||| IPL 2016: Discussion Thread ||| - Page 11

Originally posted by: CricketBuffOne

Thanks, OutOfOrder. 😊 I also like a lot of Aussie players and Aus are one of my favorite teams.

@OutOfOrder, I am pleasantly surprised to see your love for cricket & very pleased to know you.
@Dare.Devil, that was funny. 😆

*hi5*

Originally posted by: -OutOfOrder-

I like south Africa & West Indies too ..😆 thanks..nice meeting u too ..

This devil is evil girl🤪😆

Thanks, I also like South Africa, West Indies more in the shortest format and NZ also are an exciting team to watch. I thought devil was a boy...I am confused now. 😕

Originally posted by: CricketBuffOne

Thanks, I also like South Africa, West Indies more in the shortest format and NZ also are an exciting team to watch. I thought devil was a boy...I am confused now. 😕

Originally posted by: -OutOfOrder-

Yes .. these were one of best teams including team India I like Afghanistan performance too it was impressive !..

Well mostly girls visit here in this forum ..as we girls do watch cricket 😆maybe our username confusing or something ?😕

U can visit profile & check anyways .. there we've mentioned female ..😛😆

Afghanistan are a terrific team. They have amazed everyone with their brilliant performances.
That there are mostly girls talking about cricket on this forum is a revelation for me. I am pleasantly surprised. Three cheers to all the female fans.😊

Originally posted by: mukeshkr

In IPL highlight their was few players that play Best Innings for their team Like Virat Kohli, Ab De Villies, David Warner and more.

mukeshkr, ya there were many. Apart from these 3 who impressed you the most?

Originally posted by: Aahaana

NO winning thread for srh?

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

IPL 2016 CHAMPIONS: Sunrisers Hyderabad

IPL 2016May 23, 2016

Misfiring overseas stars underline Kings XI debacle

M Vijay's batting form was one of the few positives for Kings XI Punjab this season BCCI

Where they finished

Eighth, with four wins and ten defeats.

How they got there

Two years is a long time in sport. Ask Kings XI Punjab, who had an underwhelming season for a second time running despite retaining a core that played a key role in their march to the final in 2014. Like 2015, they finished this season, too, at the bottom of the table. The team made more news off the field than on it, and a mid-season captaincy switch from David Miller to M Vijay was the first sign of a creaking unit under pressure to deliver. When results marginally improved, the team was forced to deal with off-field issues.

Reports of heated verbal exchanges between a co-owner and the head coach were swirling around, in addition to bizarre selection strategies and criticism from one of their own players, Shardul Thakur, who vented his frustration after his release midway through the season. Shaun Marsh was ruled out due to a back injury, even as players strongly denied rumours of an alleged bust-up in the squad. The churn may have not directly affected their performance, but may have all added up to Kings XI's season of woes.

Highlights

Mohit Sharma, Kings XI's most expensive Indian buy, at INR 6.5 crore, andSandeep Sharma were arguably their biggest delights in a forgettable campaign. Sandeep used the width of both the creases to make his yorkers less predictable. Mohit added a yorker and an offcutter to his one big trick, the back-of-the-hand legcutter. The two played a leading role in three of the side's four wins this season. The pair played in all 14 games, and Sandeep ended as Kings XI's best bowler with 15 wickets, while Mohit picked up 13.

Disappointment

That the combined tally of Miller and Glenn Maxwell - 340 runs in 24 innings - was 113 short of their highest run-getter Vijay, puts their twin failures into perspective. By the time Hashim Amla was summoned as a replacement for Marsh, Kings XI's season was already headed downhill as they had won just two of their first seven games. As the season progressed, bowling - their stronger suit - came crashing down too, with the side conceding 211 in a 15-over game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Axar Patel's inability to defend 22 off the last overagainst Rising Pune Supergiants was an apt summation of how rapidly the curtains came down on them.

Key stats

• Kings XI's bowlers picked 10 wickets in the Powerplays, the least by a team this season. Kolkata Knight Riders topped the charts after the league phase, with 25 wickets in the same period.
• As well as Sandeep and Mohit bowled, Kings XI finished with the second-lowest dot-ball percentage for bowling teams after Royal Challengers Bangalore
• David Miller's average of 16.10 (161 runs) and strike-rate of 122.9 are his worst in any IPL season
• Vijay's four 50-plus scores in eight innings are the most by a Kings XI captain in a single season.

Best win

Delhi Daredevils should have cantered to a win in Mohali. They needed 54 off the last six overs with eight wickets in hand. Daredevils' middle order comprised Karun Nair, Carlos Brathwaite, Sam Billings, Chris Morris and Rishabh Pant, all of whom are capable of striking big when needed. Instead, they were undone by an outstanding display of end-overs bowling by Marcus Stoinis, Sandeep and Mohit. Kings XI's defence of 181 was all the more remarkable because they had to deal with dew as well. Daredevils finished at 172 for 5.

Worst defeat

Their one-run loss to Royal Challengers in Mohali wasn't their worst defeat in terms of margins, but it left them deflated. Kings XI required 24 off the last two overs but Shane Watson varied his pace and lengths to concede seven in the penultimate over. Chris Jordan, playing his second IPL game, then offered hittable deliveries - full tosses and half-volleys, which Stoinis muscled for a six and four to bring the equation down to six off three deliveries. But the Australian allrounder could only muster a dot ball followed by two runs each off the next two balls to fall agonizingly short. That also meant Vijay's 57-ball 89, a fine exhibition of uninhibited hitting and calculated running between the wickets went in vain.

What they need most next season

While they may have unearthed Vijay, the captain, a stronger core of match-ready overseas professionals and solid Indian batsmen will help their cause. This year, the team was forced to persist with the misfiring Miller and Maxwell in the middle order because of the absence of a strong batting force. Wriddhiman Saha failed to convert starts and, at times, consumed too many deliveries; Farhaan Behardien seemed a misfit in the middle order, while Stoinis' batting lacked consistency. Lack of faith in their India internationals - Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Rishi Dhawan - resulted in the team getting their balance wrong.

IPL 2016May 22, 2016

Supergiants make tragicomic start to IPL

MS Dhoni's innovative methods to stop the ball behind the stumps were special BCCI

Where they finished

Seventh. The first team to be knocked out, Rising Pune Supergiants were powered to a last-ball victory in their final game, against Kings XI Punjab, after MS Dhoni's 4,6,6 off the final three balls helped them avoid the wooden spoon.

How they got there

Supergiants' overseas contingent in their first match read: Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh. The side enjoyed a winning start but, by the beginning of May, all those players had been ruled out due to injuries. Then, rookie legspinner M Ashwin, who impressed with his ripping googlies, joined the walking wounded with a side strain. Right-arm seamer Deepak Chahar, who made his IPL debut this season and played in Supergiants' last two games, had suffered an injury during the early stages of the tournament, according to Dhoni. At a few stages, it seemed like the team would need their coach Stephen Fleming to pad up.

Supergiants called for reinforcements in the Australian pair of Usman Khawaja and George Bailey. The left-hand opener took to Twitter and complained in jest of a typo on his jersey. Bailey avoided a possible injury when his helmet was detached by a sharp Nathan Coulter-Nile bouncer. A dog interrupted Supergiants' chase in their final two matches, in Visakhapatnam, and they even "ticked off a loss in a rain-hit match" at Eden Gardens, as Dhoni wryly pointed out. Such tragicomic instances summed up their season.

Supergiants lost all their four games in Pune, but their second home - Visakhapatnam - saw an upturn in fortunes. Supergiants began with a four-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but followed it up with back-to-back victories for the first time in the tournament. Overall, they won five, including the double against Delhi Daredevils, and lost nine - five of them in the last over.

Highlights

Australia legspinner Adam Zampa finished as the team's leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps, despite playing only five matches. His 6 for 19 - the second-best figures in all editions of the IPL - against Sunrisers was just reward for flight, dip and turn. That he controls and uses the wrong'un sparingly holds him in good stead. His average - 9.58 - was the best by any specialist bowler in IPL 2016.

Dhoni was Superman behind the stumps. If his between-the-legs stop had set the bar high, the karate kick raised it. He stuck his right leg out at a right angle to extend his reach and intercept late cuts from Manan Vohra and Virat Kohli. To do that in a split second was special.

Disappointments

With the bat, though, Dhoni was Clark Kent, or probably more ordinary, before that final dash against Kings XI. He struggled for timing and the helicopter-shot never made an appearance. His struggles were best exemplified by the 22-ball 8against Kolkata Knight Riders; his strike rate of 36.36 was the lowest by a batsman who faced more than 20 balls in an IPL innings. Before Saturday, Dhoni had 220 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 123.59, the third lowest for a batsman between Nos. 4 and 6. Only Ravindra Jadeja (100.92) and David Miller (119.82) had fared worse.

R Ashwin was given his full quota in Supergiants' last match and claimed his best IPL figures of 4 for 34. But overall, the offspinner lacked bite and took 10 wickets in 14 matches at an average and economy rate of 31.90 and 7.25. He completed his quota in only eight of the 14 games. The Ashwin-Dhoni chicken v egg dilemma continues.

Key stats

• Supergiants' economy rate in the Powerplay - 8.14 - was the second highest after Royal Challengers Bangalore's 8.27.
• Dhoni lost four successive matches as a captain for the first time in the IPL, after Supergiants went down to Gujarat Lions, Kings XI, Royal Challengers and Knight Riders in April.
• Ajinkya Rahane played out 140 dots - the fewest by a batsman to have faced 350-400 balls this season. Rahane ended with 480 off 379 balls, including six half-centuries.

Best win

After Dhoni's vintage, unbeaten 64 off 32 balls in the dead rubber against Kings XI, coach Fleming said: "I think Dhoni is pretty remarkable, which probably covered up the performances that were below par". It was Supergiants' most memorable game in the tournament. Dhoni flatly turned down singles and twos, and did it all by himself, smashing 23 off the last over to pull off a heist.

Worst defeat

Benefitting from a flurry of fielding lapses, Supergiants raced to 91 for 1 in nine overs against Mumbai Indians in Pune. They lost two wickets and eked out 16 in the next four overs and ended up with 159. Mumbai strolled home with Rohit Sharma making an unbeaten 85 off 60 balls. The middle and end overs with the bat, and then the defence highlighted the limitations in the Supergiants team.

What they need to do next season

They need their players to be fit and their key men - Dhoni and Ashwin - to fire consistently like they did for Chennai Super Kings. The combination of RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma simply isn't good enough in T20s. Supergiants must look to build their attack around Zampa and Ashok Dinda, who had a combined tally of 23 wickets.

IPL 2016May 23, 2016

Tinkering costs youthful Daredevils

Zaheer Khan's leadership of a side that was reliant on its youngsters was brilliant BCCI

Where they finished

Sixth, with 14 points, but behind Mumbai Indians due to a lower net run rate.

How they got there

After three consecutive years in the bottom two, Daredevils were one win away from making their first playoffs since 2012. However, their youngsters succumbed in a knockout match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, a sub-par batting performance paving the way for their exit.

Daredevils' first match ended in a demoralising loss to Kolkata Knight Riders, bringing back memories of three horrendous seasons. However, under the wily leadership of Zaheer Khan, Daredevils effected a turnaround and strung together five wins in their next six matches. In between, they lost a thriller to Gujarat Lions by one run. But Daredevils could take heart from the emergence of Chris Morris as a batsman for the first time in the tournament as the South African allrounder launched a frenzied attack on his way to the joint-fastest fifty of the season. With a young brigade that was performing consistently and a bowling attack considered one of the best in the tournament, a playoff spot was Daredevils' to lose.

Questionable exclusions and constant alterations to their XI left Daredevils unsettled. They faltered at a critical stage of the tournament, winning only one out of five matches, and were on the brink of elimination. A special knock fromKarun Nair, one of their standout young performers, kept them alive with a last-ball win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, before it all went wrong when it mattered the most.

Highlights

Daredevils left many wide-eyed when they spent INR 7 crore on Chris Morrisat the February auction. Less than a week later, Morris helped South Africa level their ODI series against England with a sensational 38-ball 62 in a chase of 263.

Morris also used his big-hitting ability to good effect. Against Lions in Delhi, Daredevils had slumped to 57 for 4 in a chase of 173 when Morris joined JP Duminy. With 115 required off nine overs, Morris put up an uninhibited display of six-hitting, plundering 82 unbeaten runs off 32 balls to take Daredevils to the brink of a win. They fell one run short.

Disappointments

A mammoth 2015-16 Ranji Trophy saw Shreyas Iyer amass 1321 runs at an average of 73.38. Talks of a call-up to the national team grew louder. But come IPL, Iyer's graph plummeted. After scoring only three runs in his first three outings, Iyer was dropped. In all, he only scored 30 runs in six innings at an average of 5.00.

Daredevils raised eyebrows when they splurged INR 8.5 crore on Pawan Negi. He went on to have an underwhelming campaign, picking up a solitary wicket and conceding 9.33 per over. Negi was often sent in ahead of Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Morris to add quick runs, but with 57 runs in six innings at a strike rate of less than 100, the move hardly worked. In the side primarily as a bowler, Negi did not bowl a single ball in three of the eight matches he played. And when he was thrown the ball, he was rarely given his full quota. A total of nine overs in eight matches left many wondering what his role in the Daredevils XI was.

Key stats

• Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and Amit Mishra are the only players to feature in all of Daredevils' games this season.
• Daredevils made a total of 35 changes in 14 games this season - an average of 2.5 changes per match.
• Seven different players received Man-of-the-Match awards for Daredevils this season. No other team had more than five recipients.

Best win

In Daredevils' penultimate match, a must-win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Karun anchored a chase of 159 with a composed 59-ball 83. With six required off two balls, Nair struck back-to-back two boundaries. "The season is all about having young energy around," Zaheer said at the post-match presentation. "Good things are in store."

Worst defeat

The final match of the group stage, between Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore became a scrap for the last playoff berth, with the loser bowing out of the tournament. Daredevils had banked on their youngsters throughout. But under pressure, in the face of accurate bowling by Royal Challengers, Daredevils' inexperience came to the fore as they huffed and puffed to 138. Both captains agreed Daredevils were 20 short of the par score.

What they need to do next season

Embrace consistency. In the process of adopting a horses-for-courses selection policy, Daredevils' management chopped and changed to their detriment.

Zaheer's astute leadership was one of the standout features of Daredevils' season. But at 37, and with no on-field involvement in any other form of cricket, Zaheer's future is uncertain, and Daredevils may have to hunt for a new captain come 2017.