Who will make the cut : An analysis on teams so far.

[gaurav92]

The IPL has been a treat to watch till now, and is going through an exciting phase where any team can make it into the semis.With that, i had made an analysis of each and every team's performance so far, to come to a cnclusion of who will probably make it into the semis.Team's performance is judged out of 10 points. Mumbai Indians : 9.5 Mumbai Indians have been doing well this season, a very well balanced team, with the likes of Sachin, Jayasuriya, Bravo, Zaheer, and Bhajji as their senior members while Tiwary, Pollard, Sathish, Rayadu and Dhawan as the young counterparts of the team.The team has got a good blend of youth and experience in their line up.A very destructive batting order that is capable of dismantling any bowling attack, and a very good lethal bowling attack with a lot of variety in the form of Zak, Malinga Bhajji and Bravo.These things are backed by an excellent fielding unit, with their coach Johnty Rhodes have done pretty well in fielding department.On an average Mumbai Indians have stopped about 10-25 runs in every game of the oppositon due to their magnificent fielding efforts.And above all they have GOD,not only as their leader, but also looking in terrific form with the bat.All these factors make them a seriously good contender for the trophy this year, after a dissapointing two editions.The only thing that worries me is the inexperienced middle order, with the likes of Sathish, Rayadu and Saurabh Tiwary, its going to be tough handling tense situations, but thats after a very critical analysis.They look clear favourites for the semis. Royal Challengers Bangalore : 9 They have been like a dynamite in this tournament so far.They have played very passionately and with a motto to win from any situation.An excellent batting line up with a very good blend of experience and youth.Kallis, Dravid and Boucher serving a the experienced men, while Kohli, Uthappa and Manish Pandey are the young men who have performed pretty well in this tournament.And with the likes of Kevin Pietetsen and Ross Taylor yet to come, this team will only get sronger.Well to add to this, they have a very sedate bowling attack, probably the best in this competetion so far.They have Praveen Kumar who is a natural swing bowler along with Steyn who can swing at a very lethal pace, they make a very good opening duo.On the other hand they have Vinak Kumar and kallis who are the "hit the deck" kind of bowlers, very skiddy.And they have also got one of the best spinner in the world in their ranks, also leading them very well.Their bowlers are backed by some good fielders, and overall they look a very decent side, capable of lifting this years's trophy which they missed in the previuos year.They are also favourites as the contenders for the semis.The only thing that worries me about them is that they have too many options in their batting, while their bowling has not many options.If one bowler gets hurt/injured, then there isnt an experienced bowler to replace him. Deccan Chargers : 8.5 The Champions of the previous year, are on a role this year as well.They have a very destructive batting line up, starting from their captain Gilly, down to Suman who all are very decent strikers, Their middle order looks formidable with Gibbs, Symonds and Rohit goind all guns blazing.They are also a very good fielding side, with class fielders for every position.To me their bowling is the main problem, they have classy Vaasy but apart from him, only Ojha and Symonds are looking good, others have been major dissapointment.RP Singh is looking toothless here, while he was the Purple Cap holder last year.They need good local talent in their bowling department that they are lacking, but their strong batting line up makes up for the goof ups in their bwoling, but whether they can do it on a regular basis is a major question.So till then, i see them riding in the semis mainly because of hteir top order clicking and Middle order responding in almost every game.But it will be intresting to see, how they respond with their bowling while defending a low score. Delhi Daredevils : 7 Delhi are missing the services of their captain Gautam Gambhir, not only as their leader but also as their batsman.Gautam looked in good touch when he played a matchwinning knock but since then he has been out due to injury.Their middle order is exposed now, and i dont see any depth in their batting in the lower half, their management needs to pick some good youngsters who can fill up the gap in the middle order and provide impetus to the innings in the later half.Their opening duo of Warner and Veeru are very good, but its just to capitalize on the starts given by them, is the major problem for the Daredevils.With this, their bowling has also looked ordinary.Apart from Mishra and Nannes, nobody has yet fired for Delhi, they are missing vettori in the middle overs for sure.They are an improving side though, and i expect them to bounce back strongly and make it tough for other teams to make it for the semis and if Gauti returns, then one can see a very different Delhi side.They look good, but i still wonder whether they can reach semis or not. Chennai Super Kings : 6 They are not at all playing to their potential.Too much dependence on Hayden at the top is not helping their course.Raina and Dhoni are providing solidity to their middle order, but one factor that separate Chennai from the other sides is their poor fielding.Chennai fielding has been very ordinary in this competetion.They need to pull up their socks and back their bowlers with some good efforts in the field.Their bowlers too are struggling, apart from Muralidharan, no one has really come up with a match winning performance, Balaji in patches has looked good, but on the whole he has been dissapointing.Wit hKemp injured and Morkel not looking as fluent as he used to be, they are struggling to find a good finisher.Now the pressure is building on MS, and i am sure it will bring the best out of him.I still feel that this side has in them, what it takes to be in the semis, its just about winning games that they need to focus now.They definitely need the "Mongoose Man" to fire big if they want to get into the semis. Rajasthan Royals : 6 A bunch of cricketers who are known to give us surprises.They were never the favourites, neither are the favouites, and probably nor be favourites for this competetion.This side is looking ordinary now with a big dent as Graeme Smith and Mascarenhas whio were their main overseas stars are out of the tournament due to injury.Now they really are struggling to find the right combination.With Watson not playing, they really depend on one man "Yusuf Pathan".I know that he has been delivering the goods for them on several occassions, but doing it in every single game is very hard to expect.But they have got a fighter as their captain-The magician Warne, who never gives up.Their bowling looks a big worry along with their batting.There has been no one in their bowling department who has bowled exceedingly well but in parts they have been good.Their local batsman are inexperienced and therefore they are finding it difficult to post some good totals.I dont fancy their chances reaching the semis, but since they are known for their big surprises, I may be proved wrong by them. Kolkata Knight Riders : 5 A much hyped team that is performing well below the expectation level of their fans.They have gopt some seriously good individual who can single-handedly win them a handful of matches, but they are yet to fire.Their bowling attack is looking vert weak, with their main player Bond not doing justice to the payment, he has been given.Ishant Sharma is leaking runs, and looking very blunt with his line and length.Their batsman have struggled especially Dada and Hodge are looking very uncomfortable to hit a ball with full authority.But the stand out performer for them really has been Murali Karthik, he along with Ashoke Dinda has looked somewhat competetive, but apart from this, there has been nothing to cherish for KKR Fans.Their problem really is their bating order, which definitely needs some changing and they need to send someone early who can step on the gas rather than "consolidate".They need Mathooze to fire with the bat and the ball if they need to put an impact in Semis.I dont see them in the semis unless they look sharp in all departments. Kings XI Punjab : 3 This side has certainly looked out of colour and shape.They are a good side on paper, but performance wise they are no where near the bench mark that the paper has set them to.Bowling attack looks wobbly with most of the guys leaking runs, Pathan looking very poor, Sree spreading it all over the place, they desperately need the services of Lee.Their starred players in theri batting have failed to register any match winning score.Yuvraj, Sangakkara and Jayawardena have all looked awful.Only Bopara and their local find Bisla has done well, but apart from these, their batting has been a major dissappointment.They desperately need someone who can not only occupy the crease, but also proides impetus to the team in the middle overs to guide his team to a decent total.Along with this the yneed a good quality bowling attack that is capable of defending "par" totals.I dont see them in the semis, unless Yuvraj Singh clicks and their bowkler looks sharp. So all in all, my teams for semis would be : Mumbai Indians Royal Challengers Banglore Deccan Chargers/Chennai Super Kings/Delhi Daredevils.(any two of them).

[gaurav92]

Mods. Plz make this thread sticky in the IPL Forum itself. :icflove:

[gaurav92]

All the suggestions, criticisms regarding my analysis and improvements that can be made are welcomed by my fellow ICF mates.

[Guest DeveGowda]

Bambi's - 8.75 :winky:

[gaurav92]

^Reason for 8.75 ?

[Sachinism]

KXIP - 3 :hehe:

[gaurav92]

KXIP - 3 :hehe:

They deserve it, they ve played really poorly.BTW PJ you are a mod na, just sticky this thread plz :P

[Guest DeveGowda]

^Reason for 8.75 ?

Sorry..they are too much dependent on SRT....:winky: Also CSK 6 is atleast .5/ 1 high ....

[Sachinism]

I haven't read it, so don't know if its worthy of a sticky :P Hopefully I will during the course of the day

[Guest DeveGowda]

this has to update regulerly....atleast after all teams played 7 mathces each (half way)..

[gaurav92]

The only thing that worries me is the inexperienced middle order, with the likes of Sathish, Rayadu and Saurabh Tiwary, its going to be tough handling tense situations, but thats after a very critical analysis.

I pointed this fact and gave 9.5 otherwise it should have been 10.Still i reckon their local talent is delivering the goods and there is no need for a JP to come in ahead of Mclaren.

[gaurav92]

this has to update regulerly....atleast after all teams played 7 mathces each (half way)..

Will update it if i get time :nice:

[Guest DeveGowda]

Will update it if i get time :nice:

if u wont update in time y u want this to sticky ?

[gaurav92]

^:mad: Abhi jo likha hai woh toh koi padh le, uske baad later stages mein edit kar dunga na :nice:

[flamy]

abe jaake exams ke liye pud! :whack:

[Guest DeveGowda]

abe jaake exams ke liye pud! :whack:

he is doing PhD on cricket... :giggle:

[Guest DeveGowda]

^:mad: Abhi jo likha hai woh toh koi padh le' date=' uske baad later stages mein edit kar dunga na :nice:[/quote'] kitna bar padna hai ? exam kiska hai ?

[gaurav92]

Abe Flamy tujhe kaise malum hua ki mere exams chalu hai ? Edit : Saala main khud hi dhindora peet raha hu aur poochta hu ki exams ka kaise malum pada :giggle:

[ViruRulez]

Good work .. fair pointing till now but T20 can change around anytime and so there might be surprises later on .. MI seems to be the most solid this year

[gaurav92]

^Will update is as soon as i get time and this tourney takes a u-turn :two_thumbs_up: