Preview to IPL 2010 – Deccan Chargers & Kolkata Knight Riders
Last week, we spoke about Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils. Continuing with the preview to the start of the IPL, this piece talks about the chances of two more teams, Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Deccan Chargers:
Strengths:
The defending champions, Deccan Chargers are being led by Adam Gilchrist, one of the coolest men around in the game. He leads from the front, bats in a manner that can take games away from their opposition like it happened in the semi-final of the previous IPL against Delhi and also keeps wickets. As also, they possess a coterie of really hard-hitting batsmen who can turn games on their heads, and their experience in turning around a virtually hopeless first IPL into a tournament-winning second one will work as their biggest strength in the tournament. Thirdly, the Chargers also have, amidst them, some of the better current fast bowlers around the world in Ryan Harris, Kemar Roach and RP Singh, with Dwayne Smith always there to bowl his dibbly-dobblies in the middle of the innings
Weaknesses:
The Indian bench strength could be one of the issues that the Chargers may face. VVS Laxman is the biggest Indian name around, and he is a doubtful starter in this format, as the best batsman apart from him is Rohit Sharma. None of the other Indians inspire too much confidence and in a format which requires a minimum of seven Indian players in the playing eleven, this could be bit of an issue.
Players to watch out for:
Harris has had an excellent set of ODIs, with five wicket hauls in successive games, while Dwayne Smith’s shenanigans in Australia during the KFC Big Bash T20 will make the pair very dangerous.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Strengths:
In Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge and Brendon McCullum, the Knight Riders possesses a power-packed top-order. Of course, not all may play, but then, they do not need to. Also, the presence of an all-rounder in Angelo Mathews will be a big plus, as is the quick bowling of Charl Langeveldt, who is a great bowler at the death. Playing against the Knight Riders in a full-seeming Eden gardens will never be an easy task for the opposition.
Weaknesses:
Time and again, Sourav Ganguly has proved that he is a man to reckon with even at a reasonably older age. However, to be able to lead a side consisting of so many foreign players, apart from well-established Indian ones will be an issue that Ganguly will need to overcome. It will be a challenge for Ganguly, who has usually excelled as a captain when he has actually gone on to hand-pick the players. The lack of a genuine all-rounder Shah rukh Khan’s overbearing presence around the team could be an issue as well.
Players to watch out for:
One would be most interested in following Ganguly’s captaincy. He would know well that another abysmal tournament would end his reign at the top. Ajantha Mendis was one of the most difficult bowlers to face when he had started out but he has already lost his place in the side. He will be the one man to watch out for.
