Super Sunday Set To Break TV Records
The mega final between Aussie legend Shane Warne’s Team Jaipur and the country’s coolest star M S Dhoni’s Team Chennai promises to break all records and become the biggest television spectacle in the history of Indian sport. Just sample this: A staggering 99 million viewers have already watched the IPL matches between April 18 and May 24. Even as some commentators warned of a cricket overdose, evening after evening, families have gathered before TV sets, planned dinners over weekends to set the stage for a grand finale on Super Sunday.
With glamour, hype, cliffhangers, stars and controversies, T20 has already offered a full platter. There is only one worry though: let us just hope the final too doesn’t turn out to be a tame affair like the two semifinals. If Team Jaipur won by 105 runs on Friday night, Team Chennai had it even easier winning by nine wickets. Mohali won the toss like Delhi on Friday, but elected to bat. Even this proved to be disastrous as they lost wickets in virtually every over early on.
WHO’LL WEAR THE CROWN TONIGHT?
The IPL’s been every bit the cricketing revolution it was touted to be. After 44 days, it climaxes today with a battle royale.
TV EYEBALLS
99m have tuned in so far. The expected TV audience tonight may exceed that of the T20 World Cup final Sports audience reach in India (no of people tuned in for over a minute): 1. World Cup Cricket ODI (2007): 32.8m 2. T20 final (2007): 48.3m 3. Soccer World Cup (2006): 6.7m * The Super Bowl final in 2008 was watched by 97.5 million people.
BET-O-METER
Team Jaipur: 8/11 Team Chennai: 9/11 (Ladbrokes)
STRENGTHS
A terrific bunch that has gelled superbly as a unit under the guidance of Warne, who is both captain and coach. All-rounder Shane Watson, pacer Sohail Tanvir, Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan have all been a hit
Dhoni’s cool captaincy and the middle order. If the likes of Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Badrinath and Dhoni himself get going, then Team Jaipur might struggle. New ball bowlers Ntini and Gony are also a threat.
WEAKNESSES
Graeme Smith, who has scored 441 runs at an average of 49, will be missing after a recurrence of a hamstring injury. The youngsters could be under pressure in the biggest game of their lives
Stephen Fleming’s departure has further weakened the top order, putting pressure on Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself to fire. Also, Muralitharan has hardly looked the champion bowler that he is
WARHEADS
Sohail Tanvir
Albie Morkel
Shane Watson
Makhaya Ntini
Swapnil Asnodkar
S Badrinath
Yusuf Pathan
Suresh Raina
DARK HORSES
Mohammed Kaif
Parthiv Patel
ROAD TO FINALS
Won: 12, Lost: 3, In semis, beat Delhi Daredevils by 105 runs
Won: 9, Lost: 6. In semis, beat Team Mohali by 9 wickets
CROSSING SWORDS
Jaipur has won both the home and away matches against Chennai. The first was won by 8 wickets on the strength of Sohail Tanvir’s 6-14. Graeme Smith blasted 91 in the 2nd for a 10-run win
The mega final between Aussie legend Shane Warne’s Team Jaipur and the country’s coolest star M S Dhoni’s Team Chennai promises to break all records and become the biggest television spectacle in the history of Indian sport. Just sample this: A staggering 99 million viewers have already watched the IPL matches between April 18 and May 24. Even as some commentators warned of a cricket overdose, evening after evening, families have gathered before TV sets, planned dinners over weekends to set the stage for a grand finale on Super Sunday.
With glamour, hype, cliffhangers, stars and controversies, T20 has already offered a full platter. There is only one worry though: let us just hope the final too doesn’t turn out to be a tame affair like the two semifinals. If Team Jaipur won by 105 runs on Friday night, Team Chennai had it even easier winning by nine wickets. Mohali won the toss like Delhi on Friday, but elected to bat. Even this proved to be disastrous as they lost wickets in virtually every over early on.
WHO’LL WEAR THE CROWN TONIGHT?
The IPL’s been every bit the cricketing revolution it was touted to be. After 44 days, it climaxes today with a battle royale.
TV EYEBALLS
99m have tuned in so far. The expected TV audience tonight may exceed that of the T20 World Cup final Sports audience reach in India (no of people tuned in for over a minute): 1. World Cup Cricket ODI (2007): 32.8m 2. T20 final (2007): 48.3m 3. Soccer World Cup (2006): 6.7m * The Super Bowl final in 2008 was watched by 97.5 million people.
BET-O-METER
Team Jaipur: 8/11 Team Chennai: 9/11 (Ladbrokes)
STRENGTHS
A terrific bunch that has gelled superbly as a unit under the guidance of Warne, who is both captain and coach. All-rounder Shane Watson, pacer Sohail Tanvir, Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan have all been a hit
Dhoni’s cool captaincy and the middle order. If the likes of Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Badrinath and Dhoni himself get going, then Team Jaipur might struggle. New ball bowlers Ntini and Gony are also a threat.
WEAKNESSES
Graeme Smith, who has scored 441 runs at an average of 49, will be missing after a recurrence of a hamstring injury. The youngsters could be under pressure in the biggest game of their lives
Stephen Fleming’s departure has further weakened the top order, putting pressure on Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself to fire. Also, Muralitharan has hardly looked the champion bowler that he is
WARHEADS
Sohail Tanvir
Albie Morkel
Shane Watson
Makhaya Ntini
Swapnil Asnodkar
S Badrinath
Yusuf Pathan
Suresh Raina
DARK HORSES
Mohammed Kaif
Parthiv Patel
ROAD TO FINALS
Won: 12, Lost: 3, In semis, beat Delhi Daredevils by 105 runs
Won: 9, Lost: 6. In semis, beat Team Mohali by 9 wickets
CROSSING SWORDS
Jaipur has won both the home and away matches against Chennai. The first was won by 8 wickets on the strength of Sohail Tanvir’s 6-14. Graeme Smith blasted 91 in the 2nd for a 10-run win
No comments:
Post a Comment