Now
the time has come for the action to
really sizzle. It is the all or nothing
stage. No more backups, no more coming
back to fight another day. It’s time to
go for the jugular, to kick and fight,
to scrap and use all that you have to
win. Am I looking forward to these
matches or what!
The first teams to cross swords in the
semi final of this amazing competition
are the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi
Daredevils, two of my favorite teams in
the championship. I thought Delhi would
get into the semis a lot easier than
they did primarily because it is a very
well-balanced team with established
professionals, fine batsmen and bowlers
and a mercurial captain in Sehwag. If
they struggled I think it was due to the
fact that they took the pedal off the
gas for a while (Sehwag to blame),
losing matches they could have won,
seeming like they had no plan etc. But
the sheer brilliance of Delhi Daredevils
makes any opposition really wary of it
because Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhawan and co
can just take the game away from you
before you realize it. In such a
situation no captain of the opposition
can, even for a moment, afford to be
dazzled and let even one move go
reactively. He has to be proactive and
on the ball and that is where Warne is
good.
One
thing is for sure. Delhi will continue to play
their natural game, a style that Sehwag always
endorses. To me, how well Warne plans his
strategy against Sehwag and Gambhir will be the
key. Warne will look to restrict Delhi to a
score between 160 and 170 if Delhi bats first. I
suspect that he will bring on the slow bowlers a
tad earlier than normal just to slow things
down, and use Watson later in the innings.
Warne’s tactics against the top order will be
interesting because he will come with a plan A,
B and C and more, and may need all those. If he
does pick up early wickets and the score is
restricted to 170, then Rajasthan is in with a
very good chance. Smith, Asnodkar are combining
very well and Smith will be looking to carry on
from where he left. Yusuf Pathan, Watson and
others have already shown that 8 an over is
pretty comfortable for them and maybe a bit
more.
Looking on from Delhi’s viewpoint, they’d be
better of targeting 175 to begin with and take
whatever else as a bonus. That way they will end
up with a few more, maybe 190. I’d play out
Sohail Tanvir, attack only the loose balls,
specially if I were Sehwag and Gambhir. Winning
a personal battle with him is not as important
as winning the game. The other bowlers are not
as penetrative and they can take their chances
against them. Delhi would look to get Smith out
early and hope that McGrath does some damage up
there. Young Asnodkar plays his game freely and
always offers a chance while Smith can stay put
and take the game away with his vast experience.
Similarly Watson would be one batsmen Delhi
would want to see the back off soon – some
serious planning could really help because
Watson has his weak spots.
Judicious use of bowling resources is the key
for Sehwag and he must leave no loose details on
the field. Because one can be pretty sure that
Warne will not. To me that is the difference –
whichever captain loses focus even for a short
period gives away the edge.
If I have to pick a favorite which is so
difficult in this format of the game, my vote
would still go to Rajasthan Royals (though it
scares me to think of a one sided final). But on
current form and my faith in Warne’s leadership
instincts, Rajasthan for me.
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