The big question: Who will win the IPL?

BIG MONEY: MS Dhoni was the highest auctioned player of the IPL at Rs 6 crore.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

He discounted the theory that marsh, the leading run-getter of the IPL, has Marsh peaked too early.

“I don't think he is peaking too early. He has been very consistent through out the tournament. He has a very simple technique, very simple plan and a very simple strategy. He just does it amazingly well. His innings have been incredible. The way he is batting, he is just getting stronger and stronger,” Sangakkara says.

On Kings XI’s top order, Sangakkara says, “We want every one firing and ready when we go into the semi-final and it looks that way. But come Saturday, it’s a whole new game. It a new start. We have to be prepared, practice hard and have every base covered when we get into the semis. But batting seems to clicking and hope that it will be the same on Saturday.”

“They are a very strong team. They are very strong in batting and they rely a lot on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Albie Morkel and Suresh Raina. I think that’s the key. The pressure that we put on the batters and how well we contain those guys, how well we bowl to our field and our plans are going to be crucial. At the same time their bowling attack especially Makhaya Ntini at the top has been doing very well. Muttiah Muralitharan has been doing fantastically throughout the tournament. I think he has been one of the most economical bowlers going around. But there is a lot of work to do to before Saturday. But the best thing is to again stress on our strengths, what we can control and do our thing well. Our execution of the strategies should be spot on. The responsibility is ours and it’s all in our hands,” Sangakkara says about Chennai, the team that has defeated King’s XI Punjab twice in the league stages.

In the second semi-finals on Saturday Chennai Super Kings take on King’s XI Punjab.

Kings XI Punjab

The Yuvraj Singh-led team has really exploded in their final few league encounters. Their batting has been on fire and the bowler, too, have been coming up with decent performance.

Srinath is all praise for Kings XI Punjab’s batting especially Shaun Marsh.

“Two aspects here. One their batting is the best in the tournament led by Shaun marsh. If you see his batting its all about straight shots. He can use the bat across once in a while but he has been hitting the ball straight. They have a long batting line-up. Also their bowling especially the initial spell from S Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan has been impeccable. They have really struck gold in the initial five overs. Their strong batting line-up is the most formidable in the tournament,” Srinath says.

Srikkanth agrees with Srinath. “Yes, Sreesanth is bowling well. But batting is their strength. So the opposition will have to focus on the bowling. Find little bit of weakness in the bowling and take advantage of it. That is what the opposition will be doing. But it is a batsman game. If someone like Shaun Marsh fires and starts scoring from the first ball it is going to be good for that side,” he adds.