I'm really indebted to him: Pandey

Source: Cricinfo.com

Manish Pandey, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman who became the first Indian to make a century in the IPL, has thanked his state and IPL team-mate Rahul Dravid for inspiring him.

"I always look up to him as a cricketer," Pandey said on returning from South Africa. "Dravid really motivated me on and off the field ... I'm really indebted to him.

"I was fortunate to bat with him (Dravid) in the semi-final against Chennai Super Kings ... I grew up watching him and Sachin Tendulkar so I feel lucky to have played with them."

The 19-year-old Pandey shot into the limelight after making 114 against Deccan Chargers in the final league game before top-scoring with a composed 48 against Chennai Super Kings in the semi-final, both performances fetching him Man-of-the-Match awards.

"I am more confident now," Pandey, who had had few opportunities in the tournament before the game against Deccan, said. "The IPL is a big stage and the performance will surely help me go further. It's a turning point in my career."

He was also looking forward to a strong showing in the inaugural Champions League in October.

Pandey was a member of India's Under-19 World Cup-winning side of 2008, after which he made his first-class debut for Karnataka. He made two half-centuries in the season but his performances were below par, fetching him 193 runs at 27.57 in the Ranji Trophy. "The longer version of cricket tests your cricketing ability," he said. "You have to be very patient and I am looking forward to prove myself there in the upcoming domestic season."

Hats off to you Jumbo!

After 4 defeats in a row at the start of the tournament, the captaincy was handed over to the fighter, Anil Kumble.The things suddenly changed and BRC started winning the games.It started with a win against Punjab and Mumbai.BRC made it 3 in a row before they got defeats in hands of RR and MI.But after that, BRC stunned all the big teams by winning 4 in a row.The team entered the top-4 and suddenly the man who lead this achievement was remembered by the media.
In the semifinal, superb batting by Rahul and M.Pandey shattered the dreams of CSK.The bottom placed teams in season 1 met in the finals.
Kumble won the toss and elected to field.Everyone was amazed when they saw Kumble with a brand new ball.Many of us might have felt that he will hand it over to P.Kumar or J.Kallis and take his position on the field.But,when Gilchrist took the guard and the ball was still in hands of Kumble, everyone knew that the battle in ON.The guy facing Kumble him was not at all ready to show some mercy to the opponents.After playing out 2 dot balls, no wonder Gilly was down the pitch on 3rd one.But Kumble bowled a perfect yorker to shatter the stumps.The crowd went silent, perhaps they knew this is just a start! Kumble took big wickets at crucial stages to restrict DC to a chasable total of 143.The spell of 4-0-16-4 is unforgettable.

BRC went on to score 69/3 at the end of strategic time-out.The things were looking pretty good with in form Rahul and dangerous Ross Taylor at the crease.Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rahul played a poor shot and dragged the ball on the stumps.79/4.Still, the things were under control. Kohli and Taylor were looking to take the game away from DC before Gilly introduced Symonds into the attack.Both the batsmen fell in the same over on back to back delieveries and the match was almost over.99/6.A lot was expected from Mark Boucher but he couldn't do much, all credit to DC bowler Harmeet Singh.107/7.The game was over with out-of-form Uthappa at the crease(wasting delieveries) with frustrated Kumble at the other end.The dissapointment was all Kumble could get.

He was rewarded a man-of-the-match award.It was not just an award, but a slap into the faces of those who kept on criticising this legend for not being fit for this cricket format.

BRC cruise into finals:

What a team! Same team was called an 'old vagon' last year and is now ruling the IPL this year.The technique shows up on the tricky wickets like in South Africa.Last year, in India, the pitches were so flat and dead that even some Asnodkar would hit McGrath for boundaries.No wonder those T20 specialists are failing in this season.Remember, form is temporary, but class is permanent! (I know this phrase has been used million times, but still it's good because it conveys the message perfectly).

Yesterday, Rahul proved it yet again that slogging every ball is not necessary in T20s.He hit 6 boundaries including a superb straight drive off Jakati.Excluding 1 slog sweep (which would have gone for a six), all of his shots were technically perfect and gave an indication of why this guy is called Mr.Dependable.Most important thing which he did was that he protected Manish Pandey from Murali.Murali, who snatched a win against KP single handedly, was looking dangerous.But even the spin-hero could not break down the Wall.The partnership between Pandey and Rahul proved to be a killer blow for CSK.

The final would be a thriller for sure.Good luck BRC!

  

BRC inch closer to the semis

Superb news for all BRC fans.BRC has made it! They are now very very close to making to semis, thanks to poor show by RR and KP.Even though BRC lose a game against DC, hoping that there is no big loss margin,BRC will be ahead of KP in net-run-rate.That will hand over a 4th place to BRC and they will meet DD in the semis.If BRC manages to win against DC, they will go to 3rd place and will face CSK in semis.

Another good news- Rahul looks confident and calm.The way he played against DD was just brilliant.He showed the youngsters that this game can be played well technically, all you need is to choose the best shot for every ball.He started with a sqaure drive, managed to score boundaries periodically, and continued to sweat the fielders with quick singles and doubles.

Good luck BRC and Rahul!

Can BRC make it to semis?

Undoubtedly, BRC are in do or die situation.They have to win both the games - one against leaders DD and the other against unpredictable DC.With 2 teams already out of the race, 4 teams are fighting for the 2 slots for semis- DC, KP, RR and BRC.

• DC and KP are left with 1 game in their hand and are tied at 14 points each.
  
• RR has 1 game left and are on 13 points.
  
• On the other hand BRC have 2 games left and are on 12 points.
  

Let's check the possibilities on how BRC can reach semis (assuming that no match is abandoned due to the rain !!!!!!)-

1.BRC wins both the games:

a)RR and KP win their respective games.

BRC: 16

DC: 14

KP: 16

RR: 15

This will send KP and BRC into the semis.

b)KP loses the game, RR wins the game

This makes the way for BRC and RR to the semis.

c)RR loses the game and KP wins against CSK

BRC and KP will enter the semis with 16 points each.

2.BRC wins 1 game out of the two:

Even though they lose 1, they can still make it to semis if RR loses the game  and KP loses the only match left for them.One more condition that should be satisfied is that the net-run-rate of BRC should be higher than that of DC.

Let's hope for the 1st case.Keep the fingers crossed!

Is it all over for BRC?

Yes, probably.The top order failure has continued for BRC in this season too.Not a single batsman (except Kallis) looks confident of staying at the wicket.No score in the powerplay (1st 6 overs) means the team is in trouble.Look at the teams which are ruling this IPL and you will find that they score at least 50-60 runs in the powerplay and put the opposition on back seat straight away.
In short, the top order has to contribute if the team wants to win.Few questions would be raised against the team management - Why was S.Goswami dropped? Why is Rahul being sent at no.5?
S.Goswami got 2 games out of which he played superb in one and OK in other.Just because the team has a wicket keeper in M.Boucher, Goswami is unfortunately being dropped.Is this fair? Or you just want to stick to the Uthappas and Kohlis? (they are talented, but not dependable)
If the top order is not comfortable, why not to send Rahul at no.2 or no.3? He is the player who can play at any position, holding one end.
Let's see how BRC comes up against the top teams in the chart.

Do or die situation for BRC:

The IPL is getting hotter day by day.Unlike the IPL season 1 where RR,CSK,DD were far ahead of others, this season is bringing in some sort of competition.At the start, when DC mauled every team they faced, are now on 4th spot.Though DD have looked the most dominating team, RR and CSK (the 2 finalists in season 1) are looking deadly.Surprisingly, the flop team in season1,BRC, are at 5th spot.On other hand, MI (the favourites before start of season) and KKR are having a forgettable tournament.

BRC have 5 matches left against: MI,KKR,CSK,DD and DC.Looking at the current form of DD and CSK, it is very difficult for BRC to produce a shocking result.On the other hand, the out of form team KKR would be looking to get few more points to save their white wash.MI have the simiar situation like that of BRC and will be ready to give a tough fight.DC are dangerous if Gilly plays out 1st few overs.

Moral of the story: BRC have to regain their batting form.The team selection should be accurate and the batting order must be well-arranged.It is good for BRC that Uthappa is scoring, but he will have to prevent himself from going into shell.Kallis and Rahul have been the pillars for BRC.Rahul has to make sure that he bats on till the last over.Kallis is becoming a threat for opponents (as a batsman), but he has to bowl well.

The bowling department, lead by Kumble and Praveen Kumar, looks a bit shaky.Vinay Kumar and Appanna have been inconsistent and Kallis is yet to bowl his best.

Best 11:

1.Jesse Ryder

2.J.Kallis

3.R.Uthappa

4.R.Dravid 

5.M.Boucher

6.van der Merwe

7.A.Kumble

8.P.Kumar

9.V.Kumar

10.KP Appanna

11.R.Bishnoi/ B.Akhil/ S.Goswami (depends upon the pitch conditions)

Come on BRC!

He is back, BRC on roll:

Rahul is back to IPL.He missed 3 matches due to family reasons (he became father 2nd time!!).

BRC won 2 out of those 3 matches to make sure that they don't take bottom of the table.A match against KKR was quite tougher than the one they would have expected.But Pietersen brought up a smile on Mr.Mallya's face in his last match in IPL.

After this match, captaincy was handed over to Anil Kumble.The match was now against the in-form Punjab King's 11.For BRC, Van Der Merwe made a fantastic debut scoring quick 30-40 runs to put up a fighting total on board.At one stage when Punjab was at 70/0 with Yuvraj at crease, the result was looking quite clear.But Kumble used his experience to challange Yuvi's patience and made him play a scoop to Kallis.It was a turning point and BRC snatched another victory.

After 2 consecutive victories, BRC got a huge boost as Rahul returned to join the squad.MI decided to bat first and as usual, Sachin started showing his mastery over the cricket ball.It was the debutant Dillon du Preez who stunned MI with 2 wickets on consecutive balls.After that, Bravo, Jayasuriya and Nayar took MI to challenging total of 149.This IPL has seen the low scoring matches going defending team's way.But Kallis and Uthappa crushed MI's so-called best bowling attack.Mallinga, the deadliest seamer, was hit for 17 runs in his 1st over, and this is where BRC won the mental battle.Both the batsmen remained not out to hand MI a 9-wicket defeat.

BRC has now climbed to 4th position in the points table with 8 points.It would be interesting to find out how BRC and Rahul perform as the tournament progresses.