Sportsnob – Critics Corner

Sports fans can be a strange lot. They can forgive and forget a shambolic performance quite easily and at the same time harp on matches where the team loses by very small margins. But what fans cannot put up with is a lack of visble progress in their team. And that is exactly what seems to be happening with the Chennai Super Kings team.

This is a team which played well above its potential and made the final of the first Indian Premier League before ultimately coming second best to a Shane Warne and Yousuf Pathan inspired Rajasthan Royals team. In the second season, the team barely managed to scrape into the semi-finals before ultimately falling short to a very efficient Bangalore Royal Challengers. Even then, it was quite obvious that the team relied far too heavily on it’s batting, especially Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself.

A continuing weakness

But the one theme that was evident through the second season and has now continued into the third season is the decline of the team. And worse, the management has not made a serious attempt to cover the flaws in the squad. The biggest weakness is obvious to even the most casual of cricket fans – the bowling attack.

Throughout the first and second seasons MS Dhoni often publicly criticized his bowlers out of sheer frustration. And the same frustration was evident today after the defeat against the Mumbai Indians. It is rather depressing that often when Dhoni wants to break a partnership he has to call on Lakshmipathy Balaji, Manpreet Gony or (much worse) Joginder Sharma. While Balaji can point out to the occassional success in this season, the performances of Gony and Joginder have gone downhill since the heady days of the first IPL.

And yet no changes..

And yet, it seems like no attempt has been made to add variety to the attack. From what I understand, the team did aggresively bid for Shane Bond and Kemar Roach before ultimately losing to the Knightriders and the Chargers respectively. With the knowledge that Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram weren’t be available through the tournament the management should have looked at other options. The team clearly was desperate for another strike bowler to complement Muralitharan and provide much needed bite in the final overs. Frankly, it is rather surprising the likes of Stephen Fleming or bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad have been unable to suggest good options in the off-season. When teams – most notably the Chargers, the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers have progressed, CSK along with Rajasthan Royals have regressed the most.

Making the best of limited options

Frankly, with this bowling attack, Mr. Fleming and MSD need to come up with a radical change in strategy to effect a transformation. Some suggestions from our side.

1. Joginder Sharma bowled a semi-decent over 3 years ago. Get over it. If you are desperate to play Indian pace bowlers – why not just give poor old Sudeep Tyagi another shot?

2. It is OK to play 3 spinners – especially when all 3 of them have different styles. It might just work on Indian pitches. And especially when your fast bowlers have economy rates of 11.00 (Joginder Sharma), 10.60 (Manpreet Gony) or 9.09 (Balaji)

3. Suresh Raina, as much as this may surprise the two of you, does know how to bowl. He has been used before for both India and the Chennai Superkings and is known to do a decent job. Most importantly, he has a cricketing brain.

4. How about variety in the attack in the form of left arm speedster Thilan Thushara? I know the two of you like all rounders and Thushara fits the bill. Plus, he has actually done well for Sri Lanka in the shorter forms of the game.

5. Speaking of pace bowlers – have you considered Makhaya Ntini? This is after all someone who has taken nearly 600 wickets at the international level. Sure, his performance dropped of late but when your alternatives read Joginder Sharma you can definitely at least give him a chance. Forget fitting the foreigners quota with people who can do a bit of both (ie Shaun Kemp or Thissara Perera). Give a match winner a shot for once.

Photo Source: S. Jagadesh

The only two teams that have failed to make the semifinals in both the editions have been, ironically, the cities with the highest profiles and the cities that have been backbones of Indian cricket. If the Mumbai Indians acquired a big profile thanks to the Ambanis, the iconic status of the city itself and it’s number one player Sachin Tendulkar – the Kolkata Knightriders owe a lot to their owner (and a Mumbaiite himself) Shahrukh Khan for raising their profile.

The Inconsistent Mumbai Indians

Mumbai’s case has been one of inconsistency – in both editions they managed to follow good performances with dire ones and more significantly, ended both seasons with a string of defeats thereby ending their hopes of making the semifinals. This time around a lot will depend on (who else) Sachin Tendulkar carrying his test and one-day form into the 20-20 version. It’s also going to be interesting to see how Kieron Pollard performs considering the money the Ambanis paid for him.

Kolkata: From the sublime to the ridiculous

Everything started so well for Kolkata two years ago when Brendon McCullum launched one of the most breathtaking assaults ever seen on a cricket field in the first ever IPL match. The Knightriders’ challenge faded away in the first season after a series of poor performances, and despite a late revival, they couldn’t make the final four.

What happened last year in South Africa though was inexcusable. John Buchanan first came up with the concept of multiple captains during the tournament – something that can never work in a game like cricket. Following which Shahrukh Khan made Brendon McCullum captain at the expense of Sourav Ganguly. In the middle of all this, someone launched the incredibly popular fakeiplplayer blog – giving details about team meetings and throwing light on the chaos within the team. This mess led to a scenario where the team lost an incredible nine (NINE!) games in a row which resulted in the team ending up bottom of the table

Despite the lack of success on the field – KKR have been the most successful team financially, as Shahrukh Khan threw his brand name behind the team. In the off season, the KnightRiders spent big money on Shane Bond and re-signed Sri Lankan spinner Ajanta Mendis. Most importantly, they have signed Dav Whatmore as head coach – a shrewd signing considering his history of successful tenures with Asian teams.

My predictions

My gut tells me one if not both of these teams will make the semifinals. Why? Quite simply, they have the most to prove. 20-20 cricket is a fantastic leveler – a quick 30 here or an inspired run out there can make a big difference and produce upsets such as when Zimbabwe defeated Australia and the Dutch memorably upstaged the English.  It’s impossible to imagine such results in a five day match because test cricket offers you a second chance.

And lest we forget, the two teams that finished at the bottom of the table in Season I of the IPL  - the two finalists in Season II – Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers.

After the four semifinalists and the Mumbai Indians today is the turn of the only team to turn a profit in the first season of the IPL

Team: Kolkota Knightriders

Captain: Good Question!

Coach: John Buchanan

Trump Card: Brendon McCullum

X-Factor: Ajanta Mendis

Whats changed from last season:

Umar Gul misses out because he is from Pakistan. Brendon McCullum will be available for the whole tournament which is a big plus. Mashrafe Mortaza will make his debut for the Knightriders – meaning big support from the other side of the border in Bangladesh.

  What happened in 2007

As much as we dislike Shahrukh Khan for his over the top acting, we have to admit he ran the Knightriders well last season. Shahrukh convinced companies whose brands he endorses such as Nokia and Pepsi to sponsor the Knightriders as well. He charmed the media, consistently made the headlines through the tournament and incredibly managed to win the support of the neutrals. Polls conducted in India showed impressive support for the Knightriders even among people in Mumbai and New Delhi. However, despite putting together a reasonably strong team in the auction, the Knightriders flattered to deceive and ended up outside the top four.

 This year, Kolkota has been making news for all the wrong reasons – Buchanan’s controversial and frankly ridiculous four captain theory has strained his relationship with Saurav Ganguly. While the idea might seem revolutionary, the idea that you might have four different captains in a team might lead to unnecessary pressure on the four and too many messages being sent to the youngsters. How Chris Gayle might make a difference in 2 weeks with a bunch of kids whom he doesn’t even know remains to be seen. Buchanan’s announcement and the resulting attack by Sunil Gavaskar has turned into a spat between Gavaskar and Shahrukh Khan. How it effects the team will be interesting to see. 

The Batting: 

The batting will of course be bolstered by the presence of the Brendon McCullum through the whole tournament. In the recent series against India, McCullum showed a more responsible side to his batting leading the Kiwis to victories in both the T20s, something that augurs well for the Knightriders. And let us not forget that this is the guy who kicked off the IPL last year with the most incredible knock against Bangalore. Interestingly, McCullum has also been nominated as the captain for their first match this weekend. Saurav Ganguly has been in half decent form leading up to the tournament and so has youngster and future Indian hope Cheteshwar Pujara. David Hussey will be available only for the latter half of the tournament anyway. Chris Gayle’s presence in the first half of the tournament should be a great boost for the Kolkota side. 

The Bowling: The bowling looks a little stronger than the batting but is not the best in the league- Ishant Sharma will have to lead the attack and in the absence of Umar GUl will have extra pressure on his young shoulders. He has done a lot of bowling and a lot of traveling in the recent months and for someone so young, it is going to take a lot of mental effort to stay on top of his game. Giving him support will be men like Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar, Charles Langeveldt, and Mashrafe Mortaza – all of them good bowlers but none you would expect to light the tournament on fire. The spin department looks better with  Mural karthik and Ajanta Mendis- while Kartik has had a lot of success in the 20-20 format in England, Mendis still remains a mystery to the cricket world at large and should be able to do well against a lot of teams. Overall, the team looks weak when compared to the likes of Superkings and the Dardevils.

A lot will depend on the youngsters and how they contribute to the team. Of course, the battle might be lost by the first week with the kind of reactions to the new captaincy theory. 

After previewing the two finalists, it is now the turn of the semifinalists and we look at the Kings XI Punjab in this third edition 

Team: Kings XI Punjab

 Captain: Yuvraj Singh 

Coach: Tom Moody (Australia)  

Trump Card: Yuvraj Singh 

X-Factor: Piyush Chawla

 Whats changed from last season: The addition of Ravi Bopara. Sreesanth and new signing Jerome Taylor miss the whole tournament through injuries. 

Kings XI Punjab were one of the most exciting teams to watch in the first edition of the Indian Premier League. A well balanced side led by Indian internationals and some exciting international recruits. Of course, Punjab also generated a lot of interest off the field – first, because the owner is a certain outspoken Indian actress by the name of Preity Zinta and secondly (and more interestingly) because of the famous ’slap gate’involving Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh. The team looks a lot weaker this season due to injuries and unavailability of foreign players and should do well to make the semifinals again.

  The Batting:  

The Punjab batting line up looks imposing but will find the going tough in the first two weeks in the absence of two of their best players last season – Shaun Marsh and James Hopes. Shaun Marsh was absolutely brilliant last season ending up on top of the batting charts and getting into the Australian first XI through his consistent performances in the IPL. He made runs at a robust pace without taking unnecessary risks thereby giving good starts to Punjab every single time. Of course, both him and his opening partner Hopes will be away in the middle-east on national duty till the 3rd of March. In their absence much will depend on the foreign recruits such as Jayawardene, Sangakarra and Ravi Bopara. Bopara has done well for England recently and should be a good addition to the squad.

The trump card however remains the captain and arguably the most destructive Indian batsman – Yuvraj Singh. He set some of the South African grounds on fire in the 20-20 world cup in 2007 and should be the key to Punjab’s success. Irfan Pathan will provide some spark lower down in the order. 

The Bowling:  

The short version is that the bowling looks down right weak. The long version is that Kings XI Punjab are without Sreesanth and new signing Jerome Taylor (who was unfortunately injured in a car accident) for the whole tournament. They will also be without Brett Lee and medium pacer James Hopes for the eight matches as they will be away on international duty. Plus, how well Brett Lee performs after coming back from an injury and a poor season remains to be seen. That means there will be a lot riding on the three Indians – Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh. South African speedster Yusuf Abdullah should add some variety to the attack and looked promising in the 20-20 internationals against Australia. It will be interesting to see how Piyush Chawla bowls – the youngster has a lot of variety and has done reasonably well in the shortest form of cricket. The Kings XI also have Ramesh Powar and recently signed Australian rookie paceman Burt Cockley.

  The squad: 

 The Indians: Yuvraj Singh, Piyush Chawla, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Vikram Singh, Karan Goel, and Tanmay Srivatsava

The Unknowns: Ajitesh Argal, Uday Kaul, Wilkin Mota, Sahil Kukreja, Burt Cockley and Ryan Ninan 

The Foreigners: Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Luke Pomerbasch, Simon Katich, Brett Lee ( Australia), Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakarra (Sri Lanka), Yussuf Abdullah (South Africa) and Ravi Bopara (England) 

Image Courtesy: www.iplblast.com 

 The Indian Premier League is going to kick off in just one week and while the excitement hasn’t kicked in yet, thanks to the tournament being held nearly 3000 miles away, my guess is that come April 18th, a lot of people are going to be glued to their screens. Lets face it- we love the 20-20 and we absolutely loved the Indian Premier League last year. Unlike last year, most of us will not have the chance of being there to soak in the environment but let’s see if South Africa lives up to the challenge thrown at it by the IPL.

Starting today, we plan to cover each team one by one leading up to April 18th. And it’s always customary to start with the champions. So here we go.

Team: Rajasthan Royals

Captain and Coach: Shane Warne

Trump Card: Graeme Smith

X-Factor: Shaun Tait

Whats changed from last season: Loss of leading wicket taker Sohail Tanveer might leave the bowling weak and last year’s trump card Shane Watson will only be available for two weeks. Tyrone Henderson while not exactly an unknown will have a lot riding on him.

Rajasthan Royals were the real deal last year despite not looking remotely like it when the tournament started. Here was a team which had a bunch of unknowns put together by owners who were more interested in conserving cash and improving profits in the first season. But what experts and fans were not counting on was on the magic touch of their captain and coach Shane Warne- a cricketer who had retired from international cricket and who was the captain Australia never had. What emerged over the next two months was an extraordinary fairytale as the bunch of unknowns went from strength to strength to win the tournament. The team could not do any wrong with the youngsters blossoming under Warne and players like Watson and Pathan finding their feet on the big stage. Rajasthan ultimately went on to win the title in a very tense encounter against the Chennai Superkings.

The batting:

IPl V2.0 will be a fresh start, for starters they have a new owner and cheerleader – Shilpa Shetty (who doesn’t even know the team!). The batting looks reasonably solid and experienced – Graeme Smith could be the real trump card for the Royals considering his explosive batting at the top of the order and because he will know the conditions like the back of his hand. But, the question remains, will Smith remain injury free for the whole length of the tournament? Asnaodkar was a revelation last year- the diminutive opener delighting fans with his fearless batting, whether he will succeed in foreign conditions will remain to be seen.

The middle order could see a lot of juggling as the season progresses thanks to the unexpected call up of Shane Watson to the Australian team for the series against Pakistan which means he will only be available for the last two weeks of the tournament. Mohammed Kaif and Yusuf Pathan should hold their places barring injuries or poor form. Ravindra Jadeja should also make it thanks to his excellent performances last year. The other positions could well be a toss up between Dmitri Mascrarenas, 20-20 specialist Tyrone Henderson and South African all rounder Morne Morkel. Mascarenas will want to prove himself to the English selectors in time for the 20-20 world cup in June and Henderson will have a lot of pressure on him considering the amount of money Rajasthan forked out for him.

The bowling: 

The bowling looks a little weak because the excellent Sohail Tanvir wont be around this time with Pakistani players not getting clearence to play in the Indian Premier League. He was the leading wicket taker last year and always gave the team four good overs. The darkhorse this time could well be Shaun Tait. His meltdown last year was well documented but like Shane Watson before him, he could just do well under the guidance of Warne and barring injuries Rajasthan will have him for the whole tournament. The other fast bowling options are Munaf Patel and Siddarth Trivedi.  It will be interesting to see how Warne bowls- he hasn’t played cricket in over a year and the conditions will not be as helpful as they were in India last year.

Looking over the rest of the squad, it looks like there are a lot of unknowns in the squad. Some of these players don’t even seem to have a statistics page! Rajasthan might well start this season at the same place they did the last, as underdogs, despite being defending champions. Unlike last year, Rajasthan will be the team the rest look to beat and you can expect the video analysis guys to work long nights on their footage. Shane Warne will have to prove once again that he has it in him to bring this team together and push back seemingly stronger opponents.

The full team

The unknowns - Kamran Khan, Gajendra Singh, Srideep Mangela, Raiphi Gomez, Ashraf Makda, Mohammed Arif, Atul Sharma, Amit Singh, Paul Valthaty, Aditya Angle, Lee Carseldine, Siddarth Chitnis, Paras Dogra, Parag More, Rob Quiney, Anup Revandkar, Mahesh Rawat

The Rest- Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Justin Langer (Australia)  Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Munaf Patel, Mohammed Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Niraj Patel (India), Graeme Smith, Morne Morkel, Tyrone Henderson (South Africa), Dmitri Mascarenhas (England)