4. Rajasthan Royals
The princely state which turned the table around and won the first IPL title under the leadership of Shane Warne, with the big names in the team like Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson followed by the Indian talents, Yusuf Pathan, Swapnil Anodikar and Ravindra Jadeja.
However, the euphoria of that first title-win died with the team failing to reach the Semi-Finals in 2009 and 2010. Rajasthan Royals retained only Shane Warne and Shane Watson before the 2011 IPL Auction and in the auction they bagged the Wall – Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Shaun Tait and Johan Botha. They have a young Ranaji Trophy stars in the squad namely, Pankaj Singh, Akash Chopra, Ashok Menaria and Deepak Chahar.
If they look at what they have lost is very minimal when compared to what they have gained after the Auction. They may not have Naman Ojha and Greame Smith opening their batting this time but they have Shane Watson to open the innings with may be Swapnil Asnodikar or Aakash Chopra. They have the best of the middle order batsmen of the world Mr. Dependable Rahul Dravid and Sensible explosive Ross Taylor and local boys Anjikya Rahane, Ashok Menaria, Stuart Binny (S/O Roger Binny) from Karnataka, and experienced all rounders like Johan Botha, Jacob Oram. With so many promising all rounders in the team bowling attack would not be a issue for the Royals lead by Pankaj Singh and Shaun Tait with Shane Watson, Oram for support in pace department and spin attack lead by the magician Shane Warne, Johan Botha and Ashok Menaria. It’s time to wait and watch if the Royal’s crown will be earned back after 3 years.
5. Deccan Chargers
After a disastrous beginning to their journey in IPL by placing themselves at the bottom of the table, they turned the table around to win the second IPL title. In 2010 they continued their Champion performance till they lost to CSK in the semi-finals. The big names that we had in the team were RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds.
Before the IPL Auction 2011 DC went for complete overhaul and made some expensive and worthy buy of foreign players – Dale Steyn, Cameron White and Kevin Peiterson from RCB; JP Duminy from MI and Kumara Sangakkara from KXIP and some young Indian faces – Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Shikhar Dhawan. They also bought back Pragyan Ojha, one of the prolific bowling performance of IPL who has already 50 wickets in his IPL kitty.
What they are going to miss in this season? Adam Gilchrist, the wicket keeper captain and explosive opener whom the team would have missed to great extent has been replaced by Kumar Sangakkara, the wicket keeper captain and explosive opener. The middle order that had Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma will now be supported by JP Duminy, KP, and Cameron White. They have gained a lot in terms of bowling attack when compared to their previous team with Dale Steyn leading the attack with Ishant Sharma and supported by Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and MS Gony.
6. Delhi Daredevils
The only team to reach Semi Finals in all the 3 versions of IPL, had the best of the match winning players but failed to reach the finals and win the title for Delhi. The depth of batting line up headed by Viru, Gambhir, Dilshan, ABD, Dinesh Karthik and Paul Collingwood and top notch bowling attack lead by leged Glenn McGrath, Dirk Nannes and Daniel Vettori surprisingly did not help the team reach the finals.
Before the IPL Player Auction 2011, went for a complete rebuilding of team retaining only Viru. None of the players mentioned above returned to the squad, but they made some impressive and expensive buys. Irfan Pathan, Morne Morkel, David Warner, RE van der Merwe and Umesh Yaadav.
Looking at the overall team the team has got some new talents which can turn the results unexpectedly throughout the season. The openers Viru and Naman Ojha (RR) have got good records in the shortest version of International Cricket. The middle order supported by David Warner, Venugopal Rao and Irfan Pathan, Colin Ingram and van der Merwe. Other than Morne Morkel none of the bowlers have shown any significant bowling attack, however, new ball bowler Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan cannot be rated low. They do have their charm still left in them and they can add some runs to the board making their tail stronger. They also have enough support from Venu Gopal Rao and van der Merwe in the spin department who can bowl some decent spells. And some surprise packages are guaranteed with young players coming into picture. Can this team full of talent but not with much experience win their first title or rank at the bottom of the table? Only time can answer this question but fun filled thrill is guaranteed with this team.
We shall have a glance at Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders who have not made much impact in the IPL other than their jersey in last 3 seasons and the new teams – Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala tomorrow.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
AN ANALYSIS OVER IPL Season 4 – Part I
After successful journey with ICC World Cup 2011, the entire nation is ready to face another Cricket festival, Indian Premier League 4. Unlike, the last 2 seasons of IPL, this season is going to be more interesting with the inclusion of 2 new teams to the league, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India. Also, the 2011 auctions gave an opportunity to the Stake holders to rebuild or reengineer their respective teams. We saw major transfers between the teams and inclusion of new talents into the teams which has resulted no favorites or all favorites for the title. This is an effort to give you an overview on IPL 4.
Starting with the Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings –
1. Chennai Super Kings
The India’s most successful captain, second Captain to get World Cup to India and only Wicket Keeper-captain of world cricket to complete 100 matches as captain – Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the key players that CSK retained the services ahead of the IPL auction 2011, along with Murali Vijay, Suresha Raina, and Albei Morkel. However, not only they managed to get the other key players whom they had auctioned, like Badrinath, Ashwin, Doug Bollinger and Mike Hussey but also managed to get some new inspirational picks like Dwayne Bravo and Faf du Plessis. They also have youngsters on their side Yo Mahesh and Anirudh Srikkanth. They are full of Strengths and Opportunities, but not to forget that they do not have Muralidaran on their side now, which is the only loss they have undergone which is not going to matter with new talents coming in same team being played as IPL 3.
2. Royal Challengers Bangalore
My favorite team, the Royals have played their best in the last 2 editions after a disastrous 2nd place from last in the first season of IPL. This time other than Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble they kept all the players for auction and bought no one back. Anil Kumble, after been chosen as President of Karnataka State Cricket Association, he retired from IPL as a player and joined RCB as Asst. Coach with Ray Jennings. But, during the auctions, RCB found some veteran and T20 Specialists like Dilshan, De Villiers and Dirk Nannes from Delhi, Saurabh Tiwary and Zaheer Khan from Mumbai. Under the captaincy of Daniel Vettori, openers like Dilshan and ABD, followed by Kohli, Tiwary and Pujara, with their left arm top notch pace bowling attack by Dirk Nannes and Zaheer, supported by captain Vettori and young Mithun.
What they are missing is undisputed Mr. Dependable Wall and Jacques Kallis. They are also going to miss the young talents like Manish Pandey and Robin Uttappa. Most importantly the on-field leader Kumble though he will be there in the dressing room along with Ray Jennings and Venkatesh Prasad. They also have young emerging talents like CM Gautam and Abrar Kaazi which is a proving ground for them. The only question they got to answer is “Can the 2 time Semi Finalist RCB win the Title this time?”
3. Mumbai Indians
Though they have lost their best of the All Rounders like Bravo, Tiwary during the auction, they found some promising veteran support into the team with Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Malinga and Bhajji joining the team lead by the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
They have the Stars in their team; however, they have to overcome certain threats which can be turned into opportunities. The one big concern which Sachin is the only best person handle is the old “famous” fight of Symmo and Bhajji which might affect the team. Another concern around performance would be again Bhajji and Munaf, Bhajji being wicket less and Munaf’s death over bowling. They have a got Top and Top Middle order, but I do not see much of strength in the tail in case there is a unexpected collapse of batting order.
But, the most effective weapon they have which will impact the opponents psychology by at least 10% is the master Sachin Tendulkar.
Tomorrow, we will have a look at the Rajasthan Royals (Winners of IPL 1), Deccan Chargers (Winners of IPL 2) and Delhi Daredevils (3 Time Semi Finalists).
Starting with the Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings –
1. Chennai Super Kings
The India’s most successful captain, second Captain to get World Cup to India and only Wicket Keeper-captain of world cricket to complete 100 matches as captain – Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the key players that CSK retained the services ahead of the IPL auction 2011, along with Murali Vijay, Suresha Raina, and Albei Morkel. However, not only they managed to get the other key players whom they had auctioned, like Badrinath, Ashwin, Doug Bollinger and Mike Hussey but also managed to get some new inspirational picks like Dwayne Bravo and Faf du Plessis. They also have youngsters on their side Yo Mahesh and Anirudh Srikkanth. They are full of Strengths and Opportunities, but not to forget that they do not have Muralidaran on their side now, which is the only loss they have undergone which is not going to matter with new talents coming in same team being played as IPL 3.
2. Royal Challengers Bangalore
My favorite team, the Royals have played their best in the last 2 editions after a disastrous 2nd place from last in the first season of IPL. This time other than Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble they kept all the players for auction and bought no one back. Anil Kumble, after been chosen as President of Karnataka State Cricket Association, he retired from IPL as a player and joined RCB as Asst. Coach with Ray Jennings. But, during the auctions, RCB found some veteran and T20 Specialists like Dilshan, De Villiers and Dirk Nannes from Delhi, Saurabh Tiwary and Zaheer Khan from Mumbai. Under the captaincy of Daniel Vettori, openers like Dilshan and ABD, followed by Kohli, Tiwary and Pujara, with their left arm top notch pace bowling attack by Dirk Nannes and Zaheer, supported by captain Vettori and young Mithun.
What they are missing is undisputed Mr. Dependable Wall and Jacques Kallis. They are also going to miss the young talents like Manish Pandey and Robin Uttappa. Most importantly the on-field leader Kumble though he will be there in the dressing room along with Ray Jennings and Venkatesh Prasad. They also have young emerging talents like CM Gautam and Abrar Kaazi which is a proving ground for them. The only question they got to answer is “Can the 2 time Semi Finalist RCB win the Title this time?”
3. Mumbai Indians
Though they have lost their best of the All Rounders like Bravo, Tiwary during the auction, they found some promising veteran support into the team with Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Malinga and Bhajji joining the team lead by the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
They have the Stars in their team; however, they have to overcome certain threats which can be turned into opportunities. The one big concern which Sachin is the only best person handle is the old “famous” fight of Symmo and Bhajji which might affect the team. Another concern around performance would be again Bhajji and Munaf, Bhajji being wicket less and Munaf’s death over bowling. They have a got Top and Top Middle order, but I do not see much of strength in the tail in case there is a unexpected collapse of batting order.
But, the most effective weapon they have which will impact the opponents psychology by at least 10% is the master Sachin Tendulkar.
Tomorrow, we will have a look at the Rajasthan Royals (Winners of IPL 1), Deccan Chargers (Winners of IPL 2) and Delhi Daredevils (3 Time Semi Finalists).
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