IPL Team analysis: Mumbai

Mumbai failed to bid aggressively during Indian Premier League cricket auction. It even failed to buy its good players like Robin Sharma. I failed to understand its subdued bidding strategy in the IPL auction. It may build a young team by roping in good young cricketers. Mukhesh Ambani's Reliance Retail won the Mumbai Franchise by outbidding Anil Ambani's ADAG. According to sources, Mukhesh Ambani has some big plans for his Mumbai IPL team. One thing is sure, Reliance will never do things on small scale.
Mumbai IPL Team review:
Rating: 3.5/5.
Coach: Lalchand Rajput.
Franchise: Reliance Retail (Mukhesh Ambani).
Money spent on players: Rs 15.2 crore.
Strong Points:
1. Sachin Tendulkar- God of Indian Cricket.
2. Strong top order.
3. Harbhajan Singh- Best 20-20 spinner.
4. Shaun Pollock- Great all-rounder.
5. Robin Uthappa- Strong twenty20 cricketer.
6.Sanath Jayasuriya-Devastating batsman.
Weak points:
1. Weak middle order batting.
2. Inexperienced wicketkeepers.
Mumbai IPL Team:
1. Sachin Tendulkar- Captain and Icon.
2. Sanath Jayasuriya- Sri Lanka- 3.9 crore.
3. Robin Uthappa- India- 3.2 crore.
4. Bosman- 0.69 crore.
5. Shaun Pollock- South Africa- 2.2 crore.
6. Harbhajan Singh- India- 3.4 crore.
7. Lasith Malinga- Sri Lanka- 1.4 crore.
8. Dilhara Fernando- Sri Lanka- 0.6 crore.

Young recruits:
1. Abhishek Nayyar- Mumbai All-rounder.

2. Ajinkya Rahane- Mumbai Opener and future hope.

3. Yogesh Takawale- Wicket Keeper.

4. Pinal Shah- Wicket Keeper.
Verdict: Unlike Laxman and Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar failed to guide Reliance Franchise in building a strong team. But we should not underestimate Mukhesh Ambani and his ambitions. He may surprise us with his future purchases.
Please share your opinion on Mumbai IPL team.

IPL Team analysis: Bangalore Royal challengers

Bangalore IPL team is looking like a solid test team but not like a fearsome twenty20 team. Bangalore has one of the best bowling attacks among the Indian Premier League teams but left with a weak batting lineup. I can’t understand the rationale behind the purchase of players like Chanderpaul and Wasim Jaffer. Bangalore franchise miserably failed to pick a good batting team in the Indian Premier League auction which was recently held in Mumbai.

Rahul Dravid as an icon became a big burden for this franchise. Like Laxman, Dravid should have sacrificed his iconic status just for the sake of his team. Bangalore franchise missed to buy their young icon “Robin Uthappa”. Unlike his business deals, Vijay Mallya failed to create magic at the auction. Vijay Mallya bought Bangalore franchise for 111.6 million American dollars.
IPL Bangalore team review:
Rating: 3/5.

Franchise: Vijay Mallya of UB group.

Coach:

Money spent on players: Rs. 15.2 crore.

Strong points:
1. Good wicket-keeper- Mark Boucher.

2. Anil Kumble spin on Indian pitches.

3. Very good bowling attack.
Weak points:
1. Too many accumulators- What will they do in 20-20 cricket matches?2

. Aged players like Dravid, Kallis and Chanderpaul.
IPL Bangalore team:

1. Rahul Dravid- Captain and Icon.

2. Jacques Kallis- South Africa- 3.6 crore.

3. Wasim Jaffer- India- 0.6 crore

4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul- West Indies- 0.8 crore.

5. Mark Boucher- South Africa- 1.8 crore.

6. Cameron White- Australia- 2 crore

7. Zaheer Khan- India- 1.8 crore.

8. Nathan Bracken- Australia- 1.3 crore.

9. Dale Stein- South Africa- 1.3 crore.

10. Anil Kumble- India- 2 crore.
Young recruits:
1. Manish Pandey- India- 0.4 crore.
Quote:“You can play only four overseas players in a match, so what’s the point in buying eight?” – Vijay Mallya.
Verdict: It should buy some good batsmen among its younger picks to have any realistic chance to win the inaugural Indian Premier League tournament. Most of these old players are neither useful for brand promotion nor for twenty20 cricket matches.
Please share your opinion on Bangalore IPL team.

IPL Team analysis: Kolkata Night Riders

Kolkata team has most passionate captain-owner combination among the Indian premier League teams. It is like Liverpool of India with Kolkata’s fans will definitely endorse this team as they do it for their football clubs. This IPL team finds it easy to attract audience as club culture is already established here.

If the management can able to add decent twenty20 middle order batsmen among its young recruits, Kolkata Night riders may surprise Hyderabad or Chennai. I can’t understand why it bought players like Agarkar and Taibu? Franchise failed to buy its wanted players like Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist.

Kolkata IPL team review:

Rating: 3.75/5.

Franchise: Red Chillies Entertainment (Shah Rukh khan and Juhi Chawla)

Money spent at auction: Rs 20 crore.Coach: John Buchanan.
Positive points:
1. Wonderful coach and inspirational captain.
2. It boasts of strongest top order in IPL with Ganguly, Gayle and Ponting. Kolkata and Hyderabad have strong top order line ups.
3. Most passionate captain and owner.
4. Good pace attack.
5. Brendum McCullum is a dangerous batsman.
Weak points:
1. Weak middle order.
2. Erratic Shoaib Akthar and Ajit Agarkar.
Kolkata Night Riders:
1. Sourav Ganguly (Icon) - Captain- 4.4 crore.

2. Chris Gayle- West Indies – 3.2 crore.

3. Ricky Ponting- Australia- 1.6 crore!

4. David Hussey- Australia- 2.5 crore!

5. Brendon McCullum – New Zealand – 2.8 crore.

6. Ramnaresh Sarwan- West Indies.

7. Shoaib Akthar- Pakistan- 1.7 crore.

8. Ajit Agarkar- India- 1.4 crore?

9. Ishant Sharma- India- 3.8 crore.

10. Umar Gul- O.6 crore.

11. Murali Kartik- india- 1.7 crore.

12. Tatenda Taibu- Zimbabwe- 0.5 crore.
Verdict: Kolkata night riders may reach semi-finals of the inaugural Indian Premier League twenty20 cricket tournament. I like to watch this team’s play at Eden gardens stadium. Passion rules!

IPL Team analysis: Chennai Super kings

India team franchise assembled strong lineup for the inaugural Indian Premier League 20-20 tournament. They aggressively bought Indian twenty20 team captain Dhoni for Rs 6 crore by defeating Mumbai and Bengaluru franchises. It strategically bought good all-rounders and lucky twenty20 player like Joginder Sharma and good young player like Suresh Raina. Experienced players are this team’s assets and may become weakness.
Chennai IPL Team review:
Team motto: Chennai Super Kings: Fearless Entertainers who will play to win.
Rating: 4/5.
Money spent on players: 23.2 crore.
Franchise: Srinivasan of India Cements.
Strong points:
1. M.S. Dhoni- most valuable 20-20 player in the world and the captain of the first twenty20 cricket world cup winning Indian team.
2. World best spinner, Muralidharan.
3. Most dangerous all-rounders- Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel.
Weak points:
1. Who will partner Hayden? Fleming is not right choice.
2. Aged players like Ntini, Hayden, Hussey and Fleming.
Chennai super kings team:

1. MS Dhoni- India- 6 crore.

2. Matthew Hayden- Australia- 1.5 crore.

3. Stephen Fleming- New Zealand- 1.4 crore.

4. Suresh Raina- India- 2.6 crore.

5. Michael Hussey- Australia- 1 crore.

6. Jacob Oram- New Zealand- 2.7 crore.

7. Albie Morkel- South Africa- 2.7 crroe.

8. Parthiv Patel- india- Wicket Keeper- 1.3 crore.

9. Makhaya Ntini- South Africa- 0.8 crore.

10. Joginder Singh- India- 0.9 crore.

11. Muttiah Muralitharan- Sri Lanka- 2.4 crore.
If the experienced players can play to their full potential, Chennai super kings may outshine Hyderabad team.
Verdict: Second strongest team in the IPL tournament.

IPL Team analysis: Delhi daredevils

Delhi daredevils narrowly missed to build a great team in the Indian Premier League auction due to lack of proper strategy. Lack of big hitting all-rounders and brittle middle order may spoil its chances in the tight 20-20 matches. It should pick hard hitting young all-rounders to overcome this problem. Delhi team needs a world class middle order batsmen like Symonds or Yuvraj etc. Delhi boasts off best line and length bowlers like McGrath and Asif and good spinner, Daniel Vettori. GMR Holdings spent Rs 16 crore to acquire Delhi franchise.
Delhi daredevils IPL team review:

Rating: 3.5/5.

Money spent on players: 19.6 crore.

Franchise: GMR Holdings.

Strong points:

1. Good openers- Gambhir and Sehwag.

2. Md. Asif- superb bowler if not one of the best.

3. Experienced Glenn McGrath.

Weak points:

1. Weak keeper batsman- Dinesh Karthik.

2. Brittle middle order.

3. Where are hard hitters in the late stages?

Delhi IPL team:

Captain: Virender Sehwag- icon.

Other members:

1. Gautam Gambhir- India- 2.9 crore-best twenty20 player.

2. AB de Villiers- South Africa- 1.2 crore.

3. Shoaib Malik- Pakistan- 2 crore.

4. Tillekeratne Dilshan- Sri Lanka- 1 crore.

5. Manoj Tiwary- India- 2.7 crore?

6. Dinesh Karthik- India- 2.1 crore?

7. Daniel Vettori- New Zealand- 2.5 crore.

8. Mohammad Asif- Pakistan- 2.6 crore.

9. Ferveez Maharoof- Sri Lanka- 0.9 crore.

10. Glenn McGrath- Australia- 1.4 crore.
Verdict: Delhi daredevils may reach semi-finals if their bowlers performed well. I can’t understand why they spent so much money on Dinesh Karthik and Manoj Tiwary.

Please share your opinion on Delhi team.

IPL Team analysis: Hyderabad is strongest

Deccan Chronicle franchise successfully bought right mix of twenty20 players in the IPL player’s auction and it is the strongest team among the eight teams after yesterday’s auction. They spent big money to buy awesome players like Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi and Gibbs. Hyderabad team is the strong favourite to win the first Indian Premier League tournament which will be held in April-May, 2008. Hyderabad team has 4 members who played in the finals of the first 20-20 ICC Cricket world cup held in South Africa.

Hyderabad IPL team review:

Team Rating: 4.5/5- Strongest among eight teams.

Money Spent: 23.6 crore.

Franchise: Deccan Chronicle.

Strong points:

1. Explosive batsmen like Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds.

2. All-rounders and useful spinners like Afridi, Symonds and Styris is its plus point.

3. R.P. Singh and Vaas are difficult customers for any batsman in twenty20 format.

4. Gilchrist-Gibbs opening pair may send tremors to any bowling attack.

Weak points:

1. Laxman and Styris may find it difficult to score proficiently in 20-20 format.

2. Absence of world class spinner.

Hyderaabd Team:
Captain: V.V.S. Laxman – 1.5 crore.
Openers:

1. Adam Gilchrist- Australia- 2.8 crore.

2. Herschelle Gibbs- South Africa- 2.3 crore.

Middle order:

1. Andrew Symonds- Australia– 5.4 crore.

2. Rohit Sharma- India- 3 crore.

3. VVS Laxman- India- 1.5 crore.

4. Scott Styris- New Zealand- 0.7 crore.

5. Chamara Silva- Sri Lanka- 0.4 crore.

All-Rounder:

1. Shahid Afridi- Pakistan- 2.7 crore.

Pace Attack:

1. R.P. Singh- India- 3.5 crore.

2. Chaminda Vaas- Sri Lanka- 0.8 crore.

3. Nuwan Zoysa- Sri Lanka- 0.44 crore.

Hyderabad's young picks:
1. Raviteja- Young top order batsman from Hyderabad.
2. Pragnan Ojha- Good spinner from Hyderabad.
3. Arjun Yadav- No comment.
4. Kalyan Krishna- Fast bowler from Andhra Pradesh.
5. Das- Orissa ranji player.
Congrats to Deccan Chronicle franchise for successfully and strategically building superb team for Indian premier league 20-20 tournament.
Verdict: Hyderabad is the strong favourite to win inaugural twenty20 Indian premier League.Please share your opinion on Hyderabad IPL team.