It’s been over two years since the cash-rich Indian premier league showed us the trailer to the movie of what was to come. One thought the trailer was flattering to deceive. However, that wasn’t the case to be. The Indian premier league has charged forward and is now in some eyes second only to the World cup which happens once in four years.

The fans/ cricket lovers/ the players just can’t seem to have enough of the IPL and want it to come and stay for long. Well, the good thing for them is that the IPL unlike the world cup is there every year. Many players have been seen trying to focus on limited Overs cricket. The big question is had the Cash rich IPL not been there would competitive 30-34 year olds make that decision; would they step down had the cash rich IPL not been there?

The most recent of all was Brett Lee, who at the age of 33 stepped down from test match cricket to prolong his career in the shorter formats of the game. In the past year, along with lee several notable cricketers have stepped down from the test level and are either doing the freelance role or playing the shorter formats for their respective countries. Players including the likes of Oram, Styris, Bond, Flintoff and now lee have done so.

Mind you, all these players are not overly old and are well under the retirement age—under 35 (if there’s something like that). A lot has been spoken about how lucrative the league has been and its exploits. What’s more is there are another two franchisees to be added for the fourth edition of the IPL. There will be a fresh auction, all players will come into the pool again and even iconic players can be traded. The league never ceases to amaze me. The 3rd edition of the IPL is less than a week away and the excitement is mounting with every hour.

People across India are counting hours before they get to see their favourite players on the grand stage. Now, delving into what the 3rd season of the IPL has in store for us, which are the teams that look good to bag the stunning gold embedded Indian map. Teams have been training for over a week now, and managers have focussed more on player availability rather than just player name.

Deccan chargers

Deccan chargers: After some controversy whether the chargers would play the tournament or not due to division of the Andhra state, the news is they will be playing and look strong as ever. Under the inspirational captaincy of former Australian vice-captain and wicket keeper, Adam Gilchrist the Deccan chargers on paper at least look the strongest unit of them all. The champions of the last edition the chargers, wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if they go on to win this edition of the IPL as well.
Owner: Deccan Chronicle
Captain: Adam Gilchrist
Coach: Darren Lehmann
Game breakers (batting): Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Dwayne Smith.
Knock over’s (bowling): Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards, RP Singh, Ryan Harris.
Fielding: Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Dwayne Smith.
The chargers look a good side all round and seem to have all aspects covered. Their only concern would be their dismal record at their home ground, but the good thing for them being they don’t have a lot of matches to play there.

Bangalore Royal Challengers

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Finalists of the last year’s edition, the challengers showed the world a new side to their cricket after a dismal performance in the inaugural edition of the IPL. Labeled as the “Test team” by critics the challengers showed their true worth by showing everyone how dangerous they can be and proving that T20 is not a game that can be decided on paper.
Owner: Dr. Vijay Mallya
Captain: Anil Kumble
Coach: Ray Jennings
Game breakers (batting): Manish Pandey, Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White.
Knock over’s (bowling): Dale Steyn
Fielding: Roelof Van de Merwe, Cameron White, Steven Smith.
Their new look squad doesn’t look the “test team” anymore with White, Taylor and Pietersen who can each give it a fair whack. Along with the blend of youth they have good seniors in Rahul Dravid, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Anil Kumble. They shouldn’t be underestimated as they showed how dangerous they could be. Loaded with South Africans, perhaps that’s what perhaps was their undoing last time—chokers. Jokes apart the royal challengers do have one of the best spinners in the tournament in their skipper Anil Kumble and also the Best ODI bowler in the world, Dale Steyn. A sure team to watch out for.

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings: Finalists of the first edition and semi finalists of the one down in South Africa, the Chennai super kings have been one of the most consistent teams in the IPL. They have the best set of all rounder’s and a good blend of youth and old with a very ‘calm’ captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Owner: India Cements Ltd.
Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Coach: Stephen Fleming
Game breakers (batting): Matthew Hayden, Albie Morkel, Jacob Oram, Justin Kemp, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina.
Knock over’s (bowling): Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan
Fielding: Suresh Raina and Justin Kemp.
A very strong team overall, a very strong opener in Hayden and good players to nurdle and take the neck by the scruff if required. Their only shortcoming is their bowling, they need to strengthen it if they have to make it to the final four. A team filled with all rounder’s (and good ones at that too), it would be very interesting to see which or how many out of the four will be selected. You’d like to think that Albie Morkel should be an automatic choice however the same cannot be said about Jacob Oram due to his inconsistent performances in the last season. Justin Kemp has been in good form for the cobras and he should get a nod ahead of the tall black cap all rounder.

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils: The daredevils like the Chennai super kings have been a very consistent side in the IPL too. They made the semi finals in both the editions and looked good to go further. Somehow they seem to give the South African image about them, they lose/ choke in tense matches. On paper they are second only to the Deccan chargers and look as if they are capable of overpowering any unit. A change in the head was seen with Virender Sehwag stepping down from captaincy as he wanted to concentrate on his game.
Owner: GMR Holdings
Captain: Gautam Gambhir
Coach: Greg Shippered
Game breakers (batting): Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB De Villiers, David Warner
Knock over’s (bowling): Dirk Nannes, Daniel Vettori
Fielding: Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB De Villiers, David Warner
A very good unit and like the chargers have got everything they could ask for in the T20 arena. If they get on to a good start in the tournament there could be no stopping them. They would be hoping to go one step further and win the league. It will be very interesting to see who the 4 foreign players will be considering the nick Warner is in, it would be very tough to leave him out. However, Dilshan, de Villiers, Vettori and nannes all have been very successful for the daredevils. Surmisably, it could be a toss up between Dilshan and Warner or Vettori and Warner considering the other spinner Mishra will play.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians: The side of the master— Sachin Tendulkar. The great man has been in tremendous form for India for a long time now. He’s seeing the 51/2 cherry as the size of a football. The Mumbai Indians failed to make it to the semi finals on both the previous occasions. However, a lot seems to have changed since then, and the odds are in their favour this time round. Mumbai’s biggest and most recent pick is that of West Indian giant buy Kieron Pollard. The West Indian was sold for over 6 crores. If he does justice to half the price he was brought for the Mumbai Indians should pick up the trophy.
Owner: Reliance Industries Limited
Captain: Sachin Tendulkar
Coach: Robin Singh, Jhonty Rhodes
Game breakers (batting): Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Abhishek Nayar.
Knock over’s (bowling): Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan.
Fielding: Kieron Pollard, Abhishek Nayar, Dwayne Bravo.
With Jhonty Rhodes being their fielding coach you could expect the Mumbai Indians should be from the top draw. Mumbai Indians have a huge fan following (largely due to the presence of Sachin Tendulkar) and their fans will be hoping that they do come up with something special this year. Twenty 20 is not Sachin Tendulkar’s most preferred format but you can never tell with the master. If great players can adapt to any form of the game, then Sachin Tendulkar surely can and you wouldn’t hold it against to him to carry his team single handedly towards the title.

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab: The men from Punjab have a new king to work under. The managerial unit at the Kings XI Punjab have decided that it is best that Yuvraj Singh plays as player and not as captain as he is more efficient as player. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara has been appointed captain and would be able to share a good rapport with Tom Moody as moody was Lanka’s ex coach. The men from Punjab would look to replicate their performance of the inaugural edition of the IPL if not better it and go all the way.
Owner: Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Mohit Burman.
Captain: Kumar Sangakkara
Coach: Tom Moody
Game breakers (batting): Yuvraj Singh, Shaun Marsh, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara.
Knock over’s (bowling): Brett Lee, Shreesanth, I Pathan.
Fielding: Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Brett lee.
For me, if the Kings XI Punjab have to stay in good stead they would have to ensure that ace pace man Brett lee is fit and raring to go. If that’s the case is death bowling and lower order striking will be invaluable and could go a long way in deciding the fate of the franchisee.

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals: The champions from the first edition of the IPL. Looked one of the most ordinary twenty 20 side on paper when the auction first concluded. However, as I mentioned before T20 isn’t done and dusted on paper. Under the tactical and inspirational captaincy of Australian spin bowling legend Shane Warne. Warne showed that he can weave his magic on not just the cricket ball but also on people as he did here. Youngsters namely Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar owe their careers to Shane Warne as he identified their talent and helped them exhibit it on the world stage.
Owner: Emerging Media, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra.
Captain: Shane Warne
Coach: Shane Warne
Game breakers (batting): Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Adam Voges
Knock over’s (bowling): Shaun Tait, Shane Warne
Fielding: Adam Voges, Abhishek Jhunjunwala
Shane Warne’s tactical role as captain and coach of the team will have a huge role to play if the Royals have to emulate their first season’s performance. It is very possible for them to re do that especially with the royals having one of the fastest bowlers in the world (if not the fastest-currently) in shaun tait. Tait has been in brilliant form after his comeback into the Australian side early this year. His rhythm seems good and he had recently clocked over a 160 clicks in a T20 match against Pakistan. Warne along with this bowling will have to motivate the boys how he did so in 2008. A very well knit side and are certainly the dark horse of the tournament.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders: Dismal performances in the last two editions of the IPL in spite of having a decent set of players leaves Kolkata as a ‘not-considered’ option amongst the people in India. Having said this, this might just be what the Knight riders may need as they have been the most popular and glamorous side ever since they burst onto the scene largely due to their owner Shah Rukh Khan being the Badshah of bollywood. A lot of controversies surrounded the knights which hampered them adversely. Racism rows, conflicts between the coach, captain and owner, and the whole strategy of multiple captains; all turned out to be KKR’s undoing in the end. Hence, SRK finally decided to re instate Sourav Ganguly as captain and replace John Buchannan with Dav whatmore. Kolkata will be without the services of Brendon McCullum this year due to his commitments with the national side.
Owner: Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Jai Mehta.
Captain: Sourav Ganguly
Coach: Dav Whatmore
Game breakers (batting): Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Chris Gayle.
Knock over’s (bowling): Shane Bond, Ishant Sharma, Charl Langeveldt.
Fielding: Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Angelo Mathews.
KKR bagged New Zealand quickie Shane bond, who after severing his ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League is now eligible to play for the Knights. He’s a pretty good buy and should reap his 6 crore worth returns. KKR are certainly my pick of the tournament and it is how Ganguly and whatmore function together will decide the fate of this wonderful side.

This year’s IPL has a lot to offer, in fact the IPL itself this year has a lot to offer. They have the Huge auction coming up later this year and also unveiling of the new franchisees mid way through the IPL. The IPL is back in its home nation and is set to thrill. With media playing its part in the form of hoardings and advertisements this year’s IPL promises to be an “enthralling” one to say the least.

Money in cricket is something that’s always been there but not to the extent that’s come in with the IPL and the champion’s league that’s to name a few. Also, commercials have been playing their role too thereby drawing the interests of the cricketers to other fields.

Two of the main recent contributors to money in cricket in the recent past have been the IPL (Indian premier league) and the Champions League 20-20. The IPL is basically a twenty-twenty competition which follows a double round robin and a knock out stage. It is now the most watched twenty20 cricket competition in the world.

On the other hand the Champions league comprises of teams from all around the world who have reached either the semi’s or finals of their domestic 20-20 championships. He organised a twenty20 competition where in the winner takes all who was to be awarded with 20million$. The match was between the West Indians and England which was eventually won by the West Indians.

Due to the severe involvement of money the cricket playing nations have started suffering where as the players don’t seem to mind it at all as they’ve been having more demand hence more options for them. One of the biggest problems for the national cricket boards has been that due to the involvement of money players who used to earlier retire at the age of 36-37 have started contemplating whether to retire a year or two early and instead play in cricket league’s like the IPL and ICL thus earn 4 times the amount of what their boards paid them annually.

An example to this has been when two English cricketing giants namely Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen had been bided for the highest amount in the IPL (both for 1.55 million$) which was to be followed by a horribly embarrassing defeat to the west indies of a 51 all-out scenario. Former English skipper Nasser Hussain has blamed his team’s loss to the recently then concluded auction which caused casualness and distraction.

Although ICL too is on the similar lines of the IPL the difference is clearly seen. ICL prides itself on giving opportunity to talented youngsters where as IPL is more about being famous. And here comes the money which sets the IPL and the ICL apart. Due to its money fame and hype IPL is a major success throughout the world where as ICL finds it difficult to even make the news papers on a regular basis. Due to this, irrespective of their performance cricketers in the ICL are unable to make it to the Indian team.

One off tournaments like the Stanford twenty20 hasn’t done much good either. Former Officials have already voiced their concerns with one of them saying that “I am pained to see how money has ruined the game, the latest example of which is the mess created by England Cricket Board’s now-terminated alliance with fraud-accused business tycoon Allen Stanford. I feel the ECB did the right thing by terminating their contracts with Stanford but I reckon the damage has already been done.”

By playing for different leagues, new different competitions players may earn money but will definitely lose their pride in playing for their country.

In the last edition of the IPL review, we take a look at the top 3 teams of the IPL last season and what are their chances of repeating their stupendous performances this year.

1) Delhi Daredevils
Without doubt, one of the best T-20 teams on paper as well as performance. Delhi Daredevils will make any one sweat with jealousy as not many sides are lucky to have world class T-20 players such as the Delhi opening duo of Virender Sehwag and captain Gautam Gambhir, Australia’s exciting talent David Warner, Moises Henriques, the Australian all-rounder who was bought from the Kolkata Knight Riders outside auction this season, AB de Villiers, South Africa’s most reliable batsman and an excellent fielder in the 30-yard circle.

And yes, who will forget the revolutionary Sri Lankan batsman who by far is the best player of 2009 in the eyes of many. The man who invented the new shot over the wicketkeepers head. He is none other than Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan.

All the above players have a certain amount of experience in international cricket. However, the young players too are really a talented lot. Dinesh Karthik is still in the infant stages of developing himself in the Indian team, yet the wicket-keeper batsman is known to be a good finisher.

He proved his worth in tough conditions in South Africa. The Delhi lads Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra, the leg-spinner who has made a name for himself in the Indian Test team, Ashish Nehra who is experienced but has lost out on a lot of cricket due to injuries but can be a good partner to Dirk Nannes when it comes to opening the bowling. If Dilshan has taken the world by storm thanks to his batting, Nannes has done the same with bowling. He is the perfect replacement for Glenn McGrath, whose contract has been bought out this season. Pradeep Sangwan and Avishkar Salvi add to the bowling depth of the team further.

However, the question is whether Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary deserve to be removed from the Delhi roster and sold to Kolkata, when Delhi need a good bench strength in batting. Will McGrath’s buy-out cost Delhi? Will Gambhir’s captaincy inspire Delhi in the long-run, which didn’t do the team any good in the Champions League 2009? Well, time will tell.

2) Royal Challengers Bangalore
The team owned by Vijay Mallya flopped in the first season by finishing second-last. However, events took a u-turn and luck started going their way and they finished second in the tournament! Bangalore won many fans in South Africa, but they are back in India. Will pressure take a toll on the team?

Well, not really when it’s known that Anil Kumble is the skipper of the team. He is a true fighter as it is known how he won consecutive matches last season as the then new skipper of the team when Kevin Pietersen had to leave half-way from the tournament and left Bangalore in disarray as he was out of form too with the bat. They have vast experience in players such as Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, the two South African stalwarts.

Bangalore perhaps has one of the best pool of young players amongst all the 8 teams. Manish Pandey was the find of Indian cricket last season, Robin Uthappa is a true match winner, Virat Kohli who is India’s new prodigy with the bat and on the field, R Vinay Kumar is a potential talent, A Mithun could make his debut for the team after a good domestic season, Eoin Morgan, England’s future who was picked in the auction and Ashok Menaria, the Indian U-19 captain.

However, Bangalore’s chances look grim due to injuries sustained by Kiwi players such as Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder. With no Kevin Pietersen available, Bangalore chances take a dip in the pool as it remains to be seen whether their performance last year was a fluke.

3) Deccan Chargers
They were the champions of the IPL last season. Who would write them off this time? The team gave a fitting reply to its critics who said that they don’t deserve to play in the tournament when they finished at the bottom in the first season. But an inspirational comeback was so good for cricket that it showed that the IPL is here to stay due to its excellent quality of cricket.

Unlike Bangalore, Deccan is even more strengthened despite the fact that the Hyderabad franchisee was knocked out in the first round of the Champions League 2009 in India. And a humiliatng fact is that they haven’t won a single match at home.

The fact that Adam Gilchrist is like an all-rounder who is captain, wicketkeeper and opens the batting is not just motivating, but also it leaves Deccan with several choices in the team composition, especially when it comes to the middle order. Herschelle Gibbs was missed in the Champions League and his presence this time will boost the team.

VVS Laxman is a crowd favourite in any part of India and his batting is a treat to watch even if it is a T-20 tournament. With Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris and the young brigade of RP Singh, the highest wicket-taker last season, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha as well as T Suman can perform in India too.

Can’t we fancy Deccan as champions again? Well, we could.
Thus the IPL promises to be a thriller and even better than the first two seasons as more players means more excitement and better quality of cricket, which is important.

In the second part, the teams that will be in the spotlight are the champions of the inaugural IPL, Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings

1) Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan created history by winning in the 1st season, after defeating Chennai in a thrilling final. However, the second time around, Shane Warne’s magic didn’t work as the Royals finished at a lowly 6th spot.

This time, they are determined enough for another IPL trophy with the addition of Australian players such as Damien Martyn and Adam Voges, who were bought for a base price of $100000. The team strategy would be easier for Shane Warne to follow since communication would become easier. Not many changes in the Royals squad is also good because the players are used to playing with each other.

Warne’s all-round role as a determined captain and a champion leg-spin bowler would be crucial for the team’s success. Along with Graeme Smith, who is by far the trump player of the team. Youngsters such as Ravindra Jadeja, Munaf Patel, Naman Ojha, Amit Singh and Swapnil Asnodkar make Royals a team to contend with.

However, the Royals need to deal with the fact that only England’s Dimitri Mascerenhas is a match-winning all-rounder. They will miss Shane Watson dearly like the last season. However, they are a decent fielding side, so this should help do really well.

2) Kings XI Punjab
Punjab reached the semi-finals of the 1st season unexpectedly. And last year, they finished 5th, missing out the semi-finals yet again by a narrow margin. Despite good performances, it is quite mind-boggling that Yuvraj Singh was replaced by Kumar Sangakkara as skipper.

They are a good unit with the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Yuvraj Singh as a player, Shaun Marsh, Ramesh Powar as well as youngsters such as Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Yusuf Abdulla, Piyush Chawla, Sunny Sohal and the impressive left-handed batsman Karan Goel. The presence of Indian youth makes them a crowd favourite.

Who knows Sangakkara’s captaincy could be worth the risk just as he is inspirational for Sri Lanka. Tom Moody as coach would ensure that there is a good working relationship between Moody and Sangakkara. However, this move shouldn’t backfire like Kolkata’s where Brendon McCullum was made captain in the place of Sourav Ganguly. This will ensure Punjab an outright chance for victory.

3) Chennai Super Kings
Chennai are a side that has been the most consistent in the first two seasons. Could it get any better when it is known that they were the finalists in the first season and 4th in the 2nd season, losing to eventual runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore in the semi-final in Durban in South Africa.

It can get better and more exciting cricket is expected from Chennai. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain and wicketkeeper, Chennai has got the right balance. Their team is flexible enough to perform with newly acquired all-rounders such as South Africa’s Justin Kemp and Sri Lanka’s latest sensation Thissira Perera.

Who can count out Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel? Despite Andrew Flintoff’s and Michael Hussey’s absence, Chennai has the star power to perform consistently. The likes of Matthew Hayden who was the top-scorer of the IPL last season, Suresh Raina who played the perfect second fiddle to Hayden with the bat at the No.3 position and sometimes won matches due to his exceptional fielding, S Badrinath who is undoubtedly the next big thing of Indian cricket alongside Parthiv Patel who has won Dhoni’s faith thanks to his contributions at the top of the order as well as improved wicketkeeping, allowing Dhoni to focus on his captaincy.

The bowling too is strong and is led by Muttiah Muralitharan. Laxmipathy Balaji is an experienced bowler. Makhaya Ntini adds to the firepower of the bowling attack. Not to forget that Chennai has a number of bowling all-rounders which gives Dhoni various options in forming his bowling strategy.

Youngsters such as Srikkanth Aniruddha, Manpreet Gony, Joginder Sharma, Sudeep Tyagi and Shadab Jakati only enlighten Chennai’s position to win the IPL this time. Undoubtedly, Chennai is an overwhelming favourite to not just win the IPL, but also qualify for the Champions League 2010, which they missed out narrowly last season thanks to controversies created by the IPL.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most awaited cricketing events, especially in 2010. This is primarily because the IPL is back in India for its third season after South Africa hosted the cash-filled event last year. As well as the hype that it has generated this time around from Pakistan’s exclusion to signing a historic deal with Google.

However, talking about cricket, there were many new players picked by the franchisees to play this season. Let’s review the prospects of the two bottom-ranked teams last season -

1) Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR is one of the most popular teams in the tournament. However, the last season was forgettable as they finished 8th.

Kolkata have a new coach in Dav Whatmore who backs Sourav Ganguly to the fullest. Who wouldn’t remember Whatmore helping an underdog Sri Lankan team to the 1996 World Cup win? Who knows, Whatmore can do the same with Kolkata by winning the IPL.

And, Ganguly, the team’s icon player, is back as captain. ‘Dada’ is a true leader as he can inspire players to give their 100% on the field and is the darling of the team. Ganguly and Whatmore’s combination would be the one to watch out for in the IPL 3.

Kolkata looks formidable with additions of England’s Owais Shah and India’s Manoj Tiwary who can add depth to the middle-order. Shane Bond, New Zealand’s fast bowler was purchased for $750,000 in the auction this year. Ganguly has the option of allowing Bond to open the bowling with Ishant Sharma, therefore making a dream opening pair. Other bowlers like Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Murali Kartik and Ajantha Mendis make Kolkata no underdogs.

Batting-wise, the Victorian duo of Brad Hodge and David Hussey can’t be sidelined. Hodge was the top-scorer for Kolkata in South Africa whereas Hussey is a good finisher. Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly can make a good opening pair. This provided if they are supported by Laxmi Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha and Rohan Gavaskar. Brendon McCullum is unavailable due to international commitments and Australian captain Ricky Ponting’s contract has been bought out. But this shouldn’t affect the team much.

The pattern in the IPL suggests that teams who have been considered as underdogs have gone on to win the tournament. Rajasthan Royals in the first season and then the bottom ranked team of the same season Deccan Chargers prevailed in the second season. So, Kolkata can take heart from this. They have a chance to enter the top four this season, if not win which could give them a ticket to the Champions League 2010.

2) Mumbai Indians

Despite finishing second-last in South Africa, Mumbai have shown that they are a team that deserves to be ranked in the top four. They missed out on the semi finals in the first season, as they ended at the 5th spot, which was played in India.

The franchisee captured West Indies star all-rounder Kieron Pollard for $750000 this year, making him the costliest player ever perhaps.

They have got an enviable batting line-up with captain Sachin Tendulkar opening the batting with another veteran, Sanath Jayasuriya. Followed by the West Indies duo of Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. JP Duminy is South Africa’s star with the bat as well as on the field. In bowling, Lasith Malinga was one of the highest wicket-takers last season in South Africa. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh make Mumbai’s bowling attack threatening, as both of them are experienced and excellent T-20 bowlers.

Indian youngsters however are strength to this team. Ajinkya Rahane is Mumbai’s latest talent, Dhawal Kulkarni who is an in-form bowler who helped Mumbai win the Ranji Trophy, Abhishek Nayar who can be a real force with the bat, Harshal Patel, the U-19 player is a good pick this season. England all-rounder Graham Napier and Indian spinner Chaitanya Nanda played a few games in South Africa and represent the team’s strong bench strength.

However, Mumbai’s perennial weakness is that there have no experienced wicket-keeper. Pinal Shah and Yogesh Takawale didn’t impress in the two seasons. Luke Ronchi is more of a batsman than a wicketkeeper.

Another issue which is troubling is their peculiar ability of losing matches towards the end of the IPL. This shows that Mumbai’s performance goes down in a nervous situation. Can Tendulkar use his magical influence to make his team win? Well, he can as long as the players believe in their abilities and work as a cohesive unit, and not depend on individual success.