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The second season of the IPL is finally here and what a start it has been to the tournament! After a splendid opening ceremony, we saw the two finalists from last year being beaten comprehensively. The matches so far have been a pleasant change from last year where the sole aim of the teams was to outhit each other. We have already seen that that strategy won’t work this year. The conditions seem much more helpful for the bowlers, especially the seamers. And batsmen will actually need to focus on playing themselves in, not missing out on the bad deliveries and playing some daring and innovative shots once set. It will, rather happily, not be a situation of step on front foot and swing the bat.

What this means for the teams

In this edition, the teams that will succeed will be the ones whose seamers can bowl tight in the initial overs – and garner wickets for the spinners bowling later. More importantly, the teams in the final four will be the ones that have their batsmen scoring the most singles and twos in the process of getting set. While we will see the occasional 100 from 40 balls knock, we will more likely see the 60 from 40 balls with 30 runs in boundary hits. And as this becomes the key, the teams that can save the singles and cut down the twos will be more successful. We will see a twenty20 tournament that will be a throwback to the era of one day cricket before WC96. Where the ‘Dean Jones’ kind of batsman is preferred to the ‘Kris Srikkanth’ kind. Finally, as most people point out, the performance of the senior cricketers in the teams will be critical especially in the first half of the tournament. Based on all this and the way the next few matches go, where do the teams stand? Who do we think are the favourites ? Watch this space for more…

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If the first edition of the Indian Premier League started with a barrage of sixes off the bat of Brendon McCullum, the second edition was a much more sedate affair. The first six of the tournament didn’t come till late in the Mumbai Indians innings in the first match. Batting was a little bit more trickly in the South African conditions and as the Rajasthan Royals found out – even a score of 133 was extremely difficult to chase under the lights. The first day was disappointing for both of last year’s finalists- Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals. If the Superkings got all their tactics wrong, the Royals went better by putting up a dismal batting performance. Clearly, the Mumbai Indians and the Bangalore Royal Challengers had upped their games and upset the odds. But the most interesting part of the first day were the performances of three Indian veterans – two of whom were deemed by selectors and most fans to be too old for both the 50 over and 20 over formats of the game.

On a day when all expensive signings such as Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Tyrone Henderson didn’t set the matches on fire – it was the old warhorses who shone the brightest. While Sachin Tendulkar’s performance came as no surprise considering he has been in very good touch of late – with fantastic hundreds in New Zealand, it was the performances of the Bangalore duo that would have made a lot of their fans happy. 

Proving Vijay Mallya wrong

I have only seen Rahul Dravid react the way he did after his fifty once before – after reaching his century against the Australians in that famous Calcutta test. The way he pointed his bat to the stand was clear – he was sending a message out to the owners and critics who were doing their best to undermine him even before the tournament had started. All of last season, Dravid had to endure severe criticism for putting together a team that couldn’t do much right. The team’s poor performance completely hid the fact that Dravid had a pretty impressive tournament personally – ending up as Bangalore’s highest run getter and at a good strike rate. Coming into bat at a very precarious 17 for 3 – he played a wonderful innings with shots to all parts of the parks. There were on drives, delicate nudges, powerful sweeps and even a powerful six over midwicket.

The value of Dravid’s innings can truly be measured by the fact that only Kevin Pietersen managed to cross 11 in both sides. Dravid’s 66 ensured that the Royal Challengers got to 133 – giving them atleast a fighting chance against the defending champions.  It’s going to be a big loss for the Royal Challengers when in two weeks they are not only going to lose Kevin Pietersen (who goes away to play the West Indies) but also Rahul Dravid who is scheduled to fly back to be with his pregnant wife. Then came Kumble – who bowed out half way through the series against Australia. Three overs and four really poor shots in he had astounding figures of 5 wickets 5 runs. A lot of sports websites (including this one!) completely discounted the impact of Anil Kumble on the IPL and judging by his performance yesterday – Kumble could make a difference provided his fitness levels stay up. The Royal Challengers have spent a lot of money in trying to remake their squad – Kevin Pietersen, and Jessie Ryder have come in along with Roban Uthappa. Interestingly, it looks like it will be the two gentlemen in their mid 30s who could have the biggest say in their fortunes this year. 

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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. 

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After previewing the four semifinalists, it is now the turn of possibly the most popular team in the Indian Premier Leaugue – the Mumbai Indians.

Team: Mumbai Indians

Captain: Sachin Tendulkar

Coach/Mentor: Shaun Pollock

Trump Card: Zaheer Khan

X-Factor: Lasitha Malinga

Whats changed from last season: More additions than losses and some really positive ones too – JP Duminy, Mohammed Ashraful and Kyle Mills made their way in during the auction but the best purchase was made off season via the signing of Zaheer Khan. Shikhar Dhawan also makes his way into the team.

In 2008, the Indian Premier League’s most expensive team came absolutely undone during the auction through some uninspired signings. This coupled with talisman’s Sachin Tendulkar’s absence resulted in a number of poor performances. Incredibly, the team picked itself up after the infamous slapgate incident involving captain Harbhajan Singh. The inspiration didn’t come from expensive signings but from local players like Abishek Nayar. It was strange to watch the Mumbai Indians not make the semifinals considering they always seem to dominate Indian domestic cricket. This season, some shrewd signings and no fitness problems should ensure that Mumbai start better and make their way into the semifinals.

The Batting:

Sachin Tendulkar will of course be the talisman – any doubts that he might find the going tough in the IPL were put to rest last month during that incredible 160 against the Kiwis. He is fit and his presence in the Mumbai Indians’ squad will also probably mean that they will be the neutral Indian fan’s favourite. I think this format of the game will quite suit the new Tendulkar of the old. Opening with him will be Old Lankan war horse – Jayasurya; the two proving that 20-20 is not necessarily a young man’s game. At 3 should be Shikar Dhawan, signed from Delhi (for Ashish Nehra!) and following will be JP Duminy. Duminy looks a class signing but its always a risk signing a young player for a million bucks on the back of one brilliant season (read Kolkotta and Ishant Sharma). Mohammed Ashraful is one of those players who looks spectacular when he comes off but is frustratingly inconsistent. Dwayne Bravo, Ryan Mclaren and Graham Napier will all perform the roles of the all rounders. Abishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rane, Pinal Shah will all provide the local flavour with Nayar hoping to build on his performances from last season.

The Bowling:

As mentioned earlier, the big signing is that of Zaheer Khan (an exchange with Bangalore for Robin Uthappa), Zaheer is arguably in the running for the best fast bowler in the World right now. Clearly, he is enjoying the responsiblity and the Mumbai Indians will be looking to him to lead the charge. He will get good support from Kyle Mills and Lasitha Malinga. Malinga should be the real X-factor here, and if he gets into rhythm quickly, a number of Indian batsman might struggle to pick him.

Also, a certain starter will be the new kid on the block Dhawal Kulkarni – the highest wicket taker in the recently concluded domestic season. He was on that plane to New Zealand but didn’t get a match on the tour. If Dilhara Fernando plays and bowls well, it will be a pure bonus as he gets tonked around in every form of the game. Harbhajan Singh will be looking to make amends for his stupidity in last season and his recent performances in New Zealand augur well for Mumbai. Overall, the Mumbai Indians have an excellent bowling line up and if Zaheer and Harbhajan come good, it’s going to be tough going for the opposition.

The squad:

The Indians: Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Yogesh Takawale (wk), Chetanya Nanda. Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohan Raje, Jaydev Shah, Pinal Shah, Rahil Shaikh, Saurabh Tiwary

The Foreigners: Dwayne Bravo, Jean-Paul Duminy, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Ryan McLaren, Lasith Malinga, Kyle Mills, Mohammad Ashraful, Graham Napier, Luke Ronchi (wk)

Picture Courtesy: NDTV

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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 

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

Team: Delhi Daredevils  

Captain: Virender Sehwag 

 Coach: Greg Shipperd (Australia) 

 Trump Card: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir 

X-Factor: Glenn McGrath  

Whats changed from last season: The addition of some explosive batsman like David Warner and Owais Shah. Mohammed Asif is out thanks to his own stupidity, and of course the fact that he is from Pakistan.  

The Batting:  

To say that the Delhi batting line up is strong is a huge understatement. Not only do they have the best opening pair in the world, but also have a fabulous mix of explosive and solid batsman. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were sensational in the first edition of the IPL, getting the team off to good starts in almost every single game.  Since then the going has gotten even better for the duo as they have emerged as one of India’s best opening pairs. Gambhir is no longer in Sehwag’s shadow and has become a match winner in his own right. It’s quite safe to say that he has been India’s best batsman over the past 18 months in all three versions of the game.   Following the Delhi natives, the Daredevils have a good lot of overseas batsman to choose from – starting from David Warner, a master stroke signing considering they got him before he made his debut for Australia, to the English duo of Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood, to AB De Villiers.

Every single batsman is capable of making big runs at a good pace and what’s even better for the Daredevils is that they will all thrive in the South African conditions. Whats more, AB De Villiers is probably in the form of his life at the moment and should start every single match. Add to the mix batsmen like Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary and Tilekaratne Dilshan and you have all the makings of a brilliant batting line up. And let’s not forget the fact that Daniel Vettori is now an established batsman in his own right.   

The Bowling: 

 Compared to the batting, the bowling looks weak and very dependent on a 40 year old who comes off a traumatic year. Glenn McGrath hasn’t bowled a delivery in over 12 months and lost his wife to cancer over the course of the year. Though there is no doubting his professionalism, you just have to wonder if this might be one challenge too many for him. (my gut tells me he will come out on tops again) but there is going to be a lot of pressure on him. Delhi will definitely miss Mohammed Asif (much like Pakistan) and sharing the new ball with McGrath will be the likes of Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan and Fervez Maharoof. The youngster Sangwan should get a few games considering his left arm medium seamers will add variety to the bowling attack. 

It’s also interesting to note that the Daredevils have two of Indian cricket’s forgotten pacement – Ashish Nehra and Avishkar Salvi. Whether these two will make any sort of impact remains to be seen. The two other pace bowlers in the line up are the Australians Andrew McDonald (who did reasonably well against the South Africans) and Dirk Nannes who are there on the recommendation of the team’s Australian coach Greg Shipperd. The spin department will be handled by Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori, and it is very likely that both of them will get many games given the rest of the bowling line up. 

  Overall, the Delhi Daredevils look a good squad easily capable of making the semifinals. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Virender Sehwag captains the side – he received a lot of criticism for his lacklustre captaincy during the second test against New Zealand and will be looking to prove a few men wrong. The batting looks brilliant and capable of putting enough runs on the board for the bowling line up to defend. A lot is riding on the shoulders of Glenn McGrath but if past records are anything to go by, Delhi are in very safe hands. The interesting thing about the Delhi squad is the sheer number of foreigners in the line up – a total of 10 (by far the maximum). They are only allowed to play 4 in every game and AB De Villiers and Glenn McGrath will be absolute certainities. How the team manages the other foreigners will be interesting to watch.  

The squad:  

The Indians: Virender Sehwag, Rajat Bhatia, Dinesh Karthik, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Aavishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Manoj Tiwary  

The Unknowns: Yogesh Nagar, Tejashwi Yadav and Umesh Yadav 

 The Foreigners: Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah (England) Glenn McGrath, David Warner, Dirk Nannes, Andrew McDonald (Australia), Tilekratne Dilshan, Fervez Maharaoof (Sri Lanka), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) AB De Villiers (South Africa)

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Following Rajasthan as runners up in the previous edition are Chennai Super Kings. There wasn’t a lot of noise made about this team but they were the ones who functioned best as a unit.

Team: Chennai Superkings

Captain: MS Dhoni

Coach: Stephen Fleming

Trump Card: MS Dhoni

X-Factor: Matthew Hayden

Whats changed from last season: Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram won’t be around this time. Andrew Flintoff joins the team as one of the most expensive players in the league. Changes in the coaching set up with Stephen Fleming replacing Keppler Wessels as head coach and Venkatesh Prasad drafted in as the bowling coach.

Of all the franchisee owners in the Indian Premier League, India Cements can probably lay claim to being the only true patrons of the sport before the IPL. For years, the company has been supporting cricket in local leagues in Chennai and when the opportunity came to buy a Chennai based team, it was only natural that the company stepped up. Of all the teams in the league, Chennai probably remains the most stable – devoid of controversy and interference from celebrities or by the owners. The team’s first signing – MS Dhoni remains the fulcrum around which the team revolves, and there are some solid Indian youngsters and foreign players to make up a good team. What resulted in the first season, was a run to the final sealed by a spectacular thrashing of Punjab in the semifinals. The team went on to lose the final to Rajasthan Royals but not before giving the Royals a tough fight. Much will be expected from this team in the second version of the IPL which starts on the 18th. 

The batting:

The X-factor could well be Matthew Hayden, the burly Aussie legend retired early this year and it will be interesting to see whether his mind is still in it. Having players who continue to play after they retire is tricky; it could go either way – fail like Brian Lara in the ICL or succeed like McGrath for the Delhi Daredevils. The good thing is that Hayden will be available for the whole tournament and if he does come off, he has the potential to be devastating. Opening with him will be Murali Vijay, who in addition to facing up to the Aussies in his first international outing, has had a fantastic year in the domestic circuit. Suresh Raina has made that third spot his own and in all probability will be followed by Dhoni at four and Badrinath at five. The other two slots could be a toss up between men like Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel, Abhinav Mukund and George Bailey. Flintoff will not be available for the whole tournament and Morkel’s successes against Australia will mean that there will be a lot riding on his performances. George Bailey is a virtual unknown to Indian fans and Mukund, like Vijay had a good domestic season.

 The bowling: 

The bowling has two very important changes from last year – one, the introduction of Venkatesh Prasad as the bowling coach and second, the added variety with players such as Andrew Flintoff,  off-spinner R. Ashwin and Thilan Thushara. The signing of Prasad could well be a masterstroke by the Superkings as he will guide bowlers like Manpreet Gony, Joginder Sharma, Thushara and of course L. Balaji. Further, the Superkings bowling line up looked one-dimensional last year and the added variety could make a difference. Flintoff’s bowling is tailor made for the 20-20 format, Ashwin (similar to Yohan Botha) is a difficult bowler to get away and of course Thushara’s left arm seamers will add variety.

Add to this, proven performers from last season such as Ntini, Morkel, Balaji and Gony – you have the makings of a very solid bowling line up. Plus, Ntini and Morkel will have home advantage and will be available for the whole tournament. It will be interesting to see if Joginder Sharma and Amarnath get many opportunities in this line up.   

Looking at the squad as a whole, one gets the feeling that there are better bowling and batting departments in other teams but where Chennai scores is the fact that the franchise comes together as one team, something that Bangalore and Hyderabad failed to do last year. Similar to Rajasthan and Mumbai – there will always be only one captain and he will get to make the decisions on the field. Stephen Fleming will be another shrewd addition to the coaching lineup and should work well with Dhoni considering they had played together last season. Barring, a big change in script- the Superkings should definitely find themselves in the semifinals and from there on its anyone’s game. 

The full teamThe Indians: MS Dhoni, P. Amarnath, Anirudh Shrikanth, S. Badrinath, S. Raina, Murali Vijay, L Balaji, R Ashwin, V. Sivaramakrishnan, Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel, Manpreet Gony, Suresh Kumar, Arun Karthik, Sudeep Tyagi and Joginder Sharma

The unknowns: George Bailey, Napoleon Einstein, Shadab Jakati, Viraj Kadbe

The foreigners: Makhaya Ntini, Albie Morkel (South Africa), Muttiah Muralitharan, Thilan Thushara (Sri Lanka), Andrew Flintoff (England) 

Image Courtesy: Sify   

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 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) 

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