Road to IPL 2009.

[Arjun]

I think both Bangalore and Deccan have a real problem on their hands in terms of lack of any good local batsmen in their teams, Deccan at least have Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao who can be slated as decent batsmen, but Bangalore is really down on local batting talent.

Kohli is decent, but neither he or Uthappa can be considered too reliable, so both Deccan and Bangalore would largely depend on their foreign batsmen to put the runs on the board.

Deccan's main problem is their wafer-thin bowling. They've depended far too much on frontline batsmen to bowl for them, and it's weakened them a lot. They have RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha, who are decent, man for man, but collectively they're not enough. Their main strength in their foreign base is their batting, unless Jerome Taylor makes a place for himself, so they'll have to depend largely on local bowlers, and what they have isn't enough.

Conversely, Bangalore have good bowlers, and with the likes of Steyn, Kumar and Bracken, are stronger in bowling. Not surprisingly, their batting will be under the scanner, especially when their frontliners (notably Dravid, Kallis, Chanders and Jaffer) are not really suited for T20. The ones suited better, however, didn't last too long in the middle. A lot will depend on Kohli and Uthappa, after Taylor, Ryder and Boucher, as the other locals can't do much.

 

[four_or_six]

Ponting's negotiated not to play in the IPL this season. Very sensible.

 

[Arjun]

Now that should ease the Kolkata selection a little- they can choose McCullum, Gayle, Mendis and Dave Hussey. Once Hussey leaves, they can bring in Mashrafe. This team may be watched for replacements, as they had four Pakistani players. Their local combination, though, will be tough to assemble. So far, only Ganguly, Shukla, Dinda, Saha, Ishant and Kartik seem automatic choices. If they stretch themselves a little, they have Agarkar, Pujara, Akash Chopra, Abisek Bannerjee and Debabrata Das. Of these, the only frontline bowlers to choose are Dinda, Ishant, Kartik and Agarkar and overseas players Mendis and Mashrafe. Will they choose eight overs of Ganguly, Shukla and Gayle or play as many as five frontline bowlers? Tough choice.

Elsewhere, SRK's shocking ousting of five domestic players has claimed one casualty. Ranadeb Bose said that playing for the Knight Riders was a mistake, on the back of his mid-season exclusion. He now wishes to play for the Bangalore team, as a replacement for Zaheer, and will turn up for selection.

 

[Edged&Taken]

The staging of the tournament in April seems to be doubtful too , as the Government wants a postponement and the IPL guys wont have an alternate slot free for 2009 .

 

[Goughy]

If I had an IPL franchise right now then I would be very nervous.

I can see the event being played in its current allocated timeslot, but I can see a lot of players withdrawing.