Sabkush Headlines: Mumbai to play without top stars today Mumbai to play without top stars today
Five top Mumbai players - Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kieron Pollard - are not going to play in the IPL match against Kolkata today. They have not travelled to Kolkata with their squad which arrived earlier today by a special flight. They are placed at the top of the table, with 20 points from 13 matches. Needless to say, their focus has already shifted to the knock out stage. Neither there is any realistic possibility of Kolkata to reach the last four. Thus tonight’s match is more of a formality now. Mumbai should be looking forward to the opportunity to give the newcomers another chance to prove their worth before the all-important semifinal. The only concern for Mumbai, however, is losing the rhythm of winning matches. It can affect the teams morale if they are beaten by Kolkata. For Kolkata, there were three conditions to be fulfilled. One, Mohali will win against Chennai. Two, Delhi will beat Hyderabad. Three, Kolkata will be winning against Mumbai with a huge margin. Only then, there was a chance for Kolkata to be in the last four. But, it was a Black-Sunday for Kolkata. Mohali did their best to pile 192 runs and then were pathetic in defending them. MS Dhoni played an outstanding innings to win a berth in the semi final for Chennai. Despite captain Gautam Gambhirs outburst, Delhi openers followed their path of ‘playing the game as they wanted and Hyderabad went to the last four. That left virtually nothing for Kolkata to do at Eden Gardens tonight. With a run rate of -0.465, Kolkata needs to finish at least on +0.220, besides winning against Mumbai, to be fourth in the table. How impossible the task is? For example, if Kolkata bats first and reaches 200 in their stipulated 20 overs, they will need to restrict Mumbai below 50! Sourav Ganguly knows it very well. His team had hopes when Mohali reached 192. Even when Chennai needed 16 runs in the last over, they were sincerely hoping that Mohali would win the match. But Dhoni was at it again. "Its almost impossible for us now", accepted Sourav in a book release function on Sunday evening when he got the news that Chennai had won. After the last win against Jaipur, he wanted a ‘little bit of help from other teams, to be in contention. For Kolkata, its nothing but the issue of the pride of cricketers. They had never beaten Mumbai in their earlier five meetings. For the Gangulys and the Gayles and the McCullums, its an opportunity to go out of the tournament with at least 50 percent winning record. They should grab it with both hands.
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