The first leg of the IPL has seen 3 matches so far, Bangalore vs Kolkata, Chennai vs Punjab and Rajasthan vs Delhi.
I have not seen any of the matches on TV( don't get telecast here in Seoul), so this is basing on what i track from Cricinfo. So i really have no clue about all the entertainment stuff. But i did cringe when i heard Sony Max was telecasting it. That TV channel has been singularly responsible for dumbing down cricket coverage in India.
Anyway comming to the matches for me only the match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI, Punjab looked like a match to me. The other two matches were mismatches of the first order.
Bangalore Royal Challengers were anything but Royal in mounting a challenge to the Knight Riders from Kolkata. The challenge was over before you could even say cheese. While every one was expecting Chris Gayle to provide the fireworks, it was the Kiwi batsman, Brendon McCullum, who did the honors with an astounding 158 off just 73 balls. It was a one man show all the way as Ganguly, Ponting and co, together contributed only 64 runs. Zaheer, Kallis, Praveen Kumar were all swept aside with total contempt. In sharp contrast Bangalore collapsed to just 82 runs, making this a mother of all routs. Problem with Bangalore Royal Challengers is that most of their batsmen like Kallis, Dravid and Jaffer are the long distance runners, the slap dash nature of T20 is not their alley. Mark Boucher is the only one who can do the slam bang stuff, but when he got out, it was curtains. Interestingly it was Mr.DuckworthAjit Agarkar, who got 3 wickets.
The best match was between Yuvi's Kings XI Punjab and Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings. These 2 do look like the best teams in the IPL so far. For me though nothing to beat the sight of Matthew Hayden comming out and hammering Brett Lee and Hussey toying around with James Hopes. Aussie vs Aussie, Oye, Oye any one. But the best entry in score card would be Sangakarra being dismissed by Murali. Trust me thats a collector's item for sure. If it was Brendon in Bangalore, in Mohali it was Mr.Cricket Hussey, who did the honors with 116 from 54 hammering 8 boundaries and 9 6's. Punjab did give a strong reply through Hopes with 71 from 33 balls, but the dismisal of Hopes and Yuvraj, put paid to their hopes. Still this was a match, for quite some time. Dhoni's Midas touch seems to continue here also. Inspite of cheering from good ole Preity Zinta and some energetic Punjabi pop cheerleading, Chennai had the last laugh.
After the bowlers getting a hammering at Mohali, the pendulum swung the other way, where the Old Fox, er do i make it Pigeon, Glenn Mc Grath, proved that he can still throttle batsmen with line and length. As they say heroes never fade away. Much more outstanding was Maharoof whose average was just 2.75. The Rajasthan Royals contained mostly has beens like Kaif, Shane Watson and Darren Lehman, and it just collapsed against the Delhi Daredevils bowling attack. 6/71 at one stage, they managed to end up with 129/8 in their 20 overs. And the target did not trouble the Delhi Daredevils at all, winning by 9 wickets comfortably. Gambhir and Dhawan knocked off the runs comfortably, with Sehwag's early dismisal being the only blip.
The comming two matches are really interesting. Dada's Kolkata Knight Riders will be taking on Deccan Chargers led by VVS Laxman in Eden Gardens, the decibel level is sure to be pitch high. But it wont be easy this time. Deccan has an array of slam bang specialists- Herschelle Gibbs, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris in its ranks, and the bowling dept is well served by Chaminda Vaas, Scott Styris, R.P.Singh and you can always count on Afridi for his deceptive spin. This match should be a cracker.
The Bangalore Royal Challengers will face another tougher opponent in Mumbai Indians led by Sachin. Apart from Sachin, Mumbai has a number of stroke makers too like Dwayne Bravo, Loots Bosman, Jayasurya, Uthappa and Shaun Pollock. And Mumbai has a good number of all rounders, Sachin, Jayasurya, Pollock and Bravo, so Bangalore now has a real tough challenge on its hands to stay in the contention. Till then watch this space.