Strategies in IPL Auctions!

Hi Guys,

It has been a long time since I started writing. The fact that this is my 200^th post is quite amazing. As the days have went by, the number of posts has decreased proportionately. There are two reasons behind this. One is that I have got busy in life and second one is I think quite seriously before writing each post. For the past few days I have been of the idea of writing an E-book. I have been doing some research on publishing e-book. Anyway, I am not a person who can write long. So, I am still in confused thoughts. Let’s see, how things go.

In this post, I’m going to write about the IPL auction that took place yesterday. Like the previous versions of IPL auctions, this edition too had many surprises. Each team followed a different strategy. Some players who are very young and unknown became very rich by the end of the day.

Thinking a little on why some teams just keep rising the bids, two things come into my mind. One maybe the Ego factor, where two rival teams fight for a single player. In that case, the past performance or talent of a player doesn’t come into play and the teams enter into Irrational Bidding. The other factor might be a trap. If one team is so desperate on getting a player and other teams come to know of it, they might keep increasing the stakes of the player and make the other team pay high for him. This way the spending capacity of the team goes down and the other teams can concentrate on their wish list.

Some teams have got too many big names in their squad. From the past records, the teams that is strong on paper struggles at the end. The main reason is that at the end of the day, the teams (or Captains) don’t know who to pick and who to leave. The second is the team spirit gets decreased and individual talents come into play. Some teams like Rajasthan Royals have stuck to a 21 member squad instead of acquiring more players and creating problem.

The latest auctions were better compared to the previous versions where only the names of the players went into consideration. This time, the teams have considered the availability of the players, their recent performance and also their past performance in IPL.

Yet another strategy adapted by many teams is that of getting ‘Mystery Players’. A player who has played fewer matches is under exposed and the other teams find it difficult to handle the player. It has been the case in the past too. A new batsman or a bowler comes in and the opposition doesn’t know about the player’s particular style. Once the mystery players’ styles are exposed, their value goes down. The traditional proverb ‘Make hay while the sun shines’ goes well with these players.

A few well deserved players have missed out the chance. It is always a Zero Sum game with the franchises having a fixed wallet. At the end of the day, it boils down to the players’ form during the IPL, the team spirit and attitude and the Captain’s cleverness.

The players’ performances have never been proportional to the money they get. It has always been the case and I believe that it will be the case this season too. So the bottom line is that a better method has to be generated in which a player’s performance is linked with his performance.

Happy Reading!!!

IPL Jerseys!

Hi Guys,

A few days back IPL 4 started and after a superb world cup, it is definitely hard for the IPL to make an impact. For most of the matches, the stadiums were only half filled. High ticket prices are also a reason. The jerseys are most of the teams are irritating and so I will write about the jerseys.

Delhi Dare Devils

Their earlier Black-Red was good; Dark Blue-Red was nice. This time, they have lost most of their players and with newer players, they have got new sponsors. Their jersey is shocking, with Dark Blue color and white curves all over the jersey. It is as if the jersey is covered with nets. The team sponsor has got a major portion. The jersey seems as bad as their new team.

Kochi Tuskers Kerela

This is one of the most comic jerseys of the IPL. I think Kochi’s idea might be to scare their opponents by using their jersey. Full of orange and shades of Violet. Whoever designed this jersey must have got a very creative brain. 

Sahara Pune Warriors

Not a bad jersey, but something is missing. It is more like the jersey is copied from the Kiwis. The sponsor’s logo does not suit the jersey. There are places when the logo is too bright compared to the jersey. The jersey is dull and lacks energy.

Other Teams

Their Black-Gold jersey (they wore in IPL-1) was one of the best jerseys of IPL. It is sad they changed it to Dark Blue-Gold. 

Of the other teams, RCB looks good, thought they were superb without the blue stripes.

CSK looks as usual, blazing in their yellow jersey with lion roaring.

Mumbai Indians also look as good as ever with the blue jersey. So does Rajasthan Royals and Punjab.

Deccan Chargers also haven’t changed their jersey, though they could have done something to create an energetic look.

Bleeding Blue

It is also interesting to note that, 5 teams are wearing different shades of blue. Many teams changed from black to blue. I think, sentimentally blue is considered to be a lucky color. Not only in cricket, but in most of the sports, the jerseys will be blue in color.

Popup Ads

Seeing the jerseys, there are lot of sponsor logos all over. They are like Pop up advertisements. Logos are present above thigh, over the chest, on the back, above the sidearm, in the helmet. My doubt is, how to leading brands expect people to see such a small logo.

Happy Reading!!!

Crazy IPL Auctions!

Hi Guys,

It feels good to sit and write a new post after a long time. I have lot of things in my mind and can’t decide what to write. Finally after some research, I decided to write on the crazy IPL auctions that concluded today.

The common views going around is that many players are unworthy for the huge amount they were bought. Recently as the Indian innings of India vs South Africa T20 concluded, I got a message in my phone viewing the same.

Let’s see the players who have grossed huge amounts and analyze their previous performances

Gautam Gambhir - $2.4 mn – The most bid player of the auction. A good opener, but the question is whether he is worth the money. He is a good opener, quite attacking, average fielder and captain. Also, note that Delhi was not much interested in retaining him. But seeing the next best bids, it seemed to me Gambhir deserved this.

Gambhir and Rohit striked gold in the auctions!

Yusuf Pathan - $2.1 mn – The next costliest player. He is match winner. But the problem is he strikes form only once in 10 matches. For example, last time he didn’t have a great IPL after the 37 ball 100 against Mumbai. He is a good bowler. He seems to be hyped so much. He got out for 6 of 8 balls in the T20 today.

Both these players were bought by Kolkata. Something tells me, SRK is again making a mistake.

Robin Uthappa - $2.1 mn – This was the most shocking one. Uthappa is a good T20 player. He can be a wicket keeper too. But, note that there are far too better players and it has been long since he was there in the 15 member squad of Indian team. Whatever Pune thought, Uthappa has got a jackpot.

Rohit Sharma - $2 mn - The next big one. I thought comparing with others he quiet deserves this price. He is also lucky to play for his home team along with his hero Sachin. He has a great time in the previous IPLs (quite shocking that Deccan didn’t try to retain him and Gilchrist). Rohit again proved his worth in the match today, 53 of 34 balls.

Irfan Pathan - $1.9 mn – Much like Uthappa, Irfan also lost form and it has been long since he has been considered for the Indian team. He was not a big performer in the last IPL too. The only thing that might have gone his way was his previous records and the all-rounder tag. Delhi roped him, but the comedy is what followed. Preity Zinta says he her most favorite player in the Punjab team. Then why didn’t they try and retain him?



Pathan brothers have got much more than what they deserve for their current form!



Yuvraj Singh - $1.8 mn – After seeing the prices above, I feel pity for him. He is the best T20 batsman available today, except that he is not in form at the moment. How can one forget his majestic shots, when they remember Irfan’s. One difference is that Irfan isn’t playing and Yuvraj is playing. Anyway $1.8 mn isn’t that bad and I think Pune is lucky.

Saurabh Tiwary - $1.6 mn – He was the best young achiever of IPL3. He played superbly for Mumbai. But except that one series we didn’t see him. Based on that, I think he is hyped so much. Let’s hope this money doesn’t spoil the young Jharkand captain.

The top 6 players are Indians, but the next 9 players were foreigners. To me it appeared everyone were worthy for the money they were given, except for Dale Steyn. He is a good bowler for test matches. But is he a good T20 bowler that too in Indian pitches? Has Deccan chosen wisely? Chennai must have retained Muralidaran, he wished to be in Chennai and they should have preferred him for Vijay. It’s too late and Kochi has grabbed him for $1.1 mn.

The other shocks were Sreesanth - $0.9 mn, Piyush Chawla - $0.9 mn (Is he better than Ojha and Aswin), Abhishek Nayar - $0.8 mn, Umesh Yadav - $0.75 mn (I don’t even know who he is), Ashish Nehra - $0.85 mn.

Sangakara was given only $0.7 mn by Deccan. OMG! He is one of the best T20 players and a good wicket keeper. Is Dinesh Karthik ($0.9 mn) better than him? Deccan has hit a jackpot. Daniel Vettori went for only $0.55 mn. Again he is one of the best spinners on earth. More than that, he is very economical. He deserved better. Ojha, who got the purple cap last time, goes only for $0.5 mn. What does this mean? Deccan Chargers again lucky. It seems Deccan have got all good players at a very low price. Seems, this is the reason why they saved more than $2 mn at the end.

Deccan Chargers got Juan Theron for only $85000. How did Punjab forget his bowling? One of the best T20 bowlers ever. Again Deccan strikes gold.

As far as CSK are concerned, they made good choice retaining Dhoni, Raina and Morkel. But was Vijay the right bet? I think they should have gone for Murali or Aswin. Losing Murali to Kochi seems to be a big loss. But they did well to retain Aswin, Bollinger (considering his fellow Aussie bowlers, Bollinger should be happy with the $0.7 mn), and Badrinath. The highest bid Chennai made was for Badrinath ($0.85 mn). I think this was a fabulous move. This means that, rather depending on a star player, they are depending equally on everyone. It was good to retain Michael Hussey. The first new player, Chennai roped in was Scott Styris, the kiwi all-rounder. They also got Ben Hilfenhaus and Dwayne Bravo. Chennai tried to retain the older players whether they were big or small (it’s clear from retaining George Bailey and Joginder Sharma). They want to retain the team spirit. Hope this works.

The thought that came to me was if the retained players chose not to remain in their teams they would have gone to great heights. Mainly Sachin, Dhoni, Raina, Pollard, Sehwag deserve much better than their current prices. I think the teams will have internal solutions.

These auctions have occupied most of my day today. I have been reading a lot about it. I have been discussing a lot of it with my dad, brother and friends. Finally everyone points the same: the teams have been illogical.

I think that all the big priced players are going to flop and the lower priced players are going to shine, as usual!

Let’s see how it goes in IPL4.

Happy Reading!!!

A little information about phones!

Hi Guys,

Hope you all are fine in spite of a hot summer with long power cuts! Horrifying to think about the days that are going to come, when Earth nears Sun in May!

It’s been long since I wrote my last post. I’m quite busy as I am nearing the end of my fourth semester. I get only a scarce time and then too, I’ll be busy watching IPL matches. Speaking about IPL, this edition is more interesting than the previous editions. Except Mumbai, all other teams have had their share of sweet and bitter times. Now nearly all the teams have to win their remaining matches to get into the semifinals. Let’s see who conquers who?

I had a good last week in general. I got a new phone. Actually dad’s phone was not functioning properly and he was having a terrible time with it. So he asked for my phone so that I can get a newer one.

Nokia 2626- My old phone

First, let me tell about my old phone. I had Nokia 2626 and I was using it for past 10 months. It was a very nice experience using that phone. The main advantage of using that phone was its standby time. Its battery was so good that the charge lasted for a week. Also it had large message storing space (nearly 1000 messages, though I used to store less than 100). The main trouble I had with the phone was the volume, particularly Ringtone volume. I won’t be able to hear a call even if I was in the next room. The internal memory was just 2 MB and so it used to take some time for loading. Except that, it was quite a good phone.

The new one I have got is Nokia 2690. It’s a new model and was released by Nokia this March. The phone is better than another model 2626 considering the features. But I would say both the phones are worth its cost. I bought the earlier one for Rs.2000 and this one for Rs.2800. Speaking about the phone it consists of a basic VGA camera, music player, FM radio, memory slot and Bluetooth.

Nokia 2690- My new phone

I have used this phone for nearly a week and so good so far. But, I’ve hard time adapting to this phone. In my older phone to change the earpiece volume I have to press the left/right navigation keys. But in this phone I have to use up/down navigation keys. It was difficult to find it. In my earlier phone when replying to a message, I’ve to initially select the type of message. But in this phone, the message screen just appears (a step less). Initially I sent a few blank messages and realized my carelessness. The charge is not as good as 2626, but I expected it. It’s as good as any other Nokia phone.

Speaking about the features, the music player is good. Headset volume is fair (I rarely use headset) and speaker volume is very good. The sound clarity is also good. To be true, I didn’t expect a very good music player and I’m very happy since I love music.  Camera’s quality is not that good, but that was expected since it’s a basic model. I didn’t choose the phone for the camera; I chose it for the music player and am happy that it’s good. Display is very good, a larger 1.8” display and clarity is good too. Phone’s overall look is also good.

So, I’m totally impressed with this phone. I’ll give you some information about how I searched for the phone.

Samsung E2130

• Initially I fixed the price of the phone and went to some leading shops that sell mobile phones. What you must understand is there are 100s of models and you can’t expect the salesman to know all the models. So going to 3 or 4 shops will give you a wide idea (I got idea about 4 phones only after visiting 5 shops)
• Next I searched for all the phones that I heard in the shops in the net. I browsed the respective company’s website and also other common forums to know user’s reviews. In this process I came to know about some more phones.
• At last I went to the shops again and made a final enquiry about the price and availability (all the phones are not available in all the shops). The interesting thing is I came to know about Nokia 2690 in this process only.
• Other than 2690, I was also looking for Samsung E2130 and E2120. They are also good phones in this range. Particularly E2130 has dual speakers which mean great sound.
• Some general info about different phones: Samsung phones have good camera quality than other phones. They have more number of models than any other brand. When I searched in net, I found that LG phones were causing a lot of trouble to the users. Nokia remains the most preferred brand because of its quality and user-friendliness.  Nokia ‘5310 Xpress Music’ is the most popular phone in the market currently (it would be costing around Rs. 5000).

Coming back to the academic side, we will be writing the exams very soon. Later this week, I’ve my model exams followed by Practical exams, study holidays and semester exams which will end by the last of May. So, it’s important for me to concentrate and get good marks. Anyway I will be in touch with you guys now and then.

Happy reading!!!

A few of my recent experiences!

Hi Guys,

It’s been long since I wrote ‘The First Week of summer’. It’s nice to meet you again through my words.

I was totally engaged in my college works, either writing assignments or drawing machine parts and assembling them in Solidworks. For the past week, I’ve been sleeping by midnight. The only entertainment in between these times was the IPL matches. But sadly, till now I’m not able to watch a full match. Apart from these things, I watched the movie ‘Sherlock Holmes’ yesterday.

A New Browser, A new Experience!

Last week, I downloaded the new Opera 10.5 browser. It was advertised as the World’s Fastest Browser. Earlier I’ve used Opera 9.27, but was not attracted by that. Apart from that I’ve used IE6, Safari browsers and I’m currently using IE8, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox 3.6.

Of these I’m not comfortable with IE8 as it crashes often. I use Google Chrome to check mails and Firefox for extended usage like reading, surfing. I’m most comfortable with Firefox, since it provides a large range of features (add-ons). So, I use Firefox for 90% of my browsing.

Initially I was not interested with the Opera browser. A few days back I used it in my college for surfing and found it impressive. So, I decided to download. In the Opera website, I found that it had some additional facilities like Opera Turbo, Unite and Link. It had independent widgets too.

Opera Turbo increases the speed of the website by a particular factor, normally 2X or 3X. In my short usage, I found that Google and Gmail loaded faster than Chrome or Firefox. But if there were lot of elements in the website, then there was difficulty. For instance, some of the widgets in my blog did not load.

There was lot of Opera Widgets in the website. Some were very useful. I downloaded two of those gadgets. One was the Google gadget that contained all the Google icons like Google, Blogger, Orkut, Gmail, etc. Another one was EBook Reader. A fantastic gadget for a book lover like me! It contains a lot of stored books. We can just download them and read them. I was able to find a lot of famous books like Sherlock Holmes (the complete series), some Augusta Christie Novels, Alice in Wonderland, Around the World in 80 days, etc. On the whole I liked the new Opera browser.

Are you a Gmail user? Then Read This

In the recent times, a lot of my friends have lost their Gmail IDs, i.e., they have been hacked. Also, many have received warnings from Gmail to change their password. Gmail has increased it security features. Particularly it has introduced mobile phone recovery. Incase if you forget your password, then Google will send a sms to you. Most of them who lost their IDs had forgotten the answers for recovery questions.

Frustrating Internet Connection

The Internet Speed has been so poor in my home for so long. Even I can manage with the speed, but the connection crashes so often. There was lot of problem from the day we got this connection. Complaints and enquiries don’t help a bit. Last week, mom made a complaint and we were assured we would get a better connection, but there is no improvement. I can’t believe that India’s largest broadband provider’s service is so poor. I’m dead sure that a private sector company will overtake it in a few days.

A lot of things didn’t go well for me this week. But whatever happens happens for a reason and life just goes on. Hope to have a very good week ahead.

Happy Reading!!!