Its strange, we lost a match we so wanted to win... and yet the bitterness of the loss is all but forgotten the moment Mahi, the losing captain speaks to Bhogle, was it Bhogle... oops... will need to check the statistics of the match... It is always so pleasant to watch him... each time... I just get more fascinated. What happens when you get fascinated is that often you see no fault, feel the pain and wish you could just quickly bring back a smile. Mahi makes the Chennai Super Kings the coolest team in the world. It is fascinating to see this team on the field... it's always a team performance... they all either play really well... or inspire their opponents to play even better cricket. Amazing to just get a chance to watch them.
People are talking about Chennai being the possible winners of the IPL this year and yet the statistics as we know them now, Chennai stands at 5... DD won a brilliant match earlier today to take possession of place no. 4. Have to mention the most brilliant catch I've seen of recent times... AB rocked!!! For the next 10 balls, each time the camera focused on him... you could see his expression was still... "that most qualifies for the most exemplary catch of the season... and I still can't believe I took it." Delhi did real good to let Bangalore know that they need a wee bit of grounding once every few matches, that is how the semi finalists will be a last minute surprise... oops... did that sound like I meant that the IPL seems rigged to perfection! Sources tell me that Chennai doesn't stand a chance and that this year, it will be the Mumbai Indians who will walk away with the title... ahem ahem... With Watson coming, Rajasthan Royals will get the much needed extra punch... KKR needs a complete make over... Gilli has Deccan under control... Punjab has such a talented team, just short of confidence when they need it the most... beating Chennai the other night made them a little over confident, which is why it was easy for Rajasthan Royals to destroy their confidence with a few quick wickets... someone needs to tell them that all matches don't end in Super Overs... that they are lucky that Hayden played the mongoose... or they would've lost the match... Oops!! I've done it again... shot my mouth off about things I don't know much about... just observe a trend and give my Honest Opinion about it ;)
Back to my favourite subject...Mahi's return to the team today.
I believe the race to the finals has begun, much to my surprise, for the first time I noticed him upset... the fielding was all over the place, the bowling needed more discipline and I guess the Chennai Boys just needed to lose this one for sure to come back in a big way in the rest of the IPL. Mahi manages, I guess, to bring out the best and worst in his team. They dote on him and seem to be mortified as well... often trying to win, instead of purely winning. I am so proud of Raina, what a brilliant and responsible knock today... 83 off 52 ... being captain for 3 matches has brought out the star in him... maybe... a brilliant idea would be to let the boys be captains for a day in practice sessions for them to understand the power and trust that one person needs to have in the 10 others to be able to lead them to victory, the fact that Mahi is back shouldn't mean that they'll just let go of their individual strengths and WAIT for him to play a captain's innings in every match.
Chennai Chennai Super Kings... well... darlings you ROCK my IPL world... especially your captain... while he so humbly talks about how much every cricketer can learn from watching Sachin play today. I think people can learn so much more just following Mahi more closely. This man has truly fascinated atleast the most non cricket person I've known... ME. There is so much to learn from the determination and confidence and brilliance of Mahi that the lucky people who know him well can vouch for... and my fascination for over 2 and a half years is witness to. I could go on and on and on and on... if given a chance... but then this post won't remain technically fascinating ;)
So, technically, this is my first post on the IPL... just to let you know... that the 4th Umpire is a woman fascinated by the captain Mahi enough to not only support his team, make it her own and learn more about a sport so she can make her 'silly point' about.
Before I sign off... Here's my prediction... Its DD, CSK, Mumbai and KKR in the semi finals and CSK Vs MI in the finals... My gut instinct says its Chennai Super Kings year... its special... not because it's MY team... it's because it's a consistent team filled with fantastic cricketers who deserve to win. All the best to the rest of you and all your teams for the Semi's.
I guess my next CSK post will come on Sunday... when they play RR... a match to truly watch out for... I know I'll be watching it with hardcore RR fans... Mahi will make it look easy... Hayden and Raina will shine bright... for now... Chennai Chennai Super Kings :)
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