This can be the best tag line of the second season of the Indian Premier League. The league promises to be an absolute cracker with more teams eyeing the top 4 spots this time round. It is exciting to watch every match where all odds go for a toss and the team standing 6 in the table suddenly jumps to No. 4 by virtue of winning one match. Barring one team every team has come up with a better performance making the league a spectacle where each match whether you are playing it or not becomes important for the teams.
Now, my “expert opinions” on the teams.
Kolkata Knight Riders: I don’t care if the name was changed. They are still very much Bengali. The trouble is that the coach and his entire fanfare of associate staff don’t seem to realize this. They are a fantastic team on paper ripped apart by politics, overindulgence of the franchise owner and a complete clueless approach to Cricket. The team seems to be struggling on all fronts. The stars with the form, some senior players with commitment and not too far is the “fake IPL player” who has just managed to take this team into the Page 3 of the newspapers rather than the sports section. It does come as a relief as the sports section seem to script the same story about KKR again and again as they face the bottom of the slump one another time. The team has performed just like an over hyped Bollywood movie, except that it is not produced by Yash Chopra or Yash Johar. There is very little chance for them to make it to the top 4. Advice to Shah Rukh Khan would be stay out of the Cricket grounds if you want to win matches but continue coming in if you want to just earn money and fire the entire coaching staff starting with the Head coach but hire Fake IPL player, he can write brilliant stories and dialogues for your movies. Please give Ganguly his team back, you chose him now don’t take away his biggest strength, control. KKR – Disaster
Rajasthan Royals: The IPL I champs. As of today they are at the seventh place and have the capability to make it to the top 4 very easily. The team is still little known but is growing in strength. This team is all about team work. They have one able leader in Shane Warne and hence the decision making is easy. There is a good role allocation that is being done within the team and when the execution happens flawlessly they sail through. This is one hardworking team that comes with a different plan for every match and do not believe in the same formula. They are having a pretty good run and can upset any major team any time. The most important cog in the wheel is Yusuf Pathan. Other teams are running out of ideas to stop him. If he can be stalled then the fight will get interesting. I am waiting to see what Shane Warne will do if Yusuf fails. I am sure he has couple of cards up his sleeve. Just curious what they are. RR – Cameo.
Mumbai Indians: MI slipped to No.6 after yesterday’s match. The team with immense talent and balance. Tendulkar coming good had taken the team to another level. He looked like the same guy who debuted about 18 years ago who could win matches on his own. He has recently failed a couple of times and the team does get into a spot of bother. But Jayasuriya and Bravo are finally finding their bearings. Abhishek Nayyar does assist them with a handy 30 here and there. Lasith Malinga is the star of MI who seems to have the perfect recipe for a T20 match. His more than accurate bowling has won them many matches now. But this team has its woes. Sometimes the captaincy looks totally shoddy. Harbhajan has played more than handily in this series with an average strike rate of over 200, but he isn’t a No.3 batsman and is more likely to get out cheaply there. The game sometimes drifts away from MI and they seem to be blissfully unaware of it. They miss Pollock’s sharpness on the field. MI – Slumber Kings.
Chennai Super Kings: The Orange cap has been donned by Matthew Hayden for most of the tournament now. This talks about the run making potential of CSK. Another side that can disturb an opponent on its day. Raina almost cracks a century. Murali is in good touch, Balaji is finding some ground and Dhoni finally lets Joginder Sharma be. So CSK has great positives coming its way. But they do have couple of woes. Albie Morkel is yet to do some big hitting. They sometimes struggle in the middle overs. They still need some strong bowling performances. New comers Jakati and tyagi are proving to be amazing finds. They are just back from couple of wins, and one against DD. Hence the spirits are high. This is another team that is beautifully held together by Dhoni but he has to do more with the bat. He can also let his attachment loose with a couple of guys and give some fresh legs a chance to do something in this IPL. But another team to watch out in this IPL. Definite semifinalist. CSK – Lustre.
Kings XI Punjab: The vivacious team has not lost its lustre even in the second season. They are easily the youngest team and are full of fire. Their keyword is aggression and it is important that they live upto that potential. They do have some solid players who can stitch one end up like Mahela Jayawardena. So it is just a matter of role allocation. They have been playing some good cricket even without Sean Marsh in the team. The return of Sreesanth and Brett Lee is promising. But their weak area is bowling. Pathan seems to be swinging a few and has had a few good games but I still don’t think they have enough to threaten a side. Yuvraj is a great batsman but his captaincy does need some polishing. For example, in the game against RR he opened the bowling with Ramesh Powar and he went for 16 runs. It did not make any sense doing that when you have a sub continent player in Nauman Ojha and a good player of spin in Graeme Smith opening the innings. He did try a Shane Warne and fell woefully short as his tactics were not right. But on its day this team can upset any team. A definite semi finalist. KXIP – Vibrance.
Delhi Daredevils: The contenders of the last IPL are strong contenders this time round too. Sehwag has not blasted out, Gambhir has just picked form and yet they are the one of the most coveted sides. Their strength is the balance between bat and ball. They have matchwinners in both forms. Tilakaratne Dilshan and AB DeVilliers seem to have found new touch and are exceptional this season. A very strong team and if led appropriately will be tremendous. I say this because last time round Sehwag’s captaincy seemed ordinary and sometimes casual. This time there is a lot more purpose. With youngsters like Manhas coming good the side seems to be on its way. The key to disturb this team is to work each and every player and come out with a plan to crack them. It is going to be a tough ask. DD – Robust.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: This season’s biggest story is RCB, the resurrection. They started clinically with the best player in the team getting a 50 and dismissing RR for the lowest total. Ironically RR has the highest and the lowest total this season. But RCB has hence started writing a different script. They have had their woes. They have lost some games and KP looked awfully out of touch and his captaincy was not upto the mark. But the big names who were criticized as test players last time round are weaving magic. Kallis seems exceptional and seems to be in a completely different zone when he is hitting the ball. It is a delight to watch such a technically clinical display. Dravid came with a point to prove and has made it loud and clear. The bowling has been something to talk about. Dale Steyn was torn apart but Praveen Kumar is proving worthy of his caliber. The old fox Kumble spun RR out of the game with a fiver and they have couple of good finds in Appanna and Van der Merwe. This side actually has a great strength. That is local knowledge. They have more Afrikaans in their side than any other side. Even the debutant DuPreez is an SA T20 player who had a dream debut by picking up Sachin Tendulkar. This team is here to stay. RCB – Renaissance.
Deccan Chargers: I did reserve my favorite to the end. There are more reasons to cheer this team even though they have lost the last three matches. They seem to be playing to their names and potential finally. Gibbs, Gilchrist, Rohit all seem to be in fine form. The best part is the others who have come in and made their presence felt. Dwayne Smith seems to have found the middle of the bat to match the ball and finally his desire to hit every ball out of the park is paying off. Couple of new guys on the block seem to be doing very well, TS Suman and Shoaib Maquishi. Venugopal Rao has not done much with the bat but his bowling has been more than handy. Pragyan Ojha ,easily the best bowler of DC even this season, is at his prime. RP Singh held onto the purple cap for a long while. So Gilchrist could not have asked for anything more. But it is time he put more thought into planning every game. Bowling is still the weak link and it is about time Gilly realized that part timers isn’t way to go. Every opponent has to be measured and attacked differently. They seem to be stuck with a formula for the time being and apparently it is not working any more. They cant be the 5th or 6th side in the tournament and be happy that they have made progress since the last one, because with Symonds joining the team there is no reason not to beat the top. DC – Roller Coaster.
I will come up with a Ver 2 during the semis. Till then enjoy the ride
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