Sachinism Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Bangalore Royal Challengers When the team rosters were fixed last season, many commented on how the Bangalore squad was in stark contrast to the flamboyant image of its owner Vijay Mallya. A 'Test batting line-up' comprising Rahul Dravid, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jacques Kallis and Wasim Jaffer now has a limited-overs sheen with the induction of Kevin Pietersen, New Zealand's Jesse Ryder and local boy Robin Uthappa. Although Bangalore sold Zaheer Khan, they are boosted by the availability of Nathan Bracken, injured through the first season. However, like Pietersen, he might be available only for a limited period. Though the attack will be led by Dale Steyn, there are a few doubts over Bangalore's ability with the ball. Anil Kumble is unlikely to play and Praveen Kumar is their only current India international on the flat tracks of the subcontinent. Probable XI: 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Kevin Pietersen/ Ross Taylor 5 Virat Kohli, 6 B Akhil/ Jacques Kallis, 7 Mark Boucher/ Shreevats Goswami (wk), 8 Praveen Kumar, 9, 10 Nathan Bracken/Vinay Kumar, 11 Dale Steyn. Kolkata Knight Riders The big boost for Kolkata is the availability of explosive New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum - who scored the most famous Twenty20 century in last year's tournament opener - for the whole season. Chris Gayle was unfit last time around and Kolkata will bank on his all-round abilities to help them build early momentum before he leaves for national duty. Mashrafe Mortaza, a popular signing at the auction, could find it hard to fill Umar Gul's shoes but Ajantha Mendis could be their ace. Ishant Sharma flopped last season but he has vastly improved his skills for the limited-overs game in the past year. Also in the mix are local lad Ashok Dinda, who impressed last season, and former India internationals Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik, one of the key bowlers in Middlesex's successful Twenty20 campaign. While Ricky Ponting and allrounder David Hussey may be called on for national duty, fellow Australians Brad Hodge and Moises Henriques, the young New South Wales allrounder, will fill the breach. Cheteshwar Pujara, considered by many to be an India prospect, could well be a value addition. Probable XI: 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Chris Gayle/Brad Hodge, 3 Sourav Ganguly, 4 David Hussey/ Moises Henriques, 5 Cheteshwar Pujara, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Shukla, 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Ajantha Mendis. Deccan Chargers They finished bottom last season but their moves this time don't inspire much optimism. Deccan's batting woes were well documented - Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris failed to make an impact - but their bowling was the weakest in the competition. RP Singh was unable to repeat his ICC World Twenty20 heroics, while Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa posed little threat. This time, Deccan brought Fidel Edwards and another West Indian, the allrounder Dwayne Smith, having signed Australian allrounder Ryan Harris before the auction. Edwards is quick but he can be an expensive gamble in the Twenty20 format. Good news for Deccan will be left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha's impressive tour of Sri Lanka with India. In the batting department, only Adam Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao performed well last season. Deccan will be keeping close tabs on Andrew Symonds. If his exclusion from the Australian side is prolonged, Symonds could be available for the entire season, a much-needed boost for the side. Whether VVS Laxman, who was replaced as captain, will be a regular in the team this year remains to be seen. Probable XI: Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 D Ravi Teja, 3 Andrew Symonds/Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Venugopal Rao 6 Dwayne Smith/ Scott Styris, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Chaminda Vaas/Nuwan Zoysa/Fidel Edwards, 10 RP Singh, 11 D Kalyankrishna. Kings XI Punjab Punjab, semi-finalists last season, are largely sticking to the line-up that helped them succeed last year. Their only signings this season are West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor and England allrounder Ravi Bopara. Opener Shaun Marsh could be away on duty for Australia and that would be a concern for Punjab, with Brett Lee and James Hopes also set to miss out. They bid frantically for Mortaza, perhaps to ensure having a bowler available for the entire season. A surprising fact that emerged at the auction was that Ramnaresh Sarwan was not on a three-year contract with Punjab - he remained unsold at this auction. What could be worrying, though, is the form of Sreesanth, whose fortunes too have been on the wane since he picked up an injury during the tournament last season. Punjab's Indian bowlers had done the trick last season, and their team could suffer if that is not the case this time. Probable XI: 1 Shaun Marsh/ Luke Pomersbach 2 James Hopes/ Sunny Sohal, 3 Kumar Sangakkara/ Uday Kaul (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Ravi Bopara/ Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava/ Sohal 7 Karan Goel 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh/ Brett Lee. Chennai Super Kings Imposing is the word that best describes Chennai's squad after the second auction. A team modelled around Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has the inspirational Andrew Flintoff - commanding a higher salary than Dhoni - and Matthew Hayden is also available for the full tournament. Hard-hitting allrounder Albie Morkel, Man of the Series in Australia recently, is another of the team's key players, and the embarrassing wealth of talent shows in the fact that Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacob Oram have been overshadowed. Flintoff bolsters the bowling while Sri Lankan left-armer Thilan Thushara could be the dark horse among the foreign recruits. Chennai's third signing at the auction was Tasmanian batsman George Bailey, but he is unlikely to feature given the team has consistent performers in Suresh Raina and S Badrinath. Another big plus is that barring Flintoff and Hussey, all their foreign recruits are available for most of the season. Probable XI: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey/S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 5 S Badrinath 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Andrew Flintoff/ Jacob Oram/ Joginder Sharma, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini/ P Amarnath. Delhi Daredevils Delhi no longer have Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif, but their line-up is even more dangerous this season because of David Warner and the England duo of Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood. Delhi have reason to be pleased with their homework before the Goa auction; their scouts had been lurking around Australia and they have brought in potential impact players. Warner's sensational Twenty20 international debut against South Africa whet the appetite and there are other hopefuls from Australia in allrounder Andrew McDonald, who too debuted for Australia after joining Delhi, and left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes, an out-and-out Twenty20 specialist. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are undoubtedly the most potent opening combination in the tournament, while Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori bring the experience to the bowling. The likes of Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik have been in good touch so far this year. With most of their foreign players free for tournament, the only headache for Delhi could be getting their XI right. Probable XI: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 4 Manoj Tiwary/ David Warner, 5 AB de Villiers / Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Rajat Bhatia, 7 Daniel Vettori 8 Amit Mishra/ Ashish Nehra, 9 Farveez Maharoof/ Yo Mahesh, 10 Dirk Nannes/ Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Glenn McGrath. Rajasthan Royals The inaugural champions managed to work out a winning formula under the guidance of Shane Warne, and expect more of the same this year too. Their Indian players were not the best of the lot, but Warne turned them into a formidable unit, and found two highly successful foreign recruits in Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. Tanvir is unavailable and Watson doubtful due to Australia's schedule and fitness worries, but Rajasthan have found adequate replacements at the auction. Shaun Tait is tailor-made for Twenty20, capable of short bursts of quick bowling, and Tyron Henderson, one of the surprise picks at US$650,000, has been highly successful for Middlesex. It will be a tall order to match Watson's heroics from last season, but Henderson is an impact player in this format. The team will also be boosted by the availability of Morne Morkel and Justin Langer. Both missed the inaugural edition due to their commitments with English counties. Dimitri Mascarenhas could also fill in as an allrounder but Rajasthan's main worry would be Graeme Smith. His might undergo surgery on his elbow after Australia's visit to South Africa, which could put his IPL participation in doubt. Nonetheless, the champions have proven themselves with lesser-known names. Probable XI: 1 Graeme Smith/Niraj Patel/ Justin Langer 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Mohammad Kaif,, 4 Shane Watson/ Tyron Henderson/ Dimitri Mascarenhas 5, Yusuf Pathan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Shaun Tait/ Morne Morkel, 10 Siddarth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel. Mumbai Indians Mumbai made three buys in the auction. JP Duminy was snapped up for a whopping $950,000, while Mohammad Ashraful could be a steal for the Twenty20 format at $75,000; in between, fast bowler Kyle Mills, who will help compensate for the missing Shaun Pollock. Zaheer Khan, on current form, is a vital addition to cover up for the South African's bowling skills. In another swap, Mumbai sold Ashish Nehra and brought in Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan, a move to compensate for Uthappa's departure. Dwayne Bravo, a successful replacement player for the team last year, was given a permanent deal. Two other key signings also came before the auction. They are limited-over specialists from the English county circuit, allrounders Graham Napier and Ryan McLaren - a Kolpak player South Africa wanted to get back after their ODI losses in England last year. The team has three Sri Lankans in Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, all of whom are available for the entire tournament. Mumbai were unlucky last time to miss Sachin Tendulkar, who was injured, and Harbhajan Singh - banned for his infamous slap - for the bulk of the tournament. If they manage to get it right, they would perhaps be able to do justice to Mumbai's tag of domestic giants. Probable XI: 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 & 5 Dwayne Bravo/ Ryan McLaren/ JP Duminy/ Graham Napier, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Lasith Malinga/ Dilhara Fernando/ Kyle Mills. http://uk.cricinfo.com/ipl2009/content/current/story/389500.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wicket Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thanks for sharing that Sachinism. Just one request; could you edit to add a source for the article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predator_05 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 On second thought, maybe Delhi don't need another bowler. I forgot we had Nannes, who has a tremendous T20 record and is a proven performer in this form of the game. Veeru can easily play 2 spinners and use Nannes and Maharoof/McGrath to open the bowling. Nice bit of scouting to pick up Warner too. Most teams are paying over the odds for average players, whilst Delhi are picking up proven T20 players on the cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wicket Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Delhi's got serious depth. McGrath should be an automatic selection at first, as should Vettori. Nannes, Maharoof, Mishra, Yomahesh, Nehra and Sangwan provide plenty of options for 2 additional bowling selections (as Sehwag/Dilshan can easily fill in a 5th bowler's role). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predator_05 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Dilshan wasn't used much last season. I don't think he will get much of a look in this season either. I think it would make sense to use Karthik as first choice 'keeper so they can get the good foreign players in. Even though i rate ABdV much higher, he takes up an overseas slot which would be better used on an all rounder or a bowler. Besides, Karthik has been in good form this season so he should do alright. I can't believe they still have Tiwary...that guy is crap. Should have shipped HIM off to Bumbai and kept Dhawan...:(( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboysfan Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 punjab in serious trouble-they might finish last or 7th this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wicket Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Still think De Villiers should be in any first XI, he's just an unbelievable addition to any team given his versatile batting, hitting power and fielding (which would add a LOT). ABDV/McGrath/Vettori/Nannes could be the four overseas players picked for the XI, and the rest picked from the local pool. Warner's a big talent, but don't see a reason to play him in the XI ahead of AB (more consistent than Warner, who's very hit and miss) - besides Sehwag provides even more hitting power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbydhillon Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 punjab in serious trouble-they might finish last or 7th this year. yup they gonna be at bottom so i guess only one of my teams have any chance , go DILLI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbydhillon Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 and that stupid bimbo priety doesnt even know that oz players wont be availablke, she was asking modi on tv , \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' they gonna be available fro most of ipl, right." modi said we are working on it. lol what a dumb owners punjab have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 punjab in serious trouble-they might finish last or 7th this year. last year people said the same thing about certain Rajasthan Royals.dont go by big names Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 and that stupid bimbo priety doesnt even know that oz players wont be availablke, she was asking modi on tv , \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' they gonna be available fro most of ipl, right." modi said we are working on it. lol what a dumb owners punjab have Im not a Punjab fan, but the one thing going for them is a strong group of Indian players, the 4 foreign players can always swap !!! One more thing, dont expect Marsh to have a similar purple patch this time around !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Im not a Punjab fan, but the one thing going for them is a strong group of Indian players, the 4 foreign players can always swap !!! One more thing, dont expect Marsh to have a similar purple patch this time around !!! this time original Yuvraj will rock the IPL!:two_thumbs_up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amits Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 this seems to be a very awesome team. might even win the ipl sehwag gambhir david warner mithun manhas/manoj tiwary dilshan/ab devilliers dinesh kartik(w) rajat bhatia amit mishra daniel vettori ashish nehra glenn mcgrath :two_thumbs_up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 ^^ Looks hollow in the middle ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amits Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 ^^ Looks hollow in the middle ! wheres the hollowness in the middle??? mithun manhas avges 51 in list a matches, dinesh kartik is the no.1 wicket-keeper behind the stumps in india & did well in domestic matches under pressure this season. dilshan just won a match today for sl & warner made a 43-ball 89 on his intl debut. even ab devilliers did well for sa in the odi series against aus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wicket Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 dinesh kartik is the no.1 wicket-keeper behind the stumps in india What the hell are you smoking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 ^^ The bowling other than Glen seems hopeless !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amits Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 What the hell are you smoking? i never said about batting. i only said about wicket-keeping where dinesh kartik is the best wicket-keeper we have in india in the wicket-keeping department Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amits Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 ^^ The bowling other than Glen seems hopeless !!! wheres the hopelessness in bowling??? vettori has a economy rate of <6 in 20/20 & amit mishra is the best spinner in india. in mcgrath, vettori & amit mishra, we can get through 12 overs conceding 72 runs or less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 chote, this wont be the McGrath u saw in the games he played for Auz or last year for that matter, Glen has no cricket since the IPL, so u are telling me a bowler who has not bowled for around 12 months will keep an eco under 6 :hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts