Indian Premier League

[Arjun]

Uh oh! Sounds like trouble.

It may come to a stage where Akhtar may have to sit out, replaced by that unknown Indian seamer, just to keep that limit full.

 

[Arjun]

I look at 20T slightly differently than you do .... I would want the key players in as early as possible so that if one of them clicks a big total is on the cards, w/ others playing around that guy .... I would want to give a chance to play maximum overs to those who can make an impact .... the risk with opening with those locals is that the opposition could tie them up wrt RR which would mean more pressure on the other batsmen. and then there is little a guy like Oram can do in the last few overs

Strategically too, you would want to get a lot of runs in the first 6 overs, build [esp if you lose early wkts] in the middle 8 overs and then take the charge in the final 6

In case of Chennai with the 4 overseas players that you selected I would bat them in the following order:

- Hayden, Raina, Hussey
- Dhoni, Oram, the rest

It all depends on what you expect from those batsmen. Mukund and Teja, if nothing else, may just keep turning over the strike to their more celebrated partners, or see off slightly hostile bowling- which these wicketkeepers and middle-order folks can't do so well. For all the typecasting, these batsmen have some brains, so they won't try to bat out the full 20 overs.

Maybe using the power of a few players to overturn batting orders will help a little, but the raw material has to be there. Dhoni is not an opener at all. He's not likely to succeed there. He'll do better at four or five than opening. You let openers or brawny, hard-hitting pinch-hitters open, then follow up with batsmen who can build an innings and run hard between wickets, pinching singles, then finally the final-overs chargers can come in. An alternative would be to have the more aggressive folks in the middle-order, in case the bowling attack has tough opening bowlers, but the stock bowlers are not much good or they're using part-timers. See off the openers, smash the rubbish, that's another option.

 

[Arjun]

Delhi can put together a good team without stretching the foreign limit too much.

• Sehwag
• Gambhir
• Dhawan/Tehlan
• Tewary
• Manhas
• Karthik (WK)
• Maharoof (RM)
• Vettori (SLA)
• Mishra (LBG)
• Asif (RFM)
• McGrath (RFM)

Another Lankan middle-order batsman sits out. It's neck-and-neck for Dhawan and Tehlan. Left-arm pacer Sangwan may play in place of Mishra as an option. Looks quite strong, but doesn't have the big names.

 

[Manee]

It may come to a stage where Akhtar may have to sit out, replaced by that unknown Indian seamer, just to keep that limit full.

Speaking of which, it may be the chance that Bose has needed to show himself to a worldwide audience and the BCCI.

 

[Arjun]

Speaking of which, it may be the chance that Bose has needed to show himself to a worldwide audience and the BCCI.

Bose is missing. Someone named Siddharth Kaul is in this team.

 

[ret]

It all depends on what you expect from those batsmen. Mukund and Teja, if nothing else, may just keep turning over the strike to their more celebrated partners, or see off slightly hostile bowling- which these wicketkeepers and middle-order folks can't do so well. For all the typecasting, these batsmen have some brains, so they won't try to bat out the full 20 overs.

Maybe using the power of a few players to overturn batting orders will help a little, but the raw material has to be there. Dhoni is not an opener at all. He's not likely to succeed there. He'll do better at four or five than opening. You let openers or brawny, hard-hitting pinch-hitters open, then follow up with batsmen who can build an innings and run hard between wickets, pinching singles, then finally the final-overs chargers can come in. An alternative would be to have the more aggressive folks in the middle-order, in case the bowling attack has tough opening bowlers, but the stock bowlers are not much good or they're using part-timers. See off the openers, smash the rubbish, that's another option.

Didn't you see my batting order? Dhoni is batting at 4 and not opening .... it's Raina who is opening with Hayden, Hussey is at 3 while Oram is at 5 .... these guys need not be batting any lower than 6 coz it would be a waste of talent and opportunity

I think the above gives the team a better option of utlizing the 20 overs to their advantage

 

[Manee]

Bose is missing. Someone named Siddharth Kaul is in this team.

Bose is there on wikipedia in the Kolkata Knight Riders' squad.

 

[Jamee999]

Punjab Kings? Really short of ideas, but not short of options for a playing XI.

• James Hopes (RM)
• Karan Goel
• Kumar Sangakkara (WK)[*]Mahela
• Yuvraj
• Tanmay
• Irfan (LMF)
• Chawla (LBG)
• Powar (OB)
• Brett Lee (RF)
• Sreesanth (RFM)

Looks a very strong, versatile team. Mills may make the team as a bowler, replacing Powar, but for that, you'd have to replace James Hopes or one of the Lankans with a local. Uday Kaul is also a wicketkeeper, but replacing Sangakkara would be absolutely dumb. Besides, he's also only a part-time keeper. Even if Hopes is replaced, you may have non-regulars like Sanga or Kaul or Irfan opening the innings, but that's better than having someone whose batting has gone to sleep and fielding weaknesses have shown up lately. Strong title contenders.

Or possibly like this:

Sangakkara+
Pathan
Jayawardene
Yuvraj*
Srivastava
Hopes
Powar
Lee
Chawla
Sreesanth
VRV Singh

 

[TT Boy]

I can see Mumbai going like this:

1. Tendulkar
2. Jayasuriya
3. Rahane
4. Uthappa
5. Loots Bosman
6. S Tiwary
7. Pinal Shah
8. Pollock
9. Harbhajan
10. Malinga
11. Fernando/Nehra

Bosman would be absolutely useless that low. If he doesn’t open then he shouldn’t be playing. Also Malinga and Fernando are decent bets to be missing due to injury.

 

[TT Boy]

Delhi can put together a good team without stretching the foreign limit too much.

• Sehwag
• Gambhir
• Dhawan/Tehlan
• Tewary
• Manhas
• Karthik (WK)
• Maharoof (RM)
• Vettori (SLA)
• Mishra (LBG)
• Asif (RFM)
• McGrath (RFM)

Another Lankan middle-order batsman sits out. It's neck-and-neck for Dhawan and Tehlan. Left-arm pacer Sangwan may play in place of Mishra as an option. Looks quite strong, but doesn't have the big names.

De Villiers should be a shoe-in if only for his fielding (better keeper than Karthik as well). Play Sangwan as the third seamer in front of Marahoof. Will be interesting to see how Asif gets on, terrible death bowler so hopefully Delhi utilise him well.

 

[Prince EWS]

Didn't you see my batting order? Dhoni is batting at 4 and not opening .... it's Raina who is opening with Hayden, Hussey is at 3 while Oram is at 5

And this is a problem associated with naming your lineups in the dire way you do...

 

[Goughy]

De Villiers should be a shoe-in if only for his fielding (better keeper than Karthik as well). Play Sangwan at the third seamer in front of Marahoof. Will be interesting to see how Asif gets on, terrible death bowler so hopefully Delhi utilise him well.

Delhi have said they will ideally play their 2 Sri Lankans and 2 Pakistanis.

That means no place for Vettori, McGrath or De Villiers if available or fit.

Id agree with that apart from bring McGrath in for Maharoof.

Leaving Shoaib Malik out would be crazy

 

[TT Boy]

Delhi have said they will ideally play their 2 Sri Lankans and 2 Pakistanis.

That means no place for Vettori, McGrath or De Villiers if available or fit.

Id agree with that apart from bring McGrath in for Maharoof.

Leaving Shoaib Malik out would be crazy

Seems a bit left field. Marahoof and Dilshan are hardly gun or box office cricketers and if Malik is reluctant to bowl, which he has been for a while now, then I’m not sure if he should be in the first XI also. Vettori and McGrath would be my first two names on the team-sheet.

 

[Goughy]

Seems a bit left field. Marahoof and Dilshan are hardly gun or box office cricketers and if Malik is reluctant to bowl, which he has been for a while now, then I’m not sure if he should be in the first XI also. Vettori and McGrath would be my first two names on the team-sheet.

Yogesh Shotty, CEO of GMR sports,said. "We didnt want to have players who would come in for a few days and then leave."

"We have Sehwag and Gambhir opening, then we have two Sri Lankans, we've got two Pakistanis, the way we planned it. There would already be a good rapport within the team from day one.' said Shetty.

"Also we wanted people who could play in these conditions. given that the tournament was happening during our summer. A certain player may be very good in an Australian team, but he may not he as effective in in another team. If you took an Indian player and put him in an American basketball team, how well would he fare'? How much time would it take him to adapt'?'

 

[TT Boy]

Yogesh Shotty, CEO of GMR sports,said. "We didnt want to have players who would come in for a few days and then leave."

"We have Sehwag and Gambhir opening, then we have two Sri Lankans, we've got two Pakistanis, the way we planned it. There would already be a good rapport within the team from day one.' said Shetty.

"Also we wanted people who could play in these conditions. given that the tournament was happening during our summer. A certain player may be very good in an Australian team, but he may not he as effective in in another team. If you took an Indian player and put him in an American basketball team, how well would he fare'? How much time would it take him to adapt'?'

Does he know that McGrath was a pretty decent bowler in the subcontinent? Really strange outlook Delhi has considering even de Villiers is comfortable and familiar with Indian 'like' conditions.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Would someone like Parthiv Patel be a better choice for opening? Because he's a wicketkeeper? He doesn't have the big shots. Likewise, Vaas isn't quite the opening batsman you need because he has no technique.

I don't recall anyone suggesting Parthiv or Vaas would open. That would be a strange decision.

When the options available are no better, it's better to persist with the specialist openers, who've been doing a lot better at the top.

To the extent that Irfan Pathan bats at seven, where he is unlikely to have much effect, when Karan Goel opens in that Punjab team listed above? I'm not getting at the 'open with specialists' argument as much as the 'leave world class batsmen at numbers five, six and seven' argument. You don't seem to recognise that Shaun Pollock could easily bat in the top order for many Ranji sides. The gulf in class is enormous.

 

[Smudge]

Yogesh Shotty, CEO of GMR sports,said. "We didnt want to have players who would come in for a few days and then leave."

"We have Sehwag and Gambhir opening, then we have two Sri Lankans, we've got two Pakistanis, the way we planned it. There would already be a good rapport within the team from day one.' said Shetty.

"Also we wanted people who could play in these conditions. given that the tournament was happening during our summer. A certain player may be very good in an Australian team, but he may not he as effective in in another team. If you took an Indian player and put him in an American basketball team, how well would he fare'? How much time would it take him to adapt'?'

Reeks of borderline racism, for mine...

 

[Goughy]

Reeks of borderline racism, for mine...

Well it is, but that doesnt mean its devoid of common sense.

 

[R_D]

Reeks of borderline racism, for mine...

How so ?

There's been some ridiculous call of racism in this forum but this one's right up there.

Seems to me more of a tit for tat reaction... aren't you a journalist or somthing ?

 

[silentstriker]

Reeks of borderline racism, for mine...

Hmm, how so? I find it misguided considering Pigeon's record. Why do you think its racist?

Genuinely interested here.