CSK match at Sharjah - sandstorm, Tim David and more !!

The popularity of IPL and .. .. more that of CSK – about an hour or so ago, I was walking in a low income group area (shall not be called Slum as – TN Slum clearance board has become -   Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board recently.) – most of the houses had their TV sets on and it was IPL match of CSK which had been delayed due to sandstorm !  .. .. and as I stopped my two-wheeler in Gandhi statue signal on Beach road – the drivers of  autos on my left and right -  were looking at the scorecard in their mobile fixed for showing the route !!

In 1987, India reached the finals of Davis Cup but lost to a superior team at their home.  It was a time when Sweden was dominating with players like Stefan Edberg, Mat Wilander,  Joakim Nystrom, Andres Jarryd – alongside was a player by name Henrik  Sundström (I read him wrongly as Sand storm) nicknamed Henke, Sundström was at his best on clay and achieved his strongest results on this surface, with his solid and heavy topspin groundstrokes from the baseline.

Lahore Qalandars is a  franchise  in the Pakistan Super League. The home ground of the team is Gaddafi Stadium. It nominally represents the city of Lahore in the league. The team is owned by Qatar Lubricants Company Limited (QALCO). The team is currently captained by Sohail Akhtar, coached by Aaqib Javed, !   

In geology, saltation (from Latin saltus, "leap") is a specific type of particle transport by fluids such as wind or water. It occurs when loose materials are removed from a bed and carried by the fluid, before being transported back to the surface.  As the force of wind passing over loosely held particles increases, particles of sand first start to vibrate, then to move across the surface in a process called saltation.

Dubai sandstorm photo from twitter page of @glcarlstrom

Sandstorm also called a dust storm -   is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transported by saltation and suspension.  Dust storms cause soil loss from the dry lands, and worse, they preferentially remove organic matter and the nutrient-rich lightest particles, thereby reducing agricultural productivity.  Dust storms are not limited to Earth and have been known to form on other planets such as Mars.  ..

We are reading about Sandstorm for it caused delay to the start of 35^th match at Sharjah now between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.  CSK should be feeling quite happy for a strong team that was at 111/0 on 13.1 could be contained to 156/6 .. .. yes a batting line up of Virat Kohlil,  Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers (failed again today !); Glenn Maxwell, Tim David (who ?) set a target of 157 at Sharjah.

He is quite big, at six-and-a-half feet, and  has a great reputation of whacking the leather over the ropes – he is Timothy Hays David from Singapore, yes not from Australia, NZ, SA, England or West Indies but has been playing almost every other league like Chris Gayle does !!    He has played for Singapore,  Australian Universities, Hobart Hurricanes.  Lahore Qalandars,  Perth Scorchers, Southern Brave (Men),  St Lucia Kings, Western Australia, Surrey and .. now RCB !!  

He was born in Singapore in 1996 - his family had been living there from the 1990s after Tim's father Rod David, an engineer by profession, moved to the country from Australia. Rod went on to play cricket for Singapore in 1997. Tim was two when his family moved back to Perth, and his childhood was spent mainly in Australia.  The 25-year-old has been in the limelight of late and also drew the attention of RCB's scouts. He has replaced New Zealand's Finn Allen, who was confirmed to miss the season after he was named in the national squad for Bangladesh and Pakistan series.  David recently drew the limelight during the recently-concluded Royal London One-Day Cup 2021. He shone for Surrey and scored 140*, 52* and 102 in back-to-back matches. His form in the List A tournament also saw him playing for Southern Brave in The Hundred

David has 558 runs in 14 T20Is at 46.50. He has struck at 158.52 and has scored 4 half-centuries. In 15 List A matches, David has 709 runs. His highest score of 140* came for Surrey against Warwickshire. .. .. and he debuted and failed today!

Earlier, Sri Lanka's star all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga replaced Adam Zampa for the 2^nd phase. The 24-year-old was expected to bag an IPL deal after his recent performance against India, which included a four-for in the third T20I on his birthday. Hasaranga, who went unsold in IPL 2021 auction, has 192 runs and 33 wickets in 22 T20Is. He is also capped in the longest format. Zampa was one of the few players who had withdrawn from IPL 2021 before the season was suspended. He has been named in Australia's T20 World Cup squad.  Mike Hesson, who is RCB's director of cricket operations, will also serve as the head coach of the franchise. He has  replaced Simon Katich, who has stepped down due to personal reasons.

-      Will CSK win today ?  - it appears ‘YES’

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
24^th Sept. 2021  @  10 pm.