Hoshit, they lost again!

I've tried to avoid the points table until the tournament is over but I couldn't resist. They're so far behind everyone it's really scary. If it were not for it being Shah Rukh's team, I would have jeered at it and tell it to go home.

You know what, I'm surprised Mr Joy said they're still going to retain the services of Mr B after he's turned Shah Rukh and his team into a joke.

Apparently, he's suggested the multiple-captaincy to Steve Waugh (captain of the Australian Test cricket team from 1999 to 2004) too but was refused point-blank. It was also a no-show in KKR but we know what he did after that to prove that he has the last word.

Shah Rukh is unable to stem the rot from within? I say, it (the rot) is staring him in the face. Huh.

And now, here're some more words of wisdom from the man who doesn't know when to quit:

Source

Port Elizabeth (May 4th 2009): Never short of ideas, Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan has now floated the idea of having more than four foreign players in the playing XI of the Indian Premier League sides.

Buchanan said he had raised the issue with the IPL authorities and was hopeful that if not this season, such a thing would be allowed in the third edition of the Twenty20 league.

"It is a question that we have posed to IPL a number of times about the involvement of more players on the field. I have personally mentioned that a number of times," Buchanan said.

"Hopefully IPL will look at that more seriously going forward into next season and beyond," the Australian told reporters after the Knight Riders went down to Kings XI Punjab on Sunday.

Buchanan was asked about Mashrafe Mortaza's surprising omission from the playing XI despite the fact that KKR shelled out a whopping USD 600000 to get the Bangladeshi pacer.

"At the moment, we have adopted a batting strategy. So that's where our international effort is. So does that mean that guys that are international bowlers, whether it be (Charl) Langeveldt, Mortaza, (Ajantha) Mendis whoever it might be, their opportunities are limited at this time," Buchanan said in no uncertain terms.

Buchanan was also asked whether there would be a change in captaincy after the side's string of poor shows under Brendon McCullum.

"I don't think we need to answer that one. The answer is no," Buchanan said.

Incidentally, McCullum has decided to quit captaincy if the team fails to reach IPL semifinals.

Kolkata Knight Riders has the lowest point

... I dunno what else to say. At this rate, never mind semi-finals, they'd probably end up at 8th rank as opposed to 6th last year.

For someone who knows nothing of cricket, at first I don't want to give my unsolicited opinion. But after reading so many articles, I feel like saying this anyway. Shah Rukh, weed out your strategists. And if you can replace your coach, it's even better. Also, turn the cricket spotlight away from yourself, please! It's the 2nd year already, time for KKR to get pushed onto the stage. I know you think of them as your kids, but they should be professional enough to handle the limelight and all the poison that comes with it.

I have a deep feeling of angst towards Buchanan right now. I don't understand what he's doing with the team. When the multiple-captaincy strategy was first given out and Dada's fans said it's a ploy to oust him from captaincy, I thought they were just being paranoid. But when he's replaced by McCullum and the multiple captains are nowhere in sight, I begin to believe that they're right. Then came that article stating all the strategists in Buchanan's camp and I went @_@ ...why are his son(s) employed along with him and why are all of them westerners (I don't know if all of them are Australians or not)?

I know Shah Rukh said he's not gonna interfere in the cricketing decisions made by his cricket staff, but he's let them have free reign with his team for 2 years and they're not producing good results. It's time he hardens his soft-hearted sentiment towards them and take some tough actions. At the end of the day, no matter how much love he pours onto the franchise, if they're not winning games, the enjoyment of IPL cricket will soon sour for everyone: him, the team, the fans. It's understandable that one team will lose and one team will win in a game... but there's no point in going on the field if you don't play to win. Honestly, is KKR playing to win right now?

That's my 2-cent worth anyway. I love KKR... the franchise is the most attractive among them all: good line-up, nice image, excellent promotion, and Shah Rukh as co-owner. I want them to be at the top of the heap in IPL 3 (I've given up that impossible dream for IPL 2, sorry). Shah Rukh is a good brand on his own right so I don't think KKR endorsers will give up on him that easily (case in point: the Hyundai collaboration). Just by having him on board ensures maximum interest from oversea viewers regardless of whatever opinion the Indian cricket lovers have towards him. Heck, the only reason why I'm taking an interest in IPL at all is because of Shah Rukh and I'm sure there're thousands, if not millions or billions, of people out there who are the same. Shah Rukh might joke about him being the USP of IPL, but to us SRK oversea fans, what he said is completely true.

We want KKR to win because we want Shah Rukh to win. That's all there is to it. And if that irks cricket lovers everywhere, then we're sorry but we're not gonna be apologetic about this. I'm telling you, write KKR off now and if SRK and his team manage to turn it around and make a winning venture in 5 years time, all you malicious reporters will then churn out article after article of what an ace businessman and sports person he is. We've all seen/read/heard how that's happened before.

I wish him and his team all the best and God bless!

It's like maths...

I've been trying to figure out what the heck are those +ve and -ve points about. After reading up on it, I went @_@ ...so I figured I'd paste it here to confuse everyone else who knows zilch like me about cricket. This article was written for ICC Champions trophy 2006 in India (does the IPL 2 also have the same set of rules?). I'll be pasting the points table at the end of every week's matches.

How to make Points table of a cricket tournament

Points table for a cricket tournament is a set of boxes which catches no attention before half the cricket is played. But after that, it becomes the only important thing.... till the things get straight.

The Semi-final qualifying rule :-
1. Team with maximum number of wins. If a tie,
2. Team with maximum number of Points. If still a tie,
3. Team won between those two. If still equal (which can happen in case of that match yielding a No-Result)
4. Team with maximum number of Bonus Points. And if still equal,
5. Team with better Net Run-rate.

How is Net Run rate calculated :-
To calculate the Net Runrate of any team in a cricket tournament, the integrands you need are total runs made by that team in that tournament, total overs played by them to make those runs and then the same for against them.

Subtract the two decimal numbers and you will have the net run rate. For example - If India played two league matches in a tournament which also included Pakistan and Australia, find the following :

- Who won. And by batting first or second.
- If batting first team won, subtract their run rate from the opposition run rate and you have the net run rate of that cricket match.
- If batting second team won, divide the target by 50 and calculate what was the chasing team run rate when they hit the winning run. The difference will be your net run rate for that match...

Similarly, the losing team will have that much Net Run rate themselves - BUT AS NEGATIVE.
Now add all run rates of all the league matches played by a particular team and thus you will have the Net Run Rate for the, in that cricket tournament.

Note- the simple catch while calculating the Net run rate is that the winning team may not play or bowl their full quota of overs. The moment they win the match, their run rate will be calculated from that many overs while the losing team's Net Run rate will be calculated by full 50 overs...

That's it.

How points are given in league matches :-
Read carefully - (a) Each win : 5 points if team also won the bonus point.(b) Each win : 4 points if Bonus points was not won.(c) A tie or no result - two points each.(d) Loss : 0 points.

How a "bonus point" is won in an ODI :-
If the winning team can keep their run rate 1.25 times more than the team they beat - they win the bonus point from that match. For example, If Australia bats first and make 250 runs, Indian team needs to win the match at a run rate of (250/50)* 1.25. Which equals to 6.25 runs per over. Which in turn means that India must win the match in 40.1 overs (251/6.25) or of course - less than that.

In case India bats first and needs to win the bonus point after scoring 250 from 50 overs, they need to restrict Australia from scoring more than 187 runs. This is calculated as India's batting run rate was 5. To have a run rate 1.25 time better than Australia, India must not let Australia score more than 3.75 (5-1.25) as a run rate. Thus a total of no more than 187 from 50 Overs for Australia while batting second.

I hope it is clear enough to understand. But if it doesn't, leave your query at our cricket forum and I'll send you the answer.

What does a "No result in an ODI" means :-
It's amazing if you can pay attention to what people say when there was no clear winner from a cricket match. Some say it was a draw, some tie, some no result and some something else. The point is that an ODI can't be draw and only two test matches till date have ended up as tie... read on --

When a cricket match, test or one day International finishes with both the teams making exactly same number of runs - the match is called as tie. Otherwise, a draw can only happen in a test match when the dominating team fails to bowl out 20 opposition batsmen (or get them retired hurt), after scoring more runs then them. There is not a single Draw ODI and there never will. BECAUSE THE TERM IF WRONG ITSELF..!!

A "No Result cricket match" means what it says - no result. This is mostly caused by Rain god when even at least 20 over per side match was not possible. This was no draw, no tie but a Simple no result. Equal Points are shared in this case.

This week's schedule

This is the match schedule for this week. Full schedule can be found here. The bolded + red font teams were winners for the respective matches. The gold-ish font is for marking KKR match days.

Date :2009	IST	GMT	Team vs Team	Venue
April, Sat 18	4 pm	7 pm	Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings	Cape Town
April, Sat 18	8 pm	11pm	Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	Cape Town
April, Sun 19	4 pm	7 pm	Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab	Cape Town
April, Sun 19	8 pm	11pm	Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Cape Town
April, Mon 20	8 pm	11pm	Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	Port Elizabeth
April,Tue 21	4 pm	7 pm	Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Durban
April, Tue 21	8 pm	11pm	Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians (abandoned due to rain: 1 point each)	Durban
April,Wed 22	8 pm	11pm	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers	Cape Town
April, Thu 23	4 pm	7 pm	Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils	Durban
April, Thu 23	8 pm	11pm	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals	Cape Town
April, Fri 24	8 pm	11pm	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab	Durban

Points table for the first week (source):