In just over a week from now, the action starts all over. For nearly 2 months, much of India will spend their late afternoons and evening glued to the television set following the fortunes of their teams in yet another season of the IPL. And it seems this time, the BCCI is pulling out all stops to ensure a grand season, starting off with a star-studded lineup (Amitabh, Kareena, Salman, Priyanka etc) in the opening night in Chennai on the 3rd, a day before the action kicks off at the same venue. I admit wholeheartedly that I am a big fan of the IPL and am also an equally keen supporter of Test cricket, and I also firmly believe that loving both formats of the game is not mutually exclusive. I also disagree (and I have been saying this through Facebook and Twitter) with those who blame the IPL for all the ills that currently afflict Indian cricket. It is quite strange to see the IPL being blamed for our eight successive test losses when, in fact, most of the Indian batting line-up in those games made their names much before the IPL started. People also conveniently overlook the role a tournament like IPL has played in kickstarting India's one-day performance. I do believe that had it not been for the IPL, we would have struggled to see the kind of run-chases India displayed in Hobart and Mirpur recently. As Harsha Bhogle put it very nicely 'T20 and IPL has made batsman irreverent towards targets'. So no score is really safe anymore, and that itself makes the ODI game more interesting. I can also see in the near future a 450-500 score being chased down in the fourth innings in a test match, and T20 and IPL would have a part to play in that.
But back to IPL-5. The teams have been slightly rejigged this year, the Kochi Tuskers are no longer there and their players have gone off with different teams. But amidst all this, one constant remains. The fortunes of a team would still be decided by the 7 Indian players that would feature in the starting line-up. You might have all the foreign stars in the squad, but it is the local talent that will decide how far you will go in the tournament. This has been demonstrated by Rajasthan Royals and CSK in the past. So here is a quick rundown of the squads this year (in alphabetical order) and an assessment of the Indian contingent that each franchisee has:
Chennai Super Kings:
Clearly the most successful side over the past 4 seasons that there is a good reason for that. Good leadership supported by a stable core of both local and foriegn sides that has largely remain unchanged.
Key Indian contingent: MS Dhoni, Ashwin, Badrinath, Jadeja, Raina, Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha and Abhinav Mukund
As usual, very strong Indian flavour. All Indian internationals. Expect CSK to be one of the favourites again.
Deccan Chargers:
Parthiv Patel and Darren Bravo are good additions to the Chargers squad, but the loss of Ojha to Mumbai Indians will hurt, as also will Ishant Sharma's un-availability due to injury.
Key Indian contingent: Shikhar Dhawan, Manpreet Gony, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Amit Mishra, Parthiv,Tanmay Shrivastava, TP Sudhindra
Distinctly lackluster lineup. Hardly anyone who can be betted on to set the stadium alight. A lot of will depend on Messrs Sangakarra, Steyn, Dan Christian, JP Duminy. Would be a real surprise if they make the play-offs.
Delhi Daredevils:
Lot of work seems to have happened in the interim. Middle order is suddenly power-packed with Pietersen and Mahela both coming in. Sehwag should be fresh, injury-free and hungry as well.
Key Indian contingent: Sehwag, Varun Aaron, Agarkar, Robin Bist (leading runscorer this Ranji), Irfan Pathan, Naman Ojha, Venugopal Rao, Umesh Yadav
Solid Indian contingent with a good bowling attack (hopefully the Kotla wicket would be to their liking). Add to this a top and middle order of Warner (though he will miss half the season), KP, Jaywardene and Ross Taylor and you have a team that should go far. After a lackluster couple of seasons, I expect the Daredevils to get their act together this time around. Expect a play-off spot.
The other teams will follow in the next couple of posts...
Cheers
Amit
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