hot sport t20 ipl

Now, let me clear up right from the onset that I am not a betting man and really do not have the gall to be one. I was asked before the start of the IPL who it was I thought would be the team to win it and my choice was the Chennai Super Kings.
I however did not want to put my eggs in one basket and so mentioned another side and they are the Mumbai Indians.
As the tournaments stands at present, I would not be surprised if you were reading this and thought I was very far off the mark. Well, let me say that I am hoping that the Chennai Super Kings can peak at the right time which is the back end or business end of the tournament. If they do that then they can sneak into the semis and then continue that momentum through the two big games.
It doesn’t matter how you qualify, just to make sure that you do is what counts.
How and why did I come to pick these two teams then? All I was looking for really was a team of players that were really good with bat and ball but also one that had all bases covered. So, good batsmen, good seamers, good spinners and also good fielders. Something else that needed to be considered was the availability of the overseas players in each squad.
Chennai just looked very good with Matt Hayden, Andrew Flintoff, Jacob Oram, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan. These are players who potentially would make the first XI but of course there can only be four in the team. That sure makes it harder and means the pressure on the four chosen ones is that much higher.
‘Prove your worth’ is a phrase that may not be said but is in the minds of all these expensive professionals. You sure want to take your chance and make full use of it when it comes about as no overseas player is guaranteed a place in the XI.
Chennai have just not clicked at all and their main players have not been in the greatest form with bat or ball except Matthew Hayden. They have left themselves a lot to do but I think they have the resources to do it so I shall keep watching them….can’t write them off yet.
Mumbai on the other hand have started wonderfully. They will not be happy that they had a game rained out and may also argue that the game that followed the rained out one, they lost because they had had a rather long break due to the rain.
Apart from that little hiccup, they have been very good to watch. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya have provided brilliant entertainment in the batting and Lasith Malinga has been at his slingy best with the ball. Some good help too from Harbhajan Singh and Dwayne Bravo.
Am I sticking with my first choice picks you might ask….the answer is a big yes. I think that these two teams will be in the final on the 24th of May at the Bullring. Hey, I have been wrong before and I am pretty sure that I will be wrong again many times…..that is the beauty of it. You pick your teams and see how they go.
As a spectacle, the IPL has thrown up some good games but it has been most impressive how the South African public have lapped it up and come out to support the different sides. The atmosphere in Cape Town on the first day was not particularly buzzing as I think that the spectators were trying to make sense of who was playing for which team. Now that they know where their respective stars are playing, fans are in full support.
Durban has been pretty good and it was lovely watching and listening to the Port Elizabeth crowd singing along to the band playing. As we get deeper and deeper into the tournament, things will continue to heat up and the competition will get even fiercer as a win matters more and more for each team.
Turn up to the games if you can because you’ll love it but also because we have a chance in a million to watch some of the greats exhibit their skills on the same sides. Also, ask yourself; when will the IPL be back here again? Maybe never….