Right, so the auction has just got over, and here I am, at night, bringing you my immediate and (maybe) unbiased opinion.
Mumbai Indians : Kieron Pollard and Harshal Patel - Mumbai decided to use all their purchasing power on the hard-hitting Trinidadian Kieron Pollard, presumably based on his heavy displays at the Twenty20 Champions League. This doesn't seem to be the best choice for me - I'd have preferred a batsman with other gears than 'super-accelerate' - like Eoin Morgan, for example. I would get rid of Sanath and use Napier and MacLaren more... they are all-rounders, and from what Nita Ambani said, they wanted a 'batting allrounder' (Patel's one too). Makes no sense at all to me. But as a supporter, gotta stay positive.
KKR : Shane Bond - Of course Shahrukh Khan would want a tearaway fast bowler. Whose name is also Bond. Haaah. This can be a very good buy though, subject to Bond's fitness. And how's that turned out in the past, eh? Don't we all want KKR to fail...
Deccan Chargers : Kemar Roach and Harmeet Singh - A pace attack already consisting RP Singh and Fidel Edwards, now with Kemar Roach... this can only strengthen the current IPL champs. And now they have two guys named Harmeet Singh - I bet Gilly will get a kick just outta playing both.
Delhi Daredevils : Wayne Parnell - And another great left-arm quick for Delhi, after Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes... They're all great but I think the attack will have a same-ish feel to it.
BRC : Eoin Morgan and Ashok Meenaria - Eoin Morgan is a great addition to any side for his ability to improvise and change games suddenly, and in pressure situations too. In Meenaria, Bangalore attain another U-19 captain after Virat Kohli.
Kings XI Punjab : Adrian Barath, Mohammed Kaif and Yusuf Abdulla - Like many prefer to do, Punjab have often opened with a joke. No offense, Sunny Sohal / Karan Goel, but you're no Adrian Barath. Mohammed Kaif is a really interesting buy at 250,000. I hear several shouts of 'really?' and 'why the...' and 'whaaaaat?' - most of that is me - and I really can't understand this one. 'Really?' Yusuf Abdulla, hmm, was the the IPL's highest wicket taker last season up till a certain point where he was suddenly dropped to make way for shinier toy Brett Lee. Which actually makes sense.
Chennai Super Kings : Thissara Perera and Justin Kemp - A smart couple of buys there for Chennai, roping in two explosive all-rounders. Kemp is a big, renowned smasher, and Perera recently displayed his talent against India. Both are handy medium-pacers.
And lastly, because I hate them,
Rajasthan Royals : Damien Martyn and Adam Voges - Warney just keeps bringing his Aussie mates in... if first Lehmann, Watto and Quiney, now these two - I didn't even know Martyn was still playing! Knowing Shane Warne though, he'll probably get the best out of these guys. But they're still going down. Damn, I wish there was another division so they'd just get relegated!
Right, that's my expert opinion. Rishabh's believe it or not.
4.15 am and time to sleep.
2 comments:
i think the auction this time was pretty intresting. the fact tht mumbai again proved to be one of the worst buyers (presumably after punjab) is again a cause of concern. 1) Mumbai should have bought out Sanath's contract 2) They should have bought Brad Haddin! Till when will jokers like Pinal Shah n Yogesh Takawale keep wickets? (But i reckon the Shiv Sena's political stand upon the racist issue probably prevented them from buying haddin)
Not too surprisingly, i reckon the Royals once again have prooved to be the smartest buyers alongside Chennai. Damen Martyn and Adam Voges dont really seem the T20 types, but I trust Warney to get this one right. He always seems to be knowing what he is doing anyways! As far as Chennai are concerned. I think theyre gonna have a problem of plenty with the number of all rounders already in their side. with the likes of morkel, oram, raina, dhoni and tushara, it'll be a hard job for the likes of kemp n thissara to get a game.
gilly again proved his love of a dominant pace attack. with edwards already on their side, along with the handy RP singh, i think deccan has one of the best bowling bowling attacks amongst all the franchises (though mumbai with zak n malinga and delhi with nannes nehra and now parnell cannot be ruled out).
after having lost gul and akhtar due to political and fitness related issues it wasnt too much of a surprise tht srk a.k.a. dildo went in for bond. atleast they now have a decent new ball bowler to share the opening attack with little john. the fact tht KKR has signd up whatmore as their new coach and reinstated dada as the captn i reckon there's a lesser chance of them repeating their last yrs performance.
banglore once again seems to be going with its new mantra of "you-dont-need-big-hitters-to-reach-an-IPL-final". which doesnt mean they dont have big hitters. the 2 black caps taylor n ryder along with pieter-ka-beta are a few examples. having roped in morgan they seem to be looking for the more consolidating quick between the wickets type batsman. with dravid kohli boucher n kallis already set in the middle order and uthappa making a mark with every passing IPL banglore seem to have a bright futute up ahead.
right...so thts my comment...not too long i suppose! i no its ur blog n shit, but sorry mate, i jst cnt help sharing my cricketing views! :P
cheers!
BRC:
When season I started,they had the worst T20 lineup. Then came in VijayMallaya instead of Charu Sharma,then rest is history.
With EoinMorgan they got a very good utility player at a low price. Their problem has always been Indian Players performance.
But their recent ranji performance players like ManishPandey,Mithun they start looking a threatening side.
KKR:
They always been the laughing pack of all.Team Looks better this time. But it still misses the Xfactor.Biggest problem for
Kolkata is their Indian players. From the 2 seasons of IPL,one thing is clear. Team whose Indian players play well, the team
does well.For Kolkata its never been the case. Will Kolkata do a Deccan,this season?
KXIP:
They have good run a ball players. They too like Kolkata are lacking in Indian player performance including their former captain Yuvraj. On paper,their Indian contingent looks stronger with likes of sreesanth,Irfan,Chawla,VRV,Kaif. If Punjab has to do well all these players have to turn it on and hope that Yuvraj-Kaif parternership can start all over.
RR:
With Smith & Warne theyhave big brains working for them. It was big shock for me neglecting their Match Winner Tanvir and giving a reason as 'Cricketing Logic'. They are the biggest losers in this auction. They bought out Kaif for 650000$ and got in a 40year old Martyn. This will surely backfire on them.
DD:
Their strategy is always clear. Go for Talented,upcoming Youngster. Have one or two experienced intl players at squad. With Parnell, they again got a good bowler. They have the Best Indian contigent of all teams. With Sehwag,Gambhir,Karthik,Nehra,Mishra and internationals DeVillers,Vettori,Nannes,Dilshan,Parnell,collingwood they are the team to beat.
DC:
They can be the IPL champions last season, but I always Yawn at their side. They lost Afridi. They are a team full of eX. All the tars are out of favour in their International side,like gibbs,Styris,Smith,Symonds,Vaas,Laxman,RPSingh,RohitSharma,Rao.Only real hope of their team is Gilchrist,injury prone Edwards. They dished out huge money at Roach. Not sure how much he can help Deccan.
MI
I hate their name. If they are Mumbai Indians,are the other states Indians are not Indians?. The way they splash out the money for nothing seems endless. With Harbhajan for 850000$,became the dud of the season I with his behaviour. Sachin,Sanath tried their level best but they never seemed to ve a strategy.Any team should have a solid wicketkeeper.They never thought about wicketkeeper batsman in their auction plan. Look at other teams, they have best wikis at their hands. Now they have poured money on Pollard and if reports ve to believed with the silent tie breaker thing, Pollard is the highest paid player in IPL. Well lets see what he is gonna do. History of Mumbai says, their biggies always fail. But I dont discount them out of this IPL.They have one of the best bowling lineup of all teams.They are the team to watch out,but only thing stopping them is themselves.
CSK
They seem to be the Best Managed IPL team. Their strategy is always get the stars, get the sponsors. Also go for intl players who are in their catchment area,ie Srilankans.Long term thinking is what taking team forward. They splash the money but there seems to be strong reasoning behind it.They went for Bond & Roach,once they realised their price is hitting the max,they backed out,which might prove correct as Bond is getting Old & Roach is untested.With Kemp & Perera together for 150000$,they got the bargain of IPL3.With raise of Tyagi,Ashwin,Gony this season will give them good confidence. Big worry is their out of form/injured internationals like Morkel,Oram,Murali. They are the team to beat along with Delhi
Verdict:
After IPL3 auction, on paper the teams from Strong to Weak.
Delhi,Chennai,Bangalore,Mumbai,Kolkata,Punjab,Rajastan,Deccan.
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