Some interesting squad combinations are projected
here.
While the buzz is heated about the foreign players and the massive pay packages, the Indian angle cannot be ruled out. Let's not forget, only four foreign players a side can take the field, so those seven other players to pick have to be carefully chosen. The teams that did well in the IPL (except Chennai) had used their Indian base quite well, and the team that uses its Indian players best will win the tournament.
Chennai: They were heavily dependent on Haydos, Mike Hussey, Murali, maybe Oram, and later Morkel. When the Aussies and Oram left, they struggled for some time, and got back on track towards the semis. Their batting was strong with Raina and Dhoni, but Patel was out of place, Badri could do little so low down and the other locals were not up to the mark. Their local bowling stocks were, frankly, pathetic, and a weak link in their team. This time, they have the run-machine Vijay and triple centurion Mukund, as well as a returned-to-form Balaji, returned-to-fitness Tyagi and value-added Gony. In case they miss Morkel and Oram, they have the cheaper alternative Joginder Sharma.
Hyderabad: They had it absolutely terrible with locals, and not surprisingly, were at the bottom. Their stars, ironically, were RP Singh, Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao, but the performance of the locals was well below par. They've snared Bhuvan Kumar from UP and he may be a surprise, and can contribute more than Bangar, their current local all-rounder. Then again, with no news on the prospective signing, they're stuck with Bangar. Ravi Teja is one who can make it count, but outside of that, they will struggle.
Bangalore: Another team with a weak Indian impact, and not surprisingly, second from last in the table. They have Dravid, Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Goswami and by a long shot, Vinay Kumar, but nobody else. Kallis looked completely misfit last season, so they may need the local replacement Akhil, but he isn't very useful. Kumar's bowling prowess was never in doubt, but the lack of an all-rounder may mean he'll have to be a star with the bat.
Kolkata: They may be based in India's weakest (by some way) zone, but with a lot of money spent, they have good local talent. Ishant Sharma struggled last season; maybe this season will be better. Dinda is fast and furious, but not steady. Other useful players will be Saha, LR Shukla and the captain himself, Ganguly. Bose, kicked out midway last season, will be useful cover, while another victim of downsizing was the prolific Pujara. We wonder, what was SRK thinking? Not surprisingly, they struggled to keep the momentum going and crashed to big defeats a few times.
Punjab: They had good local resources, then Preity and Ness kicked out five of them- which is why I won't forgive those two. Their best bet, after the flamboyant Yuvraj, is the aggressive-yet-smart Irfan Pathan, the useful Chawla and then the mercurial Sreesanth. Among lesser players, they have Powar, in-form opener Sohal, last season's heroes Karan Goel and Uday Kaul, as well as the old warhorse Pankaj Dharmani. They're not perfect, but they have the best among local talents, and would do well not to do away with any of them this time.
Rajasthan: Warney has used his local players best. He's got along so well with them, he'll even speak to them in their language to get his point across. They have the best options after Punjab, and have used their talents best. Hopefully we'll see an encore. To pick a few names, they have Yusuf, Swapnil, Rawat, Kaif, Jadeja, Munaf and Trivedi.
Delhi: We'd (more or less) call this the World Second XI given how they were composed. They too have good local talent, led by Sehwag and Gambhir, but the departure of Dhawan will pinch them. The bowling stock is stronger with Nehra in, and they have Mishra already, but the other options are not so spectacular- Tiwary, Bhatia and Karthik in the middle order, Nanda as spinner, Bhatia, Yomi and Sang as seamers. A lower order of Maharoof (or that Aussie), Mishra, Sang and Yomi will be effective.
Mumbai: The other extreme of two teams mentioned above- they have too many in their squad, enough to start a parallel franchise, maybe for Pune. The coming of Dhawan is a huge boost, as their strength in foreign quota is their bowling, so they need more Indian batsmen. Rahane is scorching the scoreboards, and this should be tapped rightaway. Apart from his blazing form, they can also get in an extra foreign bowler to make a strong team. All-rounder Abhishek Nayar is a good choice, but won't be much of a factor as Bravo is a much better bowler. Dhawal Kulkarni did well last season and also dominated this year's Ranji, but there are much better foreign bowlers at hand. The wicketkeepers, Takawale and Shah, are very relevant, and last but not least, Sachin himself.
Didn't you say you don't drink?