CSK batted brilliantly and deserved to win but were unlucky on few occasions. Calling a no ball called when Shakib was caught was the turning point.

I still hold my views that CSK was a better team and KKR were lucky to win.

Well played Dhoni.

Some teams who begin well, just peter off towards a poor finish. RCB and DD were good teams but could not sustain top form. KKR and CSK had begun in poor form and were lucky enough to make it for the play off.

RR missed out and DC too, had their taste of bad luck by losing many matches in spite of scoring more than 180 runs many times.

Analysis

CSK – As on date, CSK is in top form with all players clicking except Raina. The bowlers are doing well and fielding is good. Dhoni is in form after regaining his lost Midas Touch.

KKR – Of late, the team has gathered momentum, mainly due to the efforts of their bowlers. Narine is a match winner. Gambhi and Kallis are leading scorers. fielding is average

Comparison – CSK is strong in batting. KKR is strong in bowling. CSK is like a Shatabdi Express. It will overtake KKR which is like an Express train. A close match is on the cards.

Likely Winner – CSK

Rich and those with black money may not feel the impact of the hike, Middle class group will try and adjust household expenditures somewhere with a pinch of salt. But, what will the lower class/poor people – the so called common man do? He will be forced to think whether to walk down to the office 3 days a week ( instead of driving down on his scooter) or skip at least one meal a day to adjust his monthly budget.

Where are we heading as a nation?  let us all think and try to find a solution to the problem. Protests, Demonstrations, Dharnas or Rolling back the prices by Rs 3 to Rs 4 is no solution.  Here is something very spicy for all of you. Just watch this clipping of the year 2009-  “Vote For Congress” and have a hearty laugh.

Are we going to witness a hike in prices of Diesel, LPG  and Kerosine? God only knows?

Predictions are generally turning out to be wrong because team performance has not been consistent. Last few overs are often being used to score 10 to 12 runs an over to take the game away from opponents.

DD

• Sehwag is the key to their success. He is out of form but may shine with his bat to pull DD out of trouble.
• Team effort is lacking.
• Jayawardene has done his bit. May not score in this game.
• warner is the danger man in form.
• Ross Taylor and Pathan must bat higher up.
• Negi and Rao must come lower down the order.
• Yadav and Aaron must bowl intelligently and not just depend on speed. DD has lost all games because of them.
• Russel should open the innings.
• Must play Agarkar.
• Sehwag’s captaincy skills have let him down. He appears very casual.

CSK

• Team combining well as of now.
• Batsmen have returned to form and bowlers are bowling as per field placements.
• Badrinath, Vijay , Hussey and Dhoni are in form.
• Out of form Raina is likely to score in this match.
• Jakati has improved in bowling- Better than Ashwin.
• Dhoni’s shrewd captaincy will pay dividends.
• Morkel is a danger man who never fails in any match.
• Bravo is a useful all rounder who is in top form.

Likely Winner – DD

As usual, the journey began with the customary welcome announcements as the train rolled out of the station. Refreshments were served and i got busy with my lap top. While sipping tea, i noticed a family of five along with a maid and a servant adjusting handbags and eatables just two rows ahead of me.

The aged lady,their mother was all smiles seeing the mischievous small kid shouting around. the lady was elegant, well dressed and educated. her husband, a business man i guessed, was busy talking on mobile most of the time. The elder daughter was enjoying listening to songs on her lap top. the servant and maid were finding it difficult to control a smart , cute and active child around 3 years old.

He kept watching me and copied whatever i did. He nibbled at his biscuit when i did so and drank his juice when i sipped mine- very intelligent kid. The elders all around watched him with concern and smiled at all his pranks.

Halfway through the journey, few more kids befriended him and they ran up and down the aisle drawing everyone’s attention. We grown ups have hassles making friends. Seldom do we reach out to others to know more about them and share views on matters common to all and discuss various aspects of life.

I always reach out to others. That is my habit. Therefore, i introduced myself to this handsome, dashing businessman and his family. We talked about our profession after exchanging pleasantries. This man in his thirties, was an established businessman dealing in import of heavy machinery. I was impressed by his confidence and personality.

I cut short my conversation with the family and my little friend as, i heard the announcement regarding train reaching my destination shortly. I quickly wished the entire family good luck, happiness and prosperity in life and headed for the door.

Later, on reaching home i wondered why people act stiff and project negative behavior during journeys. Is it the ego or shyness or lack of confidence or some sort of inferiority complex which prevents two people from striking a conversation  in spite of eye contact for a long time? This is a point to ponder upon.

Always remember- Everybody is good unless we think negative and bad about the other person. Be positive in thinking and greet everyone with a smile. Try to make friends as you tread along challenging paths of life.

Good Luck.

CSK – Erratic team with a confused and cool captain in Dhoni. No player is in good form. Any batsman can chip in runs. Morkel impacts in bowling. Hussey and Murali may score. Raina will play a crucial role.

MI – Strong on paper but zero results on ground. Rohit Sharma, Rayudu and Gibbs will score. Tendulkar and Harbhajan should be rested. Both out of form. Mallinga will pick up wickets. Pollard will play a crucial role.

Comparison -  Both teams playing below potential. Both are equally balanced based on performance . Anybody can win. Team batting second has more chances of winning. MI have an edge due to stronger batting line up.

Likely Winner – MI

Finally,the day has come for the final count down to decide the champion. DD take on KKR in Qualifier 1 in  Pune on 22 May.

Both the teams have been plucky in performance on their bad days.

DD 

• Sehwag’s injury and poor form is a concern. He will either score runs or get out cheaply.
• Much will depend on Jayawardene, Warner and Ross Taylor to pile up a huge score.
• Ross Taylor is in great form and might score more than 5o runs.
• Pathan will be useful and Morkel will be devastating with the bowl.
• Yadav and Aaron need to control length else, they will be thrashed.
• Agarkar is experienced and may be played.
• Middle order can not speed up run rate.
• A huge score of around 190 may be difficult to chase.

KKR

• Team dependent on Gambhir and McCullum.
• Confidence shattered due to plucky performance in past.
• Kallis is out of form and looks tired- not much expected from him.
• Tiwary, Pathan and Bhatia are just average and succumb under pressure.
• Shakib if played will score runs and pick up wickets.
• Strong spin attack in Abdullah, Narine.
• Narine is the backbone of team. If he fails, team will fail.
• Lee is spirited and may be played.

Comparison

• DD is a better knit team with each player contributing and enjoying the game.
• Strong batting line up of Delhi is a deterrent for the opposition.
• KKR looks like a tired team playing under pressure.
• KKR bowling is better.
• Overall, DD is a better team and deserves to move on.

Likely Winner- DD

The local bodies/organizations in cities and towns in all states  had conducted various activities in the form of bicycle rides by enthusiast school children, area cleaning campaigns, anti polythene drive and garbage removal efforts in order to spread awareness among masses about keeping the environment clean and pollution free.

I happened to be in Phagwara on this great day. Phagwara is a fast developing and a vibrant township near Jalandhar, in Punjab. JCI Phagwara Elite had conducted a bicycle driving campaign by school children for about 10 kms. The organizing committee of JCI headed by Mr Pankaj Gautam had planned the event with perfection and executed it with precision. I could see thousands of parents present there to encourage everyone.

The event was nicely covered by Mr Zafar Iqbal who interviewed children and spoke to the organizers. However, adequate coverage was not given to this drive. At the finish point of the Bicycle drive, proper TV coverage should have been provided.

Collecting 1000 school children at a time and place was a herculean effort and speaks volumes of the painstaking efforts of Mr Gautam over many days. This was also an attempt to enter the Limca Book of Records by way of forming a chain/wave of 1000 cyclists on the road.

While efforts of people on ground  needs to be lauded, the coverage of the event by NDTV in their studio must be criticized. Four anchors- Priyanka Chopra, Pariniti Chopra, Cyrus and Vikram failed to give due importance and coverage to the event. Their focus was on giggling, laughing and overacting while discussing stupid topics related to Bollywood and cracking personal jokes. They were busy promoting films, songs and interviewing film personalities.

There was little/scant coverage of Greenathon 4 on ground. Thousands who were bearing the scorching heat were not even shown on TV.

Where was the need for Mallaika Arora to sway on “Munni Badnaam Hui” and “Anarkali Disco Chali” ? For God’s sake, why can’t NDTV organize such serious events of  national importance  in true spirit and with elegance. My due apologies to the NDTV organizers and the show hosts for a pathetic performance.

Overall, the country was fully involved in Greenathon4 but, NDTV channel and Anchors failed to do adequate justice to this great event.

Two out of form teams will face each other. RR is a shade better than MI due to strong batting line up. MI have better bowling line up but, their batsmen are out of form.

Likely Winner- RR

Look at today’s match. Why PWI could not beat KKR?. PWI played with low morale and never looked interested in increasing run rate. same thing happened with RR yesterday.

I will not analyze each team. We all know each player by now.

RCB wins all matches because of Gayle. If he does not click, the team will collapse like nine pins.

DC is a very strong team. They will beat RCB for sure on 20 May.

Likely Winner- DC