Kochi misses out on Ganguly, Pune bags Dada in a surprise move

In a surprise move, Pune Warriors signed Saurav Ganguly as a replacement for injured Ashish Nehra for the rest of IPL4 season. Kochi Tuskers management were keen to approach Dada as a replacement for Mahela Jayawardene , if skipper leaves early responding to Sri Lankan Cricket board’s call.

Saurav will participate in Pune Warriors practice camps from today, however unsure to play for next game against Mumbai Indians.

Earlier when Kochi approached to sign Dada, Pune objected strongly against it and BCCI didn’t approve Kochi’s move. Later on, when Steven Smith was injured, Kochi approached to sign Dada for a second time, but BCCI objected citing the reason on higher base price for Ganguly when compared with Steven Smith.

Anyway ,Kochi will surely miss Dada as a replacement skipper, if Mahela leaver by May 16th.

Kochi took sweet revenge by crashing Delhi in style

Kochi Tuskers took sweet revenge on Delhi Devils by defeating Delhi queit comfortably today. Earlier a brilliant show by pacers contained Delhi to a score of only 140 runs in 20 overs, thanks to brilliant bowling by all seamers ,RP Singh, Sreesanth, new man Prashant Parameswaran ( this tall man impressed every one by dismissing Sehwag cheaply in his first over and that was the turning point! ) and Vinay Kumar. Chasing 141, Brendon McCullum went berserk and and played all shots he likes, good support by Micheal Klinger and generous extras given by Delhi bowlers added fuel to the skyrocketing run rate which maintained at 10 per over. Later on, Brad Hodge’s classic shots along with little Parthiv Patel’s convincing smashes made Kochi’s win much earlier than expected. Kochi finished the game in style by scoring 141 in just 15 overs!

Feroz Shah Cortla stadium witnesed one of most bizzre games in IPL4. Eralier in the first innings, Vinay Kumar’s dead ball was hit for a 4 by Nagar, later on, Umesh Yadav’s bodyline no ball was sent for a huge six by McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene got run out during an LBW appeal !

Scores

Delhi : 140/6 ( 20 Overs )

Kochi: 141/3 (15 overs )

Man of the Match: Prashant Parameshwarwn ( debut match – he was signed only few days back by KTK, seeing his bowling at nets,Mahela got impressed and took him in the playing 11 for today! )

Rejuvenated Kochi seeking revenge against Delhi today on return match

Kochi Tuskers again facing Delhi Daredevils one more time, back to back, just after two days of their defeat. Match is scheduled today at 8.00 PM at Delhi.

Kochi Tuskers, not in their best of form, lost last three matches consecutively against Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils and trailing at number 9 in the point table, today seek revenge on Delhi Daredevils against their humiliating defeat in the last match at Kochi. Kochi team, looked brilliant with their consecutive victories over the giant teams of IPL at one point of time, fell down and lost their winning track suddenly. Self realization of strengths and weakness will be key factor in progressing further from this point. Good news is that Kochi bowlers are performing consistently well and only battling line up needs depth and experience to build partnerships, which will be the key factor to win further games.

Motivated Delhi side is eager to continue their winning momentum today, but lacks consistency in bowling and batting. Virendra Sehawag’s patient batting only helped Delhi to get back on track and their further journey largely depends on the consistency of Sehwag and Warner.

Kochi, looking for a turn around, may go for some changes in the final 11 depending on the pitch conditions while Micheal Klinger may continue as opener today.

KTK reduced ticket prices for the only game left at Kochi

Ticket prices reduced to Rs. 250 and Rs. 400 ( earlier Rs.400 and Rs.600 ) for KTK vs KKR game on May 5, Thursday, 4.00 PM at Kochi, which is the only game left for Kochi for the IPL4 season. This will give all cricket fans from Kerala a wonderul opportunity to watch a live cricket match from the stadium at a very affordable price.

Lets fill the stadium with our fans …. go grad your tickets now… BUY TICKETS

Kochi Tuskers may shift home ground from Kochi for the next IPL season

After loosing to Deccan Chargers cheaply, Mahela Jayawardene expressed concerns about the suitability of picth for T20 matches. Behaviour of ball was quiet unpredictable after pitching and even Ishant Sharma couldn’t believe that his ball making the magic destruction for Kochi Tuskers.

Adding to these worries, Kochi Corporation started locking horns with KTK management on entertaintment tax issues. Things got heated when Kochi Corporation officials who came to inspect the stadium occupancy during the Wednesday’s play , were made to stand outside the stadium for three hours. Mayor suspects that KTK management is trying all ways to escape the entertaintment tax of 24%, which was already discounted by 50% only KTK IPL matches. Rest of the states charge only 5% of entertaintment tax whereas in Kerala the tax is as high as 48%.

Getting enough spectators is yet another issue being faced at Kochi Stadium. Having a seating capacity of 52000, stadium was only half full for all the matches so far. During the last match, Kerala police chased some trespassers who tried to enter teh stadium without tickets.

All these worries, may force the KTK management think of looking for other states for their home ground from next IPL season.

Venugopal Rao’s brother Gnaneswara Rao signed with Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Yaleeka Gnaneswara Rao (born August 25, 1984 in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh), is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. Rao is a middle order batsman and was selected to represent the India U-19 cricket team in 2000/01 and was part of the India squad during the 2000/01 U-19 Cricket World Cup. Rao was selected as the captain for the tour of England (2002 season) though he was unable to play the first Test and Maninder Bisla was the stand-in captain for the match. The series was lost in the third Test as India lost by 185 runs.

Rao made his debut in Ranji Trophy domestic cricket in the 2000/01 cricket season for his home state – AP and currently represents the AP team in Indian domestic cricket.

VIRENDER SEHWAG HELPS DELHI DAREDEVILS ROUT KOCHI TUSKERS KERALA

Virender Sehwaghelps Delhi Daredevils rout Kochi Tuskers Kerala– Indian Premier League news

Delhi Daredevils have beaten Kochi Tuskers Kerala by a handsome margin of 38 runs in their crucial encounter of the Indian Premier League at Kochi.

Delhi’s victory was led by their captain Virender Sehwag who played a blinder of an innings to make sure that his team gets two important points.

It was a difficult track at Kochi and the ball was keeping low with inconsistent pace. Batsmen from both teams struggled on the pitch but Sehwag played an innings which turned out to be the difference between the two sides.

The Delhi captain scored 80 runs off just 47 balls in which he struck 8 boundaries and 5 towering hits out of the park.

Sehwag said after the match that he was very happy with his innings as it won the game for the Daredevils. Sehwag admitted that the wicket was very difficult to bat on and he thought 120 or 130 will prove to be a fighting score. However, he was very happy when his team reached 157 runs in their innings.

The Delhi bowlers bowled well in the second innings and Sehwag said that he had asked his bowlers to bowl within the stumps.

Sehwag said, “I am absolutely happy. Once we crossed 120, I thought we had got par. We were very happy when we reached 158. I was hitting the ball nicely and it was obvious that I had to bat longer. I told myself if I just stayed longer we could get 130, a good total on this wicket. Just told my bowlers to bowl straight and the wicket would do the rest.”

Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene also praised Sehwag’s innings and said that it was important to get him out early but that did not happen. He added that 157 runs were a little too much on the track and admitted that his bowlers did not bowl well.

“130-140 would have been competitive, but 160 is tough. Viru batted really well. It was crucial to get him early. The way we bowled in the last 10, we didn't have any control over things. The best thing was to bat without thinking too much about it. We didn't bowl good areas,” said Jayawardene.

Delhi needed this victory badly as they were reeling at the bottom of the points table before the match. However, this is not the case anymore as Sehwag’s match-winning knock has made sure that his team jumps up to number seven in the points table.

The Daredevils have not done that well in the current season but their management would be hoping that they can raise their game in the crunch part of the tournament and carry on with the same momentum which they got against the Tuskers.