IPL 2010: Chennai Super Kings Preview
2009 Records: Semi-finalists 2008 Record: Runners-Up
Squad: MS Dhoni (captain & wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Hemang Badani, Subramaniam Badrinath, George Bailey, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Chandrasekhar Ganapathy, Manpreet Singh Gony, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Arun Kartik, Justin Kemp, Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralidaran, Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram, Parthiv Patel, Thisara Parera, Suresh Raina, Thilan Thushara, SudeepTyagi, Murali Vijay
Strengths & Weaknesses: Their strength mainly lies in the fact that none other than the Indian captain will be leading them. And if anyone has been watching him lead, it is no doubt that he is one of the best captains in the business today. The batting won’t be dependent on him alone and he can juggle his bowling resources carefully. They even have extra keepers in the squad to allow him to rest and not take undue pressure, for they realize the importance of a fit MS Dhoni, something that seems lost on the Indian think tank.
Beyond that, this is one squad where you really cannot find any weakness per say. The opening pair of Mathew Hayden and Parthiv Patel has worked for them in the last two seasons and lest there be any problem, Murali Vijay can always step in. The middle order too is in able hands with Dhoni, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath capable of handling any situation. Then they have the big hitters in Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel with a very interesting addition of Justin Kemp this season.
The bowling too is quite balanced. Return to Indian conditions will play into the hands of L Balaji and Murali while Thisara Parera will also be handy with his experience of playing in sub-continental conditions. All in all a squad which has ample cover for every position in the side and therefore a strong performance should be expected from this team once again.
Note: This is an extract from the Chennai Super Kings preview first published at www.cricketworld.com. To read the full article, click here.
IPL 2010: Bangalore Royal Challengers Preview
2009 Record: Runners-up 2008 Record: Seventh
Squad: Anil Kumble (captain), KP Apanna, Balachandra Akhil, Mark Boucher (wicket-keeper), Rahul Dravid, Dillon Du Preez, Sreevats Goswami, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Eoin Morgan, Manish Pandey, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, S Sriram, Dale Steyn, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Cameron White.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
A major headache awaits Anil Kumble and Ray Jennings when they sit to pick their first choice eleven. It is a problem of plenty and not a bad one to have unless it affects the balance of the side, which is exactly the point here. The foreign players for this side are all match winners in their right and it will be a major riddle to select the best four out of them. Sample this list: Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Roelef Van der Merwe, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez, Steven Smith and Cameron White. And this list doesn’t include Kevin Pietersen, new signing Eoin Morgan and Jesse Ryder. While the first two will be away for most part due to international duties, the Kiwi is out injured.
Even so, selecting four of those remaining names means that the balance of the side will be seriously tinkered with every time they have to make a change. This will place a lot of onus on the Indian players, young and old. And unless the whole equation comes out right, they will struggle to find the right combination on the Indian pitches. Why are pitches important here? Because playing in South Africa allowed their foreign players to have a bigger say in the scheme of things than they did in the first season.
Jacques Kallis and Ross Taylor especially were changed players. Though Taylor might yet again fire in the batting friendly conditions here again in India, Kallis may struggle a bit with his bowling. The other question mark pertaining to him is whether he can regain his touch with the bat from last year when it seemed he could do no wrong as a 33-year-old T20 player.
And so the pressure to perform will be high on the likes of Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar and Sreevats Goswami. A couple of these players have had a brilliant domestic season, Kohli has been making waves on the ODI scene but again the untested ones remain a problem. Rahul Dravid and Kumble were exceptional last year and so they would have to be this season as well. With their age, form and fitness again a bit of a talking point, it remains to be seen if the Bangalore Royal Challengers can go one better than last time.
Note: This is an extract from the Bangalore Royal Challengers preview first published at www.cricketworld.com. To read the full article, click here.
McLaren rear wing to be inspected in Bahrain
The McLaren MP4-25 rear wing, which kick started a mini controversy last week when Red Bull and Ferrari complained to the FIA, will now only be inspected at the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain. McLaren had invited FIA delegate Charlie Whiting to come and inspect the rear of their car before freight containers were shipped out for the first race. But he reportedly got delayed, hence the change in plans.
Now the delay might have been due to some unforeseen circumstances but if there is a controversy emanating from here on, the future is very foreseeable. Quite simply it will be the ceremonial debate over some or the other aerodynamic device used by any particular team that happens every year. And if by some luck, it doesn’t escalate into one, then don’t be disappointed, for the Mercedes GP diffuser will also come out at Bahrain and that too will be keenly observed across the pitlane.
Coming back to the rear wing though, there is a high chance of disappointment because if you read through the statements given out by all teams during the four pre-season tests, there is one sentence that appears quite frequently. And it says that almost all teams have been in touch regularly with the FIA over their interpretation of the 2010 rules. And so, if the governing body has indeed made some things clear, then the chance of any team flouting such guidelines is very remote. After all, it will only impede their chances when the season begins for some or the other issue would be raised inevitably, just like this one.
The off chance that McLaren do get a verdict against them in Bahrain, they have the right to appeal and then the off-track legal proceedings will start all over again. In the interim, any advantage that comes their way will be taken duly of course and once given, such gains are seldom ruled against in court rooms. We only have to look back at the 2009 season and the double diffuser controversy for proof. All in all, a win-win situation for McLaren here!
IPL 2010: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers Preview
2009 Record: IPL Champions 2008 Record: Eighth 
Squad: Adam Gilchrist (captain & wicket-keeper), Harmeet Singh, Bodapati Sumanth, Azhar Bilakhia, Herschelle Gibbs, Ryan Harris, VVS Laxman, Mitchell Marsh, Monish Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Kemar Roach, Ashish Reddy, Venugopal Rao, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Anirudh Singh, RP Singh, Dwayne Smith, Tirumalasetti Suman, Andrew Symonds, Ravi Teja, Chaminda Vaas, Arjun Yadav
Strengths & Weaknesses:
Their biggest strength continues to be their batting line-up. VVS Laxman was said to be the one weak link there but his performances in South Africa last year combined with his experiences in the English county circuit have more than made up for his shortcomings. He now plays the pivotal role in the innings while the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma have the license to go after the bowling.
Symonds and Gibbs are two big names for them who haven’t yet produced the magic that we know they can. They have had the odd innings which lit up the games but a consistent run of good form throughout the tournament is what is being asked of these two fantastic players. Gilchrist got his last time around ending the highest run getter with 495 runs.
Their bowling really clicked in the helpful conditions in Africa but this year’s tournament may reveal more weak areas this time around. RP Singh was the Purple Cap winner with 23 wickets to his name but this time around he is not in the same kind of rhythm and form, while the Indian wickets can be a back breaker for any bowler in the T20 game. Chaminda Vaas is now slower than most but has lost none of his guile though it remains to be seen how much of him they will use.
The one player the Deccan Chargers will miss this time round is Fidel Edwards. The West Indian fast bowler did good damage with the ball in South Africa but injury will keep him out this time around. In that sense, their new purchase at this year’s auction should be an ideal replacement. In his short stint in international cricket, Kemar Roach has made a name for himself and the best we know of him is when he rattled the Australian captain Ricky Ponting with his pace earlier in the winter. A repeat performance in the IPL will raise his and his team’s stock much higher.
Their home matches will not be played in Hyderabad due to political problems but in Vishakhapatnam, Cuttack and Nagpur. Now that is good in two ways – one, the teams hasn’t had much luck in Hyderabad in the first IPL season or even the 2009 Champions League T20. So a change of locale should suit them just like last year. And two, the pitch at Hyderbad is one of the best batting pitches in the country. Playing elsewhere would afford their spinners much more turn and Pragyan Ojha will be rubbing his hands in glee at the prospect.
Note: This is an extract from the Deccan Charger preview first published at www.cricketworld.com. To read the full article, click here.
Ravindra Jadeja to miss 2010 IPL – confirmed!
Ravindra Jadeja is all set to miss the third season of the IPL despite pleas made on his behalf to placate the IPL authorities. They didn’t even listen to the appeals from different quarters of the BCCI so that is telling in the sense that there ought to be some ground in upholding the punishment against the offence
.
This is again a piece of news that needs things to be put into perspective. On the one side is a young player who might just be good enough to fill the all-rounder’s vacancy team India has been trying to fill for so long. And on the other side is the whole point that the IPL is based on – money.
You see, they could have forgiven him for negotiating a better contract. But they didn’t, and quite correctly, for unabashed money is flying all around and if one particular 23-year-old starts looking for juicier deals, then so do the others. It is easier to stop one in the bud than say ten or twenty of them. By doing so, the precedent set would enable critics of this league see some light at the end of the day. Yes there is money and it is a necessary evil in sport these days. But it is important to regulate it so that at some level the players still understand the values of the game; that the money is because of the game and not anything else. This move on part of the authorities concerned shows that they still have things under control and that the best interest of the game is indeed their prime concern.
For Jadeja this is nothing less than a death blow. One isn’t going to dig up what he did or did not do. Bottom line is that he will miss six very important weeks of cricket for any budding player in India today. He has been named in the probable-list for the T20 World Cup which follows right after the IPL. In that sense, these six weeks can prove to be a very short time for a player to be forgotten, for rest assured there will be a host of young stars waiting to make their mark.
Karun Chandhok: Second Indian in Formula One
Hispania Racing (formerly Campos Meta) have confirmed that India’s Karun Chandhok will partner Bruno Senna for the 2010 Formula One season. It brings to an end a long wait for both parties and it must be confessed that not many thought the two of them would be on the grid this season.
For team Hispania, things have finally started moving forwardever since team principal Collin Kolles came on board. The announcement was made at the Murcia base of the team where the first glimpses of their car were also shown to members of the press. This inadvertently now means that despite all obstacles they will be on the track when the lights go green for the first Friday practice session of the year at the Bahrain GP.
It must also be said that rumors of Chandhok coming into the fray for the seat gathered strength with the coming of Kolles. Kolles has formerly been associated with the Jordan-Spyker-Midland team which is now better known as Force India after Vijay Mallya took over. And Chandhok had forever been associated with a drive there because of his Indian connect but somehow it did not go ahead. Probably Kolles saw something in the Indian that Mallya didn’t.
Towards the end of the 2009 season Mallya had announced an opportunity might be coming along for Chandhok to test for Force India. And so I had a chance to interact with him about his Formula One prospects. At that time he admitted that any chances with Force India wouldn’t stretch beyond the test driver’s role for 2010 atleast and he would instead want to be racing. And so he did mention that he was talking to other (read new) teams for a possible drive.
On that note, it is indeed great to see a second Indian driver in Formula One after 2005. Narain Karthikeyan’s stay at the pinnacle of motorsport was a short one. But one is hopeful that with the Indian GP slated to come about in the near future, Chandhok will write a longer essay.
Photo Courtesy: www.isport.in
IPL changes Time-Out rules
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has announced changes in the time-out rules for the upcoming season of the IPL. Instead of the unbearably dull seven and a half minutes per innings, we will have two time-outs per innings of two and a half minutes each. Only this time the batting and the bowling side will have their very own time-outs.
The bowling side is entitled to use their time-out from the 6th to 8th over while the batting side can utilize theirs from the 11th to 16th over. Now it is nowhere specified if the time-outs can be taken mid-innings but one presumes that is not going to be a possibility. This makes things interesting on two counts.
One of course what is the real need of such time-outs? The organizers believe it will help finish the match on time for the teams won’t waste any time strategizing in the middle of the game. Somebody needs to tell them that isn’t how cricket is played, or any sport for that matter. And that same person needs to also tell them the truth. That they have done this to bring in more money and that it is nothing but an extension of the gimmick we saw last year. As if the barrage of commercials on commentary weren’t nauseating enough, having two short breaks instead of a long one seems to be the favored idea.
The other debate that may arise is why the batting side gets a five over window? Don’t the bowlers have an equal right to contribute to their team’s performance, or is it only about bang-bang? Last year we saw wickets tumbling inevitably almost everytime a time-out was taken and most of the players expressed their dissatisfaction. That is bound to grow even more this season if the new rules are anything to go by but who is listening? Apparently no one.
No USF1, Stefan GP in 2010 Formula One
With just ten days to go for the first race of the 2010 Formula One season at Bahrain the FIA declared the full entry 
list of the teams and their drivers, bringing an end to the rumor mills that had been working over time over the last few weeks. Only twelve teams are listed and USF1 as well as Stefan GP have not been given an entry.
The buildup to this list coming out has been quite an interesting one. It was widely anticipated that USF1 would not be able to make the grid for Bahrain GP as they hadn’t progressed with work on their cars due to financial problems. Ever since this came to light, Stefan GP were ready to pounce on the final grid slot as they bought the Toyota designs and cars for this season. They even started finalizing drivers, sending freight for the first race (whatever that was) and almost tested at Portimao but for the lack of Bridgestone tyres.
USF1 meanwhile asked for a deferral of their entry to the 2011 season and to show they were serious, they were even ready to submit a testimonial ‘seven sum figure’ to the governing body that they could make it next season. There is no doubt that money would have come from Chad Hurely, the You Tube owner backing USF1, after he tried all stops to pull the team on the grid this year itself.
The FIA though haven’t given USF1 an automatic entry for next season, ignoring their request. Like all interested parties, they will be notified of the entry process and will have to submit an entry for scrutiny to see if their bid is even viable enough. I think this is a good decision but one that should have been taken last year. If the entries had been scrutinized then itself, as they are going to be at some stage this year, then F1 could hav done without the mess witnessed for the last two months.
For Stefan GP, this is a blow but what did they expect at such a late hour? When the Barcelona testing window came and went, and their own testing session didn’t take off, it was indeed too big a risk to allow a team into the F1 grid at this stage. Already the Campos team – now branded Hispania Racing – hasn’t turned a wheel in anger yet. They haven’t even named their second driver although that announcement is imminent.
Look at it this way: If Stefan GP’s credentials are indeed full proof, there is no reason why they shouldn’t make it next season and that too after a proper selection process. It’s all about patience for Zoran Stefanovic and his team.
Lewis Hamilton seeks new management
McLaren’s 2008 F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton will no longer be managed by his dad Anthony Hamilton. For the father-son duo, the reported decision means that for the first time since young Lewis took to racing karts, he will have professional help guiding his interests on and off the track. 
Under his umbrella, Anthony Hamilton has seen his son become a star in the glitzy world that is Formula One. He has guided him at every step and tasted glorious success just two years back. There will be many more championship wins for Lewis for he is only twenty-five years of age. His father though will now watch from the pit-lane in just the same capacity as do the dads of Felipe Massa and Jenson Button.
For Lewis though it is a greater change. The man who is going to be handling his affairs now is not really going to be emotionally attached to him per say. Of course over time you can form a genuinely good bond but a professional approach will always take precedence over anything else. And one believes that especially in Lewis’ case, this is a very good thing.
Take a look back at his career so far and it has left a trail of controversy off the track along with the magical moments on it. In 2007, his first year, there was the ‘Spygate’ scandal. And simultaneously followed the bitter feud with Fernando Alonso that saw the Spaniard leave the team prematurely. 2008 was a relatively calm year, but early in 2009 we had the ‘Liargate’ affair after the Australian GP.
It isn’t being implied that Anthony Hamilton didn’t guide his son well enough in those turbulent times. But one feels that with this move, as Lewis matures into one of Formula One’s most prominent figures, we will now start to see a different light of him.
Australia buckle under Kiwi pressure
The last ODI game, before today, that Australia had lost was against India way back in
October-November 2009. Since then, they played Pakistan and West Indies in ten matches and won nine of them with one being washed away by rain. 
It is not to say that one loss would have ruined their summer for this team has already proved its credentials in South Africa, reigning in the Champions Trophy. But the small point is how much do the wins against the Pakistanis and the Windies matter? Let us see – Pakistan didn’t have any hopes whatsoever of doing well for they are a team in never ending strife. It was just as well that they didn’t put the 5-0 down to match fixing. And the Windies? They were missing their best players and a second string West Indian team surely cannot do what the first choice eleven can’t.
The problem isn’t beating these sides. The problem is the likes of Tony Greg, Ian Chappell and Mark Nicholas giddying up the Australian side on television as if they have just won the World Cup twice over. Yes, their ODI run has been very good but call a spade a spade, and admit that Australia have had an easy summer of cricket. One says so because on the first sign of pressure, against New Zealand, and they lose.
The Australian team surely didn’t measure up on the day. They started their innings well and on a pitch where 300 would have been a minimum score, ended up with only 275 for 8. The Kiwi bowlers did well to pull things back and for once the Aussie batting knew what it is to go up against an intense bowling attack missing their most vital cog, Danie Vettori. But it was in the field that you could see the heat was really on them. Ponting and his men haven’t misfielded or missed as many run-out chances this entire summer as they missed on Wednesday.
If it is a sign of things to come, Ross Taylor will make a very fine New Zealand captain indeed.
