Story Mumbai Indian's Road to the Top[C07]Mumbai Indians set to chase

[freddiw]

Adam Gilchrist(WK)

Shahid Afridi
Matthew Hayden
Sanath Jayasuriya
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar (c)

Shane Watson
Shafid Afridi
Andrew Symonds
Shaun Pollock
Muttiah Muralithiran

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Thanks for ur teams guys I will do an update of the first match tomarrow....stay tuned...

 

[Arko]

Adam Gilchrist (wk)/(C)

Matthew Hayden
Sachin Tendulkar
Michael Hussey
Shaun Marsh

Shane Watson
Sreesanth
Brett Lee
Shane Warne

 

[ursonly11]

Adam Gilchrist(W)

Batsman

Virender Sehwag(C)
Gautam Gambhir
Shaun Marsh
Sanath Jayasuriya
Graeme Smith

Bowlers

Glenn Mc Grath
Shoaib Akhtar
Sahun Pollock
Albie Morkel
Shane Watson

 

[shantanu_rooney]

18th April ,

A spectacle beyond imagination​

Breathtaking ? if there?s one word to describe the opening ceremony of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) that took place at Bangalore today, that would be just the right word.

There were a lot of rehersals taking place in the Bangalore stadium for last weeks and it was looking like to be a big event but if was rather a brataking event when all folded on the ' D-day '

The Shankar-Ehsan-Loy trio got the crowd tapping their feet to popular Indian numbers and that intensity just seemed to rub off onto every single person in the audience. The orchestra, with artists playing Scottish tunes, was impressive, but a little too loud at times ? All could actually feel windowpanes vibrating to the beats of the band. The stilt walkers did their jigs under the flashing lights accompanied by girls dancing inside huge plastic balloons. The most memorable part of the day, for those in the stands, was acrobats performing right in their midst ? there was one acrobat performing to the music in four different stands in the stadium, and their performance held the attention of every single person in the stands; their performances were greeted with a loud cheer of appreciation at the end of the show.

The Redskins Cheerleaders, dressed in red, yellow and white, and flashing their red pompoms, were an instant hit among the spectators. The laser show, said to be the most expensive laser show at least in India, was beyond the realms of imagination. Acrobats then slid down from rooftops with flags of the teams ? that was another concept that was well received by the crowd.

With fireworks adding to the color, the show was one massive spectacle.

Those who saw the inauguration ceremony of the 1996 World Cup will want to forget that in a hurry, for what they saw today was simply mind blowing ? this has now set the standards for future cricket events, most notably the 2011 World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The captains of the eight franchise teams where called upon the stage and there was a lot of roars for the current Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni but the most came when the name of Sachin tendulkar was taken by Ravi Shastri . He is such a great legend of Indian cricket . Each captain was told to sign below the franchise logo . Afterwards chairman of IPL Lalit Modi marked the first ever edition of the Indian Premier League as open .

Hats off to the organizers ? the IPL and the Royal Challengers Bangalore for producing an unforgettable spectacle.

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Awesome update! Looking forward to the start of IPL

 

[Cricketman]

Pshh, Chennai will topple MI easy

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Pshh, Chennai will topple MI easy

And Deccan Chargers will topple Chennai

 

[formula1man]

Can't wait for another Shan super story

 

[Highlander999]

Great work mate, nice opening ceremony and good commentary

 

[shantanu_rooney]

18th April 2008

Rahul Dravid had won the toss and had elected to bowl first one what looked as a good bowling pitch . Had Dravid done the right decision ? Here are the two lineups .

Bangalore Royal Challengers : 1)Rahul Dravid(c) 2)Wasim Jaffer 3)Virat Kohli 4)Jacques Kallis 5)Mark Boucher(wk) 6)Ross Taylor 7)Balchandra Akhil 8)Praveen Kumar 9)Zaheer Khan 10)Dale Styen 11)Anil Kumble

Kolkata Knight Riders : 1)Sourav Ganguly(c) 2)Brendon McCullum(wk) 3)Ricky Ponting 4)David Hussey 5)Akash Chopra 6)Wriddhiman Saha 7)Laxmi Shukhla 8)Iqbal Abdulla 9)Shaoib Akthar 10)Ishant Sharma 11)Ashoke Dinda

Captian Ganguly and Brendon McCullum opened the batting for the Knight Riders . They were of to a great start . Both Ganguly and McCullum looked very aggressive and went after the opening bowlers Styen and Zaheer Khan . But soon Zaheer Khan got the better of Ganguly in his 3rd and final over of the spell . Gnaguly was lbw for 26 . Aussie captain Ponting came in . But he just lasted 2 balls as he was cleaned bowled by Kallis for 4 . David Hussey also couldn't make a major impact on the game as he departed for 9 and Steyn knocked his stumps off . Akash Chopra came in . A small partnership was developed between McCullum and Chopra . But Kallis got McCullum . McCullum was caught by Boucher and he departed for 46 . Knight Riders were in trouble as their top ordered was back in the pavilion . Keeper Saha didnt last long as he was bowled by Praveen Kumar for just 2 runs .

Knight Riders needed a partnership and they got a healthy 63 runs partnership between Akash Chopra and Laxmi Shukla . Both of them hammered the Anil Kumble , Virat Kohli and Akhil to all parts of the ground . Akash Chopra reached his 50 of just 39 balls . A very valuable 50 for the Knight Riders . Kallis was brought in the attack and he struck the important wicket of Akash Chopra . Chopra was caught by Dravid at extra cover . Chopra finished his entertaining innings at 60 . Laxmi Shukhla didnt stay long as he was bowled by a yorker of Zaheer Khan . Shukhla departed for 27 . Shoaib Akthar was caught at long on by Kumar of Steyn . Akthar departed for 0 . Iqball Abdula the Mumbai spinner scored 14 runs of the last over which included 2 sixes over mid wicket and long on . His six of the last ball set Royal Challengers Bangalore a target of 193 runs .

Kolkata Knight Riders 192/8
(Akash Chopra 60 , Brendon McCullum 46 , Laxmi Shukla 27 , Sourav Ganguly 26 . Jack Kallis 3/36 , Dale Styen 2/39 , Zaheer Khan 2/47 , Praveen Kumar 1/42)

Captain Dravid and Wasim Jaffer opened the batting for the Royal Challengers in front of the huge Bangalore crowd who included some bowllywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan ower of the Knight Riders , Juhi Chawla , Arjun Rampal and the gorgeous and sexy Katrina Kaif the brand ambassador of Royal Challengers Bangalore . Well it was completely a new format for the openers as they are known mostly for their great performances in test matches . And it just proved to be a different format for Jaffer as he struggled to get of the mark and he was caught by Akash Chopra for a duck of Shaoib Akthar's first over . Virat Kohli the Indian under 19 skipper too didn't last long as he was bowled by Shoaib in the same over and Royal Challengers were 3/2 . Well Royal Challengers needed a huge partnership between Jack Kallis and Rahul Dravid . And Bangalore crowd was entertained by a huge 102 runs partnership between them . Rahul Dravid scored a great knock of 68 runs which included 3 sixes and 6 fours before he was caught by David Hussey at fine leg of Ashoke Dinda . Jaques Kallis scored a valuable 38 runs including 2 sixes and 2 four but then he was bowled by the young spinner Iqball Abdulla . Next Abdulla got rid of Mark Boucher . Boucher was bowled trying to sweep . And now the Bangalore Royal Challengers were 110/5 . Ross taylor scored just 3 runs before he was caught at long on by Shukla of Abdulla who was on a role .

Akhil didn't last long as he was run out for a duck and the Bangalore batting was just falling apart at 115 / 7 . Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan could even get a partnership going as Zaheer Khan was caught at long off by Abdulla of Dinda and Bangalore now were 115/8 . The tail played an important job by scoring runs . Praveen Kumar and Dale Styen looked in smashing form as they smashed Dinda and Ganguly everywhere for fours . A useful 27 runs partnership was made between these two before Ganguly bowled Kumar for a good 20 runs . Kumble removed all frustration on the Knight Riders bowlers as he scored quick 15 runs of 7 balls including 3 fours . But then he was cleaned bowled by Ishant Sharma and with this Bangalore Royal Challengers were all out for 169 in 18 overs .

Bangalore Royal Challengers 169 all out
(Rahul Dravid 68 , Jack Kallis 38 , Praveen Kumar 20 , Dale Styen 18* , Iqbal Abdulla 4/29 , Shoaib Akthar 2/29 , Ashoke Dinda 2/44 , Sourav Ganguly 1/10)

Iqbal Abdulla was handed the Man of the Match award by Shah Rukh Khan for scoring 14 runs 6 balls and taking 3 wickets for 29 runs .

Akash Chopra was given the DLF Maximum Sixes award for scoring 2 sixes in his splendid innings .

Shah Rukh Khan looked very happy as his team Kolkata Knight Riders had defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling opening match of the DLF IPL by 23 runs .

 

[saladguy]

good update!!!!! KUTGW!

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Good win for the Knight Riders...Nice presentation!

 

[Pakistani Army]

Great presentation Shantanu!

 

[formula1man]

Nice win for Knight Riders.
Good story, as always