IPL : How the teams stack up

IPL was a huge hit in the 1st edition mostly because the teams were evenly matched ( well, 2 exceptions though). With IPL coming up in 2 days, ironically not in India this time around,lets take a look at how the teams line up this time and their strengths


Rajasthan Royals


Winners of the IPL inaugural edition in 2008. dream run at IPL 2008, underdogs who were given zero chance of winning even a single game., lifted to great heights by their captain Warne. brought out the best from all rookies.
the most important thing is that the wily old fox Shane Warne is still at the helm of the affairs.
Who is in and who is out hardly matters, as Warne will be a captain inspirational enough for the youngsters.

In 2009 : Tyron Henderson, Kamran Khan may be the players to look out for.. and with graeme smith playing all matches RR seem formidable to win yet again..
will they miss the services of Sohail Tanvir???????????????





Chennai Super Kings


Finalists of IPL 2008 , lost marginally to RR in the finals.. after a great start to their campaign the team suffered a minor set back with the absence of the aussie stars.. took some time for re-grouping...

IN : Murali Vijay, price catch of George Bailey and Thilan Thushara who will be available for the entire series. And the mountain of a man in freddy Flintoff will be the perfect icing on the cake..

In 2009 :Matty Hayden and Albie Morkel will be available for the entire series, freddy for a few matches and should once again turn out to be a formidable opposition under the cool captaincy of the ever impressive MSD.




Kings 11 Punjab


Unfortunate to lose out in the semis against CSK ( ironically lost all matches to CSK).
Shaun Marsh was the pick of the players, Pathan had an impressive economy rate, Chawla was good tooo....

IN: Ravi Bopara. Yusuf Abdulla, a replacement for Jerome Taylor..

OUT: James Hopes Brett Lee and the top run getter of 08 edition the surprise element Shaun Marsh will be missed..

In 2009: Shaun marsh will be missed. Yuvi, Pathan, Piyush Chawla and Luke Pommersbach could be handy in this season.. Bowling may be a problem area..
Sangakkara could well be the trump card.........




Delhi Daredevils


A good unreliable team, as the captain so the team.. much relied on viru and gauti with the bat and with Mcgrath and Maharoof in bowling... middle order collapse time and again proved the nemesis for the team..

IN: deadly Warner, services of Vettori, and 2 more aussie domestic players. English duo of Collingwood and Owais Shah.

IN 2009: Gauti is in the form of his life, Glenn raring to go, AB on his home turf, miser Vettori and the dasher Warner will be the ones to watch out for... well, the only problem is that all international players are available for the entire series. who could be the 4 international players in the playing 11 could be a big decision. Viru will be pulling out his rather non-existent hairs to pick a playing 11..





Mumbai Indians


disastrous start, back to the walls.. Pollock and Sanath led the team to 6 consecutive wins and the team came agonizingly close to a semifinal berth but finished 5th..

IN: batting sensation Duminy, Graham Napier and Ryan Mc Laren..
Zak and Shikhar Dhawan are in thanks to some trading.

IN 2009: Sachin and Jayasuriya for the entire series could make most bowlers not opt for an opening spell. (career at stake !! ).. Zak and Bhajji in bowling department will be more than handy.. JP will be cheered by his home crowd, and Dhawan is consistent..
Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane and Dwayne Bravo will be handy tooo....





Kolkata Knight Riders


So much talk about this team, reason being SRK and not cricket...
Barring the opening match against bangalore the team dint look like playing a T20.. Dada did his bit, more with the ball rahter than the bat.. A 100 from Mccullum and 2 knocks of 91 and 86* from dada, and Akhtar against delhi is all that we can remember.. such was the bad luck that any foreign player recruited was absenting himself. (well, most of them atleast)
IN: Mosis Henriques, Mortaza, Langeveldt, Ajantha Mendis, Brad Hodge, Angelo Maththews, Chatteshwar Pujara..
OUT: the Pakistanis
IN 2009: Mc Cullum for the entire series is a booster, all improved Ishanth, the carom ball spin of Mendis, Pujara's form, Brad Hodge (supposedly a T20 specialist) and Gayle for 7 matches are the highlights...
Hope they perform well..... ( but who is the captain ???? part time captains ???? multiple captains???? multiple adviser ???? KKR again in the news and once again not for the right reasons)




Royal Challengers Bangalore


Hardly challenged any team.. Dravid, Kallis, Chanderpaul, Wasim Jaffer, Anil Kumble, Arunkumar, and SUNIL JOSHI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the only team to operate with a silly point , short leg , slip and gully...
no no no... IPL is a 20-20 game only... not a test series !!!!!!!!!!!

nothing to write about this pathetic team, new captain new coach and new recruits hope to deliver this time around..
IN: Captain KP, Jesse Ryder, Uthappa, Pankaj Singh
IN 2009: KP, Ryder, Taylor, Uthappa look to shed the test side image.. good team on papers..





Deccan Chargers


termed as the favorites to win the cup in 08, holds the dubious distinction of losing to Bangalore twice.. miserable campaign last time around.. definitely the unstoppables, nobody could stop them from losing.. any situation, any match u could learn to lose by looking at DC..

Changes : lots and lots so much so that even the logo and jersey were also not spared.. last time around the jersey looked like a cut piece of economic times and the other economy news papers. ( DC owner of DC- Deccan chronicle and Deccan chargers respectively)
very unpredictable: Gilly, Gibbsy, Dwayne Smith, Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao..
IN 2009 : predicting an injury to Laxman very soon in the tournament, may even be in the practice matches !!!!!!!!!!!!!


Most teams are good and expect a tight fight in a race to the new IPL kings.. Soth africa could produce lots of runs and fans, but the indian fan frenzy will be missed.. even on TV a match played in mumbai or eden gardens is far better than a one in bloemfontein...