Thoughts on the IPL

Thanks to those awfully nice people on ITV4, I've been watching a fair bit of the IPL coverage thus far.

Regular readers will know I've never been a fan of the 20-over format, but I have to admit to being impressed by what I've seen so far.

The coverage has been good, though Graeme Hick needs to relax a little in the studio. It is nice to see a woman doing well as host (Mandira Bedi is nicer looking than Mark Nicholas, at least in my book!) and the cricket has been very impressive.

I've previously criticised the game as being too short for fortunes to ebb and flow, but the games thus far have done just that.

I was impressed by the all round skills of Sri Lankan Angelo Matthews yesterday, while Charl Langeveldt proved as hard to get away as ever. Disappointing was the way that the Deccan Chargers big guns gave it up with some poor shots. Their reply was a breeze and simply needed a Michael Bevan or Dean Jones to push twos and stroll to victory. A succession of rash, unnecessary big shots gave the game away and the Knight Riders won a game that looked to be gone at one point.

Today saw an extraordinary knock by Yusuf Pathan, whose hundred from 37 balls almost took the game away from Mumbai. I wouldn't want him to bat for my life, but he can certainly hit a ball. On a flat track and with a short boundary he scores quickly. At the same time, I was again disappointed in Shaun Tait. That he is quick is undeniable, but his scattergun bowling against good batsmen is, for me, a liability. Far better were Zaheer Khan and "Slinger" Malinga, who put the ball in the right areas on a regular basis.

I just hope our players have been watching. The way that batsmen have built partnerships has echoed the way our guys batted last year. Mumbai's plan was for Sachin Tendulkar to bat through and for others to play around him. I said last year that I'd be happy to see Chris Rogers do the same as he naturally scores quickly and I think that would be a good move this season, with a number of good hitters in our eleven.

I've been impressed by the bowling. The spinners have taken the pace off, while the better seamers have mixed up pace and length to keep batsmen guessing. There has been good use of bouncers, while Malinga's ability to drop the ball in the slot was singularly impressive.

Have I seen anyone who might interest John Morris? If Pathan batted like that every time, then yes, but he doesn't. He's like the little girl with the curl - when he's good he is very, very good - but when he is bad... he's awful. The same goes for Yuvraj, who hit a huge steepler today with one hand. On his day he is magnifique, but I suspect the days of this eye player will be more sporadic as he gets older.

I still think - maybe I should say hope - that John Morris will go for someone who can bowl him some tight overs and can hit the ball well in the closing overs. This was an area we fell short last year, despite encouraging batting performances. A team that reaches 100-110 in 15 overs then adds 50-60 in the last five overs should not lose too many games, as long as they bowl in the right areas.

If Steffan Jones can get our guys bowling a fuller length and mixing up the pace a little, we COULD do better in the T20. If the matches are the spectacles of the IPL thus far, few would have complaints.

Postscript

Mohammad Kaif - how did we end up with him as an overseas professional a few years back? One good innings at Lords built a reputation that has never been sustained, though I've rarely seen a cricketer do the splits more gracefully than he did today.

He was still stumped, which says it all really...