Gambit Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Team watch Siddhartha Vaidyanathan March 17, 2008 The high-profile IPL finally kicks off after much fan fare and heaps of expectation. Six weeks, 59 matches, and plenty of glam await as Indian domestic cricket steps into the hitherto unknown. Cricinfo runs the rule over the eight franchises doing battle for the lucrative tournament title. Bangalore It's not the best of signs when a captain uses the word "uncertainty" three times in a sentence but Rahul Dravid still has plenty of options to choose from. A flurry of flip-flops ended with Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher being allowed to stay back and Ashley Noffke may turn into a good replacement for Nathan Bracken. Misbah-ul-Haq and Abdur Razzak, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, won't be part of the first game - nor will the injured Anil Kumble - but Bangalore still have a potent line-up to go all the way. X-factor: Cameron White arrives with 878 runs in 26 Twenty20 matches. A strike-rate of 160.80 suggests an explosive quality like few others in the league. He's also a handy legspinner and could well be the lynchpin. Domestic dark horses: With no Bracken and Dale Steyn, Vinay Kumar is likely to get a chance alongside Zaheer Khan. Vinay, a nippy medium-pacer, was the highest wicket-taker in the recent first-class season and would relish the challenge of bowling to the big names. Also watch out for Bharat Chipli, the young opener, and KP Appanna, the left-arm spinner. Chennai Without Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel (who will miss the first two games) the Chennai bowling looks a bit thin. They will now rely on Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacob Oram with the Indian domestic players - Joginder Sharma, R Ashwin and Manpreet Gony - to back them up. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is unlikely to keep early on, with Parthiv Patel taking up the wicketkeeper's role, but the batting looks in fine shape with Matthew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, S Badrinath and Suresh Raina leading the charge. The South African duos arrival, though, will provide the side with plenty of balance. X-factor: Morkel, who will be available after two games, provides an explosive quality. With a strike-rate that approaches 130, he's made a name as one of the biggest hitters. A handy medium-pacer, he will also be useful in the death overs, keeping down the runs in the crunch. Domestic dark horses: Twenty-one-year-old S Anirudha, the son of former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth, might not be an automatic starter but remains an exciting prospect to watch out for. Nine Twenty20 games have fetched him 285 runs at a furious strike-rate of 137.7 and he could sparkle if given a chance. Also keep an eye on S Vidyut, the dashing batsman who bowls left-arm spin. Delhi No Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Malik and Ab de Villiers early on, no Daniel Vettori for the second half of the tournament - but these remain the only hitches in what is likely to be a well-set squad. The only two Australians - Glenn McGrath and Brett Geeves - aren't part of the national squad and there's enough Indian firepower to lead a consistent campaign. Delhi look likely to be the best fielding unit in the tournament, a fact that makes them big favourites to lift the trophy on June 1. X-factor: A fielding unit that comprises Tillakaratne Dilshan, de Villiers, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir and Malik - some of the most athletic cricketers prowling the field. Domestic dark horses: Geeves is the only foreign player without any international experience in the IPL. A Tasmanian fast bowler who has improved his lower-order batting, Geeves may prove to be an important member of the side. Also track Pradeep Sangwan, the left-arm swing bowler who made a big impact in the last domestic season. Hyderabad The team with possibly the highest power quotient, Hyderabad start as strong favourites for the competition. Andrew Symonds won't be available for the second half of the series - Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi initial games - but a roster of formidable overseas stars make them a big force. RP Singh, Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa comprise a left-arm trio that can keep things tight. X-factor: Capable of big hits and intelligent nudges, Scott Styris brings an additional dimension to the side. Take into account his useful medium-pace, and you have a potential MVP for the IPL. His retirement from Tests means is will be part of the side for the entire tournament. Domestic dark horse: Ravi Teja comes with the reputation of being an attacking batsman at the top of the order. Still 20, he could be a regular starter - pairing up with fire-starters like Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist - and it will be interesting to see if he can keep up pace. Keep a tab on M Sarvesh Kumar, a talented medium-pacer plucked out of the districts. Jaipur A tricky start for Jaipur early on, with Pakistanis, South Africans and Dimitri Mascarenhas unavailable. But Shane Warne has some good Indian talent backing him up - Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja and Munaf Patel providing the fizz. With each side expected to play at least seven Indians, Jaipur looks to be in the best position to have a settled squad through the tournament. X-factor: Shane Watson offers a great option at No.7. Not only is he a dynamite at the top of the order and can be useful with both the new and old ball. He is available for the whole duration of the tournament and, barring injury, is a good candidate for the player of the series. Domestic dark horse: Yusuf Pathan motored through the domestic season at a break-neck pace. If a first-class strike-rate of 87.88 is not indication enough, a Twenty20 strike-rate of 193.87 removes all doubt. Don't forget Jadeja, the talented allrounder who had a good U-19 World Cup. Kolkata There maybe no Shoaib Akhtar but Kolkata have big names to draw in the crowds. Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and Ricky Ponting form a trio as dangerous as any. Add to that the brilliance of Sourav Ganguly and Ishant Sharma and you have a squad high on entertainment value. It's a side full of crowd pullers - a fact that would pump up Shah Rukh Khan after all the bickering over ticket sales at Eden Gardens. X-factor: David Hussey started the 2007 county season hammering 275 from 227 balls in an early game against Essex and belting seven sixes from eight balls in a one-dayer. He has more than 1100 runs in Twenty20 games and scores at a strike rate of over 140. He maybe the least known of Kolkata's overseas stars but could well be the trump card. Domestic dark horses: Laxmi Ratan Shukla is likelyt to feature at No.6 or 7 regularly, given his capabilities with both bat and ball. Also check out Debabrata Das, the young batsman, and Iqbal Abdulla, the left-arm spinner. Mohali A well balanced side bowling side with two genuine quicks (Brett Lee and Sreesanth), a swing bowler (Irfan Pathan) and two spinners (Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla). Yuvraj Singh and the two Sri Lankans - Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara - form a good trio but their fortunes could depend on how the local batsmen perform. X-factor: An economical medium-pacer and handy hitter, James Hopes could be the one to watch out for. His bowling has variety and tight final overs have regularly picked up wickets and saved runs. A Twenty20 strike-rate of 118.5 (in 15 games) gives you an idea of his big-hitting prowess. Domestic dark horses: Karan Goel, a talented left-hand batsman from Punjab, and Ajitesh Argal, the medium-pacer who was part of the U-19 World Cup squad, are the two who could surprise the rest. Mumbai The big question around the Mumbai side is who will captain in case Sachin Tendulkar misses out because of a groin strain. Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya and Ashwell Prince have captained their sides before but Pollock preferred if a local player led. Either way it could only be for one or two games as Mumbai look ahead to a big season. Expect fireworks from the top order: Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa following the two masters, Tendulkar and Jayasuriya. X-factor: Luke Ronchi has quickly confirmed his place as Australia's future wicketkeeper. An accomplished gloveman, Ronchi has also demanded attention with the type of clean hitting that made Gilchrist such a fearsome force. In 2006 he hammered the fastest hundred in Australian domestic one-day history. Mumbai picked him late but, as the only foreign wicketkeeper in the side, he will be expected to play every game. Domestic dark horses: Ajinkya Rahane has made a few waves with some rapid scoring in domestic games and it will be interesting to see how he copes in the company of Tendulkar and Jayasuriya. Also watch out for Manish Pandey, the talented middle-order batsman who can hammer them in the slog. http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/current/story/346794.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straighttalk Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 hyderabad wil have problem balancing its final 11. except rp singh they don't have any good indian bowlers.which means they have to take in vaas and zoysa.when they do so they can only take in one star batsman plus gilchrist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamatkar Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 How does Geeves qualify to be a "domestic" dark horse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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