Indian Premier League - IPL / Ralph Ellis / 23 April 2010 /

The winner of the 3rd/4th place play-off in the IPL gets to play the lucrative Champions League in the autumn but there are reasons to believe Deccan are more up for this than Bangalore, says Ralph Ellis.

It's normally the match nobody wants to play in. Whatever the sport, wherever the tournament, the third place play-off is the game's big comedown. One day you are in the semi-final, dreaming of glory. The next you are out and dreaming of going home. Instead you have to stay and drag yourself through one more contest that you no longer care about.

The irony is that often the "am I bothered?" atmosphere produces great games. Think of England's classic encounter with Italy in the 1990 World Cup. A few days after Gazza's tears in the semi-finals it was all flair and open football.

But like any rule there are exceptions, and the first thing you have to decide when looking at tomorrow's IPL play-off is whether or not this will be one of them. On the face of it, there is still plenty at stake for Kevin Pietersen and his Bangalore Royal Challengers team. After flopping against Mumbai Indians they face Deccan Chargers, who will have been going through even more soul-searching after getting shot out for just 104 by Chennai Super Kings in the other semi.

The winner, after all, qualifies for the Twenty20 Champions League in the Autumn with all the money spinning potential that's at stake. So there's no doubt the management of the respective teams will be focused.

But if you know anything about the psyche of top players you'll know they won't be quite so focused. For them winning is everything, second is nowhere, and third is - well, absolutely nowhere. And however much they will try to focus, the sense of anti climax will still be hanging around.

Bangalore are [1.78] favourites and that's too short for me. Assuming Bangalore line-up with the same overseas they fielded in the last match - Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen and Dale Steyn - those are four players who will be at the T20 World Cup and whose minds may already be on that rather than this match. Add to the equation Praveen and Vinay Kumar, who are in India's squad, and the evidence suggests Deccan may be more up for this match. None of Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist or Ryan Harris from Deccan's foreign contingency will be involved in the World Cup and only Rohit Sharma will be turning out for India from amongst the domestic players.

If anybody thrives it will be more likely the up and coming stars who have been building new reputations in the IPL - the likes of Deccan Chargers' aforementioned all-round prospect Rohit Sharma is a perfect example. With a strike rate a fraction higher than his idol Sachin Tendulkar in the tournament so far, the 22-year-old has been one whose reputation has been seriously enhanced and could play a pivotal role in the World Cup next month.

The platform is there for somebody to play a big innings - the old heads Pietersen and Jacques Kallis will feel carefree and the likes of Sharma will still be chasing glory. So one more bet that sticks out is somewhere between [8.0] and [20.0] for at least one batsman to make a century.

Five things you might not know about Rohit Sharma

1. Born in April 1987 in Nagpar, his family come from the rice growing districts of Eastern India. He went to the Swami Vivekanand international school after winning a scholarship because of his cricket talents

2. He burst onto the scene in the Under19 World Cup in Sri Lanka as one of the tournament's top scorers - but failed in the final when Pakistan took India's first six wickets for nine runs

3.He was due to make his Test debut against South Africa early this year - but twisted his ankle playing soccer in the warm up before the match started

4. He's got a fiery temper - and was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for refusing to walk when given out in a ODI against Sri Lanka in 2008

5. His hero is Sachin Tendulkar. He says: "He has been my idol since I began playing cricket and I always look up to him"

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: