A fan is back to blogging this season...

Picture sourced from official instagram page of KKR (@kkriders)

We’re approaching the fag end of yet another thrilling IPL (this tournament just gets better with every passing year, doesn’t it?), and it’s fair to say that it’s probably the worst time to be a KKR fan. In fact, as I write this, one would rather be an RCB fan right now given that they’ve just won three thrilling games on the trot and KKR have, well...Ouch, it hurts to even say the number 5! 

Rekindling a dormant blog destination 

Over the course of time, I have realized that when there are feelings within me that play with my mind a lot, I choose to deal with it, or rather channelize it, through a blog piece. Speaking of blogs, last year, my emotional side propelled me to create a separate blog destination altogether to channelize my passion for the Kolkata Knight Riders, and I’d like to believe that I largely succeeded in what I tried to achieve by setting it up in the first place. I didn’t think that I would keep it active beyond last season and I was right, because we’ve played 10 games this season and I haven’t written a single letter. I was right, until today. In keeping with the genesis of every one of my blog posts, my feelings this season have reached a point where I just had to let it out. I’d probably have written a one off piece and published it on my primary blog but since I have a ready destination that is specific to KKR, I thought might as well put it uphere. Also, I have killed two birds with one stone because not only am I dealing with my plethora of thoughts, I am re-activating this blog and I feel really good about doing so.


Reflecting on a mediocre season and looking ahead to brighter things

Right then, after a dream start to the season, we’ve seemed to hit a roadblock as far as winning is concerned. 5 losses on the trot soon started to feel like stabs of a knife for a fan, one for each loss which got deeper with every one of those 5 games, especially the one wherein we could’ve chased down the 200 plus target set by RCB if it wasn’t for some unfathomable batting in the first 12 overs of that chase. No, I’m not going to use this chance to bash Uthappa because as angry and frustrated as I feel when I think about his run this season and the way he batted in that game in particular, that 2014 season comes to mind wherein he literally took us all the way purely with his delightful batting. So where do we go from here? CSK, Mumbai and Delhi seem to have booked their slots for the play-offs for sure, so we need to somehow overtake a Bairstow-less and soon to be Warner-less SRH on the points table by winning all our remaining matches whilst simultaneously getting that NRR up, in order to ensure qualification. How, just how did we manage to dig this hole for ourselves after a dream start this season? Let’s see – Shoddy fielding, questionable team selections, uninspiring captaincy by DK (in contrast to his brilliant leadership last season), poor approach to building an innings, cringe-worthy death bowling and last but not the least, seemingly erroneous management of Andre Russel’s batting position. Alright, that’s as much as I can reflect on the season so far and a fan can only think of climbing up the ladder from here because can things get any worse? 


My eleven for tonight..

We’re back to the den today and we’ve surprisingly lost too many games at the fortress this time around, so it’s high time we gave the Eden crowd something to cheer about. I can only sit miles away and think of the ideal team for today, but ultimately the team that takes the park is obviously not in my control. My team for today (in the batting order I’d like to see): Lynn, Narine, Rana, Russel, Uthappa, Gill, DK, Kuldeep, Prasidh, Prithvi Raj, Matt Kelly.


Some quick thoughts on my team for tonight:


·         Uthappa and Kuldeep deserved the axe for the last game and they got their break too. But the outcome was some horrible team selection and a highly imbalanced side. Both Robbie and our Chinaman are too good to be left out again, and I can only hope that they bounce back with a bang tonight
·       Yes, Gill seems to struggle at no. 7 because his natural position is higher up the order. But nothing succeeds the fact that Russel needs more balls to face and if that’s the case, Gill has no option but to come in five down
·        Lynn and Narine need a bare minimum 50 plus partnership to help the middle order get the much desired cushion. Oh, and Lynn needs to get that strike-rate up, yes?
·     Prithvi Raj, the young Andhra southpaw who made his debut in the last game showed great confidence, and he deserved to get Bairstow out in the early stages of that second innings. It’s safe to say that if it wasn’t for that Cariappa drop catch, things could’ve shaped up differently and the result could have been different. Speaking of Cariappa, he had a nightmare of a game and doesn’t find a place in my squad tonight
·       Why do we keep picking Piyush Chawla? I’m sorry but he’s not a match winner by any stretch of imagination, his bowling effectiveness is fading away, he’s slow on the field, and he consumes too many dot balls in crunch situations. PC gets the axe as far as my team for tonight is concerned. He probably needs a break like Robbie and Kuldeep
·        I frankly did not know who Matt Kelly was until he was drafted into the team mid-season. Naturally, I haven't seen him bowl either other than get glimpses of him in the nets thanks to an over enthusiastic KKR instagram account. But I just think that he might be that surprise element that tilts the game in our favor tonight. Rajasthan haven’t played him before, so he might just spring a positive outcome for us. He’s tall and looks quick!
·         DK needs to show some smartness as skipper tonight – enough is enough!
·    Last but not the least (and this pointer is more emotional than rational), I understand that a team cannot depend on one man to win games over and over again, but a fan who desperately wants to see his team win wants Russel to flex his muscle yet again tonight

I feel buoyant about our chances tonight and I hope the team can deal with the negativity of 5 losses in a row. The only reason we can still qualify is because we won games at the start of the season. It’s all about getting that lost mojo and spark back.

This is my first blog post for this season, and hopefully not my last because a blog is meant to be active for crying out loud. Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo!