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.
Will Ganguly rise from the KKR ashes?
It is quite evident by the way things are shaping that the Kolkata Knight Riders team are gunning to be much more than only the glam team that they have been portrayed to be so far. With the off-the-field performances from Kolkata Knight Riders speaking louder than those on it, the side managed to ‘out-perform’ themselves in the second season by finishing at the bottom of the table.
However, if one were to look for signs this early before the tournament, then the Knight Riders seem serious enough to get their results back on track. John Buchanan was shown the door – as was his entourage – immediately after the debacle despite having a contract for a much longer tenure and another Aussie, Dav Whatmore was hired after a rather long and a winding hiring process. One almost sense that the manner in which both the coaches had been hired, it could be used as a case study in one of those Human Resources Management lectures in those MBA-schools in India!
Whatmore could not be a more different choice than Buchanan. Unlike his predecessor, Whatmore has had a rich experience of coaching in the sub-continent, and probably understands the culture and the psyche of the players as well as anyone else. He was the coach of the 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lankan side and also of the Bangladeshi side in the 2007 edition of the same. And had it not been for his inability to keep shut about an impending selection to the Indian team, he would have, in all probabilities, coached the most followed side of the cricketing world as well. He was head of the National Cricket Academy in India before accepting this offer.
This was followed by the selection of Sourav Ganguly as the captain of the side. Now, while the critics may paint this move as retrograde, a reasonably high-pressure tournament like this will need someone who could take the game by the scuff of its neck and bring back the results. And from those around, and despite the odd snigger about his fitness issues, Ganguly looks to be the best man for the job. Not only this, but Ganguly has also expressed his desire to play county cricket in the T20 competition, and if the rumour-mills are to be believed, he could be in line to sign a deal with Essex for the tournament!
Apart from the announcement of the coach and the captain, the Kolkata Knight Riders have begun to slowly get in the domestic players who could bolster their Indian bench strength. Probably, the realisation seems to have finally dawned upon the management, that given the high ratio of Indian to foreign players allowed in the playing eleven, it would make sense to get in the quality fringe Indian cricketers into the side as well. Instead of only targeting the big foreign names! As a result of this, ICL-returns, Rohan Gavaskar and Eklak Ahmid have been signed up by KKR and in all probabilities, there could be many more being pruned.
What would also work as an excellent news for the team management is that Brad Hodge has announced his retirement from international cricket. Despite Hodge’s slow start to the second season of the IPL, he took off reasonably well, and given his humongous experience, he should be a handy asset through the entire duration of the tournament.
To me, it does look like things are falling in place for the Kolkata Knight Riders and they could be one of the teams to look out for.
Ricky to Retire from T20I
Ricky Ponting has announced his retirement from international Twenty20 cricket. However, he will continue to lead the Australian side in the ODIs and Test matches. He has also said that he will continue playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
Ponting has taken this decision to prolong his test match and ODI career, and has seemed to gone in a direction opposite to what most cricketers have been going; that is, to retire from the longer format to concentrate on the T20Is and get the riches in.
The decision was conveyed to the chief selector, coach and the current vice-captain, Michael Clarke, who will now take over the reigns of the T20I side. Clarke had captained the T20I side in Ponting’s absence, and currently is also leading the Aussie team in the ODIs as Ponting is back in Australia, resting. However, a formal decision in that regard has not been taken given that the Aussies next play another T20I in February next year only.
Recently, Australia had lost their Ashes series to England, and Ponting had expressed his desire to come back to England and win a test series here. However, the next series in the country will only be in 2013, which makes it difficult for the dream to become reality.
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T20Cricket.Asia hopes you enjoy this Ricky Ponting wallpaper. He was born December 19, 1974, he has represented the Australian cricket team in in One Day International, Twenty20 International and Test matches. He is also a Tasmanian Tiger in Australian Domestic cricket. He has by far proven that he is a legend of the game regardless of this years Ashes loss. Well done Ricky - keep playing T20! Read more on his Ponting's retirement of T20I.
Games Left to be Played in 2008:
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May, Tue 27
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT
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54th match - Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings
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May, Wed 28
16:00 local, 10:30 GMT
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55th match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians
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May, Wed 28
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT
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56th match - Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals
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May, Fri 30
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT
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1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
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May, Sat 31
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT
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2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
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June, Sun 1
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT
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Final - TBC v TBC
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Game results IPL 2008:
Read the rest of this entry...
The Tour de France has its Yellow jersey, and not wanting to miss a trick, the IPL has the Orange cap.
It will be worn by the batsman who is the highest cumulative run-scorer for the season to date.
The official press release said: "[The cap] is traditional in style and will stand out from any other headgear in the tournament," which is saying something considering the gold helmets that the Kolkata Knight Riders have been wearing.
But wait, thats not all.
At the end of the event the person holding the cap will be crowned or capped "Winner of the Orange Cap 2008". Don't let it be said the IPL doesn't come up with catchy titles.
The stats to date have Mathew Hayden from the Chennai Super Kings wearing the Orange cap with 189 runs and Brendon McCullum from the Kollata Knights Raiders a close second with 188
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