Cricket Tournaments

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.

Despite being massive disadvantaged due to their unending injury problems, Australia have still managed to compete and keep the series alive. At 2-2 going into Hyderabad it is anyone’s series and India will need to pull their socks up and not take the opposition lightly, like they did in Mohali resulting in a disaster. Australia, in the meantime, will also be without all-rounder Moises Henriques, who himself was brought in as cover for James Hopes, and so must have lost faith in process of replacements. Apart from the XI they played at Mohali, they only have two left in the reserves now – Clint McKay and Jon Holland, both of whom are likely to sit out at Hyderabad. Still, the victory in the last match would have boosted their confidence no end.

The Aussie batters have struck form with Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting getting among the runs at the top of the order. In the middle-order, Michael Hussey and Cameron White have been consistency-personified. If anything, they need better support from the lower order. With Henriques out, Adam Voges will be back, and he along with Graham Manou and Mitchell Johnson will be expected to make better contributions.

Bowling wise, Australia discovered a star in the making at Mohali in left-arm quickie Doug Bollinger. He was exceptional with his accuracy and movement and was justly rewarded. Shane Watson and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz also impressed, but the absence of the wicket-taking Peter Siddle will be sorely felt. He was undoubtedly Australia’s best bowler of the series so far. Ben Hilfenhaus, who is likely to take his place, will have a tough task on hand. But he is a competitive cricketer so expect him to come up with the goods. That leaves the Aussies with their biggest worry named Mitchell Johnson.

When Brett Lee was ruled out, Johnson automatically became the pace spearhead of the team. Unfortunately, he has done nothing to justify the position. If anything, he has been off target and been dealt with rather harshly but the Indian batters, Sehwag in particular. But with the lack of arsenal, Australia have no option other than to keep playing him. How Johnson fares in the remainder on the series will have a definitive impact on the final result. The death overs bowling is another area where the Aussie bowlers will have to improve their performance drastically to keep their team’s chances afloat.

The hosts, themselves, have quite a few tribulations of their own. Virender Sehwag has been giving the team rollicking starts, but none of his knocks have gone beyond the description of a cameo. India would be hoping for a big one from him. Ditto with Sachin Tendulkar and the back from injury Gautam Gambhir. If the top three fire, India’s middle-order automatically becomes doubly dangerous as Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni can directly go for the kill instead of rebuilding the innings first. Also, it is about time Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja come up with something substantial.

Before the start of this series, the Indian bowlers were under fire from all quarters. The much-maligned brigade has redeemed itself though, at least for the movement. Ishant Sharma’s rediscovery of himself has been the biggest plus, whereas Praveen Kumar is learning the art of bowling even when there is no swing. Ashish Nehra’s comeback is only getting better and better with every passing game. About Harbhajan Singh, India will have to wait and watch, because even though he is struggling with the ball, he is coming up with good knocks with the willow. It’s no rocket science though that India need Harbhajan the bowler back.

Keeping in mind, Australia’s depleted army of men, India are hugely advantaged. However, they can only utilize the golden opportunity if perform to potential and not get lethargic, like we witnessed at Mohali.

Following the marvellous victory at Nagpur, India would like to believe that they have gained the upper hand in the series for the moment. Add to it Australia’s injury woes as well as the training debacle at Kotla – they had to skip proper practice due to wet pitches – and India are in with a realistically great chance of going 2-1 up in the series. That said, they need to exercise caution. India have often stumbled in the recent past due to complacency, the signs of which were there during the closing stages in Nagpur. Their lethargic approach meant the last Aussie pair managed to get some good batting practice. However, if the Indians do get their act right for the second time running, Australia could be in for a real tough time.

What the Australians need at the present moment is an uplifting effort from one of their seniors. A century from either among Ponting, Hussey or Watson can turn things around for them. One exceptional performance is often enough to ensure a side’s win in a one-dayer. More than their batting though, it is their bowling to which they need to give some serious thought. Now that Brett Lee is unavailable, Mitchell Johnson has to take over the responsibility of the senior bowling pro. True, he himself is not 100 per cent fit. However, considering the state of his team, he will be expected to rise above the pain and perform.

Ben Hilfenhaus found the going pretty tough at Nagpur, which means the other pacer in the squad Doug Bollinger might get a chance, so also may Moises Henriques, who could replace Adam Voges, in an effort to strengthen the all-round department. Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz have been Australia’s two best bowlers on display so far and their side would want them to continue in the same vein. If anything, Hauritz will be expected to be slightly more attacking.

Probably the only good news the Australian team has received in recent hours is that Tim Paine’s replacement Graham Manou will arrive in time for the Delhi match. That he also has some international experience is an additional plus. But expecting something extraordinary from him would be asking for too much, as he is sure to suffer from some amount of jetlag. Even so, the fact that he will available itself is good enough for Australia considering the crisis situation.

In sharp contrast, India are suddenly looking like a winning combination. With Gambhir, Dhoni and Raina among the runs, India managed to put up a rock-solid batting performance at Nagpur. Add to it, the ominous cameos played by Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag and the fact that Tendulkar has yet to reach double figures in the tournament. The opposition camp would be feeling rather jittery. One has to keep in mind though that it was just one game where everything clicked. The Aussies would undoubtedly come back hard at the Indians despite all their troubles.

The home side thus needs to carry on from where they finished off on Wednesday. The low, slow Kotla pitch will offer a tougher challenge and the batters need to be prepared to adapt to the conditions. Bowling wise as well the Indians must stick to their guns. Now that Ishant Sharma has rediscovered his rhythm, he should also realize what suits him best. Praveen Kumar has to just continue doing what he did so well at Nagpur, get the early breakthroughs as well as dry up the runs. The temporary spearhead of the bowling attack, Ashish Nehra, is going through one of his better patches and India would hope it lasts for a longer duration, since his presence makes the bowling line-up all the more potent. Regarding Harbhajan Singh, it remains to be seen how he is dealt with – both by the team management and the Aussie batsmen, who are getting increasing confident against him.

As mentioned in the very beginning, all the pointers suggest India have the upper hand. But while they do possess the better arsenal, the men in blue still have to go out and perform. How well India exploit this golden opportunity will in all certainty determine the fate of the game.

They may have won the first ODI at Vadodara, but there is not a lot of good news coming out of the Australian camp on the eve of the second match, a day-night affair, at Nagpur. The Aussies will miss the services of speedster Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes. Lee developed a right elbow strain during the opening game and managed to send down only six overs while Hopes pulled a hamstring. There are also doubts over another all-rounder Mitchell Johnson’s participation, but, thankfully for the Aussies, he is still in contention and might end up taking the field at Nagpur.

In the meantime, New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques has been called up by the Australian team management as a standby. He will stay on with the team till the fourth match of the series after joining them on Thursday in Delhi. Post the fourth game at Mohali, a final decision would be made regarding whether Henriques will continue to be a part of the squad for the entire tournament or be relieved, depending on whether Hopes is fit.

The all-rounder recently featured in the inaugural Champions League T20, which New South Wales won. He was highly impressive in the tournament and garnered a lot of praise. Hence, the call up wasn’t all that surprising. Prior to that, Henriques also took part in the IPL, but that ended up being a rather disastrous venture, with his franchise – The Kolkata Knight Riders – finishing at the bottom of the table.

This is not the first time Henriques finds himself in such a situation. A similar thing happened during the series against minnows Bangladesh last year. He was also impressive during Australia A’s winter series against Pakistan A and has been on the fringes of selection since.

Coming back to Australia and injuries, the list only gets longer for the kangaroos. Lee, Hopes and Johnson have now joined Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin and promising youngster Callum Ferguson, all of whom had to give this tour a skip due to various injury-related problems.