"I believe in human stupidity (my own included!) so fervently that I want to shout it out to the world. Look at history. Hell, look at the evening news. We’re surrounded by evidence of our folly, and yet all we do is congratulate ourselves all the time. Our kids spend two decades being educated, and nowhere – nowhere – are they taught anything about themselves, about the cognitive shortcomings that will lead to their divorces and their addictions, to their prejudices and their self-serving delusions. They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers.
I actually have a bad habit, which I’m sure has alienated many an acquaintance. Whenever someone tells me they’re a critical thinker – and let’s face it, everyone but everyone thinks they’re a critical thinker – I always ask them “How so?” Usually the answer is that they don’t believe everything everyone tells them. They make fun of Mormons, distrust corporations, or disagree with Fox news or some such. But when I point out that no one believes everything everyone tells them, so that can’t be a criterion for being a critical thinker, they get freaked out.
You get lots of valuable procedural knowledge in school, as well as a smattering of dogma, but nowhere – not even in most philosophy programs – are you taught how to think critically. We are hardwired to bullshit ourselves, and that’s a bloody fact Jack. And what are you taught? What does our system drum into your head at every bloody turn?
To believe in yourself! Believe in yourself when all the research shows that you are in fact the least credible person in the room. Though it seems the other way around, we’re actually much better at critiquing the claims and predicting the behaviour of others than we are ourselves. Check out David Dunning’s Self-Insight if you don’t believe me.
Ignorance is invisible, and so long as we remain ignorant of our cognitive shortcomings we will be slaves to them, we will be condemned to repeat all the same mistakes over and over, only with toys and tools that grow ever more powerful."
R. Scott Bakker, excerpt from an interview
Bakker is the author of the "Prince of Nothing" (PoN) fantasy fiction series. Though he's relatively new on the fantasy scene, he's easily one of the best in my opinion. His style is unique amongst fantasy authors because the actual "action", interesting as it is, takes somewhat of a back seat to the philosophical ponderings of the various characters and intricate analyses of their thought processes. The PoN books critically examine weighy issues such as religion, faith, cosmology and human interactions.
Anyway, looking at this particular excerpt, I love the way in which he states his point upfront ("I believe in human stupidity"), then goes on to expound on his argument with clear examples and drives home his point with an ever more powerful re-assertion of the originally stated point. I know that it sounds pretty simple, but try doing it yourself, it is much easier said than done.
The actual issues Bakker raises are also worth considering, particularly the shortcomings of the modern education systems in place around the world today. We are very good at teaching each other technical skills, but very poor at even recognizing the lack of critical thinking and honest self-appraisal in our curriculums. Like Scott says, "They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers". I especially love the paragraph about the so-called critical thinker acquaintances that Bakker has alienated through his simple but incisive questioning.
The rest of the interview covers various other topics and is well worth a read if you're at all interested in the things already mentioned above...
Friday, 16 May 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
My Top Five
We're just over halfway thru the IPL, so I thought I'd comment about the best players so far in no particular order...
1. Shane Watson
An early prediction for the man of the tournament. His batting, particularly his big hitting, was always going to be a factor in t20 matches, but it is his bowling which has really blossomed under the leadership of Shane Warne. Watson is going to displace Hopes from the Australian ODI team. of this I'm fairly sure based on current form. He has has scored 287 runs at an average of 57 and strike rate of 157, and picked up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8. Add four man of the match awards to that tally and some brilliant outfielding as well.
2. Shaun Marsh
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet of the tournament. At the outset, he didnt even look like he would get a game in squad which featured Lee, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Sarwan. But ever since he was given a chance, he has impressed mightily with 295 runs at 98 from only 5 innings. Another early prediction- its going to be between Marsh and Gambhir for the orange cap award for the leading runscorer in the IPL. Marsh's simple technique with minimal footwork, backlift and flourish has proven extremely effective on Indian wickets. He is limited one feels in terms of shots, but for t20, with its emphasis on boundary hitting, he is a perfect fit. A certainty for the australian odi team in the west indies, as australia really need to blood some young batsmen for the next world cup.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Has been at the top of the run scoring charts ever since the first week of the IPL. He was also India's leading batsman in the t20 world cup last year and has been in immaculate odi form since then. He has scored four fifties in 8 matches and maintained a strike rate in the high 130's quite consistently. His major blemish has been an inability to convert one of his scores into a highly sought-after century. His fielding has also been very sound, whether on the boundary or in the infield. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best opening pair so far in the tournament, though Hopes and Marsh are closing in.
4. Irfan Pathan
The equal leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 18 and economy of only 6.50. Once again, he has proven his potency with a swinging white ball. He has attacked the stumps relentlessly and been very difficult to score boundaries off. Not all the best bowlers have managed to consistently take wickets (eg McGrath, Sharma, Steyn) in t20, so Pathan's performance must be doubly appreciated. His batting has not really been required but he has managed a couple of quick lower order cameos. In any other team, we probably would've seen more of Pathan the allrounder.
5. Adam Gilchrist
Second on the runs chart, Gilchrist's ton against Mumbai demonstrated his full t20 potential. Unfortunately, Laxman's injury and the woeful performances by Gibbs, Styris and Afridi have robbed Gilchrist of the batting support he so badly needed. Rohit Sharma has batted exquisitely, but has not batted with Gilchrist enough for it to make a difference for the Deccan Chargers. This season is effectively over for the Chargers, but next season, I expect that Gilchrist will come to India with a point to prove. With a line-up reading Gilchrist, Laxman, Sharma, Symonds, Afridi, I think 2009 will be the year of the Chargers.
1. Shane Watson
An early prediction for the man of the tournament. His batting, particularly his big hitting, was always going to be a factor in t20 matches, but it is his bowling which has really blossomed under the leadership of Shane Warne. Watson is going to displace Hopes from the Australian ODI team. of this I'm fairly sure based on current form. He has has scored 287 runs at an average of 57 and strike rate of 157, and picked up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8. Add four man of the match awards to that tally and some brilliant outfielding as well.
2. Shaun Marsh
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet of the tournament. At the outset, he didnt even look like he would get a game in squad which featured Lee, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Sarwan. But ever since he was given a chance, he has impressed mightily with 295 runs at 98 from only 5 innings. Another early prediction- its going to be between Marsh and Gambhir for the orange cap award for the leading runscorer in the IPL. Marsh's simple technique with minimal footwork, backlift and flourish has proven extremely effective on Indian wickets. He is limited one feels in terms of shots, but for t20, with its emphasis on boundary hitting, he is a perfect fit. A certainty for the australian odi team in the west indies, as australia really need to blood some young batsmen for the next world cup.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Has been at the top of the run scoring charts ever since the first week of the IPL. He was also India's leading batsman in the t20 world cup last year and has been in immaculate odi form since then. He has scored four fifties in 8 matches and maintained a strike rate in the high 130's quite consistently. His major blemish has been an inability to convert one of his scores into a highly sought-after century. His fielding has also been very sound, whether on the boundary or in the infield. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best opening pair so far in the tournament, though Hopes and Marsh are closing in.
4. Irfan Pathan
The equal leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 18 and economy of only 6.50. Once again, he has proven his potency with a swinging white ball. He has attacked the stumps relentlessly and been very difficult to score boundaries off. Not all the best bowlers have managed to consistently take wickets (eg McGrath, Sharma, Steyn) in t20, so Pathan's performance must be doubly appreciated. His batting has not really been required but he has managed a couple of quick lower order cameos. In any other team, we probably would've seen more of Pathan the allrounder.
5. Adam Gilchrist
Second on the runs chart, Gilchrist's ton against Mumbai demonstrated his full t20 potential. Unfortunately, Laxman's injury and the woeful performances by Gibbs, Styris and Afridi have robbed Gilchrist of the batting support he so badly needed. Rohit Sharma has batted exquisitely, but has not batted with Gilchrist enough for it to make a difference for the Deccan Chargers. This season is effectively over for the Chargers, but next season, I expect that Gilchrist will come to India with a point to prove. With a line-up reading Gilchrist, Laxman, Sharma, Symonds, Afridi, I think 2009 will be the year of the Chargers.
Why does cricket need cheerleaders
This is what the renowned Indian historian Ramachandra Guha had to say about the cheerleaders controversy in the IPL:
"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."
I cannot help but completely agree with Mr. Guha. Revolting and appalling, yes, but I could've come up with that. Stoking the "base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male"- now that is gold!! I think that is such an accurate observation that people in India have generally chosen to ignore it, because to acknowledge it would open a veritable pandora's box of issues that Indian soceity does not want to confront. I'm surpised that feminist groups in India havent picked up on the cheerleaders debate and made their voices heard.
Personally, I think the distasteful way in which the IPL has deployed cheerleaders is just another expression of the gender inequalities and misogyny that is so prevalent in contemporary India. We see enough objectification of women in movies- now, cricket, the other major entertainer in India, has also joined in. It is the one major blight on the IPL so far.
I was very happy when the Delhi Daredevils (my team, as it happens) decided against having their own troop of cheerleaders. Mumbai and Chennai, under pressure from conservative governments, both dumped their scantily-clad foreign cheerleaders, instead hiring strange squads of Indian cheerleaders. These squads are composed of 2 men and 2 women, not scantily-clad of course, whose cheerleading is rather lethargic and soporific. I'm not sure that there's a point to it, but its certainly better than the other teams, with their troops of American (mostly) cheerleaders.
"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."
I cannot help but completely agree with Mr. Guha. Revolting and appalling, yes, but I could've come up with that. Stoking the "base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male"- now that is gold!! I think that is such an accurate observation that people in India have generally chosen to ignore it, because to acknowledge it would open a veritable pandora's box of issues that Indian soceity does not want to confront. I'm surpised that feminist groups in India havent picked up on the cheerleaders debate and made their voices heard.
Personally, I think the distasteful way in which the IPL has deployed cheerleaders is just another expression of the gender inequalities and misogyny that is so prevalent in contemporary India. We see enough objectification of women in movies- now, cricket, the other major entertainer in India, has also joined in. It is the one major blight on the IPL so far.
I was very happy when the Delhi Daredevils (my team, as it happens) decided against having their own troop of cheerleaders. Mumbai and Chennai, under pressure from conservative governments, both dumped their scantily-clad foreign cheerleaders, instead hiring strange squads of Indian cheerleaders. These squads are composed of 2 men and 2 women, not scantily-clad of course, whose cheerleading is rather lethargic and soporific. I'm not sure that there's a point to it, but its certainly better than the other teams, with their troops of American (mostly) cheerleaders.
Monday, 5 May 2008
english sour grapes
the english response to the ipl has been rather predictable, as i mentioned on this blog a couple of days ago. take a look at this from the english cricketers association.
when india sets up its own t20 competition, then its being predatory. whilst the author doesnt say as such, he is implying that something that belongs to the english is being stolen from them, by these agressive predators:
Some would say the Indian approach to setting up these leagues has been predatory. The country's financial control of the international game has just been given a further cash injection that benefits the Indian board and its ICC-sanctioned IPL. If it was predatory before, how would the Indian board behave if it wanted to pick off England's leading players?
but, if the english were to do the same thing, then they are simply maximizing the opportunity offerred to them by the northern hemisphere summer (when the rest of the world's cricketers arent involved in domestic comps) as well as enhancing the "appeal" of the broadcasting rights they can sell. and, at the same time, this would act as a righteous shield against those predators from india, protecting england's top cricketers:
This means the vast majority of international players from other countries are potentially available during our season. If we could use this advantage alongside and create the leading domestic Twenty20 tournament in the world, then we have a commercial opportunity that would enable us to take advantage of the huge appetite for cricket in Asia.
Our domestic game relies on the substantial revenues of the broadcasting deal. Should events in India threaten this, then our game has serious problems that would affect all professional cricketers and the investment in grass-roots programmes. Losing top players to India would lower the value of any future broadcasting agreement.
but nonetheless, the cool hypocrisy evinced in this article is staggering. the ecb and people connected with english cricket have expressed their bitterness in the last few weeks about the success of the ipl. their sense of entitlement is particularly offensive. simply because they invented the format, it does not mean that every other country has to wait for them before setting up their own t20 competitions.
i think what rankles them even more is comments by their own players expressing their wish to play in the ipl. suddenly, county cricket has been relegated to a second class citizen, as all the players talk about playing in india. even english captain paul collingwood has said that he and many of his teammates would like to play in the ipl. i can understand that it is very difficult for english cricket to standby and watch all of this. but it does not excuse their blatant double standards and veiled condemnation of indian cricket and the ipl.
when india sets up its own t20 competition, then its being predatory. whilst the author doesnt say as such, he is implying that something that belongs to the english is being stolen from them, by these agressive predators:
Some would say the Indian approach to setting up these leagues has been predatory. The country's financial control of the international game has just been given a further cash injection that benefits the Indian board and its ICC-sanctioned IPL. If it was predatory before, how would the Indian board behave if it wanted to pick off England's leading players?
but, if the english were to do the same thing, then they are simply maximizing the opportunity offerred to them by the northern hemisphere summer (when the rest of the world's cricketers arent involved in domestic comps) as well as enhancing the "appeal" of the broadcasting rights they can sell. and, at the same time, this would act as a righteous shield against those predators from india, protecting england's top cricketers:
This means the vast majority of international players from other countries are potentially available during our season. If we could use this advantage alongside and create the leading domestic Twenty20 tournament in the world, then we have a commercial opportunity that would enable us to take advantage of the huge appetite for cricket in Asia.
In short, this could reduce the threat of losing our top players to India during our season; we could attract the finest international players to our shores; and we could significantly enhance the appeal of our broadcasting rights on offer.
Our domestic game relies on the substantial revenues of the broadcasting deal. Should events in India threaten this, then our game has serious problems that would affect all professional cricketers and the investment in grass-roots programmes. Losing top players to India would lower the value of any future broadcasting agreement.
but nonetheless, the cool hypocrisy evinced in this article is staggering. the ecb and people connected with english cricket have expressed their bitterness in the last few weeks about the success of the ipl. their sense of entitlement is particularly offensive. simply because they invented the format, it does not mean that every other country has to wait for them before setting up their own t20 competitions.
i think what rankles them even more is comments by their own players expressing their wish to play in the ipl. suddenly, county cricket has been relegated to a second class citizen, as all the players talk about playing in india. even english captain paul collingwood has said that he and many of his teammates would like to play in the ipl. i can understand that it is very difficult for english cricket to standby and watch all of this. but it does not excuse their blatant double standards and veiled condemnation of indian cricket and the ipl.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
IPL- the teams
last time, i wrote about the ipl without really writing about the cricket. so today, lets talk cricket...
1. delhi daredevils
whilst it wasnt my intention to pick a team to support at the start of the ipl, circumstances have forced my hand. delhi are an awesome team. and i particularly like the way they have gone about selecting their players. sehwag was their first player, given icon status and the captaincy. their first targets in the auction were delhi internationals gambhir and ishant sharma. kolkata outbidded delhi for sharma, but they got gambhir. then they went about procuring some of the best young talent from the delhi ranji team. again they missed out on virat kohli, but managed to get dhawan and bhatia. once the big international names were bought for incredible sums of money, delhi went out and snapped up mcgrath and asif for around half a million (a bargain in ipl). the batting was further strengthened with the young indians manoj tiwary (surprisingly not taken by kolkata) and dinesh karthik.
and as one would expect, with a world class bowling attack and a world class batting line-up (sehwag, gambhir, malik, devilliers), delhi are on top a third of the way into the competition. the top three, sehwag, gambhir and dhawan have scored about 80% of the runs and are amongst the top rungetters in the ipl. meanwhile, mcgrath, maharoof and vettori are some of the most economical bowlers in the ipl so far. i think delhi is going to be the team to beat in the ipl. their top players are going to be too strong for the competition.
2. chennai super kings
chennai heavily invested in their batting. hussey, hayden, dhoni, raina, badrinath, oram. however, with hussey, hayden and oram gone after 4 matches, the batting doesnt look quite as invincible. to bolster their bowling, they signed muralitharan, but the other bowling options are quite weak. this is a team that will heavily rely on big hitting for its victories.
chennai have particularly annoyed me by their treatment of raina and badrinath. raina at least has had a few chances to bat early in the innings, but badrinath, the best batsman in indian domestic and india a cricket for the last 2-3 years, has been continually denied opportunities to showcase his talent. the ipl is supposed to provide a stage for young indian cricketers to play against the best in the world, but for badrinath, this just hasnt happened. even after the international exodus, vidyut sivaramakrishnan, a pinchhitter, came into the side and batted at first drop. it just seems to be a ridiculous waste of talent.
3. bangalore royal challengers
an expensive outfit full of world class players. predictably, bangalore have been very slow to start. they have not picked up any sloggers apart from ross taylor who has already left the ipl for international duty. instead, they have stacked their team with proven test players like dravid, kallis, boucher, jaffer, khan, steyn, kumble and misbah. add some inexperienced indian players like u-19 star kohli and the recently successful praveen kumar, and it appears to be a very good team on paper, albeit one unsuited to t20 cricket. this is exactly how the opening exchanges have panned out. however, a team full of class players like this is only going to improve as these players learn to adapt their formidable skills to the new format. i'm expecting a strong finish from bangalore.
4. kings xi punjab
wow!! punjab are an imposing team. just the fact that the departure of simon katich and brett lee hasnt effected their performance gives you an idea about how strong they are. before the start of the tournament, this was the team most people were expecting to win. after 2 quick losses, eyebrows were raised, but since then yuvraj singh's team has looked invincible. a powerful bowling attack comprising of irfan pathan, sreeesanth, chawla, vikram singh (and lee) has lead the way for punjab with excellent support from a star-studded batting line-up that is yet to really strike form. sangakkara, yuvray and jayawardene are going to explode at some stage, but punjab are already winning without huge contributions from them. a possible problem for punjab is going to be that their bowlers, all of them, on a given day can be ridiculously expensive, and we have seen repeatedly that it only takes 2 good overs to get 180-plus scores. i can envisage some problems for these when defending totals...
5. rajasthan royals
the ipl has been rocked by the shane warne led royals. widely expected to struggle, they have swept all before them following a humiliating 9 wicket loss to delhi in the first match. every single player who has played a match has contributed to the effort. this has been the real key to rajasthan's success. whilst chennai have relied on hayden and hussey for all of their wins, and hyderabad on gilchrist for their only win, the royals have produced true team efforts in every one of their games. warne has to be given credit for the way in which he has galvanized an inexperienced group of players into a tough, unforgiving team. his tactical nous has also come to the fore- he has repeatedly outthought and outmanouevred his indian counterparts.
however, despite all of this, i dont think rajasthan will win in the end. i think their lack of true quality players will be their undoing. they are already playing close to their best, whilst many of the other teams are only beginning to gel now. i do think that class will prevail at the end, regardless of shane warne's brilliance.
6. mumbai indians
sachin tendulkar's injury has really hampered mumbai's progress so far. there has been no stabilizing influence on their batting, nor has anyone looked like getting a big score. then there was the harbhajan fiasco. but they are too good a team not pick up the pieces and climb the ladder. once sachin comes back, watch out!! i think having been sidelined for the first half of the tournament, sachin will be desperate to make his mark on t20 cricket, the one form of the game he hasnt yet mastered.
7. kolkata knight riders
after a smashing start to the tournament, kolkata have fallen away. spending heavily on international stars, kolkata was expected to be one of the top 4 teams. but the poor form of their 2 most experienced batsman, ponting and ganguly, as well as the departure of mccullum, have hurt them really badly. ishant sharma has not been as incisive as one may have hoped- his india teammates sreesanth, khan, pathan, agarkar, rp singh have all been more successful than him. kolkata is probably going to finish last now. every other team is going to get better, but i dont see much improvement in kolkata. of course, hodge and hussey are a proven middle order pair in t20 cricket in australia and england, so they shouldnt be written off completely, but i dont give them much hope.
8. deccan chargers
a team selected with one thing in mind- big hitting. apart from laxman, the icon player and captain, the team reads like this: gilchrist, afridi, symonds, gibbs and rohit sharma. kevin pietersen and chris gayle is all they're missing. unfortunately for deccan, t20 is not all about big hitting. this was a surprising revelation to me during the t20 world cup- a team only needs one, or at most two big hitters to win a match, the rest need to be good batsman or bowlers. having spent all their money on batsman, the bowling options for laxman are limited. rp singh, one of the best bowlers in south africa during the world cup, shoulders most of the burden, with support from the promising spinner, pragyan ojha. they will win some games, on the occasions when the batting clicks, but a bottom 4 finish beckons i feel...
1. delhi daredevils
whilst it wasnt my intention to pick a team to support at the start of the ipl, circumstances have forced my hand. delhi are an awesome team. and i particularly like the way they have gone about selecting their players. sehwag was their first player, given icon status and the captaincy. their first targets in the auction were delhi internationals gambhir and ishant sharma. kolkata outbidded delhi for sharma, but they got gambhir. then they went about procuring some of the best young talent from the delhi ranji team. again they missed out on virat kohli, but managed to get dhawan and bhatia. once the big international names were bought for incredible sums of money, delhi went out and snapped up mcgrath and asif for around half a million (a bargain in ipl). the batting was further strengthened with the young indians manoj tiwary (surprisingly not taken by kolkata) and dinesh karthik.
and as one would expect, with a world class bowling attack and a world class batting line-up (sehwag, gambhir, malik, devilliers), delhi are on top a third of the way into the competition. the top three, sehwag, gambhir and dhawan have scored about 80% of the runs and are amongst the top rungetters in the ipl. meanwhile, mcgrath, maharoof and vettori are some of the most economical bowlers in the ipl so far. i think delhi is going to be the team to beat in the ipl. their top players are going to be too strong for the competition.
2. chennai super kings
chennai heavily invested in their batting. hussey, hayden, dhoni, raina, badrinath, oram. however, with hussey, hayden and oram gone after 4 matches, the batting doesnt look quite as invincible. to bolster their bowling, they signed muralitharan, but the other bowling options are quite weak. this is a team that will heavily rely on big hitting for its victories.
chennai have particularly annoyed me by their treatment of raina and badrinath. raina at least has had a few chances to bat early in the innings, but badrinath, the best batsman in indian domestic and india a cricket for the last 2-3 years, has been continually denied opportunities to showcase his talent. the ipl is supposed to provide a stage for young indian cricketers to play against the best in the world, but for badrinath, this just hasnt happened. even after the international exodus, vidyut sivaramakrishnan, a pinchhitter, came into the side and batted at first drop. it just seems to be a ridiculous waste of talent.
3. bangalore royal challengers
an expensive outfit full of world class players. predictably, bangalore have been very slow to start. they have not picked up any sloggers apart from ross taylor who has already left the ipl for international duty. instead, they have stacked their team with proven test players like dravid, kallis, boucher, jaffer, khan, steyn, kumble and misbah. add some inexperienced indian players like u-19 star kohli and the recently successful praveen kumar, and it appears to be a very good team on paper, albeit one unsuited to t20 cricket. this is exactly how the opening exchanges have panned out. however, a team full of class players like this is only going to improve as these players learn to adapt their formidable skills to the new format. i'm expecting a strong finish from bangalore.
4. kings xi punjab
wow!! punjab are an imposing team. just the fact that the departure of simon katich and brett lee hasnt effected their performance gives you an idea about how strong they are. before the start of the tournament, this was the team most people were expecting to win. after 2 quick losses, eyebrows were raised, but since then yuvraj singh's team has looked invincible. a powerful bowling attack comprising of irfan pathan, sreeesanth, chawla, vikram singh (and lee) has lead the way for punjab with excellent support from a star-studded batting line-up that is yet to really strike form. sangakkara, yuvray and jayawardene are going to explode at some stage, but punjab are already winning without huge contributions from them. a possible problem for punjab is going to be that their bowlers, all of them, on a given day can be ridiculously expensive, and we have seen repeatedly that it only takes 2 good overs to get 180-plus scores. i can envisage some problems for these when defending totals...
5. rajasthan royals
the ipl has been rocked by the shane warne led royals. widely expected to struggle, they have swept all before them following a humiliating 9 wicket loss to delhi in the first match. every single player who has played a match has contributed to the effort. this has been the real key to rajasthan's success. whilst chennai have relied on hayden and hussey for all of their wins, and hyderabad on gilchrist for their only win, the royals have produced true team efforts in every one of their games. warne has to be given credit for the way in which he has galvanized an inexperienced group of players into a tough, unforgiving team. his tactical nous has also come to the fore- he has repeatedly outthought and outmanouevred his indian counterparts.
however, despite all of this, i dont think rajasthan will win in the end. i think their lack of true quality players will be their undoing. they are already playing close to their best, whilst many of the other teams are only beginning to gel now. i do think that class will prevail at the end, regardless of shane warne's brilliance.
6. mumbai indians
sachin tendulkar's injury has really hampered mumbai's progress so far. there has been no stabilizing influence on their batting, nor has anyone looked like getting a big score. then there was the harbhajan fiasco. but they are too good a team not pick up the pieces and climb the ladder. once sachin comes back, watch out!! i think having been sidelined for the first half of the tournament, sachin will be desperate to make his mark on t20 cricket, the one form of the game he hasnt yet mastered.
7. kolkata knight riders
after a smashing start to the tournament, kolkata have fallen away. spending heavily on international stars, kolkata was expected to be one of the top 4 teams. but the poor form of their 2 most experienced batsman, ponting and ganguly, as well as the departure of mccullum, have hurt them really badly. ishant sharma has not been as incisive as one may have hoped- his india teammates sreesanth, khan, pathan, agarkar, rp singh have all been more successful than him. kolkata is probably going to finish last now. every other team is going to get better, but i dont see much improvement in kolkata. of course, hodge and hussey are a proven middle order pair in t20 cricket in australia and england, so they shouldnt be written off completely, but i dont give them much hope.
8. deccan chargers
a team selected with one thing in mind- big hitting. apart from laxman, the icon player and captain, the team reads like this: gilchrist, afridi, symonds, gibbs and rohit sharma. kevin pietersen and chris gayle is all they're missing. unfortunately for deccan, t20 is not all about big hitting. this was a surprising revelation to me during the t20 world cup- a team only needs one, or at most two big hitters to win a match, the rest need to be good batsman or bowlers. having spent all their money on batsman, the bowling options for laxman are limited. rp singh, one of the best bowlers in south africa during the world cup, shoulders most of the burden, with support from the promising spinner, pragyan ojha. they will win some games, on the occasions when the batting clicks, but a bottom 4 finish beckons i feel...
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