Indian Premier League 2 : IPL 2 : IPL 2009

A day ahead of their crucial tie against the Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings XI skipper Yuvraj Singh said he was not very worried about the run of good form the opposition was having over the last six games.

“Mumbai may have won six games on the trot but before that they had lost four matches back to back. I am more concerned about how my team plays,” Singh said here.

Punjab coach Tom Moody also said that their team needed just one victory, hopefully against Mumbai on Wednesday, to be assured of a place in the semi finals.

Punjab who are second in the league table with 14 points take on Mumbai who trail them by two points.

The devastating form Mumbai Indians opener Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya in the last few games would be a cause for concern ahead of Wednesday’s tie, Singh said.

“Sanath Jayasuriya is in form and there are three to four other batsmen in the team who we will have to watch out for.

In Twenty20 one batsman can change the game and we will have to look to get them out early,” he said.

The team has made plans to tackle the Mumbai opening combination of Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar, Singh said.

“However, I am more worried about what will happen to the Mumbai Indians if our players Shaun Marsh and James Hopes form a partnership,” Singh added in a lighter vein.

The Wankhede pitch, which has aided pace bowlers so far, was unlikely to do so tomorrow since the match was to be played in the late afternoon and would not have too much bounce, he said.

If all goes well, Salman Khan will perform at the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, to be held at Y.R. Patil Stadium (Nerul, New Mumbai) on June 1.

We hear Salman will dance to the theme song of his upcoming reality TV show 10 Ka Dum and also shake a leg to one of his filmi numbers.

Will Salman perform during the break or before the match begins? Sallu’s ‘item’ will be a part of the closing ceremony, and promises to be a rocking one!

It is learnt that Salman has yet not rehearsed for his act. Right now, he is in Australia shooting for Main Aur Mrs Khanna. He can spontaneously start dancing at any given moment and does not need rehearsals, added a source.

Salman has already finished shooting four episodes of 10 Ka Dum, which is based on the American game show Power of 10. In true Sallu ishtyle, once he cycled all the way from Bandra to shoot for the show at R. K. Studios in Chembur.

A few days before that, he jogged down to Mehboob Studios for the show’s rehearsals.

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The Chennai Super Kings have beaten Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 wickets as per the D/L method in a storm-hit IPL tie at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The game came to a halt due to a storm followed by rains when Super Kings were 55 without any loss of wicket in eight overs. According to the D/L method, they were 3 runs ahead of the revised target of 52 runs. Chennai Super Kings openers Stephen Fleming (32) and Parthiv Patel (19) remained unbeaten.

There is no shuffle in the points table but the Super Kings have gained two points and retain their third slot. It’s definitely not a very good news for Kolkata Knight Riders as now Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians are pushing themselves strongly for the fourth place in the semi-finals. [Read more →]