Chennai brimming with in-form players

Match facts

Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)

Mumbai fell short by two runs in their opening game

Big Picture

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings flagged off IPL 2012 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Two strong sides played out a tepid match, with Mumbai trouncing the hosts. Mumbai’s opening game of this edition didn’t quite go to plan, losing narrowly to Royal Challengers Bangalore in a game that see-sawed in the last stages. With the asking rate climbing during Mumbai’s chase, Royal Challengers appeared to have the match in control, but Dinesh Karthik’s three consecutive sixes eased the equation considerably. Though Karthik failed to see the side through, Mumbai would have been better served if Karthik had more support.

Not for the first time, Kieron Pollard walked in later than he should have (he got to face only two deliveries). For the past few seasons, fans have pushed for a promotion in the batting order and never understood Mumbai’s conservative approach to Pollard. Perhaps there is a good reason for that strategy, but it is hard to fathom. Had he been set, the result could have been different. Despite the defeat, Mumbai needn’t tinker with their line-up. Lasith Malinga missed the game due to injury, but he will be forced to sit out the second match, fit or not, since the game’s in Chennai.

Super Kings haven’t always been the strongest starters. Given the form of their protagonists from the Australia Tests – MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and M Vijay – it’s hard to imagine the side stuttering. The ban on Sri Lanka players affects them the least, given they have only two such players in their line-up, who aren’t automatic picks. Chennai are without Faf du Plessis for at least the first month due to injury, while two other South Africans, Albie Morkel and Chris Morris join the team after the South African domestic T20 competition ends on April 7. .

 

Players to watch

After being smacked for three fours off his first four balls, Jasprit Bumrah’s choice was starting to look farcical for Mumbai Indians. Bumrah scripted a remarkable turnaround, picking up three wickets on IPL debut. His unusual high-arm action makes him worth watching, and his performance should guarantee at least another game. He bowls from wide of the crease and generates a sharp angle into the right-handers, which fetched him two of his three wickets.

Ravindra Jadeja has in recent times been the butt of jokes on social media networks for failing to prove his two-million-dollar price tag. While Jadeja may have underachieved as a batsman for India, respect for him should have grown after the Australia Tests where he picked up 24 wickets, second behind Ashwin (29).

 

2012 head-to-head

Mumbai won the opening game by eight wickets, chasing down a paltry 113. The second match, at Wankhede Stadium, was a nailbiter, with Dwayne Smith playing a blinder for Mumbai with 16 needed off the last over. Smith smashed three boundaries off the last three balls to steal a two-wicket win for Mumbai. Super Kings hit back in the Elimination final, winning by 38 runs in Bangalore.

 

      Stats and trivia

• Mumbai lead the head-to-head with seven wins against Super Kings, out of 13 games.
• Suresh Raina was the leading run-scorer for Super Kings last season with 441 runs in 19 games.
• Sachin Tendulkar is the top-scorer in matches between the two sides, with 353 runs at an average of 44.12 from 10 innings. 

Quotes

“The focus is on a few star players, both Indian and foreign, but there are others too who have contributed immensely. Take Badrinath for instance. He might not be a big hitter but has come up with several important performances for the team.”
MS Dhoni, the Super Kings captain

“It was the first time that I played in front of such huge crowd but I wasn’t paying any attention to the crowd. The more you focus on the inside, the better it is.”
Jasprit Bumrah on his first taste of the IPL.

Albie Morkel considers his SA career over

 

Albie Morkel hasn’t been able to replicate his success in the IPL for South Africa

Albie Morkel has become the second South African player in the past one week to consider his international career over. In an interview to the Times of India, Morkel admitted he does not see the IPL as an opportunity to stake a claim for a national recall.

“By all counts I won’t play for South Africa again, so it’s not a want of mine to prove anything to anyone,” Morkel wrote. “My focus will be to do my best for CSK and contribute on and off the field.”

Last Thursday Ashwell Prince signed a two-year Kolpak deal with Lancashire and yesterday went to Lord’s to confirm the end of his ambitions to play for South Africa.

Morkel and Prince both lost their central contracts last month, when CSA announced their 21-player list. Also dropped from the books was Jacques Rudolph, Rusty Theron and the retired Mark Boucher. The four who are still playing were told by convener of selectors Andrew Hudson that they would be considered for the national team if any of them showed exceptional form, but the reassurance has not been a comfort to two of them.

Prince, who last played in the Boxing Day Test of 2011, appears to have accepted losing his place in the Test line-up. Mohammed Moosajee, the South Africa team manager who has known Prince throughout his career said that at 35, the batsmen was simply looking for ways to “further his career before retirement,” so that the administrators harbour no hard feelings over his new contract.

For Morkel, the situation is a little different. He is regarded as one of the top Twenty20 allrounders in the game, has been called one of the best finishers by MS Dhoni and, on face value, seems to have all the qualities South Africa need in a powerful middle-order hitter in limited-overs. But his numbers do not match his reputation.

In ODIs, Morkel averages 23.69 with the bat and 37.98 with the ball and has seldom put in the kind of match-winning performance expected of him. His strike rate in T20s sits at over 142.73, but with South Africa’s constantly changing structure there was never room to use him as an opening bowler and there was not a designated spot in the batting line-up for him. Morkel did not settle into a role, as he did at CSK, and the lack of certainty seemed to impact on his performances. Stephen Fleming alluded to that at the 2012 Champions League when he explained why Morkel’s success in the IPL outweighed his achievements at international level.

“He is a bit more secure with us and a bit more in spotlight which may make him more comfortable with CSK in his role,” Fleming said. “When you have a talented side like South Africa, they try different techniques and tactics all the way through and he may be searching a bit for his role within the side.”

The system gave Morkel many years, but not enough successive matches, to find his place and eventually cut him off. Although Hudson did not close the door on Morkel, he left it barely ajar when he said the selectors felt it was time to “move forward,” and had “one or two other options in mind for the limited-overs formats.”

Ryan McLaren is the first choice allrounder at the moment but Chris Morris, Morkel’s new team-mate at CSK, is another of the players South Africa are looking to blood in that role. Morkel had nothing but praise for the man whom he may end up facing off against for a place in the starting XI. “Chris has really done well in the last two seasons in South Africa. He is a fierce competitor, bowls fast and can hit the ball long. He will definitely win CSK a few games,” Morkel said.

 

Or his graciousness may just be another sign of how well Morkel has been managed by Fleming and how much he enjoys playing under him. Morkel will meet up with his CSK team-mates after playing in the South African domestic T20 final on Sunday which means he will not be available for their opener against Mumbai Indians on Saturday.