Sport - Cricket

From now every game is crucial

Sceptics predicted that the enthusiasm for the IPL would soon subside. They expected TV audiences to slide and empty spaces in the stadium to appear.

Astonishingly, though, interest in the IPL has been sustained. Clearly, this tournament is here to stay. And this has all culminated in what should now be an intense final dash for qualification to the semifinals. Six teams appear to be fighting for t he four berths and every game is crucial. We still have five games to play and there is not a whiff of complacency in the camp.

Tonight’s match against the Delhi Daredevils is one of the big clashes. We’ve been waiting all week for the match after winning against the Royal Challengers on Monday. We won the home tie quite comfortably, but after a mid-tournament lull they seem to be back on the charge.

It is during these high-pressure phases of tournaments like this that mental strength really counts. All the teams have talent, the question is who will deliver when the stakes are at their highest. Cool, calculating heads will be priceless. I believe we have the right cricketers for this.

We will go into the game full of confidence. Our last victory could not have been much more clinical. I thought it was one of our best all-round games.

The bowling early on was penetrative and we held them in check thereafter. The batting was awesome.

Shaun Marsh was our main batting star. He has been a model of consistency giving us solid starts in every game he has played thus far. He has adapted brilliantly to the T20 game. He appears calm and unruffled at the crease, and he plays proper strokes with a still head and powerful wrists.

It could be that the IPL could be his launching pad into the international game. I know he is already now in the ODI squad, but his performances here will surely have also pushed him closer to the final playing XI. We are fortunate to have him in our team.

We lost Ramnaresh Sarwan this week but Luke Pomersbach showed that we have an able replacement. His hitting against the Royal Challengers was exhilarating. He has huge destructive potential and in the nets is downright dangerous to be within hitting range of. The batting will need to continue to be strong against the good attack that the Delhi Daredevils have. Other aspects of our game are also looking pretty good. The bowling has been getting better and better, and we’re still working really hard on the fielding.

(Gameplan)

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu