings, is a strange creature. It hounds batsmen, who, no doubt energized by the liquids they consume, come back on ready to show the bowler who the T20 format really belongs to.
Unfortunately for them, it's the bowler who usually who gets to guffaw, having watched an innocuous delivery hit right into the hands of the men on the ropes. Karan Goel obliged by bringing the Roelof-Virat combination into action, flattening a drive straight to Kohli at long on.
It brought Katich and Sangakkara together, and after a couple of quiet overs, they decided to take a chance with Roloef's arm, who got Katich run-out with a stunning slide-collect-throw while still on his stomach.
It wasn't till Jayawardena and Pathan got a couple of boundaries each by the 18th over that Punjab got a sniff back into the game, needing 17 off the last two overs.
As the match went down to the wire, Preity Zinta's glum expression drew a brilliantly timed, sympathetic "Oh. Preity!" from Harsha Bhogle, which broke the tension for a fleeting moment.
Praveen did the needful, and the belief in the camp keeps on rising.
Here's a video of highlights from the game. (Fast forward to 22:30 to watch the last two overs)
*This is a section where RCB players quotes (pre-match, post-match) are put up, straight from the horse's mouth.
Disclaimer: For the IPL 2009 period, this piece is run entirely on the creative juices of the author and is illustrative of a format that the Chief Blogger for RCB might be involved in writing.
All content in this piece is to be treated as fictional, the context being the RCB vs KKR match covered below.
"It was simple. I was going to bowl it a little wide outside off stump to induce the cut and wait for Virat to do the rest at point. He wasn't scoring anything today. Not with me opening the bowling!"
A thrilled Kevin Pietersen mock-explains the strategy behind the first ball dismissal of RCB tormentor Brendon McCullum
"You just fumbled the match away"
Mark Boucher smiles and explains to Chris Gayle the magnitude of the error he committed by allowing Boucher to get back on strike via a misfield in the last over
"In the next match, it's going to be only me"
A bemused Manish Pandey chuckles as he watches five players get on stage to receive an award for most sixes in the match (1 six each)
*Up, close and personal with your favourite RCB player. Fans, fire away the quirky questions!
Disclaimer: For the IPL 2009 period, this piece is run entirely on the creative juices of the author and is illustrative of a format that the Chief Blogger for RCB might be involved in writing.
All content in this piece is to be treated as fictional.
Q. I heard Jacques Kallis calling you ‘Guinness’ over the stump microphone. What’s the story behind that? Asked Akshay from Chennai
Ans. I was trying to break David Boon’s record of downing 52 cans of beer on a flight to England but I fell just short so my team mates named me ‘Guinness’ for the attempt! (Chuckles) But seriously, I think it’s because of the wicket keeping records I’ve been fortunate to have. It’s fun on the field. I’ll take a catch off Steyn, for example, and he’ll be like, “Nice one Guinness, which one was that? No 743?”
Nowadays they prefer calling me The Finisher though, like I was some gruesome undertaker!
Q. What was going through your head before that ball you struck for four to seal the match in the 434 run chase at the Wanderers chase against Australia? asked Ektaa from Bhavnagar
Ans. The only thing on my mind was, “No, no, Aussies. You’re not getting this match back!” The adrenaline surge when I drove the ball past mid-on was incredible.
Brett Lee’s a pal and at a party later on he met me and Andrew Hall (who’d gotten out on the previous ball) and said, “I thought you were going to follow in Andrew’s footsteps, mate. Whatever happened there! That was some shot”
It’s a stand out moment in my career as far as finishing a match is concerned, and matched only by the IPL finish against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Watch a video (slightly stodgy resolution but has Tony Greig's commentary!) of that final over against Australia at the Wanderers here:
Q. Which venue in India do you enjoy playing in the most? asked Gaurav from Delhi
Ans. Eden Gardens. Fantastic atmosphere with what is it, a million passionate cricket fans. It’s impossible to hear each other when we play so we usually work on sign language as preparation before the match!
Of course, Bangalore is awesome too, having played my home games there last season and I can’t wait to get back next year and bat with the stands awash in red and gold!
KKR 139-6 (20.0 overs) lost to RCB 143-5 (19.5 overs)
On a day when Jeremy Coney tried to innovate the pitch report section of cricket broadcasting by getting a tribal warrior to wax eloquent about the texture of the soil in Afrikaan (or was that Swahili?), Mark Boucher went about business as usual.
Neurologists haven't yet ascertained whether scoring the winning runs in the greatest run chase in ODI history has permanently attuned Boucher's brain to relax when faced with a crisis in a run chase, but match winning evidence is hard to refute.
A flat six over long on, a full flick through midwicket for four and a legside whammy (the last two strokes being played in the final over) was executed to perfection as 'The Finisher' (a deserving nickname bestowed by his Proteas team mates after the epic Wanderers ODI) got us home to a long awaited second win of the tournament.
The Kolkata innings wasn't much to crow about, with Gayle swatting six boundaries on his way to an uncharacteristically slow 40 off 37 balls, doing no justice to the reputation he'd set for the 20-20 format with his blinding century in the first match of the T20 World Cup in 2007.
Van Wyk worked his way to a neat 43, but with four spinners sending down 15 overs for RCB, the innings went by in a flash and the scoreboard had registered just 139, an easy chase.
The match resembled for RCB a cake being baked perfectly till the 10th over of the second innings. There was the breaking of the eggs (McCullum gone first ball to Pietersen) and the firm bond after mixing the flour and butter (Kumble's grip on the batsmen with 2/16 from 4 overs). Post the addition of the sugar syrup and placing the glob in the oven, the baking seemed to be on just right (69 for no loss in 11 overs in the chase).
But not unlike the times you sense the cake turning into a shade of brown it shouldn't have, Brad Hodge snapped up three wickets quick as the run rate took an expedition to the north.
The game intensified, going down to the last over with Boucher and Pandey left to score ten off Chris Gayle's fastish offspinners.
And as most close matches go, this one was lost by the Knight Riders on a frivolous error. With five runs off four balls required, Gayle failed to collect a ball cleanly and allowed Boucher to get back on strike. Big mistake.
A full toss on leg stump followed a ball later, and was greeted by a thank-you-very-much clang to the fence to seal the match.
*This is a section where RCB players quotes (pre-match, post-match) are put up, straight from the horse's mouth.
Disclaimer: For the IPL 2009 period, this piece is run entirely on the creative juices of the author and is illustrative of a format that the Chief Blogger for RCB might be involved in writing.
All content in this piece is to be treated as fictional, the context being the RCB vs RR match covered below.
"You, of all cricketers, couldn't read a googly?"
A bemused Anil Kumble ribs Shane Warne after getting him stumped off a googly in RCB's first match of IPL 2009 against Rajasthan Royals
"Well, she's not too bad herself"
Rahul Dravid shrugs and states the obvious when informed that an RCB cheerleader finds him "super cute"
"Newlands is just something else. Table Mountain on one side, the ocean on the other. Fantastic venue for cricket"
Manish Pandey can't stop gushing about Cape Town on his first visit
"I still hit the first six of the innings, didn't I?"
Praveen Kumar sports a mischievous smile and defends his hit and miss slam-bang knock against Rajasthan Royals
Sports nut.
Currently taking part in the Fanatic Fans Challenge contest being conducted by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by applying for the Chief blogger position.
At this point in time, I can envisage myself as the Chief Blogger of RCB. Over the next week, I'll be donning the role on my blog to relive RCB's finest moments from the season gone by (IPL 2009).
Ideas for content are more than welcome, so feel free to demand for anything that you'd like to read about. I can think of no greater pleasure than writing about cricket.
If you've enjoyed reading this blog, and think I suit the role, you can show your appreciation by voting/leaving me a reference for me on the link above.
