KKR to fight against 13 players today!!

KKR will be up against 13 players on the field when they take on Rajasthan Royals later today in Abu Dhabi. Confused? With one run from 4 innings so far Gautam Gambhir is becoming more of a jigsaw puzzle that the KKR team and management is finding hard to unravel.

Additionally being the captain of side is not helping ease the matters as team really needs a top notch performance from it's leader to follow suit.

Barring that once in a life time catch by Lynn, the Knights would have been languishing at the bottom half of the table with 2 points. Would say that was a lucky escape for them. But you don't win tournaments by luck alone. Isn't it.

Is Gambhir a quality player. He very much is. Is he a proven match winner. No doubt he is with helping India win 2 world cups. But in this fast paced, dynamic world the memory of fans and patience of team management and owners would be running thin. Time is now for him to pull up his socks and play freely without keeping the captaincy baggage on his shoulders.

Another issue that is facing KKR is the power hitter Yusuf the elder Pathan sibling. In 4 matches he has been able to garner 18 runs. PHEW!! KKR needs him to fire, as we all know he is a match winner on his day. But those days are very far an few.

Abu Dhabi has done a lot under lights with the scores not being anywhere close to 150's, 160's that one would associate with the IPL teams (Full of power hitters).

In nut shell, if KKR are able to get the two stalwarts Gautam & Yusuf pulling up their socks and playing well then it's a 50:50 contest between two teams. Else the Royals would have a field day.

What's up with the defending champs; #MI??

Let's talk about the Mumbai Indian's journey so far in IPL 2014. What has gone so very wrong for the Defending Champs. Afterall they won the same tournament in 2013, not too that long ago.

First and foremost the current Foreign buys and retained one's are not firing. Mike Hussey, Pollard, Corey Anderson are all big match players. Have proven their worth many a times when playing for their national team or for any other franchise in T20 globally.

Second after being a loyal MI fan for the past 6 seasons, have not seen such a lethargic and an UN-inspirational playing 11 on the field for men in blue. It's one thing that few top players are not firing on all cylinders but it's really disappointing to see how these guys are conducting themselves on the field. There is no clarity of thought as to who is supposed to play what role in the team. Hurting them badly, very badly. Point to prove that is they still looking for that 1 famous win to get on too the scoreboard.

Third and the biggest factor for this chaos is the team selection in auctions. Not retaining Dwayne Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Dinesh Karthik (rockstars in 2013) and Glen Maxwell, has been nothing short of a bad judgement call by the selection panel. There is a famous saying you never tinker with a winning combo, but here not one, MI let go or tinkered with quite a few. With Sachin not being around in playing 11 this year onwards (Retd from all cricket), things just don't seem to be falling in place for MI.

Solution to come back on track, is to play with the form players and not with the ones with past laurels. If a Hussey or a Pollard is not firing then management should have guts to drop them, and give chance to the upcoming Indian players. After all IPL, is supposed to unleash the local talent. Or that's what I thought so:-)

The need of the hour is to get to at-least 140 to 150 every innings without fail. You can't score the 110's & 120's and think of defending them. Asking too much from the bowling unit who has been so far the only saving grace for the team. With Malinga, Bhajji, Zaheer, Ohja and Anderson around they have one of the best if not the best bowling attacks in the tournament. 

With 10 more games to for the men in blue, hopefully the change of venue when the action shifts to India, will give them a few wins and confidence under their belt which they are missing badly.

Common guys, we all support and love you. You can do it. Just need to re-group and show the character that we all know you have. Go Mumbai Go....