Will Kumble drop Kallis?
The match between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore being played at Mumbai on 24th April 2010 is almost as important as the final to be played the next day. While there is a trophy at stake in the final, the comforting though for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings is the fact that they have assured themselves of a spot in the semi finals and at least a runner trophy for one of the teams. In this context the match between Bangalore and Hyderabad assumes importance as winner takes the third place and more importantly a berth in Champions League while the loser goes back empty handed.
Adam Gilchrist should not have problems picking the team because his team was on a 5 match winning streak prior to loss in semifinals but Anil Kumble has lot of problems picking up the team because his team is on a losing streak after tasting success in the early stages of the tournament. The big question for Kumble is should he drop Kallis or retain him considering his overall class and consistency. Kallis consistency has been a cause of concern for Kumble in this tournament as on an average he bats for 5 overs in a innings which means he consumes one fourth of the overs at the crease and the pace at which he scores runs ensures that Bangalore finishes their innings with a total which is substantially lower than what they usually aim at. If you leave out Kallis 55 ball 89 blitz against Punjab in a league match, Kallis average pace of run scoring with the bat has been a meagre 6.84 runs per over which would put even stonewallers to shame. Kallis bowling average of 43 and economy rate of 8.60 is the second worst for Bangalore behind Praveen Kumar. Kallis on an average concedes 35 runs in a 4 over spell but has been most worrying for Bangalore is that he has leaked runs on a consistent basis in tight situations. Apart from this aspect, Kallis scores in the last 4 matches of the tournament have been a 37 ball 27 which helped Deccan Chargers to win the match defending a low total , followed by scores of 0, 14 and 11.
If Kallis is dropped one can be sure that will not be happy because that would mean he cannot finish the tournament as the highest run getter. Also Kallis would feel that Kumble has taken this decision to ensure that fellow Indian and former team mate finishes as the highest run getter. However Kumble has to take a tough decision for a loss would put his team even out of Champions League. If Kumble drops Kallis Sachin deservedly would finish as the highest run getter and Kumbles Bangalore has a better chance of qualifying for Champions League.
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