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Curtain to go up on IPL extravaganza
| Heady mix of stars, workhorses and eager youngsters set to take the stage |
ALL SET FOR THE SHOW: Martin Crowe (right), Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad of Royal Challengers Bangalore at a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday.
Bangalore: The inaugural DLF-Indian Premier League which commences at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday is not just about money, showbiz and mere hype.
It is as Martin Crowe said, “a turning point in the game’s history”. A heady mix of proven international players spread over eight teams, rubbing shoulders with workhorse domestic cricketers and eager-beaver under-19 players, promises a 44-day extravaganza that should take cricket’s evolution to the next level.
A brief appraisal of the teams in the fray (in alphabetical order):
Chennai Super Kings: If the tournament was only about ‘show me the money’, then the Chennai outfit, that placed the highest bid of $1.5 million for its skipper M.S. Dhoni, is already a winner.
But surely Super Kings is not a one-horse team and besides its ICC World Twenty20-winning skipper, it has in its ranks a clutch of match-winners in Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Stephen Fleming, Jacob Oram, Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel.
The packed international schedule, however, would mean that only the just-retired Fleming and Muralitharan will be available for all the 14 games. The tournament will also return L. Balaji to the spotlight.
Delhi Daredevils: The 300-plus man Virender Sehwag lends a maverick touch to a team that also has the parsimony of Glenn McGrath. Daniel Vettori, A.B. de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Asif, Tilakaratne Dilshan and a bunch of eager youngsters like Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary and Shikhar Dhawan add a touch of poise and power to a squad that can unhinge other teams much like its skipper’s broad bat.
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: Its skipper V.V.S. Laxman once famously said in an interview, “is it wrong to be nice ?” Laxman, perhaps the last of the gentleman-cricketers, however has enough steel to rattle any opposition. The team has a player with the x-factor as well as the ability to run up rival’s noses — Andrew Symonds. The Aussie along with Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi form a quartet that can alter match dynamics and cause headaches to journalists chasing deadlines.
The bowling helmed by the canny Chaminda Vaas has R.P. Singh, Nuwan Zoysa and promising left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha in its ranks. Add to the team’s Hyderabadi spirit, a touch of Mumbai grit in the form of Rohit Sharma and we have a team that can give the fatal charge to rivals.
Kings XI Punjab: Led by Yuvraj Singh, owned by Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta, it’s a team high on effervescence and ebullience. It has Brett Lee lending bite to an attack that also has the excitable S. Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan. Lending the touch of oriental flair is the Sri Lankan fire-and-ice duo of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, add to it the resilience of Simon Katich, and you have a team that can spell ‘surprise’ to other teams.
Kolkata Knight Riders: The team, led by Sourav Ganguly, owned by Shah Rukh Khan and featuring marauders like Ricky Ponting and Chris Gayle in its ranks, can alter any script that even Bollywood can throw at us. Add to it the promise of David Hussey, Brendon McCullum, Tatenda Taibu, Salman Butt and Cheteshwar Pujara and the potency of Ishant Sharma and Umar Gul, and you have a team that can bristle like its skipper. Murali Kartik, who is coming back from a left ankle injury, adds to the poignancy. The absence of Shoaib Akhtar — mired in Pakistan’s ban on him — will be some relief to rival skippers.
Mumbai Indians: The team is led by a man who will have even fans from rival franchises rooting for him. Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket’s eternal lodestone, and Sanath Jayasuriya is a combination that has enough gun-powder to blitz the tournament. Robin Uthappa, who is trying to follow these legends’ approach to batting, is also part of the mix along with Loots Bosman.
The bowling ranges from icy-cool Shaun Pollock to the red-hot Harbhajan Singh and the team’s Mumbaiya spirit can dent rivals.
Rajasthan Royals: A team led and coached by Shane Warne might whip up the mystique associated with ancient Rajput tales. And if magic resides in Warne’s fingers, the hard yards will have to be done by Graeme Smith, Justin Langer, Younis Khan, Mohammed Kaif, Kamran Akmal and Yusuf Pathan.
The bowling looks a touch weak with the injury-prone Munaf Patel also in its ranks but with Warne around, buzzing deliveries and hoodwinked rival batsmen can be the norm.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: The Bangalore outfit led by Rahul Dravid has in its ranks ‘Greats’ whose Test achievements tend to overshadow their equally praise-worthy records in the shorter versions of the game. Dravid, however, believes that his team with the likes of Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, S. Chanderpaul, Wasim Jaffer, Nathan Bracken and Zaheer Khan can play “tough cricket.”
Add to the mix, India under-19 captain Virat Kohli and a clutch of eager Karnataka players that includes Sunil Joshi and the persevering seamer Vinay Kumar and you have a team high on solidity, less on flamboyance, much akin to the Dravid persona.
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