RC Editor

Its crunch time and its now!

The much awaited lung opener for Team Royal Challengers in IPL 2010 is now just hours away, and I am sure everyone is already having goosebums. Trust me there is nothing wrong in it. Every side, every player goes through the tensions of before stepping onto the ground before a match. Yes! Even when one knows that it’s an inconsequential one. And we are playing only the first match of this IPL.

RC Editor

Its crunch time and its now!

The much awaited lung opener for Team Royal Challengers in IPL 2010 is now just hours away, and I am sure everyone is already having goosebums. Trust me there is nothing wrong in it. Every side, every player goes through the tensions of before stepping onto the ground before a match. Yes! Even when one knows that it’s an inconsequential one. And we are playing only the first match of this IPL.

Having said that there is also the comforting factor as Eden Gardens is the famous hunting ground for a gentleman called Anil Kumble. Who can forget his 6/12 in the Hero Cup Final against the West Indies? Will Kumble-magic return to haunt the Kolkata Knightriders on Sunday, time will only tell.

For the time being, let’s take stock of the situation in hand.

No Injury worries:

Realistically Team RC is in fine shape. There are no injury worries; the physios are not unnecessarily busy nursing players’ injuries.

Kallis, Boucher, Steyn join:

The forms of the cricketers - both the Indian and the overseas players – are making waves. The question of players’ availability can take a backseat, for the moment at least, as, barring Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, Ross Taylor and Cameron White, all the other players are with the team. Jacques Kallis and Marc Boucher joined the team on Saturday evening in Kolkata, even as Dale Steyn was seen steaming down the Eden Gardens during the net sessions at the ground this evening.

Eden wicket is faster:

The character of the wicket at Eden has changed over the years. The debacle in the World Cup semi-finals against the Sri Lankans in 1996 was kickstarted because of an under-prepared wicket. But that’s history now. Going by the last international played there recently was the Test match against South Africa when the wicket was an absolute beauty leaving something for both the bowlers and the batsmen. At the outset, the wicket apparently looks to be a fast one, which means that we might see three pacers to be included in the playing eleven.

Team RC wants to start with a win:

The team is brimming with confidence to start the tournament on a positive note. Though Kolkata Knightriders pulled off a good win against the defending champions Deccan Chargers in Mumbai on Friday, there can be nothing more satisfying than beating them on their hometurf.

That would be a perfect start!