Fully Charged

Another one in the bag.

Today's victory over the Deccan Chargers puts the Mumbai Indians comfortably at the top. The 37 run victory was total in many ways. The team did well across all departments of the game. All in all a good day at the job.

There couldn't have been a bigger gift to Sachin than a victory on his birthday. The master blaster completed 38 years today. The team must have had this gift clearly in mind as they set out on the field today.

Malinga was certainly at his best. He continues to wreck havoc for the batsman. And his dismissal of Sanga was the gem of the day.

Rohit Sharma and Symonds were in destructive form. The 40 runs scored off the last 2 overs show the tremendous power and ruthlessness these 2 batsman to the team. They both have an aggressive style and can bring the best bowlers to their knees.

The poor form of Bhajji is still an area for worry. I think today's bowling by Bhajji lacked application and one of his ordinary fares. He is a truly world class player and will not be kept down for long. But it is a worrisome point for all supporters. When will he get back into the grove?

Another good day on the job. The Deccan Chargers were successfully discharged.

Bring it on Bhajji

After a comfortable 8 wicket win over the Chennai Super kings, we are now on top of the table! After 5 matches so far, its been good going with good all round performance by the team.

Having said that, let's not ignore an important change. The coming to form of Harbhajan Singh. I have been looking at his performance closely and like me, the team has been under tremendous pressure to understand the reason for his poor performance so far. His performance last night was stellar. I believe he is striking form at the right time and in the right trend too. Bhajji's performance against the Super Kings was the highlight of the match for me. Bhajji must be very relieved as much as the rest of us!

This was a revenge match. And its a big relief that the match went our way. The Super Kings have been wobbly of late having lost the previous 2 matches. But lets not forget that the southern team has some of the best players in the world and had beaten us in the final last year. So in many ways, this was sweet revenge.

One player that did not get the attention he deserved is Kieron Pollard. I think he played one of the most impactful roles in the match yesterday. His spectacular dives saved at least 12 runs and his catch to dismiss Hussey was for me the best catch of the match. It is always difficult to catch in and around the crease and in this case several feet in front of the fielder. It is extremely difficult to judge the flight and speed of the ball in that position. So I was a bit surprised that Rohit Sharma was awarded the prize for the Karbonn Kamaal Katch.

Lets not take away any credit from Rohit Sharma. He played a big innings with maturity. It is the mix of shots that was really impressive. He paced his innings extremely well. From building the base after the early wickets to some really aggressive shots towards the middle and end of the innings.

So how does the future look ahead? I think the team is peaking well. The overall spirit in strong and you can see it in the body language. The team is probably one of the best in the area of fielding, batting and fielding. Its been a super start and the team is getting better with every other match.

War with the warriors

Was it just a neighbourhood spat? Definitely not based on the intensity of the match today. What a triller it was with so many ups and downs along the way.

That final shot will remain etched in Rohit Sharma's memory for a long time. When he hoisted the ball up for a massive six, a million hearts sighed in relief. Mumbai Indians had finally stepped across the finishing line.

While Sachin and Rayadu built up a slow but a solid partnership to set up victory. But the dismissal of the duo in quick succession definitely put a dent into the chase but Rohit and Symonds played a sensible innings to take the team through.

All in all, a good and productive spat with the neighbours.

Will it just be another day at work?

The best bowler in IPL 4 so far is our very own Malinga. With 7 wickets under his belt in 2 matches, this is one man the Tuskers will be very wary of. He has been is stupendous form and digging deep under the batmen's feet. If he carries the current form into the next match, a few batsmen from the Kochi side with be trembling at the knees.

Will Rayadu be able to carry on the good job from the earlier match? He is a fine young man but possible easily distracted. He will need to dig deep into the maturity bank to pick out a better temperament. It is not easy for a young man to stay focused after such a fine innings. I could hear the loud thuds as he found the middle of the bat as he plundered runs all across the green.

The man to watch out tomorrow is Bhajji. He has not had a lot of success till now but could well be the show stopper in tomorrow match. I have a feeling he will click with the ball tomorrow being at the correct end of the Mumbai Indian plans.

It was Rayadu's day

I was not surprised to see Tendulkar call upon Ambati Rayadu to collect the man of the match award. While the win today seemed pretty much effortless, one cannot deny that the performance put up by Rayadu was one of the best so far.

Rayadu clobbered the RCB bowlers all over the ground. In fact such was the dominance by the batsman that at times I could see fear in the eyes of the bowlers. He pounded the bowlers at will and raw sound of the ball meeting bat sent a shiver down the opposition's back.

The sheer dominant batting by the Mumbai Indians batsmen as well assisted by some shoddy fielding by the RCB players. The most astonishing piece was the run out missed by Zaheer Khan after Rayadu was found stranded at one end. Despite having a clear view of all 3 wickets, Zaheer's throw went wide despite having a long time to hit the stumps.

While the batsmen stole the limelight in today's match, lets not forget the gem of a ball from Malinga. The MI got off to a splendid start when Malinga managed to uproot the wickets with the very first ball of the match. Do not forget that this can be a huge psychological impact on the opposition.

All in all, another good day for the Mumbai Indians.

But just that one little question keeps cropping back to my mind - Are the Mumbai Indians peaking a little bit too early?

Blasting start to the challenge

If today's performance is anything to go by, the Mumbai Indians are heading down to the bank.

What a match it was!.

If today's performance is anything to go by, the Mumbai Indians are heading down to the bank.

What a match it was!.

The Delhi Dare Devils were never really into the match. It was almost like they had lost their way. A bunch of amateurs being rolled over. Now I mean no disrespect to the mighty Viru. But can this performance really be worthy of a side in that just a year ago were one of the top sides?

Lets not take away any credit from Malinga. The man was on fire. The man was firing yorkers right into the block hole. This bowling had hostility written all over it. The Dare Devils were almost in shock and awe. They were ducking and diving in all directions. Malinga's figures of 3.4-1-13-5 do not tell the whole story. There was fear in the eyes of the batsmen. Malinga's performance is even more commendable given that this was on a rather placid pitch like the Kotla that is not known to favour the pacers.

Having bowled our the devils for a paltry 95 runs, the match was easily won after Sachin blasted a pacy 46 runs from 50 balls including a huge 6.

Great start my lads. This is only the start.

picture courtesy: http://www.skynyxonline.com

Dilli Dhoor Nahin Hain

Someone referred to the first match as a clash of the Titans.

Titans?

Dehli Daredevils have a completed depleted side this time. Having lost as many as five key players ( Gambhir, Nehra, de Villiers, Sandwan, Vettori). the side is made up mostly of Indian national discards and borderline players struggling to make an impression.

Viru will be facing a big challenge when he selects the playing eleven.

Remember that the core part of our team is still intact. Tendulkar, Bhajji and Malinga have been starts of the recently concluded ICC World Cup. Add to that the hard hitting Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma and we have a super duper line-up.

In case the management opts for Rayadu to wear the gloves, the team will have the option of an extra batsman. Given the nature of the Kotla wicket, Bhajji will be raring to go.

So guys, lets set our focus on Viru. Focus on Viru's wicket within the first few overs, and victory will be ours.

Bring them on. Dilli dhoor nahin hain.

Following the Mumbai Indians

Ready. Steady. Get set. Go!

Almost everything is now in order. The tickets are in place. Last minute changes will be minimal. The hotels are booked. The schedule is handy.

I am all set to cover this amazing journey of the Mumbai Indians. Never before have I felt that the league will be ours.

All the best Mumbai Indians. Lets set our goals on the no. 1 spot. And I know that victory will be ours.

IPL4 is ours

The Indian Premier League takes off today. And never before have I felt as confident as I feel today that we will win the league this year.

So lets follow the progress of the Mumbai Indians as the team progresses through the tournament.

Will Sachin be able to carry on with the super performance of the ICC World Cup? Will Malinga slinger his way through the opposition? And will Harbhajan Singh get even with Andrew Symonds?

IPL 4 will be even bigger that the earlier editions. And this one will be ours!