[Shumi_21]

Even as fun and nostalgic it was, I am concerned a 43 year old, 5 year retired MSD took down at the "peak of his powers" Pandya. It's quite evident, coupled with his batting performance, that Hardik the captain is affecting Hardik the player. Want to also recall the following instances:

1. Hardik opened the bowling in Ahmedabad & Hyderabad, both bigger grounds than Wankhede. At Mumbai, he didn't bowl at all, preferring to hide behind a young Coetzee & Shepherd, both of whom are not powerplay bowlers at all! Romario in fact is like a Pollard or Dube, more batter than bowler. Pandya bowled in yesterday's game after a couple of commentators speculated he might be injured and went at almost 17 rpo.

2. Pandya came in to bat at 4 in the game against RCB, after Ishan & Surya had made the game one sided. But in the game against CSK, he preferred to send Tilak after Pathirana's two wicket over, instead of coming himself, especially after conceding 27 in the last over.

3. Similarly he chose to hide behind Tim David, who's not the best against spin, rather than face 3-4 deliveries from Rashid Khan in the game against GT.

It seems to me that Hardik is running challenging situations, and is walking in to bat/bowl when it suits him rather than the team. And this is the only reason why I do not rate him as a captain.

Wins & losses will happen, but a leader can't be seen to be timid. He won't have the respect/confidence of his players especially if the timid leader is replacing Rohit Sharma.

[ValarMorghulis]

If Hardik can't consistently and decently bowl 4 overs in a T20 match, he doesn't deserve a place in the playing XI solely on the basis of his batting.

There are much better batters out there. Heck Dube is a better bat than him.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Shumi_21

Even as fun and nostalgic it was, I am concerned a 43 year old, 5 year retired MSD took down at the "peak of his powers" Pandya.

What is even more concerning is that MSD is walking in ahead of Jadeja who is apparently Team India's designated finisher at WT20, along with Hardik Pandya! Btw, Hardik has never ever been a death bowler even at his peak, so not surprised MSD took him down.

[NPV]

RCB seem to be heading to one of their biggest defeats today going by how many runs they’ve conceded in 16 overs - 223/2 now in 16.2 and counting. SRH could beat their own record of 272 which is the highest ever score in the IPL!

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by NPV

RCB seem to be heading to one of their biggest defeats today going by how many runs they’ve conceded in 16 overs - 223/2 now in 16.2 and counting. SRH could beat their own record of 272 which is the highest ever score in the IPL!

Beaten, by a good 10 runs! 287 runs scored in 20 overs, with over 40 boundaries hit. Second highest team total in all T20 cricket.

[Revvatron]

It would be better to remove chinnaswamy and wankhede from the list of grounds. Atleast make the pitches slow, give something to bowlers.

[VWAllstar]

More than anything I am worried that DK can again make a comeback to the Indian Team for T20 WC.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Beaten, by a good 10 runs! 287 runs scored in 20 overs, with over 40 boundaries hit. Second highest team total in all T20 cricket.

In the end it wasn’t about the smaller margin of defeat at all (though when looking at the scorecard one may get the perspective that it was well fought and quite close)!
RCB’s bowling has been downright pathetic all through this season and they were well and truly beaten black and blue by SRH; this game was lost in the first 15 overs of outstanding batting by SRH!

Once a team concedes so many runs, chasing them down is almost impossible albeit for some miracle, this is akin to chasing big fourth inning totals in test matches (damage was done earlier by conceding those many!).

God bless RCB. Truly, they’re just a brand building, social media content team that also plays cricket (as Mr. Nags said in one of his shows).

[am1m]

I thought DK did a pretty good job, never expected RCB to get even that close. Usually a team just collapses in the face of such a big target.

Either way, wondering why RCB are this consistently bad, across seasons. Is it time for Virat to go? Do the owners need to change something? I remember reports of Dravid and Charu Sharma not being too happy when Mallya and Mallya jr. were calling the shots. Is it the same situation with stupid owners meddling?

[harry10]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

More than anything I am worried that DK can again make a comeback to the Indian Team for T20 WC.

I hope not.
He has declared retirement after this season ends. Let's stick with that because each time he does something in IPL and is selected for tournament and then flops there.

Right now 3 candidates look most viable for WK slot.
Samson, Pant and Ishan.

Ishan is an opener. Can't play well after powerplay and is absolutely ridiculous in middle order so his selection won't make sense.

Samson is also suited at 3 or 4 and both those slots won't be open. Can he play 5 or 6 as a finisher role is a big question.

Pant is doing well since his return. Plays 5 or 6 only so best suited among all. Plus he has the habit of playing good knocks when team is in pressure at highest level which is the big issue with most Indian cricketers. If he keeps doing well in further matches he can be the front runner.

Jitesh and Jurel aren't doing anything of note to make their case. Plus with their inexperience I don't see them making the cut.

KL Rahul under no condition should be anywhere near the squad. In fact I will take DK over him any day.

I believe end of April is cut off for squad announcement so next 10 day performances will matter.

On a side note I hate these 250 run matches. Bowlers are redundant and act like bowling machines. Their is no thrill or excitement. IPL has become a joke of a tournament like PSL.

[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by harry10

KL Rahul under no condition should be anywhere near the squad. In fact I will take DK over him any day.

I agree, KL should not be in T20 squad but we all know he will make the cut. Infact he has been scoring at higher than his usual strike rate in last couple of innings so they got their excuse to include him

Originally Posted by harry10

On a side note I hate these 250 run matches. Bowlers are redundant and act like bowling machines. Their is no thrill or excitement. IPL has become a joke of a tournament like PSL.

It is beyond ridiculous now. Same thing happened in Sharjah when we were playing IPL there, but half way through tournament pitch became so slow that we were seeing low scores. I don't think that will happen here. It is frustating to see even mishits going beyond the boundary.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

More than anything I am worried that DK can again make a comeback to the Indian Team for T20 WC.

He has declared his retirement post this IPL and recently took a dig at Afridi for making comebacks post-retirement announcements. So, I think, he has made up his mind to hang his boots.

Originally Posted by NPV

...RCB’s bowling has been downright pathetic all through this season...

And they had the audacity to let Chahal go! The entire squad is weird.

Originally Posted by am1m

...Either way, wondering why RCB are this consistently bad, across seasons. Is it time for Virat to go? Do the owners need to change something?

VK might retire from cricket with RCB (like Dhoni). I think RCB lost it at the auctions with such pathetic buys. That said, they have never nurtured any young players either. The players that have performed badly in RCB are turning out to be heroes in other teams. Dressing room atmosphere??

Originally Posted by harry10

...
Samson, Pant and Ishan.
...
KL Rahul under no condition should be anywhere near the squad. In fact I will take DK over him any day.
...

On a side note I hate these 250 run matches. Bowlers are redundant and act like bowling machines. Their is no thrill or excitement. IPL has become a joke of a tournament like PSL.

I'd go for Pant as main keeper (given he keeps performing) and IK as backup. Samson has been given numerable chances and he never converts them at the big stage.
Who knows, Rohit might take KL as a batsman in the squad.

PS: An exciting chase of 150 on a bowling pitch is much better than watching this mindless match.

[Eddy]

Yesterday was a snooze fest really. I just watched the Hyderabad innings off and on once I realized that there'd be no contest between bat and bowl. I then switched off completely once Virat got out.

RCB is done and dusted. Maxwell has pulled out, and I hope Kohli does too. This cannot be good for him for sure. I saw him (via hero cam) yesterday in the field and he looked down. Not his regular chirpy self at all.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Eddy

RCB is done and dusted. Maxwell has pulled out, and I hope Kohli does too. This cannot be good for him for sure. I saw him (via hero cam) yesterday in the field and he looked down. Not his regular chirpy self at all.

Kohli and Faf seem totally out of place in this RCB Squad and I feel for them, hate to see them linger on like this. But Kohli seems to be adamant on being with RCB only, so I’m not sure how this will pan out. The biggest change needed for RCB is in the non-playing team management side first which can then fuel a complete overhaul of the players in the squad, enough said!

[Aakash118]

It may sound harsh but the fact is that DK has won India more T20Is than Pant. I’m not saying that he should be picked for WC, that is a different matter altogether. But personally I would anyday rate DK higher than Pant as a T20 player. Pant has been fabulous in tests but I’m sorry to say that he has played 60 odd T20i just because of his reputation rather than performances. Though I hope that all this changes this time as he is coming back after a big setback in life.