Which IPL franchise will you be supporting?

[social]

Bangalore has gone for substance over style - good on 'em and my thoughts will be with that team

 

[ret]

the discussion on Ponting being left out caught my eye

haha, well anything could happen coz a team can only field 4 International players. Kol has McCullun, Gayle, D Hussey, Taibu, Gul and Asif, besides Ponting. Which 4 would you select to balance a side that has Ganguly, Agarkar, Kartik and Ishant

Now it has 3 Indian bowlers in Agarkar, Kartik & Ishant, so Kol will hv to play them, which means one of Gul and Akthar will get a look in [depending upon who is fit], with the 5th bowling option shared by Gayle and Ganguly [unless Kol has a quality all-rounder from the local quota]. with Gayle coming in as an all-rounder and McCullun as the WK the 4th spot goes to Ponting, I guess. btw, i read reports that D Hussey is contracted to play County cricket so may not be available. While Ponting may go to Pak and that implies that Gul and Akthar will not be there too. So Taibu probably has more chances of playing in the X1

A team appears different when you consider the combinations and availability of key players. Kol may appear strong on paper but IMO it's not amongst the top 3 teams. And you can't bank on Ganguly and Agarkar, esp in 20-20


Same goes for B'lore. Although, it has a nice bowling attack, the batting does not look good enough to score consistently at 8 an over. Let's look at B'lore's line up

Kallis, Boucher, White, Steyn, Bracken, & C'paul ---> 4 of them will be in the playing X1 with Dravid, Jaffar, Kumble & Zak

so let's make B'lore's X1 ----> Dravid, Jaffar, Kumble & Zak. throw in the wk Boucher and Kallis. Now it will probably pick two from Steyn, Bracken and White. White, if Blore needs someone with all-rounder's abilities which means one from Bracken and Steyn.

Doesn't look like a gr8 team to me. Probably the weakest, along with Jaipur!!!

This is how I would describe the teams

- Hybad ----> all round solidity w/ good openers, middle order and some good bowlers
- Mohali ----> solid middle order with a balanced bowling attack
- Mumbai ----> explosive players with experience
- Delhi ----> a nice mix of players, with some being from the two 20-20 WC finalists
- Kolkatta ----> some good names in the squad
- Banglore -----> Good bowling unit
- Jaipur ----> Warne!!!!
- Chennai ----> some solid international players but weak support players [unfortunately for it, only 4 int players can play]


This is how i would rank the sides

Top ----> Hybad & Mohali [in no paricular order]
Middle ----> Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai & Kolkatta [in no particular order]
Bottom ----> Banglore and Jaipur [in no particular order]

cheers

 

[BoyBrumby]

You're not supporting Arsenal anymore tho, you're supporting the CDMs. The only similarities between the two are they play a game called football somewhere in North London. The Arsenal bit is just a meaningless name they play under. And yes it applies to most clubs which is why I don't really care apart from when a generally English side plays against a foreign outfit.

Bollocks; big hairy ones. The players, the coaching staff, the manager & even the owners are just the current custodians. The heart & soul of any football club is & always has been the fans.

& as for only caring about generally English sides, does this apply to cricket as well? You're pretty well ****ed with Durham if it does.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

I'll probably not support anyone, just enjoy it. Maybe Mohali, if pushed, with Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Chawla.

 

[age_master]

Im thinking about Hyderabad at the moment, Gilchrist, Symonds, Gibbs, Vaas and RP Singh - and Sharma should do well too.

It will be interesting to see how all the players go against their international team mates - Lee vs Ponting, Murali vs Sangakara etc

 

[Jamee999]

Interesting to see Dhoni keeping to Murali, as well.

 

[adharcric]

Mohali and Chennai for me.

 

[Jamee999]

Woo Coke!!!

I reckon we'd see a more passionate contest if there really was the Real Thing All Stars vs the Choice of a New Generation Champions XI. People are serious about their soft drink choice.

Irn-Bru Giants FTW

 

[Richard]

then devises Dickinson-esque theories

Don't you EVER do that to me again.

 

[chris.hinton]

Is this on Sky

 

[Smudge]

You're not supporting Arsenal anymore tho, you're supporting the CDMs. The only similarities between the two are they play a game called football somewhere in North London. The Arsenal bit is just a meaningless name they play under. And yes it applies to most clubs which is why I don't really care apart from when a generally English side plays against a foreign outfit.

I didn't think that as a teenager he would saved up enough money to own an EPL team. I stand corrected.

 

[The Baconator]

Gotta be rooting for Chennai methinks.

 

[Salamuddin]

kolkata

 

[Laurrz]

H'Bad

exciting players + Gilly

2nd team will be the one with Asif and McGrath

 

[masterblaster]

Bangalore is a dark horse for sure in this competition. While Jaffer probably won't do anything, I do recall Rahul Dravid playing some terrific innings in ODI cricket. He scored a half century of around 23 balls against Australia in an ODI a couple of years back, plus who could forget the fantastic partnerships when he scored the 140s and 150s in really quick time. Backing him to show his doubters that he's an intelligent batsman.

Kallis is well can play quickly when needed and is just sheer class. A lot of the times the teams that get the most runs get them while playing balanced cricketing shots or by not giving early wickets away. So with Jaffer, Dravid and Kallis giving a solid platform the stage will be set nicely for Boucher and White to come in and smash it a little bit.

 

[Sanz]

Kolkata Kittens.

 

[Nate]

I didn't think that as a teenager he would saved up enough money to own an EPL team. I stand corrected.

 

[ret]

Bangalore is a dark horse for sure in this competition. While Jaffer probably won't do anything, I do recall Rahul Dravid playing some terrific innings in ODI cricket. He scored a half century of around 23 balls against Australia in an ODI a couple of years back, plus who could forget the fantastic partnerships when he scored the 140s and 150s in really quick time. Backing him to show his doubters that he's an intelligent batsman.

Kallis is well can play quickly when needed and is just sheer class. A lot of the times the teams that get the most runs get them while playing balanced cricketing shots or by not giving early wickets away. So with Jaffer, Dravid and Kallis giving a solid platform the stage will be set nicely for Boucher and White to come in and smash it a little bit.

What you described above is probably a good scenario for a 50 over game

IMO, most fielding captains would love to see two batsmen 'building' a platform and not taking that much initiative in a 20-20 game

On the kind of pitches in the sub-continent, the idea is to take the initiative asap [2-3 tough overs and u r probably out of the game], while hoping that 2 guys get going and get a good score .... you can't waste ur time in the middle, if you hv wkts in hand .... 20-20 is not abt being 140/6 after 20 but being 160 all out

cheers

 

[silentstriker]

You absolutely need to build an innings. I can't wait till the season, I think the Bangalore batting will be in the top two of the tournament.

 

[masterblaster]

You absolutely need to build an innings. I can't wait till the season, I think the Bangalore batting will be in the top two of the tournament.

Agreed on both counts. I'm backing the Bangalore batting to really come good and show up some of the other more aggressive batting lineups.