Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was pleased with the improvements his team had made during the IPL following their defeat in the final to Rajasthan Royals.

Royals won the inaugural final of the competition by three wickets on the last ball of the game, and despite defeat Dhoni said he was proud of what his side had achieved.

“I think the standard of our cricket was really good and it improved as the tournament progressed,” he said.

“In the final I think we were up to the mark. We lost as a team, the whole team took the responsibility; there were a few errors in batting, a few in fielding and a few in bowling so we are not really unhappy about it. That’s part and parcel of cricket. It went up to the last ball and we lost. We will not get bogged down by it. We will go back to the hotel and enjoy it because that’s what it’s all about.

“We had belief in each other. I am very happy with the improvement. If you see the way we played in the first game and compare it with the last game I am very happy with the performance of the team.”
Source: Joseph Caron/Setanta Sports

Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have lost the Indian Premier League final but every run he scored in the 44-day tournament was worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh.
The Chennai Super Kings captain attracted the highest bid in the landmark IPL auction in February when the Chennai franchise owners shelled out a whopping Rs six crore for the Indian ODI and Twenty20 captain.

Dhoni tallied 414 runs at an average of 41.40 in 14 innings and each run that flowed from his blade was worth Rs 1,44,927.
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Kevin Pietersen was perhaps the only international player who found the IPL dollars subverting. However, he soon underwent a transformation and started campaigning for a centrally contracted English cricketers’ right to play in the IPL – ah! the depraving IPL dollars. The transformed Pietersen with a new-found capitalist propensity is rumored to have been offered a record breaking deal by an IPL franchise.

Rumor has it that Pietersen has been offered a three year contract worth $4 million. It would be a new IPL record for the highest player salaries surpassing Dhoni’s $1.5 million contract with Chennai Super Kings - the current highest - according to the Daily Mail. The newspaper also claims that the deal has been financed by one of India’s wealthiest families, which wants Pietersen in the IPL at any cost.

I can’t really fathom why a family, howsoever wealthy, would be called upon by any franchise to furnish funds for a player acquisition. Perhaps the Daily Mail’s editor went on an impromptu leave and the equivocal phraseology in this report could not be rectified.

The good old method of leading from the front still works. The IPL has shown us that only those leaders who are willing to lead from the front stand a better chance of success. Dhoni is a good example. He is someone who performs when the chips are down. Not many captains or even for that matter players do that. Shane Warne is another example. He has led from the front , by example. He has bowled, batted and fielded with zest. Viru Sehwag too can be a positive impact on his team, provided he fires consistently. The same holds true for Yuvi too. Sourav though not successful himself has managed to win consistently. Rahul Dravid has not been his usual self. Contrary to what many people think , this extremely strong willed person can come good in twenty 20s for the simple reason that he has been such an excellent finisher in ODIs. He lacks the team to do that though. Moreover he is another person who performs well in crisis situations, an area where he has scored over even Sachin in the last decade or so. It remains to be seen how Sachin comes back and performs. It is turning out to be a interesting tournament, since Sachin will now have resurrect his team from the depths it has hit. Every match for Mumbai Indians will be a crunch game from now onwards and it remains to be seen how Sachin responds.

The IPL has been a sort of platform for several aspiring India captains to show their mettle. Dhoni as usually has been his cool and confident self. Nothing seems to faze him and almost everything seems to be falling in place for him right now. No wonder he is hot property. Sehwag , who was once considered a potential Indian captain , before Dhoni overtook him, has shown glimpses of good captaincy. One must admit though that the presence of two miserly bowlers , Mcgrath , Asif and to some extent , Daniel Vettori ( who would be going to England soon) has helped his team’s cause. The new ball duo of Mcgrath and Asif inevitably gets breakthroughs while being stingy with runs. This has helped the team’s and Sehwag’s cause. Yuvraj after the initial fumbles seems to be learning the ropes of captaincy, although he needs to be a bit more responsible with his own batting. Lets keep our fingers crossed and see which of these captains gets to hold the cup come the final day.

Everything, well virtually everything, excepting for their team song, ‘hila kay rakh denge’, seems to have wrong for the Mumbai Indians. Their next opponent is the formidable Kolkotta Knight Riders, against whom, in their current form, no one would like to put their money on Mumbai Indians. Their batting hasn’t clicked and their bowlers have been tonked around by every other team in the competition. In between all these mauling they had to contend with the Bhajji controversy. Add to this the continued absence of Sachin , their cup of woes seems to overflow. Sachin’s presence would have been a psychological boost to the team to at least get the crowd behind them ( the crowd on their part have been patient enough to support them throughout , at least till now). Remember they could not do much in even in a domestic Twenty 20 tourney even with Sachin in the team in the not so recent past. Chaos is the word that one would associate with Mumbai Indians right now. Only an impact player, ala Sehwag or Dhoni could have had some impact on their performance. Although they have Sanath Jayasuriya, he too is sadly out of form. The early recovery of Sachin and some innovative thinking on the part of the team’s management are the only things that can make some difference. Otherwise, the team that was tom tommed as being one of the contenders for finishing on top would definitely finish at the bottom end of the table.

From all the matches played till now , Chennai Super Kings seem to have clearly come out on tops. This despite the fact that their bowling apart from Muralidharan, does not feature any real ‘big’ names. Manpreet Gony seems to be a great prospect and has his performance so far has been excellent to say the least. The team spirit is evident every time they play. A lot of the credit should go to M.S.Dhoni who has got this knack of getting out the best from his players. A skill which some of his illustrious contemporaries including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid lack. Virendar Sehwag seems to be finding his moorings as a captain with Delhi Daredevils , while it is still early days for Yuvraj Singh, who has exactly not shined as a captain. Its still early days though. It seems to be seen what Dhoni is able to achieve with his team without the services of Aussies , Mathew Hayden and Mike Hussey in the coming days. As of now, everything seems to be going right for him.

Mohali/New Delhi: The benchmark has been set. But Saturday will be yet another first in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League. It’s a double treat, with the first game featuring teams led by two of Indian cricket’s poster boys. Yuvraj Singh’s Kings XI Punjab will lock horns with MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in Mohali, and later in the day the Delhi Dardevils will clash with the Rajasthan Royals in the Capital.

A last-minute effort is on to fill the stadium for their opening game. Kings XI Punjab have been putting in the hard yards, not just in their promotional efforts but also on the field. Even the team owner paid a visit to check if all was under control.

And the men who will take the field were equally confident . Their strategy is simple.
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Owner: India Cements Ltd
Established in 1946, they now sell nine million tons of cement per year. The company paid $91 million to acquire the rights of the franchise for the next 10 years.

Coach: Kepler Wessels
South Africa’s first captain post isolation who also played 24 Tests for Australia, Wessels’ last coaching assignment was with Northamptonshire and ended in 2006. Since reaching mutual agreement to part ways with Northants he has been a commentator with South African broadcaster Supersport. Former Indian opener V. B. Chandrasekhar will be the chief selector for the Super Kings.
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CHENNAI: Former India opener and chief selector of Chennai Super Kings VB Chandrasekhar today justified the $1.5 million spent on one dayer skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Indian Premier League (IPL) players’ auction saying that Dhoni’s brand value forced them to raise the initial bid.
“Dhoni is the national youth icon, captain of the one dayer as well as the T20 squad that won the World Cup for us last year. He thus carries a tremendous brand value and hence we decided to raise the ante in our bid to secure him for Chennai Super Kings,” Chandrasekhar said.
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